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taestefully-in-luv · 1 year

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Our Time | JJK (Three)

Summary: After an accident and being in a coma for three months, you finally wake. But the last nine years of your life have been completely erased. You rely on none other than your best friend, Jungkook, to help regain your memories and yourself. But what happens when the truth of your missing time starts unraveling and it isn’t all it’s made out to be?

Pairing: Jungkook x Fem Reader (Detective!Jk x Graphic Designer!OC) side pairing: Seokjin x Reader

Genre: crime au, fluff, heavy angst, smut, romance, darker themes, amnesia au. Best friends to ???

Word Count: 12.8k

Warnings: swearing, frustrations of amnesia, mentions of sex dream, mentions of alcohol

a/n: an important chapter 🤭 please let me know what you think! Send an ask if you want to be added to the taglist or just want to chat :]

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You are aware that everyone has something like a telltale tic that gives them away when they lie. Body language speaks louder than we think. Whole conversations happen with just the body alone. Arguments, comfort, affection, sex and even a fist to the face. The body speaks even when our mouths refuse.

You’ve been told all your life that when you lie you always avoid eye contact and shrug awkwardly. Even with knowing that information, you still do it. Because your body speaks for you. Just like how you’ve told Jungkook for years that when he lies he always, without realization, touches or tugs at the skin of his neck while he speaks. His body moves on its own to speak without him having to do it himself.

Of course there are times you don’t catch it. Heat of the moment, you can’t always observe every little detail and pick up on someone’s body language. But there are times when you do.

Jungkook has been quiet with you since he practically dragged you out of his apartment. No matter how gently he pulled you away from that place, you know when you’re not welcomed somewhere. The drive to your house is only five minutes—if that—but it feels like an eternity of dreaded silence. But his body is speaking. And it’s asking you not to ask any questions.

It’s too bad that don’t have the patience for that.

Having patience has never been a trait you’ve had and you doubt that’s changed in nine years either.

“Jungkook.” You say his name as softly as you can but he still flinches, knuckles turning white from his grip on the steering wheel.

He lightly clears his throat before glancing your way, though his eyes never meet yours. “What’s up?”

“Do you…” You keep your gaze on him, determined to get at least some answers to what you just saw. “Do you really live there?”

Jungkook’s grip stays the same, his body not tensing more nor tensing less. He expected this question. He keeps his eyes on the road as he answers you, “Yeah.”

Truth.

“Oh.” You nod slowly, his answer almost throwing you off guard. You didn’t really plan what to say if he answered with ‘yes’. “I’m surprised.” You say honestly, “It barely looks lived in.”

You watch Jungkook carefully but he stays the same. Tense, expectant, worried.

You keep going, “Ah, but you are mostly having meals with me at my house so I guess that makes sense. You’re more at my place than yours, huh?” You tilt your head cutely, giving him the indication that you’re trying to lighten the mood and make him more comfortable.

It works. Your eyes go to his hands and you see how his grip loosens and he’s nodding his head, though it looks hesitant. “Yeah, exactly.” He tells you but his eyes stay on the road still.

You nod, smile appearing on your face. “Exactly.” You repeat.

He relaxes more as he turns into your neighborhood and he finally glances at you, eyes on yours for the first time since the apartment and he actually gives you a timid smile.

You’ll take it. For now. But your curiosity is only growing. You know so much is being kept from you and it feels deeper than you first assumed. Jungkook is proving that. You have questions but you’ll have to be smart about how to get your answers.

“Hey,” You start conversation again, gently speaking once more and thankfully, Jungkook doesn’t flinch this time. He only turns his head to look at you for a second, raising his brows before his eyes go back to the road ahead. “Why don’t we still go to the park for ice cream?”

“Oh?” He looks a little surprised. You wonder if he’s surprised because you’re letting this entire apartment thing go. “You want to?”

“Mhm.” You lean back in the seat, legs stretching in front of you. “I read doing as many things as possible could help with this amnesia thing.” You didn’t actually read that but it sounds believable. “Let’s go or what?” You just want him to relax and smile again.

Jungkook is quiet for a moment, his teeth lazily chewing his lips before he nods. “Yeah, that sounds good.” And then he releases a long breath and you swear you can see his nerves releasing as well.

You study him for a moment longer, mind whirling in questions and assumptions. But you won’t allow yourself to come to any conclusions.

Not yet.

“I can’t believe I’m not friends with Jaewon anymore. I really thought we would be tight forever.” You say right before licking your double scoop ice cream. “Did we have a falling out?”

Jungkook chuckles, “Not at all. He got a girlfriend, moved to France and I think he’s been married for a while. I know they have two kids together.”

“Jaewon has children?!” You look at Jungkook, expressing your disbelief. “I remember when he and I went around looking for these adorable stickers that came with some snack to finish his impressive collection and,” You pause to lick your ice cream again. “He found only one cake left at the same time as these two kids. They were clearly wanting the stickers too. So I said, ‘hey why don’t we just give it to them?’ you know, because they’re just little kids. But he looked me dead in the eye and said ‘fuck them kids.’ And now he’s a father.” You snort, “Truly amazing.”

Jungkook laughs with you, “Isn’t it?”

“I’ll have to stalk him on Instagram when I remember.” You say while mindlessly licking your ice cream again before you remember another old friend. “What about Seri? Are we still friends with her?”

“Seri?” Jungkook tries to hide a peculiar smile. “Were you ever really friends with her?”

“I mean, kind of?” You shrug. “I’m guessing we aren’t close then?”

“y/n,” Jungkook hides his teasing smile behind his ice cream cone. “You never liked her.”

“What? Yes I do. She just annoyed me sometimes.” You quietly huff out, looking defensive.

“Why is that?”

“You know why,” You roll your eyes, bumping into his side. “Sometimes she took her crush on you too far. Like, it’s cool that she likes you—well, liked—but sometimes she made it her entire personality.”

“Uh huh.”

“I’m serious! She is great other than that.”

“Uh huh.”

“Okay, wouldn’t you get annoyed too? I remember one time I was sick and instead of asking me if I was okay she asked if you were free to hang out then?!”

Jungkook laughs at this, head thrown back before he shakes it. “That’s hilarious.”

“Sure.” You look displeased. “She has other good qualities though.”

“Oh, y/n, y/n, y/n.” Jungkook puts a hand on your shoulder and he spills a little secret. “It’s okay, you don’t need to pretend. One time you admitted to me how you truly feel about her.”

You stop walking and he stops too, blinking at him in surprise. “I did?”

“Mhm,” He drops his hand and starts walking again, urging you to follow. “Years ago.”

“Oh.” You nod your head, feet moving again. “In that case, yeah, she also chewed with her mouth open all the freaking time. She talked way too much during movies and not to mention, she tried hooking me up with her brother! And we all knew he was trash.”

“Wait, Seri tried hooking you up with her brother?! He is literally in jail now.” Jungkook looks peeved, “You never told me that. Why didn’t you tell me that?”

“I don’t know.” You shrug. “I think I planned on it. But wait, why is he in jail?”

“He’s a fucking creep.” Jungkook says, annoyed. “He paid for prostitution, got mixed up in drugs…honestly, the list goes on.”

“Well, not surprised.”

“None of us were.” Jungkook agrees, “But anyway, back to Seri.”

“You know she told me that you two made out at Misuk’s 22nd birthday party. I always meant to ask you about it.” You mention this as easygoing as possible. “So did you guys? If so, you definitely made her dreams come—”

“—You definitely did ask me about this,” Jungkook cuts you off, his tone is lighthearted. “Much later, but yeah, you asked.”

“Oh.”

He glances at you and smiles, “I was never interested in Seri. You know me, I didn’t hook up with anyone I wasn’t seriously interested in.”

“I guess.” Your eyes trail across the park, landing on a pond nearby. “Oh! Let’s go over there.” You point at the small body of water before continuing your conversation, “Anyway, what’s Seri up to now?”

“No clue. I don’t follow her on anything.” He hums, “But do you remember her friend Mijoo?”

“Mijoo…wait, the girl who was dating the guy that Subin is into? Wait, I mean was into since she clearly isn’t anymore. You know, with a whole marriage coming up.”

“Yeah!” Jungkook’s fingers wrap around your wrist to lead you to the pond, “You like this side of the pond better.” He tells you as he guides to the other side where some trees are. “Anyway, Mijoo ended up marrying that guy. But the point is, she works at the company you work at. You two aren’t close but I think you were acquaintances before you started working from home.”

“Oh.” You nod in understanding, “That’s cool!”

Jungkook is offering information about your life. Maybe because he believes it’s harmless.

You two stroll through tall grass that sways left to right, completely abandoning the concrete path. The sun is setting now, the sky a mix of pinks and purples while the sun is a deep, glowing orange. You and Jungkook finish off your ice creams before getting closer to the water.

“It’s pretty, right?” Jungkook stares out over the calm water. “We can see the sun set here.”

“Do we come here often? It kind of feels familiar.” You admit to him, heart picking up but you can’t place why.

Jungkook doesn’t tear his eyes off the sky or the water, his mind figuring out an answer when he settles for, “Sometimes.”

Truth.

“Do you…” You focus on the feeling in your chest. You can’t tell if it’s discomfort or if it just feels unknown. “Do you like it here?” You ask, voice quieter than before. You aren’t sure why you even asked that, really.

Jungkook’s chest stops moving. Like he is suddenly holding his breath and it doesn’t go unseen by you. “I don’t know.” He finally answers. Tongue pushing against his cheek and you know, like usual, it means he doesn’t intend to elaborate.

“Then—”

Suddenly, Jungkook chuckles to himself. “—By the way, when you were like 27 you got us kicked out of a bar.”

“Huh?” You stare at him, his eyes still on the water. “Why did I get us kicked out?” And why is he bringing it up?

“Some random guy tried to fight me.” He shrugs like it’s no big deal. “I didn’t even notice that he had beef with me. Anyway, you noticed.” He cracks a smile. “And you tried to fight him in my honor or something.”

You stare at him, bewildered. “No way.”

“I’m serious,” He turns his head to face you, big smile growing on his lips. “You hated the way he talked to me, I guess. And before I knew it you were pushing him and claiming he was going to hit me.” He starts cracking up. “I had no idea, seriously.”

“Wow, I am so cool.” You nod subtly, “Best friend of the century.”

Jungkook’s smile goes from big and wide to soft and shy. “You are.” Then he rolls his eyes. “But the guy was friends with the staff so they kicked us out instead of him.”

“Of course.” You roll your eyes too, giggling.

You realize he isn’t just telling you things he believes would be harmless. No, that’s not it. He’s telling you things to compensate for the fact he’s not really telling you anything. He’s feeding you stories to distract from his own story. The one you’re more curious about and you know he knows that.

You both share a moment looking out at the pond. Water as calm and still as can be. The complete opposite of whatever is going on with your heart. There’s something about this place that feels so familiar but you can’t place it and it drives you crazy.

You only see the top half of the sun now, the bottom half dipped into the horizon and the sky is lacking as many colors as a dark and deep blue starts taking over and a few stars start to shine.

“This looks like the perfect place to share secrets.” The words spill mindlessly from your mouth before you feel your entire body go as still as the water.

‘Doesn’t this place make you want to share secrets?’ ‘Oh? What secret should I share with you?’ ‘Something juicy.’ ‘How about the first time I—’

“y/n?” Jungkook’s voice interrupts your thoughts. “y/n…” His hand comes to your shoulder and you feel his worried gaze on you. But you can’t focus on that.

You’re trying to focus on breathing again.

What was that?

Sunset. Another sunset. Water. Ducks. Rain. Sunshine. You. Jungkook. Tree.

You try to make sense of what you’re seeing in your head. The voices. Your voice. Jungkook’s voice. You and him. Here.

You stare at the water, blinking fast now as you try to make sense of the images in your head. Suddenly, you’re breathing. But you’re breathing too much.

“Hey,” Jungkook steps in front of you, both hands on your shoulders. You find his eyes and you find comfort immediately.

Was that your imagination? Did you remember something? Did you brain make that up? You swear that felt real…felt like it’s happened.

“J-Jungkook.” You feel the panic set in. Your lips tingle and your hands are growing sweaty. “I think I kind of…” You pause, mouth going so dry it feels impossible to speak. You urge yourself to calm down but you only feel anxious. This feels new—brand new—unknown and scary.

“Hey, hey.” Jungkook rubs his fingers into your shoulders, “Okay, it’s okay.” He remains calm, his voice smooth and steady but the concern is evident in his eyes. “I’m here.”

You nod your head quickly, trying to let him know you understand but you feel lightheaded. “Please hug me.” You request almost silently. “Plea—”

Jungkook brings you close to him, your body melting against his. You inhale him as you breathe and his scent automatically gives you a sense of comfort but almost instantly it feels like ten different images start shooting through your brain. All hugs with Jungkook. All ten images are different scenarios of Jungkook’s arms wrapped around you. Even some you recognize…like the hug he gave you the day he thanked you for coming to his police academy graduation. And one hug you don’t recognize at all.

Overwhelmed, you push Jungkook away.

“Sorry, I just…” You mumble, eyes darting around the park. “I think I know this place.”

Jungkook tries his hardest not to frown but he does. “You’ve been here a lot.” He says, almost nervously. “I thought it would be a place to…” He stops, eyes falling to his empty hands. “There’s a lot of memories here so I thought—”

“—Are some of those memories not good?” You ask him, trying to keep your voice calm.

“Not every memory that lives lost in your head is a good one.” He says, his voice just as calm. “But I am here with you for every single one.” He lifts his eyes back to you. “I promise.”

For the first time, you don’t want to avoid a memory because it could be overwhelming. You’re suddenly wanting to stay away because you’re starting to gather that not everything is rainbows and sunshine. Not just your life but other’s lives as well. Your best friend for instance.

“Hey,” Jungkook walks closer to you again, his hands finding your hands. His fingers playing with your fingers and the touch feels like how you yearn for. You don’t remember it ever feeling this way. “I didn’t mean to scare you.” He says quietly, his voice only for you. “There are so many good things running around in your brain and I can’t wait for you to know them.”

You might be curious about a million things right now. But 24 year old you, with a huge crush on this man before you, has something else to be curious about.

What exactly is your relationship with Jeon Jungkook? Because this feels like something you know, you just don’t know it yet.

You know it has to be around 9pm by now. The sun has long set and the night sky is dark and cloudy but it feels nice. Jungkook parks in front of your house and you know his intention is to just drop you off because he doesn’t make a move to turn off the engine or take his seatbelt off. Usually it would be fine—going home by yourself for the night—but you imagine your best friend returning to his apartment and the thought makes your heart pinch.

“Want to stay the night?” You throw out the idea with obvious enthusiasm. “It’s Friday!”

“Stay the night?” He repeats your question quietly, eyes looking ahead.

“Yeah.” You finally reach to unbuckle the seat belt that feels tight against your chest. “I don’t really want to hang out by myself. I’m still wide awake.” You try to give a solid reason. “You don’t want to keep being with me?”

Jungkook’s head immediately turns in your direction and his eyes are big and guilty on you. “No, no.” He shakes his head now, “That’s not…of course,” He pauses, gulping down his spit before continuing. “Of course I’d still love to be with you, y/n.” He tells you, eyes still looking guilty. “Is that what you want?”

You feel it’s a bit easier to breathe. Because the seatbelt is no longer caging you in? Or because he still wants to be with you? Either way, you’re content. “Yeah.” You say, nodding in the direction of your house. “Let’s go inside and have tea or something. We can watch a movie.”

Jungkook nods slowly, his fingers messing with the buckle of the seatbelt before he’s getting out of his own restraint. “Okay.” And then he’s turning off the car.

You both walk to your front door in silence, side by side and you feel a mix of emotions swirling inside your belly. You cringe at yourself and laugh internally because why does it feel like the kind of nerves you have after a first date?

You walk slowly and so does he. He’s right next to you and you feel fucking nervous. And you know what doesn’t help? When his knuckles barely brush against yours on fucking accident and you both quickly bring your hands to yourselves. How strange. How awkward. But also, how interesting.

Once inside your home, you head to the kitchen to make some tea. Jungkook accompanies you but he’s only sitting at the counter, fingers laced on top as he stares down at his hands in silence. Since waking up from the coma, you have felt a strong, lingering sadness inside of Jungkook but lately, especially after today, you feel it’s only gotten stronger.

You blame yourself, of course. He’s your best friend and you know with everything that has happened that he’s taken it hard. You don’t blame him, you have lost nine years of your important friendship with him and you imagine that must be tough for him to live with. But what really worries you is that he lives alone in an apartment that feels like the furthest thing from a ‘home’ and he isn’t able to talk to you about it. Is he afraid he would overwhelm you?

