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beccascribbles · 4 years

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where atsumu is a notorious playboy and now he wants you

a/n - you won't believe how long i've been working on this and it's finally finished... anyway, just wanted to say a quick thank you for 700 followers! it means a lot! hope you enjoy this little atsumu fic

warnings - nsfw (sex, swearing), possibly a little angsty?, toxic relationship

word count - 4.1k

sequel ‘returning the favour’, where atsumu gets a taste of his own medicine

When your friends warned you away from him, you should have known he was bad news, should have known to avoid him, to shut down any conversation and walk away.

When a random girl approached you in the university library and warned you away from him, told you what he had done to her, how he ignored her feelings and hooked up with another girl in front of her, the alarm bells should have started to ring.

When the very thought of introducing him to your parents filled you with dread, you should have known any kind of relationship with him was impossible. Introducing a boyfriend to your parents was nerve-wracking, yes, but you had done it before and the most severe emotion you had felt then was nerves. It was nothing compared to the dread that curled in your belly at the mere thought of ever introducing him.

But Miya Atsumu pulled you in.

Despite all the warnings, you were blinded by his easy charm, the smirk that would pull at the corners of his lips as he teased you, how comfortable he looked in every situation, as if he knew the power he held over those around him. He attracted girls and boys like a moth to a flame. In fact, he burned so brightly it was inevitable that you would get hurt at some point, feel his scathing dismal like a punch to the chest.

Truthfully, you were not planning on falling for him, not even planning to interact with the new face in your lectures. He had attracted enough attention, and you, the ever focused and diligent student, could not afford the distraction. So, while others flocked to him, you initially kept a wide berth, hurrying from lectures with your books clutched to your chest to grab at seat at the library. It would be a lie to say he had not noticed you through the crowds. You were either the first to leave the lecture hall, or one of the only students to approach the professor after class to ask questions and gather some more information about the subject. He admired the dedication you had, your unwavering focus. At the same time, he wanted to be the reason that focus, that dedication, finally broke.

On the day he finally approached you, the weather had been unpleasant. Rain had attacked you the entire walk to class, the raincoat you had on a flimsy barrier. Coupled with the harsh wind that had been blowing, it was nearly impossible for the hood of your coat to cover your head, leaving you with the look of a drowned rat and a very disgruntled one at that. The rain had soaked through your backpack, leaving you with a dripping notebook. You had to be thankful that you had transferred all the sheets of paper you had written on into a binder that had kept the paper mercifully dry. So, as you had sought out a radiator to dry your things on, he had approached you, looking effortlessly handsome... and dry.

“Want to borrow some paper, sweetheart?” he asked, waving his dry notebook at you, his lips upturned in a grin. His stance was casual, but the way he angled his body blocked the class from your view and also cut off your potential escape route. Though the vocative grated at you, your parents had taught you to be polite. Despite the annoyance in the lines of your body, you managed to smile back at him.

“Actually, yes,” you replied, turning back to the radiator to begin draping your wet items on the heated surface. “That would be great. Thank you.”

With your back to him, you missed the way his mouth twisted into a smirk, a playful glint appearing in his eyes. You heard the rip of paper being pulled from a notebook, then felt his warm fingers circle your wrist. You turned to face him, momentarily stunned by the lack of distance between you. His warmth, coupled with the radiator at your back, heated up your body, dispelling the cold bite the rain had left behind.

“And your payment?”he questioned running the tip of his finger along your inner wrist. The feel of his rough skin tracing the soft surface sent a tingle running through you, a traitorous flare of heat to your cheeks.

“Payment?” you scoffed, reaching for the proffered paper. He released it without a struggle, but remained close to you. It would have been so simple to trace the planes of your face, to feel the heat on your cheeks build because of his touch. Instead, he sent a lazy smirk in your direction. It should have irked you, but you found it oddly attractive, the little quirk to his lips, the intensity in has honey brown gaze. “For some paper?”

“Nothing is free these days,” he stated, reaching behind him to pull his phone from his back pocket. It dangled nonchalantly from his grip as he held it out to you. You glanced at the phone, then up at him, at his lazy expression. The way he looked at you showed he tended to get his way. There was no possibility in his mind where you returned to your seat without typing his number into your phone. “Give me your number and I’ll message you when I want to collect. I'm sure you'll enjoy it just as much as me.”

He pressed the phone into your hand. It was already unlocked and opened on a contact page. Instead of immediately typing your contact information into his phone like he assumed you would, you glanced down at the phone screen and then up at him. "Sorry, but my phone number comes at a cost as well."

He let out a low hum, leaning in closer, close enough that your noses almost touched. His eyes stared into yours, appearing to commit the colour to memory. "And what cost is that?"

“If you let me return to my seat, you might find out,” you stated, peeking over his shoulder to see that the professor was powering up the slide show. You pushed against his shoulder, creating enough space for you to walk past. As you stepped around him, you slipped his phone into his trouser pocket. He turned to watch you walk away, the smirk still present on his face.

The next time he approached you, he had orchestrated it with an obsessive perfection. With the knowledge that you always rushed to the library after class finished, he had instructed a member of the class, one of his fangirls, to deliberately bump into you as you tried to make your exit. It was amusing in a sick way how easily the girl had bent to his will. One kiss and she was weak at the knees, begging him for more. The more he had promised would be done once she completed this small task for him.

So, it was with an almost sadistic smirk on his face that he watched as the girl shouldered into you roughly, causing you to stumble and scatter your belongings across the floor. If you had only got into the habit of packing your stuff away into your backpack before leaving, you could have avoided the smirking blonde, able to quickly right yourself and continue on your way. As fate would have it, it was the muscular arms of the blonde that steadied you, his fingers gripping greedily at your waist. Offering him a quick thank you, you pulled yourself from his grip, bending down to gather the items you had dropped. Just as he had planned, you were distracted and desperate to leave, so distracted you did not notice as he took your notebook from the floor and slipped it into the open bag hanging from his shoulder. And, like he presumed, you hurried from the room without sparing him a glance.

When he decided to ambush you, you were digging through your bag, mumbling quietly under your breath as you attempted to find your notebook. It had all your class notes in it that you needed to begin your essay. Letting out a huff, you shoved your bag away from you.

"Looking for this?" asked Atsumu, notebook dangling from his fingertips as he took in your distressed form. Leaning forward, you pulled it from his grip, flicking through the pages to confirm that this was indeed your notebook.

"Where did you find it?" you asked, placing it down on the table and resting your arms on top of it as you looked up at him.

"Is that any way to thank the person who returned your class notes?"

You gave him an exaggerated, friendly smile. "Thank you. Now where did you find it?"

"The floor," he stated, a smirk tugging at his lips with his next words. "After your fall, that's where all your belongings ended up."

"I know," you snapped before turning back to the work you had been in the process of beginning. Atsumu's tall figure still loomed over the desk, his hands gripping at the edge of the table as he leaned forward to force himself into your line of sight. Your eyes narrowed into a glare. "What do you want? Can't you see I'm busy?"

"I want to take you out." The words were simple, but said in such a pleasing honeyed tone that you felt the heat rush to your cheeks. He held your gaze, awaited your reply eagerly. He knew the effect he had on you, could see it working on you right before his eyes. There was no doubt in his mind that you would say yes.

"Take me out where?" you questioned, voice coming out whisper. Your warm breath fanned against his face, made him crave a sudden closing of space between you and the parting of your lips as he pressed his against them. Truth be told, he wanted to see you come undone.

His usual method would not work on you, that much he was certain of. If he proposed a club or a bar, you would likely scoff, pull away from him, refuse his offer to take you out on a date. A restaurant however, one with a fine wine menu coupled with good food would work quite well.

"A restaurant," he said. You raised an eyebrow at his lacklustre response, expecting a more surprising proposal from the young man. "One where I can fine dine and wine the shit out of you."

“Okay,” you shrugged, feigning some level of disinterest as you pushed him lightly by the shoulder to move him out of your personal bubble. You bent to reach for a pen as you spoke. “Tell me a time and place, and I’ll meet you there.”

Atsumu blinked, unsure if he had heard you correctly. Had you just said you wanted to meet at the restaurant? That would be difficult considering he had yet to decide on one, having made a mental note to ask Osamu for recommendations later on. Trying to hide his sudden unease, he gave you a smooth grin. “Why don’t you let me pick you up, sweetheart?”

That caused you to pause, your breath to catch in your throat, your heart to stutter. The way he spoke, that soft drawl, the smooth dulcet tone of voice, made you weak at the knees. If he addressed you with the same tone each time he spoke, you would have been putty in his hands by now. You swallowed, avoiding eye contact as you tapped your pen on the table, the motion more to soothe you, though it aggravated the others in the library to no end. “Fine.”

You ripped a page from your notebook, hurriedly scribbling down your address. You held out the paper to him, finally meeting his eyes again. “When were you thinking?”

“Friday at 8?”

“Sure,” you nodded. “See you then.”

And, that Friday, you found yourself holding up various outfits to yourself in the mirror only to discard them a moment later. They were never perfect, either too sultry or too innocent, too girly or too geared towards comfort. It was so dire you had reached the point of wishing that you had ordered those dresses you had browsed after agreeing to meet with him. Next day delivery would have meant they would have arrived on time, and you would have felt confident in them. However, you had talked yourself out of it, convincing yourself you had dresses worthy of a dinner with Atsumu. With a sigh, you picked up a dress you had discarded earlier. It was the best out of a bad bunch, and unfortunately the only one you thought you could get away with. Distantly, you wondered why you were trying so hard. That was just you trying to convince yourself you didn’t care. It would be foolish to lie to yourself. You cared because you were attracted to him, to his easy charm, his good looks.

Glancing in the mirror one more time, you smoothed down the material of the dress. It complimented you well, was a trusted favourite. It hugged your body in all the right ways, emphasising your shape in a way that was pleasing to the eye. You allowed yourself a small smile. You felt confident. It was a bonus that you figured Atsumu would enjoy the view.

Hearing the knock on your door, you grabbed your bag from the desk, checking it had everything you needed. Phone, keys and purse were all present inside. Then you went over to open the door. Framed by the dark word, dressed in a dark shirt and black jeans, Atsumu looked hot. His hair had been perfectly styled, a far cry from the messier style he favoured at university. His eyes ran up and down your body, lazily, as if he was stripping you with his eyes. He drawled, “Well, don’t you clean up nice. Makes me want to stay in instead of taking you out."

You gave him a playful glare, pushing against his chest lightly. He stepped backwards, you following him into the hallway. Turning away from him, you faced the door, locking it. Over your shoulder, you quipped, "If you think this date is ending in sex, you are very much mistaken."

Little did you know how wrong your statement was. You could blame it on the buzz of alcohol in your system from the wine but, to be honest, you were weak to Atsumu's charm. The way he purred your name had you weak. The feel of his fingers grazing your bare skin made you shiver. The feel of his lips moving languidly against your own sent jolts of pleasure through you.

"I'm going to ruin you," he breathed, breath hot against your ear as he nipped gently at the lobe, fingers teasing at the hem of your dress, slipping under the material. Those words, along with his actions, were your undoing.

Your hands tangled into his hair, gently tugging as you reconnected your lips, the kiss far more passionate, a bit more messy. It was easy for him to push you onto the bed, for you to instinctively hook your legs around his waist, holding him close to you. A low moan escaped your lips as he rolled his hips into you, feeling the hardness of his cock through the layers. Your dress was hiked up past your hips, the lace of your panties on full display. He pulled away to admire you, unhooking your legs from around his waist, spreading them open for him to admire the view. He let out an appreciative whistle. "Look at you. So desperate for me, sweetheart. Do you want me to fuck you? Do you want to feel my cock filling you up?"

You let out a soft moan. Your cheeks were flushed, breathing slightly laboured as you looked up at him. You were desperate for him. He could see all this, watched with smug satisfaction as your hand slipped into your wet panties and you began to play with yourself. "Why don't you take those off for me?"

Too lost in your need, you began to slip the fabric down your legs, slowly, teasingly. Atsumu watched with a playful glint in his eyes, hand moving to palm at his cock through his trousers. Not needing him to direct you, with the lace no longer blocking his view, you resumed your previous action, fingers circling your clit. As he watched, you pushed a finger into your wet entrance, watching as his eyes darkened. While you continued to pleasure yourself, he slipped his trousers off, then began to teasingly lower his boxes, watching your reaction. Your breath caught in your throat at the sight of his hardened cock, slit wet with pre-cum. With you watching, he wrapped his fists around it, beginning to stroke it. His head tilted back and a low groan escaped his throat. You moaned in response, inserting another finger inside, stretching yourself out for him.

"Fuck, y/n," he moaned. "Are you ready? Do you want my cock inside of you? Do you want to feel me thrusting into you? Because I want to feel you clench around me, for you to cum as I fuck you."

"Yes," you breathed, thumb rubbing harshly against your clit as you continued to push your fingers inside you harder, faster. "Please fuck me."

"Get on your hands and knees then, sweetheart," he commanded, watching as you removed your fingers from inside of you. And what a sight you were, back curved to provide him with the best view. He ran his hands appreciatively along the slope of your ass cheeks, giving them a playful slap. He leant over you, fingers finding the zip of your dress, his cock brushing against you. Now wasn't the time to tease you. He yanked the zipper down, the dress falling off your body, leaving you naked apart from your bra.

"Please just fuck me," you begged, pushing back against him as his fingers brushed the tops of your erect nipples hidden by your bra.

"So impatient," he said, voice low, a gruff edge to it that made you suck in a breath. The tip of his cock brushed against your clit, hands gripping your hips, fingers digging into the soft flesh. Teasingly, he waited, his cock head resting against your wet entrance. Each time you pushed back, he would pull slightly away, leaving you a whining mess. Just as you were about to beg, he pushed into you, his cock brushing against your inner walls as he slowly entered you. With a low groan, he sheathed himself fully inside you, his pelvis pressed against you.

Slowly at first, he began to rock into you, pulling out slightly before thrusting back in, working your pussy, getting you used to taking his cock. Each slow thrust caused you to moan, fingers clutching at the duvet.

"More," you whined, hips pushing back into him. He stilled, holding you close to him. You moved along his cock, grinding back against him as his hands tightened on you, stilling your movements.

"What was that?" he questioned, leaning down to press a kiss to the back of your neck. "You want me to fuck you into the mattress, is that it?"

"Yes," you declared, voice breathy as you let yourself droop forward, head resting against the soft material of the duvet. He pulled fully out of you, hand curling in the hair at the nape of your neck and pulling you upwards. Your back was flush against his chest, his other arm wrapped around you, fingers teasing at your clit as he thrust upwards into you again.

The sudden harsh thrust caused you to choke, head lolling against his shoulder. You were weak to him as he continued to thrust into you, losing yourself in the feeling of pleasure. The stimulation of your clit, coupled with the harsh thrusting, had you chasing your orgasm far sooner than you had expected, the pleasure slowly building up, a dam waiting to explode.

"Shit," you gasped as he pushed you forward onto the mattress, the position allowing him to push into you with more ease, the slap of his hips against your ass and your laboured breathing the only sound in the room. "Atsumu... I-I think I'm going to cum."

"Don't hold back," he grunted, feeling himself drawing closer. "Cum for me, sweetheart. Want to feel your walls fluttering around my cock."

"A-Atsumu."

His name was the only word able to escape your lips as a wave of pleasure hit you, finally sending you over the edge. He let out a pleased hum at the feel of your walls clenching around him, continuing to thrust into you as he chased his own release. He came with a low groan, releasing his hot seed into you, coating your walls. Slowly, he rocked gently into you before pulling out his slowly softening cock. You let out a low whine at the sudden feeling of emptiness, turning to face him with a small pout. He let out a soft chuckle, grabbing you by the chin and pulling you in for a long kiss, tongue tracing the inside of your mouth. Against your lips, he said, "I'm always up for round two."

You should have know one night wouldn't be enough to satiate your hunger for each other. Despite only having a sexual relationship, the two of you formed a friendship, if constant sexual teasing could be considered friendship. In the library, in class. Atsumu was insistent, his hands rarely kept to himself when he could so easily slip them into your warm panties. Occasionally, you would return the favour, palming him through his jeans. On a day when you had been feeling particularly adventurous, you had sucked him off in the library, relishing in the soft moans he would release, the way his hips would buck upwards as he attempted to push you down onto his cock further.

One day, he had turned to you, a completely innocent look on his face and stated, "You're the only girl I ever fuck now."

You had looked at him blankly as he had pulled you towards him, placing you on his lap, urging you to straddle him. His hands rested against the bare skin of your sides. "And?"

"I'd say we're pretty much exclusive."

Those words gave you some indication of where his train of thought was heading. Though you couldn't deny wanting to be in a relationship with him, you could hardly define what you did now as dating. You felt he was just using you and that had been the truth for as long as he had begun pursuing you.

"We're not even dating, Atsumu," you sighed. Just last week, he had gone on a date with another girl only to arrive at your dorm at the end of the night to fuck you instead of her.

"Why don't we change that?" he hummed, placing kisses along your jaw before connecting your lips in a searing kiss. His thumbs brushed against your rib cage as he kissed you harder. He was close enough to feel the way your heart picked up the pace, hammering against your chest. You pulled away slightly to look at him, to see the sincerity in his brown eyes.

"Okay," you agreed. "Let's change that."

Years later, you would look back on certain moments in your relationship with nothing but anger, mainly at yourself. The signs were clear from the moment you became official. Atsumu was a person who refused to be tied down. As soon as your relationship was defined, he lost interest, pulling away from you, treating you as nothing more than a means for pleasure. But, through it all, you still felt love for him, needing to be the thing that brought him that pleasure. That illusion shattered the moment you saw him with another girl, her legs wrapped around his waist as he kissed her with the passion he used to kiss you.

Though the illusion shattered, the desire for him did not. You would still open your door for him, still let him use you as you told yourself you were using him. You accepted the empty 'I love you' he would whisper as you fell asleep only to wake up to an empty bed.

You were a fool. But he must have known that. After all, only a fool could ever love him like you did.

#haikyuu x reader #haikyuu imagines #hq x reader #hq imagines #atsumu miya #atsumu x reader #atsumu x y/n #haikyuu atsumu #hq smut #hq angst #haikyuu smut #atsumu smut

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writing-gifts · 4 years

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datura (moth!bruno x butterfly!reader)

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A/N: idk what to say so here’s another chapter ft. oblivious bruno lmao

First Chapter || Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Reader is gender neutral!

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[Early Fall]

You thought you were at peace with Summer ending but apparently that wasn’t the case. Every time you woke up and it was a little colder than the day before you’d curse the season. It was uncomfortable to adapt to and made you want to stay under your covers longer than you should.

You still tried to see the good in Autumn though. Such as the trees changing from various greens to reds, oranges, and yellows. It was a nice change of scenery. But you quickly remember with that came giant dead leaves almost landing on you, which wasn’t as nice. And these leaves would make the paths you walked extremely uneven. To you every pro had multiple drawbacks.

"I just don’t want to say goodbye to the warm weather, even if the heat would get a little unbearable some days,” you complain to your friend.

"Yeah. It’s going to suck when it gets too cold to fly."

Frowning even more, you pour the bag of grain you’re holding into a storage container. Since it would only be getting cooler from now on Abilene needed to start saving up food and you were helping them.

"Don’t look so down, we can keep each other company during it. By the way, have you started preparing for Winter?" Abilene asks.

“Yep! You know I have copious amounts of nectar stored at all times.”

"Of course, of course how silly of me."

You stick out your tongue at them but stop when you almost spill some of the grain on the ground.

You both continue to work in relative silence but if thoughts could make noise it would be extremely loud. Something has been plaguing your mind recently. Something related to Bruno.

Your crush on the moth had always been there but instead of fading away like you expected, it seemed to have grown exponentially over the Summer.

You put down the bag you just finished emptying. “Hey Abby...”

“Hm?”

You shift slightly from foot to foot, unsure how to bring up the topic. “Um, would it be strange if two different species got together?"

Abilene looks puzzled. “No? I've seen a lot of bugs do it, and honestly you and Bruno aren't that different. Moths and butterflies are probably under the same category."

"W-Wait, I didn't mention anything like that…"

Your friend shrugs, opening up another bag. "Why else would you ask a question that you already know the answer to? I’m guessing your little crush got more serious?"

You rub at your arm, your bottom hands wringing each other. "I thought I just had a crush because of his looks but I spent too much time with him and it got worse!”

"Yea, that's how relationships tend to work."

"Abby this is serious, I don't know what to do!"

They close the bin they just finished filling and look at you. “Maybe just confess?”

You almost roll your eyes. “You know that I can't do that. That’s the sensical thing to do!”

"I guess you're just going to have to suffer then. Unless, he confesses to you."

That gives you pause. You couldn't exactly see Bruno feeling the same way. Was that even a possibility?

"What if he doesn't see me that way?"

"As harsh as it sounds, you just have to accept and respect that. But at least you’ll know and there won't be any ‘what ifs’."

That was true but rejection was a scary thing. Scary enough to prevent you from even trying. And there was always that chance that the confession would ruin your friendship.

Suddenly, you didn't want to talk about this anymore.

“You okay?”

"I don't know...I just need to think a little more on this."

You help more silently from then on. It takes a while before you're done emptying the bags and the filled bins are placed neatly in Abilene’s pantry. And after cleaning up any spilled grains, you’re ready to walk home. Even though you try to reassure Abilene, they tag along to “prevent you from getting distracted”.

By the time you both get through the path between your homes, the sun’s on the verge of setting but you're surprised to find Bruno already waiting by the front steps.

The realization that crosses Abilene's face when they see him has you suddenly feeling antsy. You were not ready for this. You planned for them to meet during the upcoming play.

"Is this The Bruno?" they whisper to you.

Oh god.

“Abby please act normal…”

You both walk up to the moth, although you lag behind your friend.

When you catch up, Abilene’s already introducing themselves.

“I’m glad to finally meet the person I’ve been hearing so often about.”

You squint at Abilene trying to show your disapproval with just your eyes, but they simply return an “innocent” smile.

Fortunately, Bruno doesn’t question their comment. “Well It’s nice that I can finally sate your curiosity.”

“Definitely. But also it’s the perfect time to make sure that ____ is making friends with people with their best interest in mind. No offense.”

You internally groan. Abilene didn’t exactly sound confrontational but you can’t help feeling that from what they just said. If you knew they would act like this you would have avoided Bruno and Abilene meeting at all costs.

You sigh. “I told you he was safe….”

Bruno gives Abilene a slight smile, "It's good that they have someone looking after them. And I don't blame you considering how we met.”

You look at Abilene and for some reason they don't seem as sure as they did a moment ago.

“I've been wondering for a while...” Bruno continues. “Has ____ always liked to stay out late?”

Abilene seems to step out of whatever temporary daze they went into. “Unfortunately, yes. Ever since they were a caterpillar. I don't even know where they picked it up from, but you don't even want to know some of the other things I’ve caught them doing.”

The moth's brows raise and he looks at you, “That’s not very reassuring.”

“Guys”, you interject. Bruno did not need to know about that. Especially after what you said at the pond.

“I don't stay out that late anymore! At least not by myself anyways.”

"I suppose that's true." Bruno says.

“But the fact that you managed to discourage them from doing that is really amazing, you know?”

“It wasn’t easy trust me.”

You purse your lips. Sure you can be stubborn when it came to visiting flowers but were you really that bad? They had to be exaggerating. And you didn't need both your friends calling you out on your bad habits together. At least not in front of your face.

"By the way Abby, when did you say the play was again?” you ask.

"That’s coming up pretty soon actually--in a week.”

"I’m still curious about the ‘supernatural’ element," Bruno says.

You release a breath seeing that your question was enough to change to subject.

"Do you like supernatural stuff? Abby’s surprisingly into it."

“Not necessarily. I’m just wondering what they were planning since it was so vague.”

Abby nods. “I thought they would explain it when the play date got closer but it’s still pretty vague so guess we’ll just have to find out on the day.”

As the conversation continues you feel yourself relaxing. It really wasn't weird or awkward like you had been worrying about. Even if you wanted to pinch Abilene whenever they said something that even slightly implied your crush on the moth.

It doesn’t take long before the sun is gone and it’s dark out.

Abilene glances up. "Well, I’m going to head back now. Don’t want to let it get too late.”

You slightly pout. Now that the initial part of the meeting has passed you didn’t want this to end so quickly. "Aw okay. See ya later, Abby."

"It was nice meeting you. Be safe getting back," Bruno says.

Abilene smiles at you both, “Bye ____, and I’ll be seeing you at the play Bruno."

They turn to leave but they stop and lean towards your ear. “Now I know why you were so desperate to keep in contact with him--very handsome,” they whisper.

You push them in the direction of their home. “Yes goodbye Abby! Get back safely.”

They snicker at you, not moving as quickly as you would like. “I will obviously. Bye!”

Exhaling deeply, you watch them head back through the path you two came from.

“You guys seem like very good friends.”

You scowl still reeling from what that grasshopper said. “I have no friends!”

“What?”

You sigh when you see Bruno’s questioning gaze and open your front door. “Nothing, just come and get your nectar.”

After Bruno and Abilene’s brief meeting you find yourself looking more forward to the play. Fortunately, the next several days pass by quickly and the three of you all meet up at your home before heading there together.

It’s quite crowded when you arrive but you all manage to find a spot together and you sit in between your friends.

Throughout the play, you couldn’t stop yourself from looking over at Bruno to see his reactions. One time you look over and he looks right back, which makes you finally stop, afraid that he had noticed you doing that the whole time. Other than that everything else went smoothly, or as smoothly as a unique play like that could go.

It went on pretty long, starting late afternoon so any bug whether diurnal or nocturnal would be able to attend. Now the last of the sun covers everything in an orange glow and those who need it can make it home safely.

You walk alongside your friends, leaving the open theater area to head back towards your home. It’s only a short while before the three of you are walking along a river bank.

You cautiously watch the running water, your eyes every so often follow the random leaves being carried away.

"I wasn’t expecting that…” you say.

It was a romance story like the poster said but the supernatural part was definitely something new to you.

“When Athan started drinking from the other mosquito--,” Abilene chuckles.

You side eye your usually practical friend. “You were into that...?”

Abilene shrugs, “It’s not the first time I’ve seen or read stories like this. Definitely has a strange allure to it...”

You decide to not ask them to go into detail since Bruno’s here and turn to said moth instead.

“Did you think it was weird?”

“Some parts were definitely strange, especially all the blood drinking, but I enjoyed it overall,” he says.

“Hmm, do you like romance?”

“I guess I tend to lean towards it.”

You nod. “I could tell you really liked the more uhh s-sensual parts?”

You know that sounded off and you can see Bruno wants to laugh but he holds it behind a small smile.

Abilene looks at you with a raised brow. “Why did you have to say it like that?”

“I don't know how else to say it! The sexy parts?!”

You and Abilene fill most of the silence while Bruno mainly listens, throwing in his opinion every once in a while. Eventually he needs to split off from the group to head towards his own home. So you exchange goodbyes and he flies off.

“Bruno looked really happy!”

Abilene’s brows raise slightly. “...He did? He seemed at most content to me.”

“Nah, I think he really enjoyed himself,” you couldn't help the grin on your face. You wanted to do more things like this with your friends.

For some reason Abilene starts smiling at you with a knowing look and you just stare back confused.

“What?”

“Nothing, just smiling.”

You huff. “Come on.”

“Okay, you're so cute right now. I can tell that you really like Bruno a lot and spend a lot of time with him.”

“Oh...”

Was it that obvious? You didn't even say anything strange though, at least you think you didn’t.

“I can't make you do anything but I really think you should embrace your feelings,” your friend says.

“I don't know...How should I go about it cause I’m too afraid to just come out and say it.”

Abilene holds their chin as they think. “Well, perhaps you just need to show him.”

“Like trying to hold hands or something? That seems a bit much--I mean, we did do that once…”

“You held hands already?” They sound very curious.

You wave your hand in front of your face. “He was leading me through the dark, but we’re getting off topic! What do you mean?”

“Just like hints at feeling more. Maybe compliment him more. If you're feeling really brave, maybe offer a hug.”

The idea of hugging Bruno has your heart lurching.

Abilene tries to give you a supportive smile. “Honestly this isn’t my area of expertise but you can’t expect anything if you just wait around. And you don't have to go hard all at once, just start off small.”

You really didn’t want to constantly wonder ‘what if’ in the future so you agree with this plan. “I’ll try…”

It definitely won't be easy though.

-----

The sky had been dark and cloudy since morning and only got darker as the day went on. The pressure drop in the air was obvious but not a single raindrop fell. You just hoped it wouldn’t flood when it finally did decide to pour.

You were sitting on the ground in front of your low table sewing. You had neglected this hobby for baking last season so you decided to finally get back to it since you didn’t expect Bruno to show up tonight. You actually hadn't seen the moth that often since the play. Apparently, Narancia wanted him to stay with him more often and of course parent duty came first.

While focusing on pinning the cloth together that would be a new top, there's a knock on your front door which causes you to tilt your head. You wonder who it was. Maybe Abilene but they rarely came over this late, especially right before rain.

When you walk over to open the door and see Bruno, you immediately give him a questioning look. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to visit.”

