#your asshole daughter is stressing you out so much that it’s causing you to gray (CANON KEVIN DAYISM)

[luvbug724]

something magic about neil going gray early…. proof that he survived proof that he’s living

[ming-sik]

Crawling out of my shack in the woods after a month to argue as the guy cited in Egg's initial response, I disagree with a lot of your points here!

So this is a point that's more explicitly argued in my posts but to repeat it here, our joint argument is basically that Ferdinand's flaws, as told by the narrative, are only the ones Myne points out, which is as you say "just being an asshole". He's prickly, isolationist, arrogant, and self-destructive. These are flaws that she picks up on and his cruelty is something that she's aware of. Other than that, basically every sympathetic character is in the "well he's a jerk, but you have to admit he's earned it by being the most competent guy ever", a Ferdinand fanatic, are jealous of him Bezewanst-style, or are Veronica/Georgine who hate him for being born. We do not have any sympathetic characters as far as I know who hate Ferdinand for an error he made or an act of cruelty that the story doesn't think is justified. This is why I don't accept the argument that it's just Myne being an unreliable narrator, because no characters conflict with her view of him. I mean, what older nobles? Elvira the fangirl? Sylvester who's shredding himself with guilt over not doing enough to protect his baby brother from Veronica? Hirschur who still views him as her student after a decade? The entirety of Dunkelfelger's knights who orchestrate the entire marriage in an attempt to save Ferdinand because they like him so much? What characters dislike Ferdinand or find him unimpressive?

The problem is that the narrative is wrong! Ferdinand is a profoundly reactionary and selfish character who is frequently unnecessarily cruel and tends to stand by while people are suffering. This is not a moral judgment of Ferdinand if he were a real person or saying that fans of Ferdinand are Bad People, which is the reason Egg's citing villains they like, to clarify that this is a criticism of the way his actions are treated by the narrative and not a call for everyone to stop liking Ferdinand because he's problematic.

If Ferdinand being an insufferable bastard meant that a lot of people from his student days disliked him, people who were portrayed sympathetically rather than as bitter haters who just couldn't keep up with him(friendly rivals like Heissheitze don't count, we are looking for conflict caused by Ferdinand being an imperfect and morally dubious guy where he is not the obvious hero), that would be an excellent way to raise the stakes and establish conflict if those people couldn't be ignored, and so Ferdinand's help was useless because Elvira thought he was a loser and therefore had to be convinced by other means to take in Myne as her daughter because they couldn't just cheat it by having Ferdinand there. Same with the gray priests resenting him from his inaction and cruelty. Antagonists who aren’t flat villains who hate our protagonists for completely valid reasons are vital to a story that wants to have complex interpersonal drama which is unfortunate because AOB has very few of them.

I want to stress that this is not meant to be an attack on you but yeah I really disagree with your take on Ferdinand's trauma because that just straight up is not how trauma works. How affected you are by your trauma is not measured by how mentally strong or "sentimental" you are, and in fact Ferdinand's mental strength is very obviously a trauma response. He was forced to grow up extremely fast and reacted to being hurt and betrayed by closing off his emotions and becoming attached to viewing himself as a cold, calculating genius who didn't need anyone else... none of which are uncommon as responses to his specific type of traumatic childhood! Repressing/compartmentalizing trauma is not not being traumatized, it's just a different expression of it than more widely known reactions. Even his passivity makes perfect sense, he's internalized that he's the only person who will ever be in his corner so outside of deferring to authority figures when he deems it useful, he doesn't give a fuck about his underlings, let alone anyone else. It's actually pretty harmful to think about trauma in terms of sentimentality because it makes traumatized people who don't want to feel weak feel as though actually processing their trauma or accepting that it affected them instead of insisting that it doesn't matter to them would be admitting weakness. Personally I am not that interested in a Ferdinand recovery arc because I find him much more compelling as an antagonist but the reason Ferdinand's recovery arc felt so flat to me is that he didn't actually process any of that, he just falls in love with Myne and kinda sorta admits that a lot of people actually care about him without really acting on that.

And he's never forced to because as you say he's usually right! He never just makes a stupid mistake or misinterprets a situation or lashes out irresponsibly or gambles on a risky play that goes completely south. There can be no true character arc because those need conflict and for the story to admit that the way Ferdinand is currently is flawed, which it can't, because his entire character is being the supergenius Lord of Evil! "Makes zero mistakes" is one of his only character traits!

This is despite the fact that Ferdinand is in fact abusive. Like he's not an asshole uni professor because he's not teaching university students. He's a primary school teacher screaming that a 7 year old should be expelled from the school because he slacks off in class too much. He's a boss demanding you perform hours of difficult unpaid labor completely outside your job description or else you'll be fired when that would get you kicked out of your house. He stands by while orphans starve to death and the gray priests are killed or sold as slaves because he doesn't want to stand up to the High Bishop. He participates in slave trading. He kills people! Again, this is not a criticism of you for liking him, it's just admitting the actual facts of the actions Ferdinand takes in the story! It is alright to like a character who has a cool motive but has still committed murder, it's just frustrating as people who want to engage with Ferdinand as he is, a deeply flawed character who would rightly be disliked by a lot of characters which could potentially create really interesting conflict, only to have the story just continue to pretend that all that is either totally fine because he had a sad backstory or just inherently endearing. As you say, the story expects us to love him! It doesn't WANT to deal with any of the conflict Ferdinand should generate because then he wouldn't be the perfect badass whose badassery is justified by his tragic backstory.

And to repeat one more time, I am not saying that Ferdinand needs to fix himself or that he needs to become a totally healthy guy. I'm not even saying he needs a character arc, or that he can't just refuse to unpack anything outside of forcing Myne to marry him. What we're saying is that the story downplaying those flaws, refusing to create conflict based on them where Ferdinand is allowed to be wrong, and then acting like he's had a character arc when he hasn't means that Ferdinand as a character falls way short of his potential. Both of us have gotten pretty tetchy about it at this point because we've had interactions where people have just refused to admit that we dislike Ferdinand for any reason other than pearl-clutching prudish terror at a character who isn't perfect when we're arguing for literally the exact opposite!

I can't speak for Egg obviously but the thing I find interesting about traumatized people who are also terrible is seeing them pushed into situations where their worst qualities are dragged out or where their coping mechanisms are pushed to their limit, and then seeing what they do next. Do they break? Do they try to escape? Do they double down? Do they maybe even try to grow? I just think there's no fun in a character having a maladaptive coping mechanism if we conveniently only see them in situations where their maladaptive coping mechanism is either helpful or used to generate sympathy for them. This would be even more true if I liked Ferdinand because the more I like a character the more I want to see them be put in situations where they have to use their character traits to extricate themselves from a sticky obstacle or overcome a foe that’s difficult for their specific character. Instead Ferdinand either sweeps every obstacle placed in front of him or Myne takes care of it for him without him ever having to do more than go along with her plans.

We may be at odds here because I’m a sadistic tyrant who wants to do this to every character I like

but I hope you can at least appreciate why we find the kid gloves the narrative treats Ferdinand with and the way it prevents him from having his flaws explored or challenged irritating.

Thoughts on ferdinand?

Short answer: Don't like that guy.

Beyond this point is the body of the post where I may rail on your favorite character. This post is clearly-labeled and easy to avoid. If you choose to read on despite me making it clear what my opinion is, you do not have to right to vague me in a condescending manner as you may or may not have done with another post of a similar kind. Just avoid this. It's not that hard. I'm making the fandom ecosystem a little more varied, is all. Us Detlinde fans, Sylvester lovers, and Raublut sympathizers have had to sit and bear with it as the fandom paraded our faves and hurled shit at them. If we have had to endure that, surely you can endure One (1) post that criticizes your fave who is widely loved by everyone else and is also put under a cut. Don't start insulting me for criticizing a character when you've gotten mad at me for responding to insults with anger.

Surely a fandom that condescended to us for reading something we disagree with will understand the point I am making here :)

Aight now that that's out of the way, I can finally get to the meat of the post for all the big-brained people who chose to continue.

Reasons why I think Ferdinand sucks have been touched on in these posts (A B) so I don't really have all that much to say about that outside of reiterating what those posts said.

I tried, y'all. I tried so hard to like him. Everyone else loved him and I wanted to see what they were seeing.

But I couldn't.

He's an abusive jackass who doesn't see that the people around him do love him, can't be allowed near children, doesn't bother lifting other people up he just expects them to be already good. His memory trip with Myne changed nothing about how he saw her or other kids “her age”. He doesn't even seem to like most parts of her, he just seems to like that she's on his level and that she'd protect him.

And the problem is that. I wouldn't hate him nearly as much if only the story or the fandom acknowledged his dickishness. It's not that I'm unfamiliar or can't handle heavy topics, either— I am a victim of lifelong abuse in a country that's been on fire for as long as it's existed. I Been Knew, buddy.

Vincent Nightray from Pandora Hearts is a misogynistic little prick who lies and tricks and betrays people to get to his goal. He may or may not also be a transphobic allegory. But I love him! He's one of my favorite characters from the manga! How could this be? Because his flaws matter. Because both the story and the audience understand that he's not just the poorest little man. He kinda is, but I love him because he's a messy character full of flaws. It makes him interesting. Also because his struggles and storyline involving guilt and suicidal ideation resonated deeply with me.

I absolutely fucking adore Sohma Akito from Fruits Basket. She is so fucking abusive to so many characters and… the story knows that! It acknowledges that! She's, like Vincent, a fucking mess! But the way her backstory explains her entire thing but doesn't excuse it, the way she's such a realistic exploration of abuse both as perpetrator and victim, is so interesting! She's so interesting! Fruits Basket as a whole is just. It's good. It's excellent. It even has a counselor and an artist analyzing the symbolism, art direction, and psychology of the characters on YouTube. You should give that podcast a listen. It's by the channel ThoughtBubble. (Ferdinand's “trauma” could become a realistic exploration of the consequences of such a fucked up life, how he passes on the hurt to the younger generation, if only the story let it but… everyone just uses that trauma card to woobify him and excuse him and go “oh poor Ferdinand” on him like a pity party, which I don't like. Again, the potential is there and I could like it, but the way the fandom treated his trauma is so viscerally off-putting to me that my faith in his potential plummeted and I “hate” him by their definition instead)

How about Orochimaru? Irredeemable terrifying bastard villain WHO TRAFFICKS AND EXPERIMENTS ON CHILDREN. There's discussion of how the military state exploited him and he went off the deep end and it was excused when it still benefited the state but became a crime as soon as it became for himself, but largely people agree that he cannot be excused. And he's one of my favorite fucking characters.

Shimura Danzo? Y'all don't need a primer on that fucker everyone hates him he's terrible he's problematic and I love him. One of the characters of all time.

How about Senju Butsuma? Specifically, the rendition of Senju Butsuma in a fic written by my friend. He's still abusive, he literally has a scene of beating the crap out of his sons on-screen in the fic— that scene triggered me by the way but it just goes to show how well-written it is, my friend the author specifically mentioned that he didn't want to trivialize abuse but also didn't want to turn it into a sympathy-bait pity party for the Senju brothers— and? He's my babygirl. He's everything.

