#we've been trying to figure out what's up with the car for the past 3 weeks

[evilfloralfoolery]

Sorry for the delay in fic posting, buuuutttt....

[givemeonereason]

Meditations: First, the Friend and then, the Son

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Photo Credit: Here

Dragon Ball Masterlist Givemeonereason Masterlist

Rating: SO MANY FEELS

Plot: Krillin seeks out Gohan to get some more information about the girl who lost her "Piccolo." A warmth between friends and family.

A/N: Hello, and thank you for patiently waiting for me to write up this next installment. I kept saying I was writing and I kept pushing it aside. Depression is so real and writers burn out is really real too. I think I just overdid it.

I'm so excited and happy that this series has taken off. Seems like there really is an audience for Piccolo. And he deserves it! I'll keep it going for as long as the story needs it. Tall, green, and handsome love for all.

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The police speeder came to an abrupt halt outside Son Gohan estate.

When Krillin gingerly unhooked his regulation helmet and hung it from the handlebars of his unit, the elderly man who was tending to flowers in the garden was swiftly walking towards the main house.

After he disappeared through a side door a kind-looking, middle-aged woman came out to greet him.

"Good morning, sir." She bowed her head politely. "To what do we owe the pleasure of the local law enforcement?"

The formality of the situation made Krillin perk up his shoulders. "Sorry, ma'am I need to speak with Gohan. Do you know if he's around?"

"I believe he is in the library." She turned on her heel. "Please follow me."

What seemed like an endless amount of stairs for a pair of small legs, the door to the library was ajar. Gohan was buried among several piles of books, a laptop, and three mugs, which presumably had an unknown concoction of caffeine.

"Gohan." Krillin called out to him as he walked towards the desk, but Gohan only pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. He scribbled vigorously at the notepad before him.

"Gohan?" Krillin repeated with a little more oomph. Gohan began to mumble to himself.

with the help of prefectural flora cultivation, this can provide direct resources to the habitat of-

"Gohan! Snap out of it."

Gohan shook his head and blinked his eyes a few times while readjusting his thick black frames. "Whoa, Krillin I didn't see you there."

"Obviously..." Krillin rolled his eyes.

"Gosh, how long have you been here." Gohan finished the sentence he was muttering and almost stabbed the notepad when he poked the paper at the period.

"Well, I've been trying to get your attention for a few minutes now."

"Okay, I'm sorry I'm on the verge of a breakthrough here." He picked up a large blue mug and took a swig, only to spit it back into the glass. His face contorted when he tried to wipe his tongue on his sleeve.

Krillin had picked up a book nearest him and flipped through a few pages. "Cognitive Ecology of Pollination: Animal Behaviour and Floral Evolution." Too many words. He set the book back down and crossed his arms. "This might be out of left field, but have you seen Piccolo lately?"

"Not today, no."

"No, I just mean recently. There is something fishy is going on. I don't know if you know about the girl?"

"There's a girl?" Gohan took a sip from a different mug garnished with a Satan City logo. He set that one down quickly. "Did Piccolo do something to a girl? I'm not sure I understand."

"That's what I'm trying to find out." Krillin took a seat in a wooden car adjacent to the large desk. "This is going to sound odd. Considering we've seen and experienced some very odd things in the past, this one is hard to place when it comes to weird."

Krillins folded his hands and relaxed his shoulders. "Well, here goes. Long story short; I got a report of a girl screaming on a hillside about an instrument. When I went to investigate the girl said she lost her piccolo. I put two and two together and figured she might be talking about our Piccolo. So when I went to The Hideout to ask Piccolo about this girl, he got defensive and said he did something to her. And I think he couldn't forgive himself, or I don't remember fine details."

Gohan sat for a few moments in silence thinking. "Do you know this girl?"

"Never met her a day in my life...until I spoke with her."

Gohan scratched at his hairline, pushing the rouge tuft of hair out of his face only for it to fall back down towards his eyes. "Piccolo hasn't said anything to me about a woman." His shoulders were undulated with confusion.

Before Gohan could circle the same conclusion, he spoke again. "Whatever it is, he seems to care enough about this girl. You know him. He's a pretty unfazed guy. Very serious. Not too emotional, or softish. You know what I mean."

Gohan reached out for the last mug on the desk, hesitating before grabbing the handle. He stared down at the contents swirling around in contemplation and decided against it. The mug clanked against the desk surface as Krillin's pleaded with him.

"I was kind of wondering if you would go talk to him? He practically demanded I leave The Hideout when I pressed the issue. If he's going to talk to anyone it's got to be you. You're practically his son."

The last bit made Gohan chuckle. "I don't know Krillin. If he didn't want to talk about it, maybe we should just leave it alone."

Krillin stood up and walked towards Gohan. "Could you just at least try. If he doesn't open up to you then I'll let it go, okay?"

"Okay, okay." Gohan stood up, pressing his palms against the armrests of his chair. "I'll go to talk to him tomorrow morning. I'll call you when I get back."

Krillin smiled widely. "Thanks Gohan. I just think, you know, he does.. has done so much for us that we can try and help him too sometimes. Even if he says he doesn't want it."

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When the morning light touched the western side of The Hideout, Gohan walked through the threshold Piccolos room. “Hey, Piccolo.”

Piccolo turned towards the similarly dressed young man, putting down the small, leather bound book in his hands on the small desk beside him. “Gohan, what brings you here this early.”

Gohan stretched his arms, his elbow popping loud enough to warrant a light echo. He laughed with some embarrassment. “Well, I guess I’m just a little rusty. I was wondering if we could spar?”

The upturned smirk told all Gohan needed to know before the two of them were passing blows hovering over the ground far below them.

One after the other, fists flying, blocking, dodging, power surging. Time was passing as the sun arched across the sky, but it only felt like moments. The adrenaline of the fight.

When Gohan began to tire slightly he landed a singular hit that propelled Piccolo back that anyone with even the best eyesight wouldn’t have seen. The super Sayain gives his all in the last throes of battle.

Piccolo gathered his equilibrium, and wiped the blood staining his lip against his forearm. He laughed as he landed on the grass below them. “You say you’re rusty, but you still got it, kid. You just got to put your mind to it.” He gently patted Gohan’s head, shaking his hair lightly.

Gohan plopped down to the ground and lay sprawling, taking in breaths. Piccolo sat down near him cross-legged. "I still think you have it in you to be the strongest, Gohan. But you've got a family now and your studies. You have more important battles to fight than just with your fists."

Gohan put his hands behind the back of his head. "I get discouraged sometimes. Everyone chastizes me for not keeping up with training. I'm 'a shame to the Sayain race,' or 'If only he could have---'" He shook his head. "Sometimes I wonder if Dad is still proud of me, even if my progress is strictly academic." He pondered on the thought. "It really doesn't matter, does it? Between Dad and Vegta there won't be anyone as strong. There won't be anyone who can't save the world." He looked over at Piccolo. "You're pretty strong too Piccolo."

Piccolo let out a deep, humph. "You are still stronger than me. And I only get involved when I am needed."

"Right. Why should we constantly have to be ready for a threat that might never come?"

"They always do."

Gohan sighed, closing his eyes. "Well, if they need me I will always be there. I won't let anything happen to anyone. Not after all the things we faced before."

The subtle sounds of nature became more apparent with this silence. The shallow sounds of breathing between them. Piccolo looked off into the near distance, his voice calm and relaxed. "If it accounts for anything, I am very proud of the man you've become."

Arms were tightly wrapped around. "Thank you for never giving up on me Piccolo."

Piccolo smiled to himself as Gohan sat down next to him. "I've been meaning to ask you something. Do you have a girlfriend?"

"A what?" Piccolo's voice turned deep again with seriousness.

"A girlfriend. You know, someone who you like and date." The look in Gohan's eyes was hopeful and sweet.

Tch- "I know what a girlfriend is. Why are you asking me this?"

"Well, Krillin stopped by and---"

"Not this again. Did that small man send you to do his bidding?"

Gohan got up and followed Piccolo when he began to walk away. He shouted, "I told him to stay out of it."

Gohan picked up his pace to meet the Namekian. "I don't even understand what Krillin was saying. But I wish you would just tell me what's going on. If not, you know he's going to get my dad involved."

Piccolo stopped and grunted. His arms crossed in defiance. Anything but Goku getting involved. Piccolo will NEVER hear the end of this. And if Goku makes a big deal out of this, it's everyone's problem.

But it's just his problem.

He stood quiet and tense. Gohan stood beside him stretching his legs and preparing to leave for home.

"I--" He started and stopped.

Hmmm, Gohan turned towards him.

"I don't even know how it happened. She came out of nowhere. Day after day, she prodded me with questions about myself. She sat with me as I meditated. She wasn't frightened of me." Piccolo was speaking so fervently and fastidiously that he was almost out of breath. "And I didn't know why or what to do. So I tried to show her that she shouldn't be so curious. I tried to scare her. I tried to stop her from coming around." His arms were tight against his chest. His chin pressed down into his collarbone.

Gohan watched Piccolo in awe. He's never seen this man act in such a way. The sorrow within the tightness of his shut eyes. The deep purple across his cheeks. Piccolo usually being a towering man, now pulling inward at his middle.

Gohan reached out and hugged him again. "Okay..." He looked at Piccolo, who bent his shoulders, which would normally be difficult to see over his shoulder pads. "Okay." Gohan's hand on Piccolo's forearm. His voice was so sweet and kind. "What did you do to scare her?"

Piccolo only took a deep breath. His booming voice was now almost a whisper. "I picked her up and took her in the air, flying. I flew and made myself out to be like another version of myself. I tried to make myself into King Piccolo." He's bent over near Gohan's shoulder, and Gohan lets him rest his forehead. "I made myself into something worth being frightened by. I didn't want her to trust so easily because she can easily become fodder like so many others have." His voice was almost nonexistent. "I could have killed her."

"But you didn't kill her, right?"

Piccolo shook his head. "But I could have."

"You didn't though. Sure, you could have maybe got your point across in a different way, but she's alright, right?"

"The look of terror in her eyes. The tears. I don't know why-- why I went--"

Gohan could hear the choked sobs before he pushed Piccolo back to face him. "Piccolo, I have known you my whole life and I've never seen you like this. You're like a whole different person. Usually, you're a very reserved guy, but I know these types of feelings. You must care a great deal for this girl. You're beating yourself up over the smallest thing." Piccolo kept his eyes closed shut, but his head lifted slightly, his arms relaxing as much as he could muster. "Hey, at least you don't explode or anything. You don't resort to your power because a lady is hurt or in danger. Blame it on the Sayain blood.”

Piccolo tried to straighten up and fix his posture. He wiped the tears that escaped from his eyes against his sleeve. Swallowing down his feelings deep into his chest.

“Piccolo, you’re allowed to have feelings like everyone else. Look at Dad, he’s an alien and he’s insane half the time.” Gohan laughed. “It’s okay to care about something for once. I know you care about me, about my family. But you can also care about something for yourself. If you care that deeply about this girl then I think you should talk to her. I think you should set things right between the two of you. Even if nothing comes of it and you just get closure.” Gohan pointed to Piccolo’s chest, pressing down into the fabric of the Namekian’s purple Gi. “If for all of us, but just for you.”

Gohan turned and started to walk away, calling over his shoulder. “You don’t need to bare the weight of this on your own. We’re always here for you. This is just a different type of fight.” He began hovering over the ground. “I have to get home before Videl gets angry.” He laughed. “Responsibilities.”

Piccolo could he his voice fading as he flew away. “All you have to do is try, Piccolo.”

Piccolo stood there, silent. The weight in his chest was still heavy. Do I care about this woman this greatly? He pressed his palm firmly against his chest, his cape flittering in the wind behind him. A heart beating strong behind his fingers. Is this love or understanding?

What I was once so sure about, I am at a loss.

Who do I want to be now?

(Just an extra reference photo here of our precious, green boy) Credit

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© 2024 givemeonereason

Don’t steal other people’s works! Respect creators!

Reblogs and likes appreciated :)

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Tag List:

@jadew-08, @sussybacca, @imaginarydreams, @oriistar, @mddbsf, @boogeysmoth, @stefnarda

To be added or removed from the tag list reach out through asks or messages. Please and thank you.

[httpsdana]

Request: 13,23,120 for Rasmus hojland and also WHY IS NO ONE WRITING ABOUT HIM LIKE WHAAAT-

Heartstrings Tangled~Rasmus Højlund

*pictures are from Pinterest*

I need more requests cuz I'm almost out of them. enjoy this one <3

request from here

master list

players/drivers I write for

13-"I'm your boyfriend and I demand you kiss me right now"

23-"You're driving me crazy you know that?"

120-"do you like what you see, sweetheart?"

"so, you're not going to tell me where we're going?" y/n asked, watching Rasmus' side profile intensely

"no I'm not. I told you it's a surprise" he said with a smile, his eyes focused on the road

"can I guess?" she asked excitedly, clapping her hands quickly

"well you can try" he shrugged

"okay so, we just had food an hour ago so it's probably not to a restaurant" she said, making him hum

"we visited your parents yesterday so not there too" she guessed, while he nodded

"so where are we going?" she said sweetly, trying to persuade him into telling her

He laughed slighty shaking his head.

"we'll arrive in a few minutes honey" he said, making her huff

The rest of the drive was silent with faint music in the background, while y/n was still trying to figure out where they're going.

Finally, Rasmus parked the car...at an amusement park.

"no way. we're at the amusement park?" y/n exclaimed, smiling widely.

"yes. i know you've been dying to visit it since we arrived in Manchester. so I thought today would be the perfect day to do so" he grinned widely, making her squeal in excitement.

"I love you so much! let's go" she got out of the car quickly, making him laugh.

They had quite the time in the park. They had a blast on almost all the rides. And Rasmus won y/n a huge teddy bear which she was so happy about. They also got on the ferris wheel and shared a loving kiss on the top of it.

Finally, their date was over. Or so y/n thought.

"I can't wait to go home. I'm so freaking tired" y/n groaned, making her boyfriend chuckle

"our date is not over darling" he said, making her look at him with a crooked eyebrow.

"come on let's walk to the beach" he took her hand, walking her to the beach where the sun was setting slowly. It was near the park so not a very long walk.

As they reached the beach, they were met by a blanket and some pillows on the sand facing the water. There was a cheese board and some snacks too, in addition to the bottle of wine.

y/n smiled softly, turning to Rasmus. He smiled down at her then leaned down closer to her face.