“That’s it? But it’s going to rain though! How are you going to get back? What if it rained while you were coming here?”

“It’s fine--”

Suddenly there’s a loud clap of thunder, a bright flash and the stormy clouds finally release the rain they had been holding on to all day. Which instantly soaks Bruno.

You pull him in hastily and shut the door. “Holy crap, are you okay?”

“I probably should have not pushed my luck standing outside like that.” He wipes the fluff on his forearm across his face but it barely helps.

“Ah wait, let me get you something to dry off.”

You run to your bedroom to find a giant towel for the moth.

When you come back into the main room, you hold it out for him to take. He immediately brings the soft towel to his face and you leave again to get some blankets. It wasn’t too cold but it would be best to warm him up to absolutely avoid sickness.

When you come back with some of your fluffiest blankets in your arms, you see that Bruno has removed the golden clips from his hair to dry it. The braid on the top of head has come loose and the strands that once formed it sit slightly wavy atop the rest of his hair.

You suddenly remember Abilene’s advice to be more honest with your feelings but you could barely look at the moth right now. Damn him for not wearing clothes and looking good even soaked.

You finally look away and drop the blankets on your daybed.

“____.”

You turn back towards him.

“Can you do me a favor?”

“Uh, yea?”

“If you don’t mind, I need help reaching my wings.”

“O-Oh.”

Why didn't you think of that. Getting back there would take way longer by himself

You grab the towel and move behind him to gently dab at his damp wings, careful not to cause any damage. The towel wouldn't be able to dry them completely but it would slightly speed up the process. They would have to mainly air dry though.

“You won't be able to fly for a while Bruno. Not that you could fly back in this rain anyways,” you say.

“I know.”

You almost want to chide the moth for how indifferent he sounded, but you decide to let it go. Both of you knew you weren’t the pinnacle of careful behavior anyways.

“I’m not going to kick you out, obviously, but I don’t know if you’re comfortable with staying overnight.”

“Why wouldn’t I be comfortable? I would actually really appreciate it.”

“Well, then I guess that's settled then.” You gently touch the wing that's slightly overlapped on top of the other and direct it upwards so you can better get to the bottom one. They felt pleasantly fuzzy. Similar to a cushion you would like to lay your face on or rub your hands all over.

Brunos wings shift slightly under your fingertips. “T-Thanks for helping me dry off.”

You momentarily pause. “You cold?”

“Not much.”

You couldn't tell if he was being honest or trying to pretend but you’re sure you heard him stutter. You shake it off quickly so you can finish trying to get some of the water off his wings. After you finish you lead him towards the daybed.

“I bought you covers to warm up. You can air dry your wings later.”

“But I’m not that cold.”

“I’m hearing that you’re still cold though so I’m not taking any nos.”

The moth sits on the daybed in slight resignation, and you quickly wrap the covers around him, layering him with one after the other. Once you're done, you laugh at his face poking out of the hill of blankets and his antenna being forced down by the wait of the covers.

He furrows his brow, blowing the fur on his antenna out of his face. “Don’t you think these are too many covers?”

You do your best to speak through your laughs. “Better--Better safe than sorry.”

“This is so…” He shakes his head, well the best that he can under those covers, not bothering to finish his thought.

“Don’t worry, you look great like this!” Your laughs finally start to slow and you sit down next to the blanket heap that is Bruno. “If you need anything else just let me know kay?”

The moth moves the blankets to sit on his shoulder instead on top of his head. “I should be okay. Thank you again for letting me stay.”

“No problem. I would have let you for no reason honestly.”

Bruno watched you slide off the daybed onto the floor so you can continue your sewing.

“What are you making?” he asks.

“A top. I want to wear something new for the upcoming cold.”

You pull out a pin from your flower shaped pincushion.

“Actually, do you ever wear clothes? I’ve never seen you in any since I met you,” you say.

“Barely, I don’t really get cold enough that I need to.”

Your lips twist to the side, unconvinced. It’s not like his legs and torso weren’t nice to look at, but part of you wanted to dress him up. You're sure he’d look great. And just knowing his thighs and torso were always exposed made you worried about the inevitable drop in temperature.

“Not even in the Winter? But youre almost completely exposed….”

“I stay mostly indoors during it and I can keep myself warm if necessary.”

“How?”

“I’ll just warm myself up by vibrating.”

You raise a brow. “...Vibrating?”

“It’s not exactly the warmest at night in Autumn so I need to vibrate my wings so I can fly. Do you want to see?”

You didn't want him to take off the covers so you shake your head, “Maybe another time.”

It did sound interesting, however you can't help thinking wearing clothes would be more convenient. Especially when it came to flying since it could get pretty chilly if you went fast enough.

“You must not be very fond of clothing. Or maybe you don’t like them at all?” you contemplate out loud. “Very interesting…”

“Is it really that unconventional to you?”

“It's fine, it’s fine. You can be exposed or whatever,” you say teasingly. “It's not like it's against the rules.”

The moth’s brow furrows. “I don't exactly hate wearing clothing, I just dont think it’s necessary for me.”

“I guess that’s true with all your fluff and you probably have a higher tolerance to cold than me. I still think you'd look good in something though. It’s actually pretty fun having stuff to change into.”

You notice that Bruno’s looking at your clothes and for some reason you decide to make a dumb joke. “Are you hungry or something?”

“If you're implying that I want to eat your clothes, then no.” He smirks a bit. “Unless you want me to, then I won’t be taking any bites near you, so you don’t have anything to worry about.”

Your eyes widen slightly, unsure of what to make of that. Next time you try to be clever you need to be better prepared.

“A-Anyways, maybe I could make you something one day! Do you have any preferences?”

“Maybe something that doesn’t restrict me too much. And doesn’t cover up my fur. It gets uncomfortable during the Summer.”

You cross off anything with long sleeves.

“Maybe it doesn’t have to be a typical top…” you say outloud to yourself.

An idea is taking shape in your mind's eye but you're not exactly sure how you’ll go about it yet. You might need to make a visit with your more arachnid than insect neighbor.

“Well for now I’m going to knit you a sweater for winter cause I’m not letting you walk around shirtless in the cold!”

“You know I do actually own clothes right?”

“But you said you barely wear them so I'm still making you a sweater. I'm going to make it so you can remove the forearm sleeves if you want, okay?”

“You can make it however you please. I’ll take whatever you make for me”

You shake your head. “That’s sweet but I want you to really like it too--like it so much that you’ll never want to take it off! So I want to make sure it’s something that would be completely comfortable for you.”

Bruno pulls the blankets closer to him. “I’m sure you’d come up with something good without my input, but if it will make it easier for you then I’m fine with that.”

After asking a few more questions related to the sweater, you continue working on the shirt in front of you while you try to figure out how you'd go about making a sheer piece of clothing. At one point you look over and see that Bruno has fallen asleep on top of all the covers that were previously wrapped around him.

You reach out to feel his wings without really thinking. They’re still wet of course but it was better than before.

The moth shifts in his sleep and opens a tired eye.

“Sorry, just checking your wings. Go back to sleep.”

He shuts his eye. “I’m going to poke at your wings when you fall asleep…” It was impossible to take that seriously with his voice being so groggy.

“I would barely call that a poke,” you roll your eyes when you see his lips form a soft smile. It’s tempting to reach out and pinch his nose but you leave him alone.

The rain continues to be heavy and persistent throughout the rest of the evening, filling your home with a pleasant hum. Once it gets too late for you to keep sewing you decide to leave your stuff on the table, too tired to clean up.

You move to get off the floor and jump when you realize Bruno was awake.

“Have you been laying there quietly the whole time?”

Bruno props himself up to better look at you. “Yes?”

“You should have said something, I would have talked to you!”

“You seemed focused and I didn’t want to distract you.”

You shake your head at the somewhat socially inept but considerate action. “Well I guess I’ll head to bed. Will you be comfortable here?”

“With all these covers and this daybed? Definitely.”

You grin, “I really can't believe you risked the rain to come over here. Did it really need to be today?”

The question was supposed to be mostly rhetorical but the moth still answers.

“Narancia wanted to stay over with a friend so I decided to visit. I knew I could make it if I was quick enough.”

But look at you now silly moth.

“That’s it?”

You were still confused by Bruno’s actions but he continues speaking.

“I wanted to visit you. I finally had a chance to come over and I didn’t want to let it pass by.”

How can he say things like that so easily?

“Oh, okay that’s--Thanks, I’m glad to see you too.”

The Bruno you were looking at right now with his messy hair and completely relaxed posture was almost hard to process. But when his usually serious expression is replaced by something more at ease and soft, your stomach feels weird, like something is fluttering within and you can barely keep eye contact.

“Y-You’re actually really cute sometimes--” You freeze as soon as the words come out of your mouth. It wasn’t an accident, you fully intended to say them but actually hearing them outloud? It was embarrassing.

“GOODNIGHT!” you yell before the moth can speak and quickly walk out of the room, leaving a probably highly weirded out Bruno on your daybed.

#hint: bruno isnt weirded out #i wanna be a worldbuilding master so trying to slowly improve #maybe in a couple years #anyways i hope you guys liked this chapter ^^#bruno buccellati x reader #bruno bucciarati x reader #bruno x reader #reader insert

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nyerus · 4 years

Note

Hey I originally followed you for YOI stuff and since that seems to be on haitus, I have seen you and a lot of people rebloing stuff about a different anime or manga (i think) with different mlm relationships? I think they're two diff shows and I've heard about mdzs before. But lately youve been reblogging stuff from a manga tagged tgcf and it looks pretty cool--so i was wondering how I could get into it and what its about? Does it have actual gay charas?

Hello! I’m sorry for the late response! This morphed from a simple answer into a beginner guide of sorts, so I hope you don’t mind! I know there’s like 500000 guides out there, but I figured I’d give it a shot too! ❤

So the stuff you’ve been seeing everywhere is indeed MDZS or related to it–including on my own blog! (I promise when YOI comes back from war, I’ll be all over that again ;o;!!!)

So these works are all by the same author, Mò Xiāng Tóng Xiù (MXTX) and they are separate danmei (i.e. Chinese BL) novels, though they share a lot of similarities between them:

MDZS (Mó Dào Zǔ Shī) – Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation

TGCF (Tiān Guān Cì Fú) – Heaven Official’s Blessing

SVSSS – Scum Villian’s Self-Saving System

All of them are complete and fan translated, and I’ll answer your last question first: yes, they have actual gay characters! In the novels, the main couples end up canonically married! \o/ In some of the adaptations, their romantic relationships are also maintained (e.g. the manhuas (Chinese graphic novel)), though censorship is present.

Links will be added below this post! Grab some popcorn, this is long!

･:*:･ﾟ’★🐇MDZS🐇★･ﾟ’･:*:･

MDZS《魔道祖师》is definitely the most popular work by MXTX, as it has the most adaptations. You’ve almost certainly been seeing gifs and photosets from its donghua (Chinese animation) or live action the most. However, it has a manhua and audio drama (in both Chinese and Japanese) as well!

Synopsis: Reviled as the infamous Yiling Laozu, Wei Wuxian harnessed the forbidden dark power of demonic cultivation. Once the cultivation world decided he was too dangerous to leave alone, he was hunted down, and a terrible battle ensued that cost Wei Wuxian his life—and the lives of many others. 13 years later, he is resurrected under mysterious circumstances into the body of the pariah Mo Xuanyu. Now with this second chance at life (and while hiding his real identity), Wei Wuxian has to uncover the truth about a powerful malevolent spirit. It may just be the key to revealing a series of heinous secrets hidden from the cultivation world for years. And while the world may still hate him for crimes he didn’t commit, there’s one person who’s on his side—the illustrious Hanguang-jun, Lan Wangji—and is willing to stand by him against all odds. The two have a long and complex history, and Wei Wuxian is unsure of Lan Wangji’s motivations for helping him. But it couldn’t be more simple: respect and love.

Scene from the donghua.

Still from the live action, called “Chén Qíng Lìng”/“CQL”/”The Untamed.”

Panel from the manhua.

Art from the Chinese audio drama.

The great thing about MDZS is that you can really pick your poison in terms of what adaptation you want to get started with. If you are absolutely brand-new to the danmei scene, then starting with the donghua or manhua may be your best bet (both are ongoing). The novel of course is the most beloved, being the source, but all the adaptations have their own charms! They’re all worth checking out, and will keep you busy for quite a while.

･:*:･ﾟ’★🌸TGCF🌸★･ﾟ’･:*:･

Now, for TGCF《天官赐福》—that’s where my photosets are coming from: the ongoing manhua that started in October. There’s a donghua planned for late this year, and a live action in talks (info about that is largely unknown, but is slated for production sometime after the donghua release). TGCF actually has the same deal structure as MDZS apparently, so we’ll be getting an audio drama as well if that’s true.

Synopsis: Talented and virtuous, Crown Prince Xie Lian first ascended to the heavens when he was only 17. Once the darling of the earth and heavens for his boundless skill and purity of heart, he ended up falling from grace—not once, but twice! Subsequently, he became the laughing stock of the three realms. Spending almost 800 years roaming the earth and collecting scraps, he becomes known as the pitiful “rubbish god” and “god of misfortune.” No one could have expected Xie Lian to ascend for a third time, but fate seems to have something in store for this disgraced yet compassionate immortal. Thankfully, he is not alone, as the widely-feared ghost king, Hua Cheng, seems to have a special interest in helping him. The two of them embark on a series of adventures that unravel the secrets of their world, and of themselves.

Panel from the manhua.

Scene from the Donghua PV.

The novel for TGCF is a great place to start, especially considering how the manhua is still in it’s early stages (just starting it’s 2nd arc as of writing this post). The novel is long, incredibly well-written, and well-translated. The manhua is absolutely stunning, and follows the novel very closely thus far.

･:*:･ﾟ’★🎋SVSSS🎋★･ﾟ’･:*:･

The underrated sibling of the three, SVSSS《人渣反派自救系統》has only the novel to interact with for right now. A donghua is planned for this year. There was a manhua, but it was cancelled due to some problems with the publisher afaik. Word on the street is that they’re searching for a new team for it, so we’ll continue to pray!!!

Synopsis: Shen Yuan is an avid reader of the web novel Proud Immortal Demon Way. The novel revolves around the protagonist Luo Binghe, a kind child who is tormented endlessly by his Shizun (teacher/mentor) Shen Qingqiu, until he turns into a powerful demon lord and exacts his violent revenge. While initially a fan of the story, Shen Yuan hates the unsatisfactory ending. Upon dying suddenly, he finds himself transmigrated into the novel, at the behest of The System—a sci-fi interface which gives him missions and directives. Unfortunately, he ends up in the place of the cruel Shen Qingqiu out of all people! This new Shen Qingqiu now has to use his knowledge of the novel to navigate around the plot, within the restrictions that The System has implemented. He has to find a way to ensure a better ending, if he wants to keep this second chance at life. His plan for doing this is to be as kind and encouraging as possible to the innocent Luo Binghe, who quickly takes a shine to this new Shen Qingqiu. Even after forced to the dark side, and despite the tension between them after this, Luo Binghe won’t let anyone else touch his beloved Shizun.

Cover of the Thai release of the novel.

SVSSS only really has the novel to interact with as of right now. There’s currently an excellent re-translation in progress by tumblr user Faelicy! If you want to get started now, however, you can read what she’s done so far and then swap over to the old translation afterward.

･:*:･ﾟ’★NOTES★･ﾟ’･:*:･

• ALL three novels are intended for an R-18+ audience ONLY. Other adaptations are safe for minors over 16 years of age.

• Please be aware that the novels may contain potentially triggering content. Feel free to ask me for content warnings if you need them.

• All three of these are totally different from one another and only share common themes typical of the wuxia/xianxia genres.

• The original Chinese raws of MDZS and SVSSS are no longer available for purchase on JJWXC (publishing site). You can find print versions on Taobao. TGCF, however, is still available!

• If you’d like more info on anything, please reach out to me! I’m happy to help.

• LINKS WILL BE ADDED BELOW THIS POST.

#mdzs #tgcf #svsss #mo dao zu shi #tian guan ci fu #grandmaster of demonic cultivation #heaven offical's blessing #scum villain's self-saving system #guide #asks #Anonymous #nyerus.txt

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themowrites · 3 years

Text

One-Shot: Everything Works Out In The End.

+ I would like to thank the anon for giving me the opportunity of bringing his/her PROMPT to life; I hope I executed it properly. Thank you again and readers enjoy! Constructive and Positive feedback is always welcomed. -Mo

“You got me treading on the water. Because I've never learned to swim. And now I know that it's all over. I better learn to start again.” –Kodaline (Everything Works Out In The End).

Mercedes looked over at Samuel as he slept peacefully beside her naked frame, she watched slowly as his chest rose and fell and she shifted gently. Turning her body to face his, trying her best not to disturb him during his peaceful slumber. She’d be leaving for LA in a day and he had managed to convince her to do the unthinkable. She pulled the covers up, a cold night’s chill rushing over her as she laid their bear with him and she managed to pull her herself out of her head long enough to lay her head there. Hazelnut skin pressed against his perfect chiseled chest as she inhaled his scent deeply, what if she never got to relish in this exact moment again. The sex was something, but with or without it, she’d still long for the man as she departed across what felt like the highest mountains and lowest of seas. But she had to follow her dreams, right? She asked herself would it be worth it, as she drew tiny hearts across his skin sadly.

“What are you doing?” Samuel’s gruff voice spoke, a smirk sporting his thick pink lips as he opened his eyes looking down at Mercedes. Her hair was a mess of curls that had fallen and sweated out, however, in this lighting as the moon danced across her skin, she’d never looked so beautiful to him. He grabbed her hand, stopping her motion and he pecked the back of it tenderly before he said “I thought you were asleep…”

His eyes rolled back shut tiredly, as his other hand stroked her head of hair idly. Mercedes head leaned upwards as she looked to him. “Writing I love you across your skin” she answered honestly, not matter how it may how sound leaving her lips. At his next remark she shifted, looking at the window where the moon glowed. “I can’t sleep” she breathed to him; she should’ve been able to after all. He had, had her locked away in his room all evening; losing her virginity had been a full-time job. Or a lesson, depends on who you asked out of the two. He’d done all the work and yet she was still able to please him as he’d done her. That was once she got over the initial shock and uncomfortable adjustment to a size, she didn’t quite picture this entire time. She licked her plump lips at that and looked back at him.

Samuel smirked; his forehead managed to crease between his brows as he asked himself why she was doing that subconsciously. “You should get some rest” he reasoned as he shifted wrapping her up in his long arms. “You have so much to do…” he reminded her, his hand resting on the small of her back, drawing circles there. His eyes never opened though he was watching her no doubt, his chest was pressed against her ample bosom and he wouldn’t deny how incredible that felt. He finally opened his eyes again and looked to her “what’s on your mind?” he asked her knowingly, the words left him just as he left a kiss on her lips. Drawing back to look into her almond orbs, “you can tell me anything” he said softly, green eyes piercing hers.

As he shifted his long body, pulling her closer to him, his arms pressed fluff against muscle mass. She closed her eyes for a moment as he reminded her yet again about her new phase in life. Heartbreakingly she opened her eyes to stare into his, this time they were glossy, and she said “I don’t want to leave you” her chine quivered only a little as she closed her eyes again. Hugging him back tightly she fell quiet.

As she confessed her true feelings, he nodded his head at her, he hadn’t thought of her move as a negative thing. He wouldn’t forgive himself if he selfishly let her stay, only to waste a dream as big as hers away. He needed her to go to LA, not just for herself, but for him. He wouldn’t be any prouder unless he had the opportunity to fly the plane himself. “You know I love you” he said against her skin as he pecked her forehead “and I’ll do anything for you” he added pecking her forehead again. “And that means sacrifice” he told her sternly. “It’s going to hurt like hell being apart, but you have to do this, it’s your destiny” he reasoned. He kissed her forehead again, lips lingering there for a while as his eyes closed “we will get through this” he said confidently. “It’ll work out, you’ll see” he sighed heavily as he opened his eyes again to look at her.

Mercedes nodded her head against him sadly, she bit down on her bottom lip as her warm tears spilled anyway. As he went on, just making the idea of being away from him harder she sniffled. She continued to nod her head at him, maybe if she kept repeating his words her heart would eventually catch up with her head and she’d convince herself that it would be fine as well. “Okay” she said in a shaky voice in response to him. Words had left her, she knew it would hurt, because it was killing the hell out of her already. She nodded her head again for good measure as she sucked her tears up, wiping them away slowly.

Samuel’s thumb swiped against her skin gently, he’d never like to see her in this light. What man wanted to watch the woman he loved cry? As she finally replied he nodded his head saying “okay” back to her sweetly as his lips met hers in a feverish kiss. His lips parted only ever so slightly so that their tongues could meet with each other again. They’d been apart for too long and the blonde had realized that now. He needed to remind her body and soul, just what they had and why no amount of distance in the World could separate them truly. They were soulmates, destined for a life full of happiness and lifelong memories. He was hers, as long as she were his. And only God could take that away. His hard body shifted against the bed as he positioned himself above her now, moaning deeply into their kiss ever more as her delicate hand slid its way up to his face to cup it lovingly. Oh, how he adored the way, her hand felt resting over his heart, it would be death they’d part.

“Thank you so much for picking me up at the last minute” Mercedes said to Mike as she closed the door to the backseat of his sedan. She looked down at her little boy Cameron safely fastened in his car seat, she kissed his head of hair and looked towards her old friend again. “Something came up and my mother totally forgot about us here at the airport” she finished as she placed her seatbelt on herself.

“It was no problem at all, I didn’t know if you were actually going to come into town or not. Glad you did decide to” he smiled sweetly. “I got to see little Cameron again so that’s a plus” he chuckled as he drove down the road. “So where do I need to go first?” he asked her curiously. “You know… everyone is uh… meeting up” he paused looking at his watch for a minute “at the diner at around 5 pm today” he told her looking back at her and the curly haired little boy in his backseat. He didn’t know how things were doing to go, he was in the middle of all of this and truthfully it was hard to lie to his dearest friend. Though he guessed it wasn’t a lie if the topic wasn’t actually spoken about publicly. However, he still felt terribly bad for Samuel’s sake.

“I decided at the last minute. Cameron is so young you know” she told her friend. “I haven’t really traveled with him like this before, mother always came to us” she said looking back down at the tired child once more. “But it’ll be fun to catch up and see everyone, it’s been what? Almost two years?” she sighed. “My mother’s house, I’ll be staying there. I opted out of a hotel” she acknowledged. “I just” she sighed heavily to the man shaking her head, “I uh, I don’t know Mike. I have so much guilt weighing on me it’s hard to think or breathe most days…” she actually confessed to him for a change.

Mike continued to carry them down the road in the vehicle and he licked his lips slowly listening to her. He got it, lapsed judgement and scare caused her to lie to the man, break off their relationship, and hide his only child from him for the last how many months? He could understand her desire to protect everyone in the situation at all cost, but he also understood the negative impact it had on her life no matter what she was trying to accomplish in all of this. He didn’t really see how it would be possible for someone to attempt to hide a child, but he intended on honoring wishes to his fullest ability. “Listen” the man spoke confidently “you are a lot of things, a big character” he chuckled lightening the mood. “However, everyone knows your heart ‘Cedes” he breathed “if it’s becoming too much lessen the burden, release it to the wind” he said poetically. “Tell him, Samuel knows your heart better than we all do. He would have to understand exactly what you were trying to achieve; don’t you think?” he asked her though he didn’t really believe that statement himself, he’d be livid if the love or his life or past love had done this very thing to him.

Mercedes looked up at her friend, watching the back of his head as he spoke. At one point of time, she looked away and out of the window as she offered Cameron her hand to play with as he sat there. She nodded her head despite the man being incapable of seeing her, she didn’t know. All of this happened to be overwhelming and confusing at times. “You are right” she finally offered to him after a while of going over the thoughts and things he just said in her own head. “Thanks again Mike.”

Mike walked into the diner that they were all supposed to meet up at mutually, 5 pm on the dot. He asked the hostess for the party’s location and happily traveled towards the table. He saw Samuel, Artie, Blaine, Kurt, and Jake at the table chatting among themselves. They were early to the reunion or perhaps on time, which was unexpected in his opinion, but he greeted them all casually and grabbed himself a seat. “How is it going?” he asked them all mutually. “I expected to be one of the first ones” he said with a smirk as he made himself comfortable sitting on Samuel’s right.

Jake looked at Mike offering the man a simple head nod, “we all kind of hitched rides with each other” he chuckled lightly.

“We didn’t expect to be on time either ole pal” Samuel said with a goofy grin.

“Well, we don’t get to do this often, so, you know” Artie said with a shrug “it’s worth being on time for” he said with a smile. “The whole gang is back, give or take a few….”

“Agreed” Mike said gesturing to Artie with his pointer finger. “This should be a fun gathering…”

“What held you up anyway?” Samuel asked Mike turning his head towards him, once the thought occurred finally.

“Ah, I had some errands to run” Mike said to Samuel, “had to swing by the airport and stuff” he told the man without much thought.

Samuel nodded his head and said, “oh yeah, who did you pick up?” curiously as he picked up his glass and took a sip of his drink.

“You actually would never guess it” Mike said to the man with a small smirk. He opened his mouth to respond to him the best way he knew how, however he was interrupted by their server.

“Hi there” the woman said to Mike “what could I get you to drink this evening?” she asked as she grabbed her guest check pad and pen from her apron.

“Hello” Mike told the woman and he looked down at the menu for a moment before he went with his gut and ordered a “root beer” he spoke. “Have you all ordered?” he asked the guys.

“Not yet, we were waiting on everyone” Kurt said “we did order a few starters” he admitted.

“Well in that case, just the root beer” Mike said smiling to the woman.

Nodding her head, she said “alright, one root beer. And do any of you guys need anything, while I grab that and check on your starters?” she pressed the group. After getting a moderate no thank you from everyone, she moved to walk off from the table again.

“So, who was it? Tina?” Blaine asked nosily, curiosity would kill the cat today because unlike everyone else he actually really desired to know who all planned on coming.

Mike chuckled shaking his head “no, no. I’m not sure if she came in town, you know not everyone really responded to the email threads. But I did uh, pick Mercedes and Cameron up from the airport, dropped them off a few hours ago and then I had some other errands to run” he shrugged, having let slip a huge secret in the process.

Kurt eyes grew as Mike went on to explain where he was, what he was doing, and finally who he had picked up from the airport.

Artie eyebrows stitched together as he tried to recall a Cameron in his memory bank. It wasn’t ringing a bell however and perhaps he was the only one who didn’t know. Wonder if it’s a new boyfriend, juicy, he thought to himself know all the details to Samuel and Mercedes’ break-up.

Blaine tilted his head “who’s Cameron?” he asked aloud before he looked at Kurt with a raised brow. The forceful kick the man supplied him under the table was a red flag that clearly his significant other knew something he didn’t. He had overstepped somewhere. So instead of meeting the eyes of the other men he grabbed his glass of water and took a long sip from it.

Samuel rolled the paper from his straw between his fingers “Mercedes” he said first, very unaware that she was coming. Afterall, she hadn’t been seen in almost two years and they weren’t quite on speaking terms. Well in his head at least. However, upon the mention of someone named Cameron he raised a brow and looked at Blaine then Kurt to his left. “Who’s Cameron?” he asked Mike looking over at him again.

Mike looked down for a moment, shit, he said to himself before he looked over at Kurt. He needed the man to throw him a life vest but obviously he much like Mike couldn’t think of a good enough lie at the moment. And just like that save by the bell again, thank you God he said as Quinn approached the table with Brittany in toe.

“The boys beating us to the punch, how lovely…” Quinn said cutting in with a wide grin. “How is everyone?” she questioned them as she moved to grab a seat between Mike and Samuel.

Brittany smiled at everyone scattered about the chairs around the huge table. “Hey guys!” she said cheerfully. She followed behind Quinn who happened to have been her ride, she sat down at the table next to Artie planting a soft kiss to his cheek before she smiled at Jake who was sitting on her other side. “I missed you guys” she said hugging Artie gently.

Kurt looked towards Quinn, thankfully and he smiled at her as he moved his hand for Blaine’s knee. “Well, we all just about piled into each other’s car so that helped” he said to her changing the subject gladly. “Doing great, you?” he asked, looking at her directly.

Samuel looked at Mike who avoided his question, yet again. He looked over at the women as they rolled in and he sat back in his chair. If any of them thought for a second he was going to sit at a table with Mercedes and her new boy toy they were sadly mistaken. Just the simple thought of that was making his blood boil. He pushed the straw paper aside as he lifted his glass and took a long sip from it again, his eyes fixed on the side of Mike’s face.

Artie blushed a little at Brittany and looked at her with a fond smile on his face “we missed you too” he told her kindly. He stared at her for a few more minutes before he looked at Quinn and said, “no complaints here, everything has been great.”

“Who else is showing up?” Quinn asked them all as she removed her jacket and draped it on the back of her chair revealing her, somewhat revealing dress before she laced her fingers together and rested her hands in her lap.

“Rach” Blaine said in response to Quinn politely as he took her in, she looked amazing. Though he guessed she kind of always did.

