#except from the scenery which is one of the reasons why I love these games so much

[theharrystyleseffect]

.

#in 2014 I was gifted a ps4 with The Last Of Us game #it was my first game played on my own ps4 as a young adult whatever #I ended up playing it many times through since I completely fell in love with the story and all #I play it at least once a year #the only thing was I hated the intense feeling of loneliness when in hard situations #so to make it better for me I play on easy 🤓 #anyway I downloaded part II same day it came and while I’ve played it through twice- #it’s not NEARLY what it was #except from the scenery which is one of the reasons why I love these games so much #now the tv series is here #and I love everything #I think Pedro is perfect especially 😭 #it’s just SURREAL watching this all on my tv instead of controlling the characters #but anyway I can’t wait for the rest #and if you haven’t played the gane but intend on watching the series I’ll keep this place spoiler free #and if you want to chat 🤓 GO AT IT #I’m dying to tell everyone how fucking awesome first episode was #tags

[sleepdepravity]

ok i feel like making more in depth posts about those games i just listed but since they're so many i'll separate them by genre

Also admittedly I sorta just tossed these games into genres very haphazardly so i dunno if i particularly categorized them right. anyways, here are the ~~~mystery games~~~

This is basically ace attorney but with birds, which makes it an instant favorite. Also, for some reason, the french revolution is involved. i really don't remember why. I remember also a twist ending that's fun, plays on the expectations an ace attorney player would have and stabs them with a knife.

another bird-themed mystery game thing, point and click. It's got a nice aesthetic, and the voice acting is honestly quite good. i like going around and detectiving and also being a bird. it's fun.

there are a LOT of furry detective games for some reason. i think this one is based on a french comic? actually maybe i shouldn't have picked this as an "obscure game," i think this is, actually, a pretty big deal in france maybe?? the lady cats look real weird. i don't remember literally anything about this except that. somehow. the game ends somewhere underground.

LITERALLY don't remember anything about this. but the protagonist is a lady detective.

another furry mystery. this one is neat because you're just in your wheelchair, looking out from your room and finding out shit by watching. There's another game, Conway: Disappearance at Dahlia View (or whatever), where the protagonist is also in a wheelchair and looking outside his window, but Conway's protagonist drives me crazy for just being So Nosy and just, getting into places he Really Shouldn't. Anyways, the flower collectors felt nicer.

i just kinda realized that, like. this probably shouldn't be under the "mystery" genre. Like, yeah, I guess you're trying to figure shit out, but it's not exactly. like. mystery mystery. yknow? But it's a time loop! It's a time loop game. You're trying to figure out the stuff that's going on in this time loop. I think it's neat. Time loops are neat. It's fun.

this one also isn't really a mystery, honestly. Even though it calls itself "a mystery game" in the title. but I made my bed and now I have to sleep in it. Anyways, this one I don't particularly know how I feel about it. It's a very odd game. fun visuals sometimes. The scenery was nice. There are some good vibes. It's very odd. Anyways.

i literally don't remember shit about this game. there's a boat. you walk around in a house. I love walking around in houses. i love picking stuff up and looking at it.

I find this game to be a very interesting one...! I have no idea how to describe it. Also, there's some sort of....secret? Or something? on the title screen. I think there's a secret. But I don't know what it is or how to unlock it, and nobody else seems to know either, at least last I checked. you have to use law as evidence. but also, you play a cop so. y'know. acab. There's multiple endings depending on like, if you are a "good enough cop" or not. And also, you can use evidence in different ways when indicting someone, there are different level of crimes you can arrest someone for as well. Anyways, it's neat.

i remember liking this one because it involves timelines and you figuring out what's wrong with what people are saying based on what they say happened. Also, the culprits are daemons and you have to also correctly identify which daemon the culprits are possessed by.

honestly........this probably doesn't count as obscure (i see over 3k reviews) but i mean, like. it has the vibes of obscure. the environments and the music and everything is very, uhh, what's that genre called again? something-core? VAPORWAVE. that. also, there's a map and you walk around it and you collect things and i am always obsessed with that. honestly reminds me a lot of umineko, in terms of like. one of the phrases that keeps repeating is "the truth is not the same as the facts" (I think?). like, the ending is where you accuse people, and you essentially decide the "truth." and, yes, like, in some ways, the question of "who killed X" can be played with! Who is actually culpable? How far do you go? Idk. it's neat. also, your name is Lady Love Dies!!!! it's cool!!!! what a fucking name.

i don't actually know how i feel about this one either. there's stealth involved, though. and a lot of exploration elements, which I think is neat, actually, but i am such a soft nervous baby so I probably missed a lot of shit tbh. And there's a timed element too, so extra nervous baby mode.

uhhhhh. this one also probably hsouldn't have been counted as an obscure game, oops. I think there was a certain point where I just, really went wild for space games. I don't remember what this one is at all. I think there was some eldrich elements at the end, so maybe it shouldn't be considered a mystery, oops. Actually, this should probably be under horror. oops. oops!!

visual novel. I'm surprised it didn't have more reviews, because like.....i think this started as an actual? like? console visual novel game?? and got ported to steam later. anyways, i think this one is funny for one particular ending. maybe this also shouldn't count as a mystery, because you can, uh, determine what the "answer" is by choosing certain ways to write letters. but look, it's mysterious! you're trying to solve, like, a disappearance!! it's fine.

this one involves cults. once again, you get to walk around a place and look at things and pick them up. i like that in a game. does this count as horror? I think it does make things creepy and tries to scare you at points, i guess. ummmm i guess also this probably shouldn't count as mystery either. anyways, this is about cults so i mean, definitely a lot of dark shit going on here. you read a lot about death and sex and bad cult shit.

this one is an fmv game (game with real-ass people) and this one i think is kinda fun because you will shapeshift as people, meaning you can go to each person as some different person and see how they treat you and stuff. which is fun. though i think that doesn't end up mattering as much. i don't remember a lot of this actually. i liked the radio people.

corporate capitalism apocalypse type thing. sometimes i get so so sad about having to make decisions on shit. you make decisions on people living or dying. also, your boss grades your performance. there's one case about a cop android in particular that makes me so so so sad. anyways.

this one is by the guys who make the sherlock holmes game. this also maybe doesn't quite count as mystery?? because you also have to shoot stuff and things. but i mean, you also solve crimes and also sidequest crimes, so like. whatever. also, there is lovecraftian horror things involved. it is very much a sherlock holmes game except lovecraft.

i don't remember this game. but i do remember it being neat.

#malky plays games #no idea if this is even helpful or interesting!!!! #here are these games though!!! #obscure game recs

[robins-den]

hi hellow i've been planning this post for two months anniversary today so

HERE ARE MY OPINIONS ON THE RELEASED CHARACTERS OF ENGAGE but i might not do all of them and this is only their blurb and physical appearance unless i know more ty

Something I’ve noticed while doing this is the sheer amount of siblings there are?? Is there going to be a plot reason (I hope not honestly) or did a writer go ‘wait, it was pretty rare for royals to only have one kid because of the high chances of childhood death and stuff’ or did a twincest writer win the kink lottery or ? Why are there so many siblings… It makes me wonder if the Alear you don’t pick is going to be evil or something.

Why are there so many mount users in the desert? Can horses traverse sand now?? I always hated that mechanic but it was because it made you work around it. Except that you never had enough fliers or mages to actually work around it. Why are there wolves in the desert?

everything taken from serenes forest because its convenient godbless

image and text formatting is to make it not godawful on mobile

CHARACTERS IN THIS: Firene / Firenese characters, the three dragon guardians + Anna

Céline (VA: Akari Kitō) is the first princess of the Firenese Kingdom and Alfred’s younger sister. She’s a kind and innocent philanthropist who always strives to solve things peacefully. However, she won’t hesitate to fight for peace if necessary.

I hate the weird lace stuff and the fact that she just ... does not have a shirt. She looks too young for that to be interesting instead of 'girl what the fuck' and the sheer lace texture would be a genuine nightmare. she's another 'kind and innocent younger sister princess' which like, i feel like we've had at least one in every game, but whatever, the people like what they like.

Alfred (VA: Ryōhei Kimura) is the first prince of the Firenese Kingdom, a brisk young man who battles alongside the Divine Dragon. He’s a kind, disciplined and flower-loving pursuer of happiness.

I like that he has lace as well, it ties him and his sister together. I like his little leafy crown and that he has a love of flowers strong enough to be mentioned in his mini blurb. I don’t like that he’s Dimitri’s little brother, basically. Having one of the first companions look so similar to a protagonist from the last mainline game feels annoying. Also, the yellow white clothes, pale skin, blond hair, and black lines of lace make him look like a bee to me.

Chloé (VA: Saori Hayami) is a palace knight from the Kingdom of Firene. She’s easy-going and adores her liege, Princess Céline. Loves fairy tales and pretty scenery and is always seeking a picturesque combination of the two.

i dont like the boobed breastily down the stairs vibe of her armor (which really isn't armor) but if she's one of the few like it then i can accept it as a character trait. i don't like the armor period, though, it has a lackluster feel to it. I'm really hoping for an s rank between her and Celine. Chloe likes Fairy Tail Aesthetic because she likes Celine, who has a Fairy Tail Aesthetic. This is my most beloved and sapphic headcanon.

Etie (VA: Tomomi Mineuchi) is a palace knight from the Kingdom of Firene. She’s a noble lady who exudes elegance. Has a positive and active personality; devotes all her time to body-building

I like her facial expression, and I think her hair is cute without being overbearing. I like that she's stated to be noble and extremely elegant while also doing bodybuilding. I like how it's a 'yes and,', not an 'even though'. I don’t like that what I thought was a dress is a crop top, though. I think it’s better as a dress.

Louis (VA: Haruki Ishiya) is a palace knight from the Kingdom of Firene. He’s a gentle servant wearing massive armour. He always pays attention to how his friends are faring and seems happy whenever he sees them at peace.

Hello Kellam with curly hair. His arms remind me of Ruin Guards from genshin impact, actually. I don’t like armor knights much (i really value mobility and the sheer defense of armor knights has never been necessary for me to beat maps, even in the GBA games), but maybe his personality will convince me to use or reclass him. From what I’ve seen, I doubt it. I like the pointer clicker on his armor.

Boucheron (VA: Toru Sakurai) is a palace knight from the Kingdom of Firene. He’s a polite and kind young man. Born with a good physique and highly tolerant of others.

Logically the green accents on orange shirt is fucking hideous, but they manage to make it work with his armor, which keeps the orange from being extremely loud and the green from looking horrendous. He’s not that striking physically but for some reason I want to sit on his stomach and stare at his face for an hour. Also touch his face ??? I like that his tolerance of others is important enough to be mentioned here; I hope he has supports with people from other nations and when they do something not commonly done in his nation he’s like ‘oh, that’s pretty neat’ or the like. Maybe they did western market research and he’ll be a himbo lol.

Framme (Sayaka Senbongi) is a 33rd generation Dragon Guardian, protecting the Divine Dragon at the Land of Lythos. She’s Cramme’s younger twin sister and more determined and lively compared to her brother.

I like her shirt and gloves. I think they're fun. her hat nd scarf don't feel battlefieldy but y'know what, sure, go styling. Honestly I think she looks really cute with the soft bob cut so I wish she didn’t have that braid of hair(?), but the ribbon braided in makes it interesting. I like lively kid characters as long as they aren’t annoying about it, and twins / siblings can be fun if the writers aren’t annoying about it. The contrast between simple sleeveless shirt+skinny arms, and the huge thick gloves, scarf and hat gives her an energy that I really love. All the colors pair together extremely well.

Cramme (Kōhei Amasaki) is a 33rd generation Dragon Guardian, protecting the Divine Dragon at the Land of Lythos, alongside Vander. He is Framme’s older twin brother and was by Alear’s side when they awoke. A gentle priest who serves–and is also a fan of–Alear.

The fact that he’s outright a fan is…. Odd? I’m not going to say bad but we’ll have to wait and see. I love his braid and that it pairs with his sisters. I think his colors pair together less well than his sisters do, but I’m always a slut for arm cuffs. I like that he’s green, black, and beige to his sister’s white, pink, and beige. It’s a fun way to contrast and compare them. I wish the outfits themselves matched a bit more.

Vander (VA Yōji Ueda) is a 32nd generation “Dragon Guardian”, protectors of the Divine Dragon at the Land of Lythos. Cared for Alear who was asleep for ages and a reliable ally who’s sworn loyalty to Alear. Very serious and strict; the guardians’ mission is at the forefront of his mind.

Our jagen!! I really like his beard and hair. How many families got conscripted into staring at my bedroom? I wonder if the care was anything more intensive than standing guard at the doors of wherever it was and running off bandits and treasure hoarders. I’m curious if they entered the building on a daily basis [ for cleaning and making sure everything is okay, or maybe they live there? ], only on special occasions [ deep cleaning every few months or year or for festivals ] or fuckin never and only patrolled the perimeter. We’ll get the answer I’m sure, but I’m curious regardless. Relatedly, I’m curious if there were any signs of Alear waking up? If they knew it was beginning to happen or if it was completely out of the blue. 30 generations of your family getting paid to do nothing, and now you have to fight a cross continental war for the planet or some shit. 

Anna (VA: Saori Seto) is a merchant-in-training. It seems she’s traveling around each country, in search of treasures that can be sold for a high price.

She’s a lot cuter than her FE3H incarnation, thats for sure. It’s probably the posing but she’s actually super cute. Nice outfit that is visually solid without being overly complex and puff sleeves. I dig it. I’m interested to find out what merchant means as a class. We likely aren’t getting a separate convoy again, but (bold take) I actually found it fun. In training is fun; I wonder if we’ll see the endless amount of Anna’s again. I hope so. I hope she has supports again, and it’ll be great if it’s with people other than Alear. It’s interesting that her job / class is first and her name is below it, unlike all of the other character cards.

#fire emblem tag #fe robin #fe engage

[dogshit-enchantment]

thoughts about totk

i dont know if its just me, but does anyone else feel like the story direction for this game is kindve ... bad? like the actual plot itself was interesting at first but everytime the characters try to deliver a serious line of 'my secret stone' I can't help but laugh at them. It sounds like a mistranslation you would see in a 90's port of a game, not a multi-million dollar triple A title in 2023.

Not only that goofy nature of it but like, why is Zelda so british? No one else is, not even her dad. Why did they chose a VERY british direction for her voice and no one else? It's so distracting and every time she talks I don't pay attention to what she's saying cuz I wish she would just stop talking. (I still hold a grudge over her for feeding Link a fucking frog and then people have the audacity to be like 'oh theyre in love' like no thats fucking sibling behavior at best.)

