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hugmekenobi · 7 days

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S3: The Bad Batch (11)

Chapter Eleven: Point of No Return

Gif by @moonstrider9904

Hunter x femaleJedi!reader

Series Summary: Ever since Eriadu, Clone Force 99 had been a fractured squad. Months have passed but you're finally back with the Batch but Omega is still out there and you won't stop until you find her again.

Chapter Summary: The Empire closes in on you and the Batch

Masterlist for S1 and S2

<Previous Chapter

Genre: Friends (idiots) to Lovers (we're in the lovers stage now)

Chapter Warnings: Canon-typical violence, threats, food mentions, flash of PDA and fluff in the beginning, referenced character death, rip a certain ship :(, self-blame, brief injury mention, humour as a tool for deflection, overall angsty vibes

Word Count: 4.2K

Author's notes: Still sticking very close to the episode here but hope it's still enjoyable and episode 12 is in progress!!

Getting into the pirate’s ship had been all too easy. He wasn’t going to fail this time. CX-2 decrypted the coordinates before he put the transmission for Scorch through, “The Trandoshan’s intel paid off. I tracked the pirate and accessed her navicomputer. She tried to cover her tracks but I broke the encryption.”

“What did you find?”

“She frequented a planet in the Outer Rim. I’m headed there now to do recon.”

“Send the coordinates. I’ll have a full division on standby if you require a visual on the targets.” Scorch provided before he signed off.

CX-2 entered the coordinates for Pabu.

“That’s gotta be all of it, right?” Wrecker asked in disbelief as he saw the three of you approach and unload the next round of supplies.

“We still need to grab the rations.” Hunter told him. “Keep loading up the ship. We’ll be back.”

Wrecker groaned, “Fine. But at least bring me back an ice cone.”

“Just one?” You questioned with an enticing grin as you walked backwards away from him and the ship.

“No, no, no. You’re right! M-Make it two!” Wrecker corrected his error.

You gave a two-fingered salute in reply before you turned around and jogged to catch up with Hunter and Crosshair.

“I wish you didn’t have to leave.” Lyana said lowly as she led Omega through the Archium.

“Me too, but Hunter thinks it’s safer for everyone if we do.”

Lyana led her over to a gap in one of the ledges. “What do you think of this spot?”

“It’s perfect.” Omega said with a thankful smile.

“So, which treasures did you bring?” Lyana asked, her tone curious but respectful of what this moment meant to those that left things here and Omega would not be treated differently.

Omega tucked Lula under her arm and brought out Tech’s cracked goggles. She held them delicately in her hands as she let the memories that they brought wash over her.

“You sure you wanna leave these behind?” Lyana double checked gently.

“Pabu was the first place that felt like a home.” Omega placed both objects down with the utmost care. “This way, a piece of us is still here.”

Lyana laid a supportive hand on her friend’s shoulder. “Well, I’ll make sure these stay safe until you come back.” She looked at Omega with a new type of seriousness. “Because you will come back, right?”

“I hope so.” Omega replied, the harsh reality of the day quickly catching up to her as she realised this would be the last time she would see her for a while.

“And where are you going?” Hunter asked with a questioning smile and tilt of his head as you separated from them. “We’ve got rations to get.”

You feigned disgust at the very idea. “Hey, I have the very important ice-cone mission. I cannot be diverted with a mere ration run.” You said with a coy grin before you pressed a swift kiss to Hunter’s cheek and sauntered off with exaggerated determination.

“Get that lovesick smile of your face before I throw up.” Crosshair snickered with a roll of his eyes as he saw the way Hunter watched you go.

“Shut up.” Hunter shoved his brother’s shoulder before they carried on with their own search.

“I don’t even think there’s room on this ship for all this gear.” Wrecker complained to Gonky as he saw all that was still to be shifted and he knew there was still more to come. However, Gonky’s cheeky honks of reply were not the commiseration he was looking for. “Oh, yeah? Well, maybe I should leave you behind.” He retorted, smirking at the offended honks he got in response.

Wrecker brought more of the stuff on board, completely unaware that the proximity sensor had been flashing a half second before.

CX-2 landed the ship in the cavern and began his hunt.

Hunter paused as he heard the nervous squeaking on the island birds, their tone matching his own growing sense of unease.

“What is it?” Crosshair asked.

“Not sure, but I don’t like it.” Hunter brought out his comm. “Omega, time to go.”

Upon hearing that, you gave up your spot in line and joined up with Hunter and Crosshair. You’d make it up to Wrecker another time.

CX-2 scanned the bustling market stalls from above and that was when he caught sight of the two clones and the targets he’d been sent to acquire. He touched the control panel on his sleeve and got Scorch on his comm.

“Report.” Scorch demanded.

“I’ve got eyes on the targets.”

“Ground them and wait for the division. They must be recovered unharmed. No mistakes this time.”

“And the clones they’re with?” He asked as he saw the group of you leaving the area.

“If they get in your way, eliminate them.”

“We’re sorry to see you go, but you’re all welcome here anytime.” Shep said sincerely. “Those homes will be waiting for you when you get back.”

You bowed your head in gratitude.

“Thanks for everything, Shep.” Hunter said, shaking his hand.

Omega and Lyana shared in a hug.

“I’ll see you soon.” Lyana said as she parted from Omega.

The four of you and Batcher started to make your way back to Wrecker.

The sun had almost set by the time Wrecker finished getting the most recent batch of supplies onto the ship, but he just took relief in the fact that he wouldn’t be alone in shifting the next round of gear.

As he went to grab the last crate, he paused on the steps as he picked up on a faint but rapid series of beeps.

He recognised the sound.

He knew exactly what that meant.

He reacted quickly and with a shout, he abandoned the ship and grabbed Gonky just as the Marauder exploded, hurling both of them into the sea.

With the last of his strength, he managed to pull himself onto a piece of debris before his vision went dark.

Upon hearing the harsh echoing boom of an explosion, you all instantly ran to the edge of Upper Pabu and your heart thumped in a frantic panic as you saw the distant flames and charred remnants of what was once the Marauder.

Hunter brought out his binoculars and took in the scene. He saw Wrecker and Gonky floating in the water and felt his own panic set in at seeing his brother unconscious. He put on his helmet and started running for the docks.

You did the same with your coverings and Crosshair put on his helmet before the three of you followed close behind.

One of the locals had grabbed a boat and brought Wrecker and Gonky back to port.

You pushed your way through the crowd of people and stopped short as you saw Wrecker’s body.

Omega knelt down by Wrecker’s side. “Wrecker? Wrecker!” Omega gasped, desperately shaking his shoulders to try and rouse him but it did no good.

Your stomach dropped to your feet. It took all the training you had to not lose control upon seeing the lack of response from Wrecker. He was strong, he was always so strong. He had to be alright.

“Mox and Stak, take Wrecker to Shep’s. Deke, get Az-3 to patch him up, and fast.” Hunter ordered the regs. He needed his brother back on his feet. He needed him to be okay.

“Ships don’t just blow up. We’ve been compromised.” Crosshair realised.

Hunter turned his head from Wrecker to the sound of a deep rumbling from above and what he saw sent both a deep anger and dread through his veins. The Imperial Star Destroyer hovered above the Archium and a series of gunships swarmed down. “Everyone, get to cover!”

Amidst the crowds of panicked and screaming people, the four of you regrouped and found cover of your own.

Shep was helpless to stop the hordes stormtroopers from moving in. He could only watch in despair as his people ran in fear.

“Cut off all escape routes. Destroy any ships or sea skiffs in sight.” CX-2 ordered as he remained unphased by the chaos around him. It wouldn’t affect what he needed to achieve; it would only help.

You and Omega both paused as you saw the destruction the Empire was causing to the docks.

The only light in the night were the fires caused by the Imperial gunfire.

The only sounds the whirr of gunship and cried of fear that echoed around the island.

Kamino, the Marauder, Pabu… How many more homes was the Empire going to take from you?

From these innocent people?

And how much longer could you let it go on?

A glance down at Omega told you she was thinking similarly to you. You indicated your head back and you both joined the others in an alleyway.

“Is this our fault? Are they attacking because of us?” Omega whispered up at you as she kept Batcher calm.

You wished with every fibre of your being that you could tell her no. That they were the ones at fault but the own guilt residing in your heart made the words die before they left your lips. How could you reassure her when you couldn’t believe the words yourself? It was never meant to go this way. The very thing you had wanted to avoid had happened and now you knew there was only one real way out of it.

Hunter crouched down. “It’s the Empire’s fault. Not yours. You have to stay focused. Both of you.” He implored with a helmeted look in your direction too.

“They’re destroying all means of escape and jamming our comms.” Crosshair said as he tried his comm, but it was only static. “We have to steal one of their gunships. Once we’re out of range, we can contact Echo.”

“I’ll handle it.” Hunter said. “You three, get to Shep’s and wait with Wrecker until I signal you.”

You caught his vambrace and pulled him back to you. You pressed your forehead against his helmet.

Hunter had a distinct and sinking feeling that this was you saying goodbye, but he wasn’t going to let that be the case- this plan would work… it- it had to. “I’ll see you soon.” He said as he stepped away.

You couldn’t quite meet his helmeted gaze as you nodded before you, Omega and Batcher split from him to head to Shep’s.

Hunter gave Crosshair a last meaningful look before he went in the opposite direction.

Crosshair knew what that look meant- keep them safe. And he would do everything in his power to do that. He followed you and Omega.

“Lock down the town. Search every domicile until you find them.” CX-2 ordered the squadrons of troopers.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Shep demanded as he approached the black-armoured soldier that seemed intent on ruining the lives of so many people.

“Who are you?” CX-2 replied with equal parts disdain and curiosity.

“The mayor of this town. You’ve opened fire on my village and its people without warning and without reason. Under what pretence are you attacking?” Shep seethed.

“We’re here to collect some fugitives you’ve been harbouring.” CX-2 brought out the puck and flashed the two images.

Shep made sure to keep his true reaction at bay- he wouldn’t give you and Omega away if he could help it. “You can’t just barge in here-”

“I’ve barely done anything yet.” CX-2 interrupted coldly.

“You destroyed our docks and fishing skiffs. Our livelihood.”

“I have simply cut off their means of escape. But I can do worse. I know they are here. Until they are turned over to me, your island will burn.” CX-2 threatened as he walked away.

The path to Shep’s had been fraught with troopers and each time like this where you had to hide from the next roaming patrol only slowed things down more.

You peered round the corner of your hiding spot to see one of the villagers being forced out of her home and you heard her distressed plea.

“You can’t do this! It’s our home!”

You were fighting the urge to go out and it seemed Batcher also shared in your current sentiment as Omega was doing her best to keep the dog quiet and calm.

And the cruel reply from the trooper that you heard next only confirmed what you already dreaded.

“We know they’re here! Where are the Jedi and the girl?”

“I don’t know! I swear-”

The familiar sound of a slap made your blood boil. You went to reveal yourself to stop them but Crosshair’s hand on your arm prevented you from doing so.

Omega couldn’t hold Batcher back though. The dog snarled and charged for the soldiers before they could do anymore harm.

“Batcher can handle herself. Let’s go.” Crosshair said to you both as he made sure Omega didn’t go to follow the dog either.

You had managed to scale the wall up to Shep’s and opened the door.

“Lyana!” Omega said with a relieved gasp.

“Omega! My-My dad, he said to hide here.” Lyana said fearfully. She ran up to her friend and hugged her tight, “I’m so scared.”

“I know. I’m so sorry.” Omega replied as she parted from her.

You and Crosshair took off your coverings as you saw AZ attending to Wrecker.

“How’s Wrecker, AZ?” You asked.

“He is still unconscious, but his vitals are stable.”

You allowed yourself to feel some semblance of relief at that, but you hastily pushed it to one side as you heard another gunships sound outside.

The three of you ran back out to take in what was happening and what you saw made your chest tighten and curl your fists in rage- stormtroopers were everywhere, removing people from their homes, tossing them to the ground, arresting them. It was unnecessarily cruel, and it was all because you were still here.

Getting onto the gunship had started out as a stealth mission but quickly became one where Hunter just had to get inside without getting shot.

He’d managed to do so but the pilot was making his life extremely difficult with erratic flying designed to fling him out. He had to take a tight grasp of the handles inside to remain upright.

Something else then caught your attention as you saw the unstable and irregular flying patterns of an Imperial gunship and a whole different kind of emotion swept through you. You knew the exact cause of that particular situation, but you were not reassured by the sight in the slightest.

“Is that, Hunter?” Omega asked both you and Crosshair as she noticed the ship in the air.

“Yes.” You said through clenched teeth.

“Uh huh.” Crosshair echoed nonchalantly.

But then, something shifted, there was a blaster shot and vessel nosedived down towards the sea in a way that showed that neither Hunter nor the pilot was in charge of the ship anymore.

A strained breath caught in your throat as you watched the ship plummet into the sea. “Where- where is he?” You choked out as you saw Crosshair grab his macrobinoculars.

Crosshair scanned the water anxiously but let out a relieved sigh as he saw his brother resurface and swim for the shore. “He’s fine.”

You bent forwards as you braced your hands on the wall and let out a slow calming breath before the distant sound of comm chatter reminded you of your current situation.

“He’s safer than we are at the moment.” Crosshair hissed as the three of you retreated back inside Shep’s.

“What do we do? Troopers will be here soon.” Omega asked anxiously.

“Hunter would want us to stick to the plan.” Crosshair replied, internally scrambling to think of a way out of this.

“There’s no hiding, Crosshair. The Empire knows we’re here. They won’t stop searching until they find us!”

Whilst they were talking, you were coming up with a plan of your own. If you handed yourself in and convinced them that you’d already shipped Omega off-world, then maybe they’d leave Pabu and the rest of them alive and in peace.

You glanced between Wrecker and Lyana and the door. You took a calming breath as you came to terms with what you had to do but a squeeze of your hand brought your eyes downwards. No. You said as you saw her nod at you.

“You promised.” Omega reminded you.

This is different, Omega. It’s not a choice you should need to make. It-

“You’re going, I know you are!” Omega interrupted. “But that won’t be enough, they’re here for me too! They won’t stop and you know it. It is my choice!”

Crosshair clued in and realised what the two of you were arguing about. “Absolutely not.”

“It’s our only option, Crosshair.” You said heavily.

“What? No, it’s not. We-”

“Look at what they’ve already done.” You said, a flash of anger coming through. “We can’t let the people here suffer any more because of us. That’s why we were leaving in the first place- to avoid this. We can’t let it carry on. We just can’t.” I’m not risking anyone else. Wrecker already got hurt, I’m not risking you and I’m not risking Hunter. If I could help it, Omega wouldn’t be coming but I can’t and it kills me that I can’t, but it’s how it has to be.

Crosshair went to respond to you, but Omega got in first, “If we let them take us, it stops.” She emphasised.

Crosshair focused on the young girl, distress in his voice. “You’ll be taken back to Tantiss.”

“Exactly. We’ve been trying to find those coordinates, and nothing’s worked. But if we keep our comms on us, and turn ourselves in, you can track us to Tantiss. This is our chance. Our chance to finally rescue the clones imprisoned there.”

“No. They’ll search you and find it. It won’t work.” Crosshair argued.

“Then shoot a secondary tracker onto the ship that they take us away on.” You suggested.

“Too many unknown variables. It’s not a viable plan.”

“It’s all we’ve got.” You countered.

“And it’s our choice.” Omega reminded him again.

Crosshair looked imploringly in your direction now. “Tantiss is different. This isn’t some random Imperial that’ll take you this time. It’ll be Hemlock. Who knows what he’ll do to you there.”

You also saw a genuine fear behind his eyes, and it unnerved you. It won’t be for long, I’ll be alright. “Focus on the bigger mission, Crosshair.” You said aloud and you came to stand behind Omega and rested your hands on her shoulders.

“Yeah, we’re just a small part of it.” Omega agreed.

Crosshair found himself in a position where he was forced to reflect on that, and he had to agree with you both.

The two of you got ready to depart but you noticed the reluctance that still graced Crosshair’s face and you approached him.

“He’s going to kill me.” Crosshair said to you quietly.

So, tell him he was right that Hemlock was after me too, that outta smooth things over.

“It’s not funny.” Crosshair snapped. He didn’t want to lose you both either. Not when he knew how important you both were to Hunter, to this squad… to this family. He’d finally made ground with you, you were one of them, you always had been, and he’d welcomed that feeling again. And Omega, well, Omega had seen and been through it all with him already, he owed her much more than a half-baked rescue plan.

Yeah sorry, it’s a bad habit. You went serious again and shook your head. “He’s not going to do that, Crosshair. Six months ago, maybe he would’ve, but not now. He’s not going to lose the progress he’s built with you either, not anymore. He’ll understand.” You glanced back to Omega who was standing by the door and regret stabbed your heart over the fact that this was to be her fate too, but you also knew that she wouldn’t have it any other way. “We’re very stubborn and determined individuals.” You said fondly before you looked back at him and placed a reassuring hand on his upper arm. “Just don’t miss.” You said with a light but resigned smile that didn’t quite reach your eyes.

With that, you and Omega exited the hut.

You caught Omega’s shoulder just before you rounded the corner to make yourselves known. You crouched down to her eye-level. “Omega… you know if there was any other option that I could think of that would get us- particularly you- out of this, I would do it in a heartbeat.”

Omega nodded. “I know, but it’s what we have to do.” She said bravely.

Your heart broke a little bit more right then and there- this was something no kid should ever have to do, “You had to grow up far too fast.” You murmured, both with sadness and a hint of pride in your voice as you gave her a loving hug before the two of you stepped out of your hiding spot.

“Stop.”

CX-2 signalled the troopers with the flamethrowers to disengage as he heard the voice of a woman.

“We surrender.” Omega said as all eyes, both Imperial and Pabu civilians turned in your direction.

“Stay alert. I neutralised the other two clones with them, but not the third.” CX-2 advised as he approached you two.

“Take us and leave the island alone.” You said as you held your wrists out.

“The people here are innocent.” Omega did the same thing as you.

CX-2 first put the cuffs on the young girl, “Then you never should have come here in the first place.”

“I’m assuming these are the special cuffs made just for me?” You said dully as the operative attached a second pair to your wrists, and you noticed the slightly different design of them compared to Omega’s.

“Why don’t you try them and find out?”

The harsh modulated voice sent a cold shiver of fear down your spine, but you covered it up. “Nah, you seem like someone who is on top of things, so I’ll take your word for it.” You were determined to not flinch under the unwavering glare of his helmet.

“Scan them for tracking devices.” CX-2 ordered as he confiscated your knife and Jedi weapon.

As expected, the comm devices were picked up immediately.

“Give them to me.” CX-2 demanded.

You and Omega reluctantly handed them over before you were both shoved and made to walk between the squadron of troopers as they got ready to transport you off the planet.

Crosshair had watched the surrender take place and had been stealthily tracking and making his way to a vantage point where he could tag the ship that you were to be taken away on.

Hunter staggered to shore and collapsed to his hands and knees.

He felt the water seeping through the gaps in his armour, weighing him down, and it was choking him beneath his helmet.

He removed it and took a few recovering breaths before he became alert to the sound of rustling just ahead of him. He instantly got to his feet and guardedly drew his blaster as he waited for the threat to show.

But he was able to relax his stance as Batcher came into view and ran over to him with a happy bark. He bent down and rubbed her side with a slight grin before he glanced up at the Archium and the rest of the island, but he didn’t see as many ships anymore.

And the realisation at what was about to happen hit him harder than he had hit the water.

Hunter grabbed his helmet and started running back, Batcher close at his heels.

You swallowed thickly as you and Omega were marched to the docks and forced to walk past the wreckage of both the sea skiffs and the Marauder.

CX-2 tapped the band on his arm and his ship came flying to meet the three of you.

You and Omega paused before boarding but an insistent jab of the butt of the operative’s rifle prompted you both to step up.

Crosshair got into position and readied himself to take the shot when the flashlight hit him.

“Over there!”

He fired back at the small squad of troopers that had found him and dealt with them as quickly as he could, but the interruption had moved him out of the prime position.

He had to run for it.

His gait was rushed.

His aim unsteady.

But there was no more time.

The ship’s engines were powering up.

He had no choice but to fire.

The ship took off.

His tracker missed.

And he could only look on in complete and utter dismay and horror as the ship flew out of view.

“Targets acquired. Returning to base.” CX-2 transmitted before he put the ship into hyperspace.

You and Omega sat side by side on the metal floor.

Omega took off her hat and leaned against your shoulder. “We’ll have each other there.” She murmured, doing her best to keep her voice composed.

“Yeah, we’ll be okay.” You whispered back.

Next Chapter>

Tagging: @noeasyisnoisy, @arctrooper69, @dominoeffectsworld, @andreaaxy, @notgonnaedit, @nightmonkeysstuff , @jellybeanstacey0519 @callsign-denmark @allthingsimagines, @superbookishhufflepuff

#the bad batch #the bad batch season 3 #tbb s3 #hunter x reader #hunter x femalejedi!reader #hunter x fem!reader #hunter x female!reader #sergeant hunter #sergeant hunter x reader #hunter tbb #hunter the bad batch #the bad batch hunter x you #hunter x y/n #tbb hunter x reader #the bad batch fanfiction #friends to lovers #star wars #angst #fluff

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charmed-asylum · 2 years

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𝒩𝑜𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝐸𝓁𝓈𝑒 𝑀𝒶𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓈

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Summary: Rosary Woods used to spend her summers in Hawkins. Now, years later, she was sent to live with her grandparents with her father's untimely death. Coming back to a place that used to give her pleasant memories but is now full of dark secrets, she hopes never to see daylight. Her plan was simple, easy until she found a drunk boy full of curls and never the same afterlife.

FYI: YES, I KNOW IT'S BEEN A YEAR. I'm sorry . HERE WE GO THING YOU GUYS DID NOT ASK FOR, BUT HEY, I STILL LOVE THAT SEXY BLUE EYE MAN.

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I skate across from one table to another with a smile and a pencil in my messy bun. Reminding myself the motto, Help open and close and stay out of trouble. This morning I dodged a bullet with my dunk puppy in my room the night before. Stuck in my head, I miss when Lucy, our lovely 80-year-old waitress, showed a boy and a little girl to one of my booths. Angel of the Morning by Merillee Rush, I skate backward to drop off some coffee to the table next and turn to my new table.

“ Welcome to Hawkins Diner. Where you get the closest thing to the taste of heaven. Names Woods can I get you any coffee or juice? “I said, whipping a curl out my face.

Silence fills the air after a few minutes. With a sigh, I look up through my lashes to see the same boy from this morning sitting across a girl with red hair and freckles. I could feel those pair of eyes darting on me. I look away then back at the girl. Well, this is awkward, I thought to myself. I look back at the little girl when I realize something.

“ Hold it. You were trick or treating yesterday with some boys. Love your mask. Is that a skateboard? Cool, I got a longboard," I said with a playful smile. The girl looks across at the boy then back at me.

"Yeah, thanks. Huh, skateboard. I didn’t think a lot of people do that here. Seems so boring here," the girl said, a bit surprised.

The boy started to speak, but I paid him no mind as I talked to the girl talking about spots to ride and movies. Before I left, he cleared his throat and looked at me. He sat back with his arm drip around the back of the chair. I look at the little girl, then at him.

“ Yes, Mr. Blue. You want something else besides the black coffee. Maybe some pancakes or a muffin," I asked, trying to sound as sweet as possible. He licked his lips and gave me a smirk. Oh god, he is one of those.

"Maybe after your shift one day this week, you can come on a drive with me. Maybe show me around being your so good at it," he said in a smooth demeanor. Oh yeah, he's one of those types, I thought to myself. I lend close to him, my hand on the table right in front of his, and smile.

" Really. You do that for me. Godly, where your car at" I said in an innocent, don't know better tone. I bit my lip a bit and batted my eyelashes a bit. This boy is a trip and a half.

He reaches out and points at his car Blue Cameo; I gave him this it was a good car. Details alone told me he put a lot of money inside it. If he played his cards right, and I didn’t see him hours ago drunk. Well, it would go a different way. I reached ahead, both hands on the table ass up a bit to get a good look, and gave it a little wiggle. Just enough so it would jiggle, I could feel his eyes on me. Eye looking me up from head to toe. When it happens enough, you can develop a sense of this. The girl's mouth opened as I gave her a wink and whispered, watch this.

I slowly got up and put the pencil into my mouth as I looked at him with a smile. He thought he won, but he forgot I'm more dangerous than most.

" Well, Well. Neptune that a very, very fast, adorable car. But I am from out of town, and I have seen a lot better. Most boys with big fast cars are hiding things. You hiding something, baby boy. Thanks for the offer but I think I’m good. Be back in an instant with your food," I said, then turned back on my skates.

He frowns and huffs under his breath. A girl never did that say no to him, not alone a ride in his baby. Max giggled.

" Hey, Romeo, your mouth is still wide open. Going to catch a fly," Max giggles. He slams his hand on the table.

" SHUT FUCK UP," he hissed at her. She slowly stops and looks out the window. He looks back at the girl as she skates around, singing along to the radio.

A few minutes I return with the food and an extra set of bacon. The girl was quiet, and the boy was playing with a ring looking around guarding up.

" Here you go, a thing of bacon and water on me. It’s better to eat something when you have a hangover. For you, pancakes with scrabble eyes and orange juice. Next time you come by, tell them you know me alright. Get the friendly discount," I said, handing over the food. The girl smiled at the stupid tongue-out face I made on her pancakes. The boy remains quiet, probably upset I blow him off.

They ate their food and headed out. Girl, stop wave by before going out. I peak out to see him looking out at me with a wink before driving off.

“ Rosa. You’re going to be late. I got this. See you tomorrow night," Lucy shouted out. I nod and rush to change and head to school, flipping my longboard out. Maybe I should have taken him for that ride, but that grin told me one thing he would want something for that ride, something I wasn't free to give.

I walked up just as the parking lot was full of kids. I made my way through the crowd to the primary office. I tapped my foot as I waited for my shadow to pick me up and show me around. Kids here were different from before from the ones at my old school. For one, no one looks like me. Felt like I was stuck in the 50s or something. Yeah, I probably knew some or most from my summers here, but it's been years.

“ROSARY WOOD!” A voice said from behind. I turn to see the first familiar face.

" HEATHER. Holy shit, you got long hair and boobs," said, getting up. I hug her and follow her out to the hallway.

" Rumor was you were in town, but I could not believe it. Wow, Robin is going to shit herself when she sees you. You look the same. Maybe hotter. Wow, I can't believe it's been years since we been together what two-three years," she said, stopping by some lockers. Luck, have it we were locker neighbors with half the same classes.

“ Four years, but it feels like a lifetime. So huh, you running the school yet. I remember we kept saying you be running the school with the hottest guy around your arm” I laugh.

See the full post

34 notes - Posted February 5, 2022

PROMPT THE BREAKS Prompt List: (starter kit)

Remember you can choose as many as you want or even pick from other places just remember to add on to your story and tell me.

1. "Come over here and make me."

2. "Wait a minute. Are you jealous?"

3. "| almost lost you.?

4. “Wanna bet?"

5. "Don't you ever do that again!"

6. "Kiss me.?"

7. "It could be worse.?

8. *Looks like we'll be trapped for a while..

9. "You need to wake up because I can't do this without you."

10. "I've seen the way you look at me when you think I don't notice."

11. "Just once."

12. "I think I'm in love with you and I'm terrified."

13. "If you keep looking at me like that we won't make it to a bed."

14. "You heard me. Take. It. Off.?

15. "You fainted.…straight into my arms. You know, if you wanted my attention you didn't have to go to such extremes.

16. "You did all of this for me?"

17. "| swear it was an accident."

18. "YOU DID WHAT?!"

19. “If you die, I'm gonna kill you.”

20. "It's hard to get used to.. «what is?" "Being someone that someone cares for.."

21. "The first time you smiled it felt like the universe aligned."

22. "It hurts..." "What?" «Loving someone who doesn't love you..

23. "Let me do this, please."

24. you're not as funny as you think you are

28. I'm just getting comfy

29. just because you can doesn't mean you should

33. you are such a nerd

34. why are you so cold?

See the full post

43 notes - Posted August 17, 2022

Huhhhhhh is this a sign yandre Bucky request need someone face candy and I think I found my girl eeee

Update I’m a lying hoe

46 notes - Posted May 26, 2022

Over the weekend, something I was shocked would ever happen to me. I made 3,000 followed. Yeah, I repeat that 3,000 followers!!! As a kind of melting pot of various fandoms and things that something I never would happen. Something I could never have accomplished if it wasn’t for every one of you guys.

I have been through a lot the past year, and every one of you has still been there through it all. I decided to do something special to show you guys how appreciative and thankful I am for every one of you. With the guidance of the lovely and phenomenal @holylulusworld , I created my 1st ever bingo challenge, Sweet Chaos.

The due date for this writing challenge will be July 15th, 2022.

Please use #SweetChoasBingoChallenge as the tag and mention me in the post. To participate, you do not have to follow me. It’s open to anyone and everyone!!! Just Send an Ask or DM me, please.

If you read the guidelines and rules and have questions, please message me. I do not bite.

GUIDELINES:

- THIS BINGO CARD HAS 25 SPACES INCLUDING FREE SPACE

- You can choose a square by messaging me with the name of the square you want.

- Because it’s only one card with 25 spaces I will allow up to two people on all but few squares. So PICK FAST BUT BE MINDFUL TO HAVE A BACKUP ONE IN MIND.

Rules:

- Have to use at least (1) space and no more then (4).

- Do what you want but please no animal, toilet, underage creepy shit.

- if you choose a song it can be either base off or just lyrics.

See the full post

80 notes - Posted February 6, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

𝙿𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙱𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚜𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚎

Hey you yeah you scrolling stop 🛑 I got something for you something so juicy that you can’t resist no matter how hard you try.

If you a fan of prompt or challenge then continue if not we’ll give me one more second I think I might still have something for you.

Ever see a list and see way to many prompts and think damn too many to choose from well your in luck I got a challenge right up your alley.

Scratching that head still not sure it’s okay I still think I got something for you. Ever wonder if your given a list of challenge that you can put it a story or not. Huhhh

Then this is for you.

** Very simple 3 step process**

☝️𝕊𝕥𝕖𝕡 𝟙: DEALER CHOOSE: EITHER A) pick as much prompts as possible and write about it or B) be given a random list of prompts and write something.

** please note part B is a dealer choice you can choose between 3-5 random ones or 5-9 random etc ***

✌🏼 𝕊𝕥𝕖𝕡 2: Choose from following list of over 200 prompts. ( if you seen or have one you want to use just tell me and put down where you found it)

🖖🏼 SUMIT IT!!!! make sure you either tag me or add #promptthebreakschallenge

RULES: NOT MUCH JUST BE MINDFUL!! Use respectful warnings if needed.

Deadline: submitted by October 31st 2022

To apply or join send a Ask/ Message me ( I don’t bite)/ or just message on here what you want!! Remember you can choose any that aren’t on here.

LAST HAVE FUN IF THIS GOES WELL IT BECOME AN ANNUAL EVENT finger 🤞

The following prompts come from @writinginstardust , @yandere-mccree, @thefinalgirlpng .

HEAVY HITTERS W NEVER END PROMPTS @writing-challenges-and-prompts, @creativepromptsforwriting, @writersmonth

>> PROMPT The Breaks PROMPT LIST <<

115 notes - Posted August 17, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

The competitive side of me is disappointed but school was busy who knew I had a thing for Bucky hahahaha

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #SoundCloud

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wytfut · 1 year

Text

abridged back surgery

Good Morning....

Had my back surgery this past Monday. Has been a very REAL and PAINFUL trip.

Maybe I wasn’t paying attention (enuff), or they just didn’t wish to dwell on it, but the Pain has been very real.

Day 2, I was fine, pain manageable, no big deal. Incision site was painful but bearable.

Day 3, they told me in soft tones that day 3 and 4 would be the worst. Was fresh delivery from wonders of satans personal prized collection of classics. 99% was incision. I was wearing bibs, thinking that my belt line was in the same exact spot as the incision. Everytime I got up (they insist on you getting up a lot and moving around), it felt like I was peeling skin off of incision. All muscles involved with moving around trying to avoid pain, were singing their own tune making up the difference of trying not to affect said area.

Day 4, the volume was down a touch, but still very uncomfortable. Being my hunny hadn’t been involved enough, I decided to go ahead and faint at breakfast. Apparenlty fainting is underrated. As I could hear her a couple blocks away, screaming..... for the life of me couldn’t figure out what she was so excited about. I woke up upside down (head first into chair next to me) flop sweat, and the full galaxy of stars.

Full day of pulling skin off of fresh wound. It wasn’t really, but that’s what it felt like. Dense brained me figured out that just maybe the heavy hem in the back side of those bibs just maybe cutting/indenting the wound a bit. In the afternoon, I changed into soft sweats, ... felt a bit of difference for a little while (not really).

Laid in bed for a couple of hours before bed time.... and got completely stoved up. Took a fairly long time to get up and go shower, change clothes and go back to bed. I was exhausted.

Past 3 days I’ve NOT set the alarm clock.... and that has paid off, I feel more rested.

Today day 5, is a whole new chapter. Pain bearable, can tell Im healing. and have a lot of energy to actually do something.. and I have, doing several smaller chores/hunny dos.

Need to note here, that all my symptoms of past back issues, currently are absent. I have high hopes this stays with me.... I do not wish to go back to that dark place...

Received tons of verbal rules of engagement with this surgery. All spit at me faster than I can comprehend. One rule was dealing with chairs. I guess we live on Mars, as that rule doesn’t apply to any of our chairs. It just can’t be done. All of our chairs (comfortable chairs) are deep and worn, with no actual arm rests to speak of. Well maybe if I had my own personal servant, attending my “every need”, or a proper hoist?

I appreciate all the well wishes....

Have a buddy in Michigan who is enduring a much much worse back surgery than I. He’s my poster child, and AJ Fago is going to make it!!! Apparenly AJ is spitting in the eye of Satan.... he’s getting after it.

#AJ Fago

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chaoticpuff17 · 4 years

Text

Baby Mine

ADG Yoongi

Masterlist

Hello my darlings! Just a reminder that all the mc’s in the ADG universe are named except for joon’s! This is to avoid confusion for all of us as the universe expands and the mcs run into each other! Love you all! Thanks for reading! —— chaotic puff

She stared at herself in the bathroom mirror tilting her head from side to side as she tried to figure out if it was just her imagination or if there really was a small bump forming on her lower stomach. It had to be her imagination, or just some bloating. Birth control was a major part of her work. Jimin ensured that all of the girls were on some sort of contraception. Babies weren’t allowed. Pregnancies and babies meant that girls went out of commission. No one wanted to fuck a pregnant whore.

Sen shook her head as though trying to shake the idea out entirely. It was near impossible for her to be pregnant. It was better not to think about it at all, but she’d get a pregnancy test later just to be safe. Jimin would kill her if she was pregnant. She was one of his best girls after all. She brought in a lot of money for him.

“Lola.” A rough voice called from behind her as an arm snaked around her waist.

Lola. It was a fake name to protect her. It was something Jimin had instigated when he’d taken over keeping charge of the girls. For as much of a dick as he could be, he did want the girls safe, and she was grateful for that. Jimin had picked the name himself. Lola from lotus because her name meant lotus. She still wasn’t sure how he’d gotten Lola from lotus, but she appreciated the thought, and it was better than have the men know her real name. She was able to keep that just for her, and for that she was grateful. So few things were hers here. It was nice to be able to keep her name to herself.

She pasted on a sensual smile and turned to face the man before her winding her arms around her neck. “Leaving already?” She asked looking up at him and tilting her head to the side. “Or are you staying for another round?” She purred moving closer so that their chests were brushing against each other as she placed a soft kiss on the edge of his mouth.

“I have a mission.” He announced sleepily resting his head in the crook of her neck. “RM just called.”

She hummed gently. He liked verbal confirmation from her. She’d learned a lot about his likes and dislikes through the years.

For someone so feared, Suga could at times be a softy, especially after he’d just woken up. She’d learned through the years that he valued his sleep more than anything. Usually if Suga was visiting her, she wouldn’t expect another client for the rest of the night. He’d crash in her bed, and leave in the morning, or whenever he woke up. If the mission had been particularly hard, he’d crash for up to a full day in her bed before going on his way.

The higher ups took first priority. Even if she’d had another client, the big seven took priority. She’d been lucky enough only to have had to service three of the big seven. Jimin tested all of the girls, but it was Hoseok and Yoongi that visited her regularly, sometimes together, sometimes not. But it was well known among the ranks that she was Suga’s favorite of the girls. She couldn’t count the number of times that Yoongi had come to her in the years she’d been working for BTS.

There were many nights when Suga would appear at her door, and more than once he’d kicked another client out of her bed, but he was allowed. He was one of the big bosses, and no one was going to argue with him. The only one that could have stopped him was RM himself, and so far Sen had been lucky enough never to have met the kingpin. But Suga hadn’t kicked anyone out of her bed in a long time. When it was well known that she was Suga’s bitch, other men no longer came to call. The only one besides him that came to visit her anymore was Hoseok. No one wanted to be on the receiving end of Suga’s wrath, and there were plenty of other girls for them to choose from. Hoseok was an exception. They didn’t mind sharing with each other, and it always made for an interesting night when they were there together. She was left sore for days.

“You’d better get going then.” She whispered running her fingers through his hair in the way she knew he liked. “I wouldn’t want to keep you.”

He lifted his head, dark eyes scanning her features before he sighed tiredly. “Money’s on the table.” He grumbled leaning his forehead against hers, still sleepy. “I’ll be back after this mission.”

“You always are.”

“Patch me up?”

“You really should go to Dr. Kim for that.” She scolded. “I’m not a medical professional.”

“Yeah, but he doesn’t do what you do.” He informed her with a smirk while she rolled her eyes at the suggestive tone of his voice.

He placed a quick, rough peck to her lips, and then he was gone.