Prospera Mercury? Fucking war criminal milf with Issues? She uses both her children as weapons even as she claims she's doing it all for one of them? Massacres people? And? I love her????? She's so messy she's got Problems she's not good for her daughters. And that makes her infinitely delicious. Easily one of my favorites of all time.

So it's not that I hate characters who are jackasses. It's not that I hate flawed, messy characters. I love them! I love them even when canon doesn't. I love them even when the fandom doesn't. I would never try to excuse or absolve them (I mean, I'd like to see any of you try to excuse Danzo??) I try to give these characters the justice they deserve when I'm discussing them with people. But I… can't do that with Ferdinand. Any discussion of his character in a way that doesn't fit their very narrow view of “the biggest victim in the world who is also the strongest most badass man ever” immediately gets clotheslined into “hate”. Even the mildest of criticisms, even the most politely-worded posts get misinterpreted, misconstrued, and ultimately declared as senseless petty hate. Heck, even people who like him a lot get shunned and ostracized from the fandom if their interpretation is too different from the Fandom Majority's! So yes! By the fandom's very definition, I hate him! I hate him most immensely! I hate the parts of him that the narrative and the fandom choose to highlight as opposed to the more interesting bits! I hate that he takes up all the oxygen in the room whenever anyone discusses Veronica's abuse and her victims! He's not the only victim, but everyone acts as though he is!

So yes, tldr: I hate him. If only he could've been written by a better author like Mochizuki Jun or Takaya Natsuki. Fuck, even as much as I gripe about Arakawa Hiromu, even she could've handled him better.

[drabbles-mc]

Pretty Boy

Juice Ortiz x OFC (Dakota Lowman)

Combining an Anonymous request and a request from @adela-topaz-caelon:  Juice Ortiz x F!Reader, were the reader is Happy’s daughter and her boyfriend is Juice? and Juice x female reader where they're at the clubhouse or somewhere, just chilling to keep reader safe or something, and you get those cheesy moments of catching an eye, or an absentmindedly kiss that causes flusteredness

Warnings: language, alcohol, Juice being a lil cutie pie

Word Count: 4.6k

A/N: I tweaked each of these requests a little bit, but I hope y’all still enjoy it! I got the Happy’s Daughter request and immediately me and @garbinge started brainstorming OC ideas and we ended up with two daughters for Happy. Clearly we get carried away haha. This is just a fluffy little one-shot and a sort of wamrup/intro to the Lowman Sisters as OCs. We (when I say “we”, I totally mean me and Anj as a unit lmao) have big plans for them in the future and I can’t wait to take y’all along for the ride. In the meantime, enjoy this lil oneshot! xo

SOA Taglist: @masterlistforimagines​ @mijop​ @chibsytelford​ @xladymacbethx​ @i-just-read-stuff​ @kkim120​ @everyhowlmarksthedead​ @toni9​ @unicornucopia-fuckers​ @mayans-sauce​ @shadow-of-wonder​ @punkgoddess-98​ @paintballkid711​ @black-repunzel99​ @jitterbugs927​ @mrsstevenbuchananstark​ (If you want to be added to the list feel free to let me know!)

“Out of all the women in the universe,” Juice spoke up with a shake of his head, “I think the last two that need someone to watch their backs are Happy’s daughters, that’s all.”

Jax shook his head, “Everyone has someone watching their back, no exceptions.”

“Yea but they don’t need—”

He cut Juice off, “Club call, not theirs.”

Both of Happy’s daughters were sitting back, watching the entire interaction play out in front of them. It wasn’t something that they’d never gone through before, but they each knew that there was a more tactful way to go about it without making them feel like they were being saddled with babysitters. His youngest thought it was all bullshit, but she wasn’t willing to put up a fight over it. Her older sister, however, didn’t have the same reservations.

“Fuck this,” she stood up off her barstool, “You don’t get to make that call for me, Teller.”

“Hap said—”

“Well Hap isn’t here,” she rolled her eyes as she swiped her keys off the table, “Tell my old man if he wants someone to babysit me, he can do it himself,” she began walking towards the clubhouse door, “just like the good old days.”

“Diedra,” Jax stepped towards her, wrapping his hand around her forearm.

She immediately twisted her arm out of his grasp and used her other hand to shove him backwards, “Do that again and I’ll bust your fucking nose,” she waited a beat to see if any of them were going to try to stop her again, and when they didn’t, she looked over to her sister, “Call me if any of these assholes give you any trouble, alright?”

She nodded, “Alright.”

The clubhouse door slammed behind her, leaving an awkward silence in its wake. Jax glanced over at Juice, who was trying to look anywhere but at his VP and the young woman still perched at the bar. With a heavy sigh, Jax spoke up, “Don’t go two for two on losing the Lowman Sisters, alright? Hap is gonna wring my fucking neck over Di as it is.”

“He won’t,” she shook her head, chuckling slightly, “You think our dad doesn’t know what you’re dealing with?”

“You think that your dad is really gonna care about that when it comes down to it?” Jax retorted. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he tried to get his tone in order, “Sorry, Kota. It’s not on you. Just, please stay with Juice, alright? Just until we figure all this shit out.”

She nodded, taking a sip of her coffee and trying to pretend that she didn’t get a little bit of sadistic enjoyment out of Jax’s stress over her father and sister, “Sure, I can handle that.”

He didn’t say anything more before also heading out the door, managing to shut it a little quieter than the woman who had walked out before him. It left just Juice and Dakota by themselves in the clubhouse—everyone else either on club business or safely within the walls of their own homes waiting out the impending chaos.

“How pissed is your dad gonna be about your sister?” Juice asked, a smirk starting to curl the edges of his mouth.

Dakota laughed, shaking her head, “He’s not going to actually be pissed. He knows how Di gets about lockdown and shit,” she paused, smiling, “But he is going to make Jax feel like shit about it first.”

Juice chuckled, “Perfect.”

There were a few beats of silence before she spoke up again, “So do I get to know why I need a bodyguard or…?”

“H-happy didn’t tell you?”

She shook her head, “No,” with a huff she rolled her eyes, “he never tells me shit. I don’t, I don’t know why Di gets to know everything and I don’t. I don’t get what’s so different.”

“She is older,” Juice couldn’t pretend to understand the dynamics in the Lowman family but it seemed like an easy justification to offer up.

“By like, four years. That doesn’t mean shit.”

Juice laughed, “You sound a little bitter.”

“Bitter is in our blood, Juan,” she laughed as she finished off her coffee.

The use of his real name caught him off-guard. The two of them hadn’t ever really talked much, just little conversations here and there. He didn’t think that she knew his real name at all, let alone felt comfortable enough with him to use it. Despite the bite in her tone for every other word she spoke, there was a softness when she said it.

“Right,” he tried to keep himself focused, “Well, your sister seems like a girl full of answers so maybe you should ask her about it.”

“Glad I’m at least going to be locked down with a comedian,” she shook her head before getting up and tossing her coffee cup in the garbage, “So, what? You just gonna follow me around while I do things? Keep me company while I get a pedicure?”

He laughed, “I don’t think that you should really be out getting pedicures right now.”

“Well, then could you at least take me back to my place?” she laughed, “Di and I came together and she just stormed off with the keys.”

Juice couldn’t help the laughter that slipped past his lips, “Yea, yea I think I can handle that.”

As the two of them walked across the lot towards Juice’s bike, Dakota became very aware of the fact that the two of them hadn’t ever spent any one-on-one time together. They saw each other in passing at the clubhouse, and a couple times he’d worked on her car in the past, but they didn’t really know each other. She knew of him, the same way he probably knew of her. But they didn’t learn anything about each other, from each other.

In the past when she and her sister needed someone to watch their back because of things going on with the club, it would usually just be Happy, because that made the most sense. And realistically, Diedra had been right when she said that she could handle herself perfectly fine. If the two of them were left to their own devices they’d probably be okay, but it wasn’t a chance that the MC was willing to take. On a rare occasion or two Chibs or Tig kept an eye on them, but those men usually kept their distance.

Juice handed her a spare helmet, a lopsided grin on his face, “Where is your place, anyway?”

“Apartment complex just off Main?” she said as she clipped the helmet on, “Gray Street.”

He nodded, “Got it.”

She settled onto the bike behind him with ease, no stranger to the ins and outs of a ride. It caught Juice off-guard for a moment before he remembered who she was. He looked down to see her well-manicured nails interlocked over his stomach and he didn’t know why but it made him smile. She leaned against him a little, waiting for him to peel out of the compound. He checked with her to make sure she was good before taking off.

As he rolled into the parking lot of the complex, Dakota directed him where to go and park. Diedra’s car was nowhere to be seen. And while it had been made abundantly clear that she was in charge of herself, Juice still felt a little responsible for how everything had played out.

“You two live here together, right?” he asked as he put down the kickstand of his bike.

“Yea,” she unclipped her helmet and tousled her hair, “but she’s probably blowing off steam somewhere. Maybe tracking down our dad,” she laughed.

“Was it weird growing up with Happy as a dad?” the question came out before he could stop it, and regret instantly flooded over his features, “Fuck, sorry. I, I know it’s really not my business.”

She chuckled as she dug her keys out of her purse, “You’re fine. Don’t apologize so much.”

“Sor—” he stopped himself, “Right.”

“But in answer to your question,” they slowly made their way up the stairs to the second floor of the apartment building, “He…he tried. He does the best he can, you know? I think all our parents do,” she put the key in the lock of her door, “Doesn’t mean that their best is always good enough, but it’s all they can do.”

She was about to step inside when Juice put an arm out in front of her to stop her. She chuckled, nodding for him to go in first and scope the place out, even though it was highly unlikely that anyone ended up there looking for her or her sister.

About a minute later she heard Juice’s voice calling for her to come inside. She laughed as she stepped in, locking the door behind her before tossing her purse off to the side and instantly kicking off her shoes. Juice watched her, and as she sauntered her way into the kitchen he really began to question how the two of them never ended up really speaking to each other. He and Diedra had had a handful of conversations, although they weren’t deep or filled with a lot of pleasantries. But he felt like he had a better idea of who she was, than who her little sister was. She was always kind unless provoked, but she kept to herself a lot of the time.

“Smoothie?” she offered as she pulled a half-full blender out of the fridge.

Juice laughed in surprise. Usually when he was at someone’s house they offered beer, or something stronger. He’d never even been offered water before let alone a smoothie. He shook his head, “I’m good for now, thanks.”

She shrugged, “Suit yourself.”

By the time Diedra came back to the apartment, the sun had long since set. Dakota and Juice were camped out at the counter, both of them laughing hard at whatever story Juice had been telling. They heard the sound of the key in the lock and both of them looked over at the door expectantly. Diedra walked inside, kicking off her boots and tossing her keys immediately. She’d seen Juice’s bike parked outside and wasn’t enthused, and when she could hear their laughter from the hallway, she had the feeling that he wasn’t going to be in a rush to get back to the clubhouse or go home.