There's so many aspects of the game where it feels like they want a very specific series of events to happen and there's a very intended player experience. But then... you can go anywhere. Do anything. You can EASILY miss important things (I missed several of the Dragon's Tears because I wasn't aware there was something I was supposed to be grabbing from them I just thought it was scenery) and you can easily find yourself in areas you're not meant to be in yet. "Just teleport out!" Why didn't they just make a linear game that wasn't built as a wanna-be DLC expansion pack?

Having to re-explore a world I'd already put 200+ hours into is frankly tiresome. And to make it THREE TIMES as large??? Exhausting.

I wanted to like this game so much. I preordered it. I went to the midnight release. I played it for six fucking hours the first full day I was able to play it. And after leaving the Great Sky Island all I'm left feeling is... frustrated.

Frustrated at the unclear, hidden direction of where you're supposed to go. Frustrated at the massive size of the map that doesn't have That Many Changes to make it worth going through the nooks and crannies. Frustrated that they turned botw -my favorite climbing simulator- into a gimmick-based game that doesn't like you to use its own gimmick.

The constructs break apart too easily. If you build a flying construct that works well it breaks after about a min and a half of flying. If you build a car to traverse the land it despawns if you hit any cutscene trigger - which are often invisible and unavoidable.

This felt more like a Zelda game in the general flavor of it; you get the classic enemies back, you get actual bomb flowers again, Link is wearing green for fucks sake, and you get actual temples. But the actual heart of it doesn't feel like a Zelda game. The plot feels sloppy at best, rushed at worst, and the voice acting is so genuinely bad it's distracting and embarrassing. The only voice actor I didn't hate was Rauru (Chris Hackney, Legend) and Tulin (Christina Vee, also a Legend), even Sidon felt incredibly stilted.

It feels like the game punishes the player for using the mechanics it gives you to use and play with. Even the fuse mechanic feels like such a back-hand. "Oh we heard the players got frustrated at weapons having a limited usage, so instead of extending it or offering a repair service, we just made Every Weapon Shitty" like wtf. And even for the fuse mechanic theres only ONE PLACE that lets you unfuse and it's through a clunky dialogue menu! (my favorite!!! totally not the reason I stopped playing acnh!!!!) I played for 50 hours and was positive you couldn't unfuse weapons. Wow.

botw was fun and I thoroughly enjoyed it and the fact that your tools were simply on a cooldown. totk feels like a resource-scavenger except the resources are so hard to actually acrue. Not only that, but I've seen other ppl complain about how much harder it feels to upgrade your equipment. As if they needed some way to bloat the game even more.

This is just me rambling about my feelings and maybe talking in circles about it but I feel annoying trying to actively discuss my feelings with anyone so I guess this will do.

I've only beaten half of the bosses and 3 of the temples, but I don't know if I'll be able to keep going. I got stuck at the fire temple boss and I would argue its the worst temple in the game and I haven't even gotten to the Gerudo one. That's just how strongly I feel about the fire temple. I hate the minecart layout, I hate the lava puzzle mechanics, and I literally rage-quited after my 10th attempt at the boss. The water temple boss was annoying but it was mostly just learning patterns and having good reaction time. The fire temple boss is JUST rng.

which sucks cuz the wind temple was sick!!!! it was so cool!!! and the boss was probably one of my top 20 bosses!!! and then I did the water temple and Sidon kept glitching out and wouldn't accompany me for half of the trip up to it, and the GRAVITY!!!! UGH!!!!!!

I'm trying to think of points of the game I've truly enjoyed and I think the highlights of it have been: got to keep Epona from my botw save. But then that turned out to be a nothing burger since you can't have her tow anything. (also the fucking towing minigame that feels so insulting. "please take us to the great fairy!" YOU COULDVE JUST WALKED ITS LITERALLY A FIVE MINUTE WALK)

uhh, other good points uhhh, the new armor is pretty cool. I really like the Ember and Miner set. I really like the cave system. (shouldn't really be a feature but whatever) and uhhhhhhhh, yeah idk. I'm struggling to find points I truly enjoyed past the introductory level. like yeah building a car is cool! ... until it despawns and you lose 40min and work, and yeah I know autobuild can rebuild it but I'm not made of spare parts. And like, the korok puzzles were cute! Until you find one every 15 min and they take at least 10 to get them to their friend.

I think the most enjoyable minigame was the one with the sign dude on the side of the road where you help him hold it up. That was one of the better, more enjoyable parts of the game for me so far. It felt like it actually tested your building skills while not being truly punishing. Just start over if it doesnt work.

botw was a strong like 8/10 for me, and I think totk is gonna unfortunately be like a 5/10. The direction is janky at best. The gimmicks of the game are viable for most of the game. Exploring the same world with minor changes is frustrating and boring. Exploring the Depths makes me want to personally throw up since I have a phobia of dark, open spaces with Things lurking inside. Exploring the sky is fun but I didn't realize you could *reuse* the sheikah tower until 45 hours in because why would I think it would let me do it again??? So it felt inaccessible and frustrating.

The ability to fuse anything to anything and have it run and work well is a technical marvel! I'm not saying its not. But does it make a good *game*? Does it make the story direction work? Does it make the boss fights and dungeons work? imo... no. It doesn't. It makes a good tech demo. It makes an impressive piece of programming.

maybe i'll have more thoughts but I just needed to get all that out.

if you read it all thanks if not you wont be seeing this lol

#rambling #truly the one time that tag is actually applicable #totk #i have complicated feelings about it

[justshitandanime]

Kamigami no Asobi/ Ludere Deorum (Anime) Critic, opinion, whatever (no major spoiler)

So, I just end to watch this short anime (12 episodes) and I’m like MEH. I don’t care about the game, truly, I give 3 fucks. Is only about the anime.  

The basic plot is “A bunch of gods from different religions have to take classes in a school with a human for a REASON”. And at first, when you see which gods are (Japanese, Greeks, Nordic and Egyptian) you can think: Ok, this will be great! Like, knowing that Greeks, Nordic and Egyptians in some point fight historically between them, the god’s relationships must give a lot of drama and conflict, right???

WELL NO, ZERO. The story now is “Everyone love the human, plot less deep than a paper” ISTG.

Let’s start with the only woman in the series, a girl that’s so annoying that make me want to rip off her hair. Zero personality, she only adds something because the rest of the gods are pretty much teenagers with the mindset of a 10 years old child who seems to never see humans in their lives for more than 5 minutes (which in some point it contradicts it because one of the gods almost marry a human??). Typical lady who can’t stop to cry for legit anything but, somehow save the world and somehow know how help everyone…

The gods are just plain stupid, which, coming from beings hundreds of hundred years old, HOW THE FUCK? The only ones are the two who are like on top the school, Zeus and Thoth (this last one was my main reason to see this anime), who act a little more as millennial old god. One of them literally have the attitude and personality of a toddler…

The only big GOOD APPLAUSE to this anime was make the Egyptian gods (Anubis and Thoth) NOT WHITE and neither with “people of color offensive stereotypes”. Are the same, act the same, as SHOULD, but brown skin color.

But the rest is a little meh. Both are the only different ones, the Japanese gods look just as the Nordic and Greek. Their “god form” is a mix of Sailor Moon style with some vague representation of their characteristics.

Their personality are based on one quote of wikipedia, ignoring the 99% of their original lore, their relationships are also very basic. Half of the screen time are just simping over the girl, trying to see who will keep her as if she was just a prize and not a being with own brain (hello misogyny my old friend) and she is pretty much a toy with no self-love or even the ovaries to speak (she shutters and say “but” all the time).

They also end shirtless or semi naked way too often to be barely 12 episodes long and make me think, whoever made it, was thinking in “I will make a bunch of hot dudes, showing tasty meat, to make the girls see this anime”.

Another issue with the design is that they look pretty similar. Except the change of the hair color and style, they are the damn same, to the point of be hard to identify them at first, even the girl has THAT FACE. Again, only is easy for the Egyptians gods and Zeus. They are all so absurdly THIN like, damn, they have muscles but, you know, to have these muscles, do you have bones below or something? They are eels…

Their conflicts seem so damn deep in some point that make you think “ok, now the drama start!” but no, all is fixed in one chapter as if they put the issue under a rug.

The names are a big “wtf”. The character Melissa is showed as if is going to be important but I still try to figure out why the fuck they made him/her.

Being an old shitty person a side, I can say, even so, they somehow manage to be charming enough to make you get a little sad when the bad shit happens. After all, they are just a bunch of bimbos: no brain, pretty, nice guys.

There are a few plots twist that can make you say “cool”.

Background and scenery are great, night skies were my favorite.

Score: 2.5/5 and 5/10. Is fine if you are bored one day and want to binge a fast show without need to think, but don’t expect too much. And kinda avoid it if you are fan of any of these gods (much less a nerd of their mythology) or you will end spitting foam and cursing in old latin.

#Kamigami no Asobi #Ludere Deorum #anime #anime review #anime opinion #anime critic

[iowagreys]

Minute of islands

And I really enjoy that conjunction of influences. Except that I like the art style of Minute of Islands much more, as it reminds me of the comics by French artist Jean “Moebius” Giraud. When I saw the trailer for Minute of Islands, I instantly thought it looked like Adventure Time. This review is based on a retail copy provided by the publisher.I have to admit I’m not exactly a fan of Adventure Time (I’m more of a Rick and Morty enthusiast), but I like the idea of that kind of post-apocalyptic cartoon. If you get easily annoyed by sluggish pacing and annoying mechanics for a story-driven game, then this is a game to avoid. Would I recommend Minute of Islands? Here’s the sitch: If you’re into great art style for a story-driven game, then yes, this is a good game to check out. It’s just something you wouldn’t notice watching a gameplay video, but will when you play the game. With the amount of backtracking you’ll have to do in Minute of Islands, these half-steps will be the bane of your existence. It’s so frustrating though, that those half-steps are everywhere, and most of the time jumping up and dropping down these platforms take some type of precision. For some reason though, the developers created these half-steps, i.e., platforms that can be reached by jumping halfway that are usually clustered above a climbable platform. Minute of Islands feature some light platforming that involves jumping and dropping down steps, cliffs, etc. I also did not think that I would get annoyed by something so “minute” like jumping up and dropping down a step. I mean, it’s even fine if the story was piecemeal I just wish there was some way to skip the narration and cut scenes, especially for those who would like to replay the game and fast forward the story. If it tackled the storytelling in chunks rather than bits and pieces, I’m sure I would have paid more attention to it. Minute of Islands suffers from sluggish pacing. It’s a double-edged sword: you get to relish in the beautiful scenery and art of the game, but why did it have to happen just after you’ve already spoken to an NPC just a few minutes ago for lord knows how long. Sometimes the game just stops so it can pan out to show you the new area Mo has arrived in. It’s not something that you can skip too you’ll have to dredge on a few seconds of dialogue only to be stopped again after progressing a couple of minutes later. What isn’t so nice is that every few steps, the game stops you from progressing so the narration can happen. It’s nice that the game has a lovely voiceover (the game is narrated by a single person), which is great for an indie game. While I followed the story of Minute of Islands from the start, after the second chapter, I just lost interest. Mo then goes on a journey to the islands wielding the Omni Switch, a stick that needs to be used to repair the brothers. One day, Mo realizes that the brothers are in need of repair and has left the islands with some gaseous atmosphere where it can get really hard to breathe. Mo lives with her family on these islands that are powered and protected by four giant brothers. You take on the role of Mo, a guardian of an archipelago (which is a term used for a cluster of islands, hence the title Minute of Islands). Here’s the gist of the story that I could muster. However, what killed it for me is its gameplay. It’s also the premise that there’s more to the story than meets the eye that interested me. At first glance, the game features that cartoony art that I could get into. You know, I’m usually a sucker for indie games with great art styles and deep storylines, and I really wish Minute of Islands did it for me.

#Minute of islands

[fandomsideworks]

PlayStation 4, XBox, PC

Third Person POV

RPG

Well, I’m just over six years late to this party.

I started and stopped this game a handful of times between its release and January of 2023, but this is the first time I finally managed to play it past maybe chapter 3, all the way to the end.

The Good:

Beautiful and diverse scenery

Character design was good (I was especially fond of Lunafreya and Older!Noctis)

Great music (it’s Final Fantasy, they usually do good work; I also really liked that Adele cover of ‘Stand By Me’)

Fun minigames

Nice selection of monsters

Decent humor

Voice-acting wasn’t bad (some were better than others)

For all I’m about to say about the storytelling, the ending/the conclusion of Noctis’s story was very good- they captured the emotion nicely.

And now for The Bad.

When I judge a medium’s storytelling, I judge strictly what I have in front of me.

In the context of this review, Brotherhood does not exist, Kingsglaive does not exist, the DLC Episodes do not exist, Dawn of the Future does not exist, and interviews with the creators don’t either.

(and for the record, as I write this review, I have not played/watched/read any of these things either. I only have a vague sense of what happens in them from other sources, especially Ardyn’s episode.)

If it isn’t part of the base game I purchased in 2016, if it requires me to make separate purchases to have access to it, it does not exist when I’m evaluating the story.

I have that policy because you can’t reasonably expect a person to have any previous contact with those kinds of extra things before playing this game. The only time I would make an exception to the rule is if it’s a direct sequel/companion to something else.

A game/book/TV show/movie that is not a direct sequel should be able to stand on its own story-wise without supplementary material. The very nature of supplementary material is that it’s supposed to flesh out the original storytelling and world-building, not replace it.

Final Fantasy XV has a really, really bad Show, Don’t Tell problem. And by that I mean that we’re told a lot of things (except, you know, exactly what the fuck is supposed to be going on with the major plot of the game), but we’re not shown them.

(Rest of the review, which obviously includes SPOILERS, below the cut)

A (certainly non-comprehensive) list of things that should have been SHOWN, in full, IN THE BASE GAME (NOT DLC OR NON-GAME MATERIAL):

The full destruction of Insomnia. And no, that minute and a half montage flashing through it is not sufficient, it is literally the major event that kicks off the plot of this game. With the exception of the ending, I cannot think of a worse time to make use of a montage. You should be taking this opportunity to show me the most gritty and heartbreaking details so I understand the depth of how bad this event, and the ones responsible for it, are.

Jared’s death. You’ve given us a less-than-two-minutes flash through the destruction of Insomnia, which takes away from the impact of Niflheim being established as the villains of the story because we only get the highlight reel and not the details. But then you have Jared, a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it NPC getting murdered off-screen... Instead of on-screen, which could have been an emotional moment where Niflheim, again, establishes their villainy.

Ignis being blinded, and Gladiolus’s witnessing of it. Kind of an important event, one of the main characters being violently robbed of one of his senses in battle. Additionally, showing this scene would give the player some more insight into why Gladiolus is so pissed off at Noctis following the events in Altissia. Lacking in those details just makes him look like a dick, expecting Noctis to just “get over” the death of someone he loved, who died trying to help him; showing that Gladiolus is traumatized and dealing with his own emotions from watching Ignis get hurt would have added layers to his anger that would have made him easier to understand.

