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water-to-drink · 1 year

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Be a Gladiolus in a Field of Belladonnas pt2

(Summary): After narrowly escaping your execution you and one of your accomplices are on the run but you bump into the archons, each getting more difficult than the last

Part 1 Next Part

(Characters): Lumine, Paimon, Venti, Zhongli, Xiao, Ganyu, & Ei

(Warnings): Cannon typical violence and the normal imposter au type stuff, some cursing, not proof read

(A/n): Sorry this took a bit longer than expected, this is my first time writing multiple fight scenes and I hope it’s not too awkward to read. And this takes place after Lumine traveled to all 7 nations

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You don’t know how long you’ve been in this dingy cell, no windows to let the sunlight in. The only indication of time is the rotation of guards. You tried to ask why you’re in the dungeon but they don’t acknowledge you and at worst they sneer and curse at you

The moisture and mold in the cell makes breathing difficult. You got a nasty cough which makes breathing even more difficult and sometimes painful. It doesn’t help that you get scraps of food whenever the guards feel like it

With nothing to occupy your time, you keep replaying that scene in your head

“Seize that imposter!!!” Your Doppelgänger’s voice rang through the silence the both of you were in

Sounds of the festivities quickly died down and looks of confusion were exchanged. It was until people realized what or more specifically who they were pointing at the knights were quick to detain you

You struggled against their grip and begged to know what you did wrong, your pleads only fell on deaf ears as you were dragged away from the festival

You turned your head and the last thing you see is Lumine with a devastated look on her face

“Get up, you’re getting out today.” One of the guards said, bringing you back to your situation

When the words were fully processed you were filled with joy, thinking that it was a mistake. You weren’t bothered by them putting chains on your hands and feet

You wished you stayed in that cell

You were paraded around the streets of Mondstadt be leered at and ridiculed. People threw rotten food at you and some even threw rocks. You just wanted it to end

As the guards dragged you, you caught sight of the “Creator” with a sword in their hand, but the thing that sent a shiver down your spine was the look of twisted glee on their face

They smiled at you, at your current misery and death you were marching towards. They wanted you take your life with their own hands

Fear struck you, evident in your attempt to struggle out of the restraints. In your terror induced panic you missed a few bottle of colored liquid thrown at your feet. Colored smoke explodes from the bottle, completely covering your surroundings

A figure obscured by the smoke quickly incapacitate the guards that were escorting you and quickly turned towards you

“Hold still.” They cautioned

Your limbs got hit with a cold breeze, you looked down and saw ice form on the chains that bind your hands and feet

“Don’t move just yet.” The same husky voice urged

You saw the blade of a sword get swung down on you and cut the chains

The figure withdrew with no further words said, still trying comprehend what just happened you felt a hand grab onto your hand and drag you away from the smoke

Once you and your mysterious stranger were out of the colored smoke you got a good glance to see Lumine dragging you through the forest right outside of Mondstadt city

“Lumine?! What are you doing?”

“I’m getting you out here Your Grace, don’t worry!”

Lumine used the commotion to your and her advantage, taking you through the common travel pathways without worry that a knight would stop you

You made it all the way to Windwail Highland, the sight of Dawn Winery reminded you of Diluc and his hospitality. You wonder how this situation effected him, does he think of you the same or does he think of you as an imposter?

Well that thought would have to wait due to a wall of wind blocked your path

“Shit!” Lumine muttered under her breath

“I didn’t want it come to this, but if you hand over the impostor I can explain your actions as a misunderstanding.”

Lumine summoned her sword and pushed you behind her. You saw Venti in his archon form and his usual cheery face long gone and replaced by a look of sorrow

“I hate that it has to come to this.” Venti uttered as he summoned his bow and began shooting at you

Lumine pushed you out of the way, dodging the arrows

“Your Grace, go hide while I handle this.” Lumine told you

Not wasting a moment to hesitation you took off with the floating companion following close behind

Arrows infused with anemo were shot at you but Lumine blocked the shots with her sword

“You’re going to have to get through me first, before you get to them!” Lumine shouted

“Lumine, listen to yourself! You’re risking everything you’ve gained just for some imposter!”

Venti sent a strong wind current that blasts Lumine towards a tree

After a moment of disorientation, the traveler regained her senses and spots you and Paimon out in the open

“Your Grace? Why are you still here?!”

“There’s a wall trapping us here!”

Venti turned turned his attention towards you in the wind barrier. Once he saw you a look of loathing showed on his face. He drew back his bow and the arrows started to glow with the anemo energy being infused into them

A feeling of helplessness filled the traveler, the same helplessness she experienced when the unknown god took her brother. She can’t let it happen to you, the guiding light that lead her to each corner of this world, the light that made her stronger, the light that help her find her brother. She can’t let anything happen to you!

“Take this!” Lumine yelled as she sent a fire tornado towards Venti

The archon tried to fly away from the attack but inadvertently got one of his wings set on fire

Using the newfound distraction Lumine grabbed you and Paimon and started to run, using anemo to propel you into Liyue

The sky quickly darkens as you three kept running through Stone Gate. Small droplets of water soon turned into a heavy downpour, however despite the current weather you kept pushing until a geo pillar separated you from the blonde. She extended her hand towards you and sent a large gush of wind towards you, pushing you out of the way of Xiao’s plunged attack

Upon realizing that both Zhongli and Xiao are after your head, you started to run away from where the two Adepti were

An arrow hits the ground in front of you stopping you in your tracks

“Take one more step and I’ll make sure not to miss your head.” The qilin Adeptus instructed

The outlander ran towards you and shielded you with her body

“I expected way better from you, traveler.” Zhongli, clad his archon robes expressed his disappointment

“Zhongli, we can talk about this!” You tried to reason

“Don’t talk to him as if you were acquainted, you filthy imposter!” Xiao spat

“I’m willing to come to a compromise Traveler, you hand over the fugitive and you’ll go unharmed.” Zhongli offered

“I rather die than kneel to a fake!”

“So be it…”

Polearms imbued with geo energy rose from the ground heading towards Lumine, she jumped out of their way

“Disappear!” Xiao yelled as he jumped high into the air and began his plunge

Lumine stomped her foot down on the ground making several geo constructs rise from the ground effectively blocking the attack

Cyro infused arrows nearly hit the outlander, only grazing the hitting the ground near her feet, freezing her in place

With the Lumine stuck, Xiao and Ganyu prepared to finish her off. Both aiming for the head

“Thunder Clap!!!”

Immediately after her cry a large bolt of lightning came down and struck the three of them. The mighty Adepti on ground with the traveler still standing

She turned her head towards you to see if the bolt hit you, you only look a little frazzled but you noticed that Lumine is looking like she’s on the verge of collapse

While looking at her you notice Zhongli lifting his polearm to strike the traveler. You ran and pushed her out of the way

Despite the fatigue weighing down her limps she pushed you further away from the geo archon

It looked to be a bad move

Zhongli watched as you scurried away from him, he wasn’t even attempting to get close to you he just stood there. It wasn’t until he summoned his shield and crossed his arms was when you realized what was going on

“This is ORDER!”

As his voice rang out the giant meteor began to fall down, you felt as time slowed down. Seeing the horrified expressions that graced both Lumine and Paimon’s faces made you want to be anywhere but Liyue. Somewhere far from Liyue, where Zhongli can’t get to you or Lumine and Paimon

The meteor grew closer and seeing no other way to get out of its path you brace for impact but it never came, you opened your eyes to see that you’re in Inazuma, specifically Chinju Forest

The blonde and her companion soon followed suit and took in their surroundings

“Phew, Paimon thought that we were done for back there, thankfully we appeared here.” The fairy said breathing a sigh of relief

“Did you do this?” Lumine asked

“I don’t know, I thought you did it. The only thing I did was just wish that we were somewhere far from Liyue.” You admitted

“I’m only able to do that whenever you’re using me as a vessel.”

“Really, I thought everyone could use them, but we need to plan our next move.”

“Wise, I just need to rest for a bit.” The traveler said as she sat against a rock

Getting a better look at her condition you can really see how much damage the Adepti did to her, you wonder why she’s putting her life on the line for yours. You’re grateful that she’s going through all of this just to save you, but you can’t help but feel guilty putting her through all of this maybe you should turn yourself in to spare her anymore suf-

“I know what you’re thinking about, stop it.” Lumine’s voice cut through your thoughts. “I’m not going to let them take you, as your first vessel it’s my duty to protect you so don’t think like that.” Lumine said

“Yeah! Just because everyone sees you as an imposter doesn’t mean they’ll still think that once we expose that phony!” Paimon chimed in

“Thanks you two, it’s just that it’s a lot for someone to take in.” You spoke. “But I have to ask, how do you know that I’m this Creator-person and not someone who looks like them?”

“When I first saw you I felt that divine presence I only feel when we travel together. I never got it with that double, though your aura is faint I can still tell it’s the same.” Lumine confided

“I still can’t help but wonder how my doppelganger was able to convince the archons, but that question can wait for another time. I feel our best bet is to get out of Inazuma and possibly go to Sumeru, since Nahida doesn’t pose much of a threat to us since she was just taken out of confinement.”

“Whoa, that’s super smart thinking, (y/n)!” Paimon cheered

“Thanks, I mainly don’t want to run into Ei.” You admitted. “Let me try to concentrate and teleport us.”

“You do that, I’ll keep watch and make sure no one comes near you!” Lumine said while throwing a thumbs up

You began to focus all of your energy, but your mind was jumbled with numerous thoughts. The moment you pushed a thought out another one or more popped up in its place. You wish you learned mindfulness instead of dicking around

“Uh (y/n), your hair is standing up.” The fairy pointed out

This caused Lumine to turn around and push you and Paimon out of the way of a lightning strike

The bolt caused smoke to fill the forest and you caught a glimpse of a figure walking through the smoke

“The Creator’s will is eternal and anyone who dares to go against that is an enemy of eternity…” The voice spoke as they walked out of the smoke, revealing themselves to be the Raiden Shogun. “And enemies of eternity will face my might.”

You and Lumine quickly got back on your feet

“Traveler, though I’m grateful for all that you’ve done. I won’t hesitate

Lumine summoned her sword and prepared to fight

“If that how it’s going to be, then fine.” Ei proclaimed. “Shine Down!”

Bolts of electro race towards the traveler, the traveler brought her hand down and constructed a geo formation to take the bolts

The archon ran towards Lumine and the two exchanged blows

“It’s pointless to protect this imposter!” Ei said as Lumine blocked a strike from her

A knee to the stomach knocked the wind out of the blonde girl making her fall to the ground clutching her abdomen

The Shogun turned her attention on you and charged towards you. Desperately you tried to dodge the attacks, even using the iron cuffs still on your wrists to deflect the plows aimed at your head. Eventually you slipped on one of the slippery rocks in the stream and fell luckily missing a swing that surely would have taken your head clean off

“Your Grace, cover!” You heard Lumine grunt out

Following her command you rolled away from Ei and hid behind a tree the adrenaline pumping through your veins you didn’t even notice the gash you got from one of the rocks’ jagged edges

“Propagate!”

The hit of dendro briefly daze Ei enough for her to not notice a dendro core appear and hit her from behind

Using the new distraction Lumine blasted an attack of pyro toward the disoriented woman, setting her alight

Anger took over the Shogun after she smothered out the flames, she sent a bolt of lightning to hit Lumine. The blonde girl was knocked off her feet and body was thrown against a tree. Ei stalks towards the blonde charging her polearm with electro energy, you noticed Lumine was out cold and was going to die it you didn’t do anything

Out of the corner of your eye something simmered, you got up and ran towards the scene and blocked the Shogun’s path

“Wait! Wait! Wait! Ei look!”

You frantically pointed at your forearm that has gold running down

“Golden blood! That’s proof that I’m the Creator, isn’t it?!”

A look of horror could be seen in the archon’s eyes and you thought you were safe until electro infused into her polearm

“I don’t think she’s convinced…” Paimon said as she clutched your uninjured arm

“Torn to oblivion…” Ei’s voice shook as lifted up her sword and began to swing it down

Before the sword could reach you, a portal opened up beneath your feet and sallowed you and the traveler

As you fell into a sea of darkness and stars the last thing you see is the mortified look on the Shogun’s face

#genshin sagau #sagau #genshin fanfic #self aware genshin #self aware genshin impact #imposter sagau #genshin imposter au #sagau lumine #sagau venti #sagau zhongli #sagau xiao #sagau ganyu #sagau ei

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crowncrown · 8 months

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i rewatched genloss episode three and I’m about to make it everyone’s problem

Rewatching this episode with the knowledge of what’s going to happen adds such a nuance to this that you can’t fully understand until you already know the ending. From the first 10 minutes Hetch repetitively tells Ranboo he’s still in control of the simulation. He says things like

“Just listen to me I’ve got everything under control”

“I’ve programmed them (the Showfall drones) to believe there’s no show going on right now”

“I’ve disabled your mask”

Even Ranboo acknowledges this, at one point exclaiming

“I don’t know! you’re the one in control!”

Ranboo has gotten very used to this routine. Do what you’re told. Try to succeed the best you can. And maybe less people will die in the process. But this times different. He’s given partial control. The veil over his eyes is lowered just enough where he’s seeing more than he’s ever seen before. But he has no control. Hetch is doing the same thing Showfall has been doing this whole time. Telling Ranboo exactly what to do to get the best show out of him.

As the episode goes on, Showfall alludes to the simulation being active as ever more and more. There’s still background music perfectly timed. The camera angles are still there. Hetch gives us a lazy excuse that he’s using it to watch Ranboo, but this is the same guy who said Ethan and Nikki are still alive and well.

But I think the most sinister thing this time around is that they’re not just feeding Ranboo the answer to the questions they throw at him. They’re feeding him a narrative. When he exclaims “why me?!” Hetch responds with no hesitation “There must be something special about you”

“It’s a show. There’s a script. You’re the hero” ***

(We will most definitely come back to this ;) )

The most CLEAR part that shows us that the simulation is alive, before of course, we are shown very obviously, is the lead up to the kill switch scene. The audio distortion times up with Charlie’s perfectly timed speech. It has its own music. So many different camera angles. Zooms. It’s the best camera work of the whole show. It’s so cinematic and that’s on PURPOSE. Showfall is winking at us through the production of this, almost teasing us at what’s to come very soon after. We should have caught this. We should have been screaming at the screen telling our beloved hero to run. But we were celebrating. This should have been our biggest sign that this is all wrong and there’s no way in hell this is right but we were CELEBRATING. Our hero had won right?!

Yet he knew subconsciously that it was all wrong. Why else would you bow at a camera that’s supposed to be turned off? Once again he’s blind. The veil is pulled fully over his eyes yet again and he is back to the puppet we’ve gotten to know all along.

His victory is nothing but a set up to add more to the cinematography of his death.

And it leads on to the scene that we all dread on every rewatch. The execution. Or the box as I like to call it (🙃) Remember that point I said we’d come back to? This scene has so many parallels it makes my head spin. Hetch reassures Ranboo less than 20 minutes before that:

“You were just doing what you needed to to survive”

“There must be something special about you”

Because he had to do what he had to do right? He was just a guy trying to survive? Or was he? Did our beloved hero really have to do the things he did? Did he betray us? It festers in our brains deciding if this man should live or die while Hetch fuels the fire.

“don’t you see there’s consequences to your own actions?!”

“We only pushed you in the right direction!”

“That was the real you! Ranboo!”

He parallels these phrases in a way that makes us question everything we think we know about him. And the final nail in the coffin hits us right in the decision making skills as he hammers in:

“The choices you made. That’s the real you. That’s what makes you a hero”

That’s. What makes you. A hero.

No valiant efforts. No conquests. Not even winning. No. This was never about being brave or bold. This was about being a pawn. An actor playing whatever part he’s told to play. “The hero” is a title only given to the unluckiest of fools. Believing they are making a difference while being tossed away the second they break script.

That’s what makes a hero.