“And Tina” Kurt added looking to Blaine for a brief moment a smile on his face. “She text me a hour ago and said she made it in and will meet us here as soon as she’s freshened up and stuff” he added, his eyes moving towards Mike now. Confirming what the man claimed he didn’t know just moments ago.

Samuel looked to Kurt before he said “and Mercedes” all the chipper tone in his voice gone now. “As a matter of fact, Mike was just letting us know she was bringing some Cameron person with her, however none of us know who that is” he said as he looked over at Mike once more, bitterness in his tone and a great deal of anger in his eyes. “Weren’t you Mike?” he asked.

Quinn looked between Blaine and Kurt before lastly, she looked at Samuel, her eyebrows rising as he spoke. Well, it was no secret that Mercedes untimely breakup left the man bitter, angry, and alone. Among the group of friends there had been plenty rumors but even she had no idea who Cameron was. However, if it were another man of some sorts, she might have lucked up tonight. She almost canceled on them for work sake, but she had to admit no amount of money would be worth missing this.

Mike looked over at Samuel, sighing a bit to himself as the man spoke. “I never said that” he told him his head hanging low “I didn’t say she was bringing him here” he corrected. “And he’s not a boyfriend of hers, she doesn’t have one” he said before he looked up at Kurt from across the table.

Kurt swallowed hard as Samuel pressed Mike to speak up and the man finally did. Kurt kept his eyes low after he swapped a glance with Mike and he focused on his glass sitting above the wooden table.

Artie looked at Samuel, then Mike, his eyes moved to the rest of the table as everyone stayed silent for a while.

“Then who the hell is Cameron?” Samuel asked the man, his eyebrows stitched together.

Quinn looked at Mike as he spoke, and she followed his eyes over to Kurt. As it was made clear that Cameron was not Mercedes significant other it then and only then dawned on her who this person could be. Her eyes quickly shot towards Kurt again. “Did you guys order?” she said quickly trying to change the subject once more and she finally picked up her menu.

“Hello, hello, hello everybody” Rachel said as she Tina and Mercedes walked up towards the massive table. “I cannot believe you guys successfully put together some kind of reunion without my help and expertise” she teased them all as she moved to sit down beside Blaine. Offering Jake a kind pat on the shoulder.

“What did we walk in on?” Tina asked sitting down beside Mike at the table and she pushed out the chair beside her a bit for Mercedes to nestle between her and Artie.

Mercedes smiled despite herself, she was well aware that today’s events had two possible ways of ending. On a good foot or perhaps a bad, depending. She hadn’t been in the same room as Samuel since she departed from him to leave for LA. It was her fault that happened to have panned out that way, she knew. But it was didn’t make it any less awkward when you really thought about the reasoning behind her doing so in the first place. She moved for the seat next to Tina it was the only free chair anyway and looked at everyone with a smile deciding not to glance in Samuel’s direction.

Quinn looked at the other girls as they came in one after the other and she sighed heavily, welp, when you speak of the devil, he shall appear she thought to herself. “You guys look good” she said taking them all in, but truly examining Mercedes from head to toe as if that would give her a real inkling to what was going on. But it didn’t especially considering the girl did have a massive coat on. Even if she didn’t you couldn’t look at her and tell she ever had a baby, or could you?

Artie leaned towards Mercedes gently and said “I missed you” with a slight hug assuming they were all going to drop the conversation from beforehand once again. Which was probably for the best anyhow.

As the rest of the group finally joined them Kurt looked towards them and smiled, it really was great to see everyone despite what was currently being examined. He looked over at Samuel, after Tina made yet a very leading question that he truly hoped didn’t cause the blonde to have yet another unnecessary meltdown. “The waitress should be back any minute with starters and, Mike’s drink, we could all like order or something” he chuckled awkwardly.

Samuel watched Rachel as she walked into view, and then Tina thereafter. Mercedes was behind the shorter girl and he looked away, focusing on the table before him and he found that piece of paper again. He toyed with the paper as he did before, rolling it against the tabletop as he fell silent, allowing the group to talk among themselves.

Tina nodded her head at Kurt and said “cool” before she turned to Mike, bumping him with her shoulder lightly. They weren’t together at the moment, but did that mean they had to be awkward, no. They were planning to just be friends until they figured everything all out with themselves. “I was going to call you for a ride, but you had to go get ‘Cedes” she said in a soft whisper to him.

Mercedes looked to Artie and smirked at him sweetly leaning into the man. “I missed you more” she breathed sweetly to him.

The server returned to the group seeing that everyone who should be there was finally there, she sat the root beer in front of the gentlemen who ordered it. She quickly sat the starters in the middle of the table one at a time before she lowered the tray in her hand. “Hi ladies, what can I get you all to drink?” she asked, she sat the tray aside and moved to grab her pad and pen again.

Looking up at the woman, Mercedes she shifted and said to her “water please?” without thought.

Seeing the appetizers, she smirked “water with lemon” Rachel said to the woman before she actually turned her attention to the menu before her to figure out what she wanted for dinner.

“Coke for me” Tina said lifting one finger up for the woman to see as she wrote down the drink orders.

“Sweet tea, please” Quinn said to the waitress, looking at Samuel who sat next to her, finally since Mercedes walked in. She looked at him for only a moment before she looked away again.

“Can I have a coke too?” Brittany asked the woman, the last to order within the group before she grabbed an onion ring and popped it into her mouth. “Two waters one with a lemon, two cokes, and a sweet tea” the young woman repeated back to the table before she said, “are we ordering now too, or do we need some more time?” curiously. When collectively they all asked to have some more time, she nodded and left the group to grab their drinks.

“So, Mercedes, what have you been up to?” Jake asked curiously, despite the early conversation he always though it was pretty cool she got out of Ohio and moved all the way to LA. “I mean what is LA really like?” he asked her as he grabbed a mozzarella stick.

Quinn looked over at Jake with a bit of disappointment. They were all deflecting here, and he was obviously not on board with everyone because he just opened another door or window, depends on who you asked.

Mercedes pulled her eyes and attention away from Brittany and Artie, “uh” she paused smirking at Jake. “I have been great; I have no complaints whatsoever” she told the boy. “LA is” she said trying to think very hard on her answer “sometimes it’s everything I pictured and not so much during other times, but I could have never asked for a better opportunity” she told him. “Life throws tons of surprises and I try to handle, well uh take it in strides” she breathed.

Samuel looked up as Mercedes spoke and he squinted his eyes a bit before he looked away from her. “Care to elaborate for us small town folk?” he asked her sarcastically.

Mercedes slowly looked towards Samuel across from her and she furrowed her brows.

“Now Sam” Rachel said from the left of him, she gave the man an all well knowing look. He didn’t need to make a scene right now; they were here to have a good time.

“Now Rachel” Samuel said as he looked over at her “I asked her question let her answer” he said back to the brunette, who he had no trouble leaning forward to gaze it from across Blaine and Kurt.

“Sam, we are here to have a small gathering to catch up. Are you sure you want to do this?” Kurt asked the man leaning in a bit. The two men was sitting directly next to each other, in another world Kurt would’ve probably slapped him. However, his personality didn’t allow him to inflict someone with such violence. But the blonde was really becoming annoying and all around excessive.

“Yes, I want to do this” Samuel snapped as he looked at Kurt. “Why not do it?” he shrugged, a small chuckle leaving him. “Why not do this right here and right now…”

Mike licked his lips and looked around the table before he sighed and said “Mercedes, I slipped up about Cameron. But Samuel doesn’t quite know who that is…. still….” He said quietly.

Mercedes looked past Tina and at Mike, her eyes large and confused. How could the man have let that slip? He’d kept the secret for this long of course today he lets the cat out of the bag. She couldn’t be mad at him of course, any of them keeping the secret was doing her a favor everyday of their lives. But what was she supposed to say or do right now?

“I think we all should maybe let Samuel and Mercedes talk” Kurt said looking around the table.

“No, let her say what she has to say right here in front of everyone” Samuel said to Kurt. “I think to many of you have been talking among yourselves this whole time anyway.”

Mercedes blinked a few times and she looked at Samuel “okay” she said simply to him. “I ended our relationship, against my better judgement because I was trying to keep a secret from you that I thought would be very detrimental to our lives and relationship” she offered him. “We have a one-year-old son, his name is Cameron” she said. “And before you get angry, I was just trying to do what I thought was best for all of us…”

Samuel looked at Mercedes as she spoke, she really had put a very cute spin on breaking his heart and he couldn’t believe that was the story she was going with. They were fine when she left, everything was perfect outside of the distance. And then a few months into her moving to LA she hit him with the words he’d never imagined leaving her lips. A breakup was what it was, a breakup that was not mutual among them both, that she didn’t even give a good enough reasoning as to why for. And now after all this time he finally gets his real reason, and it was because she was pregnant? With their child. His son? And she didn’t tell him because she thought that was what was best for them both? “Wow” was the only thing his lips could form in the moment as he moved to stand up from the chair, he was in. “You are despicable” he said his finger gesturing in her direction “and any of you at this table who knew this shit and didn’t say anything can rot in hell along with Mercedes” he said coldly as he left the table and the group.

Mercedes looked at Samuel as he spoke, she looked down, she didn’t know what to say. As he continued, she looked back up her eyes watering a little from his harsh words. She couldn’t blame him, what were she to expect from telling him this? When he stormed off, she looked back down again as the embarrassment set in.

“I sorry Mercedes” Kurt said from across the table as, his eyes left her and looked towards Samuel as he moved through the restaurant to leave.

Rachel walked up towards the Evans’ home with her purse in hand and she rang the doorbell gently waiting for someone to surface.

“I have it” Samuel said as he moved for the front door slowly, he looked outside and saw Rachel and he huffed. Unlocking the front door, he looked at her and said “I don’t want you over here so it’s in your best interest to leave” without even thinking, his finger pointing towards her car.

“Look, I don’t want to come into your home, I don’t want you to forgive me if you don’t want to, you don’t even have to listen. But I am going to say what I have to say to you face to face” Rachel told Samuel. “Some of us knew, we didn’t all agree. But we understood and as friends and family we supported her. We supported each party the best way we knew how during this time” she told him. “I am sorry that a secret that big was kept from you for the two years. And I really can’t imagine how you must really be feeling right now” she said her eyes low. “But I say that for you, not her, you. It would be best if you hear her out and at least demand to see your son” she said to him. “She’s owes you that much, and I know that is what you’d want to do right now” she told him simply. “We don’t always do the right things, none of us are perfect. But we deserve the right to make it better if we can” she sighed. “That’s it” she said quickly as she tossed her hand up at him, moving to turn around and leave the front porch of the man’s home headed for her car.

Samuel listened as the woman spoke and he squinted at her slightly, didn’t she know he had every right to close the door in her face if he really wanted to do so right now. It would be that simple. He didn’t want to hear anything from Rachel, she wasn’t the one that owed him an explanation or apology. However, he listened to her, every word even if he didn’t want to. He licked his lips slowly and watched her as she departed from his presence “Rachel!” he called out to her. “Rachel” he repeated even as she kept walking.

Rachel ignored the man as she unlocked the car door and climbed inside to leave. She had said what was needed to say to the man and she didn’t plan on speaking on the subject further. It was between the both of them now, she felt compelled to say what she needed in regard to the part she played in it but that would be it. She couldn’t give him any more details, that he had to seek for himself from Mercedes own mouth.

Hearing a knock at her parents’ door Mercedes squinted slightly, who could it have been she didn’t know. “Stay right here” she told Cameron with a stern finger as she moved to walk out of the living room and towards the front door. She looked to see who was on the other side of the door before she opened it “Sam?” she breathed as she looked up at the man.

Samuel stood before the Jones’ front door with his hands in his pants pockets, he waited for someone to answer and when Mercedes did, he looked at her. “Hi” he breathed he didn’t know what else to say. He hadn’t thought this far ahead and now that he was here, he was conflicted. He wanted to curse her out no doubt but now as he stared into her brown eyes he couldn’t. “Look, I am pissed at you, I am so damn pissed at you, I can’t even think straight!” he said voice booming. “I can’t believe you had the nerve to end things with me, and because of a baby?” he asked her. “I would have given anything to be there, to help, to experience that with you! How could you be so got damn selfish?” he asked her seriously. “I loved you” he told her “I love you” he corrected “how could you do that to me Mercedes?” he said.

Mercedes waited for something to be said and he said ‘hi’ to her, which was a shocker considering. Before she could even get her own greeting out to him, he said what he felt deep down inside from the events that happened from the day before. She looked down unable to say anything at first, she knew she was wrong, and she didn’t really have an excuse for it at all. He was right, he was in love with her as she were with him and it was inconceivable that she did break it off with him and justifiably so. A child had not ruined everything but in her mind it would have. He believed in her, believed she would go off and make him proud. A baby was not a part of the deal, but it had not been a deal breaker. And perhaps it was her own immaturity that did not notice that until now. “Sam” she said softly, blinking gently as her eyes watered, tears filling it. “I didn’t want to let you down” she said blinking heavy tears, allowing them to fall as she looked up at him.

“Well, you ended up doing far more than that, you do realize that?” he asked her. “Keeping my son from me, was a bigger let down then the entire situation and all of its layers combined” he breathed. Samuel folded his arms over his chest as he looked at her still in disbelief a little.

Mercedes tucked her lips inward as she sniffled, her hand wiped away a few tears. Nodding her head at him she agreed with his statement, “I get that now, yes,” she breathed. “I don’t know” she shrugged a little, a bit of a cry leaving her lips after she did. “I didn’t say anything, and then he was here. And I just didn’t know what to say after that” she added. “I was confused, embarrassed” she listed. “It was stupid, and I am truly sorry Samuel. I did not mean for this too grow into all of this” she stressed. “I just didn’t know what to say, or how to even say it when I did find the words” she swallowed hard. “I never tended to hurt you, with any of this. The breakup or with keeping him as a secret from you” she said looking into his eyes.

Samuel listened to her, he continued to stand there with his arms crossed over his chest. In his heart of hearts, he didn’t feel she were lying about a single thing. Though his brain throbbed as he tried to understand what the hell possessed her. Even now, the move was one he could not have pictured her making. Not her out of all people in the World, it didn’t fit. He nodded his head back at her and he said “is he here? Can I see him?”

Mercedes watched him and she sniffled again, wiping more tears from her face. She dried the tears that rested under her chin with the back of her hand before she nodded her head. “Yes, of course” she nodded as she moved to allow him into her parent’s home. Opening the door wider from him she sniffled once more as she waited for him to walk in and once, he did, she closed the door behind him and locked it. “He’s in here” she said as she moved to walk through the home towards the living room where Cameron stood eating cheerios from a kid sized bowl while watching Blue’s Clues idly.

Samuel nodded his head and he moved into the large home; it was as he remembered it. Always neat, clean, and in decent order every time. He didn’t know why but in the moment all of the anger he had melted away. Not because he was understanding of the situation at this time but because it had been replaced with nervousness. He didn’t see fatherhood greeting him for at least another few years and now he was being thrown in it full speed, in a very instance. And he didn’t know what to think or how to feel about that, what if he wasn’t good at it? Despite that the boy didn’t even know him. As he followed Mercedes into the living room, he took the boy in, though it was only from behind he could tell how ridiculously adorable he was.

“Cameron” Mercedes said sliding her hands in her back pockets as she watched him. “Someone is here to see you” she said to him softly. She watched the boy turn around, his hazel eyes moving from her to the taller man next to her and back to her familiar face. “Mama” he said in response back to her before he turned back to the bowl and placed another cheerio into his mouth chewing lightly. He turned back around before he moved to walk away from the bowl and towards his toy car. Mercedes stepped towards the child and hoisted him up into her arms pecking his cheek lightly moving closer to Samuel.

Samuel watched the little boy as he turned around, his full head of curls bouncing lightly as he looked between her and him then back to her cutely. He smirked a little, he looked like the perfect mix of them both, it was astonishing. The little boy continued his snack eating and playtime, ignoring them both until Mercedes moved to go pick him up walking over towards him “hey” he said waving at the little boy awkwardly.

Mercedes looked at Cameron and then grabbed the toy car that was stealing all of his attention, holding it in her hand and at her side. “Say hey” she said as she looked at him, he cowered in front of the tall man sticking his hands into his mouth as he looked at him. He pulled his hands down eventually and said “hey” before he rested his head on his mother’s shoulder shifting in her arms gently. “Cameron” she said softly as she shifted him in her arms again “this is your daddy” she said pointing to Samuel with the same hand the car was is.

Samuel watched the kid placing his hands in his pockets gently as she tried to get the little boy to interact with him. When the child finally did talk and then moved to hide himself away from Samuel he smirked. When she told the boy who he was he looked at her then at the little boy. He risked the chance and held his hands out for the boy, he could or could not come. What would it hurt?

Cameron watched Samuel and he looked at his mother before he leaned into the man and allowed him to hold him as well. He looked at the side of the man’s face, blinking a few times before he looked at his mother and then back at Samuel. Mercedes sat the car down on the couch and looked at Cameron again “daddy” she said pointing to Samuel again.

Samuel and the little boy glanced back and forth at each other, when he looked at his mother again Sam adjusted him in his arms. He hugged the boy to his chest gently closing his eyes as he basked in it for a moment or two. He opened his eyes again and he looked at the little boy who had his fingers in his mouth once more eyeing him.

Mercedes sat on the edge of the couch watching Samuel, she picked Cameron’s car up in her hand and she toyed with it for a moment. She looked between them both and the toy car a few times as the man got acquainted with his son for the first time.

Samuel moved towards the couch with the child in his arms and he sat down with him. Shifting the child in his lap he looked at Mercedes “how is it possible to be in love with someone you just met for the first time?” he asked her seriously.

Mercedes shifted on the couch and looked at Samuel, a smirking forming on her lips and she spoke. “I don’t know” quietly “it just happens, I can’t explain it” she said with a small chuckle as she looked at the child. “He looks just like you” she commented as she looked down.

Samuel looked at her and then back to their son, he hugged the boy close who was now stretched out across him watching tv again. He was a little more comfortable with him he guessed, and he relaxed himself on the couch. He looked back at her and smirked “no, he looks like you” he told her. He looked back at the little boy, he couldn’t believe one night filled with love and adoration for each other could create such perfection, but not only that night however perfection that would last them both a lifetime. “I can’t be mad at you” he told her seriously as he moved his hand to hers, grabbing it in his and holding it gently. “But I really wish I could have been there” he said sadly “he’s so perfect, I can’t imagine what it would have been like to see him when he was first born” he sighed.

Mercedes looked at Samuel again placing the boy’s car aside, as he grabbed her hand, she allowed him to. It was comforting receiving any kind of touch from him even after all of this time. At his words she looked at Cameron and then pulled her bottom into her mouth biting down on it hard. She didn’t say anything in response to him, there was plenty of photos, videos, and things she could show him, and she would in the future. She knew she owed him that and needed to make sure it was something that she did out of respect for him. “Despite how it panned out, I am glad that you finally got to meet him. And that you can now be a part of his life.”

Nodding his head at her, he said “thank you” quietly. “Especially for him, you could have done something totally different, but you didn’t. Thank you for that” Samuel said sensibly as he looked her in her eyes.

“The thought never crossed my mind” Mercedes replied back to him seriously, looking into his eyes once more.

#Samcedes fanfiction #samcedes rp #tag: one shots.#tag: prompts.#tag: os - everything works out in the end.

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magicalforcesau · 3 years

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Dancing With Ghosts in Your Garden~ Chapter 9- Year 1: April

(ao3 link)

It was a dreadfully maudlin morning when it was revealed that Anakin Skywalker was missing. Aurors and other specialized authorities were once again on Hogwarts property in regards to the boy. This time, in hopes of finding him. Obi-Wan had been a mess when the news was given to him and he spent the early morning searching outside with Qui-Gon and Satine, despite how long the quest drew out. Nobody questioned their involvement despite being students and roaming the grounds so precariously.

Satine had been grateful they didn’t find him in the Forbidden Forest in any fashion, because if one was found there, it was rarely all in one piece. Obi-Wan had been painstakingly quiet, guilt eating away at him the longer they looked.

It pained both prefects to have to stop the search, but the logical parts of them understood it was doing little good acting like walking zombies. However, they also knew with sickly clarity that the longer he was gone, the farther he could be.

Several ghosts claimed he left the castle doors on his own authority, jumping from a secret entryway nearby and leaving with purpose. That really should have comforted all of them to a degree, but Anakin didn’t know how to apparate and he could only go as far as his legs could carry him.

All of the professors treated it like a kidnapping case, which was for the best. They weren’t necessarily on total lockdown procedures, but were encouraged to travel in packs throughout the castle and were only allowed in and out for classes. All meals were eaten in the common rooms.

Cody had said that Gryffindor house was uncharacteristically quiet.

Unsurprisingly, Obi-Wan wasn’t destined to get a wink of sleep after returning, no matter how much Qui-Gon insisted he should. Satine knew it was pointless, but didn’t question the professor as she and Obi-Wan went back to Ravenclaw house with slumped shoulders.

She didn’t have the proper words for him.

This isn’t your fault.

He’s going to be okay.

We’ll find him.

All of it seemed to ring inauthentic even to her own internal thought process. She wanted to tell him everything would be alright and she wanted more than anything, to mean it. She knew it was impossible to wipe the agony he was putting himself through beneath the cool exterior he held together. However, that didn’t change how badly she wanted to.

“We’ll keep looking.” She said numbly and unfortunately, the words seemed to fail her.

“Until when?” He asked quietly.

She sucked in a breath and placed what she hoped to be a reassuring hand on his shoulder to give it a good squeeze, “Until we find him.”

He met her eyes and stared at her for a moment. Even now, he seemed so calculative and contemplative of what would come next. He seemed to have an ongoing debate with himself whether he should refute what she said or not.

Instead, he nodded sharply and ducked his head down to move past her. She paused before following him towards the stairs to Ravenclaw tower. The riddle had been exceptionally easy whether by luck or intent to spare both of them from unnecessary stress. She would have found it insulting if she wasn’t so tired.

“What has to be broken before you can use it?”

“An egg.” Obi-Wan mumbled at the same time she thought of it.

Her heart currently felt like lead despite the equal weight of her eyes that were begging for sleep. She knew this was not going to be a peaceful slumber and until Anakin was found and was confirmed to be safe, she wasn’t sure when she’d sleep well.

Finally, as if sensing her absence, he turned to look at her with the full weight of exhaustion that seemed to overtake him. She moved to follow, but stopped abruptly in her tracks when her eyes caught a crumpled piece of parchment beside the stairwell.

She bent over and gently picked it up. Obi-Wan’s eyes followed her with mild curiosity that was dulled by the hard frown line wrinkling his forehead. She ignored his gaze and unwrinkled it, smoothing it over her knee before holding it up to the mid-afternoon sun that peeped through the large windows.

“What is it?” He asked finally.

“It looks like homework.” She said around a yawn that got trapped in her throat when she skimmed the top of the page in shock, “Wait.”

He whirled around her, almost knocking her over in a desperate attempt to read over her shoulder. He was so impatient that he took it from her hands without asking and she couldn’t find it in her to be offended as he noticed what she did.

“This is from this morning.” He said. “For a test for tomorrow.”

Another test key? Now? Who could think like this?

“The handwriting is different.” She commented.

“Well, the copycat quill is out of commission.” He fired back eagerly, “This isn’t Anakin’s handwriting either.”

“Anakin couldn’t very well write it if he’s been missing.” She added.

“No one knew he was gone this morning.” He added and she didn’t comment how his voice caught a bit when he said “gone”.

The writing was quite smudged and difficult to tell exactly who it belonged to and seemed to have been covered in some sort of beverage that smeared it. Still, the two prefects looked to each other in renewed vigor.

“He didn’t do it.” Obi-Wan released a breath that Satine couldn’t tell was from relief or exasperation, “And I… I doubted him.”

“Ben…” She offered lamely, once again angered that she couldn’t deduce a better thing to say in a time like this.

“He told the truth and no one believed him.” He said with more fire to his tone. He crumpled the parchment in one hand around a fist. His eyes were burning and seemed to be glazed over, “And it might cost him his life.”

“Don’t talk like that.” She said as she gently pried his fingers one-by-one off the paper. She wouldn’t say it, but they needed to analyze this later. Much later. There were bigger priorities at stake at the moment regardless of whether Anakin was innocent or not.

It was looking to be the former more and more, of course, which didn’t ease Satine’s own guilt that had been tingling at her skin for the past week or so. This was damning proof of that.

Obi-Wan moved up the stairs, letting the heels of his loafers hit the stairs with added purpose as he climbed and Satine had to hastily hurry behind him to catch up. She could understand why he was so upset, but really, Obi-Wan had believed him for as long as reason allowed. Someone was clearly out to get the kid.

She winced at the thought of harm befalling him at their own faults for not believing him.

“I’m guessing you’re not going to sleep, are you?” She called.

“How can I sleep when he’s out there?” He hissed as they reached the top, each leaning against the railing and facing each other.

“Because you’re not going to be much good to him if you’re dead tired.” She said, “At least try.”

He looked away, clearly not keen on doing that even if he had to acknowledge that it was for the best.

“This can wait.” She said as she gestured to the letter.

“No, it can’t!” He said, “It could all be connected.”

“Connected or not, finding him is the first priority.” She said.

“He’s out there cold and alone and thinking no one believes him!” He gritted, “And it’s all my fault.”

“No it isn’t.” She felt it was hers, in a way. What if she’d allowed Ben to go after him as he’d initially intended? That was clearly what had tipped him over the edge. Her heart hammered in her chest over the thought.

“I failed him.” He finally said with a heavy swallow, “You don’t understand how that feels.”

“You didn’t.” She insisted. “You chose him when no one else did- when no one else would because you saw something in him, right?”

“Satine.” He sighed.

“And you continued to choose him despite what anyone else said.” She winced, “Despite what I said.”

“When he admitted to doing the prank I thought-”

“-I’m not going to pretend you weren’t wrong.” She said, “I was too and so were the professors and most of the student body. That being said, Anakin didn’t help his case by crying wolf a bit.”

“What?”

She shook her head, “Muggle-saying. What I mean is: whoever took advantage of him knew he would be an easy target because of his mischievous tendencies.”

“He thought I didn’t want him as my mentee! That I was stuck with him!”

“But I know that isn’t true.” She said, “And you’ll get your chance to prove him wrong when we find him and bring whoever did this to justice.”

“How can you be so sure?” He finally asked.

“Because I’m usually right.” She said logically, “And because I know you and that you are going to do right by him for this.”

He nodded again, “Alright.”

“So, you’ll try and rest?”

“I’ll try.” The ghost of a smile hinted at the corners of his mouth, “I’d tease you for trying to mother me but-”

“-I’m nothing like your mother.” She gave him a slight shove, “Now, off to bed with you.”

“I hope he’s okay.” He said gently.

Her own levity fell to the floor hard, “Me too.”

***

A long dark hallway.

Anakin had guessed it would have been the Zillo Beast’s prison, but the walls and floor were smooth as glass. There was someone watching him, but he couldn’t see them. No matter how far he moved down the hallway the feeling remained just the same. He tried a few doors as he passed by, but none of them opened and when he knocked, it was like sound no longer existed. Even if there had been people in those rooms who could help him, tell him where he was, they would not hear him.

He’d tried to call for help, called out for his mum, Obi-Wan, and Qui-Gon, but it was like his voice wasn’t working. At the very end of the hall was a door cracked open and it seemed to be his only possible chance of escape. It was calling to him like a siren song.

“Vader,” It hissed, “He’s coming,” It repeated like a chant.

He felt if he could only get to that door that he’d have a chance against his stalker. Right as his hand outstretched for the door, it slammed shut, the whole hallway shook like an earthquake and Anakin felt himself falling. He reached his hand out, searching for a broom that wasn’t there or hoping for his wand to fall into his hand, but neither happened.

He landed on a sturdy slab of concrete. It hadn’t hurt as bad as he thought it should have. He could deal with a little bruising, but as he tried to stand, dark red glowing chains fastened themselves around his wrists and his ankles. He struggled frantically to get away, but with each thrash the chains just pulled themselves tighter. He was forced to still or else he’d soon be ripped apart.

Shoes clicked across the floor. A painfully slow pace and out of sight. What would become of him, Anakin wasn’t sure, but he felt fear like he’d never known. He desperately wanted anyone to come and save him, but he was too afraid to try his voice again.

“Through victory,” A voice whispered, far too close to him, “He will rise.”

A sword glinted above him, familiar and silver with inlaid gems. It was only then that Anakin tried his voice again, but as if he’d been silenced by magic his scream disappeared from his lips. The hooded figure had finally come into view enough for Anakin to see teeth bared in a snarl as the sword fell towards his heart.

***

Anakin woke up with a gasp and tried to sit up; only for him to realize that he wasn’t in the Gryffindor dormitories. In fact he wasn’t in a bed at all, but a cage. It was uncomfortable and too small for even Anakin to stretch out. He could sit up straight, but his head brushed the bars on top. He immediately looked around for his belongings. He’d learned alohomora for just such an occasion, but saw his school bag resting much too far away at the bottom of a tree. Thinking of only one possible way out of this, he opens his mouth to scream.

