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amor-immortalem · 3 years

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You’re Important to Me part 4

Part 1 | part 2| part 3

Genre: angst/comfort

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Chat: Troublemaker (affectionate)

Lucifer: Come home immediately. We need to talk.

Mammon: bout what? If its one of your shitty punishments. Think I’ll pass.

Lucifer rested his head on his desk letting out a groan. The second-born was frustrating him to no end. However, the first-born supposes he’s made him this way from everything he’s put him through. Picking up the pill bottle, he rolled it in his hand and watched as the contents slid from one side to the other. He placed them in a locked door in his desk as he thought about how they had been this close to losing yet another sibling.

A soft rapping on the office door pulled his attention back to the present.

“Enter,” he sat up straight as the guest joined him. It was Levi.

“Do you think Mammon still loves us. I-I’ve really been thinking about what’s been going on….. about our family. What if he leaves us? We lost Lilith. I-I don’t want to lose him too…” The Avatar of Envy’s voice quaked. Back when they were angels they were once close- almost even closer than the twins.

“I’m sure he does, Levi.” His response was hollow words. If Lucifer was being honest, he didn’t really know how Mammon felt about them currently. If he were the one in Mammon’s shoes, he would absolutely despise his brothers.“He’s currently refusing to come home, however. It’s likely that he knows what went on today and that’s why he broke up with the human we all know he cherishes so deeply. He didn’t want us to know.”

“I knew it! He hates us and never wants to see our faces again.”

“Leviathan, I never said that.” Lucifer’s voice was stern. “Please calm down before you throw yourself into a panic attack. He has to come home eventually, and we’ll all talk then- if not tonight then definitely tomorrow morning. For now, maybe you should go play one of your games. If you’d like I could join you to help take your mind off this whole debacle.”

Levi nodded his head slowly. “ I would appreciate that….. Actually, I had made this rpg specifically to play-test with Mammon but if you wanted to….we could play it together.”

“That’s a wonderful idea, Levi.”

Finally deciding to make his way home, Mammon pushed open the heavy doors to the house. The last thing he wanted to do was face his brothers right now. He already anticipated their reactions. The teasing and mocking that would be thrown his way- there wasn’t any escape for him now, was there? At least no one was here at the moment- that much he could be greatful for.

As he made his way up to his room, the demon made sure to avoid the places he knew his brothers would frequent at this time of night. Once there, he slipped inside and tossed the bag of clothes he had modeled in today from the top of of the stairs into the walk in closet with practiced precision. When he turned his head, he saw her small, blurry form just lying there on the couch.

“Why’re you in here? Ya got a room if your own dontcha?”

“I just….. sorry. I pushed too hard, didn’t I?” Arella’s voice sounded hurt. “It was just that I thought this might be the only place I could go and you’re brothers wouldn’t come looking for me. I’m still really angry with them. Not that they would anyway, not with how I screamed and yelled at them earlier...”

“And Lucifer didn’t kill ya on the spot? Its a miracle you’re alive after that.” He let out a chuckle. “I can’t tell if you’re incredibly brave or just plain dumb.”

“Maybe both…..” Arella sighed, “I… um… I’ll go back to my room now.” As she stood and made her up the staircase, he could feel the sadness radiating off of their pact mark.

“‘Rella, wait.” He grabbed her by the arm. “Don’t go. I don’t mind if ya stay…. We should talk about earlier, okay?”

He watched as she nodded a small frown on her face. Now that he could see her more clearly, he noticed the puffy eyes and tear tacks streaked down her cheeks. Now he just felt worse.

“I was thinkin’ real hard about this morning and I’m sorry for what I said earlier.” He started, “I don’t… I don’t really think we should break up…. I know you were just trying to help. That you were worried and scared for me.”

“I was…. Can I tell you something?“ she asks as he nods. “Seven years ago, I lost my little brother and then six months later my mother to suicide. One to cyber bullying, the other because she was so consumed with grief from the loss of a child that she saw no way to go on…. Do you know what was like….. to find their bodies? To realize you could have helped them if you had just paid attention and seen the warning signs? It still affects me to this day….They were the only blood related family I had left until I had found a new family here in the Devildom with you and your brothers. A-and then when you were saying all those things last night, I- I flashed back to the night I had found my brother but instead of him it was you and I-I-”

Mammon pulled the human tight against his chest in what could have been a bone crushing hug if he wasn’t careful and she buried her face in his chest. Her body shook with with muffled sobs.

“I’m sorry. I was running my mouth without thinking ‘bout what that might do to everyone- worst of all you….” He leaned down, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “I wont say things like that ever again. No matter how I’m feelin’.

He walked her back towards the bed, letting her get in as he went to go change into some more comfortable clothes for sleeping. He joined her in bed shortly after, pulling her close as he wiped the stray tears from his cheeks. Arella moved closer so she could lay her head on his chest listening to his heartbeat, her crying reduce to quiet sniffles and hiccups by this point.

“Ya know, I think you just wasted your breath when you were yellin’ at my brothers earlier…. I think to them, I’ll just always be the family screw up. I’m already dreading the teasing I’ll get tomorrow at breakfast….”

“It had to be done, though. I think I managed to set them all straight….If you could have seen the look on their faces when I lost control of my temper and fried all the electronics in the common room or when I commanded Asmo to sit so hard he crashed face first into the floor….”

“Wait…you did what?” He quirked an eyebrow as he stared down at her before breaking into a soft laugh, “Ya really are something else, Hon, ya know that? I’ve never met someone who would fight for me like this before- who would call my brothers out on their bullshit.”

“Only because I know you don’t deserve to be treated this way…. You… you deserve good things and to be treated well by the people who you love most.” She yawned as she stretched out a little more in his embrace. “And because I love you and I would be lost if anything were to happen to you.” Her eyes were starting to slip closed.

“I love you too, babe.” The demon hummed as he started to card his fingers through her hair. As soon as he was sure she was out like a light he pressed his lips to the crown of her heard once more.

“Thank you for being here on my worst days, for being my little ray of sunshine down here in the dark.”

Once the morning came around, most of Mammon’s brothers gathered in the common room. They were awaiting the entrance of the Avatar of Greed as it was nearly breakfast time.

Lucifer had figured Mammon would be avoiding them as if they had the plague, so he instructed Beel to drag him in here by any means necessary. They all knew he was successful when they heard Mammon let out a surprised yelp and the clattering of a bowl against the floor.

“C’mon, Beel, Let me go!”

“Not until we all talk.”

“Talk? What’s there to talk about? I didn’t do nothin’ so let me go!’

Both demons soon entered the dining room as the sixth-born sat his older on the couch facing all of them, holding him down by his shoulders so Mammon couldn’t escape despite how he squirmed and tried to wiggle his way out of Beel’s grasp.

“Mammon, stop struggling.” It was a request from eldest, a chance to cooperate. “We all have some words we’d like to say to you.”

Mammon froze at that statement. Here it came: all the ridicule and teasing. He wanted to run. He was the second strongest of them, maybe if he tried hard enough, he could shake his little brother off and get away. What good would that do him though? His brothers would just corner him later anyway so maybe it was just best to get it over with now.

He looked towards his brothers’ blurry figures, a million different thoughts rushing his head. He couldn’t tell their expressions from this distance but they had to be smiling, right- ready to laugh at him any minute now. His body tensed as he braced himself for the harsh sting of their words.

“Mammon, we’re sorry,” Asmo was the first to speak up after a short moment of silence, “We love you so much even though we suck at showing it.”

“You did so much for us after we fell,- you still do a lot for us even now,” the seventh-born picked his head up from the table,“And I don’t think we ever told you how much we all appreciate it…. If it weren’t for you, I don’t even think we would still be a family… don’t forget, you’re the one who kept us all in line when Lucifer would lock himself away in his office back then.”

“I know we act like you’re just a burden to us,” Satan started, “but I think all of us would agree that life would be so boring without you here.”

“Yeah, I-I mean who else would take the time to play games with me when I’m down in the dumps?” Levi asked.

“Or risk getting strung up from the chandelier to get me the food that I want from the human world?” Beel cut in.

“Or compliment me on my outfit or hair no matter what form I choose to take for the day. Or is always there to hype me up when I’m having a bad day? Hell, you even gave up the position of DevilStyle’s cover model just for me! Honestly I think you might be the best big brother out there.”

“We know about all the things you’ve done in secret for us- the things you don’t take credit for,” Lucifer smiled softly, “I’m proud to call you my brother for that. We love you and while you may make some poor life choices from time to time, our lives just wouldn’t be the same without you.”

Mammon looks at them in a daze. Was this really happening? His brothers were…. Apologizing? To him of all people? This had to be a dream. There was no reality in which his brothers really cared about him. The second-born pinched the skin on his arm. That’s what you did to check if you were dreaming, right?

Harder, harder he pinched until the spot was sure to bruise. It wasn’t until Beelzebub placed his hand over his that Mammon realized he wasn’t dreaming. This was reality.

Tears welled in his eyes as he processed the words he just heard. One tear fell down his cheek soon followed by another then another until eventually the demon let out a sob.

“Th-This ain’t real! It ain’t!” The second-born yelled, his body shaking as he sobbed harder. “I’m still dreamin’. I-I gotta be! None of this is real…”

His brothers moved to embrace him- first the sixth-born, then the eldest and then the youngest. One by one, the rest of their brothers followed suit until the seven of them all somehow managed to end up on the floor in one giant cuddle pile, his face pressed into Lucifers as they allowed their brother to cry out all the tears he’d been bottling up for all these centuries.

It seemed they were going to be there a while- Good thing Lucifer had called Diavolo to tell him they wouldn’t be attending RAD today. That this was a more important matter to attend to.

“This stops today, Lucifer announced to his siblings once Mammon had stopped crying. “From today on, the six of us will make a conscious effort to change the ways we’ve talk to and treated you.”

“And if we get too out of hand, feel free to put us in our place,” Belphegor chuckled. “We can be blockheads from time to time.”

“The point is,” Asmodeus sighed as he hugged his brother a little tighter, “We all messed up big time. We just want to make you feel loved and appreciated again- like you’re an important part of this family.”

“We lost Lilith.” It was Beel’s turn to speak. “We’re not losing you too.”

Mammon smiled at his brothers’ words. Finally, he had thought, finally they were showing their true feelings to him after all these centuries.

“Thanks guys…..” the demon’s voice sounded cracked and strained from all the crying he had done earlier. “Even after everything that’s happened I wouldn’t trade y’all for the world. I love you guys.”

A chorus of ‘I love you too’s sounded from the group of demons as another family hug commenced. Eventually, as hours passed, one by one, they had all fallen asleep, each with a smile on their face and still huddled together.

Arella eventually found them in that state. With a soft smile she grabbed the blanket they often used for movie night and draped it over them heading back to her room so she wouldn’t disturb them.

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Taglist: @gallantys

Masterlist 2

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jinmukangwrites · 3 years

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Whumptober2021 - October 4th - Taken Hostage | Pushed

Gift fic to @fidothefinch <3

Fandom: Nightwing, Batman - All Media Types

AO3

Warnings: Near death experience, hostage situations, implies Bruce as a shitty dad but I don't go into detail on it.

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If there’s anything in the world that Dick hates more than being restrained, it’s being held hostage. Especially if he’s being held hostage as a threat against Bruce or Batman. One thing they don’t tell you in the foster system is that if you’re adopted by a rich and famous to the Kardashian level man, is that you’re often the target of criminals who think snatching a kid on their way home from school is a surefire way to make a million bucks. It’s no better in the vigilante business either, because often any hero in Gotham is only seen as a stepping stool to getting to Batman.

Honestly, at this point Dick’s used to it. It doesn’t mean he enjoys it, though. Not so much because of the initial kidnapping part, but because he’s worked hard to become his own person, his own man with his own life. He moved to Blüdhaven to be anything other than the son of Bruce Wayne; to be his own hero that villains learn to fear. And then the second he sets foot back in Gotham, for whatever reason, suddenly it’s all about the reclusive eldest Wayne child returning home! Suddenly, when villains see him at night, it isn’t “Oh shit, it’s Nightwing!”, it’s “Shit, it’s a Sidekick! Where’s the Bat?!”

Anyway, long story short, Dick came back to Gotham for one weekend to visit family, and now he’s dressed as Nightwing, standing on a roof with duct-tape keeping his wrists together behind his back and a knife to his throat belonging to a shady businessman who’s finally caught the attention of Gotham’s heroes.

And it’s sorta pathetic how Dick ended up in this situation. It wasn’t like this was going to be a particularly difficult mission. Just sneak into the building, grab the evidence he needed to get this bastard behind bars, and then get out. Unfortunately, someone tipped the man off without Bruce knowing about it. When he went into the main office, he was met with a very strong guard hiding behind the doors, and after a hefty blow to the head and a few concerning minutes of blacking out, Dick opened his eyes—thankfully still masked—to find himself kneeling on the rough cement of a skyscraper’s roof, completely stripped of any of his useful tools. He has a small knife in one of his gauntlets, but it’s not exactly in an easy to reach position. It would take time to grab at it, and that’s not counting the high probability he’ll be spotted by Jerome McCoy--Gotham’s latest shady businessman--or any of his goons.

Besides, Tim is already up here listening to their demands to get Batman up here or Dick dies. It shouldn’t be long before Bruce gets here and kicks his ass. That’s not even accounting for the facts that Jason, Steph, Duke, Dami, and Cass are all in town.

These idiots have no clue how close they are with dealing with close to every single bat if something bad happens to Dick tonight.

And everything was going fine until Tim suddenly stopped mid sentence in reminding McCoy that Batman was on his way and brought his hand to his communicator in his ear. When Tim paled ever so slightly, Dick knew something had gone exactly NOT according to plan.

“What is it?!” McCoy demands, pressing the knife against Dick’s neck with worrying pressure. Dick leans his head back slightly to lessen the risk of his neck being cut and meets Tim in the eyes through their masks.

Tim swallows. “Batman is being held up-”

Dick resists sighing in both disappointment and lack-of-surprise as McCoy practically explodes.

“What?!

“Only for a few hours,” Tim rushes to explain. He’s lifted his hands in a placid manner and softened his voice, which can’t be good. “He’s… met an unexpected complication along the way that he cannot ignore. Please, just tell me what you want, and I can take my partner and be out of-”

“I don’t have a few hours,” McCoy practically screeches. “Either Batman makes it his priority to get here, or Nightwing gets it!” to make a point, McCoy lifts the knife from Dick’s neck and waves it in front of him. Dick slides his eyes over to the other goons on the roof; there’s only a few. Maybe… if Dick plays his cards right… “That was the deal!”

“I understand-”

“Tell Batman to get here now, or Nightwing’s blood is on his hands!”

“He’s busy- I can’t just-”

Dick slams his body back, pointing his elbow the furthest he can with the way his arms are bound and jamming it into McCoy’s stomach. McCoy lets out a startled, breathless gasp as Dick uses his surprise to escape from his grasp and jump to his feet.

“’Wing!” Tim yells at the same time McCoy wheezes “Get that fucker!”

Dick has just a second to notice Tim’s shock at Dick’s sudden attack before Dick’s having to defend himself with his hands literally tied behind his back. Sorry, kid, Dick thinks, ducking around a pair of beefy arms, but we’re out of options.

It was going well until it wasn’t. Tim was even about to step in. However, while waking up from his lovely whack to the head, Dick failed to assess just where he was on the roof.

All it took was for the back of his heel to tough nothing but air for his heart to jump to his throat. Instinctively, he tried to wave his arms to catch his balance, but was quickly reminded of his predicament when the tape tugged against his wrists. For a moment, pure panic filled his entire body, here, wobbling backwards off the edge of a roof dozens of stories above the ground. He could feel his heart pound, hands shake, breath catch, hair rustle in the wind, but he couldn’t do a thing to stop himself from falling backwards. He’s pretty sure he hears Tim scream his codename, but he’s not totally focused on anything other than his pending doom right now-

A heavy hand wraps around his upper-bicep, stopping his almost-promised journey to pancake town. Everything is silent on the roof for a solid moment, as Dick practically hangs over the ledge of the roof with his feet just barely still on solid ground, a goon holding him juuuuuust enough to make sure he doesn’t fall. Tim looks even paler than before, looking like he really did watch Dick go over the edge. McCoy looks a constipating mixture of smug and outraged while the other goons stand nearby like useless props.

Then, McCoy speaks with anger as heavy and level as stone. “Tell Batman I want him here in ten minutes.”

Tim meets Dick’s eyes, and Dick sees everything that he needs to. Whatever is holding Bruce up, it’s more important than Dick, and Tim knows it’s useless to even try.

“Please,” Tim says, voice wobbly. He’s a detective. He knows what’s about to happen. “Just give us more time-”

McCoy snaps a finger, and that’s that.

The hand on his arm pushes Dick away and opens it’s grasp. It doesn’t matter anymore that Dick had his feet on the roof, because the rest of his body is falling.

Falling.

Dick’s completely off the roof in a blink of an eye and he’s falling.

The air is rushing past his ears and through his hair, so loud he can barely think. That’s if he’s thinking at all, as story after story passes him by. He’s falling, and for the first time in a long time, he’s afraid of falling, because this time there’s nothing he can do to stop it. He doesn’t have any tools… he doesn’t even have his hands, nor enough time to even try and get his hands free. He’s falling, rushing to the ground. He can already see in vivid detail what his body will look like when it hits the pavement.

He’s falling. He’s standing at the top of a beam, watching his mama and papa fall. He’s falling. He’s screaming as the sound of their bodies landing and snapping reaches his ears. He’s falling and he’s going to die in the most Grayson way possible.

He’s going to die the same way his parents did, a way that he’s worked hard to not be afraid of ever since he first moved in with Bruce, but was always secretly terrified.

He closes his eyes. He doesn’t want to watch. He’s afraid, and Tim will watch from above and blame himself and he never wanted any of his siblings to blame themselves for his death like how he blamed himself for his parent’s for decades and-

And the wind is knocked out of him, but not from his body slamming on the ground. A strong arm wraps painfully around his stomach, and suddenly the world turns sideways and his eyes shoot open in shock.

“Fuck,” Jason grunts, holding Dick with one arm and the other wrapped tightly in a grappling line. “Fucking hell.”

And Dick… doesn’t know what to do. He feels muted, like a YouTube video playing at 144p and buffering still. The adrenaline is pumping so loudly through his entire body that the fact that Jason’s caught him doesn’t register until Jason’s landing roughly on the ground and lowering Dick to the asphalt.

“Started heading over the second that bastard said he wasn’t coming,” Jason explains. Dick nods numbly, his eyes locked on the oil covered road below him, his mind still trying to process. “Said he ran into some bastard working for Two-Face holding some rich family hostage. Said we could handle it. I can’t believe I got here just in time. Fucking fuck-face fucker.”

There’s a splash of two feet landing on the permanently puddled street beside them, and Dick can hardly contain his flinching at the sound, but thankfully Jason doesn’t notice. He just stands up and faces where Tim has landed quite suddenly from where he must have grappled down from the roof. Dick continues to look at the ground, wringing his knitting together in front of him. He… hasn’t noticed Jason undid the bindings.

“What happened to McCoy?” Jason demands, and Tim takes a gasping breath and shakes his head.

“They ran into the building while I… jumped after N.”

Jason growls, taking a step forward but Tim stops him. “Orphan said she’ll handle it, she sounded pissed.”

Jason backs off, but anger still curls in his stomach like an old friend. His fists clench to his side. “Once I see B, I’m gonna punch his teeth up to his brain.”

And it must be proof of how shaken Tim is, because he doesn’t argue.

Then, like a pin hitting tile, a small sound catches Jason’s ears. He looks down to where Dick is still sitting in the grime of Gotham’s street. His heart sinks to his gut.

“N?” he asks, and Dick doesn’t respond. “Nightwing, you’re… crying.”

That directs Tim’s attention down where tears are certainly streaming down Dick’s cheeks from under his mask. His lips are wobbling, and the second Jason kneels down to put his hand on Dick’s shoulder, a wounded sound escapes his lips.

“Dick?” Jason asks, his voice sounding shocked and unsure.

Dick looks up at Tim, looking one breath of the wind from falling apart. “You jumped after me?” His voice is small and brittle. When Tim nods slowly, Dick whimpers, dropping his head into his hands and letting out a sob. “You almost watched me die,” is all he says before he finally breaks down into mournful cries.

Jason looks up from where Dick’s now shaking and gasping into his hands and meets Tim’s eyes. Neither of them… has ever seen Dick get like this before. It feels wrong, like something in the world has shattered and can never be replaced.

“Lets… get him home,” Jason says, breaking the silence.

“Yeah,” is all Tim can smartly bring to his lips while Jason scoops Dick into his arms and stands up.

Dick’s so out of it with his sobbing that he hardly reacts, just curls against Jason and continues to cry.

“You know,” Jason says quietly, “the scariest way to die, for me, is to overdose.”

And Tim understands.

“I… see.”

Jason nods, swallowing hard. “Yeah. So let’s just call it a night, get him some Alfred cookies, and just… let him take this at his own pace, okay?”

Tim nods, knowing that after years of Dick always going out of his way to help them with their trauma, their issues, and never asking for anything in return… it’s now their turn to return the favor. Dick looks so much smaller than Tim swears he’s ever seen him, curled up in Jason’s arms, trembling and sobbing. He silently promises to himself that he will do whatever it takes to make sure Dick gets through this, just like what he’d do for them, always. And Tim’s positive the rest of Dick’s siblings will do the same.

#dick grayson #nightwing #batman #whumptober2021 #no.4 #taken hostage #pushed #near death tw #fanfiction #jin writes

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whumpmatsus · 3 years

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Heyo! 👋 hope you're doing well! If you are taking requests right now, maybe some Ichi hurt/comfort? Like maybe he's having a depressive episode one day (me? Projecting? It's more likely than you think 😂) unlike any he's ever had before, and he just doesn't have the strength to do anything, even make snippy remarks at any of his brothers. One (or all, you can pick!) of them notices this odd behavior, and makes it their mission to help him feel a little more like his old self, even if that just means "riding out the storm" with him.

Oof this was really long, lol sorry 😂 but thanks for taking the time to read, I love your writing style! Take care! 👋

eyyy don't be sorry! God I REALLY enjoyed writing this... I love how it turned out

sometimes these guys can be jerks, for sure, even when one of their own is in pain

but... when it's serious... THIS BEAUTIFUL SHIT HAPPENS

please enjoy Ichi being spoiled and surrounded by love from all his brothers because HE DESERVES IT and I love how this turned out <3

Ichimatsu’s first (and maybe only) mistake is that he assumes his brothers don’t pay that much attention to him one way or the other unless he speaks up.

Or, maybe it’s that he often hopes they don’t.

Because he knows they care; there are little things they all do that remind him that no matter what, they love him. But they all have their own things to do, and most of the time he finds that best. They should be able to do whatever they like instead of wasting their lives making him feel better. He has a bad day or hates himself so much of the time, if they paid him attention whenever he wasn’t doing well, they’d never get to enjoy themselves with other things.

He cares about them, too. So usually he’d rather they occupy themselves with their own interests whenever he’s not feeling well. He can bury things deep inside and pretend those shitty feelings don’t exist and act almost normal. As normal as someone like him can act, anyway. For their sake. They don’t deserve to worry about him.

Today, he’s too tired for whatever reason. His scathing barbs and negative attitude on most days aren’t really fake… on the bad days, though, he can force his typical demeanor so nobody suspects he’s not fine. All they see is sour-faced, ill-tempered fourth brother Ichimatsu.

He can’t even do that much right now. It’s as if the weight of existence and his own mind is pulling him down, further and further, until he’s drowning in his thoughts. Horrible thoughts. Things telling him he’s worthless, a failure, a burden, good for nothing, should probably be dead… too many things to keep track of.

If he were trying not to get his brothers’ attention by being quiet and listless, it isn’t working. In fact, his current behavior has actually done the opposite.

While he’s lying in the corner of the room, curled around himself and wishing he could fall asleep to avoid dealing with these thoughts and feelings, the others are around their table muttering among themselves.

“You guys noticed he barely touched breakfast, right?” Osomatsu is the first to speak up, and he’s doing his best not to look at Ichimatsu too much, simply because he doesn’t want his younger brother to feel everyone’s eyes on him. He’s pretty sure that would just make matters worse.

Choromatsu hums in agreement. “Yeah, no, he just kind of stared into his tea… he might have taken a sip or two, but that’s about it. I don’t think he even ate any rice.”

“Did he even brush his teeth this morning?” Totty speaks up. “Or his hair? It looks messier than usual, and I was the last one in the bathroom before breakfast, and it didn’t look like his toothbrush had been used.”

“Also,” Karamatsu chimes in, “I believe that is the same outfit he wore yesterday. He didn’t sleep in it, but he put it back on when he got up even though it hasn’t been washed.”

Choromatsu frowns and steals a quick glance at the fourth eldest. “Like he… didn’t wanna think about picking something different out, huh? And… it’s kind of worrying that he didn’t brush his teeth or hair. I mean, that’s basic hygiene. It’s like he’s depressed or… some… thing…”

Suddenly a light bulb goes off, and the rest of the brothers exchange a concerned look with each other.

“Oh,” is all Osomatsu says for a moment. Then, “Fuck.”

Before anyone else can breathe a word, Jyushimatsu leans back away from the table and collapses with his head in Ichimatsu’s lap. “Aaaah, Ichimatsu-nii-chan! Baseball practice today? We can do it at the beach!”

Ichimatsu hardly flinches at the abrupt contact, but really it’s because he doesn’t even have the strength to be startled. He doesn’t move to push Jyushimatsu off or bounce his leg to dissuade the him from staying or anything. It’s a moment until he actually says anything, like a delayed reaction from a computer. “Uh. Not today, Jyushi. I’m probably gonna take a nap.”

