#y’all don’t understand i’ve been obsessed with them over the last few days it’s INSANE

[rice-ballin]

at first i was like “oh im gonna make a crackship between my oc mexico and china ahaha wouldn’t that be funny??” as a JOKE.

but bro…

i don’t think it’s a joke anymore 😭😭😭

[lets-get-kraken-boys]

Yandere! Hawks/Keigo Takami X Reader: Caged Songbird~

(Description: Ooo, y’all are in for a treat today~! Hey, my first Gender Neutral AND Yandere fic on this account! And no less, it’s our favorite manwhore, Hawks! I sincerely hope you enjoy reading my story and if you like this fic, don’t worry, I have more yandere fic on the way~! Thank you for your time, consideration, and all the love you royals have shown a simple jester like me!)

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Fanfiction Lingo

(Y/N) - Your Name

(N/N) - Nickname

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“Normal speech.”

‘Inner thoughts.’

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Requester: No One!

Reader Gender: Gender Neutral (They/Them)

Style of Story: Oneshot (Possible Part 2?) // Manipulative, obsessive, and controlling behavior; hints of stalking; kidnapping

Word Count: 1.7K Words

WARNING(s): Yandere themes, so if you aren’t okay with obsessive/possessive/psychotic natures then please don’t read!

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[P.S: I DO NOT SUPPORT YANDERE TENDENCIES IN REAL LIFE!!! Do not confuse me writing this subject as encouraging it, there is a difference from reading/writing yandere stories V.S real life situations. Please, if someone in your life is behaving like the character in this story (i.e. obsessive, possessive, controlling, abusive, psychotic, sociopathic, LIKE A WACKADOO, etc.) get immediate help! That behavior in the real world is not romantic, sweet, or NORMAL! Stay aware and stay safe.]

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“Baby bird, wait up!” the last person you wanted to talk to right now, Hawks, giggled as he drifted down to glide next to your frantic self. Even though you were already speed walking down the sidewalk away from his apartment where the two of you had previously been 20 minutes ago, you tugged your jacket closer to your frame and scurried faster through the drafty night in a desperate attempt to make him leave.

“Go away, Hawks. I’m done talking with you tonight.” you mumbled as he continued to spin around you in an almost teasing way that further pissed you off.

“Ouch, (N/N)~,” Keigo grabbed his chest where his heart is while floating directly in front of you to block your path with his massive scarlet wings, “Not even calling me by my first name anymore? C’mon, what happened to ‘my hero~’ or ‘Mr. Stud~’? Not even ‘bird brain’?” he mocked in fake shock.

You scoffed and stepped past his fiery feathers, marching down your path while shouting back, “You don’t get that lovey-dovey crap from me tonight!”

Though the rest of the world was dark in the wee hours of the night, the flickering street lamps guided you to the train station that would take you back home to your apartment that you thankfully hadn’t moved out of yet, even though Hawks constantly  whined about you ditching the “dingy” place in favor of the two of you living together in his over-the-top penthouse. You had no roommates to notify that you were heading back after a few days with Keigo and you had long ago left your parents’ house to live on your own so you pressed on, blocking out his pouty, annoyed huffs of air in favor of dreaming about your cozy bed waiting to coddle you in its embrace with no fear of sharing the space with anyone.

“(Y/N), slow down for a second! Why are you acting so weird?” you heard Keigo’s voice and jogging footsteps sound from behind you. You recognized the feeling of his hand trying to circle around your wrist but before he got too comfortable, you snatched it away from him and swiveled your body back to meet his teasing hooded eyes.

“I’M acting weird? What about you! You brought this onto yourself, stupid!” you hissed while stepping a foot back.

Though that action didn’t make him falter, instead he stepped with you and stared you dead in the eye, “What did I do, hummingbird?” he asked with another sly cock of his head.

“Really? Me yelling at you in the penthouse wasn’t enough,” you growled, “You were checking through my phone while I was in the shower like a total CREEP, Keigo! What were you thinking, that I was just gonna come out of the shower, see you looking through my private messages with friends and family without you previously asking for permission to do, and I would say “Oh, no worries, love!” Are you nuts or something?!” you hollered at the hero whose smirk made you want to gift him a punch straight in the face for his cocky attitude.

“It’s fine, baby bird, I’m just checking to make sure everything was okay! You’ve been distant with me lately~,” his eyebrows twitched up and he gave a small pout as his wings slightly drooped to the pavement.

“Wait, hold on, we’ve been on a few dates for the past two months, no where near officially dating yet, and you think stuff like that is okay? You trust me so little that you have to go behind my back and search through my private things, to what? Prove a point to yourself or something? How did you even get my password?!” you barked in his stupidly attractive face.

“Love, you’re overreaching,” Hawks strode over to you and quickly locked you in his strong arms, though you tried to squirm away in disgust, “There are things in this world that a civilian like you wouldn’t understand. Heroes have to make so many hard decisions and as your hero, I have to make sure to be just that, save you from everything and everyone, even yourself sometimes.”

He leaned his head on yours and you heard him take a deep breath in only to let it out with an almost loving sigh while he continued, “There are bad people in this world that I encounter every day and I don’t want you accidentally stumbling on them through the internet. You know, it’s really rude of you to have kept Tinder on your phone even though we’re already in a committed relationship. Good thing you have me here to help!” he chuckled, his hold on your body tightening with each passing second.

Thoroughly creeped the hell out and not one to look past such obvious red flags though his looks tried to deceive you, you finally broke free of his tight grasp and shoved him back a few feet with shaky hands. You kept your hands outstretched in front of you, though you trembled in fear, and spoke in a fake strong voice, “That’s it, Hawks, we’re done, even though there’s nothing really to be done with in the first place. No more dates, no more hanging out, just flat out don’t talk to me ever again, okay? You see me on the street, walk the other way. I sincerely wish you the best with your dating life, but here’s a tip for the next person you seek out, don’t go poking your head into their personal life until you two are more than close. Goodbye, Keigo.” you finished, breaking out into a sprint towards the train station, leaving a flabbergasted Hawks in the dust.

Keigo stood where you had just been and simply stared at your retreating form as you sped off into the night. His eyes glazed over in pure jealousy and rage as his wings poofed up behind him to physically show his anguish. He stood under the buzzing streetlamp for a couple minutes more, processing the information, until he let out a small snicker. His snickering turned into giggling, escalating to laughter, and finally into an uncontrollable hollering. He bent over himself in the fit of insanity and after gulping down the lost air in his lungs as he looked back up to the place where you had previously stood with a menacing glint sparking in his honey-colored eyes.

“(Y/N)’s just...confused...yeah. Yeah! My god, how didn’t I see it before?! I’m such a bad boyfriend! But I can fix this,” Hawks shakily straightened back up and pulled his jacket tighter to himself, smoothing down his ruffled hair and wings, “Yeah, I can fix this.” He concluded to the empty air with a satisfied hum.

“Don’t worry, (Y/N), Keigo’s here to save you yet again~,” Hawks’ crazed smile flashed in the night as he flipped down his wind-resistant glasses.

~

~ Timeskip to 10 minutes later and we’re with you! ~

~

You panted for air as your run slowed into a brisk walk yet again. Now about a half a mile away from the complete psycho you had been with, you felt much safer now than any time you’d ever been around him, pro hero or not. You swiveled around on your feet and looked behind you as you walked down the street backwards, taking careful steps and surveying the area to make sure that weirdo hadn’t followed you. No one behind you on the lonely road, no one hiding in the allies or on the rooftops you could see, and no bird brain flying behind you in the air. It was almost eerie how alone you were but you still smiled, finally free.

“Thank goodness, that was getting awkward. I’ve really gotta stop letting guys with pretty faces fool me into a date.” you huffed to yourself as you remained walking backwards. Pulling out your smartphone from your jacket pocket, you swiped through your device and pushed on the phone app to call your mom to let her know that instead of heading back to your apartment you’d like to spend the night with them, no doubt in your mind that if Hawks was determined enough he probably would have scoped out your place already since ‘heroes have connections’ and all.

As you tried to press the ‘call’ button, you heard the sound of something swiftly cutting through the air behind you but before you had time to react your phone was launched out of your loose grip. You watched as the fast moving object shot and stuck into the ground, having entirely pierced through your phone and the solid cement, rendering the device useless. Nothing but fear raced through your veins as you recognized the weapon as one of Hawks’ scarlet feathers you had happily stroked not so long ago.

Before you could book it once more down the empty street, you felt two strong arms wrap around your arms and torso. You yelped as they constricted around you like a snake wrapping around its prey and began wildly thrashing your legs, trying to wiggle your way out of your captor’s hold. You heard the “hero” sweetly coo in your ear, almost like he was trying to calm a restless baby, and you suddenly felt big gusts of wind push around your body and through your desperate squirming you realized that you were no longer on the ground.

“Relax, baby bird,” Keigo sighed in content as he swung your body up and into his arms, pinning your arms to your side and carrying you like a royal being saved by their knight, “We’re just going back home so you can...calm down a little! You’ve been under such stress lately, haven’t you? That’s probably why you lashed out! I’m so sorry for not noticing sooner, love.” Tears of frustration blurred your vision as your legs thrashed as hard as they could, but nothing could loosen the man’s tense grip.

“Let me go, you...you psychopath!” you screamed out, fast wind whipping past your face as Keigo sped back to your prison.

“Awe~, (Y/N), don’t cry,” Hawks nuzzled your head, a purr rumbling in the back of his throat as one of his feathers brushed away the tears dripping past your cheeks, “Your hero will take care of everything now~!”

~

~ The End ~

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[unstoppableforcce]

early morning

pairing: santiago “pope” garcia x reader

masterlist

a/n: to contrast my smutty trivia night and to keep riding my Santi obsession wave, I offer you this sickly sweet fluff !! special thanks to @tiffdawg for the breed and name of Frankies pup and for the encouragement !! hope y’all enjoy :)))

The blustering chill of the early fall morning settled in all his injury-ridden joints. 

Stepping out onto his back porch in nothing more than a tee shirt and sweat pants, he could feel the piercing cold anchoring into his neck and knees, dipping under the clothes and beneath the jagged scar tissue. Yet something about it was still refreshing. The wind bit at his cheeks, pulling a fresher shade of red out of his pigment as he licked over his chapped lips and rubbed his aching hands over each other. But as he took a deep breath in, inhaling the freezing air deep into his lungs, he felt awake and alive. 

Scout, the boisterous German Shepard, let out an excited yap as he ran a few circles around his small back yard, basking in the faint light of dawn before pacing away to do his business. 

Frankie had gone out of town for two weeks and Santi had initially been a bit annoyed to have been the only one of the guys with a backyard, Will and Benny both in inadequate apartments for a dog with so much energy. But after just one night, Santi was very quickly falling in love with having a dog by his side. 

“He’s one of the family, you know,” Frankie had said as he passed Santi the leash and bag of dog food, treats, bowls, balls, toys — Scout practically had a travel bag. “Make sure he gets some exercise every morning though, or he’ll drive you insane.”

Speaking of that...

As Santi took another step out into the damp grass, Scout met him with damp paws of his own, jumping up onto his stomach and letting out another happy bark. The sound Santi let out was similarly animalistic as he bent over in a groan, holding his stomach as he nudged the dog away. 

“You want to go for a walk or something, buddy?” Another yelp in response and Santi nodded, wiping at the damp grass stain of two paw prints on his shirt and turning back to the porch. “Let me go put some clothes on...”

Scout barked again, as if he was voicing a counter of ‘you’re already wearing clothes’ and Santi surprised himself when he talked back to the bark. 

“Some exercise clothes, buddy.”

He was talking to the dog who couldn’t understand him and it had only been a day, what was two weeks with this dog going to do to him?

Pulling on a pair of shorts, a clean shirt and a jacket, he aditionally opted for a beanie and gloves for the cold before moving to the bag in his living room where he kept the suitcase Scout was sent with. Except he found Scout with the leash in his mouth already, gnawing on the hand loop.

“If you eat the leash, we can’t go.” Santi mocked, grabbing the leash from him and digging through the bag for the harness. 

He had a whole checklist to go through; Scout was harnessed and the leash was connected, he had poop bags, he had his coffee, gloves and beanie—

Scout barked again. 

“Ok. let’s go.”

Except he didn’t know where exactly he was going. Frankie said he liked walks, so he was just planning to walk until either he or Scout tired out first, out of his neighborhood, maybe down the street. 

With almost no one around this early besides the occasional car going by, Santi became pretty content with just walking aimlessly. And while he didn’t know exactly how long he had been walking for, he knew he hadn’t gone too far when he found the dog park. 

He had driven by it before but heading there hadn’t even been a conscious plan, he just ended up there. Judging by how aggressively Scout was beginning to pull on the leash, he was too excited to deny him even if he didn’t see any other dogs. 

It was 5:30 in the morning, of course there were no other dogs. But Scout wanted in nonetheless. 

With the clinking cold gate shut behind the two of them, Santi felt safe bending down to unhook the leash and let Scout take off towards the open field. Except, as he took a few steps in to follow the excited dog, he realized he wasn’t quite alone. 

Not as a happy red golden retriever came darting out from the opposite side of the park. 

Golden retrievers were always so happy to see you, no matter who you were. And this dog was no exception... except maybe they weren’t happy to see Scout, nor even to see Santi, though they were heading in that direction. They appeared to be sprinting head first for something else entirely. Like the ball coming straight for Santi’s face that he only saw in the last second. 

“Look out!”