#crown drabbles:)#ranboolive #generation loss #ranboo #genloss brainrot #genloss #generation loss spoilers #I think about this way too often #someone sedate me #punch me in the face #looking way too deep into things because it’s late at night #I wonder if ranboo knew the effect generation loss would have on the neurodivergent community

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xecutivecucumber · 2 months

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Executive Cucumber's thoughts on the Bad Batch episode 3×08 (spoilers after the cut)

Forgive me if these thoughts are less coherent than usually, I'm pretty freaking tired atm. Thoughts are as much in order as I can manage.

Firstly, this episode was a much needed, lower emotionally charged break from the last...seven episodes of the season. The thing about stories is that they can't be running at warp 9 the entire time. It will burn your audience out. Heck, I'm at a lower energy, transitiatory part of my long fic. So yeah, this episode didn't cause the emotional damage and stress that the last 7 did, but that's a good thing.

Omega has the neurodivergent ✨️leg jiggle✨️

Poor dear needs a hug and for someone to free the Tantiss clones.

PHEE MY QUEEN

Crosshair's face when Omega says 'liberator of ancient wonders' I love him.

Okay, I know that a lot of people are upset about Phee not being more emotional about Tech. I've got a few thoughts on that. My expectations going into the scene with her was that she wasn't going to be mentioning Tech. So when she did, I was really happy. She doesn't need to bring him up in the conversation, but she does.

So let's dive a little deeper into this. There are only two people who have brought up Tech without any prompting so far: Echo and Phee. Omega only mentions him when it's a direct answer to Crosshair's question. Hunter, Crosshair, and Wrecker have not mentioned him once by name. Now, I think this is because Echo and Phee have both known loss and know better how to handle it. The rest of the Batch hasn't, before Tech. We have watched practically all of Echo's loss, but not Phee's. However, we know that Pabu is a place for refugees, which Phee likely is. She's lost at least a home, if not family and friends. Add on top of that Phee is just in general a world wide person, and I think we can assume that she's someone who's got a more healthy way of processing grief than our emotionally stunted soldiers.

Something that you do with people that you've loved and lost is remember them. That's what I see Phee doing here. She's managed to process her grief in the last 4 months, and she's keeping the memory of someone she cared about alive by mentioning him in conversation.

So yeah. I liked that scene and it warmed my Tech/Phee loving heart.

Anyways,

Oooooh Fennec!!!

I love Crosshair not knowing anything but it also makes me sad.

Hunter: try to get Crosshair to get his hand looked at

Omega: what do you mean 'try'

Thoughts on Crosshair and Omega scenes:

What did my poor boy go through????

Poor man is probably resisting the idea that it's in his head because he already HAD a thing in his head that ruined his life

Omega: you don't like anything

Crosshair: true

Your honor I would die for them. Also I find his 'true' to be a little sad (and adorable)

OMG THEY'RE MEDITATING (and they have somehow stolen YET ANOTHER thing from my fic, this time before I've even gotten past the concept stage)

Omega: you missed a lot

Crosshair: I know

He's thinking of Tech in that moment.

Oh my gosh her hand on his and how he lets her move his hand THEY ARE TRYING TO KILL ME.

The Bad Batch says take care of your mental

Thoughts about Space Everglades:

I really loved Wrecker this episode. He really got to shine. He has the most banter with Fennec, he gets to do his demo thing, he freaking curb stomps space alligators, and he's the MVP in getting the bug man. It was really nice. Also, 'YOU HEARD ME!!!!' Let Wrecker go feral.

Bro, I really liked the bar music. I like seeing more of the music that plays in universe.

Wrecker and Hunter are definitely having flashbacks to Cid this entire episode. Except Fennec gives them more intel.

Fennec is a delight as always.

My prediction to who she's selling them out to? Ventress. And I don't think Ventress' intentions are bad.

So yeah, a solid episode! I'm honestly probably going to leave a lot of the star wars subreddits just to avoid everyone and their dog complaining about filler. Which this was NOT.

And as the next episode is called the Harbinger, I feel like this might be one of our last breaths before the plunge and everything goes sideways.

Oh, and in case you forgot. Tech lives ❤️

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drainslo · 2 months

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Brains & Brain: Chapter 4: Nightmares

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You repeat in your head, a shooter, before you’re overwhelmed. The gunshots are all you can hear, and reality starts to distort as your ears ring. “Run!” a woman in heels screams before she’s gunned down. You barely stumble behind a car before the shots hit the spot where you just were.

Everything is so dizzy, you can’t keep steady. The scene before you blurs as you hear the screams of agony of a man on the floor. There’s a bullet hole in his chest, yet he’s still screaming. It’s clear to you that he wishes he was dead like the shooter next to him.

You’re standing with a gun pointed out. Your hands are shaking as you follow the trail of the gun to the man on the floor. He’s looking at you, swearing something inaudible as the world keeps spinning.

You think that you’re going to fall through the cracks until you feel the hand of Niragi behind you. He grabs your shoulder and says something inaudible. You turn around to look at him when he vanishes. The bloodied man is in his place with blood streaming down his face. He’s screaming in your face and you cover your head, wishing for it all to end.

With a jolt, you startled awake. Your head is pounding from the hangover from the other night. You wanted to drink to avoid it, but Chishiya’s reminder of the game triggered your nightmares again.

Just when you started to forget, he brought you back to hell.

You turned to the second bed that now occupied your room, half expecting to see Chishiya lying there. The sheets are neatly folded like nobody had ever been there. The starch of the sheets was ironed as if it were new.

At least Chishiya had the decency to leave you alone.

You changed your swimwear, and walked towards the fitness center to blow off some steam. You wanted to feel the physical burn of your muscles to replace the emotional anguish you woke up in.

As you walked, you noticed a woman in blue swimwear leaning against a column watching the direction you came from. She smoked a cigarette, and locked eyes with you.

She approached you, and waved like you were a familiar friend. This was the first time you had ever seen her in your life.

“Hi there! You’re (Name), right?” she grinned like there was an inside joke you were missing.

“Yes,” you said tentatively, unsure about her demeanor. “I’m (Name). And you are?” Your voice trailed off in confusion.

“Wow, he didn’t mention me at all.” the woman murmured under her breath. She was so quiet you almost missed it.

“I’m Kuina! I’ve heard you’re like the spades player! I’ve been looking for someone to spar with. I used to do Kyokushin Karate in the real world, and I feel rusty.”

Her warm tone and friendliness relieved your uneasiness, but you still felt that there was something missing. You shook off the feeling and smiled at her. To you, she seemed like a genuinely good person, so there shouldn’t have been any reason to feel that way.

“I’m not really that great, I’m the lowest ranking executive after all. I just clear spades here and there. I just like to keep my physical fitness up in my free time. I haven’t practiced Karate really in a while. I stopped in college because I didn’t have time,” you replied.

“There’s always time to shake the rust off! Come on, I know a place to practice” Kuina said and linked arms with you, guiding you towards an empty room you hadn’t known about.

You chattered pleasantly with her throughout the way, and you felt a friendship begin to form between you two. The anxious feeling from your stomach lessened with every step you took until you entered the room.

Kuina abruptly detached your arms to assume a fighting stance and smiled at you expectantly. “Well?”

You mimicked her stance, and laughed lightly. “Don’t expect much from me,” you warned.

“You can’t be that bad!” was Kuina’s reply.

You hoped you weren’t.

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After losing to Kuina, you rubbed the parts of your body that were aching. You weren’t awful, you were just very out of practice with sparring. It made you feel better to release some steam after fighting with Kuina. The nightmare felt like a distant memory.

Kuina apologized for injuring you, and said, “Hey! You were pretty good for being rusty.”

You fought to grin but all you could manage was a disturbing grimace.

Kuina saw the expression on your face and burst out laughing. “God, you look like Chishiya when he tries to be nice!”

You froze at the mention of Chishiya’s name. Kuina noticed when you did and cursed under her breath. “I’m sorry, shit I wasn’t supposed to say that.”

“Say what?” you questioned. You had no idea how Kuina was involved with Chishiya, and you weren’t sure if you wanted to know.

“Um,” Kuina paused as if thinking about what to say next. “I like you, so I’ll be honest. I’m not exactly sure what happened between you two, but Chishiya told me to meet you here.”

“Why would he do that?” you prompted Kuina to continue.

“He vaguely said that you would need a nice person to be around, and he said if we reached an um cordial- his words not mine- point, to deliver a message. He wanted to express that he regretted the words he said to you.”

You immediately began to laugh at the way Chishiya apologized. “He couldn’t say this himself?”

Kuina cracked an uneasy smile. “I know you don’t know Chishiya that well, but he has his own ways of doing things. I don’t think he’s ever apologized for anything his entire life to be honest.”

A thought suddenly struck you after Kuina spoke.

“Kuina,” you said slowly. “Do you know that I’m sharing a room with Chishiya?”

Kuina’s smile slowly faded to horrified. “You? You’re the one who he’s rooming with? Oh my god.” She took a couple steps away from you and covered her mouth with her hand.

“He said that he was being considered for an executive position, and that Hatter made him room with someone, but he never told me who! God I’m so sorry,” Kuina said, looking truly apologetic. “Let me take you out for a drink tonight.”

You shook your head, your faint headache serving as a reminder of that morning. “I have a hangover,” you explained at her confused look.

“And I made you spar with me! Some other time then,” Kuina offered. She made a motion like she was looking at a watch, but there was nothing on her wrist. “Look at the time, I have to go!” she said and quickly darted away before you could say anything.

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For the next week, Chishiya didn’t enter the room you shared. You weren’t sure if you were disappointed or relieved. Kuina was true to her word, and brought you to the Beach’s bar a couple days later. She showed up at your room without explanation, and dragged you to the bar.

It was a pleasant experience because Kuina was so nice, but you did notice that she didn’t bring up Chishiya again.

You woke up Tuesday morning to find Chishiya sitting at the office chair where you first met him. You instinctively grabbed blankets to cover yourself but he didn’t turn your way.

Hearing the movement from your bed, Chishiya broke the silence of the morning before you could even process his presence. “I’ve been reading on shooting techniques, and I’ve concluded that without proper time commitment, I am essentially a lost cause.”

He paused before continuing. “Meeting once a week won’t be suitable for me to become experienced enough to be useful in an actual situation.”

You blinked before the gravity of his words hit you. Chishiya wasn’t acknowledging what had happened last time you met, or Kuina. He was only focused on his ability to learn how to shoot. It was like your feelings didn’t matter, and he only prioritized the amount of time it took for him to become decent with a gun.

“So you want us to meet more frequently,” you said slowly. You weren’t sure if you could handle him in large doses.

To your surprise, Chishiya shook his head. “Only Tuesdays are fine. I would appreciate being able to go in my free time.”

His statement made you more uneasy. The shooting range was only for militants, and Chishiya wasn’t even supposed to have access to guns. He could get you in trouble if he were caught by someone.

“I could tell you when the militants are playing games, but that’s the best I can do for you,” you said.

Chishiya nodded. “That’s more than fine. I’m aware that this is a large ask after the last time we met. If you would let me, instead of meeting to shoot today I’d like to meet with you in the evening at the bar.”

You didn’t want to guess how Chishiya knew that you frequently hung around the bar. Maybe he got the idea from Kuina. You thought that this was another way to express that he felt remorse for his actions, and you weren’t going to deny him the opportunity to buy you a drink.

“I’ll meet you later,” you said, and he walked out of the room.

—-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chishiya stopped by like Kuina, without warning or knocking, and you silently followed him to the bar.

“The usual?” the bartender asked you when you sat down. You nodded at him, and Chishiya said that he would be getting the same.

“How do you know what I’m getting?” you asked Chishiya, wrinkling your brow.

“I don’t.”

You sat in silence before the bartender brought you both your drinks. As you sipped your martini, you felt that it became unbearable. You decided to offer Chishiya a vague explanation.

“When I played the nine of spades, that was my hardest game I’ve ever played. It was how I met Niragi,” you said, and downed your entire drink shortly after.

Chishiya looked contemplative at what you had just said. “Any game with Niragi would be difficult,” he said dryly, earning a laugh from you.

“Niragi isn’t that bad, he’s just a little dramatic sometimes,” you smiled and ordered another drink from the bartender. You thought fondly of Niragi, but for some reason you hadn’t really run into him recently. Every time you saw him he made weak excuses to go, and he always seemed eager to leave any conversation.

“Is the nine of spades how you got your executive position?” Chishiya asked, abruptly interrupting your train of thought.

You nodded and squeezed your glass nervously. “It was. I don’t know if it was worth the price.”

You fell into silence with Chishiya once more, and the bartender brought over drink after drink. Anytime you were reminded of the nine of spades, you drank more than usual. You talked lightly with Chishiya about your life before the Borderlands, and he didn’t say much. The lack of banter seemed odd.

It was like he became a completely different person overnight.

He was a very good listener, you realized. You became less and less aware of what you were talking about as you drank more.

You thought that at some point you got up and started walking. You felt a couple pushes of hands steading you. It was like walking through a mirror maze, but less fun.

Everything blurred together until it was morning again, and you woke up in your room without feeling anything. No nightmares, you thought gratefully. The problem with not having any nightmares was that you had to be practically black-out drunk to achieve it.

But if you were that drunk, somebody had to bring you back. You turned to the right to find Chishiya sleeping in the second bed in your room, his face tranquil and relaxed.

A/N: I realized this chapter is super long compared to the others!! I actually mapped out the plot chap by chap so now the chapters are going to be longer :)

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softesttangerines · 6 months

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Lately, i've been so into the evil!shanks theory which gives for angsty headcanons that end up unresolved lol

Anyways, since I'm mostly new to the fandom i didnt know it was an ongoing theory untill i told my friend about it yesterday and she was like yep, congrats, you figured one of the fandom's longest running theories.

In everyone's defense, he's super shady, also the latest scene with him checking luffy's latest bounty was chill inducing, like i'm genuinely not feeling my man here lol.

Anyways, there goes something.

Mishanks dont work out, the longing and yearning is there but they both know that in this life, there's no chance for them to happen.

For all the reputation that red shanks has as this ultimate nice dude for a pirate, who's so strong but above all is a peace maker and thrives for it, Mihawk knows him best. He's been the most intimate with him since their young age.

When he meet the young boy after Roger's execution, the kid was just full of anger and rage none would associate with today's Shanks. Sure, everyone knew not to provoke a lion now but also he happened to grow up into a man that knows how to handle and conceal his emotions, not like the 15 years old kid that couldnt help but show the darkness in his expression.

Mihawk back then chucked it to the death of a parent figure of the boy. His idea of cheering him up was by distracting him with a duel once he saw the sword Shanks carried.

For the short period from their mid' and late teenagehood, Shanks went back to what Mihawk assumed he used to be before the loss he suffered. A happy go lucky, mischievous little pirate gremlin. The boy seemed to really enjoy his duels with Mihawk and keeps on pestering him about meeting more often to which Mihawk couldn't help but to oblige due to fondness he grew for the red head.

When Shanks turned nineteen, it was like something shifted. It felt like the boy was indulging himself a liberty he couldn't afford for so long and now he snapped out of it. They still met as often, they still had their duels but something was wrong with his boy, the underlying darkness he met in the 15years old long ago was back, much more subtle but it was still there nonetheless. Something about him looked as if he was shouldering the weights of the world.

Mihawk, as much as he wanted to reach out, to try and understand, he thought better against it. Shanks was a grown up now, and if he wanted Mihawk in, he wouldnt act like the little pupp he used to be.

Years went by, and the two went through long periods of not meeting, from a year to a couple of years. Mihawk busy beating everyone for the title of the best, feeding Yoru what she thirsts for, a capable opponent and a worthy challenger. While Shanks, taking to the seas with his crew.

Busy, whenever they met, Shanks always seemed satisfied, telling him he's so close to what he's looking for. Mihawk didn't know what the boy was looking for but if it's making him happy he wont question it.