On that note, the aftermath of Lunafreya’s death. In all respects: Noctis is shown crying over her death, and then we hard-cut to “several weeks later” where Gladio’s giving him shit for still being sad. We don’t see the legions of mourners that should be grieving her death, since the game likes to tell us how important and beloved she is. What does this mean for Eos? What does it mean for its people? What does her loss represent to Noctis? Which, to be fair, would already be a bit tricky to pull off due to my next point.

Literally any romantic relationship-building between Noctis and Lunafreya. All we see in this game is them exchanging notes in that book, and a flashback to when they were kids; they haven’t seen each other since then, which doesn’t help the idea that they’ve been deeply in love this whole time. And those notes, by the way, are barely-there messages that reveal nothing particularly deep or personal between the two of them. From what is given to me in this game, I could play it on mute and just as easily believe Noctis was going to meet up with his long-lost older sister or cousin or something.

BOTH sides of the story when Noctis, Gladio, and Ignis split up after the Regalia is destroyed. Was I supposed to magically know, after picking Noctis, that Ignis and Gladio face off with the fucking EMPEROR while I was gone? You literally just killed one of my supposed main villains off-screen!

Just about any hinting, foreshadowing, or build-up to Prompto’s revelation that he’s a clone. It came, I shit you not, out of nowhere. Literally nowhere. IDK if the supplementary stuff goes into it, and I don’t care- in the game, where it matters, it comes out of nowhere and is forgotten with just about the same speed.

More non-random-event cutscenes between Noctis/Gladio/Prompto/Ignis. As in, cutscenes. As in, things you only miss if you’re deliberately skipping the cutscenes. I appreciate the effort that went into including little things like dialogue during side-missions and such, but there should have been more content and chatter in the main story-line given that the dynamic of these four seems to be the focus of the story.

Literally all of the DLC “Episode” content. Especially Ardyn’s, since his motivations for doing what he’s doing are barely, barely explained in the main story.

The time between Noctis going into the crystal and him coming back. We barely get a look at what the world, or the characters we’ve met throughout the game, have become after ten years of darkness- we sure do get told, though! 🙄 Like, come on: The world is covered in daemons, almost everyone’s living in Lestallum because apparently that’s the only place with light, but what does that mean for everyone who DOESN’T live there? Is the place packed full of people? Are they turning people away because they’re at capacity? How many people have died as a result of the daemons?

Finally: Noctis telling his friends that bringing light back to Eos requires him to die (and then, ideally, some time between that moment and the final battle where we see them all struggling with it). We see, when they get to the citadel, that Prompto, Ignis, and Gladio know what’s coming; in the post-credits scene, we see Noctis struggling to tell his friends how much he appreciates them, knowing he’s about to die. But showing the actual scene where Noctis tells them what he has to do would really give them a chance to build character and drive home the tragedy- they just got Noctis back, and now they’re going to lose him all over again.

And one opposite example: They really should have given a more comprehensive explanation about the Starscourge, and why Eos is being plunged into darkness. We’re given scattered references to a prophecy and the Starscourge itself in the main plotline, something about Noctis being the chosen king, and lengthening nights. These are things you only miss if you’re deliberately skipping main story cutscenes and dialogue. But honestly, even though I was paying attention as closely as possible, I barely understood what the hell was going on. The game neither showed nor TOLD very well at all in this respect, and it left me just kind of shrugging and not quite sure why I was doing the things the game was asking me to do.

The storytelling in this game is a mess because so many links in the chain are faulty. Niflheim is a neutered false-antagonist that shows up when it’s convenient; the real, final villain, Ardyn, is too enigmatic- we don’t know why he’s doing what he’s doing until nearly the very end of the game, and even then it’s not explained straightforwardly. Episode Ardyn definitely shines some light on the nuances of his motivations.

Except that it’s not part of the base game and requires you to purchase it separately, which means it’s not part of the main story-line the vast majority of players will see.

That is lazy. That is not good world-building or storytelling. I repeat: This is a video game. It’s supposed to be a Final Fantasy for fans and newcomers! They literally advertise that in the title screen sequence!

You cannot take for granted that these people know, or care, about the extra things that exist outside of this game that add crucial plot details. You certainly can’t take for granted that they’ve watched/read/played them- this is a video game, not an exam to be studied for. If I can’t enjoy and understand the video game story without reading/watching a bunch of other things first, then you have failed to write a good story.

There were so many missed opportunities in this game. So many. And a lot of comprehensive story details were put into OPTIONAL encounters that are easily missed- such as Talcott explaining, post-Noctis’s stint in the crystal, the little bit he and Ignis found out about Ardyn (even then, it’s... Not all that more substantive than what Ardyn himself told Noctis earlier, but at least it confirms he was telling something resembling the truth).

The lack of development of the period following Noctis awakening from the crystal is particularly egregious, because it feels so ridiculously rushed; we ONLY see Hammerhead (not Cindy or Cid, btw, which had me absolutely perplexed) and Insomnia. Could have gotten a look at the world outside of that so we could see the devastation that ten years of daemons running wild has done, but of course not.

I am a Far Cry 5 fan. The direct-sequel game, Far Cry: New Dawn brings you back to the same map, but in a post-apocalyptic setting following a particular ending from the first game. What makes New Dawn so gut-wrenching for me is being able to go back to the places I knew and remembered from FC5 and see how they had been destroyed, often finding notes and references to what the place used to be, or how the person/people associated with it are gone now. There was a profound sense of loss and tragedy, because the map from FC5 was stunningly beautiful. You also get a rough accounting of how many of your friends and allies from before the nukes are dead and gone now, characters you might have really loved.

You could have done that, SquareEnix. You could have given us the chance to go back and re-explore areas from before the darkness. You could have really driven home the horrors of ten years of daemon-infested darkness, tugged at our heartstrings by showing the magnificent landscape destroyed, or having us learn the fates of old friends.

...But nah, let’s just have Talcott be the only pre-darkness character we encounter and then rush the boys off to the final battle because you literally won’t let us step a foot outside of Hammerhead without it sending us directly to Insomnia.

The only part of the story that I think was carried off to near perfection was the ending. Noctis asking for a photo to take with him, ostensibly for comfort knowing he’s going to his death; saying goodbye to his friends on the stairs, and the slow climb to the throne; Regis’s spirit keeping his back to Noctis while he’s run through by the other kings, Noctis asking Regis to go through with it, making him the sword that finally kills him; then the post-credits scene flashing back to Noctis breaking down emotionally over what’s to come and telling his friends they’re the greatest.

That was all really good. Good emotion, good tension, epic and tragic as shit. And it was simple, too- all we need to know for this segment to work is that Noctis is about to die, and his friends are seeing him off- and that his father is one of the ones who has to kill him. We don’t need to understand the precise lore of this world for the emotion of this scene to hit.

My only complaint is that I wish they had put more effort into showing Prompto/Ignis/Gladio’s reactions to finding out that Noctis had to die, and then giving us more time to explore their grief before the final battle. Again: A seriously missed opportunity.

(Honestly? I don’t have a whole lot of intel on this, but I can almost smell behind-the-scenes problems with this game. The way you get booted off to the final battle so fast with zero contact with characters like Cindy and Cid, Aranea, Iris, Cor, etc. makes me wonder if there were issues with money or time crunches that made them have to rush through the post-crystal part of the game.)

Overall, the game wasn’t terrible. It had it’s good points, but the storytelling was just not handled well at all.

I really, really hope that SquareEnix learned something from the reception I know this game got. I’m going to play Final Fantasy XVI when it comes out in June, and it’s going to be a real shame if they make the same mistakes there that they did here.

5/10

#final fantasy xv #video games #review #long post

[worldlydesiretemple]

any HLVRAI aus on the brain

5 days late BUT i DO have an answer for this!

i, like any normal person ( definitely ), have several aus bouncing around my head like a dvd screensaver logo and whatever i like / post about / think about the most is just the one that hits the corner perfectly.

lately i've been thinking about a sso / hlvrai crossover with actual purpose this time so that's pretty neato! not crossover wise i think ....... there should be more cowboy / wild west aus. idk. i think i deserve that ( <- for definitely normal reasons mhm yup )

i don't know if this particularly pertains to aus but i like the aus people have of joshua with benrey / gordon designs mixed in instead. those are pretty cute!

uhhh if you do want to know about my sso hlvrai crossover i guess i can talk about that too LMAO so here if you care:

i've been thinking about post-canon " not a game " ( ... not really? ) hlvrai where, after defeating benrey, the science team just decides to get out of black mesa's general crumbling vicinity and go somewhere nicer. gordon's always wanted to start a farm, after all, and joshua's loved horses & cowboys more than anything in the world since he was younger, so what harm could be done if they just moved to a place like jorvik ?? there's only ever been good reviews! he thinks, anyways, it's not like there were druids and magical beings and whatnot on an island for and about horses, right?

.... right ????

not wanting to split up, tommy, darnold, forzen, coomer, and bubby agree to go with just because. a change of scenery won't hurt!

except, gordon keeps noticing reports about some type of mythical cryptid all about the island - speaks in orbs, short, and disappears just as soon as you catch a glimpse of it. also, a skeleton always follows with.

it's definitely not a bad omen, the island residents decided, because it's only ever done good for them - hell, island residents enjoy and start looking forward to these visits from the creature!

it also definitely ruins the adventure aspect of it for gordon who tries so desperately to ignore it, but deep down he knows who that cryptid really is. but it's not like he can just back out now, he's already began uprooting all their lives just to go enjoy the possibility of farming and nature and whatnot. also, gman already found residence for all of them, and he was not going to tell tommy's dad he changed his mind after all he's done for them already.

they settle in, yada yada etc basically what you can expect from moving to a whole new place. tommy, darnold and forzen choose to live in jarlaheim because why not, coomer and bubby are already settling into their nice house in silverglade village, and gordon's been looking at securing one of the abandoned farms in the countryside with gman's help, but until then, he's just living with joshua in new hillcrest.

gordon makes a visit to tommy & darnold one day, mainly to drop off things they left behind another time at his house and also because he really wanted to check out the surrounding area near jarlaheim. just as he's about to pack up and start riding back home, he sees this kid group up with some other kids - well okay, maybe kid isn't a fair descriptor, they're more or less late teenagers, early adults. except, what catches his attention isn't just what he assumes is people hanging out, it's that there's a very noticeable person sitting up on the cobblestone fence, leg idly swinging back and forth as he sings out a song with what can only be described as sweet voice as bubbles fly through the air, to which the others reply back to in english.

that motherfucker is benrey, alright.

gordon doesn't Remember making a noise, but it catches his attention all the same, and their gaze snaps to him instantly. the once pleasant sounding sv transforms into something panicked or pained, and the group they must've been friends with responds with concern, but he just shakes their head at their worries and tells them something - and teleports off. the girls seem confused, but ultimately chalk it up to benrey just being benrey.

gordon sees him later in the greendale forest as he's riding by, sitting amongst the trees like he has nothing better to do. gordon's filled with emotions he aren't sure whether they're good or bad, so he resolves to picking up a rock small enough and throwing it at benrey. it gets their attention for sure, knocking them completely out of the tree and on the ground with a noise gordon thought was probably pain.

both of them are definitely Feeling Things, and gordon lashes out first, asking him what the hell he's doing in a place like this. benrey doesn't take too well to that either, telling him it's not benry's job to wait on him, and that it's not fair that gordon can just pick up and go wherever he wants - why can't benrey do that too? he chose this horse game first, and it's not FAIR gordon thinks that he can just waltz in afterwards and tell him to get out after he's worked so HARD to not be a monster, the final boss, the goddamn villain in this one.

before gordon has a chance to respond, benrey just asks him please, don't fuck this up for me, i don't want find a new game just to lose my friends, and disappears within a blink, leaving gordon to think.

NOW. to loose headcanons

the group of late teens / early adults are the soul riders, yes.

after benrey died, while respawning, he just said " fuck it " and decided to go someplace new, too. he knew everything was just like a fucked up viddy-game, he was owed a more peacefuller one than goddamn. halved lifes or whatever the shit gman said it was.

i think alex is the one that found him first once he loaded in, clipped into a bush and seemingly unconscious. she thought he was a threat at first, but after seeing him go "help? please?" with some weird bubbles coming out of his mouth, she was like yea ok whatever even if he IS some dark core / GED scheme in the works he looks like he's in hell literally and figuratively. she doesn't think people are supposed to have their whole upper face covered in a shadow!

alex introduced him to elizabeth before she died, who helped " heal " him and get him familiar with jorvegian life.

benrey is the fun uncle friend for the soul riders, he bonded with alex the closest though

gordon's horse is named chipdust. joshuas's, however, is named cashew.

#hlvrai au #?? i guess ??? #sso au #hlvrai/sso #whatever. Whatever. take my insane autism

[coupleskitchen]

Ys I & II Chronicles+

Ys I & II Chronicles+ offers a fresh coat of polish to the first two games in the long-standing Ys franchise. The series, for the most part, delves into the tales of fearless adventurer Adol Christin as he explores the vast world around him, somehow running into trouble at every turn. Because he is such a worldly young man, nearly all of the Ys games are standalone stories. However, Ys II directly follows the events of Ys I, which is why they are so conveniently packaged together in this neat little bundle.

For those who are motivated to follow a series from its inception, Ys certainly offers little Easter eggs throughout its many instalments—mostly in the form of referencing past events or revisiting characters from previous games. In essence, the games all take place in the same universe and follow a particular chronology, but as mentioned, it isn't really necessary to play all of the games, or even all of the games in order (with the exception of the two in this bundle). You generally won't miss much if you pass over one of the games.

It is probably no surprise that Ys I & II Chronicles+ gets our stamp of approval. We love the entire catalogue of Ys games—the challenge of powering through Nightmare difficulty, the ever-endearing characters, the intriguing story- even the developer. But if you've been following this blog for a while then you know that we try to mix our opinions with a hint of objectivism. There are, of course, reasons that people might shy away from tackling these two games.

Suffice it to say, video games have evolved in the decades that we've all been playing them. They're now much more user friendly. Puzzles usually make quick sense and the majority of games are geared towards making you want to continue playing them, avoiding any of the frustrating pitfalls that can sometimes crush a person's spirit. That's why in the past, video games were more of a niche hobby than they are today, and the older Ys games are just that—older games. It's something that is assuredly felt throughout, and if the somewhat outdated graphics aren't enough to remind you that this is a remaster of two much older games, the occasional challenging puzzle and lack of overall guidance is sure to bring it front and centre. It is completely understandable if someone were to want to skip these instalments entirely, though there is no shame in using a guide to get through them either.

