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yeehawbvby · 4 months ago

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When the Moon Fell in Love With the Sun | Ch. 6

March x F!Farmer

Rating: Mature/Explicit (eventual smut)

Chapter Summary: Olric and the farmer hang out!

Author’s Note: Sorry in advance to Olric enjoyers but god damn, the idea of Lady Who Works With Heavy Things x Himbo Who Likes Lifting Heavy Things is GOLDEN to me.

Also! Now that the game's first major update has been announced (!!!!!!), I wanna make it known for readers of the future that the entirety of this fic was written during the earlier months of the game's early access release!! The max number of hearts you can reach with anyone is 4 at the moment :3

Table of Contents + Work Summary

Check it out on ao3!

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After Elsie caught December and March canoodling in the bath house, word of their closeness spread like wildfire. They hadn’t “officially” begun a relationship yet, but nobody would believe their denial, so they’d stopped bothering to correct it.

It wasn’t like it was a bad thing. It was just tedious. They wanted to move at their own pace — both of them feeling nervous, on top of being out of practice — but they suddenly felt the pressure of everyone in Mistria doing their best to speed things up. As much as they both adored their small town, they were less than enthused to be the center of its gossip.

Luckily, the hype died down and they stopped having to avoid being seen too close to each other in public after only about two weeks, Juniper and Valen once again taking precedence. Nobody knew what they had going on, but nobody could deny that there was something there, and it was fascinating enough to make its way into the town’s entertainment rotation on a regular basis.

Elsie adored a good rivals to lovers arc, so on more than one occasion she’d watch from across the bar or upon the inn’s balcony as the two bickered over wine just centimeters from each other’s faces.

“Do you think they’ll kiss this time?” Reina, who was taking a break from the kitchen, asked one day from the second floor.

“I can only dream of it,” Elsie sighed on her left.

December nodded her agreement to Reina’s right, took a sip of her own wine, and pursed her lips for a moment. “I just know they wanna make out sloppy style.“

“Ha! Ew!” the chef reacted in tandem with December’s goofy, tipsy smile. Elsie nodded in concurrence with the farmer.

Olric had made his way into the watch party that night, and poked fun at December with a (surprisingly) light nudge to her shoulder, “That’s basically what you and March looked like for the longest time!”

She groaned while he and the ladies giggled, and as if he had a sixth sense for this, March magically appeared to whisk her away and save her from their prying eyes.

The duo still lightheartedly argued plenty, and they still shot the shit daily. December was a pro at that, after all, utilizing her goofiness to diffuse just about any situation she found herself in. But they settled into a habit of merely holding hands and linking arms in public while kissing, hugging and cuddling in private. It was lovely.

Another week passed, and March and December were perusing the market hand in hand, a hot chocolate and an iced coffee in their respective opposing grasps.

March noted as they neared Vera’s booth a second time, “My roots are growing in… I should probably go see her.”

December gave his hand one last squeeze and saluted him, encouraging him to go for it (and earning a flick to the forehead for being a dork) before heading off to browse more of the market on her own.

“December!”

She halted in place, looking around for the source of her name until she landed on Olric waving her over from the furniture stall. As she made her way towards him, he said bye to Merri, gave her a sweet peck, and jogged to meet December halfway. Before turning to walk with him, she and the merchant shared a quick wave.

December liked Merri. She was friendly, witty, and she was always more than willing to share tips with her when it came to decorating or building her own pieces. Ryis did the same plenty, but he was much less focused on aesthetics, making Merri’s advice one of a kind. It was a shame the saleswoman could only come to town every so often — especially considering how smitten Olric was, December thought.

“You two are adorable, you know.”

He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. His grin was wide and proud, his cheeks dusted with pink while he responded, “Aw, thanks!” December finished her coffee and tossed its empty vessel into the bin near Darcy’s set-up. “Any good finds?” Olric asked, noticing and nodding to the paper shopping bag in her hand.

December shrugged, “Louis finagled me into buying a dress I’ll probably never wear.”

“I can’t imagine you in a dress.”

“Neither can I!”

“He’s dangerous.”

“I can’t even call him a fraud to cope,” she lamented. She knew he was amazing at his job. “What about you?”

“Nah, I’ve just been hanging out with Merri all morning.”

“Did you lug any furniture for her?”

“Of course! I am a gentleman, thank you,” Olric bowed slightly, putting a hand on his heart as if to prove the point. December laughed at the gesture. “Oh, so you might like this: I was talking to Errol this morning, and he was describing, like, the sickest rock ever.”

Nodding along, December proceeded to listen as Olric gushed about said rock. While this went on, they stopped by the farm so she could drop off her shopping bag at home before wandering around town.

This rock Olric was talking about was round. Really round, in fact. He fawned over it even more when she told him that she was the one who donated it to the museum. She promised to save one for him if she found any more, and they made plans for him to actually come mining with her one of these days before they wrapped back around to the market square.

They noticed near the fountain that the Dragonguard — as well as Reina and Celine, who were supervising their shenanigans — had matching streaks in their hair: a single sliver of purple on the right side. Since Luc’s hair was so short, he received a small butterfly-shaped plot of dye instead.

“They’re so cute, bro.” Olric then wondered, “I wonder if March would ever go purple.”

December snorted at the thought. “Have you ever thought of trying to match with him?”

“Ha! I’ve thought about it, yeah. I don’t think he would like that very much though.” Then, inspecting the top of December’s head, he asked, “Has your hair always been white?”

”Mhm,” she nodded, “It’s genetic.”

“Maybe you should change it up!” Olric beamed. “It’s not like it’s permanent.”

“I don’t even know what I’d do with it.”

She tried to think: The last time she dyed it was for a fundraising event with her old sponsor, and before that…

She reminisced about her younger self leaning over the bathroom sink, the potent and chemically stench of box-dye filling the room while its color stained the porcelain below her. On more than one occasion, she found herself doing her best to put some messy streaks of various colors into her hair before coating what little remained of her white tresses in black. It was a disaster, but it was fitting for a little punk who wanted to defy authority.

So, she concluded to herself, it had to be back when she was a teenager.

“Why not let Vera choose the color?” December’s eyes widened as she shot her friend a look. He laughed before reassuring her, “You can trust her! She dyes everyone’s hair around here.”

”Well, yeah, but—“ She stopped mid-sentence, changing her mind. Maybe she needed some extra spice in her life. “Hm.” She sighed. “I’ll think about it.“

“There ya go!” Olric patted December on the shoulder — accidentally moving her, as usual.

___

Just a few days later, December and Olric acted on those plans to go mining together. March was less than enthused to stay back and man the shop, but knew he needed to without Olric around. He’d be damned if he ever closed it down for a day.

December loved adrenaline. Going mining was a perfect way to fulfill her yearn for it in the otherwise relatively calm life she’d now cultivated for herself. It was one of her favorite pastimes in Mistria, maybe aside from just hanging out with all the cute animals on her farm, Goose included, of course; and while she enjoyed just throwing on some music, wrecking shit, and kicking little gooey monsters underground for a few hours, it was exciting to have a companion for a change.

“I haven’t been down there in ages,” Olric mentioned as they entered the mines, gesturing towards the shaft. “I never thought I’d need a sword for it.”

“You’d be surprised,” December mumbled. As they approached the makeshift elevator, she took his weapon from its sheath, inspecting it. While it was only iron, it was — unsurprisingly, given his family’s long bloodline of smiths — extremely well-made. “This should be fine.”

“Well, yeah. How bad can those guys be?”

She answered nonchalantly, handing his sword back and lowering them down, “Some of them will projectile vomit rocks at you.”

Olric was horrified.

December figured the deep earth would be a good section to focus on. It shouldn’t have been too hard to manage, given the farmer’s experience in the area, combined with Olric’s mining prowess and almost absurd musculature.

Plus, it was pretty.

Being agile from her snowboarding days, the farmer had no trouble dodging attacks from monsters and was light enough on her feet to fight right back at a moment’s notice. She had to handle it that way. Sure, she adorned a protective vest and padded leggings beneath her clothes, but she was still fragile after all.

Olric was in awe. He knew he shouldn’t be, given December’s past as an athlete and adventurer, but it was still a sight to behold. He struggled keeping up — plus, taking a few hits from the aforementioned rock creatures and stepping on what he aptly named A Spiky Dude deterred him from combat — so they decided to split up the work. December focused purely on fighting while Olric gathered stone, ore, and whatever other materials he stumbled upon within her protection.

To his absolute delight, he found his very own, very round, perfect little rock. It was at that moment that they decided to call it a day.

After stopping at the museum to drop off a few donations, Olric offered December a seat at the dinner table. He and March made it a point to have at least a few home cooked meals together per week outside of going to the inn or getting takeout.

Olric liked to do it for the sake of brotherly bonding. March did it to ensure Olric would eat his fucking vegetables.

December took up the offer, and the next thing she knew, she was pestering March while Olric made them all some curry to share.

The farmer sat on the desk in the smithy while March sketched beside her.

“If you could be any forgeable item, what would you be?” she asked.

“What kind of question is that?”

“The fun kind.”

“That’s stupid.”

“Alright, have fun being a nail, then.”

March scowled at her. “Why a nail?”

He fell right into the trap! “So you can screw yourself.” Holt would have been so proud of her for that one. She just knew it. “And also ’cause you’re boring,” she rapidly tacked onto the end.

While December flashed him a shit-eating grin and mentally patted herself on the back, March contemplated why he fell for her of all people.

“I hate you…”

“Sure you do.”

The queen of dad jokes began skimming through some of the most stunning blueprints for weapons and armor she’d ever seen, all of which March hadn’t had a chance to craft yet.

“Speaking of, you ever think about making something cooler than nails?” she teased. The comment earned her a firm elbow to her hip. “Ow,” she laughed under her breath.

“You ever think about leaving me the hell alone?”

“You see, that doesn’t work anymore. You like being around me.”

“Is it too late to take that back?” he grumped.

”Depends,” December shrugged, answering with her own question, “How badly do you wanna kiss me right now?”

March looked up from his work to chance a glimpse at her mischievously curved lips, and her focused, sparkly gaze on his drawings in her lap.

Truthfully, he wanted to so incredibly badly. Instead, he responded with a silent glare that she could only see in her peripherals.

“Alright, it’s ready!” Olric called from the kitchen.

March stood, offering a hand to December as she hopped down from her perch. He felt a sudden impulse to be cute and acted on it before he could even think, giving her a quick twirl while their fingers were still clasped together.

He was almost annoyed with himself. Her laughter paired with the way she beamed a smile up at him like he was the most precious thing in the world to her made it worthwhile.

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ollieofthebeholder · 2 years ago

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to find promise of peace (and the solace of rest): a TMA fanfic

<< Beginning < Prev. || AO3 || Next > Latest >>

Chapter 3: December 2015

Jon sighed and rubbed his forehead as he came out of the office. Two more days. Just two more days and they’d have ten uninterrupted days off. Ten days of not having to wade through every crackpot, half-baked ghost story in the United Kingdom, of not having to fight with an archive determined to thwart his efforts to bring it into the twenty-first century, of not having to put up with Elias coming down to poke or prod or be condescending. It was something to look forward to, at any rate.

They just had to survive that long.

He paused in the doorway to survey his assistants. Sasha, her expression intent, leaned close enough to her laptop that the screen was reflected in her glasses; Tim, looking frustrated, rocked his chair back on its hind legs and ran his fingers through his hair, dislodging the garish green Christmas hat and making the tiny bells sewn around the rim jingle faintly; Martin, his face impossible to read, darted his eyes back and forth between his laptop and the notebook he was scribbling on. Jon’s gaze lingered on Martin, something he’d found it doing a lot in the last two months. Ever since Martin had finally pushed back against what Jon had to admit had been overly harsh treatment, Jon had tried to be a little more understanding with him—the way he was with Tim and Sasha. Martin, in turn, seemed to have improved his efforts. In the privacy of his own mind, Jon could admit that his perception of Martin had been colored by the double whammy of finding out Elias had appointed an assistant with more experience and better credentials than the rest of them put together and that said assistant had accidentally let a dog follow him into the Archives. Once he stepped back and assessed Martin on his own merits…well, his research methods might be a bit unorthodox, but his knowledge of Leitners was unparalleled. His academic connections were surprisingly lacking, but he seemed to know the paranormal community inside and out, and he had more than once unearthed a name or a location that even Sasha with her internet deep-diving or Tim with his charm couldn’t come up with.

Jon rather suspected Martin was about to need to use that, because Tim looked done.

“It’s not that I don’t think he’s dead,” he said to no one in particular. “It’s just that there’s nothing. No family, no grave, no hint except that someone started using the premises again earlier this year and it’s not him.”

“Well, he didn’t go back to Saint Thomas to die,” Sasha commented. “The only hospital records I’m able to find for him there are from the night of the statement. I mean, there aren’t any other NHS records for him.”

Ah. They were talking about Gerard Keay. Jon was about to step in when Tim said, “She said he had a ‘well-used passport,’ right? Maybe he died out of the country somewhere.”

“Pittsburgh,” Martin said absently. He muttered something under his breath and crossed something out on his notebook before rewriting it.

The rare-book world was small, Jon thought to himself, and the circle of people who knew anything about Leitners had to be smaller; besides, with Martin working in the library, who was to say that Pinhole Books and the Keays hadn’t been instrumental in some of the Institute’s acquisitions? It would make sense that he would know that. Tim threw up his hands dramatically, thumping his chair back down on all fours. “Great! I suppose I’ll just call up every hospital in the city then. Can’t be more than, what, three, four dozen? Ask them if they remember a patient from a year ago? That won’t take long at all.”

Before Jon could remind Tim there were other options, Martin shoved aside his notebook and reached for his phone. “Hang on,” he mumbled.

He tapped at his laptop for a second, then dialed a number into his phone and waited, head in his free hand, staring down at his laptop. After a moment, he closed his eyes. “Hello, yes, I certainly hope so. My brother passed away last year while he was visiting Pittsburgh, and…well, I thought I had taken care of everything, but it turns out he’s still listed as my next of kin on my work records? They won’t take him off without a copy of the death certificate, and I’m afraid I used all the ones I ordered initially. I need to order another one, please.”

Sasha’s eyebrows shot up, and she exchanged a look with Tim that Martin clearly didn’t see. Jon came fully into the room, frowning, as Martin said, “Gerard Keay, K-E-A-Y….Mine? Martin Blackwood….Something like that, yes.” He gave a small, self-deprecating laugh. “No, I agree….Uh, twenty-seventh November, 2014.” There was a pause, and then Martin said quietly, “Eighteenth April, 1986.”

If Sasha’s eyebrows got any higher, they were going to fly off her head, but what caught Jon’s attention was the way Tim turned sharply away from Martin, his face pinched in a look of pain. Worried, Jon reached out to touch Tim’s arm; Tim looked up and forced a grin, but the pain was still there in his eyes and Jon didn’t know why. He could hear Martin rattling off a few more statistics, then a brief pause. “Yeah…look, I really need to get this taken care of quick. Is there any way you could email me a scan, o-or fax it to me or something? They’ll accept a copy until I can get a certified copy in the mail, but my boss is breathing down my neck and I really don’t want this hanging over my head during the holidays.”

Another pause, and then he heaved a huge sigh of relief. Jon wasn’t sure if it was fake or not. “No, that’s…that’s perfect, thank you so much. Let me give you my email address.” He listed off his work email address, then an address Jon presumed to be his home address while reaching for his pocket, then the details on his credit card. “No, that’s everything, thank you so much….Um, yeah. You, too.”

He hung up the phone and set it down with a sigh, taking off his glasses and rubbing at his forehead in much the same way Jon had earlier. “She’s sending me a copy. I’ll have the email in a few minutes.”

“You bought a certified copy, too?” Sasha asked, sounding somewhere between horrified and amused. “Martin, you didn’t have to go that far.”

“Yeah, well, Pennsylvania doesn’t give you any other options. You have to pay per copy and they only give out certified copies.” Martin looked up and started when he saw Jon, then recovered. “Um, sorry, Jon, I didn’t—I’ll have a copy of Gerard Keay’s death certificate for you in a few.”

“I heard,” Jon said, trying to keep his tone even. “Don’t forget to add that to your expense report for the month.”

Martin shook his head, to Jon’s surprise, and pushed back from his desk, grabbing his mug as he did so. “It’s fine. I probably needed another copy anyway.” With another of those small, almost bitter laughs, he added, “Always one more bill, right?”

Now it was Jon’s turn to raise his eyebrows. Tim’s head shot up, and he looked shocked. “Was he actually your brother?” he blurted.

Martin stilled for a moment, then sighed, his shoulders slumping, and shook his head. “Not really. Not legally or anything. Just a good friend, but he was the closest thing I had to a brother, you know? And I-I was pretty much…he didn’t have any other family, like you said, Tim. He had me listed as his next of kin.” He looked up at Jon, and his expression was haunted. “Sorry I didn’t tell you when he came up before. It’s just—”

“Raw,” Jon completed. “I understand, Martin. It’s all right.” He cleared his throat, a little perturbed. “How, uh, how long had you known him? Before…?”

“Long time. My mum was…I don’t know if you’d call them friends. Don’t know if either of them understood the concept, to be honest. But she and Mary Keay used to meet up for tea and gossip and such when she was in town—Aunt Mary, I mean.” Martin sat back down slowly, with a resigned look in his eyes. Jon realized he’d been about to refill his tea and been stopped in his tracks, and he felt a small stab of probably unwarranted guilt. “I-I think I met him on his…it had to have been his tenth birthday. It was before Mum and—never mind. So I guess I’d known him about…eighteen, almost nineteen years when he died.”

Something twisted in Jon’s chest. The pain in Tim’s eyes was mirrored in Martin’s, and Jon realized that Tim knew what Martin was going through better than he did. That Tim was a brother. He’d never given thought to his assistants’ lives outside the Institute, not in so many words, but Tim was listening to Martin and probably imagining what it would have felt like if he’d lost his own brother. It was a pain Jon, a desperately lonely only child, couldn’t even begin to fathom.

Moved by an impulse he couldn’t explain, Jon grabbed both Martin and Tim’s mugs off the desk, murmured something about being right back, and headed off to the break room to make them each a cup of tea. It was the only thing he could think of to do that might help.

It worked for Martin. Why wouldn’t it work for him?

#to find promise of peace (and the solace of rest)#tma fanfic #tma #ollie writes fanfic #martin blackwood #jonathan sims #tim stoker #sasha james #gerard keay #hospital mention #death mention #grief

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shoftiiel · 3 years ago

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secrets: 09

watch me

synopsis: all sunghoon wanted was a calm year, he never imagined he would see his childhood best friend again, but how chaotic can things get? especially now that her friend group has ummmm… changed

word count: 1k

warnings: cursing, that's it

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heeseung walked with you through the hallway, his classroom was next to yours so you’d always walk together. “I can't believe I didn't know you had perfect pitch” you said, offended while heeseung was just laughing, “why do you think mr. Kim loves me?” he chucked “i always aced his tests” . you stopped at the door of your classroom, the teacher hadn’t arrived yet and there were only a few students inside. “you always ace everything” you rolled your eyes “i hate how you are good at everything” you pouted.

“don't worry love” he pinched your cheek “ask me if you need help” he said as he waved at you and entered his classroom. a small smile appeared on your face, you were so thankful of how attentive your friends were, they’d always make sure you were okay, specially heeseung, he treated you like you were his child despite him being only a year older than you.

You took an empty seat at the back of the classroom, just like you always did. some people might think you are antisocial, you kind of were to be honest but you prefer the term reserved. class went like always, boring, the last class of the day is always boring let's be honest. but this time you felt a pair of eyes on you the whole time, whenever you turned, they looked away.