That was untill the day Shanks lost his arm. Seeing the vivre card burn, Mihawk never felt such urgency and panic before. He wasn't a fool, a pirate life meant your life could end any minute and yet, he never had a reason to not trust Shanks to be strong enough and stay alive or the red force to give everything for their captain. When he got to him, Shanks seemed barely bothered by the loss of the limb, in fact, he seemed in quite the mood, like a cat that got the last drop of milk. "I've betted all i have and left it for fate, my friend, and i have a feeling fate is on my side this time." He said to him, the darkness from before there, this time with a glint of madness.

Mihawk wasn't one to be scared, but he'd be lying is he said he wasn't right now. Not for his life, never. But of what Shanks was becoming, what has become of his boy, untill when was he gonna pretend that Shanks wasn't plotting something in the dark that would undoubtedly be the ruin of them.

Mihawk always knew that what they have was time limited, and maybe it was time for it to expire. He had no interest in whatever Shanks is getting up to. He could ruin the whole world and he wouldn't stop him, but he doesnt necessarily want to be involved. He has always been relatively lazy and barely had any interest on things that weren't swords, wine or a certain red head. World demise schemes were nothing he signed up for, unless Shanks asked him to? Because he would join him if asked, he'd do anything, but Shanks didnt ask and Mihawk didnt and wont offer either.

Shanks might be fooling a little boy with a straw hat and the entire world with him but he wasn't fooling Mihawk. Shanks knew all they had was borrowed time but for now, he'd enjoy it before he would run out of time.

In the near future, much more important things would need his attention, and the swordsman would be but a warm memory he'd rather not tarnish.

#mishanks #i spoke about this briefly in the tags of a previous post #i just wanted to elaborate #it's 2.30am and i wrote this instead of sleeping so ignore my usual typos #one piece #opla #mihawk #shanks #dracule mihawk #akagami no shanks

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lephamquynhnhu · 8 days

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Panacea

Chapter 6: Latent cinders

Dan Feng x Fem!Reader

WARNINGS/ TAGS: The reader has a default name, OOC, mentioned blood, violence. (This is a work of fanfiction, events are not aligned or relevant to the original work)

Word count: 2k2

Summary: He met you on a drizzling day when hydrangea fully bloomed on its field. Amidst the sea of mild pastel petals, Dan Feng never thought the flowery domain that intertwined your fate was the precise thing withered with you. They said he was a dragon, a hero, a sinner, but never a person with love, hatred, sorrow, or joy like everyone else in this world. However, it was a demi-truth. He committed the cardinal sin because of you.

Note: Finally, I am back! My thesis defense went successfully, and I immediately returned to finish this story. Thank you to readers who still follow Panacea.

Do you like...depression?

As if the tragedy found you everywhere like hawks snipped corpses, it bore fangs into your throat til the end when another dire scene unfolded right before your very eyes. They bombarded the Devourers' base to destroy the minimum trace of their shameful project and covered the truth permanently. Although this was a predictable outcome you had already foreseen, it was unbearable to witness everything transformed into cinders. You numbly stood in the world of sorrow and ashes as your feet rooted into the ground, air frosted in your lungs.

When the last survivor of Devourers after Denizen of Abundance III thought of suicide, a weak sound crackled under the ruins, which attracted you rushing toward the source. Ignoring the tingling sensation that burnt your bare hands, you dug through opaque objects and black charcoal until Pumpkin's wet nose touched your scratched fingers. However, precarious happiness quickly dissolved into thin air like bubbles as you realized he was dying. A glass jar fell off his jaw when Pumpkin left some fragile whines to roll the inhibit serum to you. His golden fur got burnt because the flame touge fired half of the dog's body, and a ribcage bone pierced his liver. Beneath the wreckage were Pumpkin's footprints blurring on black soil, which translated that he could have run away but chose to return to retrieve the inhibited serum and got stuck.

Your veins nearly popped out since you were compressing the sentiment. You did not want Pumpkin to see your tears, so you stayed strong til his last breath. Nevertheless, you could not hold back anymore as he licked your hand, and Pumpkin's soul left the world full of ashes.

As if things were not even worse, Yaoqing soldiers appeared in the nick of time you were mourning over the last member's death. Your head felt empty, and all energy surged out when they handcuffed you to lead out the crumble base. Upon the shrinking display, crows started hovering around Pumpkin to knock their beaks, and some of the flock found a fine seat to feat. Members of Devourers of Abundance Abominations did not have a proper grave when they died, and neither should you. Perhaps the Yaoqing Authorities would order a butcher to execute you in private with a burial service called vultures or keep you alive to research another biological weapon of the next generation. (More talent and more preeminent.)

A psychological voice vibrated scatter clauses snapped you out of the nullifying state: "I always dreamt of a field with bloom hydrangea." and "Please live happily from now on."

Huang Yuan guaranteed not to divert the holy arrow toward Xianzhou, yet he did not assure of unsighted loyalty. With your now completed heart that attained human emotions, Yaoqing's action was the last straw of your tolerance, which led to the decision to become a deserter.

The raven wings smote into the thick ambiance and soared through dark trees when they heard the wind seething. Their inky feathers took time to levitate over the monochromatic scenery and landed ground soundlessly.

Before fleeing from your homeland, you implemented a proper burial for Pumpkin and others. Nothing existed besides ruins, crypts, and dried blood on the soil. There was no evidence of struggles.

Yaoqing publicized your identification and declared your wanted posters across Xianzhou ships, even spreading them to their friendship planets with the crime of murdering six Cloud soldiers and desertating. Nonetheless, you cleverly stowed away on a merchant ship traverse to Talia and fabricated your papers. Thanks to the unstable regime, you could easily steal a certified ID card and then live under a camouflage named Yi Ting for years. When things settled down, and the Yaoqing assumed your death due to the short longevity of Devourers, they revoked wanted orders but deported your existence instead.

It is hard to be in exile, yet you do not feel regrettable. Living in Zhuming for three years, learning gardening, and studying some botanical effects to suppress your symptoms, you moved to Loufu.

Since the upheaval on that Spring night, you and Dan Feng have officially been together but in secret. Despite comprehending and being aware of your sins circumstantially, he decided to stay by his guilty lotus. As for you, it is a miracle as you can breathe even surpassing your due date long ago, yet the stone still burdens the High Elder's shoulder when your health goes downward. None of his treatments affect your state, as well as the imitated serum. In contrast, you are well informed about your limited time but accept the upcoming death and enjoy the rest days.

Tomorrow is the tenth ceremony of winning Denizen of Abundance III, and you want to do the soul-soothing ritual for your comrades. Because you finally let old memories go and are ready to bid them a proper goodbye. At first, the Long Scion hesitates to follow your wish since the windy weather might impact your delicate status, yet opposing his beloved determination, Dan Feng gives in.

"If I sense any abnormal signs, we will return immediately."

He places the test tube down to gently cup your face, and a familiar influx of ambergris with fresh herb flies from his sleeves; he smells like tranquility as always. A short implied hum drumming through your chest, vibrant the vocal fold as you close your eyes to lean on the comfortable heat that Dan Feng radiates off.

Maroon and scarlet added some citric flavor of lemony yellow that notifies another lustrous Autumn. Luofu's landscape endues its seasonal cloth with the mellow air of juicy grass as you and the Long Scion stroll to the town. Xianzhou natives are busy preparing their last things for the special ceremony, which even causes a more vibrant ambiance than usual days.

You are excited to explore new aspects of Aurum Alley after days of lying in bed while Imbibitor Lunae trailing behind with a paper fan. A plain texture of ivory hue painted white lotus and writing a stanza poem by ancient letters. The embroidered crane wings seemingly move simultaneously with his actions. You find it bizarre to see him wear other accessories besides his single earring, but Dan Feng looks unexpectedly ronin.

After the High Elder turns his heels to buy some sweets at a nearby delicacy pavilion, an outstanding story of Xiyan reaches your ears and catches your wandering mind.

"Devourers of Abundance Abominations was an undead army that had contracted with Yaoshi in return for their pseudo immortality. The mercenary served under different lords in the cosmos and eventually betrayed them. However, their existence abruptly disappeared when those gist monsters fought for the enemy's side in Denizen of Abundance III. Some said the Reignbow Arrow wiped out..."

Enough of hearing a bunch of absurdity, so you cannot help but charge at Xiyan's collar and curse his story. Despite the excavating status, your eyes are bloodshot with murderous intention gleaming in irises, and your long-forgotten muscles progressively grow under the black gloves. Upon that quarrel, the crowd assembles due to human curiosity.

"You mundane did not know anything about them and dared to mislead other people with your nonsense fairy tale? Devourers did not contract with the Plague Author to exchange for their blessings! They are human, and they are Xianzhou citizens! The Yao..." - This time is your voice trailing off at the forbidden name as a familiar hand stays firm on your shoulder to awaken your sanity.

"I'm so sorry. My niece seems still under the effects of History Fictionologists and oblivious to the proper history." - The Long Scion quickly intercepts with a made-up reason to explain on behalf of you for causing the ruckus, and his protective arm wraps around you as a habit to prevent the counter gets any further. The ill-intent aura that you are giving off coils inside its cell as you mutter a decent apology quietly and then blend in.

On the road to the Exalting Sanctum, you savor a sweet skewer Dan Feng handed over with a crestfallen face in muteness. All the joy seemingly disappeared after your encounter with Xiyan, so you two had better keep silent.

Lining up your long-arm comrades' mementos to send off is another challenging task since touching them again meaning open the old wound. They did not leave any specific tools that belonged to them; if they had, their possessions returned to voidness. Thus, using things that remind you of them is most appropriate. Irene's Polaroid, Huang Yuan's photo, the comms device you last saw Jia Xi, and the promise you could not complete: Zi Wen's proposing ring. The nose bridge starts stingingly burning hot as you brush against the cheap metal. He must put all effort into creating his sacred vow to Irene, yet it is unsent forever.

Your paper lantern airily ascends aloft and mixes with others, illuminating a solemn beige color that carries away people's sentiments. Watching them flow into a celestial river that flies across the cerulean sky, a glassy teardrop unknowingly rolls down your chin. Imbibitor Lunae pensively follows the glittering stream and holds your hand without diverting his gaze because he knows you do not want him to look at you.

The sole solace you can seek from outsiders is Dan Feng's firm grip.

Evening light is dense like a veil of maltose, pouring under the gravel path, and sometimes stones crunching under your shoes. People and inhabitants are getting loose with the new moon vaguely manifests, and the Big Dipper is over their heads. In this hour, the red velvet sun does not just glare upon realms below but also dyes maple trees into a crimson hue, shrouding you in the warm color of late Autumn. While you and Dan Feng stride back to the Faery Forest, an unexpected wind blowing through causes the scenery to quiver, and then maple leaves compete to fall. Unable to resist the poetic spectacle, your doe eyes morph from admiration to excitement as you dart forward to dance in the scarlet drizzle. When twirling around to find the High Elder, you bring along a glittering gold halo that gleams around, and he figures that his world has shrunk to your blissful smile in that momentary. However, strict wrinkles start forming as Dan Feng rushes toward you to aid your balance, indicating your free time is overdue.

You two then take a break and watch the sunset together at a nearby wooden pavilion. The precedent breeze seems harsher than you thought because the Long Scion's disheveled hair now entangles with a red maple leaf, but he looks unbothered. You tenderly comb the long locks by hand and secretly commend its velvety between your fingers.

"Feng, will you place a flower on my grave when I die?" - The enthralling activity may cast a spell on you as the sentence jumps out before you realize it. In contrast, a slight reprimand tone in Imbibtor Lunae's stern voice suggests that he is unwilling to engage in that topic, yet it is counter-productive since you want to press it further. An annoying feeling tingles on his visage when hearing that question twice, so Dan Feng leans forward to prevent you from the third chance to repeat. You immediately retreat behind like instinct and place both hands on his chest to stop him.

"We are in public!" - Your hiss is no louder than a whisper as the astonishment trucked you with his boldness since the High Elder never wishes to attract crowd attention. Even if there is no one around, it is still a modicum possibility that people may catch. Nonetheless, your resistance is futile when Dan Feng's arm hugs behind to pull you closer, and his other hand opens the paper fan to make a flowery triptych, shielding your kiss from outsiders' eyes. The freshness and lightly spicy flavor of cinnamon with mellow sweetness like honey causes you to feel weak, and your heart quivers to the point of ache.

"I won't let that happen." - You could hear the message loud and clear through his movement. Despite your lifespan getting its due day and there is no way the High Elder is capable of reversing death, you want to believe in his words. He silently puts a square box into your hand and encourages you to open it with a nervous emotion that carefully hides beneath his usual stoic face.

A pair of earrings made from emeralds and share the same design as his. Their colors are as glassy as Autumn pond, as green as his eyes. Yesterday, Imbibitor Lunae gifted you three stocks of brocade and two meters of peach silk; today is the pledge of love.

"You really do want to marry me?"

"Yes. Please promise you will watch maple leaves with me next year, the next ten years, and every year."

The sound of Celest-Gold rings deafening around the restrained milieu, prevailing forthcoming footsteps. Under the dullness and stuffiness of Premilinary jail, Dan Feng finally found a clue to cure your lethal condition. That is the reason why he accepted to testify Primus Immortus. The prisoner is soon to be transferred to the Shakle jail due to the crime of Production of the Elixir of Immortality.

#honkai star rail fanfic #honkai star rail x reader #hsr fanfic #honkai star rail x you #hsr x reader #hsr x you #dan feng x reader #dan feng x you #dan feng fanfic #hsr dan feng #hsr dan feng x reader

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floating--goblin · 5 months

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Oh now I have too. Sister Imperator thoughts? I want to hear them all.

My time has come

Obviously, she is not a good person. We can all agree on that.

HOWEVER

Firstly I just love the way she's written. It would've been very easy to make her a purely "Thatcher-esque" sort of figure (in Toblerone's own words), but she's got a surprising amount of depth

The one sequence I keep rotating in my brain at full speed is in Kiss The Go-Goat because it packs so much character in like 2 minutes, right? She's watching Nihil and she looks proud, almost triumphant. Secure in the relationship. The way she holds her hand over her stomach also tells us she knew at that point that she was pregnant, and she was happy about it; and she attacks the smoking woman probably because she didn't want to risk exposing her child to that

And this was the 60s/70s, tobacco was still pretty popular/not widely condemned yet-- especially in the kind of circles she must've been running in thanks to the band. So she was being really careful

I think she was a very protective mother, we see that in the present too with how she dotes on Copia even after he's grown. And I think she might've been a little smothering, but not outright controlling or manipulative; she and Copia have a cordial relationship which I think is a result of them never being able to "officially" be a family, not because their relationship was toxic. It's just strained because fundamentally, they're strangers to one another.

But the love is there.

That's the most painful part about her story, in my opinion-- it's just full of loves never realized. You can see how attached she is to Copia, and it's clear from the way she interacts with Nihil that they never let go of one another

Hell, by the time they got together, Nihil had to have had his first three sons already, and I doubt Sister didn't know about them. It didn't put her off because they really did have a spark, Nihil just ruined it.

On that note, imagine what it would've been like had they stayed together. Would she have cared for the brothers? Would they have been a family? Makes me insane to think about

Also on that note, I'm truly fascinated by that one scene in the Summoning where Terzo shows up and Sister looks actually afraid. And this woman's done... a lot in her life, judging by her position in the Ministry and how casually she's able to have three men executed.

So I think Terzo was a little more aware of her than his brothers, I think he saw through her the way no one else did and I think that might've also played a part in the way he ended up

Because Terzo specifically being decapitated has always been an odd choice to me, but it looks like an intentional decision-- sort of making an example to him, or taking his head as a trophy like a hunter would

I actually think that's exactly why she went to that extreme, too; sure, they might've been "failures" as Papas, but they didn't need to get killed and stuffed and paraded around. No, it was all meant to send a message-- directed at Nihil specifically. Because, while he might not have been the most dedicated father, he does seem a bit affected by the execution; so maybe, somewhere deep down, he was attached to his sons

And if that were the case, then no one would know it better than Sister. She knows this man inside and out and knew where to strike. Sure, it might not have been something so severe he never recovered from it, but I think it still got the message across. Eye for an eye or something, y'know? If Copia never got to be a part of the family, then he'd at least be the last survivor.