She looked about as exhausted and frustrated as she felt. She’d gone and tracked down her father, which did nothing to help the current situation. On top of him being upset about how she was handling the whole protection side of things, he was mad that she had gone out on a manhunt to find him, completely defeating the purpose of having someone keeping her safe.

“You don’t have to stay, you know,” she skipped over the pleasantries and got right to the point, “With the two of us here we should be alright.”

“I, uh, I don’t mind,” Juice didn’t know why he found Diedra to be just as intimidating as her father, but he did, “I can hang out a little longer.”

She shrugged, not looking to argue about it, “Suit yourself,” she looked at her sister, “I’m gonna go shower.”

Dakota gave a wordless nod and watched her sister disappear to the other end of the apartment.  She let out a sigh and shook her head—she didn’t know the details of her older sister’s day, but she didn’t have to. Dakota could tell from the moment she walked in that the day hadn’t gone in her favor. She’d try to be there for her if she thought it would get either of them anywhere, but if there was one thing that she’d learned about her sister in all their years growing up together, was that those kinds of things happened on Diedra’s terms, and no one else’s.

“She always this cheery?” Juice asked with tiny smirk, “Or just when I’m around?”

Dakota laughed, shaking her head, “It has nothing to do with you, personally. It’s…complicated. Honestly, she’s gotta like you on some level because she hasn’t threatened you yet. But either way,” she reached and rested her hand on his for a moment, “I’m glad you’re here.”

The touch was light and momentary but Juice felt it course through his entire body. He cleared his throat, trying to do anything besides stare at his hands, “Well that’s…that’s nice to hear.”

“And not that I’m trying to rush you out, but for the sake of your own self-esteem,” there was a playful smile on her face, “you might wanna just head out and come back in the morning. She’ll be a little cooled off by then.”

He nodded, “Yea, yea okay,” he hopped up and they both made their way towards the door, “Lock it behind me.”

She rolled her eyes, “Yea, I’ve done this before.”

He stood in the hallway for a moment as Dakota leaned against the doorframe, a smile beginning to tug at the edges of her mouth. He wanted to reach out and hug her, but he knew better. He shoved his hands into his pockets to fight the urge.

“I’ll see you in the morning, then?” she asked.

He nodded, “I’ll be here bright and early.”

She laughed, “I’ll have coffee ready, then,” she paused, “Goodnight, Juan.”

He smiled, “Goodnight.”

A little while later, when Dakota was already in bed scrolling on her phone, there was a knock on her bedroom door. She turned on the light and called for her sister to come in. When the door opened, Diedra was standing there wrapped in her towel, clothes draped over her arm as she propped herself against the side of the door.

“You all good?”

Dakota propped herself up on her elbows, nodding, “Yea, yea I’m good. You good?”

She shrugged, “I’ll be alright.”

“You wanna talk about it?”

“Pfft,” her annoyance wasn’t aimed at her sister, “Nothing to say. Same shit,” there was a beat of silence, “Juice stay here with you all day?”

She nodded, “Yea. I know you don’t like him but he seems swe—”

“It’s not that I don’t like him,” she let out a small sigh, “the whole situation is just a fuckin’ mess. Plus you and I are adults—we don’t need fucking babysitters.”

Dakota couldn’t do anything besides nod, “I know. I just, I don’t see the point in fighting it if we’re just gonna lose.”

“You’re only fine with it because they saddled you with the pretty boy,” a knowing smirk crossed Diedra’s face for a moment.

Her little sister laughed, “Certainly doesn’t hurt to have something nice to look at in a pseudo-lockdown.”

“Mhm,” she shook her head, “Just don’t do anything stupid, alright?”

“Never,” she laughed, “Love you.”

“Love you.”

With that she shut the door and made her way off to her own room. Dakota flopped back down onto her pillow with a sigh, trying to get everything in order in her head. All she ever really wanted to do was keep the peace, but it was practically an impossible task at this point so she wondered what the use was in even trying anymore.

True to her word, the next morning there was already a pot of coffee made by the time that Juice got there. Truthfully, she’d just set an alarm specifically for that purpose and then gone right back to bed. That was made evident to him by the fact that she answered the door half-asleep, hair still a bit of a frizzy mess from a night of tossing and turning. She smiled and waved him in but didn’t say much of anything, wordlessly gesturing to the coffee pot to let him know to help himself.

“Not a morning person?” he chuckled.

She shook her head, running her hands down her face, “No, that’s always been Di’s thing. I’m a night owl.”

As if on cue, Diedra came bounding into the apartment, headphones still on and drenched in sweat from her run and workout that morning. She saw Juice standing in the kitchen and offered him a slight nod as she made her way directly to the bathroom to shower. She lightly patted Dakota on the back as she walked by, letting the gesture serve as her greeting for the morning.

“So,” Juice drummed his fingers on the edge of the counter as he watched Dakota pour them each a cup of coffee, “what’s the plan for today?”

She shrugged as she slid it across to him, “You tell me,” she took a sip, “I got some school shit I gotta do, but I can do it here or at the clubhouse if that’s better. I still don’t know what the fuck is going on, so I’m following your lead on this.”

No one had ever said those words in that order to him before. He took a long drink out of his coffee cup to buy himself a few extra seconds to think, “Um, I mean, clubhouse would probably be best. More people around,” his eyes flicked towards the other end of the apartment, “I’m guessing your sister is just gonna…”

“Do whatever she wants to do?” she laughed, nodding, “Sounds about right,” she stretched, taking a deep breath, “Alright. Let me get ready and we can head out.”

“Okay,” he sat down at the counter, “No rush or anything.”

While he was finishing his coffee and waiting for Dakota to get ready, her sister emerged back into the kitchen, no longer in her sweaty workout clothes. She had on a baggy hoodie and a pair of running shorts, hair still down and damp as she opened the fridge to start pulling together her smoothie for the morning.

“Where you two crazy kids off to today?” she asked as she set everything on the counter.

“Just to the clubhouse,” he paused, trying to figure out if she should ask what he was about to ask, “You?”

She glanced back over her shoulder, her expression serious for a moment before she cracked the smallest of smiles, “I’ll be around. Got some shit I gotta handle.”

“Anything I can—”

“All you gotta worry about is my sister and the club, Juice,” her tone was firm, but not mean.

Before he could say anything more, Dakota walked back out into the kitchen. She looked back and forth between her sister and Juice, surprised at the lack of tension in the room. There wasn’t the fear of god in Juice’s eyes the way there had been the night before.

“We’re gonna head out,” she gave Juice a slight nod towards the door before looking back at her sister, “Text me when you get where you’re going?”

She nodded, “Sure thing. Don’t let him wipe out on the bike.”

Dakota laughed as she looked over at Juice, “Well, guess we’re taking the bike.”

Dakota made herself comfortable at one of the tables in the clubhouse. She had her headphones on and her schoolwork spread out across the table in front of her. Between her notebooks and her laptop, there was just enough room for Juice and his computer on the other side of the table. Every now and then she’d look up and catch him staring at her, and she’d offer up a smile before diving back into her work. Juice wanted to ask her about it, wanted just about any reason to listen to her talk, but he stopped himself.

It was late in the afternoon when she finally leaned back in her chair, taking her headphones off with a groan. She ran her hands down her face as she shook her head, trying to get her brain to slow down. Juice looked up at her, chuckling quietly.

“It’s going that well, huh?”

“Go back to school they said. It’ll be good for you they said,” she laughed, rolling her eyes, “Fuck this. I don’t know why I’m paying to suffer.”

Juice couldn’t help but to laugh, “Sorry it’s so rough.”

She shrugged, “It’s fine. I just need to complain about it sometimes,” she smiled at him, “And since you’re the one who is stuck with me, you’re the one who has to hear it. Sorry.”

“You can complain as much as you want,” a smirk tugged at his lips as he drummed his fingers on the table, “I don’t mind.”

That was the routine that they fell into for the next week. Each morning Juice would show up at her apartment, make small-talk with Diedra that got less and less awkward as the days went on, and then they’d head to the clubhouse once Dakota was ready. On the days when Juice was actually working at T-M, Dakota would set herself up at the picnic table outside, or if she was just reading, she would find an empty chair in the garage to sit in so that the two of them would stay close. It wasn’t that they really needed to talk all that much, but the proximity was nice. And, for the time being, they had the cover of the fact that he was supposed to be keeping an eye on her.

In the midst of a sea of fleeting touches and soft smiles, neither of them brought themselves to say anything to address all the feelings that were bubbling up. A few times, Juice almost did. There were moments, after he’d park his bike at the clubhouse or her apartment, and she’d leave her arms wrapped around him a little longer than necessary. She’d keep herself flush against his back despite the fact that she didn’t need to anymore, and he’d almost get the nerve to say something to her. But it never quite happened. He’d see her reading, taking notes on something that was way above his paygrade, and every square inch of his brain would scream at him to tell her that she’s beautiful, but the words always got caught in his throat.

“Guess what,” Diedra strode over to the picnic table where her sister was sitting, laptop set up in front of her for class.

She looked up, eyebrows raised, “What’s up?”

“As of,” she looked at the time on her phone, “One hour and twenty-five minutes ago, we are no longer on fake, need-a-babysitter lockdown.”

Dakota laughed, shaking her head, “I don’t think that you ever really were.”

“Yea, well,” Diedra laughed as she swiped up her sister’s drink and took a sip of it, “now Dad can’t keep giving me shit about it. So that’s a plus,” there were a few beats of silence, “You gonna break the news to pretty boy over there? Or you gonna let the club do it?”

She smiled, shaking her head, “No news to break. Shit will just go back to business as usual.”

“He’s gonna be real fuckin’ bummed about it, you know.”

She arched one eyebrow, “Why does it feel like you’re encouraging this?”

“He seems less shitty than most the other guys you’ve brought around.”

“We’re not even—”

“I know,” Diedra chuckled, “I know you’re not. But he’s chomping at the fuckin’ bit so I’d say something before he thinks that he’s completely lost his shot.”

Dakota’s nails clacked on the surface of the picnic table as she tapped them, clearly thinking about everything her sister had said to her. Diedra walked away, letting her little sister mull over what she had said.

As the afternoon was drawing to a close, the guys all came out of church into the main expanse of the clubhouse. Everyone was whooping and hollering, and it was clear that whatever the issue it was that had arisen, had been taken care of. Everyone else who was already at the clubhouse joined in on the cheering, despite not knowing all of the details.

Diedra and Dakota were camped out at the bar, each of them smiling and shaking their heads because they knew the antics that were about to ensue. The music immediately got louder and the prospect behind the bar skipped over grabbing glasses and just took out a few entire bottles of liquor to set on the counter for the guys to grab.

After a few minutes of the initial chaos, Dakota felt someone’s hand land on her shoulder. She turned around, expecting to see Juice, but instead came face-to-face with her father. She smiled up at him as she took a sip of her beer.

“Glad everything got sorted.”

He nodded, “For now,” there was a pause as he looked her over, “You’re alright?”

