#we got an outfit change & a plan reveal & FINALLY his ability confirmed !!! | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

residentanchor · 5 years ago

Text

Probable Theorem Ch. 16

<<Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Summary: A search begins... Or the search TRIES to begin but phone calls keep happening! Warnings: Cursing, Panic, angry yelling, kidnapping, injuries(bruises) Word Count: 7944

Note: Savoir Faire Definition: the ability to act or speak appropriately in social situations.

Author’s Note: This chapter comes with some special fanart! [Click here!] Also hi. These past 6 months have been terrible but I still love all of you and this story so it’s not stopping anytime soon!

The trek home took far longer than any of them had hoped. When they managed to make it back to their apartment, the sun was already in the early morning sky. Virgil jogged up the stairs and pulled out a key before running in ahead of the others. He tossed the backpack onto the floor next to the door and raced over to the couch. He spun around and fell back before pulling up his legs and burying his face. The fabric of his hood, which he pulled up a while ago on their journey back home, completely hid his face.

Logan closed the door, and Patton watched Virgil closely while tugging at the hem of his shirt.

“That was good thinking, Patton,” Logan whispered. “Telling the cops you were looking for a friend’s missing pet. At least they have records of something happening to the Prince. It may come in handy in the future.” Patton nodded and looked back to the floor, silent. Logan let out a soft sigh when he hadn’t received any kind of verbal response. Patton glanced up at Virgil, and his frown deepened and he took a step back. Logan took the opening as an opportunity to slowly approach the couch. “I know you don’t want to talk about it, Virgil, but we need to make a plan if we want to get Roman back.” Logan waited for Virgil to move and the heavy silence between them grew. “We should rest a bit and then-”

“Are you fucking kidding me?!” Virgil threw his head up, his face barely visible from his hair covering his face. “We don’t have time to rest! Roman just got fucking kidnapped! The longer we wait, the more danger he is in!”

“Yes, and what do you expect us to do in our condition?” Logan raised his voice a bit in retaliation. “We can’t help him even if we do find him right now. We should rest and come up with a plan first.”

Virgil stood up and grit his teeth. “Fuck that!” His hands balled into fists and he stomped forward. “We go out there and we find him! Just like you found us the very first time, you can manage that, right?! Then when we know he’s safe, we infiltrate, and I bash everyone’s stupid face in! How’s that for a plan?”

Logan held up his hands in surrender as Virgil grew closer. “It took me days to check the whole city last time and the buses won’t be running this early!” Logan commented, hoping to ease Virgil’s anger. “The sun is only just starting to rise.”

Virgil backed off and began to pace. “No no no no no! We need to find him now. I can’t just sit around and wait!” Virgil growled and kicked a pillow on the ground from the bed he had placed before everything. The sight of the blankets and pillows seemed to be Virgil’s current target for his frustrations. He had been in denial about the whole thing the entire walk home. He was silent, almost in a daze as the reality of the situation started to settle in. Now he was simply frustrated with himself that he was so useless to stop it! When Roman needed him most, he stood there, frozen and too afraid and in shock to do anything. Now he was fired up and unable to stand by and wait.

Logan watched Virgil’s panic fueled rampage from the sidelines, unsure how to help as he looked over at Patton. “Any help here?” Patton looked up, his fists were now on his chest grabbing at his shirt, balling them up in his hands. Patton seemed a little panicked himself and shook his head quickly. Logan looked between the two as something clicked. Desperation. Panic. Empath. “Patton, please step out of the room for a moment while I try to calm down Virgil. Do those breathing practices like you taught me, alright?”

Wordlessly Patton nodded in agreement before turning to retreat into his bedroom, shutting the door loudly behind him. Logan turned back to Virgil and went to stop his pacing and destruction of the pillows before thinking better of it. He didn’t want to get caught in the crossfire. “Virgil, can you breathe with me?”

“This is all my fault, Logan. He’s hurt and gone and it’s all because of me.” Virgil finally stopped his pacing and let out a gasp of air. “I did this.”

“You were not the one that attacked Roman so I don’t see how this is your fault.” Virgil huffed out a silent laugh, shook his head, and started pacing once more. He almost looked like a caged animal searching for a way to escape. Logan’s mind raced as he tried to think of ways to deescalate the situation. “Vir-”

“Oh, let it go, Lo!” Virgil spun around with a shout. “I did this! I left him alone when I knew he was tired! Because I knew he likes to have a moment to himself before he comes home! And because I wasn’t strong enough to keep the portal open because I was tired, I let him get kidnapped! This is my fault!”

“That is factually and objectively not true!”

“Bullshit!”

Patton’s bedroom door let out a soft squeak as it opened back up, causing the other two to stop and turn. Patton stood there much more calm and at ease. He smiled and walked out, looking carefully between the two. “You both alright? Feeling any better, Virge?”

Virgil seemed to settle just enough to realize what he had done to make Patton step away for a moment. “Oh shoot, Patton!” Virgil ran over and held out his hands. “I’m so sorry, I made you panic, didn’t I?”

Patton smiled and pulled him into a hug. “You don’t have to apologize for how you were feeling, Virgil. I know you were trying to keep it together the whole way home. Besides, it was a bit of all of our feelings that kind of became too much for me.”

Virgil pulled away and tried to give a smile to Patton as reassurance. “I’m a little better after my freak out. I’m still sorry, though.”

Another Patton walked out of his bedroom and adjusted the collar on his button down shirt. “Now, none of that! We need to start making a plan, right?”

“Um…” Logan cleared his throat as the newly appeared Patton turned to him. “What’s with the outfit change?”

“Oh,” they looked down at their outfit confused. “What do you mean? These are just my work clothes, you’ve seen them before.”

“You’re going to work?!” Virgil cried out, turning to the other. “Today?!”

“It would be suspicious if we all called out. I already have for Roman, promising a doctor’s note after all of this. That should give us some time.”

“Oh, no!” Virgil called out, searching his pockets. “I have work this morning!”

“Not anymore, you don’t!” Both the Pattons crossed their arms at the same time, giving Virgil a stern look. “When I got out of bed yesterday, you were up and cooking breakfast.” The first Patton spoke.

The second nodded. “Did you just get up super early or did you have trouble sleeping? You obviously didn’t sleep last night.”

Virgil ducked his head, confirming both their suspicions.

“Virgil,” Logan spoke slowly as he turned to them. “Pat and Two seem to be insinuating… you are exhausted due to lack of sleep. Which I’m afraid I’ll have to believe since you just told me you were unwilling to keep the portal open too long due to exhaustion... When was the last time you slept?”

“Do naps count? Cause I took a short one...” Virgil flinched as the three looked at him. “Okay, so it’s been a day or two, so what?!”

“Virge, calm down,” the one Logan referred to as Pat Two said, reaching out, “It’s probably for the best you get some sleep soon.”

“I can’t just--I have to do something! I have to start searching or, or… I can’t just go to sleep right now!” Virgil turned and stormed out of the apartment, quickly grabbing the backpack he had left by the door as he did so. “Virgil!” Logan called out, chasing after him. “Wait, hold on a moment! Wait for us!”

The two Pattons looked at one another and nodded. The normal dressed one turned and ran out the door, leaving behind the other for them to head to work.

---

Roman was completely bored.

The kidnapping attempt, if you wanted to call it that, was absolutely pathetic. It only took Roman minutes before he broke free of the zip ties and threw them out of reach before inspecting the room he was trapped in. There were no windows lining the walls so there was no way to pinpoint where in the city he was located. Though, one wall was made completely of glass covered by blinds on the outside. He could almost imagine a long table with chairs all around the white room and people in suits having a meeting for some boring office job they had. It reminded him of his own old office job he used to have... He had to be in some office building downtown, trapped in an old meeting room if he had to guess though there was no way to be sure. They could look in on him from the other side, peering through the blinds to see what he was up to. The only thing that blocked him was the door, locked from the outside. It would be easy for Prince Charging to break free, but after much thought, he decided against it. He wasn’t willing to give them the satisfaction of being right. Not about his powers and not about him attacking to escape. He was going to be quiet and patient and wait it out.

Well, not completely quiet. After a bit of waiting, he started getting bored. A quick walk around the room revealed nothing but a few covered outlets and a paperclip that had been left behind. Sliding down against the wall, Roman sprawled out his legs in front of him and tapped his fingers on the carpet before he started humming to himself. They were not going to get the better of him. Seriously, they had no idea what they were doing. Still airing on the side of caution, he sat down and winced at his throbbing headache and rubbed his cheek where he had been struck.

Once the two he had labeled ‘Harry’ and ‘Marv’ made their first appearance, their tune was completely different than it had been last night. They offered him ice for his wounds and water to stay hydrated. While he turned down the ice, the water bottle was very much appreciated. He didn’t want anything they could have possibly tampered with. They were being polite and checking on him, though Roman wasn’t an idiot. He smiled and thanked them, fully aware he wasn’t wearing his mask and keeping his distance as much as possible.

Once they asked his name, he fell silent. His short responses had made them bold enough to ask but he wasn’t playing any games. They asked again along with a few more questions. They asked about his powers and how they worked and what he could do, but Roman did what he does best. Besides from being dashingly handsome, of course. He performed.

“Wait, you don’t think I have actual powers, do you? You know that, right?” He chuckled awkwardly as he took a sip from the water bottle they had given him. “I’m just a guy in a costume. Powers like that are only things you find in comic books.”

They weren’t pleased to say the least. Their little kindness act dropped fast and the hero watched as they grew tired of his silence and lack of answers. One took out his phone and went to snap a picture before Roman panicked.

“Wait!” Roman covered his face and held out a hand toward the camera. The shouts were enough to get them to stop just long enough for him to come up with an excuse only a gullible moron would believe. “The only advantage you have against everyone else in this city is that you know what I look like. Would you really take a photo and ruin that?”

They looked to one another before nodding, and Roman watched the phone slide away… apparently he was dealing with two gullible morons. He wasn’t sure if that made things easier.

After that, they began whispering to themselves. Though, in a quiet secluded room with no one else around, Roman was able to pick up a few things. They were worried about someone but desperate for a solution. At least, those were the only pieces of the puzzle he was able to pick out from the murmurs. Eventually, they walked out and left the lonely prince once more.

That’s where they had left Roman now. Alone to entertain himself in a room blocked off from all outside light and noise. Roman flexed his hands in his gloves and brushed his face where his mask usually lay.

He heard a muffled noise and glanced up, his hand falling from his face. One section of the glass wall was revealed, the blinds pulled up from the other side. With it’s reveal, someone new was standing there. It wasn’t ‘Harry’ or ‘Marv’ or anyone Roman had seen before. They stared at one another wide eyed and in a bit of shock. The figure turned to the side and spoke to someone he did not see. Then they glanced back and shook their head with a defeated look. They turned back and stared into the office before the blinds cut off their view of one another and left Roman alone once more.

Were these members of the APC? Were they trying to see if they recognized him? The blinds went up again with a new person once more. It happened a few times, again and again. With each shake of the head, the blinds fell and they vanished before the next person walked up. With each face, there was the realization that there were so many people who hated him… for what? For stopping a purse snatcher? For chatting with people who needed someone to just listen? What had he done that was so bad that warranted this much hate? It stirred something in his chest and made him shift on the floor, but he was still in costume. Mask or no mask, he swore Prince Charging was going to help the people of this city and nothing would stop him. Roman needed to distract himself, and he knew exactly how.

He started singing Disney songs.

“You feel like some classic Disney?” Roman leaned against the wall, shouting through the closed door to the people on the other side. Sitting down, he could see their shadows and knew he wasn’t alone. “Something slower? I can do some Mulan!”

The voices never gave a loud response as Roman started singing. He started with some classics and went to new school, only seeing one or two people check in on him while he did so.

Luckily, it was when he was in between songs when he saw her. Staring through the glass and frozen in shock was Patton’s mother. He was glad he managed to catch himself and keep his expression from giving anything away. As he watched her at a loss for words, Roman simply felt anger bubbling underneath the surface. Her own son was a man with powers just like his and she had the audacity to join a group that forcefully kidnapped him just to get what they wanted?

Eventually she jumped and mumbled something before running away, the blinds falling shortly after. To her credit, though, another person came in not long after as they continued their search. Had she not ratted him out? Or, he had hoped this wasn’t the case, was she planning on using this information against Patton somehow? He wouldn’t pass her, the scoundrel. Roman took the opportunity to keep up his charade and continue on as if nothing had just transpired.

“Oh, I just thought of a great song that fits perfectly! You’ve ever seen Oliver and Company?”

Roman sat up and crossed his legs before clearing his throat. He bobbed his head as he began to sing. “One minute, I’m in Central Park! Then I’m down on Delancey Street…”

They continued to ignore him as usual until he heard a loud bang come from outside the room. He paused a moment, listening carefully, before picking back up on his song. “Whoo whoo whoo whoo whoo! I’m street wise! I can improvise!”

Another resounding bang echoed out, causing Roman to pause once more.

“What did I tell you?!” Roman jumped at the new voice shouting from outside the room. His heart began pounding in his chest. He sat waiting in silence, the silent ringing in his ears all he could make out. Then the blinds from before began moving up, revealing yet another new face.

This man was older, bigger with a widow’s peak and a bushy mustache sat atop his upper lip. The man seemed to gasp in shock as he looked in on the unmasked prince before turning to the side, enraged.

“I told you to leave him alone! What part of that told you to bring him here?!”

The man vanished as the blinds dropped, and the hushed conversation on the other side came to an abrupt end. Roman was once again left in silence, unsure of what had just transpired outside of the room.

With a deep breath, he kept singing to keep himself calm.

“Why should I worry? Why should I ca-are? I may not have a dime, but I got street savoir faire!”

---

They chased Virgil down the street, who was marching on with determination to an unknown destination. They both managed to catch up quickly and struggled to keep pace with him.

“Virgil,” Patton spoke up, walking in step next to him. “Where are we going?”

Virgil finally stopped and turned to Logan who almost ran right into him. “I don’t know, where do we start, Lo?”

Logan blinked and reached for his glasses as he gathered himself. “Well, anywhere is a good start. We know where they started but we couldn’t eliminate any part of the city. We can always start downtown and work our way there, it’ll cover the most ground. But they could just as likely have left the city. It could take days before we find him.”

“Wait, we’re starting now?” Patton looked between the two. “Shouldn’t Virgil get some rest? He’s exhausted! He even said so himself!”

Logan shook his head and frowned. “His anxiety has him wide awake and is causing a sort of ‘fight or flight’ response from him. Since there is nothing to fight or to run from, having him burn off the energy can help lower his anxiety and settle him enough for him to rest.” Logan turned and smiled at Virgil who huffed in response. “Until he gets to that point, it’s best we let him be. We just need to figure out a plan first.”

“That makes sense…” Virgil mumbled to himself. “I should try it more.” Silence quickly fell over the group as they all started to think about their next plan of action. Virgil quickly began to shuffle his feet and grow impatient before letting out a sigh. “Let's walk and talk. We need to come up with a plan, right? I can’t just stand here anymore.”

“Yes, though it is not quite as simple as that.”

They walked in silence a bit before Patton chuckled awkwardly to himself. “Talk about deja vu, am I right??” Both stopped and turned to Patton. “I mean, we are looking for a danger but we don’t know where or who it is and when it will strike. Kinda… less supernatural this time but just as scary.” Patton shrugged. “All we need is to call Thomas about all this and it’s just like last time.”

“Thomas…” Logan murmured. “Do you think we should warn Thomas about this? Like we had in the past?”

“Maybe…” Virgil fussed with the backpack strap over his shoulder and shrugged. “Even if he said he wanted space, this is kinda big.”

“Well,” Patton interjected, “he might feel bad if we don’t tell him, right? He is Roman’s friend. We could give him the choice.”

“Excellent,” Logan clapped his hands together. “Patton, you call Thomas while Virgil and I discuss what to do next.”

“Oh, um…” Patton shuffled on his feet and shoved his hands into his pockets. “I don’t have it on me.”

Logan paused for a moment before turning toward Virgil. They stared at each other a moment before Virgil shook his head. “Mine is dead, dude. I’ve been out all night and my human phone charger got shoved into a van a few hours ago.”

When both Patton and Virgil looked at Logan, he immediately grew uncomfortable. “Well, of course my phone is on me and charged! B-but Thomas would never--I mean I really shouldn’t bother him. He wouldn’t want to hear from me anyway.”

Patton smiled and placed a hand on Logan’s arm, causing him to stop his rambling. “Lo, I can call him for you, okay? No need to worry.”

---

The vibrating and generic default tone of the phone rang out across the room. After a moment, the lump laying next to it groaned and lifted their head, tiredly blinking the sleep from their eyes.

Another groan let out from the other side of the couch. “Shut the fuck up, noise.”

“Joan…” Thomas mumbled as he blinked down at his phone. Logan. The call ended and Thomas sighed as the time appeared on the screen. Who calls at eight in the morning? Thomas dropped the phone and laid his head back down on the pillow. He had stayed up late last night with Joan while catching up on a show, and they both fell asleep on his couch. His phone was nearly dead, and the sun was trying to shine through the blinds, though it wasn’t nearly bright enough to succeed just yet.

Thomas shut his eyes and snuggled into the warmth around him, ready to go back to sleep when his phone went off again. Joan groaned and rolled over, covering their ears from the noise.

Thomas tiredly picked up the phone and huffed in annoyance before answering. “Logan, tell me someone is dying or I’m hanging up.”

“Oh, um…” Oh. That wasn’t Logan’s voice. “Well, we don’t actually know? Sorry, Thomas! Want me to call ya back later? I was just planning on leaving a message. I forgot the first time and--oh. Sorry, you’re right Lo, I’m rambling.”

Pulling the phone away, Thomas looked down at the caller id once more. Logan. “Patton?”

“Yeah, good morning! Sorry, we’ve been up for a while, and I guess we just lost track of time.”

Letting out a yawn, Thomas flopped back onto his pillow. “What’s up? Everything okay?”

“Oh, um, not really? I really didn’t want to do this over the phone, maybe we can meet up later?”

“Patton, the last time we met up for you to tell me something important, you almost died.” A flash of a memory went through his mind. Patton, or more specifically a Pal, grabbing Thomas’ hand and running out of the alley and away from the danger they had found themselves in. The same pal panicking on the bus while the others fought that smoke monster. Though, Thomas was grateful they told him…

It was a memory he had completely forgotten about until just then. The memory took a second to flash in his mind before he let out a gasp and bolted up. “Wait, you wouldn’t call me unless it was something super bad.”

“No! Well, we don’t really know? You should be fine!”

Thomas groaned and ran a hand through his hair. “You said that last time… I think.”

“I did. I’m, sorry… I don’t know how I should say this.”

“Just say it or I’m going to start panicking.” Thomas saw Joan turn back over and look at him a bit confused. “What’s wrong?”

“So, um. Prince Charging was kidnapped last night.”

“He what?!”

“Thomas?” Joan sat up looking concerned.

“What do you mean Prince Charging was kidnapped?!”

“Wait, the fuck?!” Joan threw the blanket off of themself and walked over to the other half of the sectional couch.

“We are looking for him, but we just wanted to warn you! You might hear some stuff, and we didn’t want to leave you out of the loop. I’m sorry, this could have waited until you actually woke up. I didn’t know what to say when the voicemail popped up the first time.”

Thomas immediately shook his head. “No, no! This is definitely something important I needed to know. Thanks for telling me.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll find him, okay? Leave everything to us! We will update you if anything changes!” Thomas bit his lip as he heard Patton trying to reassure him over the phone. “I’m sorry, try and get some sleep if you still need it, okay? We’ll talk soon.”

“Yeah, okay bye.”

Thomas pulled his phone away and watched the call end before letting out a big sigh.

“Well? What did he say?” Thomas looked at Joan and shook his head. “What happened?”

“I dunno, I didn’t…” A million questions suddenly hit him all at once as he shook off his sleep. What did actually happen? Where? How?! He didn’t even think to ask, the shock of the news was a bit overwhelming and it seemed Patton was in a rush, panicking and tired. Why did he use Logan’s phone in the first place? “He just told me they were looking and would give me updates when they could.”

Joan mumbled to themself before leaning back onto the couch. “Well, that’s one way to start the day.”

Thomas looked at his best friend as a feeling squirmed inside of him. He wasn’t exactly sure what it was, but he felt the need to move. He stood up and stretched before looking back to the couch. “What now? I don’t think I can sleep after that.”

“Me neither. I mean… maybe if I wanted to, but…” They trailed off and shrugged. “You think Roman’s okay? Maybe that group had something to do with it? Or it could have been like, a super obsessed fan or something.”

“I dunno…”

Joan shook their head and smirked to themself. “Alright, well, what are you gonna do?”

“What?”

They leaned over and patted Thomas on his shoulder. “Come on, we need to get some more sleep before your big day.”

“Joan, what are you talking about?” Thomas whined, unsure of what was happening.

“Thomas,” Joan turned and looked at him seriously. “What do you plan on doing about it?”

Thomas stared at Joan confused for a moment. “Doing about--what? About Roman? I don’t, I’m… I'm way over my head here, I think it’s best I just sit this one out.” Thomas gripped his hair as he nervously ran his hand through it again. “Right?”

“Whatever you want, Thomas. As long as you’re sure. And I get pancakes beforehand.”

---

Patton tapped on Logan’s phone to end the call and handed it back. “There. Taken care of. So, come up with anything?”

“Yeah,” Virgil huffed out angrily. “By the time we find Roman, if he’s still alive, I’m going to kill him myself.”

“Virgil-”

“That’s enough, Virgil.” Logan cut off Patton, holding his arms out. “Of course Roman is still alive. What is a pity party going to do?”

“I can’t do anything else! What do you want from me? There’s three of us and a city full of people! They’ve had him for hours now, who knows if we will even find him!”

“Yes, we will, alright?” Logan spoke in a softer tone. “We will find him, I promise you that.” Giving in, Virgil nodded and shoved his hands into his hoodie pocket before turning away. “Now, Patton,” Logan spun around and looked down at the other. “Virgil is right, there’s only three of us. However, I know you can help us increase the odds a bit.”

“Oh, well,” Patton spoke, flustered.

“With a few more of us, we will split into groups.” Logan turned and faced Virgil. “We will split the city into divisions and spread out from there. Patton and I will start with the westside while a pal and you search where we last saw Roman.”

“Logan, I-”

“Then the other groups can search remaining parts and search for the Prince’s fan club and give them a heads up about what happened. Surely one of them might know something.”

“Logan!” Patton looked flustered as he yelled, completely red in the face with his hands balled into fists.

“I am sorry, was there something you needed to say?”

Patton flushed when Logan spoke and gave him his undivided attention. “Oh, um… yeah. I can’t.”

The other two waited for Patton to elaborate before growing confused. “I’m sorry,” Logan shook his head. “You can’t what?”

“I can’t make more pals. I, um… I’m Two?” The words slowly sank into Logan’s brain as his eyes slowly widened. “Tada? Sorry, I should have said something sooner.”

“That’s why you don’t have your phone.” Logan mumbled to himself before shaking his head. “No matter, the real one simply went to work, correct?” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone once more. “I’ll simply call him there, they should be open by now.”

“He’s not.” Logan froze half way through dialing the number.

“What did you just say?”

“He’s not at work?” Two chuckled awkwardly and cleared his throat. “Three went to work today.”

Logan took a step closer and looked Two directly in the eyes. “Tell me the truth. Was it Patton I saw wearing his work clothes before we left.”

“It was.”

Logan frowned and paused for a moment. “Then he made a pal after he left to go to work for him?” Two nodded and Logan leaned back. “So where is he?!”

“About that…”

Not waiting for an answer, Logan pulled out his phone and pressed the button to speed dial his boyfriend’s cellphone. The other two waited quietly as Logan silently seethed, waiting as his phone rang over and over and squeezing it tightly in his hand. “Pick up, pick up,” he mumbled to himself impatiently, his back turned to the others on the sidewalk. He heard a click and a noise as the ringing stopped. “Patton?”

“Logan? Everything alright?”

“Care to explain why Two is here and Three is at work?” Patton sighed and looked up at the others as they watched him nervously. “Did you really find it necessary to sneak away from us like that?”

“Would you have stopped me from doing this if I had told you?”

“I…” He knew the answer. If Patton was going to talk to his mother, he would have wanted to be there or would have tried to talk him out of it completely. “We’re just worried. I don’t want you rushing into anything.”

“She’s my mother, Lo.” Logan’s heart broke at the soft tone. “I have to be able to talk to her about things.”

“I don’t want her to keep--” Logan bit his tongue before he said too much. “You always forgive her...”

“Not for this.” Logan tensed at the serious tone he heard through the phone. “I’ll call you back when it’s done. Trust me on this?”

Logan nodded and closed his eyes. “Yes, of course. Always. Just be careful.”