“Here.” You slide a cup of tea across the granite countertop. “It’s hot, though.”

“Thanks.” He murmurs, eyes lifting to yours and you wish you could make the apparent sadness in them go away.

You decide to lighten the mood with a small, teasing grin. “See? I can do things for you too!”

Jungkook’s big eyes only look more sad as he responds, “You always do things for me, y/n.”

“Ah really?” You keep your gaze on him, grin falling into a tender smile. “Like what? What’s something that I’ve done for you that I have no idea?”

Jungkook cracks a half smile, “You’re trying to get things out of me, huh?”

You respond with a smirk, “Tell me something harmless, Jungkook.”

Jungkook hums out cutely, eyes narrowing before he reaches for the cup of tea and blowing on it, eyes locking with yours, taking his sweet time as you wait.

“Oh, come on.” You place your elbows to the counter and lean your chin into your palms, “I can handle it.”

“Okay.” He says before taking a small sip of the tea. “I was working really late one night…on a really important case.” Jungkook stares down at the cup of tea in his hands before setting it back down. A certain look flashes across his face but he shakes it off. “I was so stressed and you showed up out of nowhere. I swear, the only times Jimin smiled at work is when you’d show up.” He rolls his eyes at this, “But anyway, you showed up with takeout and homemade cookies. And you hung out with me for a while to kind of,” He pauses to think about it. “I don’t know, I think you just wanted to distract me from the stress for a while before I got back into work.”

“Homemade cookies?” You tilt your head, “Since when do I bake?”

He chuckles, “You got pretty good at baking.”

“Oh wow.”

“Anyway, I remember when I thought I finally got a good idea on how to crack the particular case and I didn’t even have to tell you anything.” He bites down onto his bottom lip, perhaps suppressing a smile. “I swear you saw the look on my face and you knew immediately. You left me to it and I got the furthest I had ever gotten. Anyway, I swear I wouldn’t have without you showing up that night to kind of get me out of my head so I could have fresh thoughts, I guess.”

“Wow, I’m amazing. I’m like your support detective.” You soften, dopey smile growing on your lips. “I should have become one too.” You say, obviously joking.

“Well, you’d be good at it.” He tells you, fingers wrapping around the warm tea cup again. “You’re the whole reason I wanted to become a detective, anyway.”

Your eyebrows climb up your forehead in genuine shock, “W-What?”

“Oh, right.” Jungkook’s eyes stay on the tea. “I didn’t tell you that until years later, huh?”

You straighten your posture and point at yourself, “I’m the reason?”

Jungkook’s eyes stay lingering on the cup in his hands, “Yeah.”

“Can I ask why?”

He finally tears his eyes off the cup and looks at you with a smile, “I’d expect you to.”

You stare at him in complete awe, your dopey smile returning to your face. “Okay then—”

Suddenly, your phone is ringing in your pocket. You’re quick to slide it out and see who is calling you and you glance at Jungkook in apology when you show him the screen to show Misuk is calling.

“Hello?” You answer on the fifth ring.

“Hey!” Misuk sings out, “Sorry it’s kind of late but Subin and I were thinking of having breakfast at that café she likes. Want to come? Like 10ish?”

“Oh,” You look at Jungkook again, his attention on the tea. “Yeah, that sounds nice. Can Jungkook come too?” You ask, innocence in your voice but Jungkook looks up at you immediately, worry in his eyes before he’s shaking his head.

“Umm,” Misuk is quiet on the other end for a moment before continuing, “I was thinking it could be a girls thing?”

“Since when did we only do girls stuff and exclude—”

“It’s okay.” Jungkook whispers to you, head still shaking.

“Fine,” You keep your eyes on him, “Girls thing it is.”

“It’ll be fun! The three of us!” Misuk tells you, “I’ll text when I’m on the way in the morning. See you then.”

“Okay, see you. Bye.” You lower the phone from your ear, pressing the ‘end’ button before placing your phone on the counter. “Sorry, it’s a girls thing.”

“It’s okay!” Jungkook gives you a trying smile. “You should spend time, just you three. They’ve missed you, too.”

“Yeah,” You nod at him. “I guess you’re right.”

“Should we watch a movie now?” Jungkook stands from the stool, taking his cup of tea with him.

“Ugh, another movie to spark a memory, huh?” You watch as he makes his way to the living room, your feet dragging behind him.

Jungkook turns only for a moment, “No. An old movie we both love. A movie you already know.”