When the class ended you were ready to confront him, but surprisingly he approached you instead. “hey y/n right?” a boy asked, he had brown fluffy hair and a wide smile across his face “ummmm yeah?” you said confused “who’s asking”

“oh shit sorry” he said “i am huening kai, you can just call me kai” he extended his hand, but you didn’t take it, so he just pulled back awkwardly “you are the one who comented on my post last week?” he rubbed the back of his neck “yeeeaah sorry if i looked like a stalker” he chucled nervously “i was kinda hoping you’s dm asking who the fuck i was” he looked down “but it didn’t happened to i thougth i’d approached you” he looked up again ad gave you a warm smile. honestly you were very confused.

“And why would you do that?” you asked sharply, sounding almost rude “excuse me?” Kai's eyes widened, “approach me?” you said “why would you want to approach me?” he did not expect that, you were the first person who didn’t fall for his charm, but he was not going to give up so easily. “well, you are always alone and no one likes to be alone”

“I do” tough crowd, kai thought “you might think that because you’ve never hung out with me” you couldn't help but smile at his comment, i am making progress. “join me and my friends for lunch tomorrow”

“I will pass” you said “but thank you very much for the invitation, but I am not good at meeting new people” you looked down. “oh don't worry” kai smiled again “i understand and sorry if this whole interaction was overwhelming for you, i know i can be too much sometimes” he giggles “but i’d like to be your friend”

no one had ever said that to you before, people always avoided you. “you are funny” you said to him, you took out a sticky note and wrote something “i’d like to be your friend too” you handed him the small paper “here’s my number and i am sorry if i sounded rude before” you rubbed your arm “i don't do it on purpose”

“don't mention it” kai said “it was nice meeting you y/n”. The classroom was empty now, while you were talking to Kai everyone else had left. you heard someone approaching the door, both of you turned to look who it was.

“oh” a boy exclaimed when he saw that you were the only ones inside. “I'm sorry for interrupting” he had sharp foxy eyes and blond hair, it was probably dyed but it suited him “whatever going on here, do you know where mr. kim is?”

“He already left” said Kai. The young boy rolled his eyes at Kai's response. “I can see that, but I asked if you knew where he was,” you chuckled at his responde “Try looking in the teacher’s lounge” you said, Kai ears turned red, he was very embarrassed, the blond boy left. “i cant believe the attitude, young people never respect their elders” kai exclaimed, extremely offended. “Do you know him?” you asked, “not really, he’s name is kim sunoo, he is a bitch to everyone without exception” a small laugh came out of you “well he is only nice to his friends”

someone else approached to the door, “y/n i’ve been looking for you” you turned again to see who it was “oh hi tae” you waved at the boy standing on the door “i was about to leave”, you turned to face kai “it was nice to meet you too” you grabbed your things “bye kai”

“lets go love” Taehyun took your backpack without at kai, he didn’t even speared him a glance. Taehyun looked back to check if you were far enough from the classroom so that Kai wouldn't hear what he was about to tell you, “you do know that the boy you were just talking to is friends with sunghoon right?” your eyes widened “are you for real?”

“positive” the world was indeed small “he invited me to eat lunch with them tomorrow” was alk you said, “you didn't accept, didn’t you” you kicked his side sligthly with your shoulder “what do you think?” you said, “well i know how much you hate to meet new people so i am going to say you didn’t accept his invite” you laughed and nodded “who knew being an introvert would save you from an awkward interaction” he said sarcastically “shut up”

“you have to answer him” taehyun said “you can't avoid him forever”

“watch me”

tag list: @seungstarss @mykalon @liliansun @acciomylove @chuntians @cuteyeonnie23 @witheeseung @luv3iza @diestheticu @urresidentdrugdealer @msxflower @lokideadontheinside @nshrikiii @iamnotgrootforiamthor @milkycloudtyg@softforqiankun @ryujnworld @woonieiv @niafics @c0nvers3h1gh @dear-dreamie @oureris @sunghooniee @xoxojayd3n @enhacolor

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dsoe-masteroftheheavenlyyard · 4 years ago

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Chapter 11, Section 2–Truth; Scene 3

master of the heavenly yard pages 266-270

--To put together everything Behemo said, it went like this:

The world he had originally spent his days in…for the sake of convenience it was called the “First Period”.

The First Period was a world of incredibly advanced culture.

Thanks to that they were able to construct a realistic imaginary world using such things as internet and computers—though these were incomprehensible terms for Allen.

This was called the “Second Period”, and it was populated by “avatars” that were designed based on the traits and personalities of real people.

Surprisingly, the avatars had intellect that far surpassed that of actual humans. People grew obsessed with this new invention, and with further research its accuracy was improved.

Even so, the First Period’s overdeveloped culture backfired on them, and they wound up facing the threat of ruin.

To avert this, humanity decided to entrust everything to the avatars of the Second Period.

They chose to have the much smarter avatars come up with a solution for them.

They would create a “world-wide crisis” in the world of the Second Period using the artificial programs “HER”. Naturally, the avatars would become desperate, and do what they could to combat this. They would then apply this process to the real world—or so their line of reasoning went.

Certain “restrictions” that the Second Period had originally been configured with were lifted. They had been implemented to keep the AI from rebelling and as such releasing them carried a risk, but humanity no longer had the luxury of caring about that.

The rebellion that a portion of people worried about never happened. But the superior avatars did bring about an unexpected occurrence.

A miraculous event where an avatar, an imagined being, appeared in the real world of the First Period.

That avatar was “Levia”. She was based off of the traits of Behemo in the real world…But as he’d been family of one of the Second Period developers, Behemo apparently used his position to make some revisions to her design.

“Nothing really major,” Behemo said calmly. “I just inverted the gender. I made Levia into my ideal self.”

--For her part, Levia had thought the First Period to be little more than an alternate world.

And there…she met with Behemo, her “other self”.

With the assistance of the Second Period developers, Levia was immediately sent back to her original imaginary reality—but it was there that Behemo pulled another prank.

He had brought forward a new avatar into the Second Period. It was “Behemo” himself, this time without any alterations to his features.

Behemo’s avatar began to live in the Second Period as Levia’s twin brother.

The process to avert the ruin of the Second Period was steadily progressing.

But…the real world couldn’t wait for its completion.

Aside from a small handful, humanity in the First Period had met its end.

Behemo hadn’t given the particulars to Allen, but he had said this much as a hint:

“It was something similar to ‘Punishment’—like the destruction of the Third Period.”

The Second Period system just had barely survived, and Behemo wound up taking over its management. There was no one but him who was able to.

Behemo switched the Second Period’s process from “averting the world’s destruction” to “reviving the world”. He intentionally reduced the number of avatars so that he would be able to manage them by himself.

Specifically, he used Levia’s example.

He would invite the avatars into the real world, and have them revive the First Period.

“—I orchestrated things so that these superior avatars…these ‘members of the spaceship Climb One’ wouldn’t know the truth. They would discover a new planet and build there a new world, the ‘Third Period’…that was the ‘story’ I had them set to work under.”

Behemo continued his speech in an unhurried tone.

“In actuality this was not a new planet at all…The ‘First Period’, the real world that had been destroyed—was Earth.”

“So in other words, our world, the ‘Third Period’…”

“Is the history of a new humanity, reborn on Earth. That is the truth. –You can relax. As you guessed, Sickle and the others are the ones who were imaginary. Allen, Riliane…and the other denizens of the Third Period, you’re all ‘humans’ who genuinely exist.”

“…”

“But the avatars proved too advanced. And so the new humanity wound up possessing peculiar powers that hadn’t existed in the First Period humanity. –Magic, demons, and Irregular, and the like.”

“…And the survivors of the First Period, including you—”

“Unfortunately, they died before they could see the birth of the Third Period. The me you see before you now is just a simple avatar. …As the name implies, the ‘graveyard’ is the gravesite of the First Period’s humans. Everyone sleeps there.”

As Behemo said that, he gave a lonely smile.

--Just like Sickle’s story earlier, there was no guarantee that what Behemo had shared was the truth.

But Allen had no way to verify it.

“Hey…Behemo,” Sickle asked. “Was what we did...meaningless? The Third Period we worked so hard to create was also destroyed in the end.”

“I don’t think it was.” Behemo patted Sickle’s top panel as though in praise. “But time moves on. You and I…are beings of the past. The future from here on—”

Behemo stood, and along with Sickle looked towards Allen.

“—We shall leave to you and yours. I know that you’ll make better use of our mistakes.”

<<prev------directory------next>>

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detectivecarlosreyes · 4 years ago

Text

In Case of Emergency (Ch 4/10)

Ao3 | 2.7/6.1k | Eventual Buddie | Status: Incomplete

Prev. Chapter | Next Chapter

Chapter 4: A shoulder to cry on They haven't heard from Eddie in 3 days since Shannon's passing and Buck is worried. An additional scene set between 2x17 and 2x18

It was months later when Buck used Eddie’s key for the second time, half wishing it was for an actual emergency because at least then he would know what to do.

It had been three days since Shannon had passed away and he couldn’t help but worry about Eddie. Realistically, he knew that Eddie had Chris, his Abuela, and Tia to keep him company, but it wasn’t enough to stop him from worrying until he heard from or saw the man in person.

No one had heard a word from the man since the accident, not that he expected to hear from the grieving man, but all of his attempts to contact the man had him stonewalled and left on read with nary a reply, so he could only begin to imagine how the man was doing.

“Any word from Eddie?” He asked while they took the opportunity for a 3 pm lunch, passing Hen her sandwich, hoping that maybe he’d reached out to someone.

“Haven’t since the hospital,” Chim responded in between mouthfuls of his sandwich and looked to Hen who shrugged and shook her head empathetically.

“Last I spoke to him was when I let him know he could have a much time as he needed and that wasn’t much of a conversation.” Added Bobby as he packed away the sandwich fillings.

Buck nodded along in understanding but still feeling uneasy, unsure of what he could do to help his grieving partner. It takes him the rest of the shift to decide but eventually he figured it would be worth it to at least check on him in person on his way home after shift.

Before leaving the station, he sent a quick message to Eddie.

Me: I know you haven’t answered any of my other messages but thought I might stop by on my way home tonight, just thought I’d give you a heads up if you didn’t want me to.

Eddie: Read 8:28pm

It was nearing 9 pm by the time Buck made it to Eddie’s place. He intended to be there much earlier, but he ended up stopping along the way to pick up a Nutella pizza and beer figuring Eddie might like some comfort food.

Buck checked his phone when he parked outside Eddie’s house. Taking the lack of response as a sign that he didn’t not want him to come over. He slid the beer and pizza from the passenger seat into his lap before getting out and locking the truck.

As he walked up to the house, he hesitated a few steps from his Jeep briefly reconsidering this whole idea, doubt colouring his thoughts about whether or not he was overstepping just to give himself peace of mind. With a bite of his lip, he surged forward to the door pushing past the indecision and gave it a cursory knock before using the key to unlock it.

Upon entering, he could hear the faint sound of the tv as he tentatively made his way inside calling out to Eddie, wondering if he was even going to accept his presence. Moving through the house he passed the empty living room immediately noting the lack of Chris’ presence and energy within the walls despite the hour, the heavy weight of sorrow taking his place.

He found his partner in the kitchen peering absentmindedly into the fridge seemingly unaware Buck had been calling his name and watched as he startled slightly when he closed the fridge door having taken nothing out of it.

“Uh, hey man. Thought you might like some company.” Buck said cautiously, unable to read Eddie’s face like he normally could. Eddie’s eyes momentarily flickered with what looked to be gratitude before taking the beer out of his hand and carried it to the living room.

Taking that as an invitation to hang around, Buck followed him, concern blossoming in his chest. Eddie set the beer down, immediately taking one, and opened it as he collapsing on the couch. Buck did the same, placing the pizza down next to the beer and fell into the adjacent armchair.

The tv was quietly playing some kind of nature documentary and it was only now that Buck noticed looking around that most of the lights were off except the lamp sitting behind the couch bathing them in muted light.

He turned his attention back to Eddie, who has slouched down into the couch, staring glassy-eyed at the tv with the beer resting on his leg, untouched. He looked exhausted, with dark shadows under his eyes and hair mussed. It looked like he hadn’t shaved since Buck last saw him which, considering the circumstance was unsurprising. All in all, he looked like what you’d expect of a man who had recently lost his wife.

“I – Uh, brought a Nutella pizza, it’s not the healthiest of choices but I’ve always found that it’s surprisingly good comfort food. Though, you don’t have to eat it if you don’t want to.” Buck rambled, unsure of what else to say. Eddie barely acknowledged that he heard aside from a quick glance at him and the box, staying silent as he turned back to stare off in the direction of the tv.

Buck rubbed the back of his neck feeling kind of awkward, “Look, man. I don’t know how you must be feeling right now, but I’m here if you wanted someone to talk to or I can just sit here quietly…” he took in Eddie’s far off expression, “…or I can just go if that’s what you want.”

He moved to get up taking the quiet as an answer, but Eddie quickly snagged his wrist, halting his movement. Buck looked down at him, who in turn was looking up at him with glistening eyes.

It was then that Eddie uttered a small, “Don’t go, not yet.”

With a look like that, Buck couldn’t imagine being able to deny such a request, his heart just wouldn’t allow it.

He sat back down, choosing instead to take a seat next to Eddie on the couch, shuffling closer to him until their legs were pressed together. Eddie sagged into the couch following Buck’s seating choice and released what sounded to be a relieved sigh, seemingly taking comfort in the contact. After some moments he leaned forward and set the still untouched beer on the coffee table and then rested his forearms on his knees with his hands hanging between them and head bowed.

“The house is so quiet when Chris isn’t here, even when he’s asleep it never feels like this. My Abuela and Tia have been here ever since they found out about the accident but today, they thought it might be a good idea for Chris to stay with them tonight just so I could have some time for myself to process.”

He absentmindedly reached for a slice of pizza and took a small bite of it before setting it on top of the box, “I just don’t know what to do with myself. The funeral is a day from now, my family and her family are coming, and I have no idea of what I’m going to do or say.”

He continued, voice now thick with emotion, “I was ready to be a family again, I thought we were having another kid together and then we weren’t. I was ready to be a family again and she wanted a divorce and then she died just like that,” Eddie choked back a sob, “Even after all of that and everything that we went through, I still loved her.”

It was then that he started to cry in full force over this admittance, letting the grief and the emotions that were mingled in with it flow through him through his tears.

Not knowing what to say, Buck did the only thing he could think to do and silently wrapped a supportive arm around Eddie’s shoulders as he crumpled in on himself.

Eddie’s body shook with the heavy sobs as he turned his head into Buck’s shoulder, soaking the material of his shirt with his tears. Feeling his heart break for the man that he’s grown to care for, Buck rubbed soothing circles into Eddie’s shoulder as he cried, knowing there was nothing that he could say that would ease this kind of pain.

They stayed like that for some time, Buck just holding Eddie until the flow of tears start to dry up and Eddie pulled away, wiping at his face and looking embarrassed. Buck let his arms fall away, allowing Eddie as much space as he wanted.

“Sorry, I’m never like–”

Buck interrupted him with a stalling hand before he could finish what he was about to say, “Don’t say another word, you have nothing to apologise for. I’m here for you, whatever you need, even if it meant just being a shoulder to cry on.”

“Thank you,” breathed Eddie softly as he gave him a small smile.

“Did you want me to stay?” Buck asked gently, seeing now that Eddie might need the company.

He watched as Eddie slouched down and rest his head on the back of the couch, tilting his head to the side look at him. “Could you? You make it feel less quiet, you always do.”

Buck slumped down, mirroring Eddie as he took in the smoothed lines of his face in the glow of the tv, making himself more comfortable while keeping his knee in contact with Eddie’s.

“Okay then, I’ll stay.” He breathed, knowing that he would do anything Eddie asked of him

They stayed like that for a couple of hours, with Buck quietly telling Eddie about all the calls that he had missed over the last couple of days, embellishing where he could. Eddie for his part, did his best to respond and ask questions when appropriate, but as the time passed, his answers shortened and started turning into hums, and eventually he slid sideways against Buck, lightly snoring.

Buck carefully moved out from under him and gently set him down on the couch, lifting his feet up so that he was lying more comfortably on his side. He then went to Eddie’s room and grabbed the comforter and a pillow and brought them back to the lounge room, easing the pillow under his friend’s head before draping the comforter over him.

With hands on his hips, he tore his gaze from the sleeping man to survey the rest of the room and decided to, at the very least, clear up the coffee table, gathering the beers and pizza, moving them to the kitchen. Placing both onto the bench, he scratched his head in dismay.

There were a number of dishes piled up beside and in the sink. It looked as though nothing had been washed in a few days, that is not to say that Eddie didn’t have or use his dishwasher, he did, except for the fact that it was currently half full of clean dishes.

Realising that it was too late to get stuck into them now as it was past midnight and not wanting to wake Eddie with the clattering of dishes, Buck made a mental note to tackle the cleaning in the morning and instead put both the pizza and what was left of the beer in the fridge.

When he returned to the living room, he kicked off his shoes and set them by the door before grabbing the blanket draped on the back of the armchair and settled into the chair for the night watching the quiet rise and fall of Eddie’s chest, letting the rhythm lull him to sleep as he kept his promise to stay.

** ** ** ** ** ** **

Eddie woke up suddenly for no discernible reason, confusion muddling his thoughts as he took in his surroundings. Why was he sleeping on the couch? And how did his comforter and pillow get from his bedroom to the living room? He jolted upright, now realising that the reason he woke up was because there were noises coming from the kitchen.

A quick surge of panic rose within him and he threw back the comforter preparing to defend himself against the intruder as he heard the footfalls travelling towards the kitchen doorway. Almost as quickly as it had come, the panic vanished and was replaced by relief as soon as Buck came into view carrying two mugs of coffee, bringing forth the memory of the night before.

“Morning.” Buck greeted as he set down a mug in front of Eddie on the coffee table before sighing and falling into the armchair.

Looking him up and down, Eddie noticed that Buck was wearing exactly the same clothing as he was the night before, minus the shoes. The blanket that was usually folded and draped on the back of the armchair was now bundled and spilling over the arm.

Eddie took a sip of the coffee, watching Buck as he did so.

“You stayed.” He murmured over the lip of the mug, both unsurprised and surprised that the man had stayed in the awkward chair for the night just because he asked him to stay.

“I said that I would,” answered Buck easily.

They fell into a companionable silence after that, not feeling a need to fill the air with words, instead sipping contentedly at their coffees. It wasn’t until he had finished half of the mug that Buck announced that he answered a call from Pepa on Eddie’s phone earlier, saying that she would be over with Christopher in an hour or so.

Once their coffees were drained, they straightened up the living room, gathering up the bedding from the couch and took it back to the bedroom, it was here that Buck cleared his throat, “Hey, Eds.”

Eddie hummed in response, focusing on smoothing out the comforter.

“I know we’ll be on shift when the funeral is scheduled, but if you want, I’ll ask Bobby if we can stop by…”

“You don’t have to Buck, it’s okay if you guys can’t make it, I’ll have my family there,”

“I want us to. To be there for you.”

Touched by his insistence, Eddie looked up and gave him a small smile, “That would be nice.”

Buck matched his smile with one of his own, “Okay then.”

And that was that. Buck left shortly after once everything was in order, claiming that Eddie should take some time to himself to clean up and sort himself before his son came home, to which he didn’t disagree as he ran a hand across his jawline.

It was only after Buck had left and Eddie had taken a shower did he notice that the laundry hamper in the bathroom was void of any clothes causing him to do a double take. Puzzled, he headed to the laundry, still wrapped in his towel, only to discover two neatly stacked piles of freshly washed and dried clothes, one for him and one for Christopher.