"come on baby. i know you're tired. let's lay down on the beach" he whispered, were she nodded with a smile.

They laid down on the blanket, y/n's back against her boyfriend's back, while she sat between his legs comfortably, and he fed her from time to time

"I like this" she mumbled, making him hum in response.

"i do too. I love spending time with you" he mumbled back, making her smile to herself. She turned in her place and looked up on him, pressing a few kisses on his jaw and chin.

"let's walk on the sand before it's completely dark" Rasmus got up, pulling y/n up with him

They walked in comfortable silence, their fingers intertwined, as they swayed them back and forth. The warm sand tickled their feet, as they enjoyed the sound of the waves.

Suddenly, Rasmus stopped walking, making y/n look back at him confused

"I wanted to tell you something love" he said almost nervously, making y/n confused but also worried

"is everything okay?" she asked, grabbing both his hands. He smiled and nodded, before speaking up.

"y/n, being with you these past years has been amazing. Your smile brightens up my day, and your caring nature means everything to me. I love how we've been through so much together, from Denmark to Italy and now here in Manchester. As I stand here with you by the beach, my heart is overflowing with love for you. Your unwavering support, your infectious laughter, and the way you light up every room we walk into together, all these moments have woven a tapestry of love and joy in my life. I cherish every detail about you, from the way you crinkle your nose when you laugh to the warmth of your embrace that feels like home. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I wanna grow old with you as we watch our children and their kids. I never want to waste any more minute without having you by my side" the sincere look took over his eyes, showing love and adoration for his 4 years partner.

His heart pounded as he takes a deep breath, his hands slightly shaking as he reaches into his pocket and carefully retrieves the ring, feeling the weight of the moment.

With a determined yet gentle movement, he goes down on one knee, his eyes never leaving y/n's, filled with love and sincerity.

"so y/n. my princess. my everything. will you make me the happiest man and alive and say yes to spending forever with me?" he smiled, watching how y/n was fully crying. A smile spread on her face as she nodded.

"yes Rasmus. I want to spend forever with you" she said, wiping her tears before making Rasmus get up and hugging him tightly.

He pulled away after the hug, grabbing her ring finger, and sliding the gorgeous ring onto it. y/n admired the ring on her finger, before looking up at Rasmus who was grinning widely at her. She leaned up and gave him the most loving and caring kiss, smiling into the kiss.

"I love you so much. i can't wait to have you forever by my side" she mumbled, their foreheads resting on each other as they closed their eyes.

"I love you more princess. I'm gonna try to our days better than the last ones" he mumbled back

[eclipse-rain]

'Awalie (Once; in the Past); Part 3

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- Spiders not in this fic because i literally cant handle writing any kind of redemption arc for him sry

Part 1 Part 2

Masterlist~

☆☆☆

Crawling through a vent wasnt something you thought you would ever do in your life once, nevermind twice.

As you had previously discovered the first time you went through it, the other end put you right inside the control room which was perfect for you, although not as much for Neteyam. This was because you had also previously discovered that although the vent could fit you, the same couldnt be said for your new seven foot tall friend.

This had been something you had thought about after seeing where the vent led to the first time you crawled through it though. Why else would you have risked your life to get the avatar who was guarding the door to the control room away from it?

Neteyam could get in through that way. What was even better was that he could once again be a distraction for the two who were left inside the room ; the pilot and co-pilot. While you suck in unnoticed through the vent to put what was hopefully the last part of your 'plan', to freaking hijack this spaceship, into action.

And thats exactly what you did. Okay maybe it wasnt the best idea you both could have come up with but what else were you suposed to do? The next thing you knew Neteyam had snuck in the control room door and was now grabbing all the pilots attention, while you crawled out of the vent and booked it towards the ship control panel where the pilots had previously been seated.

The good news was that the pilots were scared enough to flee the room when given the chance to by neteyam, unbeknownst to them who thought they had luckly eacaped. The bad news was that now they would call for back up. Sure Neteyam could have shot them as he brought the gun along with him, so as not to be completely defenceless, but by that point they had already pushed the emergency button on the control panel, sending warnings anew.

Locking the door to the room once they left, you both didnt waste anytime trying to find out just how many soilders would now be headed straight to this room. Now sitting in the pilots chair, you glanced above you only to see a computer screen desplaying the numbers 2169 in the corner.

"Oh fxck it really is 2169, you weren't kidding"

"See, i wasnt lying. I'm not as reckless as my brother." He laughed before becoming serious once again "Now how do we get this thing off the ground?" He asked you like you had all the answers

"How should i know? Try and find a manual or something"

"The pilots already started it though so cant you just fly it away now?"

"Well if its that easy then why dont you do it?" You scoffed, trying to figure out how to turn on autopilot. Of course you werent going to fly this thing, you had no idea how, you could guide it but autopilot would have to do the rest of the work.

"I thought all humans could fly a spaceship?"

"Of course not! Im sixteen, i cant fly a spaceship!"

"But all na'vi children can fly ikrans already by that age, isnt it like the same thing?!"

You paused for a split second, not knowing wheather to laugh or cry. You wondered if you should try slapping yourself to see wheather or not you would wake up from this absolutely ludicrous dream.

"...NO! When your sixteen you learn how to drive a car. A car! Not a freaking spaceship!"

"Whats a car?!"

"..."

"It doesnt matter!!" You shouted, getting off topic

You were both panicing now.

"Cant you do something? Anything?!" Neteyam questioned urgently, now seeing people start to gather outside of the control room door

"Im trying! Do you want us to die?!"

Hesitating, you finally layed your hands down on the steering wheel of the spaceship. You put them at two and ten like you had been taught when learning how to drive a car but the wheel was almost a completely diffrent shape.

"Well were going to either way so we might as well try it now that we've gotten this far." ; Was his reasoning to have you go along with him now that you both were here and in this situation together. A crowd of people gathered at the door now, along with even some avatars who wielded guns strapped to their person.

"Try what?" You asked him, trying to gat him to elaborate

"This!"

Suddenly Neteyam shoved his much larger hands over your own and pulled up forcefully. Shaking violently, the ship lurched high up into the air and the two of you lunged backwards with the force. You could only imagine what happened to the crowd of people outside the room after that happened, a small smile was etched onto your face in victory but it didnt stay there for long.

Neteyam, not being seated, was almost thrown to the ground had he not been clutching onto your hands on the wheel for dear life. You guessed he really didnt want to die a second time and frankly neither did you. But at this rate you werent sure if all your struggling up till now would end in a fiery spaceship crash.

"I thought you said you weren't as reckless as your brother?!" You shouted over the sound of the spaceship bursting into action

"Desperate times call for desperate measures!" He shouted back with a nervous smile

"Isnt that a human saying?!"

"I dont know, is it?!"

"Wait thats not whats important right now! Is this really the time to be having this conversation?!"

Just then the spaceship stoped traveling upwards and leveled out. A breef second of tranquillity was all it took to make your stomach lurch as the nose of the spaceship tipped towards the waves crashing up against the cliff down below, before it went barrling downwards, the both of you screaming in unison as it went.

Before the both of you ended up dead once again in a head on collision with the ground, you fumbled around once more, soon seeing a little light ding on, indicating you had hit the right button for the autopilot.

"Neteyam!"

Understanding your calling of him instantaniously, Neteyam helped you to pull the nose of the space ship up and away from the crashing waves below.

Soon you both breathed sighs of relief, thanking Eywa or whoever else that you had gotten out of that with your lives and all your limbs still intact.

~~~

Mapping out your destination was easy, for whatever reason they already had the co-ordinates of Neteyams home in the spaceship. As you rested, while autopilot took the lead with the flying, Neteyam had time to tell you why that was and everything that happened to his family and the Na'vi people.

You didnt know where you were going to go from here or what you were supposed to do to get home but one thing you were sure of was that you couldnt stay with the humans who were on Pandora. Even if there was a slim to none chance that the Na'vi where you were going would help you that didnt matter.

It wasnt just your own feelings, it was something more than that. You had been feeling it for a while now, since you woke up but you had been trying to ignore it. Your body must have been feeling wierd because of what those scientists did to you. Thats what you had thought but you even had this gut feeling that those scientists had definitely been experimented on you, even though you were asleep the whole time. Why was that? What made you so sure?

And why werent you more scared to be heading to a Na'vi settlement? You were all alone here, that was true but somehow you felt that you werent as well. That something inside of you was trying to calm you, keep you safe, guide you, for whatever reason. Maybe those experiments really had done a number on your body as well as your brain seemingly. Or maybe the adrenalin was making you delusional like how it can block out the pain.

You didnt know what was going on with you, with your family, with this world, with the humans. But you wanted to. You needed answers and for now, this was seemingly the only way to get them. Neteyam told you alot, you bet your life that the others could tell you more. It was another gut feeling to you, was it still a reckless impulse? Probably. For lack of a better word, although if you had a choice that better word you would use would be 'improvisation'.

The blaring sirens had stopped, so did the blinding red lights but the humans at the door did nothing to ease your minds. The avatars contributed to that even less so. You had made it about half way to your destination before you couldnt take it anymore. You had to get away from them and this ship now before they broke down the door.

Setting off the alarms again to give you some cover you both slipped through the vent and made your way to the exit chamber door of the spaceship, although not without a little protest from Neteyam.

"I cant fit through there"

"No time to complain, you'll be fine"

"Barely"

"Okay then stay here and perish, see ya"

*2 minutes later*

"Could you crawl any slower?!" You asked having worked reverse sicology to its finest

"You're the one who made me go through here"

"Thats because your lanky ass didnt wanna be left behind and i will leave you behind if you dont hurry up!" The two of you bickered in an attempt to push things along

With the humans still trying to get into the room behind you, it would not be long before they realised what had happened and came after you both once again.

And that they did, much faster then either of you had expected and so neither of you had any sort of plan. You both now stood with the door to the spaceship wide open, thousands of feet in the air, wind threatening to suck you out down to the watery depths below.

"So...whos going first?"

"Are you right in the head?" He asked in a panic without any parachute or any kind of machine around that would aid in a safe and swift landing

"No, what made you think that?" You retorted completely serious "I did just wake up from being brain dead so what gave you the impression that listening to me was a good idea?"

"Alright, point taken" he sighed in defeat

You heard the hurried footsteps of soilders rush towards you, guns clinking against their uniforms. There was only one option left and you both knew it.

"So....on three?" You shouted towards Neteyam over the wind

A banging on the latched door to the exit chamber you were both in swiftly coerced you into action.

"Three!" You shouted in usison, turning to each other with a nod before running and diving out of the wide open exit of the spaceship. The humans would be left with an unpleasant surprise once they managed to break down the door.

Now hurtling through the sky as the cold wind rushed passed you, you both turned to look back at the space ship.

"We should have done something before jumping, their gonna follow us!" Neteyam shouted over to you

"Dont worry! I got that covered!" You shouted back in reply

"So what did you do?!"

Just then a loud clanging of metal rang out indicating what was previously the spaceship you both were on turning into a fiery explosion of flames.

"That works!"

"Well since i had that one covered, do you have anything that could potentially make us not break every bone in our body when we hit the water?!" You questioned as you were both still free falling

"Umm.....maybe?!"

"Maybe?! Whats maybe?!"

Suddenly Neteyam brought his fingers up to his mouth and made a high pitched sound.

"Wait for it!" He shouted

"Wait for wh-?!"

Just then something bigger than you had ever seen before jumped up from the depths of the ocean.

"What the fu-?!"

Before you could say another word, it clamped down and swallowed the both of you whole, diving straight back into the ocean where it had come from, with you both in its mouth.

~~~

The first thing you never thought you would do in your life was crawl through a vent three times, the second was getting eaten by a giant sea creature that was about ten times bigger than a whale. Oh and maybe being shot and becoming brain dead and then becoming not brain dead anymore because scientists used your body for experiments. Then being brought to an alien planet, but you were asleep for all of that so this was all definitely wierder.

What could you say? Humor was your coping mechanism, another thing you shared with Jake. And you hadnt been using it enough in this obviously stress inducing situation you were thrust into.

Having been plunged into darkness you struggled with not being able to breath and the salt water stinging your eyes. Soon enough you felt arms around you and you were pulled to the surface of the ocean, seemingly now out of the sea creatures mouth and also no longer falling to your imminent death.

You and Neteyam layed your torsos onto what seemed like a huge piece of debris to catch your breath, now feeling how tired you were as the adrenaline keeping you together left your bodies. That was until the big piece of debris started moving and making clicking sounds and you almost fell back into the ocean when you screamed in fright.

"Its okay! He's friendly!" Neteyam tried to assure you

"He just tried to eat us!"

"He was saving us, i told you i had a way to stop us falling. He's my younger brothers spirit brother, his name is Pakayan"

Pakayan blew water out of one of his many blowholes in response, sprinkling you both in a light rain as if trying to confirm he wasnt a threat.

You let out a nervous laugh "Oh righttt, nice giant whale thingy" you said patting his fin but suddenly as you looked into Pakayans eye you felt an unusually serene calmness come over you

Neteyam let out a chuckle at that "He's a Tulkun, remember i was telling you about them on the ship. About how the humans were after them"

"Oh right they wanted the stuff in their brains" you remebered that converstaion as well as many of the others

"The amrita." He confirmed for you

"Right because it stops humans from...aging..."

"Mhm"

"Hey, Neteyam..."

"Yeah?"

"How..." you stuttered "...How did the humans find out that it stops them from aging...?" You questioned suddenly keenly aware of a certain fact

And with the way the boy next to you eyes widened you knew that he had exactly the same thought pattern as you.

"You dont think..." he started

Something the humans wanted to stop them from aging and a girl whos brain dead body was used for experiments.

A girl who's body didnt age.

In all that time of course she didnt age mentally but being in a comatose state couldnt have stopped her body from aging, especially for fifteen years.

Suddenly the light hearted atmosphere from earlier, of being free from the spaceship and alive, was now replaced with a chilly reality. The sun sunk behind the clouds and the water became dark and grey and murky, dropping a couple of degrees in temperature in the process.

"Y/n-" Neteyam started but a voice in the distance cut him off before he could finish speaking.

In the wide open ocean with seemingly nothing around for miles this caught you both off guard. Hauling yourself up onto Pakayans fin with Neteyam copying your movements you readied yourself for any attack crouching down behind the rest of his body.

Although you made sure to take into consideration that someone who was a threat to the two of you wouldnt announce themselves by calling out like that.