“Hmmmmmmm… oh, I know! I’ll nap with you! Maybe we’ll dream about baseball!”

All the others watch closely, waiting to see if he gives an average Ichimatsu reaction. Instead, he doesn’t even shrug. “Yeah, if you want.”

Obviously, that’s not what they would be expecting from any other day. They all look at each other again, minus Jyushimatsu who just curls up against his big brother’s side.

Ichimatsu, on the other hand, is so out of it in his own head that he doesn’t realize that he’s done anything to worry his brothers. They should all be paying attention to their own shit, right?

He just feels so exhausted despite that he knows he slept okay last night. All he did this morning was wake up and get out of bed and already he’s… drained.

You’re so lazy. You can’t even put together the energy it takes to read a fucking magazine or something? To do nothing like you usually do? What kind of loser doesn’t have enough energy to do something like watch TV?

What the hell is wrong with you?

He cringes at the sound of his own inner voice berating him, and ducks his head down between his knees. Shit. Everything hurts. Isn’t that right, though? He’s useless. It doesn’t take any effort to just sit somewhere watching TV or reading and yet he’s not even willing to do something like that.

Even though he expects that Jyushimatsu might want to hang out with him, because the two of them are close, he doesn’t anticipate it when Osomatsu comes over and sits himself down across from Ichimatsu. At least, he thinks it’s Osomatsu. He doesn’t really feel like lifting his head fully; it looks like a red hoodie, though.

“Uh, hey, Ichimacchan.” Osomatsu feels a little awkward at first, mainly due to the fact that he’s never sure what to do when Ichimatsu is in one of ‘these’ moods. What works on one day might not work the next time. Previous experience is all he has to draw on, though.

“I noticed you didn’t eat too much at breakfast… you in the mood for something sweet?” Tempting him with one of their favorite treats might put him in better spirits, at least for a minute. “There’s a box of imagawayaki on the counter… there’s three in there, so we can split ‘em. Mom said these ones have chocolate cream in them.”

Everyone else lets out a blissful sigh as they all think about how delicious that’s going to be. Bean paste or custard or even regular cream is always good, but chocolate cream? If they had to fight over those, someone might end up dead.

Ichimatsu offers a shrug in his brother’s direction. “Sure, if you guys want. I’m just not that hungry.”

Osomatsu frowns, and looks over toward Choromatsu who’s thankfully recovered from the imagawayaki imagine spot. None of the brothers would ever turn that down. Even if they weren’t necessarily hungry, they’d make room for something that good. Moreover, given that Ichimatsu didn’t eat anything at breakfast, he should be starving,especially for sweets.

Choromatsu makes his way over, setting a careful hand on Ichimatsu’s shoulder. He doesn’t have any more of a clue what to do than their eldest, so he’s flying by the seat of his pants just as much. Something has to be done… they can’t just let poor Ichimatsu suffer. “Ichimacchan? It’s pretty cold today. How about I turn on the kotatsu, and if you’re gonna nap, you can sleep with your legs under it? That might feel nice.”

Well. That does sound nice, Ichimatsu thinks, because curling up under the heat of the kotatsu is always nice in the winter. But… he’s pretty sure he doesn’t have the energy to even move from this spot. “Oh, yeah… I’ll probably just nap here, though. Don’t really feel like moving.”

“Aaah, but you are cold, aren’t you? I can hear your teeth chattering from all the way over here!” Karamatsu is up in an instant, tugging his leather jacket off his shoulders. Although it leaves him in nothing but a tank top ― and a horribly plain grey one, at that ― it’s a necessary sacrifice for his little brother’s comfort.

He hurries over to where everyone else is gathering and gently drapes the jacket over Ichimatsu’s shoulders. “Hmph… Karamatsu to the rescue as usual! You’re looking cozier already.”

Man,Ichimatsu’s mind comes up with, I try on Shittymatsu’s dumbass jacket one time and suddenly he’s coming up with any excuse to put the stupid thing over me. Do I really want him freezing instead of me? Why don’t I just move my ass over to the kotatsu? He’s gonna catch a cold and it’ll be all my fault because my stubborn ass didn’t move and he took pity on me.

God, I wanna die. They’re all falling all over themselves to do shit to cheer me up when they should be focusing on themselves. I’m fucking trash, making my brothers waste all their damn time on me. Why couldn’t I just do stuff and not make them worry?

“… Ichimatsu-nii-san?” Totty has plopped himself down in front of Ichimatsu, staring in concern at his big brother. Fuck. He’s using that eye voodoo of his, and if he says anything, if he asks Ichimatsu a question, he’s gonna get an honest answer despite the fact that Ichimatsu doesn’t want to admit anything.

He can’t help it, though. Totty’s hand is soft as he reaches up toward Ichimatsu’s face, thumbing away tears that Ichimatsu didn’t even realize he’d started to cry. But his youngest brother is delicate in the way he brushes them, so caring and tender that any little bit of strength Ichimatsu had to keep things hidden away crumbles quickly.

“Hehe,” Totty chuckles, though there isn’t a genuine mirth behind it, “you’re not having a good day, Ichimatsu-nii-san… are you?”

He blinks, and more tears start to drip down his cheeks. This time Totty doesn’t make a move to wipe them away, instead staring at his brother with those big, sad doe eyes, glittering with sympathy.

Ichimatsu lets his head drop again, eyes pressing against his arm and tears soaking into his sleeve. “N-no,” he manages to say in a quiet, insecure, small voice. He hates it. He hates making this stupid confession, because he should be able to take care of himself. His brothers don’t need to be huddled around him, pissing their days down the drain. “I’m… I’m having a bad day.”

With that, it’s like all five of them attach themselves to him all at once. There’s a brief cacophony of worry and reassurances, and a hug Ichimatsu almost loses himself inside of.

“Alright, you hear that, guys?” Osomatsu announces, maybe a bit louder than he really needs to. “Ichimatsu’s having a bad day! Woohoo!”

Choromatsu scoffs. “Ah, ‘woohoo’?? Osomatsu, you idiot! This isn’t a good thing!”

Osomatsu pulls away to rub a finger under his nose with a grin. “Hey, sure it is! He said it, didn’t he? Good for you, Ichimacchan! You’re having a bad day and you said so! Remember what happened when Totty kept junk from us? We need to know this shit! I’m glad you said something!”

Karamatsu’s hand tousles Ichimatsu’s hair as he pulls his brother into a hug. “Yes, Osomatsu is right. You’re having a bad day, Ichimatsu, and that’s just fine. It takes a lot of bravery to admit it, so we’re proud of you.”

“Plus, we’re gonna make this the best bad day ever!” Totty hums. He’s whipped his phone out before anyone can so much as blink, typing away on it. “It’s just about lunch time, so I’m gonna order some takeout! Ichimatsu-nii-san, what sounds good? Curry? Sushi? Ooh… maybe fried chicken? We don’t do that too often… might be a nice treat! Oh, it’s your call, though.”

Osomatsu gives Ichimatsu a tiny bump on the shoulder with his fist. “You and Totty figure that out while I go cut that imagawayaki for us. Be right back, guys.”

… Am I in the fucking Twilight Zone or something? What the hell???

Ichimatsu lifts his head just a little, looking at all his brothers. Totty’s on his phone looking at delivery options, Osomatsu is headed to the kitchen, Jyushimatsu is nuzzled against his side…

None of them are leaving him by himself. They all still want to be here even when his mood sucks ass. Even when he can’t really do anything for himself. Even when he’s being a huge fucking pain and a thorn in their sides and doing literally nothing to contribute to the day.

What the hell are they all doing? Why are they all fine with wasting their day taking care of him?

When Karamatsu presses a couple of tissues into his hand, Ichimatsu somehow finds the energy to use them to wipe his face. Fuck, he hates crying, and he hates people seeing him cry. “Don’t do this,” he mumbles. “You’re fucking morons. You have better shit to do than…”

“No way!” Jyushimatsu aggressively snuggles against the side of Ichimatsu’s stomach, circling his arms around his brother’s waist. “What better shit could weeeee have to do? We’re shitty NEETs!”

Choromatsu chuckles. “Besides, there’s literally nothing more important than taking care of each other, especially when one of us is down and out. Ichimatsu, you… know none of us are shy when it comes to being honest. So, just… try to believe us when we say there’s nothing we’d rather be doing than being with you right now.”

He straightens up, then gingerly taps Jyushimatsu with his foot. “Hey, Jyushi, how about you scoot yourself and Ichimatsu over to the kotatsu? And Totty, are you really gonna make a delivery driver come out in this weather? It’s almost below freezing! Why don’t you go get it yourself?”

“Excuse you, but if they haven’t shut down the delivery option, why shouldn’t I take advantage of it? I don’t wanna leave Ichimatsu-nii-san!”

“Okay, okay… I guess that’s fair. What are you ordering, again?”

“Aaaah, I dunno! I was waiting for Ichimatsu-nii-san to say what he feels like.”

Meanwhile, Jyushimatsu has somehow gotten himself and Ichimatsu over to the kotatsu, and is currently shoving his big brother’s legs under it while Choromatsu moves to plug it in. “Home run, YEAH! Your tootsies will be toasty in no time, Ichimatsu-nii-san!”

“O-oh… thanks, Jyushi…” That’s about all he can say, really. He’s slumped over the table in a matter of seconds, and although there’s no way it can support the weight of everything he feels like he’s being crushed under, feels a little more relaxing than holding himself in a tight ball in the corner.

He’s going to cry again. He’s pretty sure he’s going to cry again. His brothers, his selfish, douche-a-holic, demon brothers… would rather be taking care of him on a bad day than out doing their own things, not touching him or his shitty mood with a ten-foot pole.

Jyushimatsu is cuddled up on one side, and he can feel Karamatsu settling in on the other with an arm around Ichimatsu’s shoulders. That’s it. He’s surrounded by brothers and their warm, selfless-for-once-in-their-lives affection. He has to surrender. He doesn’t stand a chance.

His mind drifts back to the others. “Oh… Totty…”

“Oh! Yeah, mhm?”

“Um… curry sounds good, I guess.”

The impossibly huge smile on his youngest brother’s face comes through even when he speaks. “Oh, great! Curry it is! Okaaaay, I’m gonna get it from that nice place in town. You want it with rice or udon? Or do you want curry bread?”

“Uhh… just with rice.”

“Rice, okay, sounds good! Beef, chicken, or pork?”

“Huh… you mentioned fried chicken, now that sounds good. Does that place do curry rice with tonkatsu on top?”

“Oooh… that does sound good. Yeah, I think there’s an option for that. Chicken tonkatsu with curry rice, then?”

“Yeah.”

“Gotcha. Is that what everybody wants?”

“Yeah, Totty,” Choromatsu injects, “just order the same thing for everybody. We’ll all eat that.”

“Okay, what about sides? Does anyone want fukujinzuke or rakkyō?”

“Geez, just… just get half of each and we can divide it up if anyone wants any.”

“Okaaay! I’m not ordering drinks from there, though… too expensive. We have tea here. Oh, I’ll get a few orders of pork curry bread, too, in case we want a snack later.”

“Well, make sure you get either three or six.”

“Yeahhhh, Cherrymatsu, I’m not stupid! I’ll just get three; I’m fine buying some, but I’m not trying to go broke! Does that sound okay, Ichimatsu-nii-san? The curry bread for later?”

It takes a moment, but finally Ichimatsu lets out a breathy, almost tearful laugh as he leans against Karamatsu’s shoulder. “Totty… you’re trying to fatten me up… you witch… you’re gonna cook me and eat me… that’s your plan, huh?…”

The whole room erupts into a small fit of laughter, even Totty who’s blushing at being teased. Ichimatsu feels Karamatsu press a kiss to his head, and he sighs. Usually he wouldn’t be able to take all of this… the attention, and Totty blabbering away, and Choromatsu trying to be responsible, and… everything.

At the moment, it feels right. Like things are supposed to be this way. Like he’s supposed to be having a bad day so his brothers can all gather around him and remind him that regardless of anything else, when one of them needs their brothers, everyone is going to be there.

Maybe he needed that reminder.

Maybe they all did.

#depression tw #suicidal thoughts tw #Osomatsu san #whump #Ichimatsu #Osomatsu #Karamatsu #Choromatsu #Jyushimatsu #Totty #hurt/comfort #emotional whump #depression #caretaking #LOOK AT MY BOYS!!!! BEING GOOD BOYS #TAKING CARE OF THEIR BROTHER!!!!#y'all PLEASE SCREAM WITH ME #I love this fam so much ;-;

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holylulusworld · 4 years

Text

King of my heart

Summary: Poor boy meets rich girl. They fall in love; the rest is a case of hide and seek.

Paring: Young!Dean x Reader, Teen!Dean x Reader, Mechanic!Dean x Reader

Characters: John Winchester, Ofc

Warnings: angst, shitty parents, love-struck Dean, teenage love, mentions of oral sex, fluff, rich/poor trope, secret relationship, making-out, romance, loss of virginity, protected sex, light smut, mentions of sexual harassment/groping (not Dean)

A/N: Inspired by Taylor Swift’s ‘King of my heart’. Lyrics are taken from the song.

Age of 10

The boy looks around the large entrance hall of your home, nosily listening to anything his father discusses with a man wearing a suit costing more than his parents’ house. “The boy can help to water the plants, but he must stay away from my daughter.”

“Yes, Sir,” John grits out, giving your father an obedient nod, hating himself for it. “Dean can help me water the plants and mow the lawn, Sir.”

“Good. I will be out for a meeting until six. I want the garden don till then or you won’t get paid,” turning on his heels, your father sneers at the boy watching him with wide eyes. “Remember, he stays away from my princess.”

“Yes, Sir,” John rolls his eyes, watching your father walk out of the house. “Phew, we better get started, Dean. Do not forget,” John looks down at his son, a serious expression on his face. “No talking to the girl, okay.”

“Why should I talk to her?” Dean mutters, not liking girls at all.

“That is not the answer I want to her, son. STAY AWAY FROM THE GIRL,” John speaks louder, and you sneak out of the kitchen to watch the foreign man scold a boy. Whilst you watch the man walk toward the backyard the boy turns around, grinning at you.

“Hi,” you wave at him, stepping closer as he tries to ignore you. “I am Y/N, what’s your name?” Dean learned it is impolite to not tell someone his name after they introduced themselves, so he steps closer, holding out his hand.

“Dean, I will water your plants.” You fiddle with your dress, looking up at the taller boy with green eyes which seem to sparkle.

“You’re tall and cute,” you giggle, stepping closer to peck his cheek. “I got a cactus in my room, you can water it too and we can play later.”

“Sorry, your dad doesn’t want me to talk to you, sweetheart,” you gasp, liking the nickname he gave you. “I got to help my dad.”

“You know, I can watch. Dad can’t get mad at you if I follow you to the backyard with my cactus.” Dean nods, giving you a soft smile when you peck his cheek again. His cheeks heat up, slowly turning red.

“Dean, what takes you so long?” John barks at his son, making your new friend flinch. “Come on, hurry. We do not get paid if we can’t finish work till six.”

You watch the man mow the lawn, giving orders to Dean now and then. The man didn’t dare to talk to you or order you around as he does with his son, but you could see he didn’t like you followed Dean outside.

“She said I must water her cactus, Sir. What should I do? It’s the boss’s daughter, dad,” John nods, watching you swoon for his son. “I’ll water it and we are done.”

“Son, she’s nice but still the daughter of the most influential man in town. We cannot lose the job, okay. The garage, I just bought it. I need money to buy more tools,” John squeezes his sons’ shoulder, sighing deeply at the looks you give his eldest son. “Do not get yourself into trouble, Dean.”

“Thank you, Dean. My cactus looks so much better now,” you squeal, following John with your eyes when he walks toward the tool shed. “Will you come back soon?”

Dean nods, giving you a smirk as he leans closer to peck your lips. It is the first time a boy did something like this. You giggle before you step closer to press your lips to Deans, catching him by surprise.

“Now you are my prince,” running off, the cactus still in your arms you swoon.

You kissed a boy for the first time, and it felt great.

Age of 14

“Daddy, I hate school. All the other girls are mean,” you whine, watching your father grab his jacket. “Can’t you talk to the teacher? I want to change my classes.”

“Y/N, we don’t always get what we want,” patting your head your father sighs before he barks orders at Dean who wants to take care of the lawn. “You better make your work worth my money, boy. Do not forget the roses and I dare you to even look at my princess.” Your father is gone before you can tell him about the mean things the girls said.

“Yes, Sir,” Dean mutters under his breath when you walk out of the house to watch him fight with the lawnmower. “Your father is an idjit.”

“He’s still my dad, but you are not wrong, Dean,” you watch Dean take his jacket off, biting your lip as he looks at you with those piercing green eyes. “Haven’t seen you for a while. My father sent me to a new school.”

“I’ll work during summer holidays to make some money,” explaining he wants to help his dad Dean smirks when you step closer to look up at him.

“You grew even more,” you sigh, liking you must look up at Dean. “The girls at school, they all have a boyfriend and made fun of me. I don’t have one.”

“No boyfriend…huh?” Dean turns his attention toward you, the lawnmower is long forgotten when he cups your cheek, glancing at your lips. You feel your heart race when he presses his lips to yours, tasting your cherry lipstick. “I can be your secret boyfriend, sweetheart.”

Your heart swells and you whimper, nodding eagerly when Dean kisses you again. “I can help you with your work. How about I water the plants and cut the roses? We can spend more time together before my dad comes home that way.”

“Deal, sweetheart.”

Dean and you spend the afternoon watching movies, eating snacks, and cursing your father for being, as Dean would name him, a ‘son of a bitch with a stick in his ass’.

It was the best day of your life until your father caught you and Dean.

“He will never get close to you again,” dragging Dean out of your room your father glares at the young boy. “I told him to stay away from you.”

“He helped me with my homework, dad. I am bad at mathematics and Dean offered his help. It was my fault, daddy.” You sniffle, giving your father your best puppy dog eyes. “Dean, he refused to go to my room, but it was too hot outside and I felt dizzy. Please, it was not his fault. He needs the job, daddy. Please…”

“Fine. If you say it was not his fault, I believe you, princess,” you nod, hoping your father will not see through your lie. “He’ll never enter your room again or his job is gone.”

Age of 16

Dean watches you walk out of the house, ignoring him completely. Your secret friendship or rather a relationship did not last for long. Sooner or later it was doomed to end as you went to a private school for girls and Dean, well he met a lot of girls at his school.

“You look pretty, sweetheart,” he husks, voice deeper now, manly. You ignore his words, try to concentrate on your homework. “Homework during summer holidays again, Y/N? You should go out and have some fun. You’re sixteen now.”

“Unlike you, I got better things to do than hanging out with girls,” you spat, ignoring he steps closer to look at you. He tries to catch your attention, standing behind you to sniff at your hair. “Apple shampoo, my favorite.”

“What do you want Dean? I think you have enough girls giving you attention, you do not need me,” your voice cracks when you turn to walk back into the house.

“Your father, he threatened John to ruin his business if I ever dare to get close to you again. I think he saw us. Your father saw me kissing you goodbye, Y/N. Don’t ask me what John did after he almost lost his business due to my, as he calls it, hormonal nonsense.” Dean huffs, running his fingers through his hair.

“He threatened your father?” Turning around you meet Dean’s eyes for the first time in over a year. “Is that true, Dean?”

“I swear, cross my heart,” Dean mumbles. “I wanted to call you, but dad wouldn’t let me, sweetheart. I never forgot about you. I don’t know why your father allowed me to work this summer again.”

“Oh, I see,” you look up at Dean, batting your eyelashes. “I’ve missed…” His lips are on yours before you can end your line. “Missed you, Dean.”

“I’ve missed you too, Y/N. You’ve got no clue how hard it was not to kiss your lips,” he’s slipping his tongue inside, moaning when you wrap your arms around his neck. “You taste like cherries, sweetheart.”

Dean grins when you tell him you bought the cherry lipstick only for him…

Age of 18

“Son of a bitch, Y/N,” Dean groans, eagerly licking into your mouth whilst you grind against the growing bulge in his pants. “If you don’t stop, I’ll rip this goody in two shoes girls’ school uniform off your body and mark you.”

“You would do so, wouldn’t you?” You cup the back of his head, pressing his lips to yours. “Daddy is out of town, Dean.”

“You’re such a bad girl,” you whimper feeling Dean’s hand creep toward your panties. “Didn’t you get enough last time? Was my tongue not enough for you, sweetheart?”

“No, I want you, Dean,” his fingers graze your clit, letting another spark feed the fire he lit weeks ago. “I got condoms.”

“Jesus, sweetheart. If you keep on talking like that, I’ll take you right here in the backseat of my car.” You grin, grinding against his fingers in an attempt to urge Dean on. “I want it to be special, Y/N. I will not take your virginity in the backseat of a car.”

“I want you D’, please,” whining you tug at his hair, kissing him fiercely. “I need to feel your cock inside of me, Dean. Make me yours, please.”

“Oh-heaven help me with that girl…”

“Daddy is not around to stop me,” Dean growls, teasingly running the tip up and down your folds. “I bet he would kill me for touching his naughty princess.”

“Dean, please,” you grasp for his shoulders, nails biting into the muscles he grew. “I need you,” his lips press against yours the moment he carefully slips the first inches into you. There is a slight burn, the good kind of burn, when you feel your walls spread out for Dean.

“You’re so tight, sweetheart. God, I can’t believe I am your first,” you peck his lips, watching Dean pant on top of you, a smile on his face. “I love you.”

“I love you too, Dean.”

And all at once, you are the one I have been waiting for

King of my heart, body and soul, ooh whoa

And all at once, you are all I want, I'll never let you go

King of my heart, body and soul, ooh whoa

And all at once, I've been waiting, waiting

Ooh whoa, ooh whoa

And all at once, you are the one, I have been waiting, waiting

Body and soul, ooh whoa

And all at once

Dean slowly rolls his hips, afraid to hurt you he looks worriedly at you before he presses his knees into the mattress and his forearms into the pillow. For a moment he just watches your face, the way your lips part with every gentle thrust, and enjoys the little gasps escaping your throat.

“Love you so much, Y/N,” you cry out, grasping for his biceps when he speeds up. “Never wanted anyone else to be my first.”

“Same, my king,” Dean smiles, pressing his lips to your forehead. “I thought I am your prince.”

“No, you’re my king now…”

Age of 21

“I don’t care what you will do! Keep your money, your house, and expensive clothes,” you cry, holding the necklace Dean bought to your birthday close to your heart. “I love Dean Winchester and you can’t do anything against it! If you threaten his family or him, we are done!”

“Don’t be silly, princess. Dean Winchester is just another heartbreaker who wants to use you and your nativity to make fast money,” your father spats, looking at the, to him, worthless necklace. “Everything he ever said to is a lie, fake, just like the necklace.”

“You don’t know anything about Dean or me. I love him, he loves me and if you can’t accept we are a pair, I’ll move out,” you turn on your heels to storm toward your room, ready to pack your things.

“What about your dreams, your study? Will you give up everything to become the wife of a mechanic? A man who can barely pay his bills,” you nod, ignoring your father’s words. “I will not pay for anything if you leave my house.”

“I don’t care…” You run, not taking anything with you but your jacket and the necklace. “I love him…”

Heartbroken you sit at the bus station, still waiting for Dean to show to run away with you. Hours ago, he told you to not give up your dreams or education for him. While you were ready to give everything up, Dean refused to take away your future from you.

“Princess get into the car. John Winchester called me, told me about the break-up. I am sorry,” your father whispers, seeing the tears run down your face. “It’s better this way.”

“No, it’s not. I hope you and John are happy because you destroyed my love. I hate you, and this will never change. From this day on, you are not my father, just the man I must live with as the man I love gave up on us to not destroy my future…”

Late in the night, the city's asleep

Your love is a secret I'm hoping, dreaming, dying to keep

Change my priorities

The taste of your lips is my idea of luxury

On the way back to your father’s house you can’t stop crying. Dean, he said that you can never see each other again and it feels like your life is over. “Y/N, he’s not worth your tears. You will find a fine young man one day.”

“Shut up, just shut up and shove your words up to your stiff and rich ass. I hate you and I will do so for the rest of my life. You only see your money, nothing else. A man who got no clue about love wants to tell me how to feel after I lost the man I love due to your mistake,” you look out of the window, ignoring your father’s presence. “I hate you.”

“Not for the rest of your life,” your father mumbles but you are too stubborn to not do so. You swore to yourself, today is the day your father died.

“I will, promised…”

Age of 23

'Cause all the boys and their expensive cars

With their Range Rovers and their Jaguars

Never took me quite where you do

The date your father forced you to attend was a disaster. The guy, a spoiled brat, tried to get into your pants right after you entered his Jaguar.

Whilst you gave him a black eye, he called you a stupid bitch and kicked you out of his car. Stubbornly you refused to call your father only to walk along the street, hating your life once again.

There is a low roar followed by someone calling your name, but you decide to ignore his voice and the black muscle car. “Sweetheart, get inside. It’s cold, starts to rain any minute and it’s past midnight.”

“Why do you care? You wanted me to live my life, that is how it looks like. Fending off spoiled guys who believe they can touch me only as they are breathing,” you spat, walking faster to get away from Dean who parks his car to follow you.

“Y/N, I wanted you to have a chance, to have a better life. I never wanted to lose you, but this was the only way,” lost, Dean stands on the street, watching you run away.

“I love you, sweetheart…”

“How was the date?” Your father asks, watching you walk into the house, soaked from head to toe.