He smiled to himself taking his stack to his bedroom and got dressed. Stomach now grumbling from the lack of breakfast, Eddie made his way to the kitchen to discover that Buck had also cleaned every inch of the kitchen. All the dishes had either been washed by hand and stacked or been put in the dishwasher which was only a few minutes away from finishing its cycle.

He opened the fridge revealing the last surprise of the morning, a jug of pancake batter with a post-it note attached to it, “Eat Me! :)” was inscribed on it in Buck’s scrawl causing Eddie to actually chuckle to himself, something that he didn’t think was possible since Shannon had passed. He pulled out his phone and send Buck a text.

Me: I hope that note isn’t suggesting that these pancakes will make me a giant like Alice. Me: Thanks again for everything you’ve done.

Buck’s response was almost immediate.

Buck: Can’t say I can promise anything about the pancakes ;) Buck: No worries man, I said I’d have your back.

Eddie smiled at the phone before putting it in his pocket and turned his attention to making some pancakes wondering how he could even come close to returning the favour. As it turned out, that opportunity came about sooner than he expected.

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ellewritesathing · 5 years ago

Text

(Un)Requited - I.L. II

Summary: Isaac Lahey had gone through many twists and turns in his life, but none of them compared to the whiplash he got when you asked him to tutor you. With a few weeks until the end of the semester and the big dance coming up, he’s hoping to figure out a way to ask you to go with him before it’s too late.

Masterlist Prev. | Part 2

Word-count: 3.3k+

A/N: i’m sorry for taking forever to update this but!! here we are!! i hope you guys enjoy it!! 💕💕

“Life coaching?” Derek repeated, looking up from his book for the first time all morning. He hadn’t interrupted Isaac once or shown any sign that he was listening, and then all he said was two words.

Isaac tried to be offended by his tone, but honestly, the idea was a little ridiculous. He couldn’t blame Derek for thinking it was a dumb idea, especially after hearing thousands of dumb ideas from Erica and Boyd over the years.

“Yes. Life coaching,” Isaac said, folding his hands neatly in his lap.

“I think it’ll be good for him,” Erica said, grabbing an apple off the table. She started cutting it with a knife as she spoke, “I mean, it’s obvious that his life is in shambles.”

“Hey!” Isaac said defensively. It was true but she didn’t need to say it.

Erica shrugged and offered him a slice of her apple.

“Yeah, that was a little harsh,” Boyd said as he slid his oatmeal bowl away from him. Isaac was going to thank him but then he continued, “It’s only obvious to us because we live with him.”

“Hey!” Isaac whined.

Erica laughed and ate a slice of her apple, talking through her full mouth and offering cut pieces to Boyd. Their lighthearted bickering soon devolved into a fight, with threats of claws coming out and knowing comments about what would happen when the other slept. Isaac tried to be cool and calm about it, but Erica knew exactly how to push his buttons.

“Look, it doesn’t matter what you guys think anyway,” Isaac said eventually, arms crossed over his chest and breakfast untouched. “I’m doing it.”

Before Erica could snap at him, Derek got up and drew all the attention to himself. “Is it going to interfere with our plans?”

“No,” Isaac answered immediately. At least he didn’t think it would.

“Then do it…” Derek locked eyes with Isaac over an empty bowl of cereal that he was clearing away “-quietly.”

Isaac figured he must have pulled a face because all three of them started laughing and Derek was telling him to lighten up and that he was making a joke. He had to pretty wound up if Derek I-Never-Smile Hale was telling him to lighten up, but Isaac picked up what he meant: Isaac could spend all the time he wanted with you, but his duty to his pack came first.

Like you would ever want to get close enough to him to interfere with the pack, but a guy could dream.

---

The week could not have possibly gone by any slower, but eventually it ended and all Isaac had to do was wait it out until Monday ended (which took forever). Then it would be Tuesday. Then he could talk to you again, because then it would be the first of hopefully many tutoring sessions.

The fact that Isaac planned all this out was kind of embarrassing - and he knew he could never plan enough when it came to you because you made him act like an even bigger idiot than he already was - but is it so bad that he wanted to be prepared? That he didn’t want to embarrass himself in front of you?

Now that he was sitting next to you, though, Isaac realized that he would never be prepared for you and he would never not embarrass himself. You were sitting next to him, looking like you just stepped out of a magazine shoot to boost literacy in teens; hands covered in ink, messy eraser shavings on the ends of your sweater, and deep lines of concentration on your face. And he couldn’t stop staring. It was embarrassing.

“I’m not getting it,” you said in a quiet voice. You sighed and sat back in your seat, clearly frustrated. “I’ll just marry up. I hear trophy wives never need to do algebra.”

Isaac laughed. “You’re not gonna be a trophy wife,” he said. He thought that would make you feel better but you raised an eyebrow at him. “Uh, I mean, of course you’ll be a trophy wife. You’re really hot- I mean. Anyone who ends up with you will be- I just meant that, you know, you’ll get this. You don’t have to-”

Now it was your turn to laugh. And though he panicked at first, your laugh eased all of Isaac’s worries and he relaxed into his seat … until you put your hand on his arm and sat up. You looked at him with kind eyes and made his heart beat out of his chest. “Show me again?” you asked with a smile.

“Yeah, sure,” Isaac said once he started breathing again. “Okay, so-” he took the pencil out of your hand “-The problem you have is that you don’t carry over your coefficients. See? Like this.”

When Isaac stole a glance at you out of the corner of his eye, you were biting your lip as you stared at his messy handwriting. Logically, he understood that you were trying to figure out the problem but irrationally he was cursing out his dad for breaking his hand because he was wasting too much time drawing comics. His handwriting had never recovered and he was convinced that you were staring at it and not the numbers on the page.

“Okay, coefficients. Got it,” you said with a small nod after a few seconds that felt like lifetimes. “And I add them?”

“No. Multiply.”

“Huh.” You got so quiet that Isaac could hear you breathing. He could do that before thanks to his super-senses, anyway, but you were so close now. It was different. It made him more flustered when you were inches away.

You reached over his arm for the hand that was holding the pencil and Isaac almost passed out. Were you trying to hold his hand? No, you were writing something. Should he let go? What was the protocol for this?

“Like this?” you asked when you were done, not noticing his existential crisis.

“Uh…” Isaac looked down and pretended to pay attention. Your handwriting looked perfect, but then again everything you did was perfect to him. “Yeah. Yeah, that’s perfect!”

“I did it?” you asked, frowning at the page. Isaac laughed and nodded, mumbling something encouraging that he didn’t pay attention to. “I did it!” You let go of his hand and lifted both of your hands in the air in surprise. It was adorable. You were adorable.

“You did it,” Isaac smiled. He sat up straighter and started flipping to another section in the textbook. “Ready to tackle something new?”

“No.” The words came out a little too fast and Isaac smiled at you again. “I just mean … I should practice this some more before we go on, right? Just to make sure.”

Isaac closed the book and shrugged lightly as he leaned back in his chair. “If that’s what you want, then sure.”

You laughed slightly at him and pushed some hair behind your ear. “You’re so sweet, Isaac. Thanks for this.”

“Yeah, of course,” Isaac said. His voice had dropped to a quieter volume and you held his gaze for a few seconds. He wasn’t sure what he did but it felt like time slowed down for that split second. Isaac would have given anything to know what you were thinking.

You spent the next fifteen minutes doing practice problems, and Isaac spent that time trying to focus on his English assignment - a task made undoubtedly more difficult whenever your knee accidentally brushed his leg. Who cared about Hamlet and his mommy issues when you were right there?

“Okay! Done!”

You beamed as you slid the piece of paper over to him. Your smile fell as Isaac started checking your answers, but he could have told you that you had nothing to worry about. Even if every answer was wrong, you’d get it eventually.

After checking them all, Isaac looked up at you and smiled at how anxious you were. You were biting your lip and your eyes were double the size as you waited for him to give his verdict.

“You’re going to be putting me out of business soon,” Isaac said, looking back down at the paper and sliding it over to you.

You laughed again and Isaac felt his heart melt in his chest. He’d be dead by the time finals week came around.

“Speaking of business,” you said as you let out a breath after filing the practise questions. You shifted in your chair to look at him, drumming your fingers on the table lightly. “When do you want to get together for me to teach you about girls?”

Your tone was playful but there was something in your voice that Isaac couldn’t place. That uncertainty, coupled with the fact that he’d forgotten that he asked you to do that, resulted in Isaac staring at you with wide eyes and a stumped expression.

He realised he had to say something so Isaac sputtered out the first words that came to his mind. “Friday? After school?”

“Don’t you have lacrosse practice then?” you asked. Isaac frowned slightly; he didn’t know that you knew he was on the team.

“Oh, right. That,” Isaac said awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. You laughed again and Isaac used that time to think of something to say. The weekend felt too far away to suggest it. Even if it was just a day later than Friday.

“I’ll tell you what,” you said with a smile as you started packing away your things. “I’ll sit in the stands while you practice. You can check my homework when you’re done. And then we can go to my place to talk things through. Sound good?”

“Sounds great,” Isaac exhaled. He couldn’t believe this was working or that you offered to sit through his lacrosse practise and then spend the rest of the afternoon with him.

“Perfect,” you smiled. You got up and shouldered your backpack, throwing a smile at him over your shoulder. “See you at practice, Lahey.”

God, did you just wink at him?

Isaac watched you walk away, and - once he deemed the distance to be enough - he slumped down in his chair and groaned. He was in way over his head. And he was only digging himself deeper. How was he going to get through practice without taking a ball to the face if he knew you were watching?

---

Lacrosse practice was going surprisingly well considering that Isaac had a heart attack every time he looked at the stands and saw you cheering him on instead of doing your homework. At least, Isaac thought it was going well until he saw the look on Coach’s face.

“Lahey! What the hell has gotten into you?”

The whole team was jogging back to the bench to be dismissed, and Isaac didn’t think he was that bad during the practice to warrant getting called out. Greenberg sucked way more than he did and Stiles can’t play for shit.

“Uh, I had something different for breakfast?” Isaac said uncertainly, turning his lacrosse stick over on itself as he spoke.

Coach looked at him like he was insane. Worse, actually: like he was Greenberg. But then he said, “Well, whatever that was you better keep eating it! You hear me? You were great out there!”

“I was?”

“This is why I’m not nice to any of you.” There was that glare again as Coach pointed his finger accusingly at Isaac. He shook his head and threw his arm in the direction of the locker rooms. “Hit the showers! You all stink!”

Isaac started heading that way when he saw you running down the bleachers with a notebook in your hands. His heart beat faster than when he thought Coach was going to kick him off the team.

“You were great!” You were beaming at him again. “I think. I know more about algebra than I do lacrosse.”

Isaac laughed. “Well, maybe I could show you how to play sometime,” he said with a small smile. He felt strangely at ease now that you were next to him.

“I’d like that,” you smiled, voice quiet again but still smiling. “Uh, do you want to check this before or after you shower?”

“I can do it now.” Isaac sat on the bench and read through your practice problems. “You missed a few but most of them are good. Solid B- work.”

"B-?” you repeated.

Isaac’s heart spiked. Was he supposed to lie to get you to like him? Was he supposed to just say everything was right?

“That’s great!” You took the notebook and pencil, staring at the ones Isaac had marked wrong. You didn’t even look up at him when you spoke next. “Go shower, I’ll be right here when you’re done!”

Though Isaac was confused and a little distrusting while he showered and changed, he still felt good about the interaction. It was the first time you two had spoken and he hadn’t stuttered - that was a start.

True to your words, you were sitting on the team bench when Isaac came out. You'd swapped the algebra homework for a book in the time he was gone and you didn't seem to notice him until he was right next to you.

“Pride and Prejudice,” Isaac said after reading over your shoulder. “The one with Keira Knightley is my favourite.”

“Mine too.” You looked up at him with a smile and closed the book. Your cheeks looked slightly flushed, but that was probably from all the sun and nothing he’d done. It was gone an instant anyway. “Are you ready to go?”

Isaac nodded and you got up, shouldering your bag. He picked up the notebook that was lying next to your bag and held onto it as the two of you walked towards your car.

“You carry my books, you’re smart, and like Pride and Prejudice?” you asked, nudging him with your elbow and giving him a smile. “Why do you need me to impress your dream girl? You seem like a real catch to me already.”

Isaac didn't know how to respond so he laughed and scratched the back of his head, mumbling something about not being so sure about that. He was quiet for most of the drive to your house, just stealing glimpses of you as you hummed along to the radio and giving you a quick thank you for giving him a ride when you stopped in the driveway.

He stayed a few steps behind you as you walked up to the front door and unlocked it. You let him in and dropped your bag inside, shaking off your jacket and kicking off your shoes. You said he could do the same, if he was comfortable, and flashed him another heart-stopping smile.

“I’ve just gotta feed Max,” you said. “Do you want something from the kitchen?”

“Just some water,” Isaac said politely.

“Sure thing.”

You motioned for him to follow and he did. Isaac watched as you filled up a bowl with dog food, and no sooner had you set it down had an Australian shepherd come bounding around the corner and into your leg.

“Hey, buddy,” you laughed, rubbing his back. “This is Isaac. He’s gonna be hanging around for a bit, okay? Hey, you’re not allergic to animals, right? It’s probably a little late to ask.”

“Me? Oh, uh, no. Don’t worry about it.” Isaac smiled and bent down to stick his hand out but Max didn’t like that. He barked and you jumped.

“Max!” You reprimanded him and tugged on his collar to keep him close to you. “Buddy, come on. Isaac’s a friend.”

Max simmered down so, after apologizing a few times and offering to take him to the yard, you turned to grab some glasses from the cupboard and Isaac decided to make his move. The only way to get Max to cut it out was to show him who he really was. So, while your back was turned, Isaac flashed his bright yellow eyes at the dog and watched his demeanor change.

Max let out a small whimper before padding over and curling up around Isaac’s feet.

“See, buddy, I knew you’d like him,” you said happily when you turned to find Isaac and Max. You handed Isaac his water and crouched to pet Max. Looking up at Isaac, you said, “I’m so sorry. Max is usually never like that with strangers.”

Isaac smiled, relieved that you didn’t suspect anything. “Yeah, no worries. We’re all good now.”

“Yeah, you are.” You smiled at him again and rubbed Max one last time before standing up and getting ready to walk out of the kitchen. “I was thinking we could just go to my room and talk for today?”

“You, uh- your room?” Isaac repeated, immediately reverting back to being nervous. He knew you obviously didn’t mean anything by it, but still. Erica and Cora were the only girls whose rooms he’d ever been in, and they both tried to kill him before he made it two feet in the door.

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep the door open,” you said with a mischievous smile and Isaac mentally slapped himself for being so awkward. Then you added while the two of you were walking, “Plus, it’s not like anyone else is home,” and he tripped up the stairs.

Luckily you didn’t say anything about his literal and figurative misstep.

Isaac figured if he could just stop his heart from beating out of his chest, he might actually have a shot at pulling this off. That is, until he walked into your room and saw possibly the biggest, fluffiest, and angriest cat he’d ever seen. If Max had been a challenge, this cat would be a near impossible feat to get over.

Isaac hovered at the door, not taking his eyes off the cat. “You have a cat?”

“Oh, yeah.” You set your glass down and walked over to the bed, scooping up the ball of fluff. The cat made an upset sounding noise at being woken up, but started purring as soon as it realised it was in your arms. Jesus, that thing had to be bigger than your entire torso. “This is Magnus. I got him when Alex went off to college.”

“Oh.”

“You wanna pet him?” you asked, pulling increasingly adorable faces at the cat. You laughed when Magnus bonked his head into yours. “He’s a little grumpier than Max but he’ll warm up to you just the same.”

“Uh, sure,” Isaac lied. He reached out a tentative hand and Magnus swatted it away, claws and all. He made a low growling noise and leapt out of your arms.

“Ow!” You winced as Magnus jumped, clearly not expecting the abrupt motion. “Oh, my god, Isaac. Are you okay?”

You reached for Isaac’s hand and he almost blacked out. The jolt of electricity that started where your fingers grazed his hand and spread through the rest of his body surprised him. You were holding his hand in both of yours, inspecting it gently.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I don’t think he got me,” Isaac said quietly. You were so focused that speaking any louder felt wrong.

It also felt wrong to lie to you. Technically, Magnus had scratched him but it wasn’t deep so, in the seconds it took you to process what happened, the scratch had healed. Isaac was perfectly fine now.

You were still frowning at his hand, though, and Isaac worried he’d done something to mess it all up, that you could somehow sense he was lying.

“Hey,” Isaac said gently, turning his hand around so he was the one holding your hand. Aside from the minor cardiac attack it caused, it felt good. Meant to be. “I’m fine. Promise.”

“I could’ve sworn he scratched you,” you said, equally gentle and quiet. You shook your head and laughed under your breath. “You think I’m crazy now, don’t you?”

“There is literally nothing you could tell me that would make me think you’re crazy,” Isaac laughed. If you knew half the stuff he’d seen since joining Derek’s pack …

You gave him a small smile and squeezed his hand before pulling away. “So, you wanna get started?”

Part 3

Tagged: @ietss @lettherebelovex

#isaac lahey #teen wolf #isaac lahey imagine #isaac lahey fanfiction #isaac lahey x reader #(un)requited

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cheryyori · 5 years ago

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SK8TERBOY - Skaterboy!Yeosang/Soft!Reader Social Media AU ft. side pairing: Seonghwa/OC

Genre: Pure fluff (possible smut has yet to be determined)

A.N. Whoop, new update, not a lot of Yeosang bc Y/N is a bit of a mess rn. Also italics is Japanese. Also a bonus chapter about Seonghwa and Sumire’s date from the last two chapters will be coming soon bc I’m soft for them.

Chapter summary: It was supposed to be a nice evening between roommates/friends until Y/N gets an unknown text from what might be Yeosang and starts freaking out on what to do. Aka Y/N is still up to her usual clownery.

Taglist: @philosopher-of-fandoms @mangobee @mingiibabieee @yourbunny-xxii @angelichris-b97 @yeosatinyngz @kimtae-bae

(let me know if you want to be added to the taglist!)

Masterlist. prev. next.

Chapter 4. You’re Pretty Cute

Once Y/N returned home, she dropped her bag onto the floor and kicked her shoes off before flopping face down onto the couch. A muffled loud groan left her lips as she recalled her clownery.

“Oh god, she’s finally lost it,” a voice mutters, followed by the sound of a slap to the shoulder. Yusung, Y/N thinks as she recognized the deep voice of his.

“Yusung, don’t be rude!” another says in a harsh whisper. Y/N knew that it was Suzaku who was berating the younger.

“What? It’s not our fault she’s an idiot,” Yusung said. Suzaku smacked his shoulder again, only this time harder than the last one, “Ouch, will you stop that, you bastard!”

“You know that said idiot can hear you, right?” Another chipped in. Junho had been sitting on the other couch, adjacent to the one Y/N flopped onto while scrolling on his phone for anything remotely interesting.

“I have such great friends,” Y/N huffs as she looked up to see the three boys. She could see Yusung stand tall (the bastard being the tallest out of all of them and using his height to make many short jokes at both her and Sumire’s expenses) besides Suzaku who had a concerned look on his face.

“Again, not our fault that you’re an idiot sometimes,” Yusung said once again. Suzaku elbowed him but used one hand to cover the small smile on his lips.

“This is bullying! I will not stand for such slander!” Y/N cried as she sat up, a pout on her lips as she glared at the boys. Junho remained unfazed by the whole exchange, ignoring his group of friends as usual. Yusung, on the other hand, stuck his tongue out at Y/N.

“You two are being loud, shut up!” A female groaned. Emerging from the kitchen, Sumire had a tired looked on her face. Her hair a mess as she walked into the living room, apparently she had been sleeping before the commotion.