"Hey Pakayan why did you swim off like that?" The voice echoed from not to far away now, the person seemed to be approaching rather fast

But suddenly Neteyam grabbed your arm, stopping you from readying yourself to attack any possible threat.

"What?" You whispered at him

"Its my younger brother" he said with almost a slight tone of anxiety laced in his voice

"The one whos spirit brother this is?"

"Yes"

"That makes alot of sense actually" you reckoned he was nervous to see his brother again, seeing as the last time he probably watched the life drain from his eyes.

You would be too if you ever got the chance to meet either of your brothers again, it was a normal reaction. Although you werent quite sure what to do, especially since you were a human and they were the ones who killed him. His brother might think you were holding him for ransome or something like Neteyam had told you how the humans had done so to his siblings to lure out his father.

All you could do was grab his hand in reasurance and try to pull you both into a standing position on Pakayans fin. You had to briefly hold onto Pakayans body in the process to keep your balance as his fin slightly jostled in the water. You could only hope for the best in this situation.

And when you stood up and finally saw him you also saw that he wasnt alone, there were five others with him. You assumed Neteyams brother to be the one at the front since they were the same shade of blue. He was sat on a much smaller sea creature than Pakayan and behind him a girl with more of a teal blue skin colour sat with her arms around his waist.

Two boys mirroring the girls skin colour rode on two of their own sea creatures side by side, conversing before turning their attention towards us. A girl with the same skin tone as Neteyam rode on her own as well, with a child mirroring her same shade of blue holding onto her shoulders, standing up for a better view.

Silence was all there was for a painful few seconds and you sort of hoped in that moment that the sea would open up and swallow you.

"Oh shit i think im hallucinating"

"Am i the only one seeing him"

"No i see it too"

"Well we cant all be hallucinating together"

"Maybe we got sun stroke"

"We've barely been out for half an hour"

"Maybe we're dehydrated, someone get some water"

"Are they okay?" You whispered to Neteyam

"I cant take any more of this..." he whispered back "Hey skawang~ you're not hallucinating, im really here and alive" he waved turning his attention to his brother

Once again there was silence, then all hell broke lose.

"Oh my god he talked!"

"Why is their a human next to him??"

"Speak apparition"

"He's not dead you idiot"

"How do we know for sure?"

"Somebody slap him!"

"No! No! Definitely do not slap him"

"How much longer do you think this is going to go on for?" You whispered to Neteyam once again