“Great. It started with your best friend's son trying to grope my breasts followed by his try to force himself on me. It was a great idea if you wanted me to get raped. But,” you grin now, dipping your head, “at least it would've been a rich guy doing so – right daddy?”

“Y/N, I never thought he would try something like that, I swear.”

“Sure. All you saw is that his father is rich, not a simple mechanic who tries to make enough money to feed his kids. You’re such an ignorant man. That guy didn't treat me with respect, he saw me as an object, a body he can use. When I refused, he called me a bitch and let me walk.” You huff when your father tries to soothe you. “Dean always treated me with respect. He knew how to…doesn’t matter anymore…”

Age of 26

“I don’t give a shit on your opinion, Sir. My father is gone, the garage is mine. I want my girl and I want her now,” Dean grits out, shoving your father aside to run upstairs. “Y/N? Sweetheart?”

“Dean what the…?” Gasping you watch Dean enter your room, slamming the door shut to pounce on you. “What are you doing here?”

“I got enough money, now. I…I can open a new garage and we can buy a house. I spared every buck I ever made for us, look,” he shows you his bank statement, proudly puffing his chest. “I…I never was with someone else. I only want you, Y/N.”

“What about my dad? What if he destroys your business or future,” you sniffle, gently touching Dean’s cheek. “I can’t let him destroy your life for me.”

“I don’t care, Y/N. I wanna be with you, please,” his arms wrap around you to bring you close to his chest. “I dreamed of having you in my arms again for 5 years. I worked day and night, took three jobs but we can be together now.”

“Together,” you choke out, wrapping your arms around his waist. “I never was with anyone else either. Only you, Dean…”

“Only you, sweetheart…”

And all at once, you are the one I have been waiting for

King of my heart, body and soul, ooh whoa

And all at once, you are all I want, I'll never let you go

King of my heart, body and soul, ooh whoa

And all at once, I've been waiting, waiting

Ooh whoa, ooh whoa

And all at once, you are the one, I have been waiting, waiting

Body and soul, ooh whoa

And all at once

Part 2

SPN Forever Tags

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@voltage-my2dlove

@h-o-l-l-i

@dayasvalkyrie

@wittysunflower

@supernaturalenchanted

@shikshinkwon

@yolobloggers

@hhiggs

@laxe-from-outer-space

@ilovefanfic86

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@fandom-princess-forevermore

@neii3n

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@its-the-timey-wimey-winchesters

@mscarter213

@jo-like-josette

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@wonderlandfandomkingdom

@heartislubbingdubbing

@kitkatd7

@doctor-hp-mcu

@lovefromthewinchesters

@coffeebooksandfandom

--------------------------------------

Dean/Jensen Forever Tags

@spnfamily-j2

@supernatural-bellawinchester

@negans-lucille-tblr

@deans-baby-momma

@thefaithfulwriter

@squirrelnotsam

@roonyxx

@underthewrap

@deansgirl-1968

@spn-dean-and-sam-winchester

@butifulsoul125

@lyinginthegingerlocks

@neen-illustrates

@janicho88

@woodworthti666

@thevelvetseries

@dreaminemz

@akshi8278

@midnightsilver16830

@mrspeacem1nusone

@ria132love

@caligraphee

@the-witch-in-silence

@justanotherwinchester

@multisuperfandom

@jason-todd-squad

@jadesupernatural

@psychicforest

@luciathewinchestergirl

@magssteenkamp

@palefiregiver

@tranquility-or-chaos

@jxackles

@michellemxndes

@addictedtofictionalcharacters

@gabifernandessn

@waywardrose13

@team-free-will-you-idjiot

@myopiamystical

@rintheemolion

@isthatabutterfly

@bluecornflowers

@rosalynshields

A/N: If your name is crossed out Tumblr won’t let me tag you.

#King of my heart #dean winchester #dean winchester x you #mechanic!dean winchester #mechanic!dean x Reader #mechanic au #mechanic dean #mechanic dean winchester #dean winchester fanfiction #dean winchester fanfic #angst #dean winchester SPN #dean winchester x reader #dean x reader #dean x you #au dean winchester #light smut

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omnivorousshipper · 3 years

Text

De Aged Deckard: You’re gonna go far, kid - Part 12

Summary: When the Shaw siblings try to break into an Eteon facility, they’re met with some unexpected consequences. Now, it’s up to Owen and Hattie to be the older siblings Deckard never had. Even if they have no idea what they’re doing

Part 11

Victor Shaw was a miserable man.

For years now, he’s been forced to live off the kindness of his brother who had to pay protection money to Victor’s own wife because she was now the head of a criminal empire. One that she had never included Victor in, thus leaving him to deal with his three children by himself. The children he hasn’t seen in several decades in fact because his oldest had shoved a gun in his and told him never to come back.

That had been the day Victor Shaw had truly broken down and become the sad shell of a man that you could find wandering the streets of London.

He barely did anything other than drink and bask in his own misery. Sometimes his nephews would come around and bug him to do join them on a job, but usually that left a bitter taste in Victor’s mouth. It was because he let Deckard start doing jobs with his cousins that he learned how to shoot a gun, and no doubt had killed his first man with them as well. And that was what he led Deckard to pointing one at him and Victor could see the conviction in his eyes. He could still remember back to that day perfectly.

He would never forget the pure rage and determination in Deckard’s eyes.

But what else would he have expected from the boy? His first born would kill or even die before he let his siblings be hurt and that had been exactly what Victor had tried to do. Looking back on it, he regretted just how far he had been willing to go to punish his children, but at the time he never expected for Deckard to fight back. The boy had always done what he asked, followed his instructions down to the letter, and was even scared of disobeying him. However, once Victor dared touch his younger children, all bets were off.

Deckard had been prepared to kill him that day.

Instead, he had spared him, demanding he leave and never come back.

So, Victor did as he was told.

He had left his family behind, never once going back to their family home and had begged his brother to take him in. Luckily, being the head of the local mafia, his brother had connections to keep him hidden from his wife, who didn’t even seem to bother looking for him. Which had only stung marginally. After Deckard had been born, they had barely seen each other except for a few nights of passion when Queenie was actually in town.

After Victor had run, his luck stayed just as shitty as before and he was stuck living with his aging older brother and his family, never once seeing his own. He would get snippets of news about his own children from time to time; Deckard went off to the military, Owen dropped out of college after a year, and Hattie graduated top of her class and went on to get several more degrees. Then, both Owen and Deckard going rogue and joining the criminal world once again. Hell, Victor had even heard about Owen’s huge stunt in London only a few years ago. He wished he could have seen his son in the action.

But, he knew he had given that all up the day he had nearly killed his own children.

Now, he was just a lonely old man sitting on a park bench, smoking a cigarette as he watched dozens of people pass by him, all enjoying their lives and reminding him just how miserable he was.

No wife, no children, and nobody to even care if he died right there and then.

Taking a long drag off his cigarette, Victor leaned his head back and stared up at the sky, letting the smoke escape from his slightly parted lips.

“Da?”

Blinking, Victor slowly brought his head down and stared at the little boy standing just in front of him. The boy had dirty blond hair, was wearing a skirt with leggings and a long sleeve shirt, which made him look absolutely silly in Victor’s opinion, but there was no mistaking who the boy was.

“Deckard?” Victor breathed out.

It wasn’t possible.

It couldn’t be!

How could the child version of Deckard be standing in front of him? There was no explanation for what was happening, unless he had accidently picked up one of his nephew’s joints instead of his cigarettes, but he knew that wasn’t the case. No, Deckard was clearly a child and standing in front of him.

“Mum said you were out with Uncle Dimitri.” Deckard told him, a frown marring his young face. His eyes were scanning over Victor rapidly as if he was trying to figure out a difficult puzzle. “But I wanted to see you before we left.”

“Left?” Victor couldn’t describe just how confused he was. What was going on? Who was Deckard talking about? Why had Queenie told him that? And how was Deckard a child?!

“Yes.” Deckard nodded dutifully. “Oh and Hatts say we can’t stay here.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know. Sorry.” Deckard’s answer came much quieter and he looked away, shame clear on his face as he admitted that.

“It’s fine, Deckard.” Victor frowned at the little boy. He couldn’t quite remember how Deckard was when he was this small. Was he always so timid?

Looking around, Victor searched around to see if anyone was coming for Deckard, and when he saw nobody, he stood slowly and almost cringed at how much he towered over the boy. He wished his wife hadn’t passed down the late growth spurt gene that seemed to be common in her family. Putting his hand out, Victor felt his family stretching in a way that felt odd. It took him a moment to realize he was smiling.

“Come on, son, how about we go and talk. I’d like to spend some time with you before you leave.”

For his part, Deckard stared up at him as if he had grown a second head before he took his hand. Victor felt the look stab him the heart; he knew exactly why Deckard had sent him that expression: he never showed any physical attention to his children, no matter how much they begged for it. No doubt Deckard didn’t expect him to start now. Straightening up, Victor vowed to do better.

Life had obviously let him have a second chance with his eldest and he didn’t want to squander it. So, as Deckard’s small hand slipped into his, he smiled even more as Deckard squeezed it and smiled up at him. How he wished he hadn’t wasted the first time he could have done this.

“Did you dress yourself?” Victor asked, trying to keep his smile and voice gentler, but could see his words had the opposite effect as Deckard scrunched in on himself.

“Sorry, Da. I know I’m not supposed to wear this stuff.” He mumbled, not daring to look up at him. “Oh said I could.”

Victor’s shoulders sagged as he saw the shame on Deckard’s face. He had almost forgotten how much a bastard he had been back then; he had mocked and ridiculed Deckard for wanting to wear dresses and skirts, but now, Victor couldn’t care less. Not when his own nephew had thrown away his own dresses and skirts for a binder.

Crouching down, Victor got on the same eye level with Deckard before he started speaking.

“Deckard, listen to me.” He looked his son right in the eye as he spoke. “I’m sorry for saying that you couldn’t wear those things. I should have let you wear them if you wanted to. You have my full permission to wear those things, and never ever let me or anyone else tell you that you shouldn’t.”

The little boy stared at him with large eyes as he nodded along. Smiling at his reaction, Victor slowly got to his feet, silently cursing his bad knees, and held his hand out for Deckard’s again. Much more enthusiastically, Deckard took his hand.

“Come on,” Victor looked down at his son. ��Let’s go catch up.”

Setting off out of the park, Victor felt himself smiling more than he had in years, possibly his life as he led his now young son through the paths. He had no idea if he was actually dead and hallucinating this whole experience, or if Deckard really was a child again and giving him a second chance. Either way, Victor wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth- not when it came to being with his son again. No, he wanted to spend as much time with Deckard as he could, especially if his siblings were planning on taking him away.

#deckard shaw #owen shaw #hattie shaw #victor shaw #original character #hobbs and shaw #omni writes #de aged fic #a different de aged fic

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barbariccia · 4 years

Text

Do you have a few minutes to talk, one-on-one?

ash’s been facetiming with her sisters at home, wherever home is for her family right now. we get the chance to overhear her sister saying that she saw kaidan in a news vid and that he’s cute, to which we get to raise our eyebrows... unless you’re playing a maleshep, in which case her sister says that you’re the one who’s cute. (naturally, this is the starter for the ashley romance for a mshep.)

ash herself doesn’t think kaidan’s cute - or at the very least, she’s not sweet on him, so we take the chance to ask about her family instead.

Shepard: Did your father serve with the fleet?

Ashley: Yeah. Took any crap posting he could get that offered space time. He worked his ass off trying to get recognised. But he never got above Serviceman Third Class. He was real proud when I made Chief. First thing he did was salute.

Shepard: What about your mother? You haven’t mentioned her.

Ashley: You must know what military wives are like. Strong because they have to be. Able to raise kids while Dad’s away on a six-month cruise. She has a degree in planetary geology. She and Dad both wanted to see new worlds. She gave up her career to raise us, though.

innocuous enough, but it stands out to me that ash’s family is all still hale and healthy. maybe that’s just a byproduct of the final fantasy franchise, where i’ve gotten used to a 99.99% rate of at least one parental death for characters within the series (as an aside, if you can tell me one character who has both parents alive other than zack fair, i’ll publicly endorse you for whatever role you want to lead), but also within the normandy so far. the rest of our crew has either committed patricide, is estranged from one parental unit, or just straight up hasn’t mentioned one or both of them, so a full family unit isn’t exactly something to be sniffed at.

on its own, i don’t need to highlight the parentification that ashley’s been party to for her whole life - she mentions she’s the eldest of four sisters, with the youngest still being in high school. and ash is only 25! she’s had to have worked her absolute ass off to attain that kind of position and be relied on by her parents to help with the other kids, and i just... i respect ashley so much. let’s not forget that first contact only occurred the year before she was born. there’s been a lot of change in her life, both as quick as the digital age upon us in the last decade or two, and slow over her years of growing up.

we get to ask about her sisters in more depth; she says her relationship with the youngest, sarah, was rocky for a while up until the point where sarah got a boyfriend that wanted to go further than she did. her other sisters worried as well, and ashley was posted in the same galaxy, but too far away to make it back quickly if something happened.

Shepard: If he really liked her, he wouldn’t be pushy.

i really like her dialogue here, honestly. it’s a real human response of her! ash definitely feels like the most real of the characters aboard the ship, to me - her responses to things are flawed and shitty, but she’s self aware of it to a degree, and she’s not the kind of person that acts black and white, either end of the morality scale. who among us can really say that they’re the pinnacle of human morals? even the best of us have thought things like this before, in varying contexts - even if we don’t verbalise them. doesn’t make us bad people... just human.

sarah’s boyfriend thought he’d try and persuade her into having sex, and sarah herself threw him into a tree and left him then and there. the williams parents had all their daughters learn some kind of self-defense - ash herself was taught hand-to-hand, sarah learned aikido, the second eldest got pistol training, and the third picked up the sword, which is just. utterly hilarious on a galactic scale considering the setting. i think i love the williams family.

Shepard: Didn’t you call the police?

Ashley: [Sarah] said it wouldn’t solve the real problem. And she and Mike would both become household names. It was a small colony. I said it was her call to make. That we should let her do it her way. Mom was pretty pissed about that.

ash took leave to walk her sister to school and back, and on the last day of her leave, the boy in question was waiting after school.

so this SURE IS A STORY,

and that’s the end of the talk about her sisters. it makes me feel fuzzy that these girls - no matter how not real they are - have the presence of mind to deal with an abuser so calmly, but at the same time... leaves me feeling tired. not that i expect humans to ever really change, especially not in only a hundred odd years, but for this setting to be so expansive, for there to be bigger problems and more people around than anyone could ever have dreamed... and yet entitlement and abuse still runs rampant.

this is its own problem within the universe, that despite everything, a female shepard doesn’t quite have the same footing as a male shepard does in certain situations, but i’ll get to those when i get to it. besides... i suppose there are bigger things happening now in the real world than anyone could ever have dreamed of seeing, and petty problems still win out in terms of importance. doesn’t matter how small your problem is if it’s personal.

we’re not done quite yet, though.

Ashley: Dad always wanted to serve in space. But he wanted us to have real ground under our feet. He’d say, “Space is beautiful, but you can’t raise a family there.”

Ashley: “I cannot rest from travel: I will drink life to the lees. All times I have enjoy’d greatly, have suffer’d greatly, both with those that loved me, and alone. For always roaming with a hungry heart. Much have I seen and known. Cities of men, and manners, climates, councils, governments...”

Ashley: “Ulysses” was Dad’s favourite poem. Every time he shipped out, he recorded me reading it. He had a dozen versions when he retired.

Shepard: Does he still like it?

Ashley: I sure hope so. I read it to his grave every time I go home.

Lord Alfred Tennyson was a well known (and still popularised) British poet, best known for his poems The Charge of the Light Brigade, which i studied at school, and Ulysses. his work is still felt today with phrases that became commonplace from his work, like the lines “tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all”.

the lines ash quotes specifically are about the restlessness of wanderlust and wanting to live life utterly to the fullest, feeling nostalgic for the times when the subject was doing just that, and the full poem continues and ends with the assertion that the speaker’s goal is to continue living life wholeheartedly until the end, and even beyond.

speaking of the beyond-

Ashley: That’s not a problem with you, is it? That I believe in God?

and we reach out to take the hand of yet another utterly fascinating facet of ashley. we’ve seen religion briefly within the game so far - the preaching hanar on the citadel comes immediately to mind - but there’s always been a feeling within sci-fi that because the universe can now be explored that god isn’t real and that things like faith are tossed to the wayside in favour of scientific exploration and discovery, even though in the grand scheme of things people tend... not to behave like that, on the whole. i vastly, enormously appreciate ashley for keeping her faith, and for it to be really not a huge part of her character. at no point is she reduced to any stereotype of character, whether that be “gun-toting god-fearing soldier babe”, or “i am religious therefore i must preach” - it, like other parts of her personality, are only parts that make up a whole and do not define her.

i love ashley. she’s such a good character.

#ashley williams #mass effect #this turned from analysis into a full blown fucking essay i'm so sorry #mol plays mass effect #squad: ashley

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dirthavarens · 3 years

Text

so i’m sick and that means i’m thinking about my warden, champion, and inquisitor when they’re sick and how their LI’s react

Warden Ghilana Surana:

What sickness? This woman could have the actual plague and still be going. She feels like she’s going to pass out? Lmao guess again. She’s downing a lyrium potion and getting right back to business. During the Blight, she caught a cold and Alistair was severely worried because she lost her voice, thus incantations were out of the question. However, in her discomfort, she found great strength, especially as an Arcane Warrior. What she could not use through incantations, she used through her blade, through wards scribed, through sheer intent. She conjures ice to keep her fevers down and when that isn’t enough, detonates the heat as flames around her.

After the Blight (and Alistair leaving her lmao), she spends a great deal of her time adventuring and recruiting with Nathaniel Howe. This means exposure to the elements that is far less than kind. A rogue doesn’t know healing as a mage does, but that doesn’t stop Nathaniel from trying to help.

He’s tender in his care of her, despite her abject protestations. She’s fine. She’s always been fine. She always will be fine. Such resolve can play into her downfall at times.

Just a year before the Breach formed, she took ill while she and Nathaniel were far, far to the North, closer to Tevinter than she’d ever ventured. They had to take shelter in a small, abandoned hut and Ghilana had no energy to do much of anything. She had been staving off the illness for nearly a two weeks through magic alone when it finally caught up with her. She collapsed during a hunt and Nathaniel took her to the nearest shelter he could find.

She slept for days, waking only when he begged her to drink, eat, and down concoctions. The ratios of his potions were almost right, leading her to sleep for too long or have too vivid of dreams.

After all of that, she got out of bed, cleaned herself, and carried on as though nothing had happened. Nathaniel was very, very unhappy, but he knows better than to argue with his angry elvhen wife.

All in All: Very Capable of Handling Herself. Will fight and throw fire as her temperature rises. Will do anything to keep others from worrying, laughs it off when she has to. 12/10

Amelia Hawke, Champion of Kirkwall:

Her boyfriend is Anders. Her symptoms are never allowed to go beyond a stuffy nose.

Just Kidding. There are times she tries to hide it from him. Having Eldest Sister syndrome, taking care of herself usually isn’t high on her priorities. Making sure that her friends stay out of trouble and that her mother is alright are her top priorities. She’s the Mom Friend and her own ailments can wait. When she’s sick, she does her best to mask her symptoms. A light cough can pass as dust from the Lowtown streets. Her stuffy noses can be attributed to allergies.

Oh? That pale, clammy appearance with her glassy eyes? Probably ate something bad and didn’t she say it was allergy season?

Even at her worst, she makes sure to get her rounds in, often collapsing in bed the moment she gets home. Her mother, Bodahn, and Sandal are the only ones who ever see her sweat with fever. On those nights, her mabari stays close. It isn’t often she sees Carver since he left for the Templars but she still sends a care package when Cullen makes mention that he’s ill. Even if her brother hates her, she does what she can.

Over the years, Anders would notice how she would change when she slept. What had been a minor cough turned into a deep rattling in her chest that roused him from sleep. Most times when he heard such a rattle, the outcome was unfavorable. Winter fever was a hard case to cure, but luckily he had the fortune of catching hers early and was able to treat it. Her mabari acted almost like a nurse hound instead of a warhound. For once, Anders was grateful for the dog’s presence.

From that moment on, he made her swear to tell him when she was ill. With great reluctance, she agreed.

All in All: What Sickness? Eldest Sibling Syndrome to the max. She even still takes care of Carver, despite him being a shitty Templar. Big Heart 10/10

Inquisitor Mirani Lavellan:

She sleeps heavily and often when she’s ill. The Fade has always been a comfort to her, even when demons encroach on her weakened body. Naturally, this causes some concern within the Inquisition for the Inquisitor to “sleep on the job” so to speak. But she’s there when she needs to be. Potions, herbal teas, sweaters, and thick pants abound, but she’s there.

Solas is more than happy to comfort her and keep the demons at bay while she rests. He fills her dreams with small secrets and memories of a time long since passed. He knows he shouldn’t but the contented sigh she lets out is worth it, even if it’s through wheezing snores or a stuffed nose.

Mirani is more emotional when sick. She is an Empath with deep connections to the Fade and the forgotten feelings that dwell there. Being ill makes her no small victim to strong emotions, either. Battle is where she feels the strongest, where her magic is purest and most powerful.

Being a Rift Mage gives her access to powers untapped by nearly everyone, save her Trainer and Solas. But calling on the Fade takes a great deal from her when she’s ill, as she has to be wary of manifesting her intentions as energy and not invitations to demons. Her focus and emotional state causes her mana to drain quickly between powerful spells. So much does she expel from herself that Solas stands at the ready to catch her should she fall and sound the retreat.

During the times she had exhausted herself and had to be carried back to camp, she would protest vehemently, saying that she was okay. This gained her nothing but stiff-lips and furrowed brows from her companions. Except for Cole, whose panic was palpable.

She’s naturally freckled and has a great deal of color to her light olive skin. This color increases tenfold when she’s sick. The tips of her nose and ears turn red and her cheeks nearly glow from fever. When sickly and nauseous, her olive hue turns closer to that of pallid elfroot. This doesn’t happen often, though, and she’s thankful.

Mirani never stays sick for long. Only a couple days at most. The longest she was ill was after the fall of Corypheus.

She was down for two weeks, doubtlessly in-part to her fatigued heart and melancholy. Even so, she would find herself dreaming in a place unfamiliar but comforting, like a forgotten lullaby from one’s childhood. A melody she can recall, but never remembers the lyrics. During the days, she’d drag herself from bed and do her best to ignore the ache in her lungs and the incessant pounding in her head. Varric often told her she looked like shit, Bull and Sera were not much kinder. Still, she had paperwork to fill out, memoirs to write, requisitions to approve and deny. The work of the Inquisitor was never done.

With the Anchor growing worse in the two years that pass, she notices her immunities starting to fail. Dorian sends special teas and potions of his own making for her that serve to invigorate her. They work for a while and when they stop being as effective Cole is more than content to keep her company, popping in and out of the Fade when he feels her hurt. It’s harder to help her, knowing that the Anchor is the infection eating away at her.

IF AU HAPPENS: Despite having only one arm, she still holds tightly to her words to Solas and follows him into the Eluvian. Now weaker than before, she knows she has to find a way to restore herself without explicitly asking Solas to mend her. She’s gone two years without his help, despite what she feels for him, and she will continue to find her way. She taps into the natural magic of the Crossroads. Its energy is much like that of the Fade, but purer; its intents are whatever ones wish is and she channels it to build herself back to strength. Solas marvels at her tenacity. She controls old magic so freely, so easily, as though she had always known how to wield it. She feels better than before, healthier than she thought she could after dealing with the instability of the Anchor for two years.

IF AU DOESN’T HAPPEN: After disbanding the Inquisition, Mirani is exhausted and finds that she just wants to be left alone. Now with only one arm, no Inquisition, and no Clan, she ventures deep into the Arlathan Forest. The old magic here feels familiar and she is content to feel it wisp around her like leaves being kicked up by an autumn breeze. Through careful practice and occasional mishaps, she’s able to rehabilitate herself. On her worst nights, however, she would be lulled back into sleep with dreams of foreign memories. The visions were clearer there and the tender emotion encasing her quieted her disturbed soul. The spirits there often seek to help her when she’s in need of aid and Cole occasionally appeared to keep her company, even if he was not explicitly needed.

All in All: Naps, warm clothes, give her tea and a blankie. Very emotional but does what needs doing. Overall, very soft. 7/10 (but 100/10 in my heart)

#personal #dragon age hcs #dragon age #my mage babies

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nonstoplover · 4 years

Text

it's all an act ~ Zach Herron (requested)

request: "Can you write a zach x reader fanfic where Zach likes the reader A LOT but doesn't tell her which makes Jack annoyed so he flirts with the reader to get Zach jealous and tell the reader. Tyyyyyyyy" by @mirainthedark05

words: 2.3K

approximate reading time: 15-20 mins

a/n: aye kiddos i gOt A rEquEsT. i'm so happy, i love writing for you guys. i hope this met your expectations, love. i tried really hard. (and please consider the fact that i wrote it at 1am and english is not my main language). i still have to get more into this request writing thing, it's not as easy as it seems! but i do be enjoying it lots so i can't wait to continue doing it!! anyway babes i hope you enjoyed this sweet little nothing i put together. let me know what you think and please send in requests if you have any ideas you'd like to see written!

my masterlist

Jack's Perspective:

"Zach, you gotta tell her how you feel." I groan at my best friend who's laying on his bed, a frown still on his face from the previous complaint he made about how sad it is that (y/n)'s not his girlfriend.

"I can't," he sighs.

"What do you mean you can't?"

"I don't want to lose her, and if she doesn't feel the same way, that's what's gonna happen. I know it," Zach shrugs.