“Sumi!” Y/N whined, “They’re bullying me again!” She said as she pointed to the boys, standing up as she went to Sumire’s arms. Sumire only sighed and placed a small pat on Y/N’s back in a weak attempt to comfort her.

“Sumi, you can’t blame us for Y/N’s own clownery!” Y/N heard the soft snort that escaped from Sumire’s lips and pulled away, staring at her in betrayal.

“Sorry,” there a small smile on her lips, “but it was kinda funny to read the whole thing,” Sumire explains. Y/N groaned as rest her head on her shoulder, wanting nothing more than to forget this moment.

“Don’t remind me,” Y/N whined, “I was so excited to see him again and thinking about what nonsense you three idiots were spamming in the chat that I totally spaced out and forgot to ask for his number!”

“Disappointed, but not surprised,” Junho mutters to himself but Y/N’s ears perked up at his words.

“Nam Junho! You are rude!” Y/N fumed. Junho merely shrugged and continued scrolling through his phone. Sumire sighed and decided that since she was up now, she might as well get started on dinner.

“I’m going to make dinner now, feel free to join me if you’re bored─no, not you Yusung!” She gave Yusung a pointed look as he started heading towards the kitchen, “Don’t think you’re still off the hook from the rice cooker incident last night.”

“Oh my god, it was an accident, how was supposed to know you plug the damn thing in?”

“How do you burn rice without having it plugged in?” She replied, raising a brow at him. Yusung opened his mouth before promptly closing it, not wanting to be judged more than he already was by his best/childhood friend.

“Fine. I’ll go play with Iroha, at least she’ll appreciate me!” He grumbled as he stalked over to the small ragamuffin kitten that was settled in the corner. “Iroha-chan! Come play with uncle Sungie!” He cooed as he picked up the small kitten and the toy that had caught her attention.

"I think I’m gonna be in my room for a bit,” Y/N said, “Today was quite eventful,” she mutters as she slowly dragged her feet to her room. Sumire almost felt bad for her friend. Almost, if she didn’t recall the texts she had with Seonghwa earlier. It will only be a matter of time when Yeosang will text Y/N.

“Alright, I’ll call you when dinner’s ready,” Y/N nodded and went inside her room, flopping onto her bed. Y/N closed her eyes, her mind constantly replaying her time with Yeosang and felt her cheeks heat up. Her heart suddenly picked up as she thought about him in general and let her thoughts wonder if he was dating anyone. Would he want to date her-

“AH! Y/N stop thinking like that!” She shrieked as she smacked her warm cheeks lightly again. “You don’t even know him! And you didn’t get his number! Maybe this is a sign that you’re going to be forever alone,” she scolded herself before letting out a dejected sigh.

It was then that her phone went off, Y/N figured that it might have been either one of the boys or Sumire and glanced over at the message before she let out a scream when she saw who texted her.

Meanwhile, in the living room/kitchen, everyone was doing their own thing to pass the time before dinner was ready when they heard Y/N’s voice coming from her room.

“What the fuck is going on?” Junho was the first to ask as he looked up from his phone.

“So it’s begun,” Sumire muttered to herself as she ignored Y/N’s scream and continued to cook. Suddenly Y/N rushed out of her room and into the kitchen, her phone in hand as she held it out towards Sumire.

“H-he─” Y/N couldn’t even make the first words out as she slowly started talking nonsense. This ruckus caused all the boys to walk into the kitchen (surprisingly Yusung wasn’t kicked out this time) to figure out what the hell was going on with their roommate.

“What the hell is going on with you?” Yusung asked, carrying Iroha in his arms. The ragamuffin kitten was oblivious to what was happening around her as she started to paw at his fingers.

“I-I, he─!” Y/N continued to babble before Sumire shuts off the stove and went over to take her phone.

“Oh,” she says, “He texted her.”

“Who did?” Suzaku asked, going over to Sumire’s side as he peered over her right shoulder while Junho peered over her left side.

“Her skaterboy friend,” Sumire replied.

“I thought you said you two didn’t exchange numbers,” Junho asked with a raised brow.

“W-we didn’t,” Y/N said.

“Then how the hell did he get you number?” Junho continued, skeptical of the idea that this was really her skaterboy crush who was texting her.

“U-uh, I don’t know,” Y/N mutters.

“Hey, here’s a crazy idea,” Sumire started, “Why don’t you, you know, ask him,” she suggested, handing her phone back.

“B-but that’s scary,” Y/N mutters, thinking what if it some stranger or worse. It actually was Yeosang, how the heck was she going to text him?

“Can’t you do it for me, Sumi?” Y/N asked, batting her eyes at her wife.

“No,” Sumire replies, “besides, it’s not that hard it’s just a text, you can text him. Also take a deep breath before you do, you look like you’re going to pass out,” she told Y/N, who was looking rather pale at the moment.

“I think Y/N rather die than do that,” Yusung snorted.

“Shut up, Yusung, don’t make me hit you,” Sumire glares at her childhood friend, eyes narrowing at him.

“As if you can reach me,” The boy mutters. At this, Sumire kicked the back of his knees, causing him to fall onto them.

“Ah, thank you for continuing to brighten my day, Sumire,” Junho smiled brightly at the sight.

“Dammit, Junho, you bastard!” Yusung grumbles as he sets Iroha safely on the ground and rubs the back of his knees.

“Anyways,” Sumire continued, glancing back at Y/N, “Just text him, trust me, it’s not that hard.”

“O-okay,” Y/N said as she took a deep breath. Just a text, she told herself before going replying to the unknown number might or might not be Yeosang.

“Oh my fucking god, Y/N,” Yusung muttered over her shoulder, apparently reading the text she just sent to Yeosang.

“S-shut up, Yusuck!” Y/N exclaimed with a red face before reading Yeosang’s reply, turning away from them all.

“So? Did he say how he got your number?” Suzaku asked curiously.

“He said that his roommate Seonghwa gave it to him,” Y/N replied, causing the boys to have a surprised look.

“Seonghwa? Like Sumi’s Seonghwa, Seonghwa?” Yusung asked. At this Sumire went back to cooking dinner, missing the suspicious look Junho cast her way before turning back to the conversation at hand.

“Yeah, I guess I must have given Seonghwa my number and he passed it along to Yeosang when heard about our situation,” Y/N concluded, earning a quiet snort from Sumire.

“Huh, that’s kinda anti-climatic, I thought skaterboy started typing in random numbers until he got your number right,” Yusung pouted before cooing at a mewing Iroha. Junho gave Sumire another glance and hummed to himself.

“Well, at least you have a way to get in contact with him,” Suzaku said, “And the fact that he texted you first means he likes you!”

“Oh my god, Suzaku, I barely know him!” Y/N sighed.

“But you think he’s cute, right?” He pressed. Y/N bit her lower lip because yes, she did think he was cute. And she hates how these little heathens knew that she thought he was cute.

“I mean yeah but─”

“Then why not ask him out?” Yusung chimed in, leaning forwards slightly, “I mean let’s be honest, we’re all sick of you complaining to us about wanting to go on cute dates whenever Sumi leaves the apartment to meet Seonghwa.”

“I-I─” Y/N’s cheeks were tinted pink as she gawked at Yusung, “I-I do not complain! I just think that going out with someone would be nice,” she pouted.

“Ah, you’re complaining again!”

“Shut up, Yusuck!” Y/N snapped before turning her attention back to her phone.

“CHO YUSUNG!” Y/N shrieked as Yusung stole her phone from her hands and replied to Yeosang. Her eyes were wide as she stared at the text he sent before she started hitting his chest with a red face.

“Ouch, ouch! Dammit, woman! You should be thanking me, I just secured you your future boyfriend!” Yusung whined as he grabbed her arms to stop her from hitting him anymore. Y/N will not be thanking him if anything she felt mortified.

“More like secured your own death,” Sumire comments.

“I AM GOING TO KICK YOU IN THE SHIN, CHO YUSUNG!”

“As much I would love to see that,” Junho drawled out, “I think your skaterboy called you cute as well,” he said as he swiped her phone out of Yusung’s hand and read the newest text.

“WHAT?!” Y/N took her phone back and stared at the screen, feeling oddly giddy as she read the text.

“Oh god, you’re already sending him cute love memes? You’re so whipped for him,” Yusung teased, beside him was a snickering Suzaku.

“Shut up, Yusuck! It was an accident! And Suzaku! How could you betray me like this!”

“Sorry, sorry, it’s kinda cute though,” Suzaku cooed, “This is the best and cutest entertainment since Seonghwa paced around the living room and asked for our permission to try to ask Sumi-chan on a date last week.”

“Anyways, dinner’s ready,” Sumire says, clearing her throat when her name was mentioned and placed five plates on the table they were all gathered around. The three immediately quiet down as everyone took their seats to enjoy dinner, a few teasing remarks from both Suzaku and Yusung as they poked fun at Y/N and her crush on Yeosang ( “It’s not a crush, you two!” “Aw, look at how red her cheeks are!” “Aw, how cute!” )

After dinner, they all went into their room to retire for the night.

#ateez fanfiction #ateez fanfic #ateez au #ateez fluff #ateez social media au #ateez sm au #ateez imagines #ateez scenarios #yeosang x reader #yeosang x you #yeosang fluff #kang yeosang #ateez yeosang #ateez x reader #skaterboy au #social media au #sm series: SK8TERBOY

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withyounct · 6 years ago

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What's wrong kid? (4)

Reader X Single dad!Jaehyun

Genre: Fluff

Words: 3.7k

Prompt: You notice a child crying at a school playground. You decide to see what’s up and meet an extremely stressed/extremely handsome father.

Prev | Next

A/n: We’re all going to pretend like I didn't disappear for over a week. Enjoy!

To say you were on cloud nine would be an understatement. The next morning you were greeted with a ‘Good morning, beautiful’ text from Jaehyun. You skipped around happily while you got ready for class, even going as far as making breakfast for everyone. It was common knowledge that you weren’t a morning person, so Kun and Ten ate the food with caution. Throughout the day you found yourself smiling about the night before.

While you were having the time of your life, your friends were suffering greatly.

“She’s grossing me out.” Jaemin whispered to the group while you stared out the window of the café, a smile ever visible on your face.

“You’re telling me. Some guy spilled coffee on her notebook and she didn’t kill him. Shit was wild.” Yangyang informed.

“Let me punch her one good time.” Renjun rolled up his sleeves for added effect

“No.” Jeno interjected.

Laughing, you turned to your friends. You leaned your head on Renjun’s shoulder and giggled. Renjun’s death glare softened when he glanced at your smiley disposition. He patted your head and asked what’s got you acting like an idiot. Sitting upright, you glanced at the group and broke out another stupid smile.

“Remember that cute little girl I'm babysitting, well she has a very handsome, very funny, very sweet, ver-”

“Say ‘very’ one more time and I swear to god.” Haechan hissed.

“Really amazing dad, who I may or may not have kissed.” You paused. “Well in all technicality he kissed me, but I kissed back. He even sent me a good morning text, how sweet is that? That’s not important, what is important is that I really like him guys.” You leaned down and planted your face on the table. You glanced up at your friends to gauge their reaction and was met with concern expressions. You leaned back up and bit your lower lip at the silence. “Words would be nice.”

“Um.” Lucas was the first to speak. He glanced at the group. “An older guy with a kid? Y/n you sure you know what you’re getting yourself into?”

You paused for a second. That certainly wasn’t the reaction you were hoping for or even expecting. But you understood where they were coming from. You weren’t the type to date, casual make-outs here and there, but admitting you liked someone was completely left field. Admitting you liked someone with a kid was out of the solar system in their mind.

“I get it and I love you guys for worrying, but I need you to trust me on this.” You tried, but was still met with the same concern expressions. You tried to smile, but it quickly turned into a pout.

“Okay, but we’re killing him if he hurts you.” Mark was surprisingly the first to break.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less.” You beamed.

The art department was hosting a free entrance gallery viewing on campus that evening. Renjun, being your group’s pride and joy Picasso, was being featured. Despite his pleads of ‘don’t come you’ll just embarrass me’, the collective unit showed up for support. Jaehyun texted you earlier that day that Taeil kidnapped Hyunjin and she was hanging out with him for the rest of the day, so you were free.

Ditching the rest of the group you and Jaemin, being the only civilized two, walked quietly around. Stopping at every painting, you started to feel a little self- conscious. There wasn’t anything outstanding that you were talented in and envied the liberal arts majors. Sulking, you expressed your sadness to Jaemin since he always did a wonderful job at cheering you up.

“Y/n, you’re the only person I know who can confidently tell me the stages of a star’s death with exact numbers and shit. If that’s not talent, then I don’t know what is.”

“Ah, my valued party trick.” You joked bumping his side.

You walked further into the gallery and stared in awe at Renjun’s piece. It was a beautiful oil painting of what the sky would look like if the Milky Way and Andromeda collided. There was a quote under his name on the plaque ‘in about 4 billion years, but the sun would have turned into a red giant and swallow the earth whole– someone great’. You looked at Jaemin surprised and he just smiled.

“I guess it’s his way of saying he misses you. Which I can relate. I'm beyond happy that you have feelings for someone, but we miss having you around all the time. Just don’t forget us okay?”

You felt the tears prick your eyes and tried to wield them back. The fact that Renjun would take the time and effort to paint something this elaborate with you in mind when he could have just easily texted made your heart ache. That coupled with Jaemin’s words broke the seal and tears started to fall. To hide them you wrapped yourself around him and mumbled ‘I hate you’ into his chest. You felt the rumble of his laugh and a kiss on the crown of your head.

“You found it.” Renjun’s voice broke through. He and the rest made their way over to you. Jaemin gently transferred you onto Renjun.

“You made her cry.” Jaemin teased. You buried yourself in Renjun’s chest, a little embarrassed that your emotions got the better of you. You felt Jaemin’s hand stroke your hair and heard the rest of your friends’ coo, each lovingly teasing you for your tears.

“I'm sorry I suck.” You cried. They of course disagreed with the statement, but you felt bad for ditching them and only today telling them why. You were a chaotic bunch, but when it came down to it you were each other’s support system.

“You’re being such a Pisces right know.” Haechan laughed, effectively killing the moment. You pushed yourself off Renjun and tried to choke him out.

You walked through the lobby of the gallery ready to go when you spotted a poster with Jaehyun’s name on it. Completely ignoring the conversation you were having with Haechan, you walked up to it.

“This Jaehyun that you might or might not be dating isn’t Jung Jaehyun, right? The guy who’s designing the new art building. Like the millionaire.” Renjun appeared next to you.

“No, it is.” You answered simply. You heard Renjun calmly hum before he screamed for everyone to help. An uproar surfaced over the topic.

“So, in conclusion, Y/n is a sugar baby.” Jaemin proclaimed.

“No, I'm not.”

“How much are you getting paid to babysit his child?” Yangyang asked.

“Not telling… Man look at the time I have to go home and rethink my life choices. See you tomorrow!”

“I quit.” You said while you and Jaehyun were preparing dinner. The statement completely caught him off guard causing him to drop the spatula and resulted in a mess over the stove. You quickly apologized and handed him a rag.

“Why? Was there something I did? Its school isn’t it? Having to watch Hyunjin and be a full-time student is too much. God Y/n I'm sorry I-”

“No, you didn’t do anything. It’s nothing like that.” You smiled, grabbing his hand. “My friends unknowingly made a good point the other day. I enjoy being around both you and Hyunjin and it feels weird that you pay me to do that. So, I quit.”

Jaehyun looked at you for a second, clearly trying to find the right words to say.

“An allowance?”

“Oh my god that’s worse. I'm not a sugar baby Jaehyun!” You busted out laughing and he did the same.

“I know I just want to see if you'd say that.” He confessed laughing. “Okay, if it makes you feel better, I’ll take your letter of resignation.” He placed a kiss on your lips.

“I saw that!” Hyunjin yelled as she finished setting the table.

“No, you didn’t!” Jaehyun yelled back.

Dinner was slightly more chaotic than usual. Hyunjin was convinced she saw you two kissing and Jaehyun was jokingly convinced that she needed glasses. The two went back and forth and you tried not to die from laughing. The climax of the dinner peaked when Hyunjin walked over and kissed you on the cheek. She proudly stuck her tongue out at her father and declared that she could kiss you too. You were convinced that the two Jungs were going to be the death of you.

You were washing the dishes when you felt arms snake around your waist. A smile spread as you were being gently swayed left and right, light peppered kisses sprinkled the back of your neck. You both stayed in silence as you finished your task.

“There’s a charity event tomorrow that I'm being forced, by Taeyong, to attend. I would be honored if you would accompany me?” He spun you around so you were facing him.

“Me? Are you sure? Plus, who’s going to take care of Hyunjin?” Insecurity was your immediate emotion. You were acutely aware of your different social classes as is, but going to a, mostly likely, high-end charity event wasn’t something you were comfortable with.

“She’s having a sleep over at her friend’s house. I only have to show my face for an hour an hour thirty tops, then the night is ours.” He said caressing your cheek. After giving it some thought, you reeled back your anxiety a bit.

“Okay.”

When you woke the next morning, you were hit with two panic thoughts. One, you were late, but decided fuck it you had enough absences left. Two, the most important one, you had nothing to wear that evening. You quickly grabbed your phone ready to cancel on Jaehyun when Ten opened your door. You both stared at each other for a second.

“Don’t tell Kun I'm skipping.” You pleaded.

“Got you. Also, there’s a tree in the living room that wants to see you.” He shrugged at your confused face and pointed to the living room.

“Johnny?” The surprised evident in your voice.

“Morning sunshine. I come bearing gifts.” He held up one large and small box. Hesitantly, you took them. “Jaehyun called me freaking out because his dumb ass asked you to the event tonight without making sure you had a dress ready. Lucky for you two, I exist.”

“Do you want me to try it on and mak-”

“Nah, it’ll fit. I'm late. See you tonight.” Before you could get anything else out, Johnny was out the door.

You glanced in the larger box to find a beautiful champagne lace off the shoulder dress. You stared in awe at how pretty it was. Turning it around you saw that the price tag was covered with a smile with its tongue out and a JS initial next to it. You laughed and found that the shoes and accessories shared the same mark.

“Wow.” Ten whistled picking up the shoes. “My baby is moving up in the world.” He carefully placed everything back in their boxes and ordered you to get ready for your next class.

The day flew by faster than you would have liked. At one point you demanded that Jeno acquire the power to slow time. Being the sweetest person ever, he tried.

You would be lying if you said you weren’t excited. Not knowing what to expect gave you anxiety, but the realization that you get to see Jaehyun in a three-piece suit made you want to scream. You looked down at your outfit and felt a little like a princess. It was nowhere near your usual attire and you had to give it to Johnny for picking out something this flattering for you. You did a little spin and chuckled.

A few minutes later, Jaehyun showed up and you were whisked away. During the car ride you would steal glances at him and saw him do the same. You were at a red light when you caught each other in the act, which caused you to laugh at your silliness.

“So, if you plan on only being there for an hour, why bring me?” You asked curious.

“Honestly, I wasn’t going to ask you. But the guys made a good point, that it would be rude not to invite my girlfriend and have other girls ‘fight over me the whole evening’. They said they’re tired of seeing that.” Jaehyun confessed without a thought. There was silence from your end of the car. He pulled up to another red light and turned to you.

“Girlfriend?” You said wide-eyed. You saw his face shift into panic mode.

“Shit I meant to say that in a more romantic setting.”

A stupid smile broke across your face. “No actually that was perfect.”

“Pretend you didn’t hear that and let me try again later.” He pleaded.

“Absolutely not.” You had to stop yourself from dying of laughter. The two of you debated over the semantics of a perfect confession until you reached the venue. Looking up at the five-star hotel you felt your anxiety rise again. You started biting on your bottom lip when you felt Jaehyun bring your face near his.