“Don’t worry. I have her outnumbered.” Logan chuckled and managed to relax. “I’ll see you later.”

“Right, of course. Later.”

Logan heard the phone call end and pulled it away, watching the numbers on his phone fade into darkness. He took a moment to let everything sink in before spinning around to the others.

“He went to visit his mother?!” Logan knew shouting so early in the morning would only get him in trouble, but his brain was buzzing with everything that happened and the new information he was just given was a bit too much. “What would he go to her for?”

“This is it, we’re doomed.” Virgil began biting his fingernail and started to pace. “If only I could have stopped this from before. I could go back, couldn’t I?! There must be something I can do!”

Two held out his hands, unsure of which one to attempt to soothe first. “She will know something, we know she will!”

“That’s not the point.” Logan lamented. “She’s trouble! He didn’t have to go alone.”

Two pulled his hands to his chest and rubbed them together for warmth. “We aren’t even sure it’s going to work. We wanted to try first and if something came of it, we were going to tell you.”

“When?” Logan looked heartbroken as he spoke. “When were you planning on telling us?”

“Today, I promise.” Two reached out and grabbed one of Logan’s hands. “We were going to tell you even if nothing came of it, but you were going to find out after it happened.”

“I would just have to go back and follow the truck, right?!” Virgil spun around, still pacing back and forth. “I just have to find where he went then return to the present! Then we can just go rescue him!”

Logan squeezed Two’s hand before letting go and turning around. “Virgil, you know how dangerous that could be to mess with the past, let alone let a portal sit there in the open like that.”

“Then I’ll take his place! Something! I have to be able to do something, Lo!”

A sudden ringing rang out and all three of them looked at one another. Logan patted his pocket and shook his head. “That’s not my phone.”

“I don’t have one on me.” Two responded.

Virgil’s face lit up with recognition and he threw the bag he was carrying over his shoulder onto the ground. The ringing had stopped briefly before starting up again as Virgil dug around for the source of the noise. An old flip phone sat in his hand, vibrating and demanding to be answered.

“He has a burner phone?” Logan asked.

“In case of emergencies, but I thought I was the only one who had the number.” Virgil stared down at the phone as it stopped. A brief moment later, it started up again. “So who is this?” Virgil looked at Logan and Pat Two who both seemed as lost as he did. He sighed and flipped the phone open before answering. “Hello?”

“Oh, goodness! Finally! You know you worry me when you don’t call!” The feminine voice over the phone threw Virgil for a loop.

“I’m sorry, who is this?”

“Wait, who is this?”

“I asked first!”

“Where did you find this phone?” The voice yelled back with a bit of anger.

“In a backpack.” Virgil was vague, wondering if it’s a wrong call at this point.

“In whose backpack?” Virgil looked up at his roommates.

“In… Prince Charging’s backpack.”

“Yes, so…” Did they know who they just called? Who did Roman give this number to? “Where is Prince Charging?”

“Who wants to know?”

“His mother!”

Virgil gasped and gripped the phone tighter. “Elizabeth…?”

“Wait,” Two furrowed his brow as he started to remember. “Roman’s mother?”

“Who is this?!”

Virgil suddenly became frozen in fear just as he did hours before. What was she going to do when he found out he failed to protect her son?

“Hello?”

“Yes, sorry. Um, it’s, uh… It’s Virgil, ma’am.”

“Oh! Virgil sweetie, hi!” The harsh tones from before vanished completely. “I should have known. I was concerned for a second there!”

“Yeah… How do you have this number?”

“Come on, now. I know what Roman’s been up to! I told him to call me before and after every patrol to check in! He knows I tend to worry. But he hasn’t checked in last night and his phone is going straight to voicemail! I got worried and tried calling you but I got the same thing.”

Straight to voicemail? Then Roman’s phone shut off too. Probably forgot to plug it into a charger before he left it at home, so used to it always being charged thanks to his powers. “Yeah, um, about that-”

“Something happened to him, didn’t it?” Virgil couldn’t find an appropriate way to answer. “I was worried as much. Are you alright?”

“Oh, yeah, I guess.”

“Good. Then I’m coming over.”

“What?!”

“I’ll be there in a bit and you can tell me everything!”

“Wait a minute-”

“Virgil,” Roman’s mother spoke over the phone in an assertive tone, demanding to be listened to. “Is Roman in any trouble that I could be of any help with?”

“Well, yeah? I guess, but Elizabeth, that’s not really-”

“Then I will not stand by when my son needs my help! I’ll see you soon, Virgey!”

Virgil heard the phone click and the call ended before he could get another word in. He flipped the phone shut and turned around to see Logan and Two staring at him confused.

“Virgil?” Two asked, approaching carefully. “What happened? What did she say?”

Virgil glanced at the phone before looking back up at Two. “She’s coming over.”

“Over?” Logan questioned before jutting a thumb over his shoulder. “You mean over to the apartment? Where we currently are not?”

“We have to go back and meet her there!” Two jumped and spun around, marching down the street. “She has a car, right? We have to hurry back!”

Logan looked between the two before turning to Two. “What about Patton?”

Spinning around on his heel, Two looked at Logan with a frown. “He’s fine, alright?” Two placed a hand over his heart. “I’ll let you know if anything changes. Don’t you trust us?”

“Of course I do. Sorry, I’m just worried.” Logan sighed and gave in. “Right, so, back to the apartment as quick as we can.”

Virgil threw the phone into the backpack and began to follow them down the street. “What kind of plan is this? We’re getting nowhere! Couldn’t we, like, split up?” He fell in line behind them, looking down at his feet as he walked. “There’s got to be a time I can jump to in the past to do something so we’re not wasting time, right? Maybe I could-”

Logan spun around and stopped on the sidewalk causing Virgil to almost walk right into him. “Virgil, I know this is hard, but his mother needs to know. Besides, our best bet is to trust Patton’s plan works. Okay?”

“Okay…” Logan nodded and turned, continuing to walk down the street. “But, wait, what is his plan anyway?”

“My mother.” Two called out over his shoulder. “She’s part of the Anti-Prince Club. We’re gonna convince her to take us there. Or at least tell us where they could be keeping him.”

“Wait, what?!” Virgil jogged up past Logan to fall in step with Two. “She might know where he is?” Two nodded and pursed his lips. “If she sees him, would she…?”

“I don’t know.”

---

Roman wasn’t anywhere near exhausting his vast library of Disney songs, but he was almost out of water and had opted to stop. He turned and layed on the carpet and stared up at the tiled ceiling, tracing it with his eyes and desperately trying to convince himself to not count them just yet. He had to save himself something to do later, after all.

The door creaked open and Roman turned his head away. He didn’t care if it was a new face or not, he was on a break thank you. He could entertain these fools later.

“They haven’t kept you in here long, have they?” Roman heard the door click shut and listened for the figure to approach. “This place was empty last night. You could have only been here a few hours tops.”

“Yeah, sorry, don’t exactly have a clock in here.” Roman waved a hand toward the voice. “Also, can I complain about the room service? It’s dreadful.”

“I know, I’m sorry.”

Roman sat up and gave in, glaring at the older man. It was the one from before, who had yelled at the others for bringing Roman here. “What is your plan, exactly? You gonna just keep me here until you figured out who I am? I have a life and people who care about me. You can’t keep me here long without repercussions, you know.”

The older man sighed and ran a hand through his thinning hair. “I know, I am truly sorry. I’ll get you out as soon as possible. I promise.”

“Okay,” Roman answered slowly, squinting at the older man. “So what is it you want in return for my freedom? My name? Where I live? You gonna drop me off at my house so you can keep tabs on me?”

“No! I didn’t want them to do this in the first place! What kinda morons kidnaps anyone anyway?! I’m surprised they managed to sneak you in without anyone noticing.” The man placed his hands on his hips as he began to pace. “Now that they let everyone know you’re here, I have to figure out how to get you out without suspicion!”

“Hold up, what are you talking about?” Roman crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall. “You act like you don’t hate me.”

“That would be because I don’t’.” The man turned to Roman and slowly approached him. “My name is Bruce. I’m, well, there’s not a leader to this whole thing really. I help organize the meetings and keep track of everything.” He stopped a few feet away from Roman and kneeled down. “I’ve been trying to keep these people off of your back for months by working from the inside. I don’t hate you, Prince. I promise you that.” Roman watched as the man sighed and reached out before reconsidering. “Look what they did. You okay there, son? Is your cheek still hurting, there?”

Roman reached up and gently brushed his cheek that had been struck by the bat. Obviously it had left a mark, not that he could tell. “Oh, not really, it’s fine. The one on my head hurts more but it’s manageable.”

“I’ll go get some ice.” Bruce stood up and turned toward the door, pausing as his hand rested on the door knob. “Do you need anything? I’ll come back and we can plan your escape.”

“Um, no.” Roman pulled his legs in closer, feeling uncomfortable at the sudden kindness he was being shown. “Why are you doing all this for me?”

“Because,” He smiled sadly, “you’re not the first person I’ve met with powers.”

---

The walk back home was quiet just as it had been that morning. The difference now was that Two led the way walking with determination unlike Virgil who was marching furiously and with impatience hours before. Cars drove past as most of the city had already started the day. Virgil lamented in the back of the group, worried about what Roman’s mother would say when she heard the story.

“She’s going to be so mad at me. I’m doomed, she’ll hate me after this.” He bit his thumbnail in worry. “This is all my fault, he’s probably dead and I’m next.”

“Virgil, you need to stop thinking so negatively.” Logan turned and watched Virgil stare at him with a blank look. “Yes, I know that’s not easy for you but you’ll be fine. I promise.”

“You can’t promise that.” Virgil pulled his hoodie closer to himself as his worries grew. “There’s nothing we can do now but accept we’re failures and wait for the end.”

“No.” Two perked up as they turned onto their street. “I refuse to give up. We’ll get through this, Virgil, together.”

The rest of the walk remained silent until their building came into view. Virgil groaned and mumbled out loud. “So glad everything we did was pointless since we ended up right back where we started.”

Two ignored him and waited for Logan who had a key to unlock the door. He stepped aside as Logan pulled his small keychain from his pocket. The apartment door next to theirs suddenly swung open, causing Logan to jump and fumble with the key, almost dropping it. “Sweet Newton’s cradle!” Logan grabbed his chest and felt his heart pounding. “A little warning next time, Clyde?”

Clyde kept his eyes on Two and marched up with a look of worry. “You’re back! Did you find him? Did you see the guy?”

Two raised an eyebrow and leaned back. “Uhhh, no idea what you’re talking about there, kiddo.”

Huffing at the nickname, Clyde took a step back and crossed his arms. “Roman. Did you find him? And did you see the guy I warned you about?”

Virgil and Logan exchanged a look as Two shook his head. “We didn’t, but I don’t know what guy you’re talking about.”

“The… The guy! I told you like, not even two hours ago?!”

“I get that, but that wasn’t me.” Two held up his hands defensively. “You talked to Patton. I’m Two. He’s still out.”

“Perhaps we continue this conversation inside so you can enlighten us, Clyde?” Logan held up the key and turned to their apartment door, quickly unlocking it and making his way inside for the others to follow.

“Oof, who made this mess?” Clyde eyed the pillows and blankets on the ground as Logan began to pick them up. “You always this messy?”

Virgil ducked inside and hunched over a bit. “Princey and I were gonna nap on it when we got back this morning.”

“Eww,” Clyde scrunched his nose at the thought of the two together. Virgil turned and glared, causing fear to spike in the younger man. He didn’t forget the threats Virgil made toward him in his apartment from before. “I mean, aww. What a shame…”

Virgil scoffed and sat down, staring at the floor as Two began to help fold the blankets from the floor. “So, while we wait for our inevitable demise, mind telling us who you warned Patton about?”

“Because I know exactly what you’re talking about. What ‘demise’ is coming for you this time?” Clyde shoved his hands in his pockets. “You managed to screw anything up in the two hours you were gone? That’s a new record.”

“No, Roman’s mom is on her way here.”

“Roman’s bad enough, I do not want to be here when she shows up…” Clyde mumbled, not exactly hiding what he said. “It was nothing, anyway. Just have a bad feeling that someone I sort of know may be involved.”

“Oh?” Two turned, holding a blanket to his chest. “Who is-”

A knock on the front door cut Patton off, silencing the room.

“Oh, great. She’s here already. I’m dead.”

“That was rather fast,” Logan commented, making his way to the door. “I was under the impression she lived in the suburbs, does she not?”

Logan opened the door and found himself once again somehow surprised what the day had brought him. “What…?”

“Heeeey, Logan.” Thomas chuckled and awkwardly smiled, running a hand through his hair nervously. “Mind if I come in?”

---

Chapter 17>>

(If your name is in italics, I was unable to tag you. Please contact me before you are removed.)

Tag list: @cyberpunkjinx @phlying-squirrel @equipodeleo @ace-anx @tisithelittleelephant @fandomsofrandom @thestoryofme13 @herequeerandverytired @too-random-for-me @midknight-mania @sleepyssnail @dragonsight9 @queer-human-being @ab-artist @arandompasserby @musikasworld @hellomusicalnerdhere @izzynuggets @noahlovescoffee @rosesisupposes @detective-lemon @kanejandkruge @draw-till-die @dreaming-about-kittens @nico-holly @maxwithanxiety @cornycornfriendo @pixelysparklez @icequeenoriginal @coloursintheblur @omg-rainbowgalxy-things @myqueen4art @billy-jeans23 @llamaly @len-art-trash @i-know-im-smart @nightmaretyrantvantas @mooniecoockie @prettymuchpugs @itsalexiastuff @littledog-draws @harmonyjewl @the-better-bard @the-lavender-creator @skskskkskskskk @starry-knight-skies @lynnthefander @notkolaidoscop

General: @helloisthisusernametaken @entitydark @lightningbug04 @moonstone-fox @another-sandersidesblog @thesynysterunknown @roo-kangas @singingjo @unikornavenger @rememberfateau-nowoffical @sanders-sides-trasshcan @sleepyssnail @jemthebookworm @spectralheartt @fandomsofrandom @johnlaurensadmirer-johnsenpaiowo @rosie601 @ultimate-queen-of-fandoms2 @izzyfandoms @zaidiashipper @enbyamy @romanmustberomantic @daylnvale @that-one-sunfish-with-a-wig-on @squiddney69 @decayingfoxx @watchoutforthefanfics @pigeonsinatree @lynnthefander @k1ngtok1 @wewuzraw @lovelyisthesunrise @sparkedawg @pukingdraws @pixelatedrose

268 notes · View notes

pastel-rights · 4 years ago

Text

IDV AU Masterlist

I think Masterlist is the correct term?

Anyways, all the IDV AU’s I got at the moment-

Normal IdV AU: So this is my normal IdV AU! Obviously. Ehehe. This one is similar to the game, where they play these dangerous games with the goal of a grand prize. It differs in the character backstories however! Some of these new changes are:

Lucky Guy: In the original game, we don’t know his reasons for playing in such a dangerous game, only that he played in it. He’s known for being the stand in for the detective during the tutorials (as Leo is for the hunter) and the guy doesn’t have much personality. In my AU, Luckster gets an invitation to the manor after an incident that resulted in him losing his memory (and basically his identity lol) which he is offered help with figuring out who he was before everything happened if he played their games. Spoilers, Luckster has no choice but to go.

Aesop Carl: In the original game, it’s noted Aesop’s “mentor” was a serial killer, and Aesop himself had assisted in these murders. He found the manor invite off the person of a woman he had embalmed. In my AU, Aesop still basically helped commit murder, but instead of finding the invite kind of randomly, he meets the Manor’s owner in person, where the owner employs Aesop to embalm the corpses of former participants of their game. Aesop acts more like staff than a participant, but he is still allowed to play in the games. The hunters just aren’t allowed to kill him/let him bleed out. Rocket chair is fine though. (Melissa hates that Aesop has special privileges, she wants to kill him so badly sometimes, this man is so sassy and so snarky and she hates it)

Luca Balsa: I dive into his story a lot more in the Death AU actually! But basically, Luca is blamed for the death of the inventor, goes to prison, gets bailed out and receives manor invite and is tempted solely by the money. In my AU, Luca never got to work of his own choice, and didn’t get to work on his own inventions. He was a prisoner to his work, quite literally. His mentor ran a lot of different experiments on Luca, one of which caused Luca to be able to conduct and control electric currents, instead of the incident being the cause of it. Also this man is like, super touch-starved because his mentor never let him out of the estate. Luca was treated more like an object than a human. The invitation to the manor, to Luca, was an acknowledgement that Luca indeed was a person, and it allowed Luca to do the things Luca wanted to do.

Also, the more games they play (and win) the more money they get, and depending on their score depends on how much money they get.

IdV Death AU (Normal): If you’ve ever looked at any of my IdV content, you should know about this AU. This is basically the “Timmy murders a bunch of IdV characters she loves starting with Nort and making her way down the list” AU because it’s an AU that follows certain ghosts (Like Norton and Luca) and certain humans (Naib and Edgar) and to get certain characters as ghosts, I have to kill them. Sorry Norton 🤷🏻‍♀️

Here is a more detailed post for this AU. It’s also called the fantasy AU sometimes cause I’m dumb and can’t keep consistent naming.

IdV Racer AU: This is an AU based off the COA IV trailer, as well as incorporating the COA III suits! It takes place before the final race, a couple races before it actually. The moments from before the final race, is told as a flashback by Mike, and after the final race with the COA III team would be “reality”. As for the 5 suits in the essence (Molten Hound/Gamekeeper, Pumping Tires/Acrobat, Fueling Agent/Barmaid, Highway Cavalier/Prospector, and Reflective Mirror/Priestess) and the COA III suits (Netherwalker/Smiley Face, Puppeteer/Mechanic, Whiplash/Cowboy, Trickster/Embalmer, Surveyor/Seer and Vile Blossom/Female Dancer.) Here are the breakdown of the individual suits and their roles.

Molten Hound/Gamekeeper: Bane serves as a challenge for Norton, Demi and Fiona, and has chains on the 3 of them. Out of the three of them, Norton has the most chains on him. Their lives belong to him. And over the years, they’re trying their hardest to break the chains Bane has on them. It’s only after Mike, not bound by Bane’s chains, gets involved that they get their freedom from Bane. Bane notes that there will be more challengers after him, and becomes a spectator to their journey after defeated. He even trains them to be better.

Pumping Tires/Acrobat: Unlike the others, Mike is unbound by Bane‘s chains, meaning he’s free to do whatever he’s like. Growing up in the circus, after a terrible incident that leaves only two survivors, Mike grew up wild, jumping from hyperfixation to hyperfixiation, not caring how well a job paid or not. He always got himself into trouble, and often acted without thinking (such as crashing his car into Bane’s, and drowning in the river because of his actions) which causes a bit of trouble and panic for the others. Before COA, he was known as a very famous acrobat named Mr. Swifts and was well known for his disappearing juggling acts and incredible flexibility. He joined the COA IV team towards the beginning of their final races against Bane, and he was able to bridge the gap because of his chain free status, which helped earn Norton, Demi and Fiona their freedoms, even if it meant giving up his own life. He gets along well with everyone, he isn’t really disturbed by their “strange” habits as other racers are, he finds them very interesting. If anything, he considers himself stranger. He doesn’t give his own life much consideration, he’s too busy trying to save other people’s lives. He would gladly lay down his life to make sure other people could live theirs without fear, and that shows up till his last appearance in the COA IV race, in which the aftermath has him meeting the COA III group. Don’t worry, he reunited with his newly freed friends... after almost a year. The two COA teams see different sides of him. With the COA III team, he gets an outfit similar to the one Vile Blossom wears instead of his COA IV racer outfit or his Mr. Swifts outfit.

Fueling Agent/Barmaid: Demi grew up with the other two COA III racers (Norton and Fiona) and is one of the racers Bane has chains on. She doesn’t really have her own free will, and has (unwilling) done some terrible things, such as sabatoging the engines of other cars. It was her who introduced Mike to the gang initially as one of Bane’s plans to torment the trio, seeing as Mike was pretty well known in the community in general for being a sole Acrobat (He was known as Mr. Swifts at the time) and having something bad happen to a celebrity like him could spell bad news for the crew. Little did Bane know, Mike isn’t the typical celebrity. Far from it. Demi became really interested in Mike after first meeting him, and Bane twisted Demi’s feelings of admiration and crushing into almost an obsession that prevented her from properly functioning (aka daydreaming while driving, dangerous stuff like that) while makes Mike a bit uneasy, but he seems to get over it rather quickly. Like, really quickly. Demi often is the one tending to Norton and Fiona’s wounds, as she doesn’t seem to get hurt as badly. She gets really emotional at times, going from one emotional extreme to another one. She can be unsettlingly happy one moment to extremely angry the next for no reason.

Highway Cavalier/Prospector: Norton has had the most experiences with Bane’s control. He’s also one of the few people Bane has used to make an example out of (the scar of his face) to instill fear into the others. He’s suffered through a lot trying to win his freedom and his friend’s freedom, but no matter what he does, he can’t break Bane’s chains. Not alone at least. When Mike is introduced to the trio by Demi, Norton can almost hear Bane’s thoughts. He knows Bane wants to hurt Mike to get the trio to do something or to get the public to act a certain way towards them, he just knows Bane’s intentions aren’t good. So he distances himself, he tries to drive Mike away so that Bane can’t use them to hurt him, but his harsh exterior is pretty quickly and easily broken by Mike. He goes from tolerating Mike to starting to enjoying Mike’s presence, although he’s very hesitant letting Mike race with them (cause of Bane and all), he generally is very open to hanging out with Mike. Norton gets hurt a lot, before forces himself to keep going, because in his mind, no matter what he goes through, it’ll be worth it when he earns his freedom. Bane likes to hold this over his head, and more times than not, Norton’s in critical condition and depressed by the end of it.

Reflective Mirror/Priestess: Fiona is very cold and closed-off. She used to be this upbeat, outgoing friendly figure, but Bane’s broken her to the point she feels everyone is out to get her. She often feels like everyone is using her, and only through confirmation from Norton and Demi is she able to get over this type of mentality. She’s also very unsure about Mike, but for different reasons than Norton. She feels like Mike is hiding something, she has this image of Mike that isn’t what the other two have. She doesn’t really mind Mike but she doesn’t trust him. It isn’t till Mike saves her after Bane crashes her car initially that Fiona realizes Mike isn’t all bad. Fiona still stays a bit cold towards Mike, but Mike doesn’t really care. Although, the Mike Fiona sees is more of a hidden personality, and the Mike Demi and Norton sees is more of Mike’s surface personailty. Being a priestess has granted her many abilities, after all.

Netherwalker/Smiley Face: Similar to Bane, he serves as a challenge. He’s a bit worse than Bane if I’m honest, he exceeds in mental torture instead of physical torture. He often messes with people’s thoughts, as well as the way the see the world. He acts like a hallucination almost. He can reveal himself to whoever he decides, and uses it to drive the COA III team insane almost. He often overlooks everyone, and takes pride in his abilities. A certain acrobat’s actions catches his eyes though... needless to say, he is not prepared to deal with Mike. No one ever is. He’s able to strike up deals, and is very convincing. Knowing Mike was the one who broke the Molten Hound’s chains interests him, he wants to see how far he can push Mike before Mike shatters. He makes a deal, to bring him back to life to discover the truth, but awakens a much darker side of Mike in the process, corrupting the Acrobat as a result.

Puppeteer/Mechanic: Being a very curious soul, Tracy struggled to understand the predicament she found herself in. Tormented by the Netherwalker, she is driven crazy by everything she doesn’t know. On top of that, when a certain Acrobat arrives (assumed dead at first), this just adds to her frustration. Yet she’s curious, intrigued by what happened to him.

“He looks like a racer, no?”

“Did you hear about that big incident on the racetrack? One of the racers swerved off the race track and straight into the ocean. They never found a body, you think this may be him?”

“I heard he wasn’t even a racer, but a jack of all traits. He did whatever he wanted, most famous for being an acrobat.”

“How curious... I wonder if he survived his trip.”

She’s obsessed with finding out what happened to Mike, as well as the COA IV team, and it’s this burning desire to uncover the truth that brings the two COA teams together. So ya... Mike’s recklessness and Tracy’s curiosity is what brought the two teams together.

Whiplash/Cowboy: The poor guy has no idea what’s going on. He goes out for an hour and comes back to a washed up body, and Tracy making a new journal dedicated to finding out the truth. He’s very serious, very protective over the whole group. He’s rather levelheaded, yet once you get to know him, he shows his softer side. He isn’t that phased by the Netherwalker’s attempts to break him, but he’s always concerned for his companions. He’s also pretty knowledgeable, he keeps up with the news a lot.