"I'm not sure we might be dead again by the time they stop" he replied

~~~

After everyone calmed down Neteyam got to explaining how he was alive, there were tears, there were hugs and there was you standing by yourself wondering if you would ever get to reunite with your family.

"Oh and this-" Neteyam gestured to you "-is Y/n. She's the one who saved me, i probably wouldn't have made it out of that spaceship without her"

Just then you were glad that you had taken off the lab coat you had disguised yourself in when you were in the control room, that would have been a really bad look. Now you were just left in your black top, baggy cargo pants and combat boots, albet now soaked through with salt water.

Even so you felt as if Neteyam had put you under the spotlight when all heads turned in your direction. They seemingly scaned you up and down to see if what their brother and or friend told them was true.

Neteyam continued to speak once again but for your benefit this time. "Y/n, this is my brother Lo'ak-" when he gestured to him you realised you had been right in your previous assumption.

"My two younger sisters, Kiri and Tuk-" You now remebered their names from parts of the stories he was telling you when you were both in the control room of the spaceship.

"And our friends Ao'nung, Tsireya and Rotxo" he finished

He mentioned before that Ao'nung and Tsireya were the children of his new clans leaders Tonowari and Ronal, if you remebered correctly, you should probably be extra careful around them.

"It's nice to meet you all" you greeted as non-threateningly as you could, if that was even a thing

"So you really killed another human to save my brother?" Kiri asked

"Um, yes?" You answered a little caught off guard by the question

"Well i think that says enough" she replied seemingly appeased

"If both my older brother and spirit brother trust you than I will too" Lo'ak agreed

Before long they all seemed to have come to a decision to trust you for the time being after hearing what you had to say and what Neteyam had told them. But they didnt hesitate to make sure you knew that one toe out of line, one hair out of place and they wouldnt hesitate to treat you like a normal human.

Leaving from your standing position on Pakayans back, the others returned to their sea creatures which Neteyam told you they called an ilu. After they mounted them Neteyam took placement behind the Metkayina clan leaders son but not before he guided you over to sit behind the other teal skined boy. He had previously introduced him to you as Rotxo and you quickly noticed he seemed to have a keen facination with you being a human now that you were deemed non-threatening.

However, even so, soon it became apparent that, except for Rotxo, it was alot easier for the Sullys to accept you than the Metkayina kids, this was probably because they had grown up around humans and avatars according to Neteyam.

You wondered if Tommy had ended up being able to go to Pandora if he would have been one of the avatars they grew up around, but it was a useless thought. You had a gut feeling that Tommy was dead and your gut feelings were rarely wrong.

But now with you and Neteyam having come to an unsettling previous realisation another thing became more clear to you, another feeling. That feeling of relax you had felt when you had stared into that Tulkan, Pakayans, eye. How you somehow knew that he wasnt a threat to you, how you could understand the meaning in what his eye was portraying to you.

As well as the feelings that you had been having up till now that somewhat felt out of place. How you hadnt been afraid to go to a na'vi settlement, or how even if you thought Neteyams friends and siblings might lash out at you for being a human you still werent scared of them.

Your feelings that should have been there but werent and were replaced with something else, someone elses feelings. Goosebumps laced your body, you rubbed your arms in an attempt to alleviate them but to no avail.

A sound rang out in the distance as the others laughed and joked and made coverstaion all while making their way back to the place they called home.

The sound grew louder but no body else seemed to notice.

"Does no body else hear that?" You asked

Everybody now turned their attention to you, having been the first time you spoke since splitting from Pakayan and starting the journey home. They didnt speak a word only seemingly listening intently before looks were shared among them.

"I think you might be tired after everything that happened Y/n" Neteyam tried to reason

"No, listen" you urged

They did once again, but it was the same result as the first time, nothing came of it.

"You dont hear that...?" You asked breathlessly

"Hear what?" They questioned

"..."

If one stared for too long or too closely at you in that moment, even in the light of the setting sun, they might be able to make out the slight unnatural gold colour around the rims of your irises or the tips and roots of your hair that were not there before. Only if they did they never said so, perhaps that was because the next words that fell from your mouth were enough to strip all of the thoughts from their minds.

"What is it Y/n...?" Neteyam questioned, sounding worried

"The ocean...its crying."

☆☆☆

I told you guys that the last part would be a way less bad cliff hanger and that they would only get worse from here MUAHAHAHA 👹

If you guys havent voted on my recent pole (its important to me) pls do here

@thehoneymushroomhealer @corgicord @lovelyygirl8

[cherryaxiel]

Kiss Me (Sequel to 'Misunderstood')

Character: Chester Lake

Description: You and Chester go on your first date!

Rating: Mature - Strong language

Monday

7:00 am

Ever since THAT happened, I've been thinking about him for the past two weeks. Daydreaming and coming up with dumb scenarios. I can't help it. We've been texting, but haven't gone on a date because of our busy schedules. I'm trying to get ready for work, but he's still running through my mind. I'm imagining different scenes, waking up in bed with him, him making me breakfast, cuddling on the couch, watching movies together, late night dates- okay I need to focus. It’s Monday, and it’s going to be a long work day. I get dressed after a shower, eat breakfast, feed my cats, it’s my usual morning routine. I work at a thrift store which is just a few blocks from my house so it’s quite convenient. I’ve always loved clothes but I am someone who is big on sustainability, hence why I chose to work with preloved clothes specifically. 

While walking to work, my mind remains plagued with thoughts of him. I sent him a good morning text, wishing him a good day at work. I’m listening to music, allowing myself to seep into my desires. Once I arrived at work, I put down my headphones and prepared myself for the day.

3:00 pm

Oh my god, it was a disaster of a day. The only way I managed to go through it was thinking about him. I’m so fucking pathetic. Oh wow, a guy helped me go through the worst day of my life by invading my brain without even meaning to. Whatever, my shift is over, I’m going home. I packed my shit and left the store. I looked at my phone to see if there’s any messages from him, nothing, not a single message from him the entire day. I feel a certain sadness in my heart. I shrug it off and start walking home.

3:30 pm

When I reached home, I flopped on my couch, stretching all over as my body aches from the day’s labor. My cats came over to me, one loafing on my chest and another laying between my legs. I looked at my phone again, my eyes widened. A text notification from him. I sat up so quickly, shocking my cats. They jump up and about from the sudden movement. “Omg, I’m so sorry,” I blurt out to my cats, before unlocking my phone and pressing on the notification. 

‘I’m so sorry for not texting you the whole day, got held up with a case but no excuses. Let me make it up to you?’ The text from him reads.

I’m giggling and kicking my feet. I calm myself enough to reply, ‘It’s okay, I understand! How are you going to make it up to me?’

‘How about I take you out on a date? Dinner’s on me.’ Free food with a cute guy? Why not, right?

‘Sure! When?’ I replied.

‘Tonight, I’ll pick you up at your place, 6 pm, wear something cute ;)’ 

My cheeks are red, ‘Alright! Here’s my address :) Looking forward to tonight <3’ I managed to send out before turning my phone off and burrowing my face into the couch pillow. My heart’s beating fast. Oh my god, I need to figure out what to wear. 

4:00 pm

I’m stressing out, laying on the floor in defeat with piles of clothes scattered around me. I literally couldn’t find anything to wear. I decided to get back-up and called Selina. Thankfully she lives nearby, so she was able to get to my house quickly.

“OMG babe, did a hurricane come through this place?” Selina walks into my room, seeing the mess I made, and carefully making sure she isn’t stepping on my clothes.

“I don’t know what to do! I have nothing to wear!” I sat up on the ground with my face buried in my hands.

“Don’t worry, I got you.” Selina gets to work almost immediately. 

5:45 pm

Selina managed to get me cleared up and dressed, having enough time to clean up the mess I made earlier in my room. It’s 15 minutes before Chester arrives and I’m a nervous wreck. It’s my first date in a long time after all. Selina is comforting me by providing me positive affirmation and making jokes. 

15 minutes later, I could hear the sound of a car parking in front of my apartment building. It doesn’t take long before there’s a knock on my door. Selina does one last check of my appearance. I walk towards the door, prepping and hyping myself up. I took a deep breath and exhaled, opening the door to Chester holding a bouquet of flowers and a cheeky grin on his face. He’s wearing a black blazer, trousers, and shoes with a white dress shirt that has the first button unbuttoned. He looks me up and down. Oh my god, he’s checking me out. 

“Good evening, love.” He says in such a sensual voice that I feel like I’m about to fall to my knees but I stood firmly.

“Good evening, Chester,” I smiled with my cheeks all flushed, I tried very hard to hide my infatuation even though in my brain, I’m screaming.

“These are for you, flowers as beautiful as you,” he passes the flowers to me. I took the flowers and enveloped it into a slight hug while smelling it.

“Well, well, look who’s here,” Selina approaches from behind me and stands beside me, wrapping an arm around my shoulder, “Take care of my sibling, will you?” She plays it off as a joke, but there’s a hint of aggression in her voice to show she actually means it.

“Of course, I’ll take care of your precious gem.” He extends an arm out to me, prompting me to hold his hand, which I do. “Shall we?” He asks, I nod. As we walk out my door, I look back mouthing ‘Oh my god’ to Selina, who gives me an encouraging smile and two thumbs up.

As we approach his car, he opens the passenger seat door for me. I thanked him and sat inside with the bouquet of flowers in my hand. I’m nervously picking at my fingers as he gets into the driver’s seat, putting his seatbelt on after helping me with mine which was totally unnecessary but he did it anyway. I thanked him again. He gives me a smile before we drive off.

6:30 pm

We parked near the restaurant and it didn’t seem too crowded. Chester was able to get a reservation from this place since it was a Monday night. He opens the car door for me again and I get out of the car, leaving the flowers in the car and giving my thanks to him again. He closes the car door and locks his car before extending his arm towards me, wanting me to hold his arm closely. With me practically clinging onto him, we enter the restaurant.

Once we’re inside the restaurant and the waiter seats us at our table, we go over the menu. “Been here before?” Chester starts the conversation. 

“Nope, it’s my first time, what about you?”

“Same here, I heard good things about this place so I thought it was a good idea to experience it for the first time with you tonight.” His eyes were sparkling in the candle light and the way it made him look was making my heart flutter.

“Ah, I see.” I looked back down to the menu. I didn’t want to meet his gaze again, it was so captivating that I thought I was going to be pulled into him like being drowned by the thundering waves of the deep blue sea.

After a while, we ordered our food. I felt awkward in his presence. I’m not sure what it is about him but I’m anxious and I’m picking at my fingers again. He notices this, so he takes my hand in his, laying it gently on the table and caresses it. I let out a light gasp but all he does is give me a reassuring smile. For whatever reason, it comforts me. My heart slows. Maybe it’s also the calm atmosphere, or the jazz music playing in the restaurant, but I start to feel comfortable and my body relaxes. 

7:45 pm

We’re sitting for about an hour, talking about our backstories and lives. We eventually talk about our love life and how it has been. At this point, I’m sitting next to him, caressing his arm, and we’re looking deeply into each other’s eyes.

“How many dates have you been on?” I asked him.

“Too many to count, honestly.” He shrugs.

“Really? Can’t relate, it’s hard for me to find anyone I’m interested in.” I look down at his arm, drawing hearts on it with my finger.

“Oh? So, I’m interesting?” He jokes, making me lightly smack his arm.

“Were any of them bad?” I looked up, waiting patiently for his answer.

“This one time...” He recalls a story.

“Oh my god, that’s so bad.” I laugh at his story, appalled by it.

“Is my pain funny to you?” He laughs, which makes me laugh a bit harder. We tried to silence our laughter as we remembered we were in a restaurant and people were starting to stare at us.

“Hey, I'm craving ice cream. I noticed an ice cream place nearby, let’s leave and buy some. The desserts here don't sound too good.” He chuckles at my last comment and agrees. We left once he had paid for our meals.

8:15 pm

After getting ice cream, we decided to walk through a nearby park. The sky was so clear that we could see the stars and the moon. Other than the crickets chirping loudly, there was silence in the park. It was just us, and I found profound peace being next to Chester.

“Let’s sit here.” Chester gestures to a bench, holding my hand and lightly pulling me to it before I follow him. We sat down on the bench and finished off our ice cream. We looked up to stare at the starry night sky. The night was becoming colder, and I realized I was starting to shiver from it. I’m guessing he was feeling cold too because unconsciously, we got closer to each other. It was almost as though our bodies were seeking and moving towards each other for warmth. Chester notices that I was shivering, so he wraps his blazer around me, our faces closing into each other. So damn close. He looks at my eyes, then to my lips, and back to my eyes again. I did the same to him. His hand reaches to cup my face, holding me so gently. I sink into his hand, into his warmth. Before I knew it, he’s leaning in, we're both leaning in. Our lips meet, and my heart bursts like fireworks sparked on New Year's. Butterflies swarm my stomach. His other hand holds my waist, and my hands are on his chest. His lips are so soft, a juxtaposition from the rough hands on me. In each second, we deepen the kiss as if we're going to swallow each other whole. His hands move to my back to pull me closer, like he doesn't want me to leave his grasp, as I cup his face with both of my hands. After a few while, we pull away, breathless. All we could do was look into each other’s eyes as we catch our breath before we laughed at how flustered the other looked.

“Let's get you home, love.” He sees my tired eyes, and stands up, extending a hand to me once again. I nodded and held his hand. We walked back to his car, he opened the car door for me, I gave my thanks, and we drove back to my apartment.

9:00 pm

We arrived at my house. I tried leaving the car first with the bouquet of flowers but he told me to wait, wanting to open the car door himself.

“Aren't you tired of that?”

“Of course not, anything for my love. It's only the bare minimum.” I blush, giving him a peck on the cheek as a ‘Thank you’ after leaving the car. We walked up to the front door of my apartment.

“I had a wonderful time, we should do this again, Chester.”

“Me too, I hope to see you again. Have a good night, love.” 

I give him a kiss on the lips before bidding him farewell, making the both of us smiley and giddy. Chester leaves as I open my door with my house keys to see Selina on the couch with my cats, watching a movie. 

Once I closed and locked the door, placing the bouquet of flowers onto a nearby table, Selina urged me, “Oh my god, spill the deets!” Selina and I spent the night talking about the date with snacks and movies before passing out on the couch, with me still wearing his blazer.

[yourmomni]

Fix You 3

A/n: Hola so I'm sorry im late I was gardening this morning till 3 and took a nap that was more like a coma and forgot to turn in the post schedule. But since I messed up I'm going to be dropping part 4 tomorrow YAAAAAY. Anyways please enjoy @loveyouselfalways I hope you enjoy it

I threw my bag over my shoulder hurrying to the front to walk with the others out of the building and too our car.

We walked together waving and bowing to the cameras, smiling rushing to our vehicle. I huffed as I adjusted myself in the seat.

" Hey you okay." Jay was sitting beside me dropping his bag in front of his seat and slamming the door close.

" We haven't talked in a while. I just wanted to check on you." I bit the inside of my cheek feeling bad about ignoring everyone for the past week. " Yeah I'm sorry about that." He smiled. " it's okay we've just been worried about you with the tweets and all." Jay was always the one checking up on me when I was feeling bad about myself. He would make me food, listen to me rant or vent. He was always the one to comfort me.

Not saying the others didn't do their part. Heeseung would find ways to make me laugh, sunoo would distract me by talking about face care making me go shopping with him for new products. Sunghoon acted like he just wanted to go skating just to show off a skill but in reality he just wanted also get my mind off of things. Jungwon would make me sit in his room and watch movies, and Jake would have me help him build his new Lego set in the living room with a show playing in the background.

They all had their ways of making me feel better, they all cared.

We made it back to our company and immediately started changing for our interview. The theme was black so I was dressed in a black dress and a ribbon pulling back two curly strands of hair in the front of my head to Meet in the back. I had a Tiffany necklace on my neck with a matching bracelet.

They set us up in chairs. I was in the front sandwiched between sunoo and sunghoon.

The interview started like any other one. We talked about our new album and a couple of behind the scenes things. It was going well until we started answer these stupid questions that were in a bowl that our fans wanted to know.

" Okay this one says who is the cleanest member." Jay read out loud. I raised my hand. " Oh most definitely me yesterday I went into Jake's room and I swear I saw his clothes in his basket move like it was alive." They started laughing and Jake whined that it was just my imagination. Then I picked a question to myself then out loud. " ohhhh who has the most chemistry?"