Another make or break aspect of this game is the combat. Ys I and II employ a later retired combat system known as the "bump system" which requires the player to attack enemies by pushing Adol into them. If you attack at an angle, you have the chance to parry and take no damage whatsoever. It's an obstacle in and of itself, especially so in Nightmare mode where an enemy can incapacitate Adol in only a few hits, forcing you to reload a previous save. This requires the player to exercise a high degree of skill to survive each battle. As is to be expected, the difficulty consistently ramps up with each new area. It's a thrilling challenge, but it can also be aggravating at times dying repeatedly. On top of that, the difficulty is actually escalated on modern computers, with many people complaining that the final boss fight is impossible—however, this can be easily remedied. There are many fixes floating around out there, but the solution that worked for us is to open the configuration tool before you begin the game and change the refresh rate to 60hz.

If you're at all curious, we do suggest giving it a try. The game is fantastically worth playing, and we aren't the only ones who think so. While it is by no means a household name, Ys has long ago cemented itself as a beloved ARPG classic. It has evolved with time as Falcom continues to release new entries in the series, with a new one being recently announced. Overall, Ys I & II Chronicles+ is primed to welcome new and veteran players alike to the beautiful and imaginative world of Ys. With its vibrant scenery, incredible music, and gorgeous character art, it is easy to immerse yourself in Adol's world as he overcomes the odds. Though these two games are shorter than the later entries in the series, and can feel somewhat typical of the RPG genre, they evoke the warmth of nostalgia and a thirst for adventure. The beginning of Ys sets a precedent for outstanding narrative and interesting characters in Falcom games, which is a reputation that they never cease to stay true to.

View the full review here. [blogspot.com]

#Ys I & II Chronicles+ #Nihon Falcom #Singleplayer #Recommended #Series #Standalone #Action #Adventure #ARPG

[clarissalance]

Who has the upper hand?

Pairing: Kaeya x G/N!Reader, mention of Varka and Diluc.

Warning: Slight swearing, Kaeya is a lil shit, reader being stubborn and scheming, immense tension

Summary: You’re so terrible at swordsmanship that you can’t withstand 2 strikes from Kaeya or, are you? 

Word count: 3k5

Disclaimer: What is written in here is based on my imagination, nothing from this fic should be taken seriously. Most of the fact I put in this fic does not follow the lore of the game so it should only be taken as a grain of salt. For example: section 8 in Knight of Favonius codebook.

A/N: I struggle so much when I wrote this piece. This was suppose to be angstier but I tone down a little bit (because Kaeya was very OOC in my draft, I think he’s still a bit OOC in this fic but I tried my best ;-;, pls don’t bite me.) 

How did author write a 50k+ oneshot? I can’t write something more than 5k properly ;-; Anyhow, please enjoy this fic. I’m going to have a good rest for 2 weeks before release a comeback. Please shower Kaeya and our new MC with a lot of loves!!!! 

As a strategist of the knight of Favonius, you don't usually have enough time to finish the towers of reports, the never-ending meetings and dealing with cheap tricks Fatui diplomats. Often, you have to skip your daily sword training session, which results in a rather miserable situation. The whole practice ground is staring holes at your defeated posture. You are sitting on the hard soil ground, and the Calvary captain is towering you, his sharp blade just a few inches away from your throat. 

It is not a strange scene for any knights to lose a spar against the Calvary captain, he should be one with the best swordsmanship after Grand Master, and maybe Acting-Grand Master, too. However, as knight, they can usually withstand him at least more than 2 blows. 

Whispers and talks start to circulate around as soon as you stepped your foot in the training ground. It’s very uncommon to see people from that department wandering around this area. The strategy department is famous inside the Knight of Favonius to be the weakling-cunning-mouthy-jerks, who always find excuses after excuses to skip the monthly knight evaluation. 

So, who gives them the right to be exempt from the test? Of course, it’s from the ultimate high chief of strategy department. Rumours say before the strategy chief works for the Favonius knight, the man was once a legendary attorney. That person can flip words from black to white, turns the defendant from guilty to innocent.  With a profound convincing skillset coming from the chief, persuading the Grand Master Varka is easy as a piece of cake. The whole department of 10 people is easily off-hook for 3 years, never participate in the monthly evaluation before the man suddenly dropped the bomb 2 days ago.  

“ I’m tired from coming with excuses to cover for your lazy asses.” The man waved his hand, his eyes staring outside the window. His nails scratching the messy shaved chin.“ Varka seems to get used to navigating my thoughts-”

“Maybe time is wearing away your skill-” At the corner, someone accidentally blurted out, and the whole table gave him a sharp look. Did he have a death wish or something? If so, everyone here can happily dig him a hole, free charge for the coffin.

The chief cleared his voice again, blue eyes melancholy drifted to the table. “So, you guys have tried your best on this monthly evaluation. I hope to see you all again next month.” 

The meeting was dismissed afterwards, and everything spiralled into chaos. The whole department hasn’t touched anything aside from the parchment papers and the quills in the last 3 years. How are they going to master the swordman-ship in 2 weeks? 

But, the worst thing is,

Your well-respected, talented, and tactful chief has run away. 

The next morning, you received the news that a foxy old man is on a business trip to Fontaine with the Grand Master. The expedition is 2 weeks long.

You should have known what he meant when the deceitful man ambiguously ended his sentence like that. Nothing goes well when the chief said:  ‘Farewell, my comrades’. 

 For the last 2 days, you have been starting to familiarize yourself again with how to hold a sword and how to swing the sword. 

As you trail along with the long-forgotten memories, trying to look through the familiar feeling when swinging the sword, you hear footsteps coming in your direction. It is familiar, with the way the person is walking, the beat, the sudden burst of noise in the air, you can only conclude it’s the Calvary Captain. The practice ground seems livelier as soon as the man steps inside, people rushing to his side to give their greetings. Maybe today is one of his practice days.

 “ Never thought I would see you here.” The young man calls out, successfully jostle you up from your thoughts. You give him a complex look and turn away, focusing on the tattered dummies. Your wrist is screaming in protest, legs wobbling. You remember those golden days when you were young when you were flexible, and your bones didn't crack as much. Oh, where the golden days have gone? 

“What do I own the honour of seeing you here, captain?” You fold your arm defensively, voice monotonously. Kaeya despites the most when you start talking in an emotionless tone. Oh, how you love riling him up in the middle of the practice ground! 

“ I come here for my weekly practice, but-” He shrugs, eyes glinting with mischief. “ look like the rumour about the abolishment of special permission for the strategy department is true.” 

So he has heard the rumours. You roll your eyes, face blanks. You know Kaeya has his own way to obtain his information, but you never thought it’d be this fast. Words don’t easily leak from the strategy department. 

“What do you need? Make it short, so I can practice for the upcoming evaluation.” Tired of his long introduction, you ask him directly. If you are going to ignore him any longer, the man will continue poking you. 

Starting an argument only wastes your time, and asserting dominance in the middle of the training ground won’t boost your ego. You’re a strategist, your weapons are detailed plans and sharp word, not sword and bow. Showing off your strength in front of those ruthless knights don't improve your relationship with them. 

“ Straight the point eh?” You give him an impatiently look, tempting to ignore him again before he flashes you a smug grin. “How bout sparing with me?”  

The whole training ground falls in silence, and you direct at the captain a confusing look. Is he serious? No one in the knight except the Grand Master can go against him, not to mention someone who hasn’t touched a sword for three years. 

“I can help you with your training, and you can help with mine” Kaeya speaks with utmost confidence that you almost nod and agree. That man is really deceitful, he knows how well your skill has gone dull, yet he still wants to practice with you? What is this man plotting?  

“ Do you realize how absurd your offer is? ” You give him a complicated gaze, voice unwavering. Everyone takes in a deep breath, tension crackling. It's not everyday scenery you often encounter. A heated argument between the mischievous cavalry captain and the tactful strategist. Nosy people gather around the pair, internally hoping for the war the breaks out. 

“ You know well that I can’t properly block your first strike.” Light-hearted, you joke, but there is no hint of amusement in your voice. Sharpe eyes glaring at the blue figure, you notice the man remains unfazed. 

" Shouldn't you choose a more competent opponent?" 

The sound whispers and talking about the reasons why Kaeya picked such an easy opponent start to circulate, and you can’t help to curl your lips up. Within a  few seconds, you have effortlessly turned the gossiping direction toward your desired path. Flashing Kaeya a victorious grin, you tap your foot impatiently, waiting for his reaction.

You should have worked at PR damage control or marketing instead! The diplomat would have been fine too! At least, you wouldn’t need to practice swordman-ship.

As you mulling on your terrible choice of career, a chill runs down your spine. Tilting up, Kaeya is beaming sweetly at you, the frost slowly creeping up and nipping your shoes. Look like you just pressed the wrong button. 

The man narrows his eyes, and you gulp nervously, avoiding his calculating gaze. Kaeya chuckles, his voice laced with worry, wavering and hurtful. 

“I just want to help you improve as fast as possible. The test is coming in two weeks isn't it?” 

The whole table has turned, and people start to say how considerate and thoughtful the cavalry captain is. The crowd starts to criticize you and tell you to be more grateful and stop suspicious of his unconditional help. Oh, you wish he wasting it on you, many knights in this training ground would love getting advice and improvements from him. 

Applause for our dear Calvary captain, smoothly seeking empathy from the crowd and turning the favour back to him. No wonder how fast he climbed up the rank. 

Bantering and arguing with a person like him is meaningless, so you accept his offer and drag your sword toward his direction. Let finish this within 2 strikes. 

Moving to the centre of the field, both of you face each other, his eyes scanning you sceptically. What is this man plotting again? Bowing, you finally give him a warning look before standing at your ready position. Kaeya holds his sword, analyzing your starting posture. 

As soon as the whistle blows, you charge at the man, opening the spar with a direct hit. Kaeya quickly raises his word up to block the first blow, the sound of steel clashing loudly. He then forcefully diverts the sword to the left, a classic way to counter the strike. 

Knowing your limited strength against him, you take a step back and swiftly angle the blade downward, aiming for a weak spot at his waist. This move would create a noticeable weakness on your right, and only the idiot doesn't use this as his advantage to disarm you. 

You’re right, he uses the loophole you planned, successfully disarm you within 2 strikes. The sword slips from your hand clanging loudly behind as your foot slips and fall on the ground. 

His sharp blade is just a few inches away from your neck. The calvary captain wears a solemn look, his cerulean eyes imbued with irritation. Seems like he figures out you purposefully planed to end the match in 2 strikes. 

Quickly raising your hand in defeat, you shoot him a taunting grin. The referee declares Kaeya is the winner, and people start to clap and cheer loudly, but overall no one is surprised. As the match end, audiences start to disperse, return back to their tasks. 

Kaeya put his sword away and offers you his hand. You stare idly at the gloved hand a moment before putting yours on. The man effortlessly pulls you up, your body flush against his. With Kaeya so close to you, your first reaction is to push the man away, but his firm grip says otherwise. He inches closer, dark blue locks brush your cheek, tall figure towering you intimidating. 

“Why end it so early?” He leans down and whispers, your body tenses up visibly. “Surely, you could handle more than 2 strikes of mine.” The young man in blue hums, his voice sultry. 

“ What are you saying? I haven’t touched the sword more than 3 years.” You remind him, hands pushing his chest away, trying to create some distance. The man doesn’t budge an inch. 

“Your strikes doesn’t say so. The first strike was not bad.” Noticing your effort to push him away, Kaeya stands straight, heels dig into the ground. His lips curl up at the helplessness flashing in your eyes. He loves seeing you struggle, seeing how anxiety and desperation rising in your sparkling orbs. “I think you could at least have a decent fight with me.”  

“ Quit spouting non-sense Kaeya, let me go. We are in public.” You let out an annoyed hiss, punching his toned chest. He still wears the uniform improperly like that, the exposed tan chest can be under many layers. Sometimes you don't even know the reason why doesn't he just button the shirt up properly. Finger grazing at the bared skin on his chest, you turn your head away, cheeks heat up. 

The man loves seeing you squirming in his trap, and you’re not going to let him see that. Anything, but satisfying his masochist hobby. 

“You don’t like skin-ship?” The man fakes a gasp, his orb sparkles with mirth. “But you were being touchy with your friend. Why can't we be a bit touchy? ”  His tone suggestively, the tall man snickers at your blushing mess. Out of everything, why would he mention that? You give him stinky eyes, brows furrow deeply.  

“I’m not touchy with you.” You deny dreadfully. Archon, how long have you wasted your time here with this slithering serpent? 

Kaeya arms wrap tightly around you, your body moulds perfectly into his embrace. You hate how perfectly you fit into his hug like this, but you can’t deny how warm he is, despite the fact he wields cryo. 

“ When will you let me go?” Your voice starts to grow weak, dragging slightly in discomfort.  Kaeya curiously looks down, noticing your pouting. Sensing his gaze, you turn your head away but his fingers have quickly grabbed your cheek, forcing you to look at his deep blue eye.  

“Give me a kiss, then I'd let you go.” His voice serious, but what he just said is not. You look at the cryo wielder horrendously, mouth gaping. His face is composed and relax, like what he just ask is like asking about the weather, asking about your health, not for a kiss. Is he being serious? What in the world did he just ask? A kiss? Excuse me, a what? 

“You...you are not being serious.” You wriggle your way out, escaping from his fingers, but his embrace tightens, caging you inside. Damn it, Kaeya. He’s messing with you. 

When you flash him a furious look, the man shrugs nonchalantly, his cerulean lock fluttering gently in the wind. Suddenly, you have an urge to wipe off that calm demeanour. He can’t be serious. Why does he have to go all the way to annoy the shit out of you? 

The smug grin hanging on his face, the mischief in his blue eyes, the arching brows, everything about him screams a flirt, yet you feel so mesmerized. Blinking a few times, you have to constantly remind yourself this man is not trustworthy. From the attitude to the way he looks at you, to the way he acts around you. Nothing from his action is truthful. Like Diluc’s warning, you can only believe half of his word and action. 

“ Of course I’m being serious.” His voice solemn, but you can see the amusement in his eyes. If he doesn’t like you, why would he spend so much effort bothering you this much? What reaction is he expecting from you?  

“ I really like you, Y/N” Kaeya confesses cheerfully, and you can faintly hear a few gasps around. Not this again...

Archon, you’re going to die early at this rate. You just want to practice for the upcoming evaluation, not becoming a hot topic for all Mondstadt citizen to gossip about. 

And this man too, how can he easily slip out those words when you just heard him flirting with another woman the other day?  You already told him numerous times that you’re not interested in dating him, or anyone right now! 

Hung your head down in exhaustion, you tap his shoulder, mumbling quietly. “ Fine, fine.” You finally open your mouth, too exhausted and bothered by his stubbornness. He only wants a kiss, and you won’t hurt giving him one. Just a kiss then you can get back to your practice.  