He stepped aside just in time as the eager dog came barreling straight towards him, leaping for the ball and catching it before quickly turning on their heel and darting back off towards the source of the voice across the field. You came into view around the neighboring play structure and the dog moved in a beeline for you.

You were jogging up to meet your dog half way, waving your gloved hand in a greeting and apology at the same time as your dog dropped the ball at your feet. 

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you there!” You apologized, reaching down for the ball and petting down the back of your dog as Scout began to bark in greeting, catching your attention so you’d shift your back scratches his way. 

And for a second, Santi considered barking himself if it would get your attention. 

As the bright light of dawn began to shine just over the tops of the neighboring trees, he was entirely caught off guard. Not only was he not expecting anyone this early, but he certainly wasn’t expecting someone beautiful enough to knock the cool breath from his lungs, so radiant in the chilling sun. 

“It’s alright...” he chuckled out, whistling to get Scout back as the eager dog made a move to jump on you. 

He half-expected Scout to be more interested in the dog or the ball, but with your dog just sitting by your side, waiting for the ball to be thrown again, Scout easily returned to run an eager circle around his feet. 

“I don’t usually see anyone here this early,” you continued on, turning from him briefly to send the ball flying in the opposite direction, your dog taking off in an instant. “And I think I’d remember meeting someone so cute.”

Someone so cute? Santi had never been flirted with this early in the morning, he didn’t even know how to respond— oh, you were talking to Scout. 

The cheeky Shepard returned to your side to be pet some more and Santi had no choice but to take the final steps forward to greet you head on. 

He cleared his throat some, adjusting the leash around the back of his neck, “I’ve actually never been here before, I’ve driven past it but figured I’d bring him today.”

“He’s precious.” You noted, going down on your knees to scratch around his face and Scout looked to be in absolute heaven. 

Santi could understand why. 

“Scout?” You asked, glancing up from the tag on his collar and he nodded, “good name.”

“Your’s?”

“Ferguson or Fergie.” You hummed, giving Scout another few scratches before letting him run around and sniff some more, getting back onto your feet. But Santi merely twisted his face in moderate confusion before realizing you were talking about the bounding retriever coming back to the two of you with the ball in his mouth and not your own name. 

“That’s a good name.” He nodded, bending down on his bad knees himself as Ferguson dropped the ball right in front of his feet, “Do you want me to throw it?”

Was he expecting a response from the dog? Man, he was going full dog owner now, staring into the excited eyes of the beautiful dog. 

“He will love you forever if you do.”

“Oh really? Well I think I have to now.” He smirked back to you, reaching down for the ball and launching it the same way you had a few seconds ago, Ferguson taking off immediately. 

“Nice throw.” You mused, taking another step forward until you were side by side with him then turning to face your sprinting dog off in the distance. “He’s obsessed, there could be one dog or forty here and he’d still only want the ball.”

“He’s dedicated at least.” Santi laughed back, searching over your shoulder to find Scout sniffing at some bushes that lined the fence line, probably in search of lizards or rabbits. Returning his stare to the side of your face, he smiled, “I’m Santiago, or Santi.”

You turned to him and offered your name back just as Ferguson returned and dropped the ball right between the two of you. 

“Should I throw it or should you?”

Your face grew a smirk to match his as you bent for the ball and passed it to him, “I think this is all you.”

The morning didn’t feel so cold anymore.

And he quickly discovered you were there at the same time every morning. 

He effortlessly fell into a routine around it. Each and every day, he’d wake up with the sun, like he always did, and take Scout out to sniff around the backyard. Then he changed and headed for the park, getting there just around when you did, sometimes earlier by a few minutes and a sometimes later by a few minutes. 

And sometimes, right at the same time, like this morning, about a week after your first meeting. 

“Good morning,” you smiled cheerily, one of the only other people he knew who woke up and embraced the cold as bright and awake as himself. 

Or well, maybe he wasn’t that bright but he certainly felt like he was when he was around you and your beautiful disposition every morning. 

“Morning.”

Reaching for the gate, just a step ahead of you, he held it open for you and watched you carefully as you, your adorable dog, and your bright smile continued in front of him. Scout even joined him in the greeting, barking out a ‘good morning’ that Ferguson reciprocated. 

The two of them had become quite the duo, ‘puppy friends’ as you had described. Once the two of them actually began playing with and chasing each other, they seemed to have become best friends, as long as there were no balls to distract Ferguson. And you and him had gelled together effortlessly as well. 

It started off with simple conversations about what each of you did for a living, the weather, weekend plans, and basic smalltalk, but the two of you easily exhausted that in the first few meetings. 

Next came really getting to know each other, finding out (among other things) that you were single, what kind of movies you liked, how your boss was annoying you, your hobbies, and more. He told you about his idiot friends, vaguely described what he did for a living, talked about buying a house and him needing to call his mother more often... it wasn’t much but it was more than he ever expected sharing with someone at the park so early in the morning. 

It was sweet and simple and...well, it was honest. 

Honest besides the fact that Scout wasn’t his dog. 

It almost came up when you asked how he named him but he worked his way out of that without revealing anything. “My best friend Frankie named him actually, part army, part adventuring... he’s good on hikes and such.”

But besides that, he never actually came right out and revealed that Scout didn’t technically belong to him. And as the two of you walked around on one of the last days before Frankie got back from vacation, he realized he’d either need to tell you or make a move, because he was about to lose his fluffy wingman. 

It just also happened to be the day he woke up too late to make himself his morning coffee. 

As the two of you were leaving the park, from the same way you came in, Scout, exhausted and panting, leashed by his side and Ferguson, equally tired, by yours, he finally found the breath to make that move. “Any chance I can interest you in a cup of coffee? There’s a little cafe down the street.”

Your bright smile only grew, and he thought that was good news until your stare fell to your feet, “I would love to, but I’ve got a busy day today at work, I’ve got to get Ferguson back home.”

“No problem,” he waved his hands, taking an unconscious step back in case he was over stepping but you took the space back with a step forward of your own. 

“Maybe tomorrow?”

Now was his turn for his smile to grow as he nodded, “perfect, tomorrow.”

And as he began to walk off towards his house, you towards yours in the opposite direction, he stole a look back over his shoulder and caught your stare doing the same. He gave a small wave, trying not to seem as boyish as he was at the prospect of just a coffee date, and you returned it. 

It was only then he realized he was giving Scout back to Frankie tonight.

“Shit.” He cursed under his breath as he continued to walk away, Scout barking to reciprocate the sentiment unknowingly. “What are we going to do, buddy?”

Scout barked again, keeping perfectly at his side while they walked. 

He needed a plan. And as convoluted as it was, he was pretty sure he had one. 

Step 1: call Frankie and tell him that he didn’t have to worry about getting Scout tonight, Santi would bring him over tomorrow. 

Step 2: meet you at the park like nothing was different, get coffee and eventually explain mornings might not work for going to the park anymore

Step 3: win you over, have more dates, eventually get a dog of his own to call Scout and never explain—

That would never work. None of it. 

Well, maybe step one would but not two or three. If he could execute step one, maybe he could buy himself some time? Maybe that could work?

And by the next morning as he woke up even earlier that he usually did, getting up and ready even more excited than he normally did, he still had Scout. Step one working so far. 

He met you at the park and the morning went as well as every other morning had. He hardly believed it was possible to have sustained such easy conversation so many days in a row... he didn’t want it to end. Why wasn’t Scout just his dog? Why didn’t he just try and convince Frankie to donate the dog to him? It was for a good cause—

“We still on for coffee?” You asked as Ferguson brought the ball back for the last time and laid down tired at your feet. 

“Yes, yeah, of course.” He smiled, calling Scout back, snapping the leash back on while you did the same with Ferguson, and began walking towards the gate. 

When the two of you got to the cafe, you laughed through a deal, you staying outside with the dogs while he went inside to order and pay, even in spite of your protests. He came back out with two cups of coffee, two muffins, and two dog treats, also a smile that he didn’t think he would ever wipe off. 

He liked this.

He thought asking you out, even casually would make this awkward but the simplicity of your easy relationship at the park translated just as well to the cafe as you ate and drank your breakfast.

He liked you. 

He knew that from the beginning but even more so now as your coffee cup, with the lid removed to cool it off, left a thin line of foam over your lips. 

“You’ve got some...” he wiped over his own lip and you quickly caught yourself, licking back over it and returning to your smile. Your heart-fluttering bright smile. 

Maybe he should just steal Scout, he liked the company around his empty house and you made it worth it to steal a practical member of Frankie’s family. 

All he knew was that he couldn’t come right out and admit that Scout wasn’t his, he needed to work around the truth of it for as long possible until you loved him too much to notice that technically he was keeping a secret about a pretty integral part of your relationship. Or at least until he figured out a better step two and three. 

You gave him a sweet hug as you left in time to get back and ready for work and that sealed it. 

He had to keep this going.

For the next three mornings, he showed up at Frankie’s side door at the crack of dawn. The first two times, he was able to sneak Scout out without waking up the Morales clan, but the third day, Frankie was already awake with a screaming baby in his arms and a confused look on his face as he found Santi in his backyard. 

“What are you doing here, Pope?” He asked, sliding the back door open as he bounced the baby in his arms. 

“I was uh...” wow, this was harder than he thought it’d be. “I just wanted to take Scout out for a walk, I was up early, I figured I’d just help out.”

“You figured you’d sneak into my backyard and steal my dog to... to help me out?” Even the tired shell of Frankie the father was seeing through him, there was no way he could get through today, much less continue this act.

But he was trying anyways. “You’ve got the baby, you know... Hi, little Mia...”

She kept screaming, as unamused with him as her father was.

“You miss having a little companion around your house?” Frankie scoffed and Santi figured this was his only way out. 

He threw his hands up by his sides and shrugged, “I guess I do.”

“Okay, you can take him today but don’t get used to this, Pope, get your own dog before it gets weird.”

Little did he know that it was already so weird.

But he had no plans to tell him. He just nodded in thanks and strapped Scout’s harness back on to meet you at the park and then eventually for coffee. 

Make a move, Pope, you’ve gotta make a real move, he reminded himself as you emerged from the cafe with the same order for the two of you. You’re running out of time.

“Got any plans tonight?” He hummed from behind his coffee, fighting through his first sip as it singed his tongue. 

“I do actually, a couple old friends from school are in town tonight so we’re going out.” You said, your smile growing in a way he didn’t think was for your friends. It felt like you saw through his reason to ask. “Got nothing to do tomorrow night though, if you’re free and want to do something, maybe.”

Thank god you were making a move, stealing the words right out of his mouth. 

“Tomorrow sounds great, dinner?”

“Dinner sounds great.”

And when he returned Scout after, Frankie seemed even more suspicious seeing as his smile had grown bigger than he had ever seen it before, but he let it slide, something else on his mind. 

“Benny wants to go to this new brewery tonight, it’s half outside so I’ll bring Scout if that makes you more inclined to come.” Frankie joked, as Santi began hanging all of Scout’s stuff up on the hook outside. He still had the baby with him, still bouncing her in his arms, but she was happy and laughing instead of crying like she was earlier. 

“Yeah, I’m down.” He nodded, adjusting his hat over his head, “text me the address, I’ll meet you guys there.”

It wasn’t too far away, but just far enough that he had to drive instead of walk which meant not too much drinking but he could live with that. He was really going for the guys anyways, and by the time he pulled up, they were all there and drinking by the small fire pit set up outside for the chilly night.

Scout included.

“Hey buddy.” He cheered, ruffling the fur around his face as the dog excited barked back. 

“You see,” Frankie fought, looking somehow less rested than this morning. “He’s obsessed with my dog.”

“That’s kind of weird, Pope.” Will argued as he brought his glass to his lips. 

Benny nodded, “Just get your own dog man.”

“Scout is special.” He defended, grabbing a glass and filling it from the pitcher before stealing his seat. 

The guys gave him some more shit, but it was nothing new, eventually the conversation drifted elsewhere, talking about Mia, talking about the harem of women Benny seemed to be seeing at any given time, Will’s debate over buying a new car for the amount of traveling he did. 

It was just an average night out for them until a familiar red golden pushed his nose up to the table. 

“Damn...” Benny cursed at the table shook from the excited attack, but as he repeated it, catching sight of the person chasing after the excited dog, his whole tone changed, “Damn...”

And that was all it took for Santi to put the pieces together. 

Looking up from the red golden as he jumped into his lap to lick towards his face, he realized it was you who lost control of the leash and the dog pawing his way up his body was Ferguson. It was like putting the pieces of a puzzle together that would ruin everything, if those kinds of puzzles existed... 

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry... He never acts like this—” You rushed to the table to apologize, bending for the leash and flipping your hair back up as you stood back up, freezing with the realization. “Santi?”

You were beautiful every morning, in your leggings or your sweatpants, beanies or gloves. It didn’t matter that you had just rolled out of bed and walked to the park, you were amazing. But now? You were clearly dressed up for a night out and you were gorgeous. As Benny had so aptly, though inappropriately, said, damn...

Damn for so many reasons. 

“Hey,” he smiled, quickly getting to his feet and meeting your outstretched arms for a hug, “Hi, I didn’t expect to find you here.”

“I’ve never actually been, but my friends picked it,” you smiled, brushing some of your hair from you face as you turned to the table waiting with stares directed purely your way. “Hi...”

He cleared his throat, and introduced you to the table, his hand sliding down your back as he did, just in case the boys didn’t get the message immediately. But as he turned to Frankie and found him staring at the dogs and putting the pieces of his own puzzle together, he knew he was screwed. 