Trickster/Embalmer: Aesop is very gentle in the way he goes about things. He is careful with what he says, and often hides things from the others. He’s very cryptic, and often twists things to sound worse/better than they are. Puppeteer hates it when he does this, because it shows he knows the truth of the incident and he’s purposely withholding it from her. More times than not, he gets in trouble for it. But after Mike’s arrival, it almost seems like the play field has flipped. He’s no longer the one in control. He’s just as clueless as the rest of the COA III team. And that is what drives him mad. No Netherwalker involved. Yet.

Surveyor/Seer: Eli chooses to see the world from a bird’s eye view. He comes at every issue objectively, and often will lean in whatever direction is better to his advantage. It’s Brooke Rose who finds Mike a couple minutes after he washes up on shore. At this point, Eli can tell Mike is no longer among the living, yet he can feel something special about him, so he (painstakingly) drags Mike to the others. Like Aesop, Eli knows things that the others don’t because of the way he can choose to view the world, but he doesn’t tend to hide it. He only says what he thinks is important. He is very thrown off by the whole situation. In the end, Eli’s the one who takes up The Netherwalker’s offer to bring Mike back with the intention of learning why Mike was brought to them. In Eli’s mind, there has to be a reason, right? There always was. He eventually gets everyone else on board too.

Vile Blossom/Female Dancer: Margaretha knew Mike before everything happened, and to Margaretha, it all seems to happen at once. From losing her only job to becoming her favorite poetry’s champion, she didn’t have time to wonder. She knows she left Mike all alone, she takes full responsibility for what happened to him. Of what he became. Margaretha was like a motherly figure to Mike, she let him down. She would do anything to make it right. She knows that when the Netherwalker offers to revive her deceased companion, that he isn’t doing it with kind intentions, yet she wants to know his story, she wants to know what happened, for different reasons than everyone else. She oversees Mike while he’s in the care of the COA III team.

IdV Cameras AU: In this AU, Joseph is the most powerful, as implied by the cameras in the name. It basically explores the pasts of the characters in the Death/Fantasy AU, as well as exploring different character paths entirely if he tweaked small things (like having Xie Bi’an come back before Fan drowns, or having Luca bailed out before he gets hanged.) to use those versions of those characters. He can create custom versions of whatever character he so pleases, and then use them to his advantage. It can be a precursor to the Death AU, but in this AU in particular, he explore these alternative paths to see where they led, finding out some things (like the inventor’s death, as well as Fan’s death) are inevitable.

#idv #idv au #idv death au #idv fantasy au #idv racer AU #idv camera au #death mention tw #death mention

4 notes · View notes

duhragonball · 5 years ago

Text

[FIC] Luffa: The Legendary Super Saiyan (116/?)

Disclaimer: This story features characters and concepts based on Dragon Ball, which is a trademark of Bird Studio/Shueisha and Toei Animation. This is an unauthorized work, and no profit is being made on this work by me. This story is copyright of me. Download if you like, but please don’t archive it without my permission. Don’t be shy.

Continuity Note: About 1000 years before the events of Dragon Ball Z.

Previous chapters conveniently available here.

[12 March, 233 Before Age. Ristet IV.]

Yesterday, Zatte had killed an alien invader, single-handedly liberating the Ristet IV. Unfortunately, her swift assassination left no clues about the invader's origins or intentions. Her best guess was that he was simply an opportunist seeking to exploit the chaos of the Federation-Jindan War for the sake of looting. His spaceship contained no useful data that would confirm or refute this theory.

Nor did the jamming device he had set up in orbit around the planet. With the invader dead, there was no one to stop Zatte from taking his own ship into orbit and using it to find the jammer. Once this was done, she quickly radioed the Federation starfleet nearby and inform them that the situation was under control.

With that matter resolved, Zatte finally returned to her own vessel, the star-yacht Emerald Eye, to take care of one last responsibility. She docked the invader's one-seat pod in the cargo bay, and met Dotz in her usual haunt, the observation deck. Night had fallen at the spaceport where the Eye was undergoing repairs, and Dotz had shut off the interior lighting of the deck, leaving herself illuminated only by her collection of candles, and the starlight that shone through the transparent dome covering the deck. Zatte entered, and sat cross-legged on the floor in front of Dotz. She saw no point in any greeting or preamble, and simply started talking.

"So yeah, I had a vision once," she began. "An epiphany. It showed me that Luffa is destined to be an important part of the divine plan."

The fortune-teller nodded pleasantly and seemed to consider these words for longer than Zatte would have liked. She was uncomfortable enough discussing such a personal experience out loud, and she doubted that any reaction from Dotz would put her at ease. Even so, she felt Dotz had earned her respect, and she was determined to share this.

"One god, or many?" Dotz finally asked.

"Huh?"

"Well, uh, I get a lot of clients who have religious experiences," she said. "I find it helpful to know if we're talking about monotheism or polytheism before we discuss it." She paused before adding: "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make it sound like your experience was commonplace. Um, it does happen to a lot of people, but that doesn't make your experience any less special."

"No, it's okay," Zatte said. "I just never considered that before. I'm so used to being on my own with this, that I never thought of comparing notes with anyone. We... we call it Providence, and consider it uncountable."

"I see," Dotz said.

"Luffa hates it when aliens compare her to supernatural figures, like angels or goddesses. She feels like it dismisses her accomplishments as a mortal warrior."

"I see that a lot too," Dotz said. "A lot of powerful people struggle with the idea of fate, or a higher authority."

"I don't think of her like that. I mean, she's sacred, but not divine," Zatte said.

"What did you see?" Dotz asked. "In your vision, I mean? Did Providence speak to you?"

Zatte didn't answer right away. Something about the way the older woman said "Providence" without really knowing what it meant. It was respectful enough, but it still bothered her somehow. "Maybe this is a bad idea. I... I don't know if I should be talking about it."

"Oh. You didn't hear a voice," Dotz said. "It was more of a feeling, one that you recognized immediately."

Zatte was beginning to stand up when Dotz said this. She knew Dotz had clairvoyant abilities, but somehow those abilities still had a way of catching her by surprise.

"We don't have to talk about this if you don't want to," Dotz said. "But I don't want to make you think that your experience doesn't count. There's no rule that says you have to hear a voice, or see a certain thing."

Zatte sat back down and gathered the will to continue. "Luffa saved me," she said. Not in the vision, I mean. She was saving me in real life when I had the vision. I was... well it's a long story, but I was sick. She purged that sickness from me with her powers. And while she did, she managed to do the same for a lot of other people at the same time."

"From what I've seen, that sounds like a typical day for her," Dotz said. "Not to diminish what she does, but..."

"This was different," Zatte said. "At least, different for me. As I recovered, I could feel her mind touching my own. I understood what it was like for her. Just... just this constant drive to fight and prove herself. Like a surf pounding at the shore."

"Go on."

"Well, I just remember feeling so... restored. I was finally myself again. And she was doing something so good for the universe. She was purging a great evil, and I don't think she even really knew how important that was. It just pissed her off, so she struck back. And something told me. Not with words, really. I just remembered thinking that this was the sort of thing she was meant to do. And it felt so right to think of that that, like it was the truest thing I've ever known."

"And you still feel that way," Dotz surmised. Zatte was nodding in agreement before she could even finish saying it.

"This war... well, I think it's the start of something big, like everything is coming to a head," Zatte said. "I don't have any way to be sure, but she's beaten just about everyone else in the galaxy. If she defeats Trismegistus and the Saiyans working for him, then there's no one left to oppose her. I don't know what'll happen, but there's all these signs. Her son, the Saiyan Free Company, they're all showing up to help her save their people. And... well, you being here can't be a coincidence, right?"

"Me?" Dotz asked.

"Well, sure," Zatte said. "You're like a prophet, bearing witness to whatever comes next. It's got to mean something. I'm sure of it."

"I... I don't see how," Dotz said. "My abilities changed after Luffa helped me out of that coma, but I still have a blind spot where her own future is concerned. I still can't tell how her battle in the Fedender system is going."

"It'll work out," Zatte said. "Somehow. Why don't you try again? We can't radio Fedender while their communications are being jammed, so for the time being, you're all we've got."

Zatte didn't like asking this of her. It made it sound like she was admitting that she didn't trust Luffa to take care of herself. And Dotz seemed to be frustrated with the "blind spot" in her abilities. But they didn't have much else to do, and Dr. Topsas was away, and she still worried about Luffa, even if there was no need.

With a heavy sigh, Dotz nodded, and began reshuffling her cards.

*******

[12 March, 233 Before Age. Nagaoka.]

It was something of a relief for Trismegistus to disrobe. The heavy garment had its uses, but one of them was the dramatic impact it had when he took it off. So many of his followers rarely got to see his face, and so it became something of an honor when he revealed it to them. It was important to make even simple gestures like these take on a greater significance. The cloak landed at his feet with a thud, thanks to the iridium weights sewn into the lining. A minor touch, but one he enjoyed.

Behind him, Treekul stood at ease, awaiting his next command. He felt a twinge of shame at the high priestess "costume" he had arranged for her. Was it really necessary to objectify her in such a revealing outfit? Probably not, though it kept her off-balance, and he did enjoy her figure, even if he found her lavender skin off-putting. He often thought that she would look so much lovelier with a Saiyan complexion. Perhaps he would alter her pigmentation someday, to suit his own aesthetic. That thought also embarrassed him a little, but he didn't allow it to bother him. Treekul belonged to him now. She wasn't indoctrinated like the cultists, but that made no difference, since she was trapped on the planet with no way to survive except by his favor. He would do with her as he saw fit, and for now, she served him best as a symbol of power to display before the others.

Before him, one of his newest followers, Lesseri, knelt before him in supplication. She was like most Saiyans-- proud, stubborn, ambitious-- but those qualities made Saiyans very easy to control. He had promised her great power, and in return, he had asked for her complete devotion. It was an easy bargain for Saiyans like Lesseri. They all craved more power, and they cared little for how they got it, or who they had to thank. But once they got the power they craved, they always craved a little more, and that was when they would finally begin to have second thoughts about their choices.

"Rise, Faithful Lesseri," he finally said.

"Thank you, my lord," she replied as she stood. He hadn't given her permission to speak yet, but she was still new to the cult, and that lesson could wait for another time. For now, it was best to teach her about matters that already held her attention.

"What troubles you, child?" he asked. He addressed them all this way, even the ones who were older than himself. It was important to condition them to think of him as their superior in every sense.

"I... well, I think there was something wrong with my initiation rites, sir."

The reluctance in her voice was music to his ears. She had only just joined his flock, and she was already unsure about defying him. Oh, she had been very vocal about her complaints in private, or rather, what she assumed was privacy. But now that she stood face to face with him, she was much more careful with her words. She would make a fine servant.

"Something wrong with the initiation rites?" he asked. "Why do you say that, child? You fasted for three days, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"You drank the elixir, I prepared for you, didn't you?"

"Yes, sir."

"You observed all of the other sacred rites. The garland, the linen belt, the oath of the yoke."

"Yes, sir."

"And you have become stronger than you were before you came to me. You feel it, don't you?" Trismegistus asked.

"Very much, my lord," Lesseri said. "But..."

"But it's not enough," he said, anticipating her next words. "Is it?"

"I, er, don't mean to seem ungrateful, sir..."

"Why do you feel cheated, Lesseri?" he asked. There was no anger or hurt in his voice. He spoke kindly and patiently, as if the implied accusation in her words did not exist. "You may speak freely. In fact, I command it."

She hesitated, then said: "Guwar, sir. He was weaker than me before we joined you. Now he and I both have the Jindan power, and he's stronger than I am."

"Oh?" he said. "And what of it?"

"You gave him more power than you gave me!" Lesseri said. "It isn't fair!" She had tried to be obeisant and respectful, but now her frustration and outrage began to well up inside her. She believed he was playing dumb with her, and she was right. It wasn't fair. The lesson she needed to learn had nothing to do with fairness.

"Let's say you're right," Trismegistus said. "What do you plan to do about it?"

Her building defiance suddenly melted away. Lesseri took a step back from him, as though the question itself had physically shoved her.

"Well?" he asked. "I did order you to speak your mind, Lesseri. Speak."

He enjoyed making them squirm like this. Saiyans like Lesseri thought they would do anything for greater strength, but 'anything' included far, far more than they ever bothered to consider.

"I... I only want what you promised me--" Lesseri said slowly.

"No," Trismegistus said. "You gave yourself to me, Lesseri, and I gave you Jindan in return. As far as I'm concerned, our transaction is concluded. What you're asking for now is to be stronger than Guwar. And I could make you stronger, but you have nothing else to bargain with. Everything you have, everything you are, is mine. Guwar is mine. I owe you nothing. So I'll ask again: what are you going to do about it?"

He looked at Treekul while he waited for Lesseri to come up with an answer. "What do you think, Treekul?" he asked idly.

The alien woman rubbed the back of her buzzcut and smiled uneasily. "Well, she could always quit the cult, right?" Treekul said.

"Yes, she could. You both saw what happened to Salziff when he left my flock," Trismegistus said. "Jindan exacts a tremendous price. Allow me to demonstrate."

Lesseri suddenly collapsed, and a red aura glowed faintly around her body.

"No!" she moaned. "I didn't mean--! I never wanted--!"

"Unlike you, dear Treekul," he said, "Lesseri is free to leave us at any time. However, if she goes, she won't get to take the Jindan power with her."

"You can remove it at will?" Treekul asked. She stepped forward to help Lesseri, then thought better of it. The two women had been allies for a time, and it pleased Trismegistus to separate them this way. Treekul's best chance to survive was to at play along with the role he had laid out for her. She would eventually seek an opportunity to escape, but first she had to earn his trust, which meant that she couldn't squander it by defying him openly. That was the alien's hope, but it was hollow. The fact was that Trismegistus would never trust her, no matter what she did or didn't do. But he would string her along, and make her think her plan was working, and she would continue to obey him, waiting for a chance that would never come. As for Lesseri...

"The Jindan elixir binds the user's ki with my own," he explained. "Increasing their power is a somewhat complicated operation, but taking it away? For me, it is as simple as contracting a muscle. But it's not as simple as filling a cup with fresh wine. A little of the user's ki is mingled in the process, and so when I rescind my gift, the subject always ends up weaker than when she began."

As he said this, the red aura vanished from Lesseri's body, and she looked at her open palms in abject horror. "No!" she gasped.

"Take heart, Lesseri," Trismegistus said. "You're still stronger than Guwar was before he accepted the Jindan power. That must be of some consolation to you."

"Please!" she begged. "I never said I wanted to leave you! I only wanted to be stronger!"

Trismegistus made a cruel smile. "I have no intention of driving you out," he said. "I will return what I have taken from you, Lesseri... tomorrow, I think. That will give you time to reconsider things. And you'll have to prepare for the initiation rites again."

Lesseri made an audible gulp. "Again?" she asked in a small voice.

"I'm afraid restoring Jindan to you isn't as easy as taking it away," Trismegistus said. "At least you won't have to repeat the Crucible. Others have not been so fortunate."

Lesseri began to weep softly. As she did, he turned to Treekul and addressed her.

"Tell me, Treekul. What question should Lesseri have asked me?"

Treekul considered this for a moment, and then shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure," she admitted, "but I'm curious about why Guwar got more from the same dose of Jindan elixir. Does it depend on the person, or is that something you can control?"

"Very good, my priestess," he said. "Lesseri can learn a great deal from you already. The problem is that she has a lot to unlearn as well."

"So this is some kind of ideological thing," Treekul guessed. "Guwar was favored because he had greater faith, or because he was worthier in some way."

"It's more complicated than that," Trismegistus said. He looked down at Lesseri, who was still cowering at his feet. "Up on your feet, my child. You're weakened, but you have enough strength to stand, don't you?" He waited for her to rise before he continued. "I need the Saiyans, Treekul. I need them as much as they need me. With each one who joins my fold and receives my sacrament, I grow stronger. In return, I give them strength, purpose, and order."

He walked around the spot where Lesseri stood, and when he was close enough, he reached out and seized her tail in his hand. Lesseri winced with pain, but didn't move.

"You know that a Saiyan's tail is their weak point," he said.

"I've heard," Treekul said. "But I've also heard most Saiyans train their tails to overcome that problem."

"That's right," he said. "Lesseri is a fine example. If she hadn't rigorously trained herself, she would be overcome with agony right now. Left untrained, simple squeeze of my hand would make her helpless, but instead I can only make her uncomfortable. But why should she have a tail at all?"

"The great ape transformation," Treekul said. "I've never seen it, but I hear Saiyans can increase their power dramatically that way."

"That only works under the light of the full moon," he said, "and even then, it's a liability. Most Saiyans lose all control of themselves in the Oozaru form. Even the ones who don't must still be careful, because if an enemy attacks their tail, it could undo the transformation."

"I know some Saiyans cut their tails off," Treekul said. "Including a lot of the ones here."

"Yes, and they are the ones who demonstrate true wisdom," Trismegistus said. "So many Saiyans revere their tails, foolishly attempting to justify a vestigial organ. They let a quirk of biology decide their strengths and weaknesses, rather than taking control of their own destinies. Lesseri has accepted the path of wisdom already. By accepting Jindan, she has rejected the limitations of her own body. One day, we shall hold a ceremony, and she will cut off her own tail, proving once and for all her willingness to cast off her bodily weaknesses."

"Okay," Treekul said, "But Guwar still has his tail, at least for now. What puts him ahead of Lesseri?"

"Guwar has kept his tail out of ignorance and complacency," Trismegistus explained. "Other Saiyans choose to keep them, out of a misplaced sense of pride. They have been taught by false teachers, who fill their heads with heretical nonsense. That is what sets Lesseri apart. That is the true weakness she must cast off. There are many Saiyans afflicted by this corruption, but Lesseri more than most."

"I... I don't know what you're talking about!" Lesseri finally exclaimed. He smiled at the desperation in her voice. "My mother abandoned me to a gestation facility before I was born! I grew up alone! What false teacher--?"

Trismegistus grabbed her by the face, silencing her as harshly as possible. "I speak of the antiprophet herself!" he shouted. "The un-Saiyan, the Queen of Lies! Or do you deny training with Luffa herself?"

The look in her terrified eyes was priceless. Trismegistus lacked the power to read minds, but he knew enough to be assured that Lesseri would now be his forever. She had been "hiding" this secret from him the whole time, worried that if the truth were revealed, that it would ruin her standing here. But he had known all along. He would never tell her how he knew. Best to let her imagination fill in the blank for him. She would assume he could see her thoughts, or that Treekul had betrayed her, or that she had given herself away somehow.

"Hold on," Treekul said. "Lesseri hates Luffa. I mean, sure, she told me once about how she trained with her, but she found the whole thing to be a waste of time, so she quit."

"Of course she did," Trismegistus said. "Even the lost can recognize true evil when they encounter it. Lesseri forsook the wicked, and with your guidance, Treekul, she found the divine. That is to her credit, but her debt must still be paid. The stain of Luffa must still be cleansed."

"Then... then it's not too late for me?" Lesseri asked when he released her. He could practically smell the fear coming from her. She could not leave the cult, and so her only way forward was to embrace it as completely as she could, in the hopes of being deemed 'worthy'. As with Treekul, Lesseri's goal was unreachable. He would lead her towards it, offering her chances to redeem herself, but she could she ever truly be rid of the "sin" of her past association with Luffa.

"It's never too late for anyone, Lesseri," he assured her. "But your path will be very different from Guwar's. Much will be asked of you, and-- for a time-- you will receive little in return. One day, you will be rewarded in full, but first we must purge you of Luffa's corruption, this sense of entitlement you have. Luffa would have us all believe that power is a Saiyan's birthright, to be claimed through perseverance. You cannot win supreme power by your own merit, Lesseri. Compassion, collateral, shrewd negotiation, none of it matters. It can only be received from higher power. My power. You intuited this when you first decided to seek me out. Now, we must teach your conscious mind to understand the great truth you have discovered."

"H-how do I start?" Lesseri asked.

Trismegistus stroked his chin for a moment as he pretended to consider the matter. Then he gave Treekul an expectant look.

"Um... well, if you're asking me," Treekul said with a start, "I'm new to this, but maybe some manual labor? Yeah, nothing like some mindlessly repetitive tasks to, uh, cleanse the spirit."

"Very good," Trismegistus said. "The breeding pits are always in need of cleaning." He patted Lesseri on the shoulder and smiled warmly at her. "One of the deacons will help you get started."

There was something in Lesseri's eyes that betrayed a hint of resentment, but her grateful smile marked the progress he had made. It would take time to break Lesseri to his will, but the important thing was that he had set the terms. She now understood that she had to mold herself to his expectations, instead of the reverse. "Thank you, my lord," she said. "I won't disappoint you."

"Of course not," he said. "Now go, and let my triple-blessing fall upon your task."

Lesseri lowered her head respectfully, and after she had withdrawn from the chamber, Trismegistus turned to Treekul and chuckled.

"Breeding pits?" Treekul asked. "Is that what I think it is?"

"As I told you," he said. "I need the Saiyans as much as they need me. Not only this generation, but the next, and the one after that. I have facilities here on Nagaoka for incubating their progeny, and breeding partners are selected through genetic screening, but when it comes to the copulation, well--" he stepped toward her and put his arm around her waist to pull her closer. "--sometimes the old-fashioned ways are the best."

"Yeah... but Saiyans are really uptight about that stuff," Treekul observed. "You mean you just order them to pair off and cuddle up in some public space?"

She kept glancing down at his arm, which amused him. She didn't like when he touched her, but she knew better than to object. After all, the little fool needed to gain his confidence, didn't she?

"The Saiyans have always been a prudish race," he explained. "The breeding pits serve as a way to de-stigmatize their mating habits, and to ensure that no one shirks their duties."

"Just another way to keep them in line, isn't it? The ones who object get singled out and punished just like Lesseri, don't they?" she asked.

"Absolutely," he said. "You learn quickly, my dear. But enough of this. I have several more alchemical lessons for you today. Lesseri and her kind can wait for another day."

He loosened his grip on her, only to take her by the arm instead. As he led her to his apparatus, she resisted him with a tug.

"Hold on," she said. "What about Guwar? You kept saying how exceptional he's been, but I haven't seen him since I got here."

He looked back at her with a smirk. "I'm sure you'll see him in time, Treekul," he replied. "Though I would remind you that the breeding pits are off-limits to non-Saiyans."

He turned and led her onward, unconcerned with how she reacted to this statement. He suspected that she had feelings towards the Guwar, or perhaps the reverse, or perhaps neither. The point was not to correctly guess what she was thinking, but to make her question her own thoughts, and to cloak himself with an fog of inscrutability, so that no one could be sure what he could do or not do.

That was the key to true power, and why he so enjoyed the chance to disrobe. He left his cloak where it lay. Someone would fetch it for him, and consider the chore to be a tremendous honor.

*******

[12 March, 233 Before Age. Ristet IV.]

"The seven of knives, twelve of horses. The black hole. The bishop. The nine of lances."

"What does all that mean?" Zatte asked as she looked at the cards Dotz had drawn.

"Absolutely nothing," Dotz said. "Well not nothing, but it's all jumbled. Contradictory."

"I don't understand," Zatte said.

Dotz placed her fingertip on one of the cards lying face up on the table. "This one tells me she's going on a journey very soon. But the others indicate that she won't. This one says she's going to die. And this one means that she'll live a very long life."

"I would have thought that there was a consistent prediction for every possible combination of cards," Zatte said. "Otherwise, what's the point?"

"There should be, but... well, I apply my own sensibilities when I do a reading," Dotz explained.

Zatte noticed her tone was even more apologetic than usual. She found it ironic that Luffa, the mightiest Saiyan of her age, had developed such a fast respect for this meek and unassuming middle-aged woman. "The strictest interpretation of this hand is that Luffa is a very passionate person who will be experiencing a great challenge soon. Well, pardon my saying so, but that just doesn't tell us very much at all."

"No, I suppose it doesn't tell us a whole lot," Zatte said, "but your own interpretation doesn't make sense."

"It's worse than that," Dotz continued. She looked down at the cards scattered on the table. "I've done a dozen readings for her, and they all end up like this. Sometimes she meets an important man, either a stranger, or a close relative. Sometimes she fights him. Sometimes she receives instructions from heaven. Other times it's like she ceases to exist. I hoped that the cards would give me better insight, but I'm no better off than before."

"I'm sorry," Zatte said. "I wish I could help."

"It's not all bad, I suppose. Working on her fortune has forced me to improve my technique. I'm no closer to reading Luffa's future, but I'm a lot more confident in predicting others."

"If that's an offer, the answer is still no," Zatte said. "My place is beside her. If her path is unknown, then mine should be the same."

"Of course," Dotz said. "I only meant that I could get a better reading on the next attack."

