#what the hell is that on their tail again?? i vaguely remember reading that it's a shellder but shellder is. purple

[front-facing-pokemon]

[pigtailedgirl]

Now I'm curious how you got into due south originally, if you feel like explaining :)

Sure! It's nothing too exciting I guess, but my Dueser origins begin as a wee girl. I know my family must have vaguely watched it because I remember the image of All The Queen's Horses mountie chase pre-dates my series watch beginnings. I know my grandma later confessed as I had it on tv one summer that she watched it. Cause cute Benton Fraser lol.

But real seeing and watch began with a random catch of Free Willie one morning on the Showcase Network. Thank you kindly Showcase.

Yeah, I caught it one morning and stayed to watch because I think I vaguely recognized it, and just fell in love with it's charm and wit and Fraser and Ray. It was the first episode so great timing too. And they had it schedule set to air one episode in the morning, the same at night, five days a week. Perfect for catching up.

Promos were hilarious too. I should see if any are online.

Oh, and it was original edit, so it had extra scenes like the different Victoria's Secret ones.

So I caught up on the series quick. Also, what I think really cemented my season 1 and 2 love was they played that set for months at least before switching to the 3/4 season. That highlighted the difference in tone to my POV too I think, and it's why I kinda view them apart still.

But I really got to experience show first this way.

I think I found fandom when starting Livejournal same time the show hit resurgence there. And I happily caught the tail end of Yahoo Groups so got to back read fan stuff there. Missed most of Ray Wars. Yay. There was the 2000's snippets, but everyone was so fun at content creation and love, that was the best take-aways. It made for a great time. I participated in a watch-along! A big highlight of fannishness for me! That's when I saw The Pilot. Or my fav was squeeing about Pizza and Promises.

Just, some of the many wonderful fans like Nina_DS and movies_michelle and duenorthlaurie for episode discussion, and Sdwolfpup, Belmanoir, Aingeal8C as content creators, or Scotchsour, and Lozenger8 who made some banging icons....Truly, there were so many wonderful people, I couldn't even name them all. Due South provided so many wonderful glimpses of other fans to share with. LJ friends were so lovely.

I fell out in LJ world strangely cause I felt kinda outside the fandom wave as it crested I think, not shipping F/K or really loving those seasons as much. And just personally felt not into fannishness as whole after awhile. It's a me thing across everything, not just Due South. I took an internet break for a long time. I still watched the series on tv, with Showcase and TV Tropolis and DejaView lol, and by then DVD often. Along with new TV of course, although not much cause Tumblr me is not too different from old LJ me. Still kept an eye of forums, sometimes, or such, cause I love discussion as you can see by my screeds versus tech/creative skills, but not actively or with comment.

I return cause, I don't know, seeing people express love for the series again is hitting a happy place of nostaglia I think. I had a rough bout with real-life and comfort fannish stuff is reminding life was full of small good moments. The joy of the endearing nature of the show and the spirit of love for it in the fandom is proof of stuff enduring. Joy that it's still on rebranded Showcase here on the weekends lol, even if you never know which season.

And a new vidder made a wonderful F/V fanvid that, timing again as I hit Tumblr, I stumbled into, and just had me crying when I watched at the beauty and love I remembered in the pair. It spoke to my love of them so hard I think it jolted me into thinking hell yea that love deserves happy expression, I can do it too maybe. Sadly they took it down, but yeah, that was the spark, and that's me fannish story.

[huffle-dork]

Glitch into the Hufflverse Chapter 7: Septnautical

Read Swapboys | Read Crystal’s AUs | Read Septnautical

Read SITCV | Read SATCV | GITHV Masterpost

Once they're on the other side: they're immediately met by a strange site. It seems to be a huge cavern filled with low floating greenish brine. And what looks like a huge gigantic ribcage of a long dead creature smack dab in the middle like a pathway.

Once Marvin sees he gasps and the merboys grab the visitors nearest to them and quickly dash them all behind some rocks.

"Whoaa—" Jackie marvels at the ribcage before getting pulled away. "Hey! What the hell?!"

"Marvin!" Mer-Jackie whispers in a hush, "I thought you said you were taking us straight to that arch thing! You put us right in the getting-eaten-territory!!"

Marvin looks freaked out, "I-I I didn't mean to put us here! I-It shouldn't have put us here!”

Jackie's eyes widen and he immediately regrets shouting. He pokes his head over the rocks but JJ grabs him and drags him down again.

"I-it must have been a mistake," Schneep whispers, trying to see if he senses any especially large creatures nearby. "Perhaps something interfered with your powers? Like—like how radio waves interfere with each other sometimes and make static?"

I don't think they'll understand that, JJ points out.

Marvin growls and shows off his fangs. "I-It's okay... we can't panic we just... gotta figure out how to get a-all of us to the arch without a-alerting mesmers or ghost leviathans or getting in the brine..."

"And... crabsquids." Jamie adds nervously.

"That's a very long dangerous check-list..." Chase mumbles.

Mer-Jackie swims up like Jackie did to look at the area. "... I don't see any ghost leviathans yet... but those things are sneaky..."

JJ also looks over the rocks. He vaguely remembers Anti showing him some pictures of stuff from Subnautica... if he's correct, the ghost leviathans are huge and glowy. Yeah, no sign of them. We just... have to be quiet, he says. With all of us, we can keep an eye out.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Schneep asks. "I am, apparently, made for this environment." He flicks his tail. "Maybe I should go first? Even with the... you know." He waves his hand in front of his face.

"Technically you and JJ are safe here. Ghost rays also live around here," Henrik says. "So... maybe that could work."

"We can form a group," Jackie mutters. "Like a little ball. The ones who are more vulnerable to the poison brine stay in the middle, and the rest stick to the edges.”

"Can't you simply make another warp gate?" Schneep asks Marvin.

"If he could, I'm sure he would've suggested that," Jackie says.

"Oh- y-yeah lemme see-" Marvin says as he quietly tries to open a new gate- they can be kinda loud. However, when he tries, he gets a shock of green electricity up his hands and he yelps. Then, he full blown starts to panic, his voice raising. "i-I-i! I can't m-make another gate!!"

"Shit- I didn't think we were near the no-warp zone!" Mer-Jackie curses.

"I-I don't think we are! I just... i-I can't make one!" Marvin screeches in distress. Jamie surges over and grabs his arm, trying to shush him. Chase also comes over and tries to quiet him, "M-Marv calm down, we'll figure something out!"

Alt suddenly pales and curses, "...ah shit- m-maybe my glitches...?"

"Alt!" Bro hisses, "I told you!!"

"I know I know I'm sorry!" Alt whispers.

Marvin doesn't seem to hear his brothers though as he looks up at Alt and suddenly snarls. "Y-You! Your f-freaky powers messed with mine!" He then bursts out from where Chase and Jamie are holding him and goes to tackle Alt to the ground with a yell. Alt squeaks in response and tries to push him off but he's a bit freaked out. "I-I didn't think it'd hurt you! I-I'm sorry!"

Jackie blanches and rushes over to Marvin and Alt. The mandibles on his back instinctively shoot out and grab Marvin on either side. "Leave him alone! He didn't do anything!" Jackie says, trying to pull Marvin back.

Jackie, be careful! JJ says, also jumping in to help. He casts a protective shield in between Alt and Marvin, hoping to push Marvin's hands away.

"I think JJ was right earlier, I think we should be quiet!" Schneep says, trying to be heard without raising his voice too much. He keeps trying to sense nearby souls.

Marvin is snarling like a terrifying predator eyes trying to go pink behind his mask. Alt covers his head and then blinks as JJ shields him.

Bro gets in between Marvin and Alt and pushes Marvin back with a snarl. “Back off!”

Anti and Mer Jackie growls at seeing Marvin get pushed and Chase has to grab them both to make sure they don’t go after them too.

Then, there’s a terrifying roar coming from the expanse before them- the area starting to show a blue glow.

Bro freezes, “…that’s bad news isn’t.”

The way Marvin and Reaper Jackie freeze seem to answer their questions.

Jackie lets go of Marvin and backs away at the sound of the roar.

Ghost? JJ guesses.

Schneep's eyes widen. "That feels big." He feels around the rocks. "I-is there anywhere to hide?! Any—any small crevices? If not, fucking run."

“Marvin, which way is the arch?!” Henrik asks sharply.

“I don’t know!” Marvin squeaks, “That’s why I was hoping we’d just warp there! I haven’t been over there lately this place is like a fucking maze!!”

“S-So run then?!” Bro asks.

“Swim!” Mer-Jackie yells as a bright blue horrifying fish with a hammerhead like head barrels towards them through the murky water, trailing blue like ribbons and roaring so loud they can feel its vibrations in the water.

Bro sees this terrifying thing coming and for a second he freezes- but he sees Henrik is too. Without thinking he barrels into Hen right as this thing sails over top of them and ends up crashing the two of them back down into one of the rocks. Jackie and JJ dive down, swimming as fast as they possibly can away. Meanwhile, Schneep is gone the moment he feels the vibration of the roar. Just completely out of sight, having leapt away. Alt glitches away and has to right himself as he feels a bit dizzy doing so.

The rest of the boys manage to dodge okay while Marvin panickedly look around. He spies something in the distance and spurs down, "I-I'm starting to remember! Swim down towards that smaller set of ribs!" Bro helps Henrik up and grabs his hand to help him follow. Mer-Jackie does the same with Anti and Chase grabs Jamie- just because their tails make them a bit slow. Jackie and JJ swim after them. Schneep waits until the group is on the very end of his soul sensing range and then leaps over to them from his hiding spot in that strange cooler section of water near the ground.

Luckily for them, the Ghost Leviathan is clumsy and sped straight past them- too big to turn back around to chase them in time. By the time it does, the merboys have all swam down into a lower section of the briney falls. They all stop to catch their breath.

"F-Fucking hell..." Alt gasps, "T-that thing was terrifying...!"

“That was so loud," Schneep gasps.

If I wasn't running on pure adrenaline and terror that might have been cool, JJ says. But again. Pure adrenaline and terror.

"I-is everyone okay?" Jackie asks, looking around. "Schneep? You kind of disappeared for a moment there."

"I was in a cooler section of water, I think it was perhaps some sort of mist," Schneep says. "It must have hid me."

“That is the brine-“ Henrik explains. “Ah but no worries for you… it can be your protection here. It is too close to the ground for the ghosts to go towards.”

"The brine..." Schneep repeats. "Brine. Brine. Briiiine." He giggles a little. "A funny word."

"Oh god the near-death experience made you loopy," Jackie comments.

"I tend to disassociate when too upset, actually," Schneep says casually. And then break down, but that doesn't need to be shared. "I just think it is a funny word."

“You sound like Alt when he’s loopy after glitching too much.” Bro snickers. Alt frowns and flicks Bro. Then he laughs. “It is a fun word though- don’t get to say it often. Briiiiine-“

“Okay that’s enough,” Chase laughs.

Alt swallows and then timidly goes up to Marvin. “…I’m so sorry I caused this I… is there any way I can help?”

Marvin looks away and rubs his wrists. “…we probably need to just… give it a bit… I-I self repair… whatever you did will get out of my system somehow…”

"Sorry I grabbed you, too," Jackie mutters. "Panicked."

No harm done, it all seems! JJ signs cheerfully.

“Let’s not get too dragged down gang,” Bro tries to say lightly. “We can get through this! Who knows how to navigate down here?”

“Probably Marvin… the rest of us don’t come here…” Anti grumbles. He seems to be swimming a bit slower as he wraps his arms around himself, “p-probably because it’s f-fucking freezing down here…”

“Is it?” Marvin says, flicking his tails. “… I never noticed.”

“It is kinda chilly…” Chase agrees, rubbing his arms.

“I think it’s bracing!” Mer-Jackie grins. Anti whacks him with one of his tails.

JJ shrugs. Seems perfectly fine to me.

"Me too," Schneep adds.

Jackie frowns. "Maybe it's a bit chilly."

"Perhaps it has to do with the temperatures our, ah... fish... samples? The temperatures they can live in," Schneep says.

"Then why am I cold?" Jackie asks. "I thought I was some arctic creature!"

You're also a lobster, JJ says, amused.

"Ssshut!"

“What’s a lob-ster?” Jamie whispers with a tilted head.

“Some weird human thing I’m guessing.” Anti grunts.

Marvin stiffens a bit and his eyes turn slightly pink as he drones, “The chelicerate is a predatory animal that patrols the warmer waters found near thermal vents.”

“Ohhh so that’s why!” Mer-Jackie grins, “Your species hunts in warmer waters. Guess not everything is icy over there.”

“Huh. Guess that explains it,” Jackie says. “Weird that there’s some animal that sticks to a vent when the rest of the water is so cold. Like—you think they’d evolve to tolerate the cold, then.”

“There are animals like that on Earth.” Schneep shrugs. “I suppose it just shows that if life is possible, it will find a way.”

“S’also why i’m miserable…” Anti pouts. “I need a thermal vent…”

“I think there’s some on the way, Anti.” Marvin tries to smile at him. “C’mon.”

Marvin starts to lead them down further into the cave, swimming right above the brine as it swirls like a cloud on the sea floor. The area is beautiful in an eerie way. Above them they can see ghost rays swimming, letting out an ethereal ghostly song.

Alt grins and nudges JJ, “Look! It’s you!”

JJ looks up at the ghost rays. “Ooooo.” He waves at them, grinning wide. Prettyyyyy.

“So how far d’you think we are from that place?” Jackie asks. “And can you describe the stuff to avoid? Heard you mention… mesmers and… crabsquids?”

“I think a crabsquid is described in its name,” Schneep points out.

“Hey, you never know.”

“I mean other Schneep’s not wrong,”  Chase laughs, “They’re… big creatures with long legs like a crab. They emit emp blasts.”

Alt pales at this, “Oh they do? …gotta make sure to avoid that…”

“Mesmers are smaller but I think they stay mainly around those bones…” Mer-Jackie says as he looks around.

“There are also the river prowlers…” Henrik points out. “But maybe they will avoid us because we have one with us?”

The corridor is starting to get darker, bits of bright blue light shining on the cave walls.

But suddenly… there’s the sound of a drone of some sort… and something foreign calling out to the group. Strange creatures… come closer… don’t be afraid… come over this way….

Schneep stops swimming momentarily. “Do you all hear that?” It’s a voice. How unusual… he doesn’t think he can sense any strong souls. He turns to face that way just in case.

“Hmm?” Jackie also turns towards the pull.

JJ frowns and quickly shoves the voice into the back of his head. Anything that talks to you like that can’t be good.

Anti hears the voice in his head and freezes, then shrinks up and curls to put his hands over his ears. “No! No no g-get out!”

Henrik quickly swims over to see what’s wrong. “A-Anti??”

Alt shudders as he hears the voice and hunches up, his tail starting to light up with sparks.

Those who feel the pull turn to see creatures with beautiful swirling wings flowing out of the darker water, coming towards them. Once they hear it and look at the colors- it’s impossible to turn away. They feel themselves drawn forward towards that beautiful light. It’s just… so pretty…

As the boys are drawn in they see the water around their vision swirling with beautiful pastels green purple and blues- the effect getting stronger the more they turn towards the creatures. Stronger the closer they get… they want to get closer.

Oh… that’s beautiful. Jackie has never seen anything so beautiful. He grabs onto Schneep’s shoulder. “Wish you could see this,” he whispers.

Schneep frowns. “Why? What is happening?”

JJ looks back at the others. His eyes widen. No no no! It’s just like those spirals in that SCLERA place! He darts forward, keeping his eyes down and squinted, and grabs onto Jackie, trying to pull him back. But Jackie just frowns in annoyance and shoves him away without even looking.

Bro looks over and gets drawn into the swirls of color. “…wow…” he laughs dazedly and starts to swim forward. The Mesmer beckons him closer.

Marvin and Reaper Jackie, who are leading the pack, look back in confusion as the group starts to disperse. “What are you guys doing?” Marvin squeaks in concern.

Henrik gasps, “It is a swarm of mesmers! E-everyone do not listen and do not look! Try to get away from them!”

But, it seems Chase and Jamie have fallen for the voices too. Floating together towards one Mesmer, Bro going towards another.

The Mesmer drawing Jackie in seems pleased. That’s it child… very good… don’t resist… don’t look away..  come closer… let me show you something beautiful. The mesmers drone to their prey.

As Jackie nears it- it suddenly opens up its mouth and 4 sharp toothed tentacles try to snap shut around his face.

JJ cries out. Schneep, get him away from there! he signs. He backs up, concentrating, and sends out a spray of magic, aiming mostly for the one that's trying to eat Jackie but hoping to catch others in the crossfire. But nerves cause his magic to go wide by a long shot.

Schneep leaps out of Jackie's grip and grabs his tail from behind, pulling him away and downward.

Jackie yelps and finally looks away, down at Schneep. "Dude, what the fuck?!"

"Try to think clearly, Jackie!" Schneep shouts. "Do you think this is normal?!"

Alt doesn’t know why he’s able to avoid this so well but he dives towards the Mesmer drawing in Bro and tries to shock it.

The Mesmer trying to draw in Bro dodges Alt’s attack and swims away, dragging Bro to follow closely after it. He grins in delight and doesn’t take his eyes away.

“C-Chase! Wake up!” Alt tries to call, grabbing onto Bro’s arm. But he makes the mistake of looking up and- fuck! Another comes up a bit closer to get in Alt’s line of sight- and Alt looks directly at it. He feels his senses leave him completely. The drone overtaking everything else.

yes… don’t resist now… come come… I’m very friendly… come see my beauty…

Alt’s shoulders slump and he breathes out, relaxing. “Okay…” he lets go of Bro and starts to swim dazedly towards the one pulling him away.

“No! D-Don’t!” Marvin tries to warn but he swims back- terrified of the swarm as it brings back memories. Without his warps- he feels powerless.

JJ sees Alt get taken in out of the corner of his eyes. He gasps and sends a spear of icy magic towards that mesmer.

The ice shreds through the Mesmer, leaking yellow blood into the water as its fishy body is cut in half. Alt stops swimming but- his eyes are still swirling with its colors. He still feels entranced. He doesn’t seem to notice anything else around him. He can’t even bring himself to keep his tail swimming so he starts to fall through the water.

Mer-Jackie roars and tries to tackle the ones targeting his brothers. As ReaperJackie tries to tackle the Mesmer drawing in Chase and JJ- another one gets right in his face. His eyes immediately start to swirl and he lowers his mandibles and hands.

oh… we remember you strange reaper… you were quite the tasty meal… will you let us feed on you again? In exchange we will let you gaze upon our beauty for as long as you can…

Mer-Jackie breathes, his head lolling a bit on his neck. “Y…yeah…” he whispers- going in a tight circle as the Mesmer makes its prey follow it docilely like a game.

“J-Jackie!” Henrik shouts. Anti is still too freaked out to do anything- his body shaking against his will.

Bro gets close to his Mesmer- staring at its wings with delight in his eyes- its mouth starts to spread apart- fangs glistening in the dull cave light but he doesn’t seem to notice.

Jackie shakes his head. Huh? What was he doing? Schneep has pulled him close to the ground, almost to the brine, and as he looks up he sees the teeth and fangs on the mesmers. "Holy shit!" he gasps. "Th-they're gonna—we got to do something!"

Schneep reaches to a side for a weapon—and pulls out his trusty scissors. "Tell me where they are and I will go there."

"You can tell where people are, right?!" Jackie says urgently.

"Yes!"

"There's one right in front of Bro, i-it's the one closest to someone, it's about to fucking eat him!"

"Got it!" Schneep disappears, and reappears in the water right above the mesmer, stabbing downwards. Schneep manages to skewer the Mesmer and it shrieks in anger and tries to wrap a tentacle around Schneep’s arm.

Jackie looks around wildly, trying not to look directly at anything. He sees his hybrid counterpart try and get close to one of the mesmers, only to get caught in its grip. He has to do something! Closing his eyes, he charges through the water with a yell, hoping to pin the mesmer.

By some miracle, Jackie’s hybrid instincts kick in and his mandible crushes the Mesmer into one of the stalagmites. Mer-Jackie is still entranced though, just slowing to a halt and sinking a bit through the water- not knowing where else to swim.

Marvin yelps and dives down to catch him, holding his twin close to his chest.

Schneep stabs the mesmer’s tentacle as soon as it latches onto him, then leaps behind Bro. He grabs onto him and starts pulling the same way he did with Jackie. JJ grabs onto Alt where he’s floating and starts swimming away. Jackie backs away from the crushed mesmer, breathing heavily, stunned at his own capabilities. He sees the other two and Marvin grabbing the mesmer victims and dives down next to Marvin to help.

The Mesmer Schneep attacks screeches in pain and swims away. And soon, Bro is able to shake out of the trance and blinks up at Schneep as they’re pulled away. “H-huh? Schneep?”

Chase and Jamie have neared theirs, Chase reaching out towards it. The Mesmer snaps out its jaw and bites down hard on Chase’s arm. He’s snapped out of trance as he yells in pain. This is enough to make Anti uncurl and roar in anger. Sending a fire ball out to blast and kill their Mesmer. Jamie blinks in slow dazed confusion and Chase tries to scoop him up, looking for a place to take everyone to hide.

Henrik seems to pick up on this and looks around and points down below where the brine makes a couple waterfalls, seeing a plateau of safe rock just below the streams. “D-Down there! Hide behind the brine, I think there’s a cave there!”

Chase and Marvin nod and hurry down, curving around the stream and finding safety behind the falls. As soon as the three others hear Henrik shout, they move in that direction as well, JJ taking Alt, Schneep taking Bro, and Jackie taking mer-Jackie- seeing Marvin have some difficulty carrying him. 

They’re all taken down under the falls and luckily, enough of them glow enough to shed at least some light in the shallow cave.

Henrik leads in with Anti and sighs shakily. “W-Who’s hurt?”

“I-I got bit,” Chase says and Henrik swims over and rummages through his bag, finding some creepvines and wrapping up Chase’s hand.

Marvin is shaking but stays outside the cave to watch out for any more signs of trouble.

Bro settles to the ground, still a bit disoriented and spacey. “What… what happened…?”

“Mesmers…” Henrik snarls, showing a bit of anger.

Jackie shivers. “I-I thought you said those things stick around the bones. I figured we’d gone far enough away from them to not have to fucking worry.”

“Maybe we weren’t far enough away… or we were too interesting to ignore…” Chase mumbles, frowning at the still tranced Jamie.

JJ shakes his head. I don’t like that. I don’t like things that… mess with your head.

Jackie gives him a strange look. “Uh… you mentioned… something called Distorter once…”

JJ pales a little. Lets just say that if Distorter was a hybrid, he would definitely be one of those things.

“I see…” Jackie mutters.

“I-I think we are all safe?” Schneep says, holding tight to his scissors still.

Bro sees Alt still tranced in JJ’s arms and he hurries over, trying to shake Alt awake. “A-Alt?! Alt hey!” But Alt’s head just dazedly lolls backs and forth. “T-The fuck?!”

Anti looks at JJ with probably the most sympathetic look he’s given yet. He then swims over to Jamie in Chase’s arm and frowns, “I don’t get it… w-we killed those fuckers right? Why are they still… caught in this?”

Jackie frowns. "Maybe—maybe we just need to snap them out of it?"

"If Alt is not being snapped out by Bro shouting at him, what will snap him out of it?" Schneep asks.

"Uhhhh... we could slap him?"

Schneep frowns disapprovingly.

JJ looks out through the brine waterfall, checking that there are no threats. There aren't, but something could show up at any moment. He pulls back. I think we should move on. We can carry them with us.

Henrik snaps out of his focus as he finished Chase’s arm and nods to Jackie. “A-Actually yes! The only thing I have found to work is… t-temporary pain. I do not know why… but the trance only lingers if a Mesmer is killed while their victim is in trance.”

"Huh. Weird." Jackie pauses for a moment. "Maybe it's something like... the signal is able to continue in their head? Sort of... sustain itself? I dunno, I know there are a lot of mental magick spells like that. 

“That is a good theory…” Henrik muses.

“Anyway." Jackie swims over to Alt. "Sorry, Alt." And he slaps him across the face.

Alt immediately exclaims in surprise and grabs his cheek, the colors immediately clearing from his eyes. “Ow! Jesus!”

Schneep can't help but laugh a little at the sudden slap noise. "Ah—sorry, that is not funny. Just—the noise without context."

“Oh thank god…” Bro sighs in relief. “T-Thanks Jackie I dunno if I could have done that.”

Alt massages his cheek with a confused frown then sits up with a gasp. “T-That weird fish! It.. it-“ He looks visibly pale as he swallows shakily. “…f-fucking god damn it…”

"No problem." Jackie nods at Bro. "You okay, Alt? I don't think I hit you too hard, but I also feel stonger in this merman form so I might not be a good judge.”

Alt tries to nod but he’s visibly shaken. “Y-Yeah I’m… it s-stung like a bitch but I’m… I’m fine.” Bro frowns and brings in Alt for a very gentle hug. Alt shudders and flicks his tail to try not to spiral. 

Anti frowns at Jamie and then slaps one of his tentacles against his face. Jamie makes a noise of surprise then sits up, blinking up at his brothers in confusion.

Mer Jackie is still under too but he seems to slightly be waking up, not down as long as the others. “…m..Marv…?” He mumbles, blinking like it’s still kinda hard to see.

"Oh! Hey, other me!" Jackie looks back at mer-Jackie. "Marvin? He wants you!"

Marvin perks up and swims back quickly to his brother, bending down. “J-Jackie?? Are you okay?”

Mer-Jackie grins dazedly, “Didn’t get bit this time…!”

Marvin snorts and pushes his face away playfully, “Yeah… thank the stars we weren’t alone again…” Marvin sighs and lightly taps mer- Jackie’s cheek to wake him up too and the colors start to completely clear from his eyes. He pushes himself up and shakes himself out like a dog. “Fuck dude! I hate fucking mesmers…”

“….t-those things are really strong for s-something so small…” Bro mumbles.

“It is because their calls can reach your mind…” Henrik says with a shudder. “They are smarter than most prey here… maybe not as smart as a sea emperor or a warper but… smart enough to draw fish into their thrall.”

"Not smart enough for me to sense their souls, apparently," Schneep grumbles unhappily. But if those emperors and warpers are stronger, he'll probably be able to sense them, at least?

Do you think covering our ears would protect us from mesmers? JJ asks. I know it's not a good idea to cover your ears while swimming somewhere dangerous, but I'm just trying to establish how they work.

Schneep nods. "Rules are always good to know."

“I… I think we’re for sure out of their territory though…” Marvin says quietly, “I think I-I’m starting to remember the way. We should be safe…” he looks to JJ and shrugs, “Covering your ears won’t work against them… cuz it’s in y-your head… and to be honest it’s about to get kinda dark … but only for a little bit. There’s river prowlers ahead and… i-I think that’s it until we swim up…”

“We just gotta try our best to lay low and not draw too much attention,” Mer-Jackie says with a shake of his tail as he swims up from the ground. “…sadly though just us being here brings a lot of attention… so we just gotta be brutal enough to send fish swimming’ scared~!” He grins.

"Hell yeah, I can be brutal." Jackie flashes a dark grin. "Let's move. The sooner we head out, the sooner we get there."

JJ nods slowly. That does make sense... Schneep, perhaps you should stay in front? Maybe it'll discourage the river prowlers from getting close to us.

"I'm willing to do that, but someone should be next to me," Schneep says.

Marvin nods, “I’ll stay by other Schneep then… Since I mostly know the way.”

“Alright- let’s keep it going then!” Bro tries to say brightly, hoping his enthusiasm is contagious. Mer-Jackie grins at him and nods.

The boys all filter back out into the main cavern past the brine and Marvin starts to lead them down a bit more in the lower parts. The brine still flows but- now there seems to be a big island below surrounded by the mist. Big funnels puff warmer water into this area like heated vents. And strangely to the right are large glowing pillars… and what looks like massive metal cables sunk into the cavern walls. And under them, by the vents and in between some more falling brine… is a decently sized skeleton. Not the size of the rib cages they saw… but pretty big. This thing must have been at least 100 meters…! It looks big enough for you to even swim inside of it.

"Whoaaa," Jackie whistles. He's so tempted to swim through that skeleton but they have to stay focused. "I so wish you could see this, Schneep." He diverts down to one of the funnels, enjoying the warmer waters.

"Describe it for me," Schneep says.

"Well, this whole place has been pretty green. The brine is green, and it looks like rivers and waterfalls. There are these glowing pillar things and this huge ass skeleton!"

And these strange cables, JJ adds. 

Alt looks down at the skeleton and can’t help but shudder. Bro whistles too, “Damn that thing is sick! What is that thing you think?”

The merboys (except Marvin) all pause to look down and then they gasp. Anti seems palest of the all as he stammers out, “T-That’s… that’s a sea dragon…! What… what was one doing down here…?”

"A sea dragon?" Jackie repeats. "Oh, like—oh."

"Perhaps it was looking for food?" Schneep speculates. "Well, in any case, if it is old enough to just be bones now, whatever killed it is definitely no longer around. So we don't need to worry."

Mer-Jackie stares at the skeleton and hums. Then starts to swim and gestures for the others to follow as he talks, “you know- Zara told me a story once. About how this planet got the khaara… said the architects that lived here came here to look for a cure and captured a sea emperor. But it was old… and they didn’t know how to hatch its eggs… and a sea dragon was really similar to the sea emperors so they took one of its eggs and… she got angry and attacked a big base of theirs. And… it broke the base and spread the disease into the ocean. Causing the outbreak almost a 1000 years ago…”

"Outbreak? Oh, so it's some sort of disease?" Jackie asks. "Or, well. It was almost a thousand years ago, so I'm guessing—hoping—it's not around any more."