“How do you two know each other?” He asked, leaning forward to pet Scout almost protectively over his ears. 

“Oh, we met at the dog park.” You easily explained, not thinking anything of it but the rest of the table nodded suspiciously, coming to the realization that Frankie got to two seconds earlier. 

“Really? With Scout?” Frankie scoffed a little, twisting your face into confusion as you turned to look back to Santi. 

“Yeah—”

“Just ignore them.” Santi quickly shook his head, “Can I buy you a drink or...”

You just shook your head, your smile vaguely returning to your lips. “No, I should probably find my friends, but it was good to see you, and nice to meet all of you.”

Giving one final wave, to the table, you gave Santi a half hug and moved to the wrap-around section of the outdoor patio. The quiet squeals of excitement and bark from Ferguson signaled that you found your friends, but he was forced to turn back to his. 

And they quickly spiraled into a beer-fueled argument.

“You know, it’s making a lot more sense now—”

“Shut up ‘Fish—”

“Your dog Scout. Santi and Scout—”

“Stop—“

“You should have just told me instead of trying to sneak my dog away from me,” Frankie laughed out with the rest of the guys, “Seriously though, you just wanted to help me out because of Mia? Or that you were lonely? I knew something was fishy about that.”

“No, he is lonely, just a different kind—”

“Shut up, Benny.” Santi scoffed, rubbing over his face like he could somehow wipe it all away. But no amount of rubbing was going to make that possible. “I met her when I brought Scout to the dog park, and I really like her...”

“Awwww,” each of them cooed out in mocking unison that forced his drink back into his hand and up to his lips. 

“It would be cuter if you didn’t drag my dog into your lies.” Frankie fought and the laughter broke out again. 

“Yeah, what do you do when you get her to go home with you? huh? And there’s no dog there?” Will argued, leaning forward on his elbows as if to punctuate how idiotic the whole thing was, like he didn’t already know that himself. 

“I wasn’t thinking, I just...” He sighed, futilely looking over his shoulder but you were behind a wall and out of sight. “Are you sure you don’t just want to give Scout to me? I mean, you’ve got the baby and—”

He couldn’t even get the absurd question out before the laughter around the table broke out again. 

“You should tell her.” Will reasoned and the rest of the table nodded, Santi included. 

“I know, I know.”

He would tell you in the morning. That would work. Not tonight when you were out with friends, he didn’t want to do that to you. Tomorrow. 

“Is Scout available tomorrow morning by chance?”

“No.” They all said together before Frankie continued, “go alone.”

And that was what he did. 

Just like every morning previous, he woke up with the sun and wandered out back to breathe in the cold air before getting changed. And despite not having Scout by his side, he walked to the park and found you already inside the fencing, playing with Ferguson and a ball. 

You turned to see him as the whining gate gave him away and your bright smile seemed to warm up even the frostiest morning. 

“Where’s Scout?” You asked, walking back over to him with your gloved hands in your pockets. 

All he could do was shrug until he was close enough to you to feel your radiant heat and see the leftover makeup that graced your lashes.

Then he had to come clean. 

“Technically...” this was even harder than he expected. He raided drug lord estates and had basically been in combat mode for his entire career, but this, this was hard. “Technically, Scout’s not my dog.”

You chuckled at that, “Yeah, I kinda got that vibe last night.”

“I was watching him for the past few weeks and then... well and then for the past few days, I’ve kinda been stealing him from my friend’s house to still meet up with you.” He hoped that sounds romantic and not creepy. 

Romantic, not creepy. He was almost pleading to ensure it with his eyes as your smile twisted into a satisfied smirk. 

“You stole a dog just to see me?”

He shrugged, figuring it was all out on the table and you hadn’t ran yet, so he kept going. “He’s got a baby too, he didn’t really notice until yesterday but last night kind of gave me away.”

“That’s a shame, I like Scout.” You laughed and his stare dropped to the grass under his shoes. “But I guess I probably like you a bit more.”

“So we can still go to dinner tonight?” He smirked as his eyes scanned up from the grass to your beautifully awaiting face. 

“Yeah, you don’t need a dog to do that.”

As your gaze drifted down to his lips and he took a step forward, a heat bubbled within his chest much hotter than anything he ever remembered experiencing before. And when you took another step in as well, eliminating any space between you two, the cold morning seemed to disappear entirely. 

At least until Ferguson dropped the ball between you two and let out a solid and disrupting bark. 

“He’s just jealous...” you mused, lifting your lips to his cheek for a quick kiss before pulling away to grab the ball. And you did it so quickly, he barely even registered it. “He’s been the only man in my life for a while.”

“Well, he should be more considerate,” Santi laughed, waiting for you to throw the ball before wrapping a hand around your waist. “I’m ready to make him the only dog in my life.”

“Yeah, a decision made completely on your own...” You mocked slightly but he caught your lips before your laughter could roll off your tongue. 

For having been so afraid of becoming a dog-person, he now refused to imagine life without it.

He had to make sure to thank Scout for his service.

—

tags: @tiffdawg @spider-starry @rogueonestan @lostgirlheather @pizzahutmonkeybutt @itsamedeemoney @cathrinexxxv

[sleepylixie]

Never gone, my love

Demon-Hunter!Changbin x Demon-Queen!reader  (Fits the Halloween moodies, me thinks)

2.8k words, Fantasy Angst Oneshot.

Warnings: Strong Language, gore, blackmail, murder by decapitation, a healthy dose of violence overall. An obsessive romance? 

A/N: HELLO! Tis me! Before anything, the inspiration for this fic comes entirely from the amazing fic (My love is Come to me) written by @silverlightqueen​- Oof, what a queen! Reading that piece had me lowkey mind blown and itching to give it a spin myself and so, Never gone, my love was born. Guys, no joke, I enjoyed writing this fic so insanely much. I’ve been missing from Tumblr for the sole reason of not having the inspiration or the guts to write and post anything anymore. Recently, I’ve been learning and making changes to that attitude of mine, so HERE WE ARE! I’m here to bug everybody with my fics and writing again!!

ONTO THE FIC!!! Hope y’all like this!

What is a queen without a king? Unhinged. 

What is a queen with her king? Unleashed.

The silver rings on my fingers glinted wickedly, winks of light reflecting off them from the hellfire blazing outside. Being queen was no mean feat, even if the queen in question was of part- noble blood to start with. Not everybody was happy with Satan’s oldest heir being a daughter- if anything, they expected me to take to my mother’s path and become a low-rung sex fiend, running errands day-to-day, begging for a good fuck. Imagine their horror when I turned out to be my father’s daughter instead, the woman that is begged for. Holding power came to me as naturally as playing the seductress and it was only a matter of centuries before my father and his court relented, finally giving me an ascendancy to my own realm of Hell.

If power is currency, I am a feral tycoon, trading in smiles, sex and savagery. I played the game I wasn’t expected to play and here I sit, on the Fifth circle’s throne, dripping in authority and gemstones.

No, I’m not the type to dress so frivolously every day. It was the coming of All Hallow’s Eve and my subjects were all too happy to enjoy the lines thinning between our world and the mortals’. The air was electric, alive with the sounds of fear, lust, anger…. Sin. It was a symphony to my immortal ears. While my people revelled in their festivities outside my castle, I had my own celebrations well underway.

“I know you’re outside, my love!” I called out, elongated canines flashing against the smirk on my blood-hued lips. “Why don’t you join in the festivities,” I grinned wider, “it’s all for you anyway.”

If I had breath in my lungs, it would have been knocked out of me by the man who stepped into my throne room. Jet black hair, sharp chin and sharp eyes narrowed as he took a step, and another into the chamber. He was dressed like any other of his stature would be- comfortable fighter’s clothing over his muscled physique, harness over his shoulders, thighs and waist with weaponry all over his frame and disdain on his face.

“What is it going to take for you to leave me alone, Y/N.” Seo Changbin wasn’t the type to mince words and oh, how I loved that about him. I let my smile grow further into a snarl, baring teeth. “You know the answer to that too well, my love.” I cooed, allowing myself a flash of satisfaction at the way his jaw gritted in annoyance.

My demon hunter love. Oh, what has that curse done to you.

“Cut the bullshit, Y/N.” His eyes bore hateful holes into my own as he looked me up and down, wrinkling his nose at the sight of my royal regalia. “You know that’s never going to happen. When are you going to stop with your infernal games?”

I clicked my tongue, standing and walking down my throne’s podium, jet black smoke and orange sparks trailing behind my dress.

“You loved these infernal games more than I did, darling. When will you stop depriving yourself of what’s truly yours?” My stilettos clicked against the black marble floor as I made my way closer to where Changbin stood, ramrod straight in front of the double doors. “When hell freezes over.” He snarled back, watching my every movement.

I knew how I looked to him, a vision in debauchery, a shining beacon of temptation dipped in black corseted silk and silvery green gemstones. It is exactly what he hated about me- what he was cursed to hate about me. “I’m sure I can arrange that fairly easily if that’s what you wish, my love.”

My cold, beautiful love. Oh, what has that curse done to you.

He was the strongest, cruelest son of a Hell’s prince, smitten by my power and I, by his strength. We were inseparable, indomitable, bonded by mischief big and small until he was taken away from me.

He sucked in a breath, momentarily thrown off-guard before regaining his bearings. “You’re not strong enough for that, sweetheart,” he spat out the endearment like a curse. “You’d have done that a long time ago if you could.”

I looked him in the eye, unfazed by his argument. My heavily braceleted hand rose, palm first, wreathed in a ball of hellfire. Fire that blazed so hot, it was almost white. I let it burn bright between the both of us, illuminating the previously shadowed chamber around us.

There was an almost disappointed- no, frustrated look in Changbin’s eyes as he took in the utter carnage around him. Body after mortal body lay on the floor of my throne room, all limp, pale and unmoving.

“You- They said it was one dead body!” Changbin spluttered, his angry expression giving way to horror as he took in his vicinity. “This is just the beginning of what I can do. What you could do. You reveled in this debauchery as much as I did, darling.” I responded nonchalantly, allowing the hellfire to light up the chandeliers above us. “I’m sure you remember that one All Hallow’s Eve when we went on a rampage like this.”

“There is nothing fun about MURDERING INNOCENT HUMANS.” Changbin exclaimed and I shrugged, delighted at finally getting a rise out of him. “But you don’t know them. You don’t care about them. What does it matter to you? They’re just more souls for my people to feed on.”

“This is basic human empathy, Y/N!” He snarled at me and oh. There it was. The otherworldly strength that even the curse couldn’t take away from him. It set my nerves aflame, my body singing in it’s presence, it’s familiarity. “There is nothing more abhorrent than the way you keep killing and killing like these people don’t matter.” His voice rose in volume, raspy in it’s pitch. “What will it take for you to understand that I am not. YOURS. There is nothing under this godforsaken world that will let your devilish hands take over me, or the mortals on Earth-”

“What do you care about Mortals?” I screamed back, the fire in my nerves sparking into a wildfire at his words. “You’re NOT MORTAL.YOU’RE LIKE ME. YOU’RE MINE.YOU LIE TO YOURSELF. ”

Silence stretched between us as he stared at me again, stunned by my outburst. But then again, this isn’t something he hasn’t heard before.

The race of demon hunters is an abomination come to life. That coming from a demon princess is the highest order of abhorrence. Even more so because.. My love is the first, and worst of them.

The elders in the first mortal civilization felt the need to find a way for them to bring demons from the thralls of temptation and make them immune to the point where they can slay their kin to protect humankind. I was there. Trapped and in pain because of my childhood innocence , forced to watch as those infernal mites plunged my love into the light that turned him away from me, since time immemorial until now. Forced to watch as he rose from the flames, eyes alight with hatred as he plunged my father’s dagger into my chest.

“Admit it, my love,” I purred, stepping closer to him, leaning closer to his ear. “You miss being mine, as I missed being yours. You missed sitting on that throne, as King. Some part of you misses this.” I turned around and threw my arms out, encompassing the massacre in front of us.

I let out a velvet laugh as I made my way back to my throne. “This was all yours, until you walked away.” Taking my seat, I looked down at where Changbin stood, having moved from the doors to the middle of the room. “All I ask is for you to return to where you belong.”

“Maybe if you die for more than a few hours after I kill you, I’ll consider it.” Changbin snarled at me, looking for all the otherworld like a king without a crown.

I forgot what loss, pain and heartbreak felt like after that day, all those millennia ago. That is, until I found him in my chambers again, bristling with human weaponry and the need to kill me thrumming through his veins. So began our cat-and-mouse game, him wanting to sever his last connection to the Otherworld and me, savoring the sheer frustration I left him. You see, I forgot loss, pain, heartbreak- but I didn’t forget possession. He was mine, for glorious centuries, until he was taken away from me. I vowed to bring my Changbin back again and Satan’s daughter never goes back on her words.

“Or what if hell freezes over?” My pleasant question stopped Changbin short, head cocking to the side in slight confusion. “You see, darling, I might be Satan’s daughter, but I made my way here from the bottom.” I picked at my fingernails, looking like I didn't have a care in the world- which, of course, I didn’t. “ After you left, I gave and took many more favors to get to this fine evening. They call me Hell’s Whore, for all the things I was willing to do that even low-grade scum wouldn’t. You see, the darkness owes me a favor,” The color draining from his face stoked at the ice-cold fire burning in my mind. “And the darkness never fails to deliver.”