Because they truly did not need to be killed. Copia had already been appointed as Terzo's successor, and there was no way the Clergy was gonna bring back the previous Papas, so nothing was threatening rat boy's position. Sister just had a lot of cold wrath and loose ends, and she dealt with all of that in one fell swoop

But, all these things considered, I love that her character isn't one-note. Her past's pretty tragic, but she's not been reduced to either her loving side or her calculated, ruthless one

She's obviously a very strong leader, and obviously still in love with Nihil even beyond his death, but neither of those things define her or can stop her from achieving what she really wants. Which is to get even and to get her son his birthright.

And fuck, she did that! You go grandma!!!

Okay now we're getting deep into the realm of headcanon, speculation and personal interpretation, which I realize are 100% illogical but I got brain worms

I feel like you can see traces of Sister Imperator and Nihil all over Copia's era.

The way so many love songs came out during his time, the way a lot of his songs feel like they could've been written by Nihil... I get that it's the same people writing all the songs, but like

Copia's albums, especially Impera, just feel very close in style to the two songs we have from Nihil

Respite and MOAC feel like sister tracks and when I try to explain that I sound insane but just hear me out right. Respite is like a less horny MOAC, they both have this bittersweet tone and talk about running away together

Which is weird for Respite considering the rest of the song is about fuckin Jack the Ripper! "I'll be the shadow / You'll be the light" could so easily fit Nihil and Imperator, since she guided him onto this path and remains to this day a leading force, while he was the dark face of the Ministry

also it reprises imperium at the end, and imperium's tied to kaisarion, which some people (me included) theorize represents copia

Darkness at the Heart of My Love is also an honorable mention, because it just sounds like something Nihil would've written in his youth

"Now paint a pair of eyes", while Imperator was the one to give him the white eye?? Hello??

Also Impera. Just the whole album name. Come on now

Basically I just feel like Copia, through his music, briefly reunited his parents. Symbolically at least

idk man just do me a favor and listen to these tracks and imagine it's nihil singing them. it makes sense it Clicks

I GOT THE RED STRING AND THE CORKBOARD OUT I'M CONNECTING THE DOTS

Lastly, I'm convinced that if she doesn't die soon (which I think is likely), she'd definitely bite someone's head off to keep Copia safe now that he's retired. This woman would tear Hell apart with her bare hands for her son, you can't change my mind

#the band ghost #sister imperator #sorry this took so long ugh my brain is a mess all the time #I'M STILL NEW HERE IF I FUCKED ANYTHING UP I'M SORRY

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freneticfloetry · 11 months

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tarlos top five

@rmd-writes asked for my top five tarlos scenes, and after some soul searching (because season four shook some shit up), my list is as follows:

4x16 | “Hi. You’re TK, I’m Carlos, and we’re soulmates.”

GAMECHANGER. Yes, it confirmed what most of us already knew: Carlos was gone from the first second. But the execution is so beautiful, from the impetus to the ease and certainty of Carlos’ declaration to TK’s confession in turn (“why do you think I ran?” is the most TK Strand way ever to do this, and oddly enough, the easiest to believe). My favorite thing, though, will forever be the exact way this was worded and performed — that “Hi,” which is unrivaled levels of perfection (seriously, it sits somewhere between addressing a lost child and a spooked puppy, which is just brilliant as a line read, and every time I hear it I want to toss flowers at Rafa’s feet), but more than that, the fact that he says “you’re TK” before introducing himself, because the most important thing to Carlos is that TK know who he is first. True love at its finest.

3x04 | “Hey, baby. Breathe. Breathe, breathe.”

This was, up until the season three finale, the most fanfic shit I have ever seen aired on national television. Seriously, this is straight out of somebody’s multi-chapter slow burn whump fic wet dream, and watching it live, I was living. His raspy voice. Those hands clenched into terrified little fists. That breathing. The script said “he takes a deep breath” and Rafa was like “BET.” But beyond that, we had that whole bedside missive with Carlos lamenting about consent — that he couldn’t hold TK’s hand, run his fingers through his hair, kiss his head. And the fact that coma TK heard all this, woke up and reached out his hand as permission, and then Carlos did all those things, in that order… Deceased. It still gives me fits. (I am also counting the Tarloft reveal as part of this favorite moment, because I can’t not. “Push” is just perfection.)

4x18 | “We both ended our vows with ‘heart.’”

The vows. The dancing. The Sondheim serenade. The cake cutting (which I’m counting as aired-in-canon, dammit, because it is beyond precious). The honeymoon hand holding. Just, the wedding. All of it.

3x13 l “I love you.” “I know.”

They went Han and Leia on me and it wasn’t even cheesy. Honestly, this whole episode was so important to their growth — their sense of security, their confidence and understanding in each other — to their story, that it couldn’t be left out. Carlos realizes that the best way to help TK is to let him get help where he needs it, even if it leaves him feeling a little helpless, and TK realizes that he still has someone in his corner who’s invested in him, his sobriety, and his happiness, even with his mom gone. The fact that that “I know” holds so much meaning (all while “Transatlanticism” plays on)… Gah. Just beautiful. And on top of all that, Carlos got to be funny!

3x18 | “Marry me.”

“For the first time in my life, the love that I feel is infinitely more powerful than the fear of losing it.” Yep, that’s where I lost it. Because I thought back to baby TK in 1x08, who was being a dick to a cancer dog because he couldn’t fall in love with one more thing that he could lose. The growth. The maturity. The love. 3:18 am, y’all. (The engagement reveal counts as an extension of this as well, because that entire adorable “yes way” exchange between Team Tarloft, with Carlos grinning and TK bouncing and everybody figuring it out from context clues but Mateo is officially the most fanfic thing I’ve ever seen aired on national television, and I love it beyond reason and measure.)

Honorable mention shoutouts to the police station and the airport tarmac, which were knocked down the list by season four things. I still love you!

Tagging @ambiguouspenny, @hoko-onchi-writes, and @mixtapestar, because I know they haven’t been yet.

#tarlos top five #meme #tarlos #911 lone star

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hydriotaphia · 9 months

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With thanks (and apologies) to @rebelrebelwrites for borrowing her formatting. She has great Friday fic recs if any of you are also in Haladriel fandom.

Dark!Anthony Bridgerton fic recs

If you read my stuff you know my tastes often run to the dark, so here are some Dark!Anthony fics to get you through your own midweek slump.

The Classic You’ve Heard Of And Hopefully Have Read: A Devil's Love by formerlyir

Kate goes undercover as a waitress to find her sister, Edwina, who's vanished from one of Crime boss!Anthony's clubs. This fic keeps the beats of the original show with both Kate and Anthony focused on their families, keeps the discrepancies in their wealth and status, their comparable losses, and Edwina feeling betrayed by Anthony. And yet, it is its own complete and delicious world with intrigue, deception and the wariness they both bring to the undeniable connection building between them. On top of that, the sex is scorching hot, all ferocity and physicality, plus one of the earliest breeding kinks I remember in Kanthony fic. This one is the least dark if you want to dip your toe in this water first.

Complete, Rated Explicit

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The AU That Lives In My Head Rent-Free: Doomsday by penny_loaf

Penny always has fascinating premises and this one shakes the whole idea of Kanthony on its head. Edwina is looking for an escape from the every day grind and she finds it in secret explosive sex submitting to her sister's ex-boyfriend, Anthony. It opens mise en scene and doesn't let up from there - the opening is brain-searingly hot. This Anthony is an addictively seductive dom and they both go into the arrangement with eyes open. The darkness comes from the emotional layers underneath what's otherwise a fantastic BDSM relationship. The whole fic plays with the building tension between how perfectly matched Anthony and Edwina are in the bedroom contrasted with the emotional sledgehammer of knowing that Anthony's still in love with Kate but that they couldn't make the sex work. It's incredibly rich for a short fic and when the inevitable happens, you may find you don't quite know how you want it to end.

Complete, Rated Explicit

The (Mesmerising) Darkest Anthony Timelines: Every Breath You Take and Tainted Love by 55anon

These are both stand-out Dark-thony fics from Anon55 and there's nothing else quite like it for Kanthony.

Every Breath You Take is a series spin off an AU where Anthony and Kate meet when they're very young but are forced apart because she is not considered a suitable match. Ten years later, they meet again in a ballroom, much as in canon, as fundamentally changed people. Anthony cannot stay away and is determined to prove to Kate that he will not be swayed this time. His secret: in the intervening years, he has become London's most prolific serial killer. And delightfully, Kate is equally dark in this. Mind the warnings for Rape Roleplay and violence. So good!

Tainted Love is almost an AU of an AU where serial killer!Anthony is executed but a rumour begins to spread that his ghost is taking revenge on the living. This one is a doozy in terms of the supernatural elements, body horror, gore and violence but still with that unbreakable bond between Kate and Anthony - one that even death bows before. Mind the warnings but god, it's fascinating.

Complete, Rated Explicit

Kate as Genghis Khan! The Queen Who Loved Me by CherriesOnTheCake.

It's not strictly dark but it's amazing as a role reversal. I won't say more. If you haven't read it, let the story tell itself to you.

Complete, Rated Mature

You can see my other Bridgerton recs here.

#bridgerton season 2 #kate x anthony #edwina x anthony #fic recs #dark!fic

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archivalofsins · 1 year

Text

So, let's talk about the incident. Well, incidences.

Over the course of this I will be referring to Kayano, Mikoto's victims by Rock, Paper, and Scissors respectively. Depending on the path they appeared to use to enter the underpass. Rock coming in from the left nearest to Mikoto, Paper the middle path right in front of Mikoto, and Scissors from the right of Mikoto.

I believe this will make it easier for me to illustrate my point is a nice call back to Mono Poisoner and just more fun than typing victim # over and over. Now with all of that out of the way let's begin.

Beneath the light of an obscured moon Kayano, Mikoto planned a meet up with a yet to be identified individual. This individual will be referred to here as Paper. The assailant more than likely invited Paper to the underpass under false pretenses. They then proceeded to lie in wait with a baseball bat in hand until Paper arrived. There are three entries to the underpass. One to the right and left of the assailant and one directly in front of them. This is reminiscent of the three choices one has in the children's game referenced in the assailants first cover song rock, paper, scissors.

The assailant doesn’t know which direction his possible victims will be entering from. However, as long as they enter from either the right (scissors) or left (rock) they won’t be privy to what’s hidden between Kayano’s legs. Paper enters from the middle through a side road positioned directly in front of the assailant. Taking notice of the bat immediately. Paper runs from the scene but is caught by the assailant and bludgeoned to death.

We believe this to be a completely different victim than the one seen after the bat swing because of the presence of the sky behind Mikoto during the swing. Victim B (Scissors) stays directly beneath the underpass making seeing the sky like this impossible. Also, Scissors is displayed crawling forward on their stomach making the possibility of them seeing Mikoto at the angle shown above unlikely. This would also make the likelihood of Mikoto perceiving his victim seeing him in that light low as well.

The assailants second victim Scissors appears to be an unidentified male with blonde or light brown hair. Scissors seems to be a peer in age with the suspect probably between the ages of 19 to 23. Scissors enters from the right side and attempts to flee in the direction which they entered from.

They appear to have already sustained damage to one of their legs. They attempt to flee from their assailant by crawling forward with the use of their right and left arms but one of their legs appears to be unusually still. Upon realizing crawling will not be fast enough to escape they attempt to call out for help. However, their call is drowned out by the noise of a passing train.

The assailant takes their time with this watching the victim crawl away for a short period of time and heavily winding back their baseball bat before swinging it down on the victim’s head. Scissors is the only victim to have their physical appearance displayed throughout MeMe.

The third victim Rock seems to be the one the assailant had the most difficulty with. It should be noted that Mikoto’s position in the underpass is indicative of him being rock too. Imagery supported by his method of execution being bludgeoning. As such it is possible that his last victim was someone of the same level of strength as him if not more.

His last assault takes place on the night of a half-moon outside of the images of the moon that adorn the tarot cards this is the only true appearance of the moon we see in MeMe. Its appearance here could highlight that there may have been an amount of time that passed between altercations. We do not see the assailants first or last victims.

The blinking during the burying scene implies that the assailant may have begun burying their last victim while they were still alive. The assailant even stops while burying their victim to look down and check. It is at this point we see that the assailant has blood on their face.

Something to note here is that the utility pole from the attack at the beginning of MeMe can be seen behind the assailant’s head in this shot.

This shows that this attack was also carried out in the same location as the others. Linking the three of them together.

After Kayano looks over them the blinking stops and the assailant finishes burying the victim. This could imply that this victim unlike the others did not succumb to bludgeoning but instead dies of another cause like asphyxiation/suffocation or blood loss. This is the altercation we see the least of and Mikoto’s bat is not prominently displayed. Possibly meaning he was disarmed by the end of it and had to improvise.

Before after the altercations the assailant was in, he arrived home, removed his bloodstained clothes and ended the night relaxing watching tv. His face prominently in view. However, after this altercation the assailant begins to clean up any remaining evidence of their crimes.

During this process, his face and facial expressions remain obscured. He discards things that would tie him to scene like his bloodstained hat before going to shower. Over the course of the assaults the assailant wears the same clothes.

A white t-shirt with the hangman design on it, a pair of light brown sweatpants, with a hat and jacket. We see the assailant still wearing the same t-shirt and sweatpants as before as he discards the other evidence. Chances are that these items are so specific to the assailant that discarding them would cause more harm than good while the jacket and hat are more innocuous in nature.

We see the assailants face again when they are brushing their teeth and showering off blood. So, much blood in fact that it’s prominent in the water flowing down the drain.

The order in which information is displayed here should be interrogated. Because taking the imagery at face value one would be led to believe that the assailant killed the last victim went home disposed of the physical evidence on his person outside of his apartment and then went inside to wash the blood off of him.

Does anyone else recognize the problem with that framing of events? If this truly happened in that order then that would mean the assailant was walking around covered in blood as they disposed of the hat and other items. After going through all this trouble why would they risk being caught at the very end by walking around in such a state? Outside of what very well may be or is at least implied to be their own place of residence no less.

Taking that into consideration, the bathing scene we see in MeMe may very well come before the disposal of evidence. The blood on the assailant's face while showering is consistent with what we see on it when he's burying the last victim. That and when the assailant disposes of the evidence, his head is conveniently cropped out of the shot.

This could mean that the blood during the shower and within the tub is the assailants own. Given the amount of blood present, how the assailant's head is conveniently obscured in scenes after the altercation, and how they themself are portrayed reacting to seeing themselves lean head forward in front of the mirror.

There's a strong chance that the assailant suffered a head injury during what we presume to be his last altercation. While Mikoto Kayano is confirmed to have dissociative identity disorder, some of his memory loss appears to be consistent with that caused from blunt force trauma as well.

The assailant even admits to being forgetful far before the verdict begins to affect him and prior to his incarceration. Stating that recently it seems to have gotten worse.

Q.13 Do you tend to be forgetful?

Mikoto: Ahh…Lately it’s maybe happened a lot.

Did you know it's possible for a person to undergo two different forms of amnesia at once? Even though it's incredibly rare and tends to be applied to retrograde and anterograde amnesia. Mikoto's circumstances are much rarer, though. Simply because it begs the audience to question what is causing his lapse in memory when it comes to these events. Is it dissociative amnesia or amnesia brought about by physical injury?

If it is the first one, then the other Mikoto would be responsible for the murders. However, if it's the second. Then, the one directly responsible for the murders would have to be the individual fronting at the time. The one who would have sustained the injury. As we're shown, the other Mikoto is left unaffected by environmental incidents that affect Mikoto while he is not directly in control.

Meaning this would be definitive proof that Milgram, contrary to what Mikoto has been saying from the beginning, did get the right guy from the start. He just doesn't remember doing it because of the damage he himself sustained in the altercation. Something that can only be interrogated because of Mikoto's confirmed dissociative identity disorder.