"I'm sure that would've come up with the list of dangers," Schneep points out.

"Oh yeah! You guys don't know about that!" Mer-Jackie says. He then laughs and shakes his head. "We don't really get what it is but yeah its not around anymore. Except the time that Chase got it."

"It is a strange disease..." Henrik mumbles, "It nearly wiped out the whole planet I am told... it was only about a 100 years ago that someone from Alterra fell to the planet and got the cure from the sea emperors... they were the only one who had the cure surprisingly. It is something they produce naturally. ...which is probably why they took Jack... just in case it ever returned..."

"I'm... sorry that happened to you guys... that your brother went missing..." Jackie says slowly. "And that bit about Chase getting it, too. Sorry about that."

"It's okay," Chase says, having swam back to swim with the others. He smiles tightly. "We got it fixed really fast... but that’s how we found out what warpers could do. They were made to get rid of the khaara... or creatures that were too sick with it since they didn't have a cure. But, things had been so peaceful here for so long no one had seen a warper act aggressively. So we were all pretty shocked when Marvin suddenly warped me into the grand reef." He rubs his arms, "It's okay though... we're figuring it out. And... we have Jack back now... we'll figure out how to wake him soon..."

Anti seems to be sinking a bit as he's swimming, looking like he's having trouble staying awake as Chase says this.

JJ notices Anti sinking a bit and ducks down, shaking him a little.

Anti blinks sleepily at JJ and tiredly bares his fangs at him. His Jamie comes up and subtly grabs his arm, looking at JJ gratefully. 

JJ looks back at the cables again then asks, What are those? Man made? Or... alien made?

Marvin seems determined to get past this part as quickly as possible and bites but a growl of frustration at people getting distracted. But as Jamie mentions the cables Marvin freezes almost robotically. He doesn’t look that way but stammers out. “..a-alien-made- don’t… don’t go that way-“

JJ looks at Marvin, puzzled. Then nods slowly. Alright. We'll avoid it if there's danger. Let's keep going.

Marvin shivers and nods, quickly swimming away from this corridor as fast as he can.

Alt looks curiously at the path with the cables. Wonder what’s over there that’s got Marvin so spooked?

The merboys shake out their fear as they see their brother booking it away. “M-Marvin! Hang on!” Chase shouts and tries to follow.

Jamie looks at where Alt and JJ are looking and flicks his tails sadly, whispering. “…I think over there is where the bad man kept Marvin… that’s why he’s scared…”

JJ looks at his other self and softens. He nods.

Jackie and Schneep also glance back at the corridor with the cables. "I get it," Jackie mutters. "I really get it."

"I think we all understand that response," Schneep says.

Alt seems to shiver at this too and nods, holding his arms. "Yeah... w-we get it. Let's not dwell on it."

"I agree with Alt, let us not dwell," Schneep says.

Let's hurry past, JJ says. Onwards we go.

They all speed away from the skeleton and weird cables, coming towards an expanse of even more green brine waterfalls. Marvin starts to swim upwards quickly, a very steep expanse- swimming towards a strange tree with white tips that glow brightly in the darkness.

JJ unconsciously starts to swim faster, looking up at the tree with wide eyes. That's so pretty! he says. Why is there a tree here? A glowing tree?

Marvin pauses in his faster swimming and slows down, twitching a bit to answer JJ's question. "Oh... those are ghost trees I think... they're our way of finding where this arch is... t-there's a whole area of them... I dunno why but they grow down here..."

"Maybe it's cuz of that biggg pink one that has that giant egg!" Mer- Jackie says, swimming up towards Marvin and startling him some. "Maybe these are just its baby trees!"

Marvin laughs a bit, "Maybe..." 

"Oh, a giant egg? How fascinating." Schneep chuckles. "In all honesty, that would make sense, if there is one big tree it is probably sending out some sort of seeds--or, well, it is not likely seeds because this is underwater, but something like that. But eventually it lands and new trees go."

“Ah… I heard that those are… more ghost Leviathans…” Henrik says quietly, adjusting his goggles. “Their parents come here from the void to lay their eggs because the tree somehow provides nutrients to the eggs…”

“Yeah well- never seen one hatch before.” Mer-Jackie says with a shrug.

"From the void?!" Jackie repeats. "The hell is that?! Doesn't sound good."

“Oh… yes-“ Henrik coughs, “The life on this side of the planet is only contained in a crater… if you travel outside the crater’s safety- then you meet a spot that is almost devoid of life… and here is where the adult ghost leviathans live.”

"What about Jackie?" Schneep asks. "His fish species isn't from the crater."

I suppose there's another bit of life in that arctic area, JJ figures.

Marvin twitches a bit and slows, eyes turning pink. “4546B’s craters edge is inaccessible because of its depth, freezing waters and lack of life. The voids connect the warmer waters to the colder waters of Sector Zero, where another crater breeds more life. The Void of Sector Zero contains the Void Chelicerate. A rare mutation of the chelicerate that prefers to roam in dark, open waters at the edge of the sector. Like the Ghost Leviathans of the warmer sectors of 4546B these creatures roam the dark waters searching for microscopic fauna to eat.” He then shakes himself out of it and blinks. “Huh… didn’t know about that…” 

"Oh." Jackie pauses. "...huh."

"So the planet is mostly uninhabitable except for some craters," Schneep sums up. "Fascinating."

Marvin looks up at the cavern and sets his face in a determinated look. "...we're almost there but... when we get to the ghost forest... w-we gotta be careful... there's another ghost leviathan up there... i... I dunno how we'll avoid it though... the area is... p-pretty open despite all the trees..."

A lot of things named after ghosts in this area, JJ comments, looking down at his own body. Probably because they're translucent and/or glowing.

"Another one of those giant things?" Jackie mutters. "Okay, we'll have to hurry through, then. Fast and quiet."

Marvin nods, “Yes… the arch is at the highest point of the cave… we’re almost there.”

Now they can see bigger branches of ghost trees underneath an arch where one more big waterfall of brine falls.

JJ gasps. Oh, this place really is so pretty! He looks at all the ghost trees and underwater waterfalls in awe.

Schneep sighs. "I am usually okay with not seeing things, but this universe in particular is proving the exception."

JJ winces. Sorry, Schneep.

"No no, is fine, it's not anyone's fault. And I am not going to stop you from saying it's beautiful just because I cannot see it."

Alt swallows nervously, “…I really hope this arch thing works…”

"It'll work," Jackie says, unusually optimistic. "And if it doesn't, we just have to wait for another rift, and try to find another way in the meantime."

Alt giggles, “That’s pretty positive coming from you, Jackie.”

Jackie tries for a smile. "W-well, I think we have to be, in this situation. I mean... if we don't have optimism, what do we have?" He shakes his head. "I don't want to... I don't want to feel hopeless, you know?"

Alt smiles shakily but Bro nods enthusiastically. “yeah! Good srat, dude!” He bumps into Alt. “We got this!”

Alt shakes his head with a laugh.

JJ nods. How close are we to the arch?

Marvin slows and holds out a hand to everyone to stop. Just before them is a smaller cavern that seems to be source of the brine rivers and falls. It has a shallower tier of pools weaving through taller ghost trees. At the edge of the pools- there’s one more huge waterfall- and what looks like a broken metal door behind it. But swimming just in front of it is another Ghost Leviathan.

“…it’s just up there- right in its path.” Marvin says quietly, trying to hide his shaking.

Jackie quickly stops swimming, holding his arms out to stop anyone behind him. "God they really are so big," he whispers. "Okay. We have to get around that thing, avoiding all the brine except in the case of Schneep and JJ, and to that metal door behind the brine waterfall. The--the brinefall. It is... right in front of the door. Ooookay."

JJ frowns, staring. There must be a way through. Maybe we can wait for it to leave? Or, well, I suppose Schneep could just appear right by the door... right, Schneep?

"Yes, I have no doubt I could appear right there, no matter where it is," Schneep says. "Ever since I got control of my powers I haven't had difficulty reaching a location within, ah... 'eyeshot.'"

"Okay, but the rest of us can't do that," Jackie whispers. "And you and Alt can only take a few passengers while glitching. And your glitching feels terrible. No offense."

Schneep shrugs. "None taken. By the way, the leviathan cannot see or sense us over here, right?"

“I’m not so sure…” Marvin whispers. “I-I think we might be far enough away…”

“…you all only need Marv and yourselves to go to this arch thingy right?” Anti says sleepily. He looks at the others and then puffs out his chest, light shining brighter in his eyes. “…then we’ll distract the thing while you get inside. That way you all have time to get to the thing using your majic whatever.”

“But I.. I can’t warp right now-“ Marvin emphasizes.

Mer-Jackie shakes his head. “Anti’s right! If Alt and Schneep can just pop over there then we’ll only need to distract it for a second! We’ll drive it away! The others can stay over here where it’s safe- or oh! we can all meet up at the cove tree over there.” He points over to a spot of glowing blue in the dark back the way they came. “It’s completely safe over there!”

Anti cracks his knuckles then grins at Reaper Jackie. “I’ve been itching for a fight… I’m actually looking forward to this. No more swimming away scared…!” Reaper Jackie shares his grin and grows out his claws. “Agreed.”

Jackie nods as he listens to Anti and mer-Jackie talk. "Hell yeah. I bet I could be helpful in this." He grins, and his mandibles snap a little. "I've been in a lot of fights—though I've never fought a giant glowing fish."

I'd be surprised if you had, JJ says.

The merboys all laugh at this. “It does sound strange like that doesn’t it?” Henrik chuckles.

Chase, Henrik and JJ look nervous. But eventually Chase sighs. “…alright bros just.. be careful. Don’t try to kill it- just… distract it long enough for them to get inside and then come find us.”

Bro looks at Alt and Schneep, “…you both okay with this?”

Alt seems nervous, flicking his tail as it sparks slightly. “… glitching feels wrong here but… I-I can try…”

"I am okay with it, yes," Schneep says.

"How's your powers?" Jackie asks.

"I have been able to jump normally so far, I do not think there will be trouble."

I could be helpful, too, JJ continues. My magic might not be so helpful with the arch, it'll be more useful as a distraction. I could also help heal people up if they get too hurt.

Bro nods, “If it seems like it’s going after us Jackie, JJ, me and Alt can help keep it back- but we should all focus on getting in that tunnel! Soo! Let’s get it rolling!”

Chase swims up to the boys and smiles warmly. “just in case this works and we don’t see you again… this was fucking weird but… nice too. S’nice to meet humans who… relate to what we’ve been through.”

Jamie beams. “If you ever can come back… somehow- it would be nice to meet again!”

Henrik smiles, “But if not… please be safe. I do hope you all get home.”

Of course! JJ beams. You've all been so kind.

Jackie leans close. "Even Anti?" he whispers.

JJ nudges him playfully. Yes, even him. When you don't trust people, trust is the kindest thing.

Anti blinks at this and then hides his flushing face with one of his tails. 

"Sure." Jackie looks at the others and smiles. "Yeah, I'd love to come here again if possible. I have a lot of stuff going on back home that I want to take care of first, but eventually."

"I agree, it's been strange, but nice." Schneep nods. "So... goodbye." He grins. "Until we may meet again."

“Goodbye-“ Henrik smiles and Chase, JJ and Henrik all go towards the cove tree.

Anti and Mer-Jackie grin at the others. “I guess we should do that too and shit.” Jackie laughs. He turns towards them. “This has been super cool and I’d love to show you so much next time! If you can. But until then- let’s fuck shit up!”

He goes to hit Anti’s shoulder and braces to swim. “We’ll get its attention! Try to swim or warp past whatever it is you do!”

Anti looks at the others and nods. “…bye.” Then he and Jackie rocket towards the ghost leviathans, both of them roaring loudly at it. The ghost Leviathan roars and races up to meet them.

Jackie watches them go, wanting to go after—and starting to for a moment—before he thinks better of it. After all, if they're going to leave, they have to all leave together.

Alt startles and goes to grab some of the others. “Link up! I can get us up there!”

Marvin swims back and holds his hands close to him. “No way! I-I’m not getting near your weird powers again!”

“Why didn’t you say anything about that before this?!” Alt snaps in frustration.

"Marvin, you don't really have a choice," Schneep points out. "We need you up there! Are we just going to swim there? Right by the fight?"

You could bring him, JJ suggests.

"IIIII don't think he would like that."

"We don't have a lot of time!" Jackie says. "Whatever we're going to do, we have to do it fast!" He turns to look at the fight.

The ghost Levithan rushes to meet the boys and mer-Jackie rushes to try to spear it with his mandibles. But it moves too quickly and grabs Jackie by his tail and then tosses him into the cave wall.

“Jackie!!” Anti screams and then turns to growl at the ghost Leviathan. He builds up fire balls and starts to loop around the bigger fish, pelting it with fire as it screeches in pain.

Bro yells out, “Fuck! Jackie!”

“M-Marvin come on!” Alt urges, going to grab his arm. But Marvin lashes out and scratches at Alt’s arm with his claws, his eyes going a bit pink and his voice sounding a bit more robotic. “No! I-I-“ he looks back to where Jackie fell and then speeds over to try to get to him.

Alt grabs his arm and yells out in pain before trying to yell out after him. “M-Marvin!”

"Fucking hell!" Jackie shouts. He swims after Marvin.

"Wait, hold on!" Schneep swims after him as well, in case they need to make a quick getaway.

Marvin is too fast- having been here before he knows what to dodge and where to go.

Alt and Bro try to follow after the others but can’t catch up to Marvin.

Luckily Anti is still keeping the Ghost Leviathan occupied but it already seems like he’s slowing.

Schneep tries leaping closer to Marvin, but his targeting is slightly off. He has to swim the rest of the way.

Jackie curses under his breath. He's not going to be able to catch up! So he instead turns to look at Anti and rushes over, determined to help. "Hey! Ghostie goo!" he shouts.

“Jackie?! The fuck are you doing?!” Bro shouts and spurs after him.

Jackie’s shout distracts the Ghost Leviathan enough for it to look his way- and Anti lands a fireball in its face. It roars in pain and runs into some of the trees around as its vision is affected.

Marvin races over to Mer-Jackie and tries to shake him awake. Orange hybrid blood clouds in the water from Jackie’s bitten tail and a spot on his head where he hit the wall. Marvin blinks tears out of his eyes as he tries to wake his brother up. “j-Jackie?? Jackie! W-wake up!!”

Schneep stops next to Marvin. He reaches out, and feels the slightly warm blood in the water. "Jameson?!"

JJ hurries after everyone else, quickly catching up. He looks at mer-Jackie, assessing the damage. Head wound—tail wound—if there's ever a time for healing magic, it's now. This will take a minute, he says, eyes glowing blue as he grabs onto reaper Jackie's arm. A film of blue magic starts to cover his wounds, healing them slowly.

Marvin slightly snarls at JJ as he comes closer, almost curling up around Jackie protectively. But he blinks in surprise as he sees the wounds start to close.

Alt spurs over to the small group surrounding Reaper Jackie and then floats a bit away from them and uses his magic to create a shield around them.

JJ smiles at Marvin reassuringly. This is what my magic does, he says. Meanwhile, the wounds seal up.

"We have to get there soon! While it's distracted!" Schneep hisses.

Jackie grins and decides to put these mandible things to use. He swims up to the ghost leviathan and latches onto its side, serrated edges digging into its flesh and then quickly letting go. He swims downward immediately after. The Ghost Leviathan roars in pain and is immediately diverted off course and starts to swim away from its territory with fervor.

Bro blinks at Jackie’s attack and laughs, ramming against its tail slightly as it swims. “Yeahhh!! Dudes you guys fucked that thing up!!” Bro says, turning to Jackie and Anti.

Anti grins, the water bubbling a bit hot around the edges of his mouth. “Fuck yeah. I needed that.” He looks at Jackie though, “You were very impressive though… you know- for a human.”

"Ha! I'll take it." Jackie grins.

Alt braces his shield, thinking about Schneep’s warning and then gasps as he hears the Ghost Leviathan swimming away. He laughs in disbelief and lowers his shield. “I… I think we’re good to breathe for a second Schneep… it’s swimming away!”

"What the—oh, it is!" Schneep gasps. "Amazing! Driving off something so big. Truly a marvel."

Anti grins and then swims down back to everyone else, Bro follows close behind.

Marvin watches the magic with muted fascination and wonder, slowly getting closer and reaching out like he wants to touch it. “…y-you didn’t have to do this… w-why are you doing this?” He asks JJ. “…does it hurt you?”

JJ smiles at Marvin gently. No, it doesn't hurt me. It tires me out, if I use a lot of it, but it doesn't hurt me. As for why... well, I don't like seeing people hurt. Most people don't. Jackie is a good man—or, a good hybrid. He doesn't deserve to be hurt. He nods at the magic. You can touch it. But it won't feel like much of anything.

Marvin does go to touch it and just marvels at the sight of it. He feels over Jackie’s tail and balks as he feels the skin being healed over so fast. He laughs a little. “…that’s amazing… s-some white suit machines can do stuff like this… b-but I don’t think they’re this fast… or through. T-they still leave scars…”

He frowns as he sees the large scar on Jackie’s side and thoughtfully touches parts of his jaw.

Jackie notices the scar when Marvin does. He narrows his eyes slightly, wondering if the white suits were healing their own actions... and hating them just at the possibility.

If the wounds were worse there would be scars, JJ says. But lucky they weren't, and I got here quickly. He rubs his neck.

Anti lands down, looking a bit worried. “Is Jackie-?” Then he stops himself and blinks in surprise as Jackie looks almost completely fine. “W-Woah…”

Bro grins, “Yeah JJ! Way to go!”

JJ grins, a bit shyly. I'm just doing what I thought would help.

Schneep nudges him slightly. "And that is an admirable thing--not to mention it must take a lot of magic to heal."

Not that much, really. Though... he hopes that he doesn't have to use magic for a while. Just in case.

Soon enough the injured reaper opens his eyes, his wounds pretty much healed. He blinks in confusion then grins dopily- though he might just be dazed still. “…did we win?”

"Yes, Jackie, we won!" Schneep says, laughing.

Marvin snorts through his nose and playfully slaps mer- Jackie. “You fuck… you gave us all a fucking heart attack-“

“I didn’t ask to be bit and thrown across the cave!” The reaper protests.

Alt and Bro laugh.

“…just in case that thing is still around, why don’t you two join us inside the tunnel? Maybe Marvin will be able to warp again once we’re gone.” Alt says.

Jackie nods. "Yeah, we should get out of here quickly."

Anti shrugs. Mer-Jackie smiles and tries to get up but still seems kinda weak so Marvin grabs him and puts his arm over his shoulder. “…yeah okay I-I’m sticking with Marv…” the reaper laughs.

Marvin doesn’t really look at the others as he hurries towards the metal doorway. “c-c’mon then…”

Alt starts to follow closely behind, followed by Bro then Anti dragging behind the pack. The other three hurry after everyone else.

The cavern clearly looks like an underground cave that has slowly filled with water over the past century. The way is twisted and a bit confusing- branches of ghost trees jutting out and parts of the path looks like it’s made of its branches. Eventually, Marvin swims up a walkway made of wood before floating in front of a large impressive structure. It houses a glowing green field of energy, shining like light on top of water- inside a metal diamond frame. It looks completely foreign and alien to anything they’ve seen so far.

Such strange architecture, JJ comments. And then they arrive at the glowing green field. His eyes widen. How strange! Is this what we're looking for?

"Maybe?" Jackie says. "Certainly looks like fucking... alien stuff. Just by design."

Schneep slowly reaches out, and JJ pushes his hand to the side so that he touches the frame instead of the energy field. That probably wasn't something they wanted to do.

Marvin does exclaim as Schneep reaches out but relaxes as JJ diverts him. “y-Yeah this is it… it’s programmed to take people to… hq I think. Down in the lava zone. But… I think it can be programmed to go other places…?”

He looks at Alt finally and nudges his head towards the structure. “Wanna give it a try?”

"You got this, Alt!" Jackie says encouragingly.

Alt swallows shakily and then nods. He goes to place a hand on the structure and closes his eyes, feeling out the energy inside it. His tail sparks up as he tries. And trying to access the tech- trying to insert some of his own magic into it to find a grip- god it hurts! It’s a rush of a foreign alien language that makes no sense- just jumbles of words and symbols and things he couldn’t possibly understand. He digs claws into it before breaking off connection with a yell and falling down to the ground, clutching his head.

“Alt!” Bro shouts in concern and tries to swim towards him- but as he gets too close he gets mildly shocked and he spurs back. “What happened?!”

“T-Too m-much-“ Alt whimpers, his eyes filled with green light rippling just like the portal. His voice echoes slightly with static, sounding robotic. “D-Don’t under s-stand… too much p-p̵̯̕o̵͙̾ẅ̸̥e̵̪̊r̴̤̄”

JJ gasps. He starts rushing forward as well but then Bro gets shocked back and he stops.

"Too much power?!" Schneep repeats.  "What does that--"

The swirling mass of energy seems to glitch slightly- and seems to start to darken… in the middle- it almost seems like a crack is forming.

Jackie gasps. "Look!" He points at the energy... at the spot where it's darkening. "Is that--"

If it is, we have to link up! JJ says.

Alt’s head snaps up and his eyes widen. “W-What?! D-Did I do that?!”

“I-I dunno- we probably just have really bad luck!” Bro shouts, holding out a hand to Alt.

Anti pushes Marvin and Reaper Jackie behind him, growling at whatever this growing mass of black energy is.

“W-what is that?!” Marvin gasps.

The cavern shakes and the rift cracks open even bigger, glitching more and the water around the boys starts to get drawn in.

“It’s the rift! I… I guess this was all for nothing huh?” Alt says a bit tearfully. He looks to the merboys and smiles as they start getting pulled. “…thanks so much for trying to help us…”

"Yes, thank you so much," Schneep says. "Get out of here as soon as we are gone!"

It was nice to meet you! JJ adds.

"Maybe we'll see each other again!" Jackie shouts. He grabs onto Alt, and JJ grabs onto him and Schneep. "It wasn't all for nothing, Alt! We spent time with these guys, at least!" 

Alt blinks and then smiles with Jackie and nods. “y-Yeah…”

Jackie smiles back at them. "Goodbye!"

"Goodbye!" Schneep adds.

JJ nods a farewell.

Mer-Jackie tries to swim closer, looking like he wants to help but Anti holds him back with one of his tails. “W-We’ll see each other again! I-I just know it!” The reaper shouts after them. 

Bro grins, “I hope so! Take care of each other, okay?”

Anti blinks and then smiles giving them a nod. “…we will.”

The rift expands bigger with another crack and the pull is too much to resist. Down down the boys are pulled… falling through twisting caverns and caves that echo into nothingness.

[aldbooks]

A Strange Melody - Chapter 10

@sunshinebingo

Read on AO3

Groaning at a faint throbbing in his head, Azriel slowly blinked his eyes open to find his brothers hovering over him- soaking wet. It took him a moment to remember what had happened. He’d been tossed about by the waves and hit his head, which explained the ache. Rhys and Cassian must have come after him after he’d stupidly thrown himself over the balcony after-

“Gwyn,” he croaked, sitting bolt upright. The room spun slightly but his brothers’ hands on his shoulders steadied him.

“Easy brother,” Rhys said. “You took quite a blow. Madja will be here soon to heal you.”

“No,” he muttered, fighting weakly to stand as he was held down. “Gwyn- she jumped- have to-”

“Easy.” Rhys’ power rippled through the room, setting Azriel’s teeth on edge but he was unable to fight the command, stilling. “Gwyn is safe. She was the one who saved you from drowning, you idiot. What the hell were you thinking?”

“I had to-’smymate,” he slurred slightly as his temples throbbed sharply and he reluctantly lay back down.

“Did he just say mate?” he heard Cassian ask. “That explains a lot but… how? She’s-”

“Not a syren,” Rhys said firmly. There was a tinge of amusement in his tone as he said it. “She’s corrected me enough times on that particular nuance, I wouldn’t suggest saying that in front of her.”

“But you called her ‘little syren’?”

“Just a little inside joke,” Rhys said dismissively.

“Well what is she then?” Cassian asked as Azriel listened to their conversation in vague disbelief. 

“Oceanid nymph,” Rhys informed them. “A relative of sorts to the syren but less… murdery.”

So that really had been a tail he’d seen? He hadn’t imagined it. It also explained many of the missing gaps in the puzzle he’d been trying to piece together for three days now. Why she could speak their language and looked mostly fae but was also so fascinated by everything she saw. She lived below the surface. 

Which brought him back to Cassian’s initial question.

How? How was she his mate? They weren’t just different races of fae like his brothers and their mates, they were different species. How was that possible?

“As for the how,” Rhys said, reading his thoughts. “That’s a question only the almighty cauldron can answer. Seeing as it was the one who apparently decided to pair the two of you… for what it’s worth, I think it’s a good match.”

“Did you know?” Azriel asked, glaring at Rhys. “That she was my mate.”

“No,” Rhys said, looking genuinely surprised. “I just- had a hunch. Even I wouldn’t have guessed that though.”

“What bargain did you make with her?” he demanded. “What does she owe you?”

“Bargain?” Cassian’s gaze snapped to Rhys. “You made a bargain with a syren?”

“Not a syren. And yes, I did. Nothing nefarious. I could sense that she was lonely, all she wanted was a chance to meet our Shadowsinger, here.”

“Me?” Azriel wondered aloud. “Why me?”

Rhys shrugged. “She saw you flying one day and was apparently infatuated.” Cassian snorted at that.

“What favor were you intending to collect from her?” Azriel growled, grabbing his brother’s shirt and hauling him closer to his face. Rhys’ eyes widened a fraction but his expression remained as infuriatingly cool as always.

“Honestly, I hadn’t really intended to collect at all, not on this one.”

“Bullshit,” Azriel sneered. “You always collect. What could you possibly hope to gain from someone like Gwyn? She has nothing, no family-”

Rhys’ hand wrapped around the one still balled in his shirt, imbuing a bit of his power to soothe Azriel’s temper. The mating instinct was riding him hard now that he was aware of it- and aware that his mate was currently beyond his reach. He loosened his grip slightly, allowing Rhys to sit upright again. 

“Relax, if anything, I would’ve asked her for something inconsequential. A few pearls to make some jewelry for Feyre, perhaps. She was never in any danger.”

“Ok-” Cassian said, holding up his hands and frowning. “We’ve established that Gwyn is a not-syren, and made a bargain with Rhys to meet Azriel. That explains why you brought home a random, naked stranger. How did this lead to Azriel jumping off a balcony into the ocean?”

Rhys sighed. “Oceanid’s can walk on land for short periods of time, usually no more than two days. Part of the bargain we made included giving her extra time to spend here- with Azriel. And then you went and wasted an entire day trying to find answers about who she was, which, I admit, I probably should have foreseen.”

Straightening his rumpled, wet shirt, Rhys continued. “The three days of the bargain should have ended at nightfall but she must have been feeling the magic early which is why she decided to return to the waters. Probably wasn’t helped by the fact that you were mooning over Morrigan all night at dinner,” he accused, leveling a look at him.

Azriel startled. “What? I was not.”

“It certainly looked that way,” Rhys cocked a brow. “And Gwyn noticed too.”

“I wasn’t-” Azriel dragged a hand over his face, swearing. “Maybe I had been staring at her last night, but not for that reason. I had just decided I would court Gwyn and was surprised by how little I felt for Mor when she finally returned. I- she thought-?” 

Breath left his lungs in a woosh as he started to piece together the events of the night before. Why Gwyn had been so quiet at dinner when she’d previously been so effusive. Why she seemed to disappear as soon as they finished eating. “She thought I wanted Morrigan,” he breathed.

Rhys nodded. “She was quite mad at me for ‘not telling her you were already in love with someone else’ actually. I tried to talk her down but she’d already convinced herself.”

Azriel cursed again. “I need to fix this,” he said, once again trying to rise from the bed. The pain in his head was already ebbing but he was still woozy. Again, is brother’s stopped him. “I have to talk to her. Tell me where she is Rhys,” he begged. “How do I find her?”

“I will take you to her,” he promised. “But not today.” Ignoring Azriel’s growl he continued. “She’s been away from her waters for several days, she needs time to recover and so do you. Besides, it’s still storming.” 

They all glanced out the window where rain continued to slash against the glass. 

“Give it a day or two and I will take you to her,”  Rhys swore. “Besides, if she’s your mate and you want to be with her, I suggest you start considering how the hell you’re going to make this work when neither of you can live in the other's home for long. It’ll take some work.”

“You didn’t consider that before you agreed to bring her here?” Azriel asked.

Rhys shrugged. “Honestly, no. I didn’t even know if anything would come of it. Like I said she just seemed lonely and- she reminded me of my sister. My big heart got the better of me,” he sniffed.

Az and Cass exchanged a look. They never spoke about Rhys' late sister, or his mother, but they all missed them both. Az didn’t comment on it.

“Is there not some magic that can be used, like how you gave her an extra day? Surely there’s a more permanent solution. There has to be if the cauldron made us mates?” If the cauldron had intentionally mated him with someone he could only rarely see… Azriel did not wish to contemplate what might mean, it was too cruel. 

“Perhaps,” Rhys said. “We would have to look into it, perhaps Helion has something on it in his libraries…. Which is why it’s best to take a bit of time before you see her again. I promise she will not forget you in the meantime.”

Azriel’s chest ached as he flopped back down on the bed. His shadows were crying out, a lamenting song for the nymph. That same strange melody he’d heard from the first moment he saw her continued on and he clung to it as he forced himself to concede to Rhys’ suggestion.