Even if he was one of her only clients these days, he at least paid well. All the higher ups paid well, and she had a debt to repay. Well, the debt was repaid now, but she was trying to save up the money to leave this place. It was the debt that landed her in this position in the first place. She could blame her crackhead mother for that. The hag had skipped out of town and left her to pay off the debt. It had taken her years, but she’d finally done it. The next time her mother got herself in trouble, Sen was going to let her deal with it herself. It wasn’t her problem anymore.

She glanced over at the clock. It was way too early in the morning for her to consider running out to grab a pregnancy test, but she was going to do it anyway. Three in the morning was too early for most things, but her job had her keeping weird hours, and both Hoseok and Yoongi were well within their rights to wake her up at any time of the day or night. It was unlikely that either of them would come by for the rest of the night, and she wanted to put that nagging feeling at the back of her mind to rest as soon as possible.

To say that the two lines staring back at her were a shock would have been an understatement. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Those two little pink lines mocked her. The words in the Google search mocked her. Birth control was only 99% effective. Jimin was going to kill her. Suga was going to kill her. He was the only one that could possibly be the father. Jimin and Hoseok hadn't visited her recently, only Suga. But did she really have to tell either of them?

She had enough money to leave. Her debt was repaid. She could hand in her resignation to Jimin and go. She never had to tell either of them anything. She wasn’t showing enough for either of them to see, and if she moved quickly, she could be gone before anyone found out. Besides, she doubted that Suga wanted a child let alone a child from a whore.

Yes, that would be the best option.

She placed a hand over her belly, her mind whirring with possibilities. A baby. She was going to have a baby. Life was full of odd surprises, but this was not one she thought she would ever have to deal with. She’d never even considered being a mother let alone the mother of Min Yoongi’s baby.

“Okay, little dude.” She whispered to her belly. “We’re going to be okay.”

And it would be, as soon as she informed Jimin of her departure, she was gone. But first she actually had to talk to Jimin.

“Sir.” She greeted bowing respectfully as she entered his office.

“Sen.” He greeted leaning back in his chair. “Is everything alright? You don’t usually come to visit me.” He sent her a charming smile. He was always charming, but she didn’t have time to flirt with him today.

“I wanted to inform you of my resignation in person.” It was best just to put it out there.

His small dropped, a frown taking its place as he leaned forward. “Resignation. You’re leaving us, Sen?”

“I paid off my debt. I think it’s time for me to go.”

“Are you sure about this?”

She smiled even if the expression was strained. She couldn’t let him know that anything was off. “I’m sure. I want more for myself than this, Jimin. I’m sure you can understand that.”

“You have a good life here.” He pointed out. “Suga keeps you comfortable and protected. No one’s going to mess with his girl.”

“I’m not his girl, and you and I both know that this was never what I wanted from my life. I paid my debt. It’s time for me to go.” She held firm her lips pressed into a line as her smile fell.

“Suga will be disappointed to see you go.”

“I’m sure he’ll survive.”

“You’re sure I can’t convince you to stay?” Jimin might have appeared calm, but his mind was already busy thinking over the fall out of her decision. He didn’t even want to think of Yoongi’s reaction. “You’re my best girl.”

“I have one client.” She scoffed. “Two if Hoseok drops by, but he rarely does these days. I can’t be your best girl.” She pointed out leaning forward in her seat to match Jimin’s stance.

“Yeah, but you keep Suga hyung happy, and that’s worth a lot.”

“He’ll find another girl.”

“I’m not sure there is another girl like you, Sen. He likes you.”

She scoffed again moving a strand of hair away from her face as she leaned back again. “He’ll get over it.”

Jimin scoffed, but there was really nothing he could do to make her stay. She had kept her end of the deal and paid off her debt. Unless he planned on kidnapping her, she was free to go, and BTS wasn’t in the habit of forcing women to work for them.

“I’m sorry to see you go.”

“It’s for the best.”

Jimin had been disappointed to see her go. It meant that Hoseok and Yoongi would need to find a new plaything, but Jimin was not looking forward to telling his hyungs that Sen had gone, especially not Yoongi. He visited her almost exclusively. She was his girl, even if neither of them would admit it.

He’d hoped that she would stick around a little while before she left that way she could be the one to tell Yoongi, but he was shocked at the speed with which she’d packed up her life and gone. It was as though she’d never been one of his girls at all, and it left him with the responsibility of telling Yoongi. Unfortunately for him, that moment came far quicker than he would have liked.

“Where’s Lola?” Yoongi asked barging into his office and plopping himself down on his sofa a scowl on his face.

“Lola?” Jimin asked keeping his tone light and breezy.

“She’s not at her apartment. She’s always at her apartment.”

“Ah.” Jimin gulped trying to find the right words. “Well, Sen left. That’s her real name you know. Lola’s just for work.” That hadn’t been what he was going for, but honesty is the best policy, or so they say.

“Left?” Yoongi arched a brow leaning forward suddenly interested.

“She paid off her debt.”

“She did that a while ago.” Yoongi scoffed brushing him off. “She didn’t leave then. Why now?”

Jimin shrugged. “She said she wanted to go. Something about it being time. Sorry, hyung. Jas is in though. You visit her sometimes.” He was hoping that his hyung would smoothly take on a new girl, but he doubted that the transition would be smooth.

Yoongi grumbled under his breath. He didn’t want Jas. He wanted Lola. He always went to Lola after a mission. She tended wounds he didn’t bother going to Jin for. She listened running her fingers through his hair as he told her about anything and everything. She knew more about him than just about anything else. No he never shared details of the business, but she knew him.

Jas expected sex. She expected the infamous assassin of BTS, and while she was good for a fuck, she certainly wasn’t going to be dressing wounds or letting him spend all night and half of the next day in her bed.

He couldn’t help a tinge of resentment as he thought of Lola, Sen. He provided for her. He made sure no other dirt bag touched her, but she left anyway. He and Hoseok treated her well, and she just left. She hadn’t even deigned to tell them her real name, but she wasn’t going to find a better life than the one she’d had under their protection. If she was stupid enough to leave, that was her problem, but he wasn’t about to let her go. She knew too much.

“Should I tell Jas you’re coming by?” Jimin offered already reaching for his phone even though he knew Yoongi would probably refuse.

“Don’t bother.” He grumbled pushing himself up from the sofa.

“Hyung!” Jimin called after him “Hyung!” He knew what was on Yoongi’s mind. He wasn’t a man to share, and Sen’s leaving wouldn’t be taken well. “She’s not in the city anymore.” He announced causing Yoongi to stop in his tracks. “The last time anyone saw her she was entering the airport. We didn’t keep track of where she was going. She’s free to go where she pleases. She’s not one of mine anymore.”

“The airport?” Yoongi asked turning with a scowl. “Where would she go? She doesn’t have any family.”

“Just her crackhead mom, but I doubt she went looking for her.” Jimin agreed leaning back in his chair. He didn’t like the look In Yoongi’s eyes, but he wasn’t about to stop him if he decided to go after her. If he wanted her, he could have her. He’d just have to find her first.

“You gonna go looking for her?” He called as Yoongi turned to leave again taking note of the tight set of the other man’s shoulders.

“Why would I go looking for a whore?” He spat venom dripping from his tone his eyes flashing.

Jimin watched him go, doubting that this would be the end of it. Yoongi was angry, but Jimin knew his hyung enough to know that that hurt was coming from a place of betrayal. Yoongi, as much as he didn’t like to admit it, cared about Sen. No, this wouldn’t be the end of it.

Sen was happy. She’d found herself a nice little apartment in Busan. She liked living so near to the sea, and she was sure that the little one would love it as well. She’d assembled a nursery for the little dude who she had recently found out was quite literally a little dude. As her bump grew, she collected strollers, blankets, stuffed animals for the little dude, and she was happy, happier than she’d been in years. She was excited to be a mother, excited to start over. She’d built a nice cozy life for them here, and she knew it was going to be a good one.

Her break from BTS had been clean. No one knew about the little secret she was carrying, and they had no reason to keep her, not when she’d paid them back everything that was owed. She still found herself looking over her shoulder though. She was always worried that Jimin or Hoseok or heaven forbid Yoongi was going to appear out of nowhere and see her heavy with Yoongi’s child. She doubted that she would have made a clean break if any of them had known. But this wasn’t their child. Her son didn’t belong to BTS. He was hers, her little dude. They didn’t get to have a say.

Her kitchen fridge proudly held the ultrasound from her twenty week scan. Baby books were littered across her coffee table, along with a book of baby names. Her life had been about survival for so long, but now the little dude kept her busy. He was her life now.

She had enough saved to keep them comfortable for a little bit, but she was lucky enough to find a job in Busan. She was working at a local restaurant. It was owned by a lovely couple whose only son was in college. They took every opportunity to brag about him. It was good work, honest work, and they didn’t seem to mind that she was an unwed mother. They’d also given her a very generous maternity leave.

It was a good life. It wasn’t much, but it was good. And she only grew more excited as her due date drew closer. The excitement was partially driven by the excitement to meet the little dude, and the growing desire to get him out. She loved him, but he was a pain. Her ankles were swollen. Her back hurt, and she was getting really tired of the way this kid liked to sit directly on her bladder. But it would all be worth it as soon as the little dude arrived, and he was due any day now.

She had everything ready to go. There was a bag packed, and she had a plan in place to get to the hospital. One of the downsides of being a single mom was that there was no one there to help when the pregnancy got rough or to go with her to the hospital when the time came.

She’d debated finding a midwife and doing a home birth, just for the added security of not being in the hospital on the off chance that Yoongi or someone else from her old life had found out about the little dude, but she’d ultimately decided that the safety that the hospital provided for the birth was the better choice. She wanted all the nurses and doctors she could get since she had no family to support her through a home birth, and the hospital had the good drugs to help with the pain. She was a baby when it came to pain, and she was dreading the contractions.

She had to keep reminding herself that it would all worth it for the little dude. And it was. When the nurse handed her her son for the first time, she had never been more in love in her entire life.

He was small, so very small, and all read and wrinkly. His face was scrunched up like an old man’s, and there was something about him that was just so similar to Yoongi when she looked at him. It could have been the old man attitude, or it could have been the tuft of dark hair accompanied by those impossibly dark eyes. It didn’t matter though. Whether he looked like his father or not, she was completely in love with him.

Every sound that he made, every movement, had her enthralled. How could this tiny perfect being have come from her? How could she have made something so perfect? She knew that she would do anything for him, anything at all. Every terrible thing that had ever happened, her mother, the debt, working as a prostitute for BTS, it was all worth it, because it had brought her him.

It was with a heavy heart that she let the nurses take him away to the nursery, but she knew that she was going to need all the rest she could get before she took him home, and it was just the two of them. She would have plenty of long nights ahead of her, she could let the nurses take care of him for one night while she recovered from the birth.

When she woke up some hours later, it was to a dark room and the sound of those soft noises content newborns made. It took her a few minutes to wake up enough to realize that her baby wasn’t supposed to be with her. He was meant to be at the nursery.

She bolted up, ignoring the pain the sudden action caused as she frantically looked around the room looking for the source of the noise. Her frantic heartbeat stilled for a moment as she caught sight of her baby perfectly safe, but her blood turned to ice as she saw who held him.

“Suga.” She whimpered bracing herself against the rail of the hospital bed as she prepared to jump out of bed and seize her child from him arms.

“Sen.” Her heart stopped. How did he know that? Where had he learned that name? “You didn’t tell me you were expecting.”

“Suga.” She said his name like plea, begging him to give her back the baby.

“Shhhhh.” He hushed her walking over with her baby settling himself on the bed beside her before she could spring up. “You should be resting. You just gave birth, baby.”

“Give me the baby.” She pleaded reaching out to take her son, but Yoongi held him away fixing her with a dark, disapproving stare.

“You should have told me.” He scolded.

“Please, give me the baby.”

He shushed her again. “He’s fine. Look. He’s sleeping.” He angled his arms down so she could see the angelic face of her little one scrunched up in sleep. “You don’t want to wake him up.”

“Please.” She reached out for the little one again terrified of what Yoongi could do to him.

She knew she was in trouble. No one stole from Bangtan, and if Yoongi was here, he had clearly known about the pregnancy. Was he going to take the baby from her? Was he going to kill her for hiding it?

“He’s fine.” He scolded again maneuvering himself so that the baby was cradled in one arm while the other snaked around her shaking shoulders pulling her close in a position they had been in many times before, minus baby.

“Yoonho, huh?” He asked gazing down at the sleeping child. “Feeling nostalgic, Sen?”

“Please.”

He sighed shifting to ease the baby into her waiting arms much to her relief. Yoonho whimpered a little in his sleep unhappy with the transfer, but settled back quickly.

She looked over him checking for any signs of distress, but he seemed fine. He was sleeping like a champ, but that was what newborns did. They slept, and they ate. Yoonho didn’t even seem to know that anything was wrong, but Sen did.

“Why are you here?” She whispered gently tracing her son’s features as she refused to meet Yoongi’s eyes.

“I’m here for my kid.” He scoffed leaning over a bit and moving the blanket back so that he could have a better view of Yoonho’s face. “You didn’t think you could keep something like this hidden, did you?”

“I was hoping.” She whispered stiff in Yoongi’s arms. “What happens now?”

“I take Yoonho back to Seoul.”

Her eyes flew to his, wide with panic as she clutched her little dude closer to her chest. “No!”

Yoongi shot her a dark look, and she shut up immediately not wanting to push her luck when she was already in so much trouble. “I’m taking my kid back to Seoul with me.”

“Please no.” She whimpered staring up at him pleadingly. “You can’t take him.”

“I can, and I will.” He answered sharply silencing her again. “He’s my kid.”

She squared her shoulders and glared at him. “You don’t know that. He could be anyone’s.”

Yoongi chuckled darkly eyes sharp and dangerous as he stared her down. “You saying you were sleeping with other men?”

“I was a whore.” She pointed out.

He gripped her chin tightly bringing her face close to his as he hissed at her. “I know every man that touched you. No one has touched you other than me in some time. That kid could only be mine.”

“Just because you kept away other clients, doesn’t mean I wasn’t sleeping with other men. I had a life outside of you and yours.” She shot back. It was a lie, but he didn’t need to know that. She would say just about anything to get him to go and leaver her and Yoonho alone.

He released her chin leaning back against the bed with a gummy grin, but there was no mirth behind it. “No, baby. You couldn’t. Jimin doesn’t let his girls sleep around without getting paid. If anyone other than Hobi or I had touched that sweet little pussy, you would have been in big trouble.”

“You don’t know that.” She should really stop talking, stop antagonizing him, but she couldn’t. She needed to get him to believe the baby wasn’t his. She needed him to go, even if it was a long shot that he would.

“Baby, I know everything about you. You really think you could sneak around without one of us knowing?” She didn’t say anything, only trembled clinging onto Yoonho like an anchor. “You were sleeping with two of the big bosses. No one would touch you with a ten foot pole, and our guys certainly wouldn’t let you go sneaking around if they saw you. You want to try this again, baby girl?” He quirked a dark brow at her. “Who’s the father?”

“You.” She admitted the truth leaving a bitter taste in her mouth as she glared at him.

“Good girl.” He praised as he ran a long finger over Yoonho’s little nose staring down at the baby his eyes sparkling with something she had never seen before. He looked almost enamored. “That wasn’t so hard was it?”

“You can’t take him.”

“I can.” He shrugged pulling back with a gummy grin directed at the little one who was just opening his eyes to stare up at his parents. “You have two options, baby. I can shoot you, and take Yoonho. Or you can come back to Seoul with me, and be a good little wife and mother.”

“Wife?” She asked the offer coming as a complete shock. She had never pegged Yoongi as the family type of guy. “As in marriage?”

“You got another definition?”

“You want to marry me?” The words came out slowly as she tried to wrap her mind around the concept.

“Yoonho needs a mom.” He shrugged. “I’d prefer you do it. You’re his mom, but I have no problem getting rid of you and finding someone else if you’re going to be difficult.”

She shuddered at the though. Yoongi had never shared the details of his missions, but she knew the gist of what he did for Bangtan. He would have no trouble disposing of her if she didn’t cooperate.

It was a simple choice really. Go back with him and stay with her son, or wind up in a ditch somewhere.

“Okay.”

He smiled, kissing her forehead lightly. “I’m glad you made the right choice.”

As soon as Sen and Yoonho were released from the hospital, Yoongi took them both back to Seoul. He didn’t even allow them to go back to her apartment to collect any of her things or any of the things she had put together for Yoonho. All they had was the bag she had packed for the hospital.

He didn’t return her to the apartment she’d operated out of when she’d worked for Bangtan. Instead he took them to what she had to assume was his home. She’d never been to Yoongi’s home before. Why would she? She’d just been one of the many girls at his disposal. She wasn’t special.

The apartment was spacious, but it was cold. There were no personal touches. Hardly anything suggested that it had been lived in. She could understand now why Yoongi spent so many nights in her bed instead of here. She wouldn’t have wanted to come back to a cold, lifeless apartment either.

“Yoongi.” She started softly, holding Yoonho to her chest as she finished exploring their new home. “There’s no crib.”

“What?” He asked not even opening his eyes to look at her as he remained sprawled across the sofa in the living room.

“There’s no crib, or changing table. There’s nothing for a baby here.” She pointed out bouncing the baby as he began to fuss. “There’s nothing for me either.”

He sighed heavily sinking further into the sofa as he did. “I’ll send out one of the boys for stuff later.”

“Yoongi.” She started again, her tone more sharp this time.

“What?” He shot back, tone equally as unhappy.

“There is nothing here. There are no diapers. There are no baby clothes. No wipes. No burp clothes, blankets, bottles. I don’t need someone to go out later. I need someone to go out now.”

He groaned opening his eyes to glare at her, but she was having none of it. He might hold her life in his hands, but he professed to want their baby, and she’d be damned if she stayed here when he was so ill prepared for said baby. “I can go out and grab some things myself if you don’t want to send someone, but we need at least diapers, wipes, and extra clothes. A crib would be nice too, unless you want your son sleeping in a car seat.”

He sat up still glaring at her. He was tired. She was tired, but at least she was looking out for their child’s welfare. “And how do I know if I let you out of her that you won’t take off with the kid?” She rolled her eyes shifting to move Yoonho to rest against her other shoulder as he fussed again. “Because if I tried anything you’d track me down, take Yoonho, and shoot me in the head. I’m not stupid.”

“Pretty stupid of you to run off in the first place.” He grumbled. “Almost as stupid as the boss’ wife.”

She scoffed at that. Everyone in Bangtan knew the story of what happened with RM’s wife. She’d disappeared at the New Year’s gala in spectacular fashion. The organization had been in chaos trying to find her ever since. But could she really blame the poor woman? If she thought she could safely get herself and Yoonho out of here, she would take off in a heartbeat. There was nothing stupid about it.

“You can go grab supplies then. I’ll make you a list.”

And then Yoonho started crying, stuttering little cries that were heartbreaking to hear but elicited a sigh from both parents.

“What is it now?” Yoongi asked getting up to check on them both. His words were gruff, but he was genuinely concerned for his son’s welfare.

“He’s probably just hungry.”

She shrugged moving to sit down on the sofa as she maneuvered herself and Yoonho into a more comfortable position for feeding. She wished she had a blanket to keep herself covered, but it was nothing that Yoongi hadn’t seen before, and yet he stared at her wide eyed as she got Yoonho to latch as though it was the most alien thing on earth. He still wasn’t used to the sight of her breast feeding. He wasn’t used to seeing her so domestic.

There was no soft lingerie or sheer robes. Her hair was swept up in a messy bun that threatened to fail at any moment, and she was dressed in a pair of soft leggings and a shirt that was comfortable on her still healing body and was easy to get out of the way when Yoonho got hungry. He also knew for a fact she was wearing the mesh panties that the hospital gave her. There was nothing sexy about it, but at the same time it felt right. It was domestic. It was motherly.

After he unfroze from the sight, he moved to sit next to them both. “I’ll send someone out now.” He agreed taking off his hoodie and throwing it over her shoulders so she wouldn’t be cold.

Yoonho was bundled up in the only blanket they had available, but he couldn’t help but notice that her own clothing looked a little worn as though it was second hand. He’d have someone pickup clothes for her while they were out shopping for Yoonho. She was going to be a Min very shortly. She couldn’t go around in second hand clothing. He might not have loved her, not like Namjoon loved Y/N, but he had known Sen for a long time. He liked her well enough. More than that she had given him a son. A perfect little heir.

If he had to choose a woman to mother his child, he was almost glad it had been her. It saved him the trouble of picking some girl from their allies, and Sen already knew him. She also knew how Bangtan worked. That was half the trouble that Namjoon and Jin both had with their women.

Y/N was a smart woman, and she knew how gangs worked, but she didn’t know her place in Bangtan. She gave Namjoon no end of trouble. She never settled. Jin’s girl was a weak little thing. She didn’t understand gang life at all. He kept her locked up tight so that she couldn’t go running for the hills. She’d bend soon enough though, and life could be worse than with Jin.

Sen was different. She was already accustomed to Bangtan. She knew what he was capable of. She knew the consequences if she stepped out of line. She might not like her situation, but she wasn’t going to openly defy him, not when her life and the life of her child were on the line. That gave him some peace of mind at least. He would though have to fend off Jimin and Hobi. If she was going to be his wife, he couldn’t have any of the other boys sniffing around her. Hopefully Hobi would find a girl of his own soon enough, and he wouldn’t have to worry about it.

“We need to talk about the wedding.”

She looked up from Yoonho to meet his eyes in confusion. “The wedding?”

“Nothing big. You’ve already had a baby. A courthouse wedding.”

She sighed before grimacing at the feel of Yoonho feeding. “I’m fine with whatever. Let’s just get it over with.”

He frowned at that. Marriage was a big deal, especially in his circles. When you chose a woman, you chose her for life. It wasn’t something you “just got over with”. It was the reason that Namjoon wasn’t going to let Y/N go. It was why Jin kept Hayan locked away. He was choosing her, and she just wanted to “get it over with”.

“Sen.” He growled causing her to look up again in confusion. “We are going to be married. You’re my woman, and you’re going to act like it.”

Her eyes were wide as she took in his words, but she was in no position to argue with him. She was going to do it anyway though. “Is this really a marriage?” She asked. “We’re only in this position because of Yoonho. I don’t expect you to be faithful or act like a husband.” She shrugged as she moved Yoonho over to the other side. “Do you really expect me to act like a wife?”

Yoongi darted forward capturing her mouth in a rough kiss though he was careful not to disrupt his son one of his hands coming to overlap hers to keep him steady. “You are mine.” He growled dark, feline eyes boring into hers. “You were mine then, and you’re mine now. I was going to drag you back when Jimin said you left, but you’re a sneaky little vixen. You managed to get yourself to another city, and Jimin let you go. I should have dragged you back, Jimin’s rules be damned.”

“It doesn’t matter now.” He murmured pulling away and running a hand through his hair. “You’re here now, and neither you or Yoonho are leaving.”

“What are you talking about?”

He laughed the sound hollow and humorless. “Why do you think no one else has touched you for over a year besides Hosoek? They knew you were mine.”

“I thought I was Jimin’s.” She snarked back eyes narrowed. “Just another one of his whores.”

“You’re my whore. No one else is going to touch you.”

“Where you really going to shoot me if I refused to give you Yooonho and come back?” She asked suspicion creeping in the back of her mind.

“I would have dragged you back by your hair.” He promised. “The kid needs his mother.” He leaned in so that his lips brushed against the shell of her ear. “And I wasn’t about to let that sweet little pussy of yours go a second time.” She grimaced a combination of his words and the uncomfortable feeling of breastfeeding. No one had warned her that breastfeeding hurt. That should have been one of the first things that other mothers told you when you first got pregnant. They should warn you about what you’re in for.

“And who says I’m going to have sex with you?” She challenged eyes flashing.

He smirked against her ear. “We both know you’re not going to deny me.”

“Maybe you don’t know me as well as you think you do.” She shot back.

He shrugged pulling away a dark grin spreading across his features. “Doesn’t matter. We have a lifetime to figure it out.” He leaned closer again placing another short kiss to her lips. “You and Yoonho aren’t going anywhere.”

“I suppose we aren’t.” She agreed, her lips set in a grim line.

The wedding didn’t take place for a few weeks. Yoongi and Sen needed some time to settle in as parents, and Sen had not only a newborn to contend with, but she had to whip the apartment into shape. But after a few weeks it looked lived in. Baby toys and paraphernalia littered the living room. One of the spare bedrooms had been converted into a nursery though there was a bassinet in the master bedroom where Yoonho spent most of his nights. Yoongi insisted that she share the master bedroom with him, and it was easier on both parents to keep the little dude in there when he was getting up every few hours for feeding, but they were settling into a schedule much to both Sen and Yoongi’s relief.

The wedding was a small affair. She and Yoongi went to the courthouse. He wore a casual suit, and she wore a knee length white dress, and just like that, she was married. She couldn’t get used to the ring that flashed on her finger. It was simple. Three cushion cut diamonds set on a gold band, but it was pretty.

Namjoon had made sure that all of the boys stayed away from Yoongi and Sen as they settled, but after the wedding, all six men were gathered in the apartment to greet their friend and the new Mrs. Min, as well as to meet the little one that had caused so much fuss.

Jimin was pleased to see her back where she belonged while Hoseok pouted that Yoongi wasn’t going to share anymore. Taehyung wouldn’t share the baby, and Sen was honestly happy for a break even if it was only a small one. Someone else could hold him for a while. Jungkook hovered close to Taehyung waiting for his turn to hold the little one that they all agreed bore a striking resemblance to Yoongi. Jin fussed over the new family’s health asking her questions about her and Yoonho’s health and telling her that she should come visit his own wife once she was recovered. Apparently she was ill and couldn’t attend the celebrations.

It was Namjoon that made her uneasy though. He hovered over the proceedings like a dark cloud. He’d congratulated Yoongi and said hello to the baby, but for the most part he stayed on to the side. She had to wonder if it was because of his own wife’s absence or if he just didn’t like her. As much as she was proud of the other woman for slipping away, she genuinely hoped it was the latter. Namjoon could make her life hell if he didn’t approve of her, and her life was going to be hard enough as Yoongi’s wife.

Yoongi had no real love for her. He liked her. There was even a small amount of respect there, but he didn’t love her. It was possessive. He liked the idea of having his family all together. He liked the idea of having her as his wife and the mother of his child. He’d always been a possessive lover though. She expected nothing less from him as a husband. He put her in her place when she stepped out of line, but for the most part, so long as she behaved and looked after Yoonho, he treated her well. It might not have been the life she wanted, but it could have been worse. It could always be worse.

“Sen.” A deep voice greeted from beside her.

She jumped a little in surprise but turned to find Namjoon seated beside her. “RM-ssi.” She greeted respectfully. She didn’t want any trouble with the leader.

“You have a beautiful son.”

“Thank you.” She eyed him warily wondering why he was really there. He had no reason to talk to her.

“It’s quite the story. How you and Yoongi met, I mean.” She waited to see where he was going to take this, but she had a bad feeling. “Bold of you to run off when you were carrying his child.” She stiffened not liking the sound of that. He leaned closer eyes glinting dangerously. “If you ever try anything like that again, I don’t care if Yoongi cares for you, I’ll put a bullet between your eyes myself. Am I clear?”

She gulped eyes wide and terrified. “Yes, sir.”

“Good!” His expression changed instantly, a charming grin spreading over his lips. “Welcome to the family.”

#bts #bts fic #yandere bts #bts yoongi #bts suga #yoongi x oc #suga x oc #min yoongi #suga #yandere suga #yandere yoongi #a dangerous game #dark romance #mafia #mafia au #mafia yoongi #mafia suga #adg universe

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knightprincess · 3 years

Text

Always (Crosshair x Jedi Reder) Pt.1

Description Crosshair x Fem Jedi Reader! Reader is the adoptive daughter of Darth Maul and the former Padawan of Quinlan Vos. Although having no legion of your own, you are respected among clones, yet you are surprised when cadets whisper your name as if you are some sort of legend upon arriving on Kamino to train and eventually command Clone Force 99 Warning: Future installments may contain mature content. Warnings will be given. Word count: 1303 Also found on: Quotev.com and Wattpad.com

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Trust. Not something Jedi Knight (Y/N) (Y/L/N) was used to. Even as a Jedi, several council members mistrusted her due to her status of being the adoptive daughter of a fierce Sith Lord. In this case Darth Maul. Yet none the less, they had taken you in when your father was presumed dead. She had been the Padawan of Jedi Master Quinlan Vos, he being one of the few Jedi Masters whom was able to look past her heritage and train her, teaching her to control her powerful natural gifts within the force and his unorthodox ways. Yet he hadn't tried to drill the former Sith training out of her, instead accepting it, as if he sensed it would be useful in the future or helped to make his Padawan even more powerful and unique than others her age.

Quinlan Vos wasn't all that surprised when you earned the rank of Jedi Knight at the age of sixteen, being the youngest to do so. She had done it by ignoring direct order from the Council no less, although she'd paid the price of it when being struck twice with laser bolts. One across her left eye, leaving a permanent scar and temporary blindness. The other going through her the right side of her toned stomach, again leaving a scar this time on both sides, her stomach and her lower back. He was proud of his Padawan, more than happy to revive her old title of Night Princess, although he hadn't let her forget the title, often calling her by Princess during training.

When the war began, initially the Jedi Council was hesitant to even send (Y/N) anywhere, although she had helped in the Battle of Geonosis. Only when the Chancellor had ordered she be sent as back up to others, was she finally allowed to help in the war effort. Yet that had only lasted around a year before she had been re-routed to Kamino. The home of the clone army. Upon arriving Shaak Ti, had greeted her, clearly being the one to request (Y/N) to join her there, only explaining your transfer while walking down the crisp white halls of Tipoca City.

"I requested your assistance for training purposes" started Shaak Ti, being sure to inform the young Jedi Knight why she had requested her, even when others showed little trust. "Myself and the Chancellor think your skills would help when it comes to the training of an experimental unit. Upon reaching the battle field they will be solely under your command" she continued, yet that had caught the Jedi Knight's attention. (Y/N) didn't have a clone legion of her own, although she'd quickly become respected among the clones for her determination not to do anything to cause unnecessary loss, and the will not to call them by their numbers, but rather by the names they chose themselves.

"Interesting" stated (Y/N) as the pair of Jedi, walked through the halls, walking over the areas where the cadets were trained, where they collected their helmets and finally the mess hall. "Who are these cadets?" she asked, being sure to keep her long black hair over her shoulder as the pair walked through corridor after corridor. Only now reaching the barracks. (Y/N) could see and sense the confusion of the cadets as the pair walked through, Shaak Ti clearly knowing where she was going, especially since she'd been stationed there since the war had started, overseeing the training of all clones.

"Clone Force 99" stated Shaak Ti, giving her the name of the small experimental unit. (Y/N) wasn't expecting a large group, so was thrilled when Shaak Ti handed her the data-pad with the information on. There she was given the profiles of each cadet. Discovering not only was there four of them, but all four had "desirable mutations". Ranging from intelligence to sense and even brute strength. Yet only as they drew closer and the more (Y/N) read about the experimental group did she begin to wonder why the Chancellor had trusted her with the troops? Why he always seemed to try and help her when others ignored her? Yet the young Jedi Knight soon pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind upon the pair of Jedi stopping in front of the door to the private barracks. There Shaak Ti left you, returning to her normal job of overseeing the clones training and working closely with the Kaminoans.

Only now did (Y/N) being to wonder what the Clones knew of her. After all she was a general without army, although she had since heard the younger cadets whisper her name as if she was some sort of legend. Although even she questioned what she had done to become a whispered name so quickly. Maybe it was her antics on the battlefield or her reckless ways before the war had started. Yet she also wondered whom had first spoken of her, or if her information was available on data-pads the cadets and troops had access to. If so she wondered what was written of her. Yet upon entering the room before her, she was met with her own private quarters, an office of sorts through one black and white door and a bathroom through the other. The office having its own entrance to the corridor outside.

(Y/N) soon sat on the seating area offered across from the bed. The stormy weather outside doing little to bother her as she began to read the files on the four cadets she would be training in more depth. A picture of each attached, yet she found herself curious about them, they didn't look like the regular clones she'd constantly worked with since the war began. They were different, like she was. Maybe that was why they were paired with her, because she could understand them better than any other Jedi Generals. That and she didn't have a Padawan to slow her down as others did.

"Clone Force 99. Made up of Sargent CT-9903 whom has enhanced senses, specializes in tracking" muttered (Y/N) noticing quickly how neither of the four had their own individual names, instead only had the numbers to separate them from millions of other clones. Something she was sure to change upon her first given opportunity, although she forced herself to promise to only do so upon knowing them. Although she hoped they'd already found their own names, she didn't want to call them by numbers, despite being Kaminoan property, they were still human and thrust she would treat them as such. "CT-9902, specializes in demolition, enhanced strength. CT-9904, enhanced vision, specializes as a sniper and a quick thinker" continued (Y/N), upon reading through what was written about each, although only saying what made them different from others out loud as if to remind herself why she was there in the first place. "And finally CT-9905, enhanced intelligence and the youngest of the four" finished the young Jedi Knight, finding herself looking forward to the following day when she would finally be able to meet the four in person, rather than just speculate about them.

Yet still that didn't stop her wondering about them. What did they expect her to be like? Did they believe she would be as carefree with their lives as other generals had been known to be. Did they even know she was female and as young as she was. After all despite her accolades, she was still only nineteen, far younger than most and only a year younger than her best friend, the famed Chosen One. She had done all she could to better understand each troop as an individual, even learning Mando'a. The young Jedi intending on doing a similar thing with four troops of Clone Force 99 as well.

Master List

#crosshair x reader #xjedi #crosshair #the bad batch #the clone wars #hunter #tech #wrecker #echo #jedi knight #starwars

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s-horne · 3 years

Text

for @maguna-stxrk based on this prompt 💖

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“For the last time, Tony, I am not going to ask them if they sell coffee by the gallon. I’m pretty sure that would kill you.”

“It doesn’t hurt to ask.”

“But it does hurt to drink that much coffee. Even if they did, which they don’t, I’m not risking it. You don’t need any help in endangering yourself.”

“I resent that.”

“And I don’t care,” Steve said back. The queue moved forward and Steve stepped closer to the till, already feeling slightly more awake than he’d been before he’d been hit with the scent of fresh coffee. “I’m not helping you with a caffeine overdose.”

“Think of it as a science experiment.”

Steve huffed, moving with the line again. It was going quickly and his mouth was practically watering at the thought of his sweet morning pick-me-up. “I don’t do science.”

“Do it for me,” Tony wheedled, his voice not quite as convincing over the phone as it would have been in person, but still enough to make Steve wish he could do what Tony was asking. He was always weak around Tony. It was something of a problem. “Please.”

“Wow.” Steve paused mid-yawn. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say please before.”

Tony let out an indignant huff. “I say please.”

“No, you don’t. It’s part of having the Stark charm – everyone just does what you want without you having to ask nicely. Or even ask anything, for that matter.”

“Ooh,” Tony said, smirk clear in his tone, “are you saying you find me charming?”

Rolling his eyes so hard he was almost worried for himself, Steve moved his cell to his other ear and reached into his pocket for his wallet. “You wish. Anyway, I’m nearly ordering. Did you actually want anything? A real order,” he said quickly before Tony could say anything to the tune of ‘all the coffee in the shop’, “nothing that could be fatal. Or illegal.”

“Spoilsport,” Tony muttered and Steve could just picture his pout. “No, I’ll be okay. If it isn’t 99% caffeine, there’s just no point.”

With another eye roll and a soft laugh, Steve shook his head. “Goodbye, Tony. Please make sure my computer is on. I know you’re sitting in my office to avoid Pepper. But please don’t be playing games on it – last time you downloaded something and the music started playing when I was on a conference call.”

“I have to hide; she’s on the warpath! I only forgot one piece of paperwork. I don’t deserve the punishment that I know she has lined up for me.”

“See you in 10.” With a laugh at Tony’s expense, Steve hung up just as the line moved and he was up to order.

“Morning,” Steve said to the young woman behind the counter.

“Morning,” she said back with a smile. “What can I get for you?”

“Mocha, please. To-go, medium, thank you. Oh, and a raspberry muffin,” he added when the girl started typing on the till. “I’d better get him something.”

“Is that for your partner? You two sounded so close.”

Steve fumbled with his wallet, fingers slipping on his card as he pulled it out. “Tony? Oh, no,” he said quickly. He felt his cheeks color and he looked down with a self-deprecating chuckle. “I wish. He doesn’t see me like that. We’re just work colleagues.”

“Oh.” The barista sounded as disappointed as Steve felt on a daily basis, but gave him a smile and a shrug. “He talks to you like there’s something, from what I could hear.”

Steve didn’t know what to say and had only managed to splutter out a few nonsensical words before she printed his receipt and handed it over.

“And you’re taking him a muffin. Well, that’s a guaranteed way to his heart.”

How Steve wished that were true. If that were actually the case, then they would have been together for years.

Even with Tony being his superior in the office, Steve had quickly realised that Tony did not take care of himself and had felt an urge to do it for him. More evenings than not, Tony would be the last person in the office and at lunchtimes Tony would stay in his office, long conference calls trapping him as everyone else went off to eat.

It was in Steve’s nature to provide for people. He couldn’t see someone not taking care of themselves and just walk away. His mother hadn’t raised him that way. Despite the slightly uneven feeling and his colleagues gently teasing him that Steve was only trying to get a salary increase, Steve had started adding to his morning order at the coffee shop and doubling his lunches. They had only been boring sandwiches and the occasional salad back then, but Steve reckoned it was better than nothing at all. He’d left them on Tony’s desk at the very beginning with nothing but a sticky note telling him to take a 5 minute break to eat. It hadn’t taken Tony long to warm up to Steve and, before Steve had even realised what was happening, he had a new best friend to share his lunch break with every day, the two of them alternating whose office they sat in and who paid for their meals.

But that was all. Colleagues turned best friends. End of the story.

“Order for Steve?”