"I already told you that there's a really high chance that she does like you back."

"You can't know that."

"And what if I do?"

"You're just saying things, Jack," he looks up at me, his eyes showing me anger.

"Ugh, you're so infuriating sometimes, Herron." I throw my arms in the air. "Anyway, all I can say to you then is that you shouldn't be surprised if a guy comes in the picture and sweeps her off her feet and you can just watch it happen from the sideline."

I exit the room to escape his stubborn suffering and his sullen huffs follow me in the air as my mind is still racing about how childish he can act at times. I want to help him more than anything, I know how much he likes her and I want him to be happy.

I slump on the couch still deep in thought, trying to come up with an idea to get the truth out of Zach in a way (y/n) can hear it. And as my mind replays the previous conversation, a lightbulb feels to light up inside my head.

A guy comes in the picture and sweeps her off her feet.

Maybe I should make Zach jealous! I have to make him actually realise how easily he can lose any chance he has right now with her. I have to make him fight. Even if it's me he's fighting. I can only hope that he won't be too mad at me.

(y/n)'s Perspective:

"Wow, (y/n), you look absolutely breathtaking today!"

I hear Jack's voice as soon as I enter the boys' house. A blush immediately creeps up onto my cheeks as I mumble a quiet thank you his way.

From the corner of my eyes I can see Zach's head snapping up and when I turn my glance there for a moment I can swear I see him glaring at the other boy, but the next moment it's gone.

Oh what I'd give to hear a compliment like this from Zach, I think as I sit down on the only free space on the couch, between Jonah and Jack, trying not to disturb the videogame the eldest boy played.

As soon as I'm comfortable, Jack moves and easily slides closer to me. My eyes stay focused on the floor as his arm moves uo to rest on the back of the sofa. He's not touching me at all, but still it's like his arm is around my shoulder and it starts to make me nervous.

Does Jack like me?

I hope that's not the case. I like Jack, but only as friends. Though we've never really been that close, and maybe this is the reason. But I just don't want to hurt him if he decides to actually make a move.

He never acted like this before. What has gotten into him?

As I try not to look at anyone, Jack speaks up once more, breaking the silence.

"I wish I was your mirror, so that I could look at you every morning."

My breath hitches in my throat. Did I hear it correct? What is going on? Is this a prank?

"Uhm, thanks, I guess." I glance at him, a small smile making its way to my face as soon as I lock eyes with his shining brown ones that mirror nothing but honesty and some kind of brotherly love, a mixture I already got quite used to from the three oldest boys.

Since I made friends with the band, Jonah, Corbyn and Daniel always seemed to look at me like a newly found little sister (though there's really not much of an age difference between me and them), whilst Jack and I never seemed to totally break the ice yet. We were great friends, but I could still feel the distance between us.

And with Zach? Well, I like him since we first met, but most probably my feelings are not returned. At least that's what all my pointless trying resulted in. He never made a move and whenever I tried to give him a sign, it went unnoticed. Or purposefully ignored. But other than that, he's like my bestest friend, and that's more than I ever imagined to happen so as long as I still have him in my life, I decided that I can manage to put my actual feelings aside.

Now as I'm staring in Jack's eye and I can see that the ice has broken and him and I got to the 'sibling zone', I'm finally sure that he only says these lines to make me laugh, and suddenly I calm down and manage to answer properly. "You're not quite bad yourself," I reach up to playfully ruffle his noodle-like locks.

He chuckles at my action before moving his hand from the back of the couch to my shoulder, pulling me into his side.

I snuggle closer to him, finding a comfortable position on his shoulder for my head. I can feel him take a deep breath in as his shoulder raise in the motion and then his voice is back again.

"It’s said that nothing lasts forever. Will you be my nothing?"

It's my turn to giggle now before I look up at the side of his face. He shoots a quick glance at me before turning his joyful eyes back on something in front of us.

"Do you make these up or did you memorise them from a shitty pickup line listing website?" I ask.

"Oh, hey, don't think I'm not capable of saying things like these by myself," Jack turns his head down towards me with fake offence on his face.

"Yeah, yeah, sorry."

"And there's plenty more where that came from," he wiggles his eyebrow at me.

"I can't wait to hear them all."

I almost burst out laughing, and I can see the exact same thing in his eyes as well, but we manage to stay silent and turn our attention back to the tv screen, watching as Jonah still plays the game.

Jack's fingers mindlessly play with the hem of my t-shirt's sleeve and we're sitting in absolute peace right until a few moments later Zach jumps up from the armchair he was sitting on and storms out of the room.

"Where are you going?" I call out after him, wide eyes staring at the doorway he disappeared at.

"I need some fresh air," he shouts back and even in that short sentence I can hear his anger.

Though before I could ask him about it, the front door slams closed with a loud bang, making my body shake in surprise.

"What has gotten into him?" I look up at Jack only to feel even more confused a second later.

His eyes shine with excitement instead of the worry similar to mine I expected to see.

"What?" I ask in confusion.

When I get no reply, I turn around to look at Jonah, but it's pointless as he's still deeply concentrating on the game, not noticing the mundane things happening around him.

I look back at the curly haired boy before shaking my head. "I think I'll go check on him."

"Yeah, great idea!" Jack nods vigorously right away and I frown at him, still trying hard to understand what has gotten into him as well.

His smile and shining eyes don't halt for a single moment as he's watching me and in the end I simply shrug, moving to stand up and follow the youngest band member.

I find him only a couple seconds later, he's sitting on the stairs in front of the front door.

"Hey," I say as gently as I can manage.

Zach mumbles something in response, but it's absolutely incomprehensible.

"How are you?" I try to make him speak up, maybe even fill me in with the reason(s) behind his weird and sudden storming out.

"Do you like him?" He asks back immediately, confusing me even more.

"Who?" I frown at him in thought.

"Jack."

"Yeah, of course, he's pretty nice." I nod, still not understanding where he wants to go with this.

I can feel his body stiffen next to mine and glancing down I can see his fists so tightly squeezed that the knuckles are turning white.

"If my opinion even matters, I don't think you should get together with him." Zach speaks a minute later.

I almost choke on air as his words enter my mind.

"Why would I even want to get together with him?" I exclaim after managing to kinda pull myself together from the shock his question caused in me.

"You just said you like him." Zach finally turns his head towards me, a frown crossing his forehead.

"Yeah, as friends. Or as a brother. I thought you meant it like that."

"What? No," he shakes his head multiple times

"No?" I ask back, not understanding what he's trying to say with it. "He's like a brother to me, and I'm like a sister to him. What do you mean 'no' ?"

"But... you were flirting." Zach points towards the house above his shoulder.

"Yeah, as a joke." I say, still not really knowing where he wants to go with this.

"So you don't like like him?"

"No, I never did." I almost laugh out loud by the strange image his accusation generates in my mind before mumbling something else so quiet I don't think he can hear me. "I mean, I like someone else, how could I like him?"

"You like someone else?" He repeats and my cheeks immediately start growing red by the fact he heard it and now asks about it.

"Yeah," I mumble again.

"You never told me." Zach says in a playful, joyous tone, but I know him well enough to hear the tension in his voice. "I thought we were best friends."

"It never really came up." I shrug shyly. "So what's up with you? What made you storm out of the house?"

"No, no, wait. Who do you like?" Zach ruins my plan to divert the subject within a second.

I take a deep breath and look in his eyes. He seems nervous.

"It's you, dumbass, in case you haven't noticed." I manage to answer without my voice breaking and eyes moving away.

"Me?" He asks back, and all of a sudden his whole face starts shining as a huge grin spreads across his face, eyes open wide and glimmering with happiness.

I nod, my heart suddenly beating really loud and fast. "Why?" My voice is so high pitched by now it's like a mouse is speaking.

Zach bursts out laughing and grabs my hand before moving to stand on his knees in front of me, slowly calming himself down.

And just as he quietens, my heart feels like to be getting only louder and louder as it frantically beats. The world aroubd us seems to freeze and go absolutely silent as we're staring at each other.

"I like you too," Zach confesses and it's like the world stops spinning in this very moment. "Half the time I got too embarrassed to say anything about it. I was afraid you don't feel the same and that I'd only ruin our friendship."

"I like you ever since I met you."

"Good, me too."

We grin at each other and as the world's noise slowly starts to come back, we're gripping each other's hand in a comfortable silence, finally having said our feelings out loud.

"Finally, guys, I started to think I'd never see this happen." I suddenly hear a happy exclaim coming from above us, from the front door of the house.

I spin around to smirk at Jack whose wide smile seems to split his face in two.

"You planned this, didn't you? It was all an act." Zach says.

"No shit, Sherlock." Jack chuckles back at the younger boy.

We both stand up and walk up the stairs to be next to him, our fingers still interlaced, slowly swinging back at forth between us.

When we reach Jack, he immediately pulls his best friend into a hug. "I told you so," he whispers in his neck loud enough for me to hear it and I just shake my head, watching the two of them interact.

"I'm glad for you, guys." Jack says as they part and we make our way back inside the house.

"Why, what happened?" Jonah asks from the couch, still playing the video game.

"Zach finally confessed to (y/n)."

"No way! Really?" The eldest boy immediately pauses the game and jumps up, smiling at us wide. "We were all rooting for you two."

I shyly smile at him in response before I feel Zach gently tug at my arm.

"Let's go upstairs, I think we have a lot of things to talk about," he says and I nod, a giggle of disbelief escaping my mouth as I think about how I never expected this to happen when I came over to their house.

As we're making our way up the stairs, suddenly Jack's voice fills the air again as he exclaims to Jonah, making all three of us chuckle.

"I can't wait till Corbyn and Daniel gets home and I can tell them the news. I finally have a couple bets that I won!"

.::the end::.

my masterlist

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mollymauk-teafleak · 4 years

Text

don’t go where I can’t follow

I don’t know guys, I’m sad so I wrote some sad podcast twins

Please leave a comment on Ao3!

Trigger Warnings: Underage Drinking

----

Juno hated waking up more than any other part of his day. And, this morning, he hated it even more.

Dry mouth and cracking headache that had made its home, all nice and cozy like, right behind his eyes. The tacky, sour taste on his tongue that told him he’d thrown up last night and probably would again before the morning was through. A disconnected feeling in all his limbs, lying there in pieces, a dismantled puppet in too many parts. His head rocking like his bed was bobbing in the middle of the ocean.

And, already, before he’d even twisted his face into an expression of disgust, flashes of last night. A best bits clip show of all the ways he’d made a complete ass of himself in the previous twenty four hours, shoving him over the edge of these fresh ones with the heavy realisation that he’d probably fuck them up just as badly.

Juno finally got out his groan, turning his face to the pillow, taking a bleak assessment of all the smells on his breath. Gin. Beer. Vodka. What the fuck was that, was that vermooth? Where the hell had he gotten that from? Had he gone back in time to the 1920s? And overlaying it all the thicker smell of what it had all come back up. Hopefully not on someone else, hopefully not in the middle of his classmate’s living room. But Juno knew better than to hold out any hope.

He was grateful, for once, for the miserable drabness of his and Ben’s bedroom. No bright colours to make his eyes ache worse, no sunlight making it through the smog of Oldtown to sneak in through the broken blinds. Just the plain brown walls and the plain brown carpet, the dull stains on everything. He was glad Ben’s attempts to liven it up had died around the time they were six.

Ben. That thought snagged on something and he lifted his head to peer into the identical bed across from his own. He felt anxiety pinch for a second before he remembered it was Sunday and Sunday meant dance classes. Ben had three paper rounds to fund those classes and the bus to get him from Oldtown back up into Halcyon, he wasn’t going to miss them even if he was as wretchedly hungover as Juno. Which Juno doubted, Ben always had the good sense to drink water and all that crap before bed.

And, yeah, there it was. A glass left on Juno’s side table, gathering some dust now like anything left unattended in their house for more than five minutes. Ben’s way of tugging him towards some kind of functionality, even when he’d been too belligerently drunk to listen.

Juno sighed and drained the glass, of course it was exactly what he needed. He wiped off the thin trail that ran out the side of his mouth and sat up, the movement dragging a whine of pain through his teeth as his body protested. One glass of water wasn’t going to be enough to bring him back from the dead.

He was still wearing his party clothes under the duvet, the sequinned drop sleeve shirt and billowy skirt, his only nice clothes now rumpled and sweat stained. He couldn’t see but he had no doubt his make up was a state too. He brought a hand up and confirmed there was mascara congealing in clumps on his eyelashes, glitter shedding from his eyelids and…

Why was their lipstick halfway to his cheekbones? Had he tossed and turned enough to ruin it that much? But there was none staining the pillow as there should be if some nightmare had been throwing him this way and that, sending him cowering against the bed enough to rub off his lipstick. Juno winced. The only explanation left was that he kissed someone last night, kissed them hard enough and sloppily enough that he made this ruin of his face. As if this morning couldn’t get any worse.

He didn’t really want to know, there was no one at his school he’d be willing to admit he’d made out with, but Juno couldn’t help but run through the candidates anyway. Carlos, maybe, he was cute enough but he’d hated Juno’s guts since he wrecked their science experiment back when they were partners in freshman year and he’d cost them a final. Appoline could be a possibility, she’d been staring at him all night but he’d thought she looked more likely to punch him in the nose than kiss him. Maybe Dev but they’d been even drunker than he was, they hadn’t looked fit to stand, let alone make out with someone. Oh god, please don’t let it have been Sasha…

Juno froze, stomach clenching sudden and hard and he’d been positive for a horrible second that he would vomit all over his bed. Memories crashed down on him like an ice cold wave. Throbbing lights, music that barely qualified for the title, stolen champagne drying stickily on his fingers. Something making sense in the way things only did when the world was coloured by liquor. And a very, very bad decision.

The muffled sound of the front door slamming into the wall of the hallway made Juno jump. Not because that was an uncommon sound, that was how ma always came in whether she’d had a good day or a bad one. Juno jumped because he knew that wouldn’t be ma, not with the way his luck was going.

Angry, heavy footsteps in the hall, ones their owner was deliberately making audible for effect. And then, the bedroom door flew open.

“Juno, you asshole!” Benzaiten screeched.

The worst thing about an angry Ben was the tears. They came tumbling down his cheeks in an endless tide, making his skin a blotchy and furious red. That was the worst part by far, knowing you were the cause of those tears.

“Ben, listen…” Juno croaked, cringing back against the headboard.

“There were loads of people you could have kissed at that party!’ Ben threw the door back into its frame, nearly cracking the wood, “Loads of people! And the one you picked was my fucking boyfriend?”

Juno wanted to curl up in a ball so tight he would just disappear. He hadn’t kissed Sasha or any of his classmates. He’d kissed Mick. Mick Mercury. The tall, perpetually grinning idiot they’d been friends with since they’d moved to Oldtown. And his brother’s boyfriend.

“Ben, I’m sorry,” Juno closed his eyes tight against the headache and the tears that were building up. He didn’t have a right to cry right now, he knew that, “Listen, it wasn’t Mick’s fault…”

“Yeah, I know that!” Ben raged. He was still in his dance gear, curls kept back by a headband.

He usually looked so calm after class, the happiest he’d be all week, like there had been something building up inside him he’d only managed to shake off during those two hours. He’d walk on the balls of his feet like he didn’t see their shitty house and their shitty town and their shitty life, like sun shone out of his skin.

And Juno had taken it away from him with one stupid, drunken decision.

“He called me and told me everything, he told me you came up to him when he’d been drinking and wouldn’t be able to tell us apart and you didn’t speak so he wouldn’t know and you kissed him,” it all came rushing out of Ben like a burst pipe, the tears still dripping from his chin onto Juno’s blanket, “And I believed him because he isn’t a fucking asshole, like you. I can’t believe you’d do that to me, Juno!”

“I didn’t think like that, I wasn’t trying to hurt you!” Juno’s heart wrenched, “I just…”

What had he been thinking? Why had he done it?

“I don’t want to hear it,” Ben snapped, hand reaching for the first thing he could grab. It ended up being a pillow, thankfully, because he pitched it right at his brother’s head. His headache didn’t take kindly to that, pain exploding at the base of his skull.

“I don’t want to hear excuses, I don’t want to hear apologies because guess what, it isn’t going to be enough this time!” Ben scowled, reaching again, “He’s my boyfriend, Juno, after everything I told you about how much he means to me? You’d go and try and take him?”

“I wasn’t!” Juno managed to lurch away from the book that came flying at him next, “I...I just…”

“Shut up!” Ben yelled, sitting down on his own bed, head in his hands, “Shut up and let me be pissed at you!”

Juno bit his lip, guilt hot and prickling under his skin. The only thing he’d ever been good at, the only thing he’d ever strived for, was to be as decent a big brother as he could be. It was written on every one of his cells, right down in his DNA. He was the eldest so he had to do everything he could to protect Ben, to put his happiness above his own. It was all he could do to keep going sometimes.

And he’d hurt him worse than anything ever had. Worse than Ma, worse than the bullies at school, worse than the bad luck that clung to them like oil that never washed off.

Juno knew he’d been told to shut up and that for once he should listen but he couldn’t help it, “Benzaiten, you should be angry at me, I’m never going to tell you you shouldn’t. I fucked up so badly.”

“Yeah,” Ben mumbled tearfully, shoulders shuddering, still not looking at him, “You did.”

“But I didn’t do it to hurt you. I’d never hurt you, Ben. I mean, I know I did and I know I’ve done it before and I said sorry and it meant less than dirt…” God, he was crying, sobs building up in his chest, making himself even angrier at himself.

He could feel Ben’s gaze on him, not angry but wounded. Wanting answers, in spite of what he’d said.

“I didn’t do it because I want to take away what you and Mick have,” Juno tried to say things he only knew were true but it was hard to pick them out of the roiling mess in his head, “He’s good for you, he knows I’d break his jaw if he wasn’t.”

“Then what were you trying to do?” Ben sniffed, rubbing at his eyes like he was six rather than sixteen.

Juno forced himself back into those memories, even as he wanted to recoil away from what he’d done. He remembered the flute of champagne he’d stolen from some senior girl who was busy sucking the face of the girl hosting the party. He remembered going out into the front yard, where Mick was sitting, watching the cars go by as he liked to do when he got tipsy and moony eyed. He’d turned when he’d heard heels on the wooden porch and his whole face had lit up with such pure and uncomplicated joy, the way he’d always looked at Benzaiten…

Juno took a deep, shuddering breath, “I...when he saw me and thought it was you, he looked at me so...well, like a guy in love. And it was so nice and soft and...and it hit me that no one is ever going to look at me the way he looks at you. No one is going to love me like that. And...and I just wanted to keep hold of it for a few moments because I’m stupid and selfish and awful. Okay?”

Ben didn’t say anything, looking at his brother through tear beaded eyelashes.

“We kissed but he realised it wasn’t you,” Juno continued thickly, “And as soon as he did, he pulled away and he was apologising and crying and he ran away. He really didn’t mean it, Ben. He really cares about you.”

“I know that,” Ben murmured, shoulders slumping as some of the tension left him, “And someone will care about you too, Juno. But it won’t happen until you stop thinking it won’t, y’know? You treat yourself like crap and it makes you do stuff like this...and yeah, then people are going to think you’re a dick if you act like one.”

Juno rubbed at his eyes, mascara coating the heel of his hand, “Maybe I am just a dick, has anyone ever considered that?”

“No because it isn’t true,” Ben aimed a kick at him that wasn’t really a kick at all, just a nudge with his foot, “You’re not a dick. Just apologise to Mick and maybe don’t drink too much and kiss other people’s boyfriends?”

Juno sighed, plucking at his blanket, “I mean, I’ll do my best. I sure as hell won’t kiss yours anymore.”

Ben rolled his eyes, red rimmed now but the tears had stopped. He threw another kick in his brother’s direction, one that meant a little more business, “Don’t do it to anyone! Maybe you’re done with parties for a little while.”

“Yeah,” Juno admitted, running a hand through his hair, “I feel like shit.”

“You look like it too.”

“Shut up…”

Ben managed a rough laugh, leaning back against the wall. Juno sank back onto his side, wincing again, wrapping his arms around his pillow and trying to find a position where his head wouldn’t throb so badly.

After a while, he mumbled, his voice barely more than a whisper, “Ben?”

“Yeah, Super Steel?”

“Just...promise that when we’re grown up and you and Mick are married and you’re off being the solar system’s most famous dancer somewhere on another planet...just promise you’ll still call me?”

He couldn’t see Ben’s smile but he heard it, “What makes you think I’m not gonna bring you with us? I’m not going anywhere without my brother.”

Juno smiled crookedly into his pillow, hoping he wouldn’t see the relief on his face.

“I’m gonna hold you to that, Benzaiten.”

#juno steel #benzaiten steel #twin feels #angst #set during their high school years #ben/mick #do they have a ship name?#tpp #the penumbra podcast #tpp juno #tpp ben #sorry #please reblog and comment!

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obaewankenope · 4 years

Text

The Second Life of Sandu Shengshou, chapter 2

[Ao3]

Getting to Cloud Recesses earlier than the guest lectures that had been the beginning of a whole lot of fucking drama is, Jiang Cheng accepts, easier than he expected only because his parents seem inclined to grant him any wish now he’s not dead anymore.

Apparently, there’s rumours that the son of Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan either a) never really died and eloped with some rogue Cultivator (he’s twelve, what the fuck?) who then spurned him, b) is a fierce corpse that decided to just act like nothing was wrong at all (that’s not how fierce corpses even work, and Jiang Cheng would know since his brother is the Yiling fucking Patriarch) or, c) is a doppelganger with the exact same ability to be absolutely murderously protective of his siblings, going so far as to threaten his own parents if they so much as looked at his shixiong wrong.

The rumours are, naturally, a little bit right and a whole lot wrong. Well, one of them sort of is which is honestly better than he expects of people who know fuck all about him. Jiang Cheng isn’t a doppelganger of course—isn’t he though; it’s not like he’s the same twelve-year-old who died an ignoble death on a night-hunt because he’d been insistent that he could handle it, shut up Wei Wuxian!—but he is absolutely willing to throw down with anyone who bad mouths his brother; including his mother.

His mother, the purple spider who still terrifies him because she’s his mother, but who stops and looks at her son with wide eyes and an honest sort of pride at his very fierce desire to fight her. Gaining some outward display of approval from his mother apparently is as simple as growing a backbone. Who knew?

His mother’s behaviour toward Wei Ying has definitely changed for the better since Jiang Cheng has taken it upon himself to make it very fucking clear that no-one is permitted to hurt him. As much as Yu Ziyuan is the Madam of Lotus Pier, Jiang Cheng is the Sect Heir and he’s lived as a Sect Leader during shitty times, peaceful times, and absolutely soul-destroying times. His mother respects the fact that her son can stop Zidian without being its master.

Jiang Cheng is going to have to address that too because he sort of misses Zidian even if he’s okay with only Sandu right now. He’s thrashed Wei Ying half a dozen times since he “came back” with moves that he knows his brother won’t learn for another year. It’s had the added bonus of encouraging his brother to really go all in for studying how to beat him again, and made his parents look actually sort of proud of him.

The fact that he and Wei Ying both team up to encourage A-Jie to improve her own sword work draws surprise from many because everyone knows A-Jie is going to marry the peacock and will just be an ornament in Koi Tower rather than an actual fighter. Jiang Cheng and his shixiong both resolve to make sure A-Jie is more than what others expect her to be because no. Jiang Cheng lost both his siblings because of others expectations and biases of them. Fuck that.

A-Jie doesn’t thank them in the beginning because she has spent years accepting the fact that her cultivation isn’t high enough, but Jiang Cheng knows that a core can be strengthened through a variety of ways. A-Jie needs to be passably good with a sword for focus reasons, and also because sometimes having a sword helps stave off danger because no one likes a sword pointed at them, but the primary tools Jiang Cheng and A-Ying agree A-Jie should learn are talismans and arrays.

Talismans are useful for any cultivator, especially when the cultivator knows someone as insanely creative as A-Ying or someone with an unfair advantage like Jiang Cheng. He definitely isn’t smug about “coming up” with new talismans that are definitely ones A-Ying would have thought of eventually. He really isn’t.

Gusu Lan invites the Sect Heir of Yunmeng Jiang to Cloud Recesses two months after he makes the request of them. He politely informs Lan Qiren—acting in the place of his secluded brother until his eldest son can take his place—that A-Jie and A-Xian will be accompanying him. The fact that he doesn’t word it as a request for Lan Qiren to extend the invitation to his siblings is irrelevant because Jiang Cheng refuses to leave them in Lotus Pier without him there to make sure they’re safe.

Sect Leader Lan responds that the siblings of Jiang Wanyin are welcome also to Cloud Recesses.

How wise of him.

Of course, Jiang Cheng is well-aware that Lan Qiren will regret allowing A-Xian to enter Cloud Recesses and get anywhere near his precious second nephew, but Jiang Cheng doesn’t care about how Lan Qiren will feel about it when he knows Wei Ying will be happy with Lan Wangji.

After Jiang Cheng has a chat with Wei Ying about teasing and flirting and how they’re one-in-the-fucking-same when it comes to a certain Lan. He’s well-aware the conversation is going to be excruciatingly awkward for them both but Jiang Cheng raised a nephew alone and rebuilt a Sect; he watched the world change and grow and helped it do so. He can tell his brother that when he talks about how nice a certain cultivator’s eyes are, his ears, his fucking nose that Wei Ying wants to marry said cultivator even if they happen to be made out of fucking jade and have no facial expressions to speak of!

Wei Ying is very confused and assumes Jiang Cheng has a crush.

He pushes him in the river and leaves him to swim to shore, shouting at A-Xian that he’s an idiot who won’t know love when it literally ties them together with a white ribbon in a damned cave.