“What did you do,” Changbin breathed, his hands going, almost unconsciously, to the knives sheathed at his thighs. I smiled my sweet sinner smile at him, crossing one leg over the other as I leaned back on my throne. “Oh, nothing. Just asked for hell to freeze over Earth on All Hallow’s Eve night if you don’t agree to turn back.”

The curse was very simple. The only way my love would ever come back to me was if he chose to make the Turn himself. It was a clever ploy, because immunity to temptation was rooted into every demon hunter’s veins from the moment they are created. Luckily for me, I wasn’t beyond playing dirty.

“What the fuck?” Changbin exclaimed in rage, his feet carrying him of his own volition up the steps to stand over me in front of my throne. I continued smiling at him, not a hint of remorse on my face as I looked up at him. “You have a few minutes to decide, my love.” I purred, not breaking eye contact. It was that split second of uncertainty that flashed through his face, which urged me to move, pushing him down onto the twin throne that sat beside mine, empty for centuries without it’s true owner.

“And I’d suggest you make yourself comfortable.” I whispered, my lips mere inches from his face. The glare he levelled at me was one for the books, raging wild fury and utter desperation all wound into one.

“Stay where you are, darling, or I’ll butcher these precious mortal bodies one by one.” I grinned as I straightened up, sauntering back down the stairs to nudge my foot against one of the bodies closest to the throne. “I’ll have you know that none of these mortals are dead,” I giggled. “Only unconscious from the fear of the Otherworld. Delicate creatures, these mortals. It’s a wonder why you want to be associated with these weaklings.” A growl ripped out of Changbin’s throat as I stifled another laugh.

“How do I know you’re not bluffing? About the darkness?” Changbin shouted behind me, still rooted to his spot on the podium. I didn’t respond, only humming softly as I picked my way through the many bodies, looking for all the world like I was frolicking in Eden’s Garden. The singing of a blade flying through the air brought me out of my fake reverie, spinning and catching it by the handle just before it pierced my skin.

“Tch. You really didn’t think I’d make it this easy for you to kill me.” You wagged the knife point first at Changbin, who was still on the podium- what a sight he made. He was made for the throne, but his entire form bristled like he was seated on hot coals instead of opulence. “You don’t know if I’m bluffing until Hell actually freezes over, my love.” I responded, just loud enough for him to hear. I pulled up one of the limp bodies I stood amongst, a young girl who barely looked 16.

Changbin’s knife twirled in my fingers as I gripped the handle, moving the blade almost sensuously over the skin of her throat. “Maybe the massacre should start with her.”

It was a soft prick of pleasure that slid through my veins at the look of panic that danced across Changbin’s eyes. “You wouldn’t dare.” He growled. I did nothing but stare him in the eye, allowing the point of his knife to dip slightly into the child’s neck. Drops of ruby blood blossomed at the wound and the scent. Oh, the scent of human blood. What a magnificent feast.

“You have 3 seconds left, my love.” “What-” “Three,” “What the-” “Two,” “No, wait-” “One-”

“OKAY. FINE. FINE. STOP.”

“What was that, darling?” I cocked my head, pretending like I hadn’t heard him. “I’ll do it.” He sighed in defeat.

Oh. “Do it then,” I urged him, still having the knife pointed edge down into my young victim’s throat.

“You’re a fucking menace, Y/N .”Were the last words I heard before his eyes closed and his body slumped back into the throne, his face deliciously blank.

Did he Turn? The stabs of curiosity danced across my spine as the moments of silence stretched ahead, one, two, ten. And then he stirred. First he sat up, cracking his neck from the awkward position he’d fallen back in. His hand brushed back his hair and then, he opened his eyes. Bright red eyes, twin to my own.

I stared at him in barely veiled disbelief and he stared back, the glow in his eyes fading from neon to ruby. Then he smiled, and I knew. There was only one person in the Otherworld who had that smile of ice and terror. I couldn’t help but throw him a grin of my own, canines bared in an amused snarl of unholy victory. Like he was never gone, my love.

The knife twisted in my hands and went clean through the mortal girl’s throat, twisting away as her head fell off of her body in a shower of blood. But I couldn’t care less about the bloody mess on my arms, shoulders and cheek because I was walking my way back to the twin thrones. Changbin watched my every movement with a predator’s gaze, leaning back onto the throne-his throne, with a sense of stone-cold authority as his ringed fingers tapped the velvet on the arms of the chair. He was made for the throne, my love.

Soon, I stood in front of him, a snap of my fingers bringing forth the cold-iron and obsidian crown that was a male contrast to the feminine tiara that rested on my brow. “My King, my love.” I whispered, setting the crown atop his head. He was meant for a crown, my love.

“My Queen, my love.” Changbin’s smirk sent a jolt of wicked familiarity through my body, a thing of fiendish beauty. He took one of my hands into his own, raising it to press a gentle kiss onto my knuckles, the red eyes never leaving my own. When he tugged at my hand, it was with a sense of belonging that I allowed my body to fall onto his lap, uncaring of anything and anybody else. He nuzzled his nose into my neck, tongue darting out to taste the splatter of mortal blood that had found its way onto my skin. A low groan fought its way out of his mouth at the taste. He was never the type to hold back, my love.

“Oh, how I have missed the taste of human blood.” He rasped against my ear, a shiver making it’s way down my back at the proximity I’d missed so much. “Almost more than I felt the lack of you.” I hummed, placing kisses from his cheekbone to his ear. “Not as much as I missed you, I wager.” I murmured against his skin, nipping softly at his ear. His grip on my waist tightened as I pulled back, smirks mirroring each other. “What would you have me do to prove you wrong, my Queen?” Changbin’s expression was nothing short of vicious excitement as he matched me stare for stare. He was always a fierce one, my love.

“Rule over Earth with me.” His eyebrows raised, almost imperceptibly. “So you’re truly Hell’s Whore?”  I chuckled, capturing his lips with mine for a brief yet passionate kiss. “No, my love. Darkness is mine.”

Changbin laughed, the deep sound ricocheting off the hollow space in me that he had left empty for the past centuries. “For you, my Queen, my Love….gladly.”

It was like he was never gone, my love.

[thepropertylovers]

What Foreigners Really Think of The U.S. Right Now

The other night, after the kiddos went to bed, we decided to watch the second Borat movie that just came out (have you seen it?). It was insane and hilarious all at the same time, but it got me wondering: what do folks who don’t live in the U.S. think of The United States of America right now? What is their perception of us?

So I decided to pose this question on Instagram and wow. Y’all did not hold back. I want to thank everyone who submitted for your candidness and honesty, even if some of these were hard to swallow. It’s important to note that just because these are their opinions of America, it doesn’t mean it is all necessarily true. Regardless, it was interesting to read everyone’s thoughts and get an outsider’s perspective.

We received hundreds of submissions and couldn’t post them all, but below, people from all over the world share what they really think of the United States at the moment.

Leadership is out of touch with reality and messing things up real bad, not just for the U.S. but also for the world. What’s worse is that half the country is being misled successfully. It just shows poorly on the country all over. -Annonymous

Your president is a disaster when it comes to foreign politics and corona. No class, no knowledge. A joke. Very scary to watch. But half of the voters are happy with it. And that is even more scary. Very difficult to understand the hate and ignorance in your society right now. -Mikkel

It’s just weird. Everything basically. I totally understand now why the U.S. is described as '“flawed democracy” in the democracy index. It’s just a crazy system which is not providing equality among people- regarding the vote especially. This system leads to the fact of the two big parties (similar in the UK basically). But democracy is about diversity in opinions and options. Not just two. -Max

The US is more divided than ever. The two parties cannot work together nor do they appear to want to. The government is no longer run by reason, facts, and policy aiming for the betterment of the entire country and or world in the long or medium run; rather it’s instant gratification for the few who benefit from nepotism. Lies and misinformation are used to build a dictatorship hiding in the form of “patriotism”. And those who could act as a check or balance focus on their own personal gain, putting their needs above those of the persons they should be representing. -Joel

I personally don’t think there is a very good atmosphere in the USA, especially right now, Trump’s administration does not protect the American people or the economy. He only cares about himself and his male-white supremacy. The worst of all is that lots of Americans think Trump is actually a good leader (idk why, honestly). But thank God that people are starting to wake up and fight about what they believe. We can see it through BLM protests, feminist movements, and so on, and the whole world is proud about those people fighting for their rights. America was once the land of dreams, but nowadays (with all that is happening) it is even scary to go there. Lots of things have to change and those changes have to start, voting and defending your rights and your beliefs are the first step. Greetings from Spain. -Antonio

The main reasons I can think of are vote suppression/gerrymandering, expensive health care wealth inequality, racism, lack of fun control… -Brian

Definitely find the hypocrisy of the Republicans so annoying, Trump still being in office, the fact that there has been no police reform or justice for Breonna Taylor, the gun laws, and the COVID numbers just to name a few. -Brian

Here in the UK it seems like CARNAGE over there..don’t get me wrong, it’s wild here too but Trump is insane and it’s really odd seeing so many Americans supporting him. -Dan

Really worried about the fact that you might go for 4 more years with Trump and the fact that he’ll for sure contest the results if he loses. Add to this, all the racial violence and in particular the way some policemen act without being condemned by any judge. And finally the pandemic which seems to be even more out of control than in other countries. This is coming from someone who lives in France where we’re going to be under lockdown for the second time since the beginning of the pandemic (2nd lockdown starting tomorrow evening and will last at least until December 1st 😢). -Estelle

To put a long story short, let’s just hope Cheeto doesn’t get reelected otherwise our UK trade deal will be a disaster and we don’t need any more negative influences in the UK around gender and sexual equality.-Christian

I think with this administration, the US has demonstrated how to shipwreck a whole nation economically, ideologically, socially, and politically within a really short period of time. After just 4 years, we’ve come to associate the US with widespread narrow-mindedness, a lack of respect and courtesy to other nations (and minorities in its own country for that matter), short sightedness when it comes to global phenomena like environmentalism or migration patterns, and a celebration (by some at least) of almost barbaric notions of violence, oppression, and backward thinking, all under the camouflage of its constitution and socio-historic heritage. We’ve really admired the Obama administration over here in Europe, which-despite its flaws and shortcomings- has opened up the US to international partnerships and has established an ongoing discourse shaped by mutual respect and politeness…the contrast couldn’t be more pronounced these day…-Sebastian

I look at our Prime Minister and government and then see Trump and think we really could have it so much worse! Vote!! -Ant

As an American living in London, I can tell you that the news coverage here makes the US look like an absolute joke. Mainly due to 45, his lies, his bigotry, and his insane desire to make covid seem as though it’s a falsehood “created by the left” while hundreds of thousands of Americans have ben victimized by this pandemic. What was once seen as a country of opportunity and freedom, is sadly no longer held to that level of greatness in comparison to its neighboring countries. It saddens me because I had plans to move back home within the next year or so, but if the US continues on its path, I can see myself in London for the unforeseeable future. I can’t live in a country where I am seen or believed to be lesser than another because of my sexual preference. I can only hope and pray that this election brings the change we need to be that country of greatness once again. -Rob

Very poor to be honest. And I’m not necessarily [talking about Trump]- I think the immediate reaction is to blame him. Though, he is pretty awful. There was obviously a huge level of social and other problems in the US, and the current administration has exploited them to the breaking point. Whereas more “skilled” past administrations had the ability to leverage those issues for their benefit, but not let it boil over. I actually thought Trump would be a positive for the US and world- in that his incompetence would force other world leaders to step up. Meaning more equity in how disputes etc. are assessed and the US wouldn’t bully smaller nations. I think the US has hit the point in its journey with capitalism that the USSR hit with socialism in the late 80’s that led to its collapse. Does that mean collapse for the US, I don’t know but the system isn’t providing equity and equality for all as it stands. -Paul

Worried but also hopeful for you guys because I don’t think all citizens in America reflect the current administration. It’s been really great to see people voting early and making their voice heard. No matter what happens just know you did what you could in this moment in time. Even though the current administration provides a scary outlook for the future. As long as the current and future generations lead with love, there will hopefully be a brighter future. Love from Canada. -Ajetha

I've been subscribing to all of the US News since the Black Lives Matter Movement commenced and honestly, it made me scared as a Filipino Asian to step foot in the States ever since. I have big dreams of flying over there and probably working there as an immigrant after I finished college. However, when I found out about the racial injustice that is currently ongoing in the country, I became hesistant of still wanting to live there. Although, I'm positive that there are still people like you two that will be open about working immigrants, I really hope that racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia will end for good among every human beings in the US and also around the world. I do wish and pray that the 2020 US election will make certain amends to the current situation y'all are experiencing because it's getting pretty scary out there. -Harvey I’m an American living overseas working for the US government. I’m trying my hardest to stay overseas so my family and I don’t have to come back to the mess that is the US right now. From politics to COVID, it’s not a good time. While the virus may be surging again in Europe, at least the people comply with the government rules. Sometimes I believe Americans take freedom and liberty a bit too far, especially when it comes to the greater good. -Anonymous

Allthough on social policy the US is no real example for us (I think there is more social ‘security’, more justice, high standards in education for all in most of the EU countries), they always have been a ‘safe haven’ in big international politics. It now feels like ‘they have our back’ doesn’t imply anymore. -Jasper

Well personally I think the country seems in total disarray, instead of focusing on the real issues in the streets both house of the capitol are focused on bashing each other during the election campaign which is a circus due to the sitting POTUS. The obsession with the right to bare arms and the gun culture bewilders most other countries, you have teenagers walking into schools with Assault weapons and yet people still want guns to be available, worst still you ban one type of assault rifle but another just as powerful is kept on sale, it’s plain weird. -Philip