Steve jolted out of his thoughts and lifted a hand as he hurried over to the counter.

“Go get him,” the barista called from the till with a wink and Steve laughed, ducking his head when most of the customers turned to look at him curiously.

“Well, that was embarrassing,” Steve heard as he left the shop and fell into step with the crowds on the street.

He nodded and huffed a short laugh before he realised whose voice it was. Tony?

Panic flooding him, Steve fumbled with the cup and takeaway bag in his hands to look at the phone screen sticking out of the top pocket of his jacket. Tapping it frantically, he was met not with his lock screen photo of his baby nephew, but with the call screen informing him that his connection with Tony was still very much live. He was also somehow on speaker.

“Does the whole shop know now?”

“Fuck!” Steve transferred the pastry bag and hot cup to one hand and jammed the phone between his ear and shoulder. “Tony?”

“Yup. You didn’t hang up.”

“I never do!” Steve answered, voice betraying his panic. “Whenever I used to, you threatened to tell our boss because you said it was rude to hang up on a superior! So then I just stopped – it wasn’t worth the teasing. You were meant to hang up!”

Tony laughed. “Still can’t believe you fell for that. Anyway, I think we have something to talk about, don’t we?”

Steve could say no. He could brush it all aside and pretend that it had all been a joke or a big misunderstanding. It would be so easy; it would save him from any awkward conversation, from a broken heart when Tony let him down gently.

But, he didn’t want that. He wanted to take a chance, didn’t he? What if there was something there?

Didn’t he owe it to himself - to himself and Tony - to at least try?

He wanted the hugs, the kisses. He wanted the late nights and the lazy mornings in bed; he even wanted the arguments and the yelling that would no doubt be inevitable one day.

“I think so,” Steve finally said, voice quiet but sure. “I’m on my way now.”

“I’m in your office,” Tony said and Steve smiled.

“Aren’t you always?”

“You love it,” the smile was clear in Tony’s voice, any hesitation gone as he fell back into his familiar teasing. “Don’t you?”

“Yes,” Steve said immediately, automatically, whether Tony had been expecting an answer or not. “Stay there. And stop playing games on my computer!”

“Never! See you in a bit. With my muffin.”

Steve grinned even wider. He was getting predictable, but maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. “Yes,” he said, fondness that could be heard a mile off seeping into his tone, “yes, I got you a muffin – that you never actually said you wanted.”

“My hero.” There was a pause. “Hurry?”

Wild horses couldn’t have stopped Steve when he knew what was waiting for him at the office and he clutched the phone tighter, dodging a dog sniffing at a streetlamp and a cyclist hurtling towards him. “I’m coming. Five minutes. Less than, even.”

“Good. I’ve already been waiting too long.”

#you are an enabler who reblogs things that make me want to write even though i gavethat all up #i wrote a thing #well attempted a thing anyway #stony fic #stevetony fic #stony au #stevetony fic rec #stony fic rec #stony #stevetony #steve rogers #tony stark #BASED ON A WRITING PROMPT #I hope you enjoy this #you deserve fluffy things

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thedevildomdaily · 3 years

Text

Demonic Possessions Chapter 7: Her Favorite Color

Note: Here’s the Master List for the full story. I recommend reading my stuff on my actual Blog if you enjoy OM! official music! Thank you so much for the support. Please let me hear from you in the comment section. I wanna talk OM!

Warnings: Swearing, NSFW (I told you I’d get to it soon lol)

“For the last time… I.DON’T. KNOW!!!”

It was another chaotic morning in the House of Lamentation. It was hard for Lucifer to believe that his home could become any more turbulent and disordered than it had been for the centuries that he and his younger brothers arrived in the Devildom. The arrival of the nephilim proved otherwise.

He sat at his seat in the dining room with his eyes closed, cup of coffee in hand; his posed as regal and reserved as usual, giving a false sense of calm. Lilly sat at his left, stealing a glance at him to see if he was going to do anything about the riot in progress in the attic.

The other residents looked up at the swinging chandelier, flinched at the occasional slamming of objects, and the slur of unbecoming language being exchanged between the eldest and youngest nephilim.

“I have a notion as to why their kind was expelled out of the Celestial Kingdom…” Satan said aloud as he took a bite of toast.”

Mammon scratched his head and looked at Asmodeus, “And why exactly are they try’n to kill each other this morning?”

“Oh!” The lustful demon chuckled, “It’s quite simple really. They are arguing over the color pallet of the room.”

“You’re tell’n me they are screaming over paint colors all mornin, wake’n me up so damn early!?” Mammon gritted his teeth.

“It’s kind of a big deal though…” Asmo explained, “The colors of your wall not only set the mood for the room, but also dictate the color of everything else in the room: curtains, comforters, accent pillows, rugs, the furniture itself...and then you have to consider the theme! Are you going modern, Victorian, futuristic? It’s actually a very serious situation. I remember when my bathroom was painted eggshell and not silverscreen! I was furious and nearly murdered my interior designer…”

Mammon stared at his younger brother, judging him for how serious he was about that incident. Lucifer had to intervene on the account that the designer in question was the royal designer in charge of the decor for social gatherings in the castle. Diavolo would’ve been upset if his designer was flayed to death.

When silence finally fell upon them, the brothers and Lilly sighed collectively before continuing the morning meal. Then entered Lena.

Mammon jumped at the door flying open near him. Satan, Belphegor, and Asmo laughed and teased their older brother’s reaction.

“Damn psychopath….” Lena muttered to herself with grit teeth as she pulled her chair back and sat down with extra force. She began to quickly grab at food, tossing it onto her plate, knowing she had to act fast before Beelzabub devoured everything.

The nephilim felt eyes upon her, but she didn’t address anyone at first. She just continued to get her food and began to eat.

With a mischievous grin, Amso was the first to break the silence, “Leee-nnnaaa...I missed snuggling with you last night…” He gave wink at her when she glanced in his direction. “Are you really okay with crashing on Lilly’s couch?”

“Not really, but it looks like I’ll be sleeping there for a while longer.” Lena stabbed into her scrambled eggs in anger, “Azriel has flooded my brain with so many decisions about colors and I’m about to scream…”

“And what was that a moment ago?” Mammon dared to ask.

A black aura formed around the nephilim and her eyes glared heavily at the second eldest demon, “A warning that apparently isn’t being heeded…” the greedy brother gulped and looked back down at his nearly empty plate.

“Seriously though, I’m so sorry. I’ve brought a lot of chaos into your home in the form of my brother…” her eyes raised to look at everyone and fell upon an indifferent Lucifer. “And sorry for waking everyone up so early this morning.”

“It’s okay...we’re totally used to this kinda of commotion...right guys?” Lilly responded, looking around to get others to join in.

“Oh um…” Leviathan’s face got red, “Y-yeah...usually it’s Mammon causing the Chaos...so this is really a nice change!”

Asmo and Satan chimed-in, agreeing with their older brother. Belphie yawned and nodded while Beel kept chowing down. It made Lilly calm down, glad her apology was accepted. Only Lucifer neglected to acknowledge or accept her apology. Well that and Mammon pouted at being picked on by everyone again.

************************************

Lena lingered in her last class of the day. She was looking at her phone, researching color options for her room. She promised her brother that she would reach a decision by the time she got back home to the House of Lamentation.

Not paying attention to where she was walking, the nephilim bumped into what felt like a brick wall. She quickly stumbled back and looked up. It was Lord Diavolo, accompanied by his stewart, Barbatos. Was everyone over a foot taller than her? No, the angel baby wasn’t.

“S-sorry Lord Diavolo!” Lena said with a clear look of embarrassment across her face. There was something about the prince that made her feel timid and jittery. Definitely unable to look him directly in the eye. It was so unlike her. “I should’ve paid more attention to where I’m going and not at my DDD…”

“It’s quite alright. The halls are empty now so the percentage of you walking into someone was extremely low…” he responded with a chuckle in his voice. He was always smiling and in good spirits. He also had this knowing expression in his eyes. Yeah, that’s what had her frazzled. His expression...and not those broad shoulders or the muscles that peaked through his school uniform shirt. Not his massive size and confident aura...and now she was staring at his tie.

“Miss Lena...are you okay?” he asked, seeing how she was spacing-out while glancing up at him.

“Oh uhm, I...I was just deep in thought about...COLOR CHOICES! Yes, color choices. I have no idea what to pick and I can’t go back to the House of Lamentation until I have or my brother will go off again…”

Diavolo chuckled and exchanged looks with Barbatos. The prince’s stewart gave Lena a very calming smile and asked, “If you don’t mind, may we see the colors you're considering? We could give you our opinion.”

Lena regained some of her composure and turned her DDD so the two powerful demons could take a look. “See, Azriel went overboard as usual. Now I know the difference between 99% of these colors; the tones lean to one side or another and the values vary going this way...I love color theory as an artist myself so it’s a really hard decision for either of us to decide on.”

Giving it a serious thought, Lord Diavolo took the nephilim’s phone to hold it closer. His large hand overlapped Lena’s, causing a deep crimson to spread across her normally snow white complexion. If he noticed, the prince didn’t give an indication. Barbatos smiled as usual and used his fist to cough slightly, catching his Master’s attention.

Looking back down at the blushing nephilim who’s arm was raised high at him and then to Barbatos, the demon prince chuckled and lowered his hand and gave an apology. “Well I’m not so versed in color theory, but these group of colors here really catch my attention. What do you think Barbatos?”

“A splendid choice.” he agreed, “And you might consider using these colors as accents once the room has been painted…”

“Barbatos is in charge of all decorating in the castle. His tastes are superb and he’s never let me down when setting up for events.” the prince boasted.

Lena thanked them both after looking at the colors they selected. “You guys are onto something with these. Thank you guys so much! I was afraid I might have to just camp out here tonight!” she chuckled.

“What are they onto?” A sudden voice boomed from the shadowy hallway behind the prince. Suddenly Lucifer came into view. He looked down at Lena with a hint of suspicion in his eyes.

“Oh Luci! We just helped narrow down some color choices for Lena’s room. We heard it’s been rather interesting at The House of Lamentation in the mornings over this…” Diavolo chuckled. His voice was deep and boisterous. Lena could drink in that deep laughter for eternity she thought to herself.

“My Lord, if you have time to pick Lena’s colors, then you have time to go over those documents I sent you….” the demon scolded. “Lena, you are without your escort so I will accompany you home now.” Lena had sent Levi away since he was in a rush to pick up an order of “great importance” from Akuzon before Mammon could get to it.

“Haha, looks like I’ve been caught by Luci!” Diavolo responded, scratching the back of his head. We better return to the student council room before we get in trouble Barbatos.”

“Thank you both again.” Lena chimed. She followed after Lucifer, but looked back at the two, mouthing the words “I’m sorry” to them both. The demons both gave her a smile and Diavolo waved at her before heading back in the opposite direction.

********************

Lena and Lucifer walked home in silence for the most part. It felt both tense and awkward for the nephilim. The demon was a man of few words it seemed and she didn’t know how to communicate with him. It bothered her, but he didn’t understand why.

“So uh…” she began, looking down at the ground

“Yes?” he responded, with almost slight irritation in his voice, “What is it you want to say?”

“Well, this morning...I apologized for mine and my brother’s behavior and disruption of your morning.”

Lucifer waited a moment for her to continue, but when Lena didn’t, he let out a sigh, “Are you worried by my lack of direct response to your apology Miss Lena?”

The way he asked that rubbed Lena the wrong way; there was a smugness in his voice that reminded her of the Council of Elders the Van Helsing’s worked with. They always treated her poorly because of not only her mixed race, but her gender as well.

“I wouldn’t say ‘worried’ per say..” she responded with her own level of annoyance in her voice, “I just think it’s rather rude. If someone goes out of their way to apologize for something, especially before anyone comments on it, it warrants a response.”

“And was my silence over the matter not a response in itself Miss Lena?” The eldest demon brother didn’t even look at her once as he spoke. It was becoming more infuriating and she could see why Satan and Belphegor were always talking about pranking him. She’d have to get in on it sometimes. Give them more daring options to annoy the hell out of this pompous ass.

��I guess it was a response. But maybe it could give an undesired translation…” she hesitated with a cocked eyebrow. Lucifer didn’t comment, but she caught him giving a slight glare in her direction. “I might take that silence as indifference to how much noise I may make in the morning. It may lead to me thinking that it’s okay to blast my metal….no dubstep music in the mornings while i do my workout routine before showering.”

There was a moment of silence as they approached The House of Lamentation’s front gates. Then Lucifer gave the most ominous chuckle that Lena had ever heard. It was the complete opposite of Lord Diavolo’s. “Was that a threat Miss Lena?” he asked rhetorically, “You really think I’d let you ‘blast’ that sort of abominable form of music before sunrise in my home?” He finally fully turned to look down at her with that intimidating expression.

Lena looked right back at him with the same expression. It was like a contest of wills and all she could think of was that this demon was nothing more than a pretentious asshole. And the way he looked down at her, both literally and metaphorically, made her want to stomp his foot.

“What are you two doing?” a sudden voice behind them called.

It was Beelzabub with a couple sacks of burgers in hand, with a single burger hanging from his mouth.

“Nothing.” Lucifer glared at his youngest brother. “And why are you eating all of that? It’s Satan’s turn to cook tonight.” He paused for a moment and shook his head before going on by himself into the house.

Both Lena and Beel just stood and watched him leave. “Your brother can be a real piece of work, ya know that Beel?” He blinked back in response for a moment.

“I don’t know what you two were talking about, but Lucifer doesn’t talk a whole bunch unless he’s scolding or directing us…”

“Ah, he’s a Mr. Bossy Pants type. I guess it’s in the name though, right? Avatar of Pride. He’s probably never admitted to be wrong about anything has he? She asked, walking slowly with the redheaded demon.

Beelzabub thought long and hard about it for a moment, “I guess not. I’m not sure he’s ever been wrong about anything...except with his actions towards Be- oh, nevermind that. It’s in the past.”

Lena put his response in a pocket in the back of her mind. Having a little insight on the head demon in charge that even manages to boss Lord Diavolo around is nice.

*****************************

“There you are! I tried to ask Levi where you were but he grabbed his Akuzon package bolted to his room.” Lilly shouted when Lena and Beelzebub entered the house.

Lena chuckled and explained what happened up until this point. This caused Lilly to sigh and shake her head. “Sounds like Lucifer alright. He’s just hard to read, but don’t take his comments or silence for that matter personally. It’s just how he is. You’ll get used to it after awhile. And who knows, he might start talking in multiple sentences after getting to know you better.”

“Ha! That’s assuming he’d ever want to get to know me. I can tell he’s just under obligation to all me to stay here. He’d toss me out given the first chance he got. It makes me even more happy to have Lord Diavolo in my corner…” Lena couldn’t hold back her dreamy sigh, which caused the human to chuckle. Yeah it was pretty damn obvious what the nephilim was thinking about.

*************

Both Lilly and Asmodeus accompanied Lena up to the attic to see what her brothers had accomplished. Apparently Zak had given up on his plans to assist in keeping his siblings from causing too much trouble. It was a full time job he truly wished he got paid for.

Asmo had attached himself to Lena, always holding her hand or wrapped his arms around her like she was a stuffed animal. She didn’t mind it. He was a super clingy, affectionate type. And he smelled absolutely amazing.

“My dear brothers,” she began, “I have returned, as promised, with my final decisions for the colors we’ll be working with.”

Asmo looked down, over her shoulder at the pallet, but not before glancing at her cleavage and giving a sneaky little grin. “Oh my, Leeee-na! I adore these colors!”

“Thanks! I couldn’t have made my decision without Lord Diavolo or Barbatos. They both have great taste…” Lena gushed. Lilly and Asmo looked at each other and giggled at their friend’s response.

Azriel, in a comedic dash, ran to his sister and took the DDD from her. His eyes widened as he studied her choices carefully. “Lena….who picked these?”

“Uh, oh that would be Barbatos. He’s quite talented isn’t he?” Lena nodded. She could tell her brother was impressed. He had that glint in his eye that was a combination of joy and admiration only an artist could have. “They told me he choses all of the designs for the Academy and the castle…”

“I will have to pick his brain when opportunity knocks...he does show a refine taste for style and harmonization of colors. And he was a genius with the values he suggested for the accents.”

Zak looked at their sister and chuckled, “Barbatos better watch out. Someone may have a Stan on their case..” Lena laughed and nodded. It was very seldom that their big brother complimented someone else’s tastes. Azriel could sometimes be even more of a snob than Lucifer.

“All the teasing aside, I’d definitely like to thank them for their assistance. And with the colors selected, do we officially have a game plan ready for this remodel now?” The female nephilim asked.

Azriel nodded, “Yes! Let’s get to work, people! We’ve got a job to do!”

Zak and Azriel were going to stay in the attic to work on the necessary repairs needed before any painting could be done. Asmo and Lilly volunteered to take Lena shopping for the paints. This was for the best so Azriel wouldn’t go into another shopping frenzy.

****************

When the trio returned home, everyone had already ate dinner and were going about their own business as usual. Asmo had texted Satan ahead to let him know that he and the girls were going to grab a bite from Hell’s Kitchen while they were out so he wouldn’t have to fend off Beel on their account.

They delivered the buckets of paint and needed supplies for Lena’s brothers to get started. “Don’t stay up working on this too late please. Get your beauty rest big brother… and you too Zak.” The masculine brother chuckled and joked about it some before resuming the work being done on the ceiling.

“And thank you both for taking me to the store and out for dinner.” Lena pulled Lilly and Asmo in a little hug before letting them go. Asmo held onto her a bit longer, being his clingy, flirty self.

“And what do I get for helping you today, hmmm?” he practically whispered it into her hear, purposely grazing his soft lips against the shell of her ear. He discovered that was one of the little nephilim’s weaknesses.

Lips suddenly pressed against his cheek, causing an instant rosiness. “How about that kiss?” she chuckled. Lilly just watched the two flirt and shook her head with a smile.

“Careful, he will be relentless with you now.” The human headed to Mammon’s room to hang with her bro, or to pester him at the very least.

“Maybe I want a little more than just a kiss Leee-na…” Asmo continued, pulling her into a full hug. Her right arm hugged his waist, but her other held a bag in it. “I did manual labor for you today…”

Lena smirked back, enjoying all the flirtation they shared. It was nice to be sought after, especially after an intense breakup she went through recently. “Well, I suppose I could give you a bit...more…” she teased him and used a bit of her nephilim strength to push the Avatar of Lust against the wall by his bedroom door. She stood on her tiptoes and gave him a direct kiss on the mouth, teasing him with the slightest moan, and sucking his bottom lip as she slowly pulled away. “And that’s all you get...for now my lovely.”

As she pulled away, Asmo let out a whimper. Not because he was weak to her, but because he was holding back his desires and his demonic urges. He really wanted to know what it was to fully experience a nephilim. “You’re so mean Leeee-na….” he pouted.

“I get that a lot.” she chuckled in response, “I do need to make a delivery before I get ready to crash for the night. I know my brothers won’t be letting me sleep in tomorrow.”

*****************

After a plethora of flirtations and teasing, Asmo finally retreated to his room. Lena smiled, biting her bottom lip as she walked away from the intense temptations he urged her with.

No, the nephilim had other plans that evening. In the bag she held onto was a gift for her guide and fellow nerd. She walked to Leviathan’s door and knocked. Of course there was an immedite request for a passphrase. “Leviiii..it’s me, Lena. you know I have no idea about Devildom Anime or manga yet. That’s why I’m here..”

There was a long pause before Leviathan opened his door. He hesitated before peeking around to make sure Lena was alone. He then slipped back into his room. Since the door didn’t shut in her face, she assumed she had permission to enter.

“So, you’ve returned from your filler quest for 6 buckets of paint, 10 paint brushes, and bonus loot?” The Avatar of Envy asked. It made Lena smile widely, understanding the typical MMORPG quest type he referred.

“That I have. And I’ve returned with my selected rare items of choice.” Lena held up and wiggled a bag before Leviathan. “I, alas, am not the required class for this prize. However, I did know a party member that is.”

Lena handed him the bag. Leviathan was at first reluctant to take it; his eyes peeked through his bangs at her for a moment before looking inside at these ‘rare items’. He acknowledged her reference. She was no mere normie after all. And when he realize what she was giving him, his face lit up like the Beacons of Gondor!

“OOOOMMMMDDDDD!!!! LENA!” he shouted, quickly removing the gatcha figurines from the bag. “Are you seriously giving these to me?! No way! This must be a sick joke…” he was almost in tears.

They were the other two ultra rare gacha figurines that would now complete the rare collector’s set he had been trying to get for the last two months. Lena remembered how excited he was when she got one of them by pure luck the other night and wanted to try for him while she was out tonight.

Apparently she did good. Lilly and Asmo had picked their seat and placed the orders for the table while she try-hard-moded at the gacha machine until she got the prizes she wanted. She’d accumulated a small audience of young demon children, giving them the prizes she didn’t want. It was quite the scene.

“So, did I get the right ones?” she asked hesitantly. She’d not oblige him with the details of how much grimm she spent getting those for him. She just wanted to thank him for being a great tour guide and opening up to her a bit more at a time.

Leviathan nodded, holding them, and trying not to cry. “ARIGATO!” he yelled and began to carefully remove each figure from their boxes. He already had the others on display with two empty figure stands awaiting these last two models.

He stood back in admiration. “There’s nothing like completing a full set..” he said aloud. He was unaware that Lena stood close to him on his left. He was in complete otaku bliss.

“Right...the full set. I’m so happy I could help.” she replied, causing Levi to let out a small yelp and go completely red from head to toe. “Hey, come back!”

He’d took a large step away from her and she moved in his direction. “Why are you avoiding me now? Do I smell like paint that bad?” Lena sniffed at her shoulder.

“N-n-n-o! You smell like rose and peonies and human sunshine…” Levi blurted. It made Lena blink and then smile, covering her mouth. “I-I just have major personal space issues, ok. I don’t get close to anyone, especially 3D females..i'll stick with my 2D waifus...I-”

He stopped talking, getting more embarrassed at admitting that to the female nephilim slowly approaching him. He felt like he would be betraying ruri-chan if getting any closer to Lena that what he already was.

“Do you not like...3D females?” Lena asked, taking a step towards him. It was a legitimate question to her. She’d leave him alone if he answered that he didn’t. But there was no response.

The statement Lucifer made earlier came to mind, “...my silence over the matter is not a response in itself…” Lena’s brows raised and she got it.

“It’s not that you don’t like 3D females...it’s that you’ve never gotten to be near them, right?”

“I-I guess so. I mean, why would anyone want to get close to a shut-in otaku nerd like me?” He responded, squinting his eyes shut.

Lena, however, furrowed his eyebrows, “Oh I dunno. Could it be because that shut-in otaku is really attractive, smart, hilarious when commentating on his brother’s antics, and really passionate and enthusiastic about what he likes?” she did not like it when people talked bad about themselves. She was the type of person to say ‘no, you are amazing af and here’s why!’

Hearing those compliments, Leviathan was shocked. Daring to open his eyes, the demon was face to face with the nephilim. Or as face-to-face as one could be with such a height difference. His body remained red and he couldn’t take his eyes away from hers.

“Leviathan, you have made me feel more at ease than anyone else in the Devildom. And it’s been wonderful getting to share my nerdy side with someone without judgement. Even when it’s playful, it can take its toll. I know that all too well.” Her hand reached for his. He flinched, but allowed her to take it.

“But I am a no good, dirty otaku that blows all of money on-”

“No! I don’t want to hear it Mr. And look who you’re talking to! I have a room back home, larger than your foyer with my collection of stuff. And did you see how much my brother and I spent on clothes. Pl-lease! You’re not the only nerd or over-spender. And tonight, I spent all my grimm on that gacha game without batting an eyelash. I-”

Oops. she spilled the beans on that one. She felt him return a solid grip on her hand. “You spent all of your grimm on the gacha...and gave it to me?”

Lena found herself looking away for a moment, “I mean, yeah. You’ve tried for 2 months to get that collection, and I had a natural talent for it...so I thought what the hell! Let’s complete that set.” She chuckled for a moment, looking at the bewildered demon. Who knew they could make such an expression. Or have such self-doubt.

Finding herself staring at Leviathan, Lena’s eyes left his own and focused in on his lips. He bit on his bottom lip nervously. “You seemed to gloss over my compliment of how attractive you are as well…” At that he shrinked more.

“N-no I’m not. Look at my hair…” he argued.

“You’re hair color is literally my favorite color...you’ll see soon.” The comment puzzled him just enough to lift his guard in time for Lena to kiss him on the lips.

“Wwwmmmgh!” Levi wanted to do his typical scream, but found himself in almost a daze as the nephilim stole his breath. She. just. KISSED. Him. Leviathan.

There were a couple of small kisses that followed, all leaving Leviathan speechless. Lena let go of his hand, observing his response. She wasn’t sure if a demon could go catatonic or not, but Leviathan was proving it to be possible.

“L-Levi….?” she whispered gently.

“Mmmmh-hmmm….” he squeaked.

“Are you okay?”

“Mmmmh-hmmm….” he squeaked again.

“Did you...like it?” Lena asked, finding herself feeling a little less confident in the moment. She’d never had this sort of reaction before. Did demons like kissing? Asmo was the Avatar of Lust, so maybe he was an exception?

Finally there was another “Mmmmh-hmmm” response. Leviathan did like the series of small kisses. He REALLY liked them. He was just so shocked that a beautiful, 3D female actually did that.

This response made Lena smile with relief and excitement. Not thinking, she hugged him, placing her head in his chest. “Oh, I’m so glad. I thought you were appalled by that. I-”

She paused, hearing the sound of a freight train within the demon’s chest. That proved A. Demons in fact had hearts and B. They could beat insanely fast under the right circumstances. And those circumstances at the moment included kissing, hugging, pretty much any direct physical contact. Oh yeah, and her large chest pressing against him. Leviathan was probably about to die any moment now.

“Le-Lena…” he whispered awkwardly, “L-let go..please…”

“Uhm, sure. Sorry…” She pulled away. She didn’t realize she had him pressed against his closet door with no room to move.

Leviathan took a deep breath and went to sit in his computer chair. She watched him silently stare into nothingness for a moment and eventually went to take a seat on the side of his bathtub bed.

Before she made it over there, the demon reached and grabbed her wrist, stopping her in her tracks. It was a firm grip at first but he instantly loosened it up. He was all sorts of nervous and she found it completely endearing.

“That was...amazing.’ He finally said, “I’ve never…...that was amazing…” He was trying to communicate his feelings despite all of his embarrassment.

“It was...your lips are incredibly soft…” Lena chuckled.

He peeked up at her, almost irritated like it was an insult instead of a compliment.

She sensed that and quickly continued, “It makes me want to do it again...and again…” She bit her own, looking down at him. She knew that he was clearly super sensitive, which she could work with. He was so cute and she met every compliment she gave him before.

“Do you want to kiss me….more? For real?” Leviathan hesitantly asked. He knew he wanted to kiss her. A lot. It was just so hard to imagine she would do such a thing with him. Maybe it was a spur of the moment and she wasn’t thinking when she did it. Was it an attempt to make him feel better. Surely she couldn’t have any feelings for him.

“Absolutely, Levi-kun…” she replied in a sweet, yet seductive tone. She realized during this silence he was overthinking things.She stepped closer, then sat down on the demon’s lap.

Instantly he squirmed, never imagining something like this would happen to him in a millenia. A beautiful 3D, real creature sat in his...LAP!

“I want to kiss you a lot...and maybe do...this and that…” She whispered into his ear, similarly to how Asmo did to her before. She knew he’d get that typical manga line.

“Th-th-th-th-this a-a-and THAT!!!?” he shouted.

Lena chuckled and placed a finger over his lip to quiet him down. “We can start with kissing for now Levi. I just want to make sure you’re consenting and really want to...I’m not pressuring you at all…”

“P-pressure? No pressure!” Levi responded, staring at her. He was distracted about, well, everything: The feeling of a person in his lap. He really had to keep calm about that. The feeling of her chest against his again. “I...just..this is..”

“...New?” she finished for him. He nodded rapidly. “Well then, if that’s the case, I’ll just help you get used to it.” Lena leaned against him and planted a kiss on his cheek and then on the mouth. The demon almost threw her onto the floor, surprised by the sudden kiss again. It was hard for her to keep from giggling at his reactions. She enjoyed them a little too much.

The two of them continued to practice getting used to the kissing and touching the rest of the night. She wasn’t sure if he was a complete virgin or just out of touch since they age so slowly. She would never dream of asking him directly and decided to take it slow on him.

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bangtan-dreamland · 4 years

Text

A Fairy Tale’s End [Chapter 1]

Pairing: ot7 x reader

Word Count: 11,609

Rating: pg-13

Warning: reader is stressed and anxious 99% of this chapter, brief mentions of a war, several bad encounters with the members who are (for now) jerks

Genre: a little bit of angst, e2l, fantasy!au, supernatural/fairytale!BTS

Summary: You wanted, for once, to be someone important, someone needed- to be wanted and appreciated, to love and be loved. Well, you should be careful what you wish for.

AN: another chapter I want to thank @shadowsremedy for beta reading for me, and as always another thank you to @dee-ehn for the banner~ writing this was a doozy since I kept editing it… but hopefully you guys like it ^^

masterpost // previous chapter // next chapter

Taglist: @btsxdoll @mspjm @barbikatherine @xxqueenwxtchxx @catsandstrawberries @butaes

»»————-　♔　————-««

When you awakened again, it was to the scent of vanilla- and the feel of a soft bed. For a moment you felt the tug of sleep pull you back in, and you would have let it, but...

You didn’t own any blanket like the one you were currently using. The blankets were pristine white, something you'd sworn to never buy because cleaning it up was a nightmare. So why were you using it? Where did you even get it?

For a moment that thought settled in your mind, and you blearily stared at it, before the words imprinted themselves stronger. You’d never seen this bed before, so why were you sleeping in it?

Between one second and the next your heartbeat sped up too fast that you could only let out a shaky exhale after, immediately feeling awake as adrenaline coursed in you. Where the hell were you?

You immediately sat up straight- then froze as you looked around.

The first thing you thought, as you took in your surroundings was that it was- luxurious. And… strangely old.

Heavy tones of red and gold covered the room, decorated with furniture that reminded you of those used in dramas and shows, ones made for nobles in old times or for royals. The way the bedpost was not only large, but intricately designed, to the fireplace with embers in place of flames, and the heavy curtains that covered the window, for a moment you wondered if you were in a castle.

You hesitantly opened the window a little, curious as to what was outside- and then froze.

The chirping of the birds instantly reminded you everything that happened the day before.

That’s right, you thought, dazed, even as panic began to rise in you. Yesterday, I…

You turned around and stifled a scream.

“M-Milady! She’s awakened! Oh, His Majesty will be so relieved!”

In front of you were three (here you did a double take, feeling even more confused) maids. How did you not notice them coming inside? The door opening? You could only put it to the fact that you were too preoccupied with the fact that- hello, you were now in what had to be a whole other world.

Your mind spun, dizzy- all you wanted to do was go back to bed and pretend that everything was okay. Still, you grasped their words.

His Majesty.

You needed answers. You wanted to go home.

Both of these meant you had to move forward, didn’t you?

You shakily replied to them, feeling even more hesitant as you saw their eager gazes. “Yes... I suppose I am.“

You glanced away at the instant brightening of their faces, their smiles widening as they clasped their hands together.

“That said, milady, how should we address the saviour?”

“... M-Me?” You turned back to stare at them in confusion.

They beamed back at you- though the one in the middle seemed to be the representative speaking. “Yes! We, the palace maids, feel it only right to make sure we ask first, so that we may serve milady to the best of our abilities. The first, of course, will be to make sure that we address milady, the chosen one, in whatever manner milady wishes for us to call her.”

Chosen one. Saviour. You felt uneasy at those words- moreso when you thought of why you were called with those titles.

“You can just call me by my name,” you hesitantly offered. The maids gasped- one squeaked, and you winced at their horrified faces.

“But that won’t do!” One of them burst out, a distressed look instantly overcoming their face as they wrung their hands together. “It isn’t right to treat such a venerated figure in such a way…”

You winced again at their vehement refusal, before sighing. “Then, you can just call me as you did before.” At the sight of their worried gazes, you injected a little more firmness in your voice. “Really, it’s fine.”

Before they could continue speaking, you hurried the subject along. “You said something about, um, ‘His Majesty’?”

They instantly brightened again. “Ah, yes, milady! The King and the Queen are awaiting your presence at any time you are convenient.”

King. Queen. Fuck, either this was a really elaborate set-up, you were in a coma, or…

… You were in another world, another time.

A part of you wanted to believe that maybe you were dreaming, or that you were on drugs- but it only took a reminder of the events from the day before to erase those thoughts. Not even drugs could make you hallucinate the fucked up events, and not the person who saved you- who you saved?

You released another shaky breath as you tried to calm yourself. Hands that had been gripping the bed sheets tightly loosened slightly- and your gaze flickered up to meet the maids’.

“I see,” you smiled tightly. “Do you think they’d mind if I went to meet them now?”

They shook their heads. “Not at all, milady! It would be an honour for anyone to be in milady’s presence.”

“Um, right,” you awkwardly replied, a little overwhelmed by their zeal. “I guess I should get ready then… Do you know where I could change my clothes?”

They smiled and you shivered in fear of them for the first time. Why were they smiling like that?

“Understood milady! We’ll prepare the bathwater and your clothes soon.”

»»————-　♔　————-««

“Presenting, Her Ladyship, our Gracious Savior!”

You internally sighed at the way the guards announced your arrival- bringing you nothing but anxiety for your supposed meeting with the rulers of the kingdom. Although the maids had had fun bathing and dressing you, the lavish clothes on your body didn’t make you feel at ease. Far from it, in fact.

You replayed your plan of action in your head. Just tell them the truth, no need to waste each other’s time. You didn’t want to know what their response would be, knowing that they’d gotten the wrong person- and you didn’t want to prolong it either, uncomfortable with the amount of attention they paid to you either.

The door swung open- internally, you were glad they let you have a private audience, most likely only because of your ‘status’ as their ‘saviour’. Otherwise, you didn’t see why they’d approve letting the most important people of a kingdom meet a random woman. Coming in, you weren’t quite sure what to expect- but the plush, velvet carpet and the gems inlaid on the thrones before you, not to mention on their dresses and jewelry told you- yes, you were meeting the kingdom’s king and queen.

“It is an honor to meet you, milady,” the king spoke to you jovially as the three of you were truly alone, introducing himself. The queen, beaming at you beatifically from besides him curtsied as well- you floundered for a moment before you returned their gesture.

“I-It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, Your Grace,” you greeted them, unsure, just copying their gestures. “I’m… I’m sure you’ve heard about me?”

They both smiled again (internally, you found it unnerving how everything you did so far was met here with awe and adoration. What the hell was up with that?), though it was the king who spoke again. “Ah yes, our hero- our saviour, Lady Y/N, of course!”

For a moment you hesitated before them, nervous, before pushing forward. “That’s it, though, your majesty- grace. I’m not- I’m not the saviour.”

Both king and queen paused at that, looking at you confusedly. You let out a shaky exhale, realizing that they probably didn’t take your words seriously.

“You’ve made a mistake,” you tried to keep your words even, but as you spoke, the words eventually fell from your lips in a desperate, hurried manner. “I’m not- a savior, or anything. Please, I- I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but I’ve never even swung a sword or- or whatever it is people expect from, well, a savior!”

You winced even as you finished speaking, the volume of your voice making itself known with the ringing in your ears. Still you kept your eyes on the king and queen, hoping that they’d hear your words, and realize that you were way off from what they thought you were.

You couldn’t be, there was no way- but then you felt your hopes fall at the confused looks on both faces.

“Your Ladyship,” the queen asked, bemused. “Whatever has made you believe that you are not the savior?”

“I agree,” the king interjected. “Why, you possess all the makings of a hero yet! The quest will surely be a success with your leadership”

“That’s not-” You took in a deep breath, becoming more frustrated, especially when the king’s words sank in. Quest? “Whatever you’re thinking, I’m not who you think I am. I don’t even know what’s going on.”

Again you flinched at your words, fearful of their response, this time letting your gaze fall to the ground.

“... Understandable,” you eventually heard them say. “Why, if we take away her role, then as anyone would, she must have been terribly shocked and confused…”

“Quite so… I believe we’ve made an error in handling our Ladyship’s arrival.”

Suddenly, it felt as if you were dipped in ice. … This was all useless, wasn’t it? You heaved a sigh. “Not really an error just so much as you’ve got the wrong person.”

Even so, as you spoke the words you knew it wouldn’t register in their minds- or that they’d choose not to hear you.

“Arriving without a single clue on who she is must have been quite an ordeal! Terribly mischievous of the gods, that is. Though, it’s nothing that a trip to the archives would not help.“

A hand appeared in your vision- what option was left for you but to take it? The gentle look on the queen’s face only made you feel even more defeated inside, as did the accompanying, beaming smile on the king’s face.

“The maids will lead you to our archives- we hope that our array of knowledge will be enough to let you ease in into the savior that you are, that you will be.”

»»————-　♔　————-««

Walking through the halls of the library left you reminiscent of the brief time you spent at ‘Magic Shop’.

For one, there was the same feel to the castle’s library that left you quiet, reverent of the amount of history it held in its walls. Although you knew it couldn’t have been small, stepping in, you were surprised to see that the room was enormous- enough so, that your school’s auditorium and sports field could probably fit inside. Not to mention how it was maintained- not a speck of dust to be found anywhere. There was not a single person inside, except for you- which only made the state of the room much more impressive.

Entering- you didn’t quite have a destination in mind. You were only brought here by the maid, not a single word spoken, though you could see her, well, wide-eyed, and, weird as it was to say, her… Her awed gaze.

Just walking around was nice, though- you could even pretend, for one moment, that everything was fine. That you were back home. That you were just wandering around the bookshelves, looking for something to read next-

You stopped in shock.

Because, then and there, seemingly at home with all the other books, was what had to be a replica of the book given to you, when you were still at home- and when you took it out, you noted shakily that you were just as mistaken as you were right.