Yeah, Jiang Cheng learnt about that little event thirty-seven-years after it happened! He’s still a little sore about not being told his brother had gotten married at fifteen.

Just a little, mind.

* * * *

Acting Sect Leader Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen greet Jiang Cheng and his siblings when they are presented in the Welcoming Hall of Cloud Recess. Lan Wangji is standing off to the side, near his brother but further back, clearly showing that he is there because it is his duty and not because he cares about Yunmeng Jiang invading Cloud Recess.

Jiang Cheng doesn’t really care about how Lan Wangji feels about their arrival disrupting the Second Jade’s seclusion. He’s more interested in shoving Lan Wangji and his brother at each other while also possibly dropping as many hints as he can that Wen Ruohan wants to destroy Cloud Recesses because he’s an evil bastard who needs to die, die, die.

Just a normal day for Jiang Cheng.

“Welcome, Jiang-gongzi, Wei-gongzi and Jiang-guniang,” Lan Qiren says and he sounds mostly sincere about the welcoming. Jiang Cheng knows that won’t last the moment A-Xian opens his mouth. “I hope your stay at Cloud Recess will be peaceful and beneficial to you.”

Jiang Cheng and his siblings bow in unison, a practised move that he roped A-Jie into who then roped A-Xian into by giving him that look of hers neither of them can resist.

“Jiang Wanyin, Wei Wuxian, and Jiang Yanli are honoured by your hosting of us at Cloud Recess,” Jiang Cheng replies, still bowing, and he’s pretty pleased that he doesn’t mess up the words or sound unnecessarily aggressive. Decades of playing politics makes interactions that would have once had him a nervous mess at twelve seem like a breeze.

He could probably even talk to Wen Ruohan without cursing in the bastards face. Jiang Cheng straightens from his bow. No, no he couldn’t, actually. Wen Ruohan is too much even for Jiang Cheng to handle without attempting murder outright.

Sect Conferences are going to be a challenge.

Rooms have been prepared for them and they are directed to them by Lan Wangji who, Jiang Cheng notices, keeps an exceptionally tight grip of his sword. A grip that seems to tighten even more whenever Wei Ying smiles or laughs with his Shijie. It’s almost nauseating to realise that Lan Wangji was interested in Wei Ying from the start.

Jiang Cheng is appalled. It’s not romantic. Nope. Not at all.

His brother is horrifyingly oblivious if he didn’t notice this about Lan Wangji. Even now, three years before they would have originally met, Lan Wangji seems interested in Wei Ying in a way the Second Jade obviously isn’t in Jiang Cheng or A-Jie

Jiang Cheng sighs.

Why does Jiang Cheng have to suffer having such an oblivious genius for a shixiong?

He’s going to have to include A-Jie in his scheming for shoving Lan Wangji and Wei Ying together. His sister, Jiang Cheng knows, will assist without hesitation. A-Jie has always gone above and beyond for her XianXian. So much so, she died for him.

That will not be allowed to happen again.

First things first, Jiang Cheng needs to figure out a way to talk to Lan Xichen and build up some sort of rapport with the soon to be Sect Leader. One of the biggest issues he faced in his first life was the way Yunmeng Jiang was isolated from the other elite sects; partly due to Jiang Cheng being Jiang Cheng but also due to scheming bastards who he will not allow the chance to start scheming this time around.

That means he needs to engage with Lan Xichen, Zewu-Jun, First Jade of Lan, and not make a fucking fool of himself. Easy.

It is not easy.

Getting the chance to talk to Lan Xichen is easy but the chance to talk to him alone without Lan Qiren or Lan fucking Wangji following and joining in and talking—well, Lan Qiren joins in, Lan Wangji just stands there like an ice sculpture that someone didn’t even bother trying to make look human—is next to impossible.

In the end, Jiang Cheng employs both of his siblings as distractions just so he can at least say five damned words to Lan Xichen without one of his relatives lurking.

He doesn’t want to know how A-Xian keeps Lan Wangji distracted, he doesn’t, but A-Jie at least will distract Lan Qiren with discussions on the running of a sect. Bless his sister. Also bless his brother, but silently; A-Ying’s ego is big enough as it is.

Lan Xichen is, at least, pleasantly polite about talking with Jiang Cheng alone which is nice. Nice and with the expression on Zewu-Jun’s face, apparently alarming. What does he think Jiang Cheng is going to do; attack him in Cloud Recess?

Jiang Cheng is an angry twelve-year-old with a lifetime of experiences. He’s not stupid, just rash sometimes.

“I assume Zewu-Jun is aware,” Jiang Cheng says with all the seriousness a twelve-year-old can muster; a lot when that twelve-year-old is a scowling ex-sect leader, “of the rumours surrounding my being alive.” Lan Xichen nods. “They’re wrong. Mostly.”

“Your request to visit Cloud Recess was intriguing young master Jiang,” Lan Xichen says with that bland smile of his that absolutely screams discomfort at the topic but a stubborn refusal to admit discomfort. Jiang Cheng had seen it a lot in relation to Jin Guangyao in those later years. “Sect Leader Jiang informed us of your death and your return. It has caused some discussion among the Elders.”

Some discussion is probably Lan-code for quiet shouting about wicked sorcery to bring him back to life or something equally fucking stupid from them. Jiang Cheng doesn’t roll his eyes but he wants to.

“I have no idea how I came back,” he tells Lan Xichen because it’s true, he doesn’t. “I remember dying and then waking in a forest clearing with a fierce corpse trying to eat my face.” Lan Xichen doesn’t grimace at the mental image like A-Ying had, but there’s still a flicker of horror.

“That must have been an unexpected surprise,” Lan Xichen says with all the tact of a Lan.

“Bigger surprise was my own parents taking turns trying to kill me,” Jiang Cheng replies with a shrug and that makes Lan Xichen grimace a little.

Jiang Cheng finds the expressiveness of this still-teenaged Lan Xichen to be very fascinating. In an academic sort of way. Lan Wangji, even as a teenager, is more like a wall of ice whilst his older brother has more emotional nuance. It’s interesting.

“That’s not the important thing,” Jiang Cheng continues, ignoring how Lan Xichen’s expression very much says that is the important thing. It’s not, but he can understand how Lan Xichen thinks it is.

Parents trying to kill their child is sort of a big deal, but Jiang Cheng honestly is just pleasantly pleased that he has parents still. It’s almost novel.

“What, then, is the important thing, Jiang-gongzi?”

There’s a little note of frustration in Lan Xichen’s words that makes Jiang Cheng want to smirk at the other. It’s a reminder of dull Sect Conferences where Jiang Cheng got to watch Lan Xichen become steadily more and more annoyed with people. He finds it somewhat reassuring to know that the Sect Leader Jiang Cheng came to know in a distant acquaintance sort of way isn’t all that different from this young Sect Leader now. Well, Sect Heir, still, but Jiang Cheng knows that’s not going to last much longer.

“The important thing is that I’m a lot older than twelve and have been for a long, long time,” Jiang Cheng says, holding up a hand when Lan Xichen frowns at him. “My mother attacked me with Zidian which protects against possession, so no, I’m not possessed. I’m still me, just not the me who died on a fucking night-hunt I shouldn’t have actually snook out to join.”

Jiang Cheng watches Lan Xichen closely. The First Jade isn’t reaching for his sword, or liebing, but also doesn’t seem to be reacting at all to Jiang Cheng’s words.

Maybe he’s in shock?

“I became Sect Leader at seventeen, after Lotus Pier was attacked and my Sect was decimated. Only my brother and sister and I escaped because of my mother.” Jiang Cheng’s voice doesn’t break or tremble as he says this out loud for the first time. It doesn’t. It just gets a little... Just a little.

“I lost my core and my brother, the idiot, gave me his and I went to war. We won but my brother paid the price for fear and hatred, and I didn’t save him. I lost him” Jiang Cheng confesses, quietly. “I lost them both.”

There’s tears in his eyes and the Jiang Cheng of ten, twenty years ago would have wiped them away angrily, denying that he was crying at all. But Jiang Cheng had died an old man who suffered so much and learnt to value the happiness he seldom had.

He doesn’t wipe away the tears.

He lets Lan Xichen see them.

He's earned the right to be unashamed of feeling.

“I came back and I don’t know why but they’re alive and they’re safe and I need your help to keep them that way,” Jiang Cheng tells Lan Xichen with more seriousness than he’d ever possessed as a twelve-year-old. “I need you help to protect everyone.”

Lan Xichen finally speaks. “From what?”

Jiang Cheng scowls. He knows there’s a hatred in his eyes, he can’t and won’t hide it. “Wen Ruohan,” he spits the name like he’s coughing up poisoned blood. “He tried to take over the cultivation world. Attacked Cloud Recess and Lotus Pier. Your brother was captured in the attack here.” Lan Xichen looks at Jiang Cheng with the horror of an older brother who is tasked with the care of a younger.

“He survived the war,” Jiang Cheng tells him, because Lan Xichen was many things in Jiang Cheng’s life, but right now in this time, Lan Xichen is an older brother who hasn’t done anything against Jiang Cheng or those he loves. He can be kind.

The relief on Lan Xichen’s face reminds Jiang Cheng of the relief he felt after those three months. It stings.

“Why are you telling me this?” Lan Xichen asks. “What do you believe I can do?”

Jiang Cheng is silent. The question of what he wants Lan Xichen to do is difficult to answer. It’s not that he wants Zewu-Jun to do anything specifically; Jiang Cheng is well aware that Lan Xichen has obligations and duties here at Cloud Recess. He doesn’t want to ask Lan Xichen to help him kill Wen Ruohan before the bastard starts a war, but he sort of does because help would be nice.

Really, what Jiang Cheng wants Lan Xichen to do boils down to don’t fall for a lunatic with a chip on his shoulder just because he’s the son of a whore, and don’t let said lunatic kill one of the only decent people who has some fucking integrity as well as, maybe, don’t just sit by and let an entire people be wiped fucking out in an outright act of genocide. Also, support your brother and be happy for him being with A-Ying without being biased against my brother.

He can’t actually tell Lan Xichen any of that, of course, because Jiang Cheng doesn’t know how to.

He’s silent long enough that Lan Xichen finally speaks again.

“Jiang-gongzi?”

“Protect Cloud Recess from attack,” Jiang Cheng blurts, saying something at least. He wants to tell Lan Xichen more, he needs to tell someone but Zewu-Jun isn’t who he wants to actually talk to about all this.

His siblings are.

“Ward it, protect your treasures better, your library,” Jiang Cheng bites out. “Don’t ignore your responsibilities even when you’re grieving. Don’t let your brother suffer for being righteous. Don’t let my brother suffer for doing the right fucking thing! Just- just don’t fuck up.”

Jiang Cheng stands quickly. Lan Xichen rises also; he looks distressed. Or worried.

“Thank you for your time, Sect Leader Lan.” Jiang Cheng bows. His body feels like he’s jumped into the cold pool that he knows exists at Cloud Recess. There’s a sharp ache in his chest and his lower dantian burns. “I must go.”

Lan Xichen isn’t finished with his own bow before Jiang Cheng is rushing out the room.

A-Jie and A-Ying aren’t in the guest rooms they’ve been given for their visit. Jiang Cheng takes the opportunity presented by this to throw himself into their shared room and slam the door behind him. His knees fold of their own accord and Jiang Cheng ends up leaning against the wall by the door, knees tucked to his chest as he tries to just breathe.

Thinking about what he needs to do is one thing, saying it out loud is something different. Lan Xichen had asked him what Jiang Cheng wanted him to do.

Jiang Cheng doesn’t even know what he wants to do.

Writing to Cloud Recess and arranging his brothers introduction to Lan Wangji was something Jiang Cheng did because he wants his brother happy. Lan Wangji makes A-Ying happy. He’s planning on dragging Jin Zixuan to Lotus Pier at some point for A-Jie, but that requires more planning than a letter to Cloud Recesses did.

Jiang Cheng has lived an entire life where he ended up almost entirely alone. He had only a nephew for sixteen years and a Sect he had to rebuild in a place that was burnt to the ground. A-Ying came back and it still took Jiang Cheng so, so long to accept his brother again and not drive him away with his anger and inability to communicate.

Things are better now, in this second life, but the first has left Jiang Cheng wounded in ways he can’t explain.

Before everything went wrong, the three of them were inseparable. The Twin Prides of Yunmeng who were wrangled by their beloved A-Jie. Jiang Cheng has already endeavoured to improve A-Jie’s cultivation, with A-Ying’s help, and he is determined for them to be known as a trio rather than a pair.

The only people Jiang Cheng can really talk to about what he has lived through are the two people he loves more than he has ever loved anyone else besides his nephew.

A-Jie, Jiang Cheng knows, will handle what he tells her better than A-Ying. A-Ying will learn of how he was an excuse to destroy their Sect and how he, Jiang Cheng, blamed him for years for things A-Ying was tricked into.

Jiang Cheng is terrified he will drive his brother away with the truth.

But Jiang Cheng knows A-Ying deserves to know.

He just hopes A-Jie will be willing to wrangle them both a little longer and keep A-Ying from fleeing out of misplaced guilt.

Jiang Cheng let’s out a choked laugh, wiping at his face with his sleeve. Who is he kidding, A-Jie can wrangle them both with a look; Jiang Cheng knows A-Jie will be able to keep A-Ying from running from them.

Jiang Cheng will help.

He lost his brother once before, he will never let that happen again. Never.

* * * *

Jiang Cheng is introduced to the Elders of the Lan Sect and decides, almost immediately, that he hates them. They’re stuffy, obnoxious, and make him long for the days when being angry and intimidating made up the majority of his tools for interacting with other Sects.

Unfortunately, he’s twelve.

The Elders expect Jiang Cheng to answer their questions and don’t like it when he does because there are no records of any cultivator having returned to a previous time in their life, it is not possible!

Jiang Cheng, personally, doesn’t really care if they think its possible or not because he’s living proof that it is.

There’s very little he can do to convince them so, in a burst of temper, Jiang Cheng snaps at the Elder currently denying his existence.

“The late Madam Lan didn’t die until Lan Wangji was six.”

The Elders fall silent. Lan Qiren is in the room and he goes pale at Jiang Cheng’s words.

Another Elder, not the one who drove Jiang Cheng to snap, asks him: “how do you know this?”

“Lan Wangji told my brother and I about her after drinking a cup of wine that had been mistakenly placed in front of him at an Inn we were staying at,” Jiang Cheng answers. “He did not recall the conversation in the morning and my brother and I decided not to mention it to him because it clearly distressed Hanguang-Jun even fifty years later.”

“Fifty years...” Lan Qiren says softly, staring at Jiang Cheng.

“Summon Lan Wangji.” The Elder who had been denying Jiang Cheng’s existence as someone who had died and returned to his life ordered. “I do not believe this fantasy. Let us ask Lan Wangji if he has informed Jiang-gongzi of his mother.”

The way the Elder says ‘mother’ has Jiang Cheng wishing he could give the man a tongue lashing that’d make his mother weep with pride. So much disdain for one who is gone.

How un-Lan-like of that Elder.

Lan Wangji arrives quickly and comes to stand near to Jiang Cheng. He’s close enough that Jiang Cheng can see the tension in the Second Jade at this unexpected summoning.

Lan Wangji has—this time—done nothing wrong and whatever he’s expecting of the Elders, the order to discuss his mother is definitely not something he ever expected judging by the actual emotion Jiang Cheng witnesses cross Lan Wangji’s face. There’s a raw sort of pain in his expression that Jiang Cheng understands on a level he doesn’t think any of these fucking Elders have ever experienced.

Losing a parent hurts. Losing one that loves you hurts worse.

“When did you drink alcohol with Jiang-gongzi?” That same Elder demands of Lan Wangji, not mentioning Jiang Cheng’s brother.

“Alcohol is forbidden in Cloud Recess,” Lan Wangji replies. The Elder scowls at him.

“When, Lan Wangji, did you drink with Wei Wuxian? ” The Elder presses and Jiang Cheng really doesn’t like the way he says A-Ying’s name. “When did you act so shamefully?”

“Lan Wangji has not drank alcohol at all,” Lan Wangji replies. “Not with Jiang Wanyin. Not with Wei Ying.”

If there’s one thing Jiang Cheng will take from this clusterfuck of a meeting with the Lan Elders, it will be hearing Lan Wangji call his brother Wei Ying.

“Lan Wangji does not lie, Elder Yu,” Lan Qiren says, before Elder Yu—Jiang Cheng will remember him—can say anything. “It is a well known fact that my nephew has never lied.”

“This is true, Lan Qiren,” another Elder says, her expression serene. “If it is true that Lan Wangji had not drank alcohol with either Jiang-gongzi or Wei-gongzi, then we must accept Jiang-gongzi’s word as truth. Just because such an event has never been recorded before in the history of cultivation does not mean it has no happened, or is impossible.”

Jiang Cheng decides that he likes this particular Lan Elder. They have a brain, that’s nice to know.

“If Jiang-qianbei is willing,” the Elder continues, “then his wisdom will be welcomed.”

Oh, Jiang Cheng definitely likes this Elder.

Lan Wangji is dismissed and Jiang Cheng, having thought on it in his room before his siblings returned after his talk with Lan Xichen, keeps what he shares with them both vague and informational enough to have them curious and eventually respectful.

Except Elder Yu. He seems to just dislike everything Jiang Cheng has to say. Fortunately, the other Elders are more interested in hearing about Jiang Cheng living an entire life, dying and then waking up as a twelve-year-old.

He doesn’t mention the Sunshot Campaign or what happened to his brother and family. He does mention his Sect being attacked and his becoming Sect Leader, but he doesn’t tell them the when, who, or how of it all. The Elders seem more interested in the academic aspect of his return.

Jiang Cheng can use that.

The Lan Elders are, since they’re Lans, pretty well respected across the cultivation world. Their belief and interest in his circumstances will help him in the long-run.

Jiang Cheng learnt the hard way that sometimes you have to set a plan in motion years in advance. This time, however, he’s the one setting the plan and he’s not going to fuck it up.

The Sunshot Campaign will happen, it has to; the Wen are too powerful even without Wen Ruohan in charge and his heirs are fucking nightmares. Jiang Cheng will have to fight a war and see his disciples die in it. He will see his siblings fear for him and for each other. All of it, for a second time.

But the end result will be different, Jiang Cheng is determined to make it different. The Wen were powerful and not all of them deserved their fates. The Jin cannot be allowed to steal political power in the vacuum that the obliteration of the Wen, the destruction of the Jiang, and the decimation of the Lan allowed them to take. The Nie cannot be harmed by the violent death of their Leader.

So many things need to be taken care of early on.

One of those things is the payment for a prostitute to be freed. Another is a child to be collected by a Jiang disciple before another can set them down a dark path.

Jiang Cheng has more than just his hope that things will be better in this second life; he has a century’s worth of experience, knowledge, and skill and the stubborn will and determination to make the impossible a reality.

Fate and destiny will not rule him. They will not rule those he loves.

Jiang Cheng will fight the world for those he loves. The world will learn to back down because, this time, Jiang Cheng won’t.

#The Untamed #Jiang Cheng #Sandu Shengshou #Jiang Yanli #Wei Wuxian #Lan Xichen #Lan Wangji #Lan Qiren #MMDZS #My writing #Kat writes

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ninjabobanekokyrie · 4 years

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Osomatsu Month 2020: Part 2-I'm already broken, so tell me why I'm still fucking hurting (Cont.)

He swallows before continuing, "And I guess I was so angry because...I thought you were moving out to get back at me. For annoying you and making you miserable all those times. Like you're leaving....so you don't have to deal with me anymore. I honestly don't blame you, I'd leave too, but...I never thought I was such a bothersome presence to my brothers. To the point where one runs out. And I never thought it would upset me so much."

He can hear Choromatsu's heartbeat, and the younger brother's chest vibrates when he speaks, "Osomatsu-niisan, don't be silly. You don't make me miserable. Annoy me, sure, of course. It would be a little weird if you didn't here and there. It's what brothers do. But not miserable. You just piss me off sometimes, that's all. All of you do. Sometimes more frequently than usual. And there have been plenty of cases where we've pissed you off too. And when we do, do you stop loving us? Do you hate us with all you have?"

Osomatsu reluctantly answers, "Well no..."

"Right? I don't hate you, Osomatsu-niisan. You annoy the shit out of me sometimes and there are times where I feel like you could be a better and more supportive brother, I'll admit. I don't hate you or Karamastu-niisan or Totty or Ichi or Jyushi. I don't hate any of you. How could I? You guys are my brothers. No amount of anger is gonna make me just decide that's not the case anymore or worse make me hate you. That's just ridiculous thinking. And I would never want to shove my success in your face like that. Well--sometimes I do--but not like this. I would never do it to hurt you, Nii-San. So get those stupid thoughts out of your head already, alright?"

Osomatsu sniffled and nodded, having calmed down tremendously by now though he still leaned tiredly into the younger brother's chest.

Choromatsu's eyes landed on Osomatsu's still reddened cheek, noticing there was now a big bruise there and mumbled, "Let me see your face."

"Eh?"

But Choromatsu didn't make any room for questions. He merely pulled back slightly and cupped Osomatsu's cheek, ignoring the oldest's pained protests consisting of mixes of "Choro, I'm fine" and "Ouch, that hurts!" And "You're gripping too hard!".

"Karamatsu-niisan got you good," Choromatsu murmured, rubbing his thumb back and forward on Osomatsu's cheek. "We're gonna have to ice it when we get back home, or it'll swell up even more." He paused before pushing on, "Why would you grab Jyushimatsu like that? You know he gets protective whenever he sees one of us threatened, regardless if it's by you or not."

"I know...I had it coming. He's been like that since we were kids." Osomatsu huffed, too tired for another lecture. "I get it."

"Mm...true. But he's never gotten that violent with you before. The most he's ever done is yell at you. Ah, and honestly...he didn't need to hit you. That was a little out of line. Shoving you would have been the more appropriate course of action, it still would have gotten you to let go of Jyushi and in a less violent way, too."

Osomatsu shot him a surprised look, "Are you actually...defending me?" He asked, baffled.

Choromatsu puffed out his cheeks, looking annoyed. "Geez, don't sound so surprised. I've come to your aid plenty of times in the past. ...But in a way, yes. You were being a major asshole, but he wasn't any less of a jerk by hitting you like that. You were both wrong tonight. Though...not just you guys were in the wrong. I was a little, too."

"You? Why?"

"I should have given you a heads up on the job. I guess I just...knew how you were gonna react. Or at least I thought I knew. I was obviously way off base, because I ended up hurting you. Pretty badly. And I never want to hurt any of my brothers like that. I was trying to avoid the bad, but I just ended up causing the worse. I wanted this to be a happy night, not a night full of anger and pain. You have a right to be upset, Osomatsu-niisan. I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

He swallows before looking Oso dead in the eyes, "But I'm serious, this is just a job. It's not like I'm moving to another state or something. I'm still gonna be around you guys a lot, just not as much. And I'll write. And call. And when I do, you better pick up, Oso."

Seeing Choromatsu's glare yet the promising look shining in his eyes that says 'I'm not going anywhere, get that through your dense skull you dumbass', Osomatsu is finally convinced and he lets out a trembling laugh, pressing his face to Choro's shoulder to hide the new fallen tears of relief.

"I will, Fappymatsu."

"Finally. I thought I'd never get through to you." Choromatsu sighs, tone mixture of his own relief and frustration as he leans back on the bench slightly, looking up at the stars.

After a couple minutes, the green clad uttered, "Let's head home, Oso. It's getting cold out here."

"But they all hate me now, Choro-Chan..." Osomatsu whined, shaking his head and burrowing himself deeper into the latter's side.

"Man...when did you become such a baby, Osomatsu-niisan?" Choromatsu frowned. "They don't hate you. I promise. They were just scared. Now they're probably super worried, so we've gotta get back."

Osomatsu looked up at him with teary eyes , and Choromatsu's heart ached for the millionth time tonight. "Even Karamachu?"

"Especially Karamatsu. Come on, we've been through enough tonight. The last thing we need is to freeze our asses off."

"Okay..."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Have they come back yet?" Karamatsu asked anxiously, gazing down at his fist in guilt.

"Not yet," Todomatsu hummed, looking up from his phone to glance at the clock. "It's eleven....I'm sure they're fine though."

"I'm not so sure. Osomatsu usually comes back way before eleven. Well, at least when he's not at Chibita's. In situations like these he always comes back before nine." Karamatsu swallowed hard, his guilt doubling. "This is my fault. I shouldn't have hit him."

Todomatsu shook his head, glaring at him. "No, Karamatsu-niisan. He had it coming. Don't blame yourself."

"Even if he did, I still shouldn't have done it. I hurt him, Totty. And if I hadn't gotten so angry and done so he wouldn't have stormed off." Karamatsu sighed shakily. "It's my fault."

"Do you think Nii-San's okay?" Jyushimatsu asked next, uncharacteristically frowning.

"He's fine. You all are worrying too much. They'll be home soon." Ichimatsu pipes up from his corner of the room.

"We've been saying that for the past two hours and they're still not back yet. I'm going out to look for them." Karamatsu decides, getting to his feet and approaching the door, slipping his shoes on.

Just as he reached for the doorknob, it turned and the door opened and Karamatsu was met with two mirror versions of himself. One of which had tear stains plastered across his cheeks.

Mind still processing Osomatsu's state, Karamatsu stood frozen in shock as Choromatsu gently pushed the eldest Matsu inside and shut and locked the door behind them.

Jyushimatsu rushes past Karamatsu and throws his arms around Osomatsu's waist, squeezing tightly. "Nii-san's okay! I was worried!!!"