Neither candidate represents their party well. As an outsider looking in, it just baffles me that either of these men could potentially be the leader of the free world...It genuinely feels like worrying times are ahead for the US. -Marc I'm from India and living in Germany at the moment. The race problem in the US is as bad as the class/caste problem in India. Even if I don't have money I can go to a government health center in India. I just had an operation and stayed at the hospital for 18 days here in Germany, I had to pay only 180 Euros, everything else ( the operation and the many tests and scans that followed) was covered by the insurance. When my friends at the US heard about it they were shocked about low the hospital bill. There are really great labs (I'm a researcher) that I would like to work but I have no intentions of working/living in the US for a longer period of time. -Maithy

I think the US has become a joke to the rest of the developed world. Neither candidates running for president are fit to run such a powerful country. I can't help but feel after the election if Trump wins the left will riot and if Biden wins the right will riot. The country might just rip itself apart. American politics has zero empathy and zero morals. Honestly its terrifying. -Andrew

The US has always been a bit confusing to me - the two party system, the focus on religion, the divide in income and possibilities- as well as being the beacon of light in the fight for human rights, the strong personal pride in creating caring societets, the blending of and openeses for ethnicities and cultures... But for a while politics have become not at all about politics, religious beliefs are taking charge in policy work, the wealthier part shows little companion towards the less wealthy, the public spending is way above budget year after year while health care seems to be crazy expensive and not for all. The intrusion of US interest in politics in other countries are blunt to say the least, creating conflict where human lives have no value if they’re not US lives... School shootings that seems to be acted upon as that is part of normal lives, and schools to expensive for even middle class kids to study at... This is a shift in trust and soft power that affects all of us. -Olof

To be honest, I couldn’t come to the US right now, it scares me. The leadership, the gun laws, the violence and the divide of the nation. It sucks, because I love America and have been there 7 times in the last two years from Australia for work... but not anymore. I’m not coming back now until peace wins. -Anonymous

The fact that such a hate filled government is presiding over what is one the greatest countries in the world is scary. And it is seriously mind blowing that out of such a powerful country filled with some of the greatest minds in the world it’s these two men are the best you can do to be your next president. Unbelievable. Seriously unbelievable. -Rachel

I think the orange dude in office is making you guys look bad. But also, good (?). Seeing the black lives matter movement and so many of you stand up to the problems your country faces has been inspiring. One thing our countries have in common is how we are divided into very distinctive opposites sides. I mean, where do all these racists, bigots, utterly, madly conservites people came from? I few like a few years ago things did not seem so much as a boiling pan about to explode. Or maybe they were all hiding and when a lunatic like them rose to power (how that happened still boggles my mind) they all showed their true colors. It’s scary. I hope Trump doesn’t get reelected. Brazilians loooove to imitate americans🙄, so if he gets reelected it makes that much probable that our lunatic will also be in office for four more years. P.S. have you guys watched the show Years and Years from HBO? A really good watch is this election times! ☺️ -Taty

Re. The US atm. Unfortunately your president has made your country a laughing stock around the world and he's destroyed relationships with allies. It's gonna take time to rebuild all of that. He's also moved an entire branch of your government to the far right, even though the majority of the country if left/centr of left. So you've a supreme court that doesn't represent you and it's looking like they're going to try and take away rights from people. You have a healthcare system that doesn't look out for its people and there's this bizarre fear of universal healthcare that seems insane to every other 1st world country. If if Biden wins (and I really hope he does for everyone's sake), there's going to be a lot of work in undoing the damage Trump has done before he can even get into what he wants to do. All the while you've an ultra conservative highest court. There's also the massive political division and the systemic racism. It's a lot. It's not impossible, but it's going to take so much time and people who want it to change. -Ciara

I’ve been sitting here for an hour thinking about your question and there are many different outlooks I could raise so I’ll keep it generic. I’ll start with the elephant in the room known as Covid. Each day, our morning news informs us of what your leaders are doing and daily case numbers in the US. We sit here completely shocked at how your government has let it reach this point. You may have heard that Melbourne has just come out of one of the strictest and longest lock downs in the world. I wouldn’t wish that upon anyone to have to do, but I will say, I feel much more comfortable to be able to go to the shops knowing the numbers are at about 2-3 a day instead of in the thousands. I do think that your government does need to address this now, could even be making it compulsory mask wearing. It’s hard for me to comment about your economy as we don’t here much about it, but I will say Trump ‘says’ make America great again, let’s get more jobs, they are pro life, yet how is someone who is prolife not doing anything to stop a virus that is killing people? Isn’t your unemployment rate worse (pre-covid) than what it was when Obama was president? I think as a generic outlook, if change isn’t made in the election, the outlook from a Australian does not look like it would be something you’d want to be apart of. I love America. Have visited a couple of times, even thought about moving there, but at the moment, I’ve never been more thankful to not be there. -Ben

[s1cparvism4gna]

I Like You A Lot

WARNINGS: cursing and violence

Pairings: Chloe Frazer x Nadine Ross x OC

Tags: @desertvvitch , @courtenbae

Chapter 11

Sunny’s POV

We’d gone through another fort, tucked in a lakebed this time. We ended up going there first instead of the mountain. It was closer than we thought. This job seemed absolutely keen on testing my patience. I’m not sure if anyone really has noticed, but me and heights are not friends. Not even in the slightest. Try as I might, I just couldn’t deal with the fact that one day I might fuck up and fall into the unknown. But with Chloe’s coaching, I managed to be able to climb a couple of cliffs without a massive panic attack. Nadine, who I thought would tease me the most, was actually the most nurturing if you could believe it. And once again, we’d fought through a small clan of insurgents. Afterwards, we found another puzzle, just like the first. With the disc in its slot, I was able to jumble about pieces that formed into a bow and arrow this time. A little more difficult though as the pieces seemed to rotate around each other. But I handled it. It was easier than most puzzles I was subjected to solving. Just like before, the puzzle’s panel flipped, displaying a carved image of Parashurama and bars jutted out from the sides. Knowing what to do, Nadine and Chloe went to turn the crank.

“Alright let's do this.” Nadine said as I took a few steps back but Chloe stopped her.

“Now, now- hold on. What’s to say it’s water again? What if it’s like… fire or something this time?” She asked with a straight face. Nadine narrowed her eyes at her and shook her head.

“You’re messing with me.” Nadine said cautiously.

“Am I?” Chloe asked with a smirk. Nadine stared at her a bit longer before Chloe’s smile cracked. “I’m totally messing with you.” She chuckled. This woman had a talent for making lies sound factual. A talent much like a certain Drake I knew. She could deep fry a rat and tell me it was chicken and I’d believe her. The more I drew these similarities to each other, the more insecure I became. She was just like him…. just his type. My heart shattered at the thought of them being together again. I needed to see him. All I wanted to do was punch him for being an idiot. I sighed and began to light myself a cigarette as they turned the cranked. Again, water began to swell beneath us and burst out of the gutter in front of the platform. Another waterfall began to form in the relief that could be seen from all distances.

“Hm. I’m a little disappointed it isn’t fire.” Chloe said, elbowing Nadine in her side. A small smile threatened to pull on her lips before she began watching the waterfall. I could sense a bit of frustration from her.

“The Hoysala went to an absurd amount of trouble to hide the tusk.” She said, pacing back and forth behind her. Chloe shrugged and put her binoculars away.

“Welp. The Tusk was the symbol of Hoysala dominance. Representing their wealth and their might…” Chloe explained.

“Like a trophy… The Persians definitely would’ve wanted that.” I mumbled loud enough for her to hear. She snapped and finger gunned me for a split second before zoning out again.

“My dad always thought that the tusk was something even greater though…” She hummed.

“Wait. Your dad was after the tusk?” Nadine asked. The story just kept growing.

“Oh, my dad was obsessed with it.” Chloe said, her brows crinkled together in what seemed like resentment. I readjusted myself against a pillar as I listened to her talk. “All our money wasted on fruitless expeditions…”

“Heard that one before…” Nadine seemed to understand what that felt like. Me on the other hand… I only wished my dad had left on account of some great adventure. But no. He just couldn’t stand being around me anymore. I couldn’t relate. Nadine nodded her head as she began to piece Chloe’s story together. This was the most she’d ever revealed herself. To anyone. “So what came of it?” She asked. Chloe looked about aimlessly as she scrambled her brain for the answer. But the truth…

“I don’t know…..” she sighed as she tilted her head, her voice dripping in disappointment. She chuckled as she began to reminisce on the shitty times. “Well he sent me and my mum away…. Said it was no longer safe… and off to Australia we went….” she sighed uncomfortably. I frowned and hung my head, pulling in my cigarette and exhaling smoke. “And now here I stand….. on the outskirts of Halebidu…. that’s pretty funny.” It was crazy how life worked. How her father could never get close to this and yet Chloe has gotten closer than he ever could. If anyone deserves to find this thing, it was definitely her.

“Well at least your accent makes sense now…” Nadine chuckled softly. “Frazer’s not exactly an Indian surname either…”

“It was my mum’s.” Chloe said simply as she pulled her map to mark it up again.

“Speaking of accents… I’ve been meanin’ to ask you, Nadine… What in the fuck is your accent?!” I asked, trying to break the ice. I’d suddenly gotten tired of holding so much animosity. Nadine burst into a giggle.

“South African. Yours?”

“Texan. Nothin’ real special. I don’t speak in cursive like y’all.” I chuckled, pulling on my cigarette. Nadine suddenly giggled a little.

“Cursive. Wow.” Chloe laughed. I patted her on the shoulder on my way out.

“Let’s get goin’.” I grinned.

The way down was much easier than the way up. A passageway that wasn’t there before opened up and led us right to where we parked the 4x4. We began driving so as to not waste any time. I looked at Nadine in the side view mirror and her light eyes seemed to wander all over the place as she thought.

“It’s interesting. I get why Asav wants the tusk now. I thought maybe he just wanted it for the money like us.”

“He’ll use it to rally people to his cause. Wave it in the government’s face. Just like all the other times.”

“The other times? This happened before?” I asked in confusion.

“Oh yeah. Ever since the young king lost to the Persians. Everyone’s wanted to lay claim to it. To this land.”

“I thought this was just a treasure hunt...” Nadine commented.

“It is. Let men like Asav fight over it. It’s none of our concern— SHIT!”

Suddenly, a ball of fire seemed to fly right by us and land on the rocky wall near us, causing a huge explosion. The car bounced back a little from the force but it was fine nonetheless. Posted up on the ruins was another troop of men, taking deadly aim and firing at us from a distance with what looked like a China Lake. Mud kicked up at the spin of the wheels and the engine growled as Chloe whipped the vehicle about. She powered through as another one flew near but missed us and hit the ground before us. Nadine and I pulled our guns and began firing away as cover. Bullet sprayed across the field as we traded shots. And almost a little too easily, Chloe managed to get us out of there quickly and unharmed. “She who drives away, lives another day, I say!” She chuckled as I placed a hand over my heart to calm myself. I still hadn’t relaxed from the last fight. Another bout of adrenaline began to surge and I groaned. This job was a tease. I wanted action; I wanted to blow shit up, stab something, knock a couple heads. And every time I got the littlest taste, it was soon over. It was frustrating really. I just wanted to take some stress out on these guys and it wasn’t happening!

“You do realize fighting wars was my concern for a time.” Nadine mentioned.

“You did it for money though.” I pointed out.

“Usually.”

“And what about for Asav? What was that for?” I asked. She scoffed.

“Definitely a cash grab. Hardly worth the trouble.” She said. Chloe and I squealed like the couple of girls we were.

“Why do it then?” Chloe asked.

“I needed to establish my rep. So I figured I’d start with the worst of the bunch.”

“Guess from there, there’s nowhere to go but up!” I said with sarcasm. The girls both laughed. For once, the three of us were getting along. And that was good. I couldn’t help but wonder for how long though… We hadn’t run into any real trouble and there was no word from Sam yet. ‘I hope you’re okay…’ I thought for a moment. On one hand, I hoped he was safe and unharmed. On the other, I wanted to beat him up myself. For the meantime, the three of us were handling things just fine on our own. It was nice to be working with women for a change. We were only missing Elena...

For a while we began talking about everything from how we all got our start in the Life, what we’d found, where we’d been… At this point I found out Chloe had never been to the states which was insane! I promised I’d let her visit and that I’d show her around San Francisco. I even thought to invite Nadine if we managed to be cool by the end of this. we’d taken out more insurgents and just like that, we were on our way to the last puzzle. The fort we passed through to get there though, I hated. We had to swim through the lake to get by. Not only were my clothes wet but now so was my hair and my cigarettes… I couldn’t stress it enough: I hated it. Afterwards, the job managed to get a bit more exciting. Things were looking up. Inside a dark and musty room was a newer puzzle; statues that seemed to move with each pillar we stepped on.

“Well I’ll be go to hell… That’s elaborate.” Chloe said as the pillars rose from the ground at the turn of a crank. I stared at the mechanism and then longer at the statue. It was towering and golden, shaped like a warrior with a red jewel stuck in its chest. The faint sunlight that drew in seemed to make it glitter. In its hand was one massive axe. It was old but I was damn sure that thing still worked. Within three steps, the statue had risen its axe and swiped across. I could feel the wind from its quick motions from where I stood. Nervously, I hopped back the way I came in, looking at my path again to make sure it was correct. If I let it hit me, I’d be more than dead.

“Oh fun… Felt that one go by...” I grumbled as Chloe rubbed my shoulders.