The book you held in your hands had a title- and when you flipped it over, the seven men remained on the book- though now accompanied by a girl. Panic began to bubble inside you- and you let out a small gasp when you noticed it.

… The girl on the cover, surrounded by the men- it was you, down to the details of your very dress.

“No… No no no no…”

You hurriedly opened the book, desperate for a sign to prove you wrong, to tell that it was just sheer coincidence, though you knew better. But you still, you hoped anyway. Your copy had blank pages- surely this version had to have been an empty copy too, right…?

Your fingers trembled as you stared down at the words written on the pages.

‘Once upon a time, in a land far away, there lived a woman named Y/N…’

The strength left your legs- you fell to the floor, stunned. As the pages flipped over themselves, you could barely read the sentences of them, but those that you could glimpse at was enough to make you feel dread anyway.

Because written in detail was the events of yesterday, up until the present moment- of you in the library, lying on your knees on the floor.

You felt sick.

What did the book mean, then? That everything happening to you- was deliberate? That you were actually meant to go on a quest? Your opinion over the whole events still hadn’t changed- quite frankly, you thought it was ridiculous at best, insane at worst. How could you go on a quest that involved creatures like- like the pixie from yesterday and be okay with it? You didn’t even take self-defense classes for crying out loud! And you didn’t know a single thing about this new world! What the fuck were you supposed to contribute to a quest that seemed to determine the fate of most living things in it!?

You let out a shaky whimper as you slumped forward, trying to silence the heavy thoughts in your head.

I can’t do this.

I… I really can’t do this at all.

»»————-　♔　————-««

It took you three days before you had a change of attitude.

At this point, you’d tried almost everything, just so you could wake up from this nightmare. At first, after what happened in the library, you had practically locked yourself up in your room. Taking advantage of the misplaced respect and devotion the people had for you (even if it made you feel terrible and anxious about possibly overstepping), you asked them not to bother you with anything. Then you went ahead- first, you’d tried sleeping and sleeping the day away- after all, that was what you’d last been doing, right? So why not try it again? Perhaps that would bring you back.

But you only woke up the next day with a headache borne from too much sleep.

The morning when you woke up in the same place you’d been was not a quiet one, nor was it a peaceful one. You’d brought the maids near you running off to your room with your sobs, as they tried to placate you- but how could they?

You were alone. In another world. Without any method to come back home.

Over the last two days, you’d tried all you could, from reenacting and redoing everything you could remember doing that night- once, you even contemplated that maybe pain was the answer to your problem- you pinched yourself repeatedly, as hard as you could, and got many bruises-

But you still woke up where you were the next morning.

At this point, you’d given up. The novel in the drawer, hidden out of sight and out of mind was brought out, read, examined, analyzed.

From what you could tell, it was, for all intents and purposes, a seemingly normal book. Just like any other- save for the fact that when events related to what to be the quest, the prophecy, you, were magically added.

Still, you thought. Every story has to have an end, doesn’t it? Nothing could last forever. And if the story revolved around the stupid fucking quest...

Then all you had to do was to complete it. Finish the story. If nothing else worked, then that had to be the only way to get out, to go home, right?

Right.

You released a shaky sigh as you fell back on your bed, ignoring the unease simmering in your gut.

You had to move forward. If you wanted anything to happen at all, you had to- you had to take matters into your own hands.

»»————-　♔　————-««

So to start, you needed information. Fast. Before the story could truly begin, before you lost a chance to even prepare yourself- you needed to know as much as you could.

Walking through the halls of the castle, you tried not to let the nerves show through your facade as you heard the staff whisper about you leaving your room- a huge deal for them, since your quite dramatic show the past few days. Still, it wasn’t just that they were talking about you that made you anxious- it was how they talked about you.

Another thing that made you uncomfortable in the situation you were in, aside from what had to be forced abduction, was how everyone, every single person you’ve met so far… They all looked up to you, to put it neatly. Calling you a savior, obeying even the slightest of your commands, fawning over you…

Anyone else would’ve been glad at the attention, at the devotion they seemed to have for you- but for you, it only unnerved you.

Don’t look at me like that. Don’t talk to me like that. I hate it. I hate every moment of this.

Although it wasn’t like you could tell them that, though.

Stepping into the drawing room, which was currently devoid of any other person but the two of you, you could feel your nerves spike as you finally found the person you were looking for.

“Lady Y/N, how may we serve you?”

You took in a deep breath, trying to calm yourself down. The maid before you then, Erina, was a handmaiden of the queen. If there was anyone you could ask...

“I… I was just thinking about the quest.”

“The quest, milady?”

“Yes,” you nodded. “Um, if it’s okay, what, um… Can you tell me what you know about it? I don’t-” your voice quieted down, as you struggled to get the words out. “... No one’s told me much about anything so far.”

Erina fell silent for a moment- you looked up to see her wearing a contemplative expression.

“Lady Y/N, from what I’ve heard around… It’s said that magic is dying,” she eventually started.

“... How… How can magic, um, die…?”

“There have been reports of magic slowly losing power, inventions and items and plants and so forth losing their magic,” she explained. “As well as different races losing their ability to use their magic, from spells to incantations and so forth.”

“Ah,” you replied, though you were still confused. “Um… We’re supposed to fix that…?”

She nodded eagerly. “The legends say you’re to seek out the Tower of Babel, a mystical place rumoured to be where a guardian of immense power rests at. It’s said that they’re able to grant a wish- any wish.”

“Doesn’t that…” seem too unrealistic? You wanted to say, before remembering. Fairy tale. Magic. Other world. Fine, okay, maybe it wasn’t unrealistic.

“It’s safe to assume that it’s hidden though, or that there are trials you have to face to meet the guardian, right?” You sighed.

“But of course, that’s why Milady was chosen after all!” You cringed at the sure way she expressed her words, though you chose not to comment on it. It wasn’t as if she, or anyone would listen anyway.

“Is there… Is there, um, anything else you know?”

“There… Oh! Milady’s companions. Although I’m not quite sure…”

The memory of the seven men engraved flashed in your mind, and you latched onto that topic, unwilling to return to the previous. “No, I mean- I’d appreciate any information you could give me. So, could you- um, if it’s alright… What are they like?”

She brightened, her hands clasping together. “Well, then it’d be my pleasure! Each race in Terabitha has sent a representative to join the quest, from what I’ve been told. Milady is, of course, the representative of humans- a point of pride to our Kingdom of Quies that you've appeared here, then.”

“To start with, Prince Seokjin, the prince of the elves is easily the most renowned. With features that must have been sculpted by the gods, Prince Seokjin is outstanding beyond any other not just with his appearance, but also with his skill with his bow and arrow. His records in the Great War astounds everyone, from his skill as a leader, as a follower, as a strategist and even more, and he is a legend everywhere- though some proclaim him stern and unforgiving, but I know milady will impress him with her might!”

“Prince Yoongi of the fae is another one easily remembered- like Prince Seokjin, he also participated in the Great War, from what the legends tell us. Prince Yoongi is well-known for his ability to control the elements- especially that of water and earth. Of course, plants and trees alike bend to his whims as well- there have been rumours that he can even control the rain! Although he rarely appears in the stories, save for when he’s in battle… Ah, but if there’s anyone who can unravel even the tightest of mysteries, it’s definitely milady.”

“From the mages, there is Prince Namjoon, and what a brilliant man he is- why, he’s quite revered for his knowledge and wisdom! From the age of seven, Prince Namjoon has contributed to many areas in the pursuit of knowledge, from spellwork, to charms, transfiguration… They say he’s never failed to achieve his goals, and that there only exists problems to solve in his path… Why, if it weren’t for the legends, he would triumph over Prince Seokjin and Prince Yoongi in terms of fame! Really, if there is any fault to be seen in him, it would be his propensity to break all kinds of objects in some manner, but considering he's a mage, and a powerful one too…"

You winced a little from the overzealous way the maid told you about the princes- feeling more than a little intimidated as well with how much she praised them. Remembering the seven men on the cover, you hazarded a guess. “There are- um, there are eight races, r-right? Are the others- I mean, do you know who, um, who they’ll be sending?”

Erina hesitated, for once, traces of unease showing on her expression. Still, she nodded. “There are, milady. I…I believe that they will also be sending their own representative on the quest.”

You stared at her expectantly- she furrowed her eyebrows but spoke soon enough.

“Between the races left, there are the mermaids, the undead, the yokai, and- the dragons,” she started, slowly. “I- the kingdom of mermaids have always been in seclusion, hidden away from the world, and so no one knows anything about them. As for the undead- vampires, well, not much, if any, from the other races interact with them, so we don’t know who they will be sending over as well. The same goes for the yokai- and as for the dragons…” she trailed off.

“As for- um, the dragons?” You prodded her. She shuddered, a look of fear crossing her face.

“I pray that dragons do not send a representative of their race, milady,” she said solemnly. “Dragons are fearsome beasts.”

You shivered from the grave way she spoke.

“I- I see,” you mumbled. “Um, thank you…”

“... Erina, kindly refrain from speaking like so about Milady’s companions,” a voice resounded from the door- you looked up to see Anya, the head of the maids, with a stern look on her face. Erina’s face fell at her scolding.

“Oh no, um, I asked for her honest opinion,” you tried to ease the frown on Anya’s face. “Please, don’t- um, don’t be too harsh on her.”

Anya only sighed at your response, before a stern expression crossed her face as she looked at the other woman.

“Go, and don’t let me catch you gossiping about Milady’s quest again,” she chided her. Erina bolted out of the room, though not before bowing low to you in gratitude.

You gave Anya a small smile as she sat down next to you.

“That girl…” Anya shook her head, before turning to you. “Please, don’t be too alarmed at her words. No one would dare send someone unfit for the quest, milady.”

“I…” You hesitated. “Um, alright. If you say so.”

“That said, Lady Y/N, I didn’t come here just to check in on you- I do hope you’re ready,” Anya told you gently, her expression worried.

“Ready?” You blankly stared at her. Anya frowned.

“Milady… did no one tell you? The day of your arrival was marked as the sky flashed blindingly white, in the middle of the day- a sign that a saviour has arrived. That the quest will start soon. As such, I believe that even as we speak, those chosen to be on the quest are already on their way here, to the kingdom. ”

You stared at her in shock.

“Right now!?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know when they’ll be arriving?” You whimpered. Anya shook her head.

“No, but… I believe Prince Namjoon will be arriving the day after tomorrow.”

Two days from now, then… You groaned, before a thought filtered into your head.

“Wait, Anya… um, when is the quest supposed to start? You said- that- they’re coming here soon, right? So…”

“On the night of the new moon,” she answered you instantly.

“And that’s… Um, how many days away…?”

“Six, I believe, milady.”

Fuck.

»»————-　♔　————-««

So began the rest of what had to be one of the worst weeks of your life, all wrapped up in seven days, 168 hours, 10,080 minutes and 604,800 seconds. No, the calculations weren’t needed, but you felt it appropriate to add anyway, if only to emphasize just how long it was.

To start with- Monday, your breakdown, the start of your descent, in which you scrambled to get as much information as you could, only to be blindsided by worse news.

»»————-　♔　————-««

Then came Tuesday, wherein you met a nosy ass stranger.

»»————-　♔　————-««

Chirp! Chirp!

You idly stared at the sky, trying to calm your nerves. There was a different sort of peace to be found being in the midst of nature than in the library, something you’d been craving after hours and hours of locking yourself up, frantically trying to learn as much as you could about what you were supposed to do, about the supposed ‘Tower of Babel’.

Which wasn’t much. As for all that the library had books of all shapes and sizes, different topics, you barely found anything related to what you wanted to know. Still, the library was big...

Today though, you were in the royal garden- which, you had to admit, was quite beautiful. Wide, open spaces that were furnished with intricate pathways and hedges, the grounds filled with flowers of all sizes and shapes, the lake that took up half of the garden and seemed endless… Not to mention the supposed ‘secret garden’ you were currently in. A supposed hiding place of a princess of the kingdom from long ago, though no one knew where she went to… Still, for a story set in the medieval times, you mused, the garden had an oddly modern feel to it.

Still, as soon as that thought crossed your mind, so did the reason why you were currently here.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow, you’d be meeting the first of your… ‘companions’. Prince Namjoon, from the kingdom of mages… Yeah, even now the reality didn’t sink much in. It was already enough that you were in another world, to think that you’d be meeting a mage…

You placed your hands on your chest, as if that could make your heart calm down.

“I just want to go back home…” There was no use saying those words aloud, you knew. But still...

“Why don’t you, then?”

Though the voice that replied to you was new.

You turned your head to the direction where the voice came from- to meet face-to-face with a man with hair the color of mint and a curious look on his (admittedly handsome) face, only a few feet away from where you were sitting.

“How did you get in here!?” You cried out, scrambling to your feet, your heart pounding too fast in your chest. “Who are you!?”

“I’m one of the guests from the palace,” he chuckled, the hints of a smirk appearing on his face. “If that’s not enough, then the fact that I know this place and I’m allowed here should be enough for you to know I’m not going to hurt you.”

“I-” you paused as you considered his words. “Um… okay, I see your point. But still, what the hell? Is it your habit to talk to random strangers?”

“Is it your habit to talk to the air?” He shot back, raising an eyebrow. “Besides, is there a reason I can’t talk to you?”

“Well-” you stammered, bewildered at the sudden turn of the tables. “I… I guess not. But- uh. I… I don’t think I want to talk to, um, anyone right now, and, yeah.”

You paused, unsure what to do. You came to the garden for time alone, but you couldn’t just tell the other man to leave- it wasn’t as if it was your garden in the first place, and you didn’t just call the shots like that.

Was it okay to leave? Wouldn’t it be rude? But you didn’t want to stay...

“... Why can’t you go home?” He asked again. You flushed, reminded of the previous events.

You hesitated. If he was a guest of the palace, then he must have already known about who you were- or, he would soon. And did you really want to burden someone with your problems? It wasn’t as if he could fix them. And even if he did… Why would he?

No, it was better to just keep it to yourself.

Still, one look at him and you knew he wouldn’t stop until he had an answer, so you answered in the vaguest way you could think of.

“I… I just can’t. It’s not possible at the moment,” you eventually said. With that answer, you stood up, ready to leave. “Thanks for the talk,” lie, “but- I, um, I have to go-”

The feel of a hand clutching your own made you stop. Moreso, when you felt it- as if something had just woken up, something that you wouldn’t have liked. You could hear the faint sound of water, and the familiar heaviness that came with being its domain, but all the same it was different.

“... Please, let me go.”

“Not until you fully answer my question.” Whoever he was, was frustratingly persistent- and with every passing second you felt your heart begin to beat faster again in panic. You took in a deep breath- then looked back at him.

The way his eyes were focused on you made you only want to get away even more.

“Please,” he added, and with the tight grip he had on you, you caved in.

“I- I mean… The only chance I have to be able to go home is to do something that’s impossible for me.”

“Impossible for you?” He repeated. “How would you know?”

“B-Because… Because I’ve never- um, I’ve never done anything like it before,” you winced at your words even as you spoke them.

“How so?”

“I mean-” you racked your brain, trying to think of a way to satisfy his fucking curiousity and leave. “A villager can’t be made to be- to be, um, a king, can they? My situation is like that- but, um, not that I’m a villager and I’m going to be- a king,” you hurriedly explained.

His grip loosened and you stared at your wrist in relief. Still, if you’d looked up then you would’ve seen a flash of something in his eyes.

“Hm. A king doesn’t rule on their own, though,” he pointed out. “They have a court. Generals. Advisors. And not all rule immediately. They could learn. You never know, a villager could be more suitable to sovereign over a prince or a princess,” he added. You pretended to nod along in agreement, even as you slowly rehashed in your mind the pathways of the garden. It would have to be quick- and you’d have to move fast. Still, you weren’t about to stay any longer with someone like him. You just needed the perfect timing...

“Lady Y/N!”

The sudden yell of a maid resounded through the garden- for a brief moment, he looked away- and you yanked your wrist from his hand, immediately running away.

“T-Thanks for the advice but I have to go!”

If you’d looked back, you would’ve seen the amused smirk, the reminiscent look on his face- but before you knew it, you were out of the garden and back into the slightly familiar halls of the castle.

»»————-　♔　————-««

Proceeded by Wednesday, when you finally met the first (and seemingly only one that went out of their way to introduce themselves to you. The others, as you’d been told, were apparently content with assembling and meeting each other on the day you set out) of your… companions.

»»————-　♔　————-««

“Lady Y/N, I’ve heard a lot about you.”

You forced a smile on your face, unsure as hell how to proceed.

Fancy food covered the table in front of you, as did numerous silverware- they all looked appetizing, but you hesitated. Wasn’t there a manual for how to eat with all of these? Why in the world did anyone need so many things to eat?

On the other side of the table, Namjoon- the heir from the Kim Coven (“Milady, though we call them princes, we only do so as that’s their equivalent to positions we’re familiar to in our race. After all, it would be treason to simply call them by their names!”), as you were painfully reminded about again and again in the form of squeals from other people- looked at you with an intensity in his gaze, the way he acted the same as the castle staff, who seemed to be one step shy of worshipping you.

“I… I’ve heard a lot about you too,” you offered, when the silence grew too long. “Um… You’re really famous. The- um, you’ve made a lot of advances in different fields of academia? That you’ve studied in numerous areas, such as alchemy, and spellcasting and healing...”

Namjoon smiled. If you were in any other situation, you would’ve stared- Namjoon definitely was a prince in not just his reputation, his skills and his intellect, he also seemed to check the tally mark for prince in the looks aspect, his hair being styled up in purple locks that he somehow pulled off quite well. “I only achieved those because of the people by my side, the same way I hope to be of help to you in the upcoming quest.”

The quest. Right.

“I’m not that special,” you exhaled, feeling a familiar headache creep into your head. “I’m not trained in anything like you are.”

“Lady Y/N, you’re quite humble,” he chuckled. “I believe that everything has a purpose. If you aren’t proficient in any of those fields, then it’s something you’ll quickly learn about- or, perhaps, you aren’t because what you are already an expert in is something I cannot do.”

“You are the saviour, the chosen one, for a reason, after all.”

You gripped your dress as the words hung in the air. The weight of his gaze on you, the expectations he all but thrusted in your face- the words of what would have been a speech on how you weren’t fit to be the leader, to ask him to take over the quest instead died down your throat. You didn’t know what to say.

He looked at you with, what you eventually realized, was worse than the staff- he looked at you with hero-worship and assumed, expected you in detail to be one. And you were going to spend god knew how much time with him on a godforsaken quest.

“I… I see.” What were you supposed to say in response? It wasn’t a surprise, really, but now you dreaded what his reaction would be if you told him what you really thought. The awe he held for the image of you in his head- it made you hesitant to break it.

“I’ll… I’ll do my best to make sure this quest is a success, then…” Your smile felt frozen on your face, even as you internally felt like screaming. Under his gaze, then, you tried not to let it show how much his words bothered you.

Dinner ended early that night, and as soon as you reached your room you had to talk yourself through a minor breakdown. Fuck, fuck, fuck, there really was no getting out of it, was there?

»»————-　♔　————-««

Then followed by Thursday, when you encountered a trick ass liar who proceeded to cheat you.

»»————-　♔　————-««

“Prince Namjoon, how may we help you?”

“Oh, no- I was just looking for Lady Y/N.”

You released a shaky exhale as you halted in your steps. The hallway was currently quiet, devoid of people, both a curse and a blessing. No one to point you out hiding around the corner- but at the same time, it was harder to sneak away as you weren’t as used to the castle floor, making every step of yours louder than the others.

It had only been the day after your initial meeting with Prince Namjoon. Still, considering your (from your perspective, anyway) disastrous first meeting, you admittedly didn’t want to spend much time around him.

Which, unfortunately, led you to sneaking around the very castle, looking for valid excuses to avoid him. Something you were a bit unfortunate in, seeing as the castle was full of people, of which all more familiar with the layout than you were, and that you almost always had eyes on you. And a hand or two lent to the Prince.

Still you stayed stubborn. If you didn’t have to, then...

“Oh, then- Lady Y/N has told us maids of her wanting time alone in the garden- would you like us to search for milady?”

“No, no… But I hope it’s alright if I look for her by myself. There are things I’d like to talk about with her, after all.”

Goddamnit. You groaned quietly. Maybe, you thought- should you just leave? But how? The room behind you had a few of the maids cleaning the empty rooms, as always- and the only exit you knew was beyond the hallway, the very one occupied already by the person you were trying to avoid. You scrunched up your nose, thinking of how to leave.

It was then that you heard it- laughter, low and playful that rang near your ears. “And what do we have here?”

You whirled around, your heart jumping to your throat- to meet a handsome face framed in grey locks (for a moment you wondered what the hell was it with the unnatural hair colors. Where did they get the dye? Or was it a natural thing? But everyone in the castle didn't have such distinctive hair...). Golden eyes met yours- and you instinctively took a step back, cringing at your close proximity.

You let out a shaky exhale, immediately glaring at the other person. “Do you mind not stepping in on other people’s personal space?” You snapped. He merely smirked at you.

“I’m not the one lingering around corners, listening to other people’s conversations, though,” he pointed out with a chuckle.

“I’m not-” you flushed. “Well- okay, maybe I am. But only because I’m trying to…”

“Hide? Sneak past them? Avoid them?” He suggested oh so helpfully.

“... Something like that.”

“I can help you, if you want,” he offered.

You raised an eyebrow at him, feeling suddenly bewildered. “Um. No offense, but- why? I mean, you don’t have to, and it’s not like I can’t do this on my own, so…”

“Ah, an honorable one. Consider it a deal then,” he countered, a hint of mischief visible on his face. “Help me distract the maids, and I’ll give you an opportunity to sneak past them. It’s a mutually beneficial deal, isn’t it?”

You glimpsed back at the corner- to Namjoon who was still talking to the maid, to the person in front of you. Although Namjoon’s back was to you, you suddenly felt a chill down your spine at the thought of being caught by him. Earlier in the morning you heard about him looking for you, wanting to talk about the quest, and about anything you ‘could teach him’...

Which would have been fine, really, except for the fact that you didn’t know what exactly were you able to teach someone who was obviously already like a fucking superhuman. Even back home, you didn’t take classes in any other subject than the ones assigned to you- and you didn’t think modern chemistry or mathematics would have intrigued him. Also, you didn’t want to risk looking like a fool in front of someone who everyone you met so far literally touted as Einstein reborn.

“Alright, what do you- um, what do you want me to do…?”

He paused, tilting his head- an amused smirk alighting on his face. “Just keep the maids busy. I keep my word, don’t worry.”

Turning back to where you came from, he led you to the previous hallway.

“... Was me, I wouldn’t have been able to handle it, knowing I’d have to travel with something like them-”

The maids talking near one the rooms halted as they saw you, immediately bowing. “Lady Y/N!”

You forced yourself to smile, eyes darting to where the man had been- a part of you surprised to suddenly see him missing by your side.

“Um- hi.” Offering up a small smile, you hoped that your apprehension and anxiety didn’t show. “About- um, about today’s meal…”

Even as you drew them into a conversation, you kept your eyes peeled to the other end of the hallway, your hearing focused on any doors opening, any sound coming from not you or the maids. You had to wonder- what distraction was he talking about?

The sound of squealing soon filled the hallway.

You groaned even as you remembered it- the chaos that unraveled soon after as several pigs ran down the hallway, muddy and wet- the maids shrieking in fright and surprise.

Of you, trying (and somewhat succeeding) in drawing the pigs to a room, since it didn’t seem as if the maids could handle it, moreso with how big they were. Still, you didn’t take into account the fact that it wasn’t as if you knew how to handle them either- and thus just made even more of a mess for the maids to clean up.

You stared in horror as the pigs ran about, bumping into the furniture, making a mess of the sheets and the curtains. Why didn’t you think your actions through? What the fuck were you supposed to do now?

“... Lady Y/N?”

Goddamnit. You felt panic bubble up inside you as Namjoon’s voice resounded beyond the door. In all of the ruckus, you’d forgotten the reason why you initially got into the mess- you’d been trying to avoid him.

“You still haven’t left?”

Your head snapped up in surprise as the man from before appeared before you, sitting on the windowsill, glee radiating off him as he looked around the room.

“You complete and utter liar,” you hissed at the man who was now giggling, as he turned to leave. “You said you’d help me if I helped you! Come back here! We had a deal!”

“The terms of our deal was that I would give you an opportunity to sneak past them,” he corrected you. “I never said I would help you stay undetected, or that you would stay hidden afterwards.”

You gaped at him as he jumped out of the window, almost running after him- then the sound of the door swinging open had you redirecting your attention back to Namjoon, who smiled in relief seeing you-

The room as you turned back to look at in panic seemingly back to normal, as if the pigs hadn’t even existed.

“Lady Y/N, what a pleasure to see you. I’ve been hoping we could talk about some things…”

Damn it.

»»————-　♔　————-««

Trumping even that in weirdness came Friday- giving you another meeting with an even stranger stranger.

»»————-　♔　————-««

You climbed the tower angrily, the sound of your feet against the stone stairways echoing all around. Your legs were aching, and you could feel a part of you beating in fear- there were no railways to hold on to, for crying out loud. How the fuck did the people building towers not think to add safety measures? Someone could easily fall- still you continued.

A little bit of peace, a little bit of quiet… Today had you coming to a secluded part of the castle grounds, somewhat deep into the forest nearby, just to escape everything going on back in the castle. Remembering yesterday… Even now it made you seethe.

What was worse was that you hadn’t been able to find out who the other party was, and no matter who you asked, no one could tell you who he was. The maids hadn’t even seen him, nor had anyone else. Why he even appeared in front of you was a mystery and a half.

Today though, you were determined. You were going to savor all the time you had by yourself, until at least the quest came.

Still, as you finally arrived at the top of the tower, you halted as you heard the sound of sniffling.

What the hell?

You cautiously opened the door, just a peek- unsure what to find, as from what you’d known no one ever came to this place in particular. You’d come too far to just leave, after all, so-

Soft, brown eyes covered by a glassy sheen of tears instantly met your own, framed by red hair that stood out in the sunlight.

“!?”

You cringed as the other person fell from where he was sitting by the window, the book he must have been reading flying from their hands and into your direction, their whole body thrown off balance as he stared at you with panic. You would’ve thrown open the door, would’ve tried to comfort him, but-

The way he looked at you made you stay your distance.

Instead, you gently opened the door- shooting a concerned glance as you bent down to pick up the book that had landed by your feet.

“Um… I’m sorry for startling you. I didn’t mean to- um, your, um, book…?”

When you looked up again, he was standing up- his head slightly bowed low, hands fidgeting together- you grimaced as you felt the awkward tension in the room skyrocket. It was highly uncomfortable- and you couldn’t help wondering how bad you’d screwed up-

“... Thanks,” you heard him whisper, barely enough to be heard.

You forced a small smile on your face.”Oh, no, um… It’s my fault for just opening the door and peeking in like a creep- um, again, I’m sorry- he’s your book…”

You held out the item in hand- patient as you waited for the other person to reach out. Though, as his hand brushed against yours, you felt the searing amount of heat emanating from his skin.

You yelped. You didn’t expect whoever he was to have a temperature that almost bordered on feverish- not when he didn’t seem like he was sick in the slightest sense. Not only that, it was the sharp sense of fear and shock that shot in you, making you feel like you needed to stop breathing for a moment- if only to adjust.

You immediately brought a hand to his forehead. “Are you okay!? Y-You’re burning up…!”

Thwack!

“Don’t touch me!”

You stared at him, stunned- your hand still raised in the air, a red mark slowly forming over where he had slapped it away.

If it weren’t for the fact that he looked as startled as you then- a frightened look on his face, then you would’ve been angry. As it was, you were just confused.

“I… S-Sorry,” you stammered. “I didn’t… I wasn’t going to- to hurt you.”

He frowned- eyebrows furrowing, looking as if he wanted to tell you something- before he deflated. “I… I know. I’m sorry. But… um….”

“... Please leave.” He finally said, lips pursed into a tight line. “I don’t… I don’t want you near me.”

“But-”

“Now,” he repeated. “Out.”

Stunned, you could only follow his orders, though you felt yourself flush in indignance and embarrassment as the door closed shut.

What the hell had that been?

»»————-　♔　————-««

And then Saturday- another day, another asshole, though this time it was at night. Thankfully, this time you’d caught on.

»»————-　♔　————-««

By this point you’d grown wary. Men appearing out of nowhere (no matter how handsome they were), weird and frustrating encounters- your luck really was that bad, huh? You didn’t even know what to do anymore, how to stop it from continuously happening-

If anything, you were highly cautious now.

Still, you thought, as you maneuvered between the halls, having stayed too late at the library once more (the surroundings were quiet as most staff save for guards were asleep), it was already night time, maybe even nearing midnight now- and still, nothing.

Were you being too paranoid?

Goosebumps broke out on your skin- you halted, feeling your heartbeat staccato.

“Can you please not trail behind me like a creep?”

For a moment or two there was silence in the corridor, and you began to wonder if you really were too cautious-

Then came the sound of footsteps, light, barely echoing- if you hadn’t strained your ears to sense even the slightest change, you would’ve missed it. Closer, they eventually came closer, and you instantly whirled around, hands hidden in the folds of your dress even as you gripped the fabric tight. You looked up.

Crimson eyes that seemed so bright against the darkness looked back at you.

You could practically feel your heart jump in your chest. Still, again, this wasn’t exactly the first time it had happened. And, you’d been on guard already since the day started, just in case something like what had happened the past few days would repeat itself yet again- and lo and behold.

So, even with the slight tremble in your body, you boldly stared him down, shoving aside the trepidation you were feeling.

Under other circumstances, though, you had to admit- he was one of the most beautiful people you’d ever met. Cherubic features that prominently featured soft monolids, and full lips- not to mention the way the silver color of his hair somehow made him look ethereal, instead of old... if he was someone you’d seen back home, you would’ve thought him to be a model. Still, that didn’t change the fact that you just knew something was off.

“Yes? Did you want something?” You raised an eyebrow at him, ignoring the urge to place your hand over your heart, as if that would help calm it down.

However, for all that you’d presented yourself as unbothered, if somewhat just initially surprised, it seemed as if the other person knew anyway how fast your heart was beating- giving you a sweet, sugary smile that you knew was trouble at first glance.

“My apologies. I just wanted to know where the path to the west wing is… Instead, it seems I startled you.”

“That’s…” You paused, thinking over your words. “That’s fine. You’re quite close to your destination. Um, just go straight and then go through the staircase. You’ll see the main doors from there. Exit, follow the path on the left, until you come to a crossroads- and then, um, to the left.”

He furrowed his eyebrows, the edge of his lips turning down then. “That… Sounds a little complicated. Do you mind coming along with me? I don’t want to get lost, and you seem like you know your way around…”

Thump.

“... I’m s-sorry,” you eventually said, fidgeting with your dress. “I’m, um, I’m not sure if I can handle going back and forth, like- like that, I mean, it's pretty late and I'm q-quite tired, so, um…”

The man wilted, the pout bigger then- still, you held your ground. Before he could say anything, you hurried through your next words. “I’m really sorry! But if you’re that troubled about it, you can go ask the guards- there’s one of them right outside the main doors- I’ll be going now-”

You turned around, intent on leaving-

The chuckle resounding behind you made you shiver for a moment.

“... You’re quite sharp, aren’t you?”

You continued your steps even as you responded, your room’s door only a few feet away. “... Not sharp, but… you aren’t the first, so I’m sorry to say but that won’t work on me.”

Your steps faltered as you felt something wrong yet again- trusting your instincts, you ducked, smoothly opening the door, before turning around to glare at the man.

“Goodnight. Maybe if we meet again you can tell me your name,” you said politely, before adding, “that is, if you don’t stalk around dark empty hallways again.”

You closed the door- and fell to your knees a second later, your breaths leaving you in short gasps as the adrenaline made your heart beat fast, way too fast-

A giggle, melodious and high pitched echoed through the door. “Next time then, little princess.”

You pretended not to hear it.

»»————-　♔　————-««

And finally, the day before- Sunday. At that point you'd gotten used to it, to the point that you knew what would be coming, and still...

»»————-　♔　————-««

You couldn’t stop turning your head in every direction- trying to take in as much of the city as you could. Your eyes trailed over the buildings, the roads, the people that crowded the streets as they talked and went about their daily lives.

It was… surreal, in a way. Just when you thought you'd really accepted it, that it really had sunk in already, you would see something new and feel the growing familiar feeling of surprise and dread again. You really were in another world. As a hero, or a saviour, though it didn't fit you.

You caught sight of a man on a horse, its back saddled with items and found that everything seemed to lead back to your current predicament.

Which, honestly, just kept giving you more questions than answers. After a week of coming to terms, you'd done your best to prepare yourself for it, including researching and learning whatever information you thought would be useful.

It also meant that you had to learn how to, well, camp. How to set up tent, make a bonfire, how to ride a horse. Being useless in fighting was already one thing, you didn't want the title of being useless anywhere else stuck on you too…

But then when you'd tried to actually learn about riding a horse, for one, you were surprised- the moment your hands touched the saddle, it was as if there was an unknown force commanding you, a practiced ease you were unknown with appearing as, in the blink of an eye, you found yourself seated atop the horse, reins naturally fitting in your hands.

The applause and admiration of the castle staff had only hammered it in. Especially when they kept exclaiming over your muttering that this was your first time as 'as the saviour, no wonder it would only take one try for milady to master it!'

The same went for other skills you were initially worried about- though, to your dismay, you found that there was no help given with anything related to fighting.

… But, you supposed, it was better than nothing.

Currently though, for once you were by yourself. After the week's events, and the day of departure being tomorrow, you found yourself asking for a day to you and yourself only, wandering the city before you had to leave, a request that was met with smiles from the king and queen. Although initially you would've been accompanied by maids, and even guards, for once you swallowed your embarrassment- and told them you didn't quite need it being the saviour and you really just wanted to be alone, if that was possible.

So here you were.

Truly, the kingdom of Quies, especially its capital, in a way lived up to its name. Everywhere you looked, what remained in your mind was that as chaotic as it seemed, there was an underlying feeling of peace.

“Ah!”

Though, peace wasn’t quite synonymous with order.

“Boy, is this really all you have? Are you trying to make a fool out of me!?”

You winced as a loud voice hit your ears, the ruckus attracting the attention of nearly everyone in what had to be a mile radius.

A little to your left, you spotted the cause of the noise, a merchant of what seemed to be trinkets glaring angrily at a cloaked figure. Though you couldn’t quite see what their argument was about, nor did you know what was going on, you had to force yourself to look away, stop getting involved- you didn’t want to have another ‘encounter’ in any way, after all.

Still, the way the vendor towered over the other…

Why the hell weren’t you leaving yet? Why, why were you instead drawing closer?

“I’m not trying to fool you,” you heard the cloaked figure say, their voice melodious, though there lingered confusion and frustration in their words.

“Sure you aren’t,” the vendor sneered. “Giving me a measly piece of rock and trying to take my watches- which reminds me, you aren’t giving it back, you rascal!?”

“That’s not just a piece of rock.” Even though you couldn’t see their face, hidden as it was, you could easily hear the frown in their tone. “In fact, calling it a rock is downright insulting to it. That’s a rare pink pearl.”

“Yeah, sure it is!”

You bit your tongue, a sense of frustration, for some reason filling you as you watched the exchange in front of you.

“It really isn’t a pearl?”

Your voice rang out, clear- you forcefully shoved down the nervousness you felt as you watched the crowd turn their attention to you, most especially the two men.

“Missy, you think I’d get angry if it was?”

“Then you wouldn’t mind returning it to him, then, would you? I’d be happy to pay for whatever he took,” you asserted, walking over to the merchant with (what you hoped) an air of nonchalance.

At your words, the merchant only seemed to get more angry instead. “And who are you to butt in this, huh?”

“I just think that you shouldn’t be causing a disturbance in the kingdom so early in the morning,” you sharply told him instead, stepping over his question. “So why don’t you just accept the money and let this matter rest?”

Instead he scoffed. “This boy here tries to swindle me by giving me pale imitations, insulting my pride, and you think it can be solved with just money? Why, I'd say he should give me all his items in recompensation! I definitely won't settle for just this!”

“If not, until when are you willing to escalate this then, huh? Talking so much about how he’s insulted you by giving you fake goods,” you stared him down, a frown firmly set on your lips. “With how much of a big deal you’re making about it, in fact, I wonder if you’re not the one trying to fool us instead.”

“What- how dare you!”

Bingo. As much as the merchant then seemed outraged, you could hear the minute fluster in his voice, revealing how spot on your accusation was.

“I’m not the one getting so worked up over something so little,” you simply replied. “If it really is like that, then, why don’t you let us see what he gave you?”

“I- that’s not…”

“Or maybe you’d like for me to involve the guards,” you quietly threatened. “After all, we just passed by several on break a few minutes ago.”

The merchant gritted his teeth, his eyes glaring daggers at you. Still, you stood your ground, only raising an eyebrow at him.

“Give it back.”

He roughly thrust a hand to your side. It was opened without a shred of hesitation- the aforementioned pearls sparkling a little in the sunlight (you knew it! You knew they were rare, they had to be with how much he seemed to overblow the matter earlier). He hissed at you as the figure beside you took it from their hands.

“Leave!”

“Gladly.”

It was only when you were a few steps away that you remembered the reason you ever got involved in that mess. You turned around, if only to apologize for just butting in out of nowhere-

You turned to face eyes set into a harsh pout.

“... I didn’t need your help,” the cloaked figure grumbled, making you freeze in surprise. “I had it under control.”

“... Sure you did,” you muttered, feeling a little offended.

Their hood fell back as they fully glared at you, and for the first time you saw their face- boyish, with a hint of youth still present. Though it didn't take away the beauty easy to drown in as his ebony hair fell down in a tangled, but somehow artful mess, paired with eyes that truly fit the expression of 'doe-like', with how big they were.

"I would if you had just let me."