Osomatsu gave a guilty smile, ruffling Jyushimatsu's hair lightly, "I'm fine, Jyushimatsu. Sorry for making you worry."

Choromatsu called over to Todomatsu, "Oi Totty, do you think you can go get some ice? I need it for Oso's face."

Hearing that made Karamatsu flinch, and he kept his eyes upon Osomatsu who rubbed the yellow Matsu's hair affectionately as Jyushi clung to him, hearing Totty reply "Kay" and leave the room.

Osomatsu swallowed thickly, "Jyushimatsu"

"Eh?" Jyushimatsu looked up at him with big, concerned eyes.

"Let me see your stomach."

"Ah? Okay, Nii-San." Jyushimatsu uttered, stepping back and doing as he was told, pulling up his hoodie revealing a bandaged bruise, though it was wrapped up the bruise was big so he could still see some of it.

Osomatsu gently rubbed it, tears filling his eyes.

Fuck he was such an asshole...

"Karamatsu-niisan wrapped it up for me. It really doesn't hurt too much. I've had worse. In fact, this one time--eh? Osomatsu-niisan?"

Jyushimatsu was cut off by Osomatsu straightening up and pulling the younger Matsu into a tight hug, squeezing lightly.

"I'm sorry, Jyushimatsu." Osomatsu apologized bitterly. "I didn't mean--I shouldn't have done that to you."

"D-Don't apologize, Nii-San. You told me to stop and I didn't listen, I deserved--"

"No!" Osomatsu growled, causing Jyushimatsu to jump slightly and Oso's heart throbbed with remorse, and he softened his voice repeating, "No. Don't you dare fucking say that. You didn't, you hear me? You didn't. I was upset because I knew Fappymatsu would have to leave...but that doesn't mean it gives me a right to hurt my baby brother. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry, Jyushimatsu."

Small tears appeared in Jyushi's own eyes. "Nii-San..." he sniffled shakily.

Osomatsu leaned back, grinning weakly with two tears running down his cheeks and finger rubbing under his nose, "Heh. Think you can forgive your shitty Onii-Chan?"

Jyushimatsu didn't hesitate, letting out a small sob and diving into Osomatsu's chest somewhat roughly, "Don't cryyy, Nii-San! I forgive you, I forgive you! I love you, Nii-San!"

Osomatsu snorted in amusement, smiling with relief and showered his younger brother with a couple of light kisses to his hairline and cheek, causing Jyushimatsu to burst into giggles.

"Onii-Chan loves you too~" he said, pressing the last of his kisses to the yellow Matsu's hairline. He let go of the latter and allowed him to bound happily over to sit next to Ichimatsu, energetic grin back upon his face.

"Got the ice, Choromatsu-niisan." Totty announced as he reentered the room.

"Thanks, Totty." Choro uttered, taking the bag of cubes and walking over to Osomatsu, pushing him into a sitting position.

"It's gonna hurt at first." he informed the older brother.

Osomatsu shrugged, and Choromatsu pressed the bag of ice to the elder's cheek and he instantly hissed in pain.

"Ow that hurts Choro-Chan...!" Osomatsu whined, sniffing.

"I literally just told you it would!" Choromatsu glared in frustration.

"But you didn't tell me that it would hurt this bad!"

Choromatsu rolls his eyes irritably and continues to hold it there before he hands it to Osomatsu, "Just hold it there, alright?"

Osomatsu chewed his lip and nodded, doing as he was told.

"We're going to have a talk tomorrow, okay?" Choromatsu states, looking around at all of them. "All of us. A sextuplet meeting. Like the ones we used to have when we were kids when one of us had a problem."

The others all except Osomatsu nod quietly.

"Do we have to?" Osomatsu yawns, frowning at him.

"It's nothing bad, Osomatsu." Choromatsu is quick to assure him. "We just want to help, that's all."

"Sure sounds bad."

"Oso...please. It's gonna be fine, I promise."

Osomatsu snorts, looking away from the green Matsu with a bitter look on his face.

Then Osomatsu yawns again sleepily, and Choromatsu moves to grab his shoulders, "Alright, off to bed, Osomatsu." He says and begins steering him towards the staircase and up each stair.

Choromatsu gazes at the ground as Osomatsu changes into his pajamas and climbs into the futon.

Once Osomatsu is settled, Choromatsu sits down next to the older Matsu.

"The others will be up in a bit." He informs him.

Osomatsu doesn't say anything, just merely pushes his head into the third born's lap mutely.

Choromatsu pauses, startled, then slowly lowers his hand and begins running his hand through the latter's locks.

They say nothing else as Osomatsu slowly drifts off to a dreamless sleep.

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teamlarl · 4 years

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Su.yin Bei.fong is Cancelled - A Masterpost

A collection of my many, many, rants about Suyin that I’ve gone on in the past.

November 3, 2017

“Suyin motherfucking Beifong I swear to god... Like... Ughhhhh I can't go on a full on rant because you all don't know the context of it, but fuuuuuck. I have never seen a more self-absorbed character, that refuses to take responsibility for their actions, will blame everyone else, and just sticks their head in the sand.

And the kicker? The narrative always portrays Suyin as being in the right. Always. Without fail. Even when Suyin is being a complete bitch about everything.

She is a woman that outright refuses to believe that her precious baby boy could fall in love with someone she doesn't approve of. That Kuvira must be fucking manipulating Baatar Jr., that's clearly the only reason why he would ever love her. Not because, oh I don't know, they grew up together and Kuvira is the only god damn person to treat him like his own person, and not an extension of his father.”

---

April 25, 2018

“Kuvira has a LOT of mommy issues when it comes to Suyin, and frankly I don't blame her. Suyin is one of those characters that the narrative always frames as in the right, but when you really think about it is super fucked up.

They briefly acknowledged one aspect of it, with her whole drama with her sister, Lin, and then they didn't really do anything with it. Suyin never really got better. Hell, Lin is the one that's framed as the bitch for not wanting to get along with her self-admitted shit of a little sister after reuniting. Suyin Beifong is an extremely selfish character. She puts herself and her immediate family first, everyone else be damned. And it has to be HER vision of what she wants for her family. If a single one of them steps a hair out of line she lashes out; she's extremely controlling.”

---

October 5, 2018

“I want it stated for the record that if it wasn't for her being such a MILF then I wouldn't let her get away with as much shit as she does.

The worst part is that the show doesn't even acknowledge how most of the shit she does is super problematic, everyone's expected to acquiesce and apologize to HER for being VERY RIGHTFULLY ANGRY WITH HER. It's not even one time either. It happens TWICE. WITH DIFFERENT CHARACTERS. PEOPLE THAT SHE'S SUPPOSED TO BE VERY CLOSE TO.

Oh woops. My dormant Suyin button got tripped.

LIN BEIFONG DOESN'T OWE SUYIN SHIT. But no, I guess because FAMILY and all that, Lin has to apologize. I guess Suyin ruining their mom's career counts for nothing. The thing with Suyin is that for all her claims about how she's grown up since she was a bratty teenager SHE REALLY HASN'T. She's STILL selfish. She's still convinced that she always knows best. She doesn't give a shit about the rules except when they benefit her.

Don't even get me STARTED on the dynamic she has with Kuvira, Because JESUS CHRIST THE IMPLICATIONS.

"She was like a daughter to me."

PROCEEDS TO TRY AND ASSASSINATE HER AN HOUR LATER.

"She was like a daughter to me."

Kuvira isn't in any of the family photos, she's not there to meet Korra and friends when they arrive for the first time, Suyin never introduces her or anything. Kuvira's just a guard. A prominent guard, but just a guard.

So don't give me that fucking bullshit about how she was like a daughter to you, Suyin. Your fucking actions speak VOLUMES otherwise. Suyin would fucking MURDER for the sake of her family. She can't claim that Kuvira is a part of her family and then TRY TO ASSASSINATE KUVIRA HERSELF.

"Baatar sweetie it's not your fault, the evil Kuvira manipulated you." "Kuvira is irredeemable."

LIKE WOW OKAY. BAATAR HAD JUST AS MUCH TO DO WITH THE EARTH EMPIRE AS KUVIRA DID, BUT THERE SUYIN GOES! SWEEPING IT ALL UNDER THE RUG FOR HER BABY BOY WHILE BLAMING IT ALL ON KUVIRA.

"She was like a daughter to me."

---

November 28, 2018

“I mean fuck. You pick this girl up off the street. You give her a home, you train her, you be her mentor, but you hold her at arm's length. You never allow her to be part of your family. Wait, scratch that, you let her be part of your family when it's convenient for you, when you're trying to gain sympathy for yourself. Teasing her with something she never had and you do not intend to give her. Never making her role clear, whether she's an apprentice or a daughter figure, because it's not defined, and it flips flops based on your mood.

And Suyin wonders why Kuvira resents her so much... Ah, but of course, it's the evil Kuvira, what am I saying?

A rotten apple from the start, am I right? She was like family, and she abused that trust, right? Manipulating your precious baby boy and taking him away from you, corrupting him. It's all her fault. But of course, it's never your fault, eh Suyin? It's always someone else to blame.

It's all Lin's problem that she can't move on and forgive you. Forgiving you for ruining your mother's career, for being a shit kid that gave your sister scars that would mar her for the rest of her life, for generally getting off scot-free because you're just such a fucking free spirit. But of course that's not your fault Why would it be? You're Suyin Beifong. You're never at fault for anything.

You know what's fun? I've never made any secret that Ren was heavily based on Kuvira. His entire backstory of being an orphan from nowhere adopted into this prestigious family comes from her. That his resolve and passion and issues comes from the tragedy he suffered as a child, similar to Kuvira.

But the thing is... The person I had fill in the role of Suyin, Ianus... is a far better "parent" than Suyin ever was. Like, ignoring the rest of the Beifong family and focusing purely on the dynamic between Suyin and Kuvira. It's fucking telling when I can say Ianus, fucking IANUS BASILIUS, is a better parental figure than Suyin motherfucking Beifong.

Ianus, who actually fully adopts Renatus as his own son and treats him as such. Ianus, who is wholly responsible for the glorified trauma conga line that is Addie's childhood. Ianus is not a good fucking person by any stretch of the imagination, but at least he has the decency to actually make sure the orphan he takes into his home is loved and cared for. He makes sure they know they're wanted and that they are family.”

---

September 18, 2019

“Suyin Beifong is the dictionary definition of "fuck you, bitch, got mine" and I hate her for it. God damn hypocrite.

"Kuvira is like a daughter to me." FIVE MINUTES LATER, SUYIN IS TRYING TO MURDER KUVIRA IN HER SLEEP.

"You're going to pay for everything you've done!" BITCH YOU JUST IMMEDIATELY FORGAVE YOUR SON FOR EVERYTHING, LIKE, AN HOUR AGO. AND HE IS JUST AS RESPONSIBLE FOR EVERYTHING AS KUVIRA IS.

"Kuvira is like a daughter to me." THEN WHERE IS SHE IN THE FUCKING FAMILY PHOTO?

For some godforsaken reason... Suyin is always portrayed as being in the right. Even when she does really fucked up things and isn't sorry about it. I mean, god, I'm still on Lin's side regarding their reunion. Lin had every right to be angry and Suyin is just like, "it doesn't matter, that was in the past, I'm a different person now."

Are you, Suyin? Maybe on a surface level, but when you scrape the surface at all, I don't think you are. Suyin Beifong is someone that never fucking has to deal with the negative consequences of her shitty actions. Everyone else around her has to deal with it instead.

Girl commits a crime, gets caught, and in the process both physically scars her sister and ruins her mother's career. Her "punishment" is being sent to live with her rich as fuck grandparents, which she runs away from anyway and proceeds to have a grand old time, having an adventure of a life. She is never sorry for her actions and how they affected others. And life seems to keep rewarding her for it.

Settles down, has a family, creates her own city and places herself at the head of the totem pole so she never has to answer to anyone. Basically becomes the epitome of a socialite wine mom, except with political power. Takes in this orphan kid because she sees potential in her. Great! Calls her a part of the family, despite never actually acting like it and never telling her this to her face, only to others. A difference which becomes really fucking prominent when Suyin only ever displays unconditional love for her biological children, but as soon as the "adopted kid" (put in quotations because of course Suyin never actually adopted Kuvira despite her being "part of the family") questions Suyin's decisions and strikes out on her own, taking the eldest son with her.

Ohohoho! Obviously she's an evil bitch! Who manipulated her darling baby boy into going with her! Because obviously her eldest son could only ever be happy at home! He wasn't. He always felt like he was in the shadows of his parents. But god forbid you ever tell Suyin that. Suyin and her perfect little family. Until you look under the facade and see how unperfect things actually are. But that's obviously all that Kuvira girl's fault. She's such a bad influence. AND HEY MAYBE SHE'S RIGHT!

After all, Kuvira is the one that takes the most after Suyin.”

#;ooc #;aeneas rants about su.yin #i decided i should give myself a tag #considering how often i do this #oh boy i really hope this doesn't show up anywhere near her tags

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tournesolia · 5 years

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Chaos Lineage Yuma Chapter 1 Translation

Place : Scarlet mansion – Vacant room

Yui : I choose Yuma-san...

Yuma : What ? Me ? Well, I'm the one who turns out to be the best guard here

Fine with me, I accept. But you're gonna lend me extra help in return

Yui : Okay...

Yuma : Now that we're settled, I've got no choice but to take you... Hey, wait for a bit

Yui : O-Okay ?

*some time passes

Yui : (It's been quite a while since everyone left the room...)

(Should I just stay here ?)

(I imagined incredible things like being chained in jail or being tortured since it's a battle to become the supreme ruler...)

(That's a relief)

*someone suddenly enters the room

Yui : Kyaaa... !?

Yuma : Ah ? Why are you freaked out ?

Yui : Y-Yuma-san... ? Well, you didn't knock at the door before entering...

Yuma : Why would I do that ? I'm your guard so I enter your room whenever I like

Yui : I-I think that even if you're my guard, you can't enter my room without permission...

Yuma : How annoying... Looks like you don't understand your position yet

Yui : What... ?

*Yuma gets close to Yui and lifts her

Yui : Yaah... ! What are you doing all of a sudden !? Please put me down !

Yuma : Tch... Stop struggling. You want me to drop you ?

Yui : But you suddenly... !

Yuma : Shut up

Yui : … !

Yuma : Looks like you guessed it wrong, I'm not gonna have you sit like a doll

You're gonna... give me plenty of help

Yui : … !

(I was over-optimistic after all. I can't get away with this without a price. I have to do things from now on...!)

Yuma : Now, let's go

Yui : (Even if I struggle, I can't run away from him)

(Where exactly is he bringing me to...?)

Scene change : Scarlet mansion – Garden

Yui : (… T-This place is...)

Yuma : Look, we arrived. Stop dozing off and get off

*Yuma drops Yui

Yui : Kyaa !

Y-You didn't have to drop me all of a sudden... !

Yuma : You stay here. Don't do anything weird other than what I instruct you

Yui : Um, where are we... ?

Yuma : My vegetable garden. It's not big enough, though

Yui : Vegetable garden... So this is a vegetable garden

And... what are we doing in a vegetable garden ?

Yuma : Haa ? To grow vegetables and harvest them, duh. What else do you think we do ?

Yui : I-I thought you would take me to jail and torture me or find the way to become the supreme ruler...

Yuma : Heeeh... If you like that sort of thing, I can make you my pet

Yui : N-No thanks !

Yuma : Haha, you're getting all red. I don't have such bad hobbies, even if you ask me that badly

C'mon, take this

Yui : … A basket ?

Yuma : I'll pass the vegetables I harvested to you so hold it firmly

*Yuma leaves

Yui : (He began to check on the vegetables. It seems he really does farmwork...)

(I see, if he guards me while working in the fields, the best thing is to bring me here...)

(I'm ashamed of myself for panicking and imagining things...)

Yuma : We can harvest this area already

Yui : (He's skilled... What a surprise)

Um, do you always take care of the vegetable garden ?

Yuma : Yeah

Yui : I see...

(So Yuma-san takes care of the vegetable garden... It feels somewhat strange)

(He looks violent with his large build and not good with delicate work)

Yuma : Tch... You're staring at me. You got something to complain ?

Yui : T-That's not it... !

Um, is this one of your hobbies ?

Yuma : … No

Yui : Eh... ?

Yuma : It's not a hobby. But... I feel that I have to do it, sort of

As if I have always done this for someone...

Yui : (Yuma-san is troubled about something ? I can clearly hear some things he says until now, but...)

Yuma : Aah, shit ! Ignore that ! I don't have to tell you in the first place

Yui : O-Okay...

(Does he have an important reason... ? He's working very seriously)

(Yuma-san may be kinder than I thought)

Yuma : Tch... Hey, Eve !

Yui : Yes !?

Yuma : Are you gonna starin' at me forever !? Help me out a little !!

Yui : Eh ? But...

(You asked me to stay here...)

Choice 1 : Obey (white roses)

Yui : (Well, it's not good to just stand here watching Yuma-san working...)

(It may distract me as well if I move my body)

Is there something I can help you with ?

Yuma : Oh, showin' interest ? You face it well

Yui : I would feel sorry for not doing anything. So what should I do ?

Choice 2 : Complain (black roses)

Yui : Didn't you tell me to stay here ?

Yuma : So you won't do anything unless I tell you to ? You're well-off, huh

I asked you to help me out so you should obey quietly

Yui : … Understood

(T-That's preposterous...)

– End of choices

Yuma : Look, those are the vegetables to harvest right now

Yui : (Wow, the basket is full...!)

Yuma : Put them in that box. Sort them by size to make it easier to use later

Yui : U-Understood

(Oh, it's heavy...)

Yuma : You're unsteady ! Don't make a single scratch on my vegetables I'm proud of !

Yui : O-Okay...

(I can't believe I've been taken away by vampires and the first thing I do is farming...)

(But I don't feel out of place at all. I wonder why...)

*some time passes

Yui : Phew...

(It was very hard but moving my body made me feel a little better. All the vegetables look delicious)

(Huh ? Vampires are eating them, right ? So they also have ordinary meals ?)

Yuma : That should be enough. Now, let's just bring them for today's dinner

Yui : Do you and your brothers eat vegetables ?

Yuma : Well duh

Yui : I see. I thought vampires' meal is only blood...

Yuma : No, we only need blood to survive. But we're also hungry for other things because of the past

Yui : The past ?

Yuma : Yeah, after all, we were--

… ? What was that... ?

Yui : (Yuma-san began troubled again...)

Yuma : Shit, I don't get it well ! But we're eating meals, got it !?

Yui : I-I got it !

(W-Well, humans eat sweets even if they aren't nutritious to them... So it must be something like that ?)

(But to think he works so hard in the fields even if he doesn't need to eat vegetables...)

(Yuma-san is strange)

Yuma : You... What's with that weird look ?

Yui : Eh ? Well... I thought it was strange that you grow vegetables even though it's not necessary...

Yuma : Aah ? It's not necessary ?

Yui : (Ah... The atmosphere changed...)

Yuma : You don't know that painful feeling when you don't eat ?

Or you're laughting at us vampires for having meals ? For a tool, you're making a fool of us !

Yui : T-That's wrong ! I didn't... !

Yuma : Shut up with your complains !

*Yuma grabs Yui

Yui : Ouch... !?

(He lifted me from the ground... !? He's incredibly strong... ! I can't push him away at all !)

Yuma... san... !

Yuma : If me growing vegetables is so funny to you...

I'll eat a vampire-like meal as you wish

Yui : (He will... suck my blood...!?)

No... ! Stop !

Yuma : You'll realise in a snap how it was a mistake to make me rage that much

Yui : Hiiii... !

Yuma : Ha... I had low expectations since you have a poor-looking body but your smell isn't bad...

*sucks blood

Yui : Ah... Hmm...

(His fangs are... He's really biting me...!)

(I can see that he's sucking my blood. A-At this rate, he's going to kill me...?)

Yuma : Hmm... Haa... So sweet... Maybe even more than sugars. Looks like I'll enjoy it...

Yui : (H-He already finished...?)

Yuma : Hey, it's not over. 'Cause I haven't drunk from here yet

Yui : No... No more... !

Yuma : That expression's nice as well... It's pretty arousing... *sucks blood

Yui : (O-Ouch... His fangs are piercing me many times... I don't understand well anymore--)

(As it is... will I become... a vampire's meal...?)

(But... When his giant body's near me... I strangely calm down... Why...?)

*flashback

Yui : (…!?)

*end of flashback

Yui : (What was it just now ? It was a familiar place...)

*Yui gets other flashbacks of differents places from the Mukami house

Yui : (Uuh... I'm having a... headache)

*end of flashback

Yuma : … Haa... Your blood is the best. Looks like I can't stop

Hm ? Hey, what's up ?

Yui : My head... AAAAAAAAAAAAH !

*screen goes blank

Yui : (Ah... Why...?)

(Why did I forget ?)

Yuma : Hey, hey ! Tch... Did I suck too much ?

Yui : Ah... Yuma-kun...

(Why didn't I remember until now ?)

(Yuma-kun's my beloved one... He's someone precious to me, and yet...)

Yuma : What ? Have you gone crazy or something ?

If you become weird, that Reiji guy's gonna be noisy

Yui : (Reiji-san... ? That's right, why Yuma-kun is in the same family as Reiji-san and the others ?)

(I woke up in a church and was brought in this mansion...)

(I'm supposed to live with the Mukamis as usual. Since when am I in such a place ?)

(Where am I in the first place ?)

Yuma : Hey, we should go back soon. He'll sermon us if we're late at dinner

Yui : W-Wait, Yuma-kun ! What on earth is happening !?

Yuma : Haa ?

Yui : Where are we ? Who exactly this mansion belong to... ?

We're not in Kaminashi Town, right ?

Yuma : The heck are you talking about ?

Yui : (… ! Yuma-kun ? Could it be his memories are...?)

H-Hey... Do you remember Ruki-kun, Kou-kun... and Azusa-kun ?

Yuma : Ah ? I don't remember then but I know their faces well. After all--

They're all enemies who compete for Eve

Yui : N... No way...

(Enemies ? That... That can't be !)

Did you forget Ruki-kun, Kou-kun and Azusa-kun !? And you had such a good relationship...!

Yuma : Stop telling me sickening jokes ! Me, getting along with that Ruki bastard ? That eldest son dude from the Oranges ?

Even if we let the enemy part aside, he's a bad cocky guy. I dunno what he's thinking to himself

Kou and Azusa are those Violet brothers, huh ? They get on my nerves when they sneak in

Yui : (No way... Yuma-kun is...)

(For Yuma-kun to speak about his brothers like that...)

Yuma : What's with that pale face ? We're done here so let's return to the mansion

Yui : (Does Yuma-kun happen to have his memories altered ?)

(No, all the others are like that as well. Did they lost their memories just like me before ?)

(How did this happen !?)

Yuma : Hey, if you keep that shitty attitude towards me, I'll seriously get mad

Yui : P-Please... Let me check one last thing...

Don't you remember that we're lovers either... ?

Yuma : I'm your lover ?

Yui : That's right... We talked about various things and overcame a lot of difficulties together--

(We understood each other, and yet...)

Yuma : Okay, look...

*Yuma grabs Yui hard

Yui : Ouch... !?

(It hurts... ! My shoulder... He won't let go !)

Yuma : … Don't carry your jokes to extremes. I fucking hate annoying women like you

Yui : … !

Yuma : Your true intentions may be to beg for me to let you escape but that ain't gonna happen

Yui : I-It hurts... Yuma-kun, please... Let me go...

Yuma : This will teach you a lesson, don't say fucking nauseating things like that ever again

*Yuma drops her

Yui : Ouch... !

(The place where he grabbed me is numb... I can't feel it)

(Besides, Yuma-kun's eyes are ferocious and... scary. Like the time when we just met...)

Yuma : I'll tell you this so you don't misunderstand

I may be your guard but that's just because you're Eve

You're a tool to become the supreme ruler. You have no more value than that

Yui : … Yuma-kun...

Yuma : If you get it, don't say weird stuff ever again

Yui : …

Yuma : Don't keep silent. Say “Understood”

Yui : … Under... stood...

Yuma : That will do. C'mon, stand up and get ready. We're going back to the mansion

Yui : … Okay

*Yuma leaves

Yui : (An unknown land. Everyone having strange memories. A battle to become the supreme ruler--)

(What exactly have I gotten into...?)

Chapter 1 : End

#Diabolik Lovers #diabolik lovers translations #diabolik lovers chaos lineage #mukami yuma #Komori Yui #chapter 1

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myrelationshipwithanarcissist · 4 years

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Haven’t posted in a while because we were going through our ‘good period’ where he tries to be as nice as possible. But of course it never lasts long. And it wasn’t always perfect. But I’ve started taking more action like I recorded him after he kicked off and told me he was going to knock my head off my shoulders, and I’ve got him on video (without him knowing) admitting to it and also admitting to saying horrible shit like how I’m a piss poor mum just to try and hurt me etc. We also started watching a show together and it made him want to help out more around the house and with the baby, which was great. But tonight he just lost it. We were watching the show whilst he was on his lunch but then as his lunch came to an end he bought the laptop downstairs to look like he was doing work. And the eldest cake downstairs in the last 5 minutes because she was bored playing her room and obviously saw me him and the baby all down on the sofa and wanted to be with us. But he told her to go back upstairs. So I simply asked him why. Literally just ‘why can’t she sit with us’ and he lost it. ‘Well I’m trying to do work but whatever I’ll just go back upstairs. Turn my PS4 off you aren’t allowed on it’ and as he walked upstairs he called me a stupid cunt. So I ignored him. Whatever. Then he called down saying my pillow was wet because he ‘accidentally’ spilled water on it. Convenient. But I was like whatever fuck you, I have literally done nothing wrong. Didn’t bother speaking to him. Even after he finished work he stayed upstairs away from all of us. Then claimed that this was because he can’t stand being around me and he didn’t want to see my face. We had an argument. He was adamant he wanted to feed the baby because he hadn’t seen her all evening and I said well that’s your fault you chose to stay upstairs you could’ve come and got her to spend time with her, we have a set bedtime routine and it’s not fair on her for that to be changed. But he took her and he was adamant he wanted to feed her so I let him. And then he tried getting her to sleep in his arms (we’ve had this massive thing recently where she won’t settle on her own so we tried letting her cry it out for a bit before soothing her etc and over the last few days she had finally been falling asleep on her own in her bed and staying asleep) so I told him to put her down, but obviously because of the atmosphere she was crying really bad so he tried picking her up (despite having a go at me for always giving into her) but she was still crying really bad. I took her and she instantly stopped and as soon as he left the room I put her back down and she fell asleep. Routine.