"What about the enemy's base of operations?" Zatte asked. "These cultists keep popping up from out of nowhere. From what I hear, Federation intelligence can only suggest that they're using cloaked ships or low-power runnings to approach undetected. Every time we beat a few, there's always more to replace them. If we don't find out where they're coming from, we may never stop them."

"The answer will come to us," Dotz said. "The path of the traitor will show the way."

"A traitor?" Zatte asked. "From our side or theirs?"

"I can't tell," Dotz said. "I-I'm sorry. I know there's a lot at stake, but some events are to fluid to predict."

"Don't apologize," Zatte said. "If this is how your ability works, I'll just have to get used to it."

"I'll try again," Dotz assured her. "Sometimes, things improve after a few hours, as we get closer to the answer. I'll do whatever I can to get some more solid information for you."

"What about Xibuyas' fortune?" Zatte asked. "Can you read anything about him?"

Dotz leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. "His is a difficult path," she began. "He will hold many levers of power, but the ones he'll actually turn will be very few."

Zatte shrugged. "I don't know what to make of that," she said. "Are you saying he won't prosper?"

"Not long enough to truly enjoy the rewards of his work," Dotz said. "He sows the seeds and he tills the field, but others will eat the crop."

Zatte couldn't help but smile. Her stepson despised Luffa, and he seemed to hate Zatte almost as much, so he probably wouldn't have appreciated the sentiment of it. Among her own people, the Dorluns, a fate like the one Dotz just described would be very satisfying indeed. She made a mental note to say a prayer for the boy.

"What about Fedender itself?" she suggested. "If you can't see how Luffa's doing, maybe the planet's status is easier to read."

"Oh, that's a good idea," Dotz said. She concentrated for several minutes, or at least Zatte assumed it was concentration, since she had no idea how Dotz did what she did. Eventually she dealt another hand from her deck of cards, and then--

"The battle is over," Dotz said.

"Over?" Zatte asked. "Then why hasn't there been any word?"

Dotz grimaced as though asking the same question to whatever unseen force gave her those kinds of answers. "I'm not sure. The damage was extensive. Maybe they can't restore communications, even with the enemy gone."

"Then we won?" Zatte asked. "Are the cultists definitely off the planet?"

Dotz hesitated before replying. "Yes," she said. "Yes, I'm sure of it now. They're gone, but... but they'll be coming back. Which means Luffa will have to return there as well."

"I don't get it," Zatte said. "How can she return to Fedender if she hasn't even left yet?"

"She's not there anymore," Dotz said. "I can see a woman. One of Fedender's leaders, I imagine. An authority figure, that much is certain. She's watching a ship take off, and she's begging Luffa to stay."

"That doesn't make any sense," Zatte said. "If she were headed back here, I'd have already picked her up on the long-range sensors. And if she's not staying put on Fedender, we should have heard from some other Federation planet by now, one that's under attack and needs her help. Where could she be going?"

"And what will happen to Fedender," Dotz asked as she slowly opened her eyes, "if Luffa doesn't return in time to help them?"

NEXT: Luffa vs. Trismegistus.

#dragon ball #fanfiction #lssjluffafic #trismegistus #zatte #dotz #lesseri #treekul #nagaoka #ristet iv

7 notes · View notes

masosade · 4 years ago

Text

It’s been several weeks now since the fight for Phos’ life and Maso hasn’t left the pillow Lounge even once. Not like he has anywhere else to go. Now that Calypso was gone, there weren’t any despair-related activities he would be assigned to, nor was he in the mood for bothering other people.

Especially since Stellan was tracking his moves. Partially, his refusal to go somewhere stemmed from a sullen attempt to bore Stellan and Neil into forgetting about him. If he never did anything exciting, they’d move on to other things and leave him alone so he could find someone to take the bracelet off.

Then he realized they were probably not watching him and simply had a signal set up for when he got into trouble so they could make out in peace, and the joy of being boring faded.

It’s not that he was depressed, per se, not really. He was just...unsure of his next move. And waiting with a purpose sounded much better than wandering around aimlessly until something interesting happened.

The first week he was anxious someone from the MiW might come back, or Stellan would give him another lecture, but it was relatively quiet. Then he started telling himself it was relaxing, sitting there doing nothing but resting in pillows. A pitiful lie.

After two days of trying to sleep (just to see how Phos did it), his restlessness caught up to him and he started moving the pillows around, building little caves until he grew bored of that too.

Worry followed shortly after, then anger, then regret, and finally just listless state of ‘whatever happens, happens.’

As long as no one bothers me, I’m fine.

How luck would have it, his peace didn’t last long.

While Maso sat staring at the broken TV one day, wondering how he could upgrade it with the few tools he had at hand and hopefully shadow proof it so it could work even after Phos’ expected return, he heard some rustling in one of the hallways.

Phos! Was his first thought and then, The MiW? No wait...Stellan? Shadow Mariella? Can shadows even mimic footsteps?

Maybe she was still with that hopeless Alice. Maso hoped it wasn't them, because the last thing he wanted to see was a pawn of Calypso coming to gloat.

The door swung open, letting two figures step inside the Lounge and Maso realized he had judged too soon. Any pawn of Calypso was welcome instead of them, hell, even the Absurdist would’ve been a much better sight.

“Told you the bracelet still works!” Anastasia said, sounding way too pleased. “He’s still here!”

It took Maso a second to recognize the Stanley by her side. He had changed since the last time he saw him, less glitchy and the worn employee 427 outfit (which Maso assumed he had worn ironically) was now replaced by a suit, which looked just as ridiculous.

His expression twisted into one of annoyance.

“Jesus Christ.”

“Not quite,” the Stanley smiled.

“Maybe he meant me~”

“Seriously, are you two here to gloat or something. Fuck off. I’m not hurting anyone sitting here so whatever twisted plan you have to torture me into getting better, I’m sure there are loooots of doomed Bradleys you can use them on.”

“Oh yess,” Anastasia let go of Stanley’s arm and, honest to god, marched over the pillows in five inch tall platform boots, somehow not twisting her prosthetics in the process. “We have a hoooooorrible torture plan for you. So horrible, you’ll never call yourself a masochist ever again~”

She plopped down next to Maso, not so subtly blocking the exit should he try to jump up and run.

He glared at her. “You’re a disgrace to Bradleys everywhere.”

“I know!”

Stanley joined on Maso’s other side. He didn’t sit too close but Maso still scooted backwards, keeping a close eye on his hands in case he tried to paralyze or pump him full of hope again.

“We aren’t really here to torture you, Bradley,” He said in a softer voice than what Maso was used to from him. At first he thought Stanley was trying to appear as nonthreatening, although taking a closer look revealed that he didn’t look as strong as he did back when they first met. Probably why Anastasia was accompanying him.

“We’re here to talk.”

“That’s just as bad. I’d prefer torture.”

“Oh, any kind~?” Anastasia smirked.

“No! The pain kind, do any of you even listen to me when I say I’m a pain Masochist. As in physical pain. God! You just hear what you wanna hear, don't you?”

“That would make three of us, kiddo.”

“Yeah, fuck you, An.”

“Maybe if you ask nicer-”

“Kids,” Stanley interrupted. “Can we get on with it now?”

Anastasia piped down and Maso reluctantly turned his attention back to Stanley. All his arms were crossed tightly over his jacket, but at a moment’s notice he would be prepared to stab then both with any blade resembling object in his pockets. Stanley was weak but Anastasia was there to be his bodyguard and Maso knew that he’d have to take them both down if he wanted to escape.

Just want to talk, my ass.

“Calm down, Maso. We aren’t going to hurt you—“

“Then get on with it already so you can leave faster.”

Stanley sighed. “Fine. First of all, I wanted to apologize for...my obsession with you. It was creepy and desperate. You’re not even the Bradley, or my Bradley. So I shouldn't have come after you like that. Though I don’t apologize for paralyzing you, annoying you or giving you hope.”

His expression gave way to a bratty smirk. Maso was only slightly surprised to see he still had it in him to be a little shit, despite the beating he took from Phos.

“Okay.”

“Okay! So next, we wanted to offer you company if you are going to go get healed at Seraphim’s. I know you’re scared-”

“No I’m not-”

“Stellan confirmed you are, so yes, I know you’re scared and probably won’t go through it alone but it might help having someone you know with you!”

“It really won’t, I hate you both.”

Stanley looked pleased. He glanced at Anastasia, who took it as a cue.

“Okay, kiddo, listen up.”

Why is everyone calling me a kiddo, I’m probably their exact fucking age. If Maso wasn't annoyed yet, he was now.

“As a Spencer, I know what you’re going through.”

A derisive snort. Anastasia continued, unfazed.

“I’ve also been changed by past events in my life, ones that physically and mentally scarred me for life, or so I thought.” She glanced down at her prosthetics and despite his skepticism, Maso couldn’t help but listen.

“I was stuck in hell for months, a kind of hell that no Office can compare to. And after I was rescued, I was certain of only one thing: I didn’t want to be alive for another second. I asked my rescuers over and over again just to mercy kill me and let me be in peace, but they never listened. After immediate attention to my wounds, they gave me emotional first aid. I was put through all kinds of physical therapy and medication, the first year all against my will because I didn’t want to get better. I just wanted to curl up and rot.

But despite my struggling, it did help. And I realized I didn’t really want to die, I just wanted to stop hurting. My supervisor knew this and she told me they were willing to fix me up, give me new limbs and change my body as I saw fit, if I would promise to give living another chance. And with that deal, I did.”

So she blackmailed you into going to therapy, Maso wanted to say. He was determined to find flaws in her ‘redemption’ story. It made him feel uncomfortable, not that he would admit it. Was he supposed to believe he could have the same? A pill here, a touch of magic there and suddenly he was as good as new, Perfectly Normal Bradley Spencer, here to make the world a better place or some shit like that. Yeah right.

An continued, unfazed by his musings.

“Therapy wasn't easy, even after I decided I’ll give it a try. I hated it for a long while, but eventually the changes were noticeable. I stopped crying so much, I was able to talk to other patients at the Hospital, I found interest in hobbies again and even got my punning abilities back~”

Stanley snorted in the background.

“Either way! I know you’ve heard this from lots of people, therapy and medication helps along with a goal in mind. And I think you know we aren’t making this up to trick you into a straight jacket. But you’re holding yourself back because you’re too scared to make real goals, Maso. You think you will change into a different person. I didn’t. I changed into a different person under torture, but I changed back into my true self when I let myself heal. And I’m quite happy with how I am today. I will never want to go back to the broken husk of a person I was years ago. Even when I thought the trauma was the only thing I had left.”

She gestured around him. “You already know your true self. It’s not a sad little fusion moping around and self destructing is it?”

“Maybe it is,” Maso shot back.

“Nah, it’s not. Because if it is, then why would you still be here? Why aren’t you out there sulking and bothering Stellans and throwing yourself off platforms?”

“...well, because—“

“Because the real “Maso” or whoever you are now, isn’t that guy who wants to cosplay a corpse so badly. It’s the guy who almost literally raised Heaven and Earth to save the life of his friend. Or who spends his time taking apart broken TVs to see if he could make something interesting out of it. A robot, perhaps? A little automatic pranking device?”

Maso made a face. “I was thinking of a scanner,” He muttered.

“See!” An’s eyes lit up. “You wanna have friends who recognize you as one too, and you want to build stuff and make puns and steal people’s clothes to get your hair ruffled. If you really just wanted to die, you’d be dead already. If you didn’t want to change, you would’ve disappeared and quietly made it happen.”

“It’s the hope-”

“Hope isn’t a parasite, Bradley.” Stanley cut in. “It’s a natural state for a soul to have. If your soul only had one emotion, it wouldn’t know how to survive. You basically starved it of the thing it needed the most. Nourishment, in form of happiness, hope and comfort. Your soul isn’t true when it’s full of despair, it’s just starving.”

“You- you guys are just saying that to get me to come to your stupid hospital so you can fix me, aren't you?”

“No. We’re not dragging you anywhere. As we said, we just wanted to talk.” Stanley stood up and An followed suit.

“If you want to come with us, you’re welcome at the hospital. We have a garden, a library, workshops where you can build and craft to your heart’s content. You’ll get your own room and personal doctors assigned to you.”

“But I can’t leave whenever I want, can I?”

“...no. If you do come, you will have to stay there until you have shown improvement or signs of stability.”

Maso scoffed. “Then no.”

“It’s your choice, for now. But then I would look into other options. And I think you already know which one would work.” Stanley gave him a curt nod. “We’ll see each other around.”

With that, he turned and left for the door, back the way he came from. An lingered a while longer, studying Maso quietly.

“...what?”

“If you aren’t ready to change for yourself, think about what’s best for Phobos,” she said after a moment.

“What will you do when he comes back? Cling to him and do nothing? What if he needs help? Are you prepared to give him some hope and comfort too? If you aren’t, what will you do when he decides you aren't worth the trouble? You should then consider finding a purpose that is more than just existing around other people. You can’t help your friends if you’re nothing but a puppet following the motions.” She turned to follow Stanley out.

“Think about it, Maso. What kind of friend do you even want to be?”

And then they were gone. Maso fell back onto the pillows feeling strangely annoyed and tired. He wanted to say it’s because they were testing his patience with their whole ‘we can save you!’ spiel. But as much as he hated to say it, there were things that rang true, things he’d have to think about deeper.

What kind of friend do you even want to be?

What kind of friend, indeed?

#drabble #suicide ment #depression ment #trauma #x drabbles

1 note · View note

smashmusicideas · 6 years ago

Text

June 25: How the Ultimate Trailer Works So Well

Amongst all the thoughts and discussion regarding Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, I don’t think any individual element of the game - even more than the confirmation of Ridley - warranted the level of adoration and excitement as not just the inclusion of every Smash character ever, but the short “Challenger Approaching” trailer explaining that.

So I decided I’d take some time and analyze it for how it works. Hoo boy, did that take longer than I expected.

youtube

For ease (and because I’m, well, lazy), I’ll be splitting this up into bullet points. I should also note that I’m avoiding a lot of stage analysis except in certain cases, largely because the emphasis on fighters is the focus. Also, this is quite long, so a “read more” tag is needed for this one.

Before the video: Sakurai adds this whole “character numbering” element, which is odd. Most viewers less familiar with this scheme (which has mostly always existed within the series) assumed this indicated the total number of characters from the start, but more than that it inherently acknowledges cut characters, something Sakurai tries to avoid as to not make their fans feel worse. No matter who is watching, it’s odd, and sets up the actual video in a way that feels odd.

00:02 - 00:15: We see Battlefield, something which since Brawl has always functioned as a focal point for the series - kind of in the way Mario does, too, which is why he appears here. Traditionally, Mario is also the character who reflects the visual direction of each game the most, so his “Brawl meets Smash For“ art style confirms it as a new game, one that will marry multiple iterations of Smash.

0015 - 00:28: Kirby, Samus, and Bowser are all Smash staples (two from the first game, one from Melee). They’re also not in numerical order, telling us to not expect things in a “normal” way. They also more clearly show a few returning stages, Castle Siege and Green Greens in particular, and Giga Bowser seems to function in a far new way.

00:28 - 00:34: Link is also one of the central Smash characters, but his drastic redesign tells us further that this will be a new iteration - one that will look to more recent games, at least in part (we also see a new Breath of the Wild stage, alongside Temple). Keep in mind that he gets a huge amount of time to emphasize this.

00:34 - 0:44: We see a lot of Donkey Kong (including a change to his Giant Punch), but it’s Falco’s appearance in 00:42 that’s surprising. He’s typically and understandably a hidden character; showing him off is kind of bizarre. For most viewers, it’ll just seem nice for a beloved character to return, but for the more attentive first-time viewers it is somewhat odd and continues the off-kilter vibe of Sakurai’s introduction.

00:44 - 00:48: Marth casually shows off the new changes to Shield Breaker, just like with DK earlier. Further indication that old fighters will have, to quote Sakurai from a decade ago, a “slightly different flavor this time around,” and that it won’t simply be an expanded port of Smash for Wii U (this emphasis will continue throughout the video and into Nintendo’s continued promotion of the game.

00:48 - 00:52: New Zelda! Not really new Sheik! Their having their default costumes implies they will remain separate fighters, and Zelda’s in particular bucks a trend of Zelda and Link’s costumes coming from the same game.

00:52 - 00:54: Our first post-Melee fighter, Villager, shows a new ability. His appearance also begins to move us from the more classic Smash fighters into a wider variety of ones new and old.

00:55 - 00:58: Meta Knight and Mewtwo. Notable for the former being the first Brawl character in general and the first one shown, and for the latter being the first Pokémon representative - before Pikachu, even. Mewtwo also looks like it did in Smash For, an indication the DLC would not be ignored.

00:59 - 01:01: And here comes Sonic - with a new version of Super Sonic and a returning Green Hill Zone in tow - as the biggest guest fighter out there, though that doesn’t confirm whether less established third party content would be joining him.

1:02 - 1:08: Peach and Pikachu, each with slight new changes in how Toad and Volt Tackle work. It’s notable how long it took to get to either of them, though their being more famous leads nicely into...

1:09 - 1:15: the Ice Climbers! Their return is such a big moment it’s hard to notice we’ve also got a returning Summit (and Living Room), and they unsurprisingly get a whopping six seconds to show off how they look in HD.

1:16 - 1:21: And from a beloved, long lost fighter to a highly desired new one, Nana and Popo formally introduce Inkling, with both a male and female design in tow. We get a good look at how diverse their weapon selection is, alongside a new Splatoon stage.

1:22 - 1:27: Pretty much the only thing we need to see with Falcon is the Punch, while Zero Suit Samus and Wii Fit Trainer show that even the less “iconic” of the cast aren’t going to be ignored. Given Boxing Ring’s centrality to Smash For, its being so prominent here makes sense.

1:28 - 1:30: here’s where things get weirder. The Ice Climbers coming back makes sense, but the Pokémon Trainer? I don’t really think it’s vague on whether the switching mechanic will return (he’s in the back, so...), but it’s out of the blue in a way none of what we’ve seen here is. That it only lasts about two seconds makes it all the more shocking.

1:31 - 1:36: Ness and Lucas. A little surprising for the former, given his traditionally being a hidden fighter, and more so for the former, who was last in the series as DLC.

1:36 - 1:41: The DLC concern becomes even more noticeable now, with Ryu fighting yet another normally hidden fighter: Ganondorf, surprisingly sporting the classic Ocarina of Time design Melee used. It implies a far greater amount of changes than what we were initially expecting, and assures the less confident of us that even third party DLC will not be ignored.

1:41 - 1:44: And look who else is looking new, but Ike, who’s reverted to the design Brawl used...except he isn’t. While the Inklings were expected to have male and female versions, this is the first indication we’ll have more pronounced alternate costumes for specific characters.

1:45 - 1:51: Cloud’s inclusion is another important one at this point, because compared to other guest fighters, the possibility of his return seemed far more up in the air. He gets a lot of airtime, space that comfortably confirms his two outfits and Omnislash, a great flashy move to send us into the big moment.

1:52 - 1:55: If Cloud’s return wasn’t a sure thing, than Snake’s was a pipe dream for fans (myself included). Having one go to the other is smart, because after him, Ice Climbers, and Pokémon Trainer, Snake‘s chances feel so much more possible. And it works so well. We don’t see an attack, or anything, because we don’t need to. It’s Snake, on Shadow Moses Island. That’s enough for us, until...

1:56 - 2:01: “EVERYONE IS HERE!” really just speaks for itself, but I’d also like to note the small feature of Snake running right after the words appear. It’s subtle, but it’s a flash of energy leading to the rest of the video (an energy that is supported by the music, which becomes far more intense up until the end). And it’s important to him be behind the words, because by this point a viewer is processing them, recognizing the totality of what that means.

2:02 - 2:04: And to prove how serious that claim is, Jigglypuff - the last of the original cast (minus Luigi and Yoshi) - brings back Pichu, likely the very fighter most people would think of after hearing that “everyone is here”: “even Pichu?” That the joke character of Melee has returned is proof of the claim, an example of how insane and wild this project is planning to be. But despite how notable it is, the two Pokémon are onscreen for only two seconds.

2:15 - 2:18: Truthfully, the next few reveals are less exciting. Roy is the fifth DLC character revealed to return, but Olimar, Diddy, and Lucario are all fairly normal. But it’s with Lucina that we get yet another oddity. She’s 21ε - an indication that something different was being done with the then-called “clone characters.” It’s yet another indicator that Smash is going to be different, and in rather unexpected ways.

2:26: It’s not a big detail, but Dr. Mario lacks the Epsilon, indicating that he’s different from how he used to be (given that he, Lucina, and Dark Pit are associated as the Echoes of the previous iteration of Smash, it stands to reason people might look for that on him, too).

2:30 - 2:32: And there’s Dark Pit literally one shot after Doc, with the Epsilon. It’s important to keep it all in mind more easily. I also think it’s notable that Palutena’s moveset isn’t shown at all in here; it’s one more thing about which Sakurai’s been coy.

2:39 - 2:42: It’s important, I think, to have the two versions of Link show up together; it highlights how they’ve both functioned as spinoffs of one of Nintendo’s (and Smash‘s) most important heroes. By this point, Young Link is the final character (again, other than Luigi and Yoshi) who came from a game before Brawl; he’s important as one more reminder of this game’s scope.

2:46 - 2:49: And if there were any fighters whose fate would seem as up in the air as any third party character, it’d be the Mii Fighters. And yet, they’re all here, too. And like with Palutena, we see no customization or anything beyond some very basic attacks.

2:55 - 2:56: Despite not being a huge surprise, Pac-Man’s new Final Smash (or new version of Super Pac-Man, technically) is fast, really fast. And that’s good because it kicks up the pace right to the finish. Like, it’s weirdly intense to watch at that point.

3:00 - 3:03: Wolf! While calls for him were probably not as loud as those for Snake and the Ice Climbers, he has remained a beloved Smash character and a fighter people really wanted. Having him here is good for a bunch of reasons - he was the last newcomer in Brawl, his style works really well for this point in the video - but probably the most is that people really wanted him back especially. And holding off on that until now helps emphasize this game’s scope.

3:04 - 2:08: Mega Man needed to be the final main shot for a lot of reasons. He’s a beloved gaming and Smash character, he’s got name recognition, and especially because his Final Smash is the best way to send off us. It’s just this huge blast that keeps up the momentum right until the end.

3:11: And we have the title. “Ultimate” really is perfect word for this, a video that is pretty much just about the history and power of Super Smash Bros.

3:16 - 3:20: ...But it also wouldn’t be Sakurai without some goofing around, so we let the air out of all this pomposity with some silliness from Luigi and Yoshi. I think it makes sense for more reason than Sakurai often using those two for mirth. The Brawl trailer had all this bombastic, dark energy...but then Wario showed up and farted. The first Smash For trailer seemed exciting and crazy...and then Wii Fit Trainer appeared; almost all the character trailers after it had stingers afterwards, mostly goofy ones. It’s a good and important statement that Smash will always be goofy and weird. And you got that in some individual shots (Dedede and Wario, for instance), but it’s a deliberate anticlimax that mocks you, but only slightly, for all the energy you’ve hopefully gotten from what is a very long trailer, all things considered.

So, what have we learned, aside from me realizing I need to come up with shorter topics for this blog? I think it’s that you could have made this announcement any way. Sakurai could’ve just shown the character selection screen, Nintendo could’ve put it out in a press release, or they could’ve just not mentioned it entirely (though that’d be insane given that “everyone is here!” is the game’s tagline). But a video was the best way to do it. And I think this way was the best video they could’ve realistically made. Every fighter gets to show off a ton of personality in a couple seconds, and by basing the whole video around being before or after Snake, it can position the ideal fighters in a way that lets viewers slowly realize how much grander this is going to be than they realized. It’s all just great design in general, and more than just a really cool trailer that showed things off.

(Link to my writings on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate)

#Super Smash Bros. Ultimate #Super Smash Bros.#Masahiro Sakurai #Nintendo Direct #E3 2018

3 notes · View notes

biavenger · 7 years ago

Text

Let It Rain;

Summary: Bucky Barnes always tried his best to be in control, especially as he adjusts to life free of Hydra. On missions, he comes across almost as bossy as the Captain, only out of love. But this was one thing he couldn’t control, couldn’t plan for.

A/N: Warning for major character death!!!! Also, bonus points if you get the musical reference. Let me know if you have any requests. I hope all you love bugs are having good weeks xx

“We have an emergency,” Steve burst into the Tower’s living room, causing a chorus of groans in response to his announcement that their day off would be interrupted by an unforeseen incident. Sam, who was taking a nap on the couch, was shaken away by Natasha as Steve got ready to debrief the team. “There’s a hostage situation in the Czech Republic that’s rumored to be coordinated by Hydra. We need to get over there, get in, and solve the issue with as few civilian casualties as possible.”