You pursed your lips at the biting tone in his voice, your shoulders stiffening.

“Really. Well, I'm sorry then,” you retorted. “Next time you can go get swindled all you like. I’m certainly not going to stop you anymore.”

“I- I just needed some time to think how to handle it!" The flush on his face resulting from your words somehow made you feel better then, even as you began walking away. Whatever- you were out of there.

Still, you hadn’t taken more than two steps then, before you felt someone tug at your clothes. Feeling annoyed, you turned around, a glare on your face as you placed your hands on your hips-

The glint of the pearl before you, the biggest from the ones he’d been given back earlier, under the sunlight made it all the more beautiful.

“I… What?” You looked up, confused, to meet a pout and a sulky expression.

“Take it,” he huffed. “As thanks. Even if, you know, it wasn’t needed. But… I mean, it’s undeniable that you saved me time, so…”

You stared at him in surprise, before you had to suppress the smile growing on your lips- he glared at you in turn when he saw your expression. As he pulled your hand open to hand over the pearl, the feel of his hands on your own made you feel somewhat embarrassed, a flood of shame and frustration trickling in- and then it stopped. When you’d raised your head, you found that he’d quickly turned away, his steps quick, before he disappeared into the crowd.

You eventually burst into chuckles as his figure disappeared, the sight of his embarrassed face imprinted on your mind.

»»————-　♔　————-««

“Lady Y/N?”

You fell back into focus as Anya’s voice reached you. You smiled at her, though you couldn’t quite hide the fatigue making your body quite weak- not just from the past week’s encounters, but, well, from everything since you woke up.

“You’ll be fine, milady,” Anya assured you as you hefted the bag onto your shoulder, assuming that you were anxious instead of exhausted. You sighed at her words.

“I… Um. Thanks, I guess. I’ll give it my best,” you promised- though it was debatable if you were telling that to yourself or to her. Still…

“They’re waiting at the throne room, um, right?”

“Yes, milady! It’s been an honor to serve you- may you be successful.”

You could only hope.

»»————-　♔　————-««

“Presenting, the representatives of Terabitha! Lady Y/N L/N, of the humans!”

“... Fuck.”

You could only stare in shock as seven familiar heads turned up at your arrival-

Seven, of which while one you anticipated, the other six were, unfortunately, familiar people, several of which looked at you with amusement, shock, and ever familiar disdain.

Your eyes trailed over each and every one of them, the features of which you’d read each race for being known to have much more prominent under the light of day, in a moment where you could take your time taking their appearance in.

Mages- perhaps the only race in which there is no distinct difference in appearances to humans. Although there is still a way to identify them- come close, and you will feel magic, heavy and potent linger in the air around them. That is not to mention their skewed luck, that manifests in many strange ways.

“Kim Namjoon, of the mages!”

Namjoon smiled at you then, and you faintly noticed the dimples on his face- you found yourself automatically smiling back, though it was forced.

Your gaze quickly went to the next person.

As for the other races though, you will find after some careful examination their difference is easy to see. Mermaids, for one, as much as they call the sea their home are able to assume human form- though even they cannot quite perfectly blend in, as there remains a shallow pattern of gills near their ears that they cannot hide…

“Jeon Jungkook, of the mermaids!”

Huge, doe eyes partially covered by black, fluffy hair met yours, wide in shock, before he quickly looked away, hands fidgeting with the bag he was holding.

Yokai- kitsune, in particular, are quite tricky to identify. They wear quite the number of disguises, but an assurance is that they usually always have some detail wrong. For one, their eyes might stay vertical, where humans have wide pupils. Another is the tail they might forget to disguise...

“Kim Taehyung, of the yokai!”

The ash grey hair that framed his sculpted face almost covered his eyes- but you could still see them wink at you as your gaze flitted around, the smirk that formed on his lips playful and teasing.

Vampires will always stand out. Their pale skin complements the sculpted features they are given, unnatural beauty that bewitches- and the icy chill that can be felt from their body emphasizes it. Of course, not to mention their fangs…

“Park Jimin, of the vampires!”

Eyes that seemed to smile at you in the shape of crescent moons made itself known, the silver of his hair and the paleness of his skin painting him more as an angel rather than what he truly was, especially when he giggled.

Dragons, terrifying as they are in their true form, are much more approachable in their human form. Though it would be noticeable that they are not quite human- for they still possess scales, and the heat from the fire in their body still rumbles underneath their skin…

“Jung Hoseok, of the dragons!”

Red hair that seemed to glint in the sunlight was all you could see of him, then- though a look at his hands still revealed the light, almost unnoticeable pattern of scales- he glanced upwards and then quickly looked away, the flush on his face then almost matching his hair.

Fae, in turn, tend to have flickers of light around them, though less noticeable as they grow older. In which case, the next clue to look out for is the area around them- particularly, the ground. If you notice that wherever they step, the grass is greener, and plants seem to flourish… Then you’ve found yourself a fae.

“Min Yoongi, of the fae!”

Cat-like eyes narrowed in amusement at the way your face continued to fall with each familiar face. He barely held in his laughter, though you wouldn’t have noticed it if he did- the horror in your face visible to the world as you laid your eyes on the last member of the quest.

And lastly- elves. Oh, where do I begin? Elves, out of all species, might be the one that, with a little bit of planning may truly pass off as human. If not for their pointed ears, then there would be no way to tell an elf apart from a human based on appearances…

“Are you just planning to stand there without saying anything?” Eyes that still remained familiar from never leaving neither your dreams nor your memories cast a stern look over your form, the disapproval subtle but clear in the way his plush lips were set in a sneer.

“Kim Seokjin, of the elves!”

Fuck. You really were screwed.

#bangtanscenery #bangtanhq #btswritersnet #bangtanfairygarden #ficswithluv #bts x reader #ot7 x reader #seokjin x reader #yoongi x reader #hoseok x reader #namjoon x reader #jimin x reader #taehyung x reader #jungkook x reader #bts fanfiction #bts fic

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whereisten · 4 years

Text

Creature Feature - Part 2

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 Preview | Taeil blurb

Summary: You work at your family’s 9-5 nighttime movie theater for the supernatural. Your fling with vampire!Taeyong is just that: a fling.

Pairing: Vampire!Taeyong x female reader

Word Count: 3.5k words

Genre: Romance, Fantasy, Smut (just a very brief mention of fingering)

[1:30 AM]

You were furious. You knew that you were being irrational with him. You were throwing a fit because he couldn’t drink your blood? Or was it something more than that?

To be frank, you were mad at yourself. You couldn’t understand why you were so angry.

From the first time Taeyong came into your office to say hi.

To every engagement you had at the 3:00 AM showing of a movie that had been out for weeks. When no one else was around.

To when he left you a box of your favorite pizza in your office when you had a rough night.

To when he slyly helped you manage some rowdy customers. It was a close call that time with the hybrid who tried to break your neck when you told him he couldn’t harass the female customers. Thankfully, he never showed up again.

To when he sang along to “How Deep Is Your Love” as you slow danced in your candlelit office.

He really knew how to charm someone who wasn’t his escort.

Taeyong encompassed your mind more than you let on. And you couldn’t tell anyone. Your parents would disown you for fraternizing with the vampires. Your parents tolerated the presence of vampires at their theater but to befriend them? Out of the question. And you could never figure out why without getting turned away.

“The less you know, the better, y/n. Now go watch a One Dimension video,” your dad told you when you were seventeen. He meant One Direction.

“y/n, vampires are manipulative and cruel. It’s in their core. Don’t question it,” your mom said from time to time until this day. She possessed a haunted look on her face whenever the topic came up.

The supernatural and the human race...For the most part, they didn’t see eye to eye. They were divided to prevent even more chaos from unfolding in this world. Your mother’s side of the family was bound to live among and serve the supernatural for centuries, she told you. Your maternal grandparents founded Sinema. Sinema was a safe space for the supernatural to mingle and escape to in the nighttime when most humans were asleep and oblivious to the world. Sinema could only be seen by the supernatural and their allies like you, your mother, and your father by marriage.

As a child, you attended night classes with some of the supernatural that could pass for humans, like werewolves and vampires. When college came around, you lived those four years as a regular young adult. Adjusting to more of a daytime schedule at that time was a pain so you tried your best to get 5:40 PM and later classes. Eventually, you adjust to earlier classes.

Coming back home to work alongside your parents wasn’t your number one choice but it was your birthright. Maybe when your parents retired, you could find another career endeavor away from the movie theater and still help out the supernatural.

You were obligated, after all.

And you were fond of them. A lot more than your parents were, as a matter of fact. And they weren’t particularly thrilled about that.

Your parents expected that you would marry a nice human boy so he could support you the way your dad supported your mom.

Your parents were so in love it blew your mind sometimes. Your dad worshipped your mom. The adoring looks and the need to please her never faded. Your mom looked at your dad every day like she was falling in love all over again. You couldn’t believe that the love they had could exist somewhere else. Or that you would ever find it.

Your dad must have loved your mom so much to give up the life he had to be with her. He could have been a hotelier and traveled all over the world. He loved the sunlight when he was a boy. But his priorities realigned when he met your mom. So your folks hoped you could find something just like that. A regular boy who could settle down with you and manage a movie theater full of creatures he originally thought were fairy tales.

Your parents hadn’t factored in that you would meet Yuta, though.

When you were away at college, during your senior year, you met a boy with the most brilliant smile and long silky black hair that always left crowds of people stunned. Your class with Yuta ran three times a week. After noticing you on the first day, he moved from his original seat to yours over the course of the next few days.

Lecture 1: He sat across from you as the lecture hall ran circular like a dome. He liked your laptop stickers.

Lecture 2: Moving to your side of the room, he was now four seats away, he sent you handwritten notes. Some were flirty and some asked you to diagnose him with any of the disorders the professor discussed.

Lecture 3: Three seats away, he sent you less notes, instead staring at you and winking when you met his gaze. He was still an excellent note taker, given that he glanced at you several times.

Lecture 4: Two seats away. He deliberately dropped his pencil right next to you so you could pick it up for him. You obliged and handed it back to him. He deliberately ran his fingers against yours. That was when you realized he was a werewolf.

Lecture 5: he sat right next to you. You two exchanged numbers and grabbed coffee after class. You let it slip in conversation that you knew he was a werewolf.

Lecture 17: you two were inseparable. He was a little cocky but somehow his arrogance made him more attractive. You helped him with his transition for the full moon that night. And after it was over, he took you to Waffle House and you splurged on chocolate chip waffles.

Lecture 32: he finger fucked you when the professor played a documentary. At this point, you two migrated to the back of the classroom so no one was the wiser. He told you he loved you that day.

Lecture 47: you two sat at opposite sides of the room again.

Yuta ended up being one of your biggest regrets. As far as your parents knew, he was the human boyfriend that got away. You were okay with that. Better that than to face their wrath for dating a creature.

It’s been a few years since you graduated. Yuta was probably an alpha now with a trophy wife who was in the process of giving him twelve kids. You could only hope he didn’t treat her the way he treated you.

🎥

Two days have passed since you left Taeyong in your office. He was smart to give you time to cool off but he still came to the theater. The nerve.

You’d just finished talking with your supplier for the concessions. They were delivering their latest shipment out back. Employees Mingi and Seonghwa were out back helping them out. You hoped to snag some Sour Patch Bats this time without getting rebuffed by your parents.

You checked out a movie poster for the next Paranormal Activity film, which was dubbed as a comedy in these parts. It was an image of a blank TV screen. You observed it carefully to see if there were any hidden details when a transparent face appeared before you.

“Boo,” Taeil said, with his most malevolent expression. His face pale and almost sucked dry from an eternity of dehydration. Bags under his eyes from sleep deprivation. His teeth rotting and falling at your feet.

“Nice one,” you backed away from the poster, “But that trick hasn’t made me piss my pants since I was three so...you’re gonna have to try harder.”

Taeil the friendly ghost came out of the wall and appeared to you in his transparent form. His horrifying face was a ruse. He reverted back to the form he possessed the moment he died: an elegant young man with a golden tone on his skin. He wore a nice navy button down and black slacks. He was lucky to have died in those clothes since they were the ones he was stuck with until he ascended. You’ve seen ghosts in their bunny pajamas and some in their lingerie.

Taeil sighed, “You’re tough to break, y/n. Think I can try that on Lexa?”

“I thought we agreed she should live with paralyzing guilt all of her life. Not kill her instantly from fear,” you replied. Lexa was Taeil’s ex-girlfriend who cheated on him and told her lover that she wished she could get rid of him. She didn’t realize that her lover would take that to heart and push Taeil off of a twenty story building. Lexa helped her lover hide the body and they skipped town. They weren’t too far from Sinema now.

You offered to help Taeil get justice but Taeil already got his killer incarcerated. Now he paid him nightly visits at the penitentiary and the killer’s fellow inmates mocked him for bellyaching about seeing the ghost of his victim. Taeil was having a ball.

Taeil pouted at your remark. “Oh, she won’t die. It’s not that terrifying.”

You added as you walked back to the entrance, “She’s weak. You told me that..”

“Yeah yeah yeah...Enough about me, how’s it going with Edward Cullen these days?”

“Nothing’s going on,” you said, stuffing your hands into your pockets.

“You two were having a lot of fun on Friday night...Ballsy of you since Haseul was very close to bulldozing the door down.” Taeil chuckled.

You sighed. “How many times do I have to tell you? Even if you can walk through walls, my office is off limits.”

“But not to Edward Cullen over there,” he nodded toward the ticket stand where Taeyong was buying tickets for him and his vampire comrades.

You blushed.

“What would your parents say?” Taeil asked.

“They’d tell me to keep up with the pill and go nuts.” Taeyong couldn’t impregnate you even if he tried. Vampires couldn’t reproduce with humans. Even if you were 99% human.

Taeil sighed. “He’s trouble, you know. You better wrap up whatever it is you got going with him. Before it gets messy.”

“Taeil, I know all there is to know about guys like Taeyong. You think I would ever let it get that far?”

Someone tapped your shoulder and you felt a wave of dread overtake you. You turned around.

Yuta.

“I knew it was you,” Yuta said, smiling at you with his perfect teeth that made every single person want to hit up their orthodontist.

“Please tell me this is a dream,” you muttered at Taeil.

Taeil said, “I could pinch you but I’m a ghost.” He left you alone with Yuta as he quickly faded away. Probably to go haunt Lexa. You wished you could join him.

“Tae-“ you started but it was too late.

“You’re even more stunning than I last saw you. I’m dying here,” Yuta said as he moved closer into your no-no square.

You backed away, hating how he still had a very small effect on you. You really couldn’t believe that he was here.

Nakamoto Yuta stood before you, his now silver hair running past his shoulders. His rockstar apparel hugging his body tightly. He was always fit but he must have been an alpha now. He always told you that once he graduated from college he would be alpha. And his body definitely looked like an alpha’s. Rock solid and ready to smother you if you rubbed him the wrong way.

You said bring it on.

“y/n, my eyes are up here,” he said as he pulled your chin up to him. He smiled at you the way he did during your honeymoon stage. He loved to do that to you.

But he forgot that he broke your heart.

You smacked his hand away. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Didn’t you miss me? I sure as hell did,” he said as he inched closer again to smell your shampoo. “Your still using the same shampoo. My favorite.”

“Last time I checked you hated my guts.” But not as much as you hated his.

“I could never hate you,” he said as his flirty demeanor faded. He started to realize that he really did a number on you. And he felt more like an ass with each passing second.

“What do you want?” You asked as your eyes shifted to Taeyong. He was in line for concessions and he watched you like a hawk. His prominent jaw could stab anyone in line at that moment. You quickly turned back to Yuta, who you also prefer to avoid.

“A second chance,” he pleaded.

“Are you joking?” You gaped.

“No,” he said, deadpan.

You had nothing to say. The idea of him being serious was too much for you to process.

He continued. “I’ve come to realize that I was unfair to you. I’m sorry.”

He was onto something. At long last. “Look...That sounded almost sincere.”

He continued, his dark brown eyes never losing sight of you. “You were the best thing that ever happened to me. I was too blind to see it.”

Why? After all of these years?

You sighed. “Did you realize this after you achieved your dream of becoming an alpha? Because Yuta, that was all you cared about. You were going to meet some girl from another prominent pack and unite the packs. It would all be yours. In the end, it didn’t matter who reigned beside you. She would always be beneath you. In status...and in everything else.”

Yuta clenched his teeth in response and you could hear his low growl. He bit back his words. “I-“

“Yuta, no. Spare us both and just leave.” You’ve had enough.

He sighed. “This was not how I wanted this to go.”

You lifted your brows. “How did you expect this to go?”

“To be honest, I was expecting us to reunite at the beach by the end of the night.”

You frowned. “What?”

His face was now flushed with embarrassment instead of anger. “Uh...”

“Excuse me?” You demanded. The nerve of this man.

“You weren’t supposed to hear that...”

“What has gotten into you?”

“Honesty has always been my motto. You know this, y/n. Regardless of whether I’m an ass or not. It seems as though becoming an alpha has amplified that trait.”

After an awkward silence, you said, “That must get you into a lot of trouble, alpha.” Who knew how much havoc he wreaked since graduation?

He boasted, “I’m the most powerful alpha. I can deal.”

“Has your modesty gone up from low to medium? Or is that just wishful thinking?” You joked.

He chuckled. “It’s a little better.”

You shook your head at him. He was such a jerk but he seemed sincere.

“Y/N!” Haseul ran over to you. “I need to break a thousand dollar bill.”

“Come again?” You asked.

“It’s your regular,” Haseul said, winking.

You knew damn well to whom she was referring. Taeyong had an interesting way of trying to get your attention. Irritating but effective. And he was about to get an earful.

Yuta noticed your change in mood. He knew that the inch closer he’d gotten to you tonight was meaningless. It was in your eyes. There was someone else.

You turned back to Yuta. “I have to go. Take care, Yuta.”

“y/n-,” he started with your name but stopped when you rushed off with Haseul.

His eyes darted all over the theater entrance. Who dared approach his girl?

That was when he saw Taeyong at the front of the line for concessions. To Yuta, Taeyong looked presumptuous and arrogant and weak. All vampires were. He was far beneath an Omega, the lowest rank a wolf could have.

Yuta watched Taeyong’s serpentine eyes on you. Taeyong looked at you like you were his impending snack. No respect at all, Yuta thought.

Your taste in men fell off the deep end, it seemed.

You walked over to the counter where the line was growing restless with varying growls and screeches.

“How can I help you, sir?” You gave him your most winning smile.

Haseul piped in. “He wanted to pay for Sour Patch Bats with a thousand dollar bill.”

“We don’t accept thousand dollar bills, sir,” you said, desperately wanting to glare at him.

Taeyong smiled. “That’s fine. I have smaller bills.”

Haseul gaped. “That’s not what he-Oh!” She realized something you didn’t.

You apologized to Haseul and left the register to meet Taeyong. You sat down at the bench by Theater 13, the theater that always played the most popular film out.

Taeyong opened his bag of Sour Patch Bats and offered it to you. You shook your head and smacked his shoulder. “You know Haseul’s stressed enough already. Don’t give her any trouble. If you want to talk to me, just come and talk to me.”

Taeyong dug into his sour gummies. “Seemed like you wanted to get away from that dog so I got creative.”

“Thank you but I can handle him. You didn’t have to do that.” You took the bag of candy from his hands and ate some. He was beaming.

“A friend of yours?” He asked way too innocently.

“He’s my ex from college,” you said.

“I figured as much. Since you didn’t push him away the moment he breathed in your direction.”

You looked at Taeyong trying to get a read for his mood. He was neutral and it unsettled you.

“He wanted to get back together and I told him no,” you admitted.

Taeyong struggled to contain his emotions so he got up and said, “I’m going to get an ICEE. Do you want one?”

You nodded. “The triple, please?”

He nodded and smiled shyly at you. You both loved triple flavor ICEEs: cherry, blue raspberry, and coke.

He came back with your drinks. He handed it back to you.

“Hey, you drank out of this one!” You frowned and tried to grab the other untouched one in his hand. “Give me that one!”

He refused to give it to you and raised it above you so you couldn’t reach.

“Taeyong, come on!”

“How about this?” He asked quietly. “You can drink out of mine and we’ll call it even?”

“An indirect kiss. How...shoujo manga of you. Alright, let’s do it.”

He lifted the ICEE back down and you were going to drink it from his hand when he leaned down and kissed you. Oh, he was good. His mouth was cool on yours. An ICEE never tasted so good. You took advantage and switches your drinks.

He pulled away. “Hey!” He frowned.

“One kiss is enough, is it not?” You teased as you drank from the new cup.

Joking around like this, you forgot that he was a powerful vampire.

Who had swift reflexes

He drank from your ICEE cup in the blink of an eye. He winked. “One kiss will never be enough.”

“You’re so greedy. Why did you claim to buy me an ICEE if you were going to drink them both?”

“y/n I barely drank from yours. You’re just too OCD,” he joked.

“I resent that. I’m OCD? Don’t be such a hypocrite. You wash your hands almost as much as I do.” You two were neat freaks and as a fellow germaphobe, only he could tease you about it.

You went back and forth for a few more minutes before you got called back into work. Things weren’t exactly resolved with Taeyong but you let yourself have hope.

When you returned to your office, you found a jewelry box on your desk. Tiffany and Co.

Taeyong had outdone himself this time, you thought. You still needed to talk to him and tell him what’s been on your mind.

But.

It would be rude to not open his gift.

You were stunned to find a rose gold necklace inside. It was exquisite. You saw that there were two letters at the center. You found your initial and then.

You found a Y.

Y for Yuta.

You quickly put the pendant back into the box and quickly found the note under the box.

“y/n, I know I have a lot of making up to do. But I can promise you that I’m doing my best to be a better man. I want to be a better man for you. I hope one day you can forgive me and we can start again. I love you. Always, Yuta.”

“Oh, boy,” you started.

Someone knocked on your door and opened it. No one else did that except Taeyong and-

Your parents.

“Honey, we’re back!” Your mom, sporting a new tan, hugged you. Your dad hugged you after.

“Kiddo, the place looks great,” your dad said, “Any trouble since we’ve been gone?”

You quickly stepped backwards to your desk to hide the jewelry box and note behind you. You spun around to your desk and pretended to gather some papers so you can hide Yuta’s idiocy.

“Nothing to report,” you said.

Author’s Note: hey y’all! Thank you so much for always giving us so much love! And thank you for waiting for me! I’m so excited to take some time to write! For this chapter, I was inspired by a scene from Gilmore Girls (when Taeyong kisses y/n during the ICEE scene). I was also inspired for the transition to full wolf by Teen Wolf and The Vampire Diaries (Best shows ever). I was also inspired by a scene from @sakuurae’s story “Study Sessions” for the mention of Yuta having fun with y/n in lecture 🌚. I was also inspired by @caiuscassiuss’s story “Sasaeng” for the description of Taeil’s death. It’s an interesting mixture of inspirations. 😂 Thank you for reading!

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gifted-burnout-archive · 4 years

Text

Jim’s Best Friend

Part Eight - 24 Hours Dedicated to Saint Valentine

Word Count: 2060

Author’s Note: As of last update, I have started a tag list! So, if you would like to be notified whenever this story updates, please let me know!

WARNING:

For previous chapters click here.

February, 2006.

It seemed like the entire office enjoyed Valentine's Day, except you. It had never been something you really looked forward to, Hell the year before you spent it travelling through Spain alone. In hind sight, it was a great idea.

But, the office loved it, especially Pam, and you all sent little notes and stuff to one another, Pam decorated especially, and with Michael out of the office for a corporate meeting in New York, it was at least nice to see everyone in the office happy.

You sat in the kitchen, running through your personal budgets for the month when Dwight appeared, taking a seat beside you. You did your best to ignore him, closing your eyes and counting in your head, trying to add up totals from the months before to guesstimate how to split your money.

"You have yet to receive a gift." He said, and the numbers in your head scrambled themselves up. You let out a sigh, and opened your eyes, looking over at the odd man beside you.

"I don't do Valentine's Day." You said with a strained smile, and looked up as Pam walked towards the kitchen, but seeing Dwight sat at your side she mouthed a 'Sorry' and turned quickly, heading over to Jim's desk to fill him in.

"Yes you do. The past three years you have received and given gifts." Dwight corrected, and you looked back at him.

"Wha- why do you know that? I wasn't even here last Valentine's Day."

"You still got a card." Dwight informed, and you raised an eyebrow. You hadn't been told about that at all.

"And where did it go?" You asked, and Dwight coughed.

"Well, you didn't claim the mail within the 28 days, so I gave it to Pam to shred." Dwight said, and you groaned, collecting your things.

"Dwight, if I wasn't present to see the card on my desk, how would I know I have one? And why are you bringing it up a year later?" You asked as your stood up.

"Well, I needed your help on gift picking, however with this new information, I'll talk to Pam." Dwight decided, and you nodded.

"Yeah, please! And don't shred my mail, maybe?" You suggested, marching out of the kitchen, rubbing the side of your temple. As you sat yourself back down, Jim smirked.

"Dwight really stresses you out." Jim commented, tossing you over a card. You rolled your eyes, opening it up.

Poker Game tonight at my place? Got some friends coming over, and I plan to take every penny I can. Jim xx

"How romantic, Halpert." You rolled your eyes, but you read it over again, hitting the card against your hand a few times as you thought. "Maybe. Trying to weigh out the options of getting laid or getting paid."

"Gatorade, always." Jim responded, just as seriously, and you cracked your first smile of the day. "Ah! There she is." He winked, and leaned over to dial a customer back. You knew what he was doing. The past few weeks had been nothing but Pam planning her wedding, and he needed a distraction. He had even phoned up Brenda, the girl from corporate that you had hooked up with, and gone on a date with her. You both agreed afterwards she was a bit too much to handle.

"Fine. I can help you set up." You agreed, and Jim held a thumbs up to you, and you quickly walked over to Pam.

Her usual cheery disposition was replaced with a face not unlike yours, and you pouted.

"You can't join the dark side, Pam. The trio needs a Valentine's Day fanatic or we'll be thrown off balance." You popped on of the sweets in your mouth, and she sighed.

"I've just had to sit here all day, watching Phyllis collect a garden and accompanying petting zoo without so much as a rose from Roy." She sighed, and you reached over, squeezing her hand.

"Maybe you'll get a secret admirer?" You wiggled your eyebrows, and she laughed a little. "Right, I've made you smile, my job is done. Three hours left Pam, then we can flee this place." You promised her, heading back to your seat and opening up your email, sending a quick message to Jim:

You need to be Pam's secret admirer... Do you know how to make paper flowers? Xx

You sent it over and picked up your phone as it rang. "Dunder Mifflin, this is Y/N speaking. How can I assist you today?" You nodded and started helping your customer when an email pinged through.

Not a clue... Help me????

You looked up and saw Jim giving you puppy dog eyes. You sighed and nodded in defeat, taking out a piece of paper and beginning to fold it the way Pam had taught you years ago. Jim wrote out a little card to accompany the 'rose' you had managed to make, and you even borrowed Phyllis' new rose perfume to spritz on the paper.

When Pam disappeared for a bathroom break right before the end of the day, you snatched the note from Jim and rushed over, placing the two items onto Pam's keyboard, quickly returning to your seat and starting back on an order confirmation.

The smile on her face when she got back was more than enough to keep you happy for the rest of the day, in spite of Dwight's banging on about being the new boss and the three rejected calls that happened in a row. Pam played with her paper flower until Roy walked in, saying something about 'the best sex of your life', and Pam left with a tired expression and look to you that just said everything.

You finished off an email, and glanced over at Jim. "Ready to go?" You asked, and he nodded, putting down the phone, the pair of you packing up very quickly.

"Where are you two rushing away?" Dwight asked, and if anyone else had said it, it would have come off as funny. But Dwight's face was expressionless, and his tone accusatory. "You realise that if you are in an Office relationship you have to disclose it to HR."

The remaining colleagues glanced over, and you and Jim shared a look before bursting out in laughter.

"Good one, Dwight. Man, didn't think you could be funny." You said through chuckles, pulling on your coat.

"I'm serious."

"Y/N and I have been carpooling for months Dwight. Why is it all of a sudden suspicious?" Jim raised an eyebrow.

"It's Valentine's Day, you are both single."

"Jim is having a poker night, I'm going along to help set up early. Goodnight Dwight." You said, spinning on your heel. The pair of you left the office and made it down to Jim's red Sedan, and you jumped in the front seat.

After a trip to the store to gather a few essentials, you finally turned to Jim in the car, taking a moment before speaking.

"Jim."

"Yes Y/N?" He asked, slowing down as you reached a red light.

"I should have asked earlier, but who is coming along tonight?" You questioned, shuffling through your handbag and lifting out a small black notebook. Jim looked over, and looked again.

"No... Is that..." Jim started, the light switching to green and he started driving again.

"Jim, please?" You begged, and he laughed.

"Why does it matter?" He teased, and you slumped back in your seat.

"Because I've slept with at least six of your friends..." You admitted, and Jim looked over. "Eyes on the road!" You squeaked, and Jim quickly turned his attention back to his driving, turning right and pulling in on a side road.

"Six?!" He said finally, more than surprised. "Last time it was two!" He laughed through his confusion. "I have like ten friends, Y/N. How have you slept with more than half of my social circle?"

—

"This..." you held a book up to the camera, a small black moleskin notebook. "This is The Notebook..." you sighed, and took a deep breath. "So, I want to say first that I don't discuss my romantic escapades with the office, for obvious reasons... And second, that I do not do office romances. Never have, never will. They always end up with awkwardness and rumours and sides and I don't like it... But while I don't sleep with people I work with..." You say the book on your lap and looked up, fidgeting a little. "Look, when I was about a year into my time here, my mom passed away from cancer... And then my cat had to be put down two months later and friends moved away. Overall, it was a terrible time. And, within my grief, I ended up at a bar one night, bumped into Phyllis who was with some family, her nephew Jordan and her sister. We all got talking, and Phyllis left with Jordan's mom and well, long story short, I slept with Phyllis' nephew. And then, a few weeks later, Oscar's cousin who dropped by... And then Toby's brother..." you shivered, and ran a hand through your hair. "And then Jim and Pam joined the office and suddenly there were so many more people who were my age and..."

"I started The Notebook after I slept with two of Pam's friends and three of Jim's, I had started to lose track of everyone. So, in here is every romantic or sexual interaction I have had with anyone who knows people in the office. Hookups, makeouts, drunken kisses, proposed first dates, all of it. And in situations like these, I can remind myself about the people I am re-meeting, and be prepared to answer weird questions." You flicked through it as you spoke. "It keeps everything in order. No chances of repeat hookups, and 99% of the time, the next time I see them we are just friendly. Like... If Pam and Jim are the friend, I'm the benefit." You laughed, slipping the book away. You glanced up at the camera.

"Also, just want to point out Todd Packer is not on the list... Fucking hate that guy."

—

"Come on Jim, please?" You gave him the big puppy dog eyes, and he laughed a little more.

"Only if you tell me whether or not you've slept with them as we go." Jim offered, and you nodded in defeat. "Fine. Tom."

"Yes."

"Okay, Hugh."

"Yep."

"Arnold?"

"I made out with him, but nothing more."

"Right. Ewan?"

"Uh..." You scoured through the notebook. "He asked me out once, but no sex." You clarified, and Jim was watching you with a smirk on his face. "Anybody else?"

"Monica and Stacey too, and Patrick might turn up. And Mark too." Jim finished, and you nodded.

"Mark, yes. Stacey, no, she's straight. Monica, almost, and Patrick, twice." You confirmed, and Jim's eyes widened.

"You slept with my roommate? And Monica?" You Just kept blowing his mind. You giggled.

"Well, you know that barbecue you had like two years ago? I almost slept with Monica but Mark walked in, and then one thing led to another and I ended up sleeping with him... And Patrick..." You smiled when mentioning the last name, and Jim noticed.

"He's been asking about you... How did you end up sleeping with him twice?" Jim asked, smiling as you blushed a little.

"Nothing major... We slept together once before you came to the office, by chance... Then met at your birthday party and... yeah..."

"So, you've slept with almost all of my friends."

"Hey, I've slept with Pam's cousin, you don't get pity here. Family trumps friends." You defended, and Jim let out a chuckle, starting the car back up and finishing the drive to his house. After a few minutes of silence, Jim spoke up.

"It might be too soon, and I don't want to be forward, but Patrick broke up with a long term girlfriend recently, maybe you should try talking with him? He seems to be interested in you." Jim suggested, his eyes flicking over to gauge your reaction. The blush on your cheeks gave him his response, and he pulled into the driveway of his house with a smile on his face. "I know you hate Valentine's Day, but who knows? Maybe this one'll be good."

Tags: @imsuperawkward

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what-is-your-plan-today · 4 years

Text

CSI Rogers and Barnes Ch 12: An Excelsior Turn Of Events

Part 2 Co written with @icanfeelastormbrewing

REMINDER! Episode Warnings: Bad Language words.

Make sure you read Part 1 first!!!

Steve looked up, frowning slightly as he saw Katie walk into the office, followed by Fury.

"Sir?" He looked from Katie to his boss, as he stood up from his desk "I wasn't expecting to see you today?"

Fury closed the door and strode over the room, taking the seat that Steve gestured towards. Katie sat down next to him, her eyes following Steve back round the desk as he looked at her once more, shrugging slightly as he sat down.

"Well I wasn't anticipating being here." Fury said, his eyes looking around the room before he glanced back at Steve "That was until I received a very interesting call yesterday. From a concerned member of your team."

Steve glanced at Katie who had suddenly paled.

"What about?" he asked, his eyes flicking back to Fury.

"You two." he said simply. "How you are..." Fury waved a hand, "Dating, or whatever you want to call it."

Shit.

"Sir, look, this-" Steve started to speak but Fury simply held his hand up.

"I didn't need the call to tell me." he implored, looking at Steve then Katie "I may only have one eye but I’m not blind…”

Katie took a deep breath and looked to Steve, for once she was lost for words. Steve locked his lips and then took a deep breath "You know, Sir, technically we're not breaking any rules as Stark reporting to Coulson."

Fury raised an eyebrow, an amused look on his face “That’s a very small loophole Captain…"

"But a loophole nonetheless..." Katie responded. Furry turned to face her, almost as if he was considering her point before he shook his head.

"Yes, but it is also irrelevant as I’m pulling you back to New York permanently, Stark, and ending your secondment.”

Steve let out a sigh, he wasn't surprised. He knew from the various calls and emails he had with Coulson that the Captain was getting restless about not knowing what was going on but he hadn't wanted to trouble Katie about it anymore, especially when she was struggling to make a decision about what to do. He wanted it to be her decision and hers alone, despite what he had said the previous night. He wanted her back, of course he did, but whatever she decided he was adamant they would work through it. But now, that decision had been taken out of her hands.

He watched as Katie, showing no emotion other than a blink of surprise, which unless you knew her you would miss. "Can I ask why?” she said, her voice even.

“Coulson is a body down, and he can’t sustain it any longer so he needs to recruit permanently." Fury replied simply "I'm sure I don't need to tell you, but you can’t come back to the 101, unless you two end it…and I wouldn’t want to make you do that. Who am I to interfere with affairs of the heart…” he said with a slight smile.

"So you’re gonna assign me to another precinct?” Katie asked, her voice still passive but Steve could see from the look in her eyes she was trying not to display how disappointed she was, despite the fact that they had both known this would happen the minute they went public.

“I spoke to Captain Holt yesterday afternoon. He is more than happy to welcome you back to the 99…or I can look for-“

“No…” Katie cut him off, shaking her head. "I have to leave the 101 then the 99 is where I’d want to go.”

Steve let out a soft sigh of relief. Going back to the 99 from both a professional point of view and a personal one was the best outcome they could have asked for. They all knew her, so she wasn't going to have to prove herself all over again to a set of new colleagues. Plus he knew Captain Holt to be a fair man and a great Captain, even if his style was completely different to his own. He'd make sure she was looked after.

Fury nodded, smiling "I thought you might say that. I'll get HR to raise the paperwork as soon as I get back. You can finish up the week here and then until the transfer goes through you'll be placed on paid leave..."

At that Katie frowned "You're taking me off the case?"

"Sir, is that really necessary?" Steve began to protest "I mean, Katie's been with this from-"

“Captain, I’m sorry but it could lead to all sorts of problems." Fury shook his head "All it takes is for a defence lawyer gets a sniff of this and it’s enough of a chink for them to exploit accusing you of being distracted, our eyes not being on the prize so to speak...”

"Oh, come on Nick…” Steve scoffed, shaking his head "That's an insult to both of us! Do you seriously think we can't-"

“Steve, it's fine." Katie shook her head looking at him. "I get it.”

Steve held her gaze as she took a deep breath, he could see she was upset but had resigned herself to this being the way it had to be. He looked at her, frantically trying to reassure her in some way, and in some ways apologise about the fact that it was her professional career that was, once again, being tipped upside down because of him, but she simply shrugged and he saw her stoic front slip slightly as she turned to Fury, blinking back the tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry Stark." Fury sighed, and Steve could see he was being genuine. And from the sounds of it so did Katie.

“I understand Sir. May I be dismissed?”

“Yes” Fury nodded, looking at her.

Katie rose from her seat, nodding to him then to Steve “Captain…”

He looked at her for a moment, knowing full well she was proving a point, being professional so he waved her away and she left pulling the door closed behind her.

As soon as the door shut Steve turned to Fury shaking his head. “I can’t believe you’re pulling her off this…”

“Officially, yes.” Fury remarked, looking at something on the ceiling. Steve frowned, watching as the man turned his face to Steve and levelled him with a look "But I can’t be responsible for what she has access to or sees in her spare time now can I?”

Steve understood instantly and shook his head, snorting, a smile playing on his face. “Fury, you son of a bitch…”

“Ooh, hooo, you kiss your mother with that mouth?” Fury looked back at him. Steve raised an eyebrow, suddenly feeling a little calmer about the situation. If they could keep Katie working this on the low, it was better than nothing. Sadly, it meant she wouldn't get any of the plaudits should they solve the case but it was better than nothing. She wasn't about glory, merely doing the job and doing the job well. And the reason he had asked her to come back from DC was because she was one of the best Officers he knew.