She laughed, “Yea, Dad, I’m alright. I’m not the person at the top of the priority list for anyone who is out to get you. And even if I was,” she nodded towards her sister who was now at the other end of the bar in a heated discussion with Tig about something, “between Di and Juan, no one was getting to me.”

His brows furrowed when he heard her refer to him by his real name, “He didn’t do anything fucking stupid, did he?”

She almost choked on her beer, shaking her head, “No, no he didn’t. Jesus Christ, Dad, cut the kid some slack.”

“Alright,” he nodded, pulling her in and placing a chaste kiss to her forehead, “I love you.”

She chuckled, nodding, “I love you too.”

Happy disappeared into the crowd and it was only a few moments before the stool beside her became occupied. She glanced over, a smile spreading across her face when she saw the person she’d been expecting originally.

“Congrats on, well,” she chuckled, “whatever you guys did.”

Juice smiled, shaking his head, “Just keeping ourselves alive and outta jail for another day. That’s all,” he paused as he took the beer bottle being handed to him by the man on the other side of the bar, “Guess you’ll finally be able to go and get your pedicures now.”

She laughed, “Yea I guess so. The invite is still open if you wanna come with me. It’s quite the experience.”

“Tempting,” he leaned onto the bar, letting his elbows rest on it, “But I think I’m good.”

“You know, even if you don’t want to go and get pedicures with me,” she sipped on her beer, “We could find something else to do that we could both enjoy.”

He looked over at her, a tentative smile on his face, “Yea?”

She shrugged, “Yea. Preferably something not early in the morning. I’d love to go back to sleeping in,” she couldn’t help but to laugh.

“You didn’t have to wake up early, you know.”

“Yea, but, I wanted to. I…I like spending time with you.”

That statement hung in the air for a few seconds before she gently nudged his knee with her own. It snapped him out of whatever train of thought he was trapped in, his eyes searching hers waiting to figure out the next move. She smiled, a quiet laugh passing her lips before she leaned in and kissed him, her hand coming to rest on the back of his head.

Shock went through his body for a moment as he forced himself to realize that it was really happening, that it wasn’t just a dream. His hand lightly gripped onto her thigh as he let himself lean into her. When she pulled her lips off of his, they each laughed, the sound of it soft against the raucous noise of the clubhouse.

“I’m free tomorrow,” Juice forced out through the surprise coursing through his system, “If…if you wanted to do something.”

Dakota laughed, leaning back onto her seat but letting her hand tangle up with his, “Yea, I could do something tomorrow.”

“Afternoon?” he said with a laugh.

“Yea,” she laughed and gave his hand a squeeze, “Tomorrow afternoon is good.”

[justahopelessssromantic]

15 for Chibs please, with a mix of fluff and angst if possible 🙌🏻

“Why did you choose me?” “You know very well why, [NAME].”

*Thanks so much for the request! I hope you like it! I was a little more comfortable with this one and feel like I did Chibs a bit better than the last 🥰. Enjoy and thanks for reading! ❤️*

*gif not mine*

Warnings: Angsty and fluff

The clubhouse was packed with members from all over as you weaved your way through the crowd looking for your Old Man. Spotting him across the room you pushed past the people greeting a few of the members you knew on your way through.

He was sitting at a table with a few men you hadn’t met before when you sauntered over. Setting your hand down on his shoulder he wrapped his arm around your waist scooping you down and into his lap and whispering into your ear, “I’ve fucking missed you.”

You grinned at him leaning in and kissing him before slipping off his lap.

“Where do you think you’re going?” He asked, already missing the feel of your body on his.

“Just wanted to say hi,” you chirped, sending him another smile, “Now I have shit to do. I’ll see you later.”

On your way out you heard as the men began giving Chibs crap. You were quite a bit younger than him, causing lots of judgment to come your way about your relationship. You were used to it for the most part and could usually brush the comments off not letting yourself dwell too much on others opinions, but it was still an insecurity of yours.

“How’d you get yourself a young pretty thing like that?” One of the guys asked Chibs as he watched you walking away.

“Don’t you think you should be with someone your own age?” Another asked, “She’s young enough to be your daughter for fuck’s sake. You should be with a real woman, not a child. Sure she’s hot but come on.”

You slipped past the crowd and Chibs watched as you burst out the front door, certain you had heard the comments by the way of your movements.

Chibs turned his attention back to the men, he was used to these sorts of comments. These men were just assholes and he could care less what they thought. It was business between you and him, no one else. He loved you and you loved him, that’s all he needed, “She’s more woman than any lass I’ve ever met.” With that he excused himself from the table following you outside and finding you leaning against the wall outside, cigarette dangling between your fingers like always when you were stressed.

Taking a drag you looked over at Chibs before blowing the smoke out towards him. You knew the question would piss him off but you couldn’t stop the words from spilling out of you, "Why did you choose me?" You just wanted to hear him say it, wanting him to wipe away your insecurities with his words. You needed to know that what you had was real.

"Jesus fucking Christ, woman!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air, "You can't be serious!” Damn those men for making you doubt yourself and damn them for making you doubt him. He didn’t think he should have to prove to you that he loved you, chose you. It should be obvious.

"I am," You crossed your arms defiantly. You weren’t backing down.

"You know very well why, (Y/N)" He chastised, staring you dead in the eyes, his jaw clenched as he tried to bite his tongue before he got himself in trouble.

"I don't think I do."

"God you're a stubborn little thing, aren't ya." He grumbled stepping closer to you, "You wanna know why I choose you, then I'll tell ya. But only this once, I'm not doing this shit again."

You stood your ground, waiting for him to continue.

He closed the gap between you completely now, hovering just above you, "I choose you because you're strong and intelligent. A fierce woman and a passionate lover,” He smirked, his face gradually getting closer to yours, “Stubborn as all hell and for some reason you decided to give this old man a chance.”

You glanced down at his lips, a blush on your cheeks from his words, before meeting his gaze once more, “You really mean all that?”

He let out a frustrated sigh, “Every bloody word.” He grabbed you jaw tilting your head up for a kiss, “I fucking love you.”

“I love you too,” you murmured.

“Now are we good now?” He asked.

You nodded smiling up at your Old Man, “We’re good.”

“Brilliant,” he said, taking the cigarettes from your hand and having a drag himself, “You’re gonna give me more grays, woman.” He grumbled leaning against the wall beside you and passing the cigarette back to you.

“Good,” you flashed him a cheeky grin, “Just makes you sexier.”

Everything Tag List: @jad3djay @fairygardenss @carlaangel86 @briannab1234 @starrynite7114 @agirllovespasta @howaboutash @gemini0410

[ft-dads-au]

Behind the Wall

A Collaboration by @mdelpin​ and @oryu404​

Lyoke Week 2020 Prompt: Family Pairing(s): Lyon & Loke (Pre-relationship)

AO3 | FF.Net

Summary: Loke is stunned when he finds Lyon sulking at the bar, and learns that he might be a father to a teenage girl. He starts to see the man he'd often thought of as cold in a new light, and is pleasantly surprised to discover that there's so much more to the family lawyer than he'd ever considered.

August 26, 2020

Loke entered Crime Sorciere after a long day in court. Handing his briefcase over to Natsu to put behind the bar, he took a seat next to Lyon, awaiting some sort of friendly insult in greeting, surprised when he didn’t get one.

“What’s the matter with him?” Loke asked Natsu as he ordered his usual drink, noticing that Lyon was staring off into space. “Did he lose a case or something?”

“I don’t think so. When he loses a case, he just goes off into a rant,” Natsu shrugged, mixing Loke’s drink before walking away to talk to another customer.

Loke decided that if Lyon wanted to talk, he’d do so, and seeing a pretty girl a few stools over, he introduced himself. When he returned twenty minutes later, he noticed Lyon had not seemed to have moved an inch.

Motioning Natsu for another drink, he stared at his friend with concern, “Okay, that’s it! You’re acting creepy as hell. What’s gotten into you?”

Lyon seemed to notice his presence for the first time, startling out of his trance and blinking at him, “Did you say something?”

“Yes! What the hell is wrong with you? You’re sitting there like some damn statue, it’s unnatural,” Loke complained.

“I just- I had some unexpected news, that’s all,” Lyon shrugged, trying to pretend like the matter held no importance, but Loke knew better.

It took a lot to shake Lyon. The man was like a fucking robot sometimes. He didn’t laugh at jokes, or hit on people, didn’t respond to advances of any kind, just worked hard at his cases. And he was damn good at what he did. He rarely lost.

He continued to stare at him, trying to see if he could somehow figure out what could be bothering him, but after a few more minutes of silence, he decided just to go ahead and ask.

“What type of news?” Loke asked, for once trying to be tactful. For all he knew, the guy’s parents could have taken ill or something.

When Lyon didn’t answer right away, he pushed a little, figuring that he’d call Gray and let him deal with it if that didn’t work. “Hey, we’re friends, remember?”

“You’re just going to turn it into a joke.”

“Hey, I resent that! I can take things seriously too, I couldn’t do my job otherwise,” Loke reminded him.

“Alright, but I swear if you’re an asshole about it, I won’t trust you with anything again.”

Loke made the cross your heart gesture and waited for Lyon to tell him what was bothering him.

“I think I’m a father,” Lyon breathed out, and from the panicked expression on his face, it was clear that it was the first time he’d said the words out loud.

“You knocked someone up?” Loke sputtered, “When the hell did you manage that? I’ve never seen you dating anyone.”

“Not to state the obvious, but you don’t have to date people to have sex with them. And you wouldn’t have seen it anyway. It happened over a decade ago. The girl has already turned fourteen.”

“That’s great, isn’t it?” Loke asked, “I have three daughters, and they’re awesome!”

“Yeah, but you’ve been a part of their lives from the very beginning, and you’ll continue to do so after the divorce is final. Her mother never told me anything, what am I supposed to do?”

Loke did some math in his head, “So this was in high school? Were you guys dating?”

Lyon shook his head, hiding his head in his hands, “She had a thing for me, and right before I left for college, we got together. It was only one night.”

“Well, that’s all it really takes,” Loke pointed out.

“Yes, Loke, I am well aware of how babies are made, thank you.”

“Wait, if the mom never told you, how did you find out?”

“The girl, who I suspect to be my daughter, called me at work. She’s looking for her father. She knows the man her mother is married to isn’t her biological father.”

“Did you tell her you were him?”

“Of course not! You don’t just blurt that sort of thing over the phone,” Lyon peered at Loke’s dumbfounded expression and amended, “Well, most of us wouldn’t.”

“I don’t see what the problem is, go talk to the mom. She can tell you whether you’re the father or not.”

“It’s not that easy. I can’t just waltz into this kid’s life and say, ‘Gee sorry you’ve never heard from me before, but I’m your dad.’”

“Don’t be an idiot, of course you can. It’s not your fault you weren’t there, you didn’t know,” Loke reminded him. “I’m sure if you had, things would have been different.”

When Lyon didn’t answer right away, Loke pressed, “You would have been there for them, right?”

Lyon looked away, appearing embarrassed, “I was a different person back then. I might have grown to resent her, or…” He lifted his shoulder in a half shrug, “I just don’t know.”