You can guess why, but the pressure to not try hard to remember something you’re supposed to know suddenly makes you feel so much lighter. And Jungkook probably knows you’ve had enough for the day. “Perfect.” You answer, “That sounds perfect.”

~~~

Waking up drenched in sweat in not how you expected to greet this Saturday morning’s sun. You lay here, eyes wide and on the ceiling trying your hardest to replay the dream you just had. You aren’t laying here trying your best to rewatch a nightmare. No, that’s not why you woke up with sweat gathered at your hairline and a racing heartbeat. You’re trying so hard to replay every little detail of this dream because it was hot. Steamy, sexy hot. Not hot as in heat and that’s why you’re sweating.

You close your eyes, images of the dream swarming behind your eyelids. Hands. Hands all over you. Lips. Lips all over you. Tongue. Tongue all over you. Your eyes spring open again, your chest still heaving from the dream as you try to dive back into it. But the dream is fading. And it’s fading fast. Suddenly, you can’t remember any of the details anymore. And it pisses you off.

After showering and getting ready for your breakfast hang out with the girls, you quietly slip out of your bedroom. You walk through the hall and you stop dead in your tracks when you spot Jungkook. He’s innocently sleeping on your sofa, mouth slightly hung open as soft snores escape. He looks peaceful. You swallow hard, your fingers smoothing down your blouse as you keep watching him.

How would Jungkook feel knowing you just had a very steamy sex dream about him? His hands, his lips, his tongue. Lucky for him—and lucky for you—you don’t remember too much about it anymore. But you know the dream happened. But as much as you wish you could remember every little detail and play it in your mind on repeat to fulfill some delusional fantasy of yours…you’re actually glad that it can’t distract you for the rest of the day.

Because it fucking would.

You check the time on your phone.

9:32am

You need to head out. You take one last look at sleeping Jungkook before turning on your heels to grab your purse, shoes and keys to your car. You have yet to drive your own vehicle so it’ll feel a bit fun—brand new car to you—and Dr. Lee says you can drive short distances now.

You pull into the same café that Subin brought you to that one time, eyes on the lookout for a parking spot but it is Saturday morning and it’s looking busy. Finally, after driving in circles, you see someone pulling out and you rush to take the free spot.

Inside the café is just as busy as the parking lot. Tons of full tables, servers running around in panic about some wrong order and the hostess remaining calm as customers complain about the long wait. Luckily, Subin and Misuk got here before you and they already have a table. Somewhere near the back again, by the bathrooms.

You spot Subin, waving her hands around with a huge smile on her face. You return her smile while walking closer to the table that her and Misuk are at.

But you run into someone—literally.

“Oh sorry!” You apologize quickly, “I—” You stop speaking when the same feeling as last time comes back to haunt you. You glance down at the name tag again.

Nabi.

“Oh…no, no.” She shakes her head, smile on her lips. “It’s okay. Really…it’s okay…” She tells you, her eyes suddenly looking everywhere but you. Her voice is soft and kind. And so fucking familiar.

“You’re the one who served us last time.” You tell her, trying your best to make eye contact. “You probably don’t remember—”

“—Ah, no. I remember.” Nabi finally looks at you and there is undeniable kindness in her eyes as well but there is also something else. She glances around again, her eyes going to other tables, to the windows, behind her, behind you…before she finally looks at you again. You see concern in her eyes. “Have a lovely meal.” She says quickly, bowing her head before walking off.

Weird.

You shake off the familiar feeling before approaching the table your friends are at.

“Hey!” You call out, still a feet few away before you’re pulling a free chair out and sitting down. “This place is poppin’, huh?” You say while glancing around.

“Yeah.” Subin agrees right away, “Crazy, right? It’s only been open for like, what? Two years probably? I saw a Tik Tok about it and had to check it out.”

“Not even going to ask about whatever Tik Tok is.” You mumble, eyes going down to the menu in your hands.

“I told you about it!” Subin whines, “You need to download it!”

“Eh,” You shrug. “33 year old me is off social media apparently. I’m trying to respect her wishes.” You joke, eyes scanning the menu when you see an omelet that catches your eye.

“And how is 24 year old you liking that?” Misuk chuckles, “Are you surviving?”

“Somehow I am.” You laugh as well before your mind thinks of something else…”Hey…do you guys know why I deleted my social media?” You look up from your menu, “I didn’t think much of it but,” You look between your two friends but they don’t have any answers written on their faces. “Well, Jungkook mentioned it was maybe around six months ago…and here’s the crazy thing…I ran into this guy who said I randomly ghosted him around the same time!”

Misuk’s brows pinch together, “A guy?” She then glances at Subin who looks as confused as her.

“Yeah!” You nod quickly, “I thought maybe he was an ex. So I started connecting the dots! Maybe we broke up and I wanted to lay low after the breakup? And that’s why I del—”

“—A breakup?” Subin asks, her eyes going between you and Misuk. “I don’t think you were…dating anyone…” She says slowly, carefully. Eyes darting between you and Misuk and you can see how she’s silently asking Misuk to help out. And as usual, Misuk doesn’t get the hint.

“Maybe I just didn’t want to make a big deal about it?” You question more to yourself. “Maybe I was trying to be lowkey…”

“Did you tell Jungkook?” Misuk finally contributes. “Did he know who the guy was?”

“Huh?” You finally set the menu down to the table. “No, he wasn’t with me. And when I mentioned it, he had no idea either.”

“Well, I feel just as clueless.” Subin admits softly. “Maybe the guy got the wrong girl.”

“No,” You look down, teeth nibbling on your lips. “I think he knew me.”

“Well, maybe it just isn’t important.” Misuk decides to say, her eyes going back to the menu. “What’s important is you regaining memories that probably matter more.”

“Workin’ on it, boss.” You say blandly, with the roll of your eyes.

“Hey,” Misuk’s tone grows softer. “I know.”

“Anyway,” You shake your head and plaster a smile on your face. “Subin, your pictures were this week, right?”

And immediately, Subin’s face brightens. You love how in love she looks. “Yes! Oh my god, I have a few that the photographer sent me. Let me show you!” She is quickly grabbing her phone and finding the photos.

You take her phone and start scrolling through a few images. Your heart melts at the sight…Subin looks gorgeous in the arms of her soon to be husband. You don’t even remember his name. And his face in these photos definitely don’t ring a bell. “You look amazing.” You breathe out, “And so happy.”

“Thanks.” Subin blushes at the compliment, “Garam is the love of my life. And I can’t believe we waited this long to get married and what not!”

“Well, we all know y/n doesn’t believe in wasting any time when she knows something is right.” Misuk chuckles, “Remember when she switched her major the second she realized she loved digital art more than environmental science?”

“Oh yeah,” Subin covers her mouth while she giggles. “She didn’t even have experience in it, right? But she looked us in the eyes and said, ‘I’m going to do this as my career.’ And the next day went to her advisor and made the switch.”

“What can I say?” You smile, feeling proud. “I knew it in my gut that it was what I was meant to do.”

“I also remember that Subin and I were so against it.” Misuk shakes her head, still smiling. “We asked you to at least think about it!”

“I swear maybe she would have thought about it but Jungkook was totally on her side.” Subin sighs out, “He took one look at what she created on her tablet and said—”

“Isn’t this what you’re meant to do?” You say, almost dreamily as you remember your best friend’s words. “He even went with me when I went to talk to my advisor. He waited outside the door and when I was finished he took me drinking to celebrate.”

“Went drinking?” Misuk avoids your eyes, “Not surprised.”

“Misuk.” Subin says quietly before brightening again. “How are things with Jungkook? He’s taking care of you?”

“He’s the best.”

“The best.” Misuk scoffs.

“Misuk.” Subin says her name louder this time. “It’s—”

“—I don’t know what went wrong with you and Jungkook, Misuk.” You cut in, face falling more serious. “But Jungkook is my person and I hate seeing how you clearly have beef with him. He’s being civil so why can’t you be?”

An inevitable silence falls on the table. As well as inevitable tension.

You take a deep breath, trying to calm your fiery nerves. “Just tell me what happened already. I can’t stand—”

“No.” Misuk says, voice calm but there is something cold to it. “Not yet, anyway.”

“Why?”

She looks at Subin who is, as usual, speaking with her eyes. “I just can’t.” Misuk tells you, finally looking your way. “Nothing would make sense anyway. Let’s just drop it. I’m sorry.”

You scoff. And you scoff loudly. “Okay.” You feel peeved but you don’t want to ruin the breakfast. “I’m going to use the bathroom really quickly.” You begin standing from your chair and point towards the wall behind you three where the bathrooms are.

Neither of them answer with words.

You walk into the hallway and immediately lean against the wall, sighing out quietly as you try to remain calm. You hate not knowing what’s going—in regards to so many things. Your ears perk up when you can hear Subin and Misuk’s voices from behind the wall.

“You need to go easier on him, Misuk…” You hear Subin’s quiet voice. “This has been hard on everyone. But especially—”

“—Good.” You hear Misuk cut her off bitterly. “I hope he’s fucking suffering.”

Your entire face twists into a look of confusion…what the hell is happening?

“You don’t mean that.” Subin says. “He’s your friend too.”

“Why are you always defending him?”

“I’m not. But we don’t even really know—”

“Drop it, Subin. It gets us nowhere.”

And then there’s silence. Like their own inevitable tension rises around the table now too.

You finally tear yourself away from the wall and go inside the restroom. More questions and even less answers. Great.

It’s already late afternoon when you return home, tired eyes land on Jungkook who is on the phone while sitting on your sofa. You raise a hand to lazily wave at him and he nods at you while he continues to speak on the phone.

“I know.” He talks into the phone quietly, “You swear he has—Okay, okay. Got it. I can be there in 20.” Jungkook doesn’t even wait for the other person to respond before he’s ending the call. “Hey.” He stands, slipping his phone in his pocket and smiling at you. “How was time with the girls?”

You eye him suspiciously. It feels like how you’re seeing everyone nowadays. “Fine.” You look down at your feet as you take your shoes off. “What have you been up to?”

“Just relaxing.” He tells you, “Working on some stuff too.” He glances at his open laptop that sits on your sofa as well. “But I actually got to head out for a while.”

“Sure.” You respond, feeling and sounding detached. You walk into the living room but before you can sit down, Jungkook’s fingers wrap around your wrist and you struggle not to look into his eyes and crumble.

“What’s wrong?” Jungkook questions you softly. His fingers still wrapped around your wrist and you swear you feel the heat seep into your skin, like the feeling of first dipping into a hot bubble bath. “You okay? Tired? How’s your head?”

You don’t mean to pull away so quickly, freeing your wrist without much thought. “I’m fine.”

Jungkook’s brows pull together, his eyes going to his fingers when he examines how empty his hand is now. “O…kay.” His eyes go back to you, “Are you sure?” “No.” You say honestly. “But it’s whatever.”

“It’s not whatever.” Jungkook steps closer to you, his eyes searching yours for answers. “Talk to me, y/n.” He doesn’t rip his gaze off your eyes. He’s staring at you intently and it feels so confusing. “Please…talk to me.”

You feel sucked into the way he’s looking at you. You see his concern so clearly. You see so many thoughts and feelings taking over his eyes and you can read them but some don’t make sense. Not now. You force yourself to look away.

“I said I’m fine.” You sit on the couch, hand going to the top of his laptop and you shut it yourself. “Aren’t you leaving?”

Jungkook stands here, unsure of what to do. You can see that. You can see how he struggles with how to handle this. You stare at nothing. Hoping there isn’t any readable expression on your face. But you guess there is.

“Y/n…” Jungkook says your name. And suddenly you wish you forgot that too.

“What?” You finally snap at him, eyes landing on his figure. But you gulp, guilt settling in your chest when you see how he winces. You close your eyes for just a moment, collecting yourself even though you don’t even want to. “I’m so—”

“—Don’t be sorry.” He cuts you off, tone gentle. “It’s okay if you can’t talk to me but is there anything I could do? To help you?”

You open your eyes again, staring at him. You just stare. Expression hardening because you can’t help it at this point. But Jungkook takes no offense. Instead he tries to smile for you and he takes a seat right next to you, his leg pushed against yours.

“What is it that you need?” His fingers go to your chin, barely touching it as he guides your face to tilt in his direction. “Tell me what you need.” He softly demands, eyes boring into yours and you feel trapped in his trance again.

“You.” You reveal without meaning to. You never intended for that to be your answer. But your mouth forced the word out and you’re left here wondering why that felt so natural.

Natural for both of you.

Because Jungkook nods in understanding, his fingers brushing against your cheek now and you decide now is the time to crumble. Crumble because his touch. And crumble because you are best friends so answering that the thing you need is him could also still be platonic. You release a long, tired breath before your head falls to his shoulder. “I’m stressed.” You decide to admit.

“I know.” His other arm comes around your back, hand gripping your side. “I’m sorry this is so hard for you. I really don’t know what to do anymore.” He is the one with admissions now. “I see how hard this is for you and I don’t know what’s better or what’s worse…but these are still doctor’s orders, y/n. You—”

“—I know.” You squeeze your eyes shut, “But what if my memories never return? Am I just going to be a stranger to my own life forever? Your life forever?”

Silence fills the space between you both.

Maybe it’s not something either of you want to have answers to.

“I never want to be a stranger to you.” He finally responds, “But let’s give some things some time.”

You sigh out, lifting your head from his shoulder before you look up at him. “Can you promise me something?”

Jungkook gives you a determined nod before speaking, “I can promise you anything.”

“Do you promise this is the best for me? Me not knowing so much?” Your eyes are pleading and you swear you see Jungkook’s heart in his eyes and you see how it breaks into pieces.

“I promise you that this is best for you.” He tells you, no regret anywhere heard in his words. Truth. “So promise me…that you’ll always trust me.”

“Okay.”

“No,” He shakes his head, troubled smile on his face. “Say it.”

“I promise.” You tell him but his troubled smile only grows as his eyes turn somber.

“You will probably break that promise later.” He whispers, “I—”

His phone starts vibrating in his pocket. Another phone call. “Sorry,” He slides the device out and you see Jimin’s name. “I got to go.” He sighs, standing from the sofa now. “But I’ll come over after and we’ll do something fun, okay?”

You nod, “Okay. Umm,”

“What is it?” He asks you.

“Nothing, nothing.” You try to shake his last words out of your head. Why would he say that? “Be safe and come back to me later.”

Jungkook’s eyes expand at your words before he cracks a smile. “I always do.”

You fixed yourself something light and easy for dinner. Surprisingly, you had an appetite to eat. You could probably thank the four hour nap you took earlier and the two different sessions you had in your bed where your fingers met the sensitive parts of your body, having yourself come undone and although you feel like some tension has been released…it wasn’t totally satisfying.

You’ll blame the dream that you can’t even remember for the ache between your legs that still lingers.

You’re sitting at the dining room table, plate growing emptier as you take one last bite of your late dinner. It’s around 8:30pm and Jungkook still isn’t back. You assume he’s off doing something with Jimin. His ex-work partner that you realize he isn’t necessarily fond of. But they’re clearly working together on something…despite the fact that Jungkook isn’t a detective anymore.

Of course this piques your interest. You’re dying of curiosity. You have an idea…but…

You sigh out, pushing the chair back and ignoring the way the wood screeches against your tiled kitchen floors. Once standing, you grab your plate and the glass of water and head towards the kitchen sink to run the hot water.

A couple minutes pass, your hand lazily squeezing the sponge as you scrub the plate clean, your eyes zoned out and focusing on nothing at all. You continue to scrub the plate in soapy circles before you suddenly see something in your head. Eyes narrowing at nothing now as you try to focus on the image that your brain has randomly come up with. The same lake and boats from your dream. You’re just recalling an old dream. You scoff to yourself, you wish you could remember your sex dream.

You laugh a little before it dies on your lips when you see another image that makes no sense.

A boat, floating at the dock. It isn’t the same boat from your dream…a different—

You drop the plate to the sink when your ears ring in someone’s scream.

What the fuck?

You look around quickly, but you’re met with silence. You wipe your hands on the towel that rests next to the sink, quickly drying them before rushing out of your kitchen and going to your front door.

You know you heard someone scream.

You swing the door open, stepping outside, your head whipping in every direction.

But the neighborhood looks unbothered, the stars in the sky look unbothered, the blades of grass look unbothered. You see a few houses down, an older couple sitting on their porch, quietly talking and laughing to themselves. Completely unbothered.

Someone screamed, right? You heard it, right?

You remain outside for a few more moments but the night carries on like nothing happened.

You didn’t imagine the scream, right? You know you heard it. You were standing at your kitchen sink, washing dishes, remembering a dream about boats on the lake water…when someone screamed. That wasn’t part of your dream, right? But it sounded so real.

Giving up, you decide to go back inside your house. But a strange, eerie feeling sticks to your skin and you want nothing more than to wash it off. A shower it is. Maybe Jungkook will be back by the time you’re done and you can forget about all the things your brain is forcing onto you—things that don’t make any sense at all.

It’s around 9:30pm now when you leave your bedroom, feet taking you into the living room so you can relax on your amazing sofa…you’re shocked now that you hated it at first glance. It’s definitely the best couch you’ve ever had the pleasure of owning. A dull pain resides on the other side of your skull, pushing against your forehead in rage. You wish the headaches would start to ease but it seems lately, they’ve only gotten worse.

You decide to go to the kitchen first and take your night dose of medications, realizing it’s time you can take them. Hopefully it’ll help. It’s been a long day and you can’t wait to totally unwind and grow invested in some TV show so you don’t have to think about your own life. And you can’t wait for Jungkook to get home so he can do that with you. He looks stressed too and he probably also needs to focus on some fictional problems instead of his own.

Once you’re cozy on your sofa, wrapped in the blanket Jungkook always uses, you check your phone for any messages and you feel yourself grow a little warmer when you do have one.

Jungkook 9:38pm

Hey I’m on my way to your house 👍🏼 Want me to bring you anything?

You smile, typing your reply.

y/n 9:44pm

no no just you🐸

You click your phone off and shake your head, laughing at yourself. All it takes for you to feel better is Jungkook. You’re so whipped, probably.

It only takes Jungkook 24 minutes exactly to walk in through your door since his text. Not that you were paying attention to the time but of course you were. You missed him.

“You’re not sleepy yet?” Jungkook is bent over, looking at you through the fringe that falls over his eyes as he takes his shoes off. “I figured you’d be knocked out on the couch by the time I got here and then oh no, I’d have to sleep in the bed.” He jokes, making his way over to you.

“I took a long nap.” You say, eyes on the TV. “So I’m not very sleepy now.”

Jungkook’s lips curve into a soft smile, “Did the nap help make you feel a little better?”

You finally glance at him, “Yeah. Also,” You nod towards the hallway, “You can sleep in a bed. You just choose not to.”