“You know you have a very dangerous nervous twitch.” You shuddered as his breath fanned your face. He glanced down at your bottom lip and placed a kiss on it as if apologizing for your abuse. “You don’t need to worry; I’ll be right by you the whole time.” He said before leaning in for a real kiss. This one was different than the rest, it was softer and warmer. It had a magical effect of putting your heart to rest. You pulled away when the valet arrived. Jaehyun tossed over his keys and guided you into the building. You were immediately hit with the smell of expensive perfume and cologne. Everything looked obnoxiously wealthy and you inwardly cringed, but put your best smile foreword.

“You have such a wonderful fake smile.” Jaehyun softly commented as he nodded at some random guy.

“Thanks. I hate everything right now.” You smiled at him. He snickered as he introduced you to some older man and his wife. You were polite and commented on how beautiful she was, and she immediately took a liking to you. Jaehyun pulled you around meeting people while introducing you as his girlfriend. Every time he said it your smile turned less and less fake.

After a few minutes your face started to hurt, and you were looking for a way out of meeting another round of rich people. Looking around, you spotted Jaehyun’s friends talking amongst themselves over champagne. You pulled on Jaehyun’s sleeve and nodded in their direction.

“You go. I’ll be there in a minute.” He whispered. You nodded and excused yourself.

“Damn I did a good job.” Johnny praised when you walked up, resulting in a smack on the arm by Taeyong.

“You look beautiful Y/n.” Taeyong commented. You let them know just how much you hated being there and they related with the feeling. Sicheng got you a glass and Taeil laughed at your disgusted face after you drank some.

Jaehyun approached and eyed you and the glass of champagne.

“I don’t see the hype.” You handed him the glass. They began to talk business and you tuned out. Jaehyun’s arm snaked around your waist and you copied the action. You looked up and smiled at him and heard Doyoung cooed.

“You just missed the cutest smile.” He nagged while hitting Jaehyun’s free arm.

“Jaehyun is that you?” A whiny female voice entered. Everyone’s head turned to the noise. You saw everyone excluding Jaehyun roll their eyes and looked yourself. It was a woman about the same age as the rest who was by all accounts stunning, but was wearing too much makeup and not enough clothes. She walked up and pulled him into a hug. Jaehyun, being ever the gentleman, pulled his arm from around you and hugged her back.

“Kate. How are you?” He smiled.

“I'm doing wonderful, so sweet of you to ask.” You saw Yuta fake gag. They talked for a minute before you were introduced.

“This is my girlfriend Y/n. Y/n this is Kate; her company has worked with mine in the past.” You put back on your fake smile, holding out your hand. She shook it as if it was contaminated, but your smile didn’t waiver. You could tell she didn’t like you which was fine since the feeling was mutual. She very clearly flirted with Jaehyun a bit more until he and the others were called over by one of the older men you were talking to earlier.

Awkward wasn’t the right word for the situation, but it was the one that fit it best. The two of you stood in silence as her acrylic nails tapped on the table.

“You’re a bit young aren’t you.” She stated. You had to suppress an eye roll. You nodded and told her that you were a college student. She then spent the next few minutes lowkey insulting you while masking it as older sister advice.

“Listen love, because I like you, I’ll let you in on a little secret. Guys who go after younger girls like yourself only want one thing.” She twirled your hair between her fingers.

Thoroughly done with her basic jealous attitude, you pulled yourself away from her.

“God your insults are as bland as your dress.” You sighed. “That may be true for some people, but I doubt he would put in the effort of bring me here, would he?” You smirked. “Desperation isn’t a cute look on anyone, love.” You smiled as you walked away. You turned to find Jaehyun’s friends close by with surprise faces.

“We were ready to tear that bitch a new one, but you got it.” Yuta said in awe.

“That’s it. You’re officially my child.” Doyoung was almost in tears.

“Where’s Jaehyun? We’re reaching two hours and I want to go.” You groaned. Taeil and Sicheng volunteered to hunt him down while Doyoung and Taeyong gave you a speech on the perks of being their collective child.

The minute you entered Jaehyun’s place you threw off your heels.

“I'm really sorry about tonight.” Jaehyun said picking the shoes up and putting them on a rack.

“Don’t apologize. I got two cool dads out of it.” You laughed laying down on the couch. “While I adore this dress Johnny got me, I would love nothing more than to get out of it.” You confessed innocently. It took you a second to realize the weight of your word. Leaning up, you saw how red Jaehyun went and a blush worked its way across your face.

“I know what you meant. I’ll get you something to change into.” He said quickly before disappearing down the hall. You face planted into the cushions and screamed until he came back. He handed you an oversized hoodie with a pair of shorts and told you that you could use his room to change in.

Walking down the corridor you noticed how oddly quiet everything was. Not having Hyunjin screaming and laughing about was an empty feeling. It was as if the house lost a bit of it color. You shook off the feeling and entered Jaehyun’s room.

You instantly fell in love. It was a soft cream-colored room with huge glass windows spread across the furthest wall with a patio attached. You looked around at all the plants and hanging baskets that decorated the room. There were three large bookcases with books and photos on them. The bed was the size of three of yours put together and was paired with a white duvet. The room was exactly what you expected to be, but you couldn’t help but be amazed at how simply beautiful it was.

Deciding that you imposed enough, you changed into the clothes and was faced with a problem. The hoodie basically swallowed you whole and reached beyond the shorts. Shrugging, you went about finding Jaehyun in the living room.

“I look like a child.” You flapped the remaining length of the sleeves for emphasis and saw the tell-tale sign of red spread on Jaehyun’s ears. He bit back a smile and held his hand out, beckoning you to come. You traveled across the room and planted yourself on his lap.

“You did this on purpose.” You accused.

“Absolutely, you look adorable.” He confessed.

The night went along like your usual ones. It was your turn to pick a movie and of course you picked The Conjuring 2. About a quarter into the film, you felt Jaehyun pull you against him.

“Is this you distracting yourself from the movie like a scaredy cat?” You asked as he feathered kisses on your face.

“No.” He lied, pulling the blanket over your heads. Giving up on watching the movie, you turned to your boyfriend laughing that his boldness.

Now you had no intentions of staying the night. So, when you woke up warm with arms wrapped around you, you knew you fucked up. You looked up at Jaehyun sleeping figure and allowed yourself a few seconds the bask at how peaceful he looked. You gently brought his watch up and glanced at the time.

“Holy shit!” You screamed as you threw the covers off. Jaehyun’s eyes flew opened and he groaned. “It’s almost 9.” You shook him up. He stared at you for a solid minute before panicking as well.

“Fuck.” He hissed throwing the cover off himself. You were both incredibly late for your respective responsibilities. Which wouldn’t be a problem for you if you hadn’t skipped the day before. Fumbling around, you got ready in five minutes flat. On the car ride to campus you stole Jaehyun’s laptop and submitted a half-ass assignment that was due at the end of class while he called Johnny telling him that he’ll be late to their meeting. Breaking a few traffic laws, you made it to your lecture in time to sign the attendance roster.

“You look like shit.” Haechan and Lucas side eyed you as you slid into your seat.

“Shut up.”

After class was over Lucas offered to dive you back to your apartment to shower and change before your afternoon classes. You hugged the giant and told him how much you loved him.

“So…”

“I didn’t have sex.” You said bluntly as he followed you up the stairs. Kun, who was hanging out in the living room, looked you up and down. A look of skepticism painted on his face.

“Did you-” He began.

“No.” You walked past him and into the bathroom.

“Ten owns me $20.”

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jaebaebie · 5 years ago

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Why Us? Why Now? Why Ever?

In a post apocalyptic world where walkers took over the living, Era realised that she was different from every one else. Wanting to uncover the reasons to her differences, she embarked on a journey to the West where she met a few Strays,, including a man named Hwang Hyun Jin who, just like her, was cold, hot headed, and full of distrust. She thought they would never get along, but what happens when the two cold hearts start to melt?

STRAY KIDS ZOMBIE AU // WUWNWE MASTERLIST

Chapter 6 ~ “Run Run Run Run..”

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To say I was disgusted was an understatement. His voice echoed in my head, repeating it more than necessary and making my stomach turn into a nervous knot. He spoke to me as if he knew me, the familiarity in his eyes easily noticeable. But I didn’t know who he was. If I had met him in the past I would’ve easily recognised him simply because his face was just too hard to forget.

We carried on with our hunt once the three uninvited guests were out of our sight. Levi and I entered one of the smaller stores, separated from the rest as they explored another store nearby.

“What was that about?” He asked me, looking through a cabinet of medications. The pharmacy store we were in was surprisingly stocked with a decent amount of medical supplies,, including antibiotics and ibuprofen which tend to come in handy.

I shrugged my shoulders as he passed me a box of pills. Stuffing it into my bag, I replied, “I don’t know. I’ve never met him before.”

I’ve only heard stories about the Right Arm from one of my previous camps,, the one who threw me to a hoard of walkers. Horrifying stories that emphasised how inhumane and evil they were. Despite having the number advantage earlier on, I still felt intimidated by the smaller group.

Levi opened his jaw to say something, only for him to shut it when Minho’s shouts from outside startled us.

We raised our brows, confused as to what the commotion was about. Minho was out on the pavement, both his hands in his hair as he glared at the end of the street,, fuming in anger.

I stepped out of the store, following his gaze. He was staring at our army van driving off. All five of us were here, there was no one who could’ve possibly taken it.

“The assholes stole our fucking ride!” Minho cursed, ruffling his hair in frustration.

While Minho explained to the others, my focus remained on the army van which had made a U-turn at the end of the road, driving back in the direction towards us. The thieves were coming back for us...?

All my hope was thrown out of the window when my eyes landed on the same man in the passenger seat. His lips curled into a smirk as his eyes playfully narrowed on me. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as they drove past us, the sound of the cars motor roaring in my ears. Hawkeye gave me a wave, bidding me goodbye as a rifle peeked out from the back window of a car.

“Get down!”

Before I could react to the repeating cracks of the gun being fired, I was knocked off of my feet and sent crashing into the shelves behind me. I cursed, feeling an ache spread on my lower back as I tried to catch my breath. When I opened my eyes, I met Hyunjin’s brown ones and he immediately dragged me behind the counter, barely avoiding a bullet to my leg.

Shot were being rained upon us, shattering the glass windows of the shop which sent glass shards dropping on us. Hyunjin buried me into his chest, shielding me from the flying shards as I covered my ears, hoping the block the immense volume of the gun shots.

It lasted for a long minute before the sounds of shots were finally silenced. Hyunjin pulled away, sending a short look towards my direction before he jumped out of our hiding. He sprinted back onto the road, holding his gun out as he prepared to shoot. But the army van had already gone too far, leaving us in a shaken and panicked state.

Hyunjin groaned in frustration, watching as the van drove away. Once I had calmed down enough, I straightened myself out, checking on everyone.

“Is everyone okay?” I asked, sighing in relief when I saw Han and Minho emerge from the back of a run down truck with a thumbs up.

“Well, that was fun.” Levi remarked, coming up from behind me. His face had a few, small cuts,, probably from the flying glass shards.

“Hyunjin, you’re bleeding.” Han pointed towards Hyunjin’s side, just below his rib cage, revealing a torn part of his shirt and the patch of red that seeped through it.

“It’s nothing. The bullet just skimmed it.” Hyun Jin replies, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly,

“Their aim was just as bad as Era’s reflexes.”

I bit my lower lip, giving him an apologetic and worried look. He got hurt pushing me out of the way because I was stuck in a trance, unable to react quick enough. But of course, Hyunjin wouldn’t be Hyunjin if he didn’t respond with his classic eye roll.

The multiplied groans of walkers filled our ears, snapping us out of our little conversation. Sounds attracted walkers out of their hiding no matter what time of the day it was. And the gun shots that were fired just minutes before were surely and effectively very loud. If their shots didn’t kill us, then the large hoard of walkers would.

“Run Run Run Run..” Han repeated as our legs took off into a sprint. The walkers snarled, following immediately judging by the thundering footsteps behind us.

Han grabbed my hand, forcing me to match my pace (nananananana na na na nana) with his much faster one and we slipped past the gates into an alley just before Hyunjin and Minho slammed it shut.

The cyclone gates rattled as the walkers rammed against it, slipping their arms through the small holes and clawing at Minho, Han and Hyunjin who tried their best to keep it shut. It wasn’t long until five walkers accumulated into many more, causing the three guys at the gate to struggle holding them back.

The walkers at the gate weren’t our only problem as more appeared from the corner of the alley we were in.

I dodged one with the help of Minho’s warning, driving my dagger through it without any hesitation. Levi did the same, shooting any of the walkers that ran towards us.

The guys were straining to keep the gate closed, their shoes dragging along the rough cemented floor. The walkers managed to create a small opening in between the gates, one of their heads popping through and snapping towards Hyunjin.

I raised my gun, panicked. I hadn’t shot a gun in months and Hyunjin’s head was just too close along my aim for my comfort. The walker managed to squeeze half of its body through, flailing its arms around.

Just as it managed to grab Hyunjin’s arm, I pulled the trigger unknowingly, only realising that I had finally taken a shot when I felt my arms buzzing from the recoil. It went directly through its head, causing the walker to go limp and allowing the three to close the gap.

“You guys have to go! We’ll hold them back for as long as we can!” Hyunjin yelled amidst the chaotic moans and screeches of the walkers.

My eyes widened, “Are you crazy? Hell no! That’s insane!” I exclaimed back, shooting another shot just beside Minho’s face as a walker’s teeth came into view.

“Now’s not the time to be nice, Era! Clear the way for us and fucking go! We’ll be right behind you!”

My jaw dropped, finding his idea unbelievable. We had a better chance fighting the walkers as five than three. My eyes met with Han’s and I was reminded of his promise. How they’ll protect me. How they’ll put their lives before others. This was what he meant, and I was just not used to it. Han broke our eye contact as he turned to Levi, “Take her with you. We’ll follow after.”

Levi nodded, grabbing my arm as he began pulling me with him. I stared at the three guys apologetically, shooting one last shot at the gate before Levi and I took off running deeper into the alley.

We did as we were told, shooting any walker that came along our way to make sure that the guys we left behind would have a clear path to run into. Once they let go of the gates, they would have no time to deal with other walkers in their path because they had a whole lot of other hungry corpses running after them.

I didn’t look back, making sure I didn’t lose sight of Levi and also because I didn’t want to see a deserted alley without the three we had just left behind for our own sakes.

Like I said, this world made you selfish.

So unbelievably selfish.

Just as we thought we cleared the path enough, Levi turned at a corner, immediately sliding into a stop with the sound of his shoes dragging onto the floor.

“Holyy Shit—“

#skz au #stray kids au #skz #stray kids #skz zombie #stray kids zombie #stray kids fanfiction #stray kids scenarios #skz scenarios #jaebaebie #skz hyunjin

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poisonedfortunecookie · 6 years ago

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a moment of shance #46

(AU) It was that rare lull during the day when the mall was practically empty, and for a few blissful minutes, Shiro could breathe. He didn't have to keep an eye on any suspicious people lurking around or give directions (usually to the bathroom) to agitated shoppers. No, now he could take a few moments to himself and- A distinctive cry caught his attention. A child. Not a baby, definitely an older child. He listened, and waited for the typical accompaniment of an adult voice, always either soothing or scolding depending on the reason for the tears. There was no such voice, and the child's cries grew louder. He moved quickly towards the sound and found the boy standing outside the drug store, his posture, as well as his tears, screaming 'lost child'. Nothing Shiro couldn't handle. He approached the boy and gave a small cough to alert the boy of his presence. “What appears to be the problem, sir?” he asked with his most reassuring smile. The boy stopped crying mid-sob, shocked at being addressed like a grown up. He glanced around to check that the man really was talking to him before his eyes moved back to him. “I...lost Uncle Lance,” he wailed and started to cry again. “Oh dear, now that is a problem,” Shiro said gravely, and he crouched down to the boys level. “But don't worry, I can help you find him.” The boy continued to cry, not easily reassured. He stared at Shiro through narrowed, watery eyes, wary of him. But through his blurred vision he could make out the man's dark uniform, and the word 'security' printed in bold across the breast of his vest. The man was a stranger, but he was a good stranger, so it was ok to talk to him. “But...I don't know where he is.” The boy sniffled, rubbing at his eyes. “That's ok. How about you tell me where you saw him last?” Shiro prompted. Usually, the parents or guardian of a lost child weren't far away. Often, the easiest option was to retrace their steps. “I don't know.” The boy's lower lip quivered, tears falling faster. “I didn't mean to wander off. Uncle Lance told me to stay close, but I wanted to look at something. It's my fault.” “Oh, it's not your fault. Things like this happen all the time. The mall is very big, and it's easy to get separated from someone. Can you tell me which direction you came from?” Shiro prompted. The boy was too upset to give him a clear answer, but if he could at least get a general idea of where the kid had come from, he'd know where to search. “I don't know,” the boy wailed louder. “I want Uncle Lance. What if I never find him? What if I can never go home?” Panic had set in, and the child was inconsolable. He fell forward, throwing himself at Shiro and locking small, yet surprisingly strong arms around his neck. “Hush, it's ok.” Shiro soothed, his hand rubbing the child's back. It looked like this was a situation where he'd have to resort to the tannoy. “Why don't you come with me to the office? We can make an announcement, and your uncle can come pick you up.” The boy showed no sign of hearing him, his tears soaking Shiro's neck. Shiro had no choice but to bundle the boy up in his arms as he got to his feet.

He was dead. Lisa was going to kill him; it was inevitable. But first, he had to find Sylvio. “I knew I should have made him hold my hand,” Lance grumbled as he walked briskly along the aisles. His nephew was at the age now where he was too old to hold hands, but still young enough that you had to keep a constant eye on him. Lance had only looked away for one moment. Just to check the price of something. And then the boy was gone. At first, he'd thought Sylvio was playing a game. It wouldn't be the first time; the kid was a terror. But he wasn't nearby and didn't come out of hiding when Lance called. He'd searched the whole shop now, and still, there was no sign of him, and none of the shop assistants had seen him either, which suggested he was no longer in the store. “Fuck.” Lance cursed and hurried out of the shop. He would scour the whole mall if he had to. Thankfully. He saw Sylvio almost the moment he stepped out of the store. Unfortunately, his young nephew was in the arms of a tall, strong and very intimidating stranger. Lance's blood ran cold. The man was bigger than him. He had no chance. A glance around the vicinity showed him he was alone. No one to help him. He had one shot — one chance to save Sylvio. He gripped the plastic carrier bag tightly in his hand. It wasn't very heavy, by the tubs of beauty creams and face masks were heavy enough to do some damage. Lance took a deep breath and charged at the man. “Let him go you creep!” With one hand, Lance swung the bag with deadly accuracy, clocking the man over the head. With his free hand, Lance wrestled Sylvio from the man's grip, the shock of the blow thankfully loosening the man's hold enough from him to save his nephew. And he would have made a break for it had Sylvio's voice not stopped him in his tracks. “Uncle Lance! Why did you hit the mall guy?” Slowly he turned to face the man, who was swaying on unsteady feet, and finally, Lance registered the dark uniform and the black vest, emblazoned with the word security, and the ID badge pinned beneath it. Lance's mouth opened in a slow 'O' an apology on the tip of his tongue. “Oh my god you're bleeding,” he shrieked instead.