“I don’t believe that for a minute,” Loke scoffed, “Look, I think you’re missing a critical point here. She’s looking for you. She wants to meet you, maybe have you be a part of her life.”

“But what if knowing me messes her up?” Lyon looked horrified, and Loke had to laugh at him.

“Welcome to fatherhood, we’re all one step away from messing up our kid’s lives,” Loke grinned, “Dude, you’re like the most standup guy I‘ve ever met, I doubt you could mess her up if you tried. The best advice I can give you is to make sure you go through the mother if you want any chance of this not turning into a huge mess. But I think if it turns out you’re right, and she is your daughter, and you don’t do anything about it, you will regret it.”

Lyon’s eyes bored into him as he considered his words, and Loke met his gaze unwaveringly. He’d never seen this side of Lyon before, and he had to admit he rather liked it, even if it was a bit disconcerting to see him show actual feelings. He offered him an encouraging smile.

“You’re probably right,” Lyon finally responded, eyes softening slightly as he added, “Who would have thought you’d be the voice of reason.”

“There’s a first time for everything, I suppose,” Loke’s mouth twitched in amusement at the backhanded compliment. He motioned for Natsu to bring them a round of drinks.

“You feeling better?” Natsu asked, placing the drinks in front of them and glancing at Lyon with concern.

“Yeah, I’m good now.”

Natsu nodded and left them to their drinks. They sat silently, and Loke was surprised to realize he didn’t feel uncomfortable in the slightest.

“So, uhm, what’s it like to be a dad?” Lyon asked suddenly, startling Loke out of his thoughts.

“It’s amazing,” Loke said with a proud smile. “Stressful, exhausting, chaotic...but you get so much in return. No amount of money I make or cases I win can compare to that feeling of coming home to my girls jumping into my arms.”

“It is kind of nice when Aki does that, the days when I get home early enough anyway,” Lyon admitted with a shy smile.

Had he ever seen Lyon genuinely smile before? He didn’t think so. It was actually kind of nice. Loke didn’t know quite how to respond to this unguarded side of Lyon, so he reverted back to more comfortable ground. “I’m still trying to accept the fact that you’ve ever gotten laid,” he teased, “I was pretty sure you were such a hardass cause you were still a virgin.”

“No, I’m a hardass cause you’re a pain,” Lyon retorted but soon recanted, “But I guess sometimes you’re alright.”

“Just sometimes? I’ll have you know I’m fucking awesome all the time!”

Loke kept up the banter for the rest of the night, staying at Crime Sorciere with Lyon until closing time. It was the most fun he’d had in quite a while, and he couldn’t help but think he’d like to spend more time with this Lyon, and hoped that it wouldn’t take another life-changing discovery for them to share a night like this again.

[pipsketches]

Now I feel bad cause I have been sending a lot of asks. But I wonder. Your OCs have stories, that much I can tell. But I haven't seen an antagonist on the evil spectrum. So... Which is their story as a whole? Do they have villains or monsters? Or they just have a slice of life based story? Nothing wrong with that but got curious. The only reference I have of what you're doing is the tale they're based on, and I have NOT read or hear the whole thing.

No one else is asking so it’s free real-estate! Lol. I also don’t mind.

I’m using Journey to the West pretty much the same way Dragonball did (ridiculously loosely and not meant as an actual adaption) so even if you did, it wouldn’t matter to much.

I definitely don’t have to many evil characters. I like having characters go against each other because of circumstance, misunderstandings, opposing views, or a character’s selfish desire.

The few I have are character’s based on Mythological characters

Yama who is more evil in the “We don’t interfere with mortals” type God characters. In mythology, and other media, he is portrayed both as super evil and just a guy with a job that stresses him out but he is doing his best. I want a middle ground between the two. He’s a death God and resides in Naraka (Buddhist/Hindu’s version of hell which works a little differently from western’s version) and is in charge of choosing who gets punished and who doesn’t so I totally get why he s portrayed that way. So my version is more of guy who makes shitty choices but isn’t trying to be malicious.

Lilith who I am tweaking she was mostly based the biblical Lilith but I want to add elements of Mara’s daughters to her character. Although all of them are evil and have the shtick of tempting people or just fucking them over. Which I am keeping her around for. I do like the element of also just being pissed about having her babies killed and being asked to submit to Adam but idk how that will work with Mara’s mythology.

Mara (who I haven’t spent to much time on tbh) is basically the embodiment of evil in the mythology and that’s what I’m probably gonna keep him as.

Lily is like a demon witch who takes elements from Kurukulla who isn’t evil all the way either. She is said to be an enchantress and is a witch who helps people but also smites or messes with people for no reason. Which I’m keeping for Lily she’s evil more in the “I’m immortal and bored why not make some mess every now and then?” kinda way. Her tiger is like her familiar so he’s evil by association I guess.

Amier’s dad is just evil just the most bigoted asshole. Amier’s brother is more in the internalized hate that then gets taken out on others type evil. With Amier himself his “evil” is more “I know what my family is doing is wrong but I’m scared of them” which debatable on how evil that is. He is secretly plotting their demise with his buddies tho so they’re more in the gray because they are staying complicit with actions in the name of biding their time. Arylide is the main plotter and in part is doing some of it for her own gain and is more comfortable with some of the messier shit that comes with it like backstabbing and murder so theirs that.

Zane & Akina are probably more traditional villains with being a duo that wants to bring out an evil entity and cause chaos. 

Tayori I think is more gray kinda just doing whatever is convenient for him and having everyone distrust him cuz he’ll do you dirty if he has to.

Mach and Rei are just dumb and make poor decisions which ends up with them being at each other’s throats and will probably have a Naruto/Sasuke Adora/Catra moment or two.

Sunny is also in the “will do shit out of self interest or misguidedness” camp but she is generally a good person

My saint is more lawful evil or ends justify the means type which puts her at odds with the a lot of characters but again debatable on the evil thing

This group is more antagonistic to each other. They’re squabbling royalty tho so that is not so great for their people. None of them are trying to destroy anything in particular just kind of gain power or fuck each other over for clout.

The last group is more honorable mention for the exception of “dragon monkey” (haven’t given him a name yet) he is straight up manipulative and conniving. 

Jampa being one of the characters that gets manipulated by him. He does bad shit out of misguidedness, selfishness, and just fuckboy shit.

Oshi also kinda gets manipulated by “dragon monkey” and does things out of misguided desires but he isn’t trying to hurt anyone necessarily.

Menaka and Sandy do/did stick around Oshi for some stuff but they themselves aren’t evil. Sandy is down for a good rebellion and petty theft though

That’s how I’ll leave it! Cuz this is already longer than I thought it was gonna be sorry lol

[chenle-dressed-in-black]

baldrs, neos, and kangs~     pt. 2

     This the second installment of my new NCT mafia au. I’m going to try to post at least two new parts a week, so please look forward to that! I hope you enjoy.

m.list

bn&k series m.list

warnings: language (it’s really not that bad)

word count: 1.7k

     One second she’s bursting out of Gwen’s lobby and in the next, Sooyoung is in the middle of downtown San Diego, tall buildings surrounding her. Normally, the skyscrapers and easygoing crowds make her feel liberated somehow. Seeing the faces of carefree college kids going from one club to the next eases her own stress. 

     However, the exhilarated screams the people around her are letting out send her into panic mode right now. It’s Wednesday and those screams remind her too much of her apartment. Her breathing hitches as she freezes in the middle of the busy sidewalk. People whip by Sooyoung as memories of the first few Wednesday nights in her apartment flash before her. She folds in on herself until she is hunched in a ball on the cement, knees pressed tightly to her chest. 

     Sooyoung’s sob are raking through her body when a concerned stranger speaks. “Are you okay?” She can’t speak. “Hello?”

     “Hey, why don’t you move from the middle of the sidewalk, lady!” calls a different voice.

     The first voice must not like that, because he yells back, “Why don’t you mind your business, asshole!” A conflicted sigh. “You should move somewhere people won’t step on you.” 

     Using every ounce of strength Sooyoung has left, she jumps up and starts speed-walking back to Gwen’s apartment. She needs to apologize. “Wait a second!” The man hurries to catch up and she stops to let him. “Do you have anyone to call?”

     Sooyoung stretches her sweatshirt sleeve, impatiently brushing away her tears. “I’m alright; thank you.”

     “You shouldn’t be alone right now,” he says. “Isn’t there a person I can call for you?” 

     “I’m fine,” assures Sooyoung. She starts walking again. “Really.”

     The brown-haired boy is right beside her. “Let me walk you, then.” 

     “Don’t.” 

     “Do you have somewhere to stay? I can buy you a hotel room.” He shakes his head. “That sounds creepy, but I didn’t mean it like that.” 

     The buildings are starting to spin around in the sky as Sooyoung stumbles, losing her balance. He reaches out to steady her, but the physical contact of his warm skin on her wrist only makes her feel worse. “Let go of me.” 

     “I’m sorry.” He lets go instantly. “I was just trying to help.”

     “And thanks,” she says hysterically, pulling out her phone. Surely Gwen will still answer the phone, even after an argument like that. She’ll know that something is wrong and put aside her anger, right? “Please leave me alone now.” 

     The guy backs off, watching her carefully but not following her when she runs off, fumbling through her phone. His eyebrows shoot up as he watches Sooyoung stumble over an uneven brick, silky black hair flying through the air before she slams onto the ground. He’s by her side in a second, but he’s not the only one.

     “Who are you?” A short woman with an unusually high-pitched voice demands as she kneels beside Sooyoung. She cradles her head. 

     “You know her?”

     She glares at him. “Do you?” 

     Then she does something very strange; she pushes her brown bangs off of her forehead, points to the crumpled girl, and stares at him expectantly, like she’s waiting for him to realize something. One look at their faces gives them away—the two girls are twins. Although one has long black hair and the other’s is short and dyed brown, it’s as plain as day. The resemblance is striking and hits him in a wave. “I just met her.”

     Both of their gazes dart over toward Sooyoung, who tries to sit up. She takes one look at her sister, lets out a gasp, and rolls back to the ground, unconscious. “Whatever,” says the sister. “Help me move her.” 

     “Shouldn’t we call an ambulance?” He wouldn’t, but this passed out girl is not like him—she can go to a hospital.

     “No!” She spits the protest out almost instinctively, which doesn’t go unnoticed. “Both my parents are doctors; I’m taking her home.”

     Together, they load Sooyoung into the backseat of her sister’s brand-new gray Audi. She rushes into the driver’s seat, waving him toward the passenger’s. He tentatively gets in. The brunette is driving much too fast, so she is out of the city and at the front gate of a wealthy neighborhood way faster than she should be. 

     “Sooyoung,” says the girl before looking at him. “And her boy-toy, welcome to La Jolla.”

     The house is gigantic and modern. It’s all white concrete and glass. Before he can marvel over the wonderful architecture of the mansion in peace for too long, the brunette twin is fleeing from the haphazardly parked car and screaming in Korean. He’s Korean, too, so he understands her desperate cries for her mom and dad. 