“Screaming would be useless,” It sounded like it was whispered and spoken at the same time, unrecognizable. Anakin managed to turn around and saw the cloaked figure standing in the shadows a few feet away, “I have already put a silencing charm around us.”

“What do you want from me?” His voice shook, much as he would hate to admit it, “If you’re planning to kill me, just do it already!”

“No need to rush into things,” The man stepped forward, now that he was standing in the weak light of dawn, Anakin could inspect him better, though he didn’t like what he saw. They were clearly Mace Windu’s robes, though they must have been an older pair as they fit a little oddly in places. Still, there was no mistaking that he had been right all along.

“They’ll find me,” Anakin tried, “Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. And Yoda. They’ll see that I’m gone and they’ll come to find me!”

“You think so?” The figure considered, “We could be anywhere, or nowhere. They won’t find us unless I want them too,” And the figure pulled out his wand very slowly from the inside of his robe, “And I don’t think I do. Not when you have something I want.”

“And what’s that?” Anakin’s eyes flicked towards his bag, he wasn’t sure what he could want, all he had to his name were a couple robes and some worn clothes.

“I won’t so carelessly spoil the surprise,” The man walked forward, his face still cloaked in darkness, “Petrificus Totalus,” He murmured the spell, dancing his wand elegantly through the air and Anakin felt his body lock up so that he could no longer move not even his pinkie. Cruelly, just his eyes were able to move, so he could witness a needle, rather large, being pulled from inside a cloak pocket. The man stuck him with it and Anakin could do nothing, but unlike any doctor's appointment, he wasn’t injecting anything, rather he extracted Anakin’s blood, transferring it neatly in a vial before going for more.

Anakin had assumed that Windu would have preferred to use the sword from his dreams, not a death as slow as draining his blood like a vampire. Anakin focused hard on trying to move, to shove the gloved hands away, but he could do nothing. He tried to remember Qui-Gon’s reminder that magic was not just in a wand, but inside a person and in the air. He tried to call on any of it at all, a desperate plea, but the only relief he was given was the man finally stepping away from him.

“No need for tears, boy,” The man scoffed. Anakin could barely even feel the tracks his tears were making down his face, “The jinx will wear off eventually,” And he set to work, building a small fire, before disappearing back into the woods.

Dawn slowly creeped towards noon before Anakin could finally move properly again. The man had not yet returned, but Anakin took the opportunity to wipe his tears and investigate his surroundings. The fire was still going, but the smoke seemed to not ever rise above the treeline, likely spelled not to give away their location. The cage was locked firmly. Anakin tried to break it open with force, but was unsuccessful. He even tried to use wandless magic again, but it yielded difficult to control and all he managed to do was cause the leaves to swirl around him for, but a moment.

In the end he could really do nothing, but curl up and sleep. Heart full of fear.

***

Yoda’s greatest fears had come true. The darkness that constantly loomed over the horizon and teased Hogwarts for so long was at last on their doorstep and in its midst, was a student- a small child- who did not deserve to be there. Should something happen to the boy, that blood was on their hands and unlike before when students had unfortunately lost their lives to unforeseen accidents or endangerments (which came with the territory of going to an ancient magical school), this was from continuous negligence.

What was he missing? Clearly, this evil was coming from home. Someone on their faculty was not only lying about who they were, but actively hunting out children. And for what? The only explanation that held water was Qui-Gon’s prophetic leanings and bother Windu as it might, there was something to say about the clairvoyance of the ancients.

So, in a moment of desperation, Yoda decided it was high time they utilize all of their resources.

“Professor Sifo-Dyas, glad I am that you could meet at such a late hour.” Yoda said quietly, even if no part of him felt very glad. As long as one of his students hurt, he too, felt that pain.

Sifo-Dyas was an odd man by the merit of most wizards in the community and was often brought into question at school board meetings when discussing the benefit of each professor. Many didn’t see divination as a worthwhile means of spending time. Many students felt this too, but there were the lot that loved the subject and saw its merits. Qui-Gon Jinn was one of those students years ago and Dooku even longer before that.

“Given what’s going on, I suspect all of us must always be ready to be on high alert, Headmaster.” Sifo-Dyas said. Today, he wore his dark black hair in a bun on the top of his head as he normally did, with two long strays that fell at the front, framing his bronze cheekbones.

“Indeed,” Yoda agreed, “A favor, I must ask of you.”

“Anything you need, Headmaster.” Sifo-Dyas sat criss-cross in the seat offered to him. It was not lost on Yoda that the man was not wearing any shoes or socks or that he’d taken to picking his toenails as he sat.

He shook his head of the distraction and sighed, “Try to look into Skywalker’s mind, I need you to. Ensure that he is alright, you must.”

***

Anakin woke up with a gasp, needles and swords and dark tunnels dancing behind his eyes in great clarity. He felt stiff from sleeping in a small space and he was hungry. The sky had darkened as they approached evening, and his captor was back sitting at the fire, likely waiting for him. He twisted a ring around his finger, but stopped once Anakin’s eyes laid on him.

“Enjoyed your nap?” The man asked, but clearly didn’t expect an answer. Anakin sat up and eyed him. He was still wearing the same robes, which wasn’t uncommon. Anakin was pretty sure Windu didn’t know how to do laundry.

“Some teacher you are,” Anakin spat hugging his knees to his chest, “You know they’ll find you out one of these days.”

“I’m no teacher,” The man poked at the fire, but he was watching Anakin, even though he still couldn’t see his face, he could tell.

“Yeah right,” Anakin continued, “As if I haven’t been right this whole year. No one but a teacher could have been at the school so much. I know who you are, Professor Windu!” He seemed surprised by Anakin’s knowledge, sitting up straighter. Still he laughed, a chilling sound as his voice was still being altered, whispered laughs echoing alongside louder ones.

“Clever,” He shook his head in disbelief, “How long have you known?”

“I’ve always known,” Anakin growled, “Maybe if you’d been any good at acting I wouldn’t have guessed it so easily!”

“Careful,” He warned, “A remark like that isn’t likely going to earn you dinner,” He moved to showcase a small plate, a piece of bread, cheese, and a glass of water sat atop it. Anakin moved towards it automatically, hunger driving him to try reaching through the bars towards it, but the Professor just set it out of reach.

“I thought you wanted me alive,” Anakin kept his voice steady as he tried desperately to reach the plate.

“For now,” He inspected the ring on his fingers as he ignored Anakin’s struggles, “You know a human could live for a few days without water, or even more without food,” Anakin felt panic bubble up inside his chest. Would his professor seriously let him starve, would he be so cruel?

“Alas,” He continued with tilt to the head, “I didn’t bring this here to torture you,” He pulled out his wand, muttering a spell that Anakin hadn’t yet learned and a dark red chain, like those that now haunted his dreams, wove it’s way through the air and fastened itself around Anakin’s neck.

The door to the cage creaked open and Anakin wasted no time crawling out. It felt wonderful to stand and he did so as he tore into the bread. His eyes scanned the clearing, he still saw nothing familiar, but his bag was still sitting at the base of the tree. Maybe, just maybe he could find a way to get to it.

“Can I change?” Anakin asked, his captor just wrapped and unwrapped the chain around his hands.

“I suppose I could allow you to,” Anakin’s heart picked up in his chest, “If you’re quick about it.”

Anakin took it as a yes and walked swiftly towards his bag, opening it up carefully as to not draw attention. He shoved his hand deep inside. He felt clothes, plenty of them, but nothing to help him, not even one magical relic. Suddenly he wished he’d been a little less anti-magic when he’d run from the castle. There was a tug on his neck and he looked behind him.

“Hurry up,” He was commanded and he nodded before turning back towards his bag with shaky hands. Where was his wand? He knew he’d packed it. He’d been using it to light up his path so he hadn’t forgotten it. He pulled out a clean shirt and set it on the ground next to him. He had a sinking feeling suddenly. His wand was nowhere to be found, if he’d been holding it, then it likely wasn’t going to save him. Quietly he changed shirts, the fabric going through the ghostly chain in a way he couldn’t, but wished for all the same. A sock slipped out of his bag as he was jamming everything back inside and he had an idea. He rolled it up and tucked it under a tree root. If they’d move then there would be a sign that he had been there. He just hoped it would be enough to tip someone off if they were even out here looking.

Anakin walked back over to the robed man and sat next to him staring into the fire. As the flames licked close to his hands, he was reminded of the Gryffindor common room. He and Rex would occasionally sit by the fire when they could steal that spot from the older students. It reminded him of the warmth he felt when Padmé walked past him, of the reckless matches he played in Quidditch, of the courage of his best friend. Somewhere in his heart was that bravery, that fearlessness, or else that hat would have put him somewhere else. He wasn’t sure what would happen to him, but he would try to be brave.

***

“He’s alive.” Sifo-Dyas breathed, sweat gathering profusely on his face as he tried to center himself. He’d fallen to the floor during his efforts to channel Anakin and while he managed to derive some vague images: swords, dark cloaks, red chains, and the face of each of Anakin’s friends and mother, there was not much described on his location.

Strangely enough, Sifo-Dyas kept being drawn to the image of a sock.

“Counts for something, that must.” Yoda said gravely, “For how long, we do not know?”

“I couldn’t see the kidnapper.” He said sadly but shuttered, “There’s something very familiar about the man, though, headmaster.”

“Works here, he does.” Yoda said and tapped his fingers to his desk before turning, “Go off to meet with the Minister of Magic, I must.”

“And what will he do?”

“If found, Anakin is not. Removed, I will be.” He said, “Care for that, I do not. The life of a child, the main priority is.”

“I’m coming with you.” Mace Windu’s voice boomed from the entryway, “If anyone should take the blame for Skywalker’s desire to leave the school, I’d say it’s most appropriate that it’s me.”

***

Obi-Wan was supposed to be in class. He’d already skipped his first and Dooku wasn’t the type to let something like a skipped class slide, but Obi-Wan couldn’t focus on something as trivial as school work when Anakin was missing. Spread out on the table before him, similar to every moment he was not actively searching the school or the grounds were documents, snippets of Anakin’s recent homework assignments, he had a couple of his textbooks, and perhaps most usefully, a map. He drew the map from memory and it was an exact scale replica of Anakins, with the exception that it hadn’t been enchanted with castle knowledge as such a thing wasn’t an easy task.

When he’d seen the map Anakin had been in class and it had been well over a month ago, so it wasn’t like it had any bearings to his current whereabouts. The tunnels however provided more useful. Many of them, he couldn’t tell how they opened, but he could tell where they led and he’d checked every last one of the entrances and exits for any clues. He couldn’t say it was all hopeless though, he’d been trying to figure out how to get into a few hidden rooms in case Anakin had just hidden away.

He moved to flip through Anakin’s charms textbook again. It had several notes shoved into it though many were pretty useless. There were a few crude drawings of Mace Windu with a silly face and one or two notes that clearly had been passed back and forth between him and Rex during class, but none of these held much investigative substance.

The clock tower rang out and he jumped at the sudden noise, snapping the book shut. So he was officially skipping his second class of the day. Satine would surely argue with him later, but she’d also likely share her notes so Obi-Wan shuffled his research together and shoved it into his school bag. If he was already planning on missing out, he supposed he may as well search the grounds again.

Leaving Ravenclaw tower, he wondered if it would have been more convenient to live closer to the ground floor like Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Though, he supposed he didn’t like the idea of living in the cold dark dungeons, as much as he had as a young child. His shoes clicked as he continued his march through the halls. He found walking with an air of confidence allowed him to be left alone by any stray professors or fellow prefects.

He passed by Bail Organa with a sharp nod and his friend simply smiled back, though it seemed sad and Obi-Wan moved swiftly on as to not dwell on it. He’d nearly managed to make it out the front doors when someone cleared their throat from behind him.

“Need I remind you that students are to be in their classes?” Qui-Gon stood tall, as always and Obi-Wan tried to match his stature even though he doubted he’d ever be eye to eye with his mentor.

“I’m a prefect,” Obi-Wan reminded him, “I’m investigating.”

“And when has either of those things exempt you from class?” Qui-Gon lectured, “A good prefect should be a shining example.”

“Anakin is missing,” Obi-Wan reminded him, gesturing through the open doors to the grounds, “He could be lost or injured or… Or worse,” He felt his voice catch, but he ignored it. He didn’t want to be upset in front of Qui-Gon, not when the professor was still mad at him, “A good prefect would keep everyone safe,” He didn’t say that he felt he’d failed at such a task.

“Well,” Qui-Gon did seem to hesitate, “I suppose you’re right. All that truly matters is Anakin’s safety,” Obi-Wan let his hands drop to his sides.

“Then can I go?” He asked, wanting to be out doing something that wasn’t being lectured at in the entryway. Though he couldn’t help how his heart sank at Qui-Gon’s words, was Anakin really the only important thing to his mentor? Then again, Anakin would need someone better than him when they returned.

“I’ll go with you,” Qui-Gon decided, “I don’t have a class at the moment anyways,” Obi-Wan felt himself bristle, if he wanted someone around he’d have asked Satine to come with him.

“If you insist, professor,” Obi-Wan gave him a stiff nod and turned exiting onto the grounds knowing Qui-Gon would follow.

There were Auror’s standing at the entrance, discussing something, but Obi-Wan tried not to spare them a glance, lest he seemed too interested. They on the other hand, watched him with scrutiny until they saw Qui-Gon following. Obi-Wan supposed he, too, would find a student loose on the grounds during class to be suspicious. Perhaps, it wasn’t as unfortunate as he thought it would be having Qui-Gon around.

“Well, where should we start,” Qui-Gon asked and Obi-Wan looked up at him through the corner of his eye. Yes indeed, where should they start? The grounds had been covered probably a thousand times, and he doubted Qui-Gon would let him venture into the forbidden forest, though that had also been sweeped and cleared. The Auror’s likely swept every possible location in the area, had he been an Auror with no other responsibilities, he’d likely have done the same already.

There hadn’t been a sign of a struggle, not that it was completely ruled out. Anakin had been dejected prior to his disappearance. If he hadn’t been taken, perhaps the thought to leave had been placed in his mind already. He looked up at the castle, tall like a fortress. He couldn’t quite see Ravenclaw’s tower from this spot. Gryffindor tower however…

“Is that the Gryffindor dorms?” Obi-Wan asked Qui-Gon for clarification, Qui-Gon joined him in squinting up at the windows, though he looked rather confused about the question.

“I believe so,” He turned to Obi-Wan with a frown, “I haven’t spent much time there, myself.”

“Neither have I,” Obi-Wan tried to recall his last excursion to Gryffindor. Their windows were always covered and it was hard to say what you could see from the common room. Anakin’s dormitory had been a little brighter, and Anakin had been looking out the window when they were searching his things.

“And windows are important, how exactly?” Qui-Gon asked and Obi-Wan turned to him.

“Anakin’s not-” Obi-Wan hesitated, “Well I don’t mean to say that he’s not a bright boy, but he’s young and thinks fairly straight forward. It’s why he has such a hard time writing essays,” Qui-Gon blinked in surprise, but let him continue, “He was looking out the window in his dormitory. If it was looking over the grounds and not the courtyard then he’d be looking at the gate,” He didn’t wait for Qui-Gon to respond before he started walking, sweeping the grounds fiercely as he did so.

“I’m impressed,” Qui-Gon admitted as he caught up to him, “You’ve really grown into mentoring Anakin,” Obi-Wan looked at Qui-Gon sharply.

“Did you expect me to fail?” Obi-Wan asked, “Though I suppose I have failed. I’ve failed myself, Anakin, and you.” He turned his head away quickly moving back to searching the ground.

“Obi-Wan...” Qui-Gon had stopped walking, but Obi-Wan picked up the pace.

He didn’t want to be reminded of his failures, not when he was actively trying to help. He hurried along, outpacing Qui-Gon until he paused at the gates. They were closed, and Qui-Gon grabbed him by the shoulder.

“Obi-Wan, you-”

“-Can you open this?” Obi-Wan interrupted. Qui-Gon didn’t move towards his wand so he moved towards his instead, “Then at least can I?”

“I- of course,” Whether he’d stunned his professor into the answer or not, he waved his wand and unlocked the great gates, then moved again to spell them open.

He felt odd stepping off of school property and he wasn’t sure he’d have done it if he didn’t have a second pair of eyes with him, but he moved forwards anyways. The grass was fairly trampled, clearly the Aurors and professor had come through to check this path as well. He tried to put himself in the mindset of Anakin.

“Obi-Wan!” Qui-Gon caught him by the shoulder again and this time Obi-Wan didn’t have a reason to interrupt, “You don’t honestly think you’ve failed do you?”

“This is not the discussion I want to be having right now,” Obi-Wan gestured to the path with his wand, “We have bigger problems. Like you said, the only thing that matters is Anakin,” And though they clearly both meant the sentiment, Qui-Gon flinched.

“Obi-Wan, you haven’t failed. You’ve been an excellent mentor to Anakin,” Obi-Wan rolled his eyes, childish, but he didn’t feel he had to put on a mask.

“Yes some mentor I was, accused my mentee of a crime he didn’t commit and now he’s lost or been taken,” He argued, shaking off Qui-Gon’s hand, though it was quickly replaced with a hand on each of his shoulders. He was locked in place.

“You were doing your duty as a prefect,” Qui-Gon winced as he said it, “If anyone’s failed, perhaps it is I. I made you feel like you did something wrong when all you ever do is the right thing,” He sighed, “I’ve never been much for following the books to the letter, but I shouldn’t have expected you to mirror me in that regard. So I-” He’d been about to seal his apology, but Obi-Wan gasped, stooping down to further inspect a bush.

Had they not stopped here, he wouldn’t have noticed it. It blended in like a fallen stick, but as he pulled it out, it was so clearly a wand, Anakin’s wand that he must have dropped in shock.

“He’s without a wand then,” Obi-Wan took a sharp breath before gathering it up into his hands.

“So he was here,” Qui-Gon was suddenly on high alert. He pulled out his own wand. He was casting a handful of spells, only a few Obi-Wan could recall having learned thus far, but he perked up as he realized he was searching traces of a spell being cast.

The air seemed charged with magical imagery as if the air itself was recalling what had transpired. Ghosts of a lumos charm hung in the air at several places, but one spell, red and angry, appeared right in front of his nose.

“Stupify,” Obi-Wan glanced around as if he too would be the next victim, “He was attacked!”

“So he left school, on his own volition,” Qui-Gon mused.

“Do you think they apperated away?” Obi-Wan stroked his chin as he stared through the trees.

“It’s too risky,” Qui-Gon explained, “To apparate with another person who could come too at any moment? Not if they didn’t want to accidentally decapitate him,” The thought made Obi-Wan’s stomach flip.

“I hope you’re right then,” He glanced around, “He wouldn’t have gone towards the forbidden forest. That’s suicide,” Obi-Wan pointed towards Hogsmeade, “There’s plenty of forest at the end of the village.”

“We haven’t checked there yet,” Qui-Gon was already jogging as he said it and Obi-Wan chased after him.

The town was quiet, only a few local patrons around today. None of them expected a Hogwarts professor followed by a young student to come barrelling down the street. Obi-Wan barely managed to duck under a serving tray as he ran a bit too close to The Three Broomsticks.

“Do you think they’re still going to be so close to the school?” Obi-Wan called over.

“If they are, I’m going to be very suspicious of my colleagues,” Qui-Gon admitted. They both slowed down at the edge of the forest. Obi-Wan felt like he’d just run a race against Cody, but he tried to look less run down as Qui-Gon waved them forward.

“Oh, look here,” Obi-Wan pointed towards a rather large stick that looked like it had been broken in half, “It doesn’t seem to match up to where it fell from, that’s odd right?”

“Good eye,” Qui-Gon nodded, “Anything’s useful in an investigation, remember that.”

“Yes sir,” Obi-Wan acknowledged as he tightened his grip on his wand.

They moved farther in until they got to a clearing. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but Qui-Gon stopped.

“I’m going to check the area, stay sharp,” He instructed, repeating the last set of spells. Obi-Wan muttered a spell of his own, a low level wind spell that swept debris out of the way wherever he pointed his wand. He swept around the perimeter, but wasn’t finding much except sticks. Obi-Wan knelt down and picked up one of the sticks, there wasn’t anything particularly exciting about it, but one end of it was a little charred which made his heart leap with both worry and excitement. He turned his head to yell to Qui-Gon when a flash of red caught his eye.

He scrambled over to the splash of color and his heart nearly beat out of his chest at the sight. Fabric, definitely not native to the woods. When he pulled it out he waved it like a flag to Qui-Gon, hardly needing to look at it to recognize who its owner was.

“He was here!” He called and Qui-Gon dropped his spell immediately to run over, “I wouldn’t have seen it if I hadn’t been knelt down,” He rambled breathlessly, “And this too,” He showed him the stick.

“I couldn’t get any spells to reveal themselves,” Qui-Gon’s eyes flashed with hope, “They must have been here recently if the wards are still fresh,” They both stood looking around.

“All we have to do is figure out which way they went and they’re as good as found!” Obi-Wan grinned, extending his arm, “I do believe all those charms books we read may come in handy yet.”

***

Rex couldn’t care less about charms right now. In fact, he couldn’t care less for any subject or any minute detail at this school that wasn’t figuring out where Anakin had gone off to. It was vastly approaching two days since he’d gone missing and despite accounts from ghosts saying Anakin left on his own accord, the fact that the Aurors couldn’t find a trace of him didn’t speak much confidence to his intended plan of freedom.

Anger coiled in his stomach in a manner that couldn’t be released. If he did, he might do something he’d later regret, like punch the smarmy grin off of Sebulba’s ugly face. Well, he wouldn’t regret that, but he knew none of his emotional impulses would bring Anakin back.

Did that stop him from how mind-numbingly frustrated he grew when he remembered how unhappy Anakin was and how he’d essentially been driven to this point by everyone he was supposed to trust. Even Rex, who never doubted Anakin in the first place, felt he didn’t do quite enough to make Hogwarts feel enough like home for him.

Not enough to stay, anyway.

He forced any self pity to roll off his shoulders, knowing he didn’t deserve it and that it wouldn’t do anyone any good at the end of the day.

Today was a bit easier to breathe through without having to look at Windu’s unassumingly stoic features for a class period. He feared that if he did, Rex would spend the entire period mentally trying to uncrack whatever spell Windu placed on everyone to make him so believably innocent. Rex had his doubts when Anakin brought it up, but now that Windu was “sick” while Anakin just so happened to be missing, he knew with fire in his bones that this was the lead they needed, that Anakin was right and all the evil they needed was right there in Hogwarts.

He tried to reason with the Aurors when interviewed, but they all tried to strip away bias in order to look at facts and hunches based on those facts. To them, Windu didn’t seem like a possible threat for reasons they didn’t and wouldn’t explain to a 12 year old.

He rested his chin upon his forearms, watching as Ki-Adi Mundi took a crack at teaching the subject. Typically, Yoda would have been the natural substitute, since many moons ago he was the charms professor, but the headmaster was also conveniently indisposed. If it was possible, Rex was angriest with him for allowing his school to be dictated by such blind hypocrites. More than anything- more than the anger and the guilt and the dread for what was to come, Rex really just wanted his best friend back.

***

“As many of you have likely already gathered, this will be the last class period dedicated entirely to learning new content. For beyond this day, we will proceed in dedicating in-class time to strictly O.W.L. 's preparation.” Professor Dooku’s profoundly deep voice echoed off the classroom walls as each fifth year Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw alike regarded him with their sincere attention. The only of whom staring straight through him was none other than Satine Kryze.

And she knew it.

Despite her greatest efforts to remain focused, she couldn’t bring herself to drag her mind away from the glaringly empty seat beside her. It was a pity too, because as usual, Professor Dooku commanded the floor like a general going into battle and everyone seemed hung on his every last word.

“Homenum Revelio. What does that mean to you?” He asked, hands clasped behind him as they usually were and he fixed his fierce gaze on the class.

Bail Organa raised his hand from in front of her, “The latin translation is “to reveal the human”, right?”

“That is correct, Mr. Organa.” He nodded crisply, “And what do you believe it does?”

Bail seemed to think about that as he paused, biting down on his lip before bringing his uncertain dark eyes from his book back up to meet Dooku’s, “Could it possibly mean to reveal one’s true intentions? Or someone’s truest self should they be deceiving anyone?”

Dooku considered him, the beginnings of a smirk cracking at the corner of his mouth and lifting up ever-so-slightly in what could only be assumed as amusement, “You mistake this class for Professor Jinn’s again. You know I am not nearly as metaphorical.”

The class chuckled in good spirit, everyone knowing how Qui-Gon tended to speak in metaphors and philosophies that most did not comprehend in full.

“As is it were, the true meaning is right there in the name.” Dooku said and turned to write on the chalkboard at the front of the room, “To reveal any human presence in the area.”

Satine fiddled with her quill, knowing that this was likely only going to get more interesting as time went on, but that her mind was only going to continue going faster than she could keep up. The least she could do was take avid notes for him. She knew why the chair was vacant, of course, but her nerves still rattled nearly enough to make her teeth chatter. Ben never skipped class in her entire time of knowing him.

Hell, even when he was sick it was like pulling teeth to get him to properly take care of himself by taking the day. Of course, she was the exact same way and knew that now more than ever, they needed to be vigilant with their studies.

It hardly seemed fair, of course, to expect students to carry on as normal with a whole classmate missing and Aurors snooping around the school. The fact that it was Anakin and that Ben certainly held himself unreasonably accountable did not help matters in the slightest.

She was still cursing herself for being completely inept at providing any sense of comfort on the subject too, but that had everything to do with how unnerving the situation was. If something bad didn’t happen to him, why was he not found yet? The thought of little Anakin being kidnapped or worse made her feel ill, let alone what Ben was going through.

She knew he had to be looking for him. It’s what she would do for Viz. In fact, had Ben asked her, she would have assisted him too. As Satine shook her knee impatiently for time to proceed faster so she could hastily regroup with her friend and scold him for giving her the heart attack and leaving her out of the loop, she also debated what speech she would undoubtedly have to give Dooku after class in order for him to forgo Ben’s absence.

After all, to pretend like everything was usual business felt unreasonably heartless when considering Ben’s proximity to the present circumstances. Surely, someone as wise and experienced as Dooku would understand. At least, she hoped so. Otherwise, she’d likely score both of them detention if executed improperly.

Before given the opportunity to mentally unpack her arguments for Ben’s case, class and subsequently, her thought process, was interrupted by an unexpected intrusion from the one and only, Asajj Ventress.

Dooku had been facing the board still, broad back taut and firm as he noticed the sound of an additional audience member. Without even bothering to turn, he sighed, “Ventress? I should hope if you would like for Slytherin house to remain in the running for the house cup that you’d have a decent excuse for interrupting my class.”

There were always rumors about some professors having eyes on the back of their heads, which was a phrase Satine had been amused came over from muggle linguistics, but Dooku was the primary target of most theories and for good reason. It seemed as though his Auror training had fine-tuned him into noticing any minutia of sound or change, making it impossible to sneak up on him.

Ventress stuck her chin up and avoided the gaze from all the curious classmates as she dared to narrow her eyes with her vain brand of disinterest and glowered at the professor, “I just came to give you this note from Professor Palpatine.”

“Last I checked you were in Herbology.” He straightened.

“I got into a… Bit of a scuffle in the hallway.” She shrugged, “Do you want the note or not?”

Satine had never heard someone speak so brazenly to Dooku, let alone a student, and like everyone else in the room, wondered if he was going to retaliate in a way they knew him capable of.

He turned and looked at her with a scrutiny that Satine wished more people gave to Ventress and finally approached her to accept the note. Everyone eyed the exchange cautiously, as though their ex-Auror defense against the dark arts professor hadn’t faced worse than a 16 year old girl in his life.

He unfolded the neat parchment and while the elderly professor rarely emoted beyond mild irritation or mute interest, anyone could make out the concern on his features.

“Class, read amongst yourselves. It appears the mandrakes have been engorged yet again.” He cleared his throat and practically ran out of the room.

Before he could entirely escape, Ventress stopped him, “And what of me?”

“Do stay out of trouble.” He said and strangely, Satine could have sworn she felt his gaze flicker to where she sat for the briefest of moments. It passed before she could sweat about it and was instead flooded with relief over having to explain Ben’s absence. Perhaps, she could be grateful to Ventress for the interruption just this once.

***

Palpatine had been instructing his first year Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws on how to use a pensive when he, himself, was reminded of its potential use. While it could not analyze the present, it could no doubt observe the remnants of a dream.

He extracted the memory from his head and carefully deposited the silvery blurb into the pool of memories that currently encapsulated a very specific and professional aspect of Palpatine’s life. No one would find anything else but that of which was school appropriate here. Anything from his private life existed only in his mind’s eye.

“I’m sure you’re all quite aware that one of your classmates, Anakin Skywalker, is currently missing.” He said, forlorn, “And that everyone is doing their utmost to bring him back to us. To do that, I’m going to try something and it might be a bit dark and a tad frightening, but not long ago, I assisted young Skywalker in navigating his nightmares. This, I hope, may prove useful.”