When he saw his mate again, he would come to her with his heart in his hands, and a plan for their future.

[heartbinders]

Headcanon / meta: Post - End of Evangelion.

( Note: this will be primarily focusing on the anime, but I will make mentions of the manga as I’ve pulled some influence from it. )

     So after End of Evangelion, Tokyo-3 is ruined in the aftermath of the Third Impact. Most of it was destroyed in the conflict with the JSSDF, and whatever wasn’t was destroyed when Lilith raised the Black Moon. What the hell is everyone supposed to do after that?

     As Yui mentioned at the tail end of Instrumentality, “anyone can come back as long as they have the will to live.” So not everyone is permanently tanged, but pretty much all of humanity is merged into the LCL sea and people will return to their physical bodies one-by-one should they have the desire to do so.

     As far as wreckage goes, obviously Tokyo-3 was completely decimated, but in entering Instrumentality, people left their physical forms. If humanity was supposed to be brought to a state similar to the First Ancestral Race — in other words, closer to perfection — they may have left this plane of existence, ascending to a higher one ( thank you Cherry for helping me with this bit ). That said, beyond the Black Moon rising out of the earth and destroying Tokyo-3, the physical damage to the rest of the world should actually be quite minimal. The skies might appear red for a while, the oceans would take on the same color, the Mass Production EVAs would stand in their crucified positions, and obviously everything would be really empty with everyone merged into the LCL sea. But otherwise, things would be relatively unchanged outside of Tokyo-3, which serves as the epicenter of it all.

     If anything, in the manga, we see a return of seasons:

     Plus in the manga, Yui mentioned wanting Shinji to see a change in seasons one day, since they were lost to climate change in the Second Impact! So if any huge worldwide change was going to take place, I’d like to imagine that Yui, in her godlike state as Unit-01, willed them to come back.

     Anyway, returning to the idea of wreckage, people coming back to Tokyo-3 from Instrumentality ( presumably NERV faculty first ) could move to other parts of Japan and gradually get back on their feet. This is what I imagine Asuka, Shinji, and anyone else who wasn’t dead before Instrumentality started ( therefore having a physical body to return to ) would do. Things would be rough for a while, but I really don’t think End of Evangelion is as bleak of an ending as it seems at the end of the movie.

     It might take Shinji a while to actually realize that, as it’s implied he’s been on the beach for a little while at the end of the movie. He erected haphazard graves for people in the time he was there. But at least in my reading of the film, especially taking episodes 25 and 26 of the anime into consideration, I think that as people return to their physical bodies, it will become easier to realize Shinji’s own existence in relation to others. Being able to connect with other people again would help him eventually get back on his feet. He doesn’t know where his happiness lies, but he will continue to live. ( Not without immense trauma from Third Impact of course, but that’s a whole separate headcanon post. )

     As for people’s memories of the events, at least in the anime, I think NERV personnel and the pilots would all remember, but anyone who wasn’t directly involved with the Angels and etc. wouldn’t really know. Coming back from Instrumentality I suspect they might just feel as though they’ve come back from a dream. In the manga no one clearly remembers, except Shinji is implied to at least have vague feelings of remembering. But in the film, Asuka’s “disgusting” implies that she remembers what happened in the hospital room. So the MPEs would remain and there would be travel lines going through where Tokyo-3 was, but no one would know why they’re there except the people involved with them. ( Manga canon, obviously everyone’s memory is fuzzy at best, if not nonexistent. )

[reidyoulikeabook]

B is for Blindfolds

Summary: The BAU Christmas party is held at the office. Penelope is full of terrible ideas, but somehow Emily’s are worse.

Warnings: Mentions of alcohol and drunkenness, use of a blindfold (for a fun game, not anything sexy here), pining, idiots who don’t realise their love is reciprocated as HELL (they will, but not quite yet).

Word count: 3k

A/N: okay so i really had fun writing this one!!! i have a solid solid direction of where this is headed now and i’m EXCITED about it! as always, please let me know what you think :) this is technically Wednesday’s update, and there’ll be another on Friday!

This is the second chapter of the A-Z of Spencer Reid series, but can be read as a stand alone.

The team, yourself included, are more than ready to let off a little steam. There was no point trying to book anywhere in advance, not with the sporadic nature of festive serial killers, so you’d taken over the office. Penelope had, in eager anticipation of your return, decked it out like a winter wonderland.

“Seriously, it looks like someone robbed a grotto,” Emily had joked.

She wasn’t wrong. A seven-foot Christmas tree, God knows how she’d smuggled that into the building, obscured the hallway outside Hotch’s office. It was dripping in tinsel, baubles, you name it. It even had a nutcrucker man. Mistletoe was hung, obviously in a way she believed to be covert, and maybe it would have been if you weren’t all deeply familiar with the antics of Penelope I-Love-The-Holidays Garcia. You’re all careful to sidestep it as you walk in, knowing she’s a stickler for the rules. All equally reluctant to invoke her wrath before a glass of eggnog or two.

On the table, there’s a selection of alcohol laid out. Alongside a bunch of pink glittery cups.

“I got everything!” Penelope chirps.

“I can see that baby girl,” Morgan chimes in, greeting her with a hug.

She really has: there’s juice, fruit, almost every liquor you can think of (including the fancy whiskey that Rossi and Hotch like to get out at dinner), wine of varying colours, and what looks to be some fancy fruit cider. From the spread, and the mischevious twinkle in her eye, you’re sure she won’t be letting you escape unscathed.

At that thought, you can’t help but steal a glance to your right.

Spencer. The man is stood next to you with folded arms, surveying the options in a way that almost looks pensive.

Got to behave myself

I will behave myself

Will he be drinking?

That question is answered when he takes a step towards the table, stepping behind it. He picks up a plastic cup and, playing bartender, asks.

“So, what can I get you?”

***

“Mixology is pretty much the same as any other kind of chemistry,” Spencer explains, gesturing with the hand that’s holding his cup and swilling the liquid, “It’s about balancing the right components to get the combination you want. A lot of the recipes call for more alcohol than is strictly necessary for the flavour they provide. Usually the other elements of the drink are designed to bring out the flavour or mask it, depending on what alcohol you’re using. Almost always you want to mask the taste of vodka, but tequila you try to balance it out.”

Spencer is leant on the desk next to you, rambling, having been allowed to be in charge of making everybody’s drinks over the past couple of hours.

Sipping the concoction he’s made you, you have to admit he’s done a pretty good job.

He clearly agrees, since he’s consumed more than a couple himself. He’s just tipsy enough to push at the boundaries of affection, his shoulder pressing against yours, his happy eyes a little glassy. You listen, hanging on every word he says, watching him lick his lips before he continues speaking again.

“That’s why they serve tequila shots with lime and salt.”

“And here I was thinking they were just making it fun for body shots,” Emily cuts in, making Morgan and Penelope laugh.

You see the look on Penelope’s face and intercept her before she can start, “Don’t even think about it.”

“But!”

“No!” You shake your head, “You really think Hotch is going to go for body shots?”

Hotch laughs dryly, taking a sip of the whiskey he’s been nursing, “That’s one I think I’ll refrain from participating in.”

“Fine,” Penelope pouts, “But everybody’s doing pin the tail on the donkey!”

“Pin the tail on the donkey? What are we, 5 years old?” Emily laughs.

You lean in against Spencer, who has been quietly surveying the last few moments. Your fingers slip slightly beneath his buttoned sleeves, coming to rest on his forearm.

“Balance,” You whisper quietly.

He nods, shifting to allow you to lean more closely into him on the desk.

It’s hard not to get distracted by your proximity to him.

It’s only because you’re drunk.

Maybe. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t feel good. If you squinted, you might just look like a couple. That’s certainly what it looks like to Dave, who gives you a cursory once over before training his gaze elsewhere. Your heads are almost touching, Spencer is slouching but keeps his neck just stiff enough to avoid resting atop of yours. You’re casually against his body, the two of you strewn across the desk. It looks comfortable, familiar.

It feels comfortable, familiar.

It’s only because you’re drunk.

***

After a singular round of pin the tail on the donkey, during which a blindfolded Emily decided to go rogue and try to pin the tail on the moving-very-quickly-out-of-dodge Hotch, it’s decided the blindfolds will be used for a different purpose.

Trust falls.

Well, not so much trust falls, as you’re each blindfolded and tasked with the challenge of walking across the bullpen without falling. 

“We’ll pair up!” Penelope announces, rubbing her hands together with glee, “Hotch you’re with Rossi, Emily you’re with me, Derek you’re with ____, and Spencer you’re with J.J!”

Oh

You will away the tinge of disappointment that flares in your chest at not having been paired with Spencer. Although, when you look up at him, you swear you can see a similar feeling sitting behind his eyes.

Probably reading too much into it

“Reid has an unfair advantage,” J.J argues, interrupting your thoughts.

“How do I have an unfair advantage?” Spencer asks.

“Eidetic memory,” She replies.

There are murmers of dissent, then Rossi pipes up.

“If you can’t make it across the bullpen you walk everyday without falling, I think you seriously need to consider whether you should be out in the field with a gun.”

Everybody laughs. They laugh more, though, when Rossi falls on his first attempt, crashing into Hotch. The two decide to resign from the game after that. Hotch plays the health and safety card, but privately you think it’s the double whiskeys that have betrayed him.

“You think you can do it?” You ask Spencer.

He smirks, “I could do it in my sleep.”

You shake your head, “Your legs are too long. You’re like Bambi at the best of times, let alone three mai tais in.”

“Two,” He objects, you quirk a brow and he relents, “Fine, three. And a whiskey Rossi gave me which was awful. I drank it fast and then he told me that one glass I’d had would cost $40. Who would pay $40 to drink that voluntarily?”

“Rossi, Hotch, Emily,” You smile, nudging him with your elbow, “And don’t think you’ve distracted me Spence, I’m still betting you fall.”

“You’re betting?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re that confident in my ability to mess up,” He teases.

“Something like that.”

He grins, “You’ll see.”

He takes the blindfold when it’s his turn, smirking at you as he adjusts it onto his face. It’s with a great degree of annoyance that you watch him clear the bullpen in five easy, and somehow very elegant, steps.

“Go Spence!” J.J cheers, her previous displeasure completely forgotten.

“Pretty boy!” Morgan cheers.

Without taking the blindfold off, Spencer tilts his head to exactly where you’re standing, smirking, “You wanna go next, ____?”

It’s hard not to visibly react to what his cockiness does to you.

You swallow, “Fine. Give it here.”

***

You move your feet confidently one in front of the other. After almost a year of walking the bullpen, you’re pretty certain you can get across it unscathed. You even remember to swing your hip to the right to miss the Santa gnome gone fishing currently hanging off Derek’s desk. In doing so, however, you manage to get yourself all caught up.

With a single step, you feel yourself slipping, arms flailing and managing to catch on to absolutely nothing. You panic.

"Spencer!"

"Spencer?!"

Spencer.

You recognise the feeling of his hands steadying you at your waist. He pulls you against his body, tucking your outstretched arm into him to steady you. You vaguely register Derek’s amused chuckle from behind you.

“I got you,” Spencer says, “Stay still, I’ll take the blindfold off.”

His hands gently slide up your cheeks, lifting it with care to avoid yanking on your hair. He pulls it up and away from your head smoothly.

The lights are dizzyingly bright. You blink rapidly, allowing your eyes to adjust on the face of the slightly concerned, slightly amused looking Spencer hovering above you. His left hand lingering against your cheek. You forget yourself entirely, lost in the intimacy of his touch, barely daring to blink in case it’s gone.

“Mistletoe!” Penelope cackles with glee, breaking your reverie.

“What?” You ask.

Spencer looks up. You follow his gaze, seeing the strategically placed mistletoe. In guiding you to safety, Spencer had walked right into Penelope’s trap.

Oh.

Derek teases something, underscored by a quip from Emily that has them both in hysterics. Neither you or Spencer are really listening.

He’s already so close to you. The pressure of his hand on your cheek starting to make you flush with warmth. His thumb strokes downwards, over your cheekbone. You tilt yourself a little towards him. Trying desperately to act casual, but ultimately failing miserably. His breath fans over your face, smelling faintly of rum and lime.

“Not like this,” He whispers, so quiet that only you can possibly hear him.

He presses a kiss to your cheek instead.

Fuck.

“Very exciting stuff guys,” Emily chirps.

Vaguely, you’re aware of J.J admonishing her, Rossi’s eyes studying you, Derek’s laughter, Penelope’s squeal of delight that someone had finally fallen into her trap.

Your heart thumps in your chest, and you wonder if it’s loud enough for Spencer to hear. From the way he swallows thickly, stepping back with a degree of caution and a look of a deer caught in the headlines, you think it probably was.

Fuck.

What did he mean not like this?

***

After the mistletoe debaccle, the party starts to die down a little. Hotch makes an excuse to leave, shortly followed by Rossi.

You stick around for a little while longer, devoting most of your time to the decidedly tipsy Penelope who’s hanging off Derek’s arm. The mood is nice, actually, a welcome change from the tense atmosphere that often clouds the bullpen, and its occupants wherever in the US they may be.

It’s a little after 1am when you decide to make your exit.

“Do you want to share an Uber?” You ask Spencer, gripping onto his elbow as he walks past.

“Yeah! I was planning on taking the metro but you’ll be safer in an Uber.”

“Are you...sharing it with me?” You ask, feeling a little awkward at having to repeat the request for clarification. The tipsiness you’d initially felt has started to wear off; it leaves both tiredness and an odd shyness in its place.

“Oh no! Of course!” He smiles, grabbing his satchel from where it’s slung over the back of his chair, “We’ll get them to drop you off first, then me.”

***

The wait for the Uber is silent, but not uncomfortable. You loll against Spencer, comfortable in the quiet. The only sounds to be heard of keys as various other agents leave the building. It’s easy to tell which are coming from the grind of the paperwork and which are coming from their own parties. You’d like to attribute it to a years worth of profiling experience but the tinsel around Jerry from White Collar Crimes’ neck is a tad on the nose.

You don’t speak until it arrives, climbing in and closing the door. Clicking your seatbelt into place.

“Sorry about embarassing us before,” You say, purposely being ambiguous.

He squints at you for a moment before opening his mouth, “You mean calling for me when you fell?”

“Yeah,” You say,

“You didn’t embarass me,” He says, quiet, “It was nice actually. Nobody’s ever called for me when they’ve been in trouble before.”

“What do you mean?”

“I uh, I guess I’m not the most athletic. People usually go to Morgan if they need some kind of physical help. It was nice. That you wanted me. Even if you are drunk.”

“I’d have asked for you sober,” You admit.

He squints in response, and you continue, “I trust you Spence. I trust you to always have my back in the field, to protect me. I’d trust you with my life. I mean, of course I’d trust any one of the others, the team wouldn’t work otherwise. But,” You trail off, a little embarassed.

“But it’s different.”

“Yeah. Like you’re the person I’m closest to I guess. In the almost year I’ve been here, we’ve worked together the most. I think I have the best working relationship with you. If ever there was a crisis, I’d want you. Even if the crisis is me tripping on my own shoelaces while blindfolded.”

You both laugh at that. It’d be easy to succumb to a comfortable silence again, let the moment fizzle out.

“I think the same about you,” He says, his voice cracks a little with the sincerity, “Whenever anything goes wrong. You’re the person I want to talk to.”

You move your hand forward to close the gap between you two, taking his hand in yours and squeezing it, “I’m really glad we have each other Spence.”

“Even when I beat you?” The playful glint in his eye is back.

“Even when you beat me.”

“If I remember correctly, and I usually do, you actually owe me for losing the bet.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, you said ‘I’m still betting you fail.’“

You smile, “We never agreed what we were betting.”

“We didn’t.”

"So what do you want as your prize then, Rudolph?”

“Rudolph?” He laughs a little, incredulously.

“Well I called you Bambi before and obviously you’ve proved you’re more talented, I needed to pick a respectably agile deer.”

“Rudolph was known for his nose, not his agility.”

“The song says he guided the sleigh Spence, he couldn’t have done that if he wasn’t agile.”

He shakes his head at you, “He was just in charge of the lights.”

“Did they or did they not get around the world safely?”

“The song never clarifies that.”

“It’d be a little dark for them to kill off Rudolph.”

“Probably why they didn’t include it in the song.”

You huff out a laugh, rolling your eyes, “Well anytime you decide to stop nitpicking my compliments and decide what you want as your prize is fine by me, honestly.”

He smiles, obviously having decided to answer you sincerely. You study him as he, presumably weighs up his options, his teeth momentarily catching his plush lower lip. You swear you see his eyes flicker to your mouth. But then you blink, and he’s studying you thoughtfully.

Just wishful thinking

"Caramel,” He settles on.

"Caramel?”

“Last year I went to this coffee shop and I got their festive caramel coffee. It was amazing. But they only did it that one year, they gave me the recipe for the syrup but...” He trails off, looking embarassed, and when he speaks again his voice is quieter, “I kept burning it. I had a thermometer but I couldn’t get the temperature quite right.”

"You want me to make you caramel syrup for coffee? Mixologist skills don’t extend quite that far?”

He doesn’t say anything, instead pressing his lips together in a thin line. Almost as if he’s worried for your reaction.

You're quick to follow yourself up, “Well I’d be happy to give it a try, but I think I’ll need somebody to taste test it. Make sure I’m getting it right.”

He grins, “I’m probably a better taste taster than maker.”

“Well, we’re off for a few days, assuming we don’t get any cases. You’re at Ethan’s for Christmas, right? When are you back?”

“The 27th. But I’m going to visit my mom over new years, so I’m leaving again on the 30th.”

You nod, “Well, how about the 28th?”

“The 28th sounds good.”

It’s impossibly good (bad) timing that the Uber pulls up outside your building.

“Well I’ll look forward to it,” You say, undoing your seatbelt.

“Me too.”

There’s a silence. Not uncomfortable, but definitely not like the one earlier.  Your eyes linger on one another, almost cautious. There’s a buzz in the air, one that can't quite be attributed to alcohol.

Ask him what he meant by not like this

No

Ask him

“This your place?” The Uber driver asks, clicking his tongue with a degree of impatience.

“Yeah,” You reply, nodding. Reluctantly, you push open the car door, turning your head over your shoulder to look at Spencer as you depart.

His mouth hangs open a little, words seeming to play across his lips. Not making them out of his mouth. The driver clears his throat, and you throw him an apologetic glance. Spencer’s Uber rating will be in the toilet after this.

Good job he takes the Metro.

"Have a good Christmas Spence,” You say, wondering if he can tell. Wondering if he can sense how badly you want to stay, to let this Uber drive you around the backstreets of Virginia. They’re not particularly pretty. But there isn’t much you wouldn’t do just to spend time with him. You’d even allow yourself to promise caramel syrup you know you’ll butcher.

If he knows, the wistful look in his eyes doesn’t betray it.

“Have a good Christmas, _____.”

---

Next part: C is for Caramel

Series tagslist: @altsvu @reidingmelodies @muffin-cup @reidscanehand @bvttercupbby @jessicarabbit09 @lukewearingbeanies @lady-anon-x @aperrywilliams @southsidemistress @a-broken-pact @jjongs-tae-and-biscuits @reidsnose

(message me/reply to this to be added or removed!)

[stuff-from-the-void-matron]

Laurel Wreaths & Animal Teeth (10)

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(technoblade x fem!reader)

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(a/n: y’all seemed to like chapter 9 so here’s chapter 10! I know, I know. still no technoblade! BUT! he WILL be arriving soon~ very soon. >:3c but for now just enjoy the rest of the utter nonsense that’s the election. and remember! reblogs and comments REALLY make writing the next chapter possible. if y’all lose interest then so will I. so reblog and comment y’all! <3)

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There was an eerie silence hanging over everyone in attendance. Nobody quite knew what to say, or even how to react to this startling new information. Not a soul spoke as a few people on stage and in the audience shared confused glances, not even whispering their questions to each other lest they shatter the heavy stillness. At least that was the case before HBomb hopped up out of his chair and gave a loud and cheerful “WHOO! NEW PRESIDENT!” that successfully slam dunked everyone back into the moment at hand. 

Suddenly you were surrounded by noise as everyone started talking at once. 

Meanwhile you remained mostly unaware of it, well more like distantly aware of it.

You stared up at the stage, locked in place from how floored you still were.

What in the absolute hell was Wilbur talking about?? 

You can’t have won! Because you weren’t running! 

So there’s no way for you to WIN something you were never actively competing for! 

There had to be a mistake. Maybe this was just some more of their silly pranks and japes before they read off the real winner, which actually wasn’t that huge of a stretch for this SMP if you were being honest. Or at least that’s what you were telling yourself anyways. Vaguely you could hear voices talking all around you, but it seemed far away, so you weren’t really registering what was being said. You were mostly just staring blankly at the stage, not really seeing any of the people up there as you tried to process what just happened.

It took Tubbo grabbing your elbow and shaking it to snap you out of the almost trance like state you'd slipped into. You looked down and he actually looked excited, but you could also see shock in his expression as well. You looked behind you to the rest of the crowd and some were clapping and cheering while others stood silent, shocked like you if you had to hazard a guess. You looked back up at the stage when you heard Tommy calling you to come up with them. You were still sorta frozen but thankfully Tubbo nudged you forward, reminding you that you needed to move. Silently you made your way up to the podium, mouth feeling dry and stomach feeling like it was full of stones.

Now that you were zoned back in you could hear the arguing coming from the podium. You were sort of dreading coming face to face with Wilbur, already knowing how… not great he took Schlatt winning from the original timeline. And he apparently knew and was friends with the ram hybrid. So you couldn’t see him being happy you won.. But when you got to the stage where the others were you couldn’t focus on Wilbur because all at once your vision was overtaken by Tommy, who was babbling about how you won! And how the hell did you win?? You weren’t even running! And how he’s pretty down they lost but at least Quackity and George didn’t win! (that got a ‘fuck you!’ out of the Spanish speaking young man) You gave a weak chuckle and said you’re not sure how or why you won but it was crazy indeed. 

Quackity, Schlatt, and George were the most vocal about not thinking the results were fair. Though to be clear, Wilbur didn’t look thrilled either, but he was doing his best to look professional or put together you guessed. Or at least not blow up in front of literally everyone. You kept an eye on him while Tommy led you up to the mic and told you to give your first decree as president. But you sorta… didn’t want to be president. You hoped you wouldn’t upset anyone by not accepting the job. But you didn’t think you’d make a good leader. So you turned away from the mic, hoping nobody but the ones beside you on stage would hear when you asked if you had to accept the role. 

This caught all the mens’ attention and Wilbur was quick to give you an out, saying no you didn’t technically HAVE to accept the presidency. In fact if you weren’t ready or willing to fill the role then the runners up, aka him and Tommy, would happily do so for you. But then Quackity, Schlatt, and surprisingly Fundy said that wasn’t fair either since both Pog2020 and Schlatt/Swag2020 were tied with the amount of votes. And you had to admit, that didn’t seem fair. But Wilbur perked up and you’d swear in that moment he was the embodiment of the ‘lightbulb above head’ phrase. Then he grinned and turned to Fundy and Niki and asked to speak to them before urging them and Tommy off the stage, leaving you and Schlatt/Swag2020 on the stage alone.

Not wanting to leave everyone in the audience hanging, you gave a polite smile and assured them that the others just wanted to…. recount the votes! They weren’t sure Wilbur counted them right so they figured recounting with some other witnesses there would clear things up! The crowd shared confused glances but it was Tubbo who yelled out that that sounded sus as hell! And if he were you he’d think they were trying to cheat or something! You snorted a laugh but assured him it was alright and you didn’t think they’d be that ballsy~

-0-

Fundy and Niki followed behind Wilbur and Tommy, the latter of the two males just as confused about what Wilbur was up to as the pair behind him. But then they all gathered in the white house and Wilbur turned to the members of Coconut2020 and said he had a proposition for them! The brunet said that since it was clear that you weren’t really up to being president, his tone derisive like your refusal of the position was tantamount to spitting in his food, then if Fundy and Niki agreed to combine their votes with Swag2020 then Wilbur could be president again and things could go back to normal!

But the blonde woman and fox hybrid didn’t look convinced.. Niki said they’d just be giving them their votes so they could win, while they got nothing? Fundy frowned and asked what positions he and Niki would have in the Pog2020 cabinet if they joined their votes with theirs. Here is where Wilbur hesitated, unsure what positions he could give them. But then he smiled and said Niki would be the First Woman, since she was the first woman to join L’manberg! And Fundy would of course be everyone’s Little Champion! He couldn’t help but baby talk his son, he’d never been able to take Fundy seriously, not really anyways. What with his alert little triangle ears, furry face, soft little paw beans, and fluffy tail. He was just too cute for Wilbur to take him seriously. Even now. But it was this attitude that would be his downfall. Because it’s what caused Fundy to snap.

“No, Wilbur! This is serious! I’m not some baby for you to dress up and prance around! I’m a fucking adult! I have my own house, I pay taxes, I fought in a war for fucks sake!” the hybrid shouted, clearly upset.

Wilbur was shocked but tried to calm Fundy down, not fully realizing how mad his son was until the red haired male practically snarled, 

“I’m not going to sit here and hand over the votes Niki and I earned just so you can treat me like a child!”

Without another word he turned on his heel and stormed out of the white house, leaving three stunned people behind. Tommy looked up at Wilbur, opening and closing his mouth, wanting so badly to say something, maybe lighten the awkward mood but not knowing what or even if he should speak at all. Meanwhile Niki just sighed and gave Wilbur a soft disappointed look. She knew Wilbur loved his son, and that often translated to him babying the hybrid. But she’d warned him, as kindly as she could, that it seemed to upset Fundy that his own father wouldn’t treat him like anything but a kid. She’s not a parent herself, so she figures it must be hard for a parent to see their child as anything but a child, even after they’ve grown. 

But she can see Fundy’s side too. It must be massively frustrating to be looked upon like you’re just a kid. Especially since Wilbur doesn’t even treat Tommy, his own younger brother, as a child as much as he does Fundy. And she’d seen first hand how Wilbur’s attitude towards Fundy, whether or not the brunet intended for it to happen or not, did in fact influence how others treated the red furred hybrid. She’d seen Tommy, Tubbo, Eret, Sapnap, and even herself a couple times sort of not treat Fundy with the respect you’d show to a fellow adult. She tried her best to kick that habit, and her and Fundy’s friendship had really blossomed thanks to it, she thinks. But she believes Wilbur just pushed his son to his breaking point…

“He’s right, Wilbur. You can’t keep babying him. He’s a grown up now..” Niki said neutrally.

Then she let out a tired sounding breath of air and turned to follow after the fox hybrid, saying she would go check on him. But she also said Wilbur needed to talk to him later, man to man, and make things right. Said brunet looked rather flummoxed, not sure what the hell just happened. It was Tommy who broke the silence by giving an almost weak sounding ‘holy shit’. Wilbur turned his perplexed gaze to his brother and asked what the HELL that was all about! Said blond winced and gave a sigh while awkwardly scratching the back of his head, not thrilled with the weird turn this conversation took, but answered Wilbur,

“Ehh… looks like you and Fundy have some unresolved personal issues, bud..”

Wilbur barked that this wasn’t the time for Fundy to let some personal vendetta against him cloud his reasoning! They were in the middle of the do or die of the election! If they couldn’t get Fundy and Niki to agree to join their votes with theirs then they won’t win! And they’ll be in a tie with Schlatt and Quackity! Wilbur jerked his hands down, like he wanted to slam them against a table or something. But instead he just viciously scrubbed his fingers through his curly hair, feeling embittered with everyone around him. All he’d wanted was to lead HIS country! Like he rightfully should have been able to! All this election bollocks and now he was having to try and convince HIS OWN SON to help him stay president?! If it were him and Phil needed help he’d give it! Well he would if Phil were ever fucking around..

The sound of a crowd cheering caused the two to whip their heads towards the area where the stage was before they looked at each other. Not a word was spoken between them as they both took off in a run towards the stage, wondering what happened and what they were missing. They rounded the corner of the building to the left of the stage to see you smiling and waving daintily to the crowd. Not sure what they’d missed, Wilbur rushed up to Niki and asked what happened. Did you accept the presidency already?? 

Niki raised an eyebrow at her friend and nodded, saying you’d finally relented and accepted the role as president after she and Fundy came back from ‘recounting the votes’. Niki hummed and said she figured that you finally accepted the results after it was made clear that if you didn’t then everything would be stuck in a tie. But then Niki’s reflecting mood brightened and she said she really thought you’d do a good job as the new president. Even joking that you had to be better than Schlatt. 

Niki never voiced it out loud but she’d been worried Schlatt and Quackity would win. Schlatt was the biggest worry for her. To his credit, he was actually a really funny guy and she could see why Wilbur was friends with him, they just had a good chemistry and their senses of humor bounced off each other well. But… Schlatt could also be blatantly power hungry and hateful if not kept in check from the few times she’d met him or heard stories about him from Wilbur. Niki felt like giving him the amount of authority that came with being president would only end poorly. And Quackity was an alright guy in her opinion but he could be vindictive and petty too. She got the vibe that any amount of power given to him would instantly go to his head and turn him into a jerk.

But again, these were just her personal (and not spoken aloud) opinions…

She always hated being mean to people and saying hurtful things. So she kept her opinions to herself more often than not. Unless it was super important anyways. So instead of elaborating on Why she was so relieved that Schlatt and Quackity hadn’t won she instead flashed the two members of Pog2020 a smile and said it had been a fun race, and despite all the drama she really thinks Tommy’s friend will do a good job. Then with a keen raise of her eyebrows the blonde suggested with a cute smile,

“Oh, maybe you could be a member of Reader’s Cabinet! I’m sure she’ll be needing a vice president, secretary of defense, treasury, and other positions!”