     He cracks open the door car door but waits for someone to come outside, taking another look at the house. The price tag is the tens of millions, easily. Probably higher. That sparks his curiosity, though he does recall her saying that both of her parents are doctors. The glass front door is pushed aside and a middle-aged woman comes out onto the front steps. 

     “Hyeyoung!” She cups her daughter’s cheek. “What is it?”

     Hyeyoung turns back to her car, pointing. “It’s Sooyoung.”

     Her father rushes outside and to the car. He scoops his daughter out of the backseat, carrying her inside. His wife runs after him. They disappear behind a white wall. “They’ll want to thank you,” says Hyeyoung. “Come inside.” 

     He probably should refuse, but part of him wants to see more of the house. From the roundabout driveway, he can already see into the curvy living room and through to the ocean. He’s in awe because, yes, he lives in a house like this, but he didn’t know so many other people do. And normal people, like doctors? He comes to his senses after a few awkwardly silent moments in the white-washed living space. “I should go. It was no problem to help you sister; I was glad to.”

     “Our parents aren’t who she says they are.” Hyeyoung is whispering knowingly, smirking at him. “They aren’t bad people—they save lives. Don’t be scared of them. We just want Sooyoung to be happy, and if you make her that way, they’ll love you.” 

     “Look,” he begins, “I’m sure your parents are awesome, but I have no clue what you’re talking about. I don’t know your sister. I saw her having a panic attack and I wanted to help.” 

     She meticulously scans him with narrowed eyes. “You’re good, but I know Sooyoung. She made you practice, didn’t she? I bet you’re going off a script right now.”

     “I’m not. I need to go.” 

     “Fine, boy-toy. Just tell me your name.” 

     He’s weaving through the house, trying to find a door. “I’m Mark, who needs to leave.” 

     “Mark, I’m Hyeyoung, which you already figured out.” She’s following him, but not helping. That means he must be going in the right direction, right? 

     Mark hopes so, because this is getting a little weird. He locates the glass door and steps outside. Hyeyoung stops in the doorway, calling out with a smile, “I knew you were acting the second you didn’t recognize me! Sooyoung probably talks about me all the time. I’d guess you knew exactly who I was before you even saw me, boy-toy Mark.” 

     This girl still believes he is her sister’s new fling, but he doesn’t feel like that’s his problem. With a smug little grin, Mark walks out the front gate.

                                     ~ ~ ~ ~

     Hyeyoung closes the door furiously. When Gwendolyn, gets here, she swears she’s going to . . . instead, she walks through the foyer. “Taewoo!”

     “My name is Jeffrey, miss.” 

     She dismisses his comment with a careless wave of the hand. “You look like a Taewoo. I’ve decided it’s your Korean name. Also, don’t call me ‘miss.’ I hate it. Where’s Sooyoung?” 

     “Her room, miss. I’m not Korean, so I don’t need a Korean name.” 

     With a childish frown, Hyeyoung heads toward the stairs. She spins around midway, nodding at him. “Your job must be so easy now that she’s not here to cause trouble.” 

     Jeffrey heaves a deep breath. “Yes, miss Sooyoung was the problem.” 

     “I think I know what you’re getting at, but I better be wrong. My sister’s not here to put in a good word for you. There’s only me and my parents and your current lack of job security. I’ll fire you in a second, Taewoo.” She smiles an empty smile. “You’re Sooyoung’s babysitter, but you’re not babysitting anymore, so what exactly are you here for?” 

     He steps toward her. “Because of your parents’ generosity. You could learn from them, miss.” 

     “Don’t test me.” 

     “Threatening our help, now are we?” Hyeyoung doesn’t have to turn to know that Gwendolyn is behind her. “That’s low, cuz, even for you.” 

     “Hi, Gwen,” says Jeffrey, perking up. “Who’s your friend?” 

     “Don’t worry about him. Where is she?” 

     Jeffrey points to the ceiling and Gwen takes her guest’s hand, pulling him toward the elevator. “Her house is insane,” Sicheng says once the two of them are alone in the glass elevator. “I never dreamed it would look like this.” 

     “Remember why we’re here. We have to get her out.” 

     The door opens with an automated ding. Gwen dashes through the hall and around the corner. Sicheng moves more slowly, taking in every inch of glass and blue sea. A sound from behind makes him turn. It’s the grumpy girl from downstairs. Now that he sees her face, he does a double-take. “Sooyoung, your hair—”

     “Hyeyoung,” she corrects. She’s looking at the blond boy like he is an idiot. “You got the wrong sister.” 

     “She has a sister?” 

     “Obviously.” She shoves past him, going the same way Gwen did. “I’m her twin.”

     Sicheng follows her down the hallway and into a bedroom with two glass walls, opposite each other. One shows the moon shining brightly over the ocean, while the other puts the rest of the glass house on display. The room is floating over another body of water. It must be a pool. Sooyoung is lying in the plush white bed, her beautiful eyes closed. This place feels like a pipe dream made of serene peace and blue sky. How could terrible monsters live here? Despite everything, Sicheng trusted Gwen’s judgement. He has to admit to himself that there is something a little too nice about this place. Beautiful things like this always come at a price. The question is: who has to pay it?

     Because the king is never the one who falls at the sword. 

bn&k series m.list

[sugarbooger513]

Angel’s Rising- Chapter Four

    “It’s the weekend, Aria. Chill out a bit.” Lilith rolls her eyes when she notices me grading a few papers. I give her a smile and pat her head. “Sorry. I promised Aizawa that I would have these done so he can put the grades in.” 

     I’ve worked at UA for a week now. I gotta say, it’s nice. For the most part, the kids are really easy to get along with. They seem to be happy I’m there. Apparently Aizawa seems more relaxed now that he has help with all of his work. 

     “Can Rose and I go hang out with the guys?” “Where are you going?” “The park.” I shrug and give her a smile. “Just check in with me every once in a while, okay? Do you need some money to go eat?” Before she can say no, I pull my wallet out and dig a twenty from it. 

     She doesn’t want to take it, but she eventually gives in to my pouts.Before they leave, I give them both a hug and kiss on their head. Of course, as soon as they walk out the door, mom comes from downstairs. The scowl on her face makes me mad already. 

     “Where the hell are they going?” “To hang out with some friends. Lilith said she’ll check in with me.” She rolls her eyes while going to the fridge. “They should be checking in with me. I’m their mom.” Sure you are, lady. I ignore her presence now, focusing instead on the stack of papers I still have. 

     My phone rings, and I answer it with a smile. “Hey Aizawa.” “Hey. Do you and the girls need anything while I’m out?” I roll my eyes and laugh. “No. The girls just left to hang out with some friends.” He knows who I mean, so he doesn’t question it. “Oh. Do you need anything?” “I’m fine. I promise.” He lets out a short yawn. “You want to grab lunch with me?” “Aizawa, I still have to finish these-” “I can grab it and bring it there, if you want.” 

    My face flushes, and mom notices it. “U-uhh.. I mean, I..” He chuckles a bit at my stuttering.��“Are you worried about me coming in your house?” “A-A little bit. It isn’t much.” He sighs, and I can hear his car’s blinker turn on. “I’m picking up sushi. I’ll be there soon, okay? We can finish the grading together.” I sigh in defeat. This man is too kind for his own good. “Fiiine. I’ll see you soon, ‘Zawa.” He scoffs at the nickname and hangs up. 

     “Who was that?” “Oh. It’s the girl’s teacher. He wants to come over and help me grade.” She grabs a bottle of whiskey, which makes my stomach drop. Lovely. He’s going to see that side of her. When I hear a knock at the door, i jump from the couch and go to open it. 

     Aizawa’s gray eyes make me almost forget to breathe. God, he’s one handsome guy. He gives a small smile and puts a bag in my hand. “I promise I got some for me, too. You don’t have to beat me up.” I giggle and smile sweetly at him. “Good because I could toootally beat you up.” He notices my mom staring, so he walks in and places his stuff on a coffee table. “I believe we’ve met before.” 

     She ignores him holding his hand out. “You were the teacher who was blamed for the kids using their quirks at that damn summer camp.” Oh my god. There’s a bit of shock in his eyes. “Umm.. yes. I gave the kids permission to protect themselves.” “Mom, this isn’t-” “Shut up, Aria.” I whimper and back away from the two of them. “You almost got my babies killed, sir.” “Umm.. Rose and Lilith were both unharmed. Trust me, they were protected.” Ignoring the fear in my chest, I step to stand beside Aizawa.

     “He did what he had to at that camp, mom. Trust me, this man cares for his students.” Mom glares at me, but I send it back to her. There’s no way I’ll let Aizawa get blamed for that training camp. He glances down at me, a worried look in his eyes. “Aria, it’s okay.” “No, it isn’t. I know that you did what was best for them. If I had been in your place, I would have done the same thing.” “Yeah,” mom rolls her eyes, “you don’t have a useful quirk when it comes to being a hero. Your quirk doesn’t hurt people. My daughters will be real heroes.” I bite my lip and look at the ground. 

      Aizawa places a hand on my shoulder and pushes me to the couch. “Ignore her, Aria. You have a damn good quirk.” I sit with him and smile softly. “Don’t worry. I’m used to her saying it.” “But you are a hero. You’ve made it. Don’t let her take that from you.” He grabs our lunch and places mine in front of me. He doesn’t have to tell me to eat, his stern look says it for him. Before he grabs his, he takes a second to throw his hair into a low ponytail. It’s nice seeing his face for once, honestly. 

     As we eat, he grabs one of the papers I graded and starts reading it. “Oh, come on, Kaminari. English isn’t that hard.” I shrug and swallow the sushi in my mouth. “I know. Poor thing spelled ‘disturbed’ with a ‘z’.” “I didn’t even catch that one. I just saw how he managed to misspell his first name.” Oh hell, how did I not catch that? Aizawa places the paper down and sighs. “I worry about that kid, but I hope Rose is able to teach him something.” 

     “What do you think about lilith and Tenya?” He shrugs and pretty much swallows a piece of his sushi roll without chewing. “I mean, she’s less prone to calling me homeless since the two of them started talking. Iida calms down around her. They’re good together, but I worry about how hard workers they both are.” “Why does that worry you?” “Well,” he sighs in thought, “it’s good, don’t get me wrong, but if they both become overworked.. they might not know how to tell the other to take a break. You see where I’m getting?” I nod. Lilith and Rose are both that way. I hate to say they act like me, but they really do.

     When I was in high school, you never saw me without a textbook or my notes. I studied constantly. If I wasn’t studying, i was training. Sometimes Midnight would help, and other times I would practice on a dummy. It’s one reason I encourage the girls to go hang out with their friends. I want them to be as stress free as possible while staying on top of their work. 

     I don’t know what makes me speak again, but I do. “Hey, Aizawa.” “Yes?” “I.. really enjoy spending time with you. Outside of the class, I mean.” He looks at me with wide eyes. Is he surprised. “Really?” “Yeah? Is there a problem with that?” He shakes his head, obviously still confused. “Not a problem. I tend to scare people away, though.” I giggle and move our trash to the table. “Go ahead, try scaring me away. I bet you can’t.” He gives me a small smile before shoving me a bit. “I don’t want to scare you away. I enjoy your friendship. Now shut up and help me grade these.” 