“But Professor,” A young Rodian named Lolo frowned, “I thought dreams didn’t hold any legitimate property.”

“They are not law, but with wizards, they can definitely mean something and hold properties of their own.”

That, and Professor Palpatine had skills most were not privy to. If he were to tap into some of his own knowledge as well, no one would be any the wiser.

So, they watched as Anakin was surrounded by trees where the roots closed in on him and seemed to strangle him into a cage that was especially made to shove the boy to the dirt. Darkness surrounded him as he cried out in desperation, but with a growing paleness that was unusual to his bright features. The eyes of the Zillo Beast glowed behind him before fading back into obscurity as though just an overlay and even Anakin, himself, did not appear to take notice. And then, just before the darkness and life seemed to take Anakin Skywalker entirely, there was a beam of light from the upper righthand corner. The sense of familiarity and warmth filled the scene as well as the distinct sound of Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon calling out his name.

“Anakin! Anakin!”

However, Anakin didn’t stir, but the voices drew closer and closer.

In the background, there was a brief flicker he wished he could pause over, in the top right corner through the trees, where he could make out the top of the castle.

Could they truly be that close?

“Pardon me, class.” He grabbed for his wand and nearly dropped it into the pensive, “I must seek out Professor Dooku.”

Palpatine was relieved he’d run into that troublesome Ventress girl in the hallway when he did. He was in a rush and didn’t have time to consider his errand-runner too deeply. She’d been nosy, of course, but he enchanted the letter to only be readable from Dooku as insurance that she wouldn’t try and involve herself in any unnecessary danger.

Time was of the essence and whoever took Anakin Skywalker would need to be dealt with.

***

Anakin found that the worst part of being captured was the waiting. Sleeping was difficult on the hard and lumpy ground beneath him in the cage forged specifically by his attacker. Eating was never hard, though his mouth always felt a bit like he was inhaling sand along with the food and hated how unsure he was for another meal. Maintaining remnants of his dignity was growing harder as time did or didn’t pass. He couldn’t even tell the time of day from the bubble Windu had created for them.

And worst of all? He wasn’t quite sure what it was he was even waiting for. Sure, he definitely waited for his next meal or to allow the day to pass him by with more sleep. But despite how his kidnapper’s plans were clearly not bright for Anakin’s future, he still couldn’t quite tamper out the hope that bubbled inside of him every now and then. Surely, someone had to look for him, right?

At the very least, Rex would ask, right?

Though Anakin feared he might have burned that bridge by failing to say goodbye. Despite his previous insistence to desert Hogwarts and run home, he yearned to be back within the safety of the castle walls and with his friends again. All of his problems suddenly felt exponentially small in comparison to this.

But Obi-Wan would still look for him. Yes, even if he had been upset with Anakin and Anakin had been upset with him, Obi-Wan was the most law-abiding and noble young wizard at their school. He would never let a student fall through the cracks if he could help it. And he would try.

Anakin believed that.

He did wonder how much time had passed since he’d been gone. The lack of proper lighting made it impossible to tell when the days and nights began and ended. He hadn’t even seen his kidnapper all day to bother him with such questions, though last time he’d asked he received an answer about how disillusionment was good for him. Anakin didn’t know what that meant, but was wise for not providing further questioning. It was far from the time for any of that.

He supposed it could be worse. The only physical harm done to him was when his blood was taken and that still only made him feel a bit sleepy more than anything. It was scarier in the moment, but frankly, Anakin never quite liked shots to begin with. He did drink the warm tea provided to him twice, which if he had to guess, meant it happened at night. He never took Windu as an Early Grey sort of man in terms of tea, but it was definitely one of the miniscule surprises offered to him.

The first of which was how long it took him to fear for his mum. Was she out there looking for him? Was she terrified? Did she even know he was gone? He didn’t know what he quite preferred. On one hand, he knew she would want to know, even if it was the worst of news. On the other, the image of her frantic and crying in his little bedroom at home made his heart sag so heavy that he laid down.

Even if it was a promise he couldn’t keep, he silently vowed to return to her again, to see things through. This was only but a test for him somehow. For them, regardless of how unfair that was.

He would apologize to Obi-Wan for ever giving him reason to doubt him.

He would prove Windu guilty so that nothing like this ever happened to anyone else.

He would grow to become the strongest wizard who ever lived.

It was these motivating goals that didn’t make him feel like he was at risk of melting into the ground and submitting to whatever else Windu had lined up for him. It still irked him beyond measure that he didn’t even know what the plan was. Weren’t villains supposed to monologue? That was how he remembered it on his Saturday morning cartoons, anyway. Clearly, it had something to do with his blood since the creep couldn’t seem to get enough of that.

Then, Anakin gasped, surprising even himself with his own voice for the first time that day,

What if Mace Windu was a vampire?

Surely, such creatures existed in the magical world too. Windu had alluded to werewolves before in the form of animagi and what if he’d been discreetly describing his own species? What if Anakin was a specific blood type that he required and this was to be his century-lasting “feeding”?

Would Anakin become a vampire?

That question never received an answer when a beam of red light ricocheted off of an unseen barrier and exploded into the disarming display of shattering glass- each previously picturesque view of the spooky wood splintering and falling to the wet grass beneath it.

A blinding flash emerged from where the centrifugal force of power had previously burst out, eclipsing his view of the two figures that faced one another- looking nothing more like hazy shadows. One dominated over the other in height, but that didn’t seem to delude the smaller figure’s determination.

Between them, red met purple in an ugly spider-web of magical disagreement- one going for the kill and the other, fighting for Anakin’s life.

Anakin didn’t allow himself to feel excitement just yet, still recovering from the simultaneous burning and warming sensation from sun-exposure and debating if this was all some theatrical dream.

“I believe you have something that doesn’t belong to you.” A kind, familiar voice spoke and it evoked the feeling of safety for the first time since this nightmare began, “Or shall I say, someone.”

“That would be a matter of perspective.” Windu, donned heavily in robes that billowed in a wind that was only created by the clash of the two wizard’s streams of power that erupted from their wands. His voice, despite being in a whispered tone, still could be heard as they struggled for dominance.

As the sun became bearable to handle once again and the shorter figure’s gentle yet steadfast face came into focus when positioned directly in front of the sun, Anakin could no longer prevent his heart from exploring hope and resolve.

“Professor Palpatine!” He chirped.

“My my, Anakin, someone never told this one to pick on someone their own size, hm?” Palpatine winked at him without breaking his focus on deflecting the purple current of electricity zigzagging his way. It reminded Anakin acutely of the lightning bolts that were used on the Zillo Beast. He shuddered to think what they might have felt like.

Anakin decided not to remind Palpatine that he was also substantially shorter than Windu, even if Anakin was also positive Windu made himself a bit taller in this dark persona.

“The boy must die.” He hissed and began to strain under Palpatine’s sheer power.

Despite holding out strong, the potions professor also appeared to be whittling down as the duel endured. He shook his head slowly and took a deep breath.

“You know nothing.” Palpatine assured, “He will grow good and strong and embrace his own destiny… Not whatever perversion you’ve concocted.”

Anakin felt as though his soul was singing at the sound of that. He’d thought about it and pledged to see it through, but it was a whole other concept hearing it from someone he looked up to.

He felt seen. He’d never felt that before.

“Says who?” He hissed. “You grow weak, old man.”

“Says us.” Another resolute voice boomed and Anakin had to strain his head from inside the cage to turn towards the voice, but was once again bombarded with an array of blue and green light hurdling this time, towards him. The cage shattered and Anakin stood, stretching his legs and arms for the first time in what felt like years.

“Anakin! Hide!” Qui-Gon’s voice shouted this time and he took his place next to Palpatine, who together, in a combined effort, overpowered the sinister phantom, who was quivering in retaliation to their onslaught.

Anakin did as he was told and jumped behind a nearby rock, but still allowed himself a proper view of the unfolding battle before him. A hand settled on Anakin’s shoulder and he flinched, but quickly relaxed when he turned to a familiar set of worried blue eyes that were currently trying to assess him for any physical damage.

“We’ve got to get you out of here.” Obi-Wan said.

“Not without them!” Anakin insisted.

“Anakin, look!” Slowly, but surely, the green and red magic consumed the purple and the cloaked figure was sent spiraling backwards against the tree behind him. As soon as he slumped, Obi-Wan yanked on Anakin’s arm to tug him in the direction out of the woods and for something beyond reason, Anakin felt his weight go dead. He should want to flee, to escape, to be free again. However, he was inexplicably drawn to what brought him here and wanted to look his attacker in the light of day.

Maybe that was the Gryffindor in him.

Palpatine lowered his wand and nodded at Qui-Gon, “That should show him to trifle with our students- AGH!”

The burst of sporadic purple lightning happened quicker than Anakin could even blink or process his newfound freedom or the fact that Obi-Wan’s hold on him had evolved to essentially throwing him over his shoulder and tumbling them through the clearing, ignoring Anakin’s screams as they ripped through the otherwise tranquil spring afternoon.

The last thing Anakin saw inside the clearing was the grandiose exit of the black ghost- leaving nothing but a sharp bolt of electricity following them in his wake.

They hit the ground and rolled for a second before Obi-Wan stabilized him and once again looked for any immediate wounds. When he seemed satisfied with this, he sagged back in relief. The powerful outburst scorched the ground a meter or so away, proving to show just how narrow their escape had been.

Yet Anakin could not revel in it just yet.

Anakin struggled to his feet, nearly toppling over from the adrenaline that was coming in waves that piqued and crescendoed in the most unsettling manner of unpredictability. He was centered only by Obi-Wan, who placed two firm hands on his shoulders and in the broader daylight, looked more disheveled than Anakin had ever seen him all year.

“We have to go back for Palpatine! He’s hurt!”

Obi-Wan opened his mouth, surely to argue, since it was one of the things he was best at, but was cut short by the burst of smoke that seeped instantly from the clearing and more prominently, an emerging Qui-Gon and Palpatine, the ladder of which had an arm slung around the former.

“Professor!” Anakin cried and was waved weakly at.

“No worries, it’s just a scratch.” His smile faded, “I’m more concerned about you.”

“I’m not hurt.” Anakin answered.

“That’s not the only part I’m concerned about.” Qui-Gon said.

Obi-Wan rushed forward and took the other arm for added support.

Palpatine winced, “Thank you, Mr. Kenobi, though I’m really not worth the fuss.”

“On the contrary, Professor Palpatine, that wound looks nasty. We’ll need to get you looked at by Madame Nema pronto.” Qui-Gon said, but cast his shining gaze over to Anakin, “I think we would all like to get back to Hogwarts.”

***

It wasn’t until they were safely within the castle walls again that Anakin really allowed himself to breathe properly. He knew he was safe with Qui-Gon and Palpatine in theory, but it was unsettling to know that the phantom Windu had gotten away.

Nobody said anything about “I told you so” or gave any scathing lectures on leaving school grounds. Nobody blamed Anakin for what happened to Palpatine nor did they grill him for details on the phantom man. For a while, nobody really spoke at all, which was fine by Anakin, seeing as he felt he might slump over into a long sleep at any moment.

Still, it felt prudent that they know just what their sacrifice meant to him.

“Thank you all for saving me.” He said quietly, when he felt they were alone enough for it to not draw too much attention. Though, he didn’t miss how when they drifted through the halls all the curious and relieved glances that came to light when they saw him. Even Sebulba looked happy to have his favorite little victim back in the castle- not that Anakin would ever allow himself to be his victim.

“Don’t mention it, Anakin, my boy.” Palpatine chuckled from his hospital cot, “We are just happy to have you back.”

“I’ll say,” Obi-Wan squeezed his shoulder and was looking at him as though if he didn’t maintain focus, Anakin would float away, “We were worried sick.”

“I didn’t mean to be a bother.” He said and looked down. “I’m sorry I-”

“I am so sorry.” Obi-Wan cut him off and then his eyes grew wide, “You’re sorry? Anakin, I should have believed you were telling the truth.”

“I didn’t give you much reason to.”

“But I should know you better.” Obi-Wan amended and poked him in the chest. “Because I do believe in you and not from some misplaced obligation, but because I just do, even if I struggle sometimes with the irrationality of that. I just let my perceived duties cloud my judgment.”

“And he’s not just saying that because I suggested you two pair up.” Qui-Gon added with a warm and knowing smile, “I suggested you pair up, because I knew you would be a dynamic fit that could grow from one another. And judging by Obi-Wan’s relentlessness at finding you and how he’d single-handedly succeeded in doing so-”

“-I wouldn’t say single-handedly.” Obi-Wan flushed and scratched the back of his neck.

“-You wouldn’t, but you should.” Qui-Gon added enthusiastically, “Seeing as you found every clue that even the Aurors could not and pieced together where Anakin could be by wit and guile alone.”

“I agree.” Palpatine smiled weakly, but began to fade from the drowsy potion Madame Nema had given him to sleep off his wounds, “But what matters, is that young Skywalker is safe.”

“And wanted here.” Obi-Wan said gently before reaching into his robe, “Which reminds me, I think you dropped this… If you’ll still have it.”

Anakin gaped as Obi-Wan outstretched his wand to him carefully and despite the theatrics of the first time he held it being a memory that he felt would always be intrinsic to how he connected to magic, this felt just as meaningful. Immediately after grasping it, he lunged into Obi-Wan’s arms, who hesitated before patting Anakin on the back awkwardly. Anakin didn’t mind though. He really didn’t take Obi-Wan for a hugger in the first place.

***

Everyone could breathe a little easier since Anakin had been miraculously saved by the brave endeavors of Professor Palpatine. It only took about a week’s time for things to start gradually returning to normal. While Anakin’s detentions had been lifted, they had been replaced with wellness checks to ensure that emotionally, the boy was recovering from his traumatic experience.

How, something of that magnitude could be measured, Satine was unsure, but she supposed the sentiment was of the right mindset. Wizards seemed less keen on properly addressing or acknowledging mental health than muggles, which was saying something, but even they could not deny the possible long term effects a kidnapping could have on a young child.

That being said, Anakin seemed to be as bouncy and spirited as ever- certainly better off than before he was taken. He and Obi-Wan had made up, which repaired both of their moods tremendously. It was obvious they were conspiring on figuring out how to bring Anakin’s kidnapper to justice and were very tight-lipped about the whole ordeal, which Satine didn’t mind. It left her to her own devices and her own burgeoning questions.

Like, who has been cheating this entire damn time if not Anakin?

It honestly hadn’t poked at her mind until the week after the incident (which was how the student body had taken to referencing Anakin’s kidnapping). However, it did rightfully take a back seat to the insidious villain that lurked in the shadows and kidnapped little boys in the dead of the night.

Hogwarts was really building its own volume of horror stories this year, alone.

But this person was still working and despite how long this had gone on, they were losing their touch.

No, this cheating prank was indubitably committed by a child. While seemingly brilliant in a mastermind sort of way, the mistake of continuing the ruse even after Anakin had been caught was foolish and with the pompousness of someone who felt they were too good to be had.

As though despite the chaos that had been distracting most, that someone wouldn’t be watching.

How had this person eluded all of the prefects? Hondo has insisted on multiple occasions that he was able to bribe some of them, but not all.

Well, Anakin had eluded the prefects for his Sebulba prank, so she felt it best to go to a familiar source.

“Am I in trouble?” Rex asked as he joined her in Obi-Wan’s usual seat across from her. His eyes flickered to Vizsla in curiosity, who was taking notes for Satine at her right. His arm healed up the week before, which was certainly to her advantage. She hadn’t even needed to approach him about assisting with the investigation. He’d just appeared at her side, determined to help. She admired that about him.

“Of course not.” Satine said gently, “I want to figure out who is actually responsible for the cheating scandal.”

Rex leaned forward on his forearms in a way that inadvertently mimicked Cody perfectly. Were it not for the bleached hair, he could have been Cody’s twin from when he was in first year.

“Honestly, I was afraid everyone had forgotten all about that.” He said.

“I haven’t.” She said tactly, “I found an essay template this afternoon.”

Rex’s eyes widened, “Wait, they’re still happening? Even after Anakin was supposedly caught.”

“I was surprised too.” She said, “But I feel this person deems themselves untouchable and has gotten a little… Sloppy.”

“Or, there’s a copycat running amuck.” Viz offered, “That could explain the multiple robes found from different houses.”

Satine paused and looked at him, “I… Hadn’t considered that.”

“It is possible.” Rex mused, “But it requires passage through the tunnels to work, since that’s how the answers are getting stolen, right?”

“Indeed.” Satine said and uncrinkled the piece of parchment she and Obi-Wan had found the day Anakin went missing, “But once that was discovered, professors began enchanting the answer keys to only appear with the use of their wands. Whereas before, they’d only cast security spells on their physical classrooms. So now, these answer keys are imperfect and have errors.”

“Really? I bet people don’t like that.” Rex answered.

“Whether or not they do is not my problem,” Satine said, “But you know the tunnels well enough, correct?”

“Well,” Rex shifted, “Are you sure I’m not in trouble?”

“You’re not in trouble, Rex.” She said calmly, “I just need to know one thing: is there a tunnel that goes through Ravenclaw tower?”

Rex frowned and paused to think before shaking his head, “No, actually. Anakin said it’s the one common room we can’t access since the tunnel would have to go directly vertical. Said something about there needing to be a secret escalator? Whatever that is.”

“Well, don’t I feel safer from your mischievous pranks.” She snorted.

Rex smiled in spite of himself, “I don’t think he’d dare try and prank you, to be fair.”

“Good.” She smiled and crossed her arms and looked over at Viz, “You’re getting this, right?”

“Trying to get it in writing that Anakin Skywalker will never sneak into Ravenclaw tower?” He asked with a smirk.

“Something like that.” She crossed her arms, “Trying to prove the point that no one can simply sneak into Ravenclaw tower.”

***

Late at night, if she couldn’t sleep, Satine always found the best course of action was exercising her mind until she exhausted herself. Whether or not this was a proper means of falling asleep, she couldn’t say, but it always worked for her. She felt as though her thoughts were racing too far ahead to keep up and needed an outlet for them.

So, she pulled out the cheat sheets that she’d found and compared them to one she’d pieced together months ago. The handwriting of the first could be explained as written by the copycat quill. It was generic and lacked any real personality. However, the newest addition was very calculated and familiar. It was trying incredibly hard to be neutral, which gave it identity.

She crawled out of bed and drifted down the common room for better lighting and to avoid waking any of her peers.

She was surprised to find Obi-Wan, who’d promised hours ago that he was going to bed and wouldn’t be burning the candle at both ends studying all night. She knew it wasn’t the truth when he’d said it, but hardly expected to find him passed out on the couch, still dressed in his uniform.

His head was cushioned over the top of the couch, tilted slightly to the side with one cheek a bit squashed from his positioning. It was one of those moments that she desperately wished she had a camera, though nothing about the scene was funny, per say, just… Charming?

When he abruptly snuffled and muttered something incoherent, she resisted the urge to laugh. Okay, perhaps it was a little funny. Upon closer inspection, he had a bit of drool at the corner of his mouth.

Instead of waking him, she opted to sit next to him as though intending on looping him into her spontaneous investigation. She sat pretzel-legged beside him and pulled out the newest answer key. There was something incredibly familiar about it now that she was looking at it under more scrutiny in broader lighting.

Or was that because she was staring at it hard enough to burn a whole through the page?

The page was smudged as though someone was dragging their hand as they wrote, making it clear to Satine that the person was writing left-handed. Could it really have just been another copycat?

Then, Satine jolted up and realized, with dawning alertness, that the handwriting on the new answer key matched another critical piece of evidence: the robe.

Anakin Skywalker’s name had been written on “his” robe in a way that Obi-Wan had previously insisted was not his handwriting. It was much too neat and even. They’d saved the tag at Headmaster Yoda’s approval for future reference and she was glad they did.

Low and behold, it was a clear match. This was the same person the entire time. True to her suspicions, the handwriting only changed because of the copycat quill. Of course, this individual wouldn’t use the quill on Anakin’s cloak, because that was likely done in a quick attempt to “helpfully” suggest his guilt.

The displeasure in Satine’s gut settled heavy and she contemplated what this may mean. Well, it seemed clear to her that the only way to confirm her already nagging suspicions was to finally catch this cheater in the act.

She peered her head at Obi-Wan’s wrist to catch a glimpse of his watch. She certainly couldn’t do it now. It was well past 1 in the morning and she really should have been asleep long before. Her eyes lingered briefly on his sleeping figure and a small smile crept to her face. She gently removed the textbook that lay on his lap and placed it on the floor. She resisted the sudden desire to brush the hair away from his forehead and felt her cheeks glow at the intruding thought.

Her mind was racing and she was positive she wouldn’t be able to properly sleep, but still slouched beside him on the couch and tried to mentally craft her plan. Somewhere, in this process, she must have drifted, because when she awoke in the morning to the sounds of giggling students that passed by, she was on her side, cheek on the armrest, but with a heavy presence on her back.

She turned her head and noticed Obi-Wan’s head rested in the center of her back, an arm strewn loosely over the both of them.

She gave the passing students her best glare and tried to desperately stomp down the fluttering in her chest. It was too early for this nonsense.

Besides, she had a cheater to catch.

***

It was in potions that Satine was finally able to reconvene with Obi-Wan. Albeit, they couldn’t just simply have a chat in the middle of Professor Palpatine’s lecture on Everlasting Elixirs and the properties behind their longevity. Both were thoroughly versed on the source material thanks in part to their competitive desire to read ahead of the class, but a professor’s context was always useful.

It didn’t stop her from the childish act of passing notes.

Or more useful: vanishing text.

If Obi-Wan appeared annoyed by her disturbance, he didn’t give any indication. Last she checked, the small smile that tugged on the corner of his mouth was more of a sign of amusement rather than the contrary.

“How do you feel about setting a trap for our cheater?” She scrawled.

The smile on his face, to the outside observer, seemed almost completely neutral and focused, as though he was purely invested in the lesson plan that the professor had detailed for the day. He didn’t even look down at the parchment as he responded.

“I could use a study break.”

This was absolutely fair, considering it felt that all of their time that wasn’t delegated to prefect duties was spent burying their noses into just about every book related to their core subjects. Obi-Wan seemed set on settling for no less than straight O’s and she, herself, was hoping for a similar result. She’d always prided herself on being well-rounded after all.

“It’s a date.” She wrote without thinking much of it, but from the corners of her eyes did take private satisfaction in how bright his ears got.

Maybe, she’d prove some of her other theories in the near future.

***

In reality, the plan she and Obi-Wan had devised was the farthest thing from a date. Not that Satine would have anything to compare it to, but she was fairly certain that dates didn’t typically involve dragging along your 11 year old mentees on evening patrol. Particularly, when one of those mentees wouldn’t stop trying to burp the alphabet the entire walk through the school.

“I almost had it that time!” Anakin chirped excitedly. “Did you hear? I got all the way to V!”

“Oh yes, the epitome of true talent.” Vizsla muttered under his breath.

Despite the unpleasantness of that situation, she really didn’t mind considering her thoughts were busied by each intricate step of their plan. She tried her best not to seem unsettled. After all, this was far from the most pressing investigation at play. Every now and then, she’d catch Obi-Wan’s glance, which while she never wanted him to be unhappy, there was something comforting about shared reluctance in a situation such as these.

“You’ve yet to really detail the plan.” Viz broke her thoughts by holding back to walk in tandem with Satine. He seemed slightly frustrated that Anakin followed suit.

“Of course,” She said, “I’m sure you’re both wondering why you are here.”

“I’ve sort of learned to stop questioning this kind of thing.” Anakin said casually, “Worst case scenario has basically already happened to me.”

“Still, it will be useful for us to know what to do.” He offered, “Especially should we come in contact with the cheater.”

Pulling all of them aside, Obi-Wan placed a placating hand on both of the first year’s shoulders. His face was firm but not without warmth as he considered them patiently. She didn’t say it, but Satine couldn’t help but admire how good he was with younger children, especially for someone who never had any younger siblings.

She felt that had been somewhat of a hindrance for her in the end.

“You are both very important for this operation.” He said in a low tone, “Unsurprisingly, no cheater in their right mind would believe that Satine or myself would ever be soliciting test information.”

“Because you’re prefects!” Viz answered at the same time Anakin enthusiastically said “Because you’re big geeks!” and Obi-Wan’s mouth twitched in something that was caught between a smile and a frown.

“Whichever you prefer.” Satine drawled with a shrug, “It is much more convincing that first years like yourselves would be invested in this information.”

“Hm,” Her mentee tapped his chin doubtfully, “But I’m not sure they’d believe that I would be doing such a thing. Seeing as you are my mentor and you’d never allow such a lapse in character.”

“And yet the school believed Anakin was capable.” Obi-Wan offered with a shrug and Anakin nodded in agreement, “Never underestimate the presumptions of the masses.”

“Exactly,” Satine said, “Plus, having Rex and Anakin together would be a bit too obvious that the two were planning something.”

“True, we usually are.” Anakin flashed her a grin and smacked Viz on the back, making the thinner boy grimace at the rough contact, “Come on, Vizzy, we’ve got this!”

He looked at Satine as if unsure, but she nodded encouragingly, so he took that as a sign that this plan was something she’d given a lot of consideration. Besides, they wouldn’t be too far away in case anything got out of control. To prove this, Satine handed Anakin the first half of an extendable ear and took the earpiece.

“Gross!” He said excitedly as he played with the floppy ear, “Feels real too.”

“Please don’t put it in plain sight,” Obi-Wan sighed. “It’s not the most discrete tool.”

“Thankfully they had wireless models.” Satine commented as she waved the little earbud around. It wasn’t something she had an extensive amount of experience with, but figured it wouldn’t be that different to a music player.

They hadn’t had much time to test the range of the ear, so she held the earpiece close as they walked as far as they could while also able to listen to Anakin’s idle chatter about Quidditch. The farthest they were able to traverse was a broom closet just outside of the library, which was the perfect spot.

***

Anakin really didn’t understand this plan. Then again, he supposed it wasn’t shocking that the prefects’ plans were “safer” in comparison to what he would have conjured up. In fact, he wasn’t entirely sure they were being told all of it. It seemed a little simple to try and use them to lure in the cheater when Vizsla had a good point. Both were mentees to some of the most fearsome prefects in the school. And, Anakin had just been proven innocent of such a task, which the cheater likely did not enjoy. Surely, they’d lay low, right?

Viz also didn’t seem keen that this would work. He did a better job appearing busier than Anakin did, likely because of how used to being in the library he was. He just flipped through his book and kept his eyes down.

“You’re being obvious.” He muttered, breath ghosting hotly over the pages in front of him.

Anakin rolled his eyes, “And you’re not? Nobody reads that close to the page unless they can’t see.”

“I’m far-sighted.” Viz bit back.

“Oh.” Anakin scratched the back of his neck, “Tough break there, mate.”

“I’m not your mate.” He grumbled.

“Yeah, why is that?”

“Because you’re one of the most annoying people I’ve ever met.” Viz answered quickly, “Any other questions?”

Anakin shrugged, “Sure, why are you such a stick in the mud?”

“Some of us are here to learn.” He said.

He shook his head and kept reading while Anakin took that as his cue to continue scanning the crowd for someone to approach them. He couldn’t help but feel a little antsy. He trusted that Obi-Wan wouldn’t put him in harm’s way and knew this was completely different from when he’d been held captive, but being bait was still a bit unsettling even on a small scale.

Still, he wanted to figure this out too. After all, this person had been the reason he’d been suspended from the Quidditch team, which ultimately resulted in his ill-fated attempt at running away from school.

“Why are you so into solving this, anyway?” Anakin asked. “Even I’m not taking notes on who it could be.”

Realizing that they were not going to just sit in silence, he sighed and ran a hand over his blond hair, which was shaved on the sides and had a slight curled swoop at the front. It looked significantly more manicured than it had at the beginning of the year, which Anakin guessed had to do with Viz’s rise in popularity.

“Maybe because I exercise critical thinking more than you do?”

“Or because I’ve been busy almost being killed.” Anakin fired back.

The other boy relented at that, “I’m sorry that happened to you.”

“Oh, so you don’t totally hate me.” He leaned forward.

“Not enough to see you dead.” Viz said plainly, “Hating you would be caring a bit too much than what it’s worth.”

“I can’t believe I tried being friends with you.” Anakin huffed and leaned back, feeling as though he’d really gotten him for a moment,

“You weren’t trying to be my friend!” He snapped, “You were using me, because I’m smart. You had no interest in me until I could help you.”

That wounded Anakin, because well, it had been true. He hadn’t realized it then, but he really didn’t think to invite Vizsla along until he’d thought up his plan to possibly explore the tunnels. He just didn’t expect to be seen so quickly.

“I’m sorry.” He said genuinely.

“Let’s just get this over with.” Viz said.

“I don’t think they’re going to show.” Anakin said with a sigh, “Which means all this waiting is going to be for nothing.”

He fixed Anakin with an exasperated stare, “We’ve been here for 10 minutes.”

Anakin just wasn’t sure when enough was enough. That was, of course, until none other than Sebulba came stalking over and he didn’t look pleased.

***

Obi-Wan and Satine sat shoulder-to-shoulder in the broom closet, listening to their mentees bicker back and forth periodically. Only one earpiece came with the set, so she had no choice but to hold it closely between them. If she made any sudden movements at the same time he did, it could create a very awkward situation.