Jungkook’s smile fades, his eyes following yours, a solemn expression falling onto his face when he looks over to the hallway. “No, that’s okay.” He murmurs. “I like the couch.” And then he takes a seat right next to you.

“Does that mean you’re sleeping over again tonight?”

He blinks at you for a few seconds before he’s smiling sheepishly. “Sorry, I didn’t even think about that.”

You laugh, “I’d rather you be here, anyway. Your apartment is too far for my liking. Doesn’t feel like we’re neighbors enough.”

Jungkook’s eyes are so soft on you. You hate it. You love it. You want more of it. You want less of it.

“It feels a little colder out tonight.” He says, fingers tugging at the blanket that’s wrapped around you. “Mind sharing?”

You chuckle, unwrapping the blanket from yourself to share with your best friend. “Do you remember when we rented that cabin in college but you and I wanted the outdoors experience so we built a tent like 10 feet away from the cabin?”

“You only packed one sleeping bag.” He deadpans.

“You could have gone inside and got blankets if you really cared that much!” You throw back and he shakes his head in an instant.

“Then it wouldn’t have been the total outdoorsy camping experience!” He retorts, “It would have defeated the whole point of us building that tiny tent. That you claimed you knew how to build because of a YouTube tutorial.”

“And I swear I did! But we had no service! So I couldn’t look at the video…” You pout but Jungkook starts laughing.

“And then we had to actually read the instructions. Imagine that.” He rolls his eyes, playful smirk on his lips. “Well, I did. You wanted to give up.”

“Anyway,” You nudge his shoulder with yours, both of you completely covered in this blanket now. “This reminds me of that time.”

“Because we shared the sleeping bag?” He asks you innocently.

You nod, “Yeah. I thought we were going to freeze to death at night but I learned really quickly how freaking hot your body is.”

“Oh, thank you.” He teases.

You snort, “Not what I meant.”

“It’s not like you don’t think that too, though.” He says, eyes on the TV screen now.

You whip your head to look at him, his eyes totally avoiding yours as he watches whatever you have pulled up on Netflix. He’s got such a teasing grin splitting his face in half. You stare at him in disbelief before you start laughing, “Wow. Is that something I told you and I have zero memory of it? And don’t lie, once I get all my memories back, I’ll know.”

“You might be surprised at what stuff you might remember.” He continues to tease you and it feels…strange yet familiar. More of your suspicions seem to be checking out.

“Is that so?” You decide to play along, “What kinds of things will I remember? You know, that are in relation to you thinking you have a hot body?”

“I never said it’s what I thought.” He bites down onto his bottom lip, another smirk being poorly concealed.

You scoff, heat creeping up the back of your neck. “It’s not what I think either.”

“Mhm.” He finally looks at you, “You sure?”

No, you aren’t sure. Well, you are sure that he’s hot. Yes, of course. But you aren’t sure what is going on here. More confusion wraps around you both just like this blanket. This doesn’t feel how you always remembered. No, this feels different. But it feels familiar. Like it isn’t totally brand new but it is. For you. But you’re wondering if this is brand new to him.

Yes, you have your suspicions. And little by little, you will uncover the truth. But for now, you’re not going to jump the gun. No conclusions yet.

“Hey,” You finally look away from him, eyes going back to the TV as well. “Are you sure we never went to another lake?”

“Lake?” Jungkook’s attention is mostly on the show now. “What lake?”

“No…I mean, was the only time we ever went to a lake was during that trip to the cabin?”

“Yes?” He finally glances at you, confusion in his eyes. “Why?”

You shrug, “I don’t know. I feel like I was remembering that dream I told you about where I saw your tattoo. That same lake…the boats.”

“It was a dream, right?”

You think about it for a moment, eyes losing focus. “Yeah, you’re right.” But you aren’t so sure.

“I told my parents and your parents that we would visit not next weekend but the weekend after. They’re very excited.” Jungkook changes the subject, his tone lighthearted. “It’ll be so nice to be in Busan for the weekend.”

“I agree.” You say, your eyes widening when you remember something your mom told you. “Did you know Mrs. Jung remarried? Apparently to a guy half her age!”

Jungkook starts laughing, eyes crinkling in the process. “Yes and did you hear the best part?” He asks, eyes on you. “Apparently the guy she married has the same last name as her ex-husband so she didn’t even have to change it.”

“Wow, lucky her.” You chuckle, “I don’t remember my mom saying that part.”

“It’s hilarious. I thought the guy was her son when I first saw them walking out of her house! But imagine my shock when he kissed her. On the lips. I still didn’t register it wasn’t her son so you can probably guess my confusion and level of disturbance.” Jungkook shudders when he recalls the memory. “Mrs. Jung is loaded though, so I guess he’s the lucky one.”

“Jungkook!” You slap his thigh, “Money isn’t everything! Maybe he’s deeply in love with her!”

“I never said he wasn’t! I’m just saying, he got lucky. Sugar mama and all that.” He snickers when you gape at him. “What? I’d love having a woman pay for all my shit.”

“You’re a gold digger now?” You cock a brow at him. “I’ll have to keep that in mind when I’m being your wing woman at bars again.”

“You’re the worst wing woman.” He rolls his eyes, “Every girl that would get interested in me, you’d scare them away.”

“I did not!”

“Yeah, you would.”

“No.”

“Really?” He leans away from you, eyes narrowed as he smirks. “You don’t remember when a very pretty girl tried hitting it off with me but you totally ruined it when you—”

“—I thought she was bothering you. Don’t get me started on this again. She had so many red flags, you cannot be serious. I was helping you out.”

“I didn’t care about her red flags! I was just looking to get laid.”

“I thought you didn’t hook up with anyone you weren’t seriously interested in?”

Jungkook’s eyes widen and he starts talking nonsense, clearly getting playfully defensive. “Do I need to remind you why I was out in the first place?” He challenges you. “Because if I remember correctly, you told me I should go out and find someone! You told me I needed to get laid because I was annoying you with how stressed I was with my training after the academy. It was during my first year in the investigation department.”

“Oh yeah, you were kind of unbearable.” You snort, “But come on, she was such bad news. And don’t make me remind you of Haesoo. I had every right to feel protective over you!”

“Oh god, Haesoo…” He cringes in his spot, “Okay, she was something else.”

“She was the worst.” You say with a straight face. “I’m your best friend and she openly admitted to me ‘girl to girl’” You mock with the roll of your eyes, “That she was using you for sex. I had to tell her that you’re a person. But she said, ‘he’s hot, all men are trash so I’m not hurting anyone’ I was so fucking pissed.”

“Yes, yes. I remember.” Jungkook smiles at you fondly. “My hero.”

“I am your hero, you’re goddamn right! You didn’t see through her evil ways but I did. I wanted to put her in a headlock.”

“Somehow I’d love to see that.” He grins teasingly at you. “It’s not like I was serious about her.”

“You totally liked her.”

“Okay fine, but only because she did witchcraft on me or something.”

“I’ll accept that answer because I think it’s true.” You say, “But honestly, you got better at standing up for yourself. Haesoo was during your time at the academy, right? You were what? 21? 22?”

“Yeah.”

“You were still pretty shy back then but I think sometime after you graduated and you started your first 6 months at the police station—before you did your one year in the investigation department—you kind of…grew up a lot. Stronger, I guess. Not as scared of confrontation.”

“Well,” Jungkook leans back into the sofa, “I guess in my years of being your friend, I finally learned something.” He chuckles.

“Thank god for that, huh?” You lean back onto the sofa as well, your body shifting to properly face him. “Who’s the worst guy I ever dated?”

“Hmm,” Jungkook looks up at the ceiling, thinking about it. “Dusik for sure.”

“What?! He was so nice!”

“I didn’t like him.”

“You never told me you didn’t like him!”

“Yes I did!”

“When—”

“—Oh.” Jungkook bites down onto his lip, “I guess I never admitted it until way later. You don’t remember…”

“Give me a reason.”

“I just didn’t like him.”

“Why?”

“Because I didn’t.”

“Why?”

“Seriously? You sound like a talking bird that only knows one word.”

“Why?”

He raises a brow at you, showing you he’s not enthused. “Stop.”

“Why?”

“Because he was probably the closest thing you had to a real relationship.” Jungkook purses his lips, eyes going to his hands. “And I just didn’t think he was good enough for you.”

Your mouth falls open, “Seriously?”

“Seriously.” He responds childishly.

“You didn’t approve of him because…you just sound jealous.” You snort, not taking this too seriously but Jungkook isn’t laughing.

“I was jealous of him.” He admits before the panic settles in his eyes. “Not in a weird way. I just hated that he was stealing you from me.”

“He didn’t steal—”

“—According to you, this was our biggest fight.” He reminds you, “You forgot about plans with me three times because you were with him. I wouldn’t have minded as much if you would have properly canceled. But apparently I was forgettable to you.” He sulks in his spot, an adorable pout on his lips but you can see that he’s still a little bitter about the whole thing.

“I know. I’m sorry. But hey, you got your revenge! You didn’t talk to me for four days. I hated those four days so much.”

“I hated it too.” He finally smiles, “At the time, those four days were like, the worst days ever. I wish I could go back. To when that was the worst thing.” He mumbles softly, smile still barely on his lips.

“Hey,” You lean into him, eyes on his as you poke his cheek with your finger. “You also know you’re not forgettable to me, right? I literally have amnesia and my brain is still full of you.”

Jungkook’s smile drops from his lips, eyes on yours with much more intensity as he processes your words.

You are about to back away from him, a sudden tension growing between your bodies but before you can, Jungkook’s fingers go to your hand, you’re both twisted in one another’s directions. He’s so close. You’re so close. Your gaze drops to his lips when his tongue pokes out to lick them. The heat basically rolls off his skin and warms you up, reminding you of the night you two spent in that tiny tent—not that anything happened…it’s just the warmth, the close proximity. Not to mention, it might have been the first time you had not so innocent thoughts about your best friend.

His fingers leave your hand and you gulp, feeling the sudden absence of his touch but it doesn’t last long…not when his hand rests on the side of your face, fingers behind your ear, thumb brushing your cheek.

“Your brain isn’t full enough of me.” He whispers, eyes still boring into you and once again, you want to crumble. Crumble for a million reasons and right now, you can’t even name one.

“I don’t know if that’s even possible.” The words dribble out slowly. The tension growing, a force that pulls your bodies closer.

You stare up at him, both of your hands sliding up his chest and you feel his heart hammering against it. It’s strong. It’s loud. It’s alive.

Jungkook is lost. You’re lost. A trance being shared between you both and you know for a fucking fact that this isn’t new to either of you. You have no proof but this moment might be evidence alone. This cannot be the first time you two share a moment like this. You refuse to believe this is a first.

“Jung—”

“—Did you want to watch something like a movie?” Jungkook’s hand drops from your face, his cheeks flushing as he leans away from you, eyes going back to the TV.

You feel like someone ripped a rug from beneath your feet. You stare at his side profile, body gone still as you process what just happened. And what is currently happening.

You laugh internally again. Your hands coming back to your own body and you face the TV as well. “Yeah, a movie sounds good.”

It seems your brain is playing tricks on you lately. Making you see things. Hear things.

But you cannot be imagining this. No, your brain can’t make you imagine a feeling, can it?

Your gut is telling you one thing and you’ve always been one to listen to it.

Jungkook snuck out early this morning, leaving you a note that said he has some things to take care of but he would be back around dinner time.

You won’t feel annoyed, not today. You’re tired of questioning every little thing and today you just want to not think about all the things you don’t know. Today you just want to be lazy and binge watch an entire series or something. Today you just want to be a normal person. A person who doesn’t have amnesia.

You made a sandwich for lunch and ate while watching a show. You’re already on episode 5 of Strong Woman Do Bong Soon and you realizing love is real, it has to be, because these two main characters are making you swoon.

You make dinner as well, eating while continuing the show. You’re not even ashamed to admit you’re on episode 8 now. Meaning, you’ve watched eight hours of this show just today. You check your phone to see the time.

7:02pm

Jungkook still isn’t back and he hasn’t texted. You know you shouldn’t feel worried or anything. But you’re going to call him anyway.

Your heart feels calmer when he answers on the third ring.

“Hey,” You say into the phone. “I was just checking if you were uh, still coming over today.”

“Yeah.” You hear the smile in his voice. “I just came by my place real quick to shower. I’m about to head over though. Sorry, um, my plans ran a little longer than I thought. I should have let you know…”

“No, no, it’s okay.” You say, relief evident in your voice. “Sleep here tonight, too.”

“Okay.” He tells you softly, “I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

“Kay, bye.” You hang up the phone, already feeling lighter knowing he’s only five minutes away.

Just like magical clockwork, your front door opens and Jungkook is walking through. He grins at you, slipping his shoes off as he empties his pockets of his things. Wallet, phone and keys being placed on the little table by your entrance.

“Hi.” You sing out, patting the spot next to you on the couch. “I started a show today and I love it!”

“What show?” He asks, walking into the living room, eyes on the TV. “Oh! Strong girl! Yeah, this is your comfort show.” He tells you, plopping down right next to you. “We love it.”

Your mouth falls open in surprise, “I’ve seen it before?!”

Jungkook chuckles, “Yeah. You watch it every year.”

“Oh damn.” You nod to yourself, “I guess I really do love it.”

“Mmmmmm…” Jungkook leans back into the couch, eyes closing. “I’m so tired.”

“You do look a little tired.” You admit, fingers ruffling through his hair and he sighs in contentment.

“I almost fell asleep in the shower.”

“Don’t tell me you’re already ready for bed? It’s barely 7!”

“Not bed…but what if I take a one hour power nap?” He cracks open one eye to look at you, “Super quick nap that gets me ready for a night full of binge watching the rest of this show?”

“Hmm,” You pull your fingers away from his hair. “Just one hour?”

“Just one hour.” He nods in excitement, “I promise I’ll wake up and hang out with you for the whole night.”

“Okay, deal.” You say, “Only because you do look pretty exhausted”

“You got no idea.” He tells you, “It was…a really long day.”

But he doesn’t elaborate. But you do have an idea what it could be about…

“Can I ask you something?” You blurt, your brain wired to demand answers.

“Hm?” He sits up from leaning back, eyes focused on you.

“You were with Jimin, right?” You ask him, the words leave your mouth slowly as you gauge his reaction.

“Yeah.” He tells you and you know he’s being honest. But you aren’t done asking questions.

“And…” Your stomach feels uneasy from nerves but you continue, “Is it because…are you trying to…um, trying to figure out who caused my accident? Since it was a hit and run?”

Jungkook tilts his head, eyes becoming unreadable.

You reckon it’s a solid assumption. He was a detective after all.

Jungkook’s hand goes to his jaw, eyes going to the ceiling like he’s trying to figure out his answer when slowly you watch as his fingers slide down from his chin to his throat, fingers caressing the skin before he’s softly tugging at his neck and he finally answers, “Yeah.”

“Oh, okay. I figured.” You reply, eyes still on his fingers. “I kind of guessed that’s what you were up to.”

He drops his hand and offers a timid smile, “Mhm.”

Your insides are twisting.

“Well, I’ll let you sleep for an hour!” You stand from the sofa, “You better wake up when I tell you to, Jungkook.” You smile now, “I’ll be in the kitchen, think I’m going to make something.”

“Ah, okay.” Jungkook puts his feet up before laying back on the couch, blanket draped over him. “Can you turn the light off too?”

“Yup.” You walk towards the wall and switch the light off. Light from the kitchen still on and you start going towards it. “Have a nice nap.” You say before disappearing into the kitchen, only Jungkook’s distant hum in the background can be heard.

You take a seat on the uncomfortable bar stool and only one thought echoes in your mind.

He lied.

You sit here for like 30 minutes, trying to make sense of his lie. Why would he lie? But if he’s not doing that? Then what is he doing? What exactly has he been getting up to? You know he really was with Jimin. All the phone calls, the texts, the ‘going to take care of some things’. But if it’s not about your accident…then what is it about?

You sigh, feeling defeated because you can’t come up with a logical explanation.

You don’t want to feel upset about the lie because he asked you to trust him so you will. And he does look utterly exhausted. You feel sorry for him…the state his apartment is in, losing his job, clearly working on something with Jimin. He’s tired. Not to mention, he takes care of you.

And you want to do something for him. Something that will—that’s right. He did mention something…

You stand from the bar stool, excitement and nerves running through your veins as you rummage through the kitchen. You check every single drawer, cabinet, closet. You even looked in the fridge—desperate times, desperate measures. But nothing. No recipe books anywhere! You quietly go into the living room and search as well, eyes glancing at your knocked out best friend every now and then. Thank goodness he is a heavy sleeper. His snores are honestly louder than your rummaging, though.

There’s no way you don’t own any recipe books…you even remember the ones you had in college. You remember owning some as a 24 year old. So where are they? Jungkook said you got great at baking and he seemed to enjoy your homemade cookies—whichever ones they are. But there is no book around or papers or anything with a recipe on it!

But then a thought hits you. He didn’t…no, why would he? But maybe? You instantly remember the attic. How Jungkook put a bunch of stuff in there to not accidentally overwhelm you with a million things. It’s possible…? It wouldn’t hurt to look, right? You swear you’ll be careful. Eyes looking for recipe books and that’s it!

Alright, you made up your mind. You glance at sleeping, snoring Jungkook again. There’s no way he would wake up anytime soon…he’s completely passed out on your sofa due to exhaustion. You look towards the table by your front door, eyes on his things. His wallet, phone and of course, his keys.

You tip toe over to the entrance, one last glance at Jungkook before swiping the keys off the table. The jingle louder than you anticipated, head snapping in his direction but he only snores louder. You release a breath in relief. You look towards the hallway, a determined look on your face as you walk over there.

But a look of annoyance quickly falls over your face. Right, it’s an attic. It’s locked. And it’s you know, on the freaking ceiling. You huff out quietly, trying to think of what you can do. Right…there’s a ladder in the guest bedroom closet. But you’re hoping you can do all of this quietly.

You stuff the keys into your pocket and go inside the bedroom, quickly going into the mostly empty closet when you find the 6ft ladder leaning against the closet wall. You pick it up, thankfully it isn’t very heavy at all and bring it out into the hall, right below the attic door.

You listen for Jungkook’s snores and when you hear them you sigh out. Good. He’s still in deep sleep. You set the ladder up, climbing it quietly, stopping every few seconds to make sure you still hear Jungkook’s snores. Once near the top, you reach for the keys in your pocket. Feeling slightly uneasy being this high up.

You try to steady yourself, fingers searching for the right key but you have no idea which one it could be. So you begin trying them one by one. Nope, not this one. Nope, not that one. You fiddle through the keys when you spot a small gold one and you decide to try it. You try to get it through the key hole when your shaky fingers fumble the keys and they fucking drop. You feel like you’re losing your balance, heart sinking to the bottom of your stomach. They landed on the metal step right next to your foot. Fucking lucky they didn’t fall to the ground. But damn, it was loud.

You try to calm your breathing.

Your ears paying close attention to every sound around you and a huge lump forms in your throat when you don’t hear the consistent sounds of Jungkook’s snores.