     Both of us go quiet once we start grading these papers. Of course, he’s faster at it than I am, so he ends up grading from both of our stacks. I swear, he finishes his stack and a third of mine. Once he reaches over for my last paper, I grab his wrist. 

     “Aizawa, I will draw a penis on your hand.” “What are you, twelve? Let me grade the damn-” When I hold the pen towards his hand, he grabs my wrist and pins it to the couch. “No ma’am.” “Yes sir.” He rolls his eyes, but starts laughing softly. God, his laugh is nice. It’s contagious, too. Once he lets me go, he snatches the paper despite my pouting. “Pouty faces don’t work on me, Aria.” “Shut up. Do you want some juice?” When he nods a bit, I jump up and walk to the kitchen.

     The most embarrassing thing is having to jump to reach the top cabinets. Still, I manage to grab two cups without needing a chair. When i open the fridge, I grab our bottle of grape juice and pour it into both cups. 

     However, I don’t realize that Aizawa is behind me until he reaches to grab one of the cups. My dumb instincts cause me to squeak and.. fling a cup full of grape juice on his shirt. He stands there, dumbfounded.

     “I-I am so so sorry!” “No, it was an accident. I’m sorry for sneaking up like that.” I quickly grab a dishcloth form a drawer and start patting it on his shirt. He seems to blush a bit, but I ignore it. “Seriously, Aria, it’s-” “What size shirt do you wear? I have some men’s clothes you should be able to fit.” He rolls his eyes. “A large.” I nod and place the rag in his hand while I rush to my room. 

     This time, I hear him following me. As I’m searching through a drawer, he sighs. “It really isn’t a big deal, Aria.” “I feel terrible. Just let me wash that for you.” I hold a white shirt out to him, which he takes reluctantly. “Fine. Quit worrying, though.” I reach my hands out and take the bundle of scarves from around his neck. He tenses a bit, but doesn’t stop me. Once I place them on my bed and look back at him, I’m frozen. Holy. Shit. 

     He throws the sweatshirt he had on to the ground without looking at me. I know staring is rude, but I can’t help it. In his hero costume, he really looks like a twig, but damn he’s a muscled twig. He finally notices my stares and lets out a sigh. “You looking at the scars?” Oh. There are scars aren’t there? Still, I nod absent mindedly, not wanting to admit that I was just staring at how hot he is. That would be awkward at work, wouldn’t it? 

     “You know,” He stops putting the other shirt on and looks in my eyes, “you can just tell me the truth.” My face heats up and I finally turn away from him. “S-Shut up and get dressed!” He chuckles softly. Asshole. 

     “I’m clothed. You can look now.” I turn and roll my eyes at his smirk. “You’re awfully playful today, Aizawa.” When I pick up his sweatshirt, he chuckles. “I’m having a good day. I enjoy your company.” I was going to open my door, but something makes me get a bit brave. I shut it again and glance over my shoulder at him. He tilts his head. “Well,” I bite my lip slightly, “you could always.. enjoy it more often..” His eyes widen, but I see a smirk on his face. 

     “Interesting. That’s something I should consider.” When he winks at me, I lose my brave side. Damn, he’s too good. I go to open the door again, but he stops it with one hand. “Hold on now. You can’t tease me like that and suddenly get flustered.” “I-I teased you?” He chuckles lightly and turns me so my back is against the door. “Umm, yeah, you did.” He places one of his arms over my head so he can lean his forehead against it. His smile is soft, and it makes my stomach erupt in butterflies. 

     “Hey,” his voice is soft, “you’re.. you’re really cute. I just.. want you to know that.” His other hand comes up and rests on my cheek. Is this real? Am I dreaming about this? I really hope not.  His calloused thumb runs gently over my cheekbone, and I lean into his touch. 

     I never heard the front door open. “Sis? Are you home?” Aizawa chuckles lightly and backs away from me. “Come on. Lets convince them we weren’t banging in here or something.” Right. Because I totally can speak right now. I nod and walk out of my room with his sweatshirt in my hand. 

     Rose smiles brightly at me, but it fades when she sees Aizawa behind me. “M-Mr. Aizawa? Why are you here?” Lilith pops from around the corner and looks at me confused. He holds his hands up and chuckles. “Chill. I came to help grade and bring her lunch.” Lilith points to the shirt he’s wearing. “Isn’t that yours, Aria?” Busted. “I spilled grape juice on him, so I need to wash his shirt.” “I can just take it home, Aria.” 

     “She won’t let you, sir. I would let her take care of it.” Lilith and Rose both laugh. Aizawa sighs before smiling at me. “Fine, but just bring it to school tomorrow.” I nod and suddenly remember his scarves on my bed. I turn to quickly grab them. “Here.. you shouldn’t forget these.” He smiles and places them back around his neck. 

     “I should probably head out. I’ll take the papers so I can put them in the computer.” I nod and grab the stack for him. “Hey, Mr. Aizawa.” He tilts his head and glances at Lilith. She smiles a bit and lets out a chuckle. “You should totally come over more often.” “Yeah,” Rose nods, “it’s nice seeing Aria hang out with someone other than us.” 

     He’s genuinely shocked from what they said. I am too, but it isn’t a lie that the girls are my only real friends. I look down and try my best to ignore the rising heat in my cheeks. It isn’t easy though when I can feel his eyes staring into my soul. 

     “I.. I would love to, girls. Now, I really have to go. I’ll be here to pick you three up tomorrow. Behave for your sister.” The twins roll their eyes, but each wave goodbye to Aizawa. When I look up, he’s still staring at me. His smile is soft. “I’ll see you at work, Aria.” I open my mouth to say something, but Lilith interrupts me. “Oh come on, just hug at least. Lame asses.” 

     “L-Lilith! I swear-” I cut my sentence off when Aizawa chuckles. What’s so funny? When I look at him, his cheeks are dusted a faint pink. Was he.. wanting to give me a hug? 

     “Aizawa?” “Come here, goofball.” I smile and walk into his strong embrace. He smells strongly of coffee and laundry detergent. That sounds odd, but it’s comforting. I feel.. at home like this. I know that I’m technically at my house, but.. something about being around him makes sense. It just does. 

     “Hey, Aria.” “Y-yeah?” “The twins smiles at each other and walked away.” Of course they did. I immediately hop away from him, my face pretty much on fire. “I-ignore them. They like to mess with m-me.” He chuckles and gives a small shrug. 

     “I don’t have siblings, so I wouldn’t know. However, it is pretty funny to get you all flustered.” I slap him on his chest, which only causes him to grin. “I will wipe that smirk off your face, Aizawa.” “Do it, kid.” I huff, which makes him snort and turn away from me. 

     I follow him outside where his car is parked. “I’m not that much younger than you, Aizawa.” “Eight years is a bit of a gap, kid.” “Quit calling-” “Nope.” God, is he usually childish? Don’t get me wrong, I like this side of him. It’s just weird having him so playful. 

     “Hey, I really do need to go.” “Got a girl to see?” He smiles softly and rolls his eyes. “I already saw you today, Aria. You’re the only person I bother seeing.” Okay, that makes me blush. I didn’t expect that kind of answer. When he takes his hair from the ponytail, he seems to notice my frown. 

     “What’s wrong?” “Oh,” I chuckle, “I just enjoy seeing your face.” “Gross.” “No, really. You’re.. you’re a good looking guy.” He chuckles and pulls me into another hug. “Aww. You’re too kind. I’ll see you in the morning.” 

     I’m not prepared for him to lean down to place a kiss on my cheek. He doesn’t look at my face after. He just rushes to get in his car. 

     I watch him drive away, my heart pounding loudly. It takes a bunch of effort to turn and walk inside. Of course, Lilith and Rose are waiting for me. 

     “Sis,” Lilith chuckles, “I think you have a crush.” “On our teacher, nonetheless. Good. Maybe we can get out of detentions if they bang.” I ignore Rose’s comment, still fuzzy from the kiss. I touch my cheek and smile to myself. Lilith snaps in my face to get my attention. “Do you?” 

     When I giggle, she lets out a sigh. “A thirty year old grouchy teacher? Wow, you need taste.” I shrug and pick his sweatshirt up from the couch. It smells mostly like grape juice now, but there’s still him on it. “You two..” The twins look at me with worried looks. 

     “How.. how do you two feel around Denki and Tenya? What.. how do you know?” Rose is the first to answer. “He.. he’s more than a best friend. He understands that, well, I don’t come from the best place.” Lilith nods and chimes in. “He makes time, despite the hero course being so hard.” I look at their faces, and both of them are smiling like idiots. 

     “Do they.. feel like home?” “No. They are home.” I smile at their answer and squeeze the sweatshirt tighter to my chest. Yeah, he is my home. I don’t know why, or how, but that man is my home. 

@katgalle

[brokemultidotexe]

Carry You Home Pt.2 | JJK

↬ Pairing: Jungkook x OC [Dami]

↬ Summary: When Jungkook took a job in Syria to be a diplomat’s detail, he didn’t expect to be assigned to her daughter, and he didn’t expect to get along with her daughter so well. During an outing, Dami is taken and Jungkook doesn’t know why or by who. Jungkook knows time is of the essence so he enlists the help of some friends with the right type of skills and does anything and everything he can to bring her home because it’s no longer about his job…it’s personal.

↬ Word Count: 3k

↬ Warning/Rating: Violence | [M]

↬ Genre: Action/Angst

↬ Part: 1 | 2

Jungkook had walked into Yoongi’s house without knocking and walked through the living room back to the computer room where he hoped Yoongi would be. “Before you ask, no her cell phone hasn’t come back on but I am currently trying to see if I can position SM’s satellite and hopefully be able to use it as a google maps type thing. The bad news is that the most we will probably get is heat signatures.” He spun back around and clicked around on his screen.

“We’re in the middle of a fucking desert Yoongi, what the hell is a heat signature going to tell us!?” His voice was rising despite him doing his best to try and keep himself level headed.

“Hey!” he turned and snapped at him. “I get your stressed but you’re not going to turn into an asshole. Did you forget how many times I was able to lead you out of shitty situations with next to nothing? And not that it matters, but the reason it will work is that it gets a lot cooler in the evenings which will show heat signatures if they aren’t in town and did, in fact, start driving off-road.”

Jungkook tugged at his hair, “I need to find her Yoongi.”

“I know that Jungkook but yo-”

“No, you don’t understand! There is so much shit you don’t know about, that I can’t tell you. I need to find her in the next 24 hours Yoongi, or this could get even worse. I don’t have the networking here that I do in the states. The fewer people know, the better. But I’m almost positive this goes up higher than a pissed off terrorist group with some agenda. Jason was with her when they took her. He pushed her into the van. This is so much more…tell me I’m wrong!” Jungkook was thinking about every possible scenario she could be in and it was driving him into a panic.