Every ohhed " I would have to say Niki and y/n, they get along well maybe because of their ages but their always together and practicing together and they complement each other well." Sunghoon said and everyone began to agree with him. I turned around to look at niki and he was looking at me.

Was he blushing, he smiled at me and I quickly turned around facing the front biting the inside of my cheek Keeping from smiling too hard.

I passed the bowl to Niki and he happily took it spinning his hand in the bowl. " Okay it says……." His smile faltered and his eyebrows frowned a little. " What I don't understand this." Jay leaned over his shoulder reading the question. He scoffed, taking it out of his hand and ripping it in half.

" i don't know who thought that was funny to put in the bowl but it's really unprofessional." Niki and Jay got up and walked behind the camera. We all looked at eachother confused about what was happening.

Jungwon got up taking his mic pack off walking to Jay to figure out what was happening. I turned around and the question was sitting in Jay's seat.

I picked it up reading it

" Who's the strongest member, show by trying to pick up Y/n who is the heaviest."

Sung Hoon snatched the question from me reading it over and over again. The others were reading it over his shoulder. You could hear Niki yelling at the producer behind the camera and Jay was backing him up.

Niki was fuming, his nose was flaring and his knuckles were white from how hard he was clenching his hands into fist. " So you're telling me you read all of those questions and you thought that one was okay to put in there?" The producer rolled his eyes. " it's not that big of a deal it's just a question."

" so it won't be that big of a deal if I punch you in the fucking face " Jay and jungwon grabbed Niki before he could swing his fist.

Everyone rushed towards him trying to calm the situation." I'm going straight to the media, after I tell them about a young kpop star threatening an Elle employ you group will never see another Prada runway Ever again" Jay laughed.

" Is that a threat?" The man glared up at Jay walking towards him. " Try me."Jay's face darkened " If I see so much as a rumor about this situation in the news I will sue you for everything you have with not even an ounce of mercy, after I'm done with you I'm going to sue your company for exploitation of a minor. I will take everything you own. I will rip your company to shreds. You will never work for another company in Korea for as long as I'm alive. I'll make sure of that. Now that's a promise."

The producer was toe to toe with Jay. " I think it's time for you to go." Jake said standing behind his member. The producer mumbled under his breath as he and his crew packed up their cameras and stuff.

" woah Jay the CEO in you came out that was pretty cool." Sunghoon punched his shoulder. Niki started looking around the room. The camera Crew cleared out swiftly. But he was more worried about one thing.

You

And you were gone.

[an-aura-about-you]

ok gang who's ready for the story of the bullshit I've been dealing with today?

so the day is already off to a promising start because I have to take my cat to the vet for his 3 times a week fluids treatment, so we're sequestered in my bedroom and he's waking me up because he has to mess with my stuff and can't just leave the room.

but eventually he chills out and we both go back to sleep.

I wake up and see I have a couple of missed calls. one's a voicemail from the body shop.

rewind for a bit: I had a car accident back on the 4th of July. I didn't mention it here because it was basically a fender bender, no one was hurt, and I didn't have to pay for anything since the other guy was considered at fault. but part of my car got crunched pretty good, so it went to the body shop for repairs and that's where it's been for the past two weeks.

anyway, my car is ready, so it's time to return the rental and get my car back. after taking the cat to the vet, which thankfully was without incident on my end but took some time because of an emergency they had.

I go to the rental place and return the car, and they try to stick me with the extra costs even though my claims adjuster said it should be free of charge to me. the extra costs being they were unable to provide a car in the covered size, so according to their contract with the insurance company the upgrade should be free to me. and I don't want to be a Karen about this but I also don't want to get the runaround from two groups telling me two different things. it also makes me wonder who the heck my claims adjuster talked to since she said she would give them a call. because really, it is neither my fault nor the insurance company's fault that they didn't have a small car available for my reservation. hell, maybe it isn't the rental place's fault either since they say they're returns based, but looking at the cars they had at their lot, I have to wonder if they DID have any small cars at all.

in any case, they charged it to the insurance company minus the fuel I agreed to cover (since I chose the option to bring it back on an empty tank instead of trying to match what fuel I had when they loaned me the car.) and they give me a ride to the body shop.

I get there, my car looks great, I go in to get my key and sign off on the paperwork.

and then my car won't start.

I go back inside like ??? and they go, "yeah we've had to jump your car a number of times while working on it." which, they didn't tell me that before?? and Dad and Razzz jumped on this being suspicious, but we'll get to that.

the guy jumps my car, I drive it over to the nearby AutoZone, and the car dies just as I'm pulling into the spot. I think, "well, if it is the battery, I couldn't have asked for a better spot for it to die."

I go in, I tell the dude what's up, and we jump my car again to get a read on the battery. things look bad but inconclusive, so he recommended I take it to another place to see if it is just the battery or if something else is going on. and I can't get it out of the parking lot.

fine. ok. I knew one day I'd have to cowboy up and handle things, so I pull up my insurance app and request roadside assistance for a tow. I don't have roadside included in my plan because this is the first time in the 7 years I've owned my car that I've needed roadside assistance, so I figure paying it out of pocket this one time balances out. they say it's going to be possibly 2 hours for them to get here, and I have to be at work in an hour at this point, so I make arrangements to have the car towed without me there.

fortunately the guy at AutoZone was happy to help, but that led to an interesting interaction. he saw the stickers on my car, including an Arkansas sticker in the colors of the Progressive Pride flag. and he asked if I knew a friend of his who was trans. we had a nice talk about it, but in my brain I was like, "??? We Don't All Know Each Other!" don't get me wrong, I would love to meet his friend! but we don't have like a meetup place or a psychic link.

THEN I call Dad to see if he can give me a ride. he can't, and that really should be the end of the conversation. but no, dads gotta dad, so he asks for more details about my car trouble and tells me it's super sus that I get the car back from the body shop and suddenly it's having this trouble. and it's like he's not wrong but he is not solving any problems by talking to me about them over the phone at that moment. he was also like, "the car didn't give you any trouble like this on your vacation," and I was like, "because I had the rental on vacation and haven't had my car for two weeks!" I eventually had to be like, "I'm handling it but right now if you can't give me a ride I REALLY need to get on the phone with someone who can!" that fortunately did the trick, and I jumped onto Uber.

I managed to get an Uber just in time for work, and the driver was weird about me slamming her doors?? I didn't think I was but she seemed to think I was slamming them. I wasn't even thinking really, just wanted to shut the door firmly because I don't want the door just hanging open. but that's whatever and I managed to remember to not "slam" the door when I left.

also, while in the Uber, I got a call from the tow truck saying he was almost there. I updated him on the situation including the guy at AutoZone who I left my key with. and turns out tow truck guy and AutoZone guy are friends who used to work together! that at least was a happy coincidence.

somehow I made it to work on time, then I was on the phone for like an hour talking to various people about the situation and where the car got towed to because it was brought to a different dealership (and actually the one I would have chosen had it been offered as a default on the app) and now that whole mess of it is sorted. as far as they can tell, it IS just the battery, but I asked them to make sure just in case anything else happens with the car. I will be a little sore if it IS just the battery because AutoZone could have resolved that problem without me paying for a tow, but I would rather be safe than sorry about my car.

anyway that's been my day so far. how are y'all?

[zarvasace]

Vidow Animatic Thoughts (pt 2)

(continued) Still long, so under cut.

part 1 // part 2 // part 3

Chorus 2

Last part mentioned the tears, so I won't go over that again (other than the fact that I like how they move! I think that turned out well.)

We also see Shadow as a whole figure again here, perhaps indicating that Vio's reality is collapsing, that he's entered a sort of dreamlike state. He gets up from kneeling (I like how that flow ended up, by the way) and stands there for a second.

We've been right there with Vio this whole time, but now we face some uncertainty as to what his next move will be: continue to brood and try to move forward (or in the past, he is still facing left...), or do something about it? Is "doing something about it" even a good idea?

We see Shadow again, and this time when he touches real!Vio, Vio touches him back to hold his hand. The white circle is meant to show the moment Vio decides. Vio also smiles for the first time, and we see him from the front, facing right nor left.

And then he stands dramatically with what might be magic or just representations of his emotions coming into play. Really, this shot is just meant to say that hey, Vio's decided something, and he seems happy about it. He's confident in his next step.

The final time we see his face until the end, and it's a liiiiittle ominous. What he's decided may not be good. That's the next narrative question. There's also more white here, showing that change and that he's still really sad despite his manic smile. We don't know his mental state anymore.

Interlude

I love this part. I love that the music picks up a little. These shots are also fun environment shots. Things are really getting more detailed in my art now, which wasn't really intentional but serves to amp up the intensity a bit, I think. We see several items that come into play later: candles, herbs, a dagger, a book, most with little flashes of white. I think this is probably the prettiest sequence in the whole thing.

It's not clear if the candles and herbs are in Vio's room or not, but the book definitely is. That's the post of his bed. He's been studying this, but hasn't actually done it for some unknown reason.

Vio's intentions are pretty obvious at this point to people familiar with fandom interpretation, but it hasn't been outright stated, so it's still a little unclear. I could be trying to fake you out again, who knows? There's still uncertainty as to what he's doing, and definitely uncertainty as to if it's even a good idea. Things are ominous and dark right now. Vio does not look like he's doing well, and a mentally unwell Vio is not uh. Not good.

People familiar with canon and fanon may be even more concerned, because some of you have seen the directions this has gone before: Vio exchanging his life or well-being for Shadow's, Vio burning things down, Vio becoming a villain in his own right... lots of possibilities. We aren't sure exactly what'll happen, even if we might have a good idea (and a hope.)

The music picks up again, and we get some repeated shots, intensity heightened. Vio is walking again, but not for as long. He's in front of the (not bright) window again (with smoke clinging to him.) Notably, he's facing right, this time. He's leaving his room and going elsewhere. He's leaving safety and entering the unknown.

The key sort of parallels him opening his bedroom door earlier but also signifies that he's going somewhere private. The bag falling to the floor means that he's arrived, and is a callback to the bow and quiver falling to the floor early in the video. He's ready.

Bridge

And then the guitar solo picks up!! When I came up with this part, on song listen like five in the car, I laughed out loud because it was glorious. I hope I captured some of that drama here. I'm not perfectly satisfied with the timing of the "drawing the circle" part, I think it went too quickly, but by then I'd already synced up the candles to the music, and I didn't want to take the time to mess with it. You can really tell that I started getting fancier in here, almost every individual frame in this part is edited somehow.

The words in the magic circle are Latin: "obumbratio die bris" means "shadows die twice," which is apparently the name of a video game? I dunno, I just saw it as a suggestion on Google Translate and ran with it, it sounds appropriately fancy. There is also "reduces eum" which is Google Translate Latin for "bring him back." Which gives it away, if you can read Latin that fast. XD

The magic circle is white, and some of the last white period, potentially signifying that the magic circle is the cumulative product of everything trying to get Vio to change, to notice something different, to move on. (I don't think this is moving on, exactly, but it is him taking action to change his circumstances.)

The candle flames are black, mostly for contrast, but also because this whole thing is "lit" by Shadow. He's everything here, not physically but definitely spiritually. Also I really like the way the candles and flames appear on cue with the music. :)

And here we get some payoff with the interlude stuff earlier: there's the book, a candle, some of the herbs and jars we saw. It's just various magic stuff. The book has a visible S and R, though the rest of the title is obscured. It might say "shadow revival" or "shadow resurrection" or "shadow recall" or something like that.

I like the way that plant burns, it looks cool. And all the stuff falling into the bowl took forever, that's probably the most complex sequence of the entire video. But the flowing liquids and shaking powder certainly look quite good! It's very clear now that Vio is doing something complicated and magical, and maybe dangerous (black-burning candles might be some kind of dark magic, right?) The more complicated magic is, the more risk it poses, or maybe the more problems can arise. It's not clear exactly, yet, what this is meant to do, but it's implied. And we still don't know if it's a good thing or not.

At least Vio is determined, and no longer constantly distracted.

I don't really like the way that mortar and pestle bit moves, but I also didn't know how to do it better without rearranging everything, so I decided to just leave it. Gets the point across: he mixed the stuff.

And here's the dagger back, too! At least it's just his hand. (: (also if you haven't noticed, Vio is consistently left-handed! I use my own hands for reference so I did have to flip a couple drawings. oops.) He closes his fingers around the blade, but I faded that out pretty quickly so the viewer knew that I wouldn't show the actual wound. Also I think these hands look pretty good.

The first (and one of only two) appearance of red! It's blood! Dramatic! If you didn't know this was potentially dangerous to begin with, now you do! Blood is involved! Oh no! I made sure to leave the blood until the last shot before the lyrics started up again, since it's the most ominous thing so far, and that red has Consequences.

(continued in part 3!)

[whovianwatchingstartrek]

A Whovian Watches Star Trek for the First Time: Part 062 - TIME TRAVEL!

Star Trek: Enterprise - Season 3 Episode 11 - Carpenter Street

The episode opens in some grimy alleyway, presumably the Carpenter Street in the title, and this definitely isn't the 2150's. But for some reason, A Xindi Reptilian is contacting a human in this time. Time Travel Episode!

The Xindi have asked this guy to make some sort of drug, or chemical, and now we're watching him drug prostitutes to get test subjects, and he actually has a pretty big lab.

Almost 10 minutes into the episode, we jump back to Enterprise, and Daniels shows up in the Kitchen. It's been a while since we've seen him. Daniels lets Archer know about what's happening in 2004, and gives him the means to go back to stop them. Specifically, Archer and T'Pol go back.

Watching T'Pol and Archer utterly failing to find a suitable car to steal was adorable, and honestly I could watch a whole season of these two bumbling around 2004. Either way, they find where the dude's lab, and unfortunately for them, the dude shows up with another subject just as they arrived.

Apparently, a man in the shadows is also helping the dude, working his payments. At first, I thought this was maybe a scheme by Shadowy-Villain guy from seasons 1 and 2, but then I remembered he can't actually interact with the past, and then just turns out not to be him, it's a regular Xindi.

Archer follows the dude back to his apartment, and a chase ensues, but it's quickly dealt with, and an interrogation occurs, and it ends up with Archer offering himself up as one of the victims, in order to get into the factory. Turns out, the Factory is trying to develop the Xindi Bioweapon.

Archer manages to recover the weapon and all the Xindi tech in 2004, and hands over the bioweapon to Phlox to study.

I enjoyed this one, the whole time travel spy plot was really fun, and I was enjoying trying to figure out the Xindi plot the whole time, and it had a few cute moments, like the burger scene, or the car theft I mentioned earlier. The action in this one wasn't great, but plot held my attention well enough. The episode also does fall into trap of being way too visually dark, but 21st century earth was fun place to put an episode.

[little-corritrice]

| The Mafia | ~ Part 3 ~

Genre: Mafia Au, Fanfiction

Pairing: N/A

Rating: Semi-Angst, Fluff

Warnings: Gas Poisoning

Synopsis ~ y/n was just living her life, but when she ran into troubles of her past, she found herself being auctioned off to a mafia named Ateez. Within her time, she soon finds another whom she knows...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There was a sudden loud bang, making me jolt awake from the floor. I looked around, and saw nothing was wrong with my room. I heard a commotion outside, making me go to see what was wrong. I walked down the hall quietly, leaning against the wall. "I don't know why you guys kept her here! She's useless to us! I bet she's still crying like a little bitch up in the room!" Wooyoung yelled, and I heard an aggravated sigh. "She is under our protection now! She has a fucking huge amount on her head because of her bastard of a father! Feel a little sympathy for the girl!" Hongjoong exclaimed, obviously frustrated with the conversation. "So why don't we just kill her? We've killed a bunch of people, so what's one more? Wooyoung yelled, and Hongjoong and him kept arguing as I stood around the corner.