“I had no idea Vizsla felt so strongly against Anakin.” Satine whispered.

“Me neither.” Obi-Wan said, “Perhaps he was trying to be a good sport for you.”

“Maybe.” She said, but it still disappointed her that their mentees didn’t get along. Kids could obviously befriend whoever they so pleased, but it was tough to ignore the undercurrent of disdain in either boys’ voice. It felt a bit like two best friends whose kids grew up and disliked each other.

“You really think this will work?” He asked in a hushed tone that brushed against her ear.

Truthfully, she didn’t know, and moreover, had the nagging feeling that it wasn’t going to go well if it did.

“Are you doubting my capabilities of drawing a plan?” She deflected easily, but even without being able to see the hard lines of his scowl that she’d memorized perfectly, she knew it was still there.

“Of course not, but we are weighing a lot on the boys.” He said.

“I know,” She said a bit too harshly and sighed, “Hopefully, they prove themselves capable.”

“Doesn’t change that it’s a bit dull from this position.” He muttered and she elbowed him in the ribs.

“Hey!”

“If you don’t hush up, we’re going to be caught.” She hissed.

Admittedly, it was quite boring sitting in the dark for a while. She knew either of them could use their wands to light up the room, but didn’t want anyone to notice they were just sitting in the closet. They’d caught two excitable sixth years playing tonsil hockey; both of which seemed intent on scoring a goal by coming into the closet themselves. Quickly, Satine turned down the volume of the extendable ear.

Upon seeing the two prefects sitting on the floor, the girl scowled.

“This closet’s taken.” She grumbled.

Satine felt Obi-Wan shift away from her a bit uncomfortably, but the glow of sunlight from behind them showed that his face was stern. She hoped she looked as calm at the offhand comment.

The boy looked much more uneasy, seeing as he knew they were prefects and not just two lovebirds trying to escape for a quick snog.

“Uh, Obi-Wan, Satine…” He winced.

“Dengar. Aurra Sing.” Satine frowned, unimpressed.

“And what of it?” The Palliduvan girl bristled at the disrespect from a younger student, still not realizing that she was leering down at someone with the power to get them into trouble. Even with minimal lighting, the girl’s skin was the color of bones and her eyes sharp as glass. Her hair was piled on the top of her head, giving the impression that she had no hair on the remainder of her scalp. Dengar, always wrapped in a white turban, while usually characterized as a randy brute, seemed to recognize that this would not end well for them should they continue.

“Detention, maybe.” Obi-Wan offered evenly while gesturing to his and Satine’s prefect buttons.

“Yeah, that’s not going to work for me.” Dengar said.

“And what are you going to do about it?” Aurra asked in a low voice that was surely meant to be seductive. Seeing as she looked more like a praying mantis going in for the kill, Satine didn’t see how. The Slytherin reminded her of Ventress, actually.

“Nothing.” He shrugged, “No broad is worth a howler from mum.”

Aurra rolled her eyes and pushed the shorter man back with a long pointed finger that looked meant to jab right through him.

“You’re a damn scrub, Dengar.” She shoved him the rest of the way back and disappeared into the hall. He didn’t seem to care enough to chase after her and gave Obi-Wan and Satine a lazy smile.

“Have fun, kids.” He shrugged and the Hufflepuff walked in the opposite direction, likely to find an easier conquest.

After the door was closed and they were entrenched in darkness once again, Obi-Wan found the words to speak.

“Well, that was awkward.” He said.

She flared, “How do you figure? We weren’t the ones trying to play hanky panky in the closet!”

“I didn’t- Not about- I- ugh.” He scowled, “I just meant it’s never comfortable walking in on couples, especially when they’re older.”

“Oh.” She eased back, “To be fair, they sort of walked in on themselves.”

“You know what I mean,” He snorted, “I’m sure we’ll get an earful later.”

“The ear!” She gasped and hastily fumbled to turn up the volume again.

On the other end, all that could be heard was rumpled static, which at first made her wonder if they’d somehow gotten crosswired with another set. However, when she listened more intently, it was clear that Anakin’s high-pitched and desperate voice yelped in the background.

“Stop it, Sebulba!”

***

Logically, it made sense that it was Sebulba, at least to Anakin. He’d never had anything but trouble with the Dug since he arrived at Hogwarts. To be frank, Anakin had also retaliated with his own brand of trouble in response, but that was only because fair was fair. He was a slimy little weasel, who was quite smug when Anakin had been originally punished as the leader of the cheating ring.

But when Sebulba came around the corner with fire in his beady little eyes and a snarl on his long brown snout, which exposed razor sharp teeth, he didn’t go for Anakin. With a swift movement only capable of someone whose feet also could operate as arms, Sebulba snatched Pre Vizsla by the shirt and tossed him across the room into the bookshelf, sending books everywhere.

Despite their previous bickering, Anakin decided immediately that his dislike for Sebulba vastly outweighed any quarrel with Viz. So, he leapt to his feet and jumped between them.

“Move it, Skytalker.” He shoved him aside, which knocked Anakin to the ground.

“Stop it, Sebulba!” He cried, “It’s me you want, not him.”

He didn’t dignify that with a response and went right back for Vizsla, who was still very flustered from being flung as though he were weightless. He came to when a clawed hand grasped him from the front of the shirt again and held him so they were nose to nose. Fear filled in the young Ravenclaw’s eyes as he took in Sebulba’s seething anger from up close.

“You promised results!” He tightened his grip a little more. “And you failed.”

“Well,” Vizsla swallowed heavily, “Technically, we failed.”

“What?” Anakin interjected.

“Shut-up.” He spat at him and Viz winced and blinked a few times to try and get the salty goop out of his eye.

“I’m sorry!” He insisted. “I didn’t have access to the keys after you requested a-”

“-Sorry doesn’t fix the fact that I might have to repeat Charms over the summer!” Sebulba growled. “You will pay.”

He pressed him against the bookshelf and held him there for a moment, “With interest.”

“Wait a minute,” Anakin’s eyes widened as he looked at Sebulba with shock, “You’re not the cheater?”

“You told him I was cheating?” Sebulba hissed with venom in his voice. “That’s a mistake you will not forget. I broke your arm once. I’ll just have to break something else.”

“No! Of course not! It was me! It was all me!” Viz whimpered.

“Viz!” Anakin’s jaw dropped, “How could you?”

“Tell him, Pissla. Tell him all about your little schemes and all the money you were supposed to make me.”

“I think we’ve heard enough, thank you, Sebulba.” Came the calm and clipped tone of Obi-Wan Kenobi, who when Anakin whirled around, had his wand outstretched and pointed directly at Sebulba with purpose. Satine stood beside him, steel in her eyes as she kept her focus on the Dug and didn’t dare glance at her mentee. Both seemed to be catching their breaths as though they were just running.”

Still, Sebulba’s poisonous rage didn’t deplete and he kept his hold on the first year Ravenclaw without so much as looking back at them.

“I’d hardly call this worth the trouble, Sebulba.” Obi-Wan said sternly. “Put him down.”

“Yeah, you were probably going to fail anyway, right?” Anakin tried, which earned him a glare of his own.

“Stop helping, Anakin.” Obi-Wan sighed, but never lowered his wand.

Finally, as if weighing the true consequences of killing a student in front of two prefects, Sebulba finally relented and carefully dropped Pre Vizsla to his feet and took a few careful steps backwards to separate himself from the issue.

“As promised, you will receive immunity for purchasing a test key.” Obi-Wan said, “Though I cannot overlook the way you manhandled the boy.”

“I got into character.” He barked.

“Anger management counseling. And detention.” He said stiffly, “For the rest of term.”

Anakin was once again very happy he no longer had detention any longer. That being said, the reminder of why he had detention originally sparked him as he twisted around to look at the shaken Viz, who simultaneously looked as though he was about to be sick or bite someone’s head off. Anakin was a bit too close for comfort for either reaction, but it didn’t stop his own brand of anger.

“You framed me!” He shouted, not caring they were in a library and drawing attention. Neither prefect stopped him either.

“You were an easy target.” He snapped and gone was any show of remorse or quiet concern that he put on for the grownups. “I should have gotten away with it.”

“But you didn’t.” Satine’s voice startled Anakin, namely because of the uncompromising nature at which her entire demeanor seemed set on piercing straight through Vizsla. There was hurt there, yes, but most prominently was fury and disappointment through her ice blue eyes. He did notice that she didn’t seem surprised.

Viz, however, was surprised, “You set me up.”

“You got greedy.” She said as she stalked forward, chin held high and seeming inexplicably tall with confidence and disapproval. “Not to mention careless.”

He knew Satine was a stickler for the rules, but if Anakin didn’t know better, it sounded like she was more upset by how Vizsla had fallen into her trap vs. the actual deed that had been done. She hadn’t yet looked towards Anakin, but he really didn’t want her to in this state of mood.

“Careful enough to fool you into believing I was some dull and quiet pacifist with no ambition or ability to take care of myself!” He fired, but it was futile, because he looked like he was at risk of being sucked up by Satine’s orbit of acrimony.

“You’re right.” She said plainly and for a moment, didn’t blink, “However, the truth always manages a way to come out and expose deceivers. Even if it does take a minute.”

Uncomfortable with being seen so thoroughly, he shifted, “What gave it away?”

Obi-Wan stepped beside Satine, “What? Taking notes for next time?”

“Had you quit after the copycat quill was confiscated, you might have gotten away with it.” She offered, “However, that didn’t change the crucial mistake you made early on.”

“And what’s that?” He asked with crossed arms.

“The robe.” Obi-Wan finished with knowing eyes that weren’t as fiery as Satine’s at the moment. “The handwriting on the robe was different.”

“And it wasn’t mine!” Anakin said proudly, “Mine is… What did you say about it, Obi-Wan?”

“Barely legible.” He offered.

“Exactly!” He bragged.

Vizsla rolled his eyes and Satine continued, “Not to mention the detail that both Slytherin and Gryffindor robes were found in the secret tunnel system.”

“Meaning it would need to be someone not in those houses.” Obi-Wan said. “How did you gain access to the tunnels in the first place if not by Anakin?”

Anakin’s eyes widened and snapped his fingers before Viz could come up with a retort, “You were the one who stole the map from me on Halloween! I knew I dropped it when I fell through the trap door.”

“There’s no tunnel leading to Ravenclaw tower.” Satine said firmly and finally looked to Anakin for confirmation.

“No, there isn’t.” He said, “Which is a shame, because I really had a good idea for a pra- And this is not the time.”

If Satine was frustrated by that comment, she didn’t give any indication of it. Obi-Wan seemed a bit withered by it, but still didn’t say much, both prefects only had time to admonish one first year at the moment.

“So, when the piece of a test key was found on the floor of the tower, that meant the individual at question would have to be in Ravenclaw.”

“Or the person who purchased it was a Ravenclaw.” He argued boldly, but Anakin could see it was clearly a front.

“Maybe so.” She said stiffly, “But that does not change the fact that you broke your right arm not long ago and were unable to write with it. I remember I was impressed at how easily you took up writing with your left hand. However, you’d been practicing for quite some time, evidently.”

She held up two papers. One was a copy of homework that clearly belonged to Viz and the other was a wrinkled answer key. There were some differences that were made purposefully for stylistic choices and to throw someone off, but upon closer look, there were obvious similarities that could not be avoided.

“I analyze ancient handwriting in my spare time.” Obi-Wan said with a casual shrug. “And there are no doubts that this was written with your hand.”

“And,” Satine added tactly, as though that were not enough, “Had you not placed the robe in the tunnel near Gryffindor common room, you never would have known of it.”

Viz paled at that and said nothing, only staring at his mentor with a confusing combination of indignation mixed with the draining sensation of being caught. Anakin knew it well, but it was nice for his own integrity to gain a boost at this moment.

“It is with great disappointment that I say that Pre Vizsla, we’ve no choice but to escort you straight to the Headmaster’s office.”

“Satine!” He gritted, “I-”

“-As Obi-Wan said earlier, I’ve heard enough.” She snapped and looked away from him, turning on her heels to lead the way.

Obi-Wan gave Anakin a slight nod after stopping Vizsla from following. “I think you owe someone an apology.”

The boy looked set on puking at the thought, but after a sharper look from Ravenclaw’s fifth year prefect boy, he sighed and turned.

“I’m sorry.” He muttered before moving around Obi-Wan to follow Satine.

“Oh, don’t mention it, you cheating little snake.” He said with the wave of a hand. “But you might want to get rid of that goofy haircut.”

“Anakin,” Obi-Wan shook his head, a smile playing at his lips even though he was trying to relay disapproval at such a comment, “I’m also sorry.”

“It’s okay.” He grinned, relieved that finally, it was over.

***

“We really must stop meeting like this.” Cody quipped as he slipped next to Satine. Before she could answer, Obi-Wan appeared on the other side of her. They leaned their forearms on the wet stone railing in front of them, allowing each to extend forward to enjoy the view the clock tower allotted.

“If I wanted to be found, I would have elected to hide in the astronomy tower again.” She replied without sparing either of them a glance.

“Funny, because I’m certain there isn’t a spot in this castle we wouldn’t look.” Obi-Wan said and slipped his own robe onto her shoulders, reminding her with the warmth of the gesture that she’d been standing near the chilled rain for quite some time.

“The girl’s bathroom.” She still countered after a moment’s thought.

“Okay, fine, but should you ever become moody enough to hide there, we’ll simply send Aayla and Stass in after you.” Cody said and placed a placating hand on her shoulder, “You know how this works. We talk, you feel better, friends stuff!”

She rolled her eyes, “I don’t think I deserve that this time.”

Obi-Wan frowned, “Why not?”

“Because I’ve been a bloody fool all year!” She boiled over as she looked at him and his eternally kind and understanding eyes that currently matched the ambiguous gray sky, “I was too busy on my high horse to take notice of what was going on right in front of me. I mean, of course Vizsla is behind it all! He was able to operate perfectly with a daft know-it-all such as myself as his mentor.”

“You are anything but daft.” Cody shook his head, “The kid played all of us, Satine.”

“But he shouldn’t have been able to play me.” She asserted. “I should have known.”

“And how would you have?” Obi-Wan asked.

“You said something months ago!” She shrieked.

“Sure, but that was merely a shot in the dark!” He said. “I wasn’t being serious. I was just upset you were accusing Anakin. I had no real idea of Vizsla’s involvement.”

“Thank you for reminding me!” She said sardonically, “Because that is quite possibly number one on my list of foolishness and cruelty.”

“No, number one is the way you’re beating yourself up.” Cody said with a nudge, “You Ravenclaws are so intense. Aren’t you ever allowed to make a mistake and move on?”

“Maybe when that mistake didn’t lead to Anakin running away and almost getting himself killed!” She cried, almost pleading with her two best friends to just agree with her on this. She was wrong and she deserved to wallow in it.

“When that happened, you assured me that it wasn’t my fault, that I couldn’t have known about the culprit.” Obi-Wan said severely, now placing two hands on her shoulders to steady her and force her to focus on him, “Surely, you can heed to your own words.”

She deflated at that, “That’s different.”

“How so?” Cody asked.

“It just… Is.” She sighed and shrugged, “I just feel so stupid.”

“We’re all a little stupid some- ow!” He complained as Obi-Wan gave him a swift smack on the arm and a glare to match.

“You were too close to the issue.” Obi-Wan said kindly as he turned back to her, “And in the end, you were the one to set things right. That’s got to count for something.”

She swallowed, “Yes, well, I still probably deserve the failing grade that will come my way for this failed mentorship.”

“It’s extra credit, Satine.” Obi-Wan said.

“And it’s still an edge.” She pointed out, “One that someone like myself could have needed.”

Even though both boys looked at her like she was mad, they didn’t understand and she didn’t expect them too. Purebloods, even the best of them, did not and would not grasp the biases that stretched against muggle-borns even nowadays. She was too exhausted to explain the intricacies and frankly, she didn’t deserve the edge.

“Nothing of what Vizsla has done is a reflection of you.” Obi-Wan insisted instead of questioning her, “He made his own choices in spite of everything you taught him, not because of them.”

“Really? Because I’m not the best with younger children.” She said, “I mean, just look at my sister.”

“Eh, that doesn’t count.” Cody said with the wave of a hand, “You’ve seen my little brothers.”

“They’re good boys.” She said.

“Yeah and no thanks to our oldest brother, Boba.” He said with a huff and the roll of his eyes, “I’ve always been on the nature as opposed to nurture side of the argument.”

Satine wasn’t so sure how much of that she believed. Sure, Vizsla and Bo were very different people, but if Satine had been better, the results would have been different, right?

“It was out of your control, Satine.” Obi-Wan said gently, reeling her back into the real world with his kind voice. “No one in their right mind would fault you for that.”

“Yeah, if Headmaster Yoda tries to dock you in any way for the little creep, he’s going to have to go through me.” Cody added and slung an arm around her shoulders. “Besides, I didn’t even know I could get extra credit for helping my own brother.”

“Should he pass yours and his finals, and yes, you just might.”

“Well, ask Vizsla how he managed the OWLS answers and we’ll talk.” Cody said.

She sighed, “His parents are high-ranking politicians. While a muggle-born, they already had magical connections. You might want to talk to them, if they even let him see the light of day ever again.”

“Wizards would never consider that muggles were essentially helping him cheat.” Obi-Wan said.

“Wizards don’t even know how to use a phone, so yeah, I’d say it’s not difficult for him to figure out a way to hack himself into the system.”

“Phone?” Cody and Obi-Wan asked dumbfounded at the same time.

She snorted and rolled her eyes, “Nevermind.”

“I think that was a laugh, Kenobi.” Cody nudged Obi-Wan, who also shared his wry grin.

“Yes, I think that was.” He said. “Perhaps, we are getting to her after all.”

“And we didn’t even have to bust into the girl’s room to do it!”

“You two are idiots!” She laughed fully this time, but looked at them both with a warmth that fought off the storm that lingered in the distance, “But… You’re my idiots.”

“We wouldn’t want to be anyone else’s, my dear.” Obi-Wan said coyly.

***

Obi-Wan stood patiently as the spiral staircase formed to lead him to Yoda’s office. He was here to make a decision and although the person he was at any point earlier in his life would have been nervous he really only felt calm. He was assured in this being the right decision, it was something he was doing for himself, which was an odd concept as he so often was trying to live up to a bigger picture he could never fully see.

He climbed the staircase.

Each step only made him more determined for the next, winding his way up into the Headmaster’s office. Yoda wasn’t yet in the room and Obi-Wan watched the portraits of the former headmasters blink awake and watch him with curiosity. He regarded them with a nod as he instead made his way further into the room to inspect a curious set of magical instruments shelved on the far wall. He was often called a know-it-all, but really there was always so much he found he didn’t know. Thinking about all he could learn in the future gave him more of a thrill than even racing through the castle halls in pursuit of the Zillo Beast.

“Come to see me, have you?” The headmaster’s voice had him turning back around. Yoda slowly descended the stairs from what Obi-Wan could only assume was his private quarters.

“Yes, Headmaster,” Obi-Wan took a seat in one of the chairs across from the rather tall and intimidating one that Yoda made his way towards.

“About you, this is, for once,” Obi-Wan blinked, he hadn’t expected the headmaster as one to joke around much, but Yoda chuckled as he settled himself in his chair, “Yes. Noticed your selflessness, I have. On your shoulders an imaginary weight, there is,” Obi-Wan opened his mouth to dispute such a notion, but Yoda smacked his cane on the desk, “Careful. A wrong answer, you don’t want to give.”

“Well,” Obi-Wan wasn’t sure what to say, but luckily he didn’t seem to need too.

“A request, you have?” Yoda prompted, pulling out a yellowed stack of parchments.

“I-” And this was the moment, suddenly he felt unable to say it. He was sure, this is what he wanted. The constant feeling of a looming presence hovering above his life gave him pause. If he did this he’d surely face more obstacles.

He thought back through the year, truly one filled with all sorts of trials. He’d helped take down a monstrous creature, he’d help catch a common criminal, and he’d been able to keep his mentor alive despite how much the boy got into all sorts of dire straits. He’d been able to find Anakin, when many had not.

“I’d like to make a few changes to my upcoming schedule,” He found himself saying, voice filled with determination. Yes, he certainly could deal with a few more obstacles, “I’ve decided to become an Auror.”

#obitine #anidala #anakin skywalker #obi-wan kenobi #star wars #the clone wars #tcw #hp au #Magical Forces AU

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mai-nonsense · 3 years

Note

Basics: 2, 6. Appearance: 4. Personality: 3, 8,9. Background: 1, 5. Relationships: 1, 3, 4, 7. Fun facts: 1, 7, 10.

*claps hands together* Alright! I'm going to do the answers for my Shepards, otherwise I'll be here all week.

2. What does their name mean? Why are they named that?

Jane: The original reason she's named that is because I was too lazy to think of a name so I just went with the default (she was my first ever Shepard), now I Headcannon that she went by Shepard until she joined up with the alliance, so she chose the name Jane because it's the only one that came to mind

Cassidy: I don't really pay attention to what names actually mean when I name characters, but I named her that b/c it's pretty and she just kinda looked like Cassidy

Henri: Henry is a family name on both sides of my family, but I wanted to use it as for a femshep b/c I like androgynous names (partly because I have one, but also because I think there should be more of them in circulation)

Damien: His name was originally Darren but I changed it b/c my sister and mum pointed out that Darren's a bit bogan. And instead of owning it I covered it up like a coward. I renamed him Damien because my favorite Robin is Damian Wayne and litteraly no other reason

Vance: named after the singer Vance Joy, b/c his songs have a lot of emotional significance to me and I like the name

Ryan: he's my only actual Canadian Shepard and my mum and I have a running joke about all Canadians being named Ryan (b/c of Ryan Reynolds, Ryan Gosling etc.) So he's Ryan.

6. What's their star sign, birthstone etc? Does it hold any special significance for them?

All of them besides Vance have Shepard's canon birthday and none of them besides Cassidy have any belief in that kind of thing. Cassidy is a quietly spiritual kind of woman so she likes the whole star sign/ birthstone kind of thing, but she'd never admit out loud.

4. Appearance- How do they carry themselves? What is their default expression?

Jane has resting bitch face. She walks around like she's going to go beat someone up, probably because she usually is.

Cassidy has a very casual, approachable demeanor about her. Her go-to expression is either concern or pouting.

Henri carries herself shoulders back, chin up and head held high. Her usual expression is a mix of serious and thoughtful

Damien carries himself like a serious soldier but with a hint of sadness, he has resting sad face

Vance also walks around like he's looking for a fight and he's usually scowling

Ryan has a cocky swagger and usually has a sideways smile on his face

Personality 3. What are their hobbies and interests?

Jane: Is gun-modding a hobby? Because if so then that's one of them. She genuinely enjoys the combat part of being a soldier and enjoys training herself to be a deadly weapon, a side effect of growing up in the reds most likely. She doesn't really have many interests outside of being a solider, and doesn't really eat anything outside of protein bars and ready-meals.

Cassidy: she likes to mod games in her spare time, and practices her hacking skills a lot in order to keep herself sharp. She has a fondness for Turian and Salarian pop-culture, video games especially.

Henri: Henri likes hard copy books, with old-fashioned dust jackets and everything. Even with new release publications, she'll always go out of her way to find a hard copy if she really wants to read it. She usually reads non-fiction but she's a sucker for a good romance novel.

Damien: Also throws himself into his work so much that he barely has any free time. On the rare occasion that he does, he likes to build things, usually model ships or card towers (which he knocks down immediately after)

Vance: Vance actually really enjoys cooking, it's something he used to do with his mum when he was little so it's his way of keeping her alive in spirit

Ryan: Ryan has a penchant for old earth comic books and music from the 20/21st century, he likes to draw and regularly carries a sketchbook

8. What are their manners like? Any habits?

Jane's manners are atrocious. She's straightforward, tactless and blunt, which gets her in trouble quite a bit. She's not a fan of sparing feelings, if you're doing something that's pissing her off, she'll let you know

Cassidy is also pretty blunt, but has a lot more tact and isn't as crass as Jane. She's nice whenever possible but she doesn't skirt around issues

Henri is anxious people-pleaser that always looks for the best in everyone at heart, but has a polite but proffesional exterior.

Damien varies depending on his mood, Mass Effect 1 Damien is polite and proffesional but that drops as time goes by. By the time ME:3 rolls around he is 1000% done and doesn't have time to put up with anyone's shit and reacts to social situations accordingly

Vance goes in the opposite direction to Damien, starts off rude and aggressive but gradually softens as time goes by.

Ryan has decent manners, but can often be inappropriate in social situations

9. What are they most afraid of?

Jane: before falling for Kaidan, it's falling for Kaidan, because she hates having intense emotions about people that she can't control. After falling for Kaidan, it's anything bad happening to Kaidan. She doesn't really care for her own well-being but she constantly worries about and will protect her friends and loved ones at all costs.

Cassidy: Dying. Specifically, dying again and Garrus continuing down the dark path she found him on after her resurrection. She'd hate for him to completely lose hope like that again.

Henri: dissapointing those around her.

Damien: Also letting everyone down.

Vance: Everyone he cares about dying painfully.

Ryan: spiders.

Background, 1. Where were they born, what was their childhood like?

Jane was born in Brisbane, believe it or not, she gets carted off to one of her aunts in America at age 4. After that it's foster home to home for her until she ditches them for the reds at 10. Needless to say, her childhood was rough.

Both Vance and Henri were born and raised on Mindoir. They both had good childhoods until Batarians killed their families.

Damien was born in Chicago. He spent his childhood being bandied about from alliance ship to alliance ship. He spent a lot of his childhood alone.

Cassidy was born in New York, but has the spacer background. Her mother had a much more caring presence then Damien's however, so she grew up well.

Ryan was born in Montreal, spent his childhood in and out of foster homes until he was 14, when he joined the reds for protection. Despite this, he views his childhood in a positive light, as he knows he's come a long way since those days.

5. Where do they currently live? What's their place like?

I'm going to skip this one because I don't have a good answer for any of them at the moment lol.

Relationships, 1. Do they have any friends? Who would they consider their best friend?

Jane has more friends/people who care about her then she thinks she does. She considers her best friend to be either Miranda or Liara.

Cassidy gives off chill older sister vibes and treats her crew as family, so a lot of people come to her for support or just for an ear. She loves talking tech with Tali and considers her to be her best friend, with Ashley coming in as a close second.

Henri initially has more colleagues then friends, but she learns to loosen up and to have a more relaxed approach to the people she cares about. She considers her best friends to be Kaidan and Joker (though her feelings for Joker develop into something more ever time)

Damien has the ruthless background, so he's more feared then loved. He's also quite socially awkward so it's hard for him to make friends to begin with. Despite this, the people who do call him friend do so wholeheartedly. He considers his best friend to be Garrus.

Vance, despite being an asshole, actually has a lot of friends. Because he's a loveable asshole. His best friend is either Liara or Jack.

Ryan is very likeable, and is often the life of the party. But people more look up to him then actually consider him a friend. He considers Kaidan his best friend. (who he's also secretly in love with, but shhhhhhh we'll get to that)

3. What's their love life like? Do they have any kids?

I'm currently using Jane as my "Kaidan as subject zero AU" Shepard, because I think she fits so well with subject0!Kaidan, as I love writing stories about two hardened badasses who just want to be loved, falling in love. Non-au Jane also ends up with Kaidan, and have a daughter named Astra

Cassidy is one of my two Shakarian Sheps, who gets the more 'traditional' happy ending out of the two. That is, she retires somewhere nice with Garrus and they adopt a bunch of orphans together.

Henri is my one and only Joker-mancer, one of these days I will write their story (once I finish planning it out lol) but I currently have other projects at the forefront. As for kids, neither Henri or Joker want them because there would be to many medical factors/lifestyle changes they'd have to consider and they couldn't put that burden on a kid.

Damien's life motto is: no kids, only dogs and he manages to stick by that pretty well. When Vance (his half-brother) has kids he settles into the role of cool uncle though. Though Damien thought he wasn't one for romance at all, he somehow fell in love with Kaidan without realizing it and they eventually end up together.

Vance and Ashley fall hard for each other, and after many hardships and triumphs, they eventually marry and have three kids together

Ryan sleeps around a bit but spends the duration of ME:1 and 2 pining for Kaidan but never saying anything b/c he doesn't want to make it awkward™. Naturally they end up together but it takes a while. Am currently undecided on whether they have kids together or not.

4. Who do they look up to? Who do they trust?

Jane: Anderson. He took her under his wing and believed in her when nobody else did. She comes to trust her inner circle in time. That consisting primarly of Kaidan, Miranda, Jack, Liara, Garrus and Wrex.

Cassidy: Her mother, as she managed to give her a good childhood while in the military as a single mum. She trusts Garrus and Tali with her life.

Henri: Anderson and Hackett both, as they've always pushed her to do her best. She trusts in her crew, as, in her eyes, they've never let her down.

Damien: Hackett, as he gave him a second chance after Torfan and promised him that he wouldn't let him down. People don't trust him on impulse so the people whose trust he earns always have his in return.