It was quiet between them, “Alright, let me call Jimin and Namjoon. Between the three of us and the contacts we have, we’re bound to find something. Just go sit down and let me do what I do.”

Jungkook nodded and pulled out his phone and scrolled through his contacts hoping that maybe he could think of someone who he could trust to help them. But after thinking about it for a moment he wanted to keep the circle as tight as possible so he put his phone back in his pocket and sat down on a chair in the living room. He pressed the palm of his hands into his eyes and started going through earlier today and trying to figure out if maybe he caught something that could give him answers. The human brain takes in so much information at one time that it makes it easy to miss something. Jungkook had learned this process while working in Afghanistan and he was his platoon leader and had to be the one to debrief and give his superiors all the information from missions.

So Jungkook was running the morning with Dami in his mind, seconds at a time. From the time they left the house to the point of him pulling into Yoongi’s driveway. His mind derailed when he thought about how much she had smiled this morning and how happy she was. The fact she made him laugh and the suffocation of guilt for letting Jason anywhere near her. He felt the anger rise with the guilt. If he ever got his hands on Jason he would be the last thing that piece of shit saw.

Dami’s head hurt and the sides of her mouth hurt, they felt raw. She blinked a few times trying to get her eyes to focus. She felt her body jostle and she noticed she couldn’t use her hands to brace herself from rolling. It was then that she noticed the fabric tied around her mouth and something that was holding her hands together behind her. She did her best to sit upright.

“Good, you’re up. How’s your head?” Jason grimaced. “Things didn’t exactly work out the way they were supposed to. I honestly didn’t think you’d fight back like you did.” He reached over and tried to tuck the hair that had fallen in her face behind her ear. Dami pulled back at his touch.

Dami’s eyes were taking in her surroundings. She was in a van that looked to be gutted without any seats in the back. The only seats were the driver and passenger seats, which both were occupied. Her confusion turned to anger as the memories slowly came back to how she got here.

Dami went to ask a question but it was muffled and the material rubbed at the sides of her mouth. “If I take the gag off are you going to scream or cause issues?”

Dami shook her head. He leaned on his knees and pulled the gag down so the material hung around her neck. She stretched out her jaw and licked her lips, “You kidnapped me?” her voice was barely audible as she looked at him.

“I don’t think I would consider this kidnapping per say.” Jason said offhandedly.

“You took me against my will, Jason. Are you joking?” she asked incredulously. She knew losing her cool on him was the last thing she needed to do. Dami had made fun of Jungkook when he made her sit down and listen on what to do if she was ever taken. She thought he was being overly dramatic the last few weeks, but she had never been more grateful. Comply, Compare, and Contact. The three C’s that Jungkook had drilled into her. It was one of the only reasons she seemed so calm. But she was terrified on the inside.

“I haven’t hurt you. I still care about you Dami.” His voice was soft. All she wanted to do was head-butt him in the face, but knew that following through would be an awful idea.

“If you care about me, then let me go. I don’t know what all of this is about, but I have nothing to do with it.” She glanced from him to the people in the front.

“You have everything to do with it. The United States government refuses to listen, so we’re going to force them. It’s much easier to take the child of a diplomat than the diplomat themselves. What we had was real I don’t want you to think that I only used you Dami.”

Dami shook her head, her hands started to shake. This was truly happening and she was terrified. Her mind went through everything Jungkook had taught her. There was some comfort that he did show her how to get out of zip ties if she was ever in that situation. At the time it was just something to do to pass the time while they waited on her mother, but now she needed to apply it to real life. She took a shaky breath and just looked at the ground. She needed to get her thoughts in order and start following Jungkook’s three C’s. For now, she needed to comply.

Jungkook had been banished from Yoongi’s computer room after interrupting him for the sixth time. Jimin was now sitting with him out in the living room. Jimin had served with Jungkook and both had decided to take positions at the same place. The pay was great and it helped to have a friend.

“I know you’ve probably done this already but can you describe anything about them? The vehicle, the people, anything?” Jimin was looking at Jungkook intently. Both had switched into the marines they had been a few years ago. They were already planning and trying to network. They had already moved into the gray area of the law, but not enough to get flagged by anyone.

“Blue van. The paint was chipping and faded. The side mirror had duct tape on it. The driver had on a brown shirt, I think, the guy pulling her in was wearing a blue shirt but I couldn’t really see his face. It shouldn’t be hard to figure him out, I shot his hand. I don’t know how bad it is but I heard him yell out in pain and I saw some blood. Then there’s Jason, he’s wearing Jeans, with a plain white t-shirt and a button down. It was light blue and dark blue plaid.” Jungkook looked over at Jimin, “That’s all I can remember. I keep going through everything again but that’s the most I can come up with.”

Jimin had always been in awe of Jungkook’s ability to recall situations and surroundings when something would happen too quickly for most to even process a single detail. It was times like this where they truly benefited from it. “Can you remember seeing that van any other time you’ve gone out with Dami?”

“No, Minseo hasn’t let Dami go out in a while, at least not into town. There has been serious tension with the Syrian government and Minseo felt it was enough to warrant keeping everyone at home when possible.” Jungkook was beating himself up for letting them walk ahead. He knew he shouldn’t do it, but he had let the wishes of Dami trump his training and better judgment. In his moment of trying to make Dami just a little happier about being able to leave the house, he put her in harm’s way and now he had no idea where she was.

“What about her and Jason. Did they have a fight recently? Do you think this could be something as stupid as jealousy or irrational behavior and he’s just trying to scare her?”

Jungkook groaned in frustration, “Not that I know of, but I wasn’t exactly her confidant in her love life. She knew I couldn’t stand Jason. We had a huge argument about it a few months ago and after a few days of her not talking to me I told her I wouldn’t talk about it anymore and I’d keep my mouth shut. So even if something did happen between them, I wouldn’t know about it.”

Jimin nodded, “Okay, then let’s start there. We both know that it’s probably not that, but while Yoongi and Namjoon work their magic it gives you something to do. We can go back to her house and take a look around. We can take the back entrance so the Yeo’s don’t know.”

Jungkook nodded, “Okay, let me just check with Yoongi before we go.”

“Dude.” Jimin warned standing up with him, “You’re gonna get banned from the house.”

“I just wanna check progress before we go, that’s it.” He raised his hands in defense.

“Then I’ll talk to Namjoon,” Jimin said just about a whisper as they walked towards Yoongi’s kitchen which was where Namjoon had set up shop. He put his hands on boys shoulders. “Hey.”

Namjoon didn’t look up from his computer, “Hey.”

Jimin’s face contorted into confusion, “What is that?”

It was like Namjoon had just realized that they were in the kitchen with him, “Oh. Umm, I’m currently searching through all the radio waves that are around the area we think they may have driven towards. We aren’t sure if they’re even using radios or if it’s only those few guys, but it would let us pinpoint where they are within a ten square mile area.” Namjoon’s concentration never broke from his task.

“We’re gonna go search Dami’s room if anyone finds anything just call one of us.” Jimin motioned for Jungkook to follow him out the back door

“You guys be safe.” Namjoon’s eyes left the monitor for a split second to look at both of them.

“Of course, now nerd out.” Jimin jutted his chin to the computer and Namjoon rolled his eyes.

They both climbed in Jimin’s car and it didn’t take long to get to Dami’s house. Jungkook leaned over when Jimin pulled up and handed his badge along with Jimin’s military ID, “Hey Jongdae.” The guard looked at the badge and handed it back and tilted his head letting them through. Jungkook directed Jimin to park at the back of the house. They made their way through the house as quietly as possible. They would walk by some of their staff a few times before they had made it upstairs and inside Dami’s room. Jungkook made sure to close the door behind them.

Jungkook went straight towards her bedside table and opened the drawer, “She keeps shit everywhere so you’ll probably find random shit in weird places. There’s art stuff everywhere so don’t mess with it or she’ll have my head.” He talked as if there was no chance that he wouldn’t get her back. Jungkook pulled out the notebook he’d been looking for. He felt so awful and wrong breaking her privacy by reading her journal but he didn’t know how else to find out what was happening and if she and Jason had been fighting. He did his best to just skim the pages instead of reading every detail, partly because of time and partly so he wasn’t completely taking away her privacy. His eyes stopped at Jason’s name and made sure to fully read the entry.

I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing anymore. I’ve been stuck in this house for far too long and Jason came over today to spend time together since my mother has lost her mind. Sometimes I don’t feel like he’s truly into me because I won’t instantly open my legs for him. I mean we’ve done other stuff, but I don’t trust him fully. He tried pushing me farther than I was comfortable with. My first reaction was to talk to Jungkook about it and get his opinion, he doesn’t like Jason and I think I’m starting to see it myself. I wish I could go to him about this and it not cross a line. We agreed to not discuss Jason, and I didn’t want to break that so I’m going to try and navigate this myself. But if he keeps pushing me I think I may need to tell Jungkook because I know Jungkook would protect me.

The emotions were so overwhelming. The anger at Jason for pushing her when she didn’t want to have sex. The sadness that she felt she couldn’t come to him about that as well as a small bit of jealousy that he wasn’t sure about. He knows it would have been weird for a few minutes but he would have talked to her, he would have been honest. But lastly the guilt, she knew he would protect her. It didn’t matter what it was about she trusted him and he had failed her. He closed the journal and slid it in his back pocket and told himself it was for research purposes only.

“Hey JK, I think you should look at this.” Jimin pulled a photo from a cork board and handed it to him. It was a picture of Dami and Jason standing on top of a small mountain and he could see something farther in the background. It was a long shot but if they had visited it before, he may take her there to make her feel a sense of safety. It wasn’t uncommon in this type of situation since they had a relationship beforehand.

“Let’s get this to Yoongi. It may not be anything but if they’ve visited there before they could possibly go back. It seems secluded enough.” he slid it in his pocket paired with the journal from before.

“I agree. I’m gonna grab this sketchbook from her bed and bring it back. A quick flip through showed some landscapes so maybe she’s drawn where she’s at before.”

“No.” Jungkook’s voice was firm.

Jimin’s eyebrows shot up, “Why? It’s just a sketchbook.”

“Because you don’t know her. That sketchbook is even worse than me scanning through her journal. That’s the window to her soul, or at least that’s what she tells me. I gave her that for her birthday. She would never forgive me.”

“I’m pretty sure she would give you a pass if it saves her Jungkook. You need to get past your relationship with her and start thinking critically. This is the time to think with your head, not your heart.” He took a step towards him. “Jungkook, never in our friendship have I pulled rank on you but if you want to find her you need to get past breaking her privacy, because if you don’t there may not be any privacy to break.” It was harsh and Jimin knew it but his best friend was so far deep into his self-loathing mind that he was trying to do everything he could to make sure she would forgive him when he got her back.

“Alright, grab it. Let’s get this stuff back to Yoongi’s.”

AN: unfortunately, I needed to repost this because my dumbass deleted the original post, but I’m creating a tag list for this since its impossible for everyone to find it on their dash apparently. If this works well then I may do this for my other fics as well.

Tag Me!