You’re frozen in your spot. Skin feeling cold but sweaty. Like you’re doing something you’re not supposed to.

After what feels like an eternity your entire body fucking relaxes when Jungkook starts snoring again.

You swear you could laugh and cry at the relief you’re feeling.

You carefully step down to easily grab the keys again before stepping back up. Your fingers are still shaky but you manage to find that small gold key again and you try to fit it through the keyhole. You try turning it and bam. The door unlocks.

You wish you could scream in celebration but you remain quiet.

It’s unlocked.

Feeling giddy, you quickly step down from the ladder and move it to the side. You reach for the long string and pull hard, the door coming down and a wooden staircase follows. You’ve done it. You’ve opened the attic and now you can do as you promised, you can find the recipe books and get the hell out of there before Jungkook even knows you went in.

You take a hesitant first step, glancing once more behind you, his snores soft and consistent before you finally climb the steps and go inside.

It’s dark, dusty and maybe a bit creepy. You reach for your phone, turning on the flashlight as you look around. You find the light switch, turning it on and suddenly the entire attic is glowing in a soft yellow.

Boxes everywhere. You don’t even know where to begin looking. But the nearest boxes are probably the most promising, right? Your fingers slide over the top of one of the brown boxes before you decide to pry it open. But you aren’t really sure what you’re seeing. A bunch of books, loose papers and random notes. It’s your handwriting. But you don’t know what anything means. So you ignore this box.

You open the next box but there isn’t anything but old clothes in that one.

Next box is a bunch of notebooks.

You groan in frustration, okay maybe this pile wasn’t as promising as you thought so you decide to move on to the other side of the attic. A few boxes that are less dusty than the rest. Okay, maybe this is more promising.

You open the first box you see, fingers lifting each flap open and when your eyes land on the thing lying on the top, your jaw immediately drops. Your heart is thumping more wildly than you’ve ever known, chest tight and stomach dropping completely where all the butterflies reside. You stare at what you’re seeing. In shock? Disbelief? Your hands are still just as shaky as you reach for the thing that rests at the top of this particular box.

Fingers wrapping around the frame, eyes blinking rapidly as you try to make sense of what you’re seeing.

Well, you had your suspicions. But not this far. You thought you and Jungkook perhaps maybe hooked up before during these past nine years, or that you did confess to him at some point or you don’t know, but not this.

You aren’t sure if it’s shock, disbelief or your own selfish happiness.

You lift the frame up, a smile growing viscously on your lips. “Well, holy shit.” You mutter to yourself. “No fucking way.”

You stare at the framed photo. You and Jungkook, together, in a wedding gown and tux. The year 2016 engraved at the bottom.

Jungkook isn’t just your best friend.

No, he is also your husband.

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flyiingsly · 5 months

Text

To build a home

Square : Tell me the truth

Pairing : Rex x gn!jedi!reader

Warnings : Mention of injuries, a lot of angst and a bit of fluff

Wordcount : 4k

Summary : Rex is acting strange with you since you both returned from your last mission on Saleucami, and you have a hard time figuring why. Until someone decided to give you a little help to resolve the situation.

A/N : My eleventh submission for the @clonexreaderbingo ! Oh well, I don’t know why but this one was harder to write than I thought it would be (maybe because I was too emotionally involved in it haha) ! Not gonna lie, the first time I saw that CW episode with Suu and Cut, it immediately became one of my favorites from the whole series for a lot of reason, but mostly because I had the feeling that this encounter must have been a huge event for Rex. (And because I really love Suu 😄) Enjoy ❤

Disclaimer : I'm still struggling to understand English grammar properly, English is not my native language and even if I have proofread my writtings several times, there is probably still typos in it. I'm very self conscious about it and I apologize for it in advance, but I'm doing my best to do better and I'm actively working at improving my writting skills !

So if you spot a typo, feel free to point it to me so I can correct it, it will be much appreciated :)

You were just coming back from Saleucami, from a mission to intercept the General Grievous after the crash of his ship on that planet. It failed, of course, as every mission with the purpose of capturing him so far.

It was exhausting, but at least, most of your men survived it, even Rex. He had been injured by a commando droid aiming at him from a distance. The shot nearly get to his heart, missing it from only a few centimeters. At the second you heard the bullet impact on his armor and seen his speeder bike losing control of its trajectory and crashing against the dirt, your own heart stopped immediately.

You tried your best to stay focused and gave the order to Kix to go after the Captain and protect him while you, Hardcase and Jesse, took care of destroying those droid. Once it had been done, you reached for him as faster as you can, fearing the worst.

He was unconscious, and Kix needed to remove his armor to get a closer look at the wound, which meant that you had to find a safer spot where you weren’t in plain sight and an easy to shoot target. The chance was on your side, as a farm was near, and you ended up laying the Captain on a wooden table, in a barn, under the hospitality of a fierce but kind Twi’lek lady.

Kix took care of the injury and the lady offered you some sweet fruits to eat. You were finally safe, he was safe, especially, and it was all that really mattered to you at that moment. But he was too weak to go back to fight, and the rest of you had to move on and continue with the mission. It was hard to convince him to stay hidden here until the bacta patches have healed the bullet impact properly, or at least until he have regained a bit of strength. Kix had to use his special “medic outranking everyone” card, but he finally accepted to stay in the barn and get some rest.

It worried you a bit to let him here alone, and the Twi’lek noticed it by the way you looked at him.

“It’s gonna be ok, he’s gonna be fine here, it’s a safe place, safe enough to raise children, so I’m pretty sure that a courageous Clone Captain like him will survive it. Don’t worry, we’ll look after him.” she says to you with an understanding and reassuring smile.

And indeed, when you got reunited later, he was in a much better condition, still a bit tired, but safe and sound nonetheless.

But when you all get back to Coruscant, you felt like something was different with him. Something seemed wrong with his behavior, he was suddenly all distant and unusually cold with you, like if he was here but not really here, hearing what you were saying to him but not properly listening. It was so off character that it was nearly scary.

He suddenly wasn’t the same man as he was with you anymore, and every man from your battalion noticed it too, as you’ve always been close to each other. You were always standing together, either on missions or outside the battlefield. You were like each other’s shadow, simply inseparable. And then, suddenly, he acted like you were a stranger to him.

You had a hard time processing it, asking yourself what you could have possibly done wrong to deserve this, and after a few days of being treated that way, you were a mess. You tried several time to engage a conversation about what was going on, or mostly just to engage a conversation, because your interactions were as inexistent as the subtlety of General Skywalker in terms of diplomacy since your return.

But it wasn’t very useful. He just kept giving you excuses as “I have to bring my report to the General right now”, “I have a review of the armory to do”, “I have to go check on the ship’s reparations advancements”, and more “I have to” this, and “I have to” that … It was only excuses to avoid talking to you, and it was making you sick.

You were very close to your soldiers, and they started to worry for you, just as you were worrying for them when they were in pain or struggling with difficult feelings. They knew that the situation was unusual and hard to bear for you, something was wrong with their captain, but they couldn’t understand what the problem was neither.

Rex was acting strange, and everyone around could sense it, even Anakin. Especially Anakin. He could feel it, his Captain was trying to hide something, something big in his opinion.

Just like most of the company, he suspected that something, as unconscious as it can be, was going on between the two of you. The way you glanced at each other, the way you looked after one another on the battlefield, always having the back of the other when things got tricky, these half smiles you exchanged sometimes, that way you communicated through eye contact, without saying a word …

All that closeness, all these little jokes and teasing you threw at each other ... It was obvious, for everyone around, even if nobody had the courage to say it out loud, everybody could see it, and everybody was asking themselves if you were both too focused on your work and missions to notice it, or totally in denial about it, or both, but they knew that you were both absolutely incompetent at expressing your feelings anyway.

Your men did try to make you open your eyes, oh Maker, they did try ! More or less subtly, but they never got anything significant from it. Maybe one day you’ll realize it by yourselves, but until that day, they made it their personal challenge to succeed at pushing you in each other’s arms.

But right now, it wasn’t all fun and a game anymore. Some of them tried to address their Captain about it, only to get roughly sent back or ignored as well.

Until Anakin decided to act about it.

“Hey, Rex !”, he caught him while he was heading toward his quarters, “How are you Captain ? Has your injury finished to heal already ? How do you feel now ?”

“That’s a lot of questions General ! I’m fine, and my injury is getting better and better, it’s nearly just a scar now, thanks you for asking. And how about you, General ? Is everything alright ?“

He instantly regretted his question, as he had the feeling that something was on the jedi’s mind, and he was right.

“Actually ... There’s something I’m worrying about right now … Someone, precisely …”

“Here we go …” Rex though, that subject again … He felt his heart begin to beat faster as he prepared himself to dodge that bullet once more. They were passing by the door of the company’s barracks at that exact moment, and Anakin suddenly stopped walking right in front of it.

“Listen, Rex … I know that some of your men try to talk to you about it before, and I know that you know what I’m thinking about. I know that there’s something wrong with the way you act, I don’t know what it’s all about, I don’t know what happened between the two of you …”

“Nothing happened …” he abruptly interrupts the man in front of him.

“Yeah, I already know that, nothing happened … And that’s why you need to talk to her, because she don’t understand what’s going on in your mind. It’s been days and she keep asking herself what she did wrong to offend you. And honestly, everybody has noticed it … Your acting weird since we came back from Saleucami … I can feel your pain, Rex, I can feel your fear, your doubt, your regrets … You are haunted by some thoughts I can’t describe, but I know it’s all about her, I can feel it … You’re hurting yourself, and you’re hurting her in the process … You know, I dearly appreciate the two of you, in more ways than just soldiers, so I think it’s normal for me to worry about that …”

The clone remained silent for a moment, looking at the ground.

“I’m sorry my General, I should have hide it better so it would not affect the rest of my men. I’m sorry if I’ve caused troubles, I’ll do my best so it won’t happen anymore, you have my word.”

“What ? No, that’s not what I’m talking about ! I don’t care about the rumors or the troubles, I just want you to talk to her and clear the situation, I just want the two of you to feel better …” he sighs and pauses for a moment, searching for his words, before going on gently but with more determination.

“Look, there’s clearly something going on between you, everybody but you know that ! All the smiles, all the glances, all the private jokes, all that time spend together, all the cuddles … Because yes, everybody noticed the “innocent” cuddling when the two of you have a moment to rest during missions, that habit you have to lean on each other to take a nap every time you have the occasion … Come on ! You’re attracted to each other like magnets ! That’s cute as hell, and everyone in the company is just waiting for the moment when you will finally confess those feelings, because you are MEANT to be together, and I shouldn’t say you that, but right now, I just don’t care anymore, I just want the two of you to be happy again, because you both deserve it, you both deserve to be happy, and I’m being sincere, Captain.”

The jedi’s words felt like a violent electroshock in his mind. As sudden shiver washed over his body, and he felt the heat raising to his face, painting his cheeks a dark shade of pink. Yes, of course he was hurting himself by trying to brush away all his feelings for you. Of course he was feeling miserable and awful about it, about what you must have gone through these last days, all because of him.

“Yes, you’re right … I’ve done it all wrong, and I know it … I was trying to protect myself from things that I finally realized were true after a long time denying them. It was frightening, and being cold and distant was the only way I found to deal with my fear … But I never meant to hurt her, I promise …”

“I know that, Rex, but it’s not to me that you should explain it …”

Anakin suddenly reached for the electronic controlling pad of the barrack’s door and opened it. A human form was sitting here on a bed, in the dark atmosphere of the empty room, waiting for something, or for someone. It was you, and both of the men saw you rising you head toward the door in surprise, looking at them.

Rex’s eyes widen, a confused expression growing on his face.

“My General, what is that ?”

“A perfect opportunity that get things fixed properly, Captain !” he answers with a proud smile.

The clone nervously looked at his superior right in the eyes, embarrassed as he has never been. Of course that idiot had to get involved into that too, and of course he had to take some initiatives about it. He knew that he’ll thank him later, but for now, he was mostly panicked and taken aback.

He took a deep breath and enter the vast room, the door nearly instantly closing behind him. Now it was just the two of you.

He could tell the exact moment when you noticed it was him by the widening of your own eyes. When his gaze met yours, he immediately stopped in his tracks.

“Rex ?” you ask in surprise, “What are you doing here ?”

“Well, I should ask you the same. What are you doing in my men’s barracks ?”

Anakin told you he needed to talk to you about something earlier, and to wait for him here, because it was more private than in the jedi’s quarters. You found it a bit weird, but it was Anakin after all, he was acting weird on a daily basis. But when you saw him standing on the doorstep with Rex, you quickly understood what he had tried to do here. Of course, you should have seen it coming, but you were too distracted to think much about it.

He took a few step toward you, slowly, like if he was afraid to scare you. You let him close the distance between you without a word, looking at him right the eyes. As he was getting closer, you slowly get up, making him halt again. You were now only a couple meters away.

You looked at each other for a few more seconds in silence, before you finally spoke.

“I guess that General Skywalker really wanted us to have that conversion, more than you, I suppose …” you answer with a lump in your throat.

You heard him sight heavily before lowering his head to stare at the concrete floor. You were doing your best to retain the tears starting to form in your eyes.

“Look” you start again with a trembling voice, “I don’t want to force you into anything, I just … I’m just trying to understand what’s going on, or what happen than I didn’t notice. I mean, I’ve been trying to talk to you for days, but every time you just … Avoided me … I’m not here to lecture you or to shame you, but, I just need you to talk to me …”

You were struggling to find your words, and the more and more you were trying, the more difficult it was. You felt like you weren’t able to explain what you were feeling. It was awfully frustrating and the tears were more and more difficult to hold back.

“Oh Kriff !” you finally snap, “I just need you to tell me what did I do to make you suddenly turn your back on me, because I just can’t understand whatever it is all about, and it makes me so sad that I can’t sleep at night because I can’t stop thinking about it ! So please, if you don’t want to talk to me anymore, I’ll get it, I won’t be trying anymore, because you mean so much to me that I just don’t want to ruin your life by just being here … If you suddenly decided to hate me, I’ll accept it, but, at least tell me why, show me what I’ve done, show me my mistake if I made one, but please, just … Just tell me the truth, please …”

You weren’t used to get that overwhelmed by your feelings, and you were trying your best to not sound as desperate and moved as you really were. The tone of your voice wasn’t even aggressive or angry, but you knew that despite all of your efforts, its quavering was betraying you.

As another heavy silence fell between you, you couldn’t take it anymore, and tears started to escape your eyes and roll down your cheeks. When he found the courage to look at you again, he noticed it immediately. The wall of indifference he had tried to build around himself for days to stay as far as possible from you started to slowly crumble down, and an expression of profound sadness and pain started to appear on his previously expressionless face.

“You didn’t do anything …” he whispers, “… The truth is … I stumbled upon something I wasn’t expecting to find on Saleucami ...”

“What do you mean ?” you ask in concern.

“I promised that I wasn’t gonna tell anyone about that, but … I’ve always trusted you more than anybody else so, I think that you have the right to know now …”

The whole thing seemed to become more and more mysterious, and your mind couldn’t help but try to anticipate what he could possibly reveal to you.

“That Twi’lek lady wasn’t alone on that farm, there was her husband too, and her two children …”

You already knew about the children. You furrowed your brows, not sure about where all of this was going to lead you.

“I’ve recognized her husband as soon as I heard his voice, for he had the same voice as mine, and the same face too … His husband was a clone, just like me, but a deserter one …”

You gasped at his words. You obviously weren’t expected that kind of things.

“I couldn’t believe it, and I have to admit that it gave some kind of big moral dilemma at first, because we’re not supposed to do that, we’re not supposed to turn our back on the army to live a civilian life, it’s not what we’ve been created for. It’s treason, and it should be punished … But then he told me about his story, and I started to understand him, to understand his choices, and I knew that I just couldn’t report him, because he deserved this life, and that would have been unfair to take that from him, from them …”

He stopped to take a deep breath as his voice was becoming weaker and filled with emotion.

“So, the truth is … that day on Saleucami, I didn’t just stay in a farmer barn waiting for Kix’s bacta patches to heal my wound, I discovered that the army was maybe not the only path for us to take, that maybe there was something else, something more to expect from life … And then, when I was here, sat at the table they invited me over, as I was looking at them, I couldn’t help but … I couldn’t help but see us, you, and me, far away from the war and the suffering, in a house made from our hands, peacefully living without the fear of dying on a battlefield anymore, watching over our children, building our own family …”

His forehead was contracted and tensed, it was clear that confessing all of this to you was hard for him. You could feel his struggle, and it broke your heart.

“I know that I shouldn’t say that …” he pursues, “ … But at this point I’ve realized that there’s no way I can keep this for myself anymore, I’m too far gone …”

You couldn’t say anything, you were stuck to his lips, listening religiously to him, dying to know what was going to be said next.

“I love you, (y/n), and I have been for a long time now. I’ve been trying to hide it as best as I can, and I thought that I was doing great with it. But since I met that family, a lot of things have changed in my mind. I know that I’m not acting like myself anymore, and I hate it … I just didn’t know how to react properly, I thought that putting some distance between us would have helped me process everything and be able to deal with those feeling like I’ve always done, but it became the exact contrary. It just made things worse, for both of us … I’ll probably be court-marshalled for this if it passed that door, but if you decided to report me, I’ll understand. I know it’s inappropriate, and it would be deserved … I don’t want you to hate me, but maybe it’s the best option I got, after all …”