“Now." Fury looked at Steve "About Miss Maximoff…”

Steve frowned, as Fury held his gaze, before it clicked in his mind and he gave a low groan "She was the one that called?"

“You know I can't officially tell you that, but, well I'm not letting her off scot free.”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t like disloyalty” Fury shook his head, “Yes you and Stark were breaking rules, but as it's a dumbass rule I elected to ignore it. That is until she called. Anyway, I'm giving you the opportunity to have her transferred as well…to Statten Island. We'll call it career development."

Steve snorted “She can go, I’ll pack her stuff myself”

Fury laughed “I’ll let you deliver the news to her then. As soon as you give me the nod, I’ll sort you another assistant too. You may have to share with another precinct until we can recruit but…”

Steve nodded.

“I’m sorry.” Fury apologised again as he rose from his seat, and Steve shook his head as he too stood.

“It's fine Sir. We both knew that this would happen at some point.”

“Some risks are worth taking though, huh?”

“Yeah, something like that.” Steve smiled.

“Well, for what it's worth Howard would be pleased.” Fury nodded "He thought very highly of you, often stated he wished the pair of you would wake up and see what was right in front of you."

Steve let out a chuckle "He must have been speaking to my ma."

"They knew each other didn't they?" Fury asked.

"Yeah, childhood friends." Steve smiled.

"Hmm." Fury mused, before he looked around and dropped his voice "On the subject of Howard..." Steve took a breath, the words 'trust no one' echoing in his head from the video. He had no doubt in his mind he could trust Fury, but still he hesitated for a moment before he answered as honestly as he coul.

"I know what you’re gonna say and yes, Katie cracked the encryption. We just…well, we need time to work through what we found. When we do, I’ll let you know.”

Fury nodded “Ok”

With that he held out his hand, Steve shook it, and then Fury swept out of the office. ***** The door to Steve's office opened and Bucky looked up to see Katie striding out. He could tell instantly she was upset but as he opened his mouth she shook her head at him to tell him to keep quiet. Doing as she asked, he simply watched as she sat down at her computer, simply staring at the screen. He could see clearly from her eyes that she wasn't reading or doing anything. He looked over at Clint who looked at him, before they both glanced at Natasha. She was leaning back in her chair, shooting daggers at Wanda, who was in turn completely ignoring her. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Fury had gotten wind of what was going on between Steve and Katie, and it also didn't take a genius to figure out who had tipped him off. No one spoke for a few moments, until the door to Steve's office opened again and Fury strode out, followed shortly by the Captain. And for the first time in his life, Bucky found himself unable to get a read on his best friend, which in itself was unnerving.

"Wanda, can I have a word please?" Steve spoke, his tone even and polite. Wanda looked at him, her face slipping before she stood up and followed him. As soon as the door shut behind them Bucky sat up straight and looked at Katie. "What's going on?" "Someone blew the whistle, on me and Steve." she said simply, her eyes turning back to him from where they had been fixed on a door "And you don't need to be Einstein to figure out who..." "Sneaky bitch." Natasha sighed, shaking her head.

"So I'm being pulled back from DC and moved over the 99." Katie shrugged.

"But after we solve the case, right?" Clint said, his tone hopeful. Katie shook her head and both Clint and Natasha let out exclamations of anger.

"It's fine." Katie shook her head, "We knew the risks and if I had to choose a precinct to go to it would be the 99. I know everyone, I enjoyed it there and Holt is a good man so..." with that she stood up "I'm gonna get another coffee, anyone-" But before she could finish her sentence the door to Steve's office flew open and Wanda came blazing out, a look of rage on her face as she bee lined for Katie.

"You fucking bitch." she hissed, and before anyone could move she'd launched herself at the Sergeant, her hand raised, nails flying at her face like a cat would swipe with its claws. Katie gave a yell as Wanda attacked her and Bucky flew from his seat, but before he had a chance to intervene Katie had stepped back slightly and her right hand drew back, her fist connecting straight with Wanda's nose, a loud crack ringing around the office as the place erupted into pandemonium. Shouts and the general kerfuffle associated with a fight filled the air as Bucky grabbed hold of Katie, pulling her back whilst Steve quickly appeared, stepping in between the two women as Wanda picked herself up of the floor, slapping away Natasha's offer of help.

"She hit me...." Wanda spat, wiping at her nose which was billowing blood.

"Give me a chance and I'll do it again, you spiteful little-" "ENOUGH!" Steve bellowed, silencing the office. "I won't stand for this, you hear me? I'm running a fucking Police Department not a goddamned school yard..." "Look what she did to my nose!" Wanda spat, grabbing a tissue from the box Clint was holding out. Bucky noticed the man wasn't even looking at Wanda as he did so, he was looking at Katie, his eyebrow raised.

"Look what you did to her cheek." Clint shrugged, and Bucky turned to Katie, Steve doing the same, both men frowning as they saw the nail marks down the side of her cheek, which were also bleeding.

Katie raised her hand to her face and let out a loud noise of annoyance through her nose as she looked at the blood on her hand. "Fucks sake..." "You ok?" Steve looked at her, Bucky could tell he was fighting the urge to sweep her into his arms, trying to remain professional and Katie simply nodded.

"I was until she came flying out of your office and went loco." "That's true." Clint offered "She went for Stark first."

“They’re transferring me because of you…” Wanda hissed, looking at Katie. Bucky saw Stark blink before she grinned a little and let out a laugh.

"Looks your little stunt back fired slightly then didn’t it you stupid bitch!”

“God you really think you’re fucking special…” Wanda spat at her “Fuck knows what on Earth-“

“I said enough..." Steve spoke again, cutting her off, his voice firm but calm. He looked at Katie and spoke to her gently "Go sort your face and take an early lunch…”

She looked at him, but Bucky knew she was clever enough to recognise when she was being dismissed. She simply nodded her agreement and grabbed her jacket and her bag. He looked at Natasha who was already moving, giving him a nod as she picked up her purse and followed Stark out of the room.

Once they were gone, Steve turned to Wanda. “Wanda, you moving has nothing to do with Stark, it was Fury’s idea. He feels your career needs development." "Bullshit." Wanda spat, "This is nothing more than petty revenge." "Ok you want the truth?" Steve sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, and Bucky watched, a smile playing on his face. It wasn't often Steve got the urge to break rules but this was clearly one of them. "Fury doesn’t like disloyalty and neither do I. Simply put a Captain can’t have people on his team they don’t trust. You going behind my back to Fury was sneaky and spiteful and he won’t stand for it and neither will I.”

Wanda glared at him as she wiped her nose with a tissue, Steve continuing.

"But that's off the record and I'll deny it, as will Fury." he shrugged. “Get to medical, and then you can take the next 2 weeks paid leave. After that you’ll be heading over to Statten Island.”

At that Clint let out a snort "Statten Island…"

"Shut up Barton." Steve snapped, and Bucky bit back the smirk that was threatening to cross his own face. Statten Island was known to be the most boring precinct in New York.

“You can stick your transfer.” Wanda shook her head “I quit”

There was a slight pause before Steve shrugged "Ok. I accept your resignation. You can clear your desk and I’ll inform HR. No need to work your notice. I’ll ensure you’re paid for it.”

With that he turned and headed back to his office. Bucky leaned back in his chair, pride swelling in his chest at the way Steve had, albeit very subtly, stood up for his girl. But Wanda just couldn't let it lie.

"Why do you like her?” she blurt out. Steve paused, and turned back to face her.

“Excuse me?”

“Stark…why do you like her? I just don’t get it.”

“I don’t like her Wanda.” Steve shrugged, “I love her” and with that he walked back into his office, closing the door.

A silence fell over the office as Bucky and Clint exchanged a look. Bucky noticed Clint wasn't even trying to hide the enormous grin that had spread across his face.

"Well, that was entertaining..." he said, leaning back in his chair "What next? Naked mud wrestling?" "Fuck you." Wanda spat, as she moved to her desk.

Clint stood up, and retrieved a box from under his desk. "Here, once you've had your nose seen to you'll need that for your stuff. I'll help you carry it down to your car."

"Thanks." she said, taking it from him.

Clint nodded, and turned away muttering to Bucky under his breath. "Just to make sure she actually leaves."

******

"I still can't believe she quit, just like that." Katie shook her head "I mean, that's a really dumbass move." "Well, I think it was her pride more than anything." Steve shrugged, turning left out of the car lot. "I'll give it a few days, see if she changes her mind. I doubt it though, she'll be pissed for sure after what I said to her."

"What do you mean?" Katie asked.

"Well she wasn't letting go that easily." Steve said, glancing in the mirror. "So she asked me why I liked you."

Katie gave a scoff from her seat.

"I told her I didn't." Steve continued, side glancing at her as he spoke "But that I love you." A soft smile spread across her face and she turned to look at him, "You did?" "Course, its true." he said, his eyes locking onto hers for a moment before he turned them back to the road. "Maybe if I'd done it sooner it would have put a stop to her bitching and you wouldn't have fingernail marks down your face."

Katie shook her head "That's not your fault Steve. We both decided to try and keep it quiet remember? And I outed us anyway, that's what tipped her over the edge." "Honey, it was going to come out anyway at some point, I told you that yesterday. But, maybe if I'd stepped up and stopped her stupid little antics beforehand, even without mentioning you...”

"Stevie." she cut him off, shaking her head "Just, don't think about it anymore. It's done. We have a way forward and in a way I'm relieved." "You are?" "Yeah, I mean ok I'm not happy about having to leave the 101 but you know I love the guys at 99 and it means we don't have to hide anymore. Finally there's absolutely nothing stopping us. We can do things like lunch together or breakfast together or grab a coffee on breaks without looking over our shoulders. We don't have to date in secret... it makes it more...I dunno, real. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah, yeah it does." Steve smiled, it made perfect sense. Sneaking around had made them feel like they were doing something wrong, but now it was out they were free to just be together, like they had waited for so damned long to be. They fell into a comfortable silence, Steve stopping at the light, glancing out to his left he spotted a flower stall on the side of the road. That was something he hadn't done for Katie yet, bought her some flowers. He knew her favourites were calla lilies and daisies, and he was just making a mental note to remember to get her some at some point soon when she spoke his name and nodded to indicate the lights had turned green.

"I really, really don't like this car." Steve mumbled as it failed to accelerate to his liking when he put his foot down. "Sooner the insurance company sort my pay out the better."

"What's wrong with it?" Katie asked, turning to face him.

"It's just all wrong." he shrugged.

"And you call me a brat." she chuckled.

Steve gave a snort "They said like for like hire replacement." he glanced at her "I had a Q5, this is not a Q5.”

“I know, it's an A5”

“Exactly, it's not the same." he concluded.

“Has a 5 in it.” she shrugged, her eyes focussed on the road ahead of them but he could see her mouth curling up into a smirk.

"Doll, just don’t…” he said, and she turned her head to face him, the angry red scratches on her cheek standing out against her smooth skin.

“Can I put my feet on the dash in this one?”

Steve glared at her

“What, it’s not yours.” she continued.

“I’m borrowing so no, you can’t."

Giving a chuckle she reached out with her left hand for his right as it lay on the centre arm rest between them, pulling it over onto her lap, her fingers playing with his as she looked down at his hand, tracing shapes on his palm. He'd noticed it was something she did as they sat watching TV at night, something she hadn't done to him before she'd taken his hand in the car that night after the Christmas Party. Steve understood why, because in a way it felt really intimate. And he liked it.

“I like this car better anyway” she said, her eyes flicking back up to his face.

“Why?”

“It’s sleeker and sexier." she shrugged "The other one was too sensible. It was something a dad would drive.”

“A Daddy’s car, huh?” Steve looked at her, grinning.

“That’s not what…oh whatever.” she snorted, shaking her head as he gave her a little smirk, before he saw one flicker across her face too.

“I think Ari had a Q5 actually…”

“Oh come on!” Steve spluttered as she let out a loud laugh “Don’t make me smack the stupid off of you…”

“There was nothing stupid about Ari” Katie said, with a dramatic, over the top nostalgic sigh, teasing him.

“I said off you." Steve looked at her "I don’t know that Ari guy…”

“He’s not a guy, he’s a man. You’re a guy.”

“I’m a guy?”

“Yeah…” she turned to look at him “My guy.”

“That line is as shit as this car.”

Katie's laugh turned into a groan “Oh not again Steve…it takes you to places, that’s more than enough.”

Steve chuckled, pulling his hand up bringing hers with it to place a soft kiss to the back just underneath her knuckles.

“Still think you were dumb getting rid of the mustang…” she said as he let her fingers go, moving his hand back to the wheel so he could take a left turn.

“Well it was 3 years old and…” he stopped himself dead from finishing his sentence, but as ever he wasn't going to get away with it.

“What?” Katie asked

“Nothing…”

“Steve..." her tone was warning and he sighed, realising she wouldn't let it drop.

"Well, and Peggy didn’t like it.” he shrugged “Said I needed something more sensible.”

“Oh Fuck Peggy.” Katie shook her head and he turned to her, his eyebrow raised "I liked it. In fact, I think you should get one when your money comes through…”

“We’ll see…” he shrugged. If truth be told that Mustang had been the nicest car he'd owned, and his favourite. It was fun to drive, moved like you wouldn't believe and the growl it had when you put your foot on the gas was enough to make him purr with delight every time he did it. Maybe another one wasn't such a bad idea.

After another 10 minutes or so they reached the graveyard and Steve pulled the car into a spare space. The two of them climbed out, and Steve took Katie’s hand in his as they walked down the path.

“He said the first row, furthest one to the right…” Katie mused, as they wound their way through the various memorials and monoliths, before they reached the new stone. Steve shivered slightly, this whole thing was a little too creepy for his liking.

It wasn’t long until Katie nudged him and nodded towards a small, elderly looking man that was striding towards them, a pair of sunglasses covering his eyes, a hat pulled down over his head. He stopped besides them, looking down at the grave before he spoke.

“You do look like your mother.” he said, looking at Katie, before his face turned to Steve and the Captain saw the lines at the end of his eyes crinkle in a smile “I thought you’d be taller.”

“Sir, I don’t know-“ Steve began but the man pulled a face.

“I don’t want to be here longer than possible so we don’t have time for pleasantries, my apologies.” he said gently, “I’ll get straight to the point.”

He reached inside his jacket and Steve stiffened slightly, placing himself in between Katie and the man as he suddenly realised he had no idea what the guy was concealing. His hand reached for the gun on his hip, and he thought he had been subtle about it, but he realised he hadn’t as Katie gently squeezed his arm and the man chuckled.

“And they say chivalry is dead, a fine trait Captain.” he nodded as he pulled out a manila file and what looked like a video disc.

“What’s this?” Katie asked, reaching out to take it.

“Information in the form of a video of an interview and associated documentation. The documents belonged to your father and he gave me a copy of them so that I could continue to dig into things should he…” the man sighed, looking at her.

“Should something happen to him?” Katie swallowed.

The man gave her a sympathetic look, before he continued. “To cut a long story short, Howard uncovered a conspiracy within the NYPD one that I believe to be linked to your case.”

Katie took the file off him, and began to flick through the notes whilst Steve took the disc.

“The cover up involved Brock Rumlow.” the man spoke and Steve’s eyes snapped to Katie’s as she looked at him, then to the man “You see, after what happened to you, my dear, your dad pushed and pushed for Rumlow to be sacked but in the end he was allowed to resign…” “We know all this.” Steve said, a little impatiently. “I was there, we both were…” “Yes, but the thing is Howard took it personally, and wouldn’t let it lie so he started to dig into the rape case, off radar. As a consequence he discovered a huge cover up. Someone was paid to give Rumlow an alibi.” Katie shook her head, “I fucking knew it…” she turned to the man “Let me guess, the money came from Ross?”

He nodded “he was being blackmailed by someone, someone who had compromising photos.”

“Yeah we saw.” Steve said.

The elderly man pulled a face. “I wish I hadn’t…but, anyway. Ross also put pressure on Schmidt to get Sara Klein to drop the case.”

Steve looked at Katie who let out a sigh. “Who? Who was it that was pulling the strings?”

“He never said. Not directly, however you’ll find the answer in there just as I did.” he said, “Now, please forgive me, but I really do need to go. I can’t be seen in the area. It would severely compromise my cover.” He turned to go and Steve frowned, watching him for a second, until Katie stepped forward a little.

“And my parents?” Katie looks at him “Do you think they were killed like Fury does?”

The man sighed “I remain suspicious about how your parents died.” he said, looking down “Because it happened the day after your dad gave me the interview.” he nodded to the file

“The interview is my dad?” Katie frowned.

He nodded.

“You’re a reporter?” Steve stated, and the man nodded.

“I was, a long time ago. When Ross was murdered it piqued my interest and then when Sitwell turned up too, then Schmidt…well, it was too much to be a coincidence…especially seeing as the murderer you’re tracking is using the same MO as what may or may not have happened to your parents. I couldn’t deny it or keep it hidden any longer.”

Katie shook her head “You should have come forward sooner! My parents deserved that at least.”

Steve placed his hand on her shoulder, she was getting worked up he could see that and he didn’t blame her. Not one bit.

“I’m not proud of it Miss Stark…but I had a wife and I wasn’t going to put her in danger not unnecessarily. Then the murders started and, well, they can’t kill you if you’re already dead…” the man said simply, nodding to the grave they were stood in front of “And if they put me in the ground next to her then, so be it…”

“I can organise protection…” Steve offered, and the man shook his head, smiling

“Captain, I’m almost 80 years old. If my time is up…well, at least I can go with a clear conscience now. Good luck to both of you. Excelsior.” And with that he left. Steve watched him go, feeling pretty uneasy about how much of a target this was going to put on his back but he was distracted when Katie spoke.

“Well, at least we know his name, look.”

Steve did as was told “In memory of Joan Lee, beloved wife to Stan…” he trailed off as he read the rest of the tribute, before he reached the short epitaph at the bottom. “ How lucky I was to have had something that made saying goodbye so hard. Excelsior…where have I seen or heard that word before?” Steve looked at Katie, “Excelsior I mean?”

“It’s on the coat of arms of the state of New York.” she answered “It’s Latin, translates as ‘ever upwards’, or ‘even higher’, words to that effect.”

Steve blinked “How do you remember this stuff?”

“Guess it just kinda stuck with me from the academy.” she shrugged, before she gave a shiver and looked down at the file “Let’s get out of here and see what this says.” They made their way back to Steve’s, deeming it the safest place to go through the information, without fear of being interrupted. Whilst they drove, Katie googled Stan Lee and discovered he had been an investigative journalist, one that was noted for his hard hitting and unbiased articles and his detailed work with the NYPD, having worked with them on a few notorious cases.

When they arrived at the apartment, Katie told Steve she didn’t want to watch the video, not unless they absolutely needed to. She said wanted to focus more on the other pieces of information and evidence that had come with the file but Steve suspected it also had something to do with the emotions she would no doubt feel at seeing her father on screen again over 5 years after he had died. He didn’t say anything though, simply agreed, and as such, they were sat on the floor by the couch, paper spread all over the floor as they sifted through, trying to find the answer to their question, which Lee had assured them was in there.

“Why didn’t he just fucking tell us?” Katie grumbled, reaching out for another piece of paper.

“Your guess is as good as mine.” Steve sighed, as his eyes scanned the transcript of the interview between Howard and Lee that was contained on the disc “Maybe he enjoys the idea of people finding links for themselves, you know, making the connections through easter eggs, I don’t know…”

“He could have at least given us a clue, you know? Some kind of…I dunno, indication of where to look…” she mumbled before she trailed off as she frowned, looking at the item she had just picked up. She scrambled for another piece she had dropped onto a pile before and placed them both flat on the floor “Stevie, look at this.”

He moved so he could see the papers side by side, his eyes flicking over the information. The first was a copy of a birth certificate. “Unnamed boy…DOB December 5th 1976… Mother Alana Bevon…”

“Now look at this one…” She tapped the one to the right. His eyes feel wide as he read the information, “It’s a death certificate…for Alana Bevon…fuck, she died in childbirth, aged 16?” “Yup, and this is an Adoption order. Said un-named male baby was adopted…by a Mrs and Mrs Rumlow…”

“Rumlow was adopted?” Steve’s eyebrows raised as she placed that piece of paper down on the floor on top of the birth certificate. She made a noise of agreement as she reached for the next document that had come in that particular bunch from the file and paused.

“Holy fucking shit…” she whispered, her eyes wide.

“Doll?” Steve frowned “What is it?”

Wordlessly she handed him a piece of paper. It was a letter confirming a set of DNA results. Dated 2 days before Howard died. As he read the information he felt his blood run cold and he blinked a few times to make sure he was reading it correctly.

“This…Chief Pearce is Rumlow’s biological father? He got a 16 year old pregnant?”

“It explains why he would be shielding him…years of guilt…” Katie’s breathing was deep. “Fuck, Steve…this…this is insane.” “We need to call Fury…” Steve’s logical brain kicked in, thankfully, and he pulled his phone out of his pocket, frowning as it immediately began to light up in his hand. It was Bucky.

“Buck, sorry pal but I gotta call Fury, we made a breakthrough, its Pearce…the guy who’s been covering up for Rumlow…” he answered but Bucky cut him off with a sigh.

“Well that’s unfortunate. Because I just got a call from Thor. Pearce was found dead in his car about 30 minutes ago”

#csi rogers and barnes #csi au #steve rogers #steve rogers x original female character #steve rogers x oc #bucky barnes

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samsexualdeancurious · 3 years

Text

His Own Hands | Chapter Fourteen

Pairing: Bucky x Reader

Words: 1,955

Summary: Bucky is settling in well with the Avengers but he keeps having nightmares - flashes of repressed memories of a girl being tortured by his hands and then vanishing into a swirling black portal. He's not sure who she is until Fury introduces them to their newest potential team member, a girl Bucky recognizes on sight and Fury calls "Portal".

Warnings: Hurt!Reader, Lack of Communication, torture, trauma, PTSD

Written for Nanowrimo 2020

Betaed by Saxxxology and Amory

Cover art edited by me

---

To say Bucky is nervous would be an understatement.

“When was the last time you went on a date?” Natasha asks, watching Bucky dig through his closet from where she’s planted herself in the center of his bed.

“1943,” he answers, tossing his favorite pair of jeans onto the bed beside her.

“What did you wear then?”

“My uniform. It was the nicest thing I had.”

“Ah,” Nat says, eyeing the two shirts he holds up for her to see. She rolls her eyes and hops off the bed. “None of those. They’re nice but not quite right.”

Bucky steps back to allow her to dig through his closet. She comes up a moment later with a purple button-up shirt.

“Purple?” he says skeptically.

“It’ll bring out those pretty baby blues,” she shrugs, tossing the shirt to him. “And it's her favorite color. Get changed. You’re running behind. And don’t forget that leather jacket!”

“Shit,” Bucky hisses, not even waiting for Nat to leave before he starts changing. She just laughs and closes the door behind her.

He gets dressed in record time, throws on some shoes and pulls his hair back into a loose ponytail before heading out into the main room. He stops in his tracks when he sees Y/N.

She’s standing by the couch chatting happily with Natasha but turns when she hears him enter the room. She smiles and while that sight alone would be enough to take Bucky’s breath away at any time, the fact that she looks absolutely stunning in a knee-length green dress that highlights all her curves in the best way? That makes him want to fall to his knees and worship her.

Not now, the small part of himself that still has some sense says.

Maybe later, the rest of him suggests.

“Well?” Y/N says, spreading her arms and doing a little twirl. The skirt swirls around her legs and Bucky’s eyes are drawn downward to her simple black heels and then back up to her face with her subtle make-up and perfectly styled hair.

“Oh,” is the only response he can muster.

Natasha laughs and hooks an arm around Y/N’s waist. “That’s the kind of response you want.”

Bucky swallows hard and holds out one arm. “Shall…” he clears his throat. “Shall we get going?”

Y/N picks up her purse from the couch and hooks her hand into his elbow. “I think we shall.”

One of the perks of being an Avenger is that they don’t have to worry about driving. Stark has provided a car and driver for the night. Y/N greets Michael politely and thanks him for looking out for them tonight. Michael blushes and ducks his head, holding the door for them.

“So, where are we going?” Y/N asks, settling beside Bucky and buckling up.

“I thought we could visit the Brooklyn Museum,” he says tentatively. “And then go get dinner?”

“That sounds lovely.” Y/N crosses her legs and smooths her skirt over her knees. “I haven’t been to the museum since I was a child. It’s been around a long time, hasn’t it?”

“It’s older than me,” Bucky chuckles. “Steve and I used to go whenever we could. I think he used to sneak in on his own sometimes, too.”

“That sounds like Steve. He hasn’t changed much, has he?”

Bucky grins. “He’s barely changed at all.”

Y/N laughs, rocking a little to bump their shoulders together. A comfortable silence falls for a moment before she speaks up again.

“You know,” she begins slowly. “I’m really glad you asked me out.”

Bucky nervously glances over at her. “Yeah?”

She reaches out to take his hand in one of hers, weaving their fingers together as her eyes meet his. “Yeah.”

His cheeks are so hot he’s almost worried they’ll burst into flame and his heart feels like it’s going to leap right out of his chest. He’d thought he was the only one feeling something a little more than friendship between them. Knowing that Y/N’s own feelings have been moving in the same direction is a huge relief.

They hold hands almost the entire trip to the museum, swapping stories from their childhoods as they go. Once they reach Brooklyn, Bucky points out the landmarks he remembers and tells her about the things that used to be but aren’t anymore. The streets are familiar and he recognizes many of the oldest buildings. There’s a lot of new things he doesn’t recognize, though - shops, offices, and so on.

“The city must seem so different,” Y/N tells him, leaning in as he points out where Steve’s favorite bakery used to be. They didn’t go there often but Sarah would save what she could to get him a treat on special occasions. Bucky used to do odd jobs there in exchange for whatever goodies were leftover at the end of the day.

“Parts of it do,” Bucky replies, sitting upright once more. “But there’s a lot more of the past left than I thought. I guess that’s what happens when a city is this old.”

Y/N nods. “Yeah, you get a lot of history just walking down some of the streets. Things can change pretty quickly, though. There are already things from my own childhood that have changed and I’m not nearly as old as you,” She finishes her sentence with a cheeky grin that prompt Bucky to poke her ribs. She squeals and smacks his hand. “Rude!”

“You started it,” he snaps back, no real heat in his words.

She just giggles.

The museum is surprisingly empty for a Friday afternoon but Bucky definitely doesn’t mind. He’s not a huge fan of crowds. Michael drops them off right in front of the steps with instructions to text him when they’re ready for dinner.

“We have reservations at seven,” Bucky tells Y/N as they make their way up the front steps of the grand building. “It’s not far away but we should probably leave here by six-thirty at the latest.”

“Why not just walk?” Y/N asks once they’re inside the museum.

“Would you like to do that?”

She shrugs. “It’s supposed to be a lovely evening. I wouldn’t mind a walk.”

“Then we can walk.”

Bucky shoots Michael a quick text to update him on the plan and allows Y/N to lead him through the halls of the museum.

He never had much appreciation for art without Steve around but Wanda suggested Y/N would like this and it seems she was right. Y/N is more than content to slowly wander the hallways, carefully reading the little plaque next to each art piece and murmuring her opinions to Bucky. He trails along behind, doing his best to see whatever it is Y/N is seeing in each piece.

“This one,” she murmurs, pausing in front of one. “I love this.”

Bucky examines it. Female Model on Platform Rocker, the plaque next to it says. The painting depicts a naked woman sitting in a platform rocker, exactly as the title says. The image is cropped so she’s only visible from the neck down. One knee is pulled up, foot braced against the edge of the seat. It is a beautiful painting, wonderfully vivid. Even Bucky has to admit that and he knows next to nothing about art.

“Gorgeous,” Y/N is saying, voice still soft and a little bit awestruck. “The contours of her body, the shadow of the chair on the wall… I would love to hang this or something like it in my room. Maybe above my desk? What do you think?”

“It’s nice to look at,” Bucky agrees, unsure exactly how Y/N wants him to respond. “And it makes you happy so that’s good enough for me.”

She ducks her head shyly.

They manage to hit a good portion of the museum before they have to start walking to dinner. It’s a perfect night for a walk and Y/N happily loops her arm through Bucky’s, leaning into him as they make their way to the restaurant.

“This is a really nice place,” Y/N says, gazing around her as they’re lead to their table by a hostess.

“Tony suggested it.” Bucky pulls the chair out for her. “It’s a bit fancier than anywhere I’d usually go but I wanted to treat you.”

She smiles and his stomach does a happy flip. “Thank you.”

Thankfully Tony didn’t send them to a restaurant with too many strange things on the menu. Bucky ends up with an amazing steak. Y/N goes for a pasta dish, though she steals a bite of his steak with a playful grin. The conversation flows easily, as it always does between them, and Bucky’s soon left wondering why he was so nervous before.

“I vote we get dessert somewhere else,” Y/N suggests once they’ve finished their meals and Bucky’s paid with the card Tony gave him to use.

“Where would you like to go?”

They summon Michael with the car and then Y/N directs him to Brooklyn Farmacy and Soda Fountain. Bucky’s never heard of the place, let alone been, but he quickly determines that he has to come back.

“This was so good,” he mumbles around the last mouthful of his “Dark Side of the Moon”.

Y/N just hums happily. She got one called “99 Problems” and it looks just as good as the one Bucky’s eating. “Toldja,” she says once her mouth is empty.

“Next time, you pick where we go for dinner,” Bucky decides.

“I like that idea.” Y/N knocks her foot against his under the table. “And I like the idea of there being a next time.”

“I do, too.” He catches her foot between his, just gently holding it until her eyes jump to his face. “Wanna get out of here?”

“Thought you’d never ask.”

The drive back to the compound seems to take forever. They find themselves speaking in low tones, almost whispers. Y/N’s eyes are bright as she holds Bucky’s hand between both of hers, tracing the lines of his palm with one fingertip and giggling when she hits a sensitive point and his hand jerks.

“Ticklish?” she asks, grinning up at him.

He shakes his head adamantly but her hand is already creeping its way between them and suddenly fingers are digging into his ribs. Bucky manages to bite back a shout as he smacks her hand away.

“Rude,” he complains.

She puts on her best “who, me?” expression and scoots closer. Bucky rolls his eyes even as he loops his arm around her shoulders.

“I like this,” she murmurs, catching his hand where it’s draped over her shoulder and tipping her head up to look at him.

“I like it, too,” he responds, giving her a little squeeze.

She drops her hand from his, turning sideways as best she can. Her hand settles on his stomach a moment before jumping up to cup his jaw.

“Bucky,” she says quietly. “Can I kiss you?”

He nods and she pulls his head down to press her lips to his. It’s gentle, a little tentative, and Bucky gives in easily to it. She fits perfectly against him, soft in his arms.

“Oh,” she sighs, bumping her nose lightly against his. “That’s nice.”

“Just a little bit,” he chuckles.

She kisses him again.

Somehow they manage to get from the front door to their bedrooms without being seen. They hesitate in the hallway, though.

“Mine or yours?” Y/N asks, fingers toying with the collar of his jacket.

“Mine?” Bucky suggests.

Her only response is to open the door and push him inside.

---

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—

Team Forever: @mrswhozeewhatsis @laughing-at-the-darkness @tumbler-tidbits @imsuperawkward @emoryhemsworth @manawhaat

#his own hands #bucky x reader #my writing

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merry-melody · 4 years

Text

umbrella academy s2 thoughts

Or you can read here if you prefer. Formatting’s probably easier there and this is like 4k, so be warned.

So, was not much of a fan. (Wasn't surprised to learn none of the S1 writers were retained into this season, either!)

I feel like it's a little early for this show to be separating the siblings into New Lives, considering how little they interacted throughout the first season.

I would have liked more childhood flashbacks, having an additional Reginald subplot in a show stuffed with seven (or six and a half) leads seems a choice when it didn't link into the siblings in any meaningful way.

It also made all the siblings curiously less sympathetic, as Diego and Luther in particular, but also Vanya and Klaus to an extent, are berated for showing any kind of effect of their upbringing; but without much 'showing' of said upbringing (or emotional impact at all from the last season - Vanya's obviously out for that own with the hackneyed amnesia plot; Diego is completely over Patch's death - and Grace's, for that matter, although she does at least get acknowledged; and Klaus for some reason seems to have stopped seeing ghosts 99% of the time.)

I'm very mistrustful, as I mentioned in my S1 notes, that the show will in any way support Reginald's abuse, whether it be the siblings furthering their patterns of copying him without learning to recognise and address this; or by some kind of time loop casuality bullshit.

This season didn't really allay that, just with the general tone - the line Vanya had about sarcastically saying he was loving, or Five calling him 'no boy scout' just seem tonally a very different vibe from S1, like there were already aspects of that where it felt like none of them except Klaus really acted like they'd been raised by a guy who outright harmed them so much as a tough Professor type; and here it seems to double down on that idea.

Five in particular was almost his father's yes man to an extent, he had several lines about how right their father was; although it was intriguing to see Diego reference how Reginald may have become even worse after Five's disappearance with that 'golden years' remark.

I was intrigued by the lizard reveal, though.

So, Luther wise...hmmm.

Also, on shallow notes, the hair and fashion was really lacking from last season, like apart from Allison/Emmy who looked lovely in the 60s clothes (and Five, Ben and Vanya, who remained pretty much the same), everyone looked worse (even Luther had a little Tintin grown out hairdo going on!)

Didn't love the toilet humour, either, but again, YMMV.

He was a little more likeable than S1, I appreciated how he acknowledged his own failings (which iirc, no one else but Vanya really did all season, and since she didn't recall hers at the time, there wasn't as much emotional impact) - although the cocked gun lessened it a little, lol. And the return of that lovely musical score during, too, nice touch.

It was good to see at least two scenes with him and Vanya interacting, and for them to return to the Five/Luther duo.

It was also interesting to see how Luther, like all his siblings, projects his own feelings onto others, (like his first instinct being that Vanya's pulling some 'bullshit game' when obviously, Vanya was pretty upfront when she lost it; whereas it was Luther who was the one scamming her into the hug-n-choke.)

I liked them bonding over Five being an asshole, too.

(Although I think once again, the lack of trust between the siblings was almost contrived, like Luther in particular seems genuinely pissed off that Five didn't, what, let them all die in a fiery death? I get that they grew up in an environment that promoted mistrust and that they don't really seem to understand their own powers or each others, and Five never explains when he makes a mistake, anyway, but I'm just not sure what Luther's ideal outcome here was.)

I'm clearly an asshole also, because the 'Rooming House for Solitary Men' sign made me laugh every time they showed it.

I feel like some of his characterisation was unsubtly telegraphed (although that's a complaint over all, not just him specific) - like they decided 'sensitive' was their key word there, and just jam in everyone referring to him as that rather than showing it. (...Is Luther sensitive? Like, not dragging him, I'd just not pick that at all for him as a description.)

I also didn't much enjoy the pairing of him and Diego, like to be honest, it was never a pairing even from S1 that I was particularly fascinated by, it's such a well-worn dynamic; and while at least they weren't bickering over numbers, the dude bro banter ('women, amirite?!') and matching lack of IQ (I never thought I'd say Diego seemed dumber than cracking a raw egg to posture, and yet...) was just kind of lowhanging fruit.

I also feel like the goon for Jack Ruby stuff seemed inserted purely for plot contrivance to link to JFK.

(This is also a universal complaint, but I really felt for the actors doing promo, like they come up with all these well thought out explanations about why their characters are making these choices, but the work doesn't really show up in the writing or what was shown onscreen. IIRC, Tom Hopper was talking about Jack Ruby as a replacement father figure and how it's Luther's first stab at independence in terms of supporting himself; and there's this whole thing of Ruby saying he treated Luther like a son, when really, he's in like, two scenes and Luther is very clearly a paid goon. Which isn't to say that's not supporting yourself, a job's a job! I just felt like it didn't really go anywhere.)

I liked the idea that he's the only one who looked for their dad; I liked him still eating his feelings, funnily enough, it's just a good character note.

I don't particularly have investment in him and Allison one way or another yet - I don't care about the moral indignation; I just feel like when they're together, it seems one part them being smug about the others, one part yearning based on the same plot as S1 (she's moved on but seems to want to keep Luther as her back up guy.) Like, I'd love to see those two actually interact over something based on their disparate characters (what would Allison have said if she'd heard Luther's little defense of the Feds to Five?)

There's also a return to that odd juxtaposition from S1 of Klaus' drinking with Luther taking drugs cheerfully and to no effect. (I'm not expecting a DARE commercial, it's just all over the place in tone. That, and I thought Luther 'waSN't ReADy for THaT!')

(This isn't Diego specific, either, but they also do that thing I hate in TV, where they purposefully reference someone specifically in the episode before they rereturn, and Diego got the short straw on that one with the Pogo mention apropros of nothing, so we know we'll see Baby!Pogo shortly.)

Diego: Again, lots of telegraphing. (Do you think the writers want to get across Diego has a hero complex? I wasn't clear after he cat leaps through dimensions, stops a mugging, obsessively stalks JFK, and almost everyone he meets literally holds up placards mentioning 'DIEGO HAS A HERO COMPLEX'.)

Diego got a lot more time onscreen, which is a plus, but the haircut combined with his role as plot monkey made it a neutral point.

I also think Castaneda got the short straw on some of dialogue this year, oof, that Luke Skywalker 'it's a great reference' dialogue felt a bit try hard.

(Sheehan also took a body blow later with the 'Sexy trash!' one, ouch, like that felt very Designed to Retweet/Gif.

No one's topped S1 for blatant exposition yet, though: 'You haven't been sober since you were a teen! Not since you started taking drugs to block the ghosts out.')

Randomly, I liked the decent English accent he pulled out of nowhere. And again, David Castaneda I believe, mentioned Patch's death, so it's neat that he thought about the impact of her death on his character, even though it wasn't evident in the plot.