Everyone nodded, not paying much attention to Steve’s voice as they dispersed quickly to their respective rooms to prepare for the day’s work. Y/N grumbled to herself as she shrugged off a plush onesie and replaced it with her stealth suit. The thick, protective leather material clung to her skin almost uncomfortably, clinging to every curve of her form. This allowed Y/N to remain agile while fighting her opponents, but it didn’t change the fact that it was hot, sweaty, and often uncomfortable to wear. Not to mention, it didn’t provide much protection from potential wounds, not that anyone could hit Y/N in the first place.

“C’mon, you’re not going to meet the Queen,” Steve banged rudely on her door, “Let’s get it moving!” It was pretty routine for Y/N to be the last one climbing on board the Quinjet, yet the rest of the team was surprised each time by her near tardiness.

Finishing off by slicking her hair back into a bun, she deemed herself mission-ready.

“You look like a founding father when you wear your hair like that,” Sam teased Y/N as she situated herself next to him on the Quinjet, which took off almost as soon as her butt hit the seat.

“Ha-ha, so funny,” Y/N tried to sound irritated as she responded, but a smile crept on her face anyway. She regarded Sam as one of her closest friends in the Tower; they were both fairly new to the team, and were often sparring together in the gym at odd hours of the morning to keep up with the more experienced members. They confided in each other a lot; Sam revealed to her his chronic nightmares, the fears that plagued him at night. She told him about her crush on Bucky, and how she feared being too inadequate for anyone to love.

This fear of hers was often affirmed by the way Bucky flirted around with everyone-but her. After acclimating to the dynamics of the Avenger’s team and the modern era, his old personality began to shine through the gruff exterior he had developed since the 40s; ladies fell for it, including Y/N. Sam took every chance he got to goad her, making her regret any instance she had opened up to him about her feelings.

Everyone sat in silence pretty much the rest of the ride, silently brooding to themselves about the lack of time off the team got. Y/N didn’t mind, though. She liked being able to help people who couldn’t help themselves.

Her eyes flickered over each member of the team, observing their moods. Natasha was as stony-faced as ever, gazing out the window and mentally preparing for what was ahead. Tony and Bruce were up in the cockpit, with Bruce behind the wheel; Tony decided it was the best way to let him stay involved without anyone getting Hulk-smashed. Steve was reading over mission notes again and again to himself, determined to minimize any chance of error. Every time he lost somebody- Bucky in the 40s, Pietro in Sokovia- this pre-mission ritual got more and more intense.

Sam and Y/N sat side by side, not saying much. In fact, Y/N noted that Sam appeared to have dozed off. There was a slight rumbling noise coming from him which could only be his snoring (something she noted to make fun of him for later).

Finally, her gaze rested on Bucky, and lingered there longer than it had for any of the other teammates. His eyes were shut so tightly that his forehead wrinkled, and she knew he wasn’t asleep. On longer Quinjet rides, Bucky tended to get nervous, and had to work twice as hard to remember that he was James Buchanan Barnes, a kid from Brooklyn who loved his best friend, Steve Rogers, and a kid who just wants to be a good person again.

Y/N shrugged Sam off of her shoulder, which he had adjusted to use as a pillow, as she walked across the aisle to take the seat next to Bucky. His eyes didn’t open at the movement, but the way his fingers twitched in response to the noise let her know that he was aware of her presence next to him.

Before, she would ask him if he was okay, prodding him to open his eyes and talk to her about it. Now, though, she learned it was best to just sit next to him in the silence, being a pillar of support without interfering in his coping process.

The jet finally landed with a shuddering jerk, and everyone began to shuffle around as they prepared to make their exit and approach the mission site. Sam still hadn’t woken up, so Y/N took it upon herself to give him a wet-willy to prompt him awake (which got a slight chuckle from Bucky, at least).

Steve exited first, followed by Tony, Natasha, and Sam. Bruce was supposed to stay unless absolutely needed. Y/N waited for Bucky to exit before her, when he reached into his pocket, pulling out a picture of a beautiful woman with long, blonde ringlets and large blue eyes.

Y/N recognized the woman in the picture as the last girl Bucky had gone out on a date with. She remembered how her heart ached as she helped Bucky pick a tie that matched the rest of his outfit, and assured him that of course, this girl would love him. What girl wouldn’t?

Apparently, Y/N was very, very right.

Y/N shook off the horrible feeling that crept over her as the moment ended with Bucky tucking the picture carefully back into the breast pocket of his stealth suit, stepping off the Quinjet and onto the rough, coarse gravel.

One thing Y/N never got used to when it came to fighting was the absolute chaos of it. She was easily distracted, trying to be everywhere at once. The main reason she was recruited by S.H.I.E.L.D in the first place was her ability to teleport over any distance, which came in handy when one member of the team was being overwhelmed.

Currently, the fighting was in the Avenger’s favor. Tony was blasting bad guys out of the way as Steve and Natasha rushed towards the building where the hostages were supposedly held. Sam was currently trying to get a visual on the inside, although most of the windows were blacked out, anyway. Y/N and Bucky were helping to provide cover for everyone as Hydra reinforcements flooded the area.

“Maybe there are no hostages,” one of the boys said over the comm system, although Y/N was too distracted to decipher who, “Maybe this was just an ambush.”

Y/N silently agreed as exponentially more Hydra soldiers descended upon her and Bucky, although Bucky was taking the brunt of the fighting. Usually, the enemy didn’t label Y/N as much of a threat, which was good for her. She was the only member of the team not to have been shot or stabbed so far (Natasha was winning with four in each category).

No one could have seen it coming.

Y/N was frantically teleporting back and forth from place to place, trying to help out where she could. The fighting was getting thick, but Natasha and Steve needed more time to find a safe way into the building. No one had confirmed if there were even really hostages yet, but the Avengers all agreed to treat the situation like there was.

However, in terms of injuries, this was probably their best mission yet. Usually by this point, at least one or two members would be down with some kind of injury that took them out of the fighting. Wanda was their last casualty, and was restricted to the tower for two weeks after being shot in the foot.

All of Steve’s planning was paying off; every foreseen complication was addressed and handled adequately with no negative consequences on the team.

But again, no one could have seen it coming. And its the things that no one prepares for that come back in the end.

Bucky was struggling under the brunt of the fighting, and so was Y/N. She kept her eye on him, though, in case he needed her assistance. At any moment, she was ready to teleport and save the day.

He was handling one Hydra soldier and about to finish him off when another crept up behind, about to stab a knife through the thin gap that Bucky’s armor didn’t quite cover.

Y/N caught it too late. Usually, she would be able to teleport in time and kick the guy’s ass. This time, she only had a moment to teleport in between the knife and Bucky. It struck her right between her ribs.

Bucky’s adrenaline was high as he finished both men off. He didn’t quite process what had happened, even as he looked down at her, seeing the blood pool and the knife that was still jabbed into Y/N’s body.

He kneeled beside her, gently readjusting her so that her body was cradled in his arms. Y/N’s hands reached up to pull out the knife that was uncomfortably in the way, but Bucky grabbed her hands to stop her.

“Don’t, you might cause more damage,” Bucky ordered gruffly, although he knew no amount of damage could make things worse. Y/N was dying, and they both knew it.

“Is everything okay?” Steve questioned over the comm, “Nat and I have secured the building- there are no hostages, we’re clear to search the perimeter.”

“Fine-” Y/N tried to choke out, although it didn’t come through clearly on the comm at first, “Everything’s fine out here. We’ll be that way in a minute.” Bucky opened his mouth to protest, but quickly closed it. He understood that she didn’t want the entire team fretting over her.

It had begun to drizzle over them, causing Bucky to start to try and shelter Y/N’s fragile body with his own. This, he thought, is the last good thing he can do for her.

“Don’t, Buck,” Y/N assured him, “The rain can’t hurt me now. You’re here- that’s all I need to know.” The way she was looking at him with loving, trusting eyes made him want to tear his own heart out. He knew how much Y/N loved him, he just never felt the same way. But now, watching her body shudder and tremble as it processed what happened to it, he wish he could have.

Blood had already begun to pool in her mouth as her punctured lungs gave out, and the rest of her organs followed suit. Tears flowed down Bucky’s face and dripped onto hers, leaving clean trails where dirt used to be. Bucky hoped Y/N couldn’t tell the difference between his anguish and the rain; he needed to be strong for her, in these moments.

Leaning forward, he kissed the space between her eyebrows gently. Her entire body relaxed in his arms as she did so, and he forced himself to choke back a scream as he realized Y/N was really gone.

“What’s going on?” Sam asked, landing near them, “Steve asked me to check on what was taking you two so long and- oh my god.” Sam cut himself off mid-sentence as he finally grasped the scene before him.

He rushed forward, kneeling next to her body and brushing the hair that had fallen out of her bun off of her face- he knew how much Y/N hated having hair in her eyes while she was working.

The rain started coming down harder, washing away the evidence of what had happened there, and concealing the tears of the two men you loved the most.

#i'm really sorry lmao this hurt me to write too #sam wilson x reader #bucky barnes x reader #mcu imagine #marvel imagine #marvel imagines #avenger imagine #avenger imagines #bucky x reader #imagine #imagines

58 notes · View notes

everlarkficexchange · 8 years ago

Text

The Naked Truth

Written by: @peetaspikelets

Dialogue Prompt: this has got to be the strangest day of my life…(submitted by @xerxia31)

Rating: M (for nudity and language)

A/N: I need to thank Mr Pikelet for helping me bring this story to life. He brought ‘an event’ to my attention and after my initial shock and a bit of a giggle I thought I have to everlark this some how.

A BIG thank you to my beta @sponsormusings for her amazing guidance, support and advice. I would be lost without you!

Enjoy!

Katniss hears the ringing of the front door bell as she’s putting on the final touches to her outfit. With fumbling fingers, she fixes the back of her pearl stud earring and shoves her feet into the only pair of strappy black heels she owns, praying that by the end of the night her feet won’t ache and swell with juicy blisters.

She gives her reflection a quick once over in the dust-covered mirror sitting in the far corner of her bedroom - her molten grey eyes stare back at her with nervousness and hesitancy. Taking a deep breath, she lowers her gaze and fretfully smooths out the wrinkles the iron failed to press out of the forest green spaghetti dress that clings to her body and highlights her small frame. It was the most expensive and date appropriate outfit she could find. She’d forgotten that she even had it, stumbling across it by accident behind all her winter coats at the back of her closest, ignored and with the sale tags still on. Katniss has never had a place or the opportunity to wear it out anywhere until tonight.

She rarely goes out on dates, especially blind dates and isn’t the type of person who enjoys socialising and fluttering around aimlessly like an overzealous butterfly high on life. Her work colleagues are her only friends, but even that’s a loose statement depending on who you talk to. She much prefers to stay in the warm comfort and safety of her own cocoon since moving to Panem three years earlier. She likes that she has full ownership of the remote control and can watch any reality TV show she wants without the embarrassment and likelihood of snide remarks and ridicule. She’s a creature of habit, one who prefers to curl up in her favorite armchair, dressed in sweats and enjoying a cup of creamy hot chocolate, no matter what the weather’s like outside.

However, a couple of months ago on Katniss’ birthday – celebrated alone, exactly how she preferred it - fractures of doubt had begun to appear out of nowhere, threatening the fragile existence of her perfect bubble. It was that night while eating a cupcake she’d bought for herself as a treat that she’d realized that the mangy, pain in the ass cat she was looking after while her sister Prim was away at school, had started to hang out with the identical flea ball next door, and seemed to be having more of a social – and sex - life than her.

The wakeup had been like a bomb going off, ringing loud and clear in her ears and it had forced her take a good, hard look at herself. She’d realised she didn’t like what she saw - she was thirty two, had no real friends, no potential boyfriends waiting for her in the wings, and not even a single hobby she could draw any happiness from. She was living the same day over and over again like Bill Murray’s character in Groundhog Day. The only difference between them was that she had the ability to actually change things, and yet was still purposely choosing to live this way on a daily basis. Deep down she’d known that she’d needed to break free from her comfortable haven and start experiencing more of what life had to offer beyond sitting on a couch. At the rate she was going, the only legacy she would be leaving in this world was the imprint of her rear end on an acrylic cushion.

She’d already known what was holding her back. She hadn’t needed an expensive psychiatrist to help her figure it out, it had been as clear as day – fear. Fear had been her biggest adversary since she’d been a child and she’d lost her father in a car accident. The crippling anxiety and the worrying thoughts that something bad might happen to her had been annoying and unwanted like foot rot, but they’d stuck. But she’d realised that now that she was older and matured, and was able to identify her triggers and the reasons behind them, she’d hoped she could lock all that away in a little black box and bury it 6 feet under. She knew she just needed to get out there and take that initial leap into the big, wide world and see where she landed.

Which is exactly why the doorbell is ringing. Katniss had finally succumbed to months of bribery and heavy pressure from her work colleague, Madge, and agreed to go out on a blind date with a guy from the marketing department. She absently lists everything she knows about him in her head - his name is Cato Jackson and he works as an associate advisor for District Advertising. He enjoys lifting weights, camping…and apparently arriving fifteen minutes early to pick her up for their date. The doorbell rings again and Katniss tries not to grit her teeth in annoyance. She grabs her purse off the bed and heads to the front door, her heels clicking on the tiled floor, mimicking the rapid beating of her heart as she gets closer. Taking a deep breath, she swallows her anxiety and the internal need to pretend she’s not home and swings open the door quickly before she can change her mind.

No, no, no. Absolutely not. This is a terrible idea. Has Madge lost her mind?

It’s all she can think when her eyes fall upon the strange man’s overbearing frame that’s covering half her doorway, posing like he’s on the cover of GQ magazine. This hulk of a man is triple her size and his broad shoulders are straining hard against his navy shirt, like he’s about to break out and destroy half of the Capitol. Meanwhile, his blond hair looks like it’s been bleached or he’s spent way too much time under the hot rays of the sun, and the length is so short that it makes his head look out of proportion with his body. Madge had said he liked to lift weights but that would have to be a gross understatement. He’s obviously a junkie who lives at the gym 24/7, who has protein shakes for every meal and injects high doses of steroids into his body on a regular basis.

“Katniss.” His voice comes out rough and scratchy, like the sound of scraping sandpaper.

Her face is tight, but she manages to curl her mouth and muster a polite smile. Her stomach twists and clenches as she watches him blatantly look her up and down, clearly admiring her small, toned body. His gaze lingers a few seconds longer than necessary on the breasts that are being pushed up to effect thanks to the tight bodice of her dress.

Oh god, this dress is a mistake. This whole thing is a mistake, her brain screams. I can’t go out with him. Why on earth did I agree to this? I feel like a piece of meat being displayed on a butcher’s block! Frantically she tries to think of an excuse to cancel the date at the last minute, her mind racing before he speaks up again.

“So if you’re ready, I thought we could go and check out Cinna’s Art Gallery in the city.”

Katniss pauses and her eyes widen dramatically. Any thoughts of an escape plan now lie in the background to sit and simmer. That sentence. It was the last thing she was expecting to come out of his mouth. She’s quite amazed he even knows what an art gallery is, not to mention the fact that he’s offering to take her there on their first date. She was under the impression from Madge that he was a typical beers and football kind of guy and that they’d probably head to a bar for the night. Katniss had just been hoping whichever off the wall establishment they’d found themselves in would at least serve some decent food so she didn’t have to eat a bowl of peanuts for dinner. But maybe she’s been reading this whole situation wrong. Katniss knows she can often judge people harshly and jump to conclusions, so perhaps this time her assumptions about Cato Jackson are incorrect. Relief appears and sweeps through her system as she lowers her defences. She gives him a true, genuine smile and can’t help but feel a little excited.

“Cinna’s Art Gallery?” She confirms. “That actually sound amazing. I’ve never been there before.”

“Really? Well you’re in for a treat. I heard this exhibition is supposed to be…um…one of a kind,” he answers, stumbling on his words before chuckling. “I went ahead and already purchased our tickets.”

“Sounds great,” she replies beaming, and steps out onto the porch. She looks down to appraise her outfit for the tenth time. “Oh wait! Am I dressed alright for the exhibit? I know galleries can be fancy. It’s not too revealing is it?”

He gives her a smirk and looks her up and down again, his eyes turning bright with lust. “You look hot, there’s no need to worry about your dress. We’ll be the envy of everyone there. Trust me,” he winks.

That’s…odd, she thinks, but she lets it go and follows him down the footpath until they reach his shiny BMW parked in the driveway. Katniss tries not to show her displeasure when she notices his right tire is sitting on top of her small garden bed of primroses, the weight of the car crushing the beautiful and delicate flowers she only just planted two weeks ago.

————————

Standing in the large foyer at Cinna’s Art Gallery is like being part of a blissful dream you never want to wake up from. Katniss has never stepped inside such a building, one that can only be described as majestic. With wide eyes and a goofy grin, she looks like a kid on Christmas morning as she takes it all in. Her neck strains as she admires the huge cathedral formed ceilings and clear glass windows that are showing off the night sky. The universe is putting on its own exhibition tonight with its twinkling stars and orbiting planets, each one shining bright against the dark backdrop.

Returning her gaze to the room around her, she’s mesmerised by all the stunning pieces that are laid out on display in the arrival area where they’re waiting in line to enter. Every piece is unique and she’s itching to step out of her spot so she can take a closer look. She can only imagine what kind of beautiful wonders are waiting for her inside the actual exhibition. Just the ambience in the room is humming with excitement and electricity, but instead of it causing her alarm and the need to run back to the safe confines of her house, it brings her a sense of comfort she’s can’t explain.

“So what’s the show about?” Katniss asks curiously, turning her head to look at Cato. They haven’t talked much since getting into his car, and at the moment he doesn’t seem to be paying any attention to her. Instead, he’s staring straight ahead, his neck craning around an older man with a shaved head who’s standing in front of him, and looking around like he’s searching for something. She follows his line of sight, but all she can see is a group of people being politely escorted to a room on the left hand side of the building after they’ve had their tickets scanned. That must be the entrance to the exhibition, Katniss thinks.

“Cato,” she tries again, her voice now louder to get his attention. It does the trick. He turns around to stare at her with an annoyed expression on his face. “What’s the exhibition about?”

“Oh, um, you know…art and stuff.”

Katniss’ brows narrow at his unwillingness to share. She doesn’t understand why it has to be a big secret. There must be some reason why he picked this place tonight. “Well it’s got to be something in particular,” she prompts. “This place is packed. The name of the exhibition should be written on our tickets.”

He turns to her with a smile, though his eyes are cold. “Can’t a guy surprise a girl on a date anymore?”

They reach the counter where a young woman with long red hair and a kind smile greets them. Cato pulls the tickets out from his back pocket and hands them to her to scan. Katniss tries to sneak a peek, but Cato’s large, veiny hands cover most of them. Something unsettling begins to wash over her, and the hairs on the back of her neck stand to attention as she feels his hand find her lower back and begin to nudge her along, heading to the room on the left.

With a shake of her head and any semblance of social decorum now out the window, she digs her heels into the granite flooring and forces them to stop mid walk. “What’s going on?” She asks turning to him, her voice growing high with suspicion. “I don’t understand why you’re being so secretive. What’s the exhibition about? Why won’t you tell me?” He stands still, staring down at her intently for a few moments, his body vibrating with heat and refusing to give her an answer. “I’m not leaving this spot until you tell me,” she pushes.

Cato drops his mask of stone and groans with enough exaggeration that it causes a few people to look over. He drives his fingers roughly through his hair. “Women,” he whispers with a huff. “Fine! It’s a nude exhibition, alright? The artists are naked! They’re the exhibition. You happy?”

It takes Katniss’ brain several moments to catch up and process what he’s said. “A nude exhibition?” She whispers back uncertainly, shock clearly written across her face. Her mouth gapes open a few times like a fish out of water but she’s still not sure what to say to that unexpected confession. Nudity. The artists are nude. Naked like the day they were born, she thinks and feels her cheeks flame with heat. Katniss has never viewed something like that before. She’s always been shy and uncomfortable around nudity. She’s only had one boyfriend and that was before she moved to Panem. The relationship lasted seven months and during that time they only ever had sex with the lights off. Katniss has always been self – conscious about her body, never comfortable in her own skin, no matter how many times Darius told her she was gorgeous. She never believed him. And now just thinking about what awaits for her inside that large hall where a group of male and female artists will be fully nude and standing around on display… well it causes anxious butterflies to appear and dance around in her belly like they’re trying to fight each other to escape.

Her shock of the situation however soon quickly turns to boiling rage – at herself. She knew she shouldn’t have trusted him. Of course he wasn’t into art, he had his own agenda for tonight - using their date as an excuse to come and ogle other women. She’s never felt so angry…and hurt.

“Look, I’m sorry, okay?” He says, reading her expression. He has the gallantry to look defeated. “It’s just I thought this would be something different to do on a first date – something we could experience together. Madge said you wanted to get out and explore life and shit…”

Her mouth forms a tight line. She can’t believe Madge actually told him that after she confided in her. Ugh! She tries to take a few calming breaths to mellow out the resentment she now feels towards both of them. What he said, though, was true. She does need to get out and explore new things and this exhibition would definitely fit into that category and yank her out of her comfort zone. This type of art is not her thing. She was seriously expecting just to see a bunch of paintings and sculptures from famous artists or local talents – nothing too confrontational and confronting…but maybe she could do this. Looking around at the sheer number of people who have turned up tonight it seems like this type of exhibition interests a lot of people from all walks of life.

“It’s a movement thing,” Cato continues, trying to convince her. “You never know, it could be fun…” He gives her a devastatingly handsome smile, one that’s almost convincing with his pearly whites and eyes shining bright. But his mouth curls in a way that causes Katniss to sense a small amount of doubt about his sentiments.

What the hell, she thinks. She’s here and she doesn’t want to make a scene by leaving, especially when they’d already gotten their tickets scanned and an usher is waiting patiently nearby. Besides taking Cato’s lying out of the equation, this exhibition could be good for her. She should do this for herself. “I wish you’d told me earlier,” she tells him tightly before softening her tone. “But alright, I’ll go in.”

He looks surprised for a moment that she’s actually agreed to go in with him but quickly covers it up with a flirty grin. “That’s great,” he replies, taking her hand in his. It feels cold and stiff. “I just know we’re going to have a lot of fun together and I hear,” he leans down and whispers in a conspiratorial tone, “that it can be good for foreplay.”

She swallows the bile rising at the back of her throat and shakes away the invisible sensation of creepy crawlies scuttling along her neck from where his breath just laid upon her skin. Do most women fall for his charm? If that’s the case, he’s going to be sorely disappointed when the night is over, as absolutely nothing like that is going to be happening. Ever. As soon as the opportunity arises she’ll be hailing down a cab and hightailing it out of there before he even realises she’s gone.

As the usher greets them with a pleased smile, he passes Cato a key and directs them to go straight inside the room on the left. Katniss isn’t sure what the key is about. Maybe it’s connected to something in the exhibition, like some kind of symbolism. She’s not too sure, as she’s never been good at finding hidden meanings.

She bites her lip nervously as they move closer to the door. At least I’ll have one positive thing to tell Prim about tonight, she thinks. It didn’t surprise Katniss one bit that her sister literally screamed in delight when she’d told her she had agreed to go on a blind date during one of their weekly skype catch ups. And knowing her persistent sister, she’ll be wanting every minuscule detail.

“Here we go,” Cato announces, opening the unmarked door and allowing her to walk through. She makes her way inside, gearing herself up for what she’s about to come face to face with, but instead she stops in her tracks, afraid that her eyes are deceiving her. She scans the room closely trying to make sense about what she’s seeing, and the realisation hits her like a ton of bricks, her eyes widening in horror. Every one of her limbs freeze and her body stiffens. Even the heat radiating off Cato’s body against her back is not helping her move. And she really wants to move so she can get as far away from him as possible while screaming at the top of her lungs, “How dare you?” and “What the hell is this?”

Standing in front of her are about twenty naked people. Bare ass naked like the day they were born. Male and female. Their bodies all different sizes; big, medium, small. Toned, saggy. Every inch of their skin is exposed and hanging out for everyone to see. But that’s not what’s horrifying her – it’s the fact that these naked bodies don’t belong to the artists. She recognises these people - they were just waiting in line with them to view the exhibition. The old man with the shaved head who’d been in front of them is now standing a few feet away, wearing his birthday suit and scratching his nuts. With dazed eyes, Katniss watches as he places all his clothes into a locker, which she can now see is one of many spread out across the entire room where people are shedding their clothes. She eyes the key in his hand, noting it’s identical to the one Cato received, as he locks the small metal compartment. He gives them both a kind smile as he walks past them and heads towards another door at the back of the room, where a sign on display says, ‘Exhibition Entrance.’