I put the eldest to bed after but then she called me back in and she was basically crying because of the arguing etc and it’s just fucking horrible. Absolutely broke my heart. And yet he had the cheek to call me childish, immature and pathetic. About 5 minutes ago I got a text from him saying if it’s upsetting her and if I think it’s best he leaves then he will tonight. I said yes. He told me to help him pack his stuff and I said no. So he refused to leave and said tonight’s going to be fun, in other words he’s not going to let me sleep and he’ll keep grabbing at me and touching me and probably shoving his fingers in my ear and everywhere he can like he usually does. He literally was trying to test me again to see if I would tell him I wanted him to stay and I’m sick of it. And now he’s blaming me for the eldest crying. Why the fuck do I have such shitty luck? Honestly wish I never had to see him again and didn’t have to share the baby I would be so much happier just me and the girls.

#mentally and emotionally abusive relationship #mental abuse #emotional abuse #verbally abusive #verbal abuse #narcissistic relationship #narcism #toxic people #toxicity #toxic #toxic behavior

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hungline · 5 years

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under the same stars | ch 2

pairing: monsta x ot7 (jooheon x everyone) genre: angst, fluff, smut, soulmate au, rated e warnings: explicit sexual content, sexual innuendos, double anal penetration words: 9822

summary: Nothing was set in stone and soulmates were complicated, but that didn’t deter five year old Lee Jooheon from questioning the soulmate system until he met his own.

Jooheon, with all his charms, aegyo, and dimple flashing, met his soulmates by accident.

⇢ chapter two of under the same stars

Jooheon was only slightly surprised of just how well Hyungwon slid into their relationship.

Though what may have been even more surprising was just how easily Minhyuk let Hyungwon into their lives. Minhyuk held absolutely no malice towards Hyungwon and quickly reassured the youngest that Hyungwon being his soulmate was just fine and dandy and Minhyuk couldn’t be any happier because finally, Jooheon's tattoo was finished, the forest was complete and Jooheon didn’t have to keep constantly looking over his shoulder. His trees had finally arrived and everything was settled.

Jooheon regarded this all suspiciously and when Hyungwon left after meeting all three of his soulmates (or more specifically, after meeting Minhyuk and Hyunwoo and skyping Changkyun), Jooheon and Hyunwoo wasted no time in confronting the newly hair-bleached Minhyuk.

“What was all that about?” Jooheon asked, his arms crossed over his chest as he shot daggers towards the older man.

“What are you talking about, Joohoney?” Minhyuk asked, eyeing both men in front of him warily.

“All the ‘yes, Wonnie’ and ‘anything you want, Wonnie’ was pretty over-the-top, don’t you think?” There was something about the way that Hyunwoo’s jaw was clenched so tightly that had Jooheon sweating.

Minhyuk shot the eldest a glare before he rolled his eyes. Hyunwoo stood there silently beside Jooheon, positively fuming, before he turned on his heel, grabbed his coat, and left their shared apartment. Jooheon and Minhyuk both watched him go and when Jooheon turned back to face the blonde in front of him, he didn’t miss the feeling of worry underlying Minhyuk’s half-assed glare.

“Hyung, you hurt his feelings,” Jooheon muttered.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

Jooheon sighed, running a hand over his face. “You honestly don’t get it, do you?”

Minhyuk only offered him a blank stare. The younger sighed and collapsed into the armchair that Hyungwon had occupied earlier during his visit. “Can’t you see that Hyunwoo-hyung likes you? He’s jealous and hurt, hyung. You can’t be in the same room with him without arguing and we thought it was because you resented him for being my soulmate too, that you didn’t want to share me.”

Minhyuk’s eyes were blown wide when he tried to answer, but Jooheon merely cut him off with a wave of his hand. “And now a mere stranger comes into our lives, another soulmate of mine, and you’re absolutely fine with it. You even like him and I don’t mean as friends, hyung. I mean as in you want to go on cute, amusement park dates with him and walk on the boardwalk while holding hands type like.”

“What’s your point, Jooheon?”

Jooheon bristled at Minhyuk’s tone, but answered his question anyways. “My point is, Hyunwoo-hyung is jealous because he wants you to feel like that about him too! Why do you hate him so much, hyung? Is it really because he’s so clumsy and spilling things on you all the time and ruining your clothes? You do know that I deal with that too and still love him just as much as I love you, right?”

“He’s your soulmate! Of course you love him, Joohoney,” Minhyuk groaned, his hands running through his hair. “But I don’t hate him. I’ve never hated him. He justー”

“He just what, hyung?”

“He makes me so angry!” Minhyuk shouted, his voice going shrill like it always did when he was frustrated.

Jooheon gave the older a few seconds to catch his breath before he asked in his most calming voice, “Why does he make you angry?”

“Because he isn’t mine! Don’t you see Jooheon? He’s your soulmate and so am I, but he’s not mine. Shouldn’t he be my soulmate too? So that I can just fucking love him freely without second guessing his feelings.” Minhyuk was crying by then and Jooheon had slowly crawled over to the elder who sat on the couch.

“You love Hyunwoo-hyung?” Jooheon asked, his voice barely above a whisper as he let his hands trail up and down the length of Minhyuk’s arms.

Minhyuk stared up at the younger and shot him an exasperated “duh” look. “Of course I do. Why the hell else would I put with him for so long and move into this apartment with the both of you? Joohoney, I love you both so much and I’m honestly just shit at this whole multiple soulmates thing.”

Jooheon used his thumbs to wipe most of the elder’s tears away. “That’s fine, hyung. Soulmates aren’t meant to make sense and just because hyung isn’t your soulmate too doesn’t mean that your feelings for him aren’t as valid as your feelings for me.”

“How can you be so calm about this?”

The younger laughed. “Because I’m still hoping you’ll tell me why you openly like Hyungwon so much, but can’t even look in hyung’s direction without seeing red.”

Minhyuk sighed and withdrew from the younger’s embrace. “Back in Gwangju, we were the best of friends and then we dated for a little while before I moved to Seoul. He started his modeling career soon after and then he started showing up to every one of my recitals."

“Why didn’t you mention this before, hyung?”

“I felt guilty. I didn’t know how to bring him up in a conversation without revealing that I still sort of had feelings for him and it felt like I was cheating on you in some really absurd way that didn’t make a lot of sense. So I just didn’t mention him and hoped he’d stop coming to my recitals.” The blonde man shrugged, his face still stained with dried tear tracks that flowed down his cheeks.

“Does he still come to your recitals?”

“Every single one. He hasn’t missed any of them.”

Jooheon laughed. “This must be like Christmas for you then, huh, hyung? Having your ex delivered to you on a silver platter because your boyfriend is such a soulmate slut.”

Minhyuk’s hands gripped tightly onto Jooheon’s wrists. “Don’t say that, Joohoney. You’re not a soulmate slut. You’re not a slut in any shape or form.”

“I was only kidding, hyung.”

“I know, but please don’t say things like that anymore. You having multiple people meant for you is honestly incredible. Don’t see it as something bad. It’s really not. If anything, I’m really happy that other people get to see you the same way I do, appreciate you the same way I do, love you the same way I do. You’re amazing, Joohoney. Having multiple soulmates isn’t bad or wrong because you brought all of us together and you keep us together too. That takes a lot of strength, dealing with so many people at the same time. But you manage it just fine and I’m so proud of you, Jooheon."

Jooheon blinked, a bit surprised, but then made up for it by leaning in and kissing the elder tenderly on the lips. “I promise not to joke about it again, hyung. I love you just as much, but I think there’s someone else you should probably talk to about your feelings too.”

Minhyuk sighed and nodded. “You’re right. Can you call hyung and see where he’s at, please?”

“Of course.”

When the younger finally got Hyunwoo on the phone, he realized that the snow had begun to fall heavily and tried to remember if the elder had taken gloves with him when he left earlier.

“Joohoney.”

Jooheon sighed in relief when the elder’s gruff voice greeted him after the twelfth time of trying to get a hold of him. “Hyung! Where are you? Are you alright?”

The younger put his phone on speaker and brought a finger up to his lips to signal Minhyuk about keeping quiet.

“No,” Hyunwoo responded, his voice breaking.

Minhyuk was at Jooheon’s side in a flash, his expression contorted with worry.

“Hyung, what’s wrong?” Jooheon asked.

And then the eldest sobbed into the phone and Jooheon felt his heart splutter. “Hyung?”

“Why d-doesn’t he like me, Joo-Joohoney? Do I d-disgust him? Am I that a-annoying?”

“No, hyung. You’re not annoying and Minhyuk-hyung isn’t disgusted by you. Don’t think that!”

“But it’s true!” Hyunwoo sobbed.

Jooheon shot Minhyuk a pointed look. “No, it’s not. Hyung, where are you?”

“Fountain,” came the elder’s sniffled response and Jooheon felt a hot flash of burning, white pain flare up in his chest around the area where his heart should be.

“I’ll be right there, alright, hyung?” Jooheon motioned towards the door and practically shot lasers out of his eyes when he stared at Minhyuk.

Minhyuk was already pulling his coat and gloves on when Hyunwoo answered, his voice devoid of emotion. “Okay.”

Jooheon watched the blonde leave, hoping that when he walked back through the door, his soulmate would be right behind him.

He looked down at the stag on his arm when he felt an all too familiar burn and froze because the stag had moved. Its head was down and the antlers had grown, touching the forest floor on which it stood. Jooheon smiled at the change, looking back up at the front door and hoping that his boyfriends would get back home safely.

“You’re not coming here for the uni?” Jooheon honestly wondered how he was even able to speak coherently at that moment when he could feel his heart dropping into his stomach.

“No. I’m going back to the States for school, hyung,” Changkyun’s tinny voice accompanied the pixelated image of him in a white tank top on the screen of Jooheon’s laptop.

“But, you saidーKyunnie, it’s been years. I thoughtーWhy?” Jooheon struggled to come up with complete sentences.

Changkyun sighed, the sound a bit distorted and robotic thanks to Jooheon’s shitty wifi. “Hyung, I’m more comfortable here in the States, at least school-wise. I know that if I come back to Korea and go to the uni there, I’m not going to finish getting my degree.”

“Kyunnie, Iー”

“It’s not forever. I’m going to get my bachelor’s here and then fly to you and work on my doctorate’s. My dad just has a lot of connections here in the States that are going to help me a lot in the long run.”

“But, it’s been years, Kyunnie. I haven’t seen you since you were six! And now you’re going off to the uni and I miss you like hell. Changkyun, I miss you so much.” Jooheon didn’t know when he started crying, but there was no mistaking the trail of tears that were flowing out from the corners of his eyes.

Changkyun’s voice was soft and Jooheon didn’t know if he was crying too, but the sniffling sounds that the younger was making seemed to point in that direction. “I miss you too. More than you realize, but this is about my careerーmy futureーand please understand that I have to do this, hyung. I want to do this, Joohoney.”

Even while crying, Jooheon managed to smile at the stupid nickname that he had once hated so much. “I do understand. I justーI don’t know how I’m going to survive another four years without you. It’s been so long since we played in my backyard and hell, do you remember the look on my mom’s face when you kissed me good bye?”

“Of course I do, hyung,” Changkyun was laughing and sniffling at the same time and Jooheon was only minorly concerned about how the younger’s airways were able to handle that. “It was like she’d seen God or an angel or something.”

“She was so happy… I was so happy. I was eight and you were six and we’d just found out that we were soulmates, but you kissing me felt right, Kyunnie. I-I just really miss you. Come back to me as soon as you can, yeah?” Jooheon felt dumb about crying and lifting his hand up so it looked like he was reaching out for the younger, but he smiled when Changkyun mimicked the action and smiled right back at him.

Because somewhere along the way, Jooheon and Changkyun’s friendship had turned into something else. Jooheon’s late night phone calls were Changkyun’s early morning calls. Their Skype calls were usually planned, but when they weren’t, neither of the two wasted any time in answering the other. They were there for each other. Changkyun gave his hyung advice on whatever he needed help on and Jooheon, in return, was understanding and supportive of Changkyun’s intended career in science. On those days when Minhyuk nor Hyunwoo could console him, Changkyun somehow managed. And when Hyungwon slotted himself into Jooheon’s life, Changkyun had still been there, had still been the only one who could comfort him when his other soulmates couldn’t. Changkyun had been with Jooheon the longest and somewhere along the way, Jooheon had fallen in love with his best friend.

“Four years are going to fly right by, hyung. Just you wait,” Changkyun responded, his hands wiping the tears off his cheeks and Jooheon fingers twitched.

He wished he could just pull the younger through the screen and wipe his tears for him instead.

“I love you, Kyunnie. Be good and don’t let yourself get too stressed out over school, alright?”

The younger smiled and nodded. “I won’t, hyung. I promise to take care of myself. I love you, Joohoney.”

Jooheon smiled at the ridiculous nickname again and quickly bade the younger a farewell before an all too familiar burn flared up in the crease of his elbow. He looked down at his arm and used his other hand to wipe his remaining tears away so he could see better because Jooheon had just gained another fucking soulmate. From the purple flock of birds that symbolized his platonic connection with Changkyun, one single, black bird was now flying towards the trees instead of away like the others. Jooheon didn’t know how to react, it wasn’t common for platonic soulmates to recreate themselves as romantic ones, but it had happened. Changkyun was both his platonic and romantic soulmate now. And Jooheon let out a sigh a relief he hadn’t known he’d been holding all that time. Changkyun would be back with him soon, the black bird was proof. His bird would be home and all would be well for Jooheon again.

His phone chimed and he opened the KakaoTalk message to find a photo of Changkyun’s new, identical tattoo in the group chat. Jooheon snapped a photo of his own tattoo and waited as an influx of messages came in (mostly from Hyungwon claiming they just had to celebrate and that he knew just the place, but there was also one single selfie from Minhyuk and Hyunwoo where both of them we’re giving a thumbs up to the camera). The younger laughed at his phone and agreed to whatever ridiculous plan Hyungwon had set up, only disgruntled a teeny tiny bit when the eldest two declined and claimed they had a lot of nights spent cuddling to make up for.

Although, he did regret it a few hours later when he and Hyungwon were standing in front of a strip club.

“Whaー” the younger spluttered, his voice failing him.

“I’m going to personally throttle, be-head, and exsanguinate Kim Namjoon once I get my hands on him,” Hyungwon growled.

“You got directions to a strip club from Kim Namjoon? Are you fucking insane?”

“Listen,” Hyungwon began. “I thought he was sending us to a damn spa! Not this place!”

“How the hell did you confuse a spa for a strip club?” Jooheon shrieked.

Hyungwon sighed and ran a hand through his perfectly styled hair. “Look, we’re here and there’s a bar inside and how about we just go in and I buy you some drinks and we ignore the men in thongs who are prancing around on stage?”

“Who’s driving us home if we’re going to drink?”

“You’re going to drink. I’m going to stay like ninety-five percent sober for the night.”

“Ninety-five percent?”

“You can’t expect me to say no to a good cup of soju.”

Jooheon sighed. “I can’t believe we’re doing this.”

Hyungwon let out a happy-sounding chirp and took the younger’s hand. He led them inside the strip club, flashing a megawatt smile and slipping some won towards the security guard at the door to let them in. “It’ll be fun and come on, we just have to celebrate! It isn’t every day that your platonic soulmate suddenly turns into your romantic oneーtrust me, I searched it up on Naver to make sure.”

Jooheon couldn’t help laughing or quickly pulling the elder in for a kiss before Hyungwon dragged him over to the bar.

A few shots later and Jooheon was absolutely fucked. Hyungwon had had one single beer before he switched to ginger ale and kept a firm hand on Jooheon’s thigh at the bar. Plenty of strippers had approached them, but Hyungwon had batted them away with one single, piercing look and Jooheon was too out of it to even notice the dark haired man in black briefs and a ripped white T-shirt that was slowly inching his way towards the pair at the bar.

“I’m going to the bathroom!” Hyungwon shouted over the thumping music. “Don’t move a muscle!”

“Aye, aye, Captain!” Jooheon yelled, drunkenly miming a salute before Hyungwon was pressing his perfect fucking lips to the younger’s and, alright, maybe Jooheon had let out a breathy, little whimper when the elder pushed in forcefully against him, but if anybody asked, he would vehemently deny that fact until the day he died.

“Be back soon,” Hyungwon spoke directly into Jooheon’s ears, the pressure of his hand on Jooheon’s thigh disappearing as he pulled away.

Jooheon watched Hyungwon leave, blinking in a daze. His drunken mind took what he hoped was fully detailed notes about the exact way that the elder’s hips swayed when he walked, then measured the exact length of Hyungwon’s long, long legs, and appreciated the slender body that helped Hyungwon be the successful model that he was. And with the success came connections. Connections that definitely would help Jooheon break into the mainstream with his music, but for the moment, he was content with the intense, underground rap battles that he absolutely conquered every other week or so.

And then all too suddenly, Jooheon felt the heat of another body beside him and slowly turned in his seat to meet the gaze of the dark-haired stripper who’d been slowly encroaching on him.

“Hello,” Jooheon’s voice was gruff and he didn’t know how he was even able to speak properly because everything was beginning to blur together and was the guy beside him gorgeous or what?

“Hi, sweetheart.” Fuck. Jooheon was so fucking fucked because the guy was shooting him a wide grin and Jooheon just wanted to lean and kiss this gorgeous random stranger on the nose and tell him how beautiful he was. “Can I talk you into a dance?”

Jooheon nodded, because fuck yeah this guy could give him a lapdance. Jooheon was way too drunk to be dealing with this type of crap and Hyungwon still hadn’t returned so the younger reasoned that he may as well enjoy himself, at least a little bit.

“No touching or my dear friend here,” the gorgeous man in the ripped shirt stuck a thumb out in the bartender’s direction who was shooting Jooheon the death glare. “Will chase you out of here at gunpoint. Got it?”

“Uh, yeah. A-Alright,” Jooheon stuttered and seriously how the hell was he even able to speak?

The world was bright, sparkly, and fucking spinning and Jooheon was about to lose his shit, but then the stripper straddled his thighs and Jooheon lost his train of thought for awhile. He most definitely had a semi in his jeans already and fuck, why had he drank so many shots? Why had Hyungwon let him drink so much? And speaking of Hyungwon, where in the fuck was Jooheon’s lousy excuse of a soulmate at and why hadn’t he came back from the bathroom yet? It didn’t take that goddamn long to take a fucking piss. And shit, how come this guy’s ass fit so fucking perfectly in Jooheon’s lap that it was downright unfair?

“Your thighs are honestly the best I’ve ever seen.”

Great, now a stripper was complimenting Jooheon on his thighs. Where the hell was Hyungwon?

Jooheon only grunted in response because Jesus fuck, the way this guy was working his hips should have been downright illegal.

Then the man reached behind him to grip onto Jooheon’s bare arms and Jooheon barely noticed the flash of light and the bang that followed. The man had gone completely still in Jooheon’s lap and Jooheon didn’t even feel the burn on his arm, but he knew what had happened. Somewhere in his fucked up state, his brain had recognized the signs and signals and gave Jooheon the simple output of it all. This stripper was another one of his soulmates and when the guy slowly raised their arms up to compare, Jooheon barely made out the moon tattooed in black ink that hovered above his forest.

“So, s-soulmate?” Jooheon slurred, his vision dizzy.

“I suppose so,” the man who sat in his lap answered, his voice barely loud enough to be heard over the music.

“Guess that makes five now,” Jooheon said to himself, or at least that’s what he had thought in his head and had tried to speak aloud, but had only gotten a gurgle instead.

“I leave for five minutes and you already got a stripper. Christ, Joohoney,” Hyungwon’s voice startled the younger, but the man on his lap stayed put and gripped onto Jooheon’s arm tighter to keep him in place.

Jooheon didn’t really understand what was going on in that moment, but he did make out the hand that belonged to Hyungwon as he reached out to trace the new tattoo on Jooheon’s forearm.

“Two soulmates in one day, you must be on a roll, Joohoney,” Hyungwon laughed as he moved his hand to hover over Jooheon’s new soulmate’s arm. “May I…?”

“Wonho,” Jooheon’s soulmate said, then nodded his head in response to Hyungwon’s question. “Well, actually it’s Hoseok, but Wonho is what every one calls me here andー”

But Hoseok never finished his sentence because as soon as Hyungwon had let his fingers brush against the pale skin of his forearm where the new tattoo lay, another flash of light and bang rang out around them. Jooheon was drunk out of his mind, sure, but he still felt more than saw what had happened.

“No way.” Jooheon’s vision was absolutely fucked, yet his voice still worked enough to manage muttering out his disbelief when Hoseok drew his arm away from Hyungwon’s fingers.

A thicket of trees identical to the ones that decorated Jooheon’s own arm now were inked onto Hoseok’s forearm and a moon hung over the trees on Hyungwon’s arm.

“Do you mind coming back to our apartment with us? There’s a lot we need to talk about,” Hyungwon held his hand out for Hoseok to take.

“I’d love that.” Hoseok took it without question and stood up from Jooheon’s lap, then looked towards the bartender who was shooting them concerned glares. “Tell Jae I left early. Soulmate business.”

The bartender nodded and Hoseok drew his attention back towards Hyungwon who was helping Jooheon up from his seat.

“Yeah. We would love thaー” The rest of Jooheon’s sentence was cut off when he doubled over and threw up all over the floor of the strip club that Hyungwon had mistakenly took for a spa.

He only had Kim Namjoon to thank for that.

Thankfully, Changkyun’s gift had came just in time for Jooheon’s graduation. And though it wasn’t what the elder truly wanted (he would have preferred a lanky, shy Changkyun with a pretty red bow on top), he still appreciated the new soundboard that Changkyun and Changkyun’s father had sent.

His graduation ceremony was boring, but when he was being escorted by his four soulmates to the new penthouse apartment that Hyungwon had been trying to get them to move into for months, Jooheon felt something rise in his chest. It was an inexplicable feeling, yet something about the way that his soulmates were looking at him with pure pride in their soft gazes made him feel warm. Jooheon was on cloud nine and he couldn’t help the feeling of giddiness that was engulfing him.

It was for that reason Jooheon didn’t object to Hoseok pushing him up against a wall and pinning him there with his hips while Hyungwon got to work on shedding him of his clothes. He didn’t object to Hyunwoo marking up his throat and Minhyuk slowly scissoring him open either. It wasn’t the first time that Jooheon had had sex with any of them, but that night was the first time he’d had sex with all of them.

Though the next day his ass was particularly sore and his limbs felt unhinged, body like jelly, Jooheon still thought that waking up in the new, enormous bed beside his naked soulmates who were tangled together was something he didn’t think he would ever forget.

And then Jackson was banging on his front door, dragging Mark and Jinyoung into the penthouse after him as he made himself at home in Jooheon’s new, sparkly kitchen demanding that he and his boyfriends be fed. Life had a funny way of slapping Jooheon awake and the dreamy feeling he’d had when he woke up was gone when Jackson came yelling through his front door.

At least Hyungwon had the decency to wait a week before telling Jooheon that he’d hooked him up with an interview at a company called Starship Entertainment. Jooheon was suddenly shoved into adult life (and a nice outfit that Hyungwon had put together for him). The most embarrassing thing though was he was literally having his hand held during his first work interview (Hoseok had refused to let the younger go by himself since Minhyuk and Hyunwoo were going to be busy at Minhyuk’s new ballet studio and Hyungwon had pulled enough strings that allowed the elder to accompany Jooheon).

But the interview had gone well, better than Jooheon had even expected. Things were bustling inside the company, no one took a break. Jooheon liked that. He also liked the recording rooms he’d been shown and he also liked how welcoming the people working there were.

Though he probably liked the praise he received from a rapper with the stage name of Mad Clown even more.

“Please call me Dongrim-hyung,” the senior rapper had gushed after hopping into Jooheon’s interview when it was reaching its end.

Jooheon took the hand that Dongrim offered him and gave him a wide smile, much more relaxed now that his interview was over. “Jooheon. Nice to meet you.”

“Oh, it is definitely nice to meet you! Hyungwon-ssi asked me to accompany him to one of your underground performances last month and I was amazed,” Dongrim grinned and shook Jooheon’s hand longer than was necessary. “I’m one hundred percent sure you're going to get the job and I hope you enjoy working here.”

“Thank you so much, hyung!” The younger couldn't help but grin, then quickly ushered Hoseok forward when he caught sight of the pout that his soulmate was sporting from being ignored. “This is Hoseok-hyung, by the way. He's one of my soulmates.”

Dongrim reluctantly let go of Jooheon’s hand to shake Hoseok’s instead. “Nice to meet you. You must be very proud of Jooheon-ah.”

Hoseok gave the older man a dashing smile. “Oh, we all are. I trust you to take care of our Joohoney while he works here.”