Vance, Anderson and Samara. Anderson because he helped him after he lost his family on Mindoir and Samara because she's a powerful biotic with a commanding presence and he learns a lot about discipline from her. Vance eventually learns to trust Damien after not wanting him anywhere near his life for a long time.

Ryan: He tries to find a way to learn at least something from everyone he encounters, good or bad. He doesn't really trust anyone for a very long time but gradually comes to trust in his ME:3 crew

7. Are they good with kids? Animals?

Jane: Surprisingly, yes. Though it can depend on the kid or animal in question *cough star child cough*. She strives to protect those who can't defend themselves and improve lives for future generations.

Cassidy: Very good with both.

Henri: She grew up a farm girl, so she's pretty great with animals. She's good with kids until they start screeching and then she promptly nopes out.

Damien: Good with animals, dogs in particular. Is okay with kids, but doesn't really like interacting with them unless he has a good reason (like them being his niece and nephews).

Vance: Despite growing up a farm boy, he's not too big an animal lover. He loves his own kids, but isn't too big on them in general.

Ryan: Used to hang out with stray cats as a teen. Decent kid-wrangler™.

Fun facts, 1. Which tropes do they fit? which archetypes?

Jane fits the "does bad things for a good goal" trope and potentially fits the stereotypical "bad girl" archetype as well

Cassidy fits with the "protective matriarch/sister" archetype/trope

Henri gives me "girl next door", but with a gun, vibes

Damien fits the "everyone thinks he's evil, but he's really just misunderstood" trope

Vance is def an "asshole with a heart of gold"

Ryan's a himbo

7. What languages do they speak?

Vance knows a tiny bit of Mandarin, and Ryan speaks okay Canadian French, everyone else speaks English and only English for now, though that may change as I find out more about them.

10. What songs remind you of them?

Jane: Missile, Dorothy

Cassidy: Dead Weight, PVRIS

Henri: CHAMPION, Bishop Brigs

Damien: The Phoenix, Fall Out Boy

Vance: What's Up Danger, Blackway ft. Black Caviar

Ryan: You're Gonna Go Far Kid, The Offspring

WOW. I just did a big old-fashioned info dump right there. Sorry about that.

Thanks for the ask!!!

#ask meme #oc asks #crqstalite

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whereisten · 5 years

Text

Gentle Monsters

Summary: After a night of running from a wild animal, you meet Johnny, the owner of the conservatory greenhouse you accidentally broke into. Johnny is kind and sweet—a little too sweet.

Genre and Warnings: angst, horror, fluff, violence, smut (fingering, unprotected sex), profanity, mentions of murder, death, blood, manipulation

Word Count: 6.4K

————————————

“How did you know I was here?” You asked Johnny, who only held his head down to avoid looking you in the eyes.

“I recognized your scent the moment you stepped in.” Johnny walked closer to you quickly and held your arm.

“Come with me to the gazebo, we can talk there again..” he searched your watery eyes for confirmation, but you shook your head.

“I don’t want to go to the fucking gazebo, tell me what’s going on right now!” You pulled away from him.

He sighed and closed his eyes. “Please...y/n...I can’t allow anyone else to hear what I’m gonna say to you.”

He took your hand and led you to the gazebo that the two of you once spoke in. Only this time, it was raining.

The sky and the conservatory were dark and gloomy, a perfect representation for how you currently felt about your relationship with Johnny.

“I’m—not normal..y/n” Johnny watched your hand as you angrily pulled it out of his own.

“What the hell does that mean?” You asked, but really, deep down you already knew this. You tried to ignore it for the past two months, but the events of that night always came back to haunt you.

“I’m cursed..So you know how in folklore there are vampires, witches, and ghosts?” Johnny paused and looked up at you.

You nodded while wearing a look of confusion.

“Well..there are creatures called lycanthropes..more commonly known as werewolves. What you saw that night..that was real..it was a werewolf.” Johnny waited for your response.

“I...am one.”

You stepped back. “...no.”

Johnny held out his hands to pull you closer to him and shook his head. “Please..don’t be afraid of me.”

“You told me it wasn’t you! You told me the monster wasn’t real! And I believed you, like an idiot, I believed you because you were sweet and kind!” You shouted while tears rolled down your cheeks.

“And I told you the truth, y/n! The werewolf that chased you that night wasn’t me, please believe me! I’d never hurt you!” Johnny walked up to you as you continued to back away.

“You killed...them...you killed them oh my God.” You looked on the floor as it all started to come together.

“No! It wasn’t me, I promise, I’d never lie to you! And Jaehyun isn’t my real brother, we’re in the same pack! I’m his alpha, but he’s trying to get rid of me.”

You felt the harsh thud of a wooden pole against your back. You couldn’t back away anymore, you could only look up at the man that towered over you.

There was no where for you to go.

He held your arms. “Y/n...believe me..please, I don’t know who it was..they had a human cover their tracks in wolfsbane.”

You shuddered under him. You couldn’t trust anything he said. “You made me feel like I was crazy, like I was hallucinating. But you knew that what I saw was real! I don’t trust or believe you. Get away from me!” You pushed his chest but he didn’t budge an inch.

You continued to beat his chest with your fists but he didn’t move. His steady pecs took every hit like it was nothing.

“Y/n...y/n..please” Johnny finally grabbed your wrists to halt your tantrum.

“Don’t do this.”

“I never want to see you again, let me go.” You cried as Johnny’s eyes started to water as well.

“You don’t mean that.” He whispered, but his grip on your wrists tightened.

“Please, don’t leave me.”

“Ow!” You tried to pull out of his iron grip.

“Tell me you’ll stay.” Johnny begged as you tried to wiggle out. You swore you’d have an imprint of Johnny’s long fingers on your skin with the way he held you tightly.

“Johnny! You’re hurting me!” You looked up at him.

He opened his mouth and gave a somber look. But nothing came out. He released you and backed away.

You held your wrists and looked down at the red marks on your skin. “What the hell, Johnny?”

He looked at you and stepped forward to comfort you, but you ran out of the gazebo and into the rain.

He ran after you. “Y/n...I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt you!” His superhuman speed allowed him to quickly catch up to you and spin you around.

You hated feeling his touch, and on impulse you slapped him. “Just like you didn’t mean to kill them, right? Just like you didn’t mean to lie to me, right?”

Johnny stayed still, he focused on calming the low growl in his chest, the one that came from the infuriated animal within him.

His face was still turned in the direction of where you slapped him. He breathed heavily and clenched his jaw.

His hair was soaking wet from the rain now and his eyebrows and eyelashes were even darker than before. His dripping black shirt clung to his abs.

“I mean it when I say I never want to see you again.” You walked away and left Johnny.

He looked up and watched as you ran away towards the city. He couldn’t blame you for being upset. He did lie to you, it was only because he wanted you to feel safe. But now, he lost you.

——————

You closed your door and turned your back to it. The walk home was long and tiring, the rain subsided a bit but you were still soaking wet. Fortunately, you eventually stopped crying. How could everything go so wrong? How could he deceive you like this?

You looked at your phone and saw a text from Elaine.

Elaine: bar is still a mess, it’ll stay closed until further notice.

You locked your phone and walked to your room before throwing your bag down.

You changed into dry clothes and plopped down into your bed before exhaling loudly.

You turned over on your back and stared at the ceiling before drifting off into sleep, never noticing the pair of red eyes that watched you from the corner of the room.

You started to dream of random things; days on the job before everything happened, you saw your smiling boss and your laughing coworkers. You smelled the beer and felt the sticky countertop at your fingertips.

Then suddenly, you were back in your dark bedroom. You stepped forward and saw a man sitting on the bed beside the dimly lit lamp on your nightstand. You initially thought it was Johnny and felt your heart begin to race.

“W-Who are you?” You asked.

“I’m whoever you want me to be.” The voice said smoothly. His voice felt warm as it flowed into your ears. You were drawn to him.

You walked closer and stood over him now. “Jaehyun?” You furrowed your brows. “Why are you here?”

He stood up and looked down at you through dark eyes. His cheekbones stuck out in the shadows of the warm light. His lips turned upward as he watched you under him.

He was so close to you, you could feel his warm breath on your neck and collarbone but you didn’t back away. You batted your lashes and breathed heavily as he held your waist and pulled you even closer.

You didn’t know why you felt the urge to wrap your arms around his neck as he nuzzled his face into your own, but you did anyway. It felt wrong. It felt...strange. But his control over you was unbreakable. It was like you forgot about everything when he was around you. You wanted to give in.

He sat down on your bed again and pulled you to sit on his lap. He gripped your thighs and started to massage his fingers into them while kissing your neck down to your cleavage.

You gasped at the feeling of his soft lips on your skin and felt your heat growing under you.

You both breathed heavily as you felt him grow under you as well. He kissed your jaw and leaned forward so that he could nibble on your ear. “Let’s finish what we started in the shower.” He whispered, sending chills up your spine.

The shower.

It all came back to you. This wasn’t the first time you dreamt about Jaehyun.

You pulled away and searched his seductive eyes. “Why do you keep doing this to me? H-how do you keep doing this to me?”

Jaehyun bit his lips and smiled. “This is what you want. I’m just allowing your dreams to come true.”

“No—no this isn’t what I want.” You stood up and backed away from him.

He sighed and stood up.

“You’re just like him! How do I know you’re not the one that killed those people?” You stared at Jaehyun who only smirked.

“You don’t know. But that’s the fun part.” Jaehyun ran a hand through his hair, making him look even more irresistible than he already did.

“Maybe Johnny lied, maybe Johnny told the truth” he shrugged before continuing. “It doesn’t really matter, babe. I’ll be the only alpha after all this.”

He stepped closer to you.

“What matters is that you stay away from him..at all costs.” Jaehyun’s playful smirk disappeared now. He gave you a stern glance and tightly closed his lips.

“And if I don’t?” You asked.

Jaehyun chuckled and lightly dragged a sharp nail down the side of your face. If he applied a bit of pressure, his nail would’ve punctured your skin like a shiny nail punctures a tire.

“Such nice skin you have.” He eyed you up and down and bit his lips. “Little to no imperfections. It’d be a shame if that were to change.”

He looked at your eyes and smiled wickedly.

You inhaled sharply and jumped up in your bed.

What if Johnny did tell the truth? What if it was Jaehyun that chased you that night? Was Johnny only trying to protect you? How did Jaehyun keep entering your dreams? Why did Jaehyun mention that he’d be the alpha?

You had so many questions and while you wanted to run to Johnny for help, you still weren’t sure if you could trust him.

Then, you remembered a book that you glanced over at the bookstore earlier.

6:45 PM, I still have time to go there again.

You jumped up and ran down to the new bookstore.

——————

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Werewolves

You finally decided that it’d be best to do some research of your own and to find out more about these creatures you once thought were fictional.

You sat down at a table and opened the intimidating book.

A year ago, you would’ve laughed your ass off once you saw a book like this. But after seeing the things you’ve seen, you knew that this was no laughing matter, that werewolves were actually very very real.

You flipped the pages and found a section on the different abilities that werewolves can have.

They all seemed pretty self explanatory, superhuman strength, super speed, claws, healing, etc. but there was one ability that stuck out to you.

Telepathy- can read minds, hear thoughts and sense emotions. More advanced alpha’s can even manipulate thoughts and dreams through telepathy.

Your eyes widened. This was how Jaehyun kept entering your dreams. He was manipulating you. Not only did he force you to dream of him, he forced you to have nightmares of Johnny that painted him as the villain the entire time.

You believed Johnny was the killer because Jaehyun wanted you to. He wanted you to fear Johnny so that you’d stay away from him.

You flipped through and read up on the hierarchy system in werewolf packs.

Only one alpha per pack. They are rarely challenged, but a beta can gain more power if they develop new abilities.

You continued reading.

An alpha must control the amount of murders committed by the pack or they break the laws of nature. In this case, if the number of killings gets out of hand, the alpha can be overtaken by a stronger beta or an entire pack that feels that he can no longer fulfill his duties.

You remembered how Johnny told you he was the alpha of the pack. If Jaehyun was trying to take his spot, he’d want to weaken him, right? Jaehyun knew that by taking you away from Johnny, Johnny would become weak and broken, just in time for Jaehyun to take over with his increased strength and multiple abilities.

Jaehyun killed innocent people because he wanted to become more powerful.

You put the book down and placed your head on the table.

“Fuck.” You clenched your hands into fists and felt your chest tighten. You felt terrible for accusing Johnny, again. You even slapped him.

He was trying to tell you the truth but you shut him out. He was only trying to protect you. He was always there for you when you needed him and you treated him like shit. You had to go make things right.

You ran up to your apartment and into your bedroom. You swapped your sandals for sneakers but stopped when you felt a presence behind you.

You quickly spun around and faced the person.

“Why didn’t you just ask me?” Jaehyun tilted his head and smirked that annoying ass smirk again. For once, you weren’t seeing him in a dream, no, he was really in the room with you.

“Do you EVER go away?” You snarled as you pushed past him.

“I know what you’re thinking but you’re not correct.” Jaehyun followed behind you while you grabbed your backpack and threw it over your shoulder, you turned to him.

“Get out of my head, Jaehyun. I know you’re a power hungry animal that killed innocent people. I know that you’re only using me to hurt Johnny. This game you’re playing is over.” You turned to leave but Jaehyun quickly blocked the door. You realized that he also had super speed. Was he already more powerful than Johnny?

“I can’t let you do that.” Jaehyun crossed his arms and looked at you through glowing red eyes. You shivered at the sight. You remembered that night. The same eyes that watched you as you ran for your life.

“Or what? You gonna kill me too?” You shook off your fear and face him.

“you’ve been terrorizing me for weeks. If you wanna hurt Johnny by killing me, then just do it!”

You gripped the strap of your backpack, and waited for his response.

He only laughed and looked at you, his eyes still glowing.

He stepped forward and grabbed your waist. He leaned down to your ear and whispered. “You act like you’re brave but I can smell your fear, I can hear your racing heartbeat..I can feel the adrenaline pumping through your beautiful veins. You’re naive for trying to save him from his inevitable demise.” Jaehyun’s velvety voice echoed in your head as he pulled back and looked down at you. You trembled at his close proximity and the feeling of his sharp nails in your side.

“Tell Johnny I say ‘hi’.” Jaehyun said before dragging a claw down your back. You screamed out in pain as he scratched you. His three nails felt like a hundred needles running down your back simultaneously.

You bent over and cried out in pain. Your entire back was on fire. “Ah! Fuck you, you asshole!” You looked up but there was no one there. He was gone.

The excruciating pain of the scratch radiated throughout your entire body, it was like he had dipped his nails in poison and the poison had entered your blood stream.

There’s only one person that could help you. And you had to get to him fast.

————

You jumped out of your Uber and ran to stand under the covering in front of Johnny’s door. The rain didn’t let up, it only poured down harder as the thunder shook the lamp posts and lightning illuminated the dark purple sky.

You knocked on Johnny’s door and waited for him to answer. You had never been inside his house, but you knew it was the only house close to the conservatory.

A minute had passed and still no answer.

You knocked again.

There was a light on, so you knew that someone was home.

“Johnny...it’s me..I’m so sorry I didn’t believe you.” You yelled over the pestering rain that hit the roof and windows of the large house.

“Please..forgive me. You don’t have to let me in. But I want you to know that I am so sorry.” You sighed and waited for the door to open and reveal the bright face of the man you adored. But he didn’t open it.

You winced at the pain that seemed to grow in accordance with your fleeting hope that Johnny would open his door and welcome you in.

“Also...that asshole, Jaehyun, scratched my back and..it hurts like hell.”

You waited a few more minutes and held your head down. “Okay, I’ll leave.” And as you turned to step off his porch, you heard the door open.

You turned back to see Johnny standing there in a white t-shirt and boxers. His hair was pushed back out of his beautiful face and his eyes were sad. He pursed his lips.

“Hi.” He said quietly.

You walked up to him quickly. “Johnny, I’m so sorry, you were right..” you winced again. “It was Jaehyun. I’m sorry for ever thinking it was you.” You looked up at him through large eyes, hoping that he’d take you in his arms and hug you tightly.

“What did he do to you?” Johnny furrowed his brows.

“He..scratched me.” You said through teary eyes. Johnny quickly grabbed your wrist and took you inside.

“Shit. Come with me, now” He muttered and led you into his house. It was larger than you thought.

He led you up a grand staircase and to one of the rooms.

When he opened the door to the large room, you gasped. It was beautiful. The walls were lined with medieval art and the golden bed was covered in a dark red, silky comforter and sheets. A matching red lace canopy draped over it.

There was a velvet covered lounge chair at the foot of the bed. Johnny pointed to it. “Lay on your stomach.”

You took of the jacket you wore to prevent any staining on the Uber’s car seats. You laid down and waited as Johnny ran to another room. He quickly came back with a bottle of dark liquid.

“I’m..gonna have to take off your shirt.” Johnny hesitantly stepped towards you.

You took your shirt off and threw it to the floor, then took off what was left of the bra that Jaehyun had ripped through. “I don’t care..please..just help me.” You cried out.

Johnny looked on your scarred and bloody back and teared up. “I’m sorry, this is all my fault.”

“No, Johnny. There’s only one man to blame for this.” You turned your head so that you could look at him. His sorrowful expression made your heart break.

He poured some of the liquid on your back. You hissed at the tingling sensation that the cold liquid brought your body, but it soon eased some of the pain.

Johnny kneeled down and placed both hands on your back and rubbed circles around each of the three scars. He closed his eyes and focused.

You heard and felt your torn tissue and skin closing. You realized that Johnny has the ability to heal. Of course he did. Now you understood why he never had dying flowers or plants, why everything in his conservatory was always full of life.

Your heartbeat slowed down to its regular tempo as the pain subsided. “Thank you, Johnny.”

“There will be permanent scars. A scratch from a werewolf is like a marking. He did this for me to see it every time I look at you.” Johnny stood up and turned his back to you as he held his head down.

He walked out, but soon came back with a wet towel and a small bowl with water.

“I wish this never happened. I should’ve protected you.” A tear ran down Johnny’s cheek as he kneeled down again and wiped away the blood that covered most of your back.

“Hey. It’s okay. There’s nothing we could’ve done. He will stop at nothing to hurt you, Johnny” you held his arm.

Johnny gave you a small smile, you were so worried for him, he knew you still cared for him.

He took a deep breath before continuing.

“I know...I won’t let him hurt you anymore. You have nothing to do with this.”

He looked down at the floor. His glowing and skin radiated through the dull lighting of the warm room. His deep brown eyes were calm and his delicate lips donned a soft pinky shade.

He was gorgeous and everything you wanted, you couldn’t hold back any longer. You held his face and pulled it towards yours.

You closed your eyes and kissed him softly, turning your head and sticking out your tongue for entrance. He opened his mouth and let you explore while his hand held your back smoothly.

He brought his chest closer while you sat up,?still kissing him gingerly. He pressed your back so that your chest molded into his.

You breathed heavily as he held your thighs and wrapped your legs around his waist. Your hands fell from his face and held his back. You ran your delicate hands over the scars you felt while he sucked the warm skin on your neck between his moist lips.

He then lowered his head to your chest and took one of your nipples into his mouth, circling his hot tongue around the dainty and hard point. You let your head fall back and sighed out his name. “Johnny...”

His large hands massaged your breasts as you felt yourself grow wet in your jeans. You looked down and watched the man in between your legs. His broad shoulders and his strong arms held you close while you slowly fell apart for him.

He looked up at you through dark eyes while fervently licking around your other nipple. You closed your eyes and cried out quietly.

His hands ran up your sides and his thumbs pressed into your breasts, making sure to massage them as he continued to suck and lick your nipples.

You couldn’t take much more of his teasing.

“Johnny..” You moaned out and leaned down to lift his shirt over his head.

Once you did that, he picked you up and carried you over to the bed, gently placing you down on the cold and silky sheets.

You kicked off your sneakers and laid back. You watched through hooded eyes as he carefully unbuttoned your jeans and slid them off.

He looked up at you and waited for you to give him permission. You quickly nodded and continued to watch as he smirked and dragged your panties down slowly.

He licked his lips as you hissed at the cold air that hit your exposed entrance.

Johnny took his boxers off as he watched your chest rise and fall. He felt himself grow at the sound of your increasing heart beat and the rosey smell of your pulp skin and wet womanhood.

You were so beautiful to him. He held himself over you and looked into your large eyes and parted his mouth slightly. “I think I love you.”

He let out in a soft and deep voice that made butterflies go wild in your chest and stomach. He wasn’t supposed to say that out loud, but he couldn’t hold it in.

“I’m sor—“ he started but you stopped him.

You smiled and pulled him down to kiss you. When you pulled away, you saw his goofy smile and eyes crinkle. “I think I love you too.”

He kissed your lips again, your tongues happily danced around each other. His fingers worked their way into you, gently circling around your bud. He pushed them in as you moaned under him.

He kissed your jaw and neck while moving his fingers in and out easily. His thumb continued to rub small circles and his other hand massaged your breast.

“Johnny..take me..please” your doe eyes made him weak.

“I don’t have protection.” He whispered.

“I don’t care..” You started without actually thinking it through. But the truth was you really didn’t care. You wanted Johnny to make love to you for the longest time before this night, and now, with the feeling of the silk sheets under your hot bodies and his long fingers moving in and out while coated in your juices, you couldn’t resist.

He was everything and more. A kind, gentle and gorgeous man. Regardless of the curse he had, he made you feel safe and warm.

He couldn’t control his circumstances and you knew he wouldn’t hurt you, he would do everything to protect you, even if that meant giving up his title as alpha.

“We can stop if you want to.” Johnny stopped moving his hand and looked into your eyes.

“No—no, don’t stop.” You held his arm and caressed it with your thumb while nodding.

Johnny smiled. “Okay, anything for you, baby.” He held his member, gently stroking it. He gripped your hip with his other hand and pushed in slowly, giving you time to adjust.

You moaned and fell back into the plush bed under you. You wiggled and shifted your legs to give yourself more comfort before nodding to tell him to continue.

He pushed the rest of his long length into you and kissed your neck as he did.

You closed your eyes and felt him move his hips, pushing in and out of you slowly and delicately. He was always so gentle with you. It was like you were fragile goods in his large hands.

Your eyes opened when you felt him pull away. The cold air from the separation hit your chest unexpectedly. He just wanted to see you, to see you writhe under him and moan out his name.

He watched himself disappear into your beautiful body while your hands gripped the shiny, red sheets under you as you struggled to hold onto your sanity.

You watched his arms and abs as they formed small balls of sweat. His muscular arms flexed and his large, strong hands gripped your thighs and used them as an anchor as he dug himself into you over and over. You licked your lips at the sight and felt yourself nearing your climax.

He groaned as he felt your walls around tighten around him every time he pushed into you. It was even better than he imagined, he had to do everything in his power to hold back the animalistic nature of his other self that wanted to go faster..and harder.

The animal in him wanted to fuck you roughly, but Johnny didn’t.

Instead, he held both ankles and brought them up around his neck. The new position made you throw your head back.

“Johnny..yes” you whined loudly as you felt his length push into you at a different angle.

His pace increased and his hair stuck o his forehead as pushed into you harder.

You felt the skin from his hips hit yours as he lowered himself and kissed your collarbone.

You moaned and shut your eyes tightly at the feeling of his pillowy lips and teeth sucking small marks on your hot skin.

“Johnny...I’m gonna—“ you started breathily.

He groaned and sent a low vibration through your skin. “I know..me too.” He pushed faster and used his thumb to rub circles around your bud again. You moaned as you stretched around him.

“Ahh! Don’t stop.” You ran your hands down Johnny’s back and pressed him into you so that his length could go even deeper into your aching core.

Johnny groaned the sexiest sound you ever heard when you clenched around him. He went faster, so fast you weren’t sure when he was pushing or pulling anymore. The speed at which he went wasn’t humanly possible. All you knew was that this speed gave you multiple, tiny vibrations in your core that pushed you to the edge.

He buried his face into your chest and breathed heavily, panting as his orgasm drew close.

He thrusted into you with more pressure, roughly pushing your body down into the bed with every movement. You swore you heard a low growl escape his mouth.

You couldn’t hold yourself back anymore. You cried out loudly after every push. “Johnny!” You cried out and felt your body tremble under him. Johnny then climaxed, he still moved to allow you to both ride your orgasm out, but his pace slowed after he came inside you.

He pulled out and fell down beside your weak body. You both breathed heavily and turned to face each other.

“I’m sorry, I should’ve-“ Johnny started.

You ran your hand through his hair, pushing it out of his forehead. You smiled. “It’s okay. I don’t care.”

Johnny smiled and leaned forward to kiss you. Everything he did was perfect. You couldn’t be happier to be with him. All you needed was him and all he needed was you. You thought the problems you faced were over, but what you didn’t realize was you gave him exactly what he wanted and the problems were only just beginning.

——————

The next day, you woke up to the smell of pancakes and bacon.

You opened one eye and squinted at the bright light that poured in through the floor-to-ceiling windows. When you looked around and saw the red sheets and canopy above you, you realized that you weren’t in your bedroom.

You looked around for Johnny, but couldn’t find him so you sat up in the bed, dragging the red sheets over your naked body.

You looked around the room for a dresser, anything that might have clothes in it.

You walked to a closet and opened it. There were T-shirt’s neatly folded and tucked in a container inside, you grabbed one and threw it over your head. You smiled at the scent of Johnny’s woodsy cologne in his t shirt.

In the drawer under that one, you found folded boxers. You took one and wiggled into it.

You ran downstairs towards the smell and found Johnny in the kitchen. His bare and broad back faced you as he flipped a pancake with one hand and was lightly shaking a sizzling pan of bacon with the other.

He looked so good, you bit your lips and walked up to him, wrapping your arms around his waist.

“That smells good” you hugged his back.

He laughed. “Good morning to you too!”

You giggled. “How do you do that? I can’t even fry bacon without being at least five feet away.”

“Well, you’re not a master chef like me.. that’s probably why. It’s a gift you have to be born with. You can’t just “get” finesse like this, baby.” Johnny placed the pans down as he turned to you and winked.

His soft hair now fell in his forehead, making him look adorable but still so handsome.

You scoffed. “You’re such a dork. No one even says ‘finesse’ anymore..”

He smirked as he looked down at you in his oversized T shirt and boxers. Your radiant skin showed brightly in the sunlight that poured through his windows.

Your eyes were bright and happy, he loved seeing you like this. The way your lips curved at the corners when you smiled and laughed, the sound of your giggle, the way you batted your lashes and stared through doe eyes, it all made him weak.

“You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen.” Johnny smiled and picked you up before taking you over to the kitchen island and placing you down to sit on it.

Your legs still around his waist, he held your face and kissed you deeply. You moaned as you felt his tongue on yours again, a feeling you never grew tired of.

You ran a hand through his thick hair and leaned forward.

He pulled away to breathe and you licked your lips. “Mmm...Johnny.”

Your rubbed your hands over his flexed arms and leaned in to whisper in his ear.

“I can’t stop thinking about you...” you pulled yourself closer so there was no space between his growing member and the thin fabric that covered you slit.

“I want to feel you again..all of you.” You seductively whispered. His breathing grew short as you continued your dirty talk. You moved your hip up and down so that his tip ran against your clothed slit.

“I want you to make love to me..hard..ruin me, don’t hold back..” you kissed his ear and pulled away.

He bit his lips before kissing you again. “Anything for you, baby.”

You nodded. “Good...but master chef..”

Johnny still looked at you through wide eyes and an excited expression. You felt him gorwing in between your legs.

You liked messing with him and getting him all worked up, so you leaned forward again and whispered “You pancake is burning.”

He jumped up and let you go before turning to the pans and quickly flipped the pancake onto a plate he set aside. You burst out laughing at the look of panic on his face. “Are you enjoying this? Such a naughty girl, come here.” Johnny grabbed the bowl of pancake mix and dipped his finger into it. You gasped. “Nope! No...don’t even think about it.” You laughed and jumped off the island, running to the other side. He ran after you while holding the bowl. You both ran around the kitchen island, but once he cornered you, he dance around you with his finger in the air before booping your nose to leave some mix on it. “Ah!” You cried out. You both laughed before kissing one last time before breakfast. —————— [3 months later] “You’re losing, Johnny, when I pass, Jaehyun will have full control over the pack.” The old man’s loud and husky voice rumbled through the large and dark abandoned church. The dome shape allowed his voice to echo. The pale old man’s face of disappointment was only lit up by the moonlight that peaked through the holes in the broken down building. “Father, please trust me. I will not disappoint you.” Johnny kneeled on one knee and held his head down when he spoke to his pure blood alpha father. Luckily, it was just the three of them. Johnny, Jaehyun, and Johnny’s father. The rest of the pack had left the emergency meeting ten minutes earlier. The meeting was held because two more gruesome murders had occurred in the last week. The only explanation for how the bodies were torn apart would be that they were hunted and murdered by werewolves.