“You can do this!” She told me with a fake tone of encouragement.

“Yeah… I got it…” I said, absolutely unsure if I really did. Nadine winced as she looked at the contraption.

“Are you sure you can solve that?” She asked me. I nodded as I ran my fingers through my wet curls and adjusted my pants. I bounced on my toes and shook off the nerves that began to prick at me like needles. Chloe made a face and placed a hand on top of my head.

“I can do this for you if you want, Sun—”

“No, no. I got this…..” I said, eyeballing it a little longer. Then suddenly it clicked for me. I could see the path. “Yeah…. yeah I got this.” I said, jumping onto the first pillar. I was able to get through it and the girls could walk over the pillars without the threat of a swinging statue. On the other side was a cliff and a beautiful view of the mountainous terrain, topped with fog and colorful trees. I watched the look on Nadine’s face as Chloe stopped to marvel at the sight. I punched her in the arm subtly with a teasing smile and she averted her gaze, shaking her head. The three of us ended up taking a selfie in front of the pretty green mountains, bunny fingers, goofy faces and all. It was nice.

As we followed the cliff into another dingy room, we’d come upon another puzzle. Just like the first but with more statues and increasingly more difficult. I sighed.

“Shall I take this one?” Chloe asked me. I shook my head.

“Lemme pull my weight. I got it.” I said. Throughout the trip, I barely contributed anything useful other than brute force. This was the time that I got to actually do something. To prove my worth to the team. I had to just nut up and do it. Although I was still pissed at him, I could hear Sam’s voice in my head. ‘Don’t think about it. Just do it.’ I heard him say, thinking about the way his thumbs would rub over the bone of my hips in comfort. I put a hand on my hip for a moment and took a deep breath before I turned the crank, watching the statues set and the pillars rise from the floor. This time there was one golden warrior statue and two silvers with a blue jewel in its chest. I jumped out to the first pillar and all three statues moved into their ready positions. It was harrowing almost. One wrong move and that was my whole head. I worked out a pattern halfway through until suddenly I had gotten stuck. I’d forgotten which way I’d just come from and I was planted right in front of a statue that was ready to swing at me. I was fucked. Royally. “Um…. g-guys!” I cried out nervously. “I fucked it…. I’m lost!”

“What do you mean ‘you’re lost’?!” Chloe shouted.

“I mean I’m lost, bitch! I fucked up! I don’t remember which pillar I jumped from!” I started to panic, pressing my hands to my cheeks and looking around me. I couldn’t figure out what was next. Surprisingly, Nadine was the calm in the storm.

“That’s okay! I was watching. Just give me a second…” I heard Nadine shout to me. Now my life was in her hands. I could only pray that she didn’t have the hesitation that I did. I crouched to hug my knees as I watched the two women bicker about something; I was too far away to really hear what about. After at least twenty minutes went by, I chewed on my lip anxiously as my mind began to overthink and wonder about all the people I loved in my life. Sweet, sweet Erik. My truest and oldest friend. I’ve treated him horrible the past year. And through it all he still loved me. With every flaw. Kitty Cat… the little sister I’d always wanted. Sure she was a little hard headed; stubborn, mouthy, and maybe even a little bit of an asshole! But I loved her and took care of her to the best of my abilities. Natey; the man who brought me into a better life and took me to places I could only ever dream of. His lovely wife Elena, Chloe, Sully, even Nadine… And Sam. God damn that man. The man who made me suddenly feel and want to feel again. I was then ripped from my depressive thoughts as I heard my name being called from a distance. I stood up and leaned forward, hoping to hear them better.

“Move to your left and jump backwards!” I heard Nadine shout. I did as I was told and the statue before me just missed me. The three of us screamed as it’s axe swiped by, cutting through the air. That gave me three more moves to make. I grinned and looked back at the two.

“Alright, I think I got it now!” I shouted back. I figured out how to get around the third statue and completed the puzzle. The girls were able to jump through safely once again. As soon as Chloe got off her platform, she ran to hug me tightly. It startled me but eventually I settled into it.

“I thought we’d lost you.” She grunted. She hugged me tighter and squished my face with her hands. “Lord knows what I’d tell anybody if anything ever happened to you.”

“That I died being dope. That’s all. That’s the announcement.” I joked, making her giggle. Nadine smiled to herself as she watched Chloe embrace me. After I managed to pry myself from Chloe’s arms, I walked over to Nadine and stuck a hand out to her.

“Thanks… for gettin’ me outta there.” I mumbled. She just smiled and shook my hand.

“Now we’re even.” She said simply. Suddenly, I could hear Chloe groaning in the next room. We ran inside to see what the problem was. When I did, I just about wanted to cry. Another puzzle. Five statues. Three gold, two silver, more nerves.

“Please tell me this is all.” I huffed.

“We’ll watch this time. Just in case you get stuck again.” Nadine told me reassuringly. I nodded at her and turned the crank. I stood at the starting point and the gate dropped down for me to begin. Each pillar in front of a statue made me sweat. Every time seemed like a reminder that my life was in this thing’s grasp. Though this one took a little longer, with help, I got through it. I stood at the end triumphantly and tiredly.

“Well done, Spurrs. Let’s hope there’s not another.” Nadine told me, patting my back.

“PLEASE NO!” I exclaimed.

“You mean you didn’t like it?” Chloe asked sarcastically. I made a face at her and she chuckled. “Shall we?” She gestured to the stone steps before us.

“Fuckin’ please.” I said, starting up the steps to get away from the death trap I’d just completed.

Just like the others, the last jigsaw puzzle was under a stone gazebo, overlooking the mountains with a clear view of the relief. The puzzle was like the last; the pieces rotated around one another. But I solved the puzzle to show the image of an axe. The panel flipped to reveal a carved likeness of Shiva and the crank bars sprung from its sides like the others.

“Let’s give it a turn then.” Chloe said grabbing one end and Nadine grabbing the other. I stepped back to watch them turn it when suddenly Chloe’s bar snapped and she fell face first into the grass and moss. I covered my mouth and giggled loudly.

“I told you it was dangerous.” Nadine smiled, helping her up. “Are you hurt?” She asked, giving her a once over. Chloe blinked at her a moment as she placed a hand on her cheek, checking for bumps or bruises. She smiled back and pushed her bangs off of her face.

“Just my dignity.” She cracked. It was like watching a shitty Rom-Com. My heart swelled watching the two of them. Chloe was still clueless but I was sure she’d get the hint eventually. I had faith. They both shared Nadine’s bar and pushed together to turn the crank. We already knew what to expect by then. The rumble, the noises, the gutter. And just like that, the waterfall in the relief was completed. The three of us stood at the edge to admire what we’d gone all over creation to finish. In the corner of my eye, I saw Chloe peek at Nadine from her binoculars with a smirk.

“Y’know… you’re pretty good at treasure hunting.” She told her. Nadine smiled to herself and glanced at the mountain.

“I’m a quick study.” She answered proudly, crossing her arms. Chloe pulled out this small golden piece she’d been constantly playing with since the job started. She tossed it in her hand in thought.

“One question though…” she began. Nadine turned her head and batted her long lashes. “I reckon you could pretty much do anything you want. Why are you so keen to get Shoreline back?” She asked. The question seemed to catch Nadine off guard. She tilted her head like she’d just asked the dumbest question.

“Seriously?” She asked. Chloe just nodded, awaiting an answer. I was rather curious myself. As efficient as she was, as talented as she was, why did she want some bullshit mercenary corp back? She began listing reasons off with her fingers. “My partner turns my own men against me. My lieutenant makes off with the bounty. Sunny got away.” I frowned as she pointed at me. Libertalia was a sticky situation for everybody. But she continued. “Nathan and Samuel Drake get off scot free, and you wanna know what I want Shoreline back?” I winced at the mention of the boys. There would always be that sore spot between us when it came to them. Chloe narrowed her eyes at her, chewing on her lip before answering solidly.

“Yeah.” She said. Nadine looked at her a moment, readying her mouth for the answer. Whatever it was, it seemed like it was still hard for her to accept.

“It was on my watch.” She replied somberly. She wrinkled her brows and hugged herself as she looked out at the foggy mountaintops. “I lost it on my watch.” In a way, I understood. She had a responsibility and it got out of hand. I didn’t exactly make her job easy for her either. I sort of felt bad for that.

“I’m sorry?” I mumbled. I wasn’t really sure what I was apologizing for but I felt like it needed to be said.

“‘I’m sorry’?” Nadine repeated, narrowing her eyes at me.

“Yeah. For what it’s worth, I think you’re a kick ass chick. And I’m sorry things didn’t pan out well for you.”

“You were one of the reasons it didn’t.” She said.

“Yeah… but to be fair, you shot me.”

“And then your bloody boyfriend almost shot me!” She yelled.

“He is NOT my boyfriend!” I snapped. This was what I got for trying to be nice.

“Quit lying to yourself, Spurrs! This whole trip, you’ve done nothing but mope about something you claim doesn’t bother you!” She snapped, turning around to point an aggressive finger at me. Chloe groaned audibly and continued to play with her gold piece as Nadine threw a bitch fit because things hit too close to home. “My advice: stop mucking around with some guy who screws other people to hurt you. Just because you and I are square, doesn’t mean I don’t still have it in for him. He better be lucky he’s not here today because the second I get the chance, he’s dead. And I mean that.” She seethed. I snarled at her protectively. She’d have to go through me before I let that happen. Before I could even respond, she turned her attention back to Chloe, clearly annoyed.

“What is that thing you keep playing with?!” She snapped. Chloe smirked, amused by her annoyance.

“It’s my ‘stress toy’.” She answered. “It showed up in the mail a few weeks after we got to Australia…”

“Nice. Can we go now? As far as we know we’re ahead of this guy…” I said, my eyes never leaving Nadine’s. It seemed as if whatever animosity that was between us would never be resolved. As long as I was in alliance with the Drake brothers, she’d never truly reconcile anything with me. For the moment, that was fine. I wasn’t looking for new friends and I didn’t need them. But like the professional I tried my hardest to be, I pushed it aside to get the job done. As we headed back to the car, I listened to Chloe give her a short and sweet pep talk on how it was okay to fail. Similar to a talk I’d given Sam in Libertalia. At this point, I just wanted to get the job over with. I was tired, hungry, damp from water and sweat, it was hot, and I was worried. Suddenly, Chloe’s phone began to beep. The fact that she even remotely got a signal here was impressive. The expression on her face, not so much. She looked at me before fixing her face as Nadine turned around. What had happened? Was it Sam? I could exactly ask as we were keeping him away from Nadine. So I left it alone until later. With that, we got back to the 4x4 and set out for the relief in the mountain.

Read more on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26555698/chapters/64735600

[krimto-basi-hahm]

how I became friends with brandon rogers: not clickbait

i’ve been making some more brandon friends on here, and I realized that a lot of y’all don’t know my story. I would love to tell it here! for those of you that don’t know him or care, feel free to scroll past lol

(and this whole story updated to the end of 2018 is available here)

2015/2016

I actually found his channel through his first youtubers react episode in december of 2015, but I clicked away because his videos looked stupid to me, lol. after watching the teens react to try me bench, I clicked on a video for the first time (grandpa hates valentimes) in late june of 2016. I grew obsessed QUICKLY. like, I was a full-blown stan in the matter of a few days. I made my fan account on july 7, 2016. unfortunately, the account was taken down by instagram this year. anyway, I also started a youtube channel and made a video for him for his 28th birthday. he saw it and commented:

“Thank you for making this! I was a theater kid too for many, many years!!! I’m glad you’ve been able to find inspiration, never give up on your dreams!! I worked many shirt jobs for 10 years before any success, and would’ve done so for the rest of my life until I did!”

a few months later, I got some friends together and made another video for his 2 million subscriber milestone. he also saw this one and commented:

“Wow, I can’t believe I have such amazing fans who would’ve taken the time to make this for me!! Thank you SO much!!! I’m so happy to hear that people are finding friends through my videos, that’s amazing!!!! ❤️❤️❤️thanks for making this, to all of you!! Much love from the bottom of my heart!!! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!!!”

the rest of 2016 was pretty boring, so we’ll skip to 2017!!

2017

for those of you that don’t know, playlist live is a 3-day youtube convention in orlando, florida. I begged my mom to go every year since 2014, and she finally let me go this year. this also was the first year brandon attended!! I decided to make him a jar filled with reasons why his fans loved him, and I gave it to him at the event. I met him for the very first time on may 6, 2017 in the lobby at playlist.

our meet-and-great was scheduled for may 7, so we also met then.

the next day coming home, I just assumed he would forget about me and move on. I was wrong! I received this dm from him over facebook messenger:

I was SHOOK!! I felt so happy that I was able to help him that much when he was going through a hard time. anyway, the next thing I did was make the 3 million subscriber special video and 29th birthday video. he only saw the first one and commented:

“Wow, how have I not seen this yet?!? Thank you so much to each of you for making this video for me!!! This really touched me ☺️ thank you!!!!!!!”

in august, he finally accepted my friend request on facebook!! this was insanely cool because he obviously has a much smaller audience there, and I was able to get his attention easier and work towards really becoming his friend. with our facebook friendship, brandon was able to start to get into my personal life, which was really cool. he commented the nicest well-wishes when I came out of surgery and even wished me a happy birthday!! this year was also when I started working on my next present for him: the book of brandon. this book incorporated fan art, letters, and more. I was able to give it to him at playlist live 2018, so you’ll see me mention this later. onto 2018!!