As I mentioned up top, I think Diego kind of suffered from the same thing Klaus did last year, where upon he seems to be the only one who recalls they were actually brought up in an abusive environment; and yet here the focus seems more generic to Diego's a baby (right down to constantly talking about 'bad guys' like a three year old) who has masculinity issues about his mean pop (who tbh, seems to be presented as entirely correct in labelling him a fuckwit, since he behaves like one pretty much all season: 'We chop off his trigger finger!')

(Also there's that contrived Batman style ethics that came up with Luther last year, where they're like 'We can quip over bodies and we grew up literally murdering people', but for some reason, Diego won't 'kill a man before he's committed a crime' (he can stalk one, and cut off his hand, though?)

Likewise, there wasn't a ton of interaction between him and Allison, like in S1, I enjoyed how they kind of overcame their initial mutual dislike with small moments of bonding; whereas here he has to be prompted to talk to her (and that was an adlib, which again, means the actors were considering something the writers overlooked.)

Last year I talked about how much I enjoyed Diego's character and how they walked a very fine line between him combining his desire to be the stereotypical macho figure with his innate sensitivity, so naturally this season we get him butchified to a factor of ten ('I'm the man, here!' 'You're a big pussy!') and almost zero interactions with Klaus, the person besides Grace who brought that out the most last year.

(What happened to those two, last time we saw them they were pretty much the closest in the family besides the Allison/Vanya link; here, Diego's almost contemptous. Has he levelled up in his mind now he's bffs with Luther?) I wanted to find the scene with him and Ben endearing, since we get so few interactions with Ben and any one besides Klaus, but it wasn't even that personally linked to them beyond 'Remember our one specific memory? Anyways, lolz, u should keep Klaus' body, idgaf.')

Allison Allison I think suffers from a lot of the same problems as she was introduced with - like Vanya, her powers are kind of linked to a lack of control in a way that the guys aren't; and a lot of her development is offscreen.

I actually really enjoyed the episode focusing on her, though, I thought it was one of the strongest of the season.

Her husband got a bit OTT with his catchphrase - where Diego's was 'JFK', Ray's was very clearly ' the movement!' and I found it odd how easily all the siblings but especially Allison gave up on returning to their own time and committed to another relationship built on lies (albeit this time of omission - baby steps!) but I kind of like that, like that's Allison, kind of co-dependent and self-deceiving.

Really, I feel like Allison's more interesting when they plunge into her darker side, I was riveted in the 'more!' scene, as well as the 'I heard a rumour you killed your brother'.

I think it's especially important as she's a WOC, which this season focused on more, like, it's very important not to fall into the common writing trap where the guys are allowed to be vindictive or needy or selfish and the women are there to be the moral guidance (for the same reason, I also loved the Five/Vanya stand-off); and that goes double for the model minority bit.

I was worried that they'd fall into the trap of Allison needing to be twice as good not just with how the sit-ins were portrayed but also generally (she speaks seven languages! She makes extensive notes on the state of race relations with specific regard to Dallas in the 1960s!) and once more, it seemed like Emmy Raver Lampman was trying to put across a more interesting read on Allison in terms of how isolated she was from any awareness of oppression in the outer world, first in the Academy and then through being a powerful celebrity and the contrast that creates for her in Dallas which didn't quite get met by the writing/direction.

It was great to see how she got to become part of a community in a way the others didn't, also, and particularly being protected by the beauty shop ladies when she arrived; like, the imbalance of genders as well as races in the Academy genuinely made it refreshing to see.

(The relapse is also very up and down in tone, like they make attempts at pathos, but it's also accompanied by the Styx soundtrack/60s light effects...)

Klaus and Ben - Probably my least favourite aspect of this season.

There was a bunch of telling not showing (Klaus' three year sobriety being expressed in Ben's expository sentence and that .5 second shot of him turning down a joint) and once you remove the biggest impacts on Klaus' character (the addiction and his power) without explanation, you're basically left with 'Klaus causes problems for himself for comedic value.'

I don't really care about who fights well or which powers are developed (didn't read the comics, don't plan to) but it seems to be like the best portrayals of superheroes show the powers as metaphors for their lives - Vanya struggles to control her emotions, Ben feels powerless, etc. If you take away the powers, you take away the reasoning behind the character.

Why is Ben pretty much the only ghost (particularly when in S1, they seemed ever-present)? How or why did Klaus learn to summon them in the alt-apocalypse?

I liked the scene of Klaus interacting with Ray before they find out he's married to Allison, that was cute.

I also liked seeing him interact with Vanya and Allison (there was an interesting shot where Allison says she has a life she worked for, and Klaus smiles - is that because in contrast, he doesn't? I'd have liked them to acknowledge the link between cults and celebrity, tbh, those two have a lot in common. Or is it because she isn't using her power and neither is he?), and I thought it was cool to note how when the group are reunited, they fall into a power structure right away.

Like, right away, Klaus sells out Vanya and Allison to the guys ('It's usually Vanya!' or mentioning how Allison's being 'involved in community politics'.) Likewise, everyone kowtows to Five, then Luther, over the rest (like when Five says they won't go with Vanya to the farm) and no one speaks up for Diego in front of Reginald.

I want to give the others the benefit of the doubt and say they were kind of shitty to Klaus in particular in this season because they were in a group, because it's a huge downgrade in compassion (especially since Allison was like, covering him with a blanket when they're alone.)

Like, I get sibling culture, I have 'em, but I feel like when you're bringing possible 'seizures' up, you're sort of skirting what's then played as comedic (Luther dragging him, the 'check please' line), especially Diego's: 'He's probably having an overdose.' (Kinda seeing why no one rushed to join Team Zero.)

Like, he and Klaus do just kind of seem contrivedly not communicating - I would think after the isolation, you'd crack through boredom if nothing else.

Ben's kind of an odd duck - I feel like with Steve Blackman's comments, he's supposed to be this philosophical voice of reason; but tbh, he seems as self-involved as Klaus, and if anything, they mirrored each other (that line in S1 about Klaus being cowardly plays a little differently after the revelation 'He was afraid to go into the light'...) rather than separating him into his own person.

I mean, I don't want Saint Ben (or St. anyone!), but Ben does kind of irritate, like it's not like he even particularly gets much wit or personality in his lines (and I doubt Justin Min would be short of inspiration there, so it does seem to be a writing choice) or they give him much warmth or concern (I still like that shot of him walking off in the sixth episode of S1, though - where is he off to?!) In S1, we do at least get to see him panicking and how helpless he must feel that he can't alert the others to danger etc. He doesn't really offer opinions that offer a personal philosophy beyond 'Stop being a junkie' (he was willing to shut off Grace - was that to tick off Klaus for taking the opposite opinion, or is he super pragmatic generally?) or 'Admit it, Klaus, Luther's Okay!' (Again, is this nostalgia for the other siblings, or what? It would have been nice to have Ben interact with all his siblings, considering they included the whole possession plot for less than necessary stuff like 'Ben kisses a girl!' and 'Vomit shenanigans!')

I just feel like his personality was kind of an afterthought still, and it made his sacrifice for Vanya, touching as it was, feel a little unearned.

Why doesn't Klaus tell Ben he wants to go back for Dallas for Dave? Why doesn't Ben tell Klaus he wants to go back to San Francisco for Jill? Was Ben in Vietnam? How come he's gone from using Dave as A Reason to Get Clean to a 'fling' - dark reading of Ben, tbh, like does he want Klaus clean purely for his own gain, and now he is, Dave's of no further value? What does Ben think Klaus is looking Dave up for - he says it's 'selfish', does he literally think Klaus is just there to hook up with Dave pre-death? It's hard to parse whether Ben has a low opinion of Klaus in particular or whether he, like the rest of them, has kind of adopted to a point Reginald's views - it was neat to see a comparison of the two there.

The possession stuff was a cool parallel, as well, if underused on the whole - Ben's happy to take advantage of Klaus' body despite his clear ambivalence and then outright refusal; Klaus is happy to take advantage and have sex with his own cult followers.

The cult stuff was even less strong, imho - I said last year how I'd enjoy a darker reading of Klaus, as S1 I felt sometimes was unfair to the others in that we see them being impatient with him; but never how his addiction would have impacted upon them negatively; but here, there's no real exploration of Klaus' narcissism or manipulation (in fact the plot seems to play out exactly the same as Allison's in S1 - we start with all the action about why they pursued fame etc. dealt with offscreen, and begin when the lead has already tired of it all.)

I mean, Klaus is self-destructive, as we saw in S1, but here it's an odd combination, like he's at once both cowardly of physical harm (in a way he wasn't really in S1, even post-Dave, so it doesn't seem to be in reaction to his death) but also running a cult for the attention, but the attention is presented as negative almost exclusively throughout.

Like, I'd get it if it was an interest in money and the finer things in life, even, you could make an interesting point there (and iirc, Robert Sheehan and I think Emmy Raver Lampman have) about how while the Hargreeves were abused, they were also 'spoilt rich kids'; and reflect on that; but it's literally just there for gags.

There's no real explanation for the cult itself (they literally just regurgitate pop culture references) or an exploration of Klaus as a con artist (again - here's where you could show some kind of progression in character, whether it's forward or backwards, and use the powers; and have Klaus working as a shady medium, but nope, it's physical comedy only.)

You could delve into his refusing to even tell the others about Ben's presence, but that's handwaved as much as ever (Five didn't go 'Huh, well, Ben was there when the Soviets came...') not just from the other siblings, but also Ben and Klaus themselves.

‘Cause I could see how Klaus would feel guilty about saying that, regardless; but then Ben's all 'Well, I was chicken to go anyway'

It might have been a little more affecting if Ben's motivation for possessing Klaus wasn't Jill, a character we know exactly zero about, but talking to his family; not to mention a lot more sympathetic towards Ben himself. As it is, it plays more like he's petty and jealous Klaus gets to be alive, rather than frustrated that Klaus is essentially silencing him.

And again, that's fine, maybe that is Ben, he stopped aging at 17, after all, but I'm not sure what the point is of a plot where we don't really get to see much exploration of either character.

Like, what did we learn about Klaus from this specific sub-plot? We knew in S1 he felt guilty that Ben died young, and that he was happy to allow his siblings to believe Ben is gone.

Likewise, Ben? We knew in S1 he was envious of Klaus being alive, and bitter that his position was so powerless.

It was nice to see the teenage actors (did they dub Teen!Klaus??? Odd.) post Ben's death, but it kind of didn't resolve much, really - it seemed like Klaus was supposed to be bullshitting about the 'golden light' and whether or not you can just...'go' whenever you please, but then it seemed like it turned out to be true?

(Might want to have mentioned that, then, like I get he's a Hargreeves and therefore a fail at interpersonal relationships, but you'd think it wouldn't take a smart guy to figure that if your brothers already toying with self-destruction in his teen years, it might not be the most genius move to additionally allow him to believe you're trapped in the 'real torture' of berating him endlessly solely due to his advice; if for no other reason than your one link to humanity is then going to keep up the booze and drugs that blocks you from his presence.)

I was inclined to like the Dave subplot a little more than I did last season, just because something was happening at all (and we got some tiny semblance of Dave's personality, even if it was basic as hell - he likes hamburgers!), but I feel like the Dave recasting thing really stretched credulity.

I would guess it was written backwards, in terms of if Dave was the clearly fully grown adult we saw in S1 a mere five years later, why wouldn't he just go 'Oh, thanks for the tip, dude, I'll avoid all that military jazz'? And why wouldn't Klaus just be like 'Fuck it, can we not just...date now?' Aha, we could make him a little younger, chuck in a Mean Uncle, throw in some manufactured conflict, and zow-pow!

It definitely wasn't the most contrived plot ever or anything (or even on this show), but I did feel like it's weird that again, via the cult, we're kind of asked to see Klaus as this expert manipulator of people, when he seemed almost purposefully stupid here (like, even compared with Luther and Diego.)

Why act as if the only chance you'll ever have to see the guy in the same timezone as you is right that second in front of his crazed uncle? Why say you've tried everything when you met the kid three times (once instigated by him, and I have to say, it's sort of odd, like Klaus is just drinking throughout, like you'd think this would be the one opportunity he'd take to truly and honestly engage without that) and basically just asked him twice, and in the least convincing way possible.

Shoot him in the foot! Burn down the recruitment office! Use your international platform and pull with local government to influence your huge movement towards stopping the war in Vietnam!

Like, if what you're going for is that Klaus is defeatist and unimaginative, fine, but I'm not sure it's not just that they kind of didn't write beyond the circular 'telling him only made him sign up sooner' casuality because it's so Tragic.

(Also, I feel like they're overplaying the iconography of those damn dogtags, like at this point, Klaus looking sadly at the dog tags has still probably had more screen time than Dave himself.)

I liked the scene with him and Vanya facing off?

Five I think didn't really get much more development than S1, he drives the plot forward, but not much else. In fact, in S1, he probably was more interesting, in that he interacted with all of his siblings and showed moments of vulnerability and care (knowing Claire's name, telling Luther not to waste his life, asking Klaus if he was okay) and got to properly react to his siblings' deaths.

Um...it was cool to have two of him?

It was nice and kind of ambigious where he lied to her about the cause of the apocalypse, like you could go by what he said about how he wanted to avert her anger, or you could wonder if it's a rare moment of kindness in his old age, lol.

I also loved it when he said to Luther about whether he could talk to her 'without squeezing her to death'.

I found Sissy probably the most interesting of the new characters (probably her and Lila more so than Lil!Dave and Ray, tbh.)

Vanya I probably have the least to say about. I was satisfied with how they portrayed the culpability of the others, particularly Luther, without erasing Vanya's part in the apocalypse. (I really, really hope this'll end the endless discourse on her emails book now, that got tired fast.

I could also do without the endless 'lolz, Ellen Page was so bad at playing straight they had to write Vanya as gay'. Ellen Page is pretty convincing as an actor - I bought her raping Rainn Wilson in 'Super', for god's sake, I doubt 'heterosexual' is a challenge.)

The amnesia plot was pretty cliched, and it did mean we didn't get so much actual interaction between the 'real' Vanya (so to speak) and her siblings but I really enjoyed the dream sequence of her in the academy.

#the umbrella academy #ua meta #meta #s2 #i didn't love it #to warn you #luther hargreeves #klaus hargreeves #vanya hargreeves #ben hargreeves #allison hargreeves #diego hargreeves

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imagine-that-100 · 5 years

Text

Drunk | Part 4 |

Description of Part 1: Matty Healy x Reader (Female) | When you come back home to Manchester from University, you get invited to a house party filled with your old friends from high school. You hadn’t seen most of them for 4 years and the house brings back some old memories of the parties you once attended. Getting drunk with old friends ends up being better than you imagined.

Word Count: 11.1k

Warnings: lil smutty but not really

A/N: I really hope you guys like this part. It was fun to write, and I really enjoyed your comments after the last one. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this one when you’ve read it. Love you all, thanks so much for reading. Let me know if you want to be tagged x

btw haven't even read through it properly I just did spell check so sorry about that.

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| MASTERLIST IN BIO | Updates on Fridays |

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You were beyond excited that today was the day you’d get to see the band again. From speaking to them on the phone a few times over the past month you’d forgotten how fun they were to chat to.

So, you were thrilled when they walked through your Student Union’s (SU) doors and grabbed your attention.

“Y/N” You heard someone shout.

You were sat on a bar stool chatting to your colleague who was behind the bar when your head whipped around to find who called you. You smiled when you saw Ross and Adam come through the doors.

You got up immediately and walked towards them with a big grin on your face. You reached Ross first and he’d just put his bass case down so he could give you a hug.

When his arms wrapped around you, you felt like you were home again.

“Awh I’ve missed you guys” You grin as you gave him a tight squeeze.

Ross chuckled and let you go so you could move onto Adam who chuckled, “We’ve missed you too” as he hugged you.

“Nah, I’ve not missed you at all” You heard George call and you let go of Adam to send a dirty look his way.

“Ew, who do you think you’re speaking to?” You playfully shoot daggers at him and punch his shoulder which almost knocked him off balance because he was carrying the bass drum of his kit.

“Hey” George shouted back at you, but you could only grin at him because of the smile on his face.

“Where can I put my shit?” He questions and you laughed.

“Come on. Follow me” You instruct before walking through the bar and showing them to the staff’s section of the building.

You told them they could keep all their music stuff here for the night because you had a big storeroom and your flat wasn’t the biggest.

You opened the doors for them and flicked the light on and watched as George put his kit down. As soon as he did, he wrapped his arms around your waist and picked you up spinning you around a few times.

You let out a little screech of surprise at his antics and then giggled as you hugged him back. All the while trying not to spill your drink down him, which proved difficult as he span you around.

“Oh my god, I’ve missed you so much” George expressed as he put you back on the ground.

“Definitely not more than I’ve missed you” You chuckle, feeling slightly dizzy.

“I beg to differ, I’ve had no one to call when I’m bored” George told you, before giving you another tight squeeze.

“I told you that you could call me whenever you wanted” You sighed, shaking your head like a disappointed mum.

George shrugged before letting you go, “Well, I didn’t wanna disturb you”

“You’re an idiot, I’ve pretty much finished everything” You told him before Ross asked if he was alright to leave some other stuff and you told him it was fine.

“Thanks for making me carry all this shit whilst yous just chat” Matty said in a moody tone.

You watched with a smirk as he stumbled through the door with two drums in his arms and a guitar case on his back.You let out a snort at that and watched as he placed the drums on the ground.

You couldn’t help but laugh at the moody boy in front of you.

“Matty” You nodded at him with a grin on your face.

“Y/N” He responds before walking towards you to give you a hug.

You gave him a hug back and scoffed when he took your drink out of your hand and took a few mouthfuls of it.

You punched his arm hard for that and then pushed the bottom of the drink higher, so it spilt down his front a little. Served him right for stealing your drink and after not saying bye after Christmas.

“Bitch” He scoffs as he wipes the cider off his face, and you took back what was left of your drink.

You grinned back at him looking at the massive black wet patch on his top. At least it was a little bit of payback that he definitely deserved.

Once you’d helped them get all of their stuff into the storage room, you got them all a drink. It was entertaining watching them all order their drinks whilst looking around at the building.

You could tell they were trying to figure out what the people were like here. To see if they were like we all were back home.

You introduced them to your manager, who was behind the bar, and he seemed thrilled to have them here. The guys told him that they were grateful for the gig and your manager elected to embarrass you.

“Oh, from the way Y/N/N bigged you up, I’m expecting great things. She nearly orgasmed when I said that you could perform” He over-exaggerates, and all the boys burst out laughing.

Ross laughed putting his arm around you and gave you a side hug. You put your arm around him as well, but you were shocked at what your boss had just said.

“Fucking workplace harassment” You scoff with wide eyes, but you knew he was only joking.

He may have been your manager, but he was mostly just your good friend. He was only a year older than you, and you got on like a house on fire.

Your manager laughed at you before saying, “All jokes aside though, thanks for coming all this way”

“Ah we’d go all the way down to London for Y/N/N” Ross hugged you into him slightly tighter and you smiled up at him.

You saw that George also nodded at that and you paid for the drinks.

“I love these boys” You told your manager in front of them and your manager smiled.

“I can tell.” He smiles before glancing back at the boys, and then proceeds to make your jaw drop by asking, “Which one of you did she shag?”

“I never told you I shagged any of them” You half scoffed still a little shocked.

Matty held his hand up and said “Guilty” and your manager laughed.

“Right fuck off” You told your manager with a smile and pulled Ross, who you still had your arm around, over to an empty booth.

When you all sat down, you were chatting to each other like you never left. It felt so nice having them here with you. You loved it.

As you chatted you found out a few things that left you shocked. You found out that Adam had broken up with Rebecca a couple of months ago which you found really upsetting.

You climbed over the seats over to him to give him a hug. And when you released him you sat yourself down next to him and subsequently Matty.

Thankfully though, Adam seemed okay and you hoped one of your friends would take an interest in him this weekend. Which to be fair Adam seemed like he was up for too.

Everything had been going great and you loved that you were still joking with each other. However, throughout the night a few guys that you’d previously been with had come up to you.

One guy called Noah came up to you and gave you a one-sided hug. You lent into his chest as he wrapped his arms around you and smiled up and around at him.

“You busy tonight Y/N?” Noah asks confidently and you had to stop yourself from rolling your eyes.

“Yeah, busy this weekend” You told him.

You could feel the guys eyes on you and but you didn’t feel the need to introduce them. You were 99% certain that Noah was over here to try and get back into your pants, but the answer was going to be no.

You had to suppress a laugh when your theory was correct and Noah starts being shamelessly suggestive, “Shame, we could have done that thing you wanted”

“I already found someone else to do it, but thanks for the offer” You smiled up at him half-heartedly.

“Well, you know where I am if you need me” Noah smiles with hopeful eyes.

You smile up at him and watch as he walks away to his friends.

“When did you shag him then?” Matty grabs your attention back.

You smiled because it was blatantly obvious. You had to think back to when it was, you’d had a few guys since you got back after Christmas. You start counting on your fingers and saying names back in your head until you come across his.

“Jesus Christ” George says watching as you start counting over 5.

You chuckle at that before slapping his arm, “Hey, just because I know what I like doesn’t mean it’s gotta be with one person”

“I’m not planning to be married like you are until I get back home” You told them after taking a sip of your drink.

“Why until you get back home?” Adam asked curiously.

“Well literally everyone here’s from different places. If I’m going to end up being with someone properly, I’d rather it not be a long-distance thing” You told them honestly.

“People don’t tend to wait for what they want” You shrug with a sad smile.

“So, you actually want a relationship when you get back home?” Ross asked you.

“Why? You interested Ross?” You smirked, playfully shuffling closer to him.

Ross shrugged his shoulders and nodded slightly. This made the both of you giggle and you winked at him playfully.

You both laughed the joke off, and you gave your actual reason, “I’ve had my three years of fun. Probably time to settle a bit when I get back”

“You’re going to become boring then, you mean?” Matty asked and you stuck your middle finger up at him faking distain.

“Don’t think that’s possible” You smirk before finishing the rest of your drink.

“You guys want another round?” You asked and they nodded.

You got up and Matty came with you to get the drinks this time around. He looked so fucking good in his black skinny jeans, and the way his leather jacket hung off him made you want to bite you lip. Even his distressed black top was sure to look good if he took the jacket off.

You were still attracted to the guy. Yet you really shouldn’t be after how he left things after Christmas. But you guess the body wants what the body wants.

As you were waiting to be served, Matty curiously questions you, “So, what did you want that guy to do that he didn’t do?”

You looked at him with a smile and lent towards him a bit before saying, “I’m sure you of all people could guess”

You watched Matty’s reaction to what you’d just said, and you saw the flash of recognition in his eyes. He’s raised his eyebrows at you before quickly glancing at your neck. Once his eyes connect to yours again, he’s sending you a knowing grin.

Matty lent towards you and half whispered, “Found anyone else who does it properly?”

You grin back at him and nod your head. The guy that you’d been seeing recently did it much like how you remembered Matty did.

“Better or worse?” Matty asked and you shrugged your shoulders.

“It’s different” You told him, and you were sure he was about to ask you something else, but your manager asked what your order was.

Matty paid for the drinks before you could get your card out fast enough to treat them again. You thanked him for the drink and you both wait patiently and watch as your mate made them.

You exchanged light conversation, but you got interrupted. In your peripheral vision you see someone walk up to the bar next to you and you hear them say “Hey Y/N/N”

You look around to your other side and see that Cole was stood next to you.

“Oh hey” You smile at him.

Cole wraps an arm around you, which Matty notices straight away and he can’t help the smirk that grows on his face. Matty makes eye contact with you and you shake your head slightly almost pleading with him to drop it.

You knew exactly what he was thinking. Another notch on your belt.

“You down for tonight or are you busy?” Cole asks you not so subtly, and then you saw that his eyes flicked towards Matty.

You heard a snort of laughter come from Matty, but he quickly covered it up with a cough. You stopped yourself from chuckling at his reaction and answered Cole’s question.

“Sorry I’m busy this weekend, I forgot to mention” You move out of his grasp as you lean towards Matty a little more so you could get ready to get your drinks.

“Ah it’s alright. Maybe in the week or next weekend or something?” Cole babbled, obviously a little distressed that you’d turned him down when he wasn’t expecting it.

You took a hold of your drinks that your manager handed over to you and Matty.

“Yeah, maybe if I ever recover from this weekend” You chuckled to Cole before asking Matty if he could grab the other drinks.

“Yeah sure” Matty replied and you watched him as he grabbed the three drinks in his hands. You were so focused on looking at Matty’s large hands that you nearly missed Cole asking you another question.

“So... You got any plans this weekend?” He smiles at you.

“Yep I’ve got four great plans” You smile nodding towards Matty and then over to other three boys on the table across the room.

“Yeah, come on Y/N or we can’t start the gang bang on time” Matty nudged you.

Just before you could laugh, Matty shocked you by leaning in and kissing you out of the blue. It was a quick one but it also lingered, quite clearly his intention was to make Cole fuck off.

You kissed him back, and you almost wanted to pull him in for another. But before you could, Matty pulled away, winked, then he heads back over to the table.

You tried to hold your amusement back from your face as you go to follow after Matty, but it didn’t work. All you could do was smile and when you looked back around at Cole who now looked shell shocked as he stared at the band sat at your table.

“See you soon Cole” You hurried off and you heard him say a faint ‘bye’ before you sat back down. You put the drinks down in front of you and you shook your head at Matty.

“As if I don’t already look bad enough sitting with four guys, it’s gunna to look a hell of a lot worse when you all leave with me now” You glared at Matty, but amusement was clear in your voice.

Matty let out a loud laugh at that and you couldn’t help but laugh to. The other boys asked what had happened and you told them from the start of Cole’s interaction.

They all found it funny and George decided to highlight something to the group.

“Well, don’t you seem to know everyone here” He grinned.

A laugh escaped from your lips before you could even attempt to hold it back.

“Yeah, I’ve probably shagged one person from every group in here, you guys included” You joked, and they all laughed.

“Fun times innit” You joke, shrugging your shoulders before looking around the room to see if you were right.

As you looked around the room, Adam asked, “Go on then, which guys?”

You smile back around at him before you start pointing people out to them discretely. You give them the low down on what each one was like if you could remember. Some of them had been a long time ago, so you forgot some of the details.

You just know that most of them you’d had a good time with, so you regretted absolutely nothing.

“And the guy who’s at the bar right now, he’s the guy I shagged in the staff room” You told them, and they smiled and shook their heads at you.

  “What?” You questioned with a grin, “I didn’t wanna wait, and he was being a tease”

“Too much information Y/N” George shook his head before taking a long drink.

“Oh whatever, like he’s not told you worse” You said pointing to Matty. “And it’s better to be honest about it. Why lie about it when you’re just secretly wanting to know anyway? I’d rather just tell you”

“Okay, so if were being truthful, who’s the best guy you’ve shagged?” Matty asked you confidently.

The question causes you to sit back and sigh. That was a lot of people to filter through in your head.

After a few seconds, you shrug, “I don’t know, it’s a difficult one”

“It can’t be that difficult” Matty pulls a face.

“Who’s the best girl you shagged then?” You shoot back, not thinking it would be an easy answer for him either.

“Probably you” He shrugged.

“You’re saying that just cause I’m sat here” You sighed not believing him.

“Nah I’m not. It probably is you” He said bluntly.

“Okay” You dismissed it, not really knowing how to reply.

You did take a little gratification from it though. Definitely a good ego boost.

But you don’t get a second to appreciate the victory you never asked for, because the others push on asking you, “So, who’s yours?”

“I don’t know” You sighed but you couldn’t stop smiling because of how insistent they were being.

“How can you not know?” George asked trying to repress a smile but failing.

“Wait, so you all have just the one person at the top of your list?” You asked and they all nodded and looked at you like you were stupid.

“Shit. Maybe I am I slut” You laugh and practically facepalmed yourself.

You heard George let out a really loud laugh and you couldn’t help but smile. You owned it and you had fun, so why not reclaim the slur.

Enjoying is no sex is no crime.

“So, come on then who’s yours!?” Matty impatiently repeats himself.

“I don’t know, it’s all different. You obviously want me to say you and yeah you’re good, but you were different”

“A better different?” Matty smiles, letting curiosity get the better of him.

You shook your head, “No just different, like I shagged you loads of times but most of them in here apart from like two of them I only shagged once”

“Which two?” Matty pressed on.

“Jesus Christ, I don’t know. I’ve been shagging Cole recently and before him it was that guy over there who just made eye contact with me” You explain, quickly turning away from Kyle.

“Alright then out of me and them two, who was better?” Matty carried on and you sighed loudly.

“I don’t know” You express slightly louder than before.

“Just fucking choose” Adam starts to laugh.

The whole conversation became funnier as it went on. You just needed to make a decision at this point.

“That guys coming over here now by the way” Ross told you and when you look back, you saw Kyle walking in your direction.

“Fuck” You murmured looking down to the ground in hope that he wouldn’t come near you.

“Quickly” Matty ushered.

“Y/N” You heard Kyle call.

“Fine, you” You told Matty before you felt Kyle’s presence next to you. At least it meant that Matty’s victory would be short lived.

You turned to look at Kyle and half smiled.

“You alright” You asked half-heartedly.

“Yeah good thanks, how are you?” He asked in a friendly tone.

However, your tone didn’t match. You sounded bored of the conversation already when you replied, “Great thanks”

Why is it that most lads are only especially nice when they have other intensions?

“I heard about something going down at yours this weekend, is that still a thing?” The brunette asked you curiously.

“Definitely not. Who told you that?” You frown.

Nothing that he was invited to anyway.

“Stacy said that you were all going out tomorrow then it would be back to yours and you were having a flat party” He told you and you made a mental note to slap Stacy when you next saw her.

“Yeah that’s invite only sorry, and my flat will have enough people in it” You said dismissively.

“We could just go in your room if you wanted” He said, and you didn’t even stop your eyes from rolling this time.

“Again, it’s invite only and when you decided to use me to cheat on your girlfriend, you were very much uninvited. You know? Just in case you forgot” You told him with no hint of humour in your voice.

You sounded so condescending it was unreal.

He looked at you as if you shouldn’t have said it that loud but then quickly reverted back to his player ways. “Well I don’t have a girlfriend anymore so...”

“Fuck off” You scoffed shaking your head.

You looked round the table at the boys to see they were wide eyed at the situation that was unfolding.

“Come on, you know you want it” Kyle said and Matty of all people gasped.

At least he knew you well enough not to say shit like that.

“I think I can definitely do better than you and I've got four guys right here” You said pointing round to them all. “If I want a fuck, I’ll ask one. Now fuck. Off”

Kyle seemed to take the hint after that because you heard him walk away. After you took an angry mouthful of your drink, the boys were now looking at you, waiting for you to say something.

You looked around them and smiled as if the previous conversation didn’t happen. “So, you’re all up for the gang bang then?” You joked and they all burst out laughing, and thankfully the tension eased.

After that the night seemed to move along smoothly. None of your other past flings came up to you and you were left alone with some of your favourite people.

“I’m excited for the gigs! I haven’t heard your music in forever. I’m getting withdrawal symptoms” You told them, and they chuckled.

“We’re excited to” Adam smiles.

“Especially for the paid ones” Matty added and you laughed.

“I did tell you guys that you’re getting a hundred each on Sunday, right?” You asked, your mind becoming a bit hazy from the alcohol.

“What the fuck do you mean a hundred each? You just said one hundred” George questioned with wide eyes.

“Oh no sorry I meant you get a hundred each. I blagged it saying that you needed the money for the travel and expenses for the hotel for an extra night”

“Y/N, you fucking genius” Matty grins, before grabbing your face and giving you a kiss on the cheek.

When you were released, you laughed and flicked your hair to the side, “I know I’m great. Manager material”

They all laughed at you and after that round of drinks you all left the bar. You all thought it would be best before another one of your Ex’s showed up and started bothering you again.

When you got back to your flat the first thing you did was show them around. You loved your flat. The four of you who shared it made it feel like home and you loved it with the whole of your heart.

It wasn’t much but it was cute and homey. You had 4 bedrooms and the biggest one (which was yours) had an en suite. You also had another communal bathroom and a joint lounge area and kitchen.

The boys seemed to like your flat as they looked around and they were very excited when you told them that your flatmate Tom was away and that he said the lads could use his room. George got dips on it straight away, but you had no doubt he would end up sharing with another one of them. And they would more than likely swap over the weekend too.

The next thing you did was let them make their own drinks with the alcohol you’d bought them the previous day whilst you went to your room to get changed. You decided to change into your PJs which consisted of an oversized top and some shorts. You elected to keep your underwear on underneath as well because you didn’t want to accident flash anyone.

You also pulled your blanket off your bed and brought it through to the lounge. They had left a seat for you next to Matty, so you plonked yourself down next to him and lay the blanket over you.

Matty seemed to want some of the blanket though as he was pulling on it. You shook your head at him and shuffled closer to him and shared the blanket between the both of you. You lent on his arm slightly so you could get as much warmth from sharing the blanket as possible.

You hated being cold. Especially when you were getting drunk.

After a while you were all chatting shit again about nothing in particular and the alcohol was going to your head. You felt your eyes closing slightly so after you lent forward to put the rest of your drink back down on the table you decided you would rest your eyes for a bit.

When you lent back you felt that Matty’s arm was now behind you instead of to the side. You looked to him, but he was still in conversation with Adam, so you thought nothing of it and just lent into him and closed your eyes for a minute.

“You good Y/N?” George asked you a minute later. You opened your eyes and smiled at him.

“Yeah just resting my eyes” You said and smiled at him until he carried on with the conversation.

You pulled the blanket up and around your shoulders, so you kept warm. There was nothing worse than getting cold when you were drunk. You hated the cold in general, but it was worse when you were drunk.

This time you kept your eyes open and listened to their conservation. You only chirped in to ask the odd question, but you just liked being around them. You’d really missed them since Christmas.

You stayed practically curled up against Matty’s side like that for a good half an hour and you were enjoying your comfort. So, when Matty’s hand moved to firmly grab your arse you were surprised. You looked towards him, but he was just chatting away like nothing was happening.

You looked back towards George listening to his conversation and after a minute he squeezed your arse. The action made you jump slightly but not for anyone other than Matty to notice.

You looked to him, again he was fulling invested into his conversation, but you saw a faint smile on his lips. You tried to stay calm, but you could feel yourself getting excited. You definitely weren’t tired anymore.

Your skin already felt like it was on fire and he hadn’t even done anything yet. But the way he was holding you was driving you insane already.

You both sat there like that for a while Matty squeezing your arse every minute or so and you’d be lying if you said you weren’t enjoying yourself. It was exhilarating that he was doing it in front of other people.

It didn’t help when his fingers them started to roam around some more. His fingertips dragging over your skin was a sensation you forgot how pleasurable it was.

Your breathing became ragged but not for anyone to notice. You closed your eyes and lent your head against back Matty’s shoulder.

You could hear the chatter among you but the only thing you could focus on was Matty’s fingers. They were currently teasing you by tracing the bottom of your pyjama shorts.

You had no idea how he was continuing as if nothing was going on. You could hear him talking next to you and it seemed like he wasn’t doing anything to you at all. It was a skill really because you definitely didn’t think you could do it.

You were thankful that the blanket was covering his movements too because there was no way without it that one of the other boys would have noticed. And if they could see what was happening, you would have been mortified.

You felt Matty’s fingers slowly pull the bottom of your pyjama shorts up. His nails scratched along your leg slightly adding to the sensation.

When your shorts reached your hip, he paused himself and kept his hand on your bare leg for a moment. You were on edge waiting to feel what he’d do next.

After not moving for a good minute, you thought he’d done with you. That, however, was a mistake because a few seconds later you felt him start to trace small patterns on your hipbone with his fingertips.

He kept relentlessly teasing you by moving his fingers underneath your shorts. He was getting you excited for him again and at this point you already knew what the weekend would hold. A lot of sex.

Your breath was becoming deeper despite you trying to control it, but your heartbeat was through the roof. You were desperately trying to calm yourself down, so the other boys didn’t notice.

As far as they were concerned though, you’d fallen asleep and your head was resting on Matty’s shoulder. They kept their voices down slightly but the drinking and the talking carried on.

You turned your head towards Matty’s neck so you could hide the fact that you needed to bite your lip. You were struggling to keep yourself still as all you wanted to do was touch him.

However, you knew the game you both played very well, and you weren’t going to give in that easily. You were clasping on to fistfuls of your blanket as your sweet torture continued.

Matty could hear your uneven breaths as he carried on teasing you. He missed the fight that you’d always put up with him. He missed you.

The way that you were always up for anything and how you would always be willing to try something new. He’d even missed you coming to his gigs.

Matty felt your cool breath fan his neck and he smiled at the raggedness of it. It just drove him on more.

You felt him then slide your shorts higher, and knock your legs open a little so he could have all the contact he desired. You felt him run his fingers across the lacy material of your underwear and trace the line of it.

You knew what was about to happen and you didn’t think that you’d be able to control yourself for much longer if he carried on.

When the tips of his fingers found their way underneath, you released a shaky breath. Your heart was beating at a ridiculous pace and Matty heard the little whine slip out of your mouth when he paused himself.

God he’s missed that noise.

His fingers slowly moved underneath the thin material and your breath hitched. You were waiting for the inevitable and you weren’t even going to lie to yourself. You wanted it.

You wanted him.

You could tell he was moving at a slow pace to try and make you get him to move faster. He already knew he had the permission, he just wanted you to be the one to initiate it.

You wouldn’t do that though; you’d rather prolong the sweet torture.

Matty could feel your excited breaths fanning his neck and he could see the blanket rising and falling from your chest. He knew you were excited for him. Almost as excited as he was for you.

That was until George said, “Y/N” and Matty felt your whole body jump and you picked your head up off his shoulder to look at him. It probably looked as if you’d just been startled awake.

You placed your hand over Matty’s and moved his hand out of your shorts and back to your hip. You couldn’t even think about talking to George whilst Matty’s hand was in your pants.