I didn't want to hear anymore so I ran up to the room, and started collecting all of my belongings. I grabbed my backpack, opening the window. I was on the second story, but there was a tree branch that extended over to my window. As soon as my feet hit the floor, I was running out the main gate, trying to figure out which way I was going. I saw a car coming, and decided walk the way it came from. After a couple hours, I finally made it to my town, crying out in relief. I started jogging to my house, and when I reached there, I was shocked. My front door had been kicked open, and some of my windows were broken. I slowly walked in, seeing everything turned upside down. I walked to my room, and there was a note on my bed.

- y/n, We know where you are hiding. You can't run from us, and we will have your head. You got 24 hours before we come after you. Remember, you can't hide forever... - XXX

I shook slightly as I read over the note, dropping it on the bed. I didn't need much time to think before I turned around to start packing. When I did, I saw Yunho standing behind me, and I fell back, shaking more now. "Hey, hey. I'm not going to hurt you. We need to get back to the mansion before someone knows you're here." He said, holding his hand out. I debated my options and chose to go with him because it was probably safer. Right as I was about to grab his hand, a bunch of spotlights were shown in the house, and I was blinded. "Yunho?" I whispered, and felt him grab my hand. "Just stay quiet. And whatever you do, don't let go." He said, and we crawled on the floor to the bathroom, shutting and locking the door. "What are we supposed to do?" I whispered, and he looked for an escape. "The window" He said.

I watched as he climbed on the sink, slowly opening the window. "I want you to go out and just run into the woods, okay? Follow the trail." He said, and I shook my head. "What about you?" I whispered, and he smiled. "I'll be right behind you, okay? Just go. Now!" He whispered, and I climbed out the window. As soon as I landed, I started running towards the woods, finding red circles of spray paint on the trees. I followed it until I was in a clearing, and the rest of Ateez was standing by. I collapsed to my knees from exhaustion, and everyone ran over. "Hey-...an y-...ar me-...y/n-..." Everything was cutting in and out, and I didn't know why. "y/n!" I heard Yunho yell, and he ran over to me, dropping to his knees beside me. "Sta-...th-...me...Ke-...yo-...eyes-...en..." Was the last thing I heard before I let the darkness engulf me entirely.

~ ~ ~

I slowly tossed and turned, feeling a cool cloth on my forehead, making me groan. "Try not to move too much. Your body needs to heal." I heard, and looked up to see Yeosang. "W-what happened?" I whispered, and Yeosang sighed. "You ran away from us, and another gang set up a trap at your house. You were poisoned with gas. Your lucky you got out of there in time." He said, and I nodded. I swung my legs off the bed, going to stand up. "Wait, wait, wait!" Yeosang called, coming around the bed to hold me up. "Where are you going?"' He said, trying to get me to sit, but I was already walking to the door. "To the kitchen." I said, and he made a noise of protest. "No, no. You have to rest." He exclaimed, but I groaned. "Please?" I asked, and after looking in thought for a little, he sighed. "Fine, but then your coming straight back to bed." He said, and I nodded. He helped me down the stairs, and into the dining room.

There was only one other person in here, and it was San. "I'll be right back." Yeosang said, leaving before I could protest. As the door shut behind him, San came over, and I flinched away. "Hey, I won't hurt you. My name is San. You must be y/n. You got a pretty good swing on you." He said, and I stared at the table. "I-I'm sorry. I w-was just p-panicked-" I started, but San chuckled. "It's all good. I understand completely. You were scared, and I shouldn't have approached you like I did. Though, I did hear how Wooyoung has been treating you." He said, and I turned away at the sound of Wooyoung's name. "He just needs to warm up to you. He's very protective of his family, and doesn't trust newcomers easily." He said, and I nodded. "It was a pleasure meeting you. If you need anything, you know to call any of us. I guess I'll see you around, y/n." He said, giving me a big smile before he walked out of the room.

[lifblogs]

Enjoy the first 7 pages of Lien Lost. Not in correct format because, you know, tumblr.

FADE IN:

INT. HOUSE/LIVING ROOM - NIGHT

CHRYSSE, a 28 year old white woman, is herding her two children, JET, 7, and LEXI, 3, onto a light gray couch. Lights outside show in through the blinds. A car drives by. The flat screen TV across the room is on, a news reporter is talking.

CLOSE ANGLE - TV

NEWS REPORTER

(on television)

...and now, to the events on Mars. We've been closely following this mission, and we have some troubling...

CHRYSSE

settling an excitable Jet and Lexi on the couch.

JET

And then, and then! The spaceship blew up!

LEXI

Boom! Boom! Boom!

CHRYSSE

Shh, we have to listen. This might be about Auntie Lien.

LEXI

Who's... Auuunie Leen?

CHRYSSE

(somehow patient)

She's my twin sister, sweetie.

Jet is now jumping up and down on the couch, and Chrysse is grabbing for him.

JET

I have a sister!

Lexi is clapping in acknowledgement.

The TV

showing recent footage from Mars on the screen behind the reporter. He is watching it, there are jumbled words said that we can't make out because of Chrysse's children.

Zoom in on white and silver hab stations and a ship. They have been blown to pieces, debris strewn out for miles.

CHRYSSE

she has managed to settle down Jet and Lexi. Lexi is in her lap, playing with the rings on Chrysse's fingers.

CLOSE ANGLE - TV

NEWS REPORTER

...we regretfully have to say that the mission to create safe habitats to sustain human life is over.

ON CHRYSSE

stricken

CLOSE ANGLE - TV

NEWS REPORTER

I'm sorry, folks. This one ended in a disaster. NASA will be reaching out to the families of the deceased, and...

(sigh)

...making arrangements to memorialize them. Again, I repeat, the deceased are as follows: Wyn Smith, Winona Avison, Gori Zova...

CHRYSSE

No, no, no...

NEWS REPORTER

...Lien Jane...

ON CHRYSSE

sound of the TV fades out. Her eyes are very big, and a small shudder takes over her entire body. Her eyes tear up, and then tears are rolling down her cheeks, dripping off her face.

Lexi is still playing with the rings on Chrysse's fingers, and Jet is now kicking his feet and watching his mom. He knows something is wrong, but doesn't understand what.

Suddenly, Chrysse puts Lexi down, and Lexi lets out a sharp exclamation.

JET

Mommy, what's happening?

CHRYSSE

she leaves the room, heading out to a kitchen with a coat rack near the front door. She grabs a coat, her keys.

CHRYSSE

I have to go.

JET

Mom!

CHRYSSE

(trying to hold in sobs)

I'm sorry, I have to go. I have to go, I have to get out of here. I'm sorry.

Chrysse walks out the door, leaving her two confused--and now distressed--children all alone...

EXT. PORCH - NIGHT

Chrysse heads to the street where a blue Honda Accord is parked.

She gets in.

INT. CAR - NIGHT

With fumbling hands Chrysse presses a button that starts the car, a light on her keys flashing. The engine revs, and she drives out into the night, reckless.

Passing street lights and headlights illuminate her face. Her lips are pinched together. She worries that if she opens her mouth she'll start screaming; we see it in the set of her jaw.

CHRYSSE'S P.O.V. - THE ROAD

It flashes past her, and everything begins to blur, her eyes welling up with tears.

Lights ahead.

Are they in her lane or the other lane? Is that a truck?

Loud honking has her swerving.

EXT. CAR - NIGHT

Chrysse's Honda Accord swerves up onto a sidewalk and part of someone's lawn, missing getting hit by the truck. Car stops.

INT. CAR - NIGHT

Chrysse starts banging her hands on the steering wheel, and she's screaming, tears pouring down her face. Any words she tries to get out are incomprehensible.

Eventually she hunches over, forehead against the wheel, hair a limp mess around her face. She sobs.

EXT. MARS/DESTROYED HAB STATION - NIGHT

A bloodied figure in a ruined space suit stands up.

EXT. CHRYSSE'S HOUSE - DAY

SUPERIMPOSE: "Five Months Later"

Through the windows we can see Jet helping Lexi into her seat at the kitchen table. Chrysse is at the stove, making breakfast.

INT. CHRYSSE'S HOUSE/KITCHEN - DAY

Sizzling fills the air as we see eggs and bacon cooking in some pans. Toast pops out of the toaster, and Chrysse is trying to juggle everything.

Her phone is on the counter.

It buzzes. An alert.

Distracted, Chrysse goes over to it to check the alert/message. She picks it up.

CLOSE ANGLE - PHONE

"Lien" followed by three blue heart emojis.

"Hey, Chrissy Lissy."

BACK TO

Chrysse drops the phone on the counter.

Another buzz. Another message.

CLOSE ANGLE - PHONE

"We need to talk."

BACK TO

Chrysse flips her phone over, and continues making breakfast for her kids. She puts the bacon and eggs on three plates that are set out, grabs the toast and butters it, and then pours three glasses of orange juice.

She looks at her empty coffee mug, and then at the coffee maker. There isn't any coffee in it. Chrysse groans, subconsciously determined to focus on this problem because the messages don't make sense.

She sets about getting herself coffee.

JET

Mommy, what are you going to do today?

CHRYSSE

(weak, faltering)

I have to go to work, sweetie.

Lexi blows a raspberry at this, and Jet laughs, some snot coming out of his nose.

Chrysse, with her motherly instincts, goes over with a napkin to clean his face, and he is trying to dodge. Chrysse lets out a bit of a laugh at their antics--or is it a sob?

Coffee maker lets out a strange grinding noise. It's broken.

Chrysse tries to see what's wrong, as...

LEXI

(pounding the table with her silverware)

No work! No work!

She gives up, and sits at the table with her children. She stares into her empty coffee mug. She seems tired, lifeless, while her children are so full of energy.

Focus in on Chrysse's phone, the family is blurred out, but we can see her stillness punctuated by the children's activity. Sound is muted. We hear a fast heartbeat.

Scenes comes into focus again.

CHRYSSE

You know, maybe I'll take the day off today.

EXT. SCHOOL - DAY

The schoolyard is teeming with children from ages 5 to 10, and cars and buses are lined up outside. Parents kiss their children goodbye.

Chrysse helps Jet put his backpack on, and gives him a light nudge towards the school. He turns back for a kiss on the cheek, and then he waves to a boy who has paused in entering the school to wait for him.

Lexi is in the car, waving through the window.

INT. CAR - DAY

Lexi fiddles with a hard-paged children's book while sitting in her booster seat, and Chrysse is driving somewhat recklessly, shaking. We see the phone, still flipped over.

Another buzz.

Chrysse jumps.

The message goes through to her car.

Screen lights up.

CLOSE ANGLE - SCREEN

"Aaron"

"Want 2 grab dinner 2night? There's that new Thai place on Bobbins I've been DYING to check out."

BACK TO

Chrysse lets out a forced breath at seeing it's not from Lien.

She presses the screen, getting rid of the message.

EXT. DAYCARE/FRONT ENTRANCE - DAY

Chrysse kisses Lexi goodbye, eyes not totally focused on her, and Lexi grabs the hand of a young DAYCARE WORKER to be led inside.

LEXI

Buh-bye, Mommy!

DAYCARE WORKER

Bye, Ms. Jane, hope you have a nice day.

CHRYSSE

(distracted)

Yeah.

She gets back into the car.

EXT. FOLLOWING THE CAR - DAY

Chrysse drives.

EXT. CHRYSSE'S HOUSE/PORCH - DAY

Chrysse sits down on the porch steps, blowing out a breath, and holds her phone.

CLOSE ANGLE - PHONE

"Lien" followed by three blue heart emojis.

"Hey, Chrissy Lissy."

"We need to talk."

BACK TO

Chrysse, typing.

SUPERIMPOSE: "Who are you?"

[globalspaceandrocketgroup]

SOUTHERN PULUNADU - August 28th, 2055 - Chapter 0 Pt. 1

HEY MILSTOV!

GOOD TO HEAR THE SKY IS CLEAR OVER THERE. WE ARE UNDERWAY WITH WORKING THROUGH HOW TO ACCOMPLISH HENAD 4'S BIG LIST OF OBJECTIVES, ACTUALLY. QUITE A SHOW WE'VE HAD WITH GRISGIA IN THE LAST STAGES OF THEIR ASSIGNMENT TRAINING - I'M JUST READY TO GET MY DESK BACK! NO WORRIES, THOUGH, I LIKE MY SITUATION IN MY TEMPORARY BLOCK, NICE FRONT SEAT VIEW OF THE GOING-ONS WITH OUR BOYS WEARING THE FANCY TIES. AS YOU'VE SAID, LOOKS LIKE MAKS IS REALLY PREPARING FOR SOME BIG THINGS. STILL JUST HOPING HE DOESN'T BRING US IN WAY OVER OUR HEADS, HA HA. WRITE BACK AFTER THAT ASSEMBLY AND TELL ME HOW IT GOES, WE'LL SEE EACH OTHER AT MUOINE'S ON THE 17TH ANYWAYS.

HOPE YOUR WEEK IS GOING FINE,

LEOPOS

I blink at the end of the letter. Good to hear Leopos still has more going for him than I.

Glancing around the crumbling concrete walls that remind me of where I am. Pulunadu. Never thought I'd be living and working here even just a few years ago.

Since then, though, I started my job with the GSRG. Not the most lucrative career path, but I had some connections and I'm excited to see where this place goes. When I applied, it was to work in Pulunadu for a few months before being transferred to the Kanitan division they were planning to move forward with. Since then, though, things with the war there complicated any groundwork they had done.

My work is with the communications side of things, designing antennas, figuring out how we're going to speak with folks orbiting Ulina roughly 200 kilometers above our heads. Except, for one reason or another, I've been assigned to work on some collaborative endeavors with the Pulari government, which basically involves me sitting in a derelict old monitoring station for the massive bundle of wires and metal that is the huge radar towering over our building. It can't be less than 70 years old and is surely just as obsolete, but hey, this is Pulunadu.

Really, I think I could get along just fine working over here IF I had any idea of what I'm meant to be doing. See, I don't speak a lick of Pulari, and nobody here does with Rutherish either. Which makes the entire process of putting me in this position pointless. After desperately trying to figure out some way to communicate and failing, I've taken to sweeping a broom around, and nobody has cared enough to stop me yet. The thing is, though, I am bored halfway to death like this. Earlier this week, I figured I could take some initiative and pull out my Pulari translation dictionary, and start doing my own research.

So, in the interest of actually getting some work done here, I just so happened to acquire some rolls of microfilm from behind a busted cabinet lock. Against my better judgment and my strict work policies, I have found myself the past few days spending hours scouring through these archival pieces.

For how terrible it would be for me if anyone reported my activities, there is not a single thing of note in any of the slides I go through. No scandalous giant secrets being held away from the public view, just charts of frequencies and hour-by-hour reports that make me feel sorry for whoever had to write them up. So, I silence the electric hum of the giant microfilm reader and let my eyes recover from its now dead glow.

At the end of the day, I walk back out to my car feeling no more content than when I started the day. Fail ass job....

HENAD 3 MISSION SUCCESS - A follow-up repeat suborbital flight earlier this month has proved the GSRG's first crewed flight program's ability to do what it needs to do. Every individual part was inspected heavily before flight and no notable failures were reported. A landing on solid ground made for a simple recovery.

Henad 4 is expected to launch sometime later this year after the GSRG shifts momentary focus towards its small-lift launch vehicle.

[m-talks-shit]

02/11/22

Today was a good day. Well, it was a pretty average day, but compared to how I've felt the past few days, it was good. After I woke up I immediately had to get ready to go shopping with my dad. My dad is... a complex person. He's not abusive or mean, but he's very emotionally unavailable and distant. He had an extremely horrific childhood so I can't blame him for the way he is. Sometimes when he gets drunk he tells me stories from when he was younger and I can't help but cry for him. He's so incredibly strong and I'm so proud of how well he has kept his sanity.

Despite my deep admiration for him, I hate being alone with him. There has never been a time where it hasn't been unbearably awkward. I'd consider myself an extroverted person, but due to my social anxiety I struggle to start and keep conversations, I need someone else to take the lead. My dad is an introvert, he never takes the lead. The tension that hangs in the air as we drive to the supermarket is so obvious. I want to break the silence and I can tell he does too but we just don't know how. When we went to the second shop he didn't even go in with me, he waited in the car. It's a bit of a shame because I would've liked him to see me speak Polish with perfect confidence. Fake confidence, but alas, confidence. You see my family is Polish but I was the only one born in England. I can speak, write and read Polish from talking to and texting my family but I never went to a Polish school so my pronunciation can be off sometimes and I tend to get nervous when I know I've said something wrong. My mum always points out when I make a mistake, I know she's trying to help but she doesn't understand how much of a failure that makes me feel like.

After we came home my dad and my brother went off to work so I was home alone. I sat playing the Sims and listening to music. I decided I would do an at-home workout too, considering I had just eaten a whole bag of crisps and watered it down with pepsi. It was painful as my body got used to my muscles actually working but at the end I felt great and powerful as hell.

After a while of sitting on my bed and staring at the wall blankly I thought about my sister and the fact that we had plans that she had to cancel. I decided to reach out to her and ask if I could stay over at her house for a few days, a change of pace might be good for me and encourage me to do more with myself. She immediately asked me if I was okay.

My relationship with my oldest sister is complicated. For context I have 3 siblings, my brother who is 2 years older than me, my sister who is 7 years older than me and then there's my half sister who is 12 years older than me. There's multiple reasons why I never really considered her my sister for the longest time. It wasn't that she was my half sister, I actually didn't even know that until I was about 13/14. I think the fact that there's a generational gap definitely affected how much I was able to relate to her. She always felt more like a mother to me, which is why I never really told her anything and we didn't hang out much. When we did it was awkward because I didn't really know what to talk about with her. I'm really glad that we've started to get closer recently. We hang out more, we talk more and she gives me incredible advice. Whilst I still look at her as a motherly figure, it's now less reflective of my relationship with my actual mother, but more so of the relationship I wish I had with my mother. I feel so comfortable and vulnerable whenever we talk. For some reason I can never have a conversation with her now without immediately wanting to cry, even if it's a perfectly normal conversation.

[jkbabiey]

🇵 🇷 🇴 🇲 🇮 🇸 🇪 [ 🇯 🇯 🇰 ]

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

Words: 3.7 K