“Almost done.” The tip of Lance's tongue poked passed his lips, eyes narrowed in concentration as he dabbed the cotton wool swab along Shiro's hairline, cleaning the cut there. Shiro hissed, as gentle as Lance was the antiseptic hurt. “Sorry.” Lance flinched and dabbed at the wound even more carefully. “It's ok. I'll live...just about,” Shiro couldn't help but tease. Lance scowled and pressed the swab more forcefully against the cut for a moment. “You have pretty eyes,” Shiro mused, even narrowed in frustration the other man's deep blue eyes shone like stars. Lance froze, the cotton wool hovering in mid-air for a moment before he snatched his hand away and threw it into the nearby bin. “You know, I think maybe I did hit you a little harder than I thought. Maybe I should call an ambulance.” Shiro chuckled. He felt dizzy, and it wasn't only due to the blow to the head. Getting hit with a bag of shopping wasn't the usual response he received when reuniting someone with their lost child. Everything that happened after that had happened in a bit of a blur. Lance yelled about blood and then insisted that Shiro show him to the nearest first aid box so he could clean him up. While Lance tended to the wound, they'd made some quick introductions, clearing up the misunderstanding and now here he was. The other man had hit him hard, and not only with the shopping bag. He felt a tug at his sleeve and looked over to Sylvio, who was sitting at his side. “Uncle Lance is single, and he likes boys and girls,” he said in a loud whisper. Lance, who'd turned away fro a moment to dig out some gauze from the first aid kit, spun around and glared at the boy. “Sylvio!” “What? He was looking at you the way daddy looks at mommy.” Lance went bright red, and even Shiro's ears held a distinctive pink hue. “What did you mom tell you about telling tales?” Lance snapped. He snatched the tape from the first aid kit and went about securing the gauze over the wound, still so gentle and careful. Shiro could feel his fingers trembling. “I'm not telling tales, am I mister?” Sylvio insisted, turning to Shiro for support. “Oh. Um, well,” Shiro trailed off and looked up at Lance, hesitating. Sure he'd been caught staring a little too intently at the other man, but that didn't mean the stranger felt the same way. “You don't have to answer that,” Lance said briskly. His face was still red. “Come on mister. I need to get you home.” He grabbed a protesting Sylvio's hand and dragged the boy to his feet and towards the door. He was making a run for it. Shiro couldn't allow that. “Wait!” Shiro jumped to his feet, and Lance froze. “It may have been a misunderstanding, but you did assault an officer of the mall. I'm going to have to take your details.” “What?” Lance paled, and even Sylvio looked afraid for a moment. “How about you start with your phone number? Then you can tell me more about yourself over a coffee maybe?” Shiro finished quickly, presenting his phone to Lance. Lance stared at the phone for a moment, unmoving. Then he reached for the phone, hand steadier although the blush had returned to his cheeks. He entered his number quickly and practically threw the phone back to Shiro as if it had burned him. “I'm free on Sunday.” And before Shiro could stop him, he threw open the door and left.

The door shut behind them with a click, but Shiro didn't give chase. He had all he needed. More even. Sunday. He had Sunday off. It was destiny. “See, I told you!” Shiro heard Sylvio's smug voice through the door. “Yeah, ok. I suppose I owe you an ice cream. What do you want?” Lance's voice faded, and Shiro couldn't hear what was said after that, the pair were too far away. He looked down at his phone and smiled at the new entry in his address book. Maybe he'd compose a message now and give Lance some recommendations for dessert places.

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#a moment of shance #shance #shiro x lance #shiro/lance #meet cute #meet ugly

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jolienjoyswriting · 5 years ago

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Electrical Disturbance, Ch. III

Chapter 3 of "Electrical Disturbance," a Rockman (Dr. Chou Numbers universe) fan fiction story. Random trivia: The first page of this chapter was originally the last page of Chapter 2. Then, I went and revised things. 'tis for the better, n'yes.

I have to confess something. This story wasn't originally meant to go in this direction. Actually, it was going to be a nice, calm, boring story about Joseph and Kaitlin chillin' out at his house which would, eventually, lead to them getting cozy. However, I got a sudden spark of inspiration while writing Chapter 1, which led to the events of Chapter 2. Then, while writing this chapter… well… another unexpected thing happened and I rolled with it. Actually, I think most of this story ended up being spontaneous, knee-jerk choices, ha hah~

Word count: 4,335 – Character count: 24,994 Originally written: July 18th, 2020

After her less-than-successful battle, Kaitlin finds herself wondering just who she really is…

Thomas Right, Roll, Elecman, “Rockman,” and related characters and concepts created by various people and © Capcom Co, Ltd. "Dr. Chou Numbers" concept and related characters and concepts created by and © Jussy Kaitlin/Thundergirl created by and © KaitlinEXE

[ ↶ Prev. Story | ← Prev. Chapter | Next Chapter → | Next Story ↷ ]

“I shouldn’t’ve held back… What kind’a hero holds back in a crisis…?” “One that deeply cares about their friends, Thundergirl.”

After fulfilling Elecman’s request, Kaitlin called Roll and had her teleport the two of them back to Right Labs – though, outside the main building, since they were both a bit waterlogged. Once they were dried-and-drained, Kaitlin brought Elecman into the main lab where Dr. Thomas Right – the world’s leading roboticist and all-around nice guy – was waiting.

“I should’a went full-force!” she scolded herself after hearing the doctor’s comments. “I should’a just called down the thunder ‘n–” “It’s good that you didn’t. Elecman is in a rather fragile state…” “What–?!” The girl hopped off a workbench where she was sitting and practically ran over to the doctor. There, he showed her the damage…

“Wha– what happened?” Her hands came over her mouth. “I didn’t do that… did I?!” “No.” Dr. Right shook his head. “I believe Elecman put up a fight before Albert was able to reprogram him. It looks as though Albert neglected to repair him after that scrap…” “I-is he gonna be alright?!” “Calm yourself, Thundergirl…” The man smiled as he stroked his beard. “His body can be repaired and, according to initial scans, his original programming and memories are intact.” “O-oh… Oh, good…” After hearing that, Kaitlin finally let herself settle down. As she slowly walked back to the other table, she heard the good doctor continue.

“Once he’s stable,” he said, “I’ll take a look at you – with your permission, of course.” “I feel fine! Surprisingly…” The girl-hero rubbed the back of her head, thinking it over. “Actually, yeah. He prob’ly burnt out a circuit. Or, knocked something loose…” The girl quietly clutched her side, remembering when he kicked the crap out of her. “Man… Elecman sure got mean when he was mad at me! Ow…” “Albert’s viral code removes an android’s inhibitions, opening them to new possibilities,” Dr. Right explained. “Part of Elecman’s core personality is egotism and indulgence. You said that you had made him mad, yes?” The girl nervously laughed. “A little…” “I imagine that by angering him, you damaged his ego. In his virus-warped mind, the only way to save face was by… well…” “Kickin’ and shockin’ me almost t’ death?” Kaitlin asked with a grin. “Under normal circumstances, he is much more reserved,” Right continued as he started the repair process. “You must have significantly embarrassed him.” “I prob’ly just annoyed him,” she confessed. “I got a little cocky…” “Mm.” The girl tilted her head. It seemed like Dr. Right didn’t have anything to say to that. “Hey, I’m gonna head out, okay?” When he failed to offer a reply to that… she shrugged and simply left without a word. He’ll call me back when he’s done fixin’ Elecman… Prob’ly.

The heroic robot girl walked into the living room of the Right Labs compound, that afternoon, her hands behind her head and eyes pointed at the ceiling. She was a little lost-in-thought, trying to figure out where the fight with Elecman went wrong.

Okay, so. I got teleported in at the base’a the dam. Prob’ly should’a called that in. Had’a fight off all the small fries on th’ way up, so I was worn out when I got there… Then, I decided not t’ use my full strength when I fought Elecman ‘cause… ‘cause, he’s cool. She very-faintly blushed, the corner of her mouth twitching. Maaan… the only one who got embarrassed in that fight was me…! “Kaitlin? Kaitlin!” “Huh?” Kaitlin turned her head, then blinked. “Oh. Hey, Roll.” Standing behind her was the blond-haired girl she was mimicking earlier that day. Of course, she was wearing her new favorite outfit – the hoodie-dress with funky shoe-boots – rather than her plain, red dress… which only reinforced Kaitlin’s opinion that she’d made a mistake on what to wear for her surprise visit to her boyfriend. “Sheesh… Today’s just not my day…”

“Aww, I’m sorry to hear that, Kaitlin…” The brunette smiled as Roll softly hugged her from behind. “Eh, live-and-learn,” she said, giving Roll’s arm a little squeeze. “If I ever get into a fight with Elecman, again, I’ll kick his a– butt and not the other way ‘round!” “He kicked your butt?” Roll stepped back, blinking. “But… I thought you won…?” “It was… kind of a draw? Actually…” Kaitlin turned around. Next, she brought a hand up, pushing a button on her visor. It withdrew from sight. Finally turned to face Roll, directly. “It was more like ‘victory but forfeit.’” The other girl grinned, putting her hands on her hips. “You made him give up, huh?” “No-no-no…” Kaitlin waved her hands. “Elecman gave up all on his own.” “I’m not sure I understand…” Roll smiled. “Tell me about it? I’ll make us some tea!” “Can I get a cocoa, instead?” “Sure!”

The two shared a smile, then Kaitlin followed Roll into the kitchen. There, she told her blond friend all the details of how she fought Elecman to a standstill… which is to say, how she humiliated herself by show-boating and holding back, then dumped them both in the Hoover Dam reservoir where neither of them could hurt anyone, much less each other.

“Wow…” By the end of the story, Roll was frowning right alongside Kaitlin. The girl-hero was simply disappointed in herself. The housekeeper, however… “You did what you thought was right and there’s nothing wrong with that!” She just couldn’t help but support her friend’s decisions.

“Elecman almost blew up the dam and took us both out for good, Roll!” Kaitlin exclaimed with a scowl. “All because I didn’t take the fight seriously!” “It’s okay!” Roll brightly smiled as she said, “You were trying to save Elecman, not destroy him! I’m sure if you were an evil Wily ‘bot and he had to fight you, he’d do the same!” Kaitlin… nervously laughed at the idea. Oh, if you only knew, Roll… “No, Roll,” the brunette said. “I didn’t take the fight seriously because I’m a dumb kid who thought she could bat her eyelashes and sass-talk her enemy into giving up…” “You say that like it’s a bad thing…” Roll chuckled. “And… when I couldn’t persuade him to stop being bad, I still didn’t wanna hurt him!” “You say that like it’s a bad thing!” “But, oh. But, oh. Little did I realize that Elecman wanted to hurt me!” “He was under Wily’s control, though!” “Exactly!”

Kaitlin banged her fist against the table, startling Roll. When the cheerful girl looked up, the woeful one looked away in shame. “Sorry…” she whispered. “I know ya don’t like rowdy behavior in the house.” “It’s okay, Kaitlin…” Roll rose, then she put her hands over Kaitlin’s and offered a compassionate smile. “I know how you feel!” “Heh. I kind’a doubt it, but I appreciate the vote’a confidence.” Kaitlin took a sip of her cocoa… before she caught sight of something that made her stare. Roll’s green eyes were locked onto hers… and they were full of sadness.

“Did… you do somethin’ with your eyes?” Kaitlin asked, casually looking away. “Didn’t they used t’ be blue?” “I had a toggle installed…” Roll sniffled after her reply. Then, after rubbing her face, she cleared her throat. “Kaitlin… Every time Rock goes out there to fight bad-guys, he has to go through the exact same things you did, today.” “I’m sure he does…” “Kaitlin!” The girl-hero nearly snorted her cocoa in surprise. When she looked back over at Roll, the girl was glaring at her with weepy eyes.

“Rock never-ever wants to hurt anyone! Every Robot Master he fights could be a friend! Some of them even are friends…! He tries and he tries, begging… pleading them not to fight… not to do bad things… but every single time he fights one… it always ends the same way…” Roll brought her hands up, locking her fingers together over her chest in silent prayer. “Every time Wily tries to conquer the world, Rock comes home a mess! He doesn’t know what to do with himself… He wants to be angry, or he wants to curl up in a ball, or he wants to cry, but he can’t!” “Is it ‘cause he wasn’t built with that ability?” Kaitlin half-heartedly joked. The other girl flinched as Roll brought her hands down onto the table, making it rattle. “It’s because Rock is a hero, and heroes don’t cry, Kaitlin!

“Heroes like Rock can’t show any kind of weakness – especially not in front of the bad-guys… Rock has to keep moving forward when he really wants to run away! Rock has to keep a stiff-upper-lip when he really wants to cry! Rock has to… has to blast robots when all he really wants to do is make them happy! Rock believes there’s goodness… kindness… in everyone – even that jerk, Doctor Wily! I’m not so sure, myself… but I believe in Rock! So… so, if Rock believes that humans and robots can be friends and live in peace… so do I! And… and if you don’t understand that, then… well… I feel sorry for you!!” Kaitlin blinked a couple of times and Roll suddenly stormed out of the kitchen. She didn’t know if her friend was disappointed or simply disgusted with her… but either way, she was feeling even lower than before. I knew Rock had it hard… she thought as she sipped her cocoa, but I had no idea he had it that hard… She paused, considering something… I wonder if a hug from two girls would make his day better? Actually… She chuckled, then. I could use a hug, myself… Kaitlin finished her cocoa all alone, then. In her mind… it was probably better that way. I can never be a hero like Rockman…

Sometime after her conversation with Roll, Dr. Right called the hero back into the lab. “I have good news,” he said as she walked in and walked over. “Did Wily decide to pack it up and head home?” Kaitlin asked as a joke. “No, but I like your optimism.” She blushed a little as the doctor patted her head. It felt kind of patronizing, but she knew that was just how he was. “Actually, the good news has to do with Elecman!” She perked. “What about Elecman?” “Yes, Doctor. What about Elecman?” Kaitlin blinked at the new voice, then turned to meet it. All-at-once, her face lit up. Standing right there, good-as-new, was… “E-Elecman!!”

Before she could stop herself, she practically leaped at the robot, giving him a big hug around the shoulders. Elecman awkwardly returned the hug… at least somewhat. Then… “Um… thank you. Can you, um, let go, now? Please?” When she realized what she was doing… she practically leaped right back off. “I-I’m so sorry!” she apologized, covering her mouth and blushing. Then, after a moment more… she turned morose and repeated, “I’m so sorry…” “I’m not entirely sure what all has transpired while I was under the effects of Wily’s heinous reprogramming,” Elecman said with a confused look, “but… perhaps I should be the one apologizing to you?” “What?” Kaitlin blinked, again, as Elecman knelt and took her gloved hand into his. “I regret making such a lovely young lady worry about my well-being. And… I am filled with the deepest sorrow, knowing that I was forced to engage her in mortal combat, and it greatly bothers me to think that I could have turned your sunny smile into a frightful frown…”

As Elecman stood back up, Kaitlin covered her mouth with her free hand, her face… a rather noticeable shade of crimson. She was pretty thankful Elecman didn’t try and kiss her hand, otherwise… she might’ve popped like an overheated thermometer! It was more-than-enough that he was on bent knee, saying such sweet things and apologizing! When he smiled, afterward… she was pretty sure she felt her heart skip a beat. Say something… say something cool, stupid!! she internally shouted at herself. But, when she moved her hand and opened her mouth… “Fwah… guh… bwah…?” Nothing coherent came out. “Indeed.” It got a quiet chuckle out of Elecman… Dammit…! Which made her completely hide her face with both hands. She felt so embarrassed…

“Doctor Right.” The masked robot turned his attention to the doctor. “Thank you for repairing me. I will try and use less flashy tactics when engaging the forces of the nefarious Doctor Wily, next time.” “I’m just relieved the damage wasn’t more extensive!” The doctor smiled. “Between your fight with Albert’s forces and your skirmish with Thundergirl–” The girl nervously squeaked upon hearing her name. “– I think you have more-than-earned a rest.” “Is Wily’s operation still ongoing?” “Yes, but–” “Then, I have further work to do.” Dr. Right frowned… only to nod. “Roll will send you where you’re needed…” he said with a mix of understanding and regret. “Please, do be careful…” “I’ll buy an Energy Can from Rightot before I go, Doctor.” That brought some small relief to the elderly man’s face. “Oh! Before I depart, I should like to make one small request, if I may?” “What is it?” Elecman smiled, looking over his shoulder. Kaitlin, who was peeking out from between her fingers at him, immediately hid her face, again. “I want you to give my biggest fan the utmost of care,” he said, casually strolling away. “When all this is over… I want to see her bright, smiling face light up the night sky, once more.” Kaitlin made a weird, croaky kind of noise… Her heart was racing, her head was steaming, and in a way, she actually kind of felt… embarrassed, too. Elecman was laying it on super-thick. Was he always like that…? She kind of liked the attention, but wow… was it a lot. “I’ll give her as much attention as she requires,” Dr. Right chuckled. “I promise.” “Excellent. And, upon my glorious return… I shall give her the attention she deserves!” He looked back at the Kaitlin one last time and smiled, smiling as she squeaked, again. “Adieu! Adieu. ‘til next we meet, my lovely heroine! Fare thee well!” As much as Kaitlin liked hearing her favorite Robot Master shower her with praise… she was kind of thankful he’d left when he did. She was pretty sure one more compliment would’ve pushed her over the edge and made her faint. That wouldn’t have been very heroic…

“This should be a fairly standard process,” the doctor said after she’d had time to calm herself. “Lie down on the examination table, please, and I’ll run some scans on your chassis.” “O–” she squeaked, still feeling a little overcome. “O-okay…!” The white-haired man waited for Kaitlin to lay back and get into position. Once she was ready, he plugged her into his computer and began the tests…

“Mm-hmm… mm-hmm… Your core temperature is a little high – though… Elecman tends to have that effect on robots he likes.” She blushed and looked away, really wishing the doctor hadn’t acknowledged that… “Internal systems look… oh. Oh, dear.” “Wh– what?” “It seems that… Elecman has caused you some serious harm…” She knew what he meant, but felt a little flustered, again. “Most of your primary systems are offline and almost all of your backup systems are active and running at maximum capacity. Thundergirl, if I might ask… just what happened?” “You don’t wanna know,” she dismissively told him, not wanting to repeat her story. “This is quite important.” He turned toward her with a smile. “As your doctor, it’s sometimes necessary to know this sort of information to properly diagnose–” “Ugh, fine! If you need it…”

“Oh, dear… I see…” By the time Kaitlin was done regaling the doctor with how Elecman kicked her butt… and back, sides, head… and practically fried her like overcooked bacon… he was shaking his head and making a lot of tongue-clicking noises. “Tell me, Thundergirl… do you feel any abnormalities?” “Well, no…” she answered. “I feel a little slower than usual, but otherwise…?” “Given that you’re running on backup systems… secondary and tertiary, in some cases…” he quietly added, “that’s to be expected. What about your memory functions?” “I guess my brain’s in workin’ order? But… how would I know it’s not? I am an amnesiac, after all,” she told him with a chuckle. “That is… a fair point. Yeesss… yes, now that I think of it, you declined a backup of your vital data the last time you were here. I have nothing to compare your current memory to…” “Honestly, all I care about is gettin’ patched-up so I can try my luck with some other Robot Master… who isn’t Elecman…” the girl muttered in addendum. “The repairs to your primary systems could take quite some time…” “Wha’?” She sat up, looking at the doctor. “How long’s ‘quite some time?’” He stroked his beard, thinking about it. “No less than five days, I would say… And, that’s only if I don’t find anything else.” “Hrrnnn…” The girl flopped back and closed her eyes. She didn’t want to be out-of-commission for five minutes, much less five days! But, the doctor seemed really worried about her, so… “Alright,” she sighed. “Put me under and pop me open. I guess.” “Are you certain?” “Yup,” she said with a nod. “Do it to it, Doc!” “Okay…” He took a deep breath. “I shall revive you once it’s all over…” –––––

“– dergirl? Thundergirl? Are you activated?” “What…? Yeah, yeah, I’m awake… “Good, good… I–” “One thing. Who’s talkin’ at me? Also… where am I?” “Oh. Oh, dear… I was afraid of this…”

Kaitlin groaned, rubbing her eyes before blinking them. She sat up, then, and looked around. As far as she could tell… she wasn’t anywhere she’d usually be. Which was to say… it didn’t look like any of the rooms inside Wily Castle. The voice that spoke also didn’t sound like Dr. Wily or any of his robots… Actually, it kind of sounded like… “Doctor Right! Is Kaitlin okay?”