“Just don’t confess your love to me in a crowd like this again.” Before closing the deal, you weakly add a bargain, nudging him.  

The calvary captain looks surprised, his eye widens little, not expecting you to agree. Normally, it takes another argument or two before you comply with his request. Kaeya timidly raises his gloved hand to your face, gently caresses your cheek. This time, you lean into his touch, nuzzling your face into his palm, eyes glimmering softly. Despite a cryo wielder, his hand is surprisingly warm. 

The man in blue curiously peeks at you, he feels like a feather tickling the itchy spot. Are you plotting an escape route? Since when did you become so obedient? He has never seen the soft fur under the spiky façade you set up to face with the world, but strangely, he likes this version of you more. 

Noticing his relaxed stance, you carefully gently wrap your fingers around his wrist while keeping eye contact with him. Kaeya eye widens, startles at your sudden touching. Trying your best to not break the unspoken connection, you bring his hand away from your cheek. In those cerulean eyes, you see a hint of disappointment, but it quickly dissolves. Slowly, you draw closer toward the hand hanging in the air, lips fluttering on the smooth skin on his wrist. 

The calvary captain instinctively moves back, trying to escape from your sudden contact. Ironic, he is the one who innates the hug and demands a kiss from you. Tightening your grip, you press your wet lips on the exposed part of his wrist dedicatedly while maintaining eye contact with him, eyes drown with submission.

Kaeya stares at you in awe, maybe not expecting the passionate look in your eyes. His azure eye fills with mischief, now replaces with confusion and hesitation. You notice how his ears have dusted with pink despite the winds blowing in the practice ground. The man avoids your eyes, flustering. 

Whispers and gasps start to remind you of the crushing reality, so you let his hand down while grinning cheekily at the cryo wielder. Poking and breaking Kaeya meticulously façade is always something you want to try. The man is a living devil, so it’s extremely unusual to see him losing his composure. 

Sneakily, you untangle his other arm wrapping around your waist, plotting an escape route. 

However, Barbatos doesn’t let you slip away that easily. Quickly regaining his composure, Kaeya snakes his hand around your hip again, tightening his hold. Unlike the first time, the sneaky bastard lifts you up and has the audacity to throw your body on his shoulder, carry you like a sack. 

“ Yah! What are you doing?” You exclaim, fluster at his sudden antic. Kicking and punching on his shoulder, you try as many as you can, but somehow, Kaeya manages to dodge all of them.   

“ You said you will let me go when I give you a kiss!” The crowd uproars, stares and gossips poke pointedly at your back. You don’t want to hear those comments from those knights again. They're not going to let this live down, aren't they? Bury your face in the Kaeya's furry collar, you let out a frustrating sigh, punching his shoulder as hard as you can. 

“ You give me a kiss on my wrist. That doesn’t count.” Kaeya nonchalantly strides away from the practice ground, unfazed by your attempt to escape. This man is a beast, how can he not budge an inch with all of your kickings on his shoulder? 

“ You didn’t specify the place. A kiss is a kiss!” You emphasize, and you can feel his shoulder shaking. Is he laughing? “You didn’t keep your promise.” Fuels by the rising anger, you kick your leg aggressively, struggling to free yourself from the iron-clad grip. This time, his strong arm wraps around your calves like a chain.  

As soon as you raise your head up, the familiar pathway hits your memories. Shit, he is heading toward the headquarter, likely to his office. You can’t let anyone in there see you in this state. Punching his back profusely, you shot back. 

“Not fulfilling the contract is breaking the Knight of Favonius's code of cond-.” Before you can finish your sentence, the man smacks your calves loudly, successfully shutting your mouth. Speechless by his sudden punishment, you let out a disbelief breath.    

“ There are no such a section states about fulfilling contract inside the code of conduct, so stop making the rule up.” Kaeya smugly grins, and you can already picture his blue eyes glinting with mischief, the signature shit-eating grin on his handsome face.

" There is, it's in section eight-" Before you can finish your sentence, Kaeya cuts in, waving his hand dismissively. 

" Section eight is about interaction with your co-worker, there is none about keeping contracts." The calvary captain humming, trying to recalling the content of the book. Speechless by the detailed memories of his, you can only close your mouth, quietly waiting for him to drop you down. If you stay still on his shoulder, will he let you go? 

" You know, not everyone reads and memories the knight of Favonius handbook, you are just unlucky that I know the book by heart." Seeing you deflate weakly on his shoulder, Kaeya lets out a chuckle, patting your head comforting.       

Before heading inside the HQ, the man doesn't drop your down but leans in closely, his whisper tickling your ear. “But at least I had fun seeing you squirming in my grasp.” 

And then it hits you, the bastard purposely falls for of your antic. 

#kaeya alberich #genshin kaeya #kaeya x reader #no beta we kayak like tim #genshin impact #clarissalance #who has the upper hand ? #argument #fluff #tension #smart reader #strategist #genshin varka #diluc ragnvindr #genshin diluc

[teeterarting]

here's a list of things i love about PSMD for no reason other than i think it deserves appreciation (spoilers)

the hero gets adopted by a nuzleaf. Hero, a young child that doesn't know why they were brought into this world, attacked by beheeyem, scared and alone, finds someone that takes them under his wing and gives them a home. it's really sweet that once Nuzleaf brings them to the Village, Hero's not alone anymore.

yes it was all a trick, he deceived you. but being betrayed by your father figure hits so much harder. it's much more personal, especially when both Hero and Partner are kids. and when Nuzleaf goes through all that ordeal in the post game, then gets accepted back into the village?? And his little speech to Hero????? it's heartbreaking and incredibly touching at the same time

everything is just so cute!!!! you go to school with your new friendo and you're friends with the schoolkids, and you make the trip to school every morning taking in the scenery, the smell of dew and fresh grass, and the sun on your face... and you take classes about Mystery Dungeon mechanics, and principal Simipour is a big BRO, the school nurse Audino is super kind and helpful... and you get to play with your pokemon friendos in summer vacation, and explore a dungeon with 'em... AND your bond with your Partner begins to form, getting stronger and stronger from then on. PSMD's beginning arc is so warm and pleasant, it's like reliving childhood memories all over again, when things were happier and you didn't have to worry about how cruel the world is. this story section's one purpose is to get the player used to the game's mechanics, as well as foreshadowing. unfortunately most of the school kids get forgotten later on, but I still love this part for everything it is, even if unintentional.

it's not just the beginning that's cute. PSMD'S ENTIRE WORLD IS ADORABLE. It's just filled with life every town you go. there are a bunch of pokemon locals and they all have interesting things to say, in the main story and the post-game. there's a point where their comments get repetitive, but that's bound to happen in any PMD game. Even then, the days are never the same. one morning you wake up and the Lively Town locals are exercising, then the next they're having singing lessons, and then they're practicing martial arts. and you get to connect with (or recruit) some of them just by.... chatting!!! Sitting next to that big ol' venusaur and sharing stories, laughing and having fun. it's good stuff.

Sometimes you find travelling pokemon in dungeons and it's jsut the coolest thing. Imagine you're exploring a dungeon, then your Connection Orb notifies you there's a fellow explorer in the floor. First thing you do is try to find them, and when you do - oh dang a travelling Archeops!!!! And then they just,,,, exchange their experiences and thoughts on exploration and how hard it is to fend off those enemies and the cool treasure they found the other day (the game calls it "[Team Name] and [Traveller pokemon] compared notes"). then the traveller heals you, fills your belly and restores your PP. and they go on their way. idk man it's such a cute interaction. explorers chatting, empathizing and helping each other, bc their job is not an easy one...

PSMD Partner is the most developed Partner in any PMD game yet. They start off as this naive, hyperactive kiddo, then stuff happens, and worse stuff happens, and you get to see how they grow and change and by the end they're a different person than they were before (in more than one way ...). It's just so nice to be by their side, from the beginning to the bitter end, and watch their growth. in contrast, Hero is a little unbalanced in that their backstory is not explored as much, and their personality is kind of a blank - probs meant to be vague so the player can be in their shoes. to me this just gives you the opportunity to shape their character however you want, so you can have tons of different hero/pardner dynamics.

The music is rlly flippin' good. Some of the tracks are recycled from previous entries, but when they go original??? it's a blast!!! "Echoes of the Mystical Forest" is one of my favorites in all four entries, it has no right being so amazing for a random dungeon. "Time to Set Out" makes me cry immediately (also i think it would be a better fit for the parting ways scene at the end...). Don't even get me started on "Second Dark Matter Battle", it has everything an epic climax needs and MORE. the Partner remix????? absolute genius

speaking of which, Dark Matter ITSELF,, is freaking amazing. Its actions were foreshadowed in the very beginning, though they were not blatant through the game. i do think they could have done a better job at showing the pokemon's negativity raising in the world, as well as negative feelings in the characters... but it's not like Gates did a good job at it, either (outside of cutscenes, all the locals in Post Town are incredibly nice to you and fights didn't "break out often". it's like the game tells you the world is a dark place, but what it shows in gameplay doesn't add up). so i'll cut them some slack. Still, I find Dark Matter a more compelling villain than the Bittercold for several reasons. it is sentient. its speech is a jumbled amount of voices all talking at the same time - the anguished voices of the world. It actually concocted a plan to hurl the planet into the Sun, using pawns like Nuzleaf and Yveltal to do its dirty job. in the Voidlands, Hero and Partner discover its past, and how it'll come back after defeat, like a cycle. when Partner accepts Dark Matter, they accept negative feelings as something everyone has within themselves. Most of all, the fact that Dark Matter is a manifestation of negative feelings doesn't make it just a generic threat, a final obstacle to be defeated so the world can be saved. It makes Dark Matter - negativity itself - a natural part of the world, the yin to its yang. and that's why I LOVE IT SO MUCH DANG IT EVEN THANKS PARTNER FOR THEIR ACCEPTANCE

The fact that Dark Matter can possess pokemon that have "even the smallest amount of darkness in their hearts". it makes me think of Mr. Nuzleaf and what he might have gone through in the past to make him so easy to be controlled. Did he hold a grudge against someone?? Did he commit a crime?? Had Nuzleaf always been malicious???? And if so, is this why he shows so much remorse in the post-game??????? because he had always been this vile fiend and then he met this small kid and got attached, but still carried on with his evil actions because his malice was still stronger than the positive feelings and Dark Matter's hold on him intensified?????? I don't know!!!! and as much as i wish the game could have given us that sweet mr. Nuzleaf backstory, it's pretty fun to have freedom to come up with your own version.

Everything about Super's climax is just phenomenal. Every single flippin' legendary is there to help you. Arceus is in the game. MEWTWO IS THERE. and when things are looking hopeless, they really seem hopeless. First the Tree of Life is dying, then your allies get turned into stone and sent to hell The Voidlands, Arceus gets turned into stone, the entire world is stone (except for several mon' that are still safe and holding onto hope, but they're so few). Your Harmony Scarves stop working and you and your Partner are back to your feeble, basic stage forms. You are bordering exhaustion, you have no Emeras, it's just you and your Partner against an eldritch abomination that's killing the life on the entire planet like a parasite, devouring all hope. but you still fight back. Given how adults in the game always discourage the village children from going adventuring, that they cannot do this or that because they're so little and fragile, it's awesome how Hero and Partner beat Dark Matter as tiny kids.

PSMD is not a flawless game. in fact there's plenty of things that hold it back and i even mentioned some... but it's still full of love put into it and it resonates w me more than PMD Explorers of T/D/S and Gates to Infinity (Rescue Team is a close second). its my all-time favorite PMD game.

#pmd #pokemon mystery dungeon #psmd #pokemon super mystery dungeon #Teeter rambles #long post

[marjorie189]

The One and Only: JJ Maybank Series

Summary: 

Y/N, the kindest and sweetest person you’ll ever meet. The thing is she’s a kook. Unfortunately causing her to fall into the stereotype of being snotty and spoiled, just because she’s from the other side of town. Kie and Y/N would exchange greetings and occasional conversations during Kie’s kook year. As summer emerges, she notices Kie’s group of hot pogues. One pogue in specific catching her eye. The One and Only: JJ Maybank.

Word Count: 12,296

❀✿

Y/N was walking along the beach’s sand taking in the nice midday sun. The sun hit her exposed skin. She was dressed in white denim shorts and a small flowery yellow cami. She was beautiful, the whole town of Outer Banks was aware of that. Except for herself. She was too selfless to realize it.

Y/N POV:

My feet sink into the warm sand of the beach, legs after one another. I look fondly at the mesmerizing view of the waves hitting the shore, taking a nice relaxing walk on the beach.

I was so at peace and in love with the scenery, that I realized I was no longer in Figure 8 but in The Cut. I look to my left and see The Wreck.

I feel a smile appear on my face at the thought of Kie. As I get closer to the restaurant I see Kiara fighting a couple of boys. I laugh at her playful nature.

I stopped on my tracks, debating whether or not I should enter the premises. I wouldn’t want to interrupt anything. As my thoughts linger I subconsciously open the door. My eyes widen right as the bell above the door rings, alerting that a customer is entering.

Kiara and all of the three, tall, intimidating boys look over at the door, their eyes catching mine. I blush immediately, regretting my decision instantly.

“Y/N!!” Kiara shrieks in excitement once she sees me. My heart settles once Kiara’s warm voice assures me that I made the right decision. And oh she does. She has no idea that by just walking through that door, that her whole life would change.

The boys look like cats on a cat clock. Their eyes go from Kiara to y/n, back to Kiara, and back to y/n again, and they continue to do so.

Kiara leaves the boy’s side and speed walks over to me. A huge grin on her face.

“KIE!!” I yell back as loud.

“What are you doing here?” She questions once in my arms. I hug her tightly and she reciprocates the same energy.

I open my mouth to respond but she quickly shuts me down.

“Actually! Just give me a sec! Let me just handle them real quick and I promise I’ll be there in a few seconds!” Kiara quickly says, referring to the three boys, that have not kept their eyes off of us. Kiara notices and rolls her eyes.

“Yeah. Yeah! For sure, I’m in no rush!” I say with a smile.

“Okay perfect! Just wait for me on the counter,” She says and points to the stools along the counter’s bar.

I nod and walk over to the counter passing by the three boys. As I walked by them I could feel their heavy stares on me, following me.

I then hear three loud slaps followed by hisses and groans, I giggle and shake my head.

“What was that for?!” One of the boys shrieked.

“For checking out my friend! What? Do you think she’s some kind of animal?” Kiara says in an annoyed manner.

“What? No!” Another boy immediately says in defense.

My back still facing them. They definitely weren’t good at being discreet.

“It’s just… We’re confused, shocked, and surprised that you’re talking to someone other than us! Especially a girl...” The last of the three boys say.