Pairing: hitman!Jungkook x medstudent!reader

Warnings: slight jealousy; harassment; violence; guns; jungkook being a pussy :) and not surprising anyone; remembering past trauma; y'all pls pray for Y/N

Song Rec: Doin' Time by Lana Del Rey; Lola by Camila Cabello; Relapse by ENVYYOU; You Get Me So High by The Neighbourhood; Nothing breaks like a heart by Miley Cyrus; Watercolor Eyes by Lana Del Rey

"You look stunning baby," Jungkook's voice resounded in your ear as you felt him wrapping both his tattooed arms around your waist. Your eyes focused on his figure behind you as he analyzed your body in the big mirror in front of you.

You finished applying your red lipstick as your boyfriend ran the tip of his nose along the shaft of your neck and smelled the perfume he had gifted you on your birthday. "Where are you going?" he asked, now running his hands along the side of your body.

You felt confident tonight. Your skin looked soft and your acne was apparently taking a rest. The time spent at the gym with Jungkook was paying off. And you felt amazing. You had even reached out for the shortest, tightest black dress in your closet tonight and paired them with some black high-heeled sandals you had bought and never dared to debut. To top it all off you had been confident enough to make a sharp eyeliner - that, don't ask how, had come out perfectly - and applied a bright red lipstick. "What do I do with my hair?" you asked Jungkook, completely ignoring his previous question, which he noticed and chuckled about.

"Hum..." he thought, looking at your now wild long curls. "What about you just let it down? There's nothing prettier than your natural hair."

You smiled his way in genuine appreciation. Jungkook was the best at making you feel good about yourself. He was a flirt, after all. And he had good taste, so you decided to just follow his advice.

"I'm going to a bar with a few friends from uni. We've just finished a full week of exams and they decided to get rid of some stress."

"Hwasa and Seulgi?" he asked.

"Hwasa, Seulgi, Yugyeom, and Joon," you answered, already expecting the following questioning.

Jungkook had offered you a quiet night in, watching movies and cuddling, which you had refused because you had already decided to go out with your friends tonight. And that had slightly upset Jungkook. You didn't pay it no mind - you needed some fun from time to time!

"Joon? Who's that?" he questioned, as you expected, using a noticeable mocking tone, mimicking the nickname you had used to talk about your new friend, Namjoon. You stared at Jungkook through your reflection through the mirror as he took his hands away from your body, resting them on his own hips and slightly raising his chin.

"Stop that," you turned around, throwing your arms around Jungkook's neck and leaning your body to his. "He's a friend, met him a few weeks ago," you answered him, kissing his cheeks.

Suddenly the ringing of your phone took you out of your transe of kissing your boyfriend's face and you walked towards it, reading Hwasa's name on the screen. You picked it up and put it on speaker.

"Babe, we're outside. You ready?" she asked to which you hummed positively, while walking towards your small bag and throwing your house keys, wallet and lipstick inside.

"Who's the designated driver tonight?" you asked, chuckling as they immediately started arguing on the other side of the line, trying to figure out who it would be, until Namjoon interrupted the argument to claim that as the owner of the car, he'd take that responsibility. "Namjoon is!" Hwasa exclaimed.

"Thank God for that! I don't think anyone else would be able to stay away from alcohol tonight," you answered and heard the not-so-surprising agreement from everyone in the car.

"I'll be down in a second," you said and hung up the phone, just before walking towards Jungkook, who automatically placed his warm hands on your hips and pulled you closer, softly pecking your lips. "Hwasa doesn't call him Joon," he muttered against your lips, pettily and you rolled your eyes pulling away from him.

Jungkook had had the chance to meet your group of friends at least once, but not Namjoon, so his sudden burst of jealousy wasn't surprising anyone - especially coming from him, a naturally jealous man. You decided to ignore his jealous antics just for tonight.

"I'm staying home tonight. If Joon decides to get something to drink, give me a call," you chuckled and Jungkook quickly kissed your lips once again, before completely letting go of your body.

"Ok. I'm going now, babe. I love you."

"Love you."

Dirty Habit.

That was the name of the bar you and your friends had gone to and it was full to the brim. There were people in every crevice of the place. Sweaty bodies danced and humped against one another everywhere.

Namjoon had recommended this place to your group of friends. He had been here before and it showed, given the, at least, seven enthusiastic greetings he had exclaimed in the first five minutes you had been in here. You supposed, by the countless number of people that filled the space, this seemed like a very well-known and popular bar, which shocked you, to say the least, because none of your friends had ever heard of it.

Namjoon was new to the group, which used to consist only of Hwasa, Seulgi, and Yugyeom. The four of you had met in your first year of college and had been the closest since then. But when Hwasa showed up at your lunch table, in the cafeteria, with this sweet-looking guy with big cheeks and adorable dimples, you had no choice but to welcome him.

"Wow," you heard Seulgi mutter from your side and looked her way. And it only took one glance for her to know you felt the exact same she did.

Something about that bar seemed quite off. It felt out of the ordinary - the neon lights were brighter than they used to be in other bars, people looked sweatier than usual, more exhausted, and the music was also quite different, you even dared to say it sound quite psychedelic, in a way.

"Should we go get some drinks?" Hwasa, who stood between Yugyeom and Namjoon in that mess of people, asked, turning her head back to look at you and Seulgi, who were a little behind them with linked arms, so you wouldn't lose each other.

Seulgi was the one in your group of friends you were a bit closer to than with others, even though you were all extremely tight. You two were in the same class as you were both studying medicine. You understood each other better than anyone else.

"Yeah, I guess," Seulgi answered, apparently uneasy about the whole ambiance of the smokey space. "Isn't this kinda weird?" she asked you, whispering in your ear and you instantly nodded, feeling her grip on your arm tightening.

When you got to the bar, you sat down on one of the stools, next to your friends and waited for the bartender to come to you. "So, Y/N how's your boyfriend doing?" you heard Namjoon ask from beside you and looked at him with a confused look on your face. "It's Jeon Jungkook, right?"

"Yeah... Do you two know each other-"

"Oh, Y/N! What are you doing here?" you heard a cheerful voice interrupt you, quickly turning your head back to the bar, and smiled widely when you found out the fount of the voice was none other than Park Jimin, your sweetheart and Jungkook's best friend.

"Jimin! Do you work here?" you asked. The excitement to see him was clear in your voice. You hadn't seen Jimin for so long.

"Yeah! Wanted to party tonight?" he asked, a pretty smile on his face.

"Yeah, had to get rid of some stress from uni, I've been having a hard time with that," you answered and he reached over the bar board that separated the baristas from the ones that asked to drink and pinched your cheek, affectionately.

You genuinely liked Jimin. Ever since you had gone with him and Jungkook to get breakfast, he had conquested your sympathy. Even though he was rough around the edges, he had a good heart - reminded you of Jungkook. Jimin had had a rough past, from what he had told you, and the only job he could land with the pratice he had had before with the part times he had had during his teenage years was as a bartender. You didn't know that he worked in this bar, though.

"So, what can I get you all?" Jimin asked your group of friends, sparing everyone a glance and spending a little more than a second on Seulgi, who sat on the stool to your left.

"I'll get your number," you heard Seulgi speak from your side and widened your eyes, looking at her, utterly shocked by her unusual boldness. The whole group started oohing and Jimin's smile got wider - you could swear there was even a bit of shyness as he lowered his head and licked his lips.

"We'll see about that," he answered and then, looked back as you started saying your order.

"I'll get a Cosmopolitan," you said laughing at your friend who took a chance to wink at Jimin when he stole a last glance her way, making him laugh too.

After everyone had their drinks in their hands, you and the rest of the group walked towards the dance floor - but not before Seulgi wrote her number on a napkin and seducingly handed it to Jimin.

The music resonated through your body like it hadn't in a long time. Seulgi, Hwasa, Yugyeom, and Namjoon were nowhere to be seen, even though you all came to the dancefloor to dance together. You couldn't care less though.

Your hips swayed from side to side, as you danced with your eyes closed with a drink in your hand. The neon lights run through your skin and the alcohol through your veins. It wasn't the first drink Jimin had handed you, even though he would warn you to be careful on the dancefloor every time you went to the bar to ask him for a refill - needless to say, you dismissed his warnings every single time.

It had been a while since you felt so free of all worries. You didn't care about other people dancing around you. You didn't care about the guy that had approached you before, asking you to dance with him - which you kindly (and drunkenly) refused, saying 'my boyfriend Jungkook is picking me up later, you know??'. And if you weren't that drunk you would have probably noticed the fear in that guys' eyes when he heard your boyfriend's name.

A few minutes of dancing later, you felt two strong hands gripping your hips and joining the sway of your body. You didn't even realize it at first, but the grip got tighter when you rolled your hips along with the music playing and you turned around. You intended on telling this guy that you were very much taken, but as you turned around, you came across a pair of very dark eyes. They didn't make you feel good.

"Hey bro," Jungkook greeted lazily, munching on a handful of popcorn he had made to watch the new Spiderman movie.

He loved lazy days. The only thing missing was your cuddles, but he was still making it work. Sweet popcorn had always been his favorite.

"Hey, dude!" Jimin answered in a awkwardly panicked tone of voice.

"Are you really on your phone WHILE working? What a bad-"

"Listen, I wasn't going to tell you anything. Wanted to let your girl have her fun, but I really think it's better if I tell you because Yoongi just got here, so I thought I'd let you know Y/N's here too," Jimin talked quickly and with a certain fear to his voice. He knew about every single thing about your and Jungkook's relationships, even the darkest parts that not even you knew about.

"At the bar?" Jungkook asked, already up and getting dressed to go get you.

"Yeah. Sorry for not telling you sooner, but I just didn't want to ruin her night, she seemed to really need to have her fun. I didn't want to keep her from it, but Yoongi just got here..." Jimin explained and Jungkook mumbled an 'it's okay', just before hanging up on him and calling you.

Calling...

No answer.

"Do I know you?" you asked, taking the man's hands off your hips, to which he chuckled, quickly getting a hold of you again and tightening his grip on your hips so that you wouldn't be able to get rid of it again. "I have a boyfriend, let go of me, please?"

"You don't remember me?" he whispered in your ear, after approaching your face, and it all came rushing to you. Your eyes widened as the memories of that night flooded your brain.

It was all coming back.

You tried, helplessly, to get his hands off your hips and get out of that club, but he was stronger. Your panic was obvious, and you just wished that someone would get off that numb stage that everyone seemed to be in and help you, but no one seemed to notice your fear.

"You're gonna calm down and walk with me, down that little corridor, yeah?" He whispered again and you whimpered, trying to stay calm.

It was him. After a little more than a year, he was back. The man who had made sure you were traumatized for the rest of your life and about whom you still had nightmares, was now standing right next to you in a club full of people, who were absolutely unwilling to help you.

You started walking with him. "Please, let me go." you whimpered as he gripped your arm roughly. The man took you to an empty aisle with red neon lighting and pushed you against a wall. "Stop, please."

"What are you doing here?" he growled and you shrank away from his face, which was centimeters away from yours. "Talk!" he growled.

"I-I just ca-came to have f-fun with some friends," you whimpered and he laughed sarcastically.

"You really want me to believe that?" he mocked, gripping your face in his hand. "You came here, trying to find me, right? You fooled my brother into thinking you didn't remember a thing so you could get rid of him and now you're here looking for me, right?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," you cried and he furrowed his eyebrows in anger.

"Don't be a bitch and just fucking spit it out!" he growled again, grabbing your jaw and banging the back of your head against the wall behind you. "Or do you need me to make you?" he whispered and you felt something cold and hard pinching the bottom of your belly. It was a gun.

"I don't know! I don't know! Please, s-stop!" you screamed in panic and watched the unknown man smiling sadistically and pushing the gun harder against your body.

"Yoongi!" you heard a familiar voice and your eyes widened as more tears fell.

Jungkook.

"Let her go," he said, walking closer to you two, as the man, whose name was, supposedly, Yoongi, stepped away from you, with a grin on his lips and his armed hand raised.

"I didn't know you two were back together! Isn't my little brother the cutest? Trying to save his girlfriend..." Yoongi said, mockingly and your brows furrowed.

"What?"

Jungkook stayed still, looking at Yoongi as if looks could kill. "Did you know she was gonna come to look for me tonight?"

"I didn't."

"W-What are you talking about? What is this about!?" you asked, absolute panic written on your face. "You're his brother?!" you asked your boyfriend but Jungkook's face showed no sympathy towards you. It was like a completely different person was standing right there in front of you. That was not your boyfriend.

"Oh, poor girl..." Yoongi mocked and you felt the physical need to shrink against the wall behind you, trying to get away from the scary voice that had filled your nightmares for months on end. "She's clueless. If I knew how clueless you were, I wouldn't have approached you. But Kookie here had told me you two had broken up so I thought - well now this crazy bitch is seeking revenge!" he laughed and you closed your eyes, taking a deep breath. "Guess I was wrong," he was the next to sigh.

"Just let her go." you heard Jungkook's cold tone of voice, directing your gaze towards his and watching him lower his eyes as soon as your eyes crossed. "I'll deal with the rest."

"Oh no! I'll do that! You took the goods out of this pretty little thing. I want that too," Yoongi denied, stepping close to you once again, making you scrunch your face and turning it to the side. Jungkook would prefer if you had turned it to the side opposite of him, so he didn't have to see the pure fear, panic, and disgust present on it.

"Yoongi, step away," you heard Jungkook say ina low voice that could barely be heard - it was like he was scared of his brother. As Yoongi pressed his body against yours, you took your hands towards his chest to push him away. "Get off me!" you screamed, tears already streaming down your face. Yoongi was way too strong for you to be able to push him far away from your body.

You couldn't understand why Jungkook, your boyfriend, the only person who was allowed to touch you like this, wasn't doing anything. Why was he allowing Yoongi to touch you like this right in front of his eyes? Seeing how helpless you were. How disgusted you felt.

In Jungkook's mind, stepping in was showing his weakness - which was you. And he couldn't show it, especially not to his brother. But after about a minute of seeing his brother try to use you, he couldn't stand that anymore and stepped in, pushing Yoongi's body away from you, and standing tall in front of you, protecting you from his brother. "Don't fucking touch her!" he growled and you heard Yoongi chuckle ironically.

"Oh... What is that? Was this pretty girl able to capture my brother's heart? For real, Kook? You could do so much better than that!" he joked and you saw Jungkook's fists closing in anger. "Does she know? Did you tell her everything? Because before you two elope on your romance, she should know why you approached her, in the first place..."

"Shut up-"

"Y/N, before you fully commit to my brother, I just wanted you to know that the only reason why he approached you was to kill you," Yoongi clarified and your eyes widened. "Yeah, you know me now, right? Do you remember that eventful night? Yeah, I couldn't kill you then, so I had to ask someone else to, or I was sure you'd end up going to the police. This pretty guy right here volunteered to do it! Well, a few months in and he told us you seriously didn't remember a thing. So his only job throughout this whole relationship of yours was to guarantee you wouldn't say a thing. That's the only reason he stayed with you. And well, it had been working until now!! I just had to come up to you a ruin everything, didn't I? Damn it, Yoongi! I guess now you have to die!" Yoongi exclaimed in the most enthusiastic voice ever, as if that was the most exciting news ever. He reached over Jungkook's shoulder to see your teary eyes. "You didn't really think he was in love with you, right?" he asked, and laughed out loud, seeing the miserable look on your face. "Kook, take care of this. Make sure she doesn't leave this place alive. If something gets out, you pay the consequences. It's you or her."

And with that, he walked away. And you broke down.

You felt your body shaking uncontrollably and unconsciously sliding down the wall you were previously leaning against, as your legs lost their strength.

Jungkook turned around, his eyes full of the sympathy he was previously lacking. He crouched down in front of you and got ready to embrace your body. "Baby-"

"Don't fucking touch me!" you yelled in his face, as his eyes widened and he took a step back. "What the fuck was he talking about?"

"Y/N-"

"Was all of this a lie? Were you with me just to keep the business safe?-" you took a break as the tears started running down your face faster and your voice started wavering. "And god... D-Did you really just approached me to get me killed? What the fuck, Jungkook. How fucking twisted is that?"

"Well, I didn't! I didn't kill you! Because I fell for you-"

"And is that supposed to make me feel better?!" you screamed and swore to god that if no one in this club had heard you two screaming at each other, they must be really high. "Is this the business headquarters? Is this where everything takes place?"