The girl blinked, again, before she found her focus. Standing off to one side of the room was a man of below-average height and above-average facial hair. He kind of looked like Santa Claus… except smaller and rounder. He also wore a lot more white than Santa does, she noted. “Doctor… Right…?” she called. “Welcome back, Kaitlin!” She looked to the doctor’s side and noticed a smaller form smiling up at her. The figure was, presumably, female, if the long, blond hair and girly, red hoodie-dress was any indication. She was probably a younger girl, too, considering the lack of curves. As she looked closer, though, she slowly recalled… “Hey… aren’t you Roll?” “Well, yeah! Did you forget?” When the blond girl giggled, the other android narrowed her eyes. “And, you’re… Dr. Right?” she said, focusing on the first figure. “Dr. Thomas Right…?” “That’s right…” he said with a nod. “I am Thomas Right.” “You’re Roll… and you’re Right…” Roll tilted her head. Dr. Right had looked away… “If you’re Roll and you’re Right… then… I’m outta here!!”

Before either party could react, Kaitlin jumped up and made a bolt for the door! Just as she thought she was home-free, though… “Goodness! Where are you off to in such a hurry?” She was stopped by a taller figure in a black body-suit and angular, yellow mask. “Oh, sh– you’re… you’re…!” The girl paused, blinking. “Er… which one are you, again?” “Who am I?” The figure scoffed. “I, the thunderous Elecman, found the time to come to visit my number one fan, Thundergirl, after her repairs… only for her to toss me aside like a burnt-out fuse! Hmph! How very ungrateful…!” “Elecman,” the doctor called, “Thundergirl is going through some–” “Why do you keep calling me– oh, never mind… Outta the way, big-boots!” “Hey!!” Elecman narrowed his eyes as Kaitlin barged by him. “You ungrateful, rude…” “Stop her!” “‘Stop her?’” The man-in-black blinked, then he spun around. “Um… stop?” Of course… Kaitlin was already long-gone from the area, by then.

“Okay… okay…”

The brown-haired girl ran through unfamiliar hallways, scared-and-confused, desperately trying to find a door that led outside. As she scouted, she also thought out loud.

“I’m lost… I dunno where I am… I’m not sure where I’m not… and… and…” She slowed, stopped, then backpedaled after passing a big mirror. “I’m wearin’ somethin’ way weird. What the heck is this stuff?”

The girl looking back at her didn’t look like one she recognized. Rather than the expected denim dress and lavender T-shirt, she was wearing what looked like big, clunky, yellow boots and black yoga pants – not unlike that funny-talking guy’s – a purple chest-piece with a red collar and shoulder “wings,” matching sleeves that ended in gold cuffs, thick, red-metal bracelets and fingerless gloves, a pair of white ear-pieces, and a purple beret. The chest-piece and beret both had a little lightning bolt on them, she also noticed.

“Is this… battle armor? What… why am I wearin’ battle armor? Where’s my dress…?” She put a finger to one earpiece, flinched, yanked it off, then touched her bare ear. “Dress, dress, dress… Huh, I don’t remember this outfit… what is– waaah!!” A light engulfed the girl and, just like that, her outfit was replaced by something a bit more casual.

“Th-this isn’t my dress, either… but it does look pretty snazzy!” She posed, fanning one arm and the opposite leg out as she admired herself. Rather than her expected dress, she wore a long-sleeved, pink T-shirt under a purple mini-hoodie with gold trim, a pair of black shorts, and white socks with two blue stripes near the top, and comfy, yellow sneakers with white energy ports on the sides. “I guess Papa Wily upgraded me in my sleep…” She giggled a little. “He let me keep my sneaks, too! Anyway, let’s see… Dress, dress, dress– ah! Here it is!”

Once again, she was bathed in light. When it faded, though… “Waaaaah…?!” She was horrified by what she saw!

“Wh… why do I have this outfit?!” she asked her reflection as if expecting an answer. The new outfit on her body was an exact duplicate of that housekeeping robot’s usual, red dress, complete with matching metal Mary-Janes. “W-well… at least I don’t have that dorky bow in my hair… b-but, wah!” She shook her head. “This is terrible! Red is not my color!” One more spin through her internal Quick-Change Module’s menu and she was back in the hoodie and shorts. “This’ll have t’ do ‘til I can get back home to Wily Castle… Oh, gosh, Dad’s gonna be so mad at me… I–” “I found her!!” “What?! Oh, no!!”

Kaitlin looked to her left. While she’d spent all that time changing, Roll had found her. She was quick to resume fleeing… though at a significantly higher speed than before, somehow! “Wow…!” She beamed as her feet carried her faster than she expected. “I guess Papa Wily did give me an upgrade! I feel light-as-a-feather! Speedy-as-a-hawk! Quick-as-a-lick! Or… something like that. Try ‘n catch me now, Right ‘bot!” She turned her head, putting her thumb to her nose and razzing the blond-haired girl as she gave chase. When Kaitlin turned back, she went wide-eyed… “Wuh-oh!” The guy in the black suit was in her way.

“Come to me, my dear ingrate!” he said with a harsh grin. “Let us return you to the doctor!” “You want me?” She smirked. “Gotta catch me, first!” Without really knowing why, she hit the deck, dropping onto her back. Strangely enough… ports on her feet flipped open at that exact moment, shooting out a burst of air and, unexpectedly, she found herself sliding right through that weirdo’s long legs! “Holy…!” she cried as she pushed herself back into a standing – or, running – position. “Coolio!! Was it my birthday, or somethin’? Papa really tricked me out!”

The girl beamed as she continued running through what she eventually figured out was the Right House. Which was to say… she realized that she was in the home of her dad’s hated rival in science! “I should cause mischief, while I’m here…” she thought on her feet, “but I dunno where the front door is, yet. Maybe, I’ll knock over a lamp or crook-ify a painting on the way out… That’ll teach ‘em not to kidnap me!”

The chase continued for a solid five minutes, Kaitlin quickly darting, dodging, bobbling, and weaving around any-and-all obstacles and people in her way. However, when she heard Dr. Right tell Elecman specifically not to hurt her… she knew she had the full run of the place.

“Not the nesting dolls!” Roll cried as Kaitlin grabbed them from a shelf and started throwing them in random directions. “That was a gift from Kalinka!” “Watch the vase!” Elecman wailed as he ran to catch it after Kaitlin bumped it off its stand. “That was a gift from a more appreciative fan than you!” “Please, put those bills down!” Unfortunately, Dr. Right was helpless to stop Kaitlin from tossing a bunch of mail around the room, scattering both envelope and contents all over. “Kaitlin, stop!” Roll screamed as Kaitlin threw down a lamp and knocked over some unlit candles. “This isn’t very heroic, you know…!” “I am a hero!” was Kaitlin’s reply. “I’m fighting your tyranny the only way I know how!” “What are you talking about?! Ack, get out of the– nooo, all the coats…!!” “You Right-‘bots kidnaped me!” Kaitlin shouted as she hurled coats and jackets out of a nearby closet. “You stole me from my dad and my family! My dad hates you, and so do I!!” “Your dad…?” the blond girl asked as she started picking the garments up. Kaitlin stopped in he tracks and turned to face everyone. Then, she said the worst-possible-thing she could have… “I’m Dr. Wily’s housekeeper – Special Wily Number error: Kaitlin!!”

#gift #fan fiction #Mega Man #Dr. Chou Numbers #Electrical Disturbance #commercial characters #Thomas Light #Elecman #Roll Light #fan characters #kaitlinexe #Thundergirl #Kaitlin Wily #drama #suspense

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join-the-joywrite · 5 years ago

Text

Time After Time -- 8

a boy a girl a time turner

when a time turner is shattered in a small fight, it’s up to the unlikely pair to figure out how to survive until the end of the war. it’s their only shot at breaking the loop.

masterpost prev

Chapter 8 - When Hermione died in the end

Surprisingly, Hermione and Draco both made it to the hall before Harry revealed himself.

They survived Pansy, the flood, the Fiendfyre, watching Snape's death, saving Fred and the eventual raid of the Death Eaters.

Once again, they found themselves standing at the edge of the debris, overlooking the waves.

Draco looked out to the castle, to the clock that still stood. "Five minutes. Are you sure you don't want to--"

Hermione stepped down and pulled Draco with her. "I've cheated death so many times. I won't deny that I've been selfish about it. I could've tried harder to save Lavender sooner. But I knew as long as I still failed, you'd never suspect why I kept resetting. With the flood, I could've thought of the answer too, but I kept drowning, knowing I'd soon see you again."

"Hermione, please."

"I've been selfish, Draco. Abusing the loop. Cheating death. It's a pity it took my death for you to come to me. But we've run out of time. I'll be surprised if I live past the next two minutes."

"No. I'll jump off the bridge."

Hermione tilted her head. "Then you'll have let our love be forgotten. I promised you I'd be with you forever if I survive. Promise me that if I don't, you'll live. For me."

"I can't. I can't do that. No one here would accept me the way you do."

"Then run away," Hermione pleaded, squeezing Draco's hands. "Leave the Wizarding World. Live with Muggles. Start anew. Be yourself, whoever that is, whoever you want to be. Just . . . live. For me. Please don't follow me this time."

In the square, Ginny let go of Harry after at least ten minutes.

"Since when is Malfoy even a friend?"

"It's a long story," Ron said, watching the pair in the distance. He turned back to see the time.

5:45.

When Hermione slumped forward into Draco's arms and he called out her name, Ron reached past Ginny to grab Harry's arm, stopping them both from moving any further forward. They stared at him questioningly.

"Long story."

In the middle of the bridge, Draco sank to the floor, cradling Hermione. "You should have survived."

"Some things are meant to happen no matter what."

"Shut up," Draco whispered, "stop hurting yourself further."

"You promised."

"I didn't."

"You didn't have to say it. I know you did. Muggles are fascinating. You'll like it among them."

"I'm not leaving you."

Hermione took a shuddering breath. "You know, I was almost a Slytherin too."

"Hermione, please."

"I'll be fine."

"Don't go."

Hermione smiled. She closed her eyes. "You promised," she reminded Draco one last time. "I love you."

Draco refused to accept it as Hermione's body stilled. He waited for the familiar tug, to find himself standing in the cottage, jug and glass in hand.

It never happened.

How was he supposed to live without the person who had saved his life so many times -- the first two, or ten, without the knowledge that she would live past that? How could he go on without her? How could he live amongst the kind of people that had raised her? The Muggles.

Draco froze. Muggles! In some ways, Muggles were better than wizards. It was his last chance. He had nothing else to try.

Ron, Ginny and Harry watched as Draco vanished from sight.

"Why'd you stop us?" Harry asked, "she's our best friend. We barely even know him. Just because we helped each other these last few hours--"

"There's more at play here than you know, Harry. Come on, there's a lot to explain."

///////////////

Nearly four months later, well after Hogwarts had been fully reconstructed, Harry received a letter to his home via the post.

The envelope had no return address and merely had his last name on the envelope. It was a miracle the letter had even made it to his letterbox. Perhaps the letter's true state had been concealed to look like those of the Muggles -- if it was sent by someone from a magical community somewhere.

"What is it, Harry?"

"Dunno yet," Harry said as he made his way back to the living room, where Ron and Ginny were sitting with their tea.

"Any word from Malfoy?" Ron asked.

Harry shook his head. "Pass me a wand, please."

Ginny held hers out with a sigh. "You've lost your letter opener again, haven't you?"

With a sheepish grin, Harry stabbed the envelope. Holding the letter and shaking the envelope off, he passed Ginny's wand back to her.

While the siblings picked up their conversation, Harry read through the letter.

"Shit!" he exclaimed, startling the Weasleys.

"What?" Ron asked, panicked. "What is it?"

"Privet Drive, now!"

"What?" Ginny said. "Where you used to live? For what d'you want to visit those pigs?"

"Meet me there! Number four, Privet Drive!" Harry yelled, already heading to the front door so he could apparate from outside the boundaries of the protection charms around Godric's Hollow.

Ron reached for the letter Harry had dropped and held it between himself and Ginny.

Harry I do regret not sending word sooner. I've only just received word that you'll be attending Hogwarts to complete your final year. She's quite proud of you and Ron, no doubt. I know she's your best friend and it's been incredibly selfish of me to try and keep her all to myself. If you're wondering how I know about Hogwarts and where you stay, I just have one name for you: Luna. I'm writing this letter to apologise for keeping silent all these months. It was wrong and I know she's going to make me pay for it. Number four, Privet Drive. I trust you know it. Come when you please, she's not getting out of bed anytime soon. Malfoy.

Ron glanced at Ginny. "We should go to Privet Drive."

"Already on it," Ginny said, snatching up the keys to the house and walking to the front door.

///////////////

Harry stared at the front door. Ginny nudged him forward.

He'd barely knocked before the door opened.

"Wards caught you," Draco explained, "I wondered how long I was going to have to wait before you actually knocked. Hermione's asleep. I wasn't expecting you to show up immediately."

"Why are you in my old house?" Harry blurted.

Draco shrugged. "They moved out. Who knows where? I needed a place and it was available. Don't worry, Hermione . . . redecorated."

As soon as he crossed the threshold, Harry knew the entire house had changed since he last stepped foot in it.

"I'm confused," Harry said, "I thought you vanished off the map because Hermione died. Ron thought you were dead too."

"Almost," Draco said, locking the door again and walking in the direction of the kitchen. "Tea? Hermione bought this awful stuff and I've been giving it to everyone that visits. Try some."

Harry, Ron and Ginny shared a confused glance as Draco vanished into the kitchen, returning with three steaming cups. Ron sniffed the cup before emptying it into the small palm tree's pot against the wall.

"Fair enough," Draco said, nodding as he produced a bottle of Firewhiskey. "Will this do?"

Ron held out the cup. "You're not delusional, are you?" he asked as Draco filled the cup with the liquor.

"Surprisingly, no. Hermione may be bedridden, but she's pretty well known up and down the street."

"How?" Harry asked.

"Oh, she made me take her to some stupid barbecue thing and took down everyone's numbers before we came back."

"No, I meant how is she alive?"

"Oh." Draco sat down on the sofa and gestured for the trio to sit. "Wizards are shit, mate. Absolute garbage. Hermione would've died because they'd be looking for some convoluted problem to solve."

"So, what happened?" Ginny asked.

"Heart attack," Draco said, leaning back. "It took the Muggles nearly twenty minutes to restart her heart. She'd slipped into a coma and . . . well, they said she might never wake up. Some said I was wasting finances on keeping her alive." Draco shrugged. "Then, two weeks ago, she just . . . woke up."

"Just like that?" Ginny raised her eyebrows.

Draco shrugged again. "Pretty much, yeah. Stunned the doctors quite a bit. Stunned herself."

"If Hermione woke up three weeks ago," Harry said, "why only send a letter now?"

"I said she woke up three weeks ago. I only brought her here two weeks ago. After that barbecue, she couldn't even get out of bed for longer than a few minutes. She started walking again a few days ago only. She needed the space to get used to living again. Before, coming back from certain death was an easy thing."

Ginny shuddered, catching Draco's attention. Her cheeks tinged slightly pink. "Sorry. I still can't get my head around the whole thing. Ron's explained it to us but . . . it's still strange to think about."

Draco nodded. "I suppose that's fair. Could you imagine, losing Hermione Granger to a heart attack? She's battled monsters and dragons and all sorts of things--"

"MATE, WE HAD A FUCKING FUNERAL!" Ron burst out.

Draco paused. "I did not know that. I should have expected that, though."

"She's got a bloody headstone! And flowers! I mean, the flowers are dead now 'cause we've been in Scotland most of the time rebuilding Hogwarts, but that's beside the point!"

"Ron?"

The four of them turned to see Hermione come around the wall, leaning against it. She looked quite shabby in her rumpled pyjamas and her hair was in all sorts of knots, but her face was full of colour and her eyes were as vibrant as they'd ever been. Hermione turned to Draco as he stood up and walked over to her. "You could've told me they were coming. I'd have brushed my hair."

"I didn't think they'd come as soon as they got the letter, love," Draco said, offering Hermione his arm.

"What really happened?" Ginny asked, watching as Hermione sat down in the corner of the couch and curled up into it.

"I died," Hermione said simply, "for the eighty-seventh time."

"Eighty-seven," Harry murmured, "that's ridiculous."

Hermione shrugged. "I couldn't figure out how to stop Pansy from killing Draco. Half of those deaths were spent thinking I was in the loop alone."

Draco recoiled as Hermione shot him a scalding glare. She was still bitter about it.

"I'm honestly surprised to still be here. I thought I was going to die for real there on the bridge. However, having been stuck in a time loop where I repeatedly died in various ways, I'm not about to question the fundamentals of my survival. I'm just thankful to be alive and lucky to be able to go back to being me."

"You realise we're going to have to get that headstone, as well as that empty coffin we buried, demolished," Ron said, "right?"

Hermione smiled. "So, I hear you're both going back to Hogwarts when it opens in a week."

"Yeah," Harry said, nodding, "We figured you'd want us to."

"You're right. I do want that for you. But . . . if you can find your means without Seventh Year, then you don't need to go. You don't have to do this for me."

Ginny frowned. "You're not coming with, are you?"

Both boys stared at Hermione. She shook her head.

"Well, then what are you gonna do? Sit around here all day, counting the lines on the walls?"

"No, Ron. We've decided to stay here, in the Muggle world. For that, we'd need Muggle jobs."

"You're going to college," Harry said, studying them both, "aren't you?"

Hermione and Draco nodded.

"What are going to do?"

Hermione glanced at Draco. "Medicine," he said.

"And you?" Harry asked, turning to Hermione.

She shrugged. "I'm . . . undecided."

"You should try teaching -- or nursing. Ron says he watched you with the younger students while I was in the Pensieve."

Ron nodded. "You were really good with them. A lot of them wouldn't sit still to let anyone else treat them the way they did for Malfoy. You'd make a great teacher, though. Brightest witch of her age, teaching Muggles how to spell."

Hermione laughed. "I promise to visit for dinner at least once a month."

"Mum's going to hold you to that," Ginny said.

Draco leaned forward. "So, Luna says we're to expect wedding invites soon?"

"Yeah," Ginny said, "I do suppose yours will return from one of those Muggle print stores soon."

Hermione snickered. "You deserve that."

"Shut up," Draco grumbled, glaring at the coffee table.

"Make me," Hermione said cheekily, sticking her tongue out at Draco.

Draco raised an eyebrow as he turned to look at her. "Love, we have guests. Maybe later."

"Oh, gross!" Ron cried. "In front of my Firewhiskey! Don't you have any self-control?"

Draco grinned. "Oh, yeah, can't wait for dinner."

And so they spent the rest of the day in the living room of Number 4, Privet Drive, laughing, joking, playfully insulting, and reminiscing.

Harry had never felt more at home than he did, surrounded by his two best friends, his girlfriend, and the unlikeliest of friends he could've possibly made.

///////////////

Years and years later, when they all had hair the colour of snow and wrinkles all over, long after they'd welcomed great-grandchildren into their families, Draco Malfoy planted daisies and marigolds at his wife's grave. He followed her not long after, but for every day they were apart, he visited the grave and took care of the flowers.