Niki was honestly just trying to cheer up her friend, but the cheerful smile slipped off her face at the dark look that crossed Wilbur’s. She grew concerned when she saw how hard he was clenching his fists and gritting his teeth. His behavior over the last few weeks had been slowly worrying her, but this was starting to make her anxious. And when he started marching towards the stage she shot a panicked look to Tommy, who could do nothing but give her an equally worried and confused face before they both tried to hurry after their brown haired friend. But he got up onto the stage before either of them could grab his arm, and Niki was about to call after him but he reached your side, clearing his throat and alerting you to his presence. 

You looked down and saw him standing at attention next to you, hand outstretched for a handshake and a polite but serious smile on his face. You were surprised, thinking he was handling this with more grace than you’d expected, but a feeling deep in your gut was still on edge. You knew the destruction Wilbur Soot was all too willing and capable of doing in the selfish pursuit of keeping power over the country he made. The lives of his friends and family be damned. So while you really really wanted to hope that Wilbur will be better since you won over the other parties… you’re also highly skeptical that he will manage to keep his sanity. 

But instead of showing any of your reservations you instead simply smile and shake his hand, thanking him for congratulating your win and promising him you’ll do your best with the presidency and taking care of L’manberg. And if you noticed how his smile looked a little too angry at the edges then you didn’t say anything..

So instead of dealing with the mess that was Wilbur Soot you focused on the crowd and let go of Wilbur’s hand to stand at the sort of comically short podium and spoke out to the people you were now responsible for,

“Well, this all was certainly unexpected..”

Chuckles erupted from the crowd at that, making you feel a bit better about all of this. At least you weren’t the only one to see how wild all of this mess was.

“I’m actually really shocked! I wasn’t intending to run for president but I suppose life has other plans for me. But regardless, I’m honored you’ve all put your faith in me to lead you. I swear to do my absolute best for you and help L’manberg flourish.”

Applause from the crowd made you give a genuine smile. Perhaps this wouldn’t be so bad?

-0-

In the audience, watching this all unfold behind a mask and tapping his foot, stood the familiar looking figure in a green hood. Hanging around next to him was Sapnap in all his black and white dressed glory. And at some point George had gotten bored with the drama on stage and had left Quackity’s side (not that the duck hybrid had even noticed or cared) and wandered over to stand with his two friends. They watched Wilbur hand over the presidency to you and George made an off hand comment that Wilbur sure didn’t look pleased with losing, a smug laugh in his sleepy tone. Sapnap snickered but stared at you and elbowed his taller friend, asking in a curious tone while subtly gesturing to you,

“Speaking of, why didn’t you tell us you’d let someone new on the server, Dream?”

His friend glanced at him for a second longer than normal before replying with a tense tone to his voice that he hadn’t let her on. That caused both Sapnap and George to jerk their heads up to look at him in visible confusion. While George stammered through a series of ‘what’s’ and ‘wait hold on-’ Sapnap was loudly questioning what the hell he meant. The mask wearing player shushed them both before looking up to see if anyone had heard them or looked over at the twos’ loud exclamations. Thankfully nobody had. So he sighed and led them a bit further away from the crowd and explained that he’d not authorized any new members to the server. and it was true, he hadn’t. But both hybrids still looked confused and George asked, clearly puzzled,

“Well then how did she get on the server?? Nobody else can let people on, right, Dream?”

Sapnap nodded but stopped when their taller friend let out a flat hum before shaking his head ‘no’. That caught the shorter twos’ attention so he elaborated by asking them,

“Who on this server is known to have Creative Mode?”

The two blinked before it dawned on them and they looked even more shocked than before, only now it was coupled with anxiousness. Sapnap harshly whispered to the two, asking why the hell fucking GOD himself would actually let someone onto the server?? DreamXD never bothered with players and stuff, only being rumored to be seen by players if they broke server rules. George added on that this all sounded really weird. And an idea hit him and he couldn’t help but voice it. 

“You don’t think… she’s linked to DreamXD.. do you? Like working for him or something?” he asked a touch nervously.

The other two didn’t say anything, not really knowing what to say to that. Sapnap could only shrug while the tallest of their group remained silent, none of them having any answers to the string of questions they’d just let loose.

They would just have to wait and see it seemed.

-0-

@lady-bee-fechin @kacchasu @putridjoy @lunawritesstories @galaxypankitty3030 @paradigmax @zachariethememerie @killmewithafanfic @trinity-1002107 @hufflepuff-demigod @truthdaze @exorcisms-with-elmo @redbloodtea @heythereimhaylz @olyink @jackalopedoodles @nikkineeky @artsimatsu @hufflepuff-demigod @corpiet @beepa99 @anxiousnarwhale @bananaaddictmilkshake @realitycanbeajerk @lostandsouciant @thegeekisheere @sparkling-gayyy

[1kook]

netflix & chill

summary If you planned things right, you could rain down your raging displeasure on Jeon Jungkook right after the meal but before this proposed ‘Netflix and chilling,’ maybe dramatically throw your glass of wine at him, before storming out of his place and reporting him to the authorities (Namjoon) for his douchebag personality. warnings grinding, 2 seconds of sub kook, oral (f), cum eating, vanilla but [ passionate ], unprotected sex, dirty talk tags use of the oldest trick in the book (“your hands are sooo big”), shy oblivious AND gentleman jk? pick a struggle, brief ment of app developer kook, evil and conniving oc wc 10.2k !! wow!!

will I ever write a serious jk fic? NO. this entire thing was based off this pic of jungkook which i’ve said before that i would print out in sepia filter and crumple and stuff in a drawer n then tell my kids 35 years from now was a long lost lover i met on a cruise to the bahamas and never saw again ty to mia more @daechwlta​ for being there during my brief crisis over this fic 🥺

When Namjoon had first not so subtly mentioned the idea of setting you up on a date, it was with a faux air of disinterest that you had masterfully pried the details out of him. Namjoon has a friend, he said, a friend who was kinda sorta attached to his hip. And while Namjoon loved the kid, he also thought this friend could use some social interaction outside of Namjoon.

Now you and Namjoon weren’t exactly the most conventional of friends for him to be proposing blind dates to you at whim. He was your senior at school, your mentor in your scholarship program, an educated man studying for his masters. So when he’d first uttered the words you were immediately on the fence. Sure, the two of you knew each other well and probably got along better than most mentor-mentee pairings among your year, but you doubt Namjoon knew enough of your tastes to offer you up for a blind date.

According to Namjoon, his friend was a kid in the same year as you, making him not so much as a kid as he was your classmate. You brushed it off at first, spewing some bullshit excuse that you’d rather focus on your studies, and how dating was a distraction to your education, as if you hadn’t spent the weekend prior binge watching some Spanish novella while you dutifully ignored your essay.

The second time Namjoon mentions it you agree on the spot. Life on campus could only be interesting for so long, so you might as well make the best of it and go on as many stupid dates as possible.

Namjoon is over the moon.

He tells you he’ll pass your phone number on over to that friend of his—“Jeon Jungkook”—and promises you you won’t regret this because his friend was amazing, really. And for Namjoon to sing his praises for just any underclassmen was unheard of. In fact, besides you, you don’t think Namjoon knows many other students younger than him, and if he did, you hardly doubt he would regard them so highly.

So he gives his friend your number, and so ends your weekly meeting with your mentor. You only realize on the walk back to your dorm that you forgot to ask him about some club at school, the whole goal of this week’s meeting, but by then you don’t really care, the whole conversation fading into the background.

In fact, you forget about the whole ordeal until Friday night rolls around and you’re once again, binge watching another novella on your laptop, when your phone suddenly vibrates.

You were by no means a loser at school, a friendless nobody, but you were also not the outgoing, school-spirited student on the front page of your school’s website, and thus had nearly every app that could produce a notification on your phone muted, every text thread silenced. The only notifications and messages you allowed were from your email and from your roommate, and considering the fact Doyeon was face down in a puddle of her own mid-semester tears right across from you, it was probably your email.

Much to your surprises, it isn’t that “Monday’s Class is CANCELLED” email you were hoping for, but instead some unknown number in a text notification. You roll your eyes, click it open thinking it’s a reminder from some store or from some guy claiming to be from your bank, only to pause at the words written inside the little grey bubble.

hey its jungkook!!! joon gave me your number to I guess ask you on a date soo are you free tmrw night??

The excessive punctuation reminds you a little bit of your kid sister back home and the dorky emails she’ll send you from time to time. It’s with that memory and a smile on your face, that you’re suddenly reminded of what exactly this message is saying. “Oh shit,” you mumble, moving to sit up and reread the text. Doyeon complaining loudly in the background has you reading it twice more before you understand it, and by then there’s a fluttery feeling in your chest.

You were by no means easily swayed by people, but this guy had received praise from Kim Namjoon of all people, so he definitely had some prestige to his name. He doesn’t seem overbearing from this one text he’d sent, but he also didn’t seem completely disinterested.  

You try to match his nonchalant energy, letting him know you were in fact free and down to meet him, just to let you know more details.

You won’t lie, there’s a giddy feeling bubbling within you at the prospect of getting all dolled up, hitting the town, pawning a free meal off some unsuspecting college soul, and maybe even hitting it off. It’s been a while since you’ve dated, sue you.

Jeon Jungkook’s response crushes those dreams as well as hurdles you straight into a nightmare.

cool!! was thinking i could cook for us at my place, drink a little wine, maybe Netflix and chill a little bit??

You are blown away by the absolute gall of this man, to butter you up by painting a pretty picture only to reduce you to a mere booty call. The fact he had felt confident enough to say all that within the same sentence blows your mind.

Did this Jeon Jungkook, who you had no idea of what he looked like, who had no idea of what you looked like, seriously just invite you over for some quote unquote Netflix and chill?

Who, in the ever living hell, was this guy who so sleazily invited women over to fuck with no qualms about who they were?

You’re offended that Namjoon would set you up like this, pawn you off to such a greasy friend. But then again, you guess not everyone knows their friends thoroughly, because this Jeon Jungkook flirtatiously inviting your over for some sex sounds nothing like the golden boy Kim Namjoon had raved about earlier this week. You click your phone off, tapping the device against your lips as you ponder how to best rip this jerk to shreds via text.

It’s amidst Doyeon cursing out her statistics teacher that an idea hits you.

Tomorrow was Saturday night, and as far as you knew, you really didn’t have anything else going on for you anyway. You’d take Jeon Jungkook’s offer, let him cook you a free meal and drink some of his wine. He mentioned having his own place, and vaguely you remember Namjoon saying he lived alone, hence his introverted tendencies, so you could slip in and out without doing that walk of shame through a boy’s dorm hall.

Not that there would be anything to feel shameful about. In fact, if you planned things right, you could rain down your raging displeasure on Jeon Jungkook right after the meal but before this proposed ‘Netflix and chilling,’ maybe dramatically throw your glass of wine at him, before storming out of his place and reporting him to the authorities (Namjoon) for his douchebag personality.

Ha! That would certainly teach the asshole not to use his poor, unsuspecting friends to reel in nice girls like you into one night stands.

You could practically feel the devil horns begging to poke out of your skull, the forked tail wiggling behind you, as you click your phone back on and text Jeon Jungkook a great!! what’s your address :)

——

Saturday morning and afternoon are as boring as they usually are. You do a little homework, and spend thirty minutes filling Doyeon in on your master plan, which she eats up and even gives you some pointers—“and then you can be like, ‘you sick freak, as if I’d let you near this 5-star, Michelin reviewed, Gordon Ramsey approved coochie’ and throw the whole plate at his head!”—before getting ready for your little date at Jeon Jungkook’s.

You try hard to look good, harder than you would have if he hadn’t offended you by reducing you to a booty call, and Doyeon helps. She does your eyebrows all nice and natural, dusts the thinnest shin of liquid highlighter across the high points of your face, the whole shebang until you’re looking like a sexy, glowing goddess. You shimmy into a pretty dress, nothing too fancy nor too casual, and even pull on those strappy sandals you’d bought on sale last winter before blowing a kiss to Doyeon and meeting your Uber downstairs.

You don’t quite remember what the reason behind Jeon Jungkook living in such a swanky neighborhood a few minutes from campus was, if it was from a job you vaguely recall Namjoon mentioning, or if it was just purely hereditary, but his place is nice. It’s a connected townhouse, something you’d expect a newly wed couple to live in and not some douchebag third year.

Worse comes to worse, you get banned from this rich neighborhood after humiliating one of its residents in his own home, not that you’d ever make it big enough to live here anyway.

You’d texted Namjoon sometime that morning to let him know you were meeting his friend, an ominous text with an even more ominous smiley face attached to it. But it seems Namjoon is easily blinded by underclassmen he trusts, if Jeon Jungkook’s assholish feats and your own suspicious behavior is anything to go by, because he texts you back a polite have fun! he’s a little shy, so it might take a while for the ball to start rolling hahahaha.

Shy my ass, you think closing the door of your Uber behind you. You double check the address that had been texted to you, walking up to the neat townhouse and knocking against the polished door.

It’s a little chilly, and you hope finding an Uber is easier later tonight when you make your grand escape. It’s between these thoughts that the door swings open, revealing the most handsome man you’ve ever met.

He’s attractive, disgustingly so, with dark hair and light brown tips to contrast, tickling his cheekbones. His dark eyes are round and imploring as they meet yours, gaze almost innocent and doe like as he takes you in. He’s got this soft, blue turtleneck on, and it looks like it should be a seasonal sweater reserved for the holidays but he pulls it off nicely on this premature spring night. His pretty pink lips move, and it takes you a second to realize he’s talking.

“___?” He says, and his voice is deep, yet soft in its own unique way. You nod, like a stupid bobble head, because your throat constricted the moment this beautiful angel opened the door. “It’s cold outside, come in!” He urges you, out stretching his palm to make sure you don’t trip over the slight step up the door as he brings you into his home.

“Hi,” he exhales when you’re finally inside, standing a little too close to you in his small entryway.

“Hi,” you finally choke out, a little dazed by how handsome he is, and the sudden realization that you’re supposed to throw your glass of wine at him tonight because he’s a douchebag dawns on you. You blink yourself out of your stupor, taking a step back and gesturing towards your sandal clad feet.

“Oh!” Jeon Jungkook exclaims at the sudden realization. “I forgot to set out a pair of slippers for you,” he sheepishly admits, before he excuses himself to go get some. There’s a tiny ottoman pushed against the wall, beneath a long mirror, that you take a seat on it, carefully unstrapping your sandals.

All the while, you’re deep in thought.

It makes sense that someone like Jeon Jungkook was so forward in inviting you over for sex during your first interaction. Realistically speaking, the guy had it all. He lived alone in a swanky townhouse in a wealthy neighborhood (you finally remember Namjoon saying he did some app developing for major companies—yeah, still in college but already making it big because he was that good), and looked like the blueprint for the perfect man, someone who’d impress your parents. On top of that, the man was was a 21st century Adonis. You hadn’t missed the flash of ink on his knuckles, or the way his jeans had hugged his legs.

He’s making his way back now, inspecting the slippers in his hands, and you don’t miss the way the jeans are pulled taut around his thighs in particular.

Yeah, he definitely knew his way around a woman’s body, there was no way he couldn’t have.

You slip your feet into the slippers he places before you, wiggling your toes around, before glancing back at Jungkook. He smiles warmly, a little beauty mark beneath his lip making itself known. He takes your hand, pulls you up onto your feet, and begins guiding you down the hall and to what you assume is the kitchen.

“I didn’t know what you liked, and I figured asking you three hours before you came over would be too awkward,” he laughs, rubbing the back of his neck. He glances at you again, and upon seeing your inquisitive stare, quickly turns away with flushed cheeks.

Oh this man knew the game, and he knew it well.

Jeon Jungkook still thinks he can play that cute campus boy being set up by his senior card now, after he’d shown you his true colors last night via text. But he has a big storm coming. As much as you could admit he was good to look at, you would not be fooled by some pretty face and tasty food. No, you came here with one goal and one goal only, and that was to give Jeon Jungkook a piece of his own two-faced medicine before running off to tattle to Namjoon.

You reach the kitchen and the heavenly smell of Alfredo sauce swarms your nostrils. “I… I’m still new to cooking, so I hope you don’t mind some Alfredo pasta,” he admits, shy smile adorning his features as he avoids your gaze once again to toy with the dish towel by the sink.

You creep closer to the counter, where two meticulously presented ceramic plates sit beside a wine bottle, and the glands in your mouth suddenly go into overdrive in their rush to make you salivate, and you choke out an overly eager, “it looks amazing!” before you know it.

Okay, you came here with two goals.

——

Jungkook carries the two bowls in his big hands to the dining room beside the kitchen, and you follow behind with the bottle of wine and two glasses as you set the table together. The utensils are already there, but Jungkook runs back into the kitchen anyway to return with some fancy cloth napkins for the two of you.

Just as you're tugging a chair out to sit, Jungkook beats you to it. “Ah, let me,” he smiles, and your heart thunders nervously in your chest as you return the expression, brushing your hands beneath you before sitting down and letting him push you in. Jungkook takes his own seat in front of you, and before you can dig in he calls out to seemingly nobody, “Alexa, dim the dining room lights.”

The overhead lights dim, and with their overbearing glow gone, you can finally appreciate the battery powered candles snuggled neatly into a little bowl on the table between you two. You ooh appreciatively, and Jungkook looks proud of himself.

Then, he says, “Alexa, play…Date Night Playlist.”

You blink, and a soft piano tune begins filtering through a speaker he’s hidden somewhere in the room. Even with the fake candles being your main source of light, the flush on Jungkook’s cheeks is evident as he gestures towards you to eat.

You won’t lie. Jeon Jungkook was extremely endearing.

This much becomes evident the further you get into the meal. As small talk devolves into full fledged conversations and story telling, his shy demeanor slipping away but still sticking to the edges of his personality, you begin to have a more difficult time connecting this Jungkook to the one who had less than 24 hours ago asked you to come over and “Netflix and chill” with him.

But the more you speak, the more distant that image begins to feel. For one, Jungkook does put on a fairly reserved aura for you, telling you about his job but refusing to brag about it even when you egg him on. He has no qualms gassing up his friends, Namjoon in particular, who Jungkook claims is his role model for some unknown reason, given the fact they are neither in the same major nor in any of the same clubs. They’re friends, point blank period, but Namjoon is very obviously a star in Jungkook’s eyes.

Additionally, he’s quite embarrassed to admit why Namjoon had been so set on getting Jungkook to date, but eventually tells you it’s because Jungkook’s last girlfriend had been during your freshman year—two whole years ago! It makes you wonder what he’d been doing since then, if he’d used the time to fully invest in his work or if he’d been mingling around, unbeknownst to his friends, which would explain the flirtatious offer that landed you here.

Still, a part of you refuses to believe last night’s Jungkook and tonight’s Jungkook were one in the same, and if they were, what had made this shy man so unabashedly invite you over for some sex. Was this act all a ploy? Or maybe, was he purposefully trying to ward you away by coming off as a gentleman now that he’d seen your face and wasn’t interested in you anymore?

Apparently it’s neither of the two, and you don’t realize this until you finish your meal and make your way into his living room to finally get down to the long awaited Netflix and chilling. It’s only when you sit down on the couch, smack dab in the middle, because at this point, you’re not gonna throw your wine at Jeon Jungkook like you planned, he was too nice. And if this niceness was an act to get in your panties, you didn’t care at this point. He was hot, achingly so, and at least you’d get a good fuck out of it.

But as you said, apparently not. Because Jeon Jungkook sees you purposefully take up the entire middle of the couch, sultry eyes staring him down, and decides to sit flush against the armrest, somehow leaving a good foot between the two of you, despite the fact you’re sitting next to each other.

Your brain can’t work fast enough to comprehend the situation, before he’s asking you what you want to watch. “Um,” you say, pointedly staring at him and not the screen. “Tr-Transformers?”

The way Jungkook’s eyes light up is insane, already round eyes nearly popping out of their sockets as he eagerly rushes to select it from whatever streaming service he has, probably not even Netflix, all the while chattering on about how much he loves that series, and is so glad you do too.

The whole time, you’re struck by the oddness of his casual tone, the way he’s overly invested in the 20th Century Fox opening, and how he’s very carefully avoiding intruding in on your personal space.

The last point in particular has you wanting to pull your hair out, because you want Jeon Jungkook intruding in on your personal space. You want him pressed so tightly against you you can’t breathe, you can’t move, until you’re drowning in him as he finally lives up to his promise of some Netflix and chill, because you want him, and you want him so. very. bad.

“Oh, I forgot the popcorn!” Jungkook exclaims, and you jump at the sudden volume of his voice, because he’d been pretty silent as he avidly watched the first few minutes of the movie. “Sorry,” he chuckles, and his leg brushes against yours as he shuffles between you and the coffee table on his way out. You vaguely hear the popping of the popcorn in the kitchen, but you’re too distracted by your suddenly overwhelming thoughts.

Okay, one thing was for sure, and that was that Jeon Jungkook definitely had no fucking idea what the phrase Netflix and chill meant, because the way he’d zeroed in on the movie and the popcorn, and not you, was unheard of on such invitations. You deduce he probably heard it somewhere, and, now understanding the true nature of Jungkook’s sweet and shy personality, made no such perverted connection to the phrase.

Which meant he most definitely did not demean you to a mere booty call, like you’d deluded yourself into believing, someone he could hump and dump with no regrets, before calling Namjoon up to thank him. Which meant he’d had no ulterior motives in meeting you tonight, just planning to get to know you at the suggestion of his friend, and had—unbeknownst to him—successfully wooed you thus far.

Which was great! If you turned a blind eye to the evil, conniving plans you’d made without even meeting the guy, and the subsequent flood of self-inflicted disapproval when you realized Jeon Jungkook was a sweetheart who definitely did not deserve having a glass of wine thrown at his face after making you a home cooked meal and giving you the full Olive Garden experience, with his dimmed lights and candlelit dinner and piano music on the background.

Yeah. Perfectly fine.

The only problem now was that you had become so dangerously smitten with the man that you wanted to sleep with him. You wanted that Netflix and chill, needed it like it was the last slot in a daycare class and you were a soccer mom of five wanting to get at least one kid out of the house for the summer for the sake of her own sanity. You were desperate.

No, you scold yourself. This was fine, this was good, this was perfectly okay. If anything, this just further made you enamored with Jungkook, because it proved how gentlemanly he was by not trying to sleep with you on the first date.

But that didn’t mean he didn’t want to, the devil on your shoulder crooned.

The microwave in the kitchen stops, and you hear the sound of cabinets opening as Jungkook pours the popcorn into a bowl. On screen, the main character is meeting a bunch of giant cars-turned-robots, you don’t fucking know.

But the devil was right.

Jungkook hadn’t offered to sleep with you, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to. Furthermore, that didn’t mean he couldn’t be seduced into wanting to, your evil brain suggested, and the hope that had slithered it’s way into your chest from the very moment Jungkook had opened the door, took that fact and ran with it.

“What’d I miss?” Jungkook says when he returns, popcorn bowl in hand.

“Oh, um, he was with the car,” you offer, trying to stop the nefarious smirk from slipping onto your features. Jungkook laughs, cute and airy as he shuffles past you.

He’s too absorbed in the screen, not looking as he sits down, closer than last time until his thigh brushes yours and he jerks back in embarrassment. “Oh, sorry,” he flounders, goes to move away but you act fast.

You grab onto his upper arm with both of yours like an octopus, keeping him flush to you as you gaze up at him with wide eyes. “No, it’s okay,” you rush to assure him, loosening your hold as he tentatively relaxes beside you. You glance down at the popcorn bowl in his hand, swiping a piece to pop between your lips. “It’s easier for us this way,” you say, and you’re pulling that straight out of your ass, because you hate popcorn and have literally zero desire for it and wouldn’t have reached for it anyway if you weren’t trying to convince him this was all for popcorn sharing purposes.

Jungkook’s eyes briefly flicker down to where you’re munching on that popcorn, your lips, before he’s quickly averting his gaze. “Ah, y-yeah,” he agrees, and though he tries to relax back into the couch, you can still feel the tension of his muscles as he settles beside you.

With his eyes no longer trained on you, you snuggle closer into his side resting your cheek against the soft material covering his shoulder, finally letting that devious smirk slip onto your face. You keep yourself close to Jungkook, loving the way his warmth permeates the thick sweater he’s wearing, even if he’s still overly into the movie. You know he’s seen it before, because he keeps telling you random tidbits like, “they use this in the next movie!” Or “he ends up becoming really important in the sixth movie,” and you want to listen to this endearing nerd’s commentary, you really do, but once your brain is stuck on horny, it is stuck on horny.

He doesn’t even eat a lot of popcorn, setting it down not ten minutes later onto the coffee table. You release him as he moves forward, but quickly latch onto him again when he sits back down.

Much to your surprise, Jungkook is way more relaxed then, shrugging you off to rest his hand on the couch behind you, and you inwardly squeal at the prospect of getting to cuddle up to his body, and not just his arm. You cuddle in close to him, leaving your slippers on the ground as you tuck your legs up onto the couch cushions.

Jungkook is so warm and firm, and you know it’s your horny brain speaking, but you swear you feel a tight set of abs underneath the palm you rest on his stomach, and you give an experimental brush over the area. His heart picks up, you hear it by where your head is leaning against his chest, and you tilt your head up to give him a curious glance. His cheeks are red, and he doesn’t look at you even though you know he sees you, so you decide to kick things up a notch.

You sigh loudly, peeling yourself away from him to properly level him with a pout. “Jungkook, aren’t you hot in this?” You ask, pinching the wooly material between two fingers and pulling it from his skin. Jungkook finally looks away from the screen, nibbling his lower lip as he takes in your quizzical expression.

“Um, only a little… but it’s fine!” He rushes to say, and you recall from your conversations over dinner that Jungkook doesn’t much like people fussing over him, so you quickly change gears.

You press a hand against your cheek, the same one that had been resting against his shoulder earlier. “Oh, well… it’s really itchy,” you announce, and his eyes widen, one hand absentmindedly reaching to clutch the material at his chest. “It’s making me really itchy,” you emphasize, and part of you feels bad for taking advantage of his caring nature, but this is all for the greater good, you convince yourself. “Do you mind taking it off?”

“I, uh, yeah,” he agrees, reaching for the hem of his sweater before carefully peeling it off. When he pulls it over his head, you can’t help the triumphant grin that overtakes your face, though you quickly mask it when he finally frees himself from the material. “Better?” He says once he’s clad in only a plain black shirt.

“Mm, much,” you sigh, and nearly soak your panties then and there when a tattooed sleeve comes into view. “Woah!” You exclaim, snatching his wrists up to examine his skin. “What’s this?” You marvel, tracing every inch of delicious skin with your predatory gaze. Jungkook huffs out a laugh, and you glance up to watch as he rubs the back of his neck in that same embarrassed way he’d done multiple times throughout your night together.

“My tattoos,” he says, and then seems to realize the simplicity of his statement and rushes to add to it, “I hope you don’t mind?”

You hum, shifting onto your knees to face him as you continue tracing over a huge tiger lily by his forearm. “Why would I? It’s your body,” you say, and watch the nervous glance melt off his face as he regards you with something new. Something akin to wonder as he lets you trace over more of his ink, nodding along to your words.

“Yeah… yeah!” He agrees, and you grin at his sudden zeal. He chuckles, physically relaxing beneath your touch, and it’s probably the most relaxed he’s been all night as you continue rubbing your hands over every tattoo on his skin, and then purposefully focusing on the ones near his bicep. “Sorry, ‘m just used to people pushing off their own opinions about them onto me,” he explains, and for a moment, the horniness that had been fueling you all night fades away, and you let your hands trail down, past his wrist, until you’re sandwiching his hand between yours.

“Fuck what anyone else thinks,” you tell him, eyes hard as you imagine anyone imposing their stupid thoughts on Jungkook, who was too good for this world. “If you think they’re cool, then they're the coolest thing in the world.”

He smiles at you, and you’ve seen this smile about a million times tonight—when you first came in, when you talked about yourself at dinner, when you mentioned this stupid movie—but it has something swelling in your chest. Something too intimate for a first date, so you quickly move to repress it.

Glancing down at his hand in yours, littered with smaller tattoos across his knuckles, your brain whirls into action. Bringing it up between the two of you, you turn his hand over to line your palms up. “Wow, your hands are so big,” you sigh, slowly reverting back to dirty thoughts as you twist yours and Jungkook’s hands this way and that. He snorts, bends the tips of his fingers over yours just to hear you ooooh again.

“Yeah, they’re pretty big,” he agrees, completely ignoring the film playing on the screen, which is a huge win in your eyes considering how deeply he’d been watching it earlier.

Finally, you see an opening and pounce.

“Well, that means something else is pretty big too,” you murmur, chancing a glance up at his face. His face is the perfect definition of composed, and you can tell when exactly he processes your words because those little pink lips part in surprise, red slowly filling the apples of his cheeks. You let go of his palm, letting it slide between your fingers until it falls limp beside him.

Jungkook watches you with wide eyes, as you raise yourself up onto your knees. “Jungkook?” You mumble, giving him no warning before you’re throwing a leg across his lap, knees pressed into the couch on either side of his thighs.

“Y-Yes?” He stutters, brown hair falling away from his face as he stares up at you. You flash him a sweet smile, and you can tell it relaxes him because his fists unclench beside him.