She feels Cato pushing her forward, towards a locker that’s situated at the back of the room. Immediately she rises out of her stupor and rounds on him. “What the fuck is this?” She hisses through clenched teeth, and tries to keep her voice low. But there’s no mistaking the anger seeping out of every pore of her body.

“Oh come on, what’s the difference?” He defends sharply. He clearly knows what she’s talking about. “It’s no big deal. You said you were fine with naked art.”

“Yes! But that’s when I thought only the artists would be nude. I didn’t think…I had…to…” She starts to stammer as her throat begins to close up with an emotion she doesn’t want to deal with right now. Instead she turns it into anger. Anger is good; it’s familiar and powerful and besides, he deserves the full brunt of her wrath after this implausible stunt he’s just pulled. “I can’t believe you brought me here on a first date!” She yells back. “You tricked me. You’re a liar!”

Out of the corner of her eye she can now see the majority of people leaving the change room, scurrying out the door like rats in order to get away from the dispute they’re bearing witness to. If she wasn’t filled with so much rage she could probably find the humor in watching a bunch of naked people running for their lives.

“Listen, I know I wasn’t completely upfront with you about everything,” he says like owning up to his deception will make everything better. “But don’t you think you’re overacting a bit? Most women would love to do this with me.” To emphasise his point he begins to unbutton his shirt, dragging the material down his shoulders like he’s getting ready to model. His tanned and muscular chest glistens under the changing room’s downlights and she wonders in disgust if he purposefully slicked himself up with baby oil before he came to pick her up.

With every article of clothing he takes off, her mouth only twists further and further into rage and horror. He played her like a damn fool, to the point that she ignored her own instincts – twice. She opens her mouth to let fly every single, hateful word she has for him, until out of the corner of her eye she’s distracted by another couple entering the room and she’s forced to pause mid breath. Their presence is like a stop button on a remote control, pausing a vital scene in a movie. The overzealous giggling coming from the woman cements Katniss’ attention as they close the door. The man has his arm wrapped around the woman’s waist and they both have huge smiles on their faces like they don’t have a care in the world. The man is tall, with a stocky build and broad shoulders. His blond, wavy hair curls at the tips of his ears and his piercing blue eyes stare at the blond woman in his arms like he’s the luckiest man on earth. Walking past them to find their locker, they greet Katniss and Cato with a smile, unaware they’ve just stepped into a potential war zone. Just looking at them it’s obvious they’re very much in love and devoted to one another. For the first time it makes Katniss envious of a romantic relationship and her heart starts to hurt. She takes in every line of expression and curve of their lips as they whisper and help each other out of their clothes lovingly. They’re truly a captivating couple.

“You said it yourself that you wanted to try something new,” Cato says, breaking into her reverie. “What could be better than this?”

Using a quieter voice as she doesn’t want the perfect couple looking over and listening in on their private conversation, she replies coldly. “Yes, that’s true. But I also wanted to try new things on my own terms. Not to be forced into it and not to do something so….” scary, terrifying, she thinks, but she doesn’t voice those fears out loud.

“Don’t be so pure, Katniss,” he berates, taking off his slacks and leaving him in his underwear that leaves nothing to the imagination. Katniss takes a step back. “Wait a minute - are you a virgin?” He asks suddenly, alarmed by her reaction. “Is that why you’re upset? Because you’ve never seen a naked body before?”

Pure? Virgin? “What does that have to do with anything?” She snarls. “Oh my god, what is wrong with you? Are you deluded? Did you actually think you were doing me a favor by bringing me here?” His audacity has her reeling. “And by the way, the only thing that isn’t pure around here is your intentions.” She doesn’t care anymore if the flawless couple can hear her now, she’s too enraged at his stupidity to hold back. “I can’t believe I gave you another chance – again,” she scowls and to her horror she feels a pesky, burning feeling start to form at the back of her eyes and she wills her body with all her might to stop it immediately. But instead her vision becomes blurry and her chin begins to quiver. “You’re an asshole!” She cries out before lifting her hand and slapping him across the face. The sound resembles a gunshot and it echoes through the room, making the ideal couple look over at them, startled. Katniss feels her hand vibrating with hot heat as she tries to shake away the pain but she gets no relief. Taking one last, furious look at Cato, who is holding his crimson cheek in shock – Good! I hope I left a mark - she runs to the nearest door, hoping it’s an exit out of the gallery.

But instead of finding sweet relief from the date from hell, she discovers she’s not outside but instead standing alone in a bathroom that looks so pristine and high tech she wonders briefly if she’s stepped onto a space shuttle. She peers over her shoulder to make sure Cato isn’t following her. He’s not, but not wanting to chance it, she moves into the middle toilet cubicle and locks the door. In defeat, she drops the toilet lid down loudly and sits herself on top of it with a loud sigh. Her shoulders break first; trembling and shaking under the heavy weight of tonight’s events and soon watery tears descend and fall, sliding down her heated cheeks. She sniffles and wipes them away hastily. She shouldn’t have been surprised about how her night turned out. The odds were never in her favor. Why did she even try?

Tonight was just a reminder that she’s doomed to be alone forever. Stuck in a life where her destiny resembles the life of a mouse. A creature who spends most of its days running around aimlessly on a wheel, who does the same thing over and over again and never having any hope in changing it or going anywhere.

Just the thought causes another fat tear to slip down her cheek and she rips a piece of toilet paper off to dab at her swollen eyes. I’ve failed, she thinks and for the first time in years she lets herself truly break and feel the grief of her lonely and possibly insignificant life.

She doesn’t know how long she remains in this state. She only stops when there are no more salty tears to shed and the unsettling thought of how she’s going to get out of here hits her. Her worrying, however, is short lived when the bathroom door unexpectedly creaks open. She stops and freezes as footsteps pad inside, listening intently as she tries to remember if Cato walked with a heavy gait. It’s obvious where she’s hiding. The thin wooden toilet door between them offers her very little protection and there’s no way she will be opening it up willingly for him, especially not after slapping him. She wouldn’t be surprised if he’s the type of guy who would use threats or an element of force with her after an incident like that. She pulls out her phone, ready to swipe Madge’s number when an unfamiliar and masculine voice speaks up.

“Hello.”

Taken back by the stranger’s greeting she remains silent.

“Are you alright?” He speaks again, his voice kind.

She sucks in a sharp breath and feels an unusual heat creep upon her skin. She doesn’t know why but she’s taken back by the soothing sound of the stranger’s voice. There’s something comforting about it, like warm honey sliding lazily down your throat.

He coughs. “If you’re worried about the guy you were with, don’t be. He’s gone. You’re safe.”

The relief that Cato isn’t out there anymore hits her instantaneously. The tension leaves her shoulders and her whole body relaxes in reply.

“Are you hurt?” He asks worriedly.

The question startles her. “No,” she finally answers, finding her voice. But it comes out hoarse and she hates the fact it makes it obvious that she’s been crying.

“Can you please open the door so I can make sure you’re okay?”

The sweet pleading in his voice convinces her that the stranger’s concern is genuine. She nods, but then realises he can’t see her. She doesn’t want to leave this tiny stall just yet so she leans over and unlocks the door. Slowly it swings open and reveals the face of her mystery man. She’s quick to assess that it’s the same man from the change room who’s part of the captivating dynamic duo. Although now instead of standing in front of her naked, he’s wearing a long, white terry cloth robe.

“There you are,” he smiles, but his eyes can’t hide the shadow of concern. “It’s okay. My name’s Peeta.”

“Katniss,” she murmurs, meeting his gaze.

“It’s nice to meet you, Katniss.” His smile then drops, and takes on a serious expression as his eyes rake over her body like he’s looking for any signs of injuries. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

She nods. Now that she’s in close proximity to him she manages to catch a whiff of his scent, which she recognises immediately as cinnamon and dill. It reminds her of her favorite bakery she likes to frequent before work. Their cheese buns and hot chocolate are to die for.

Staring up she can’t help but be mesmerised by the profundity in his ocean blue eyes, almost to the point that she feels like she’s drowning in them. Her attention is drawn to the muscular chest that peeks through the top layer of his robe and she has the sudden urge to kiss and swirl her tongue all over it. He’s got handsome and wholesome written all over him, like he’s been plucked out of a 1950’s sitcom. Her eyes travel across his body trying to map out and remember what he looked like naked just a few minutes ago. The momentary flash she got of his gorgeous body while she was fighting with Cato is now imprinted permanently behind her eyelids. But then the image of the happy woman he was with takes centre stage and the show is over. She feels terrible and shakes her head in shame. “Thank you,” she replies quietly. “It was nice of you to come back here and check up on me. But really I’m fine. You should go back out there to your girlfriend and enjoy the exhibition.”

He blinks, confused for a second. “But…I don’t have a girlfriend.”

Her eyes narrow and she looks at him baffled. “But - back in the change room, you were all over that blond woman.”

She watches as his features transform briefly from one of confusion to a look of understanding, before relief reaches his lips and he lets out a throaty chuckle. “That wasn’t me.”

“What do you mean, it wasn’t you?” She asks, and rises to her feet. “I saw you with my own eyes. You were all over each other,” she accuses. She feels the anger building up inside her again like boiling water. She can’t believe there’s another guy standing right in front of her and blatantly lying to her face again. “Did you think because you saw me with some dumb meathead that I’d be too brainless to figure you out?”

Peeta’s face drops. “No! Listen you have the wrong idea. I was -”

“I have the wrong idea?!” She reiterates angrily, her eyes scorching back with fire. “Well then please enlighten me. What ingenious excuse were you going to come up with?” She adds sarcastically, and steps forward into his personal space. “Maybe you were going to tell me I’m crazy and I just imagined you and your girlfriend in the changeroom? Or maybe you were going to tell me that the guy back there is actually your identical twin brother?

Peeta stares at her wide eyed for a moment. “Ah, yeah actually. You’re right on the money with the twin thing,” he manages to get out apprehensively.

Her lips purse firmly in thought and she closes her eyes in irritation. “Look,” she starts, before she opens her eyes again. This time the anger has faded and been replaced by exhaustion. “I’m not in the mood to have another guy lie to me tonight, okay? So I’m giving you to the count of three to tell me the truth or I’ll have no regrets about kicking you in the balls.”

Peeta winces as he holds his hands up in surrender and takes a careful step back. “There’s really no need for that, I swear.” He pointedly looks down at Katniss’ feet, worry etched across his face that she’s about to strike any second like a cobra. “Kicking me in the nuts would be a really bad idea. Look I’m sorry you’ve had a rough night, but I was being serious earlier. I do have a brother and we are identical twins. I can prove it to you.”

The rush of worry and desperation in his voice pulls at her heart strings uninvited and causes her to pause and reconsider. His frantic eyes search her face begging to be believed. Sighing loudly she goes against her better judgement and steps back as he pulls out an iPhone from the pocket of his robe. “Here, I actually have a photo of the three of us together,” he says, offering the device to her. She looks at the screen and there in front of her is no denying the familiar giggling, blond dressed up in a floral dress with bouncing curls. She’s standing happily in between two familiar blond men who look completely identical down to their button up navy blue suits and matching smiles that could rot your teeth with their sweetness. All three of them are standing behind a colorful banner that reads. “Congratulations on your engagement Delly and Rye.”

“No trick photography or image altering I swear,” he jokes.

Omg! There’s two of them, she thinks and lets out an audible groan. Her cheeks bloom in shame and she feels mortified about how she just spoke to him, when all along he was being a nice and considerate guy coming in to check on her wellbeing. Surely she’s hit her limit now. Her name has to be worthy of being featured in the Guinness World record books under the award of ‘having the worst and most embarrassing night of your life.’ She lifts her head, looking contrite. “I’m so sorry. I should never have accused you of being a liar. That was awful of me. And I’m sorry I threatened to kick you in the balls,” she finishes awkwardly.

He laughs. “It’s alright, don’t be so hard on yourself. You weren’t to know. I understand why you would have made that assumption. Believe it or not it’s not the first time I’ve been mistaken for my brother in less than ideal circumstances,” he jokes. “Kind of comes with the territory of being an identical twin.”

She gives him a small smile, grateful at his understanding and for his talent at putting people at ease.

“It sounds like you’ve had a rough night,” he adds sympathetically.

“I think that’s the understatement of the century,” she answers solemnly and hands him back his phone. She steps around him and out of the cubicle until she’s in front of a porcelain sink. She leans over to splash some cold water onto her face and through the mirror she notices Peeta straightening up his robe.

“How did you know I was in here?” She enquires, reaching for a fluffy hand towel.

“Rye and Delly,” he states like its explanation enough. “They saw you upset and running from a guy in the change rooms. They were worried and said the guy looked a bit…shady so they came and found me. Said you might need some help.”

“Are you a security guard?” She asks, although as soon as the question leaves her lips she thinks it’s unlikely due to the lack of clothes he’s wearing. Unless security is going nude for tonight too, she wonders.

“I’m one of the artists,” he explains not missing a beat. “But I’ve worked at the gallery for a long time. We take any harassment, especially on nights like this, very seriously. There’s no room for chances.”

She nods, worrying her lip between her teeth as he watches her closely. Unanswered questions burn bright from his eyes like lasers. After everything he’s done for her tonight, she knows he deserves an explanation. “My blind date brought me here,” she shares quietly. Peeta doesn’t say anything, but the light in his eyes soften, the action telling her it’s okay and to take her time.

“I thought we were just going to see some sculptures and paintings. I didn’t realise it was a nude exhibition and that…we had to be nude too.” Rehashing the memories of Cato and his true intentions make her feel like an idiot again and she lowers her head in shame.

“Wait a minute,” Peeta’s appalled voice cuts in and echoes against the tiled walls. He takes a few steps closer and his presence causes her to lift her head. She’s shocked to see his face contorted and anger swimming amongst the depths of his eyes like a violent storm is brewing. “Let me get this straight. You’ve never met this guy before and he brought you here to this exhibition on a first date?”

“Yes. He had tickets. Said it could be good foreplay.”

Peeta growls with animalistic fervour. “That’s just fucked up! Who the hell does something like that?! You know he’s lucky he’s not here because I would love to give him a piece of my mind before throwing him out on his ass!”

Her lips tug up into a smile before she can help herself. He looks livid. His fists are clenched and his jaw is tense, making him look all pumped up and ready to go into battle for her. It’s kind of cute and endearing, and her heart starts to warm and swell with something. No Katniss, don’t go there. Even though he’s nice and feeling protective towards you it doesn’t mean he would ever be ever interested in someone like you. He works here and is just being concerned. She clears her throat, turning her facial expression neutral, hoping it will disguise the fact that her heart is beating so quickly she’s afraid it will jump out of her chest and land at his feet in a pathetic heap. “Well it looks like I’ll have to thank your brother for going to get you – he sounds like a great guy.”

“Oh, please whatever you do, don’t say that to his face. I beg you. He’ll be milking this for weeks and I have to see him every day,” he tells her but his tone is friendly and humorous. The way his face relaxes when speaking about his brother tells her that they have a close and playful bond. “If I thought I could get away with telling people Rye is not my brother – trust me I would. I like to refer to him as the evil twin, whereas he prefers being called the devilishly handsome one.”

Katniss flings her head back and laughs in delight, before Peeta joins in too. It’s nice to let bursts of laughter spring forth and allow some of the tension to seep out of her body after the night she’s had. She can’t believe how comfortable she feels around him and they’ve only just met. She’s never felt like this with anyone before, not even Darius. She smiles, taking in the huskiness of his laughter and realises she likes it. It’s a deep and joyful sound that she thinks even the birds would stop to listen to. “So is there any way to tell you two apart?” She asks curiously.

“Well, let’s see…he’s right handed and I’m left handed,” he shares with a shrug. “So if you ever have trouble telling us apart just hand over a pen and demand us to write. It’s what Delly used to do when we were kids,” he chuckles and his eyes drift off briefly like he’s remembering something funny. “Oh, and I do have a small scar just near my hairline.” He smooths back his hair, showing off his forehead. She leans forward, and can’t help but take in another whiff of his scent like she’s breathing in some kind of heavenly life force. She eyes the small ragged blemish that you wouldn’t know was there unless you were looking for it. “I got this when I was 13 thanks to Rye. We were competing against one another at the regional wrestling competition. I came off second best,” he adds with a feign grimace.

Her mouth opens in fake indignation. “Siblings, right? They can be a real pain in the ass sometimes can’t they?”

“Tell me about – he still likes to gloat over it every now and again. But whenever I suggest a re-match he suddenly has to go home.”

She unexpectedly lets out a giggle. “Sounds like someone is threatened to lose their title,” she teases before her face drops to one of envy and sadness. “You’re lucky though that you have your brother close by. I haven’t seen my sister in almost a year.”

“Oh? Why’s that?”

“She’s living on the other side of the country studying medicine.”

“Oh wow, that’s great,” he remarks sounding impressed. “Although I’m sorry you don’t get to see her often. That would be tough. But you must be proud? She’s out there following her dreams, with the courage to leave the safety of her comfort zone…”

Comfort Zone. Two simple words that mean nothing to her when spoken separately but when they’re put together hit her straight in the gut like a freight train. And the way he’s looking at her now makes her feel a little uneasy, like he’s got x-ray vision and is using his superpower to look straight through her to view her very soul. Her skin suddenly feels hot under his intense stare like she’s standing underneath a giant spotlight. It causes her to pull away and break eye contact. “Yeah I guess so,” she answers softly, uncomfortable with the direction the conversation has taken. “So, um…” She clears her throat, wanting to get back to what they were talking about earlier. “So it’s only those two things that can tell you apart?”

He stares at her for a few moments, clearly thinking. His eyes bore into hers longer than what’s necessary before he answers. “Well if we’re only talking about physical appearances there is something else that can tell us apart.” And without hesitation, he lifts up his robe. For a crazy, split second, she thinks he’s going to flash her which doesn’t make any sense, but then she notices the robe has just been lifted up to his left knee. The action causes her eyes to be drawn down to his lower limb. But she’s not looking at flesh and bone. Instead, she realises he’s wearing a prosthetic leg.

Peeta stands still and composed, watching her closely and waiting for some kind of reaction.

Katniss is shocked for a few moments as she gets her bearings. She certainly wasn’t expecting to see that when he lifted up his robe. Her eyes travel carefully up and down the artificial limb inspecting it in wonder. She can’t believe how real it looks. “What happened?” She asks, looking up into his eyes. She’s surprised by her concerned tone considering they’ve only just met, but she can’t hide the fact that she feels somewhat protective towards him. Her heart clenches thinking about all the terrible things that could have happened to him.

He shrugs his shoulders with a wry smile. “I wish I had more of a dramatic story to tell you. But I was 16, away at a school camp and my friends and I wanted to go visit Arena Mountain. And of course the teachers wouldn’t let us, so we snuck off and I ended up slipping down a hill and cutting my leg on some rusted fencing.”

She winces. “Oh my god. What did you do?”

“Obviously not the smart thing,” he tells her dryly. “We didn’t want to get in trouble so we kept our little adventure and my injury to ourselves. I thought cleaning it up with water and soap would be fine.” He runs his free hand through his hair with a loud sigh. “But before I knew it, I got really sick and found out I had blood poisoning. The doctors were able to save my life but not my leg.” He gives her a tight, accepting smile. The mood in the bathroom has now dropped a couple of degrees.

“I’m sorry that happened to you,” she tells him, reaching out to touch his arm in a gesture of comforting. “After all that did you at least get to Arena Mountain?”

He looks down at her with a double take before his face splits into a wide grin and bursts of hysterical laughter escape his lungs. The effect causes his shoulders to shake and his eyes to water. “You know no one has ever asked me that before. Usually when I retell this story everybody just wants to focus on the negatives. So thank you,” he says between gasps. “I mean, that was the reason we snuck out, but no one has ever cared to ask if we made it to our destination or not. But to answer your question, we got there, banged up leg and all and it was amazing.”

“That’s good to hear,” she smiles, her eyes bright. She was hoping the question would have that kind of effect on him. Knowing from past experiences, she knows he doesn’t need or want her pity. Sometimes deflecting off a painful memory that’s right in front of you can be the best medicine.

He finally gets his laughter under control, wiping away the stray water from his eyes. He gazes down at her, and she’s surprised at the way his eyes are dancing across her face, almost in what could only be described as pure wonderment. He’s looking at her like he’s in the presence of an amazing piece of art that he can’t take his eyes off. The thought makes her feel self-conscious and giddy.

The moment however fades when he coughs and his features turn serious. “I’m not going to lie to you. I’m alright with it now - it’s been 15 years,” he shares thoughtfully. “But for a while there I was quite depressed. It took me awhile to get use to it.”

Katniss nods.

“I learnt a lot about myself during that time though. Did a lot of thinking.”

“What did you think about?” She asks with interest. She doesn’t think she’s ever been so taken with someone before. Every word coming out of his mouth is like a magnet to her ears.

“Well obviously I know now that I need to head straight to the hospital whenever I have a medical emergency,” he smiles with a self-deprecating chuckle. “But I also realised I didn’t want the accident to change me. I still wanted to be that person who enjoys life and loves to get out there and explore new things. To not let the fear take over. I refused to have that part of myself cut off too.”

“You wanted to be you,” she states.

“Yeah,” he smiles, his relief that she understands obvious.

She’s in awe right now. She can’t deny she’s completely taken with him. She’s never felt this way before and didn’t think in a million years that she’d ever truly find someone she had this type of connection with. He makes her want to try for more.

Here in front of her is a man whose life was dramatically transformed but he refused to be changed by it and let it define him. He fought back, willing to get out there and experience real, authentic snapshots of what life has to offer. The notion makes Katniss feel shameful about her own life. She’s never had to experience physical adversity in her life like he has, yet she still doesn’t have the guts to live beyond her comfort zone.

“So is that why you do nude art?” She asks.

He laughs. “Well I do all kinds of art,” he assures her. “My love affair with it started after my accident. It was part of my therapy and I was fortunate enough to turn it into a career. But this exhibition and the miracle of the human body has a special place in my heart. I don’t think there’s any other times in our lives when we are truly bare and vulnerable. And to me that’s beautiful. That’s what makes us human.” Smiling boldly, he adds, “Although I could include sex into that equation too. But I think showcasing that would be taking it a step too far, don’t you think?”

His words cause her to blush, and she lowers her head. But she’s still attuned in fascination to what he’s saying. The meaning of his words are reaching out to her with gentle hands and guiding her to open up and listen. To not be afraid to express yourself and to have the courage to indulge yourself into a new world of possibilities.

“If you take away all the fancy clothes, jewellery and iPhones we’re the same,” he continues. “This is me and I’m a human being capable of anything. My body is a blank canvas.”

“I like the sound of all that. Really. You make it sound so simple…and beautiful. But I just…I don’t know how you can go out there and be…naked in front of all those people. Don’t you get scared?” She asks, lifting her head.

“I get nervous of course - which is normal,” he explains calmly. “But when I’m out there I feel like I’m in a different world. A peaceful world where it’s just me. Everybody and everything just seems to wash away unnoticed into the background. I wouldn’t be able to tell you who I see out there.” He pauses and thinks carefully for a moment. “There is something liberating and freeing about the experience. It’s like being on a natural high. And I don’t care if people see me,” he winks cheekily. Her mouth can’t help but curl up and smile in reply. “But seriously,” he adds, his voice turning earnest. “The event we’re offering tonight is in a safe and controlled environment for everyone. And when you think about it you’re not alone. Everybody is out there bare, naked and vulnerable. All in the same boat without letting fear, prejudice or judgement be a part of them or the experience.”

She nods, thinking that makes sense and she’s glad he’s brought that to her attention. Besides Cato, she’d noticed that everyone else in the change room earlier seemed to have genuine intentions and interest towards the exhibition. She certainly didn’t see any bad behavior coming from any of them and that takes a load off her shoulders. “So your brother and future sister in law like participating in these things too?” She asks.

“Yeah,” he bobs his head firmly. “My family is close. You know my parents are out there too.”

Her brows narrow briefly in horror as she lets his admission sink in. She wouldn’t be caught dead doing anything like this with her mother or sister. Not if you paid her a million dollars. She’s doesn’t know how to reply to that as she doesn’t want to offend him or his family and come off as a bumbling prude. But when she looks closer she notices his teeth are digging hard enough into his lower lip that it will surely leave marks, and his shoulders are shaking like he’s trying really hard not to laugh. “You’re joking,” she states in relief.

“Yes, I’m joking.” He sniggers. “But you should have seen your face.”

“That wasn’t funny,” she reprimands and tries to playfully hit him on the arm which he light-heartedly dodges.

“Don’t worry my parents are not into this type of thing, or my grandparents,” he adds as a cheeky afterthought. “My brother on the other hand - well he thinks if his younger brother by 6 minutes can do it, then so can he.”

“Evil twin strikes again huh?”