2018

the beginning of the year started off quite strong, with my debate teacher giving us the assignment to write a speech about our hero. I did not hesitate to write a LONG speech about brandon and post it here. he saw it and commented:

“Thank you for this, it touched my heart and I’m embarrassed to say I haven’t seen this video until now!! Feeling the love!!”

a few months later, playlist live 2018 rolled around!! before our meetup on april 28, 2018, I jokingly said to my mom, “what if he was just like, ‘oh hey sophie!’?” sure enough, that is EXACTLY what he said as soon as he saw me! the full video of this meetup can be found here, but I’ll summarize if you’re too lazy to watch it. he immediately thanked me for my speech, obsessed over the book I made for him, and basically talked to me like we were good friends. it was MAGICAL.

I didn’t think I would be seeing brandon again in 2018. well, I was wrong. his tour came around, and he announced a performance in tampa, florida on july 15. I was ECSTATIC. unfortunately, I was out of good sentimental ideas for gifts. I made him a wall calendar full of bad pictures of him, as well as a friendship necklace and a letter. at the show, he was looking for audience participation to come up onstage and act out a “fake date.” when he saw me, he said, “omg, this is one of my biggest fans! miss sophie, I recognize you! please come up here.” I was able to watch his entire show from the stage, and even drank from a glass he took a huge sip out of. at the meet-and-greet, we talked just like good friends once again and he gushed about my gifts and videos. he even bragged about me to my parents!

with august rolling around, I made another video for his 30th birthday. of course, he saw and commented. I think this one was his favorite!

“Awww thank you all SO MUCH for making this!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ I'm incredibly blessed to have friends like each of you. Love you all to the moon and back, thank you for making my birthday that much sweeter! :D And thank you Sophie for taking the time to compile this! Take care!!! EDIT: I just made it to the end of the video. fork. I am feelin more touched than a child in prison. I look at many of you and see a younger me, especially you Sophie. I've always felt like an outcast for most of my life; never thought I'd find so many like-minded people. Thank you all so much for taking the time to do this!!!“

a month later, when I was sick in bed, I got the greatest news. brandon was coming to florida AGAIN! this time on november 25 in ft. lauderdale. I couldn’t believe he would schedule two tour stops in florida! this was also his very last stop, so it was a very special show. still out of big gift ideas, I made him a basket filled with lots of small gifts. at every tour stop, he would do a q&a for 10-15 minutes. as soon as he saw me in the audience while starting the q&a, he said “oh my gosh. this is sophie everyone...” I wish I could remember everything he said, but he mentioned how much I’ve done for him as a fan. even though he wasn’t planning on bringing anyone up onstage, he asked me to come onstage with him and help him with the q&a. brandon gave me the power of picking who he would come to in the audience, as well as asking me to answer some of his questions and really including me through the whole process. he even told me he would love to have me in a video!!! pure magic. I have clips of video from this show, so dm me if you would like to see them!!

the last thing that happened in this year was him wishing me a happy birthday again. onto 2019!!

2019

the main thing I’ll be talking about in 2019 is playlist live because that’s the main interesting event of this year so far. a few days before the event, rachel williams (his manager) gave me her phone number to coordinate with them to hang out there!! I made him a big gift bag because I was STILL out of ideas for bigger gifts. on march 2, we had our meetup. he asked the meetup attendant if he could have some extra time with me because I’m “one of his biggest fans”. he then proceeds to tell me...

“I got something for you!”

WHAT? he gives me the gift, and I give him his. we talk briefly before the attendant ushers me along. the two other people there were jon cozart and mac kahey, who both said to me “oh YOU’RE sophie! brandon was telling us all about you!” WHAT? it was a lot to process.

I open the gift and see that he has given me THE shirt BOOK from stuff & sam, THE HEART from blame the hero, a stuff & sam shirt, and a card!!! WHAT? again, a lot to process.

unfortunately, I never got to hang out with brandon and rachel because I got really sick the next day. however, they were both so understanding and carved out a few minutes to see me before I left!!

overall, this year, we have become a lot more comfortable with each other both in person and online, really talking just like friends. I am so incredibly grateful for him and everything he has done over the years.

omg thank you for reading all of this!! dm me to talk or gush about brandon or be friends whatever man love y’all!!

[heebiejbies]

Homme Fatal - Part Two

Characters: Yuta (With appearances from the rest of NCT minus the younger members)

Warnings: Mentions of violence, murder, strong language, etc. 

Word Count: 5.4k

Note: I know what some of y’all are probably thinking. “Trix, it’s about dang time!” After almost one month after the first part was posted, here’s part two of Homme Fatal. (Read that first if you haven’t already.)

Homme Fatal - A fatal man

Over the next few hours she started realizing where she was, and over the next few days, she finally remembered everything that had happened. What she dreamed wasn’t a dream, but a memory that came as a dream. Yuta did do that, but he pulled his arm away from her head before he shot her in the head—hitting her lower back in the process. Seeing as no one there knew first aid, he left her at a hospital so she could be treated for the gunshot wound he had accidentally given her. From there, after realizing how mentally unstable she was, she was put in an institution so she could be closely monitored at all times. 

“He… He ruined my life. I’m stuck here because of him… I’ll never be able to go back to normal…” In a session with her therapist, she became shockingly aware of her situation. She realized that, by him holding her hostage for all those months and making her witness all of those terrible crimes, he had forced her into a never-ending state of mania. Each night she had nightmares of him, nightmares of the things she witnessed, nightmares of each of the men that were part of her kidnapping.

“He ruined my life but… He cared about me? He would've killed me if he didn’t care about me, right?” She had a hard time explaining her feelings towards Yuta. She knew she hated him, she knew that he was evil incarnate. Despite that, though, she could still remember the fondness that he showed her. How he proclaimed his love to her, how he sometimes showed his care for her despite their situation. Her therapist brought up the aftermath of Stockholm Syndrome, and the fact that her mental state wasn’t in a normal state in the least to try and ease her thoughts. None of which made her feel better.

Jaeho and Jaewoo were avid visitors of hers. The first time they met back up with her left them dumbstruck. It was her third day in the hospital, and she had not yet seen a dentist to fix her teeth after what Johnny did to her. Her hair had thinned, her body weight nearly half of what it was the last time they saw her, she looked lifeless. She truly had become unrecognizable. She glanced up at them, her eyes void of any and all expression. They blamed themselves for not being more cautious of that man, maybe if they had been leerier of him she wouldn’t be in this position.

Yuta sat with Johnny and Sicheng in their old house. He sat sideways in a chair, his coat slung over the back of the chair leaving him in his crisp white button up and silk tie. They had ordered takeout and were busy devouring their meal like hungry wolves.

“The best part of this damn city is the take out, one hundred percent.” Yuta leaned over the table and grabbed some of Sicheng’s noodles with his chopstick, the younger man swatting him away in response. Sicheng had managed to salvage the last bit of joy in Yuta after he shot her. Ever since returning to the city, Yuta had been keeping an eye on her. He would disguise himself as a staff member so he could sneak in to see her. The first time he saw her, she was getting ready to go to the dentist to fix her teeth. He grimaced at the memory of Johnny ruining her flawless face, but he hoped that time would clear up her wounds and she would go back to how she appeared before.

Learning that they locked her up in a mental institution filled him with such indescribable rage. They were treating her as if she were insane, but she was far from that. He had brought out her true nature, he had brought out the real her. After hearing the things she spoke with her therapist about, he realized that he had done one good thing in keeping her—revealing her true personality. Countless nights he dreamed of them together once more, his partner in crime. A modern day Bonnie and Clyde if you will.

“Hey, Yuta!” Johnny threw an unknown object at his head to get his attention, “Are you thinking about that spoiled brat again?” Yuta scowled at him, everyone knew how obsessed he had become over her. The day he shot her, they thought they were in big trouble. Yuta had brought her into their hideout, she had blood seeping out from her backside and Yuta was inconsolable. He made Jaehyun drive him to the hospital, Johnny tagging along for damage control if need be.

“I will not kill her! She won’t betray me, she may not know it but she’s dedicated to me. She won’t betray us, now just keep your mouth shut!” Johnny had told Yuta to kill her numerous times in the car, the tension rising between the two made Jaehyun nervous. He had to pay attention to the road, but it was difficult to do so with two grown men screaming in the car with him.

“Yuta I don’t know why you’re so enthralled with her, she’s nothing but a-”

“You wouldn’t understand!” He had pulled his gun from its holster and aimed it Johnny’s head. Johnny’s glare did not falter, he seemed to be daring Yuta to shoot him. Yuta might have actually done it, but before he could the girl started coughing up blood. Yuta’s gun fell to the floorboard, he immediately hoisted her up into a sitting position and held a towel to her mouth to catch the blood. She had been fading in and out of consciousness since he shot her, and after coughing up blood she fell back unconscious.

“Step on it, Jaehyun!” Jaehyun did as he was told. They miraculously made it to the hospital without being in an accident or being pulled over. Yuta debated on if he should go in with her, he did this to her so he knew he should be the one to be there for her through whatever they have to do to heal her.

“You’re an idiot if you think you’re going in there! Do you want to go to jail? The first thing they will do is call the cops and you’ll be the prime suspect. Then, you’ll get all of us caught as well!” Johnny’s words hit him hard. He also had to think of himself and the guys, they were his family and he had to protect them as well.

“I’m so sorry to have done this to you. I’ll be back one day, I promise,” He kissed the top of her head, then he and Johnny took her body and laid it near the emergency room entrance. As they drove away, Yuta could see staff members running out to her and lifting her to lay her on a gurney. He watched her image get farther and farther away, before completely disappearing once out of sight of the hospital. “I promise, you will be mine again. I will make sure of it.”

“Is it wrong to have dark thoughts?” Her therapist noted that her mental state had started to decline even more. She spoke of murder and kidnapping, and cleansing the world of ‘those that were not worthy.’ He tried to reason with her that all of that was only her capture’s influence, but she shook her head. “I think… I may have always had these thoughts. They didn’t give me these thoughts, I saw those things but it was my choice as to how I interpreted them. They only hurt the bad people, they only targeted the bad people.”

“And what of you? Are you a bad person? Is your father a bad person? They targeted you as well you realize?” She thought about it, and she realized she never did find out just what in particular they wanted her father for. In her mind, she knew there had to be a reason. She always thought her father to be a good man, but thanks to her experience she began to question that.

“I don’t know, is he a bad person? I’m questioning that myself. He must have done something bad to have them target him. As for me, guilt by association?” She gave her therapist a look as if to provoke him. He had never heard her speak anything less than positive of her father, and now he grew worried for how much damage really had been done to her. He felt like a failure, like he didn’t try his hardest to save this her from her own mind. He felt defeated.

She had nightmares every night. Nightmares of the horror she witnessed, of the men she lived with for nearly a ten and a half months. She found solace in these nightmares, each one she had made her fears slowly fade away. She also had dreams of Yuta. The man whom she once loathed slowly turned into someone she yearned to be reconnected with. He was the only one who didn’t treat her as if she had lost her mind. He didn’t look at her apprehensively. He didn’t think she had gone insane. He was a figment of her imagination—a mere dream—but she knew that is how he truly felt about her. She had seen his face many times before disguised as doctors or nurses or even visitors, but she believed that those instances were only her mind wishing for him to come back.

Little did she know, all of those cases were Yuta. He had been keeping an eye on her, silently watching and waiting for the moment to take her back. With Taeyong’s blessing, he would officially make her part of their crew. He sat outside her therapist’s office and listened to see what they were talking about.

“I’ve come to the realization… I was better off with him. I was better off with Yuta and those other men.” Her therapist attempted to interject, but she stopped him before he could, “All of you treat me like I’m insane! I’m not insane! You try to make me think that I am, but I’m not! I know I’m not! This is the real me!”

“What? No, no one here thinks that. We are trying to help you!” Yuta snickered at her therapist’s pathetic attempts to reassure her. He had watched long enough to know that they were trying to make her believe that she was without a doubt insane, but Yuta knew better. He didn’t know it when he was first assigned to her, but she was very much something special. He was glad that he didn’t give her back to her father that day. Her father had been soiling her potential for too long, she needed Yuta in her life. It seemed like fate, he thought. He took back every thought he had about regretting getting her involved, he knew now that this was how things were supposed to turn out.

He and Johnny had amended their once broken relationship, Johnny now wanted to help him with getting her back. Yuta had kept each of them updated on her whereabouts and well-being, and after convincing them that she was on their side, they began planning. They called in two old friends of theirs—Doyoung and Ten—and they agreed to help with getting her out. Doyoung and Ten were the other two people in the woods watching the meeting with Mr. Lockhart. They had left the group two years before, but they closely kept their eye on the group.

Yuta, Sicheng, and Doyoung were in the institution. Yuta and Sicheng had knocked out two staff members and hid them in one of the storage closets. They situated their uniforms and exited to the hallway, making sure the coast would be clear for Doyoung.

“Alright, we are in position and ready to get the hell out of here once you have her.” Jaehyun and Taeyong sat in the woods nearby in the getaway vehicle.

“Our eyes and ears are ready.” Ten, Johnny, and Taeil were waiting in a van in an alley a half a block away from the institution, ready to reroute the signal from the security cameras and kill the alarm system, and also help if they needed more men. Ten also kept a close eye on Doyoung—who broke off from the other two insiders and was in place to cut the power—through the security cameras. “I’m ready as well.”