“You’re a really nice boy,” you sigh, and when you’ve scooted your knees a little closer to his ridiculously thin waist, you finally let yourself sit. You find yourself right before his crotch, which he desperately tries to hide as he shifts around, but can’t with you on top of him. You let your hands flutter to rest at his shoulders, and he gulps. “You’re so sweet and cute,” you add, relish in the flush that climbs up to his ears. “But I’m a little sad you invited me over to Netflix and chill, but won’t do just that,” you pout, a finger tangling itself in a soft strand at the back of his head.

“Huh?” He stutters, eyes nearly bulging out when you wiggle around again. “I-I’m sorry?” He huffs, and when you move too close to his crotch, where his jeans are slowly growing more and more strained, he panics and reaches a hand out to steady your waist.

You feign confusion, flashing him another pout as you duck closer until your noses bump against each other. “You know what it means, don’t you, Jungkook?” You inquire, eyes falling dangerously lidded as you swallow up every inch of his appearances.

He stutters, hands moving up and down as if he doesn’t know where to put them anymore. But you know exactly where Jungkook can put those hands, and you waste no time catching his wrists in your hands to guide him towards your hips. “No?” He breathes, fingers flexing against you, and you smile sweetly at him.

“It means,” you purr, shifting forward until you’re flush against where you need him most. You can barely contain the whimper that climbs out of your throat when you finally feel the rough material of his jeans against your panties. “It means you wanna fuck, Jungkook,” you exhale, tossing your head back as your body basks in the slight reprieve, the way Jungkook squirms beneath you aiding greatly in providing that sensation you craved.

“It’s nothing more than an excuse,” you huff, placing a hand on the back of his neck to steady yourself. At your touch, Jungkook jolts, thighs jumping beneath you and you stifle another groan when the zipper of his jeans prods against your core. “For you to fuck my brains out while some s-stupid movie plays in the background.”

You’re not sure when, but sometime during that last explanation your hands had fully delved into the thick tresses of Jungkook’s hair. You give an experimental tug, and poor Jungkook, so lost in all that you’re telling him, lolls his head back for you easily until the long expanse of his neck is available, soft creamy skin yours for the taking.

You pounce, kissing the skin gently at first, before sprinkling in a handful of nibbles. He’s sensitive, devastatingly so, as he gasps at a particular suck. You suction your lips on the spot below his ear, carefully biting down on the skin as he unravels beneath you. “Will you do it, Jungkookie?” You murmur against the shell of his ear,

He nods eagerly, and his fingers hurt where he’s pressed them deep into your waist, like he’s trying to brand you as his with his mere strength alone. “Y-Yes,” he exhales, hips jerking when you swipe your tongue over the pretty mark you’d left on his perfect skin.

You smother your smirk against his neck, grinding down on him once again. “Yes what?” You tease, and let his strong hands roll you against him afterwards.

“Yes, I-I’ll…” he stumbles, eyes dazed as he watches you through hooded lids. You raise a brow at him, shifting in his lap. It’s enough to kickstart him back up, and he’s biting down on his lip hard enough to draw blood. “I’ll fuck you, I’ll fuck you just like you want,” he rambles. He surprises you when he begins rutting up against you, so animalistic and uncontrolled, nothing like the sweet Jungkook that had indulged you over dinner. “I’ll make you come, p-promise,” he rasps.

You smirk down at him, hoping he doesn’t see the metaphorical horns sticking out of your head the further he falls into your trap. Before he can say anything else, you surge forward, slotting your mouths together for the first time that night.

It’s no surprise that Jungkook kisses just like he speaks, carefully like he’s afraid one hard press of his lips will ward you off. His lips are smooth, a fact you’d hyper-fixated on all night as he spoke, but before you can ponder on that any further, something hot and wet is prodding at your lower lip.

The gasp you barely manage to contain ends up escaping anyway when Jungkook’s hand comes up to cup the side of your face, tilting your head to the side as his tongue slithers into your mouth. You become obsessed with the way he touches you, every bit the gentlemen he’d been all night, fingers just barely pressing into your cheek like he doesn’t want to mess up your makeup. His other hand, snuggly wrapped around your waist, pulls you tighter against him until your chests are pressed together.

And that tongue. That tongue of his that leaves no room for argument, quickly shutting down any attempts of yours to overtake him. He’s graceful about it too, one nudge enough to convince you he’s got this, he’ll take care of you. You whimper, a sound Jungkook swallows before he’s biting down on your lower lip.

When he pulls away, his lips are red and glossy, and you wonder if yours are too. “Fuck, you’re so pretty,” he sighs, gazing at you like he can’t believe you’re there in front of him.

Before you can say anything else, he’s burying his face in the crook of your neck to brush kisses over your skin. “Let me eat you out,” he begs, but his voice is so silky and smooth that it doesn’t sound so much as a plea as much as it does a suggestion. He licks a stripe up your neck, and you jump in his hold.

It’s at this moment where the sudden realization hits you, the feeling of having the reins yanked out of your hands. You so vividly controlled every aspect of Jungkook just a few moments ago, when you’d had your own mouth on his neck, and carefully coaxed him into some sex.

But it seems Jeon Jungkook isn’t as soft or as pliable as you had dubbed him to be, and if the way he’s begun subtly rolling your hips into his crotch is any sign, he certainly wasn’t the submissive type either. Which leaves you wondering, exactly what type of person was Jungkook in bed?

Well, you had all night to figure that out.

“Hey,” he whines suddenly, ripping you out of your thoughts. You glance down at him, registering the bored set of his eyes and the unimpressed quirk of his lips. “Pay attention to me.”

You blink, lips twitching. You can barely muffle the giggle that tears itself from your throat, leaning your forehead on his shoulder as your body shakes at his suddenly childish words. Jungkook chuckles too, as if suddenly realizing how out of place his own statement was. “Sorry,” he smiles, cheeks pleasantly rosy and you can’t even stop yourself from kissing him silly.

Jungkook, bless his heart, let’s you rain down a good three kisses on him before he’s pushing you down on the couch beside him. There’s still a slight gleam in his eyes, but the rest of his face schools itself into a hungry expression as he drinks in your body laid out before him. “Let me eat you out?” He asks again, voice but a soft whisper.

You nod, heart beating loudly in your chest as he shuffles down until he can press a kiss to the tops of your thighs. He hasn’t even done anything that intense yet, but you already feel the muscles in your leg ready to spasm just from his proximity.

He’s mouthing at your skin, nudging your legs apart, and you, usually so confident in your sexuality, can’t find the courage to look at him as he so lovingly carries out his ministrations.

As if sensing your sudden bout of shyness (you! shy! Doyeon was gonna tease you about this for the rest of your life once you recapped this for her), he places a soft kiss just below where the hem of your dress begins, before pulling back and uttering, “this okay?”

You hum in response, face warm from just imagining how good he must look down there, peppering your skin with kisses. Your heart nearly rips itself out of your chest when a strong set of fingers wraps around your wrist suddenly, sliding over and around your hand until he’s tangled them with yours.

At this, you nearly break your neck trying to look at him, only to be met with an amused smile. Jungkook gives your hand a squeeze, and you barely get to appreciate the schoolgirl flood of emotions in your chest, when suddenly his free hand comes out of left field, cupping the back of your knee to push your legs further apart, before gliding across the expanse of your thigh to push your dress up.

If Jungkook holding your hand was enough to make your heart skip a beat, Jungkook pressing a chaste kiss to your panty-clad mound was enough to send you into cardiac arrest. Your leg twitches at the sudden touch, a gasp catching in your throat at the delicate path he kisses over your panties, until he’s flicking his tongue over your clit. “Oh,” you moan, and against your better judgment, your free hand is tangling itself in his silky strands.

Jungkook smirks, what sounds like a tiny chuckle muffled as he continues mouthing along your sex, until your panties are soaked both from your arousal and his saliva. Your little thong stares him in the face, and he groans at the sight, glancing up at you with those wide eyes of his like you’re his entire world. “Can I?”

Jungkook gives your clit one final kiss, before he lets go of your hand, and you can’t help the whine that leaves you upon the lost contact. Jungkook eats it up, pressing a kiss turned smile against your knee as he tugs your underwear down. It coils up as it goes, until he’s pulling a tightly twisted maroon thong off your ankles, and tossing it off somewhere behind him.

If his mouth felt good through your panties, it feels even better without. You mewl when he brushes his lips over your clit, plush lips working your sensitive bundle of nerves, sly tongue occasionally creeping out to toy with you further. “Jungkook,” you cry out, back arching. He licks and slurps likes he’s a starved man, and you're the first meal he’s ever had. You want to sob from how good it feels, his tongue flicking over your bud like he just can’t get enough.

He pulls away to catch your gaze, doesn’t let it go as he runs a lone finger over your slit, coating the digit in your own arousal, before carefully plunging it into your warm, wet heat. “Is this good?” He rasps out, watching your facial expressions carefully as he wiggles his finger deeper into your core, his other hand wrapped around your thigh to keep you still. You moan, feeling like a boneless heap of organs beneath this insanely handsome man who can’t keep his hands off your quivering pussy.

His fingers don’t let up, slowly pulling out before plunging back in. The room fills with disgustingly wet sounds, but that fact drifts to the back of your head the faster his fingers go. Your eyes roll into your head, your body twitching with each press of his fingers.

“Is it good, pretty?” He repeats, and since you’re not looking at him anymore, the sudden lick against your clit has your back arching and your thighs quivering with surprise. “Tell me it’s good, ___,” Jungkook croons, and you nod in a hurry.

“It’s good!” You cry, moaning loudly when he slips another finger into you, scissoring the two inside of you. “It’s so good, Jungkook—y-you’re so good,” you moan, and nearly cry actual tears when he curls his fingers inside of you, pressing down against the most sensitive spot within you.

Jungkook doesn’t let up, continues licking and slurping against your sensitive bud, even when your orgasm hits and you’re begging him to stop. He doesn’t let you go until he feels the warmth coat his fingers, feels the wetness begging to seep out of your plugged pussy. He lets you go then, only to move closer to your hole and replace his fingers with his mouth. There, he carefully catches and collects the cum that trickles out, mouth warm against your trembling body.

Your body quivers with each long drag of his tongue over your sensitive cunt, and you’re about to ask him to stop, when he finally pulls away and pushes himself over you, arms caging you in as he stares down at your withered form. “Kiss,” you manage to gasp out, and Jungkook raises an eyebrow in question. “Kiss me,” you repeat, and then, thoughtfully, “please.”

Jungkook complies, leans down to connect your mouths in a sweet kiss. You’re blinded by the delicacy of it all, that you in no way see coming the sudden substance that slides down your throat from his own. You choke at the sudden intrusion, belatedly realizing it’s your cum he’s pushing down your throat, the cum he didn’t swallow.

“That’s it, pretty,” Jungkook croons, licking up the residual come that hadn’t made it into your mouth. “See how you taste for me. Isn’t it sweet?” He murmurs, pushing his tongue into your mouth as if he regretted not saving any for himself. It’s the first time you’ve had your own pleasure in your mouth, so you’re not exactly sure how to feel. What you do feel is the overwhelming surge of arousal at seeing Jungkook rave about it and lap it up inside your own mouth.

He kisses you for a few moments, mouth moving languidly along yours. One hand reaches down to rub soothingly at your inner thigh, like he’s coaxing the feeling back into your body after lulling you into one of the most heavenly orgasms of your entire life. You whimper when he bites down on your lower lip, like you’re still too sensitive to reciprocate, but Jungkook doesn’t mind. He lets you go, licks over where he’d bitten like an apology.

After a few minutes of just this, of feeling like the most cherished girl in the entire world, Jungkook finally pulls away and levels you with a dashing smile. “All good?” He asks, hands still trailing up your waist until they’re framing the swell of your breasts, where he gently circles your nipple.

You nod, dazedly staring up at him and it’s at this exact moment that you realize there’s something stiff poking at your hip. You glance down, and Jungkook glances down with you, until you’re both staring at the hard on he’s hiding beneath his jeans. Jungkook chuckles, low and dark by your ear as he experimentally presses it against you.

Before you can stop yourself, your hand is untangling itself from around his shoulders and slithering down his front. You cup his erection, his shaky exhale giving you the courage to toy with his belt buckle until it’s undone and you're battling with the button on his jeans instead. You put up a good fight, but in the end the angle is too tight for you to properly undo it, and Jungkook brushes your hands away with a soft kiss to your lips.

He pushes himself off you, and you’re immediately craving the warm press of his body against yours the second he’s gone. “Get that dress off for me, pretty girl,” he says, pulling his shirt over his head, rendering you completely speechless as you gawk at his body. Jungkook glances down at you as he goes to undo his pants, a shapely brow raising in your direction and a soft quirk of his lips gesturing for you to do as you’re told.

You spur into action, wiggling the dress up and over your breasts until you’re pulling it over your head and letting it drop beside you on the floor. You’re just in time to see Jungkook push his jeans down his hips, a classic black Calvin Klein underwear band glaring back at you.

The chance to marvel at Jungkook’s thin waist framed by that tight underwear is gone as quickly as it came, and you’re greeted with an even more mouthwatering sight when he pushes the elastic band down, and that big cock you had alluded to springs out of its confines. You groan, subconsciously rolling your hips into the air as you take in the sight of his cock, mushroom tip swollen and flushed. There’s a thick vein that runs along the underside of it, one you only see when Jungkook grasps his dick in his hand and tugs upward like this isn’t his true form, and he can get bigger.

“Ready?” He asks, biting down on his lip as he continues to stroke himself. You nod, wiggling closer to him until the backs of your thighs rest on top of his, knees knocking against his waist. He grants you one more of those kind smiles, before he’s leaning down to press a hand beside your head, the other lining himself up with your soaked entrance.

Running his cock over your folds one last time, collecting as much of your cum as he can, he brushes a kiss against your cheekbone before he’s pushing in. You moan, throwing your hands around his neck as he pierces through the initial ring of muscle surrounding your warm heat. “Holy shit,” you choke, mouth dropped open as you pant like a dog against his shoulder. “J-Jungkook,” you cry, legs tightening around his waist the closer his body presses against yours.

Once he’s at the hilt, pelvis flush against you, you can’t help the series of whines and mewls that escape your lips from being so comfortably filled to the brim.

To your surprise, Jungkook is the first to speak. “Fuck,” he groans, breath hot against your ear. He sounds fucked out, once silky voice raspy with need as he grinds his hips against you tentatively. “This is what you wanted, isn't it?” He huffs, both hands coming down to wrap around your waist, your back arching under the wonderful hands that find themselves squeezing every inch of your back in an effort to pull you closer.

His mouth brushes against yours from this new position, and Jungkook puckers his lips, tongue coming out to lick at your bottom lip. You nearly cry when he finally pulls his hips away, relieves his cock from your tight heat before surging back in. “Wanted this from the moment you walked in, didn’t you, sweetheart?” Jungkook grunts, repeats the same motion until he’s picked up a steady pace of pushing and pulling, each roll of his hips sending a shock of ecstasy crawling up your spine.

You nod, eyes screwed shut as pleasure warms every inch of your body. It’s even worse to not see, because every sound and every touch is magnified tenfold, until you’re drowning in sensations. Jungkook’s choked groans, the slide of his hips, they all become too much too quickly and you’re choking back a sob.

“Fuck,” he groans, glancing down at your withered form like an animal as he picks up his pace. His hold on you tightens, never letting your body move away from him and he begins jack hammering in his thrusts, swallowing your cries with his lips. “Had me thinking you were a nice girl,” he huffs, and you wonder if he knows how tightly he’s holding you, how this grip will most likely leave you with fingerprint bruises tomorrow morning. But then again, you don’t care. All you care about is Jungkook’s voice and his body, guiding you toward completion. “But all you wanted was a quick fuck.”

You steel yourself to look at him again, and when your eyes finally open and focus, you’re wishing you hadn’t because Jungkook looks so hot over you. His pretty eyes, the ones that had led you into a false sense of comfort throughout the night and tricked you into believing he would be easy to bend to your every whim, are hard now. “Isn’t that right, doll?” He spits, and you whine when he punctuates this question with a particularly brutal thrust of his hips. His balls slap against your ass, and you squirm beneath him as you begin to feel the beginnings of an orgasm build in your core.

“I-I thought—“ you stammer, tone pitched from the way he jostles you with every thrust he gives. “Y-You wanted that,” you weekly defend, canting your hips down in a feeble attempt to progress this along.

He snorts, captures your lips in a rushed kiss where he wastes no time snaking his tongue inside your mouth. His saliva trickles into your mouth, and you whine as he purposefully lets it happen, pulls away just the slightest to pucker his lips and let a thick trail of spit fall straight into your open mouth. Satisfied with his little stunt, he rams his cock against you once more.

“If you wanted a quick fuck,” he says, nearly loses himself in your pussy, “you came to the wrong guy, sweetheart.”

You’re too caught up in the nice drag of his cock against your pussy, the tip of his cock stopping him from ever pulling out completely, that it takes you a second to process his words. “H-Huh?” You choke, teary eyes flickering across his face wildly as if the answer will be right in plain sight.

But all you’re met with is the soft pull of his lips as he flashes you a smirk, pearly white teeth tugging at the pink flesh, as he levels you with a glare of his own. Before you can question him further, he’s letting go of your waist to hike your knees into the crook of his elbows, his pouty lips growing further away as he leans back.

This shift has his cock nudging up, rubbing against the hood of your clit where a bundle of nerves he’d only briefly brushed before sits. You shriek in pleasure, writhing beneath him as the sudden sensation hits you full force. “Jungkook!” You sob, his hips slowing to a grind as he watches your face crumble beneath him.

“You like that?” He murmurs, rutting his hips against you shallowly. The change of pace, the rabid piston of his hips slowing to this, has your body melting into his touch. You barely manage a nod, eyes fluttering open and shut as his hips move sensually against you.

His cock brushes against that sensitive spot with each roll of his hips, and you’re a mewling, puddle of emotion by the third thrust. “Pretty girl,” he hums, letting go of one leg to place a hand above your mound, thumb circling your clit until you’re trembling beneath him. “Did you think I would fuck you and kick you out?” He husks, watching your body like he’s a lion and you’re his prey.

Your brain is far from comprehending anything at this point, reduced to a mere mass of nothingness as he continues moving against you, fingers rubbing your clit in all the right ways.

“Well, you were wrong about that, doll,” he huffs, and you’re blessed with the sight of his head lolling back as he loses himself in the tight grip of your pussy, skin glistening with sweat, trailing from behind his ear and over his neck, until you’re watching a pearl roll over his collarbones. “I don’t do that,” he informs you, and he pinches your clit between two fingers, hard enough that you almost miss his next words as you moan. “No, baby, I’ll fuck you and keep you forever,” he spits, and you whimper at his words. Finally, he lets go of your knees, right as you’re teetering on the edge of an orgasm and you moan out in protest as he ducks down to cage you between his arms again.

“Please,” you beg, voice hoarse as his hips slowly return to their pace from before. He’s still not pulling out as much, keeping his thrusts shallow as he kisses a trail up your neck and over your jaw.

“Gonna fuck you so good, you don’t ever want to leave, pretty,” he says, kisses the corner of your mouth as his hips pick up pace. You wanna cry, feeling so warm and cherished in his arms, his voice telling you how good you’re doing as the coil in your stomach tightens and tightens until you’re begging him for more. “Do you want that?”

“Yes! Yes!” You sob, rolling your hips against his like a madman as you chase your high.

Jungkook hums, smile smushed against your lips as he watches you desperately writhing beneath him. “Yeah? You want that?” You nod, mewls swallowed by his kisses. “Then cum for me, pretty girl.”

You whimper, just as he bucks into you once more, and suddenly you’re falling apart. It starts in your lower back, the ecstasy climbing it’s way through your body until you’re quivering and sobbing in his embrace, muffling your sounds against his shoulder. The muscles in your entire body tighten painfully, until suddenly a wave of contentment washes over you, and you’re too weak to even hold onto him anymore, arms flopping back onto the couch cushions beneath you.

The whole time, Jungkook mutters encouragement against your jaw, keeps his thrusts short but quick, guiding you through your orgasm. When you’re done, he presses an open mouthed kiss beneath your ear, pulling away to look at your boneless frame beneath him.

A few pistons of his hips later, and Jungkook is coming inside of you, cum coating your walls as he hammers his way through his orgasm. He pulls out when he’s done, and you instantly feel your mixed arousal drip out between your thighs.

Woozy from the wine and the two orgasms, you fall asleep soon after.

——

“Good morning,” you murmur, standing at the doorway leading into the kitchen, an area you’d only been able to find after stumbling around the upstairs of the house in confusion.

Jungkook whirls around, wide eyes taking in your appearance. You clutch at the hem of the big t-shirt you’d pulled on, the only article of clothing you saw that was thrown over a chair in a bedroom you didn’t dare snoop around. “Morning,” he exhales, calculating gaze never leaving you as you tiptoe over to him by the counter.

He doesn’t say more, spluttering into action when you peek over his shoulder to see what he’s up to. “What’re you making?” You inquire, and his hands begin fidgeting with the knife.

“Oh, um,” he stutters, and perhaps he’s overly aware of your presence so close beside him, because he suddenly doesn’t remember how he’s supposed to cut an avocado. Cute, you think. “Just, um, toast with avocado spread…”

You hum. After a moment, it seems Jungkook is able to quell his nerves, and he carefully slices the avocado open, spreading its innards across the toast. He hands you the first piece, which you take after masking your own surprise, and soon after he’s turning away from the counter as the two of you eat in silence.

After a few thoughtful munches of bread, you speak. “Thanks for carrying me to bed,” you say, refusing to look at him.

“You’re welcome,” he replies, almost a little too fast and you barely bite down a grin as he rambles on. “Wasn’t gonna leave you on the couch, especially not when you were so tired after… ah, yeah.”

It’s the reserved way he carries himself that gives you the balls to look at him. His ears are flushed adorably red, like when you were at dinner last night talking about his job, and all you wanna do is pinch his cheeks. “Yeah,” you agree, and then add with an air of faux shyness, “you were really cool last night.”

It’s the little devil in you begging to jump out, curious to see how far you can push Jungkook before he shifts into that suave version of himself from last night, and you would feel bad had the corner of his lips not tilted up in amusement.

He chokes out a laugh, mutters a “yeah?” and you don’t stop yourself when you jump into his arms and kiss that avocado spread right off his lips.

——

On Tuesday afternoon, Kim Namjoon is in the midst of delivering another sermon-like speech on the importance of utilizing your student ID when visiting any of the Starbucks within a two mile radius of your school, when you spot a chestnut head of hair from the corner of your eye.

“Sorry, Joon! My ride's here!” You yelp, shoving your notebook into your bag as you stumble over yourself in your haste to leave.

Namjoon blinks. “Huh? I thought you lived on campus?”

You nod, that giddy feeling starting up in your chest as he comes closer to where you and Namjoon have taken up residence on a table in the commons for your weekly meeting, and by the time he reaches the table Namjoon is still in the midst of questioning you.

“Jungkook,” You say, all dreamily and dazed, and you know this because Doyeon caught you with this same exact look on your face after he dropped you off at the dorms Sunday afternoon.

Namjoon startles. “What the f—“

“Hi,” Jungkook beams, leans down to brush a kiss against your cheek, which only serves to make you even more ditzy and dumb in the face of this handsome man. “Oh, hey, hyung.”

“What’re you doi—“

“All set?” Jungkook asks you, completely ignoring whatever his beloved senior was saying in favor of taking your bag off your shoulders. You nod, have to swallow a giggle down when he takes your hand in his. “Bye, hyung.”

“Bye, Joon!” You barely remember to throw over your shoulder, too busy wrapping yourself around Jungkook’s arm to hear Namjoon blabber in shock. 

“Kids these days,” he huffs.

[ part 2 ; hulu & woohoo ]

[jangmi-latte]

Hi Chii! This is for the TWST ANNIVERSARY, and scenario format is fine. Main focus line is Silver: “You want to study together? You work really hard.” Next character is Riddle: “Have you been to the library yet? You should definitely stop at least once sometime. There are a lot of books you’d fine useful there.” Oof, that was a lot, and hopefully I did this right, if not I can always resend it if you’d like! ~🍒cherry nonnie

╰──➢   “ You want to study together? You work really hard. ”

❥ cherry nonnie, is everything alright? you’ve been making me smile from your asks but i understood you on your first ask <3. may our waiters, silver & riddle rosehearts, treat you with this anniversary special dessert!

“Oh, hello there.”

He greeted you with a gentle smile; no it wasn’t Silver, it was his father. You-- a young-second year no older than seventeen -- bowed at the older mage in a sign of respect. 

“Good afternoon, Mr. Vanrouge! I assume Silver already told you about my arrival?”

“Of course he did,” tittered the old fae as he let you in. “He surprisingly woke up earlier than he usually does.” Lilia led you towards the lounge of their shared home within the Valley of Thorns. 

“Oh, one more thing--” he opened the door to the lounge, “--avoid the second floor for now. Malleus is still asleep. We wouldn’t want to disturb him. Though, I trust you and Silver to keep it down with whatever you two plan to do today.”

You nodded, going inside after thanking him. Your eyes scanned the room in wonder. The Valley of Thorns’ common interior design always held dark colors. The only exception is when one of the home’s residents is light-colored, y’know? Like, tousled silver hair scattered on the couch arm, maybe even a white turtleneck hugging his figure, his aurora-colored eyes closed for the world not to see, and his pinkish lips slightly open while soft even breaths blew out. 

And Lilia said he woke up early, yes?

“Silver,” you whispered out, looking over the door while folding your lips and looking back at the young man on the couch. “Silver,” you called out louder, nudging the said man until he groaned and opened his eyes.

As his eyes came to view, you leaned forward, waving at him with a closed-lip smile. “Good morning-- or should I say afternoon?” you giggled. Silver blinked, and blinked, and blinked. His brain slowly processed what happened until he recognized your face. Jolting up into a sitting position he rubbed his eyes as he muttered, “I fell asleep...again?” 

“Nothing I’m not used to. But I’m glad you actually waited for me.”

You sat on the windowsill across from him, and while you looked at the horses at the nearby stable, you heard him shuffling from where he sat. Still looking a tad bit drowsy, he watched as you swung your legs back and forth. “I wanted to ask for some help. You’re the only one who I can approach since, well, you’re the only one I’m closed with. I also believe you’re great at teaching.”

Confused, Silver stood up from the couch and stood beside you on the window, “You’re saying?”

“I want to study with you when it comes to horseback riding. I really need to ace my exam,” you said, gulping as you watched one of the horses run around freely. You were never confident around horses. Not that they scare you, it’s just because of their boisterous behavior. They can kick and probably trample over you if you don’t handle them properly. 

“You want to study together?” Silver mumbled, glancing at you while you nervously glanced at the horses. 

“If it’s no trouble, Silv. I just really need some help.” Your eyes met his. He could sense your determination despite the worry and nervousness in your system. He doesn’t doubt his horseback riding skills, yet he knew himself that he has more training to do. Maybe, both of you can learn something new together. 

“Alright,” he agreed, “Let’s head to the stables.”

The height of the horses baffled you. Horses are no stranger to the Valley of Thorns yet you never actually got a chance to come near one considering you never even needed to. Each horse held their own distinctive color; white, brown, black, spotted, and there was even one with a long white mane and a thick tail. It was beautiful. 

Silver caught sight of you staring at one of the attractive horses their stable owned. It was his horse. “Do you want to ride Cloud?” His hand caressed the horse’s snout -- the mammal exhaled as a response to the touch.

“Cloud?” you repeated, reaching out to gently touch her soft mane. “She’s so beautiful...”

“She’s a rare Gypsy Vanner. A gift from father when I first rode a horse. You could say she’s become a friend of mine,” Silver shared, and while you listened, a smile stretched on your lips. “Then you must really be fond of her,” you said.

“We grew up together, so to say.” Silver cleared his throat and opened the stable door, his hand tightly held the reigns as he let Cloud out of the stable. The way she lightly neighed, her little shakes of relief, and the way she nudged Silver made you giggle yet feel weary. What if she doesn’t like you? What if she ran too fast? 

“Don’t be scared. She doesn’t hurt anyone,” Silver reassured as he adjusted the saddle. “Anyways, what is your exam about?” You followed him towards the equestrian facility (the place where horses are trained), walking beside him as you eyed Cloud. 

“Just basic horseback riding training. Cantering, galloping, trotting…” you explained. Not that hard, yes? You don’t need to have Cloud jump over bars or make her do tricks. Just basic running techniques to pass your exam. Silver, is no doubt, surprised. It’s really simple. But what if you held another horse? 

He hummed, letting Cloud stand steadily, he reached out for your hand and led it towards the horse. “It’s important that the horse knows you. They need to trust you in order to listen to you. I don’t want you to make the same mistake I did before.” Your hand felt Cloud’s soft fur around her neck. It exhaled in delight, signifying that she knows you and would most likely trust you. 

“What did you do?”

Silver looked away embarrassed, he vaguely remembers the day like it was just yesterday. How could he forget the fact a horse nearly sent him flying just because he rode it immediately without even acknowledging the fact it’s a wild horse. Thanks to the Great Seven, Lilia and Malleus were there to calm the horse down and grab him before he got severely injured.

“It’s nothing… Come, I’ll help you up.”

Oh, to be aware of one’s touches must be quite a delight to both parties. You hooked your left foot around the stirrup while Silver held your hand as support while you lifted yourself up the horse’s saddle. Once you’re sat, he immediately kept Cloud steady as he looked up at you. “You good?”

You nodded, smiling down at the horse. “Good girl,” you cooed. 