"Yes," Jungkook mumbled, looking down at the floor in shame.

"Were you ever going to tell me your brother is the one who almost killed me a few months back?" you asked, standing up from the floor but still keeping your distance from the boy.

He didn't answer, making it all more obvious to you. "It was all just an act, wasn't it? When I woke up at night, terrified by my nightmares and you were the one to comfort me. I never told you what I dreamt about, but you fucking knew who I dreamt about - your fucking brother! And you never told me a thing!"

Jungkook wouldn't dare open his mouth. Now that everything was out in the open, he didn't feel like he had the right to do that. "I'm fucking leaving this place," you said turning around to leave the club with a mascara-stained face and a broken heart, "or do you have to kill me now?"

[x3kristax3]

After Duskwood- Chapter 4

First| Last| Next

I pull into the police station parking lot and sit there for a moment. I finally get out and one of the FBI agents is walking out. As i walk up to the front desk "hi I'm MC, Alan Bloomgate and the FBI are expecting me"

"Someone will be right up with you" she says

My nerves are kicking in and i pace the waiting room for what feels like forever. Finally the door opens and Alan comes out "Nice to finally meet you in person. Sorry for the wait, we had to clear out a room to talk." He says

"It's okay i bet its hectic with the FBI here" i say as i follow him back to a room. As we walk past one of the rooms i hear one of the guys that arrested Jake raising his voice and I look.

"We have a lot to talk about and i know they want to talk to you as well" he says as he opens the door and i sit down

"What can I answer for you?" I say

"I know your not from Duskwood  so I've been trying to figure out how you got involved" he says

"I told you already. Hannah had texted Thomas my phone number. As why i did help i have no answer to that" i say

"How did you get involved with Jake?"

I sigh "he was the one to see Hannah get kidnapped and somehow got my number too"

"Why did you help him though?"

"We were working as a team to find Hannah"

"Why did you refuse to talk to me for so long?"

"I was scared. I knew from the start with how i got brought into this it looks suspicious"

"You're right, you did look suspicious, especially with no ties to Hannah or anyone in the group. Specially cause your just a bartender in a big city"

"Look, I got pulled into it and I agreed to help. Hannah was found"

"But richy wasn't"

"Oh no one told you?"

"Tell me what?"

"Richy was behind it all. He kidnapped Hannah. He threatened us all as thr man without a face. He's the one that blew the mines up"

Alan's face drops. "No it couldn't be" 

"Oh but it is"

"Okay i think that's all the questions i have for you. I'm gonna leave you in this room for the FBI" alan says

"Okay, can I get some water though?" I ask

"Sure i'll bring you one"  he gets up and comes back with a bottle of water.

As I wait for the FBI I stand up and walk around the room. After what feels like forever the 2 agents from the cafe walk in and i sit down "So miss.MC as you can imagine we have a few questions about your relationship with Jake. These are the same questions he was asked in regards to you and he shut up right away"

"I will answer the best I can" i say

"How did he reach out to you in the start" 

"A text"

"What was the relationship like in the start?"

"We were just trying to find Hannah"

"Why were you guys both at the cafe?"

"He came to see me and tell me he was going to come here and not be on the run anymore"

"Do you know why we've been on the hunt for him for 4 years?"

"No he didn't tell me"

"So you were willing to give up your life and family and friends to join him in the run"

"No comment" i say taking a drink

"Just answer us this. Why are you his weakness?"

"I honestly don't have an answer expect you meet people in your life who come and go and others that from right from the start are meant to stay"

"Okay i think that is all" one says.

The other ones been standing in the back quite "I have one we didnt ask your lover" he says

"Okay"

"Why did you lie when you got called early this morning?" He says hitting the table

I jump back. "I didn't lie. Until at the cafe i hadn't seen him"

"We know you were both at that motel"

"Well that is news for me because i just stopped there to sleep and shower. Everything with finding Hannah i had been awake for almost 3 days straight"

"We will catch you in this lie and then you'll be an accomplice to him"

"If that is all I'd like to leave"

"You're free to go" the one one says. I get up and he walks me outside to the front area.

I head outside and I see Jake against my car. I run up and hug him "they let you out" i ask 

"For now but i have to stay in Duskwood until otherwise" he hugs me back

I look up at him and i see his face in the sun "lets get your car and grab some food" i say

"Can I stay with you? The motel said they are booked right now" jake says

"Yeah lets drop your car off there" i say not wanting to let him go

"Im sorry for whatever happened with the FBI"

"The one was nice but the one that arrested you, he scared me. He hit the table demanding answers"

"Yeah he's been on my case from the start. I was hoping they were going to have someone else talk to you" Jake says

I finally let go and  i pull out the phone and open group chat 

MC: Where's a good spot to eat? We're starving

Everyone comes on

Lilly: Wait, Jake is joining you?

MC: yeah

Dan: honestly the Aurora has good food

Jake looks at me "do we really wanna go there?"

"Good food and drinks with the group? Plus Phil will probably be too busy to notice us" i say

"Okay i just can't get into a fight" he says

I laugh "i won't let you"

MC in group chat: sounds good where heading there for anyone who wants to join us

[dweetwise]

[Riconti] Good at pretending

Chapter 22: The future [final]

With that, we've reached the end of this fic! Cheers to @robinsarm for the beta and I hope you all enjoy the last chapter <3 Word count: 2.4k [previous]

The Bavarian countryside sped past the car window, not allowing Felix or Ace a moment to enjoy the scenery. They were heading to the airport, heading back home - back to normal.

The radio was playing low music, tuned to the retro station, and the car smelled faintly of the strawberries Ace had already helped himself to while he hummed along with the melody.

It was all so comfortable. Felix wanted to spend every vacation this way; on the road with Ace, enjoying the first bit of relative peace and quiet in companionable silence, the summer sun already low in the sky and bathing them in an orange glow.

"You want one?" Ace suddenly asked.

Felix glanced at the passenger seat to find Ace holding out a strawberry.

Felix smiled. "Yes, please."

Ace's eyes glinted in the sunlight as he beamed and reached over to feed Felix the berry.

Felix's lip tingled from both the juice of the strawberry and the brush of Ace's finger across his skin. He forced himself to keep his eyes on the road, but the heat spreading over his cheeks probably told Ace everything he needed to know.

"Thank you," Felix said.

Felix caught Ace's wink out of the corner of his eye. "My pleasure."

A new song started playing on the radio and Felix glanced at the clock on the dashboard, confirming his fears: they were only another hour away from the airport.

Felix’s heart clenched pitifully at the reminder that their time was coming to an end. He’d desperately tried to gather enough courage to broach the subject of the future. He simply couldn't let Ace slip through his fingers; not again. If he could just ask Ace –

"So," Ace started. "When we get to Münich and I fly back to the states..."

Felix's entire body sagged in relief. Ace’s seemingly innocuous comment may just have saved their entire relationship.

"Yes?" Felix prompted.

"Once I leave, do you wanna go back to the way things were?" Ace asked.

There were few things in life Felix had ever been as certain about as this.

"No," Felix said. "I want this – more than I've wanted anything in a long time."

He glanced at Ace, only to find him smiling.

"Me too," Ace said.

"I just… don't know where to go from here," Felix confessed.

"Yeah," Ace agreed, and it made Felix feel a little better. "But we'll figure it out."

Felix nodded, not entirely convinced. There was so much to think about; they'd spent this week in a vacuum, sealed off from the rest of the world. How would they manage to slot their lives together once they returned to their day-to-day routines? The typical arrangements of a long-distance relationship alone were difficult to begin with. At the very least, they needed to be on the same page before trying to sort anything out.

Speaking of which…

“Just so we’re clear,” Felix said. “By this, you mean a relationship – right? And you’re sure you want that? With me?”

Ace raised an eyebrow. "What could possibly have given you that idea? The way I've plastered myself to you for the last week, the puppy eyes whenever you so much as look my way, or me spilling my heart about every two days?"

Felix flushed and looked back at the road. "It's not going to be easy.”

He saw Ace tilt his head out of the corner of his eye, so he continued.

"Even if it weren’t for the distance, I’m not the easiest person to be with," Felix said. "I work a lot – often too much. I also don't know how to relax because I'm constantly worrying about something."

“You think that's bad?” Ace replied, his tone much more jovial than Felix had expected for a conversation of this nature. “I never know when to shut up, so I just crack jokes until something sticks.”

“I have chronic insomnia,” Felix shot back.

“I snore,” Ace said. “Loudly.”

“I know, I've been sharing a bed with you for a week.” Felix glanced at him with a smile. “And it's not that loud. It actually calms me.”

“Well…” Ace faltered. “I can't be trusted with money because I have no fucking clue what to do with it and always just end up in debt.”

Instantly, Felix realized that this was different from all their other teasing. He knew Ace’s financial situation was a sore subject and that by bringing it up, he was making himself vulnerable for a rejection from Felix.

But rejection was the furthest thing on Felix’s mind as he looked at Ace with a gentle smile. “Fortunately, I'm very good with money. And I have much more than I know what to do with, even if you mess up.”

Ace visibly relaxed. “Gonna try my best not to. Just don't give me a credit card or leave me alone with loose change when there's a slot machine in the vicinity,” he joked.

“Only if you promise to rip my phone from my hands whenever I try to check work emails at midnight.”

Ace grinned. “Deal.”

As Felix kept looking at Ace, at his content smile and eyes full of fondness, he realized that this was really happening. Ace still wanted Felix; wanted a relationship with him, and Felix thanked whatever powers may be out there for bringing Ace back into his life –

And then Felix’s phone chimed loudly between them, making them jolt in their seats before Felix quickly turned his attention back to the road.

“Shit,” Felix said, mentally scolding himself for getting lost in Ace’s eyes and endangering them both.

“I’ll say,” Ace remarked. “Why are your alerts so loud?”

“Because I tend to zone out and don’t notice it otherwise.” Felix glanced at his phone’s lit up screen where it was lying between their seats. “Can you check the message?”

Ace hesitated long enough that Felix almost felt the urge to explain himself and his sudden need to focus on driving.

“Uh, sure,” Ace eventually said and picked up the device. “Oh. It’s from Elodie!”

Felix sighed in relief. Getting a message from the woman shouldn’t have been a surprise, but it was definitely much more welcome than some work text asking him to come to the office as soon as he got home.

“What does it say?” Felix asked.

He already had a vague idea: trust Elodie to keep tabs on his schedule and immediately check in on him after a harrowing week with his relatives.

“In all caps, and I quote.” Ace cleared his throat. “‘TELL HIM BEFORE THE FLIGHT OR SO HELP ME I’LL COME TO YOUR HOUSE AND DRAG YOU TO THE AIRPORT MYSELF!’ Followed by a knife, bomb, and three angry face emojis.”

Felix nearly choked on his spit. That was definitely not the wellness check message he’d expected.

“She’s, ähm,” Felix stammered. “She was very insistent that I should tell you about my feelings when we talked on Thursday.”

“Hmm.” Ace only hummed, though his expression thankfully seemed more amused than embarrassed. “Do you think we should update her, before she shows up at the airport to kidnap me or something?”

“Probably,” Felix admitted. “Do you want to respond to her? My lock screen pattern is a house.”

“Of course it is.” Ace grinned and swiped the right symbol in his first attempt while Felix only flushed from being so predictable. “I mean, not just because you’re an architect and your code is a house, but because I could see your fingerprints in the reflection of the screen. These things really aren’t that secure; I was just being polite in not unlocking it earlier.”

Felix blinked in surprise before remembering Ace’s colorful past. He briefly wondered how many arbitrary locks and codes Ace had cracked in his time as a swindler.

“Uh – sorry,” Ace apologized and looked away. “That’s probably not something you wanna hear before even date number one.”

“You should teach me sometime,” Felix blurted, making Ace perk up. “I mean – not lockpicking, per se, but how to keep my belongings secure.”

Ace smiled, wide and bright. “Deal.” He held up the phone. “Now, just how much did you want me to tell Elodie?”

“Anything you want,” Felix said honestly.

“You don’t mind?” Ace asked, seeming surprised. “I mean, this – everything’s still so new, and, you know, I have kind of a reputation…”

“Of course I want to tell her about you,” Felix said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “But you don’t have to unless you want to – though I’m sure she’ll wrangle it out of me sooner or later.”

Ace chuckled. “Yeah, I figured that’s a given; I’ve met the woman, you know.”

Felix smiled as Ace turned his attention to typing out a reply to Elodie. He had a feeling Ace and Elodie would get on splendidly, now more than ever, even outside of the fog. Felix truly couldn’t wait to share the news with her.

While Ace was busy with what seemed like scrolling through emoticons for his message, Felix's mind was already returning to the practicalities. He needed to clear out the Richter manor guest room for Ace, and he had to let Lauren know he'd be busy during the days that Ace was visiting, and…

And he still didn’t even know when Ace was coming back.

“So,” Felix cleared his throat. "Do you know when you’ll be returning to Germany? If you give me the time, I can pick you up at the airport again."

And forcibly arrange my work and meetings and conferences and stupid obligations and entire life to make room for you, he refrained from adding.

“Hmm,” Ace pondered, looking up at the ceiling in thought. “I don't know, I’ll have to check my busy schedule."

Felix nodded stiffly and continued to stare at the road.

He’d always known that Ace loved to travel the world and the furthest thing Felix wanted was to take that away from him. Ace was probably tired of being joined at the hip with Felix for the past week, and it wasn’t like Felix could expect him to abandon all his obligations at the drop of a hat.

"Probably in a week or so," Ace said.

Felix whipped his head to the side to look at Ace, only to find him smirking. “Wait, what?” Felix exclaimed.

Ace barked out a laugh. "I’m the furthest thing from busy; I was just pulling your leg.” He grinned. “I really can't think of any place I'd rather be. As long as you don't get sick of my mug."

The last bit was said in a joking tone but Felix could see the insecurity hidden underneath.

Felix wanted so badly to kiss Ace at that moment. Fortunately, he now had more self-control and settled for reaching over to clasp his hand instead.

"Never," Felix promised, gently squeezing Ace’s hand to further prove his point. “I can’t see myself ever getting tired of you.”

"Well." Ace cleared his throat and his thumb caressed Felix’s knuckles. "I can maybe push it from seven days to five if you’re gonna keep being a huge sap every chance you get."

A giddy chuckle escaped Felix’s throat. “Really?”

"Sure," Ace said. "I just have to swing by Cali for this gig I promised Jonah. I can probably make it back here by the weekend."

Felix smiled. “I’d like that.”

“Hey,” Ace said, leaning forward until he was in Felix’s field of vision. “You realize I’m actually gonna go through with it, right? If you need more than four or five days far, far away from me – wouldn’t blame you, honestly – then this is your last warning.”

Felix huffed in fond amusement. “I'm sure, Ace. I wouldn't mind even if you never left in the first place.”

Ace blinked, clearly caught off guard by his answer. Felix bit his lip to stop himself from saying more: he was definitely moving too fast for someone who had only been dating their partner for two days.

But after the initial surprise, Ace’s look softened. “Well, damn, you sure know how to make a guy feel welcome,” he teased and leaned further into Felix's space, until his breath was ghosting over Felix’s cheek. “Five days. I promise.”

“Ace, I’m driving,” Felix gently reminded. “Can this wait until the airport?”

“Fine.” Ace sighed dramatically and slumped back into his seat. “Damn you and your gorgeous, responsible self.”

Felix had half a mind to protest, but the sound of his phone vibrating on the console drew his attention. “Is it Elodie?”

Ace picked up the phone with a grin. “Yup. And she definitely won’t be coming to the airport to interrupt anything.”

“Oh?”

“I might have texted her something like ‘Don’t worry, he did tell me. Among other things, winky face’,” Ace grinned. “And she might be a little enthusiastic about that, based on the number of exclamation marks and heart emojis.”

Felix chuckled even as he mentally prepared himself for a long phone call with Elodie this evening.

“Well, since you’ve already charmed my friends and family…” He shot Ace a bashful smirk. “I practically have to keep you around now.”

“Oh, I see how it is,” Ace teased. “You wanna sic me on Elodie and your relatives to get out of the spotlight yourself, hmm?”

“Maybe a little bit,” Felix said. “But really, it’s more like... For the first time, I actually enjoyed a family gathering like this.”

“Aww, pudding,” Ace cooed obnoxiously and placed his hand on Felix’s thigh. “We can go to as many dry cocktail parties as you want to – I promise. As long as I'm with you, I'm gonna have the time of my life.”

Felix put his hand atop Ace’s. “Me too.”

He glanced at Ace’s smiling face, catching the very moment Ace perked up with some new idea.

“I just realized,” Ace smirked. “After next week, I might have to stay in Germany for a while after all.”

“Hmm?”

“Apart from an angry Elodie coming after me if I don’t,” Ace said. “We've been dating for two years, you know. Got a lot of time to make up for.”

Felix smiled. “We do.”

“And I still need to teach you tennis so we can knock your hoity-toity aunt down a peg next time we play.”

Felix’s laugh nearly drowned out Ace chuckles and just like that, he knew that they would be alright. Even if slotting their lives together would be more difficult than a week of parties and luxury, Felix was confident that they could make it work.

And best of all?

They didn't have to pretend anymore.