This is because dissociative amnesia is heavily tied to the disorder. However, people can experience it and not necessarily have the disorder itself. Yet, people who also have dissociative amnesia can suffer amnesia from physical injury as well, just like anyone else. On top of still having issues related to dissociative amnesia.

If Mikoto started experiencing symptoms of d.i.d that went unrecognized, causing him to remain undiagnosed before the murders then it is possible that he'd suffered from small lapses in memory related to dissociative amnesia before and shrugged it off. Like oh must of forgot I put that there, huh I did this already.... Simple things that he was able to write off as basic forgetfulness for a certain period up until the point of this altercation.

Because instead of something that could be written off as basic forgetfulness and shrugged away. He was met with the startling realization that suddenly he didn't remember the past few days, maybe a week, or even months.

Isn't there something odd about some of the things Mikoto says during the first trial,

Mikoto: Uh, why am I here? Aren’t you getting the wrong person? Hmm.. Well I get to be released from work, and it’s not a bad feeling, but... If I lose my job because of this, you better take responsibility okay, Guard-kun?

Something that conflicts-

Mikoto: I have my own life, you know? And I just got accepted into the company that I was aiming for… If I get fired, you’ll have to take responsibility for that.

I just got accepted, well I get to be released from work... How can both of these statements be true? One implies that he'd been working at the company for a while. As such, it's not bad to get a bit of time off from that, but he doesn't want to be fired. Yet the second is him stating that he just got hired at the company he was aiming for.

Something that's especially telling since we know from the tarot cards in MeMe the second statement is a lie. He wasn't just accepted because him being accepted to the job was what ultimately landed him in Milgram. Something not only implied through the tarot spread in MeMe but the art of Mikoto in Undercover where he is passed out at his work desk.

Outside of what we hear him say in the voice drama Mikoto discusses his job as though he's been there for months. Stating that he dislikes or hates working overnight meaning either his job was incredibly toxic from the start which is a possibility, but still tells us albeit indirectly that he's been there long enough to grow tired and resentful of his work hours.

However, even this statement directly conflicts with what Mikoto himself states. He tells us in his written interrogation that he's been going to sleep early. He doesn't specify whether this is because he's been in Milgram or not to my knowledge either.

Q.20 Are you more of a morning person or a night person?

Mikoto: I used to be basically nocturnal. Recently though I’ve been falling asleep pretty early.

This is also something illustrated to us in MeMe where we see what is implied to be the other Mikoto due to the presence of the fool painting watching television late at night. So, what we know for certain is Mikoto used to stay up late into the night but doesn't anymore to his knowledge, he used to smoke but doesn't anymore to his knowledge, and from the interrogation he is under the belief that he was just accepted to the company.

In the written interrogation it's stated that he knows he put a lot of work in just to get hired there. Yet, Mikoto's memory stops exactly there when he was hired. Because that's when the other one took over to do the work required of them by this new job. The other Mikoto continually tells Es and the viewers to stop stressing him/Mikoto out. It's illustrated to us that Mikoto is buried in work through Undercover to the point of passing out at his desk.

If the other Mikoto is truly showing up for the reasons he's stated, then he would just as easily been doing so before it ever gotten to the point of murder. This is why Mikoto can say things like he doesn't smoke, he goes to sleep early, and he dislikes working overnight though all evidence points to him doing these things frequently. Because it's not him doing it the other Mikoto is. Which is why in the middle of his first trial song we're hit with the line, "I'm already the fake one."

This is why the lyric highlighted for Double is, "I should have saved you but why are you crying?"

This also directly ties into Mikoto's deflection near the end of MeMe where he goes, "I'm probably not to blame. It's probably nothing. I'm just probably having a bad dream. One I need to be waking from." To immediately switch to why I am here.

Because if this were the case, if they'd both been doing all this work to manage the job they had. Just for their position to be threatened in some way or for them to get terminated. Mikoto wouldn't know who to blame or if he was at fault because he himself wouldn't have the full story.

He only cycles to work during the daytime and sometimes stays overnight but hates it. He'd be under the impression that he communicated well enough, did everything he could to be helpful during the situation, and got the work he remembered being asked of him done. Inevitably growing more frustrated when conflicts did happen and went to swing his bat to relieve stress. The other one though is not as focused on keeping things amicable and would instead focus on getting work done.

This dude is more than likely just on clean up but if that's not enough to convince you let's keep going. First let's directly address the elephant in the room which is the canon knowledge that Mikoto Kayano has D.I.D at all. A disorder that has been bastardized not only in mainstream media but within the social zeitgeist for decades. Now, I’m of the belief that the confirmation of this information does not in any way absolve him of responsibility.

A person can have a diagnosed disorder and still be held accountable for their actions. However, the perspective on this varies from person to person. This information does not personally affect my view of Kayano. This is just information that further contextualizes the circumstances around these events. So, what is dissociative identity disorder? Dissociative identity disorder is a psychological deviation characterized by the existence of two or more distinct personalities/identities within one person. These identities can vary drastically in number, complexity, and frequency of emergence across those who have it and fundamental features such as handedness, age, gender and emotional complexion can change between personalities. Dissociative identity disorder does not present itself the same way across patients. In general, these other personalities may be interpreted as highly discrete states of consciousness organized around specific emotional influences with a limited pattern of behaviors, a sense of self, and a set of state dependent memories. (Eich, E., Macaulay, D., Loewenstein, R.J., Dihle, P.H. (1997). Implicit Memory, Interpersonality Amnesia, and Dissociative Identity Disorder. In: Read, J.D., Lindsay, D.S. (eds) Recollections of Trauma. NATO ASI Series, vol 291. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-2672-5_26)

The fluctuating nature of dissociative identity disorder has led to it being difficult to diagnose, people diagnosed with it to be accused of faking, and the validity of the disorder to be scrutinized as whole. Unsurprisingly, Kayano has been accused of faking within the source material at the beginning and outside of it throughout the duration of Milgram thus far and continues to be accused of it after the confirmation. Those who do not accuse him of this at times do so from a position of bad faith only weaponizing the confirmation to assert that Kayano, Mikoto is bad or dubious D.I.D representation.

Being frank for a moment; this assertion is callous and insidious in nature because people with diagnoses in media and in real life do not exist to represent everyone whom they share a diagnosis with. Say it with me some representation isn’t for you that doesn’t mean it doesn’t deserve to exist just that it could be better. It truly is that simple. Moving on. Now given what dissociative identity disorder is can Kayano, Mikoto objectively be considered dubious rep? No. He cannot be.

Let’s go back to the last bit of that paragraph.

“In general, these other personalities may be interpreted as highly discrete states of consciousness organized around specific emotional influences with a limited pattern of behaviors, a sense of self, and a set of state dependent memories.”

All these things are illustrated within Mikoto and the other personality. Let me breakdown how.

Mikoto has a shaky sense of identity but a sense of identity none the less. His pattern of behavior is not as limited as the other personality, and he can usually adjust to most life circumstances. He’s also the more calculating of the two usually going beyond what is necessary to keep an amicable atmosphere. Shown by his willingness to continue to attempt communication with individuals he expresses having difficulty speaking too.

On the contrary the other guy as previously stated couldn’t give a fuck less about keeping the peace or a congenial atmosphere for anyone who is not Mikoto. He just does not care. It is implied that most if not all of the off period the other personality was free and unrestrained. During the time he was out it is alluded to from the conversation on Mikoto’s birthday with Haruka that Mikoto wasn’t just standoffish but actively hostile to anyone who tried to get near him to the point that Haruka was too scared to approach him.

To which Mikoto’s response is, “Ahhh yeah. I’ve been lashing out whenever I go to sleep right?” Like sir you know about this but you’re just treating it like an everyday occurrence, like a common inconvenience. Which is sadly just exactly what the fuck it is!

How could Mikoto not know he’s lashing out in his sleep? Like really think about it! He probably goes to sleep in an organized and clean room and wakes up to shit strewn about then goes aww shit must’ve been the sleep madness I sure be tossing around a lot. Just went fair for you to be scared honestly Haruka and it makes so much sense cause it’s like yeah, he has no reason to not believe Haruka shouldn’t be scared.

His whole thing in this conversation is just man I wish I knew what was going on. Truly, Haruka really did go… Ah, Mikoto is acting normal again I can go talk to him right it seems safe now and went for it like what if the other guy was still out.

That would’ve been an entirely different conversation-

Haruka just goes “Mikoto-san. Um, are you ok……?” And the other guy is still out like the fuck do you want, get away from me I know you killed someone back up. Haruka going through the trouble of doing that despite everything is something Mikoto is rightfully grateful for and impressed by. For good reason, Haruka mustered up the courage to talk to him despite how he must have been behaving just because it was his birthday. Then the man tries to pay it forward and Kotoko threatens to kill him like fine be friendless then last olive branch I extend to you damn.

The other personality also has a clear sense of self. Even if they are aware of Mikoto they very much have a personality and goals of their own. Even if those goals are centered around Mikoto. Goals that they have made abundantly clear. To protect himself by any means necessary. Well, now we have to add beat Kotoko at her own game. Because they just have a vendetta now. Rightfully, so. She’s started fights with him twice.

Like, hell the fact that Mikoto still wants to try to be friends with Kotoko while the other one possibly could not hate her more at this point should be enough to tell you that yes these are two different personalities. The only character in this series I could accuse of acting this hard is Kazui. That guy’s mind is a literal stage where he's the main actor, while Mikoto’s is a destroyed flat comprised entirely of his bathroom tile walls with a mirror he can finally consider himself in. Possibly signifying the only place he felt safe in and could really consider his own feelings at wasn't even the entirety of his own home but his bathroom.

Then the mirror inside the space is destroyed in the middle of this song. Like it just vanishes and is ripped out of the wall.

When he comes to the realization that not only was he not safe in his home but now he’s not even safe in his own mind or identity. He keeps losing! This entire song is him taking Ls, lives and losses.

They just have not lied their whole time here. One guy knows nothing, and the other is literally like ha, ha, ha funny you want to keep pushing this huh despite me telling you multiple times to let it go. You’re really forcing my hand here.

They’ve made their boundaries very clear, and people keep pole vaulting over them knowing it’s exacerbating other preexisting issues. Like Mikoto was already stressed when he was brought in. This is probably why since the beginning of Milgram none of the other prisoners could figure out when he slept. This is according to his description on the Milgram website which basically states,

“Even late into the night noises can be heard coming from Mikoto’s cell making it difficult for the others to tell when he sleeps. This has led to his sleeping habits becoming a topic of interest and speculation amongst the other prisoners.”

But this is getting too long. So, I'm splitting it in two.

#milgram #kayano mikoto

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epilogue-and-prologue · 9 months

Text

Devotion

Fandom: Robin Hood (BBC TV Series)

Ship: Guy of Gisbourne x Robin Hood's Sister

Trope: Ennemies to lovers (sort of) - Angst with a fluffy ending

Note: @sorisooyaa Second one. I still don't know what to make of it, but it's there sooo....

Word count: 9 258

Warnings: SMUT (because I cannot write a story without a sex scene apparently), violence in acts and in words, threats of rape, threats, betrayal, mentions of starvation and torture. (Promise it's only in passing) Mentions of christian faith from the reader and from Guy.

Tag-list: @heilith @asgardianhobbit98 @middleearthpixie @glassgulls @evenstaredits @fizzyxcustard (I know you love Guy, I hope I did him justice :) ) @sotwk

“I want her imprisoned and hung! Now!”

The outrage was a novelty. Usually, you were only accompanied by the sound of the merchants, maybe the laughing children running around. You were not technically allowed to go out on your own, but the walls of your room were beginning to imprint themselves onto your mind and going crazy was not a death you were willing to live. The heavy hood on your head covered you enough for the Sheriff’s and Gisbourne’s men to patrol by without recognizing you. You were exchanging pleasantries with an old woman, when nearby a tall and broad-shouldered man had screamed after a thief.

“She stole a full loaf of bread! Arrest her!”

Of course, you had not seen the scene. You figured that he was right, the young girl struggling to get out of his grip, proof enough. She was still holding the bread trying to find an escape with her eyes when she landed on you. Why was it always you? You sighed, excusing yourself to the merchant before walking towards the commotion.

“Kind Sir, you would not deprive a young girl of food, would you?”

Only then did he look at you. He was towering over you, still not releasing the girl. With the cloth of her ragged tunic, you could not see, yet it was certain in your mind he was going to leave a mark.

“Only if she pays for it! It’s my life’s work lady. “-I will pay for it. As for you, Sir” you pointed a finger at his face, coming closer, making him step back, “God will see to it that your unchristian behaviour is punished.”

The merchant’s face fell as if the threat really frightened him, and in a swift movement, you pulled the girl out of harm’s way and behind you. She was shaking and crying. Two pieces of silver fell into his hand. Even then, the man did not seem satisfied. This time, he grabbed you by the arm to shake you down. Before you could do anything, the hood you were wearing fell backwards, revealing your face to the soldiers passing by. You panicked. If the Sheriff knew you were there, he was going to have you executed. You were a prisoner of his. Not a guest. He had made sure you had known that when they had found out about your existence.

Being Robin’s sister was not always an easy path to be on. Even if he had left you to watch over your parents’ estate, Robin had been foolish enough to think the Sheriff had principle. Or honour. As soon as he figured out you were related, a mysterious invitation demanded your presence in the city. For your protection. It came from the king. Or so you thought. Upon arrival, you were stripped of your clothes, dressed in rags and left in a prison cell for an unknown period of time with only water and stale bread. He wanted to break you, and he did. After a prolonged time in the shadows, you finally yielded, begging him to take you home. You did not know where Robin was, he knew that. What he wanted was to have you on his side, at least in appearance. You were living within the city walls, under constant surveillance. Luckily, some men and women within the castle were still on Robin’s side and helped you out of that godforsaken prison. What little privilege you had, you had because of your status. The Sheriff could not stop you from spending your own money, nor sending letters containing orders for your employees left to fend for themselves. He wanted to have your goodwill, to turn your brother to disgrace in the eyes of the people and finally capture him. After weeks and months, nothing had changed. The people of Nottingham were still on his side, no matter what. Even worse, they were suspecting something was afoot after you had arrived overnight, seemingly uninvited and did not make any public appearances for a long while. This would be the last straw to your precarious peace with the Sheriff. You turned to the girl, petrified behind you. “Run!” And she bolted. The soldiers noticed your predicament and were walking towards you. Your fingers were digging into the man’s forearm. He did not move. The bruise would have to be covered for the next few days, you thought. If you didn’t get caught before then. You closed your eyes, tears threatening to fall. Upon the soldiers approaching, the merchant thought his case won.

“Finally! I demanded your presence long ago! -Sir, unhand the lady, if you wish to keep your hand.”

The tone was unmistakable, his voice as level as could be. Gisbourne. You were dead.

Escorted by soldiers, you left the market without a word for any of your “saviours”. You could feel the animosity of Gisbourne’s men, angered by all the running around you had provoked. As you came to learn, your escapades were not as sneaky as you had thought. Vaisey had known about them all along, only authorizing them under the scrutiny of his guard dog. Alongside his men of course, tired of spending all their time running after you. Guy of Gisbourne was not what you would call a kind man. Sometimes, he would surprise you and everyone else - probably himself too - by making a merciful decision, such as leaving the girl and not sending after her. You hoped she was alright, these days survival was the only priority. The thought of having her steal again made you inexplicably sad.

Unexpectedly you were propelled forward, the horse under you coming to a halt. You ended up grabbing anything you could, forgetting who was in control of the horse. Hence, finding yourself face first into Gisbourne’s back, your hands clasped around his waist. Of course, he would not let a lady walk back to the castle. Even though you had walked from the castle in the first place. What it told you was not that he was a gentleman, but that he did not want you to run again. The hassle of having to find you the first time was enough for him.

“Milady. You can let go. We have arrived.”