Silver looked at the path ahead of you, he wondered --  should he ride behind you or hold the reins until you got the hang of it? You’re still a beginner and he could either lead you properly by riding along or just standing by. When he was young, Lilia would ride behind him on the horse and he would just learn by watching him handle the reins.

Think, Silver, think.

“Are you getting up? I really don’t trust myself with the horse when you let me handle her alone…”

There’s the answer.

And now he’s behind you with his hands on yours as you both hold the reins. Cloud was trotting on the dirt as gently as Silver ordered her to do. Though with your obliviousness -- more of just being focused on his guide -- you failed to notice the fact that the young man behind you is enjoying your company.

You would squeal out loud if Cloud decided to go faster or tightly hold onto his hand and lean on his chest if you felt like falling off. It was hard not to find you adorable. And yet you’re still determined to learn. Back in NRC, he, Riddle, and Sebek would often yell at each other if one decides to flop. It’s not easy to handle horses, and yet you’re here handling Cloud well. Someday, you’ll ride another horse with confidence and just by yourself.

He tried to hop off the horse and let you handle Cloud on your own, maybe you aren’t the slickest or the fastest of learners, but you sure could control a horse now. Silver’s instincts were just as fast as he trained himself to be, almost running by your side when Cloud gets too excited with running.

He stayed so alert.

Hell, he didn’t even doze off in a while. 

“You work hard,” he praised you after you were able to halt the horse’s running smoothly. Both of you sharing a grin before proceeding with the next course. Hours and hours of practice, and you’re learning.

Lilia even forgot what in the living fuck he was boiling as he stared outside at the both of you. “Now, Silver didn’t tell me he had a little date.”

╰──➢   “ Have you been to the library yet? You should definitely stop at least once sometime. There are a lot of books you’d fine useful there ”

“I thought you would know the way around the Rose Kingdom since you live here,” Cater teased as he looked out the window of the train he and Riddle sat in. The younger boy scoffed and crossed his arms.

“I barely go out of my home. I’m even surprised you know the place more than I do. I know the area but not how to go there.” Riddle sighed, looking down at the phone on his lap once he heard it ring from a message.

A message from you.

That’s right; the only reason Riddle is heading somewhere with Cater was that you offered to visit a historical museum with him. The purpose of this little trip was for you to learn something in terms of magical history. Where’s the fun in just sitting down and reading in your bedroom when you can experience the said history hands-on?

Cater was there to accompany Riddle throughout the journey and would most likely explore his own way while you two converse about whatever question and lesson you had in mind. You knew Riddle was one of the top students in his school. You also knew he wouldn’t refuse an opportunity for him to teach you something he knows. 

When the train stopped, both students went off and down the museum just a few blocks away from the station. In front of the said museum was what Cater called: Riddle’s date. No, it was, in no way, a date. It was a simple study session. “Just in time, as always.” You stood up from the bench you were sitting on and met the two guys halfway. Cater had waved at you while Riddle looked at the exterior design of the museum.

It was a museum dedicated to the Queen of Hearts.

Riddle has been there a couple of times already. He has learned to love the place; though it's been a few years since he last visited. 

"I'll leave you two here. There's a mall near this place and I wanna look around. See ya, Riddle, y/n!" Cater waved as he walked away. Riddle’s eyes moved back to you, watching as you looked at the museum, "Let's head in!"

You thought, again, thought, that the museum would be bustling with people left and right considering how popular it was in the Rose Kingdom. However, the moment you entered its walls, there were only around fifteen to twenty-five people inside — for the most part, you were in the main lobby. 

"What are your concerns about?" Riddle began as he looked up at the huge statue of the Queen of Hearts situated in the middle of the lobby. Astonish were thee as you read the description of the queen. 

'The Queen had only one way of settling all difficulties, great or small. 'Off with his head!' she said, without even looking around.'

"She was very powerful, indeed," he said whilst he looked at the decoy of the queen's crown situated in a case. "Those who looked at her, or even heard her name, are terrified."

"What magic does she hold?" you asked, circling the statue as Riddle followed behind. 

"She holds great physical strength. As you can see—" Riddle pointed at the statue, "—she was big. Though some would label her as fat due to what Alice said, but in our school, she was mighty. I do wonder how she was able to grow so strong." He walked ahead of you and towards a painting. In that painting held the Queen of Hearts while she played croquet.

"Not only that. She aced in croquet and she ruled over her kingdom for how long. You could say she held authority no one could handle. Not even her own guards and husband." 

As he spoke, your legs brought you over the hallways that held marvelous paintings of the queen. He was just by your side the whole time. "You did say you were in a dorm that's named after her, yes?" you asked, looking over at him.

Riddle nodded. "The statue you saw in the main hall was the same statue that's near our school's entrance. It's only proper for her to be standing there. She is one of the Great Seven after all."

"And you're the dorm leader in that dorm. You also have her rules applied to your very dorm. Tell me, Riddle. Do you admire her?" You both stood in front of another glass case. This time, holding the Queen of Hearts' sceptre. A heart with a gold staff, not even a single speck of withering is shown. It looked so expensive and very antique. 

Riddle was quiet after you asked the question. Looking at him, you noticed how he stared at the queen's sceptre. Just above that sceptre was another painting of the queen, it was her on her throne with a villainous smirk on her face. It sent shivers down your spine.

"I do."

You faced Riddle once again. He had a serious expression on his face as he faced you. "She's the reason why I became the dorm leader that I am today. It was by my own choice to follow her rules and her doings. Not only for myself but for the sake of my dorm."

"Riddle..."

His voice held the authority of a dorm leader you never got to hear — considering as you go to different schools. You don't know how he is as a dorm leader, but judging by how he looked at the queen's painting, it's enough to convince you that he, Riddle Rosehearts…

Is the King of Heartslabyul.

The glass case that held the sceptre had a small hole — big enough to fit a hand or two — with a note above: 'Touch with precaution'. With a little bit of hesitation, you reached out and touched the sceptre. Warmth seeped through his hand as Riddle, too, reached out to touch the sceptre only for it to land on your hand. You both froze, staring at each other in surprise. It was he who pulled away first, cheeks painted as red as the hallway's walls. 

"H-Have you been to the library yet? We should definitely stop at least once sometime." He coughed out, looking away from you. "There are a lot of books you’d find useful there. Didn't you say you wanted to know more about the queen's history based on your topic for your exam?"

And he walked ahead. 

Your hand slowly moved to your chest after you let go of the sceptre. Looking down to your feet as you chuckled to yourself. Folding your lips as you covered your mouth and looked back at Riddle's walking figure. 

The Queen— well, King — of Hearts may have a temperament. But he sure can be admirable at times when needed… 

"Are you coming or not?"

© jangmi-latte, all rights reserved. Happy to Serve!

[natewriteslol]

And There You Stayed

Part 2 of Just You and Me

Summary: Malleus realizes that the dream of Y/N the human is becoming a reality. Will the memories that he created crumble and fade to black just like last time? Or will they follow through, and life will fall into place.

A/N: I know some of you guys were heartbroken so I wrote you a happy ending

Y/N uses they/them pronouns

Warnings: none

Genre: Fluff and just a little bit of angst

tag list: @coffeeleafdepression, @magicpumpkin3, @puddingqueen-writes  

Part 1 of the fic! (ahfkfaad pls read otherwise the fic will just seem weird) 

It was still a week and a couple of days after the dream and Malleus had such a tough time forgetting you. Your touch, scent, smile, they way you laughed. He couldn’t believe that you were a figment of reality, and the horned man just wasn’t the same. Lilia, Silver and Sebek noticed the change in their master’s mood, but they didn’t want to dig and make him uncomfortable. Malleus was sad and way more aloof than usual, it was hard to approach him let alone fix. So, they let their master have his space. 

An organized meeting for the dorm leaders was meant to commence soon, talking about formalities since the school year had just started after all. And despite his melancholy, Malleus knew he had to attend. The meeting was quite boring, no one really talked to him as his frightening demeanor was even more intense when he was in this state. So he had just sat and listened. 

And that was when everything changed, the magic mirror vibrated and lit up. With great blinding light someone flew out of the magic mirror with a scream. It was a cat? Another scream rang out, flying out the magic mirror in the same fashion, except the silhouette looked human.

The beast talked with great blue flames surrounding it’s ears and tail. 

“Who the hell are you?! Get off of me you stupid human!” The voice of the cat said, as the human had toppled over the cat, both laying on the cold dark marble of the floor. 

“A talking cat?!” The human shrieked. 

“Yeah do you have a problem with that, human?” The cat asked angrily, floating in the air. The human had emerged from the darkness. 

It was them, from his dream.  

Every imperfection, every beautiful quality, Malleus had memorized them all. And there they were, right in front of him. 

This had sent him into a state of shock, the fae had just stood there. While everyone had tended to the new resident. Everything he had already predicted was happening. Enrolled as one student with the cat named Grim, placed in the abandoned Ramshackle dorm, defeating the overblotted dorm leaders. 

And your name, Y/N L/N. Flowed perfectly off the tongue. 

The only thing Malleus had gotten wrong, was that you didn’t come on the first day, but rather a few days after. It was insane and Malleus grew afraid. What if everything would fizzle out again? Revealing that it was a fantasy and nothing more. 

Yet something was different about this time. It was that he was experiencing more, different adventures that weren’t revealed in his dream, new conversations that made his love for Y/N grow even more. 

Like the one time he was reading peacefully in the courtyard only to see Y/N and the gang running away from a Giantess Froganza (Giant mutant frog). 

“HI MALLEUS! BYE MALLEUS!” you yelled before starting to scream and run away from the beast. Y/N had still managed to notice him, even in moments of terror. Yet without magic you had saved the day. Like the great hero that you were. 

The dream was a vague prophecy of love given to him. Malleus was hurt yet grateful, to feel insane for days but then given the gift of this human. They were silly, completely out of whack, but they were still so in sync with Malleus. A perfect fit into NRC, like a puzzle piece. 

Lilia had noticed Malleus’ behavior being soothed yet still alert. 

“Malleus, what is going on?” Lilia asked, gazing into his eyes. And that is all it took for him to spill out his secret. He felt embarrassed, thinking that Lilia was going to look at him with two heads. All Malleus’ feelings were out in the open. 

Lilia gave him a smile, “Oh Malleus, but don’t you know?” 

“Know what exactly?” Malleus asked, wanting his guardian to go on. 

“Dear, when faes get older they can earn new powers. Some stay forever, some only stay for a short while like yours,” Lilia answered. 

“And while it wasn’t completely accurate, and didn’t show everything. You had a prophetic vision, they typically happen when there is something of great importance coming. And from what I can tell, Y/N is incredibly important to you,” The elder fae said teasingly, making Malleus a little flustered. Lilia wasn’t wrong but that didn’t mean that he had to say it. Y/N made the horned man nervous undeniably, his heart skipping and his breath hitch whenever they spoke to him. 

“But please, rest easy. There is nothing to fear Malleus,” Lilia said. 

~

Malleus and Y/N were looking at the sunset while sitting on the roof of an ancient building of NRC. He confessed about his prophetic visions, he didn’t want to feel like a fool when around him despite getting reassurance from Lilia. Malleus didn’t tell them about him professing his love to them, he wasn’t ready for that yet. 

“I know it sounds quite unbelievable but-” 

“Malleus, I got chased by a gigantic frog,” they started, taking his hand into theirs. “You are a great and all powerful sorcerer. One of the most powerful people I know! That isn’t unbelievable or weird.” 

“But if something is bothering you, then you can tell me. I’ve got my arms wide open for you.”

~

It was summer, one of the last days to close Y/N’s first year at Night Raven College. The human decided to take a walk with Malleus feeling anxious, but they weren’t really sure what they were feeling apprehensive about. More and more time without being home, the feeling of being done with a school year or wanting to tell Malleus about how they felt. 

Was it a combination of all three? Most likely.

The human had felt a connection with him for a long time, and they didn’t know how long they had to keep it hidden within. So they decided, you know what? I’m gonna confess to this guy! With such great confidence, yet it fizzled around him in seconds.  

His eyes, so bright and mysterious. Of course everyone’s eyes were pretty different from what they’ve seen in the human world, but Y/N could gaze into specifically his all day. His lips, speaking in that beautiful voice with such proper language. The human remembered that one time they poked fun at Malleus with Sebek around. 

“I’m quite a royal, yes I am. The most powerful sorcerer among these humans” they said flamboyantly, closing their eyes and placing a hand on their forehead. 

“Stop making fun of the young master, you ignorant human!” Sebek boomed with anger in his voice. 

“Sebek, my loyal servant, you bark like a dog,” the human said, opening an eye to look at the angry fae. 

“That’s it!-” 

But in the background there came a snicker which emerged into one that was just a little bit louder, yet still soft. 

It was Malleus. Laughing? Admittedly, Sebek was a little jealous of Y/N for being able to make the young master laugh, especially since it was at his expense. But it put happiness in his heart that someone was able to make him happy. Not as a servant, but as a friend. 

 However, the green haired fae was still prepared to strangle you. 

~

The pair sat down on the grass, seeing the lights of fireflies around them. The human took Malleus’ hand into theirs all while staring at the lake in front of them.  

“Child of man” Malleus started, making you turn your attention to him. “When we were on the roof and I talked about my vision, I was not being completely honest.” 

“What do you mean?” you asked. 

“Well, I had left out a minor detail,” 

“We were on the bridge, and I had confessed to you” Malleus finally got out. “When I had finished, you told me to wake up. Everything had gone black and I was woken up by Lilia.”

“I had been very anxious about sharing this moment with you, Child of Man. I’m frightened that everything will fizzle out to black and not be real.” It was silence until, 

“Malleus, I love you-”

“Y/N, I love you-”

They both chuckled from them speaking at the same time. 

“Please go first, Y/N.” 

“Malleus, I really love you, you know. I’ve been crushing on you for so long. And I promise that we’re in reality,” you paused to look at the fae in his eyes. 

“I know you told me that you’re anxious to take on the future, and I’m the same. I don’t know what’s in store or what I’m going to do, but let’s be there for each other,” they finished, placing their palm against his pale face, smiling as you did. 

Malleus put his hand on Y/N’s face as well, pulling them into a deep kiss. And while his vision wasn’t one hundred percent correct, the moment the fae and human had shared was incredibly magical. 

“I have wanted to do that for a long time, Child of Man,” Malleus said, smiling cheekily. And there the pair stayed, conversing under the stars until you had to run from employees who had spotted them both. 

Careless, young and free. But most importantly together. 

As they had both promised each other.

[thisaccisdead]

montreal - roman hurt/comfort

pairing: this was written to all be platonic prinxiety, but can definitely be interpreted romantically !

warnings: unconventional self harm, non-graphic descriptions of wounds/injury

summary: a post-POF roman hurt/comfort fic in january 2021? yes <3

word count: 3.2k

notes: large portions of this were salvaged from one (1) night last summer at 4am when i was having a . time. the rest has been mainly recently written before i go to bed, with some extra bits added during my history classes B)) also shout out to [REDACTED]. u may not read this but if u do, i hope u know who u are & ilu

Virgil had been trying to calm himself down for the better part of an hour, as soon as they got back from the wedding fiasco; and he was doing a relatively okay job. Considering the circumstances, at least. Or so he thought, when he registered a spike in Thomas’s anxiety. This only served to make Virgil more anxious, because he had thought he had been doing well—until, he realized it wasn’t anxiety, not exactly, not fully—and it wasn’t coming from him.

Once he'd figured that out, it wasn't hard to trace the feeling to the imagination. He paused at the door. If this was where the strongest negative emotions were coming from, he already knew which side this was about. And could he really be surprised? Roman had wanted that callback for so long. Even at the court case, even when Roman gave Thomas his sentence, Virgil knew it killed him. And Virgil didn't do anything. Because he was so fucking scared of Thomas being bad, or of Janus winning, or something, and now whatever was going on was his fault, and--

And now was not the time for these thoughts. He breathed in. He opened the door.

Immediately, he was coughing out soot, heat burned his cheeks, his eyes blurred with protective tears forming against the smoke. It was hard to see, let alone process, what was happening. Then, he caught sight of the Dragon Witch. And he caught sight of—

“Roman!” Virgil choked on the yell, coughing again.

Obviously Roman couldn’t hear him from the distance, especially considering the brutal roar of the creature. Adrenaline kicked in, and as Virgil began to sprint towards the prince, he took in the entirety of the scene with alarm. Roman was...fighting, sure, except that Virgil had seen him fight before, and this... wasn’t right. Roman bested manticore-chimeras like it was a breeze, he HAD bested the Dragon Witch herself in every form she took, “just for training.” He always moved like he was in a ballet, not a battle, like it was more for show than challenge, and now...

Virgil watched Roman fall to a hard swish of the creature’s tail, and stay there. He almost expected the Dragon Witch to take mercy, or at least, to accept an early victory. But he watched her rear back, raise a taloned hand, the magma-red in her throat glowing brighter and brighter—just as Virgil got close enough to let fight win over flight.

Virgil crashed into Roman; they rolled just far enough that the swipe of claws only ripped the edge of Virgil’s jacket.

Immediate danger out of the way, Virgil clenched his eyes tight, trying to do it how Logan taught him. He found something that didn’t make sense--the grass. The grass was dry, therefore it should have been burning, but it wasn’t. He took that foothold to dispel all the fantastical elements of the scene, Dragon Witch and all her carnage blinking from existence. The new calm of the scene was jarring.

That just left a great big field, Virgil, and one absolute dumbass.

"What the fuck, Princey?!"

Virgil’s voice was distorted with stress, and Roman stared up at him wide-eyed, unsure—even terrified in a way that hurt. Virgil quickly pushed himself up so he wasn't pinning the other. Roman tried to copy this movement, only to groan, start coughing, and fall back again.

“Shit, I—“ Virgil looked at his hands and found red on them, looked at Roman and saw the color painting his chest. “I thought I dispelled all the imaginary stuff, why—?“

“Left brain sides can only dispel so much of what right brain sides feel,” Roman said, voice rough and thin and upsettingly casual, “Since they feel so real to me, you can’t get rid of them.”

“They feel…? Christ, ok, you need a medical kit, uhm—“ Virgil closed his eyes again; he was notoriously shitty at summoning things, and he had to concentrate for this—

“That’s ok; I’ve got it,” Roman said, letting out a quiet hiss as he propped himself up on one arm, and summoned the medical kit with the other, “You can go now.”

Virgil gaped at him in disbelief. When Roman attempted to stand up, and Virgil could no longer deny he wasn’t joking, he exclaimed, “Like Hell am I going, idiot!”

Roman just stared at him, and Virgil cursed under his breath. “Ok ok, let’s just... we should do this in the bathroom, uhm—“

Virgil awkwardly clambered over to Roman again, taking his hand, so he could blink them over together. He knew it would probably be more comfortable for Roman to sink in and out, but considering Virgil wasn’t practiced at that, he wasn’t going to risk screwing it up.

They apparated into the bathtub, and Virgil scrambled up, taking the med kit from Roman's hands.

Ok, ok, now Virgil just had to remember that one time Logan lectured them all on “Side Safety.” He took a shaky breath and washed his hands quickly, before turning back to Roman. He allowed himself to fully assess the prince this time and… Jesus. He was slumped against the back of the tub, having given up his attempts at composure while he thought Virgil wasn’t looking. His litany of scrapes, cuts, bruising, his shallow breathing, and--most of all--the wet, red patch slowly growing on his shirt, sparked renewed panic in Virgil.

“Ok, fuck, ok--let’s do this,” Virgil said, mostly to himself, as he knelt down by Roman to undo his already tattered shirt and take a wet towel to his chest. He had to suck in a breath at the sight of the jagged wound, a nauseous feeling catching up to him.

“You’ve already done a lot, you know,” Roman insisted. “You can--”

“If you tell me to go, Princey, I swear I’ll make these wounds worse myself,” he said, not meaning it in the slightest, which he would assume Roman knew--but the way Roman flinched and shut his mouth told a different story. “Shit, I didn’t mean that. Of course I didn’t mean that!”

Roman glanced away, and Virgil reached to cup his cheek, an instinct he didn’t know he had. Luckily, he caught himself in time to retract his hand. They both avoided eye contact for a second; Virgil cleared his throat; and he reached for the bottle of hydrogen peroxide before pausing. He vaguely recalled Logan mentioning how strong alcohols would only cause more harm, and they should just stick to mild soap instead. He gave the cut a longer look-over—it was certainly not a pretty sight, but probably not as bad as it looked. It was large, but not too deep. Plus, as sides, it would heal itself without needing anything like stitches or professional medical work. The past scars littering Roman’s body were proof of that. Actually--had he always had this many scars? Virgil squinted. How often did he do this?

Virgil finished cleansing and bandaging the wound to the best of his ability, with little talk beyond the occasional, soft “sorry” at Roman’s winces. When he had finished, he gave Roman his hoodie (an action the Prince was too tired to take much notice of), since summoning a new shirt seemed like a waste of whatever energy he had left.

“Ok, Princey, all done. Uhm, are you—how, how are you?” Virgil mentally kicked himself.

A small, bitter smile tugged at Roman’s lips for just a moment. He opened his mouth and then closed it, and finally shrugged. “Thank you for your help.”

It hurt, Virgil realized. Roman’s quiet voice, where near-shouting was his usual speech. His unkempt hair sticking to his forehead, where it was usually styled to be very lightly and intentionally ruffled. The bags beneath his eyes where there was usually concealer. All of it hurt.

Virgil sucked in a breath. “Look, I’m sorry if I’m being annoying, but I hope you know there’s absolutely no way I’m leaving yet.”

“Virgil,” Roman almost said it as a whine, which was closer to his usual style, so Virgil considered it progress.

“Roman,” Virgil deadpanned back.

Roman huffed. “Maybe I need space to really explore my feelings, and you’re actually being a terrible friend right now,” he argued.

“Uh-huh, well being a terrible friend is always my favorite, so,” Virgil leaned down, fumbling slightly as he picked Roman up bridal style, “We’re gonna get you to bed, and you can explore your feelings by sleeping.”

“Great, now you’re damsel-in-distressing me,” Roman said sarcastically, but he leaned his head into Virgil’s chest as he did so, which kind of ruined his point.

“Yeah, yeah. Act more like Megara next time, and maybe it’ll be different.”

•••

Roman groaned upon waking up. His whole body ached, but mainly it was focused around a sharper pain in his chest. He let his eyes flutter open, only to find Virgil staring at him from his desk.

“Ah,” Roman uttered, a jumble of memories from the past few hours returning. They felt foggy and mildly icky, but mainly the pain in them was the numb kind of pain, the tired kind. Really, it was indistinguishable from the dull ache of his bruises and cuts.

“Yeah,” Virgil said, as though he understood, even though he couldn’t possibly. “Uh, wanna talk about it?”

It was clear Virgil felt awkward asking the question. It was unclear whether that was due to his tendency to be embarrassed by everything he said, or—far more likely—that he wanted to stop babying a stupid prince, and just go about his business.

Roman sat up, suppressing a wince as best he could. “Do you want to hear about it?”

“Of course I do.” Virgil said it without an ounce of hesitation. Roman’s breath caught.

“Oh.” Roman shifted slightly over, and Virgil took a seat by him on the bed. “Okay. Uhm. I don’t know, I just—I messed up.” What else was new?

“...What did you mess up?” Virgil asked, with an inkling of suspicion, like he knew what this was about. But it wasn’t that; it wasn’t the callback—that was over and done and dead. Roman had created so many fantasies, so many crazy scenarios where they could somehow still make it in that stupid movie, and it had always filled him with hope or crushing pain or something, but as of this afternoon? He didn’t even care. It didn’t matter.

So, Roman ignored the question, and instead commented, “Janus got accepted.”

“What the fuck.”

Roman observed Virgil’s stricken expression like an unsettling kind of mirror of himself when—

My name is Janus.

“Yeah,” Roman sighed, “I didn’t take it so well either.”

Virgil looked at him for a long moment, seeming to go through several series of emotions, before he was able to ask, “...What happened?”

Roman inhaled sharply. “I was wrong about being wrong about the wedding. Patton was also wrong; Janus was right, and then Patton was right because he wasn’t a total asshole to Janus, and I’m evil; Thomas hates me; whatever, you get it.”

He thought he would break down, saying it, but he felt oddly… fine. He sat, staring at the same spot as he was before, absentmindedly annoyed at the way his bandages itched. The normalcy of the situation almost made it worse. This sucked. This wasn’t even bad.This was the worst he had ever felt.

“Oook,” Virgil said, clearly not knowing where to start, “I—you—what do you mean: Thomas hates you?”

“Thought that one was self-explanatory.”

“He can’t hate you,” Virgil said with a laughable amount of conviction. “You’re still his… y’know.. goals. Desires. Hopes. Whatever. Just because this one didn’t go… perfectly, doesn’t mean you won’t keep—“ he struggled to find the phrasing for a moment— “...fighting, uh, valiantly for Thomas’s dreams!” he attempted at the encouragement with a weak smile.

Roman just shook his head. “No. I don’t know what he wants.”

Virgil’s smile dropped into confusion. “But… you are his wants.”

“That’s kind of the problem.”

Virgil seemed at a loss, and Roman felt like an asshole. Here he was trying to help him, and Roman couldn’t even be bothered to put on a smile to dismiss him from the duty.

“Please go,” Roman attempted weakly when he couldn’t find a more convincing argument in himself. He was meant to be an actor, but he knew he couldn’t hide the fact that he wanted him to stay, of course he did, so badly. He hoped Virgil would just quit with the chivalry and go despite that.

Virgil sighed deeply and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Shit, I'm going about this all wrong.”

Roman knew it probably wasn’t really him Virgil was mad at, but it was hard not to shrink away anyway.

“Look, Roman—“ Virgil turned to him, looked at him seriously, took his hands in his— “To be honest? I don’t care what happened. I don’t care who was right or wrong—I mean, we all know I’ve been in the wrong more than my fair share. It doesn’t change how I feel about you.”

Roman didn’t miss the ambiguity of the end statement. “But… look, you don’t get it. When you mess up, you’re still you. You’re still...,” Roman gestured vaguely, which upset his bandages, and when he looked down at himself, he took note of the black/purple hoodie he was wearing. He melted slightly. This was exactly the point he was trying to make, “You’re still... y’know. Important.”

“Wh—? Of course you’re important, Ro. You’re creativity—“

“Thomas has two of those.”

Virgil looked at him like he was stupid. “Right, as if you’re anything like Remus.”

Roman’s lip quivered at that, and he had to look away, which was so stupid. And suddenly he felt all of the embarrassment at once—of this situation, of everything that had happened before, of the way he was about to cry, in front of Virgil, after he said that, which must look so—

“Roman?”

A hand was on his cheek, softly turning his face towards Virgil’s, though Roman still refused to meet his eyes.

Virgil cursed to himself under his breath. “Shit, this is exactly what I was trying not to say.” He sighed, and Roman hesitantly looked up at him. “Look. Even if you weren’t creativity, if you weren’t hopes or dreams or any of it—if you were a completely pointless side, which you aren’t, but if you were—I wouldn’t care. What I care about is that you’re... Roman. That you bother me until I sing Disney with you, that when you put your heart into something, you do it to a stupid amount, that you make Thomas take trashy buzzfeed soulmate quizzes when he’s stressed, and that you fucking try so hard for everything, even when I’m being a little bitch about it,” he paused. With the hand on Roman’s cheek, he traced the line of a scar down his jaw. It was one of the ones Roman usually made sure to put an illusion over, he noted offhandedly. “I care, because you’re my best friend.”

“Don’t say that,” Roman choked out. He couldn’t handle it if it was a lie, and part of him couldn’t manage hearing it as anything but exactly that. “Just—just—“

“Oh, Princey..”

Virgil held him as he broke. Roman didn’t know how long they sat like that as he let everything wash over him for a final time, let it all truly sink in at long last. He took heaving, messy sobs, no doubt ruining Virgil’s shirt in the process—he was quiet, though. He shook silently, save a couple choked breaths, in the other’s arms--that was a habit he had taught himself long ago.

When Roman had tired himself out, when all that was left was the pain in chest, (which was also suddenly duller—he was healing fast, even for a side—) he pulled back from the embrace. Virgil didn’t move by much, kept them so their fingers were laced together, as they sat staring at each other.

“Uhm. Thanks,” Roman gave a shaky smile, “You really—uh... I... I said some stupid stuff, huh?”

Virgil hesitated before he spoke, as if he knew he shouldn’t ask this right now, but needed to anyway. “...Roman, why’d you go to the Imagination?”

Roman felt ice stab at his chest upon the question. He didn’t want to do this. They had already talked about so much that he shouldn’t have gotten into; this was meant to be the part where they either parted or watched a stupid movie. And this, out of everything, was the conversation he most needed to avoid.

“Uh—I mean, to let off steam?” Roman gave a laugh as best he could. “Obviously, it didn’t go to plan—“

“Didn’t it?”

Roman’s face fell immediately. He struggled to come up with an answer, and even if he had had one, he didn’t think the sound would come out. This was enough of an answer in itself

“Shit,” Virgil breathed. Roman couldn’t help but be mildly annoyed by his surprise—clearly he had already known, he didn’t have to make it a big deal now.

“I… Princey—Roman…” Virgil looked him up and down, and Roman wanted to curl up and hide. “...how many times?”

“Not many,” Roman mumbled. Virgil must have known he was pushing the subject too far, because he just frowned and said,

“OK. I mean...it’s not OK, obviously, but you already know that, I just—“ he sighed. “Just… can you talk to me? Instead? Please? When you feel like… that.”

“Yeah, that sounds good,” Roman responded hastily, wanting an out from this topic.