[Okay if y'all can guess which of the three says these three lines I’ll give you guys a shoutout😂]

“You know what guys! Just get out!” Kiara scolds at them.

I take a seat on a stool, place my elbow on the counter’s bar, and hold my head with the palm of my hand, staring at the four in amusement.

“What? What about our food!” The unknown boy says. Now that I’m sitting I catch a better glimpse at the three boys. Distinguishing who they are. This unknown boy’s voice belonged to The One and Only: JJ Maybank.

I notice that all three of the boys are pogues. At first, I felt a bit stunned at who Kiara was choosing to spend her time with. But that little voice in my head was just nonsense Kook talk, trying to instill itself onto my brain. I came to a quick and rightful realization that there was nothing wrong with that nor them. I’ve just been stuck in a community where Pogues are looked down upon and the Kook beliefs have been trying to screw itself onto my morals ever since I was a little girl, but I won’t let that happen.

It’s not fair how Pogues get mistreated and discriminated for their lifestyle. They have no control over that. I never stood for that and nor has Kiara. So it’s not surprising that she’s friends with these three boys. They must be kind guys if Kiara is spending her time on them.

“No! I’m not giving you free food! Now get out before I call the cops!” She says and shoves them towards the direction of the door.

The boys let out cries of despair and give Kie their best puppy dog eyes.

“Nope! Not falling for that,” She says and sends them one last push before they were out the door.

She shuts the door behind them and lets out a big huff once they’re out.

“Come on Kie!” The boy that has his cap reversed on his head says. I instantly recognize him as Hayward’s son, Pope, I believe. He was knocking and begging on the glass windows of the restaurant.

“Nope.” She whispers and shakes her head at them.

All three boys were standing outside the restaurant like statues. Wearing sad frowns on their faces.

Kiara rolls her eyes and walks away from them. My eyes divert over to Kie’s.

“Okay! Sorry about that,” She smiles.

I let out a laugh and nod.

I look over Kiara’s shoulder to see the boys still standing against the entrance of the restaurant.

I continue to look at them, nonchalantly. For the first time, I’m actually noticing how good looking these boys are. My eyes find John B’s well built body. I can picture how strong and muscular his chest must be through his loose tank top. My mouth waters.

My eyes then lift up meeting JJ’s blue ones, just to see that he already had his eyes on me. But in reality, they never left her.

My attention then shifts over to JJ. His smile turned into a smirk as he noticed my eyes on him. He locks his eyes with mine. I couldn’t help but smile. My insides were bursting, but I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of blushing.

Those few seconds of our encounter felt like hours, even days.

“EWW! NO. Gross! This is not happening! Stop that! This instant!” Kiara exaggeratedly says.

JJ and I’s trance breaks as I look over at Kie.

“What? What are you talking about?” I say playing it cool.

“Oh don’t even go there! Don’t act like I didn’t see that!” Kiara says grabbing a wet rag from the counter and slapping me with it. I gasp in shock and slap it away.

“What? Why are you hitting me?” I say in between laughs playing dumb. I look over to the guys and see them laughing as well. But only JJ knew the reason why she hit me.

I see the blonde laughing and smirking through the glass window as he catches my last stare before Kiara’s dad shouts at them.

“Stop scaring my customers away! You guys look like stalkers out there just looking through my windows!” He says coming out from the kitchen. Kie’s dad stops his yells and the boys' laugh and nod.

“Yes sir,” Pope and John B say in unison and JJ salutes him.

JJ then looks me straight in the eye and winks at me. A silly, playful smile placed on his face. I try my best to compose myself, but on the inside, I’m all mushy and tickly. I just smile at him, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of playing along with his game.

The three of them start walking off and within a few seconds, they weren’t visible from the windows.

“Those boys!” He grunts causing me to giggle. “Oh hi y/n! Didn’t see you there. Nice to see you again. How have you been?” He greets happily.

“Oh, god dad! How many questions was that?” Kiara groans.

“No. No. It’s okay, Kie,” I say, sending her a little shove. “I’ve been good, Mr. Carrera. How about you?”

“Oh call me Mike!” He says with a laugh. I smile and nod.

“Alright well, I’ll let you girls talk. If there’s anything I can do for you girls just let me know,” He says before walking away into the kitchen.

“That did not just happen!” Kiara yells over at me.

“What? That wink that he just sent me while you weren’t looking?” I say with an evil smile.

“Oh no, no, no, no!” Kiara says shaking her head.

I let out a laugh.

“Sorry, Kieee!” I say with a pouty face.

“No, no, no!” She says with an eye roll.

“You can’t blame me! It just happened,” I say defensively.

“Uhuh! Sure,” She says, giving me a scolding look.

I smile innocently to tick her off.

“I hate you!” Kiara says with a glare.

“What! I didn’t even do anything!” I say putting my hands up in surrender.

“Okay, I don’t blame you, this is all JJ’s fault!” Kiara says with a huff. “He literally flirts with anyone who literally just breathes,”

I let out a laugh.

“Wait so did he actually wink at you?” She says, looking at me questioningly.  

“Mhm,” I say simply.

She groans.

“And it was quite hot!” I say in a whisper, knowing it would get her mad.

“Ughh. What do you even see in him? He’s disgusting!” Kiara says in pure disgust.

I just shrug.

“You know for being titled the nicest girl in town. This little encounter right here does not prove it. You’re evil,” Kiara exclaims.

“Am not!” I say quickly.

“You are and it just proved!” Kiara teases.

I shake my head in defeat.

“So what brings you here?” Kiara questions.

“Just wanted to say hi. I was taking a nice walk and ended up here without realizing,” I say with a small giggle, laughing at my oblivious nature.

“That’s exactly something you’d do!” Kiara says bursting out in laughter.

I start blushing and covering my face in embarrassment.

“Okay, I take it back! You really are the sweetest person in the OBX. No one is this shy,” Kiara teases.

“I am not shy!” I protest.

“You are!” Kiara protests back.

“Okay maybe I am but it just comes naturally,” I say with a frown.

“I think you’re just shy and embarrassed when someone gives you attention. Especially with someone you’re not that close with. Like me. But I’m changing that! I don’t want you to be shy with me anymore,” Kiara says kindly.

“Aww,” I say with a small blush. “I’d like that,” I say pulling Kiara into a hug.

“We’re going to be the greatest of friends! In school, I was always too shy to come up to you. You just seemed like the nicest person and I was too intimidated by that. You looked like you had your life all put together and I didn’t think you’d need me in your life. It looked like you had everything you needed already. Even though I really wanted someone like you as a friend. You were different, you weren’t like those other bitchy girls in school. I always wished I had you,” Kiara confesses.

“Aww, really Kie? That’s the sweetest thing ever. I really wish you would’ve come up to me. You know I would see you in class or walking by and see you strut that hallway. I was like damn! Kiara has confidence!” I say with a smile.

“Really?!” Kiara says in surprise.

“Yes! Hell yeah,” I say loudly.

“I’m glad that worked,” She says with a giggle. “I would always have my confidence up. It was mostly a front because I kind of sort of hated everyone there,” She says letting out a loud laugh.

I join her laughter and smile.

“Yeah. I can totally see that. Some of them are really bad,” I say thoughtfully.

“Some of them?” Kiara says with a raised brow.

“Okayyy. Mostly all of them,” I say.

“I don’t know how you can deal with them! They’re rude and disrespectful. I don’t know how you can be friends with them. Especially when you’re nothing like them! I don’t get it! It doesn’t align. The dots don’t connect,” Kiara passionately says.

I let out a giggle.

“Yeah, I would question that myself too. But see the thing is I’ve known them all since the day I was born. It’s like all I can do is deal with them. They’re not all that bad you know. Yes, yes I know. They’re arrogant and act superior to others and trust me I don’t condone that behavior but they’ve all kind of become like my family,” I rant in hopes of trying to get her to understand.

Kiara looks at me closely in an inspecting kind of way. She nods staying quiet.

“Okay. I can respect that,” Kiara says after a while.

A smile appears on my face.

“Thank you, Kie! I really appreciate you accepting that part of my life,” I say with a smile.

Kiara returns the smile and opens her arms and closes them around my shoulders. She lays her head on my shoulders.

“Of course. I know you’re a great person. I know you’re not like them,” She says letting go of me.

I nod.

“Okay but tell me this! How are you blushing over JJ Maybank when you have Rafe, Topper, and Kelce are all over you, all the goddamn time. It doesn't make sense!” Kiara says with a head shake, laughing.

I let out a laugh instantly.

“You’re crazy. They're annoying! But I love them. Unfortunately,” I say with a wide smile. “And! I am not blushing over JJ Maybank!”

Kiara lets out a snicker.

“You definitely were!” Kiara sassily says.

“I wasn't,” I say with a straight face looking away from her knowing I’d end up letting out a laugh if I left my gaze on her.

“I can read you like a book!” Kiara says with an eye roll.

“Okay. Whatever,” I say looking out into the windows.

“What would your three boys say if they saw their precious little girl flirting with JJ Maybank. Their arch-nemesis!” Kiara continues to tease.

I groan and roll my eyes at her. “Really?” I ask.

She nods with a smirk.

“Well, I’m sooo happy that didn’t happen! They would literally get sooo mad!” I say in emphasis.

Kiara laughs.

“Hell yeah they would. They would literally want to beat the shit out of JJ if they’d witnessed what just happened!” Kiara exclaims.

“Well let’s be grateful that it’ll never happen! Again!” I say with a relieved sigh. “Cause knowing Rafe, Topper, and Kelce they’d find out somehow,”

Kiara lets out a giggle.

“Well see I don’t think it’ll be the last time. If I’m being honest,” Kiara says.

“And why is that?” I question in interest.

“Well if you’re going to be my friend, you’re going to be seeing JJ often,” Kiara explains.

“Oh. You’re totally right. That totally slipped my mind! Oh, darn it!” I frown.

“Oh don’t act soo sad. You’re probably bursting on the inside!” Kiara says with an eye roll.

A giggle escapes from my lips.

“Not even. I don’t even know JJ. Yeah, he’s good looking but it’s not like I like him,” I say in all honesty.

“Hm,” Kiara says pursing her lips.

“Oh god!” I say with an eye roll. “It’s not even like that! I don’t even like him like that Kie!” I say shoving her shoulder.

“Okayyy. Whatever you say Y/NNNN!” She says teasingly.

“I hate you, you know that?” I say throwing the rag at her face.

She gets caught off guard and laughs.

“I have an idea! I’m going to JB’s house in a bit. You should come!” Kie says happily, her eyes like shooting stars.

“I’m guessing that’s John B?” I question and she nods. “I don’t know Kie…” I trail. “I'm too shy!” I pout.

“Oh stop! It’s not like you have somewhere better to be!” She says in an annoyed manner.

I gasp. “I actually have to be at the club’s resort!”

“My point exactly! You literally go to the club like every other day. I’m sure Rafe, Topper, and Kelce can have a day without you at the golf course!” Kiara sassily says.

“Okay let’s say I do decide to go…” I trail. “I can free up my golf date with them. That’s no problem. Even though they’ll get butthurt and will want to know where I’ll be, who I’m with, and ask every question possible. But I’ll just make up a lie because they’ll have a heart attack if I’m hanging with you and your boys. Remember arch nemesis!” I say dramatically in the end.

Kiara laughs. “Right! I picture them being attached to you! How do you handle their clinginess!” Kiara questions with a playful teasing smile.

“I don't even know..” I trail in thought with a giggle.

Kiara laughs and continues with her previous conversation.

“Come on Y/NNNN! The boys will love you!” Kiara begs.

“ I don’t know about them loving me. They probably hate me because I’m a kook,” I say reluctantly with a sigh.

“What? Okay fine! What I meant to say is that they’ll eventually love you. It’s impossible not to love you. You’re lovely! And they’ll see that. So come on! I’ll be there, right by your side, if you do decide to come. And plus they were literally eyeing you like candy. Which is annoying! But that means they lowkey already like you. But I must admit if you do come over, it will probably be awkward. Hopefully, they quickly realize you aren’t like that. I mean come on if I of all people love you, that means a lot,” Kiara tries to console.

I huff. “Okay fine…”

“Yessss! Thank you Y/N! I love you! We finally need another girl in the group!” Kiara exclaims.

I roll my eyes. “I’m literally barely going to meet them for the first time! Don’t get ahead of yourself. For all we know they can decide to not want me in your friend group,” I say with a laugh.

“Trust me! They’ll love you! I hope…” She trails in the end.

“I hate you! You’re making me nervous,” I say with a frown at that last part.

“Okay okay! I’m sorry!” Kie says defensively. “But I’m kinda nervous too! But mostly excited!”

I groan looking away. “I’m starting to regret this ya know!” I say looking back over at her. “You know the golf club sounds like soooo much fun right now!!” I say jokingly.

I playfully get off the stool to pretend I’m leaving but before I can do anything else Kiara grabs onto my arms.

“Nu-u-uh!” Kiara says humming a no.

I let out a cry sitting back down.

“I hate you! I’m starting to not like this! What if they hate me? This could turn out sooo bad you know! If Rafe and the boys find out they will literally without a doubt want to beat the shit out of John B, Pope, and JJ. I’m not even joking Kie!” I say with a few pouts as I put my head down on the counter, sighing.

“Yeah… I didn’t really think that far. They literally gatekeep you!” Kiara says angrily and then it turns into a blank face trying to think of a plan.

“Alright let’s not get ahead of ourselves! For all we know, we could be thinking wayyy ahead of ourselves. This could literally be a one time thing if they decide to not want me around. So let’s not worry about Rafe. Topper, and Kelce. For now..” I say with a small giggle at the end.

Kiara nods in agreement and lets out a small laugh as well, lightening up the mood.  

“Alright well, I still got like an hour or so here at The Wreck. So I don’t know if you’d want to stick around or if we wanna catch up after I’m done?” Kiara questions at the end.

I think for a bit.

“Alright how about this? I go walk around town for a bit to kill time while you’re finished here. It’ll give me a chance to tell the boys I gotta bail on them,” I say looking at Kiara to see if she agrees.

“Yeah, sounds good! Okay, so thing is I haven't even told the boys that you’re coming over. So once I’m done here I’ll head to JB’s house and tell them that I’m bringing you over..” Kiara says trailing at the end.

“Oh, how will that go!” I say distraughtly.

“I don’t even know! I mean it’s one thing that they find you attractive and hot, but who wouldn’t! You’re a smoke machine,” Kiara says with a smile.

“Oh stop that!” I say with a shy smile. I could feel my cheeks burn.

Kiara giggles in awe.

“But.. it’s another thing for you to be in their presence. You know what I mean? Like sure they may think you’re good looking but you coming over to hang out, it’s a whole nother ball game. I just hope they don’t give you much of a hard time. Just know this y/n! Just give them time to warm up to you,” Kiara beggs.