“Why would I report you ? Why would I hate you ?” you mumble, his words hitting you hard.

“Because it’s clearly against every possible GAR’s regulations and protocols, against the jedi code, against my very purpose as a clone …“ he breathes out, his eyes slowly becoming watery too.

“I don’t care …” you cut him, your whole body shivering and your heart beating faster than ever.

“I don’t care ….” You repeat softly through your ragging breath, “… Because I love you too, Rex, and I don’t want the rules to tear me apart from you, ever …”

Tears were overflowing your face now, and you just got enough time to finish your sentence before a sob made your voice break. The shiver that was running down your spine turn to a violent shaking, and the only thing that you were able to do was to cover your face with both your hands in a desperate attempt to hide your pain. You felt like paralyzed, completely lost and doomed, you just couldn’t think properly anymore.

The man you were in love with just confessed his feelings to you, and you should be happy about it, but you knew it wasn’t that easy. You knew it wasn’t supposed to work that way in the particular context of a galactic war, even more in the light of your respectives roles and responsibilities.

For a moment, it seemed that time had stopped around you, until you felt two arms wrapping around you like a shield. You didn’t reacted at first, afraid that it could be your exhausted mind playing tricks on you. But then, you hear a familiar voice quietly whispering comforting words in your ear, and your heart skipped a beat when you realized that it wasn’t just in your head.

“Then we will not let them tear us apart, no matter what.”

All that he wanted was to make you feel safe now. Loosing you was frightening him more than anything, and as long as you were on his side, the rules weren’t as important as they seemed after all.

You slowly let your hand slip from your face to wrap your own arms around hid neck, pulling him as closer as you could.

“So, what are we supposed to do now ?” you ask when you had finally calm down and were able to speak again.

You felt his embrace around you loosen up a bit, just enough so he could move his head to face you. He looked at you for a moment, admiring you with glowing eyes. He face was closer from yours than it has ever been, and your bodies were so pressed against each other that you could feel his heart beating as fast as yours.

“We could try to keep it to ourselves until the end of the war … And when it will all be over, then maybe we could retire, and start a new life, together …” his voice was shy but full of hope.

“I know that I don’t want to share my life with anyone else but you, I don’t feel happy without you, I don’t feel human without you … So, you just have to tell me what you want, and I’ll do my best to offer it to you, I promise…”

Your eyes became teary again, but not from pain this time. It was tears of joy, for you could finally share what had been on your heart for so long, and most of all, you were realizing that these feelings were mutuals. You couldn’t resist it anymore, and without a warning, your lips came crashing against his in a long awaited and passionate kiss, to which he immediately answered, melting under that touch he had craved to feel so many times before.

When you parted, you were out of breath and seeing stars. You gently settled your forehead against his, both letting out a sigh of relief.

“All that I ever wanted was to be with you, so if it means that I’ll spend the rest of my life with you, I’m fine with keeping our relationship undercover until we don’t have to fight anymore, as long as we start building it right now.” You whisper back with a smile.

He chuckled fondly at your words, before planting another soft kiss on your lips.

“Of course, mesh’la, it wasn’t even an option.”

#cfb2023 #vi writing #rex x reader #captain rex x reader #captain rex #star wars #the clone wars #tcw rex #the clone wars x reader

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nyehilismwriting · 1 year

Text

launching this into the ether and sprinting away. nsfw patreon blah blah (blink-and-you'll-miss-it cw for alcohol here)

“Three.”

You shake your head.

“I don’t believe you.”

Imxa’s tail twitches, her eyes gleaming. She leans forward, folding her claws underneath her torso.

“Would I lie to you?”

“Would, have, probably will again.” You raise an eyebrow, grin when she laughs, low and smoky. “D’you think I’m an idiot? Don’t answer that.”

Imxa chuckles again, the sound low and rough, coils round your spine and low in your stomach. “Alright,” she concedes after a moment. “You’re not wrong, in the macro. In this case, though, I’m telling the truth.”

“Seriously.” You fold your arms on the table, lean forwards. Hold her eyes as you take a sip of your drink. Smoky and sharp, it burns on the way down, has you suppressing a shiver. It clings to your lips, icy in the too-warm space of the bar, and you take your time chasing it from your lips. Imxa watches your mouth, shameless and hungry. “Three?”

“Three.”

There’s a touch more gravel in her voice, now. You lean in a little further, tilt your head coyly.

“That’s it?”

The challenge gets her - just like you knew it would, her tail twitching with interest, eyes flashing as her mouth opens slightly. A vulpine smile, revealing the livid inside of her mouth, a flash of sharp teeth as she hums, deep and thoughtful.

“You can do better, can you?”

“Five.”

“We agreed no explosives.”

“There weren’t.” You tip your head, show her your throat with all the self preservation instincts of a lamb cuddling up to a wolf. “I shot the driver out of a flying chopper.” And then, because you can’t help but brag a little: “From the back of a motorbike.”

Imxa - suddenly very close to you, close enough that you can feel her breath stirring your hair - snorts. Shakes her head. “That doesn’t count.”

“Of course it counts.”

You go to pull back in affront - mostly joking - but Imxa catches your jaw in one hand, holds you in place. Her claws prickle against your cheek, your eyelids lowering as she tilts her head, eyeing you.

“It definitely doesn’t count.” Her eyes glint. “Didn’t take you for a cheater.”

“I am not cheating.” Your protest loses some of its strength as you wrap your own hand around her arm. Not pulling away, just… holding on. You know she can feel your pulse hammering in your throat, the drinks on the table between you all but forgotten. “Why would I?”

Another challenge, another vicious grin in response. “Because you want to impress me.”

You tighten your grip on her arm, twist your head to brush your lips against her palm, never breaking eye contact.

“Please. I already have.”

#whew. we made it lads #snippets

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celestiall0tus · 1 month

Text

Tales of Bloody Bug and Chat Noir - Chapter 20 - Friends

Beginning || Previous || Next

Alix headed out during lunch for the Couffaine residence. She knew the twins headed home for their lunch and she needed to give Fluff to Luka. She probably could have waited another day, or until next week when she’d be back in school, but she felt stable enough to meet with him. She’d rather take the opportunity now before something came along and pissed her off.

Alix arrived at Liberty as Luka and Juleka arrived. She took a deep breath and waved them down. Juleka’s face lit up as she rushed over while Luka trotted right behind.

“Alix! Are you ok? Miss Bustier told us you’d be out of school for the week. Did something happen?” Juleka asked.

“A lot of things happened. Things I don’t want to discuss with you just yet. I’m sorry.”

Juleka’s shoulders drooped. “Is it about Marinette?”

A long pause. “Has she said anything?”

“Yes. She’s worried about what she did while akumatized to you, but… mostly Adrien.”

Alix sneered. “Whatever, it doesn’t matter. Look, I need to speak with Luka, alright. I do that, and I’ll be out of your hair.”

“Would you like to stay with us for lunch? I’m sure one extra person would be alright, right, Luka?”

“Uh, I guess?” Luka asked.

“See? So, will you?”

“No. It’s nothing against you, but I just… I need more time.”

Juleka frowned and looked away. “I get it. When it comes to us you want nothing to do with us, but when it comes to Adrien-.”

Alix sucked in a breath. Her hand spasmed and shook before she balled it into a fist. Her every impulse screamed at her as she moved on her own. She grabbed Juleka’s shirt and yanked Juleka down.

“Fuck you. Fuck you and all your fucking friends! I never asked to be used and manipulated by your precious little Marinette. I never asked to be tricked and lied to by all of you. You all never cared about me, well, maybe Rose, but not the rest of you.”

“Alix, that’s-!” Juleka started.

Alix roared and tossed Juleka near the wall. Juleka stumbled and caught herself when Alix slammed her against the wall. Juleka cried out and sunk to the floor while Alix seethed. Alix took several deep breaths before she grabbed Luka’s wrist and dragged him onto Liberty.

“Enough of this. C’mon, Luka, I want to get this over with.”

Luka yelped as Alix dragged him into the hold. She let him go and took Fluff out of her hoodie pocket. His eyes widened and jaw dropped.

“Is that… one of your prototypes?”

“Yes. I never had a chance to give you an answer, but here. Its name is Fluff. I just… please keep her hidden when in public. I’m not exactly ready for people to see them. Can you do that?”

“Of course. I… I understand that feeling.”

“Thank you. And please make sure Marinette and Alya don’t see Fluff. I don’t want to be bombarded by them on anything if they take an interest in it.”

A long pause. “Alix, do you hate them? Do you… do you hate Juleka?”

“Look, Luka, I don’t know. Everything just… just came crashing down around me. Everything I thought I knew was a lie. A sweet, comfortable lie I told myself because I wasn’t ready to face the truth. Or rather, I didn’t know the truth until a few days ago. Now that I do, everything is different and I’m… I’m reeling still.”

Luka’s eyes widened before he looked around the room. He spotted paper and a pen. He took them and wrote down his number and gave it to Alix.

“Is this your number?” Alix asked.

“Yes. I… I usually don’t like people having it, but I like you. You’re not like everyone else. You understand. You and Bloody Bug.”

Alix smiled. “Well, I’ll keep in touch. And I’ll be sure to warn you when I’m heading over to check on Fluff and her performance.”

“Well, if it would help you, I can come to your place.”

“I appreciate the sentiment, but you don’t seem to do well with crowds and people, and I live right next to the Louve.”

Luka tensed up. “Oh. Uh, well, I can manage school, right?”

“Again, I appreciate it, but don’t make yourself uncomfortable on my behalf.”

“It’s not just for you… but myself.”

“What?”

“I want to be better. I want to be like Bloody Bug. She told me she deals with her own triggers. It’s hard to believe seeing her as she is in the media, but up close and within closed off walls, I saw it. She’s just like us, but she’s able to push through and be our hero. If she can do it, I know I can.”

“That’s noble, but not everyone is built the same, Luka. Whatever she’s dealing with must be easier to manage than whatever you are.”

“Maybe, but I want to try. I just… I just don’t want to live like this forever. After being akumatized, everything has been… different. I’m constantly walking through a maze and finding new dead ends and I just want out. I want to be free.”

Fluff squeaked. “Oh, good. My mind’s always a labyrinth too. Maybe we can both escape them. Well, you can escape yours. Mine is eternal torment.”

Luka raised a brow.

Alix chuckled nervously. “I think you see why I ask you keep her a secret. She’s… she’s still very much in development.”

“Still in development and constantly evolving,” Fluff added.

“Right. Anyway, I better go before… yeah.”

Alix handed Luka Fluff and ran out. She didn’t stop until she was far enough away from Liberty. She sighed and sat on a bench. She put Luka’s number into her phone when she got a message from Adrien. She looked at it to see he’d be a little late coming over because of fencing. Another message popped up where he asked her if she could meet him at the school because of fencing team tryouts and he heard Marinette was going to try out. She bristled and told Adrien she’d be there. She took a deep breath, put her phone away, and headed home.

Adrien stood in line with the other fencers on the team. He was thankful for the mask that concealed the discomfort on his face seeing Marinette opposite him. She looked around, likely looking for him. He gulped as Mr. D’Argencourt announced for them to pair off with the new students to see who would make the club. He moved to anyone else other than Marinette when a fencer in a full red fencer’s outfit grabbed his arm and pulled him aside.

Adrien breathed a sigh of relief as his opponent greeted him, then dropped into a fighting stance. He did the same and his opponent lunged. He sucked in a breath as he parried the attack and stumbled back. He fought to keep his footing as his opponent relentlessly held the offense. He slammed into a pole as his opponent lunged to take the victory.

Adrien swung around the pole and put pressure back onto his opponent. The clash of their swords rang out as they danced around the courtyard in their match. He dared a few glances as he planned his next move. He eyed the stairs and nodded. He parried the next attack and ran up the steps. His opponent gave chase and lunged again. He parried again as their swords clashed once more.

Adrien jumped back and headed up into the library. His opponent slammed into him as they went barreling into the library. He sucked in a breath and readied himself as his opponent lunged. They danced around the library, swords ringing, when they finally landed a blow on each other at the same time.

Adrien bent over and gasped. He lifted his mask as he looked around. He didn’t see anyone except Marinette. He grimaced as he held out his hand. His opponent looked at it, then at Marinette.

“Who won?” Adrien’s opponent demanded.

“Uh, I don’t know. It was all too fast. Um, I think… Adrien?”

“What? No! Neither of us got the win. It was a tie,” Adrien argued.

Mr. D’Argencourt ran up and looked between them. “Incredible! I’ve never seen a fencer like that since mine ancestor, Darkblade. Young knave, kneel.”

Adrien’s opponent stood for a moment, then knelt. Mr. D’Argencourt tapped his fencing sword on each of their shoulders.

“Rise, knight. Rejoice! Thou art a member of D’Argencourt Academy.”

Adrien grinned and held out his hand. “Welcome to the team!”

Adrien’s opponent looked at him, took his hand, and removed their mask. Adrien’s jaw dropped seeing his opponent was a Japanese girl with black hair that shone blue in the light.

“Woah! Where’d you learn to fence like that?” Adrien asked.

“I am a Tsurugi. It’s in my blood.”

Mr. D’Argencourt cheered. “A Tsurugi? In my Academy? Huzzah! Come, we celebrate!”

“Wait, are we done here?” Adrien asked.

“Yes. A new member has been knighted.”

“Sweet. Well, I gotta get going then.”

Adrien ran out of the library before anyone could stop him. He grabbed his bag and Alix’s homework before he headed out of the school. He stopped right outside the school when he saw Alix on the sidewalk.

“Alix! Hey!” Adrien called.

Alix put her phone away as she turned to Adrien. She watched him gallop down the steps as Marinette and another girl ran out of the school.

“Yo, Adrien, who’s with the baker girl? Another fangirl?” Alix asked.

“No. She’s-,” Adrien started.

“I am Kagami Tsurugi, heiress to the Tsurugi line. I am the newest member for the fencing team, and student to your homeroom class. I am also Adrien’s bodyguard.”

“What?” Adrien and Marinette yelled.

“Cool. You can join us,” Alix said.

“What?” Adrien and Marinette yelled.

“Is something wrong?” Kagami demanded.

“No! I just… Father didn’t mention this. It’s just a surprise.”

“I see. And why is that one surprised?” Kagami asked, pointing to Marinette.

Alix smirked. “She’s his stalker. Huge a major fangirl. Pretty sure she has a lock of his hair she prays to at night.”

Marinette gasped. She frowned and charged down the steps towards Alix. “I do not! Why would you say-?”

Wind whooshed past Adrien and Kagami as Alix slammed into Marinette, knocking Marinette off her feet and into the steps.

“I’ve had it up to here, Marinette! I made a promise, and I intend to believe,” Alix hissed.

“What promise are you talking about?” Marinette whimpered.

Alix leaned in, grabbed Marinette, and pulled her close. “Chloe’s not the only one that will have made your life a living hell.”

“What? Alix, please, don’t-!”

Alix shoved Marinette down into the steps. She snorted and skated back to Adrien and Kagami. “So… I’ll meet you guys in, say, an hour, I guess?”

“What are we doing?” Kagami asked.

“Study group. Adrien has been helping me since I’m technically out of school until next week due to illness.”

“Are you contagious?”

“Mental illness, new girl.”

Kagami hummed. “Very well. We’ll see you in an hour.”

Alix nodded. She waved good-bye and skated off.

“So, Kagami, you’re really my new bodyguard? What about Gorilla?”

“I don’t know who that is.”

“Oh, uh, my other bodyguard. The one who’s also my chauffeur.”

“I see. If you think I’m replacing him, I’m not. I’m simply here to keep you safe during school hours and when you are hanging out with your friends.”

“Oh? That’s great! You’ll be like a friend too.”

“Not likely. I’m not here to socialize. I’m here to keep you safe.”

“Oh. That’s too bad. Well, I’ll see you later.”

Adrien arrived at the Louve museum. He grabbed his bag and headed for Alix’s house when he heard his name. He turned and saw Ivan, Nathaniel, Rose, and Mylene. He grinned and waved them down.

“Hey, guys! You ready to surprise Alix?” Adrien asked.

“You bet! I even made cupcakes for us all!” Rose cheered.

And I got some killer music for us to jam to,” Ivan added.

“Awesome! Let’s go!” Adrien exclaimed.

Adrien led the others towards Alix’s house when Kagami joined him.

Rose gasped. “Adrien, who’s your friend?”

“Uh, this is Kagami. Kagami, these are my friends. Well, some of them,” Adrien remarked.

“Are they hostile?” Kagami asked.

“Not at all. Cupcake?” Rose asked.

“Uh, no. No, thank you.”

Rose smiled. “Ok!”

Kagami frowned. “Your friends are weird, Adrien.”

“Hey, we’re not weird!” Nathaniel protested.

“If you’re not weird, then you better get the fuck out of here,” Alix remarked.

Everyone turned as Alix skated up to them.

“Oh! Hey, Alix! I thought you would have made it home by now,” Adrien commented.

“Took the scenic route. Needed to clear my head after that shit with Marinette.”

“What happened with Marinette? Is she hurt? Did you hurt her?” Nathaniel demanded.

Alix rolled her eyes as she grabbed Nathaniel’s jacket. “Do you still love Marinette?”

“What? Who? Me? No, not at all,” Nathaniel said.

Alix snorted and released Nathaniel. “Good, cause she’ll never love you.”

Nathaniel’s shoulders drooped as Alix approached the others.

“So, what’s going on? Why are the rest of you here?” Alix asked.

“We wanted to check on you! Miss Bustier told us you’d be out due to illness,” Rose said.

“Yeah! And we heard from Marinette about what happened, but we still wanted to check on you and make sure you were ok,” Mylene added.

“That’s right! And I brought cupcakes. The frosting is different colored and has unicorn sprinkles just because I like them and I wasn’t sure what to make you,” Rose rambled.

“And I brought us some killer music to enlighten everyone else with since we aren’t allowed it during school study hall,” Ivan chimed in.

“I don’t have anything like them, but I did bring my sketches of the next Bloody Bug comic. I think it’s my best yet and I just know you’ll like it,” Nathaniel boasted.

Alix deadpanned. “Does it include you hooking Bloody Bug up with someone again?”

Nathaniel stepped back. “No, not at all. I’m honestly a little insulted you’d think that.”

“Oh yeah? Give me the sketches.”

“I don’t feel like it.”

“Give.”

“No.”

Alix narrowed her eyes. “You have five seconds, Tomato. Run.”

Nathaniel squeaked and bolted.

“One… two… alright. Hand them over, bitch!”

Alix took off after Nathaniel. Nathaniel screamed as Alix pinned him down. Ivan goaded them on while Rose and Mylene rushed over to separate them. Adrien and Kagami watched as Alix and Nathaniel wrestled until she ripped his sketchbook away.

“Now let’s see… what the fuck! What did I tell you? No Bloody Bug with Chat Noir!”

“But they’d make an amazing couple. Do you blame me?”

“Yes! That’s it!”

Nathaniel screamed as Alix wrestled with him. Kagami raised a brow they others fought to separate them.

“Your friends are… unique, Adrien,” Kagami remarked.

“They are certainly different than the crowd we run with. The posh elites, that is. It’s honestly… refreshing to be amongst them. Don’t you think?”

“I… have no comment.”

Adrien frowned until Rose ran up and shoved Nathaniel’s sketchbook into his hands.

“You hold onto this. Alix won’t hurt you,” Rose said and returned to the others.

Curiosity got the better of Adrien and he flipped through it. He marveled Nathaniel’s drawings and stories until he got to the part with Bloody Bug and Chat Noir kissing. He curled his nose at the drawing and shut the book.

“See! Even Adrien doesn’t like it. Remove it!” Alix roared.