“The guy has no shame or an off button. Though I’m sure Delly had to down a few shots before coming here.”

“They sound like a unique pair,” Katniss grins.

“Yeah, they are,” he answers fondly. “They’re lucky they found each other. I just hope one day I have even half their luck. I would love to be in a relationship with a beautiful and intelligent woman who has no idea what kind of effect she has on me. And of course after Rye insists on having the final say on my love life, we would get married, maybe have a couple of kids and just live our lives the best way we can.” He stops abruptly, his eyes widening and his face turning crimson. It’s clear as he rubs the back of his neck nervously that he’s embarrassed he revealed too much of himself.

A deafening silence falls over them but all Katniss can hear is her heart beat picking up the pace like a galloping race horse.

“I hope I have the same luck too,” she whispers, not sure where that bold and courageous statement came from. But she knows deep down she means every word - now that she’s had a taste of this amazing man.

The air around them intensifies with crackles of electricity. It’s like they’re joined by a live wire and Katniss feels her skin buzzing. She knows he feels it too, because his embarrassment is gone and he gives her a shy, knowing smile before he clears his throat to speak.

“Um, so yeah back to what I was saying earlier. This exhibition isn’t for everybody. And I don’t want you to feel forced into something you don’t feel comfortable with. I just hope after what you experienced tonight that it won’t keep you away from the gallery. It would be nice if you came back…to visit,” he adds quietly, and looks at her with a glimmer of hope. For someone who has the confidence to model nude in front of complete strangers his self –assurance has suddenly turned shaky and non-existent. But just the thought of what he’s implying - that there’s a chance they can meet up again - makes her heart burst open with hope.

“I’d like that,” she smiles.

He lets out a deep breath, like he was holding it in. “Great. So yeah you can come back anytime you want. I’m here most days. I could give you a private tour if you like – paintings and sculptures only of course,” he smiles eagerly.

Katniss is about to suggest she could come by tomorrow when she’s rudely interrupted by a loud thump on the bathroom door. “Yo! Bread boy! Are you in there? Whatever the hell you’re doing you need to hurry up and get your sexy, naked ass out here before Haymitch blows his load.”

Katniss looks over at Peeta horrified at the woman’s sudden and brazen intrusion.

He reaches out and gently takes a hold of her arm; she feels steady in his warmth and his thumb rubs along her soft bare skin in reassurance. “Ignore her, she likes to be dramatic,” he whispers, before he turns his head in the direction of the door. “Jo, you said you would cover for me.”

“And I did, but I’m not a miracle worker…or a bottle of white liquor. He saw right through me – you know what he’s like. After tonight’s incident with the brainless douchebag he’s as tense as ever. I offered to help him with his load but I don’t think he appreciated the innuendo.”

Peeta shakes his head with a groan.

“I’m coming in – there’s no point in hiding, I know what you’re packing.” She pushes open the door so violently that it bangs loudly against the wall before bouncing back. A woman with dark, spiky hair and mischievous hazel eyes steps across the threshold fully naked, and parades towards them like she’s modelling on a catwalk. With wide eyes, Katniss takes in every inch of her confident form, starting from her toned legs and working her way up until she views her impressive 6 pack stomach and perky breasts. Mortification fills her as she realises she’s been staring. In a flash she turns away, pretending the porcelain sinks are a lot more interesting.

A shrill cackling sound comes from the woman’s mouth and brings her attention back. “I see we’ve got a live one here,” she says icily, judging Katniss’ full attire with distaste.

“Don’t Jo,” Peeta responds sharply.

She shakes her head in disgust. “Have you finished rescuing the damsel in distress yet or what? You know after the Finnick incident Haymitch is watching everybody like a hawk.”

Peeta smirks. “I’ll be right there.”

But not a moment too soon a rough, slurred voice calls out. “Boy! Where the hell are you?” Heavy and unbalanced footsteps follow the question as the man who Katniss assumes is Haymitch pops his head inside the bathroom door. He’s an older man in his forties with dark hair and olive skin and thank god he’s fully clothed. “Mellark, your space is filling up with people wanting to see you. I’m not paying you to sit around in a robe all night and play prince charming.”

Peeta, who is still looking at Katniss, just rolls his eyes in amusement. He’s clearly not affected by either of them. That gesture and his demeanour allows her to breathe and relax her nerves.

“I wouldn’t be worrying what I’m up to,” Peeta pipes up. “If I was you I would be keeping a closer eye on Finnick. I overheard him earlier trying to convince Gloss to help him start a human pyramid tonight with the patrons.”

“Oh bloody hell, not again,” Haymitch curses. “Damn kid.” He turns to leave in a maddening fluster before he unexpectedly turns back around and looks over to Katniss. His features soften. “You sure you’re alright there, sweetheart?”

Katniss is taken back by his complete 180. But she feels touched by his momentary concern for her and nods her head.

He mirrors her action. “Good. Don’t worry about the asshole from earlier. Security roughed him up pretty good so if you decide to participate tonight he won’t be in there.”

“Thank you,” she stammers out. Her mouth suddenly feels like it’s home to a ball of cotton wool.

“Let’s go Jo, you’ve got people waiting too.”

Jo gives Katniss one final glare, following it up with a devilish smile before she strolls out of the room after Haymitch, swinging her hips seductively.

Once they’ve both gone, Katniss turns to Peeta with a relieved smile and exhales a long, shuddering breath. She’s not sure what to make of both of them.

“That went surprising well,” Peeta states cheerfully. “They usually don’t converse easily with people they’ve just met.”

“I thought that Jo woman was going to kill me,” Katniss comments wryly. She looks down and is not surprised that Peeta still has a tender hold of her arm.

“You don’t need to worry about Jo. She’s like that with everyone, especially when you first meet her,” he explains. “It’s no excuse, but her life hasn’t been an easy one.”

Katniss nods, although she’s not sure what to say to that and she doesn’t think it’s her place to comment on it.

The electricity that was running between them earlier has dimmed due to the interruption, but Katniss can still feel the exciting hum running through her veins. And for now it will have to do. “Well I guess I better let you get out there and do your…thing,” she says almost shyly. She can’t believe after all the naked bodies she’s seen drifting in and out of this place so far tonight that she’s still feeling a little uncomfortable.

“Yeah,” Peeta agrees but his face clearly says he’s not ready to leave. Hesitantly, he lets go of her arm and Katniss relishes in the fact her arm now feels warm and tingly like his aura is still with her. “I really hope to see you again soon,” he says softly.

“You will,” Katniss assures him. Even if she had a busy schedule for the next 5 years she would already be clearing it and planning on coming back tomorrow. Wild horses couldn’t keep her away now. But she doesn’t want to voice her plans out loud to him, afraid she’ll come off lonely and desperate.

“When you go out to the foyer, go and see Annie at the ticket counter,” he instructs. “Tell her I sent you and she’ll call you a cab.”

“Oh no you don’t have to do that –”

“Please I insist. After everything that’s happened tonight I’ll feel much better knowing you got home safely.”

She’s touched by his sweet gesture and she would be lying to herself if she said she wasn’t turned on by his chivalrous manner.

“Bye, Katniss,” he mutters. Reaching the door he turns back around, his smile bright but his eyes shaded with a hint of hesitancy, like he’s worried he won’t ever see her again. She wants to reiterate and reassure him that he will, but he turns around and leaves before she can get her mouth and brain to cooperate.

After the door closes unceremoniously behind him, the whole place is filled with a deafening silence. The only sound she can hear is the click clack from her high heels as she steps out into the change room and takes in the empty space. She’s alone and every locker is closed tight. All except one, she realises. The locker that Cato had a key to. The compartment door is wide open like someone left it in a hurry…or they were pulled away from it abruptly. She can’t help but wander over to it, contemplating. In a way it feels like a lifetime ago she was standing right in this spot next to Cato. She thinks so much has happened since then and she feels different. It’s a good kind of different though, one she thinks she’ll have a hard time putting into words, but she knows she has Peeta to thank for her potential new outlook.

Tonight definitely hadn’t gone the way she imagined or planned for herself, that’s for sure. It was a disaster in a lot of ways, but if she hadn’t come here with Cato she wouldn’t have met Peeta. And no matter how angry she wants to be about the events that led her here tonight, that part is like sunshine breaking through the dark clouds and brightening up her life.

A delicious shiver runs down her spine just at the thought of Peeta and what he could be doing right now. She can’t deny she’s curious about what’s going on behind those closed doors. Her mouth starts to salivate and her pulse thumbs against her neck when she imagines what his body could look like. Is it identical to his twin’s? All broad shoulders and muscular chest? Does he have the distinct pelvic muscles that curve sharply into the letter V too?

Not to mention the thought of him is bringing up their conversation from earlier. “And when you think about it you’re not alone. Everybody is out there bare, naked and vulnerable. All in the same boat without letting fear, prejudice or judgement be a part of them or the experience.”

She really doesn’t want to go home, she suddenly realises. Not when the only thing waiting for her there is stone cold humiliation thanks to her unsuccessful date. She also doesn’t want to face the high probability that Prim couldn’t wait until tomorrow morning to talk to her and has already left an enthusiastic message pushing her for every single detail. Plus having to deal with the smugness from that asshole cat who will be looking down his nose at her and thinking, I knew you couldn’t do it. How’s that mouse’s wheel treating you?

She shifts her attention to the door. The one that has a sign above it stating, Exhibition Entrance. In Katniss’ opinion it may as well have a large, flashing neon sign.

Could she really do this? Step out of her comfort zone and be naked in front of all those people?

But the most important question of all is - does she really want to do this?

……..

Yes she does.

She doesn’t think anymore, instead she just concentrates on the familiar and debilitating sensation of uncertainty leaving her body, like a heavy weight is lifting. Now all she hears is Peeta’s soothing words in her ears encouraging her over and over again like a broken record. Quickly, she takes off her shoes, unzips her dress and slips her underwear down and piles them into the locker.

It’s a weird sensation, she thinks as what she’s doing begins to dawn on her. She’s now standing in a public place, stark naked where anybody could just walk in and see her. Her hands wring nervously in front of her and she feels her heart beating so hard against her rib cage it’s almost painful. I can do this. Remember you won’t be alone. Don’t be afraid. Time to step out of your comfort zone. You had a failed date tonight with the douchebag from hell, but you will experience something amazing tonight, Katniss Everdeen.

Her hands shake slightly on the door knob until she conjures up another image of Peeta. His smile, his bravery and his wise words comfort her and push the nerves down again. As she stands there waiting to take her first steps into a brave new world, she suddenly feels like the most powerful woman on the planet. The unknown is exhilarating, like she’s free falling without a parachute.

She opens the door with no hesitation and takes a determined step inside.

The first thing she notices in the large, marble room is that it’s very quiet, to the point you could almost hear a pin drop. A few people standing nearby give her a brief glance before smiling kindly and turning back around to murmur about a model’s pose. But there’s no one leering towards her, making snide comments or yelling out obscenities about her body. It all seems muted and respectful.

She works her way around the room slowly, becoming more aware by the second of how her body is moving; the insides of her bare thighs are brushing together and she can see her breasts are jiggling with every step she takes. She never really took the time to look at herself like this before.

Gazing around she notes there are ten artists who are spread out across the entire floor. There’s no velvet ropes to separate or distinguish, but you can tell who they are as each of them are either standing or sitting down in different and elaborate poses that look so raw and beautiful it makes her stop mid step. She didn’t think a show like this could affect her so much, but there’s awe in her eyes and appreciation etched deep within her bones.

She then feels a magnetic pull from somewhere deep inside, like she’s attached to something. The sensation leads her to the far corner of the room and she’s not surprised by who she finds. Peeta. She’s unable to see his full profile at first, only recognising the top of his head over the crowd that’s gathered to observe him. After a few minutes several people step aside and she’s able to move in for a closer look.

She forgets how to breathe for a moment when her eyes fall upon his entire naked body. It is as she suspected - a masterpiece. An artwork that seems to have been carefully crafted and layered with love by the gods themselves. She always thought the human body was a weird construction with all its different parts and functions but watching Peeta now performing with all the grace and beauty of a ballet dancer and admiring how every muscle in his body can twist and turn into simple and complex shapes she now believes the body is truly a magnificent thing to behold.

None of the artists are interacting with the patrons, each of them seem to be in their own little worlds performing and sharing their own beauty and abilities. Either way, Katniss still wants to be as close to him as humanly possible. She sneaks into a spot at the front and off to the side. Continuing to be mesmerised by the view of him, she watches as he changes the shape of his body as he curls his back and then brings it forward again before lifting his leg up high so it’s flexed and balancing straight in front of him. But it’s when he dips his head to the side that he catches a glimpse of her standing there in all her naked glory; his neutral expression drops and he loses his steadiness for a few seconds. She can’t help but feel excited at the clear effect she has on him. Very carefully, so the other patrons can’t see, he gives her a pleased grin before he twists his body into another position and sets his features back into his model persona. Everything is back to normal except his eyes. They’re staring straight ahead bright and alert, and dancing in delight that she’s here standing before him participating. She feels his heated gaze staring at her out of the corner of his eye and she knows he’s taking in her naked form. She feels a little self-conscious but considering she’s standing here with her brain brimming close to the edge with naked images of him that could fill an entire scrap book she thinks it’s only fair.

This has got to be the strangest day of my life, Katniss thinks to herself weirdly. What a bizarre way to meet someone. He gives her a wink, like he can read her thoughts and their moment is over. He turns his body away so his back is to her and settles into a different pose.

“Please tell me how on earth you made him break?” A rogue voice whispers, his disbelieving breath ghosting against the shell of her ear. She’s momentarily stunned for a moment that she was caught off guard by someone who’s standing in her personal space. Usually she has the hearing of a wild dog out on a hunt for a good feed, but not this time around it seems.

She turns around to face the man with a scowl, wanting to find out what his deal is, when she’s left feeling gobsmacked. Again.

Standing beside her is a very familiar looking man who’s identical to the one standing on display. Rye. Her shocked grey eyes travel across his well acquainted face before they drift down without warning to explore even more of him. Yep. Identical in every way. He coughs and the noise breaks her out of her dazed spell, bringing her back to her senses and forcing her to seek eye contact with a guilt ridden expression. His eyes are dancing around in playful delight and he gives her a knowing smirk. “You’d think staring at my brother for most of the night would have been more than enough…but maybe you haven’t had your fill…”

“Rye, leave the poor girl alone,” a female voice cuts in and sighs loudly. “And leave your brother alone too, he’s trying to do his job. He doesn’t need you distracting him.”

“I think this young woman right here is doing a good enough job for the both of us,” Rye smirks playfully.

The woman then comes into Katniss line of sight and she tries not to stare too hard or lower her gaze. It’s the blond woman from the change rooms.

“I’m sorry, we’re being so rude aren’t we? I’m sure you have no idea who we are.” Redness blushes the other woman’s cheeks and she holds out her hand in greeting. “I’m Delly and this is my fiancée Rye – who’s obviously Peeta’s twin.”

“I’m the devilishly handsome one,” Rye cuts in and it makes Katniss laugh automatically, remembering what Peeta had said about his brother.

She takes a step forward and shakes Delly’s hand and then his. “I’m Katniss.” What a weird circumstance to meet.

Delly smiles. “Don’t pay any attention to this one. He’s just jealous,” she tells her and wraps an arm around Rye’s waist. He dips his head and looks down at her with a loving and charming smile. “He’s been trying to make Peeta laugh or fall over for the last 10 minutes with no success.”

“The guy has no sense of humour when it comes to this. He’s acting like one of the Queen’s guards.”

“He’s acting like this because he knows what you’re up to. He knew you would try and pull something like this, your brother isn’t stupid,” Delly explains and gives him a teasing pinch on his hip. She moves her attention over to Katniss and gives her a mischievous grin. “Maybe Katniss can pull it off because she has something that you don’t.”

Rye scoffs. “Yeah and I’m sure I know what it is,” he replies dryly.

Delly shakes her head at him with exasperation. “You’re impossible sometimes.”

“Oh come on you love it,” Rye replies huskily, with hooded eyes. He leans down to give her a kiss on the lips, their tongues meeting slowly and languidly. Even though the three of them are standing together fully naked Katniss still feels like she’s standing in the middle of a private and intimate moment, and looks away.

“So were you okay after that guy of yours left?” Rye asks carefully. His voice brings her attention back and she sees them both looking at her with joint concern. “From what I overheard, the guy sounded like a real piece of work.”

“Oh, yes,” she stumbles, trying to get her brain working again. “Thank you for going to get Peeta. I really appreciate it. The night definitely didn’t turn out the way I was expecting.”

“You poor thing,” Delly says. “There are so many bad ones out there, isn’t there? But it just makes you appreciate it more when you find a good one. Peeta is a good one,” she adds pretending to sound off handed, but her blue eyes are twinkling

“He’s great. I’ve never met anyone like him before,” Katniss tells her with a smile and she feels Rye looking down on her with curious eyes. He looks exactly like Peeta, but they say the eyes are the windows to the soul and Katniss can see some differences. Rye seems like a bit of a larrikin, a carefree joker, where Peeta seems to have more of a sensitive and serious side.

“I don’t think you need to play matchmaker here Dell,” Rye then pipes up. “I think the hook has already landed the big fish.” Without further ado, he gives Katniss a wink and says, “We’ll leave you alone so you can perve on my brother in private. You have my blessing.”

She nods nervously, surprised that her intentions for Peeta seem to show as clear as day to his brother. She says her goodbyes and then looks over to Peeta who still has his back to her but he now has his knee up high and bent, while his back curls forward and his head is tucked into his chest.

She decides to come back later so she doesn’t distract him again or get him in trouble. She strolls around the exhibition and views all the other artists on display. She watches Jo for a while, but only because her back is to the audience. She then finds herself standing in front of a man with bronze hair and green eyes the colour of water you would find on a tropical island. She has a funny suspicion that his name is Finnick as she swears she hears him whisper to the small group that has gathered, “Have you ever wanted to be a part of a human pyramid?” She walks off with a shake of her head and wonders off-handed where Haymitch could be.

But throughout the night she can’t get away from or deny the heated and comforting gaze she feels following her around. Her skin feels alight with flames as she senses him watching and looking out for her. The butterflies in her belly are back and this time they’re flapping around in excitement counting down the minutes until she can talk to him again.

Half an hour later and it’s like everything in the universe aligns and answers her prayers because when she’s back in the change rooms, zipping up her dress, she feels a warm presence behind her and the distinctive smells of cinnamon and dill that she’d smelled earlier.

Unable to hide the excitement and confidence the evening has brought to her, she turns around and gives Peeta the biggest grin; she’s relieved to find him beaming back.

“You were incredible,” he states in awe. “I couldn’t believe that you’d really gone out there. I thought for a moment I was seeing things,” he laughs. “How do you feel? Are you okay?”

“I’m feeling pretty damn good,” she answers back with a proud smirk. “You were amazing too, by the way.”

“Thank you,” he nods, the tops of his ears turning pink. He pauses for a moment before speaking again. “Um, so I was thinking, if you’re not in a hurry to get home that is, maybe we could go out for coffee, talk about the show…or anything really.”

“I would love to, but I don’t drink coffee,” she states firmly.

“Oh…um, okay…” he pauses, looking crestfallen.

“I could go for a hot chocolate though,” she offers alternatively and gives him a wink. She doesn’t know where this new and sudden boldness of hers is coming from but she thinks she likes it. “I know a great bakery around the corner that’s open late.”

His shoulders sag in relief, and his eyes twinkle. “I believe I’m familiar with the place you’re thinking of,” he says, offering his hand.

Without further thought, she gently places her hand in his, admiring the warmth radiating from his palm and the rough texture of his fingers wrapped securely around hers. They fall into step, walking alongside each other in comforting silence as they move across the spacious floors of the gallery. Outside she sees the bright neon sign of the Mellark Bakery flashing and suddenly realizes she’ll have an amazing story to share with Prim and her stupid cat tomorrow. Not only did she find the courage to walk around naked in front of complete strangers, but she also managed to meet a nice guy and go on a date. But the most satisfying thing out of this is that she was able to accomplish all this by herself, with no safety net or comfort zone. Tonight had brought her confidence, and a sense of fun that had been missing from her life.

As they step inside the warmth of the bustling bakery, something tells her there’s a good chance she could become addicted to the free fall of a comfort zone free life, and fully exploring the possibilities of what life has to offer. Because even after only one night of taking that leap of not knowing where she was going to land, she’s already found Peeta. And she can only imagine what she can possibly accomplish with him by her side.

#Everlark Fic Exchange #Springtime Edition 2017 #submission #peetaspikelets #xerxia 31 #prompt 53