#time after time #dramione #harry potter #second wizarding war #time loops #kenny-writes

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taexual · 6 years ago

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HOLIC - 1 | jb x reader

gif creds to prdsverse

Strangers, united by their big dreams, try to learn to live together and lift each other up to reach their goals without losing themselves or their relationship on their way to the top.

pairing: Im Jaebum x Reader

genre: enemies to lovers au

warnings: some sexual themes

words: 2.8k

it took me months to prepare this story even after i did a poll. once again, thank you so much for voting on it, and i’m so excited to finally reveal the JB fic i’ll be trying to write! 😬 🙌

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You thought you heard shuffling in bed next to you but you assumed it was just happening in your mind. Only two hours later, when you finally opened your eyes to greet your surprisingly empty bed did you realize that your guest from the night before had chosen to leave while you were still sleeping.

He wasn’t a complete asshole who bailed on you after having sex, though. He had left a note on your bedside table – the only remaining piece of furniture in your bedroom, aside from the bed itself, – but as soon as you read the dry words he had written, you started to wish you’d never seen the piece of paper.

I had a good night. Thanks, x

“Thanks,” you read the last word out loud. “Well, you sure are welcome.”

Leaving without saying anything or even waiting until you woke up was really sort of awful but even that would have been better than leaving after writing a dry note as if to acknowledge that, yeah, he did have sex with you and he’s grateful you gave him a place to sleep for the night, but that’s it.

Should you have expected anything more? Not really. Were you still hoping he’d, at least, stay a little bit longer and the two of you could get breakfast and, maybe, fall in love along the way? Of course. You were as delusional as it was possible to get, apparently. But you couldn’t help yourself. This was your first one-night-stand, so, of course, you were hoping for some fairytale happy ending.

Groaning, you crumpled up the piece of paper and got out of bed. The saying “all men are the same” was something you tried to refrain from using but, damn it, it fit your situation so well. Although, rationally, you could understand that this was your fault, too. You recalled every unsuccessful date you’ve had as you put your robe on. Each and every one of those dates would have gone better if you hadn’t expected so much from those guys. If you had lower standards.

You glared at yourself in the mirror, blaming your own mind for deciding that having a one-night-stand would help you feel better. It didn’t. This was the first time you’ve brought a complete stranger home to hook up and it was absolutely the last one.

Walking to your kitchen, you accidentally kicked one of the many cardboard boxes in your house. Your whole foot stung as you limped to the kitchen and leaned against the island, hating this morning even more. Moving out was already stressful. Why did you need to sleep with someone on your last night in this apartment and then mess your mind up by imagining some unrealistic scenario about falling in love with your one-night-stand?

You rolled your eyes and started the coffee pot. Then, simmering in irritation, you opened your laptop that you’d left on the counter before you had gone out drinking with friends the night before.

“I need someone to share my stupid hopes with,” you mumbled under your breath, opening Facebook and texting the groupchat of your best friends a quick update on how your night went.

Then, you got your phone out and, pouring coffee into your favorite mug with one hand, texted your soon-to-be roommate with the other one.

You finished half the mug – and really considered blocking your friends for ignoring you when you desperately needed to talk – by the time Kiera, one of your friends, replied to you. Coincidentally, she was the only friend from your small group of four who wasn’t present at the night-out you had.

Kiera was too busy to hang out last night, but she was really curious to know what your one-night-stand had done to unleash such fury from you. However, she wasn’t content with your explanation of how he left after thanking you for a “good night” in a note. She wanted you to elaborate on the so-called good night itself.

You shook your head – she always wanted juicy details – and started to reply.

Your mind was immediately flooded with memories of the beautiful guy at the end of the bar last night. Hyojin, your other friend had pointed him out to you, insisting that he was your type. You were convinced that he only glanced at you because he felt you staring as you tried to decide how far out of your league he was. However, something about you must have attracted him, too, because a minute later, he was making his way towards you.

He did have a slightly cocky attitude but you were always weirdly drawn to arrogant guys. It must have been something about their confidence that attracted you. And, if you had to be honest, this guy had every reason to be confident. His face was a work of art – you didn’t need to be a photographer to recognize his beauty, but you did wish you had your camera with you – and his voice almost made you melt as he listened to what you told him, and responded with genuine curiosity.

This was where your Kiera interrupted your story with a confused emoji. She said that you had come across a guy who was boyfriend material, she could feel it from your texts. Apparently, these guys weren’t the type to have one-night-stands, so, she swore you’d hear from him again.

You scoffed. “Via pigeon post, most likely.”

You continued to tell Kiera about how he stared at your lips until he finally cut you off mid-sentence and asked if he could kiss you. You told her about how he couldn’t keep his hands off of you the entire taxi ride back home. You even told her how he pushed the boxes in your apartment aside so he could have you against—

Your phone buzzed suddenly and you flinched, the hot feeling caused by the memories of last night settling down in your stomach. You didn’t know why your heart dropped at the text message but you had to remind yourself that Kiera was wrong: your one-night-stand didn’t have your phone number. There was no way he could have reached out to you again.

And indeed, the text wasn’t anything exciting; it was just a message from your future roommate.

You sighed, disappointed for the second time today and it wasn’t even midday.

You hadn’t met your roommate yet but you were hoping you’d get to meet her as soon as you moved in. What was a better ice-breaker than you telling her about how a guy had sex with you and then – perhaps unsurprisingly – bailed while you were asleep. The two of you would bond over your mutual irrational hatred for the male specimen – because you knew she was single, too – and then you’d become best friends for life.

Maybe you were being naïve again because you didn’t even know her real name. Somehow, you never felt the need to outright ask her what her name was. You used each other screen names to communicate – you figured DEF had to be her initials – but you did try to make out her name from her signature on the online lease form. You didn’t succeed, though. In the end, nor her name, nor her face – she had a cat as her profile picture – mattered. You’d get to know her better when you moved in.

You already got to know her a little bit since you texted her number from an ad looking for a roommate a couple of months ago, but, since you never met face-to-face, you were slightly scared that talking in real life would have been different. This time, your conversations wouldn’t consist of questions about allergies, musical preferences, and ambitions.

Although, now that you thought of it, you and her were really similar. Both of you enjoyed the same type of music and both of you had big, rather ambitious dreams. You wanted to become a professional photographer, and she wanted to become a singer. Both of you knew that the chances of these dreams actually coming true were slim, but you both enjoyed dreaming about it together nevertheless.

In the end, you were hopeful that you’d enjoy living with her, even if you wouldn’t get to begin the friendship as soon as you moved in.

You got back to replying to Kiera, this time struggling to remember the feeling of your one-night-stand’s hands on you as vividly as before, but then your phone buzzed again, distracting you even more.

You smiled at this. It had to mean that she wanted to bond with you, too, so maybe you weren’t that naïve and delusional. You may have expected too much from guys but your girlfriends haven’t let you down yet.

You weren’t trying to hide your enthusiasm. Furniture shopping was always a sign of maturity in your eyes and ever since you moved out of your parents' house a couple of years ago, you were eager to move into your own apartment so you could choose all furniture yourself. Unfortunately, the first apartment you lived in – the one you were in right now – came furnished, so you’ve yet to experience the joy of choosing your own bed, closet, and chairs.

Actually, you still couldn’t afford to buy it all on your own, but living with a roommate had a lot of perks. Not only did you have someone to socialize with when you desperately needed a person to talk to, but you could also split the rent, the groceries, and even the furniture. This arrangement worked well not just for your social needs – however minor they were, – but for your financial needs, too.

You really couldn’t wait.

The van you had rented came with three guys, two of which carried the boxes into the van for you – all while complaining about it, and thus fueling your hatred for the males today even more. The other guy was the driver who was, actually, really patient and kind, albeit a little too intrusive.

“So, why are you moving?” he asked you after you finally sat down on the passenger seat and all of you headed towards your new building.

“I graduated from college,” you said. “This was a small apartment, it only had one bedroom. I lived here because I wanted to stay away from the mess that is the dorms. I’m not into that life.”

“You had to work to afford to live in an apartment, though, didn’t you?” the driver asked again.

“I did,” you confirmed. “I waitressed at cafés mostly. I got a job that’s a bit more serious now, though, so now I can afford to live in a bigger place.”

“Any roommates?” he wondered.

“One,” you nodded. “Today will be the first time I’m meeting her.”

The driver glanced at you, surprised. “You’re moving in with someone you’ve never met?”

This was the question you’ve heard twenty times already. You had to admit, everyone who asked this had a point – you really were moving in with someone you barely knew – but, at the same time, you were very confident in this decision. Not even your parents’ warnings that you could end up moving in with a psychopath could steer you. Def was nice, you were sure about that.

“I am,” you said. “I’ve been talking to her for a few months and she’s really sweet. We’re very similar, so I know we’ll get along well. Or, well, I hope we will.”

“Alright, then,” he replied. “Best of luck to you. Make sure I don’t have to transfer your stuff back to your old apartment after you meet her, okay?”

You laughed at this, shaking your head and assuring him that this won’t happen. But, really, his words made you anxious, which was funny, since many people tried to prove to you that this was a bad decision, and yet a simple driver of a moving truck was the one who actually opened your eyes.

Maybe you became more aware of the fact that you were, essentially, starting a new period of your life blindly because you were seconds away from opening the door to this new life. Maybe the anxiety was a normal reaction. Maybe you’d have felt the same way even if you’d known the name or what your roommate looked like.

Taking a deep breath, you spent the rest of the trip focusing on how excited you were to meet the person you were about to live with. Finally, your late-night conversations about cats – she used to own five of them at once, apparently, and you’ve never heard anything more impressive than that – could come to life.

So, yeah, you were going to be alright. This would work out. No anxiety could dim the excitement of meeting your roommate.

The same two guys helped you carry the stuff up to your new place – well, “helped” was a stretch; what you really did was admire the hallways as you carried a little potted plant while they did all the hard work – but, this time, they complained less. Maybe because they finally realized you’d be paying them and wanted to suck it up to you in hopes of a tip. Well, aside from complaining, they really did a good job and all nine of your cardboard boxes reached the floor of your new kitchen within twenty minutes, even though the apartment was relatively high up and the elevator was, of course, broken. So, you felt like they deserved a tip.

Once you were left alone, you finally took in the new place. The décor was white mostly: white walls, white ceilings, grey floors. The built-in kitchen appliances and cupboards were also either white or grey.

There was one bathroom, a kitchen, a living room area – that was completely empty, – and two bedrooms in the apartment. The bedroom closer to the exit had its door slightly open and you couldn’t resist peeking inside.

You didn’t see much. There was a mattress on the floor, a sad looking piece of paper – that must have fallen out of one of the black travel bags that were scattered there, – and a guitar case. You hadn’t realized your roommate played the guitar but you should have probably guessed it. She did want to become a singer after all, so it was likely that she’d know how to play at least one instrument.

You closed the door – after noticing how few bags there were there in comparison to the boxes you’ve brought – and carefully began to drag your stuff into your bedroom. You were afraid to ruin the floorboards but you also didn’t want to actually lift the bags and carry them manually. Perhaps you should have asked the workers to bring your boxes to your new bedroom instead of just having them drop them all in the nearly empty living room/kitchen area.

As soon as the boxes with your books, clothes, shoes, and other necessities were in your room, you texted your roommate to let her know you were here and to subtly ask her when she’d be home. Then, while you waited for her response, you started to unpack the rest of the boxes that you’ve left in the kitchen.

You were halfway through the crockery box when she finally replied.

The domestic request brought a smile to your face. Finally, you didn’t have to worry about leaving the stove on when you went out. You could just text your roommate to check.

The fridge, as it turned out, wasn’t working at all. You panicked at first but then you realized it just wasn’t plugged into the electric cord on the kitchen wall next to it. You did that and texted her back.

She replied with a thumbs-up emoji and you placed your phone on the counter next to you so you could finish unpacking.

You had offered to bring the cutlery and crockery before you moved in, telling your roommate not to worry about any of it. Both of your parents worked for ceramic tableware manufacturers so, each Christmas, your family was gifted new sets of plates, bowls, teapots, and dishes you’ve never learned the names of. You had so many different sets by now that you could have eaten out of different plates every night for a whole month.

Once you finished with this box, you went through the boxes of cutlery and other minor home appliances. You laughed when you realized you had brought your blender, even though your roommate had already placed hers on the kitchen counter. It made you laugh even louder when you realized that both of your blenders were from the same brand and looked almost identical.

A couple of hours later, when you finished working on all the other boxes in the kitchen and moved on to the ones in your bedroom, you heard a key in the lock of the apartment door. Your stomach clenched in excitement and you felt yourself smile.

Your roommate was home.

Deciding to unpack the rest of the boxes later, you headed for the door of your room.

“Hey!” a voice called out. You froze to the spot immediately. “I’m home!”

Was it possible to be robbed on your first day in a new apartment? No, scratch that, it was possible to be robbed at any point in life, this was a stupid question. But… was it possible for a robber to announce that he was home before he stole all of your precious belongings? Because the voice outside of your door didn’t belong to your roommate. At least, not to the roommate you had imagined.

“Hey!” the same voice called out again. You felt yourself panic because the voice was most certainly male and it sounded familiar. “Are we playing hide-and-seek or something? Or are you not home yet and I’m talking to myself?”

With your heart beating out of your chest, you opened the door.

“Seriously, where are y—”

The words got caught in his throat as soon as he saw you walk out of the bedroom. To be honest, you almost forgot to breathe from the shock as well. Not only was your roommate a guy, but, as it turned out, you’ve also met him before.

“Jaebum,” you said, your eyes wide and clouded with confusion.

There stood Def. Your new roommate.

And your one-night-stand from the night before.

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cerillosvillage · 6 years ago

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Sixteen: Defeated

I don't wanna be all alone and defeated/ Who can I be besides me? 'Cause I hate it

Warning: Slight adult situation but nothing explicit

Ib had never stepped foot in the mines before. First and foremost because he simply had no reason to - he was not a miner, he was not interested in the mines' wealth. But beyond that, the mines gave him the creeps. It was a similar feeling to what Badb's tent had given him, though perhaps not as intense. A strange foreboding, a prickling under his skin that made the hair on his arms stand on end. He was far from superstitious, but the mines still made him think of the Gods, and he didn't particularly like that.

He could've gone on living his life not entering the mines, but there was one thing whose pull was strong enough to make him want to go in them, and she had beckoned him. Ajra.

Ib wasn't sure what he had expected after his fight with Nelan. Badb had told him that Ajra would not love him after the fight, and he supposed on some level he had expected her to turn on him, to hate him. So he had been confused when she had praised him and invited her to his quarters. As far as he knew, no one ever went to her quarters. Not even her husband.

The trip down was long and winding, and made use of a lift and a rail cart. The tunnels branched off in multiple directions, twisting into the cliffside, but somehow Ib did not get lost. There was something pulling at him, something like a murmur that directed him down, and down, and down.

He marveled at the sheer depth of the tunnels. And Ajra lived at the bottom of them all. How early did she have to awaken each morning to leave the tunnels before dawn? How did she manage to tell the time? Perhaps it was like the pull he felt - something compelled her as it did him.

Finally, after a long, sloping passage, the floor leveled out, and Ib got the feeling that he could go no further down. Electric lanterns were strung along the passageways - a strange touch, since the rest of the village seemed to eschew technology entirely - and so he followed them as the tunnel stretched ahead. It was only a short walk before the passageway opened up into a chamber.

The ceiling was rather low, at a glance probably only tall enough for Ajra to stand without her headdress. The chamber was smaller than Ib had anticipated, seeing as it was the one that housed the former leader of a cult. He had expected something grander, something more like the kings he had worked for, but the room was surprisingly plain.

There was nothing special about the walls, no interesting formations or crystal growths. More of the small string lanterns were hung around the edges of the room, giving it a soft glow. There was a natural slab of rock covered with what looked like a straw-filled mattress and a number of animal pelts. A few chests were pushed up against a wall, and a mannequin stood near them, displaying Ajra's armor. Everything was spartan, utilitarian.

But there was one feature that felt appropriate for Ajra's former status. Carved into one wall was a great chair. It was rough hewn and simple, but Ib had seen enough thrones to recognize it for what it was.

And, of course, there was Ajra, standing in front of an open chest, half turned away from him. She glanced towards him, dropped something into the chest, and faced him.

"Good, you're here," she said. Her voice was gruff as always, but there was something different about it. It lacked some of its usual edge. It took Ib a moment to fully realize what was missing, but he eventually figured it out -- it was that, for the first time, she didn't sound angry at the sight of him.

The shock of it made the words catch in his throat. He could do nothing but silently watch on.

If she had anything else to say, for her part, she didn't say it. She stepped away from the wall and, as he watched, she pulled her shirt over her head. There was nothing inherently erotic about her movements; if anything, she moved mechanically. And yet the sight sent an excited, painful stab through Ib's heart. She had never undressed for him before. He felt like he was seeing something he wasn't supposed to, like he had when he met the witch.

With more stilted movements, she removed her shoes and trousers, followed by the loincloth that served as her undergarments. She walked to the great stone chair, and again she lacked any sort of teasing or flirtatious movements. There was no glancing over of her shoulder, no sway to her hips.

She sat down, and she seemed to sag in the throne. She didn't look regal. She looked tired.

Ib stood at the entrance to the chamber, staring at her, unable to speak or move. She grunted and waved a large hand, beckoning him forward.

He moved, though he felt detached from his body. He crossed the chamber, coming to stand before her.

He couldn't stand looking down at her. Not when she always towered over him. Never in his life had he willingly lowered his head to a king, but now he sank to his knees.

Her legs were parted before him, her posed decidedly masculine. Not that he had ever cared one bit whether she acted like a woman or not. She was all woman to him - the perfect woman - the woman he had always wanted. He took hold of her knees and leaned forward, resting his cheek against her inner thigh, closing his eyes, feeling the warmth of her skin and breathing in her scent.

There was a tug on one of his horns, and his head was pulled back away from her. He opened his eyes to find her scowling.

"Don't grovel," she growled. "A warrior should never grovel."

"What…" he began, though he was at a loss for words. He wanted nothing more than to grovel at her feet. To worship her. To love her.

But he had been told she would never love him back. Why, then? Why invite him here?

"What do you want from me?" He finally managed to ask. "If not my fealty? What is it you want?"

She breathed in deeply, then let it out slowly. She released his horn and slumped back against the stone chair. It took her a moment to find the words.

"I want to stop thinking about my own death, Ib. I want the thirty minutes or so peace that comes with sex."

This was the first time she had called him by his name without it sounding like she was spitting something foul out of her mouth. It felt wrong, but not nearly as wrong as what she was saying. He understood the implication fully. No person as great and strong as she should ever contemplate killing themselves.

He didn't know how to handle it, though. He had no experience with helping the depressed.

"Why me?" He asked. "Why not your husband? Or someone else in the village."

"The villagers all hate me," she said. There was no whining to her voice. She was merely stating fact. "And though I love my husband, his machinations to try to redeem me into something I am not just make me long for death even more. But you--"

A strong hand caught his chin, turned his face upwards.

"You live your life guilt-free. I do not think about death when I fuck you."

Ib tasted bile. He pulled away from her grasp, scrambling to his feet. Badb's price repeated in his head over and over -- and yet, this… this felt far too intimate. He did not know much about love, but forgetting one's problems with another person -- that sounded suspiciously like love. Like Ajra was offering him a chance to be her lover. A chance for him to be the one to drive the demons away from her.

"I c…" he took a step back, "I can't. I'm sorry, I can't do this right now." He couldn't shoulder her burden like this. He wasn't the right person for it. He couldn't take the responsibility of saving her.

He turned and walked away as quickly as he could without breaking into a jog.

She said nothing as he retreated back up into the tunnels.

He did not once look back.

#rockbreaker lore #long post

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