“No! Besides, what other options are there? We’ve only seen the other heroes a handful of times and they’re all girls!”

“The fuck does that mean?” Alix demanded.

“Uh, Nathaniel, I think-,” Ivan started.

“Get him Alix!” Mylene yelled.

Alix charged at Nathaniel, scooping him up, and threw him over her shoulder.

“No, please! I’m sorry for whatever I said!” Nathaniel begged.

“Nathaniel, I’m ashamed. We’re going to teach you a lesson. Let’s go, ladies!” Rose ordered.

Alix led Mylene and Rose to her place. Ivan sighed and followed behind them.

“Let’s go, Kagami. Don’t want to be left behind.”

Kagami grunted and followed Adrien into the madness.

Patreon || Discord

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feddy-fagbear · 1 month

Note

I don't see many people Use robo Charlie in their au... Could we possibly hear some stuff about yours?

(I also hope you feel better soon or now)

i am feeling much better dw

anyhow! hell yeah! uh once again i shoved everything under a cut but this time mostly cuz im touching on topics of negligent behavior on every level and some more... gorey things? ig? idk basically viewer discretion advised, content may not be suitable for a general audience

so first thing to note: charlie technically originally possessed the puppet but was removed from it. henry realized that remnant was something that regrew human tissue, and ultimately his work was a bit of a hail mary in terms of if he'd successfully get his daughter back, and he did! of course, in turn, he didn't like... turn william in because of the fact he fucking benefited from those murders and he knew he'd be a damn hypocrite

charlie actually doesnt have many, if any, proper organs. the few that are there are uh- well either multiple exist to perform the same task, are simply accessory, or are missing altogether. It's kind of horrifying, really. she's a facsimile of a human grafted onto a metallic skeleton and in those 5 years she was being "perfected" henry became grossly attached to the idea that he was bringing back his "perfect" daughter and-

yeah thats kinda why he fucking snaps when she's a fucking teenager being a fucking teenager??? its honestly kinda depressing if we're being honest-

but uh- yeah quick lil glimpse into why i think henry and william got along as well as they did lmao

beyond the horror elements, though, you'd really have no clue charlie isnt just... a normal chick yknow? sometimes she moves weirdly but no weirder than if someone were double jointed, and the fact she's decently strong is really just her enjoying working out.

ironically enough charlie doesnt like discover she's not human through some sort of dramatic murder reveal but instead just- michael finds out henry already knew abt where the kids went and Truth Come Out. its kinda silly i wont lie

but yeah there's uh- idk that whole spiel. like there's nothing particularly interesting abt the way i write charlie? she's headstrong, impulsive, more calculative than she lets on, really, a bit rebellious but that cools down as she gets older, really just looking for a good time despite the shit she's had to deal with in her own right, caring but not soft... idk you get it

#robopuppet

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fio-renze · 5 months

Text

November 27 - Day 2 Success/Sin

A knock came at the door.

Not unusual in the life of a standard door, but certainly strange in the life of this door. Tinnaire had permission to enter on a whim, as did Xylaes because he’d lived in it for about a year and the enchantment remembered him; even Garren was an approved user — not that he knew, or had ever tested it — but a knock meant someone had to have entered her tent at the camp, tried the door and not been permitted entry.

Fiorenze poked her head over the landing in the perfect penthouse demiplane and stared at the offending illusory barrier for a long moment before descending down the gilded stairs that lead down from her bedroom space down to the open concept living room and kitchen.

The knock came again, slightly more impatient.

Her hand hovered above the arcane knob, the bite of the magic tingling just at the edge of her reach. If she stayed on this side of the threshold, she was untouchable. Unless it was disenchanted, then that was its own problem. Her breath left her in a huff as she grasped the false metal and opened the door.

A young elven courier with an unremarkable face and stature faced her, standing inside her mostly empty camp tent, scrolls and parcel in hand, “Miss Sunmote.”

She stood a little straighter, her careful and well trained expression shifting from a stoic, unsurprised enigmatic nothing to a pleasant, winsome and disarming smile. The apartment shuddered behind her, quietly resonating in the presence of another great illusion.

It was incredible work, truly. Outside the Dream, away from her penthouse, something she wouldn’t have been able to clock — but they were here, and he was there just beyond the door that he had touched.

“Grand Magister. A pleasure,” her tone lilted to cover the lie, “do come in. I’d heard others of your ilk had come through to help in the fight, but I’ll admit I didn’t expect you.”

If he was surprised, he didn’t show it as he stepped inside. They’d always played the same game well. To his credit he glanced around the demiplane, immediately trying to read the bones of the arcane web that had wove it. “And I will admit that this is an impressive feat of magic. Yours?”

“Pyraelia. She was always the one you needed to court for intellect and ability, not me,” a truth freely given. Fiorenze pulled her long silk dressing gown tighter around her form, “She did teach me how to alter it to fit my own tastes, though.”

His illusion melted away as he huffed a quiet, short laugh, “This place is your taste? Hard to believe.”

“It was at one point! I lived here for a few years, just off the Royal Exchange,” she drifted further back toward one of the couches, a stately piece of fine Sin’dorei silk and gently curving wood supports. The original had cost more than a year’s wage, she’d taken out a loan under a false name to afford it. “There are memories here that are still very much to my tastes.”

“When you were pretending to be Miss Sunbinder?” His fingers pressed into the stone wall, tracing a ley thred.

She hoped the mystery of the magic’s frame was eating him alive. He’d unravel it if left here too long, that was its own dangerous game, “Yes, when I was pretending to be Miss Sunbinder. It seems a fitting illusion, all things considered.”

Rommath exhaled behind his cowl and finally tore his eyes away from his reading, “Your sister wrote to me about your situation, and your debt.”

A life of service for two lives stolen before their time. Her nails sank into the upholstery lightly at the referenced sin and the shadows grew longer in the false light, “Surprising. I made my choices, Rommath. Even if I had fought the claim my standing was going to be damaged in the Court and I didn’t think she would go for it all. Pyraelia knows this.”

“And I suspect she realizes that doesn’t make it any easier to deal with, nor did my refusal to release you from your sentence. I’ll admit to disappointment that you didn’t come to me first to settle it; I would have rather kept you in that vipers nest — you were successful for me there, and it has been difficult to find someone to replace you,” he folded his tattooed arms together in front of his chest as he regarded her, the match starting up again.

That she could work with, her footing a little more certain. The lights brightened back up in response to the shift, “A shame my attempt to slip the noose didn’t work the way I wished, but your hand has always been a bit too stubborn to be forced. What did you come here for? They’re going to think I ate that poor courier boy alive if you stay here for too long.”

He glanced up at the ceiling as it lifted a bit, ignoring her prying in order to do some of his own, “You’re able to shift this construction easily here.”

She’d noticed that too, annoyingly. “Arcane magic has been responding to me more fluidly, yes. The Dream, as a plane, is an odd place. I’m sure others are noticing the effect it has on the magic, too.”

“Not everyone, no. It’s the same here as it is in the waking world, for me,” a truth freely given. His gaze shifted back to her, “Curious.” That fleeting moment of consideration passed before he dove back in, “I’m here to offer you a choice, Fiorenze.”

Of course he was.

@daily-writing-challenge / @kharrisdawndancer (Tinnaire), @xylaes and @garrennorassin mentioned.

#novemberdwc2023 #novemberday22023 #fio-renze #to be continued!

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flipping-the-coin · 7 months

Note

Bumblebee, how are you holding up? You lost your Sire, found out you had a second one, and got your first Sire back all in a pretty small timeframe. How have you handled that?

I want to make something very clear here. I did not gain another Sire. Orion Pax has not done a fragging thing for me my entire life. The only thing he gives a frag about is Megatron, and he’s shown me that over and over again. If I’m being honest, I really don’t want anything to do with him. He’s a selfish glitch and he’s gross. I mostly deal with him by not dealing with him.

That being said, Optimus was… Complicated. I didn’t understand why it had to be this way. It felt sudden and rash to me for him to just… give himself up like that. It felt like he just abandoned us all when we could have found some other way. I was stuck on this idea that if he’d just… given us some more time, we could have figured something out.

I spent a lot of time thinking about it when I was doing my ambassadorial work on Earth. I was angry at him for a long time, you know? I had so many questions and things I just didn’t understand. Why would he leave me so suddenly? Didn’t he know how much I needed him? Why didn’t he tell any of us the truth? Why did he think Orion Pax could be a substitute for him? Why did he have to die while that selfish aft gets to live out his happily ever after?

But being on Earth, watching my friends, Raf, Jack and Miko grow old and die… I started to kind of get it, at least some of it. Watching them grow old, their bodies slowly start to fail and the life slowly sinking out of their eyes, it reminded me a lot of Optimus towards the end of the war.

I guess I just didn’t notice how bad he was at the end, because there was just so much going on, and he always was… different. I can’t remember there ever being a time when Optimus wasn’t in pain in some way or another. It became routine, and in that, I failed to notice when his own frame began to fail him.

Optimus started to practically fall apart after I killed Megatron. He was lost to his pain more often than he was really with us. He was… dying. Slowly. Right before our optics and only Smokescreen really seemed to notice how bad it was. He tried to tell us. Anyway, seeing the kids go… It helped me understand that Optimus was ready to die, and had been for probably a long time.

He waited for the right time, when his death would mean something. He pushed through more pain than anyone can imagine so that he could use his life to restore our home, and that is a noble act. My anger faded into respect after I finally understood. It was hard. I still missed him, but that feeling kind of faded over time.

Honestly, it was easier back on Earth. Cybertron has his image plastered everywhere. You can’t get away from it. But on Earth, Optimus wasn’t… everywhere. In fact, after just a vorn or so, mentions of him by the humans had largely stopped at all, because all who knew him had simply died. Coming home… it was quite the shock to see him just… everywhere. That's been the hardest part, I think. It's easy to not notice what’s missing when you aren’t being reminded all the time of its absence.

And now, Optimus is back! I won’t lie and say that I’m not happy about it. I am. But now I miss him even more. He’s right there, but scheduling and politics stand in the way of us spending any meaningful time with each other. I still have questions left unanswered. But I also finally have hope that things will get better now. Hopefully my Sire can finally fix some of the problems going on here. I just hope he finds time for me too while he’s doing it.

#transformers prime au #two sides to a coin au #transformers #maccadam #two sides asks #bumblebee responds

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merrock · 4 months

Text

CHARACTER INFORMATION

face claim: Raymond Ablack

full name: Jesper Hunte

nickname(s) / goes by: Jes

pronouns & gender: cis man & he/him

sexuality: demisexual

birth date: May 7, 1989

birth place: Merrock, Maine

arrival to merrock: local

housing: Historical downtown

occupation: Chef

work place: The Maine Course

family: older sister

relationship status: single

PERSONALITY

Jesper is introverted, easy going, and soft-spoken. He is a hard worker and dedicated to his job. He is oft accused of being a homebody and will proudly wear that title like a badge of honor. This quiet nature doesn't, however, exempt him from a snarky to downright sarcastic sense of humor. He's the type of guy that gets calls at night from drunk friends needing a ride. Firstly, because they know he'll always be there, and secondly because they know he won't be busy. He is a confidante to regulars at his food truck and has proven to hold his tongue in regard to gossip.

WRITTEN BY: Kate (she/her) est.

BACKGROUND / BIO

triggering / sensitive content warning: childhood illness (heart issues; surgery), parental death, car accident

Jesper was born blue. There was a name for his heart condition and a bunch of complicated anatomy, but it all boiled down to a hole between two chambers. A tiny leak.

His parents were transplants from city life that moved to Merrock to start a family. They were, to the horror of their two children, both psychologists. Jesper's mother specialized in marriage counseling, his father in childhood development. Their eldest was a girl born some years earlier, and Jesper was brought in to round off the family. He did. He was made absolutely (and by the textbook) aware of that fact. But he was also what one might consider a sickly child. He tired quicker and grew slower. His first six years were a waiting game to see if his heart might mend itself. So, while other kids tumbled in the school yard, he spent them mostly indoors. He became his mother's helper, always there in the kitchen when she was cooking. He became his father's assistant, always there when he folded the laundry.

It was finally decided at seven that he would undergo surgery. Its success left him with a scar that would fade to silver as he grew. That same success granted him for the first time the chance to be more tactile with the world around him. But habits die hard, he would never be that type of boy. He was calm in the midst of this storm. His teacher's called him sweet, his sister a suck-up. In truth, Jesper realized early what people wanted from him. He could mold easily into that, slip by undetected in that sense.

As he grew it was obvious, he didn't have (as his parent's wished) any scholarly pursuits. He was a decent student with a small group of friends, but he certainly had no interest in further education. Instead, he gravitated toward cooking. He started making breakfasts for his family in middle school and graduated to dinners by high school. He was a homebody by nature though, content to settle. It was his sister that lit a fire under him and urged him to pursue culinary school.

For one brief window he was away, studying in Paris and living out of a studio apartment there but the life didn't suit him. After one year, he withdrew and returned to Merrock. He found a position at a local restaurant and moved into an apartment in downtown. He dated sporadically, adopted a stray cat off the street one lucky winter, and lived quietly. It was the kind of life his parent's tried to therapize a solution to, but then, he'd long since grown immune to their shrinking.

In time, he would grow to miss those conversations, because when he was twenty-eight, they both passed in a car accident. The grief struck hard, but their graves lie in Merrock and are well tended by him every weekend. With his inheritance, Jesper bought a food truck and opened his own idea of happiness. With a little tongue in cheek name of 'The Maine Course' it's open six days a week at the hideaway market. It serves both traditional samosas and non-traditional burritos along with rice wine and beers on the weekend. The space out front has picnic tables and firepits in the winter.

These days, he lives as he wants. Some (his sister) might call him hermit-adjacent but it's an easy existence. Good on the heart.

#merrockbio #jesperhunte #childhood illness tw #medical tw #heart issues tw #heart condition tw #surgery tw #death tw #parental death tw #car accident tw

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prettyboyeddiemunson · 6 months

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It's been years since you last stepped foot into Hawkins. Not intentionally, well....sort of. As soon as you graduated high school you left, the Welcome to Hawkins sign barely able to be seen in your rear view mirror. You went to university, only keeping up with your friends through letters and calls that slowly dwindled from weekly to holidays only.

It was bittersweet being back. You wondered how old everyone would look. Would the kids you babysat even remember you (you hoped you were their favorite). Was it finally finished, the Upside Down?

You cursed the Upside Down, because while it was its own special level of hell (Dante should have visited Hawkins), it created it's own hell for you. It tore you and your best friend apart.

Eddie Munson. Plans to graduate together, go to a big city for your university and his music career. Late nights sitting in the back of the van talking about everything and nothing. The way your pinkies would lightly touch each other before jerking away, that slowly turned into interlocking them. You craved to hold his whole hand.

But that didn't happen. Will Byers went missing and then Barb, and you helped look for them. You ran into Nancy and Jonathan in the woods, each of you yelling at the other for being in the woods "alone" (hey, you at least stole your neighbor's shot gun to defend yourself and left a note at your place incase you didn't come back). You weren't expecting a whole different world, just someone who lacked empathy and craved violence.

The first time was hard enough, suddenly having to explain to Eddie why you were friendly with the popular kids, even Steve fucking Harrington. The second time? That...that was torture. And it's what tore you apart.

Eddie has always been able to tell when you are lying, even if no one else can. It's the one thing you promised you wouldn't do to each other- lie. So when Eddie catches you limping post demodog bite? You claim it was a wolf. He knows it wasn't, but what else can he say? Then you disappear and show back up with Steve Harrington's face beat in? Nope no thats not okay!

It drew a wedge between you. You graduated and got out. You wanted nothing more to do with the Upside Down. Of course, having to deal with a simple mall fire as the media put it really solidified things. Being covered in bruises and cuts, even some ash, banging on Eddie's trailer that night. When he opened the door and you clung to him crying, and Eddie held you close.

But then he asked what happened. And you told him the truth. It really isn't too believable to say "hey I fought a creature from another dimension and also Russians at the mall". Hell, even talking about what happened with Will Byers makes very little logical sense. That NDA was a godsend for you, taking away the tricky part of navigating this conversation.

Except that night you told him. And he laughed in your face. The glare he had, the saccharine smile as he called you out for lying. The way his voice cracked when he said "you can't even tell me the truth? I thought we would be something, but if you don't even trust me"

Yeah. You hated the Upside Down. You hated that it drove a wedge between you. And you hated yourself just a bit, for never coming back.

You were sitting in your dorms listening to the radio when an aftershock of an earthquake hit. Breaking news later that day told of an earthquake tearing Hawkins apart, many missing and presumed dead. You called Eddie's line but it didn't connect. You called Dustin's, same thing. Only Steve Harrington's line connected, and he told you what happened. Someone called Vecna. But they actually defeated him, stood over his dead body and made sure ("its like those horror movies, you got to be sure the killer doesn't come back...we made sure").

But Eddie was gone. Missing. Presumed dead. And it broke your heart. That was three years ago. You hadn't talked to anyone since last hearing Max made a mostly full recovery (sadly, she never would get her sight back). Hopper apparently wasn't dead but...thats the last you heard. You wouldn't read any other letters. Any time Hawkins or the Upside Down came up in calls, you shut down. Everyone knew to avoid it.

To be back in the town being rebuilt...felt wrong without him. The fact the townsfolk knew nothing about what really happened? Crazy. And now you're home. But it isnt home. Eddie was home. You wish you had a chance to tell him. Wished you hadn't ran away. Wished you weren't such a coward.

And when you walk into the Buckley-Harrington house and see a familiar face with dark curly hair, you think your heart stops. And you think your wish may just come true