230 notes · View notes

bangtan--ff-blog · 8 years ago

Text

Whatever It Takes - Chapter 18

Summary - Y/N has moved to Seoul and landed a job working at the company that her godmother Kay composes for. Four months after her heart was broken, she’s left to figure out how to be away from her widowed father for the first time in her life. Genre - Angst/Angst/Angst/Angst Members - Jimin (other members mentioned) - specifically Hobi and Namjoon, A/N - Help me, i cannot stop writing angst. This story has become a complete shit show. I had it all planned out, but as I’m writing my brain is just like, ‘yo, FUCK. SHIT. UP.’ or like, ‘RUIN LIVES, BREAK HEARTS. MAKE EVERYONE CRY INCLUDING YOURSELF.’ So now i don’t know what i’m gonna do with it, but hey, enjoy the ride, and also enjoy that this is MY LONGEST CHAPTER YET. 6,500 words. Okaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay. Bye. ----- The next 2-3 weeks passed with much of the same. Jimin said just enough to me to not cause suspicion that there was something going on between us, and he continued to be best buddies with Areum and Bora, the four of them (including Seong-hyun and occasionally Tae) seeming to prefer each-others company more than anyone else’s, and I became increasingly closer to Namjoon and Hoeseok. We were at the end of September and the MAMA’s was the upcoming weekend. The boys were all extremely excited for the event and I was excited to explore Hong Kong. I was sitting on the edge of Namjoon’s bed with Hobi, waiting for him to pick out an outfit so that we could go sightseeing, when someone knocked at the door. I stood up and opened it, revealing Jimin. He seemed relatively surprised to see me, despite the fact that Namjoon, Hobi and I had spent a majority of our time together over the past few weeks, whilst Jimin ‘’worked out his problems.” He recovered quickly and smiled saying “I didn’t expect to see you here” as I stood aside to allow him entrance to the room. I shrugged as he went by and answered, “well, here I am” before rolling my eyes and closing the door. He walked into the room and took my place on the bed, which irked me for some reason, so I remained standing and folded my arms across my chest, leaning against the wall. Jimin glanced up at my defensive stance and frowned slightly, before looking up at Namjoon who was holding a black sweater against himself and checking out his reflection. “I heard you guys were going to go explore the city, so I came to see if I could gate-crash” Namjoon nodded, not turning away from the mirror. “Sure! The more the merrier. Y/N has been pestering us since we arrived about going to see Hong Kong so we decided to take her just to shut her up. You’re more than welcome to join.” Hobi started laughing and I playfully kicked his foot from where I stood. Jimin observed the whole exchange with a sour expression, before replying “cool, I’ll invite the others too then shall I?” He looked at me after he asked this question, and although I couldn’t have imagined anything worse than spending my day with Bora and Areum, I nodded and smiled brightly. “Of course, like Namjoon said, the more the merrier!” Jimin nodded curtly and pulled out his phone to text his new besties, it took everything in me not to roll my eyes a second time. Namjoon went into the bathroom to get changed and when he came out he handed me his phone which I promptly unlocked, knowing without him saying anything that he wanted me to take his ‘#kimdaily’ photos. As Namjoon put on his mask and pulled his cap over his head, Jimin asked “you know his password now huh?” I turned to him and his smile was friendly enough, but I could tell by the tone that his emotions didn’t match his expression. Instead of rising to what could potentially become an argument, I just smiled and nodded and turned back to Namjoon.“Ready?” He nodded and stood with his back against the plain wall, I lowered myself into a crouch and began snapping away. “We should totally take some in the city, I bet we could get a ton of really cool shots” I said as I handed Namjoon his phone back. He nodded in approval and swung his arm over my shoulder – “can I hire you as the official Kim Daily photographer?” He asked, and I laughed in return. Jimin’s expression was growing darker by the minute, but I couldn’t find it in me to feel bad. He had alienated himself from me. He’d had more than enough time to process what had happened with his parents now and he was still treating me like a stranger. The only reason I was still on the tour was because Namjoon and Hobi had convinced me not to leave and to give Jimin time. It felt as though he wasn’t even my boyfriend anymore. We met the rest of the group in the lobby and left to go wander around the city. By the time we decided to stop for lunch at around mid-day, I was in great spirits. The group had virtually split into 3 smaller clusters of people. I was having a blast with Hobi and Namjoon and although the mild sense of anxiety that had been following me like a dark cloud since the meal at Jimin’s parents still lingered, it was much easier to push aside. We were seated at the restaurant and I was surprised when Jimin opted to sit opposite me when there was a space free next to Seong-hyun and opposite Areum. Maybe he was finally starting to come round. Namjoon sat to my left and Hobi sat opposite him, on Jimin’s left. The conversation flowed easily and although Jimin was relatively quiet throughout, the tension that I’d been feeling around him over the past few weeks was beginning to ease. As I went to take a piece of food from one of the dishes in front of me, Namjoon did the same. We began a chopstick war over one specific dumpling, despite there being four others on the plate. I decided to go for a different one and Namjoon knocked my chopsticks away again. I whined his nickname “Joonie” coined by Hobi and he laughed and moved his chopsticks to allow me to grab a dumpling. I laughed and told him “thank you” in the most dramatic voice I could muster and popped the dumpling on my plate. As I looked up for an accompaniment I locked eyes with Jimin, who was staring intently at me, his expression unreadable. I smiled back and he looked away, before excusing himself to go to the bathroom. The rest of the afternoon was fun, Jimin tagged himself onto our threesome but he didn’t really say too much unless he was spoken to directly. It gave me a weird feeling, it was almost more uncomfortable than him pretending I didn’t exist - having him there, but not being my Jiminie. We decided to call it a day and head back to the hotel around 6pm. I was absolutely exhausted as a result of all the walking, and declined Hobi’s invite to go hang out in their room for a while. The staff and members were on two separate floors and (although by my third week on the tour it became apparent that nobody would mind if I checked into a separate room) I had opted to stay close to the staff, so I always booked a room on the floor they were on. The management team had often praised me on my ability to blend into the crew completely, even once I started sleeping separately. They also repeatedly made comments about how impressed they were at Jimin and I for keeping our relationships under wraps – a remark which occasionally appealed to my slightly darker sense of humour, given our current situation. I closed my door behind me and plopped down onto my bed, relieved to finally be able to take off my sneakers and massage my tired feet. I looked up at sparkly silver dress hung up on my wardrobe for the MAMA event tomorrow. Most of the staff would be spending a majority of their time backstage, but the management team had a separate table (away from all the celebrities of course) and I had been allocated a seat on there. I was incredibly excited to get dolled up and watch the show. I padded into the bathroom and took a quick shower, opting for an early night. We had to be up super early tomorrow to get to the venue for prep, the boys sound-check slot, and placement confirmation. I was setting an alarm when Jimin’s name flashed across the top of my screen. We’d barely texted over the course of the past two weeks so I couldn’t help the flutter of anticipation I felt as I swiped my thumb across the screen and read the message. “Hey, any chance we can talk this weekend?” I blew out a puff of air and tapped out “sure” as a reply. I thought about asking what about, but I decided to just wait until we got to speak in person. Jimin read the message and didn’t say anything more, so I was glad I hadn’t pushed the subject. The next morning went by in a blur. Everyone was so busy that I’d been recruited to do my fake job, helping the stylists where I could, making sure buttons were sewed on properly and that there’d be no Janet Jackson style fiasco's. There were showers tagged onto most of the green rooms so when all the prep work was done, at around 5pm, the boys were taken away to get dolled up for the red carpet which was set to start at around 6pm, and finish at 8pm. The boys were ready for about 6.30, and they looked incredible. The concept was in line with the entire Blood, Sweat and Tears era and unlike last year, there was not a leather pant in sight. I wished the boys luck as they left to ‘’arrive at the event’’ and went to get ready myself. I’d been briefed on appropriate attire for the occasion, and the day before I was set to go shopping to find a dress, a delivery arrived at the hotel for me from Kay. She’d sent me the most beautiful silver, sequinned dress, with a cowl back and long sleeves, which fell around mid-thigh. I’d called her up ecstatic and she’d been just as happy that I’d liked it. We’d chatted a little and it turned out my dad was in town and had been staying with her, so I got a chance to chat to him too. This made me feel a lot better. I didn’t tell him what was going on with Jimin and I though, choosing instead to talk about how close I’d gotten to Hobi and Namjoon. I sat in the chair after my shower as Dah-sol applied my make-up, I was extremely excited and not even the obvious hostility being shown by Bora and Areum about the fact that I was getting to attend the event could bring me down. Once Dah-sol was finished I felt like a celebrity myself – she’d gone for a classical 50’s type look, with no eye-shadow, just perfectly winged eyeliner, “natural” false lashes and red lipstick. I was so pleased I jumped up to hug her causing her to giggle. Bora and Areum looked over and the latter scoffed, “Bit plain for an awards ceremony, isn’t it?” Dah-sol rounded on the two girls and told them straight. “Please stop being bitter about Y/N getting to attend the show. It’s really not a good look on you.” The demon stylists looked appalled but didn’t dare respond, and Seong-hyun laughed loudly and clapped Dah-sol on the back, causing the pretty, petite make-up artist to smile. He added, “yeah, and don’t forget, Y/N isn’t here as staff, she’s Jimin’s girlfriend! Of course she’d get to attend!” The two girls rolled their eyes and took a seat and I went and changed into my dress, grateful to my friends for defending me, but feeling slightly uncomfortable. About 10 minutes later, one of the managers came in to get me. We weaved through the crowds backstage and made our way out to the table. For the next hour we just watched people filing in to their tables, eventually I spotted Jimin’s blonde head weaving through the crowd and they were seated on the table directly in front of us. My side of the table was reasonably close to theirs, and although we were just outside the camera’s catch-all for the celebrity tables, I could have reached out and touched Jimin had I wanted to. I imagined that us being seated back to back wasn’t a coincidence. I noticed a little further down that Taemin and the Shinee boys had been seated and I managed to catch Minho’s eye, who smiled and waved before nudging Taemin to his right and pointing over. He waved and sent a heart in my direction, which caused Jimin to turn around. He smiled at me and my heart thudded. How was it that he could still do that almost 9 months in… The show had a lot of breaks for adverts, but the performances were incredible. I had turned my chair away from my table to face the stage, so I was awarded a full view of the back of the Maknae-lines heads. The boys had just got up to go and prepare backstage and I was so excited for their performance. I knew how much they’d practiced and how much they’d been anticipating this so I couldn’t help but bounce up and down slightly in my seat when they were introduced. The lights were dimmed and the boys delivered the most amazing (and sensual) rendition of Blood, Sweat and Tears I’d ever seen. Despite having watched them perform frequently for the past month or so, I was once again blown away by their unbelievable stage presence - especially Jimin - whose stares into the camera borderline made me forget everything that had gone on between us. When they finished I jumped up to applaud and scream with the fans and the managers, and didn’t sit back down until I was breathless. When the boys were once again seated at about 11.30pm, it was all I could do to not stand up and hug each one of them tightly, but I think they could see from the smile on my face that I thought that the performance had been incredible. As I watched the nominations for the next award be announced by Park Bo Gum and Kim Yoo Jung, I felt my phone vibrate in the clutch on my lap. A couple of minutes later it went off again, so I reached in and pulled it out. The first message was from Jiminie and my heart lifted, but when I saw who the second message was from, it thudded down into my stomach. Im Jae-bum. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I hadn’t heard from Jae in a year and now he was texting me out of the blue? I swiped to read the message from Jimin first, which said, “how was I? :)” I tapped out a quick response of, “amazing, as usual. You all were!” Before opening the message from Jae. “Did I just see you at the MAMA awards?” I frowned and my heart thudded in my chest. Had I been caught on camera? Should I text back? I bit my lip and thought for a moment before tapping out a response. “Uh yeah, haha. Was I on TV?”

The response came back immediately. “Nope. I’m here too.” I almost spat out the water I had just taken a sip of to calm my nerves. WHAT?! HE WAS HERE?! I tried to look around stealthily my phone vibrated again. Im Jae-bum – “Turn all the way around, I’m one table back to your right. I saw you jumping and screaming for the BTS boys.” I swallowed and felt myself beginning to blush. I turned slowly in my chair and there he was. He was still unnervingly beautiful, wearing a black t-shirt and a leather jacket and – oh god. Was that a silver hoop earring?!” He smiled slightly and waved and I returned the gesture in an awkward wooden movement. Okay, what the fuck? Really. My ex-boyfriend and I were at the same fucking event. In CHINA. AND, he was only seated about 15 metres away from me. I turned back around and swallowed. My phone buzzed again. Im Jae-bum – “You look really good, Y/N.” I tapped out a furious response. “What are you doing here?” He texted back immediately with “Lol, I’ve missed you too. I’m here for work, I’m not stalking you. Relax :)” I didn’t respond. I just sat chewing my lip nervously and thinking. For work? What did he mean?! He studied music, I knew that – oh god, was he an idol now too?! My phone buzzed again and, as if he’d read my thoughts, Jae replied. “I’ve landed a job as a producer at JYP. I just started but they wanted to fly me out to this event ahead of my official start date next week.” JYP? They were headquartered in Seoul, like Big Hit… I tapped out a response quickly. “You’re working at the HQ?” Jae’s answer was a simple “yes” and my heart sank even lower in my chest. I inhaled deeply and tried to console myself. It would be okay. So what, the boy who broke my heart was moving to the same city I lived in. Who cares that he’d somehow become even more handsome than he was a year ago, and had scored an amazing job. The fact still stood that I was madly in love with him and he hurt me beyond reasoning. I nodded to myself and stuffed my phone back in my bag, reassured by my mini internal pep talk and tried to focus on the EXO performance that lit up the stage. The boys had been nominated for 7 awards, 3 of them Daesang awards, which was amazing in itself. So far, they’d won Best Dance Performance, sweetly allowing Hobi to lead the way to the stage. All the other nominations had been awarded apart from Artist of the Year, and Album of the Year – the two final awards and the two of the three Daesang awards. I knew the boys were happy just to be nominated, and to have a spotlight cast on their achievements, but when they announced the nominations for Artist of the Year my heart thudded against my chest. A couple of minutes before the announcement, all of the nominated groups had been taken to sit closer to the stage to make it easier to ascend should they win. As the winner was announced I craned my neck to get a better view of the boys. I screamed like a banshee when I heard the words Bangtan Sonyeondan, and seeing the reaction of the boys, I immediately burst into tears. I was so unbelievably happy and proud of them. I watched as they made their way to the stage and stood to get a clearer view of their acceptance speech. To see them all so overcome with emotion and gratitude sent me into a blubbering mess. They were so humble, despite their talent and their success in the face of so many adversities. Namjoon speaking English to his international fans was so typical of him, always an amazing leader through and through, ARMY at the forefront of all his thoughts. EXO won the final award and I cheered and shouted, but all I wanted was to be back with the boys, to congratulate them on their deserved win and bask in their elation. Unfortunately for the BTS team there would be no after-party because we were flying back to Seoul early the following morning for a week or so. As soon as the show was over, our table began filing out. We were lucky, most people looked to be sticking around to finish drinks, catch up with other attendees, or figure out their next plans, so we made it to the exit relatively fast. The rest of the staff and the boys were already in the cars, and I was anxious as I climbed in behind Sejin, hoping that I’d get to see Jimin. Unfortunately, he wasn’t in the car, but Namjoon was, and he’d saved me my usual seat beside him at the very back. He smiled up at me as I made my way towards him, his dimpled cheeks flushed with excitement. I plopped down next to him and gave him a celebratory hug. “Well done, you were all so amazing. Your speech was incredible. Gosh, you really deserve this, well done.” I gushed. He laughed and bowed his head, suddenly shy at my direct praise. I put my hand on his shoulder and he glanced up at me. “I’m serious, Joonie. You are amazing – you deserve this, and the world.” I realised I wasn’t just talking about his music and I dropped my hand to his. “I want to say thank you, you’ve been an amazing friend to me these past few weeks. If it weren’t for you I’d have left the tour, and you’ve always helped me to stay rational and try to see things from Jimin’s perspective. In some ways, you’ve saved our relationship a few times, and I want to thank you for that. I love Jimin more than anything, and it’s nice to be able to talk to someone who knows him and loves him too. Especially with this thing about his family…” I trailed off and glanced away and Namjoon squeezed my hand to regain my attention. “Stop worrying, things are going to work out with you and Jimin, I know they are. Anyway, since you’re so filled with gratitude about me helping you with Jimin, maybe you can return the favour…” I looked at Namjoon puzzled, and then it clicked and my eyes widened. “Joonie, you’ve met a girl?!” He laughed and attempted to shush me, and I took his other hand in mine and pulled him forward. “Tell me everything, who is she and where did you meet her?” I whispered. Before he could answer we were interrupted by the door of the minibus being opened, and Jimin climbing inside. He immediately located us and his smile faltered as he took in how close Namjoon and I were sitting and then his hands in mine. He immediately averted his gaze around the minibus and said brightly “Oh I didn’t realise you guys were full.” Namjoon and I were both about to respond but he was already stepping back down and sliding the door across. I sighed and removed my hands from Namjoon’s, before leaning back into my own seat. Jimin had a habit of jumping to conclusions, and although I didn’t for a second believe that he would have thought anything weird was going on between Namjoon and I, I knew he’d feel a little put out, or even replaced. Kind of how I’d been feeling lately... Namjoon pulled out his phone, “I’ll text him, hold on.” He typed out a quick message to Jimin before checking out a news app to read about the coverage from the show. I decided to do the same and pulled out my own phone but before I could unlock it Namjoon slammed his hand over mine. I looked up at him in shock to see concern and anxiety written all over his face. “What?” I asked, immediately panicked. Had I misread Jimin’s reaction earlier? Had he really thought something was going on between Namjoon and I? Namjoon took a deep breath. “There’s a picture…” He closed his eyes and then started again, “I don’t know how the media got it. It’s got the netizens… They’re saying – look - I don’t want you to freak out when you see it, okay?” I couldn’t answer, I just nodded. What the hell was this picture? Was it me? Was it Jimin and me? I couldn’t help but feel a sense of dread if it was the latter. I’d always wanted to be public with Jimin, but not now, not when our relationship was in such a fragile state. I didn’t think we’d be able to handle the backlash. Namjoon unlocked his phone and showed me the image. It was Jimin, but it wasn’t me. The picture was of the boys backstage, but the focal point of the photo was my boyfriend. My boyfriend, who was looking down into the eyes of none other than Areum, who was dabbing at his forehead with a cloth, as he grinned at her. If it weren’t for the fact that his smile was so wide that his eyes were no more than crescents, I might have said he was looking down at her lovingly. I swallowed the bile threatening to creep up into my mouth and took a deep breath as I scrolled down to read the headline, which read; “BTS PARK JIMIN LEAVES FANS BROKEN HEARTED AFTER THIS PHOTO AT THE MAMAS” I scrolled down further to read the article itself. “Netizens have been speculating that Park Jimin may be going home with more than just a Daesang this evening. After this photo of a so-called stylist affectionately wiping his brow backstage at tonight’s award show was leaked, fans have been left in shock. Scroll down to read ARMY’s comments below.” I didn’t want to read anymore, I felt quite ill. I scrolled to the top of the page again to look at the picture. It really did not look good. I tried to make myself think rationally. I knew that there was absolutely nothing going on between Jimin and Areum, just as there was nothing going on between Namjoon and I, but after everything that had happened over the past month, I couldn’t shake the pure, unadulterated rage that was building up in my chest. “Are you okay?” Namjoon asked. I simply nodded tightly in response, and clearly the anger was rolling off me in waves, because he didn’t attempt to say anything else. I was shaking. For the past month, Jimin had treated me like a stranger, and now this? I was furious, and even though I knew a lot of my anger was completely misplaced, I couldn’t do anything about it. I wanted to scream. I wasn’t even allowed near him, even before the lunch at his parent’s house and yet she gets to drape herself all over him backstage! Where there are hundreds of cameras?! Ok, that was an overstatement, but it was still more than I’d ever got. I unlocked my phone and pulled up the image again, before taking a screenshot and sending it to Jimin, with a text saying, “this is nice :)” I knew it was petty but I really couldn’t help myself. He read it a minute later and immediately replied with “what the hell?!” I responded with, “yep, that’s exactly what I said” and seconds later my phone was ringing. I declined Jimin’s call and tapped out another text. “I don’t want to speak to you about this over the phone. Let’s talk when we get back to the hotel, I’m room 440.”. Jimin responded with “Okay” and then seconds later added “I love you” words he hadn’t said to me in weeks. Instead of replying I locked my phone and attempted to calm down before I arrived. It seemed like we were back at the hotel in no time at all and I stepped out of the car and headed straight into the foyer. The atmosphere was awkward and I guessed from the tension in the air that the staff and all the members had been alerted about the ‘scandal’. Behind me I heard one of the managers answer his phone and start barking out instructions. He was yelling about the new order BigHit had put in place to protect the boys and I felt childishly smug about the fact that a rumour concerning Areum was being treated as a malicious and damaging story, worthy of legal action. Although, I knew they’d probably have done the same had it been me in her place. I didn’t bother to look behind me to see if Jimin was following and decided instead to make my way immediately to my room. When I arrived, I kicked off my shoes and made my way into my bathroom to wipe off my make-up. I knew Jimin would probably have to go to an emergency de-brief meeting about what he should say in their upcoming interview tomorrow, and so I decided to take a quick shower before changing into a pair of sweatpants and a tour hoody. I was sitting on my bed towel drying my hair with one hand and scrolling through my phone with the other (I couldn’t help but marvel at how quickly BigHit had managed to get the story taken down from any reputable news sources) when i heard him knocking, I padded over and opened it before walking back to my bed, not bothering to greet Jimin properly. I most definitely hadn’t done a very good job at calming myself down. I sat back down on the bed and said nothing as Jimin closed the door and made his way into the room, opting to perch himself on the desk opposite. He ran his hand over his face and then through his hair and I stared at him blankly.

“Y/N, you know there’s absolutely nothing going on between me and Areum, I’m sorry you had to read that story.”

I continued to gaze at him, expressionless as I replied “so?”

He looked puzzled for a minute and then a little annoyed, but he laughed it off. “What do you mean by so? I came to apologise because I didn’t want you to feel hurt by that article.”

I smirked and nodded. “Okay, understood. You didn’t want me hurt by the article, got it. Well you’ve apologised so I guess you can go now?”

Jimin didn’t try to cover up his annoyance this time as he asked “what the hell is your problem Y/N?”

I shook my head again. “I don’t know, I just find it funny how you don’t want me to be hurt over an article, when you’ve spent the past month hurting me. Maybe this would never have happened with Areum if you hadn’t traded me in for her. You begged me to come on this tour Jimin and since that night at your parents you’ve made me feel like shit.” I started to cry as my feelings of frustration and pain at the way things had been for the past few weeks, took over. Jimin’s anger melted and he looked beyond guilty, but my anger held firm and I carried on.

“I tried to give you space, I knew it was hard for you. I know you’ve never had an issue with your parents and I felt awful that I was the one to cause it, but not once did you try to comfort me. You didn’t stop to think how seeing you with a girl that you and I both know has feelings for you, would make me feel. You practically ignored me for almost a month, and now this has happened.”

Jimin’s head, which had been hanging low snapped up, and the anger was back.

“Wait, you’re saying this picture was my fault? Areum was just doing her job and we were laughing about the fact that one of the stylists had a meltdown about Hobi’s mic almost falling off, nothing weird was going on! Anyway, she apologised to you-“

I cut Jimin off with a humourless laugh. “Oh yeah, that really genuine apology. Give me a break Jimin, you know that was just as fake as our relationship has been for the majority of this tour.” I wiped my tears and stood. “I’m leaving.”

Jimin, who was still reeling from what I’d said about our relationship, blinked in shock at my finishing statement. “Wha- what do you mean? What do you mean, you’re leaving? Y/N answer me.”

I ignored him as I pulled my case onto my bed and started packing away my things.

Jimin reached out and grabbed my arm and I wrenched it out of his grasp. He looked mortified and I knew that my expression was cold as I told him, “I mean what I’m saying. I’m leaving. I’m done living like this, I’m done feeling insignificant, and like your feelings are the only ones that matter in this relationship. I’m going home. Tonight.”

Jimin looked lost and then he grabbed my hands frantically and tried to search my face for some indication that the girl who loved him unconditionally last month was still there. She was, but she was buried underneath a lot of hurt. “Y/N, please. I know I’ve screwed up and I know I’ve been selfish. So, selfish. You deserve so much better than what I’ve done these past few weeks. I’ve been so blind, I’m so, so, sorry. Just please don’t leave me. Please.”

I pulled my hands away from Jimin. I still loved him more than anything but it felt as though my emotions were frozen and that frost was seeping out through my skin, and all I could do was play the part of the ice queen.

I shook my head. “It’s too late Jimin. You’ve seen how much you’ve hurt me, and you’ve looked right through me. I can’t stay here any longer. I can’t watch you with her, even if you are just friends. It feels like you’re both rubbing my nose in it.” I looked away and continued to pack and Jimin was silent for a moment and then he suddenly began shouting, causing me to jump.

“I’m rubbing your nose in it?! What about you? What about you and Namjoon, or should I say “Joonie” your new best friend. Or Hoeseok. You don’t leave either of their sides, even if I wanted to get you alone I couldn’t! I tried to sit with you today and I find you already in the minibus, holding Namjoon’s hand!!”

Jimin was a little breathless after his rant and he ran his hands through his hair frantically before rubbing his face. I remained calm as I replied. “I wouldn’t have had to cling to Hobi and Namjoon if my own boyfriend had bothered to do so much as reply to my texts, or even tell me good morning once in a while, instead of skipping straight past me.” I turned back to my case and continued packing and Jimin raked his hand through his hair once more, before yelling loudly and kicking the trash can across the room.

I looked at him blankly and he rushed back over to me, before getting on his knees and wrapping his arms around my waist. “Y/N, I’m sorry I said that, I just wanted to provoke some sort of reaction. Please, you’re scaring me. Please stop being so cold. I can’t take it.. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, I can’t let you end this. I’ll go downstairs right now and I’ll make a public announcement, I’ll tell the world that you’re mine and I’m yours. Please, please. I love you, you can’t do this…” Jimin trailed off and began sobbing loudly. He was clutching my waist tightly and I very nearly thawed, but right before my hand landed on his head, as a reflex to comfort him when he was sad, something stopped me.

I had to get out of this environment. It was toxic and I was unhappy. I was making myself unhappy to be around Jimin and that had to stop. What was once the main source of all my joy had become too draining. I needed to go home. So instead of kneeling down and holding Jimin, and kissing him softly, telling him everything was going to be alright, I detached his arms from around my waist.

He let them drop to his sides and slumped down, staring blankly at my sweatpants.

“I’m sorry Jimin, I can’t and you telling everyone about us wouldn’t fix this, it would probably do more damage than good. I need some time and space to think about this. Nobody can say we don’t love each other and I really think these minor problems would be easy to solve under normal circumstances – but these circumstances are far from normal. Your parents still don’t want us to be together, we still need to keep this relationship a secret, you still have tours, and fans, and girls that would rather see me dead than accept that I got to be with their precious oppa. There was a time when I genuinely believed that none of those things mattered because I loved you more than I’ve ever loved anyone, but now I don’t know.”

Jimin inhaled, his breath still shaky, then he put his arm on the bed and pulled himself up so he was stood facing me. “I love you so much Y/N” he said, starting to cry again. “I really love you so much, I don’t think I can go on without you. I don’t.” Jimin pressed his palms against his eyes and tried to compose himself.

I reached around my neck and undid the clasp of the necklace before pulling his hand away from his face and placing the ring and the chain there.

As soon as Jimin registered what it was, his legs semi-buckled and he sat with a thud down onto the bed. I didn’t say anything, I just walked around him into the bathroom and collected the last of my things, before putting them into my case and zipping it up. I glanced over at Jimin who was sitting staring at the ring in the palm of his hands with his back to me around the other side of the bed.

“We’re coming back to Seoul tomorrow for a week, am I allowed to see you?” he asked, his voice thick with emotion.

I shook my head, even though he couldn’t see me. “No, I don’t think so. I think we need more than a week Jimin. We need time to figure out what we want”

I’d barely finished my sentence when Jimin whipped around. “I want you, I won’t stop wanting you. I don’t need any more time. I’ve had time, I screwed up, but I gave you this ring because love you, and I want to marry you.”

The intensity of his words and his gaze took me by surprise, but I held my ground. “I’m sorry Jimin.”

I pulled my case off the bed and left the room. I managed to hold it together as I rode down the elevator and as I checked out. I got to the airport and booked the next flight to Seoul, and I even held it together during my two hour wait and my three and a half hour flight. I was still perfectly collected as I collected my bags on the other side and as I rode my uber to the duplex, but as soon as I walked through doors of our home and saw his shoes, and the pictures of us on the counter, my whole world came crashing down around me.

25 notes · View notes