“Alright, guys, if this goes south I want you all to get away from here as fast as you can.” They had been planning this and scoping out the area for days. They knew exactly what to do and where to go, but Yuta had this unrecognizable fear of failure that had been born in him not too long before this.

“What did I tell you? We are not leaving you in there. You’re our brother, we got your back. If you and Sicheng get caught, we will be your backup and Doyoung will get her.” Ten and Taeil voiced their agreement, Doyoung following in suit.

“Can I just say something? I am so proud of you all. I haven’t seen us work together like this is so long. Ten, Doyoung, it’s nice to have you two back. I’d love to have you two back on my crew.” Taeyong became sentimental at the sight of every member of his crew working together like old times. Only he knew why Ten and Doyoung left to begin with, but clearly, now all of that was in the past. He mentally thanked this girl for bringing all of his men back together again.

“Alright, we are ready to go. Ten-”

“Yeah?”

“No,” Johnny sighed at the boy sitting next to him, “Not you, Ten. I was starting the countdown.”

“Oh, sorry.”

“Anyways! As I was saying,” Johnny started the countdown.

“Ten”

Jaehyun and Taeyong exchanged glances, both sliding down in their seats and focusing in on the building through the trees.

“Eight.”

Ten and Taeil were ready to reroute the security cameras, and Johnny was ready to kill the alarm system.

“Six.”

Doyoung stood in the basement with a flashlight on the main power grid, ready to shut down power to the entire building.

“Four.”

Sicheng glanced over to Yuta who had a bead of sweat dripping down his forehead. He could see that Yuta had bitten down hard on the inside of his cheek, probably drawing blood. He patted Yuta’s shoulder in reassurance.

“Two.”

Yuta smiled at Sicheng. They were on the floor below the one she was on, and once Doyoung cut the power and Johnny cut the alarm system, the building wouldn’t be able to go into lockdown so they could slip in and out with ease.

“Now!”

Doyoung cut the power immediately, then relied on Ten and Taeil to help him navigate his way back out of the building. He moved a large filing cabinet in front of the basement door just in case someone thought to come check the grid downstairs. Taeyong and Jaehyun kept an eye on the people that were filing out of the building in confusion, also keeping an eye out for Sicheng and Yuta.

On the inside, doctors, nurses, and patients alike had started panicking. The backup lights still worked without power, but they were not nearly bright enough to make it so people could see well. The sun was quickly setting as well, so the little outside light to help them wouldn’t stick around for much longer. They navigated through patients falling over one another, nurses trying to help them up, and doctors trying to control the situation and keep everyone calm.

They exited to the stairwell and went up one floor—the floor she was on. From here, Yuta had the way memorized. He would always take this path when he would come to see her, so even with the little amount of light, he could easily maneuver his way around. Her room was the ninth down on the right, and so far it seemed that no one was in her room but her.

The power going out didn’t phase her. If anything, she was annoyed at the fact that she could no longer see to read her book. She sighed and placed it on a table in the room, then laid back on her bed with her arms behind her head. She could hear people outside freaking out and leaving the building. ‘So melodramatic,’ She thought. She couldn’t see why patients and staff were making such a huge deal out of a simple power outage. Everyone exiting the building would only cause trouble, who knows what patients would sneak off or get lost. If anything, it would have been better to keep them all inside. Whatever they thought was going on probably wasn’t what was actually going on.

She heard one of the doctors calling for the rest of the patients to exit their rooms. With the power off, the locks on the door were no longer working so they could open their doors without needing a key card. She knew one of the doctors would check the rooms to make sure everyone got out alright. She sat up in her bed and waited, either for a doctor to come pull her out of her room or for the whole ordeal to be over, she wasn’t sure which.

Yuta and Sicheng finally made it to her door. Yuta grasped the door handle and then opened it. He shined a flashlight in her room so she could see her sitting figure. It took her a moment to realize who the two ‘doctors’ were in the room with her, but the eyes gave it away.

“You came for me,” She mused. He came over to her and sat down on the bed with her. He brought his hand to caress her cheek, in complete bliss now that they were face to face. “I promised you I would, didn’t I? I missed you so much, I never want you to be away from me for this long ever again.”

“Yuta, I hate to break up the happy reunion, but we need to get the hell out of here right now.” Sicheng brought Yuta back to reality. He pulled her body up to his and kissed her temple.

“Come on, we’re getting you out of here.” As the trio exited her room, they were shocked to see her therapist standing in the hallway. He took one look at the two men and knew that they were not staff members.

“Let go of her!” He attempted to grab her from Yuta’s grasp, but Sicheng pushed him down on the ground. They made it halfway down the hallway when her therapist called to her again, “Ms. Lockhart don’t go with those men, they’re no good! They deserve to be dead!”

“And you don’t?!” They could all hear her voice through their earpieces. She was loud enough to be heard even when she wasn’t wearing a mic on her. “The things you people do, the way you treat people, you’re the one who should be dead! You shut people up in here like animals and treat them as if they are insane and need to be fixed, and for what reason?! Because they think differently than you?! You’re worse than we are, you are the type of people that need to be cleansed from this world. Every last one of you!” She grabbed Sicheng’s gun from him and aimed it at her therapist. Her therapist moved back against the wall as she stormed over to his body. She had it aimed right between his eyes, her finger on the trigger ready to shoot.

“Don’t do this! This isn’t you! I know the real you, you’re not crazy! We were wrong, you are right, everything you think is how we should all think. We could learn a lot from you,” For a split second, her face softened and she lowered the gun, “Please don’t kill me!” With that sentence, all softness washed away from her face.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you?”

“Think about your father, what would he think?” She brought her hand to her chin and hummed, he really thought he had gotten through to her with those words and that he had secured his safety. However, that couldn’t have been further from the truth.

“I don’t give a damn about what that repulsive man thinks!” She aimed the gun back at him and shot him in the head without hesitation. She watched his body fall to the ground, a trail of blood starting to drip out of the gunshot wound on his head. She couldn’t remove her gaze from his body, the first man she killed, her therapist, the one who tried to keep her from her real purpose in life. Yuta came over to her and took the gun from her hands and gave it back to Sicheng. He stood in front of her, she looked more beautiful to him now than ever before. She knew her purpose, she knew her and their purpose. She knew what they were all about, and at that moment she came to terms with this.

“You’re so perfect, I love you so much!” Yuta kissed her cheek and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, “I’m so proud of you. Now, let’s go home.”

At the sound of a gunshot, staff members were running into the building to investigate. Luckily, the three were able to make it out with one last group of people exiting the hospital. The sun had fully set a few minutes before, so now all that could be seen was darkness and the light from flashlights doctors and nurses were using to aid them. The three snuck away from the group and into the woods, finding Jaehyun and Taeyong with the getaway car already running and ready to go.

With the three finally in the car, and Doyoung being in the van that held Ten, Taeil, and Johnny, they were ready to leave.

“Thanks, guys, you all have no idea how much this means to me.” As they got on the road back to their house, Yuta glanced over to see her peering out the window. The moon illuminated her face, for the first time in a long time Yuta could see content on her face. He ghosted his hand down her arm and held her hand tightly.

“I still can’t believe they put me in there… I’m not insane, I know I’m not. I just think differently now.” She admitting this to Yuta made him think about how betrayed she must have felt when her family and friends put her in that place—her father and Jaewoo and Jaeho especially.

“Hey, they don’t matter now. We would never do that to you.”

“Yuta’s right. We are your family now, we will never do something like that to you. We will keep you safe and protect you.” She looked to the rearview window to see Jaehyun smiling at her—dimples prominent. Taeyong, who she hadn’t known well at all, even nodded in agreement.

She took a moment to think about her predicament. She could faintly remember how those first few months with Yuta were. She could remember the terror, the fear of death that she felt on a daily basis. She also could remember how that all faded to black and was replaced with something else—fearlessness. To her, she knew that she found nothing wrong with what Yuta and his friends did. After seeing what they did time and time again, in her mind she knew that those people deserved what happened to them. Why she got involved in the first place no longer mattered to her, what mattered now was the future. She had a new-found sense of justice and righteousness.

One year later, they had moved far away from New York City. Far away from her past and the memories of her old life. She had settled into life with Taeyong’s crew well, she learned all of the ropes of the job and she fit in perfectly now. She came in handy and lately, they had a surplus of male targets and she made it easier to apprehend them.

She waited patiently for her target for the night. He had requested to meet in a public area, saying he had fears of being alone with strangers or something along those lines—not that she really paid attention to that part. They opted to meet outside of a pizzeria in the heart of the city, there would be enough people around to see if anything happened to him. She knew she had to get him into an isolated area, but she had learned enough about him to know that she would need to reel him in quickly for her to be able to do so.

Once they met up, they spent the night eating dinner and strolling around the city. Going in and out of random shops as they pleased. She talked him into going down a vacant side street, a side street where Yuta patiently awaited the two of them. This side street had no security cameras, and since no one really came down here at night there would be no witnesses. They were steps away from Yuta’s hiding spot when her target stopped at a storefront. She looked to see what he found more interesting than her and it was a news report. A news report about her father.

“Byron Lockhart was indicted today on nine counts of embezzlement and corporate fraud. Authorities also arrested Lockhart Industries’ Chief Operations Officer and Chief Financial Officer in connections to Mr. Lockhart’s crimes. Authorities are seizing all financial accounts of every executive under Lockhart Industries and a special task force has been assigned to review the integrity of the company. We will keep you updated as more information is available.” The camera cut to another news anchor, a picture of her appearing in the top corner of the screen. Her target grimaced at her picture, his head hanging down low and a sniffle could be heard.

“Are you alright?” She asked, she placed her hand on his shoulder and lifted his face up to hers.

“Oh yeah,” He wiped a tear from his cheek, “She’s just… An old friend and I really miss her.”

She looked at the TV screen to see the governor during an earlier press conference, “We have no new leads into the investigation at this time, but we will remain diligent. If anyone has any information, please call the number on your screen. We will not stop this search until she is found and brought home safely, that is a promise.”

“I’m so sorry about that.” She wrapped her arms around his waist and rubbed his back, “I’m sure they will find her alive soon, Jaeho.” She held the hand of her old friend and pulled him along with her. They passed a lone man with his head down and a hat hiding his face. He showed his face to her briefly, then she winked at him as they walked by.

Johnny waited until she led Jaeho down the alley where Yuta hid before turning around and going in behind the two. Yuta held Jaeho’s limp body up in his arms and she opened the back of Jaehyun’s van to put him in. Johnny grabbed his feet and they lifted him into the back, shutting the doors behind them and getting in the van themselves.

“That’s some friend you got there, he didn’t even recognize you,” Johnny laughed and smacked her lightly on the shoulder. She turned around to look at the unconscious figure of her old friend. Of course, Johnny had a point. Jaeho, who had been her friend her entire life, had looked her in the eyes the entire night and didn’t recognize her. She assumed that the new her truly was unrecognizable, along with the minor changes to her appearance that she made.

“Hey, are you okay?” Yuta noticed her staring at the body, wondering if she perhaps was having a slight change of heart seeing as this boy was her friend at one point. “Are you thinking anything strange?”

“No, not at all,” She reassured him and laid her head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her body against his. “His father played a role in covering up my father’s crimes, it won’t be long until authorities find out his connection to it. Until then, though, maybe having Jaeho will speed up the process.”

Yuta had finally explained to her why she was a target, she was a target because of the crimes her father had been committing for a year at the time of her first abduction. Yuta explained the situation to her in vivid detail, and she agreed that he had every right to take her. She knew it was guilt by association like she assumed. Now, after abandoning her criminal of a father and his business that was held up by lies and fraud, she was no longer guilty. She had severed her ties from that, and now she was out for vengeance. Vengeance, she thought, is the true way the world should be ruled. Regardless of who they were, if they soiled this world in any way they needed to be taken care of.

“We will lock him up in the basement and when he regains consciousness, we will begin. If he’s anything like you were, there will be one hell of a mess to clean up after I’m finished with him,” Johnny chuckled and bumped her shoulder. She watched them take Jaeho’s body down the stairs into the basement, the same basement she spent her first days in. She remembered those days. She remembered the way Johnny assaulted her, she could still taste the blood in her mouth and she could still feel the pain he caused her. However, it didn’t bother her, in fact, she found that she was very thankful to him.

“Are you alright?” Yuta could tell that she had something on her mind. Judging by the way she watched Johnny carry Jaeho to the basement, he assumed that something about this situation brought up old memories, “Are you mad at me for what I did to you?”

“What you did to me? Do you even know what you did to me?” Yuta looked at her in wonder, what had he really done to her?

“You showed me who I really am. Thanks to you, I know who I really am. The only thing I will ever be for that is thankful. The old me is dead and gone, she will never return. That ignorant girl will never be seen again. This whole experience stripped me of my fear and opened my eyes and made me truly see. See the world for how it really is, people for how they really are, and it showed me the way that things should be. I am also thankful that you allowed me to partake in the attempts to make this world a cleaner place.” She brought her hand to cup his chin, “Everything you’ve done has changed my life for the better, I can never repay you for all that you have done. This is all thanks to you.” She kissed the corner of his lips and left the kitchen. He stood there, amazed at what just happened. The person he just encountered truly was completely different than the girl he met so long ago. She had completely evolved into a different person, and he wondered if he played a role in doing this.

If this way of thinking had been planted deep in her, slowly metastasizing until she finally realized what she truly was, or if Yuta had truly driven her to the ends of all sanity and reason remain unknown. Who she once was had died long ago, and no one will truly know if Yuta is responsible. There is one thing that is for sure, though.

He truly is a fatal man.