He untangled your hand from his body with a quiet and soft chuckle. The sound surprised you both. A faint red tainted his cheeks as he dismounted. Your eyes scrutinized the man before you. His palm extended towards you, eyes cast downward. His body was stiff, his back straight, a hint of care in his manners. In hindsight, you had never seen him raise his voice at any woman. Not that you were interested in the man, in the first place. He was handsome, yes. When no one was looking, at the Sheriff’s table, you had noticed the way his eyes filled with something… something close to longing. His smile was so rare too. Although, you knew better than to trust appearances and did not dwell on the thought. His hands were covered in blood. That was who he was. Who you were, was someone who would do anything to stop him. This was the only thing you needed to know about Guy of Gisbourne.

You dismounted on your own, the rejection a not-so-subtle way of telling him to leave. Predictively, your clumsiness stroke. Luckily, the last man on Earth you wanted to, caught your waist, steadying you. The warmth of his hands knocked the air out of your lungs. For what felt like an eternity and in the blink of an eye, his palms settled there, thumbs moving in a slow soothing motion. You could feel the heat of his breath on the shell of your ear, his body slightly hovering above you. Every sense was heightened by his proximity. Until you pushed his hands back. Just as he had done with you, you slowly eased his fingers from your waist. The loss was felt deeply. Without turning around, you whispered a muffled “Thank you.” Frowning to yourself, the inner turmoil caused by his touch would not leave you. It had been so careful almost tender. Something stirred in you, unsettling you in the deepest. Gisbourne’s presence had never felt hostile to you, even if you knew of his actions. Somehow, he never felt like a threat to you, even as a sworn enemy and rival of your brother. He could have used you, punish you for what your brother had done - whatever that may have been. Marian was a good part of it, you knew that. She has chosen Robin, not Gisbourne. A cold feeling ran through you: had he ever stopped loving her? Despite everything had he not stopped caring for her? Worse: why was the notion of him caring for someone else, was so upsetting for you? The answer never came. In the shadows, he followed your steps, guiding you silently towards the main hall. You thought you knew what was to come. This moment between the two of you changed everything. But so little at the same time. You were still a prisoner. He was still a monster. Nothing would change that. You gained back composure as you stepped into the hall, hearing his steps closely behind you, ever watchful.

“Milady of Locksley. What a surprise to see you here! And here I thought I would find you in your chambers, quietly reading as a lady is supposed to. Not very lady-like of you to go running around with peasants.”

Vaisey’s breath stunk of wine and red meat. His nose was a mere inch away and you could count the riddles around his eyes as if they interested you. He stepped away, a cheerful expression on his face. That was a first.

“You see, milady, I am afraid that I will have to keep you much longer than anticipated. Indeed, your brother has yet to show a decline in popularity, and you have yet to help us find him… -Sheriff, with all due respect, which is to say none, could you get to the point? I have a better story than yours to get back to.”

Your words rang in the air, echoing through the room. His face was twisted. He gripped your jaw. He, too, would leave bruises you’d have to cover. Somewhere behind you, you could feel Gisbourne straighten. Just as an archer ready to shoot, the arrow taunted and eyes on the target.

“Stupid, silly, little girl. You do not know who you are playing with, do you?”

He observed you, from one side to the other, manhandling your jaw, hurting you more and more. One of your teeth was bound to break if he kept at it. Deliberately, he gripped your throat, not enough to hurt but enough to know he could strangle you in a second.

“Sir…”

It had escaped him. Knowing full well what his superiors would and could do to him, at that moment, Guy did not care. For if he had learned something about you, all those afternoons and mornings watching over your every move, is that you were kind. Smart. Rebellious and resilient more than he could ever be. If he had been foolish enough to say it aloud, he would have said his feelings for you rivaled those he had for Marian. But he could not. Not yet. So, instead, he said the only thing he hoped would save you.

“What? Don’t you see I am occupied?”

He steeled himself for what was to come, stepping next to you.

“Sir, I fear that if any harm were to come to her, the riots would only grow stronger. Would it not be wise to lock her in her room and limit her outings as you thought? -She defies me. She defies you too, you know. Sneaking around, losing your men in the marketplaces and the streets of Nottingham.”

Vaisey eyed his right-hand man. Unfortunately, the appointed Sheriff knew where people’s weaknesses laid, and he knew how to manipulate them.

“Unless… you have a soft spot for maidens in distress? First, Marian and now this one?”

A shiver ran down your spine as he focused on you once again. His hand had an ever-growing grip on your throat, even with you were desperately trying to get his hand to give, nails biting into his flesh, leaving blood and red trails on his wrist. The world was becoming darker with each passing heartbeat, the air barely passing through your lips and nose. Then, abruptly, he released you, and you fell to your knees. Gisbourne did not move, only clenching his fist in frustration as you were coughing harshly at his feet. This was humiliating. When you gained back your breath, you stood up, voluntarily stepping forward, standing your ground. Vaisey laughed, pouring himself another cup of wine. His face lit up. An idea had emerged in his brain and you were not sure you wanted to know what it was.

“Gisbourne, since you cannot seem to keep notorious thief Robin Hood’s little sister under control, how would you like it if I made the task easier for you? -What do you mean?”

He looked you over, lurking at your body as if it was a piece of meat ready to be eaten.

“I mean, that his little bird is not going anywhere. But what better way of keeping her from running if she was bound to this place… in holy matrimony.”

Before you had a chance to realize it, Vaisey ordered his guards to keep you quiet and still. This time, tears did spill, down your cheeks, wetting the hand of whoever was keeping you from speaking.

“I would have taken her for myself, alas my interest lie elsewhere, and I have no patience for a wench who can not keep her place.” The Sheriff licked his lips, visibly amused and excited by your predicament “Although, I would have had a good time taming her.”

Gisbourne was heaving. He could not… would not entertain the idea of marriage. It felt beyond him. A muted hope lit up inside him. Was it the only chance he’d have at love? The beacon was extinguished just as it appeared. You did not want him. None of the women he had cared for wanted him. Guy knew himself to be many things, including a murderer. But forcing your hand, he could not do it.

“My lord, I can not accept. -Oh, but you’ll have to. This” He gestured to you, as you were still struggling against the hold the guards had on you. “Is your punishment. Everything she does you will have to answer for. If you lose her or if she escapes, your head rolls. It was simple enough to keep her within the castle, but you spectacularly failed at that too. I should hope that chained to you, you would not let her go. Find a way to make her tame. Put a baby or two in her, that will keep her occupied.”

The thought of it made you want to gag, your body used and abused, violated beyond recognition, your very existence not your own. You would rather die than suffer such a fate.

“Her presence here is essential. Her brother will come in search of her. If he has not already. The sister escaped you, why would the brother be any different? -Sir… -That is an order! She will be your wife and you will be her husband. I do not want to hear another word from you before I see Robin Hood’s head on a spike. If not his, then it’ll be yours.” Vaisey stepped closer to Guy, a finger pointed at his chest. “Find a priest. Marry the girl. Spread the news and her thighs. The brother will come running. He is a hero after all, is he not?” A dark chuckle escaped his lips. “Now out of my sight before I change my mind and have you both hung.”

The guards released you within the confines of your bedroom. Gisbourne had not followed. He was probably searching for a priest at this very moment. You felt stupid for ever thinking something could be salvaged about him. Whatever your heart and body were telling you, they had to be wrong. That moment had been a fluke, a passage of weakness you would soon come to forget about. Nighttime came and still no sign of him. Maybe, just maybe, he had fled, to save himself from impending death. Your skin was tingling where he had touched you still. The bruises on your arms and throat were more painful though, erasing any softness you could have felt. Despite your initial doubts and hopes, Gisbourne did show up. With a priest. Neither addressed you, only stepping in the room without being invited to. Even if you had wanted to speak, your throat felt as if it was about to rupture.

“Is this the lady?”

Guy nodded. His breath hitched in his throat upon seeing your arm and neck. The purple marks were still there, an awful reminder of what you had survived. And what he could not prevent.

“Place yourself in front of one another.”

You looked at Gisbourne, words stuck. You frowned. He looked so lost. Awkward, bashful even. He took his gloves off, revealing his hands. He took yours in his with careful movements, minding your injuries. It confused you, his gentle manners and his murderous ways. You followed him, moving according to the priest’s demands. You would not be able to escape this, even if you ran he would catch you, you could not scream, and he had to have bribed the priest into some sort of agreement. It was all orchestrated to trap you. The lump in your throat made it even harder to breathe. The robes of the priest smelled of wine and sweat. He was probably somewhere else when Gisbourne had plucked him out. He did not even ask for your consent. Merely mumbled the vows and added: “You may kiss the bride.”

Gisborne was unreadable, even at such a short distance. Closing your eyes in the hopes it would pass soon, the warmth of his fingertips putting a strand of your hair away made you jump. You heard a sharp intake of air before he leaned in and put his lips to your cheek. It was slow, thought-through, and delicate. So many adjectives, you would never have associated with him, as late as of this morning. Once the priest went, he lingered in the room, fidgeting with his gloves. It felt as if he was about to say something. But he shut his mouth and left the room. He did not come back. Not even to claim what was his to claim. Insomnia plagued you that night, not being able to sleep more than a few hours at a time, until dawn came, all too soon.

Somehow, the Sheriff had organized what he called an “impromptu” dinner for your “hidden” union. One he intended to see to the consumption. The thought left you quiet and frightened. The bruises on your forearm and neck were now yellowish, healing slowly but surely. Unlike your ego. Vaisey was a snake. He needed to be treated like one. Poisoned by his fangs. Nevertheless, this was not the most pressing issue at the moment. Your heartbeat was erratic, panic settling in your bones at the Sheriff’s initial intentions. Gisbourne had not appeared again after last night. Hopelessly, you had thought he would. To talk at least. This was a brutal way of marrying someone. Your faith had guided you all your life. This marriage even if forced was to be respected. You were to spend the rest of your lives together and it felt strange to avoid each other like so. A young maid knocked on the door, before entering your room. She helped you get changed, and left again without a word. This silence around you was going to drive you insane. You grabbed your coat, opening your bedroom door in a hurry, only to be met with two guards and Guy of Gisbourne about to knock.

“Oh.”

Guy looked you over. You were breathing rapidly, from what he assumed to be the hurry you were in, your dress in a maroon colour he immediately recognized. Despite the Sheriff’s threat, you were about to go out. He gritted his teeth.

“Leave us.”

The guards hesitated. He threw them a look over his shoulder and they left rapidly. Without asking you, he stepped forward, making you go back into your room. Your hands were still clutching your cloak. Fear took you over as he closed the door behind him.

“Do you have a death wish?”

His eyes met yours, his full height towering above you. You craned your neck to meet his stare with the powerful force of the steel hiding in them.

“The Sheriff specifically asked for you to stay here. -I know.”

Your voice was hoarse and harsher than you intended it to be. His hand inched toward your neck, and you flinched. He pulled back when he saw it, not wanting to hurt you more.

“If you know, then why were you about to leave?”

He signaled to your hands, holding on to the cloth for dear life. He kept overstepping into your space, making you step back until you could not anymore, stuck between the wall and his unimpressed stare.

“I wasn’t… -Do you think me a fool?”

You bit your lip. Answering him would only bring more trouble.

“Do not answer that. I do not need your wits today.”

He sighed, lowering his head in an exasperated gesture. He was resigned, you would always defy the Sheriff’s authority. He only had to make sure you were not slandering his name. Or running off into the forest. Away from him, he thought.

“If we want this” he gestured between the two of you, even with the minimal space left. You could feel his breath against your cheeks. It only made them warmer, remembering the dream from the night before. “To work, you will have to follow the rules.” You scoffed, undignified.

“I am not one of your men, you cannot tell me what to… -I am not trying to tell you what to do, I am trying to protect you!”

He was angry. Frustrated by your actions. You knew he was right, even if you did not want him to be. He was right. It felt excruciating, the tear in your mind almost able to be touched, between reason and feelings, between the will to leave and the fact that you would be leaving everything behind. Including him. You looked up, staring straight into his eyes, willing yourself to put up a front. Always. The only thing you had not accounted for was the way he looked at you. His mouth agape, affection clear on his face. His pupils were blown, as dark as the abyss you were falling into. His brows furrowed in frustration and fear. You wanted to think he was genuine in his intentions, but the voice of reason was always pulling you back. He wanted your brother dead, you told yourself. That was more than ample reason to hate the man, anger flaring up in you, destroying everything in its path. You lowered your eyes, missing the way he pulled away from you, wounded, stepping back until he opened the door and turned one last time to you.

“I have no intention of forcing your hand. You make your own choices. Yet, those choices implicate me now. Would you consider it the next time you try to run away? -Why would I? My brother is in danger because of you! Because of you and your misplaced attachment!”

The words had escaped you before you could think. It was as if the place was set on fire all of a sudden. He did not touch you, but he might as well have with the brutality of his words.

“My misplaced attachment? Do you remember who your brother is? Who you are loyal to? His actions have led to lives lost! He is a thief! -Just like the Sheriff and you then! My loyalty is the only thing keeping you and your men from killing him! He is my brother! We grew up together! We…” Tears swelled in your eyes. Your hand drew his eyes to your collarbones and the yellow bruise on your throat. Guilt washed over him. He let that happen to you. The sadness, the anguish of not knowing if Robin was alive, everything for him to see written plain as day on your face. What husband did he make causing you to suffer, not being able to defend yourself…

“We grieved our parents together. We shared secrets, waves of laughter and scrapped knees. Late night stories and early morning horse-rides…” Something in you snapped. You turned away from Gisbourne, fearing for your life if he was to reach out to you.

“I had to marry you. Spend the rest of my life… with someone who wants to kill the only family I have left. Do you see the torture I am in or are you just blind?”

His silence made you wonder if he had not left the room altogether. Guy was taken aback by your sudden outburst. His honour depended on him achieving what the Sheriff asked him to do. His heart on the other hand… Seeing you hurt, desperate, and your spirits broken was the last thing he wanted to do. Marian came to his mind, fleeting, only passing through to remind him: she did not choose him. Neither did you. Would he ever learn? His love was not worth it. His affections were not required. All he loved, he loved alone. It was time he accepted it. A soft thud echoed in your bedroom. He had put a box on a table, near the fireplace.

“I will leave this here. If you will, I… I could accompany you. Outside, to the market, wherever you want to go.”

You did not answer, wrapping your arms around yourself, the sobs finally stopping. It was pathetic. How much you wanted him to say he was sorry, so you could forgive him.

“I hoped…” his throat felt tight, keeping the words at bay for a minute “I hoped that at least, my company would not be such a burden for you to bear. Maybe not now, but in the future. I have no wish to see you suffer. Nor in pain.”

A muted metallic sound let you know he had left the room. When you turned around, a faint smell of leather and heat was still lingering in the air. It made your heart clench. You went on to look at the small wooden box he had left on the table. Your fingers opened it before you could think the action through. A wedding band. You closed it in a hurry, afraid and happy.

The banquet arrived all too fast. Vaisey had outdone himself. Or told someone to. The decorations were nothing short of ostentatious, tapestries hanging from the walls, candles being lit everywhere, and tables full of plates capable of feeding more than a family of four could have in months. It was disingenuous, a display of wealth you could not bear to see. Gisbourne arrived soon after you. He looked at your hands. The band was there, settled perfectly on your finger. His chest filled with pride.

“Milady. -Sir.”

You bowed to him, willing yourself to be impassible. So far, if your companion’s stare was any indication, it worked. He offered you his arm, and you felt yourself tremble, laying your hand on his forearm. Without breaking eye contact, he grabbed your hand and kissed it tenderly, his lips leaving a hot feeling where they met your wedding band. It had taken you hours to decide whether or not you were going to wear it. Not wearing it would mean a sign of defiance to the Sheriff and you did not need any more of his wandering eyes on you, whereas wearing it meant… meant you belonged to someone, which left a sour taste in your mouth. Out of the two evils, at least you knew one of them to be more benevolent than the other.

“The newlyweds!”