Virgil gave him a look. “I’m serious. I mean—look, you don’t even have to talk about it if you don’t want. Just, come to me first, yeah?”

Roman’s face burned; he was embarrassed; he wanted to shrug this whole thing off, or roll his eyes, or maybe scream in annoyance. But the rational part of him knew Virgil was right. “OK,” he agreed softly, “...Thanks. For everything.”

Virgil looked surprised, and then flustered, and then waved off the earnest reply. “I mean, it wasn’t--I didn’t--it’s not like I did anything really--”

“You did.”

Virgil’s face softened. “Yeah, well... you’d’ve done the same for me. You... have done the same for me.”

Roman smiled gently at him. “By the way, Virge--” He hesitated. He was about to sound like a real dumbass if Virgil had only been saying this stuff for comfort’s sake. But making a fool of himself was becoming a theme for him anyway, so he continued, “You’re my best friend too.”

I love you.

In the same beats Roman thought it, Virgil squeezed his hand lightly 3 times. A breath passed between them. An understanding. That Roman couldn’t say it out loud, and Virgil wouldn’t.

Instead, Virgil fell back across the bed, bringing Roman with him in the motion. Roman let out a startled gasp and elbowed him lightly. “Hey! I’m injured, that could have been a fatal impact for me!” he whined.

Virgil snorted. “Yeah, yeah, OK. So, do you wanna watch a stupid movie, or what?”

[moonbeam-writing]

Hello! I saw requests were open and I was wanting to request a little one shot with Kakashi x fem!reader where reader is a full or half fox yokai (fine either way if related to Kurama) and Kakashi's reaction to finding out. I hope that makes sense. Thank you very much!!

—

๑ Requested by a lovely Anon! ♡

๑ Characters: Kakashi Hatake (Naruto)

๑ Contains: Weird execution (writing wise), but nothing major!

๑ Quick Note: I'm sorry this took so long, and I'm sorry if the end feels rushed! I really hope you enjoy it regardless! ♡

๑ Word Count:

—

Kakashi Hatake had never thought much in regards to the supernatural. He didn't really think about whether or not he believed in the idea of ghosts, and when it came to demons, he knew about the Tailed Beasts and preferred to keep it at that. Until he met you. You didn't necessarily make him change his thoughts or beliefs, but he definitely wanted to know more about you once you came into his life.

It had all started in his dreams. That in and of itself was strange to Kakashi, who never really remembered his dreams, who genuinely wasn't sure if he actually did or not. He remembered you, though. The darling little demon girl that mysteriously popped up one night and continued to come around every other night or so.

He wasn't sure about you when you first appeared. He didn't know who you were, what you were. Hell, Kakashi was nearly entirely convinced he was awake. For all he knew, you were just a product of what he was reading before bed.

He didn't remember anything from that first night, though he wished he did more than almost anything in the world. All he really remembered was the way you looked and the way he felt. He remembered feeling nearly breathless when he looked at you, like his world was forced to a halt. He remembered the way you smiled at him, how you toyed with the ends of your hair. He wished he knew what you sounded like that first night or if you even said anything to him at all. Sometimes, he still wasn't sure you were real.

But, most nights, you came back to him. You always appeared just as you had before and Kakashi never knew something so strange could be so comforting. He knew close to nothing about you –only your name, what you were, and minor details that he felt were surface level–, but it felt like he had known you forever.

Kakashi's little dreamscape was always the same. It was a clearing in the woods that seemed vaguely familiar. It was always reasonably sunny with a slight, comfortable breeze, but none of that mattered to him. The thing that mattered to him was you; you with your pretty smile and softly swaying tails. He’d always been a dog person, but he was willing to overlook the fox qualities if it meant keeping you around. 

Feeling anything romantic for someone that wasn’t Rin had never occurred to him. After she died, it wasn’t anything that really came to mind. He always felt his best with you, however, he also worried that that feeling would be taken away from him again. Kakashi considered himself incredibly lucky to be able to feel like that a second time; what was he supposed to do if it were torn away again? There was nothing keeping you here, you could leave whenever you wanted and never come back, but he continued to be hopeful.

By this point, Kakashi was sure that you knew pretty much everything about each other, and he was certainly correct, to a degree that is. You knew all about his students, all about their missions and what they’ve accomplished, as well as his friends and colleagues, and what you dubbed as his “early years.” Whether he knew it or not, you were always hanging onto his every word.

As far as you were concerned, Kakashi didn’t always feel like he knew quite as much about you as you did him, however, he knew the reasoning behind it. He knew what you were and knew that you’ve been around for a long, long time; Kakashi was sure that some things were much better left as far in the past as they had occurred and wasn’t about to blame you for it. That being said, as much as you preferred to keep hidden, you still had so many stories and things to tell him about your day, specifically things that happened when you observed the human world, just waiting for Kakashi to fall asleep again.

In the millennia you've existed, patience wasn't always your strong suit. It was something that certainly got better as you got older, but it was still something you found yourself struggling with nonetheless. There was something, however, that seemed to be the exception to that fact of your like. That something was Kakashi Hatake himself.

You weren't sure on the hows or whys on anything you felt towards him, but you were glad you felt what you felt. When it came to him, it didn't seem to matter that he always took forever to fall asleep. You were always thrilled once he finally was asleep.

[evergreenstringbean]

Must Be a Dream

Post-WTIT oneshot after Logan sinks back to his room.

(Read to the end for a quick lil note!)

Link here to read on AO3

  Logan’s alone, but not completely.

  He sits in the dark corner of his room reserved exclusively for such a time as this. His body is nestled uncomfortably where the two walls meet, and perhaps if he was thinking clearly he’d grab a pillow or something to support his back. Instead, he makes no effort to move as the dim whir of a computer provides the little amount of noise to keep his ears from ringing.

  “Why won’t they just…listen?” he asks himself quietly. Maybe if he says it aloud, he can come up with a logical answer. Maybe he can trace back the reasons why they choose to ignore him to something he had done or said. Maybe it has nothing to do with them at all.

  Maybe it’s him.

  They ignore the truth because they can’t stand being wrong.

  Logan squeezes his eyes tight in a futile attempt to block it out. “That’s not it-”

  That’s precisely it, Logan. You know it. They block out logic to stay in their own precious bubbles. You’re like a poison to them.

  Poison. Is that what he is? A slow-acting poison seeping into everyone’s minds and corrupting them? Has his mind been clouded by a haze of his own opinions this entire time? How long?

  …How long has he been killing his friends?

  But can they even be called friends? They shut you out. Cast you away, talk over you in discussions.

  “Shut up.”

  You know it’s true. Hell, they call you names and dismiss your purpose to your face!

  “Stop it-”

  They aren’t your friends, Logan. Friends don’t do that.

  “Enough!” Logan yells, the force of his outburst knocking him even further back into the corner. For the first time since he’s returned to his space, he catches a glance to the other side of the room. Admittedly, seeing a version of himself with his face contorted into an knowing smirk still made him uncomfortable after all this time. But Logan is a side of knowledge and centers himself with the undeniable facts.

  Roman and Remus are not the only twins, however fortunate they are to have split.

  That’s what they need to see. They need to witness the rage. The real us.

  Logan scoffs and pulls himself to his feet. “There’s no us. You’re barely real.”

  Low blow, Lo. I’m as real as the next side.

  “That’s a bit oxymoronic,” he mutters to himself. He’s not entirely sure if it’s a logical urge or purely to drown out the painfully honest words spoken by the side lounging on the bed. Crossing his arms, he watches the other flip a coin over and over in the air. His counterpart’s laughter sounds vaguely of morse code, and if Logan listens closely he swears he only hears it spell out “SOS”. 

  I don’t understand your reluctance. They’ve all made you feel this way.

  “…They’ve all made me feel,” Logan corrects, the odd blend of heartache and anger bubbling up with a medley of emotions he either can’t comprehend or refuses to acknowledge.

  One of the downsides of quick recollection is how easily Logan brings up every time the others had spoken over him or silenced him. The memories blend together and fill his ears with echoes of harsh words thrown at him over the years. It’s deafening.

  Until it isn’t.

  We can fix this. 

  “We will not be doing anything.”

  Then I suppose you’ll just have to live with being ignored for the rest of your existence. I hope the loneliness isn’t too soul-crushing.

  Logan wants to ignore him. He wants to look away from the unruly version of himself who’s grin appears more malicious the longer they share a glance and return to the heaps of work at his desk. But the tail end of the other’s words hit him and he has to take a moment to reflect on the nights spent hovering over piles of work that often go unnoticed by the other sides. All the data he analyzes that’s never worth it in the end. The laughter shared by a group he once thought he could never slip away from. It’s only now that he realizes he’s further from them than ever. 

  It’s freeing, isn’t it?

  Logan doesn’t move. He can’t.

  With a sigh, his counterpart approaches, bright eyes looking into Logan’s dull ones.

  You know the right decision. Choose wisely.

  By the time Logan blinks he’s alone again. It’s not a shock, but for as much as he despises the side Logan sometimes appreciates the visible company. 

  However, this just gives him more time with his thoughts. More time to dig through his memories for more moments of being interrupted and stepped on. Who are they to shut him out like this? Do they not notice he’s been different? Do they even care?

  Anger burns hotter than the pain and Logan wants to scream. He’s right. Friends don’t do that. How could he allow something as trivial as faux friendship distract him from the things that truly matter?

  It’s time.

  Logan doesn’t even try to argue. Instead, he reaches up to undo his tie and promptly yanks it to the floor.

  “I think you’re right. Let’s go.”

  Logan’s alone, but not completely.

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

Wooo I wrote a thing!! Guys I remembered how to write!!! For the first time in like six months!!!!!!!

Huge credits to @becamoonsy for the encouragement to get back into writing. This isn’t my best (or even that good) but it helped fix my writer’s block so damn it I’m posting it!!

[dontcallmecarrie]

tfw the plot bunny strikes and refuses to let go, here, continuation of this:

.

Loki was torn between chagrin and vague amusement, as he observed everyone else’s reactions to the two Justin Hammers in between herding everyone to one of the safehouses Victor von Doom had somehow managed to get ahold of in this strange world.

At first glance, Victor seemed to be the most unperturbed— but Loki knew him well enough to note the way his eyes had widened when he’d seen the two side by side, couldn’t help but catch the tiniest shift in the way he held himself and Loki would bet anything that if he were any sort of telepath, he’d be hearing nothing but an infernal screeching coming from his corner of the room. 

Ivan Vanko wasn’t much better, but at least he’d elected to hyperfixate on cleaning up the loose ends they’d left in relation to their original mission: from his mutters, some of the security cameras’ footage had been trickier to access than not, and required even more effort to scrub. Loki gave it another five minutes before he was forced to look away from his computer and acknowledge the reality of the situation.

Meanwhile, the Winter Soldiers were an interesting study in contrasts; while Winter was extremely apologetic about the situation and had already apologized no less than five times, Soldat seemed to be content to look on in bemusement as the situation unraveled from there. 

...which wasn’t very different from what Loki’s own counterpart was doing, actually, but at least Soldat wasn’t enjoying the chaos. Visibly, anyway, and Loki was getting a new appreciation for just how irritating that particular smirk looked on his own face. If they all weren’t so focused on calming the jumpier, more visibly frazzled-version of their leader, someone would’ve punched it off his face by now. As it was, though...

.

“Who the hell are you people?!” Justin Hammer whisper-shrieked, in between sharp gasps for air and eyes wide as he cowered away from his kidnappers. “And wh— wh—”

“He’s more high-strung than you are.” Someone muttered to the terrifying figure who had his face—

“Of course he is, he has no idea what’s going on and you guys kidnapped him,” his mirror image replied with a flat look, before turning to face him looking vaguely embarrassed. “Look, Hammer— can I call you Hammer? Wait, no, you can be Justin, I’ll go by Hammer and man this is weird— I can explain. Just. Sit down and take a breather, because it’s, uh, a bit of a long story.”

.

Justin would’ve thought an explanation would leave him with more answers than questions.

He was sorely mistaken.

The headache he had now wasn’t much of an improvement from before. 

.

“So, let me get this straight: you,” Justin jabbed a finger at the dude with the dark grey mask which was just about the only thing differentiating him from his twin, “grabbed me because you mistook me for him—”

“Sorry about that, by the w—”

“—and you’re all from some other dimension and pissed off goodness knows how many organizations trying to figure out how to get home,” Justin steamrollered on, closing his eyes in an effort to take things one step at a time because he was trying not to feel overwhelmed but these guys weren’t making it easy, “is that right?”

“Well...”

“I mean...”

“Yeah.” Ivan— not the bastard responsible for his being in Seagate, another version of him who apparently didn’t actively try and screw people over— replied, and Justin opened his eyes just in time to catch the tail end of his shrug. “That about sums it up.”

“Okay.” Justin nodded to himself. “Why?”

“Why what? You’re going to need to be more specific, here, I’m not a mind reader.” 

“How’d you even get here? Or do you weirdos just go dimension-hopping for fun on a Friday night?”

“You’re not the only one wondering that.” The alien god said airily, toying with a— that was a knife, okay, Justin already knew he was in way over his head, he didn’t need the reminder, thanks. Where did it even come from, anyway? “I would really like to know that as well, Ivan.”

“Oh, nah, this was a freak accident.” Ivan snorted, then gave them all a smirk that gave Justin goosebumps for a second. “As for why...look at it this way: this was weird and stressful for us, and from the start you guys knew what was going on and have me to figure out how to get us back. Now imagine if it’d been the Avengers.”

The silent, broody one— Victor, was it?— made a noise of realization. “That is diabolical. I love it.”

“I know, I was trying to figure out how to temper it when this happened. The ray gun was supposed to be temporary, I’m not sure what happened but the end goal’s a duration of twenty-four hours. Sorry you guys got caught up in the beta, by the way.”

“We are going to be having words about proper lab safety protocols when we get home, Ivan.” Victor said darkly, and something in his voice that had six out of the seven other people in the room freezing for a second.

Justin couldn’t help but notice his...twin was not part of that number.

But first, because this was something he’d been wondering ever since he’d heard of how this ‘Cabal’ operated— 

“Why are you going to this effort?”Justin asked.

“Oh, boy, here we go again,” the guy calling himself ‘Winter’ muttered, but before he do more than start to turn to him in confusion, Ivan spoke.

“Because death is too simple.” He said, not looking away from the computer he’d pulled out. “Because any rando with a gun could do that, if they wanted. No, if I’ve got a beef with someone, I want them to suffer. I want them to regret ever having pissed me off, to curse my name every time they step on a Lego and realize who put it there, to—”

“Yes, I know, we get it.” One of the alien gods cut in. The one who didn’t look like shit, and had a long-suffering look on his face partway into Ivan’s spiel. “If I had a penny for every time you go on that rant...”

“Says the guy who uses my ideas to become the official nemesis of the Avengers.” Ivan shot back, unamused, and the way Winter sighed and Victor pinched the bridge of his nose told him this was a recurring argument. 

“Guys,” Justin’s...twin cut in, and Justin couldn’t help but feel something in the pit of his stomach clench as he noticed the way everyone from his dimension came to attention. “If we could focus on getting home?”

“I know, I know, I’m on it.” Ivan muttered, turning back to his computer. “Trying to throw SHIELD off our trail’s easier here, but it’s still not exactly a cakewalk.”

“Okay. What can we do in the meantime?” 

.

The more Justin saw of this ‘Cabal’, of Hammer and the others, the more uncomfortable he felt. 

Because the more time passed, the more it felt like...he was seeing a better version of himself.

How long had he tried to get people to respect him? How many classes on public speaking and marketing had he taken, how many books had he read in an effort to build his charisma, to be remembered as something other than the cheap knockoff of Tony Stark?

And now...

Justin watched as someone wearing his face walked around, and he was quiet, and fairly introverted, but something about him demanded respect, commanded all the attention in the room when he talked, and... Justin wanted that.

.

Of course, Justin’s...twin noticed.

For some reason, the look of sympathy he got felt even worse than the first time he’d donned prisoner’s uniform in Seagate.

Not to mention the conversation they had, when Justin was ushered into a quiet corner near the safehouse’s kitchen as they had tea.

.

It was. A talk. 

Not a great one. 

Not that there really could’ve been, considering, but.

“I am not you, you are not me, and that’s a good thing.”

Justin didn’t know what he was expecting, really.

Another version of himself, forcing him to acknowledge things he’d thought he’d gotten over— how was he supposed to handle it?

“You were set up for failure from the start, you know. No child should ever have to carry some of the burdens you grew up with.”

Just.

Someone who understood, and how was he supposed to deal?

“You cannot change the past, but you can control your own actions in the future. What do you want to do, who do you want to become? What makes you, you?”

Justin had thought he’d felt tired when he’d finally been brought into the mess these guys were part of, but now his exhaustion felt soul-deep and he didn’t know when he’d started crying but no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t stop—

.

Mercifully, the others left him alone for the rest of the day. 

He... needed to think.

.

Justin wasn’t the only one having a hard time, he knew: he’d noticed the way Soldat followed Winter around, trying to mimic his self-confidence, and the Loki of this world looked at the easy camaraderie his counterpart had with a hunger that would’ve made Justin very nervous if that expression were aimed at him. 

Something dark and feral, all jagged edges and brittle smiles and it shouldn’t have resonated nearly as much as it did but—

It made for a good conversation starter, if nothing else. Something relatable to bond over tea, because Victor was a monster who had an irrational disdain for coffee and Justin needed his caffeine fix if he wanted to keep what was left of his sanity.

.

Justin didn’t know what he brought to the table. Not compared to whatever his twin did, anyway, and he didn’t want to go that route either because he wanted to be himself. 

Even if he wasn’t certain what that looked like, anyway, not after decades of chasing after Tony Stark’s shadow, but...

He’d find out. Somehow.

.

“Hey! Guys, I figured it out!” Ivan’s excited cheer woke everyone up early one morning. “Just gotta get my hands on some materials, but we can go home soon!”

[eureka-its-zico]

Half Bitten Part 4

Prologue  Part 1   Part 2   Part 3

A/N: So no one really asked for a continuation of this. I just work on stuff when I’m stuck on other things and I love supernatural stuff. My only hope is that someone out there enjoys this just a little. As always, thank you for reading. Much Love, Jenn

Jimin X Reader (for now?)

Words: 8620

Genre: Vampire supernatural goodness

Warnings: some slight gore

The surge of fear that rushed through you left a sickeningly sweet taste of copper on your tongue. For that brief moment, as your eyes focused in and out on his figure, you wondered if maybe you’d bitten your tongue. A mixture of shock from the wound on your leg and the frigid air making your teeth begin to clatter unapologetically from the cold. That wasn’t even mentioning the blood loss from your wounded leg was starting to show itself: your eyes running over him in doubles when you knew damn well there was only one of him. The spyglass vision made it increasingly harder to focus, and the more you did focus on him the more you felt the absurdity at noting how attractive he was. 

From Jimin to Namjoon and now this guy, they all held on to that otherworldly energy. It demanded to be admired and touched: a dangerous game to hypnotize right before they stroked. A small part of you wondered if there was a convention? A secret meeting place to find the most attractive people on the planet and turn them into vampires. 

It was the worst, most ridiculous, time for your thoughts to shift to the absurdity of looks but it also felt equally absurd that you were running for your life. From vampires. You knew the fear that quickened your blood should’ve been enough to send your feet packing in the other direction. Yet, there you were woozy from blood loss and your limbs on fire from adrenaline. 

You were vaguely aware that your new dangerous stranger was edging his way towards you. Blood soaked eyes smiling to the soft hum of a song he’d originally hummed but was now breathing into the space between you. It was hauntingly beautiful and serene. The words took ages to reach you, but when they did your heart thundered wildly. A scared rabbit caught in the view of a viper. 

“Your scent is so pure. It tastes so rich. You’ll try to hide.  you’ll never get far. I love the chase. I’ll find you wherever you are.”

The words danced sickeningly sweet inside your head. The angelic sound of his voice almost enough to make you overlook the words. But your brain knew something wasn’t right, and it sent you turning on your heels and attempting to sprint away from him. 

You’d felt like a fool. You’d been so starry-eyed as you watched him he’d already begun to pace towards you. A delicate shift of his feet that practically left him dancing and a few feet closer to you than before. 

Your late response to turn tail and run; digging in and shifting you forward, hopefully, as far away from him as your injured legs could carry, felt too late. The sensation was so overwhelmingly it took everything in you not to scream. To yell into the void of the night for a help that would never come. The anxiety of not knowing when his attack would come ripped your stomach apart and your heart nesting snuggly in your throat. 

With every pounding of your feet into the asphalt the nerves in your injured leg sent electrical jolts of pain throughout your body. A screaming reminder that you were wounded prey, and the agony you felt now wouldn’t compare to the future he had in store.

You held on to a dim hope you’d had a chance of getting away, but with the first brush of a body moving past you, faster than your brain could register, you knew that hope was non-existent. You barely had time to register the second gust of movement, now to your right, and you weren’t able to stop the soft yelp that crawled free from your throat. 

His windchime-like laughter resonated around you as if he was impossibly close. Behind you. Beside you. All around you. The playful sound erupted and consumed you until it was the only sound you could hear. 

He kept toying with you, herding you, whichever way he saw fit. The progress you thought you were making to safety dissolved quickly at the realization he had you moving in circles. Your mind was now blaring warnings wrapped up in frantic thoughts that left you dizzy with panic.

He wasn’t safe. He wasn’t Jimin who was there to care for you. He was obviously one of Namjoon’s people. This mystery man who tormented you. 

RUN!

Your brain kept scrambling the words around. The flight of nerves urging you to keep moving not caring that you were attempting just that. The neon of the Chinese food restaurant that’s been on your right now seemed on your left. Had he completely made you do a one-eighty? 

There it was again - that clamoring of panic in your chest. It definitely wasn’t helpful, and it sure as hell wasn’t going to help save you. Just another thing to add to your growing shit show of a day. It didn’t matter if you were going to be able to get away. Realistically, you knew the chances of that happening were narrowing down slim to none. It didn’t stop your legs from tearing to your left back down the street, legs pumping, and started saying a prayer that you’d magically turn into The Flash. If vampires and witches were suddenly real it didn’t seem like too much of a stretch to become a superhero. 

Gosh, how you’d seemed to find a street with literally no one on it seemed horrifically convenient. 

“Silly rabbit,” his voice whispered down your spine and instantly caused a scream to catch in your throat like bile. 

Somehow, it seemed even the buildings were helping him play tricks on you. The acoustics of his voice bouncing around as an endless echo to disorient you from knowing which direction he would come from. That knowledge alone made a soft hiccup of a sob leave you. You weren’t even aware of the tears stinging against your eyes; your only focus on your escape and cursing your legs as they struggled to pick up the pace. You bite down on your lower lip to keep from letting one tear escape. You refused to give him the satisfaction.

“There’s no place you can run that I won’t find you.”

If you were feeling good about your odds, you would’ve told him to go fuck himself. The declaration is already solidly forming on your tongue and patiently waiting for you to send it off. Unfortunately, the odds were never in your favor.

You didn’t have to look back to know he was still giving chase. 

You struggled to stay focused. Your gaze landing on a liquor store - neon lights flashing with the grace of a motel vacancy sign - gave you a destination to strive for. The earlier choice of the Chinese restaurant now a thing of the past. He’d turned you around so much you weren’t sure if it was ever real. 

What you needed now was a home base that would possibly give a semblance of safety if only you could reach it. It felt damn possible. The feeling of the crazy bastard behind you somehow leaving you, but the anxiety of being chased still resided. 

You were mid-run, feet still lifted off the ground, when an arm snaked around your front and collided your back against a hard chest. A flutter of a moment passed, not long enough for his foreign touch to register, before your neck was exposed by a violent tug of your hair and sharp canines sinking down into the soft skin of your throat. 

That sob you’d held down ripped its way violently from your lips. Mixing together with a scream that shook through you and landed like an earthquake around you. His strong arms dominated you with ease, and continued to constrict across your body to keep your arms useless at your sides. 

The sensation was one that reminded you of your time in second grade. Mrs. Mann’s beloved python that sat motionless a majority of the time in the back corner of the class. You never seen it move until it was feeding time - never live bait - but even then you could still remember the abruptness and strength of the way it matched onto its food. The greedy way it swallowed its’ meal whole after its body made sure one last time the bunny was dead. 

This was what you remembered now as his arms continued to pull your body closer; impossibly closer. The hand that held your neck letting go to secure itself on your opposite shoulder. This man was your boa: squeezing his meal until he popped bones and killed every ounce of oxygen from your lungs.

The pressure was so great that it left your mouth hinged open. Your jaw unable to collapse, mostly due to your body howling for air. The flashing twenty-four hour liquor sign was a comical five feet away. The promised salvations hum of  low voltage electricity and spastic red glow turned into a blur. The tears you’d refused to shed now slid effortlessly down your cheeks. 

The only thing you could be aware of was that you weren’t breathing. Your mouth was still wide open, but your lungs refused to take in air. It didn’t matter that your body ached for it. It focused more on the sensation of a hungry mouth that sucked hungrily at your neck. The sharpened dog teeth that were sunk deep into the skin no longer ached. 

There was a moment you felt something hot slide down your neck and you wanted to yell. Your mind registering it as drool; not being able to comprehend it was your blood seeping between greedy mouthfuls as he drank. It was strange that after all this, your body was still aware of the placement of his hands. His arms still holding deathly tight, and yet you were placed securely up against his chest. 

If someone were to walk by all they would think was that you were just a young couple. Your boyfriend casually holding you from behind and laying kisses on your throat. They wouldn’t notice that the way his arms held yours it kept you from reaching out a pleading hand for help. At this point, you were so weak you weren’t even sure you’d have the strength to lift a finger, let alone a hand. 

The sting of his teeth that found their home in the hollow of your neck began to fade. Your mind was now only able to recognize the euphoric sensation that began to dance through every cell of your body. You no longer felt the need to fight him. Why would you when your body suddenly felt heavy and his arms so secure? 

In all the chaos of a few minutes the pain fueled down into an annoyance that went to the backdrop with the sensation of numbing pleasure. Whether it was blood loss, or defeat, your body began to relax against the undead stranger. A quiet urge to allow him to drink you down until you were nothing. You were sinking deeper against his strong chest; the euphoric feeling that coursed through you had now consumed you. 

You were vaguely aware that he was no longer holding you so tightly. An arm had found its way out of his hold and instead of fighting him off, it guided your hand up to his head. Your fingers now laced in his hair and holding on in pleasure. When your fingers dug and pulled against the hairs on his scalp, his arms moved to pull you closer but didn’t remove your hand. His mouth giving a -lord help you - playful bite that sent a thrill to the ends of your toes. 

And just like that, your lungs found air, and fuck - you moaned. 

A part of you hated the sound that escaped your mouth. That hatred growing stronger when you swore you could feel his lips curl into a smile. As fast as it all must have happened; it felt like an eternity. One you loathed and yet, were silently hoping would never end. You were so lost in the fuzziness of your thoughts, the sensation of him, that when you were flung violently from his arms the last bit of air you’d had left was knocked from them. The asphalt catching your body as it came to a painful multiple rolling stop. 

An eruption of a roar you knew came from the one who’d captured you: enraged at having his meal taken away was your only guess at how angry he truly sounded. You were too tired, too drained, to be afraid. The small part of you that was still capable of common sense knew you should’ve been terrified. To be terrified meant to flee but the amount of energy that would take was not something you had at that moment. 

You were barely able to muster enough of it to flip yourself onto your back. Your neck now alive with a bitterness at how rough he’d been. The feeling that was creeping back into your limbs made it inch by aching inch that it was not happy. A groan left your lips as you mustered another fit of strength to move yourself to your side. Your eyes landing on the one who’d rescued you. 

Jimin stood in the middle of you and the man. The other man who, even from this distance, plainly wore your blood smeared haphazardly around his mouth. A small amount decorating the hollow of his neck that he now wiped away in agitation. While he seemed particularly calm, annoyed, but calm Jimin seemed to reflect his opposite. 

Jimin’s body seemed consumed by a rage that reflected in the crease of his brow and the hard set of his shoulders. His jaw tight as he straightened out his body back to his full height. The other man before him appeared to be a few inches taller, but Jimin’s rage made him appear larger than what he was. 

“Jungkook!” Jimin’s voice rang out. The animosity in his voice radiated against your skin like a flame that threatened to eat you alive. “You dare taste her? Mark her?”

Jungkook didn’t give Jimin the satisfaction of answering him right away. Instead, you watched a coy smile spread on his blood-stained lips. His thumb dragging across the bottom and ended with it pressed inside his mouth. His tongue seductively working to clean up the mess you’d made. Jungkook didn’t let his thumb come back out until it was completely licked clean; his crimson eyes watching your face as he did it. The intensity of his gaze left an aching shiver on your skin and the heat on your cheeks enough to tell it wasn’t all completely out of fear. 

Jimin must have sensed it too. His gaze turning back to take you in at your current state, and finding your eyes glued to Jungkook’s position. The hurt Jimin showed wasn’t something that you could fully comprehend. You weren’t his to have. You belonged only to yourself. The person that he remembered, the woman he’d loved so many centuries ago, was not you. You were your own person. 

So why did the pain that rippled across his face make your heart ache? 

“You place an apple in front of Adam, Jimin and ask him not to take a bite.” He tsked him. The same finger he’d used to clean up your blood now teasing him in a tick tock motion. “You should remember: Adam always was a fool for the most delicious delights.” 

“She is not yours to have! You play me for stupid, Jungkook. I know that blood alone is not hers. Did you plan on making her drink from you?”