Johnny was still unable to detect which member or members of his pack were committing these crimes. No matter how much he threatened everyone, the murderer wouldn’t step forward. His father was old and ill, and could no longer fulfill his duties as the alpha. He gave his power to Johnny, but Johnny was unable to keep the laws of nature balanced. If he couldn’t control his packs murderous tendencies, he certainly couldn’t remain the alpha. He knew that the killer was Jaehyun, but he had no proof. Every day, Jaehyun grew more and more powerful and became a threat to Johnny. He already fought him for scarring you, but Jaehyun only lost that fight by chance. If it weren’t for the small bit of strength Johnny still had over Jaehyun, he would’ve won. Johnny never let you know that you fought, but you could tell from the knew scars Johnny had on his biceps. “And what do you plan to do?! How will you save this pack?! I was a fool for thinking someone like you could handle this!” Johnny’s father yelled before clutching his chest and leaning back into the stone throne he sat in. Jaehyun looked over at Johnny and smirked. He knew that he was getting closer and closer to winning, and once Johnny was removed as the alpha, he would be killed by the new alpha, Jaehyun. See, an alpha can’t just lose their position..they have to be killed for their incompetence, it was just the way packs worked. “Father..a new alpha will be born, your bloodline will continue.” Johnny spat out. Johnny knew that, unlike Jaehyun, he couldn’t murder innocent people to gain strength and new abilities, but he did know that producing a new pure blood werewolf to continue his bloodline would guarantee his position as the alpha and his life. The power he would gain from the birth of his child would be indisputable and unchallenged by the pack. Jaehyun clenched his jaw. He knew this was Johnny’s plan. He knew you were just a part of it, and no matter how hard he tried to scare you into staying away from Johnny, you still went to him. Johnny would become an alpha with the highest power. Alphas like this are stronger and more able to lead the pack because they have risked their own life and contributed their bloodline to strengthen the pack. “I certainly hope this is the case. It’d be a shame for this pack to have to bury two alphas at the same God damn time!.” Johnny’s father stood up and grabbed his cane before walking past Johnny who still held his head down. His tall caretaker went up to him and held the brittle man while he walked to the black and tinted Cadillac outside of the church. Johnny stood up and brushed off his jeans before turning to Jaehyun. “And I thought I was the asshole.” Jaehyun smirked. “Pretending to love a girl just so that she can give birth to your werewolf baby? That’s..crazy.” Johnny clenched his jaw. “Whether or not I love her is none of your business. Unfortunately for her, things had to work out this way.” Jaehyun placed his hands over his chest and laughed. “Oh! How sweet. Johnny’s in love” he teased Johnny. He rolled his eyes. “You do know that her chance of surviving the birthing is like...zero, right?” “Fuck off, Jaehyun. She’ll be okay.” Johnny spat back and turned to leave, he couldn’t stand to be around him any longer. “The naive girl loves you and here she is, risking her life for a man that doesn’t love her back.” Jaehyun continued as Johnny walked away. “You’re using her because you’re a coward.You were never meant to be alpha!” Johnny spun around and rushed over to Jaehyun. In the blink of an eye, he stood over Jaehyun and held his throat, his sharp nails digging into it. Jaehyun held his wrist to try to pull him away, but in his fury and rage, Johnny was much stronger and tightened his hand so that Jaehyun couldn’t breathe. “Stop testing me..” Johnny looked down at Jaehyun as he gagged and choked for air. His piercing eyes were a stronger red than Jaehyun’s. He rarely got like this, but Jaehyun was really testing his patience. He always seemed to forget that Johnny was stronger and faster. Jaehyun’s eyes fluttered shut as he struggled to stay alive. Johnny released him and walked away.

Jaehyun rubbed his throat and started to laugh. Johnny didn’t know if he truly loved you or not. But he knew that he had to focus on making his father proud before he died..even if that meant losing you. a/n: WHEW...ok so like, Johnny is not like this at all, but i just love making him..a little evil >:) hope you guys like it!

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taexual · 5 years

Text

HOLIC - 28 | jb x reader

pairing: Im Jaebum x Reader

genre: enemies to lovers au | roommate au

warnings: fluff + tiiiiny bit of angst

words: 5.4k

disclaimer: i do not own the gif, please let me know if it belongs to you, so i can give proper credit

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“I’m sorry,” was the first thing that left your lips the next morning when Jaebum opened his eyes and had caught you watching him – you’d woken up just minutes before him. “I ruined your Friday night.”

He sighed deeply, his eyes still laced with sleep. “You didn’t ruin anything.”

You’ve heard his morning voice before, of course, but hearing it when he was laying right next to you, his hand still on your hip – where it seemed to remain for the entirety of the night – caused different—stronger—emotions to start coursing throughout your body.

“I’ll have to check on my car today,” you continued, ignoring the goosebumps on your skin, “but let—”

“Do you want me to come with you?”

You stopped, not having expected him to offer his company.

“Uh, it’s alright,” you said, your heart still pounding with guilt even though Jaebum did not show any signs of annoyance last night. “I was just hoping you’d let me treat you to lunch after that’s done. You know, to repay you.”

“Repaying me with food,” he considered this, a sleepy grin adorning his features. “Yeah, I think I’ll let you do that.”

You smiled back. “Good.”

He nodded as a response and, after a few long minutes of exploring your face in the complete silence of his bedroom – that was only abuzz with the electricity radiating from your bodies – he lifted his hand, releasing your body, and, after shuffling it around the covers, brought it to your face to gently brush it across your cheek.

You’d still feel the traces of his fingertips long after he’d remove his hands from you but right now you were more focused on the sudden anticipation in your stomach – if he was going to kiss you right now, you wouldn’t try to stop him. You’d never try to stop him; you wouldn’t want him to.

“How are you feeling?” Jaebum asked quietly, his groggy voice all the more accentuated by his whispering.

Like I’m simultaneously burning in the fiery pits of hell but also being lifted up into the heavens didn’t seem like an appropriate response and it was, in truth, too melodramatic – albeit honest – so you just cleared your throat and nodded.

“I’m good,” you said and then added, “I mean it.”

He smiled, nodding in content and pulling his hand back before flipping onto his back and yawning. The spell of the moment might have been broken but Jaebum was still in no rush to get out of bed and this Saturday morning – and the pillowtalk exchanged – was easily going to go down in your personal history as one of the best mornings of your entire life.

It was the kind of morning that you wouldn’t be able to tell others about – and those were always the best, weren’t they? – because there was simply nothing to tell. Words couldn’t describe the lingering looks you and Jaebum have shared since waking up and no matter which sequence you tried to assemble the letters of the alphabet in, you still couldn’t arrange a sentence that would accurately depict the feelings inside of you when Jaebum opened his eyes and smiled at the sight of you right there, next to him.

“What were you going to do last night?” you asked him slowly. “You know, before I got home all panicked and what not.”

“Nothing much,” Jaebum replied but his distracted tone made it clear that he wasn’t fully honest. “I was thinking of maybe checking in with Jackson to see if he thought sending my song to my supervisors was a good idea.”

“You—oh my God,” you nearly jumped out of bed. “And you didn’t do that?!”

“Well, no, but—”

“Obviously, Jackson will think it’s a good idea,” you continued despite his somewhat alarmed face. “He already said how great your song is. You should do it!”

“I don’t know anymore,” he said, his old insecurities returning. “Now I think there are a few things I’d like to change before I try to let others hear the song but Jackson’s not here tonight — he’s away doing something for his family — so I don’t have anyone to check if I’m making the song better or worse.”

“I think it’s already as good as it could be,” you said, “and I’m obviously not as professional as Jackson is at this thing, but if you’d like me to listen to it for you, I could.”

Jaebum turned his head to you. “Yeah? I’d appreciate that.”

Really, it was you appreciating—and trying to ignore your surprise about—the fact that he didn’t immediately turn your offer down. You smiled – and blamed the surge of butterflies inside of your stomach for momentarily stealing your ability to speak from you – giving him a nod afterwards.

“Yeah, of course, it’s the least I can do,” you said. “I’ll just need to check up on my car first and then I’m all yours.”

You almost regretted saying the last part – and even cringed as soon as the words left your mouth – but Jaebum just smiled and sat up.

“You know,” he said, “I do find it unusual for you and me not to try to bite each other’s heads off but you don’t have to look like I’ll stab you right into your heart if you say something wrong.”

Huh. So, he’d noticed.

“Th—I don’t,” you defended, the unexpected accusation making your stomach clench in surprise. “I just never know what to prepare for when I’m with you.”

“I don’t, either,” he admitted in a gentler tone. “But we’re learning, aren’t we?”

“I hope we are.”

“How about this, then,” Jaebum started, his eyes glittering with excitement and slight nervousness, “we start a new period of our lives. We reduce the number of pointless arguments to a minimum, and I try to submit my song to my supervisors while you try to get yourself a photography exhibition.”

You smiled a little at this, giving him a look.

“I don’t think that’s realistic,” you said slowly. “We can’t live if we’re not arguing about something.”

He laughed at this. “We’ve managed fine up to this point. So, what do you say?”

“Will you really submit your song?”

“Only if you’ll really try to send your pictures to a gallery.”

You wanted to keep on smiling but the serious determination in his eyes did not match the one in yours and you ended up shaking your head.

“It’d be a waste of time,” you said with a sigh. “Contrary to your music which is amazing, my pictures are ordinary.”

“They aren’t, they—”

“No, really, they’re nothing special,” you didn’t let him try to change your mind. “Anyone could have taken them—”

“But they didn’t,” Jaebum insisted. “You did. And the emotions your pictures express might be different from the emotions that other photographers would try to express,” he looked down then. “And… besides, you said the pictures you showed me the other night were special.”

“Yeah,” you replied, trying not to let the sudden mention of your words from the night before sway you, “because you’re in them. I stand by what I said.”

“The pictures are special because you took them,” Jaebum echoed his last night’s self. “I stand by what I said, too.”

You couldn’t help but wonder if he also stood for what he did after saying that. Did he stand for the kiss? Or was he talking about this in such a careful manner precisely because he was afraid you’d bring it up? And if so, why? Why would he kiss you… only to act like that never happened a day later?

The questions stumbled around your mind clumsily – there were too many of them for you to catch one and just ask him – and you lowered your head, choosing to focus on what the two of you had been talking about instead of dwelving into a conversation that would potentially leave you both frustrated and annoyed with each other this early in the morning. You didn’t want that. Even if the outcome of the argument – or, perhaps, there wouldn’t even be an argument – was pleasant and you two would end up resolving your issues – yeah, right – you still couldn’t even begin to imagine what could come after this.

“I don’t know,” you said. “I just don’t think I’m good enough to get an exhibition.”

“You won’t know unless you try,” Jaebum said, finding it much easier to encourage you than he’d initially thought; he was, really, just saying what you’d said to him countless times before. “And I’m right in the same boat with you, so, if we fail, we fail together.”

Doing this together felt a lot more personal and, at the same time, a lot more reassuring. Although you were still hesitant – no, not that, you were very much doubtful you’d get any fruitful results from this – about yourself, you could see the obvious hope in his eyes when you raised your head and you knew that he needed you to agree because he was finally ready. He was only a few steps away from potentially achieving his dream and he wanted—needed—the same for you.

“Okay,” you said with a sigh. “Whatever happens happens. Let’s do it together, then.”

“Great!” Jaebum exclaimed, his face breaking into a big grin. “Tonight, then? If I won’t make the song worse by altering it too much. That’s your job, by the way; make sure I don’t turn it into the hymn of the Artificial Intelligence Liberation Party or something.”

“You want it to sound natural,” you nodded, smiling at his enthusiasm. “I got you. Tonight it is, then.”

The guys at the car service were complete pigs. Not only did they keep making jokes about how all women were awful drivers – even in your presence – but they even took it so far as to tell you that, perhaps, when you come to pick the car up in a week, on Monday – more than a week’s worth of work that will cost you an actual fortune even though you barely scratched the pole on the side of the road; capitalism sure was a very funny concept – you should bring a guy with you, so he could drive you home instead.

Resisting the urge to grab the closest gallon of engine oil and pour it all over them, you just smiled and nodded, promising “to think about it” even though you knew that the only thing you were going to be thinking about was how to get away from these men and never have to see them again.

Obviously, this didn’t make you feel any better about the accident and, as you waited in line at the Chinese restaurant next door, you realized your hands were starting to shake again.

It was clear that you were still going to be apprehensive about getting behind the wheel again but you didn’t want the comments you’ve heard today to affect you in any way – you might have driven off the road because you weren’t paying enough attention. But it could have happened to anyone.

“Here’s your order, miss,” a pleasant looking middle-aged lady suddenly called out for you, distracting you from your thoughts and handing you the plastic bag with your take-out.

“Thank you very much,” you replied, still a little shakily, and then, food in hand, headed to Jaebum’s studio, enjoying the wind on the street that tried to ease your nervous heart.

Once you reached his floor – after texting him because you got lost almost as soon as you entered the foyer – and located the studio, you found Jaebum already working. He had his earphones on and was quietly humming along to the beat that played in his ears – clearly, he wasn’t aware anyone else was in the room with him so you took this as a chance to take a page from his book and, instead of announcing your presence, stood in the very corner of his vision, waiting for him to notice you.

He did a moment later and jumped up so high, he nearly ripped the cord of his headphones out from the laptop he’d plugged them in.

“Fuck,” he mumbled as an aftershock, clutching his chest. “W-what—when did you get here?”

“A minute ago,” you replied, proud to see him so startled. “I was waiting for you to turn around.”

“Right, because calling my name—oh, I get it. It’s payback, isn’t it?” he got up from his seat.

“Absolutely,” you confirmed, hanging him the bag with food. “I brought take-out. Hope you’re alright with Chinese food.”

“I’m alright with anything as long as it isn’t you giving me a heart attack,” he bit back, earning another proud grin from you and unpacking the boxes of food that you’ve brought. “How was it at the service? Is your car going to be okay?”

You sighed. “My car? Eventually, yes. My dignity if I have to go back there again? Probably not.”

“Why?” Jaebum asked, nodding his head at the settee by the door. You sat down on it.

“The guys there were assholes,” you said, “and I’m pretty sure they’re ripping me off. But I didn’t get fined for reckless driving or whatever, so I can’t really complain.”

He frowned but didn’t question you until he sat down next to you, handing you your chopsticks and putting the boxes of food on the cushion between you.

“Well, maybe not about the money,” Jaebum said then, “but you have every right to complain if they’re treating you wrong. What did they do?”

“Oh, you know,” you waved your hand, not really in the mood to break down their words for him. “Typical guy stuff.”

“I’m a guy.”

“Right. Sorry. I meant typical sexist guy stuff.”

“Huh,” Jaebum nodded, seemingly understanding what you meant without needing any examples. “Do you want me to go back there with you? I could kick some ass.”

Unable to believe that he’d really just said this, you spoke without thinking it through, “you’d kick someone’s ass for me?”

Jaebum – mouth full of rice – gave you a confused look and then, once he finished chewing, dead-panned, “yes. I have a weekly goal of saving a damsel in distress. You’re it for this week.”

You rolled your eyes. “Way to ruin a moment.”

“I didn’t realize there was a moment,” he responded, smirking now.

Groaning – to hide your sudden flustered state – you pushed his shoulder and opened your box of take-out.

“Eat your food,” you told him. “And, for once in your life, stop smirking at me.”

Jaebum complied – surprisingly – and the two of you proceeded to eat in silence. The discussion was only sparked again when he asked you what your dream place to have an exhibition was – and proceeded to recommend every museum he knew, even if they didn’t offer any photography works – because, as you’d come to learn, there was nothing Jaebum enjoyed more than making you nervous

“I don’t care about the place,” you said for the fifteenth time. “I just want it to happen.”

“Wanting it to happen is good,” Jaebum encouraged, suddenly taking a supportive—instead of teasing—role. “That means you’re ready to work towards it.”

“I feel like I’ve always worked towards it. Unconsciously, I mean,” you said, wiping the corners of your mouth with a napkin once you’ve finished your meal. “I-I enjoy photography and I don’t mind doing it for myself but… I’ve been doing it for myself for as long as I remember. I’m used to it. It’s not challenging anymore. Instead, it’s starting to feel like I should take the next step. And, now, every time I edit something I’ve taken, I always picture what it would look like hanging on the wall of some gallery, dozens of people twirling around it with glasses of champagne in their hands.”

“You’ll be serving champagne at your exhibition?” he wondered, smiling softly.

You shrugged your shoulders, your eyes glazed over as you dreamt on, “why not? That’s the cliché opening night drink, isn’t it?”

“Cliché doesn’t mean bad,” Jaebum pointed out, putting his empty box down and stretching. “It just means it’s been proven to work. Hey, how about you also serve those tiny one-bite snacks? And make everyone come with evening gowns?”

You shot him a look. “Well, now you’re mocking me.”

“I’m not!” he defended, half-laughing. “I’m trying to help you come up with a theme for your exhibition. Depending on what kind of pictures you’re thinking of—”

“An exhibition,” you interrupted him, “that will probably not even happen.”

Jaebum didn’t like the sudden deflated tone in your voice. “It can’t hurt to be prepared, though. If anything, I think being certain of every detail of the way you’d like it to be might inspire you to work harder to achieve your goal.”

You appreciated his efforts to lift your spirits—and your confidence—but you weren’t able to stay away from reality for too long. You’ve daydreamed enough.

“You should get back to your song,” you told him, lifting your eyes to meet his.

Jaebum shot the equipment and his laptop atop it a glance and then looked back at you. “I will. I just want to make sure you’re not beating yourself up about all the negative what-ifs.”

“I’m not,” you said but you and him both knew that wasn’t really true. You found it easy to find the words to convince someone that they could do something, but it was unreasonably difficult for you to convince yourself that the same thing applied to you, too. “It’s not a big deal even if I won’t get a single exhibition in my life.”

“You will,” he said in a way that sounded more like an order. “And if you won’t send your portfolio to any gallery, I’ll do it—”

“Are you stalling?” you asked, cutting him off with a suspicious look in your eyes.

Jaebum paused.

“W-what do you mean?” he asked, his defenses back up. “I’m genuinely concerned about—d-don’t look at me like that.”

A mouse in a rat trap had never looked as caught as he did right then.

“I mean it,” you insisted. “Are you?”

He looked at you for a moment longer before giving in and sighing.

“Okay, fine. Maybe I am stalling,” he admitted, reclining on the couch in dejection. “I don’t… I just don’t want to get back to working on it because, at this point, I have no idea if I’m making the song better or worse.”

Glad to talk about his choice of work for a change, you leaned against the back of the couch as well.

“Why not leave it as it is?” you suggested but Jaebum shook his head.

“It’s not goot enough.”

“Will it ever be?”

Surprised, Jaebum turned his head to you. “What?”

He looked almost panic-stricken – he’d clearly assumed you were saying his song was bad – so you clarified as gently—and quickly—as possible, “you’re a perfectionist.”

“No, I’m not,” he disagreed right away.

“Yes, you are,” you insisted, sitting up straight again. “And it’s obvious that you want the song to be perfect but what you fail to understand is that you’ve heard it a million times already. You’ve heard every word, every breath, every little note – you know it by heart now. But other people? They’ll be hearing it for the first time. They won’t be nitpicking everything like you are, they’ll be listening to the song so they could enjoy it, not so they could find flaws. They won’t notice the imperfections that you notice. They will be amazed.”

His heart had sped up – it always did in response to your encouragement – but Jaebum resisted the positive signals it was sending.

“Or they won’t be,” he replied, aware that he sounded like an annoying child.

“Well, it’s one or the other,” you said decidedly, the firmness of your voice surprising him further. “And you won’t know which one you’re getting unless you do it.”

Amused at your change of demeanor, Jaebum gave you a confused smile. “What happened to gentle encouragement?”

“Nothing,” you said, responding to his smile with one of your own. “I just think it’s time for some tough love.”

Jaebum snorted. “Now you sound like Jackson.”

“Good,” you decided. “I’m here to do his job anyway.”

“Well, don’t get too into it,” he warned with a good-natured smile as he stood up to throw the empty boxes of food out, “one part of Jackson’s job is to make me hate him.”

“Oh. I’m sure I can get that done, too,” you told him, expecting laughter—or even just a chuckle—of approval but only receiving a confused glance as Jaebum froze over the trash bin by the door of the studio.

“No,” he said, his face void of any expression. “You’ve never made me hate you.”

You nearly laughed in his face.

“Never?” you repeated, your eyebrows skyrocketing. “That’s a very blatant lie and, honestly, I’m offended you even expect me to believe that.”

It stung a little to hear this but Jaebum wasn’t sure if he was entitled to that emotion – he was, after all, well aware of how your relationship developed and he knew he was partially to blame for taking so long to actually start a proper, somewhat healthy friendship with you.

“It’s not a lie,” he chose to say, returning to the settee next to you but not returning his eyes to yours. “I’ve never hated you.”

You weren’t trying to bite him or hurt him but you couldn’t help pointing out, “you tried to kick me out of the apartment when you saw me for the first time.”

“I—okay,” he blinked, knowing that one step in the wrong direction could have pushed him even deeper into the between-a-rock-and-a-hard-place position that he had somehow catapulted himself into by confessing that to you. “That’s true. But I still didn’t feel any hate.”

The same skeptical look on your face remained. “You—”

“Alright, I’m sure you can find a lot of examples of situations where I could have been considered to be hating the very thought of you,” Jaebum continued before you could properly cut in. “But I never was. I may have been upset or… irritated. Or annoyed. But I never felt any hate towards you.”

“I actually don’t know if that’s better.”

“I used to be a lot more hateful,” he said, avoiding dropping names but making sure you understood which part of his life his mind had drifted to by giving you a meaningful glance. “And, objectively speaking, I’m truly a pain in everyone’s ass when I hate something or, uh, someone.”

“Well, objectively speaking,” you repeated, smiling, “you’re a pain in my ass most of the time anyway.”

Jaebum paused, his features morphing into a comically frustrated expression. “Oh, well, I was trying to say something nice to you but if this is how we’re doing it—”

You waved your hands around, cutting him off even though you could tell he wasn’t actually mad at you for saying this.

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry,” you spoke then, laughing softly. “It was just a moment of honesty on my behalf. You know, while you’re busy lying to me.”

“I’m not lying!” he was rolling his eyes now. “I hate… things. Our arguments. Our inability to communicate. Lots of other things. But it’s never you specifically.”

Hearing that made your heart pick up speed but your mind refused to accept this. You’ve given him reasons to hate you and he knew it but he continued to insist that wasn’t the case. You didn’t understand.

“Not even...” you tried to say but couldn’t finish right away because the two of you avoided bringing this topic up as if it was the plague. “Not even when I talked to Suji after telling you I wasn’t going to?”

The memories quickly engulfed his mind and he hesitated before answering. “It wasn’t you that I hated in that moment. It was the fact that we weren’t able to reach an agreement. The fact that we never listen to each other. And, maybe, the fact that we care about each other but have too much pride to admit that.”

You were silent for a moment.

“Those are the things that I’m responsible for, though,” you said then, trying to find a way to gently let him know that he wouldn’t have ruined the progress of your friendship by admitting that he had allowed himself to hate you however briefly. “Tha inability to communicate, the not listening—i-it’s all that I’ve done. So it’s basically me.”

“Yeah, but see, I never felt like slashing my own throat at the sight of you,” Jaebum said, “but I have considered that when we were fighting and I couldn’t find the words to say to make it stop.”

“You have?” you asked, more than surprised now.

You’ve fought with him so much, you couldn’t immediately name an instance where this painful action would be the more desirable alternative. You just felt like you and him were used to the arguments at this point.

“Y-yeah,” Jaebum admitted, looking down. “Just once. During that last fight we’ve had.”

The last fight.

A soft “oh” passed your lips before your eyes settled on the floor of the studio, too.

It was almost a taboo topic now. Some awful things were said and implied during that fight but, once over, you looked back at it and saw it as a cleanse of sorts. Maybe both of you had needed to say what you’ve said to get it off your chests as a symbolic end of one period of your lives and a beginning of another—a better—one.

“We’ve never…” Jaebum started slowly, tentatively. He didn’t like saying this but it felt like he had to. “We’ve never talked about that properly, have we?”

“No,” you replied. “We’re not really the kind of people who actively seek argument resolutions, though. We just kind of wait for them to come to us.”

He snickered. “Do you think that’s mature?”

“No. But I don’t think we’re mature, either.”

Jaebum nodded his head in agreement – he felt the same way – but he continued because you were still not looking at him and now he was starting to fear that you’ve still had something to say and have been holding it inside of your chest ever since that fight, just waiting for the right moment.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked, wanting to sound encouraging but just sounding somewhat scared.

You noticed the slight shakiness in his voice and dared to give him a questioning look. “Do you?”

“I don’t know,” Jaebum said, struggling to put labels on his emotions. As it usually tended to be, his chest was flooding with feelings he couldn’t—wouldn’t—decipher himself. “I think I’ve said all that I’ve wanted to say. I think I’ve apologized for what I hadn’t meant to say, too.”

“Yeah. I-I appreciate that. I remember still being unsure about certain things,” you revealed hesitantly, “I wanted to ask you to explain what you’ve said but now I think it’s better that you don’t.”

“Really?”

You nodded. “I like where we stand right now. I think that if we went back and talked about the same things again, we’d just return to right where we were before.”

“I don’t think we can return to where we were,” Jaebum objected. “I think we’re past that point. We’ve gotten a new start.”

You smiled at his optimistic attitude towards this.

“Alright,” you decided to agree. “But do we learn from our past or do we just… do whatever and see what happens?”

“Well, the latter is what got us this far,” he said – just like you’d expected – making both of you chuckle knowingly. “Maybe we can do both. We can, uh, acknowledge that we had some fairly unhealthy methods of talking it out, but I think we’ve learned how to communicate now. Let’s just… let’s continue from here.”

That sounded good. Just continuing. Unrealistic – given the fact that the two of you have actually gone as far as kissing and then, once again, pushed that under the rug – but still good nevertheless.

“Okay. That’s the plan,” you agreed, deciding to support the naïve side of your brain that believed you were going to be fine with not understanding much about your relationship with him. Then, you looked down at the watch on your wrist. “You should probably really get back to your song now.”

“Yeah,” Jaebum sighed. “I’ve stalled enough.”

Smiling, you nodded. “You have.”

He responded to your smile and stood up from the settee to stretch. Then, after a glance at his laptop, he turned to look at you again.

“Will you listen to it?” he asked. “And give me your honest opinion?”

“Always,” you replied. “Though I can already tell you it’ll sound brilliant.”

“See, but that’s not honest,” Jaebum insisted and you weren’t able to tell if he was joking or not as he picked his laptop up and, after unplugging it from the equipment of the studio, brought it to the settee, placing it on his lap after he sat back down next to you. “That’s just you trying to please me.”

“Now, why would I want to do that?”

He could tell you were grinning mockingly without turning to look at you. “I don’t know. Why wouldn’t you?”

“I’m here to do you a favor,” you reminded him, “it’s you who should be trying to please me.”

“Oh, that’s right,” Jaebum nodded his head, suddenly flashing back to the conversation you’ve had in his bed this morning. Just the memory of it was enough to send warmth all throughout his body. “What do you want me to do?”

You nearly shivered at all the possibilities—all the things—that you wanted him to bring into existence – your mind seemed to shout at least twenty different activities at you, and you were suddenly having a hard time keeping up with it – but you chose not to focus on your personal desires right now. You could daydream and reminisce about the kiss you’ve shared later and maybe, if you were lucky, you could find a way to kiss him again later, too.

“I want you to submit that song to your supervisors,” you said.

Jaebum looked at you with his eyebrows raised. “And that will please you?”

“Yes.”

Your serious expression made him snicker and shake his head in disbelief.

“God,” he mumbled under his breath, opening a few folders on his laptop, “you’re really something else.”

You squinted at him. “I can’t tell if that’s a compliment or an insult.”

“It’s an observation,” he cleared up before adding a heart-stopping, “I’ve never met anyone like you before.”

Trying not to let the effect he had on you show too obviously on your face, you resorted to humor and, after clearing your throat, replied cockily, “well, I should hope so. I’m trying to be unique.”

“You are,” Jaebum said, looking away from his laptop to make sure you got to see the clear integrity in his eyes. He wasn’t just attempting to compliment you in a way that was meant to be almost seducing or, in this case, purposefully intimidating. He was being completely honest. “You really are.”

He looked at you so deeply, you thought he could read your mind. And you would have let him – then he would finally know how many nights you’ve spent laying in your bed, awake and thinking about him. He would know how many dreams about him you’ve had. He would know how much you wished to tell him of all that you were feeling and how afraid you were of that, too.

But then his eyes drifted to your lips and, suddenly forgetting everything, you thought he was going to kiss you again. And, truth be told, Jaebum thought so, too.

But he remained on the other side of the settee, leaning into you – in a way that suggested his body just naturally gravitated to yours – and yet not making a move. He didn’t know why. Somehow, it just didn’t seem fair for him to kiss you without a plan what he would do afterwards – he’d already used his one and only opportunity for that.

He’d probably thought one kiss would have satisfied his hunger for your closeness. He had no way of knowing it would only increase it and he would spend every living moment after your first kiss, wanting—needing—more and, consequently, fighting his impulses because, all of a sudden, not a single thing in his life made sense anymore and he was afraid the two of you were going to drown in this mess.

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