Your fingers slotted between his and you held him at your hip. You knew what he was like and he’s most likely just go for it as George was speaking.

You cleared your throat because saying a small, “Yeah?”

He looked tired like the rest of them did. They looked how you felt half an hour ago but now your mind was wide awake.

“Why don’t you just go to bed? You’ll be comfier there and we won’t disturb you” George suggested, and you felt Matty try and move his hand back to where he was previously positioned. You held him back though, so you were okay.

You nodded at George, agreeing. No matter how much you actually wanted Matty, this time you would not be the first to give in. Especially since he didn’t even say bye last time.

You removed his hand from your hip, so it rested on the sofa and you got up wrapping the blanket around you. You looked at the boys in front of you and asked “Do you know what room you’re staying in”

Ross nodded, “The one next to this one, right?” And you gave him a thumbs up to confirm he was right.

“Imma go now actually to” George said raising his hand to you and you smiled helping him to his feet.

Ross stood up too and it seemed like he was going to be the one who shared with George. Which left Matty and Adam on the sofas.

“I’ll go and grab you two pillows and blankets” you say before leaving the room.

You felt like you were on fire as you found the spare blankets and pillows for them. You just about sorted your breathing out by the time you went back into the lounge with their stuff.

You saw Matty now spread out on the sofa lay down as if he didn’t have his hands in your pants less than 5 minutes ago. Adam was sprawled across the other sofa and you threw a blanket and pillow at each of them.

“Night boys” You called before leaving them to it and heading back to your room.

And for the first 10 minutes, you really hoped that Matty would follow you, but you quickly realised that he wasn’t doing. After half an hour, you tried to go to sleep but you found yourself tossing and turning.

An hour of trying to sleep passed, and because it wasn’t working, you didn’t even bother trying anymore. You lay there staring at the ceiling until you’d had enough and needed to move.

All you could feel was the ghost touches from Matty on your body and you craved him the more you thought about it. You really needed to stop though, you needed sleep. You had a long day tomorrow.

You found your mouth becoming dry and you wanted nothing more than a cold drink. You decided to bite the bullet and get up and grab a can of Dr Pepper out of the fridge.

You got up silently and made your way into the lounge quietly. It was nights like this that you wish you weren’t a night owl and could sleep like a normal person.

You hated not having a separate kitchen and lounge area but until you got a house of your own, that wouldn’t be happening anytime soon. You slowly opened the door that separated you from the sleeping boys and quietly creeped in.

You could just about make your way around thanks to the glow from the streetlights beaming through the windows. You made your way to the fridge and pulled it open.

The light that came on nearly blinded you and caused you to hiss in pain. You quickly got your freezing cold can of Dr Pepper out and closed the door.

You turned back around and placed over at the boys as you made your way out of the room. You noticed that Matty had picked his curly haired head up off the pillow and was looking right at you.

You took no notice of him and didn’t rise to his antics. You slipped back out of the room and shut the door behind you.

You cracked open the can immediately and took a mouthful. You welcomed the cool liquid and the beautiful taste of it. There was no better feeling than finally getting a drink when you were dying for one.

You sat yourself down on your bed and picked your phone up and checked your social media. There was nothing that took your interest as you scrolled through the apps so after about 5 minutes, you’d already drank half of your drink and you weren’t even getting tired.

That, however, didn’t stop you from jumping out of your skin when your door handle rattled and a second later Matty was in your bedroom. You put the can on the table beside your bed and looked at him questioningly as he walked toward you.

“You’re too stubborn for your own good” Matty scorns before grabbing a fistful of the hair on the back of your head and using it to pull your lips to his.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The next morning you woke up early. Disgustingly early. There was usually only one 6 o clock in the day, and it wasn’t the early one.

But you did wake up at that horrific time in the morning and you knew that there was no way you could get back to sleep. You’d woken up sweating despite wearing no clothes.

You could sense that Matty was still in the bed near you but thankfully not touching you. You were so hot you didn’t think you could withstand his body heat.

You desperately needed a shower and you really couldn’t wait for one. You elbowed Matty in his side and startled him awake.

“What’d you do that for” He practically growled in anger.

You rolled your eyes, “You need to get back in the lounge now before they see that you’re gone”

“Who the fuck cares?”

Good point. But you weren’t going to back down now.

“I do, and if you want to do it again later birthday boy, you’ll fucking move now” You press on before elbowing him again.

Matty scowled at you but started moving. You watched as he got back up and put his boxers on before walking towards your bedroom door.

“Thanks Hun” You sarcastically wave, and he stuck his middle finger up at you before leaving the room.

You didn’t know how, but you fell back to sleep again and woke up an hour later. You felt much better than earlier and more refreshed as well.

You quickly jumped into the shower and let the hot water run over your body. You welcomed the relief it brought and found that it soothed you immensely. Thankfully Matty hadn’t felt any marks on you this time around so you didn’t have to cover anything up before you left your room.

You got dressed into some black jeans and a baggy top and went into the living room. Inside you found that Matty and Adam were already up which didn’t surprise you. George was also in there, but his hair was wet like yours.

“Morning” You chirped as you walked into the room.

“Mornin’” The all called groggily.

“Who wants a bacon butty?” You asked, opening up the fridge and pulling out a packet of bacon.

They obviously all said they did, and you quickly started cooking. You started humming a tune that was stuck in your head.

“Why are you in such a good mood? You were well arsey when we woke up at Steve's”

“Yeah that’s cause I’d just woken up then, I’ve been up for like an hour” You told them before connecting your phone to your Bluetooth speaker.

“Any song requests?” You ask and no one replies so you just shuffle your playlist.

You cooked them breakfast and when you served it to them, they are all grateful. When you handed Matty his, you hummed the tune to happy birthday, and he smiled at you sweetly.

“Thank you” He says taking the plate from you and pecking your cheek before sitting back down.

You smiled as you made your own breakfast and then sat next to them. You could tell that today was going to be a good day.

And you weren’t wrong.

Matty’s birthday was great. You all had a lazy morning which is the best way to start off your birthday, you thought. Just chilling with your friends was something you could only dream of doing on your birthday.

There was no chance your Mum would let you get away with not seeing her on your birthday. You had no clue how Matty had escaped his family for the full weekend. You were extremely jealous.

That was one of the things that you’d always wanted to do. Just escape for the day on your birthday and have no one but your friends around you. You didn’t want the fuss and apparently neither did Matty. All he wanted was music and alcohol.

You all lazed about your flat until 5ish when you all decided to get ready for the night ahead of you. You’d informed them that your friends were going to meet you at your SU at 7 so you all decided to get there for a similar time.

After changing into fishnets and a black dress, which came down to your mid thigh, you finished your outfit with your black Dr Marten heels. Needless to say, you looked fucking stunning both before and after you put some make up on, and the way Matty looked you up and down when you came out of your room, that was all the praise you needed.

You looked hot. You didn’t need the verbal clarification.

When you got to the SU, you introduced the boys to the band that was on before them which went rather smoothly considering your boys sort of stole their usual spot. After that you saw that some of your other Uni friends were there and introduced the boys to them seeing no problem with it.

However, once you introduced them by name, you really wished you’d chosen to just keep them as strangers. When you introduced Matty you and the boys saw the looks your friends shared between them and the knowing smiles on their faces.

It didn’t help when Sophia said, “Oh, so you’re Matty”

The grin that was then plastered on Matty’s face said it all. He seemed pleased like he was someone famous being recognised.

You decided to escort the boys away and you took your seats in the same circular booth as the night before and you started drinking. Before you knew it, the other band has started playing and you couldn’t stop laughing at the boy’s reactions.

Matty looked down at you halfway through their first song and asked, “These play every week?”

You looked into his brown eyes and nodded at him.

You watched as he pressed his lips together and he hugged you towards him slightly more, before saying a quiet, “Poor you”

You sniggered at that and shook your head slightly before turning your attention back to the music. After the third song had finished you watched as Adam and Ross turned towards each other and shared a wide-eyed look.

This caused you and Matty to giggle because you knew you were all thinking the same thing. They were complete shit.

After the song after that finished and they started butchering covers of songs and after the second one George turned back around to you all and said, “I thought after a few songs it would get better… But I was wrong”

This caused your whole table to start laughing and after a minute you had to force yourselves to stop. The whole situation was funny, and you don’t think you’d had as much fun at one of these nights in so long.

“They are actually shit” Matty said rather loudly after another 10 minutes of the torture. Too loud for your liking and you hushed him quickly.

“Please don’t. I have to see these people every week” You told him sternly.

“Then get me out of here because I can’t listen to another hour of this shit” Matty retorted.

“And where do you suppose I take you? We can’t just leave and go back to mine, all your shit’s out” You deadpan, gesturing to the guys guitars that were propped up against the back wall.

Matty’s arm was around your shoulder and his other hand was stroking your leg, occasionally getting his rings caught in the fishnet tights you were wearing.

You didn’t stop him. You liked the way he didn’t leave you alone. You felt wanted and who didn’t want to feel wanted.

Matty lent his head into your hair and whispered into your ear, “We could go into the back?”

You knew that he was alluding to the fact that you’d had sex at work before and he wanted you to do it again with him now. When he pulled his head back you looked at him questioningly.

Matty flashed his flirtatious eyes at you and you shook your head smiling. After a minute, you felt him nudge you, “Come on”

“Do you want me to get sacked?” You question quietly.

“You’ve done it before, what’s stopping you now?” Matty asked and you rolled your eyes.

“Maybe he was just better than you at making me desperate” You whispered.

“If you want me to repeat last night Y/N, all you had to do was ask” Matty said into your ear and his hand travelled up until it met your skirt and it didn’t stop there. He kept going until he almost found what he was looking for.

You let out a little gasp at his actions because you weren’t prepared for it. You shoved Matty’s hand away as George turned back around to you, wondering why you were shocked.

“You okay?” George asked.

You nodded, “Yeah they are just shit. Want you guys on already”

George seemed satisfied with your comment and you sent a glare towards Matty. He smirked down at you and then placed his hand back on your leg after he moved your hair to expose your neck.

Jesus, you wanted him again badly already. You’d wanted him since this morning, but your pride wouldn't let you before tonight.

Matty’s hand climbed higher again as his lips attached to the skin on your neck and you were beyond thankful you were sat in the corner of the booth. Everyone’s attentions were on the band playing in front of you and no one took another glance in your direction.

You lent your head the opposite side so Matty had room to explore your neck and he went at it like a vampire. You could feel him sucking on your skin and you pushed him off you.

He was certainly good at teasing.

But Matty’s very pleasant torture carried on. He whispered dirty things in your ear, his grip tightened on your thigh and he loved leaving lingering touches on your bare skin.

You were originally going to be more stubborn than last night.

You wanted him to beg. Birthday or not.

He was a dick when you left home and he obviously couldn’t wait an extra day to find someone new to move onto.

However, his current actions were causing you to get a little flustered and you actually wouldn’t mind a quick fuck. So, you elected to make him wait a while longer and sit through more of the shit music until you decided it was time to give him a birthday treat.

You would let him think he had some sort of hold over you now but then later, when you get back to your flat, you’d prove that it was you who decided when and where it would happen.

When you’d had enough of the shit music and Matty’s teasing intensified you determined that it was time. You grabbed Matty’s hand and stood yourself up. George and Ross were in your way of getting out of the booth but at this point you didn’t want to wait any longer.

You stepped over them pulling Matty along with you and when George and Ross asked where you were going you mumbled something about going and having a fag.

You didn’t lead him outside though, you led him through the staff doors until you were met with the staff room. You practically pushed Matty into the room and locked the door once you were both inside and you let the fun begin.

~*~*~*~

20 minutes later, you left the staff room and shook your head at Matty. “You could have just waited a second, you didn’t need to rip them off” You said looking down at the ripped fishnet tights in your hand.

Matty threw an arm over your shoulder before he sarcastically teased, “I’m sorry, were you complaining about that twenty minutes ago?”

You elected to ignore his comment and put your tights into the bin just after leaving the staff only section of the building.

“You want another drink?” You asked Matty.

“Please” He replied, and you headed off to the bar to order yourself and the boys another round of drinks. Once they had been made you took them all over on a tray.

Matty had settled himself back into his seat and they all grinned at you as you put their drinks down on the table. If your looks could kill, Matty would be dead in his seat.

“Told them already I see” You sighed and sat yourself down next to Ross after throwing your tray at Matty.

It hit him in the chest, and he called you a bitch after the pain set in.

“What the fuck, no” Matty denies, picking the tray up and chucking it down on the table.

“No, it’s pretty easy to guess when you leave with fishnets on and come back with your hot legs completely bare” You heard a voice say to the side of you.

You looked around to see Ava standing with a few of your other friends that you introduced the band to earlier. Ava had gone home to see her family for the week but made an effort to come back early for the band’s gigs.

You shook your head, before standing up and pulling her into a hug. “I missed you” You told her honestly and she giggled repeating the same thing to you as she hugged you back.

You swayed in each other’s arms for a minute before you both broke the hug and you looked down at what she was wearing.

“Fuck me, you look stunning” You said probably louder than was necessary.

She was wearing high waisted leather pants with a black bralette on underneath a leather jacket. She laughed at your comment and did a little twirl for you.

You slapped her arse as she turned and you both started laughing.

“I gotta impressed your friends” She said giving you a knowing look.

A grin was instantly on your face and you span yourself around to look at the boys who were practically staring at the two of you. You saw a smirk on Matty’s face, and the others were just grinning obviously loving the show that you just put on.

“Guys, this is Ava” You grin, bringing her over to the table.

“We know” George said with amusement written all over his face.

You looked back to Ava slightly confused as to how they already knew her.

“I saw you head into the back with Matty and I thought it was best to tell your friends what you were getting up to” She said with a smirk.

You shook your head and laughed, before going round the table and introducing everyone. “Okay then, this is Adam, George, Matty as you know, and Ross”

“Nice to meet you all” She smiled down at them and you pulled her to sit down at the booth with them. After you asked Ross to politely shuffle around though.

“So, how do you know each other?” George asked curiously.

“Lesbians” You heard Matty say covering it with a fake cough.

Both you and Ava let out a little laugh at that and you looked round to Matty.

“You’d like that wouldn’t you?” You teased and ran your tongue over your bottom lip before biting down on it to try and contain your grin. You saw him practically stare at your lips as you did it and you couldn’t contain your grin.

You turned back to George when you heard Ava say, “Y/N wishes” and you let out a laugh.

“No, Ava’s my flatmate and… Ross’ new girlfriend” You announced to them all and Adam practically spat his drink out which made you hold back a laugh.

You looked at Ross beside you and smiled. He didn’t seem to reject the idea at all.

“So yeah consider yourselves set up” You said before climbing up on the seat and stepping across Ross to sit back beside Matty.

As you sat down beside Matty, his arm immediately went around your shoulder and you smiled looking at Ross and Ava start to chat. Unfortunately, only a matter of minutes later all the boys had to leave the table to set up their stuff.

At that point, you and Ava were sat watching them all set up chatting about them like they weren’t just in front of you.

“I can’t believe you shagged him in the back” She rambled with a grin on her face

“I can’t believe you haven’t taken Ross back there yet” You said, and she laughed.

“I know! I can’t believe how cute he is. And George is hotter in person too” She said, and you smiled shaking your head.

“George is very happily married. Keep to Ross” You told her and she gave you a playful look.

“Do you think Stacy will like Adam?” You asked and Ava’s head practically snapped towards you.

“I thought he had a girlfriend?” She questions, frowning a little.

You shook your head, “Not anymore”

“You realise that they will have gone from sharing a bed and sofas to each of them having a bed for the weekend” Ava pointed out and you let out a loud laugh.

That caught the attention of Matty, who then came back over to you and sat down opposite you.

“What’s so funny?” He asked with a suspicious look.

“Nothing” You said with a slight smile on your face.

But at the same time Ava said, “I was just giving her ideas about what you can do to her later”

Matty’s eyebrows raised at that revelation and then looked from Ava to you. The look in his eyes made you want to take him home right now. You found him so attractive it was probably unhealthy.

“Anything we’ve done before?” Matty asked.

You smirked and played along, “You know that thing that I’m the best at?”

You wanted to know if after all these months that you were still the best person he’d been with who’d tied him up.

“Yeah” Matty said without hesitation and you smirked.

You were happy with the confirmation and carried on not really thinking of a good answer.

“Well, she suggested something even better than that” You said with amused eyes.

You couldn’t even deny that you were excited to get back to your flat. You didn’t think there would be much partying happening when you got back though. Considering more than likely everyone except for George would be in a bed with someone.

At your comment Matty rubbed his hands together before standing back up.

“Looks like my birthday will be getting better and better” He smirked before grabbing the back of your neck and he pulled you into a kiss that took your breath away.

You couldn’t help but smirk into the kiss. You loved the way he just took you when he wanted you.

He made you feel like you were on fire. You had to be ready for anything and you fucking loved what Matty could do with that tongue.

When he pulled away, he left you wanting more because of the way he nipped at your lip. And he knew how he’d left you because he walked off to finish setting up with the boys with a slight spring to his step.

You bit your lip and watched as he walked off before turning back to Ava.

She was already looking at you with her jaw agape.

“That was the hottest thing I’ve ever fucking seen” She said, and you could tell she meant it.

She looked flustered.

You smiled at her and said a quiet, “Let’s hope Ross is just as good, ey?”

She giggled at that and nudged your shoulder, “If he’s anything like Matty, I should be in for a wild night”

“And you better tell me every fucking detail” You told her, and she promised she would.

Before you knew it, they were up performing, and you were left to watch them in awe. They gained quite a few people standing around them, so you and Ava joined everyone who was stood up.

You really did love their music and you loved their set. They sang some covers too which you really enjoyed but you were like their groupie you were singing along to their songs that nobody else knew.

There were a few new ones that Matty and the boys must have written after you left because you didn’t recognise them at all. They were also amazing though and from what you could gather they were called She Way Out and Settle Down.

It went off when they started singing Girls because after the first few chorus’ most people started to learn the lyrics after that though. You loved that song though along with Chocolate and you probably looked like a right idiot singing their lyrics back at them practically in their faces, but you loved it.

You loved music so much. It just allowed you to escape for a bit. It didn’t matter who you were listening to, if you could just disappear into a crowd of people and just appreciate music it was an amazing feeling. One that you loved even more when you went to concerts of festivals.

Halfway through the set Stacy had found you both and was getting really into the music. When she came over, she first started gushing over George and Ava agreed with her completely about how gorgeous he was.

You tried to stop them, but they made you admit that he was just as good looking as they were stressing he was. And George was fit., but that didn’t stop him from being like your brother. And he was practically married.

You then decided to point Adam out to Stacy, and she took an immediate liking to him. Like you, she was also a sucker for musicians and if literally anyone played the guitar, she would more than likely go for them.

The fact that Adam was a fucking genius when it came to a guitar, it probably made him irresistible to her. From her reaction to his guitar playing alone, you just knew she was going to try and get Adam into bed.

When they finished by playing Sex you loved it. You were actually shocked into silence when you looked back to see the crowd that they had accumulated. You hadn’t seen one of your music nights so busy in a long time.

You found it somewhat emotional that you’d helped them even get a few more fans tonight but seeing how many people were applauding them it made you want to cry. You felt like a proud parent.

“And we’ll see each and every one of you guys tomorrow night when we headline the music festival. We’re The 1975 from Manchester. Goodnight” Matty said into the microphone before he walked back towards George and he gave him a high five from over the drum kit.

You watched with a smile as he walked towards Ross and hugged him then did the same to Adam. You grinned when he made eye contact with you and he came over to your direction.

“That was amazing” You said as your arms went around his neck and his went around your waist.

You both gave each other a tight squeeze as Matty asked if you enjoyed it.

“I fucking loved it. The new songs are great too” You told him honestly and he grinned at you before he kissed you.

The kiss was one of pure adrenaline and you could feel his excitement as the kiss continued and his tongue found its way into your mouth yet again. His hold on your hips made you want to start grinding against him, as he’d pulled you into his body and you could feel his excitement pressed against you.

You felt yourselves getting carried away when you heard Stacy say, “It’s like I’m watching porn”

This caused you to practically choke laughing on air that you just didn’t have.

“Can watch us later if you want?” Matty winked at her and you slapped his chest.

He cackle laughed looking back at you and you shook your head. It would nice to be discussed before it was just offered, but you knew Stacy wouldn’t take him up on the offer anyway. Not when she had her sights on his bandmate.

“You can actually beg for it later” You told Matty with no hint of humour in your voice, but Matty chuckled probably thinking you were joking.

He was going to be in for a shock when you eventually got back to your flat.

You turned to look back at Stacy and you introduced the two. You point between the two of them as you say, “Matty this is Stacy. Stacy this is Matty”

“Yeah I’ve heard a lot about you” Stacy said with a smile.

“Really?” Matty asked in amusement, before pulling you by your waist back into his body. “Only good things I hope”

“‘Dirty’ would be the word I would use actually but…” Stacy trailed off with a knowing smile and you couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped your lips.

You turned your head to Matty and told him honestly, “Stacy likes the look of Adam”

“Really?” Matty asked with a smirk looking down at you and then to her.

Stacy nodded and Matty’s smile grew. You already knew exactly what he was thinking, and you couldn’t help but laugh when he said, “Looks like George is sleeping alone tonight”

After the boys packed away, you all had one more drink together at the SU before you all made your way out to the club. Once you got there you all had a great night.

You danced and drank your night away. You danced with Ava and Stacy and then you danced with George when classic songs came on. He entertained you and span you around a few times before you started dancing around in the group again.

Everyone but George was paired up which made you feel guilty, like you were leaving him out so you made an effort to entertain and dance with him when you could. Ava was very much with Ross and Adam seemed to have taken a liking to Stacy, so your girls were very pleased with where their night were headed.

And when you weren’t dancing with George, you were dancing with Matty. Well you were dancing on Matty. You were pressed up against him that much that you may as well be one person.

He moved. You moved. You spent the night attached to him in one way or another. Either at the hips or by the lips.

Your fingers pulled on his hair when his plump lips connected with yours. You were both buzzing with adrenaline for each other and probably from the amount of alcohol in both your systems as well.

His arms went around your neck and crossed over behind your head. He wouldn’t let you escape him, but you really didn’t want to. He was addicting. Your blurry mind was consumed by him.

You could still smell his expensive cologne as the night went on despite you both ending being extremely sweaty. He still smelt heavenly as his arms kept you in place.

Matty pulled your bottom lip between his teeth and then bit down on it slightly before pulling on it in hopes to encourage things to go further. You smirked at the feeling of him do it, but you were in control of what would happen tonight, and he knew it. He was teasing to ask if it was okay and you wanted him to wait a little longer.

You shook your head slightly before kissing him again and your tongue found its way into his mouth. You felt the vibrations of him groaning as you pulled on the back of his curls and that’s when his grip moved from behind your head down your body to rest on your arse.

He squeezed it and you laughed into the kiss. You pulled away for a second and looked into his eyes. You could see the lust in them when you pressed yourself against him and Matty could without a doubt see the humour in yours.

“Please” You watched him mouth and you shook your head again.

A smile was on your face the entire time and he just planted his lips on yours again which you didn’t mind at all. At least you could get some pleasure whilst you were out in public, and it was sort of socially acceptable.

And that was how you spent most of your night. When you weren’t singing, your tongue was either in his mouth or his was in yours. You were getting each other excited for when you eventually got back to the flat later.

And Stacy and Ava seemed to have the same idea. Multiple times when you put Matty down to take a drink or dance with George they were both getting very well acquainted with their new men for the weekend.

Ava smirked at you when you laughed and nudged her once she’d finished pulling Ross. And Stacy wouldn’t put Adam down. It was so funny to watch both of it unfold. You just felt a bit sorry for George.

However, he was in a loving relationship, so you didn’t feel too bad for him.

At 3am you all slowly left the club and made your way back to the flat with a few other friends that had followed you out. They all ended up coming back to your flat for a very late flat party, but no one seemed to be complaining when the alcohol was flowing once more.

By this point it was 4am and Matty was whispering and pleading with you to go to your bedroom. And you were loving every second of it.

When you all initially got into your flat, he tried to drag you straight into your bedroom, but you had none of that. This caused his disappointment to grow, especially when he saw Stacy lead Adam straight into her room.

Whist you were making everyone more drinks, Matty was stood behind you with his mouth attached to the skin on your neck. He was playing with it and biting it hoping to lead you astray and despite the pleasure it gave you, you didn’t give in then either.

About 10 minutes after that, when he watched Ava take Ross away, he practically growled down your ear pleading for you to take him to your room. You did almost give in at that point but then George pulled out a drinking game which caught your attention for another 20 minutes.

You watched and felt as Matty grew more and more agitated. You’d been building him up to this point all night and you had him right where you wanted him.

“Y/N please” Matty said lowly as his lips brushed against your ear.

You were ready to give him what he wanted but you decided to play for a minute longer. “I’ve got people to entertain” You turned to him and said in a hushed tone.

“I can entertain you. In different ways” Matty told you and you could see him begging with his eyes.

You held the smile back from your face and moved slightly closer to him asking “Yeah? Like what?”

Matty then proceeded to tell you a series of things he would do to you once you got into your bedroom and it started to sound like it was your birthday not his. You’d be the one receiving everything.

As he whispered all these dirty things into your ear you bit your lip. It was one of the hottest things you’d ever heard, and you loved how he kept purposefully brushing his lips against your ear.

As he spoke you let yourself get excited and you grabbed his hand. Once he’d finished spilling his dirty thought he looked towards and you could see he was completely yours.

“Come on Y/N/N. Please” Matty begged and you could hear the desperation in his voice. It was like he was in pain.

You smile and say a soft, “Okay” before you stand up.

Matty practically jumped up and followed you to your room where he then proceeded to make you feel like you were the only thing on earth that mattered. You felt like he was worshipping you and your body.

And by the time you’d both eventually finished, you were both exhausted and lay together in a sweaty mess, it definitely wasn’t Matty’s birthday anymore. But you could tell that he’d had the best birthday ever and you were by far his favourite present.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Taglist: @the-girl-before @friends-dont-lie-asshole @lololovestaylor @murderousginger @peachquestions @siwiecola @nostalgic1975 @fairyyyfloss @theycallmenefi @colette2194 @maroonmolly @sexycleopatra @mrsprescott @fullmoonremus @whenthe-smokeisinyoureyes

Let me know if you want to be tagged x

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im-not-corrupted · 4 years

Text

Safi, No (A Witchlands Fanfiction) - Chapter Nine

Written with @un-empressed, who wrote Aeduan’s POV!

Chapter Summary:

The group chat is a mess. Iseult and Aeduan end up talking a bit more.

Also on Ao3!

Aeduan was doing a great job of ignoring his phone. He could tolerate it lighting up every now and then, signalling a message from the insane group chat he decided to ignore.

It was going very well until Iseult called him. He didn't know it was her at first. She probably got his number from the group. It was weird, but Aeduan found he didn't really mind.

"Stop them," Iseult said as soon as he answered the call. Aeduan didn't even need to ask who 'they' were at this point.

"What are they doing now? Is somebody trying to bribe and corrupt people again?"

"Well, yes, but they want - Just read the messages. You'll see what they want," she said. Aeduan went to respond, but the call was already done. Aeduan shook his head to himself. Out of all groups he could've gotten himself involved with...

Aeduan opened the group chat and scrolled up to the beginning. Apparently Vaness's friend joined the group chat. Aeduan couldn't believe how well this whole thing was working for such a petty cause. Merik Nihar had better watch out.

Aeduan rolled his eyes as he read the first few messages. They weren't that bad, but since Safi sent them, they were... Well, what she considered hilarious, and everyone else considered over the top. Still, Aeduan had to admit how she referred to everyone in the group was sort of funny, if the slightest bit offensive.

But who wouldn't laugh? She kept referring to Iseult as her favourite partner in crime, and called Stix a 'traitor, but tbh I get it, imagine being loyal to Merik'.

Aeduan himself was 'Polly's moody friend who tolerates only Iz'. It was the truth, really, but something about the way it was phrased made Aeduan uneasy. And after all, he did 'tolerate' Vaness as well. She was unwillingly thrown into the whole mess, after all.

It was harmless, considering what Safi was capable of doing. Aeduan wondered why Iseult called him, but as he continued reading, he understood.

Iseult: Seriously? Nobody minds the nicknames?

Aeduan most decidedly minded his, but looking at the time stamp of the message, he was twelve minutes late.

Stix: Not really. Get me 'Traitor' on a jacket and I'd wear it

Safi: Oooooh! That's a great idea! We should all get jackets! Does anyone know someone willing to make us jackets?

Lev: I have this theory that Caden can sew

Aeduan snorted out loud. He hoped Caden couldn't sew, though. Safi was definitely not above getting them jackets.

Safi: I'm intrigued. Continue

Caden: It's been months! Just let it go already! I genuinely don't remember where I got the shirt!

Lev: suuuuuureeee

Safi: No, but this is perfect. We need some kind of motto for our group

Vivia: I thought Bribery and Corruption was the motto?

Stix: No, that's the name and main policy

Vaness: You are all insufferable

Aeduan had to agree with Vaness on that. They were all worse than the last. He wouldn't be surprised if Vaness's friend chickened out after a week. He certainly wouldn't blame her.

Safi: Thanks

Safi: Does anybody have suggestions for the motto?

Lev: "This guy's not even worth digging a hole"

Zander: We aren't using that one

Stix: I've got 99 problems and at least 73 were created by Merik Nihar

Safi: And the other 28?

Iseult: *26

Safi: Oh well forgive me for not being a math magician

Safi: So?

Stix: I am literally half blind

Safi: ?

Stix: Nearsighted

Vaness: Then why don't you wear glasses? It must be hard to get around with bad vision

Stix: First of all, glasses would ruin my whole aesthetic. Second of all, I'll have you know I have at least a mediocre vision and that I do not deserve to be made fun of like that

Vaness: I fail at feeling even remotely apologetic for insulting your eyesight

Safi: You could've just said "fuck you too" but okay

Aeduan rolled his eyes. He really didn't want to keep reading, but he did regardless.

Safi: Do we get them personalised for each of us or should they all say the same thing?

Iseult: Saf, we are not getting jackets

Safi: But Iz!!! It's what the people want!!

Vaness: It is absolutely not

Stix: I mean, it kind of is

Lev: It definitely is

Safi: See?

Iseult: I do, unfortunately

Safi: Why are you so negative?

Aeduan could list a few reasons why. The first few were perhaps a bit rude and subjective, but he didn't really care anymore.

Iseult: Maybe because you're setting up a plot to get revenge on someone who only kind of unintentionally wronged you?

Vivia: Knowing him, it was definitely intentional

Safi: See???

Iseult: Still, you don't even know him.

Vivia: Lucky her

Stix: Amen

Aeduan had never talked to Merik, but surely that many people couldn't all be exaggerating the same thing on the same level. Or maybe Leopold paid them to, just to mess with Aeduan. He was certainly both rich and insane enough.

They were all amazing actors if that was the case. Aeduan was genuinely afraid of Safi making him wear a personalised bribery and corruption jacket. He was really, really afraid.

Safi: I found a good website for ordering custom clothes

Iseult: No

Safi: Yes

Vaness: Safi, No

Safi: Safi yes

Stix: Safi definitely

Caden: Safi maybe? Depends on how the jackets look

Iseult: We are not getting jackets

Vivia: I mean, if they're subtle enough I wouldn't be opposed to it

Vaness: I thought you were sensible

Stix: She is. Those were words of a sane woman if I've ever heard some

Safi: See? My revenge plan is a great opportunity to make friends

Zander: That sounds almost like a commercial

Stix: "Break Merik's leg and you get the satisfaction of breaking Merik's leg"

Safi: 9 out of 10 doctors don't recommend it but that's what makes it fun

Iseult: Why would one doctor recommend it??

Caden: Because Safi bribed and corrupted him.

[x]

"You're a monster," she told Safi once again. 'You're a monster' was the only accurate way to describe her friend these days, even if Iseult said it with fondness.

Safi grinned and winked at her. "Thanks."

"And you're insufferable."

"Again. Thanks."

Safi confused her when she did things like that - when she took everything as a compliment, even when they certainly weren't intended as a compliment. There wasn't much of a difference to Safi, though, and Iseult had to admire her confidence.

Safi sat at the edge of her bed, staring down at her phone with a glint in her eyes that Iseult recognised and did not trust. "Who else could be bribe and corrupt?" She asked Iseult, who rolled her eyes.

"I already told you, I'm not taking part in the revenge plan. And that means I'm not helping you decide who to bribe and corrupt next." Iseult shook her head. Really, how many times did she have to repeat herself? It was beginning to get annoying, though she would never say that.

Safi pouted. "Oh, come on. Please?"

"No."

"Wait!" Safi grinned again. "What about that Ryber girl? Or Ryber's friend, Tanzi? They're friends with Merik. It could work to our advantage."

"No, it will not work to our advantage," Iseult stated matter-of-factly. "Do you know why?"

"Why?"

"Because they're Merik's friends."

"Stix was Merik's friend, and she was more than eager to join," Safi pointed out.

Iseult rolled her eyes. It was an action she caught herself doing often around Safi. "Stix wasn't his friend."

"Then why did she sit with him?"

"For her actual friend, Kullen, who happened to be friends with Merik." She sighed. "Didn't you listen to a thing Stix said earlier?"

Safi stared into the distance for a second before shrugging. "Apparently not. To be fair, I was making a mental list of who else to bribe and corrupt."

"Don't you have enough people in on the revenge plan?"

Her friend stared at Iseult in horror. "Iseult, darling, there is never 'enough people' when it comes to making Merik's life hell."

"I'm just saying," Iseult replied, raising her hand in mock-surrender. "It will be a whole lot easier for someone - for Merik - to find out about your plan if you 'bribe and corrupt' more people."

Despite having a very good point, Iseult's words weren't actually paid any attention. No, instead of listening to the voice of reason, Safi was grinning down at her phone, typing something quickly. At first, Iseult thought that maybe Safi had decided who she wanted to bribe or corrupt next, but when Safi looked up from her phone and Iseult's didn't show any notifications from the group chat, she quickly changed her mind.

"Iseult," Safi began in a sing-song voice. It was a tone of voice that would've sounded innocent if it wasn't coming from Safi.

She sighed. "Yes?"

"Leopold wants to discuss strategy at the ice cream place."

Iseult snorted. "'Discuss strategy'? We aren't fighting a war, Saf."

Her friend glared at her. "This is war, Iseult. Merik is a plague upon this earth. War is the only way to rid of him."

"Okay then," Iseult nodded along, giving up. Safi was clearly set in her ways.

"Good," Safi nodded. "Now, are you in? Aeduan will be there."

Iseult was going to say 'yes' anyway, but the promise of Aeduan being there made it sound somewhat more appealing. She shrugged. "Sure."

Iseult was an idiot. That was the only thing she could think as she sat opposite Aeduan in total silence - the same state they had been in for the last ten minutes.

To be fair, Safi made it very easy to trust her. Too easy. She had walked to the ice cream place with Iseult, waiting for Leopold and Aeduan to arrive. But before they did, Safi claimed she needed the toilet and disappeared, leaving Iseult there alone.

Until Leopold had arrived with a very unhappy-looking Aeduan in tow. They talked for a bit, not long, when she received a text from Safi. Sorry, had to head home. You guys have fun! ;)

Iseult hadn't thought anything of it until Leopold stood from his seat, a mask of innocence plastered on his face as he said, "Oh, sorry, I'm needed...elsewhere? Yeah, elsewhere. See you tomorrow!"

That's when it dawned on Iseult. Leopold's mask of innocence did not discuss the mischief in his eyes.

Leopold and Safi had set them up.

That's how her and Aeduan ended up in this predicament - sat opposite each other, with no idea what to say. All their interactions so far had been focused on the revenge plan, so now that they weren't forced into talking about it, they didn't know just what to talk about.

"Is Safi late?" Aeduan asked her. It sounded like a genuine question, and that was almost enough to make Iseult bang her head on the table in front of her.

Apparently, it hadn't quite dawned on Aeduan yet.

Iseult rolled her eyes. "No, she just had to head home."

Aeduan nodded, though he looked confused. "Okay then. Do you want some ice cream? I'll get it for us."

"Sure thing. Might as well since we're here," she answered with a slight shrug, relieved that they were no longer stuck in silence.

Aeduan didn't move. "What flavour?"

"Oh, yeah." She forgot flavours were a thing. "Strawberry, please?"

"Sure." Aeduan left to get their ice cream, leaving her alone, though not for long. He came back a few minutes later, two ice cream cones in hand - two scoops of strawberry for her, and mint-chocolate-chip for him.

"Thanks," she said, taking the cone from him.

"No problem," he replied, and took a bite of his ice cream.

Iseult stared at him in horror. "You just - did you just bite into your ice cream?"

"Yes?" He answered, though it sounded more like a question in his confusion.

"How the fucking hell? Didn't it hurt your teeth?" She took a lick of her own as Aeduan's confusion only intensified.

"Uh, no?"

"You alien."

He laughed slightly. "So, what should we talk about?"

Iseult shrugged. "Literally anything would do."

"Okay." He took another bite, an action that still baffled her, and seemed to consider his question carefully. "Let's start with something easy. How did you and Safi become friends? You two seem like polar opposites."

"What can I say? Opposites attract, or whatever people say." She shrugged, licking her ice cream again. "We've been friends since we were kids. Some kids were picking on me - I don't really remember it now - and Safi stood up for me. We've been friends ever since."

"She sounds like a good friend," Aeduan replied.

"She is. I'd ask about you and Leopold, but I already know the story behind that one." She laughed a little, and he smiled a little.

"Yeah, I don't feel like going through the many questions there," he joked, taking another bite. He surveyed the rest of the room - there were few people there, and it was very quiet. "Hey, do you want to get out of here?"

She contemplated that for a second, then shrugged. What was the harm? If he turned out to be a serial killer and murdered her, Safi was to blame for the not-so-subtle set up. "Okay."

Read the next chapter here: Chapter Ten

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