I nod understandingly taking it all in.

“Alright then. How will I meet you? Since you’re already going to be at John B’s place?” I ask confused with the plan.

“Oh right! Um? I’ll send you their address through a text. Is that cool?” Kiara asks with pleading eyes.

“Yeah that’s cool! Alright well, see you in a bit,” I say with a smile, standing up from the stool.

Kie stands up after me.

“Yeah. Text you in like half an hour!” Kiara says with an excited smile.

I nod and give her a small hug before I leave.

Kiara tightens her grip and I smile into the hug.

I pull away. “Kiara. I’m glad we’re deciding to become close,” I say with a smile.

Kie smiles and nods. “Me too y/n!”

I wave a little goodbye and walk out of the restaurant.

I start walking into town. After about five to seven minutes of walking, I find a cute bench that’s seated under a tree.

I smile as I see the bench surrounded by nature. The huge tree, grassy area, and flowers nearby.

I take a seat and decompress everything that's about to happen. For some reason, I’m really nervous. I’ve never really had much contact with Pogues. But I’ve always admired how strong they are. Not even just physically but mentally. They go through so much in their lives, and apart from that, they’re shit on by the people I’m surrounded within my day to day life.

After looking out at the sun hitting the water, I grab my phone and dial Rafe’s number knowing he’ll be with Kelce and Topper.

The phone rings and instantly the call is answered. I smile knowing Rafe is probably excited to hear my voice. I roll my eyes, my smile widening.

“My favorite girl!” I hear through the phone’s speaker. His voice deep and quite captivating.

“Hi Rafe,” I say with a giggle.

“What can I do for M’lady? Or is she just too excited to see me that she had to call me?” He teases.

I let out a laugh. “Definitely not! It’s actually bad news. Are the boys there too?” I say knowing they were.

“Yeah we’re here!” Kelce and Topper say in unison. Worry stringing along with their words.

“Okay good. Umm, I just gotta rain check on our plans boys,” I say simply.

“What?! What do you mean?” Rafe quickly says.

I smile at his reaction, expecting nothing more.

“I just gotta do something today,” I say, trying to sound convincing.

“Like what things?” Topper trails, questioning me.

“Just some things. Nothing to worry about boys. I’m sorry, I know we’re always together. Take this as a good thing. You’ll have this afternoon to yourselves, without me,” I say with a laugh.

“But why! We know for a fact you have nothing to do!” Kelce exclaims.

Kiara's voice screams in my head. Clingy.

“Just take it as a boys day!” I say knowing they’ll fall for that.

“Okay fine!” Rafe says with a grunt. “But just know you can’t just bail on us like that! Next time we’re not letting this slip by!” Rafe says dominantly.

“Okay... Sureee!” I say with an eye roll.

“I’ll miss you the most!” Topper yells through the phone, beating the other boys to it.

I giggle knowing this’ll start an argument.

“Not true! I’ll miss you the most!” Kelce quickly says.

“Come on boys. We all know who’s going to miss her the most,” Rafe says.

I roll my eyes with a smile.

“I can just imagine the smirk on your face right now Rafe,” I say shaking my head.

“Whatever Rafe!” Kelce says annoyed.

“Bye boys. I’ll miss you!” I say happily. “Mwuah!” I say.

“Ha! I caught that kiss!” Topper yells in victory.

“You guys are ridiculous. Bye!” I say and hang up before they continue to argue.

I roll my eyes and put my phone away, smiling.

I thought to myself, “thank god I ended the call quickly before they asked more questions. Like who I was with or who I’ll be with.”

I stood up from the cute looking bench to walk around town for a bit. I take a look around The Cut. It was quite different from Figure Eight. The buildings here were archaic and run down. The town’s people were torn and exhausted, visible in their faces that all they wanted to do was get a good, long, lasting sleep.

I find a lady selling homemade ice cream by the docs and I smile walking over to her.

As I near her she forms a frightened and terrified look on her face. She grabs onto her cart tightly, as if I were going to take it away or hurt her.

I frown.

“Oh. Um I was just going to get some ice cream,” I trail not wanting to scare her off.

The lady looks at me with a skeptical look in her eyes. I smile, trying to comfort her.

She nods slowly.

“Thanks!” I say vibrantly trying to show her that I’m here with good intentions. “Can I get a chocolate scoop, please?”

“Yeah. Thanks. I thought you were like the others,” She says slowly in a scared tone, still not fully trusting me. She was trying not to offend.

I frown. “I’m so sorry about that. I would never! I just saw that you were selling ice cream and it looked very delicious. Better than those branded manufactured ones from the store,” I say with a giggle.

A smile peaks on her face causing me to smile.

“Thank you, dear. I’m sorry to have acted like that towards you. If I knew you were-” She speaks but I immediately interrupt.

“No! No! Don’t apologize. I’m so sorry for them treating you badly and harmfully. I get mistaken for their kind of behavior all the time. Just know that I’m not like them, at all!” I say referring to the kooks, while she scoops up the ice cream for me.

She looks up from trying to form a perfect scoop.

“There’s still hope then! I thought they were all rude and violent towards my kind of people. Turns out you’re the only one left.” She says handing me my ice cream.

I shoot her a smile.

“You’re so kind! I’ll definitely be coming back,” I say with a smile as I taste her ice cream. “It’s amazing!”

“Thank you, Miss!” She says handing me some napkins. I gladly take them in my hands and hand her the money.

“Thank you very much! It was nice meeting you,” I say, sending her a loving smile.

She smiles brightly and waves me goodbye.

I turn around and start walking back towards the bench I discovered earlier. I take a seat and look out to the shore as I eat my ice cream peacefully. It was the most authentic and tasteful ice cream I have ever tasted.

Twenty minutes later, ice cream was done, and eyes still on the view.

A text from Kiara interrupting the moment.

Okay I’m off work now. I’m currently a few feet away from John B’s house. I’ll send you a text when the light’s green, so you can come over 🤎

I nod as I read it, reacting to her message with a thumbs up.

I stand up from the bench and enter a small liquor store to buy bottled water.

I head over to the fridges grabbing an ice cold water bottle. I go up to the cashier and pay for it.

“Thanks,” I say with a smile and start walking out the door. I walk around for a bit waiting for Kiara’s text.

Kiara’s POV:

I hit send to the message I typed out for y/n. I put my phone away in my back pocket. I sighed nervously as John B’s house came closer and closer into view.

I rubbed my sweaty hands together without noticing. I smile widely as I see the guys on the porch.

“Hi boys!” I say as I feel my curls blowing behind me with the warm wind.

“Hi Kie!” They all say with toothy smiles.

I try my best to hide my nervousness as I look out into the distance. I walk up the porch’s steps and walk over to the boys.

“What’s up Kie!” JJ cheekily says with a goofy smile.

I couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Hi JJ,” I say taking a seat.  

“So you ready?” John B asks with an eyebrow raised.

“To do the same thing we do every day? If so, born ready!” I say letting out a laugh.

“That’s my girl!” JJ exclaims.

I chuckle and for a second I forget that I’m going to break the ice to them about y/n.

“What’s wrong Kie? You seem a bit off!” Pope says in a concerned voice.

“Oh um, nothing really. Better than ever really! It’s just um I have to talk to you guys about something,” I say scanning their faces.

JJ lets out a small chuckle. “What are you talking about?” He says.

I look over to John B and see that he’s leaned back on his chair, eyeing me curiously.

“Just spit it out Kie,” Pope says quickly.

“Yeah Kie. What is it,” JJ says once he sees that the other two boys were taking this seriously.

“Okay. Just please don’t overreact and please and I mean please keep an open mind about what I’m about to say!” I proclaim.

“Um, what?” John B says eyeing JJ and Pope in confusion.

Pope and JJ give John B that same look back.

The three boys look over at me like judges waiting for a declaration.

The boys are as impatient as ever with Kiara’s silence.

“Okay so…. To just let it all out. I invited someone over,” Kiara says and immediately waits for some sort of reaction from the three boys.

“Well, technically you didn’t just let it all out. I mean you kind of let out a high key factor-” Pope says annoyingly using his intelligence before JJ interrupts him.

“YEAH LIKE WHO!” JJ loudly blurts out.

“Yeah Kie... I don’t know about that... I mean you know this circle stays like this,” John B says forming a small circle with his two thumbs and indexes.

I sigh.

“I know. I know. And I’m sorry it’s just this person is pretty cool and I know you guys would like that,” I say, trying to convince the boys. Not yet revealing the gender of this mystery person.

“Yeah! I think we already have enough with our own cool,” John B protests. “We don’t need anyone else and plus who would you even invite? There’s like no one else,” John B continues, still unconvinced.

I look around to Pope and JJ to see that they’re both in doubt about the situation.

“Okay look. This person is someone really important to me and we’re both deciding to evolve our friendship! We were never really close but we’re choosing to change that,” I explain more in detail.

“Okay then if this person is so important to you then why have we never heard of them before?” JJ questions.

“Be-because! She was from my Kook year!” I blurt out.

“What?!!” They all question and exclaim. Their eyes wide and in surprise.

A couple of scoffs are heard.

“Okay, we just heard a couple of things here! Tell us if we’re wrong but did you just say it’s a she and that she’s a KOOK?” Pope says in disbelief.

“We are not having a KOOK over Kie! Kie it’s definitely a no! Like are you crazy? This isn’t our Kie. This is someone else!” JJ says within a millisecond.

“Yeah - I - I don’t even know what to say,” John B says in thought.

“Guys please!” I plead. “What did I say? To keep an open mind and to not overreact and you guys do the exact opposite of what I told you guys not to do!”

“Kiara! She’s a kook. Have you forgotten everything they have done to us? They’re rich, spoiled, brats! They don’t care about anyone but themselves and their money!” Pope fumes.

“Yeah Kie! You literally have personal experience with these kinds of people. Obviously, that’s why you hang with us. Like is there something we’re not getting here? Something we don’t know? You went to school with them and you hated it. Every single second of it!” John B profoundly says.

“Guys! I know. I know. It sounds crazy but trust me! Just, please! When have I ever failed you guys?” I beg and give them a pleading look.

“Kie! What is so important about this girl anyways?” JJ questions genuinely.  

I scoff.

“I don’t know JJ. Why don’t I ask you the same thing?” I reply with a burst of anger.

“What? Why would you have to ask me that?” JJ says, his eyebrows furrowing.

John B and Pope just look at each other with what the fuck expressions on their faces.

“Yeah JJ! Why were you flirting with her?” I say pettily looking at him

JJ's face turns into shock. He scoffs. “Me?” He points at himself and laughs. “Flirting with a kook? Never!” He says fighting me back with laughter and shock all mixed in one.

“JJ I saw it with my own eyes!” I say with annoyance.

“Dude I swear this isn’t you Kie! Are you like okay or something?” JJ says, his eyes looking at me as if something was wrong.

I get angry. “Yes JJ I’m perfectly fine!”

“Well… I mean when a girl says she’s fine, she’s not really fine..” Pope trails barely above a whisper.

“Well, in this case, it doesn’t apply alright!” I furiously say, looking over at Pope.

John B knowing very well that he is not going to butt into this conversation.

“Okay! Then who!” JJ yells annoyed in defiance.

“Y/N! You were literally winking at her and fucking checking her out!” I yell out.

“Oh,” John B lets out with wide eyes.

“What? That - that was not even flirting!” JJ says, trying to sound confident in his response.

“Yeah you stuttered. You can't cover that up now.” Pope says shaking his head.

“I did not stutter!” JJ says shooting Pope a fuck you facial expression.

“Okay fine! She can come,” John B says unexpectedly.

My heart jumps and I turn my head over to him.

I immediately smile and my mouth opens up in thanks.

“If she really means that much to you, she can come,” John B says sweetly.

I stand up from my seat and go in to hug him.

“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you John B!” I say as I fall into his arms in the process of hugging him.

John B lets out a laugh as he catches me in his lap.

“Okay but only this once!” John B warns pointing a finger at me.

“Yeah if we don’t like her she’s not coming over. Ever again!” JJ protests angrily rolling his eyes.

“No! No! You’ll all love her I promise!” I say immediately.

“I don’t know about love….” Pope trails off as he raises his eyebrows.

“Okay let me go text her! Thank you John B, I love you!” I say getting off his lap.

“Thank you John B, I love you,” JJ mimics in annoyance.

“Fuck off! You were literally the one flirting with her!” I say walking away from them to text Y/N.

As I’m walking into the house I hear the boys talking.

“Why would you say yes?!!” Pope exclaims.

“What?! She’s hot!” John B says referring to y/n.

“I heard that!” I yell at them.

“ANDD she must be amazing since Kie is friends with her!” John B adds trying to save himself.

“Ha! Thought so,” I say walking into the house as the boys continue to hush their conversation.

I go to my messages and Y/N and I’s previous conversation pops up.

I click on the voice memo to record my voice message.

Hey Y/N! Okay good news! I got them to say yes!! It took quite a bit of convincing and arguing but I got it! I’m sending you the address right now! Okay see you in a bit! Byee.

I send the voice memo and walk out to the porch and sit with the guys.

Y/N’s POV:

I was walking around the shops in The Cut when I got a text from Kiara.

I open the message seeing that it’s a voice memo. I put the phone closer to my ear in hopes of being able to hear the message nice and clear with the commotion around.

Hey Y/N! Okay good news! I got them to say yes!! It took quite a bit of convincing and arguing but I got it! I’m sending you the address right now! Okay see you in a bit! Byee.

Midway through the voice memo, I get another ding as Kiara sends the address.

Butterflies come to life in the pit of my stomach as I copy and paste the address onto Google Maps.

I click on ‘start route’ once the app gives me the fastest route to the destination. It says it’ll take a 10 minute walk.

It directs me to walk straight until I make it off the docks.

I get off the maps app and text Kiara.

Hey Kie! Alright, it says I’ll be there in 10. See you there!

I continue walking for the next couple of minutes on the docs as I hear the ocean beneath me.

I feel a sense of security and safeness from the sounds of the wind blowing against the water, forming the waves.

The docs were coming to an end, so I open up the maps and see that it’s telling me to turn left and walk straight until I see Hawks St.

On Hawks St turn right, siri says.

I continue walking straight, leaving the ocean behind me.

The map is leading me to the part of The Cut where the houses reside.

I’m halfway done with the walk when I reach Hawks St.

I look down and wait for siri’s next direction when I take a right.

Keep walking north until you reach “The Dirt’s Path”

I look at my surroundings and see a community of small homes in the suburbs. These houses were small and fading. They were either falling apart or on the verge of breaking down. Some houses were visibly taken care of but still not in the best conditions.