Jooheon sucked his teeth at the dumb nickname and let out a groan when Dongrim responded, “I personally will make sure that Joohoney wants for naught for while working here.”

Hoseok nodded and gave the rapper a polite smile before tugging Jooheon more firmly into his side. “We should get going. The others are waiting for us back home. They want to know how the interview went.”

“I’ll see you soon, Joohoney! It was nice meeting you in person today,” Dongrim excitedly shook Jooheon’s hand again before he turned on his heel and retreated back into his own personal studio that Jooheon had walked past during his tour of the company.

Hoseok was quick to turn to Jooheon and give him a teasing remark. “Seems like someone else is already in love with you. Whatever shall we do?”

Jooheon laughed. “Hyung, stop it. Come on, let's go home.”

Hoseok grinned, pecked Jooheon soundly on the lips then led the way down the hall. “Still, you can't deny that he's absolutely starstruck by you.”

“I think it was more of just fascination, hyung. There's really nothing that would make someone starstruck about me.”

Hoseok gave a little tsk, and Jooheon forcibly motioned towards the two people who were walking towards them. A girl with short black hair, a much too skinny frame and a wide, smitten smile directed towards the man beside her who was plainly an idol, if the way he walked like he owned the place gave anything away. He was handsome, incredibly so, and short, but Jooheon found his height endearing.

“I could imagine people being starstruck by him,” Jooheon drew Hoseok’s attention towards the pair at the end of the hall. “I mean, even that girl obviously likes him, hyung. But I'm just plain me, I'm no star and I don’t really want to be one.”

“But you're my star,” Hoseok gave the younger a tender smile. “And I'm your moon. So we're even. Now shut up and enjoy the flattery.”

Jooheon laughed, but his laugh was overridden by the shrill laughter of the girl from before who was laughing dramatically at something that the man beside her had said. They were closer to Jooheon now, almost a foot away, so when the girl playfully pushed the man with just a bit more force than was necessary, Jooheon wasn't all that surprised to have the man be shoved into him.

He was surprised, however, when his hands reached out to steady the man by his elbows, his arms bare, and a flash of light and a bang rang out between them.

Hoseok was the first to react in the stunned silence that followed. He grabbed both their arms to compare the new, matching tattoos. In Jooheon’s trees was now a nest. The man before him had a similar tattoo, but not exactly since he was missing most of the trees. He had only the surrounding area of the nest filled with leaves and treetops in the background. Hoseok smiled at the nest tattooed in black ink anyways.

“Soulmates,” he proclaimed. “When Hyunwoo-hyung told me you're prone to picking up soulmates in the strangest of places, I only half believed him, considering we met in that strip club I used to work in, but now, yeah, I can totally see what he meant.”

Jooheon’s face was blazing red. “Hyung, shut up. You'll scare him away.”

The girl who’d been walking down the hall with Jooheon’s new soulmate spoke up, and Jooheon really wished she hadn't. “Of course, he’s gay. No wonder he wouldn't catch onto any of the hints I gave.”

Hoseok and Jooheon both looked up to glare at her for the malice in her tone, but she only shrugged then continued on her way down the hall and away from the trio.

“Well now that she's gone,” Hoseok muttered under his breath before shooting a dazzling smile in the man’s direction. “I'm Hoseok, and this lovely man beside me that you’ve just intertwined your entire life with is Jooheon. Call him Joohoney though, he loves it.”

Jooheon shot him a glare. “I do not.”

“Oh, but when Changkyun calls you it, it's totally and completely fine, isn't it?”

“Shut up, hyung,” Jooheon muttered under his breath.

“What was that? I can't hear you,” Hoseok teased in a sing-song voice.

Their banter was interrupted when Jooheon’s new soulmate let out a squawk.

“Hey, he's a bird!” Hoseok exclaimed excitedly. “No wonder your tattoos are a nest. The bird needs a home.”

Jooheon didn't miss the way that Hoseok’s gaze had turned soft near the end of his sentence. “Hyung, he's my soulmate. Stop trying to make a move on him.”

“Minhyuk-ah and Hyunwoo-hyung are also your soulmates, but I don't see you complaining when I'm sucking Minhyuk’s cock and fucking Hyunwoo at the same time.”

“Hyung!”

“What? I'm just saying.”

“Oh my god.”

“You do what?” The man asked, his voice hoarse and sounding strangled.

“I suck and fuー” Hoseok began.

“He does kinky shit. Just ignore him for now,” Jooheon clamped his hand over Hoseok’s mouth. “Um, can I know what your name is?”

“Yoo Kihyun.”

“Kihyun,” Jooheon smiled, fighting to keep his hand over Hoseok’s mouth. “I'm Lee Jooheon. This is my other soulmate, Shin Hoseok. He doesn't know when to keep things to himself.”

Hoseok managed to get Jooheon’s hand away from his mouth. “On the contrary, if he's your soulmate, that means he’ll be around often, also meaning that out kinky orgies just got kinkier and bigger.”

“Hyung!”

But Kihyun only laughed and nodded his head. “He does have a point.”

“Not you too!”

The eldest laughed and threw a companionable arm over Kihyun’s shoulders. “Come on. Come back with us to our place and I’ll show you exactly what I mean.”

Kihyun gave a nervous cough and shot Jooheon with a pointed look. Jooheon was quick to dive in between the two.

“Hyung, Kihyunnie is my soulmate. You will not disturb his innocence until he is one hundred certain about it,” Jooheon stared daggers at Hoseok, then turned to look at Kihyun who was blushing a furious red at the endearing name Jooheon had just called him. “But would you mind coming back to our place? We have a lot to talk about and I'm sure the others would love to meet you.”

Kihyun gave Jooheon a dazzling smile. “I’d love that, Joohoney.”

Jooheon groaned at the old nickname.

“Jackson’s going to have a field day with this one,” Hoseok teased.

“Shut up, hyung,” Jooheon smiled and quickly gave the elder a peck on the lips before Kihyun took his hand and started to lead the way down the hall.

“I think my life just got a bit more interesting,” Kihyun shot over his shoulder.

Jooheon smiled. “I think ours did too.”

Living with five other people might have been a burden if someone didn't have a person like Hyungwon as one of their soulmates.

Hyungwon was overly kind and generous, at least when he wasn't acting cold or aloof. Through his modeling career, he’d gained many connections and a lot of wealth. Most of the time, he never hesitated to use them. This was old news to Jooheon, but he still wondered almost daily how his life would be if he didn't have Hyungwon.

For one, he wouldn't have a bed or a living space big enough to fit all of them. His refrigerator wouldn't be chock full of food and he wouldn't have gotten his job as a producer at Starship if it hadn't been for Hyungwon either. Minhyuk and Hyunwoo wouldn't have been able to kick start Minhyuk’s ballet studio if it hadn't been for the investment from that dance company Hyungwon used to work for before becoming a model. Hoseok would still be taking night shifts at the strip club Jooheon had met him in if it wasn't for Hyungwon offering to pay for Hoseok’s classes at the uni. Kihyun would be living off ramen and other microwaveable foods instead of the fresh fruits, vegetables, and meat that Hyungwon specifically stocked their kitchen with for Kihyun alone.

Suffice to say, Hyungwon was their backbone and it was clear why he had gotten trees when Jooheon had met him. He stood firm and his connections to others help Jooheon hang on.

Then there was Hoseok, Hyungwon and Jooheon’s soulmate. He was different from Hyungwon in many ways. Jooheon liked to lean on him the most when he felt that his negative thoughts and feelings were trying to suffocate him.

Hoseok was light and airy and he never failed to shed some light on a difficult or dark situation. Jooheon liked him. He was kind. He was sweet. He was very open about his feelings, but he was overly subconscious about his body.

It took months for Hoseok to talk himself into getting a job as a stripper. He did it for the money. But he hated how he looked. He complained that he was just too big. He liked his muscles and pecs just fine, but when it came to his abdomen and his lanky limbs, Hoseok shied away from remarks made about them. It was generally why he always insisted on wearing baggy T-shirts with everything. Jooheon didn't push him about it. Everyone had things they weren't completely confident about. Hoseok’s thing just happened to be his body.

But it was fine. Jooheon and the others had made it their mission a long time ago to get Hoseok to understand how much they loved him and not his body. When the others began to make grand gestures about dwarfing their own bodies, Hoseok caught on to what they had planned and trumped them all by taking to walking around the house naked.

Afterwards, he quit his job at the strip club, not because the others had pressured him, but because he finally had the money to start his law classes at the uni.

By then it was clear that the light which Hoseok shined depended upon the light of others, like how the moon depended on the sun to shine at night.

Minhyuk was similar to Hoseok in a few ways. They were both kind and understanding and they both were skilled in dance. But by then, the similarities ended.

Jooheon’s first boyfriend was as delicate as he was sturdy. He was graceful and fought for his own. He was both socially and sexually dominant and when it came down to it, he was ready to fight whenever one of his loved ones was being threatened. Minhyuk was a force of nature and Jooheon felt very protective of him.

Minhyuk was exactly like the stag that decorated their forearms. He was strong, he defended his own, and he stood his ground, the ground being Hyunwoo.

Hyunwoo was the eldest of them all and with that title came the responsibility of taking care of them all. Everyone centered themselves around the eldest. He was calm, cool, and collected. It was this that helped him make important business decisions concerning the ballet studio that he had opened up with Minhyuk two years before.

In the years that Jooheon had known him, Hyunwoo had only cried five times. The first time when he’d broken down and begged Jooheon to fuck him senseless, the second time when Minhyuk welcomed Hyungwon with open arms, the third and fourth time when Minhyuk and Jooheon graduated and he was overwhelmed with pride, and the last time when Minhyuk had bottomed out in him for the first time, balls deep in the elder.

A lot of things didn't affect the elder emotionally, but it was because he was scared. If he broke down, everyone else would come crumbling down with him too. He couldn't afford to let his emotions run free. Hyunwoo grounded them all and without him they’d be a mess.

Kihyun, though new, was something they’d been missing. Whenever he wasn't busy with his idol duties, he was cooking dinner for six in the kitchen, he was cleaning four rooms, and he was nagging at the others like a mother telling her children to pick up after themselves.

Kihyun had been with them for over a year already and he was clearly adept for home life. Jooheon could even see the elder child rearing, but he didn't expect for Kihyun to give up being an idol any time soon. His voice was amazing, it was wonderful, it was filled with emotion and Jooheon couldn't see Kihyun having a career that didn't include singing in it. Singing was Kihyun’s life.

None of the others minded that Kihyun had a busy schedule and sometimes left the country for a few weeks at a time before coming back to them. He hadn't officially moved into the penthouse with them, but his clothes were in the large closet that took up the entire room Hyungwon had redesigned. His yellow toothbrush stood beside the other five in the main bathroom. His toiletries were hidden under the sink so Hoseok wouldn't use them while he was away (he still did). There was a pillow with a Kihyun-shaped dent in it in their massive bed. And there were three pairs of extra shoes with the initials YK on the tags right by their front door. All that stood between Kihyun officially moving in with them was bringing whatever keepsakes he had back at the dorms he shared with trainees and another solo artist to their penthouse apartment and buying a bigger table to fit them all.

Kihyun had never really had a home to begin with though. His parents had abandoned him with his abusive aunt when he was a toddler and he had run away to the companies when he was twelve. He’d been a trainee for six to seven years, jumping from company to company until he finally debuted as a solo artist with Starship. Sometimes Jooheon thought that the elder would hightail his way out of their lives because he wasn't used to being in one place for so long. But Kihyun was home. He’d fought for his own since he was young and it didn't matter where he went because Kihyun was secure in the fact that home wasn't a place. Kihyun didn't need anyone else to be his home either, he was his own home. Jooheon cried silently when Kihyun had told him of his past, but when Hoseok and Minhyuk enveloped the idol in a tight hug that resulted in the others joining in, something warm swelled in his heart.

Kihyun might have been on the move for most of his life, but when Jooheon woke up to him cooking in the kitchen or vacuuming in the spare bedroom, he couldn't help but think that domestic life suited the elder.

And Kihyun, he was home for all of them.

Which only left Changkyun, the single, tiny bird who was fighting to get home. To get back to the nest.

Jooheon had a sneaking suspicion that when Changkyun finally returned in the year to come, he and Kihyun would be soulmates as well. There was no way that Jooheon could ignore the symbolism of his tattoos, and he couldn't ignore the fact that Changkyun was a bird and Kihyun the nest. It only made sense to theorize that they would be soulmates as well.

Changkyun was flighty. He was afraid of commitment and he had told Jooheon the very same thing years ago. But before being romantic soulmates, they’d been platonic ones instead. Meaning that before anything else, Changkyun was his best friend. They had stayed together for more years than Jooheon could count, even with the thousands of miles between them. That was something that neither of the two took lightly. Somewhere along the way they’d fallen in love and Jooheon had never looked back.

But Changkyun had. He didn't know what he wanted. Jooheon had tried to help him the best he could, yet in the end, it'd been Changkyun’s father who’d set everything straight. Jooheon had been informed of Changkyun’s father talking with the younger for an entire night. When morning had come, Changkyun had called him on Skype, sleep deprived, a bit delirious, and still as handsome as ever to tell him about his plans for the uni.

Jooheon understood though and that was finally when their platonic bond turned romantic.

He was still young and he had his whole life ahead of him, but Jooheon knew that there was nobody else. There were no other soulmates. It was him, it was Changkyun, it was Minhyuk, it was Hyunwoo, it was Hyungwon, it was Hoseok, it was Kihyun, and it was all of them together. Nothing more and nothing less.

He couldn't wait until his bird came home.

“I'm gonna miss you like hell, man,” Jooheon was sort of kind of close to tears.

Of course if Jackson asked, he would deny it like the tough guy he was, but even tough men cried and Jooheon took comfort in that fact as he let only a few tears slip out from his tear ducts.

“I’ll miss you too, more than you know,” Jackson was bawling openly, his hands tangled into the fabric of Jooheon’s sweater.

Jinyoung and Mark stood behind Jackson, their bags in hand, and arms linked together as they waited for the younger to finish saying goodbye.

Jooheon swiped his sleeve across his nose. “I’ll miss all three of you. You guys wereーare some of the truest friends I’ve ever had. I’m sad to see you go.”

Jackson laughed and pulled Jooheon into his embrace. “This isn’t goodbye forever. You still have to come to the wedding. And when Kihyun-hyung is having tours in the States, you’re going to be with him so you can visit us at our place in LA with Mark’s parents.”

“And if I don’t?” Jooheon smiled through his tears, having given up on the pretense of pretending not to cry.

“I’ll murder your firstborn. Don’t test me. I expect yearly visits and if you don’t come to me, then I’m coming to you, you ass,” Jackson’s threat was empty and both men knew it, but Jooheon played along anyways.

“Why would you murder your god child? You are one heartless son of a bitch.”

Jackson slapped his arm playfully. “Shut up. I would never murder anyone, let alone my god chーOh my god. My god child . Are you serious?”

“Of course. Who else is going to teach my future child about the dangers of hair dye and not matching their clothing?”

“I love you.”

“I love you just as much.”

They stood before one another for a few silent moments until Jinyoung coughed awkwardly behind them and Jooheon pulled Jackson in for one last hug before he let go.

“I have to go.”

“I know,” Jooheon hesitated before continuing. “I’m sorry the others couldn’t make it. All of them were busy with something that involved the surprise that Changkyun got me.”

But Jackson only gave him an amused smile in return. “Oh, no. They’re here.”

“What?”

“Look behind you, Joohoney.”

When he turned, Jooheon wept harder than he ever had before.

Because there, waiting for him to notice them, were his soulmates. All of them.

“Holy shit,” Jooheon whispered under his breath, then turned back to face Jackson again with silent tears streaming down his face. “You knew?”

Jackson smiled and nodded. “We all knew.”

“I can’t believe you guys did this,” Jooheon shook his head, a wide grin plastered across his face.

“Well, believe it. We did it and there’s nothing you can do but go to them. I’ll see you at the wedding, yeah?”

Jooheon nodded and forcefully pulled Jackson into his arms one last time. “Thank you. Take care, Jacky. You’ll always be my best friend.”

“And you mine. Goodbye, Joohoney.”

Jooheon watched Jackson walk away. He watched as his best friend took the hands that his soulmates held out to him and Jooheon smiled because they were happy and that was all he wished for his best friend to have.

And then he turned and ran towards his own soulmates, throwing himself into Changkyun’s arms. Not reacting when an all too familiar flash of light and a bang rang out around them and Jooheon felt the telltale burn on his arm. He pulled back to compare their tattoos and cried because Changkyun’s arm already had the nest tattooed on it. Now the single black bird was perched in its nest, finally at home.

The others converged on them and then everyone was touching him. There was no flash of light or a bang, but they all felt the burn on their arms when they simultaneously touched Jooheon.

Jooheon pulled back to look at his arm and took notice of the new additions. There was a sky now in the background, littered with tons of tiny stars. It was him, looking over the others and making sure they all coexisted peacefully. His soulmates all had Jooheon’s tattoo, the forest floor, the stag, the trees, the moon, the nest, the bird, and the stars. Their tattoos were finally pieced together because together was when they were the most vulnerable, but it was also when they were the strongest.

And to think, all it had taken for them to be interconnected for the rest of their lives was for the bird to return back to its nest.

Jooheon rocked his hips and relished in the moan that Changkyun gave out. He could plainly hear Hoseok and Hyungwon in the shower, having some fun, but the sounds of Minhyuk’s moan from the living room couch seemed to be louder. Of course it was understandable though, it was the first time that Minhyuk had bottomed, and he was doing it for Hyunwoo.

But at the moment, none of that really mattered because it was him and it was Changkyun underneath him, the younger’s fingers digging into his hips as Jooheon set up a slow pace. Changkyun’s moans were breathy, and quiet and they were oh-so-pretty and Jooheon bit his lip to keep from moaning aloud because all he wanted was to hear the younger slowly unravel beneath him.

Then Changkyun was pulling his chest down so they bumped against one another and whispered in his ear, “I want to hear you.”

So Jooheon obliged and let out the whimper that’d been stuck in his throat for the past half hour or so. Changkyun smiled at the noise, nosed a trail along Jooheon’s collarbones and rocked his hips, eliciting a drawn out moan from the elder.

Kihyun entered the room then, his shirt already off and working on his briefs. He climbed into the bed beside them and grabbed the container of lube that they’d discarded. He covered his fingers in it then leaned in close, curving himself around Jooheon’s back.

“Joohoney,” Kihyun practically moaned in his ear because the sight of Changkyun’s thick cock buried deep within Jooheon was such a sight to behold. “Mind if I join?”

“No,” Jooheon moaned, his hips moving tantalizingly slow against Changkyun. “P-Please do.”

Kihyun smiled and pressed a kiss to the younger’s shoulder blade before he leaned down to swiftly kiss Changkyun’s lips. He pulled back and settled himself on Changkyun’s calves, watching for a moment while the younger slowly rocked himself into Jooheon. He slid a lubed finger into Jooheon’s stuffed hole, right alongside Changkyun’s cock, and shivered when Jooheon let out the most delicious sounding noise he’d ever heard.

He curled his finger and practically drooled at the crude sound that Jooheon made. While Changkyun slowly oscillated himself into Jooheon, Kihyun gradually got three fingers into him working alongside Changkyun’s cock. Then he slipped in a fourth finger and Jooheon thought he lost his sanity.

Everything felt so good and he was so full. Tears leaked out of the corners of his eyes when Kihyun flexed his fingers inside him, scissoring him open and rubbing against his prostate with Changkyun’s cock beside them, driving deeper and deeper into him. He whined when Kihyun pulled his fingers out, but soon let out a choked moan because he could feel every, single centimeter of Kihyun’s cock as it in slid in beside Changkyun’s.

“Oh fuー” Jooheon cried, his hands scrambling for purchase on Changkyun’s shoulders, his ass poised in the air with not one, but two of his soulmates’ dicks in him.

They stopped moving for a moment, allowing Jooheon to get used to the feeling of them both in him then moved when Jooheon whined and forcibly pushed his hips down on them both.

Changkyun and Kihyun moaned when they moved at the same time and rubbed against each other. Inside Jooheon it was tight and hot and slicked up with lube, but it was all bare skin against bare skin and Jooheon’s veins felt on fire.

The two rocked themselves into him and set up a fast rhythm when they rubbed against Jooheon’s prostate. Tears were streaming down Jooheon’s face and he was so close, so fucking close he could just see it. He could see the orgasm that was waiting for him.

Changkyun came first, with a shout of Jooheon’s name. His eyes were pinched closed and his body felt like jelly as Jooheon and Kihyun continued to move, chasing their own orgasms.

Kihyun came right after, his eyes half open and a whisper of Changkyun’s name on his lips. His entire body was on fire and Jooheon was still moving, his ass clenching tight on both Changkyun and Kihyun’s cocks.

Then Jooheon came, seeing blinding white, and a mantra of both Kihyun and Changkyun’s names emitting from his lips. He was so goddamn in love with them, all of them and it was in these blissful moments after an orgasm that Jooheon really understood the depth of his love for them all.

All three men collapsed side by side, Changkyun and Kihyun curling around Jooheon, murmuring words into his ears. Changkyun cleaned them up and Kihyun took it upon himself to mark Jooheon’s collarbones with red and purples flowers.

“We love you so much. You did so well taking us both, Joohoney,” they spoke almost simultaneously and Jooheon was justーout of it.

“You brought us all together and we love you so much.”

Jooheon made a happy-sounding whimper and nuzzled himself into Kihyun’s chest.

The world was bright and he was happy and then his other four lovers were crawling into the bed beside them, kissing him, hugging him, touching him. Jooheon smiled and knew that his plan for dinner was going to be the most biggest and best decision he would ever make.

Even with knowing that it was what he wanted, Jooheon was still a mumbling, shaky mess that had whispered his question at first.

“What?” Minhyuk asked.

But Jooheon was frozen, he couldn't open his mouth. So instead he stood up from his chair at the table and dropped down onto one knee.

“Oh my god,” Hyungwon gasped beside him.

“Is heー?” Hoseok couldn't bring himself to finish.

“Yeah, he is,” Hyunwoo murmured, his gaze soft.

“Holy shit,” Kihyun let out, his eyes hilariously wide.

Except Jooheon wasn't laughing. He was sweating in his ripped jeans and black jumper. He was on one knee, staring expectantly at them all, his jaw locked and hands uselessly by his side.

“So are you just gonna keep kneeling or are you going to ask us to marry you, hyung?” Changkyun smirked, his gaze tender and tone teasing.

Jooheon’s arms moved by themselves, but he was relieved when the box he’d stored under the table was being dragged out by his hands. Then it was opened and there lay the seven rings Jooheon had bought.

Finally, he was able to speak again when he caught the gazes of the others.

“W-Will you marry m-me?” He stuttered, but he was sure there was nothing more he wanted than them.

“Yes!” Minhyuk practically threw himself over the table and into Jooheon’s lap, settling himself into the embrace of the first man who’d stuck by his side.

Jooheon looked towards the others, pulling out Minhyuk’s ring and sliding it onto the elder’s finger as he did.

Hyunwoo kneeled beside him and nodded, letting Jooheon slide his ring on his finger as well. There were tears in his eyes, but he said nothing as he kissed the younger breathless.

“Of course,” Hyungwon smiled, pressing his lips to Jooheon’s forehead as he sat down beside him, grinning happily when he got his ring.

“Fuck yeah I’ll marry you!” Hoseok jumped at them, his long arms encircling the four men on the floor and waited patiently for Jooheon to put his ring on him as well.

Then Kihyun stepped up and kissed them all before he nodded his head in agreement. “Yeah, I’d love that.”

After Kihyun’s ring was slid onto his finger, all six men stared at Changkyun, waiting for a response.

Changkyun fidgeted, shaking a bit with nerves, but the smile he gave Jooheon was soft and filled to the brim with affection.

“I don't know why we wouldn't marry you, but since you're asking, then yeah, of course I'll marry you, hyung,” Changkyun coughed out, his face blazing as he plopped down beside them on the floor.

When Jooheon slid the second to last ring onto Changkyun’s finger, the others struggled over putting the last ring in the box on Jooheon’s finger. Somehow they managed though and Jooheon, well, Jooheon was happy.

Though maybe not as happy as Jackson was when Jooheon facetimed him to inform his best friend of the engagement.

But still, Jooheon was happy enough and that was what counted.

It was at age five that he first learned of soulmates.

It was at age eight when he met his first soulmate and at age twenty six when he met his last.

And yeah, people finding their soulmates was pretty rare. It wasn’t unheard of, but it did at one point almost vanish completely. And then it began back up again, different than the last time. People had different types of soulmates. Others had multiple. Some had none. Most still found their soulmate through the tattoo method, and the tattoo method still varied by person. Some people had their soulmate’s name tattooed across their ribs from birth. Some only acquired a matching tattoo, accompanied by a flash of light, when they met their soulmate. And others received a colored tattoo when they met their platonic soulmates. People could end up with a platonic soulmate, a romantic one, both, or none at all. Nothing was set in stone and soulmates were complicated, but that didn’t deter twenty eight year old Lee Jooheon from lying in bed every night with his six husbands who he loved so.

Lee Jooheon had met his soulmates by accident, sure, but maybe that was just how it was meant to be.

And Jooheon wasn’t going to complain because in the end, all of his birds were perched safely in the nest that was his heart.

#mx ot7 #monsta x ot7 #mxwriters #kwritersworldnet #kwordsmiths #prettyboysnetwork #betareadernet #mx #angst #fluff #smut #p:ot7 #p:hyunwoo/hoseok/minhyuk/kihyun/hyungwon/jooheon/changkyun #f:utss #m: fic

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