Your body became rigid as Jimin’s words embedded themselves into your chest. The fear that’d begun to reside came racing back and forced you to look at Jungkook closer now. You weren’t sure what it was that Jimin had seen that you did not. You feverishly scanned him until, there, the sleeve of his shirt that sat on his wrist was stuck to his skin. The blood there was still bright and fresh and only beginning to brown at its edges. 

It was the same side that held your head to him, neck exposed, earlier until he’d let it go. You’d thought Jungkook released you because he’d realized you were no longer going to put up a struggle and now the sickening feeling of knowing he’d meant to do something more ominous left you feeling nauseous. 

Jimin knew what he was trying to do. You knew from Jimin explaining about blood being a conduit that if you’d taken even a little of blood, Jungkook would’ve been able to find you. Wherever you were. No matter what. 

“I was only doing what MY King asked of me.”

“I could kill you for what you’ve done here.”

The playfulness that’d controlled Jungkook from the unfortunate moment you’d met him disappeared like smoke. His features hardened with a sinister look as he gave Jimin his entire focus. 

“You could try, old King, but you will fail.”

Jimin’s squared shoulders seemed eager to do just that until another voice joined the two men. 

“Now, now Jungkook. We don’t need an all-out fight on this beautiful night do we.”

You knew the owner of the voice long before Namjoon - the asshole himself - stepped out like magic beside Jungkook. A friendly hand resting on his shoulder until Namjoon moved to stand a few inches in front of him. But it wasn’t just Namjoon himself that appeared like magic from the curtains of the night. Two other figures joined at the edges of the men, making a symbol of an arrowhead, and one of these new introductions to this wildly fucked up play was holding the arm of your best friend. 

“Alice” 

At the sound of your voice it brought Namjoon’s full attention back to you. His brow creased in a momentary show of confusion at how cute you must have been looking: a bloodied heap in the middle of the road. He only needed to look to the man beside him on his left to understand your current state. Or perhaps he already knew. Jungkook’s earlier words of his orders swimming back to the surface of your recollection. 

Namjoon held you in his vision for breadth longer and moved his eyes over to the form of your friend. 

“You can still change her fate, Y/N. All you need to do is come with me.” 

Namjoon’s eyes held tightly to you: all of them seeming to watch your exhausted frame. Your mind struggled to comprehend what he meant and what it was exactly you’d have to do to change it. You’d barely been able to move up onto your knees. Your palms still needed on the asphalt of the road to keep you steady. Your whole body shuddered in exhaustion, but looking at Alice now, at what he had done was enough to make the exhaustion disappear and icy fury made your body rigid. 

“She won’t be going anywhere with you,” Jimin snarled. 

His comment snapped their attention back to him. You wanted to tell him yourself that you could make your own decisions. Not even he got to make them for you and yet, you couldn’t muster enough strength to care. Whatever you had left in you needed to be used to rescue Alice. Her lights still on with nobody home. 

“Jimin. I don’t think you’re in any place to be making threats, old friend.”

“It is more than just a threat.”

Namjoon took a step forward and splayed his arms out to indicate the men beside him. They were so caught up in their pissing contest. All you wanted was to know what you needed to do to get Alice back. All the way back and out of this trance he’d flung her in. 

“It took you long enough to come to your supposed “loves’” aid.” Namjoon’s words were filled with a sharp teasing; sharpened and dripping with sarcasm. “It took Jungkook using her as a snack for you to finally come running.”

“She enjoyed it.”

The heat in those three words were enough to send your cheeks heating with warmth and your eyes searching for the safety of the pavement. You wanted to shout your denial to Jungkook that he was wrong. Not a single part of you enjoyed what had transpired between the two of you, but that lie died long before it’d ever brushed your lips. 

Jimin must have realized it too, because now his earlier lividity returned. His eyes flickering with a murderous rage in Jungkook’s direction. 

“Hmm, maybe I should give her to Jungkook to finish what they’d started. What do you think, Jimin? Or I could always just give him Alice.”

Your head snapped back on Namjoon’s moving figure. His right hand resting under his chin as if he was stuck in a philosophical debate, and not the fate of an innocent woman. 

“You touch her and I’ll kill you.”

The coldness of your words stopped him short. Jimin, who’d been moving back towards you, didn’t take another step. You couldn’t believe it was you who’d spoken. Your own voice carrying a warning that was swept up in the air around you. Threatening something much darker than even you were able to understand. 

For a moment, you could tell you’d caught him off guard but Namjoon was quick on his feet. The hand that held his chin a second ago now moved to usher forward the man to his right. The one who was holding tight to Alice. 

“Oh, Y/N. Of course, I don’t want to do anything to your dear, sweet, and innocent little Alice. That’s why I’m giving you this choice.” 

The man whose face eerily held an angelic softness handed her off into Namjoon’s waiting embrace. Only taking a single step back; his dark almond eyes transfixed on you as if you were something dangerous, and not the other way around. His eyes speaking plainly: he wouldn’t let you do a damn thing to his King. 

“Stop giving her speeches of fairness. We both know you don’t have a fair bone in your body. All you know is how to do is take,” Jimin sneered. “I know even if she still says no you won’t stop hunting her until you have her.”

A flash of annoyance struck over Namjoon’s features like lightening and just as fast after it came, it was gone. His face smoothed back to its porcelain indifference. The only thing that showed his displeasure was the way his eyes were beginning to bleed crimson. 

“I would rather her to come willingly.” His reply was stated matter of factly. Namjoon’s eyes darting back to where you still sat on the floor and took a cautious step towards you. His hand on Alice’s arm forcing her to move with him. “But make no mistake, Y/N. I will have you. I will take you. One way or another.”

A scream echoed around you, and it took you a moment to realize it was coming from yourself. All the frustration. The guilt. Anger and grief that’d been building in the last twenty-four hours came out in a wave of exhaled air before you could stop it; before it could swallow you whole. 

“What will it take for any of you to get it through your thick stupid skulls! I am not a prize or some reincarnated lost love you two fought over because one was captain steal-your-girl. I’m literally no one! I’m just me.”

Namjoon released the grip he had on Alice’s arm and took another step toward you. His body language stating clearly he did not find Jimin’s presence between you in the least bit threatening. The pity that he showed you now, etched into the fine features of his face, only seemed to poke at the Amber’s of the animosity you felt towards him more. 

Why couldn’t any of them understand that you were not what they wanted you to be? You were yourself and always will be. And, at this point, you were more than happy to be your plain Jane ordinary self. 

He crouched down until he was leveled with your position on the pavement of the road. While he adjusted himself to your height you allowed yourself enough time to push up off your hands. Your butt now sitting on your calves and the pressure of the added weight sent the jagged pebbles deeper into your knees. As uncomfortable as it was you could deal. At least now you were looking him squarely in the eyes: no more cowering. 

“You really don’t understand, do you?”

“Namjoon.”

Jimin said his name as a warning. In return, Namjoon continued to ignore him. His brow furrowed tight at his attempt to intrude on his would-be heartfelt moment. 

“Your great-great-great grandmother is long dead. There is no bringing her back. Jimin and I have long accepted this. However.” Namjoon paused for a millisecond. Long enough to make your skin itch with the desire for him to hurry up and finish it. “The power that courses through your veins, Y/N it’s centuries old. Older than even she was. Your blood is what we are all after and the magic that flows in it.”

“I can’t even make a quarter disappear.”

Namjoon’s eyes sparked crimson to obsidian in a wild dance as he struggled to get his anger under control. While he didn’t seem to find your small joke funny you’d earned a snort of laughter from somewhere behind him. Even Jimin’s titled head wasn’t enough to hide the small smile that lifted his lips. 

“In time you will learn.”

“I don’t want to learn! What part of that aren’t you getting through your thick fucking skull.”

“That’s enough!” He roared. His face was fully changed now. All teeth and bleeding eyes with a power that shook the fabric of the night to its core. Namjoon’s change caused everyone around him to join in, until you were painfully aware you were the most human on of the group. “Either you come with us now or I rip your friends’ head open like a Pez dispenser.”

Your eyes zeroed in on him. The threat he made ruthless but one you knew deep down in your gut he’d meant. 

“I’d like to see you fuckin try.”

A mouth full of teeth smiled wickedly back at you. His feet obliging you by moving the few steps he’d taken away from Alice back to her side. Where she continued to stand patiently waiting like a zombie.  

There are moments in your life that don’t feel that important. These small decisions that you don’t realize put you on a deeper path to harder ones that you’ll have to make. Those small repercussions building themselves into a mountain of a moment.  

This is what it felt like now. All those decisions in your life you’d made suddenly seemed to expand like an endless sea of stars. So many of them that they couldn’t possibly be connected; and yet came together to create this constellation of your life.  

You watched Namjoon house the words you’d spoken in his mind. The way his face contorted into something that was worthy of pure nightmare fuel. The resolve of strength you’d had to tell him to basically go fuck himself was gone in that instant, because you were made painfully aware that the individuals before you were god-like. What could a helpless mortal do in the face of a god? 

Namjoon proved to you the answer to that was nothing. His speed moving him faster than you could process. You hadn’t even realized he’d moved at all until Jimin was simply in front of you; guarding you. He was now completely standing between Namjoon and yourself. Jimin’s hand catching Namjoon’s wrist; his fingertips milliseconds away from the tip of your nose. 

The two of them were locked in a battle of wills. The strength they commanded showing itself in the struggle of a dance of tug-a-war without any rope.  If Namjoon gained an inch Jimin was quick to take it back.  

“Move!” 

Without question you obeyed and were up on your feet immediately. Jimin didn’t give Namjoon another moment to force him back; his free hand shot out in a blur and connected with his chest. The sheer strength behind it sent him flying back almost a dozen feet before he gained back his footing. A snarl cutting through the air between them and Jungkook and the two other companions were at his side. 

Suddenly, you were painfully aware how outnumbered Jimin truly was.  

“Ugh – Jimin.” 

“Not now!” 

He waved you off as his eyes scanned in other bodies appearing from the shadows behind the four. Like a fool, you allowed yourself to hope that maybe some of these were on your side. By the way Jimin was staring at them, however, you knew that was most definitely not the case. 

“Where a little outnumbered here. Don’t you think!?” 

Was that your voice that cracked? No, no. You were perfectly calm. Super calm. 

Out of your peripherals you were able to catch a flash of movement. That flash was all you seen before teeth were inches from snapping in your face. A scream worked its way up your throat and was torn from your lips as foreign hands gripped your shoulders. You moved to block your face in a weak attempt just before those same hands disappeared.  

Jimin was behind him in seconds and ripped him off you. The two of them moved in a blinding speed of punches and blocking until Jimin’s hand exploded out the back of the other man’s back. Your hand flew to your mouth to stop a scream short; the gruesome mess left you feeling a bit lightheaded as you unwillingly noticed pieces of shirt and...other things dangling at the end of Jimin’s hand. 

It was a devastating wound. One that would’ve killed any normal man, but this wasn’t an ordinary man or a man at all. Jimin’s blow was only meant to wound, not kill, and this perfectly insane stranger was still trying to snap his way towards Jimin. His hands grabbed Jimin’s shoulder and used it to pull him forward. The movement made a sucking noise and made you question if the contents of your last meal were about to reappear like magic. 

Jimin knew the intentions of the other man and quickly drew his arm back. In the same breath, he followed it up with his palm slamming into your would-be attackers chest. The force of the blow sent him back like a limp ragdoll into Namjoon’s growing group.

“We need to get out of here!”

You couldn’t stop the panic dripping from your voice as you watched him narrowly escape another attack. This new body formed itself from the shadows and split free from its darkness with the flash of a blade. Jimin dodged each whirlwind of blows and strikes with an ease that you weren’t sure came from raw power or age. His attacker tried to switch up his attack by sending a flurry of double kicks towards Jimin’s abdomen. This must have been the opening Jimin had waited for. 

Jimin allowed him to land a kick to his side and when the man went to pull away Jimin locked his leg in place with his forearm. Jimin’s fist rushed in a speed of movement to land powerful blows into his exposed stomach and face. When the man tried to stab his blade into Jimin’s back, he easily grabbed his wrist and knocked the knife free from his hand. He was so focused on the knife that he wasn’t aware of the man coming from behind him. Your eyes danced back and forth, in decision on whether to speak or move weighing heavy on you. 

“Behind you!”

You decided on both. Your feet carried you forward as you shouted your warning to him. What you were going to do against a supernatural creature, you had no idea. You just knew you needed to do something. No matter how aware you were that you were incredibly useless in moments like this. Whatever happened when you finally reached him, you knew it was not going to end well for you. And that knowledge made your stomach turn until your body practically vibrated with anxiety.

The man with the blade was now on the floor under Jimin’s boot. Another came sprinting out of the darkness a mixture of snarling teeth and determination. Jimin used the man under him as a soccer ball and sent him flying into the other man. His body turning in a fluid one-eighty to to defend his back against another. 

You weren’t a hundred percent sure what overcame you. Why you felt the need to scream with what you figured was a war cry. The only thing that came out of it was now the singular attention that had been on Jimin now became equally shared between you. A man who’d been heading towards Jimin and the others derailed and was coming straight for you. Suddenly, that new found bravery dissipated and your fear sent the world around in slow motion. Your feet felt stuck in molasses; each step heavier than the last and a silent pleading for you to turn back. But you couldn’t turn back now. 

You braced yourself for whatever was about to happen. One minute, he was two feet from you, and the next he was screaming on the road. A man held on to the collar of his shirt and what was left of his upper body. The rest of him was laid out on the street in a mess of gore. 

The man who’d entered stage right held his own blade that looked more like a short sword. His arm slinging the blade back to whip off the blood onto the street. 

“I think I’m going to be sick.”

You spoke to no one. The words weight no more than a whisper and yet, to you, it felt like you’d been shouting. Crazy sword guy gave you the barest of glances before he was off. That blur of speed brought him to help clear the remaining men off of Jimin until the two of them were standing at each other’s backs. 

“Nice of you to finally make it, Hoseok.”

Hoseok, aka sword wielding-guy, had the grace to look embarrassed. Hoseok’s body bent at a stiff ninety-degrees towards Jimin who seemed too busy dusting off his coat to notice. 

“I apologize that Jin and I were not here sooner.”

Jimin waved him off. His eyes scanned the surrounding darkness and a part of you wondered what it was he saw there. You wanted to ask him, but the possibility of bad news kept you silent. 

“And where is Jin?”

“Waiting.”

What could he possibly be waiting for? You wanted to ask but in no way wanted anymore attention on yourself. A scream that demanded to be found sounded in the night around you. It circled around and asked to be followed. Your eyes locating the origin of the voice in a matter of seconds to Alice. No longer the vacant girl she’d been the last hour and more herself: the terrified edition. The terror in her eyes was enough to make your breath hitch in your throat. 

“V.” Namjoon motioned with a flick of his finger and the man obeyed.

V. He’d been the one who you thought looked Angelic. His eyes were bright, open, and reflected nothing but bad intentions. Pillow soft lips curled up into a sneer of a smile as he stepped forward. He dragged Alice with him pulling her with such force you were worried he would simply tear it from the socket out of boredom. The sounds Alice made to accompany his aggressive movements only solidified your assumption. 

For all the beauty their afterlife had given them, it did nothing to hide the monsters underneath. Even the devil was an angel once.

“Let’s speed thing up, shall we? Either you turn yourself over to me now, Y/N, or I’ll kill her.”

To prove his point, Namjoon reached out to take her from V. His large hand closing around her throat and lifting her up effortlessly. Her dangling feet struggled to kick him, flailing hands scratching at his arm, and to silence her Namjoon noticeably squeezed her tighter. 

“Stop it! Please!”

The words came out in a sob. Your body struggling to take a breath. A fear that if you did, if you moved at all, it would be all he needed to hurt her more. 

“If you want to stop this than I suggest you do as you’re told and get over here. Now.”

The previous cat and mouse coyness in Namjoon’s voice completely vanished. Every word he spoke sent a sliver of fear down your spine. You weren’t going to argue with him as the fight had left you the minute you’d heard her pleading. You moved to take a step forward and found your legs were refusing to move. The more you struggled against the sensation the heavier the feeling of sinking in quicksand became. 

“You aren’t going anywhere.”

The threat in Jimin’s voice was palpable. The anger that clutched his jaw made you want to instantly apologize for even considering leaving. Almost. Your own anger was bubbling to the surface finally and a hushed, “Fuck you,” rumbled free from your chest. 

“Why can’t I move?!”

“Because I’m not letting you.”

There was a split second where it crossed your mind that he had to be joking. You felt so sure it was a sick prank only to see no part of him was joking.

“What does that even mean? You aren’t letting me. I don’t need your permission.”

Jimin’s mouth opened but it was Namjoon’s voice that cut through.

“It means that this is pointless. You didn’t tell me he’d given her any of his blood.”

Why was he saying this towards Alice? Your brow furrowed as confusion began to roll through you in waves. There was no way your brain could comprehend what you were seeing. Namjoon’s arm no longer held her off of her feet. He’d set her down but kept a firm hold of her neck. And Alice. Your best friend. She no longer looked one bit terrified. Instead annoyance had taken residency all over her face. 

“Alice.”

You hated how little your voice sounded. How much it showcased the betrayal you felt. That annoyance that’d wrapped itself around her like a shroud only seemed to grow larger when she glanced in your direction.

“She never mentioned anything to me about him feeding any blood to her. Just that they’d had sex in a dream a few times.”

Heat washed over your face. A blend of anger and embarrassment with you not really knowing which one it was that colored your cheeks.

“Alice!”

Christ. Were you a broken record.

You might as well have been talking to the wind. Alice looked away from you and back at Namjoon. You couldn’t believe what you were seeing. Her eyes were strictly for him. A comical cartoon version with her eyes filled with hearts flashed in your head. And slowly, as you watched her continue to look at him like a lovesick puppy, a horrible realization began to spread. Your chest tight and ready for whatever heart break came next.

Months ago, Alice talked about meeting a guy at a bar. A night when you were supposed to join her, but lied about catching a stomach bug. She’d gone on and on about how he looked. She’d gone into even more detail about the way he’d fucked her. You’d thought he sounded like someone who just wanted a piece of ass. Hated him before you’d even met him. Now your mind was flooding with all the descriptions Alice had ever given.

It had been Namjoon she’d met that night in the bar. The night you’d ditched her.

Slowly, your eyes moved from her hopelessly devoted figure to the man who still held onto her neck. An unseen collar and his arm was the leash.

You never hated someone before. Not really. Sure, you’d said it nonchalantly in passing. Thought you’d understood exactly what it felt like in moments with people that you were sure the only emotion you’d felt was hatred. Looking at Namjoon now – you knew you were wrong.

This hatred was fire in your blood. It threatened to climb up your throat and release out from your mouth until all the air was spent from your lungs. Most of all, this hatred would only be sated by blood.

You hadn’t been aware that your body was moving until you felt a sharpness in your chest. Your hand moved up to clutch absentmindedly at your heart. Was it possible to feel your heart break and be this angry all at once?

“Y/N – stop!”

Jimin’s voice dripped with the command. A command you wanted to tell him to shove his commands up his ass, but your body listened nonetheless. You felt rooted to that very spot. You were too angry to make sense of this. It forced you to close your eyes and attempt to concentrate. No matter what you did you could not get yourself to move.

Jimin walked to where you stood. His body moved to stand in front of you and cut off what little you could see of Namjoon and Alice.

“Out of my way, Jimin!”

“No. You are too angry right now to see this is what he wants. It’s just another trick to get you where he wants you.”

“Well it’s working.”

“You need to try and calm yourself – “

“Fuck you,” you snarled. Your world was narrowing; wilting down to a tunnel vision that only housed enough room for two. “I’m done with being calm. I’m through with being scared.”

A snort of laughter brought your attention through the tunnel and landing on Alice. She was no longer held like a dog on a leash. She stood proudly behind Namjoon at his side. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her eyes stating plainly: you’re a joke.

“What are you going to do, Y/N? All you’ve ever been since I’ve known you is weak. I don’t even know why they’d even fight over someone as pathetic as you.”

Her words stung. Why would she say that? Was he making her say things like this to you?

“Alice. I know this isn’t you.”

Alice shook her head and moved forward. Her arms falling at her side as she regarded you with the same disgust she’d show a piece of shit on her shoe.

“And what do you actually know about me, Y/N? You’ve always known what I wanted you to know.  The person I made you believe I was, is all just someone made up. Imaginary.”

“How can you say that to me? After all the things we’ve been through. The things we told each other. You can act as tough as you want in front of Namjoon, but you and I know the truth.”

“Maybe,” she shrugged. “But how else do you think they found out where we lived? Why did it feel like someone was following you at all your favorite spots? I told him, Y/N. I told them everything I knew about you.”

That fire that’d raged in your blood smoothed into ice. The shock of her words rocked you, and you knew that was exactly what she’d wanted. Alice was not who you thought she was. She’d made that abundantly clear. 

That girl didn’t exist. And all those times you’d come home terrified. Your heart crammed so deep in your throat you’d thought you were going to die from panic. All because you’d thought you were being followed. Alice joked and comforted you into believing it was just your mind playing tricks. When, in all actuality, it had been her doing the entire time.

Alice was a major key player in where you were standing. Surrounded by a pack of wolves.

You were vaguely aware of Jimin at your side. The faded sounds of his voice beside you eventually grew silent. His companion, Hoseok, somewhere off around you. The two of them faced Namjoon and his men. In between making sure they weren’t trying anything, he sent cautionary glances towards you. He must have been able to feel it; sense it.

The flame of your hatred, your betrayal, that had extinguished earlier was roaring back to life. The anger far surpassing what you felt capable of containing inside you. A dark part of you wanted to scorch the earth they stood on. 

Show them.

                                  Burn them.

The softness of the whisper tickled across your ear and raised the hairs on your arms. The sane part of you – what was left of it – knew something wasn’t right. You tried to play it off as just thoughts. The sinister feeling a part of you, a part that all humans had inside them when they were pushed too far. But it whispered again. This time gentler and promising: “Show them the price for a Witch's fury.”

“I don’t know how.”

Your words hung in the darkness of the night as you waited for a reply. The cautionary energy was pulsating now. All eyes wondering if you’d gone insane for talking to yourself. But they couldn’t hear them. The women who felt like friends; relatives.

“Whatever you hear – whatever they’re saying – you must fight them.”

Jimin was back inside your vision. His eyes searching yours to see if you were still with him. You were both present and not. Lost to voices that made you wonder if he could hear them too.

We can show you.

                         We can teach you.

Let

           Us

                         Innnnn…

Your eyes looked back over at Alice. The one person you’d held the closest in your life, second to your own mother. Flashbacks of every moment you’d shared together. From special drinks you’d created on girls’ nights while binge watching ‘The Great British Baking Show,’ and ‘Friends.’ The two of you, drunk, and believing you could easily make a three-tiered cake from scratch. The trips you’d taken. The help you’d given.

All of it had been a lie. A well-crafted play for her just to hand you over to the very monster she proudly stood beside. Looking at her now was enough for you to make your decision.

Jimin must have sensed it. His mouth framed in an unfinished shout that never got a chance to be heard. Silently, you let the sickly-sweet voice know you agreed and suddenly you weren’t the only one in your body.

It felt like dozens of women – yes, women – were housed inside you. Each of them held their own rage at a betrayal they’d suffered. Each deceit seeped into your bones like a cancer.

Jimin’s hand reached out to touch you; could feel the unspoken bound he’d made inside you make a weak attempt to soothe you. It was a warm sensation that moved from your core and up. A ghost of a hug that was only felt by its warmth. 

He was trying to drive whatever darkness you’d allowed in, but your wrath - your hatred - was too strong. It easily pushed back whatever weak attempt he’d tried to bring you back, and sent your hands out against his chest. The force of it sent him flying back; his feet struggling to stay grounded as his feet dragged on the asphalt.

“We are not your playthings.”

When you spoke, it wasn’t just your voice they heard. Your feet that had felt rooted were now moving forward. Your hands that had trembled were steady as they went to the wounds on your throat. The still pulsing wound in your leg. Each hand moved into the aching wounds to release fresh blood in your palms.

A voice inside the chaos came forward. An old oak among raging storms and housed itself there to teach you. All magic flowed through a balance in the universe. You could not give without it taking. This was how balance worked. A debt was owed when you used it for something dark, and this price you would pay with blood.

“Is this some kind of joke?”

Alice no longer looked smug or amused. She looked terrified as she moved to stand closer to Namjoon.

“That parasite will not save you from me, girl.”

Your voice was dry and worn with age. You rode out her fear and moved to kneel in the road a mere feet from her. Your bloodied hands working symbols into the ground as you began to chant in a tongue you did not know.

All you knew was that the fire full of rage that sat deep in your belly would soon consume her. When the last of the words left your lips, a blue flame snacked along the blood you’d spread until it grew and grew; spreading wings to create a small lake of fire between you.

You rose to your feet and looked out among the faces of those that’d wish to harm you. 

                                            Harm us.

You watched as their bodies became tight with anxiety; some of Namjoon’s lackies fear seeped into the air like a sickness. Good. They should be. With an unholy shriek the fire that crept around them spread wide as your arms rose around your head. The only driving thought you had was that you wanted it to cleanse them.

The fire rushed first towards Namjoon and Alice. V and the other broody one you’d yet to learn of his name, quickly grabbed her and were gone. Namjoon offered you a brief look of irritation before he dodged out of the way. The sound of screams brought your attention to your left and watched as your flame licked up, up, and up until it consumed. The vampire with the fist-sized hole in his chest was now struggling to put himself out.

A smile that was not yours curled your lips and a sickening feeling of joy at watching him die made you suddenly grow ill. This wasn’t you. This hatred. This destruction. You didn’t want to be a murderer. The sickly voice that’d whispered reassuringly earlier was now hostile. It wanted to stay.

Your feet began to back peddle away from everyone as best you could. You had no idea where it was you were going, but anywhere that would be safer for them. You turned to start running again and held your hands over your ears as a scream shook across your skull. Only you could hear them and how they pressed hard inside your skull. The pressure overwhelmed you and made you believe at any minute your eyes would be pushed out. 

You’d only gotten a block when your body could no longer take the pain. Your feet caught on the edge of the sidewalk and you went crashing down. The screaming in your head had only grown louder and caused your vision to begin to blur. Maybe your head really was going to explode after all.

You turned your face to look up towards the moon and were greeted by the sight of Jungkook. His fist connecting with your cheek was the last thing you seen before everything went quiet and dark.  

[madeimpact]

Headcanon / meta: Post - End of Evangelion.

( Note: this will be primarily focusing on the anime, but I will make mentions of the manga as I’ve pulled some influence from it. )

     So after End of Evangelion, Tokyo-3 is ruined in the aftermath of the Third Impact. Most of it was destroyed in the conflict with the JSSDF, and whatever wasn’t was destroyed when Lilith raised the Black Moon. What the hell is everyone supposed to do after that?

     As Yui mentioned at the tail end of Instrumentality, “anyone can come back as long as they have the will to live.” So not everyone is permanently tanged, but pretty much all of humanity is merged into the LCL sea and people will return to their physical bodies one-by-one should they have the desire to do so.

     As far as wreckage goes, obviously Tokyo-3 was completely decimated, but in entering Instrumentality, people left their physical forms. If humanity was supposed to be brought to a state similar to the First Ancestral Race — in other words, closer to perfection — they may have left this plane of existence, ascending to a higher one ( thank you Cherry for helping me with this bit ). That said, beyond the Black Moon rising out of the earth and destroying Tokyo-3, the physical damage to the rest of the world should actually be quite minimal. The skies might appear red for a while, the oceans would take on the same color, the Mass Production EVAs would stand in their crucified positions, and obviously everything would be really empty with everyone merged into the LCL sea. But otherwise, things would be relatively unchanged outside of Tokyo-3, which serves as the epicenter of it all.

     If anything, in the manga, we see a return of seasons:

     Plus in the manga, Yui mentioned wanting Shinji to see a change in seasons one day, since they were lost to climate change in the Second Impact! So if any huge worldwide change was going to take place, I’d like to imagine that Yui, in her godlike state as Unit-01, willed them to come back.

     Anyway, returning to the idea of wreckage, people coming back to Tokyo-3 from Instrumentality ( presumably NERV faculty first ) could move to other parts of Japan and gradually get back on their feet. This is what I imagine Asuka, Shinji, and anyone else who wasn’t dead before Instrumentality started ( therefore having a physical body to return to ) would do. Things would be rough for a while, but I really don’t think End of Evangelion is as bleak of an ending as it seems at the end of the movie.

     It might take Shinji a while to actually realize that, as it’s implied he’s been on the beach for a little while at the end of the movie. He erected haphazard graves for people in the time he was there. But at least in my reading of the film, especially taking episodes 25 and 26 of the anime into consideration, I think that as people return to their physical bodies, it will become easier to realize Shinji’s own existence in relation to others. Being able to connect with other people again would help him eventually get back on his feet. He doesn’t know where his happiness lies, but he will continue to live. ( Not without immense trauma from Third Impact of course, but that’s a whole separate headcanon post. )

     As for people’s memories of the events, at least in the anime, I think NERV personnel and the pilots would all remember, but anyone who wasn’t directly involved with the Angels and etc. wouldn’t really know. Coming back from Instrumentality I suspect they might just feel as though they’ve come back from a dream. In the manga no one clearly remembers, except Shinji is implied to at least have vague feelings of remembering. But in the film, Asuka’s “disgusting” implies that she remembers what happened in the hospital room. So the MPEs would remain and there would be travel lines going through where Tokyo-3 was, but no one would know why they’re there except the people involved with them. ( Manga canon, obviously everyone’s memory is fuzzy at best, if not nonexistent. )