The cry made you stiffen in fear. Your hand gripped Guy’s arm in response to it. He stood up, head high, putting himself a step before you, in a posture you assumed to be of protection. Was he protecting you? The thought was quickly erased from your mind, and the hope accompanying it was sniffed out when he let go of your hand. Vaisey was arriving towards you. Instinctively, you stepped forward almost colliding with Guy’s shoulders. Your hand wasn’t even an inch away from his.

“Gisbourne. Any news on the Locksley front?

Men have been posted at all entries. Guards as well.”

You clenched your jaw, looking at him sideways. The bastard.

“Oh. Milady of Gisbourne is not too happy about it. Remember, if you can’t tame her, I’ll be happy to do it myself…”

Guy’s face was stern. No emotions transpired. There, next to him, you worried he might lurch and kill the Sheriff with his own hands. Your palm met his wrist as he was about to raise his hand. His eyes snapped to you, surprised by your gesture. Though, you were not looking at him. With a saccharine smile on your lips, you addressed Visay straight on.

“I will have you know Sheriff that my husband sleeps with a sword next to him. I, on the other hand, prefer a good old dagger. Covered in poison of course. Would you like to know the provider for such a weapon? Coups are so frequent these days. Especially with…” you eyed him up and down, biting back a smirk. “Temporary replacements.”

Your tone was laced with charm and softness, yet the sharp threat underneath it all was clear.

“If that was all, I believe the first dance is ours. You’ll excuse us, will you not?”

Visay gritted his teeth, Gisbourne visibly approving of your behaviour.

“Of course, Milady.”

He let you pass in front, stopping Gisbourne in his tracks. “Get him. I will not accept another failure from you. Think about what I could do with her once you’re out of the way…”

You had stopped a few steps ahead, looking around, head high as always, saluting nobles of the court in a rehearsed manner. Guy nodded curtly before leaving Visay right there. The Sheriff did not know if he had made a wise choice when putting the two of you together. He hoped for more fight, even some evident traces of violence on you. Anything to get the Hood’s blood boiling. As usual, he feared his amusement had gotten the better of him. He should have taken care of this himself.

The feast lasted until the heavy hours of the night, leaving drunkards and young couples behind. Your feet were killing you, the wine still present in your body making you lean into Guy a lot more than you would have done sober. He was not complaining. Your hair smelled divine, with fresh flowers and honey. Maybe he had drunk a little too much himself. Or not enough for what he was about to do. He accompanied you back to your chambers, opening the door for you to step in. Without a second thought, you took your shoes off, walking barefoot on the cold stone floor, a sigh of contentment passing through your lips. The guards were dismissed. Gisbourne, hypnotized by you, smiled despite himself. You were flushed, eyes just as fiery as ever, but, still, not looking at him. He put his hand inside one of his pockets. What he had between his fingers was enough to get him executed for treason. Although he had made his choice, Guy was not sure what your reaction to this would be. You were his to protect and to love. To serve too. His choice was made. The price for it would come soon enough.

“Your brother left this for you.”

You opened your eyes, not quite believing your ears. Guy was reaching out, putting a piece of paper in your hand. He closed your fingers around it, seeing your face going from one emotion to the other, not knowing what to do with yourself. You sat down on the edge of your bed, carefully opening it. A small flower fell. A forget-me-not. You smiled. Guy’s heart skipped a beat when you brought the flower to your lips. How he wished to be those petals, graced by your breath. Graced by you. What you read made you laugh, and cry a little. The whole time he just stood there waiting for you to finish it. The closed door next to him was calling for him to leave. Hope in his chest told him to stay, just for a little while longer. The letter wasn’t even that long. In essence, Robin was asking for you to keep your head low until he would come and save you. He had not abandoned you. Your eyes met Guy’s over the paper. He seemed out of place, a prisoner of his world. He had done that for you. Collected a message from Robin for you. He had risked his life for you. A warm feeling erupted in your chest akin to birds in flight. The relief in your eyes stopped his breath. You got up from the bed, your dress caressing the floor in gentle sounds. He felt more than he saw your hand on his chest, pulling yourself up. Your lips on his cheek melted everything. The armour, the mask he wore, his barriers, walls… Everything, in one kiss. His breath hitched when you pulled away.

“Thank you.”

The words rang in his ears. His hand came to rest upon yours, right above his heart. The drumming beat underneath your fingers echoed your own. He leaned, his forehead meeting yours in an intimate embrace. Soon, he pulled away, earning a heavy sigh from your lips. Your head bowed questioned him. He pulled your chin up, delicately.

“What is the matter?”

Close like this, his voice resonated through you like a lightning bolt in the dark. Your eyebrows were knitted together, hesitation etched in your eyes. You showed him the letter.

“Is this… are you still going after him?”

His hands went to your cheeks, keeping your eyes level with his. There was nothing but pure devotion in his eyes. It made you shiver. Only then, did you realize the power this man held over you. And you over him.

“I have cared for you long enough to know I would do anything not to hurt you. Including betraying my values and duties. I would burn the world to the ground if only to make you smile at me.”

He looked at you intently, his thumb tracing the shape of the apple of your cheek, drawing his fingers lower still, settling on your jaw. The sensation was overwhelming you, your ragged breath fanning over his cheeks, your sensations swallowing your thoughts entirely.

“Guy.”

He was startled by the sound coming out of your mouth. That name had been nothing short of a curse for him, yet it felt the greatest blessing of them all in your mouth.

“Yes? -Kiss me.”

A split second passed before he pulled you in by the waist, closing the distance between the two of you. His kisses began gentle, tender, turning hungry, harsh, pulling moans and whimpers out of you. He was gripping your hips, before embracing your whole body in his arms, willing for you to be one. His lips traveled to the junction of your shoulder and neck, gently nipping. You yelped, alarming him.

“Are you hurt? -No. Quite the opposite…”

He frowned, barely catching his breath before you pulled him with you towards the bed. You met no resistance. You made him sit, placing yourself between his legs, your hands coming to rest on his shoulders. His hands moved up to your hips, enticing you closer. His forehead met your sternum, your fingers carding through his hair, dark locks untangling between your knuckles. The air was stifled between desire and agony, not knowing how far things could go, or how far either of you wanted it to go. So, you stayed there, him hugging your body as he would a lifeline; you kept him there, caressing his face in slow motions, reassuring yourself he was indeed real. Time passed without either of you noticing, until Guy looked up at you, murmuring your name, mouth barely opened, scared he would chase the dream away.

“Aren’t your legs hurting? -A little. Nothing I can’t…”

His hands were faster than your words as he pulled your knees up, one after the other, making you sit on his lap. An involuntary gasp passed your lips. His smirk was quickly hidden. Without another word, he kissed you again, leisurely mapping over the expanse of your stomach, your back, your ass, your thighs. It knocked every hesitation you might have had out of the window. You willed your legs wider apart, pulling your dress higher than needed, revealing skin and heat. Your fingertips toying with the collar of his shirt were finally met with his as he pulled it off. His eyes met yours, ever so inquisitive. His scars were visible, some deeper than others. It was only fair to show him yours in return. As if reading your mind, he pushed you off of him, getting up from the bed and turning you around. The only sounds you heard were the unmistakable sound of a blade and the snap your laces made as they were cut through. The corset fell to the floor, your hands pulled the rest of the clothes down. Your back was littered with traces of whips. Some of them were so deep, it must have been hard to move for several weeks after that. As he did not move, you turned around awkwardly covering your breasts, modestly trying to hide them.

“Who?”

His hands grabbed your face, anger transpiring.

“Visay.”

He looked at you, all frowns and tears unshed. His eyes were glimmering with them. You reached to him, erasing them in earnest. “I’ll kill him for…” Your lips shushed him in a heated kiss. You guided his hands on your body, eyes pleading with him. Not tonight. Not now. Obedient as ever, he complied. You laid down on the bed, his body hovering above you. His lips and moans were tantalizing. As if in trance, he followed down the path from your jaws to your collarbone, mindful of the bruises there, worshiping this body of yours in every touch, every moment. His movements were calculated, even if hesitant, always asking you if you were feeling good, making sure your desires were fulfilled. You could feel the hammer in his chest resonating through your ribcage, through the skin, in echo with you. Soon, you found yourself closing your eyes, your breathing altered in a shapeless rhythm. Your knuckles were turning white, your hands clawing at the sheets like a woman possessed. The way his tongue curled against you made you lose all train of thought. As if he had done it thousand times before, his lips were making sinful sounds, while his nose was pressing against the apex of your thighs. The pleasure you felt, kept on growing and growing until you could not hold it anymore. Silently, you arched your back a soundless cry leaving your lips. Guy pulled away. His head leaned against your thigh, an easy smile appearing on his gleaming mouth. You could feel, still, his hand on your hip drawing mindless patterns there. You reached out for him. Before you could think of anything to say, he pulled you to his bare chest, leaving no space between you two. Without an afterthought, his rough fingertips were caressing the birth of your back in a soothing gesture. It lulled you to sleep quickly, feeling safe and sound in this bed with him. The thought almost made him cry. Him, whose only purpose was to fight, to obey, to threaten and to be violent, had found in you a new home. A new reason for a new beginning. He promised himself then, that whatever was to happen next, he would never let anyone ever, hurt you again.

Upon the morning, your hand reached out for him in a familiar gesture you did not know you had. His face was peaceful for once, a deep sense of contentment settling in his brow. Leaning up, you placed a delicate kiss on his cheek bone. He stirred a little, his hand curving around your waist, pulling your body closer to him. The cold air of the room and the sunlight sneaking through the window brought a sense of urgency over you. He had spent the night here. In your bed. You sat up in a hurry, pulling your night dress over your head. But, before you could get yourself more stressed out, he pulled you in bed with him, visibly very widely awake this time.

“What are you doing?”

The gruff of his voice made you shiver slightly. You caressed his jaw, the stubble there scratching your palms, a hint of a worry in your voice. “You spent the night.”

He smiled lazily into your hair, his hand settling at the nape of your neck.

“Yes. I believed it is allowed between a husband and his wife.”

Oh. Oh. Would he believe you had forgotten about that? Yes, it even made him laugh. You were so cute when confused like this. Mornings were not on your side by any means but this was new. The domesticity was new. You did not know how to feel about it.

“I… -You forgot. -I did not. -You did.”

You hit his shoulder, half a smile on your face. He pulled your chin up, hooded eyes meeting yours. His lips leisurely covered yours in a deliberately slow kiss. His chest was warm against your palms. Eager to meet his skin, your fingers ran across the planes of his back, while he pushed you down, spreading your thighs with his hips. His hands made your back arch against him, your breasts peaking under him meeting his chest through the cloth of your dress. He was hard against your abdomen. Desire pooled there, down, between your lips as well at the idea of him deeply seethed inside you. Guy must have sensed it, for he pulled any remaining garments off of you, before taking your hand in his. Kneeling on the bed, he put your sweaty palm against his waist, letting you found your way to the waistband of his trousers. The leather there clung onto his skin, just a little too tight not to notice the bulge threatening to snap the cloth in two. Your fingers were shaking as you undid his bounds. Then, once you were done, he pulled them down and he was finally bare in front of you. In the morning light, he was glorious. Breathtaking. You leaned against one of the post of the bed, biting your lips hard. You were clenching on nothing, seeing him there. He smiled wickedly at you, all but throwing himself on you, devouring your mouth in a hungry haze you never wanted to snap out of. Quickly, his fingers find the hair between your thighs, caressing down until he met your clit, drawing heavy, long, drawn out circles around it. He felt so powerful. More powerful than he had ever been before. Graced by God in the perfection that you were. He felt trusted and trusting. Your eyes met his in a silent plea. The need for him was plain and simple. Still, he could not help himself.

“Are you sure?”

Surprised, he followed your pull on his neck to your lips, all but falling into you.

“Yes. God, please, yes.”

The ushered tone to his ears, your legs secured around him while your hips could not help but press onto his cock. He readjusted his hold on you, entering you in one swift movement. The cry escaping your lips was nothing short of sinful. He could live only hearing that noise, over and over and over again. The burn of him soon left to be replace by untethered pleasure. It was foreign and familiar at the same time. You could feel him inside of you, move and hold on to you as he would a lifeline. His grip on your hips tightened. Those bruises you would cherish, you were sure of it. Your chest fell and rose with each movement. It elicited so many sensations in you, you were incapable of forming words or thoughts. His mouth met your shoulder in an attempt to keep quiet but to no avail. You felt his release deep inside you, quickly followed by your own.

As he pulled himself off of you, a knock resonated through the room. You exchanged an inquisitive look with Guy. You were not expecting anyone today. A second knock, much more impatient, hit the door. You pulled yourself up, and covered yourself in your night dress, opening the door slightly. It was pushed open by none other than Visay.

“Well, well, well, what have we here? Lovebirds huh? How sweet is that?”

The guards behind him laughed heavily. You doubted they were genuine. Guy had barely had the time to put on his trousers.

“Gisbourne, I need you to make a sweep in the castle and in the town. Apparently, our dear Hood was there yesterday. Yet, he still escaped you.” His forefinger dug into Guy’s chest. He remained stoic, almost calm. His eyes felt heavy on you, sparing only a glance before Visay almost kicked him out. In a flash of remembrance, you wondered where the letter he had brought you the day before was. But before you could recall, Visay gripped one of your wrist twisting it until you could no longer move your arm. The guards, even if not entirely in agreement with him, were afraid, and frightened men were even more loyal to the one holding the chains than the one being beat up with them. Their eyes told you that if you made a move, they’d make you pay double for it. On the verge of stepping out of the door, Guy turned around, eerily quiet. He was buttoning up his shirt, taking his time. Somehow, you knew what he was about to do before he did it. He pulled out a knife out of one of his boots and threw it in Visay’s direction before he was grabbed by the guards. He was pushed to his knees in an instant. Visay merely laughed before releasing you and picking the knife up.

“Oh my poor Gisbourne. Has your brain gone to goo?…” He kneeled in front of him. Gesturing towards you he added: “Or has the pussy been that good?”

Without a second thought, Guy spat in his face. Visay’s first instinct was to strike him, so he did. His second instinct was to strike him a second time, but he thought better of it. He had quite the tools at his disposal to make him yield. Including you. The knife in hand, he turned around and pushed you down.

“Poor little bird… Doesn’t know what’s best for her? I’ll show you what’s best for you, you bitch.”

You knew exactly what he meant to do as punishment for Guy’s affront. One of his hand blocked your wrists above your head, as his knee was pulling your thighs apart. The knife started to tear at the cloth you were wearing. It would not hold long against it. Despite his best efforts your husband could not get out of the grip the guards had on him. Still, he trashed like a man possessed. Yelling insults and threats you could not hear. You could only hear that old man on top of you, his knife leaving marks deep in your skin, trying to entice you into keeping your legs open for him. You knew how to trash around too. One of your knees made contact with his groin and he doubled over in pain. Guy stopped moving when he saw you had the knife in your hands. His face went white when he saw the blood on you. Visay was less than happy about your little stunt. While the room had gone quiet, even the guards not daring to move, Guy jumped to his feet and knocked Visay down in one motion. He pulled him by the collar, and knocked his head and body against the wall so hard, he would have a concussion later on. For the moment you did not care. Everything was hurting, your thighs, your chest, your arms. The monster had left almost no part of you intact. Suddenly tired, you relinquished the knife to Guy’s expertise. Without an afterthought, he plunged it into Visay’s guts. The man was moving like a loose puppet, making the blade only go deeper in the wound. The loyal men did nothing. They were too afraid of the one who had defied their boss and won. In a disarray, the soldiers let both you and Guy leave unscathed. And you followed him. As you would to the ends of the Earth. You felt a fool for trusting him too fast. Yet, he had thrown away everything he held dear and holy, for you. Only for you. But you were so tired. Before you could stop it, you collapsed against the stone floors.