THIS IS SO GOOD WTF

AND THAT CLIFFHANGER OMG 😩😩😩

#anon #long post /

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caffedrine · 2 years

Text

Rio Ortiz Dramatic Chapter 24 Summary

This is mostly a summary for me - I make no promises on the accuracy of what’s happening. I’m not nearly fluent enough to get half the jokes/innuendo much less accurate plot points.

When Emma collapsed in front of Rio, what remained of his missing memories fall into place. What had once been Rio’s pure white heart becomes muddy and stained.

*Flashback*

~Before Valerio’s Carriage Accident~~

The Benitoite Kingdom is holding a festival to celebrate the ascension of the new queen. With the death of the previous queen, the king’s mistress was able to become the first and only wife of the king. Valerio had complicated feelings about this, but even he was unable to hide the joy he felt.

Silvio, who was usually arrogant and cruel didn’t say anything on this day. He watched the King and the new Queen celebrate calmly. While he didn’t join in the festivities, he didn’t seem to hate them either. Maybe in the end, he was the most mature of the brothers.

Emidio was different. He sarcastically congratulates Valerio, everything turned out the exact way he planned. He asks why Valerio isn’t happy. Valerio responds that Emidio should get his eyes checked, and Silvio shushes them. This is an important ceremony; they should squabble somewhere else. Silvio also tells Emidio to calm down.

Emidio asks Silvio if he feels anything at all about Valerio killing their mother. Silvio disagrees, all Valerio did was expose their mother’s sins. Everything else was her choice. Emidio asks why Silvio is suddenly protecting Valerio, and Silvio tells him that he’s protecting no one, no matter who did it, the truth would eventually be unveiled. Silvio scolds Valerio for looking so morose, and Valerio asks if he should smile and make Silvio look more depressed by comparison.

Silvio: Ah, there’s the cocky and innocent bastard.

Emidio warns Valerio that he is not nearly as kind as their older brother. Valerio asks if Emidio thinks Silvio is being particularly kind. Besides, its not like he killed the former Queen.

That is a lie. There is some truth to it, as Valerio didn’t directly murder her with his own hands. However, there was no doubt that if not for him, the former Queen would still be alive.

It had started when Valerio had found his mother with a bad wound in her side. She had assured him that she was okay, she had just gotten a little stabbed. Valerio remembers that his mother had spent most of the last year in bed, suffering from one poison attempt or another. In the entire court, his mother had been the one with the most attempts against her life.

Valerio notes that if someone had stabbed her, they meant for her to die. His mother assures him that she wont die from this. Valerio reminds her about how she was poisoned just a few days ago. His mother assures him that it was the normal poison, she’s mostly immune to it at this point.

Valerio thinks the Queen is seriously trying to kill his mother. His mother agrees but points out that it can’t be helped. After all, she has the favor of his father, the king. She came into this life knowing that she might die because of love, and it would be worth it.

Valerio doesn’t understand, what can be so important about love that it’s worth giving up your life for. They should do something about the increase in attacks, not wave it away.

Valerio’s mother tells him that the King knows about it, and he is pretending not to notice. The queen is clever in her attacks, and she has political backing that neither Valerio’s mother nor the King can go against.

But there is another method. The Benitoite throne goes to the person whom the king appoints, not the firstborn. And even the king has acknowledged Valerio’s skills and cleverness. If the king appoints Valerio as his successor, the queen will lose her status.

Valerio asks if that is when he can kill the Queen.

Valerio’s mother pinches his hand in reproach. Though Valerio is good at acting charming to those around him, in truth he was often impertinent and underhanded, and his mother often pinched him.

Valerio’s mother points out that the queen is most afraid of losing her political position. All she’s afraid of is not being able to see the King again. She tells Valerio not to worry about anything, this feud is between her and the queen. Valerio is politically savvy and is talented enough to lead the country into success. Focus on that and don’t think about the queen.

At his mother’s prompting, Valerio promises to leave it alone. But in reality, all he was thinking of was a way to banish the queen from the palace.

*End Flashback*

Emidio’s laughter rings through the forest. Next to him, Emma sinks to the ground in a puddle of her own blood. Her beautiful skin and hair are stained with blood and dirt, and now even her life is about to be cut off.

Rio’s vision grows dark, his heart sinks with the weight of a thousand stones, and he accepts that he has to kill Emidio. If he doesn’t kill Emidio, everything would have been for nothing. Once Emidio is dead, he can’t take anything important away from Rio ever again. Killing Emidio would solve everything.

Rio begins to forget those peaceful happy days in Rhodolite.

He has fragments of memories, of Emma telling him not to kill anyone no matter what. The hand holding his sword trembles. Emma had wanted him to live happily without the shadow of killing someone hovering over him. However, that promise of a happy future was already gone, so what would be the point in letting Emidio live?

Emidio is happy with Rio’s expression. He is just evening the scales of justice, years ago Valerio took something important away from him. Back then, nothing was important to Valerio, so Emidio tried the next best thing by taking Valerio’s life. Obviously, that had failed, but he’s now discovered something new – Valerio has finally found something important to him, something that Emidio can take away. Honestly, Valerio only has himself to blame.

Emidio’s voice comes from someplace far away from Rio. Murderous rage paints everything in a dim, far away light, and Rio can’t even see where Emma has fallen. He grips his sword and springs from the ground. He’s aware of Emidio’s men attacking him, but he mows them down with ease.

Emidio tries to pull his sword out of Emma, but Rio is there first and kicks Emidio in the stomach.

Once, Rio had assured Emma that he wouldn’t do anything that she would hate. He also wanted her to smile in the future too, even though he knew that when his memory came back, they wouldn’t be able to be together. Though, back then, he had been trying to come up with a way that they could be together in spite of everything around them.

Rio’s sword pierces the ground instead of Emidio. The men around him take this as an opportunity to attack.

A new voice calls Rio an idiot and blocks the attack.

Rio, half lost to madness, turns to the figure standing next to him, jewelry jingling and cloak fluttering in the wind. He awkwardly asks if it’s really his brother.

(Silvio just comes swooping in like an action hero)

Silvio asks if Rio is trying to get himself killed. If so, he’s sorry for interrupting Rio, and will happily let him continue. Contrary to his words, he cuts down the men who come after them, one after another.

Dumbfounded, Rio regains his senses enough to find and check on Emma, who is not doing very well. The sight of her collapsed in a pool of blood and mud is almost too much for Rio to accept, but he can see her chest rise and fall with breath. Rio asks Silvio to take care of the men while he handles Emma.

Silvio will just add this service to Rio’s bill. The one with a 10 billion gold coin debt. Silvio laughs as he kicks one of the men in the chest.

Rio strips off his jacket and uses the fabric to staunch Emma’s wounds. Her skin grows paler and paler, and her eyes close. Rio assures her that everything will be fine and Emma opens her eyes to look blankly in Rio’s direction. Weakly, she thanks him. Rio asks what about this situation does she think it’s appropriate to thank him.

Rio desperately recalls any memories dealing with first aid and remembers the many times he’s had to administer it.

Silvio breaks through Rio’s concentration to ask if all these men are with Emidio. He seems to be able to intuit that if left alone to his memories, Rio would sink into the darkness. Right now, Silvio is the only lifeline Rio has to keeping his sanity.

Rio suddenly remembers something important. Three years ago, he had been searching for Emidio’s ledger accounting for drug smuggling. Silvio recalls Emidio mentioning something about inheriting their mother’s connections and following her wishes. Apparently, it was taking over the illegal drug trade.

Silvio had also been investigating the royal family’s connections to the illegal drug trade, but he couldn’t get through Emidio’s tricks. There was no evidence of Emidio’s involvement, though it sounds like Rio fared differently.

With hands wet with Emma’s blood, Rio removes a small velvet ring box from his pocket and tosses it at Silvio. Silvio opens the box, and his eyes grow wide with surprise. This is one of his mother’s rings. Rio explains that it’s a key to a hidden safe in a certain merchant’s home in Rhodolite. Three years ago, Rio had thought there was a secret ledger in that safe and had left Benitoite to retrieve it. Unfortunately, those plans had gone awry with the carriage accident.

Silvio finishes off the last of Emidio’s thugs and the forest becomes silent again. Emidio, recovering from Rio’s attack, asks Silvio why he’s defending Valerio. Doesn’t Silvio hate Valerio as much as he does? Silvio responds that he does hate Valerio, but his hate is different from Emidio’s hate.

Pieces have fallen into place for Rio. When Silvio realized that Emidio was coming to Rhodolite, both Rio and Emma would be in danger. So, Silvio had disappeared so that Emidio couldn’t read his movements, and when Rio left yesterday morning, he had moved to secure Emma.

Silvio tells Rio not to get too far ahead of himself. He only protected Emma because it would be difficult for him if one of Rhodolite’s women got involved in an international dispute. If she were to die as Emidio would want, it would lead to tension in their diplomatic relations. Yet, despite all that he did, Emma escaped his protection, Silvio had to go out to deal with weird rumors, so all that he put into motion was for nothing.

Silvio asks if Emma is still breathing, and Rio assures him that he wont let her die. Silvio is happy, after all if Emma were to die, the beasts of Rhodolite wouldn’t shut up about it. Silvio awkwardly pats Rio on the head and turns to confront Emidio, who is just getting up. He tells Emidio that hopefully prison will cool his temper.

Emidio doesn’t understand. Valerio drove their mother to suicide, why isn’t Silvio joining forces against him? If it wasn’t for Valerio, their mother would still be alive. Silvio doesn’t particularly care, it was their mother who did something wrong in the first place. Emidio asks if what she did was so bad that suicide was the only option.

Silvio asks Emidio if killing Valerio would be justice. He tells Emidio to leave him out of this nonsense, Emidio is the only one here who wants Valerio dead. Emidio is surprised and Silvio explains that he wants to defeat Valerio, but not in an underhanded way.

Rio pipes up, asking what kind of fight he’s supposed to be having with Silvio. Silvio explains that they’re fighting over the Benitoite throne. If Valerio dies, Silvio will never really know that he was the best candidate, as opposed to the only candidate.

Besides, doesn’t Rio have anything to say to Emidio? His woman has just been stabbed, and this isn’t like the old days where Rio can just cry cutely and have his problems solved.

Rio admits that he was relieved when the former Queen died. He didn’t feel any pain or regret for what he did, he was convinced he had done the right thing. But now he understands that it wasn’t the right thing at all. There had been several options Rio could have used to protect his mother. He deliberately chose the option that had the highest chance of the queen committing suicide in disgrace.

Back then, he had deliberately kept everyone at an arms distance, to afraid to think of them as important. And because he refused to make connections with anyone, he stopped thinking of them as ‘human’ and started thinking of them as ‘pawns’.

In the past three years, without his memories to hold him back, he fell in love with Emma and started seeing people as humans. It’s thanks to her that he regained his own humanity and sense of morality. Rio tells Emidio that he will never forgive him for what he’s done. But he’s not going to kill him either. He will make Emidio pay for his sins in a lawful manner. This is what Emma would want.

Emidio looks like he’s trying to say something, but no words come out.

Smiling maliciously, Silvio turns to the forest and announces that the reinforcements have arrived. Out of the forest emerge Rio’s self-proclaimed best friend, and Carlo followed by a doctor. They are all horrified to see Emma grievously injured.

Silvio: Hey, what’s up with that new guy?

Rio: I couldn’t be certain that you weren’t going to be violent with Emma.

Silvio: Hurting women is uncool. And I’m going to be the cool king.

Rio: . . . did you seriously say that?

The doctor rushes over to Emma and starts treating her. Silvio roughly pats Rio on the head again.

Rio: . . . thanks

Silvio: What was that?

Rio: Your face is stupid.

Rio asks the doctor what he can do to help, joining him by Emma’s side. Under his breath, Silvio grumbles that he’s relieved Rio didn’t die.

Though she is badly injured, they are able to transport Emma to the court infirmary. Thankfully, her wound wasn’t fatal, and she managed to hold on, Emma hasn’t regained consciousness.

There is only one petal left on the rose.

Looking exhausted and pale, Rio exits the infirmary, only to find a large imposing figure in front of him. Rio asks Silvio what he wants, and Silvio tells him that if he thinks about it a little bit, he can easily guess. Rio sees that behind Silvio is a servant with a meal cart.

The cart is loaded with expensive and luxurious seafood dishes. Silvio drags Rio into a nearby room, followed by the servant who begins to arrange the dishes. They are familiar Benitoite dishes, though Rio hasn’t tasted them in over three years. Still, his expression doesn’t improve.

Silvio tells him to eat and Rio refuses. Silvio threatens to force-feed him instead. Rio tells him to mind his own business, and Silvio asks if Rio’s grand plan is to starve to death. He doesn’t particularly care, if Rio wants to die Silvio won’t stop him. With that said, Silvio spears some fish on a fork and stuffs it into Rio’s mouth.

Silvio asks Rio what he intends to do when Emma wakes up. Rio tells him that he will return to Benitoite then. Alone. Silvio asks about Emma and Rio tells him that he already answered. Rio curls up, hugging his knees and burying his face in them. This is a habit of his from before, whenever he would get depressed. Only Silvio would recognize it these days.

Rio mumbles that if he had really parted ways with Emma back then, this situation would never have happened. Silvio agrees, getting involved with Rio is probably the worst thing that could have happened to Emma. It’s because of him that she got stabbed with a sword. Then again, if he had regained his memory just a day earlier, Rio would have also been able to guess Emidio’s plans.

Silvio reminds Rio that he would know very well how commoner women are treated in the Benitoite court. It would be a kindness if he didn’t get Emma involved with them any more than she already is. Rio tells Silvio that he doesn’t have to just say it, Rio already understands.

Well, if Rio understands, then Silvio doesn’t need to say anything more. He pours them some rose wine, and then with his customary ill manners, props his feet up on the table. It’s great that Rio is giving up on Emma, especially since she’s already Silvio’s woman.

Rio lifts his head from his knees to stare blankly at Silvio.

Silvio elaborates; Rio has seen Emma’s neck by now. That custom collar shows that she now belongs to Silvio.

Rio realizes that with everything that happened, he forgot about the collar. Standing so abruptly that the table shakes, he asks Silvio what kind of asshole puts a collar on someone else’s lover. And right after he hurt her? Silvio argues that Emma got injured on her own without him. Besides, what he and Emma do has nothing to do with Rio, right?

Rio snaps that Emma doesn’t belong to Silvio. Silvio reminds him that he’s going to break things off with her, leaving her available. Rio yells that he never said that. Silvio asks what the hell he was talking about earlier then. Rio tells him that he was going to continue but Silvio interrupted him.

Rio explains that it might be his fault that Emma came so close to dying, but he still won’t let her go. This isn’t some light love that crumbles at the first sign of trouble.

Normal Story

While Rio yells at Silvio, Emma dreams.

~Some time, some place~

Emma can hear someone calling her name from very far away, but she is lost in darkness with no exit in sight. She remembers being stabbed and how painful it was. It was so painful that she couldn’t breathe, and she is afraid that if she leaves the darkness, she will go back to feeling nothing but pain. Naturally she refuses to look for a way out of the darkness and instead closes her eyes.

One day, Emma went to Rio’s house to deliver bread given to her by a neighbor. Her grandmother had hurt her back and had trouble walking, but thankfully Rio had noticed and helped her home. The bread was made as a thanks for Rio being so kind.

Rio agrees that those events did happen, but it wasn’t out of kindness. Emma asks if Rio hates being called kind.

Rio explains that it’s not kind if the person has an ulterior motive. It was a calculated kindness at best. It wasn’t about helping someone in trouble, it was more that he didn’t want people to think badly about him.

Emma points out that even if it’s calculated and underhanded, it was a kind result. Rio just laughs mockingly at himself being called kind.

This was a common occurrence with the old Rio Emma had met three years ago. He always saw the bitterness in everything.

Rio notes that Emma is different, kindness seems to be her default. She helps people without even considering the merits of it. He wonders if it’s possible to be at all like her before ultimately deciding it’s impossible.

Emma asks if the reason Rio has been treating her well is because he doesn’t want her to think badly of him. Rio thinks about it briefly before admitting that it’s different when it’s Emma. Granted, he doesn’t want her to have a bad impression of him, but he genuinely wants to be kind to her specifically.

Emma tells him that one day it won’t be only her that he’s genuinely kind to.

Time moves on

After showing Silvio the market, Rio and Emma ate sweets together while looking down on the city. Once Rio hated Rhodolite, but that hatred is now gone. With one of her favorite smiles on his face, Rio tells Emma that he loves this city.

Rio admits that three years ago, if an old woman had asked him for shelter from the rain, he probably would have driven her away unless he could have seen a benefit towards him. He hadn’t understood the meaning of helping others and was barely human back then. And now? Now Rio wouldn’t hesitate to help others. He smiles at Emma, as bright and dazzling as the sky.

Rio explains that he’s not some sort of philanthropist who particularly likes random old ladies. But he would still help because she would be in trouble without shelter. It’s thanks to him loving Emma, falling in love with Emma that he can feel kindness.

Rio tells Emma that he now understands why she saved him back then, when he was dying in the rain. Even though she had no idea who he was, she understood love and empathy to be kind to a stranger. Because Rio didn’t understand those emotions, he had always figured she had an ulterior motive behind the rescue. She is a wonderful woman who is just equally kind to everyone.

Emma doesn’t think that’s true. Yes, back then, she would have helped Rio whether or not she knew him, but now . . . Now the way she wants to be kind to Rio is different than the way she feels for everyone else.

Time moves on

It’s true that she can’t leave people in trouble to their own devices, but she also won’t sacrifice herself to go out of her way to save someone else. But if it’s Rio, even if her life is in danger, she would risk it to ensure Rio’s happiness. She’s happy that Rio has learned to be kind to others, but Emma wants to be especially kind to him. Only the future will tell if this is a good thing or a bad thing. Rio is happy with this and resembles a dog wagging his tail happily. He hugs Emma with all of his might.

Rio is always Rio, whether he’s a commoner, a butler, or a prince.

Rio seemed to sense that she wanted to kiss him and effortlessly moved to intercept her. He whimpers that he is having trouble enduring her and seems to melt. This is as happy as Emma has ever seen him, and she wishes that she can always see this expression. If she could, Emma is positive she could endure anything.

Which is why she has to wake up. Outside of the darkness, a world of pain awaits.

But Rio is also waiting.

#ikepri #ikemen prince #rio ortiz

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