When you opened your eyes, everything was dark. A little light came through some kind of cloth above you. Had the sky been torn? Your head was pounding, but at least, you could feel your arms and legs. As well as a light movement from where you were. Using your hands you pushed upwards and sat up. Horses. It smelled like horses. And the grass. God, how much you had missed the smell of grass. You were in a carriage, it seemed. One of hay, perhaps? It was too dark to tell. Your wounds stung as you moved around. Only then did you notice the fresh bandages on your limbs and the new brown cloth of a gown you did not own. A hand pushed you back down. A woman’s hand. Her words were hard to understand but when you saw her face, you knew exactly where you were. Or at least where you were headed.

“Marian?”

She called your name again, this time you heard loud and clear.

“You need some rest, please, lay back down. -How? Where?… Where’s Guy? We were with Visay and then… -Slow down. We know. He told us.”

You frowned. Her voice was soothing you yet your thoughts were spinning out of control.

“He told you? What…?”

The carriage came to a stop then. The light came in as someone pulled the cloth apart, revealing the early evening sky behind them. You could recognize that face anywhere.

“Robin!”

You winced as you jumped off your feet and out of the carriage, hugging your brother as if your life depended on it.

“Oh my God, I really thought for a second…” You pushed out of the embrace in a swift motion, keeping him at arms length. “Wait. You had me so worried! I’ve spent months in that castle trying to escape and you come in now?! I’ve been waiting the whole time! What took you so long!” You slapped his shoulder and he pretended for a minute to be hurt.

“I am sorry I could not get you before. We had our own adventures to deal with. But as soon as I heard you were married to Gisbourne I had to come to get you! -You do hate the man. -I do. I did. He did help you escape though.”

You smiled fondly at Robin, his soft side always a reminder of the good in this world. An anxious thought reached your mind.

“Where is he, Robin?”

A queasy smile on his face, he gestured to the head of the carriage. There, you could see Guy’s silhouette dismounting. His eyes met yours. He ran to you.

“Don’t ever scare me like that again.”

His eyes were mischievous but the strong hold he had on your shoulder was a sign he was not joking. He pulled you against him, kissing the crown of your head, his hands settling on your face. His thumbs moving in slow circles on your cheeks, settling himself in your warmth and real breaths.

“I am alright now. Thanks to you.”

A pained expression appeared on his face.

“No. I… was helpless. I could not save you. I could not protect you… I…”

The kiss was meant to be reassuring and innocent. Instead it turned hungry and passionate. Out of the corner of your eyes, you could see Marian and Robin walking away silently.

“You did save me. You save me, everyday. I don’t know what I would have done if I had been forced to marry someone else but you… -Perish the thought. I’m never letting you marry anyone else.”

Your laugh echoed in his ear, like a sound he knew by heart and was discovering for the first time in years. All of a sudden he felt emotional. Needing to tell you how much he adored you.

“I never realized it until now but I think… I truly think I was in love with you even before we met…”

Your stunned silence drove his thoughts in the wrong direction.

“You don’t have to say anything. I know you don’t feel the same. Not yet anyway. It’s alright. I have you, so, everything will be alright.”

His arms tightened around your waist, your forehead against his chest. A moment passed in silence. The words were escaping you, but they’d have to do anyhow.

“ Guy… I… I can not imagine a future without you in it. Our relationship moved so fast, it shook me a little. But… I don’t want a life where you’re not in with me. No. I cannot and will never picture a life where you are not tied to me like you are right now. If this is not love, I don’t know what it is…”

His eyes were fixed on the horizon, the forest behind and the people in the camp talking. He was listening to you, you knew that. If he was hearing you was something else entirely. Your fingertips found the side of his face and forced him to look at you.

“Guy of Gisbourne, I believe I was not in love with you before we met. I know I hated you with everything in my being. And then you touched me and everything changed. You fell for me softly and reverently as you do with all things. I fell for you - as I do in life - passionately and wholeheartedly. I don’t regret it. I love you, Guy of Gisbourne… Whether you like or not.”

He looked at you with awe, wondering for a moment how lucky he could have been to find you in this life. He had been right about something. With you, everything was going to be alright.

#robin hood bbc #guy of gisbourne x f!reader #robin's sister!au #gisbourne x reader #tw: smut #tw: physical abuse #tw: mental abuse #tw: religion #devotion #one-shot

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borahaerhy · 2 years

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Gone (8) - jjk

Summary: You and your childhood best friend, Jungkook, have grown apart over the years, although you still have the same overbearing fun-loving bestie, Aria, that really wants her best friends talking again, something neither of you really want to be apart of until Aria goes missing, and the only other person that could help you find her is the one you've spent years avoiding.

Pairing: Jungkook x Female Reader

Genre: Best friends to enemies (ish?) to lovers, High School AU, eventual smut, slow burn

Warnings: There's some blood, like, a lot of blood, Y/n's questioned by the FBI (ik, she has to deal with law enforcement a lot, hopefully for the last time), Shirtless Jungkook tied to a chair with a very slight injury, Bennett like to curse a lot, Y/n has OCD? lmk if there's any more I should add.

Word Count: 2.4K

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Note: It's short I know I'm sorry but I think the next chapter's going to be the last one before the prologue, and I had to type this on my mom's computer while she was at work because mine stopped turning on :/

Very loosely edited, it's 2:22 in the morning (I'm tired, but that's a great number) so I may have missed a thing or two.

Hope y'all enjoy :))))

“JUNGKOOK-” Aria screamed as she jumped off her bed and fell to the ground, her restraints stopping her from fully executing her plan to rush to his side. A loud bang and several loud thuds rang throughout the echoey room as Jungkook fell down the few stairs he had left before reaching the ground, blood spilling from his abdomen.

Jungkook gasped for breath, his shaky hands clutching his stomach. “Jungkookie-!” Aria shoved her hair out of her eyes as she watched his shaking form grunting and curling himself up.

“You missed, you fucking idiot-” Bennett began to speak, already pissed that he has yet another mess to clean up.

“Bennett, we need to get the fuck outta here,” another man had made an appearance at the top of the stairs, looking around hastily as he beckoned for the other men to come, before he took notice of Jungkook’s bleeding body.

“What the fuck are you talking about, Smith?” Bennett had turned to him, gun now at his side as Jay stood in the corner of the room, frozen as his eyes glued to Jungkook.

“There are cops outside, they’re taking the girl; what the fuck are we going to do about him!?” Bennett sighed loudly, running his hands through his hair as he now had yet another thing on his plate to deal with.

“Damnit, Jay, untie Aria and get her to the car. Smith,” Jay blinked a few times before he moved, shoving his gun in his pants before he walked over to Aria, who started yelling for Jungkook as soon as he began to untie her. “you help me get the kid, we can’t leave him here even if we kill him, there’s not enough time to clear the crime scene,” He quickly nodded and followed him down the stairs.

Jay picked Aria up and threw her over his shoulder, stepped over Jungkook’s body, and rushed up the stairs, Aria yelling down as she watched the two other men pick Jungkook up, him groaning with every movement. His face was twisted in pain, one of his hands trying to push down onto his wound as the energy was quickly leaving his body.

Aria was thrown into the back of the car before Jay walked around the car, getting into the driver's seat and started the car before they made it up the stairs. Jungkook was slid into the backseat, his head landing on Aria’s lap as Smith got in after him, moving his legs so he could sit in the car. Bennett was quick to slide in the front seat and they sped away, making it out of sight of the police before the started chasing them.

“Jungkookie, it’s going to be okay...” Aria tried her best to sound convincing as she ran her cold fingers through his hair, pulling it from his slick forehead that had become damp with his own sweat. Jungkook opened his eyes slightly, looking up at Aria’s sad smile before he scrunched them back shut.

“Y/n...” Jungkook muttered, his breath shallow and quick as he tried to gather the strength to stay conscious. Aria smiled lightly as she tried to wipe the small drop of blood from his cheek, already stained red as his sweat and blood mixed together.

“She’s okay, Kookie, she’s with the cops right now. She’s safe.”

You had sat in a cold metal room for what felt like days. Sitting alone, panicking, handcuffed to a metal table as your eyes continuously darted back and forth between the two-way mirror and the large metal door in the corner of the room. You stared up at the ceiling and counted the ceiling tiles over and over, detailing the ones that needed to be replaced because they had been stained. You counted the floor tiles and noticed a few of them around the table has been damaged over the years, from the scraping of the chairs and a few of the no-doubt violent offenders that had been locked in the same room trying to fight to get out; maybe fight some of the officers as well.

The metal table had several dents in it, and a few mysterious stains riddled the white bricks that lined the wall. The bricks that you were about to start counting if you hadn’t been interrupted by the door opening. Your attention immediately snapped to the two officers entering the room. One of them carrying a thick folder, the other holding onto a tape player.

You sat up straighter than you had been, folding your hands in your lap as you looked up at the officers; one man and one woman, as they sat down at the table.

“Hello, Ms. Y/l/n, I’m detective Edmund, this is detective Kendrick,” the man started as they sat, his cold dark eyes contracting harshly from the warm brown ones of his partner, who had also adorned a warm smile to accompany them. “We picked up charge of Aria Morrison’s missing person’s case after you and your friend went missing. The guys upstairs thought this case seemed to be... out of the ordinary for the small town you live in,” He crossed his hands over the folder that sat on the table in front of him.

“The agent that arrested you passed along your message. We were able to listen to the tape and get it recorded and logged into evidence,” detective Kendrick spoke up, straightening the tape player sat in front of her. “We wanted to take a listen to it with you, if you didn’t mind.” You nodded, looking down at the tape player. She pressed play on the machine.

“So, Aria goes missing, an hour later the prom ends, and no one sees or hears from you for the next 4 hours? One phone call to your school, and I can put the time of the fire during your lunch period.”

“Are you saying I burned the building down?”

“Your best friend, while a sweet girl, gets all the attention. And not just from some kids at school, but from your own family. You’re jealous, and you want your life back. So, what’s going to happen is, I’m going throw this report in the trash, you and your little friend are going to go to school and go back to being normal kids, or I can do one of two things. One: pin this whole thing on you, which wouldn’t be hard considering the statement you just gave, or two: I make you disappear, just like your friend. So, Y/n, are we done here?”

You struggled to maintain your composure as you relived the fear you had experienced that last time you had a conversation with Bennett.

“I personally found that part the most interesting,” detective Edmund spoke as detective Kendrick stopped the recording. “He really spun that around on you, huh?” You didn’t respond, looking nervously at the two detectives in front of you, rubbing your hands together anxiously as you tried to take deep breaths.

“Look, sweetie, this recording changes a few things in our heads. We need you to tell us everything that happened. As far back as the death of Lillian Morrison, if that’s something you think you can do,” You thought for a second before nodding softly.

And so you told them everything.

From the fights that Aria’s parents had always gotten into, the drugs they had abused and all the trouble that always seemed to find them. The night of her death was difficult to recall, but you made sure to recount every detail you could; including the broken window you had thought to be important.

You told them about the fight you and Jungkook were in, and how Aria and Jungkook were trying to get you to talk again, and both of your reactions when she suddenly went missing. You told them about the first statement you had given, how it was with a different officer than the one who had taken the one that had been recorded.

You told them that you and Jungkook had broken into the event hall and stole the tape, and told them everything on the tape, and then again how you recognized the man that took her as officer Bennett. How you fled, stealing his parents' money, and how you broke a million other laws as you tried to get her back.

They only stopped you to clarify something you said as they took turns taking their own notes, letting you speak and finally get everything laid out in front of you. It felt good to finally talk about all the craziness that had happened over the past couple of days with someone other than Jungkook and yourself.

They thanked you and uncuffed you, before they both promptly stood and left the room with the promise that someone would bring you something to eat shortly.

You sat idly as you waited, almost ready to start counting away at the ceiling tiles again.

But as promised, less than an hour later, detective Kendrick re-entered the room with a bag from McDonalds, which honestly looked like gold to you at the moment.

“Hey hon, sorry it took so long, the line was around the building. I hope a burger and fries is okay?” She asked as she put the bag down in front of you, along with a bottle of coke you presumed to have been from a vending machine in the office.

“Very okay, thanks so much,” You opened the bag and pulled the fries out, shoving a few in your mouth as she sat across from you.

“Of course,” she smiled. “I just wanted to check in, make sure you’re doing okay and keep you in the loop on everything going on,” You nodded, wiping your mouth on your sleeve, quickly swallowing the bite of burger that tasted like the best salty piece of cardboard you’d ever eaten.

“I mean, I’m about as okay as I can be. Little stressed, overthinking a lot,” you nervously laughed as she nodded sympathetically. “But what do I need to be caught up on?” She paused for a moment before sitting up slightly, scooching in her chair to be closer to the table.

“Well, the house you were parked at was at least one of the houses Aria was being held in at some point, we found her fingerprints and a few of her hairs down in the basement. She wasn’t there by the time we got into the house though, Bennett made his escape along with whoever else was in the house, and that includes your friend, Jungkook.”

You took a few moments to think about what she had said. Bennett still had Aria, and now he had Jungkook too. This really couldn’t get much worse.

“But in the basement, we also found a large pool of blood,” She paused, looking you in the eye before she took a deep breath and continued. “Jungkook’s blood.”

I was wrong.

It got worse.

Jungkook groaned loudly as he woke up, suddenly once again overcome with the pain that had caused him to pass out. His first instinct was to reach for his stomach, to try to comfort the searing pain in his side but quickly realized his hands had been restrained. He opened his eyes, eyes squinted at the bright light that dangled from the ceiling in front of him. He sat in a wooden chair; hands tied behind his back with blood-stained bandages wrapped around his abdomen.

Across from him sat Bennett. Seated in a similar chair to Jungkook’s as he slouched down into his seat, his leg bouncing as he stared at Jungkook. Jungkook pulled against his restraints, eyes now trained on the bandages adorning his bandages as his bare chest heaved as his breath got heavier as his panic began to set in.

“Stop trying to get out, you're not going to be able to. My friend was able to get the bullet out, it didn’t hit any of your organs. We stitched you up, wrapped the wound and now here you are. But you know what I want to know, Jungkook?” He explained as he sat up, leaning his elbows on his knees as his eyes narrowed on Jungkook.

Jungkook looked up at him, still hunched over slightly as he looked up through the lids of his eyes through strands of his dark hair that had fallen in his face. “I want to know how the fuck- a couple of teenagers were able to get me caught up?”

Jungkook stayed silent as his ragged breath grew more irregular. He clenched his jaw; partially from an attempt to cope with the pain, and partially due to the anger that was searing through him.

“You see, I had this all planned out. Everything made sense; there was no way I could possibly lose. And then,” He let out a light chuckle, “Oh, and then, you, and that little bitch showed up behind that house. You showed up after I set the fire and then on you’ve been taunting me. Always one fucking step ahead of me, always being able to figure out what I going to do.”

He stood from his seat, rubbing his hand across his face as he took a few steps to the side, letting his feet drag across the cement ground. He laughed again as he let his hand fall, sliding it into his pocket as he shook his head.

“It should’ve been so easy – take the girl for a few days, get Carl to retract his appeal, do a little threatening and some light torture to make sure she wouldn’t talk out of fear of what I’d do, and set her free. It was the perfect plan but you,” His voice uneven and raw as he pointed a shaky finger at Jungkook, anger and frustration coating every fiber of his being as his mind began to spiral out of control as his brilliant plan began to fall apart in front of his eyes.

“You, and that determined little bitch you’ve had a fun time playing detective with have royally fucked me.” His voice gradually got louder as he slowly took steps toward Jungkook, spit spewing from his lips as he said “bitch”.

“And now she’s with the fucking FBI, who she’s obviously told everything to,” He walked behind Jungkook, grabbing his hair on the back of his head and pulled up back. Jungkook grunted loudly as his breath quickened, loudly entering and exiting through his nose. “So, Jungkook, you and I,” He leaned down, bringing his face down right next to Jungkook’s ear as he continued to speak.

“Are going to figure out what the hell I’m supposed to do with you.”

Taglist: @koobsessed @mwitsmejk @roxy1205 @yoon2jk @pamzn @drmrastraea @bbl32 @softforpj @lpgirl2324 @astoriasx @mooncuddler @theaufanartist @petalsofink

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