I keep walking and realize that I haven’t yet seen a street sign nor street post. As I realized I felt scared. I felt lost and afraid. I looked around and it was empty, no one was around. I looked down at my phone’s maps and saw that more minutes have gotten added to the time. I must’ve missed “The Dirt’s Path” or something.

The maps were no longer useful as it was just saying rerouting.

I sigh in frustration and turn off my phone.

I try to find the so-called Dirt’s Path and realize that it was going to be much harder than I realized. I have no idea how John B’s house looks like. I don’t know what to expect or what to look for.

All the houses I walked by were side by side and facing each other. They were a couple of blocks down from the beach and water line. These houses were placed like suburbans. I don’t know if John B’s house is like one of these or if his home is by the water?

I run a hand through my hair in frustration. What am I gonna do? Do I text Kie? But what’s the point in telling her I’m lost? I wouldn’t know how to tell her where I am. There were no street names I can refer to.

I throw that idea out the trash and try to find another way to John B’s house.

I continue walking forwards now more aware of my surroundings, trying not to get lost, more than I already am.

I then meet a dirt path as all the suburban laid out homes end. Could this be The Dirt’s Path?

I mean it is a literal path of dirt.

I take a leap of faith and walk into the dirt. As I walk further into this new part of The Cut, I realize the difference between the structures. These homes were more stretched out and spacious in land but the homes were shabby looking and on dirt. While the other homes were on cement. Another thing was that these houses were feet away from the water.

My phone dings must be a message from Kiara.

I grab it and read.

Where are you? Seven minutes ago

Better not have bailed on me :( Two minutes ago

I must have lost connection since I’m just getting her texts.

Just finding my way arounddd…

I send not wanting to admit that I’m lost.

She immediately responds.

Okay I got worried! Cause you said 10 minutes and it now been like 20

I read her message and go back to maps and see that I'm less than a minute away!

I get excited knowing I’m no longer lost.

I look up ahead and realize that it must be the white rectangular house with a nice porch, grassy area, and amazing view of the water. It was right on the edge.

I walk up to it when I knew for certain that it’s the house. I turn off my phone and get closer by the second. My eyes then meet four people sitting down on the porch. I catch Kiara’s crazy beautiful hair and see the three boys inches away from her. They all seem comfortable and content.

Once I make it to the steps of the porch I call out Kie’s name.

They all turn in their seats, looking over at me.

Kiara smiles widely and stands from her seat.

“Y/N!!” She loudly exclaims as she walks over to me, hugging me.

“I’m sooo nervous!” I whisper once our bodies physically collide into a hug.

“Don’t even sweat it!” She whispers into my hair.

I nod and we both let go of the hug.

I look over to the boys from the bottom of the porch and see them staring at us.

I wave at them and they all give me a small awkward wave, in return. I don’t take offense to it knowing they must feel weird about the situation.

“Come on!” Kie says intertwining our fingers. She leads me up the steps and deeper into the porch. Over to the seated boys.

She sits down on a couch that’s empty and pats the seat left to her, insinuating for me to sit down. I comply and get comfy. The boys' eyes on us, mostly on me, the whole time.

“Hey guys,” I say with a warm smile, waving again.

John B is on the chair to my left next to the couch that Kie and I are sitting on, Pope on the width of the porch, and JJ across from us.

“Guys this is Y/N!” She starts. “And Y/N this is JJ,” She says and points in front of us.

JJ waves but it kind of seems forced.

I smile and mutter a small hi.

“This is Pope,” She says and points to our left.

“Hi. I’m Pope,” He says in welcome.

I smile feeling better about being here. His kind nature warming me up.

“Hi,” I say cheerfully.

“I’m John B,” John B says.

I look over at him.

He reaches his arm out to me and I smile, taking his hand in mine. He shakes my hand confidently with a large smile, causing me to blush.

I smile noticing that he didn’t have to wait for Kiara to introduce us. He took initiative.

“Y/N,” I say smiley.

“Nice to meet you. You have such a pretty name,” He says sweetly letting go of my hand.

“Thanks,” I say with a blush and a smile.

“Yeah. Anytime,” He smiles pridefully once he sees me get all shy.

Kiara nudges me and I try to ignore her but I can only imagine the grin she holds.

I look forward and see JJ noticing Kie and I’s encounter. Catching onto Kiara teasing me about John B and I’s little moment.

I see that his eyes turn dark as his face becomes tight. He seems mad.

I just looked away, acting oblivious.

“Sorry I was late. I got lost” I say letting out a nervous chuckle.

“Don’t stress it. It can happen to any of us,” Pope says with a smile.

“Can it though?” JJ questions trying to throw shade at me.

My eyes swift over to him, my smile falling. His eyes everywhere but on me but I know for a fact he feels my eyes on him.

The boys stay quiet knowing the answer.

Kiara kicks JJ right on his shin.

JJ immediately looks over to Kiara and shoots her a glare.

I don’t make it obvious that I’m aware of the fit JJ and Kiara are having.

Kiara sends a glare right back at JJ, in hopes that he’ll be nicer.

“It’s okay!” Kie says with a warm kind smile, now looking at me.

I nod and get a bit of reassurance before JJ continues with his antics.

“Yeah I mean it must be so hard for you to walk these streets right? You’re used to street signs and easy transportation. Unlike here on The Cut. We’re full of broken streets and full of dirt paths. Kind of a given that you wouldn’t find your way around.” JJ rudely says rolling his eyes.

John B’s eyes widen. John B wouldn’t care if it was said to any other kook but John B just had a gut feeling that Y/N wasn’t like those other kooks. It was like with Kie. Kiara was no one compared to the Kooks.

The only difference between Y/N and Kiara was that Kie wants nothing to do with the kooks. On the contrary, Y/N is surrounded and close friends with them. Living the Kook life, just Y/N’s morals are thoughtful and generous, unlike the Kooks.

“Hey man-” John B starts in a way to stop JJ, feeling bad.

“No. No! It’s okay. I deserve it anyway.” I say with a shrug but inside of me, my heart stung. I mean what he was saying was true but did he have to be so rude about it?

I see in the corner of my eyes Pope making a double take at my response.

“What?” Kiara says angrily at my response. “How in the world do you deserve that?” Kiara says to me.

I look over at JJ and he just has a straight face, no emotion appearing on his light soft skin.

But JJ was just as shocked at her response as everyone else. He would expect any kook to fight back with a response but never in a million years would he expect one to just accept his rude comebacks.

It was silent as those seconds passed by before Kiara spoke up again.

“You did nothing wrong! I mean yeah kooks are living a better life than here at The Cut. But how is that on you?” Kiara continues.

I stay silent. Not wanting to say anything.

“JJ! I’m fucking letting this slide. For now. But just watch when we’re alone! Don’t think you’re getting away with this,” She says, anger evident in her voice.

“Kiara. It’s fine,” I say putting a hand on her shoulder, trying to forget all about it.

Kiara turns to me and sends me a look. She shakes her head telling me she wasn’t going to let this go. I just stayed quiet, again.

I look down at my lap and fiddle with my fingers.

I kinda miss Rafe right now. He would never treat me like this. Nor would Topper or Kelce.

I start to feel myself closing up to them.

Kiara notices and puts an arm around me.

“You know I kinda miss Rafe now,” I say only for Kiara to hear.

“They’re that bad huh!” Kiara whispers back, referring to her friends.

“Eh,” I say with a shrug.

“Well I mean if you’re missing him of all people. They must be reallyyy bad!” Kiara accidentally says loud enough for the boys to hear.

“Oh shit!” Kiara says once all of the boy’s eyes were on us.

“Kiara!” I say, giving her a look. My eyes wide in embarrassment.

“She has a big mouth! Huh?!” John B says with a laugh.

“Tell me about it,” I say looking over at him as my heart flutters knowing that they’re not all bad.

I hear Pope chuckle, making me smile. So, JJ was the only mean one I say to myself. Taking a mental note.

JJ stays quiet just sitting on his chair. Looking around like nothing happened.

I decide to let it slide and not let it affect my afternoon with Kie. Allowing myself to further get to know Pope and John B.

“So who is this guy you’re missing?” Pope sillily says with a toothy smile.

“Oh, no one!” I say with a nervous smile, that just happens to go from ear to ear.

My eyes notice JJ shifting and moving in his seat as I cheekily smile.

“With that smile! It must be someone,” John B teases causing my smile to widen.

“No! He’s just a friend!” I say as my cheeks turn red. I try to cover my face in my hands.

“Aww. You’re so shy!” John B cooes.

“Yeah. It’s kinda cute!” Pope adds.

“She does this all the time!” Kiara says with a playful eyeroll.

“It just happens okay!” I let out in a laugh.

The three are in amusement with the new girl before their eyes. Meanwhile, JJ just sits awkwardly in his seat, not daring to say a word. But he couldn’t help but think of how adorable the girl before him was. She was precious and her embarrassment and shyness added to her cuteness.

For the most part, JJ regrets letting his Pogue pride get in the way of getting to know Y/N. But all he can do now is hold his exterior high.

He still does hate the fact that she has everything that he doesn’t but he feels kind of bad because she seems genuine.  

After John B, Pope, Kiara, and I settled down from our fits of laughter, Pope speaks up.

“So Kiara tells us you’re a kook?” He asks.

John B’s eyes lighten up.

“Yeah! I mean it honestly doesn’t even seem like it. You seem so chill and quite frankly adorable!” John B adds.

I smile and feel my cheeks warming up.

“Yeah I mean I guess you could say I am,” I say like it’s nothing.

“She’s literally the kookest of the kooks! Except she’s a total sweetheart!” Kiara says, opening her mouth.

“Elaborate on the kookest of the kooks?” Pope curiously asks.

“Yeah like she's the kookest of the kooks! She’s literally at the top, her and her family. Which is quite ironic right? She’s the richest, has the biggest house in the OBX, best cars, and trucks, the list goes on.” Kie lists to the guys. “Oh, and how could I forget? The best looking!”

“Wow, and I mean yeah! Shouldn’t that make you the brattiest and the meanest?” John B says with a chuckle knowing y/n is the exact opposite based on what he’s known of her.

“And the bitchiest?” JJ remarks with an annoyed look on his face.

I look over at him, my eyebrows furrowed.

“I mean do you think I’m a bitch?” I say finally speaking up.

Pope and John B give each other a look.

JJ stays quiet as if I never even spoke.

“And you say kooks are arrogant and self centered!” I mutter letting out a scoff but they all hear clear as day.

“If you have anything to say, then say it!” I say looking straight at JJ even though he wasn’t even looking at me.

Y/N’s a shy sweet girl but that doesn’t interfere with her courage. She’s fiery and stands up for herself.

He finally looks over at me.

“I don’t have anything to say,” He says plainly and looks away right after.

I would’ve called him a coward then and there but I didn’t want to ruin the moment with the rest of us.

Kiara smiles at me telling me good job with her smile, causing me to let out a small laugh.

I look to my left and notice Pope sending me a thumbs up with a huge smile causing me to giggle.

He deserves it, is what they’re trying to say.  

I was a bit worried that John B and Pope might not like me after answering back to JJ, but they seem pleased with the fact that I did.

I sigh to myself in relief.

“Yeah, one day you all can come over!” I smile. “Well I mean if you guys decide to want me around,” I end with a small giggle.

Pope’s eyes get big but JJ interrupts right as Pope is about to speak.

“Yeah... I don’t think so. So don’t get your hopes up,” JJ bluntly says.

My mouth opens to respond but Kiara quickly changes the subject.

“You were saying something, Pope?” She says trying to proceed with the conversation.

“First off JJ, speak for yourself!” Pope declares. “And! Like, go over to your mansion?” Pope baffles at me.

“I mean I wouldn't call it a mansion,” I trail with a laugh, ignoring JJ’s remark completely.

“Oh stop being so modest!” Kiara says with an eye roll.

“Only if we can steal your dad’s car and drink the finest wine and champagne your family possesses!” John B jokes.

“Deal!” I beam.

We all let out a chuckle, except for one.

“Let’s play a game!” John B blurts out of nowhere.

Kiara gasps.

“Great idea!” She says and reaches out under the couch. “I think I saw some Uno cards under here,” She mumbles.

“Okay. But let’s spice it up” I dare with a devilish look.

“I like how this is sounding. Go on,” Pope ponders.

“Okay how about this! While we’re all playing Uno we can all ask each other, Never Have I Ever questions!” I propose.

“Okay. Sounds interesting,” Kiara says now shuffling the Uno cards.

“Serves the purpose of getting to know each other,” Pope says getting closer. He places a small table in the middle of us to put the cards on.

“Uno says a lot about someone’s behavior! So we’ll be on a close lookout for yours!” John B slightly teases.

“Oh yeah. Definitely doesn’t make me nervous at all!” I say with a playful eye roll.  

“Yeah, we already noticed the eye roll. We’ll add that to our observation list,” Pope laughs.

“Stop!” I say feeling my cheeks get warm.

Kiara laughs and starts to hand us all our individual small decks.

“Well, this is going to be a long afternoon!” JJ huffs getting his deck from Kiara.

“Okay, Y/N never have I ever!” John B thrills, as we all ignore JJ’s remark.

“What!” I say with a wide smile. ”We haven’t even started the Uno game and you’re already bombarding me with questions!” I end with a laugh.

“Well too bad!” He says with a sly smile.

“Okay fine,” I say giving in and placing the first card of the game.

Kiara then places her card on top of mine.

“Never have I ever had my first kiss,” John B questions as he eyes me.

“I mean yeah. Duh!” I say as I make an obvious face.

“Okay just asking!” John B says in surrender causing me to chuckle.

“I think we need a storytime!” Kiara pesters.

“Ha! Definitely not,” I retort.

“Oh come on tell us! It can’t be that bad!” Pope prys.

“Oh. It wasn’t bad at all! It was quite magical, actually,” I add in remembrance of the day.

“Okay then, see! Tell us,” Kiara prys.

“Yeahh. No,” I say knowing that if I name the boy it’ll ruin the night.

“Well if it’s not a bad first kiss then why not tell us?” Pope says adding a card.

“Because,” I say with a laugh. “I have my reasons,”

“Oh come on!” Kiara says, forcefully making me look at her pouty face.

“Okay fine,” I say with a huff, knowing they wouldn’t stop until I tell them.

“Yes!” Pope says with a clap.

“Bingo,” John B retorts as Pope and him give each other a handshake.

I roll my eyes at them and smile.

“It was a middle school dance. I was in sixth grade and the boy was in eighth grade. A slow dan-” I say as I was trying to tell them the story before Kiara eagerly interrupts.

“The boy being?” Kiara interrogates with a smirk.

I give her a side eye and continue the story without answering. Completely ignoring her.

“Oh come on!” The three say. The three being Kiara, John B, and Pope.

“No! I’m not saying!” I remark.

“How much do you want to bet it’s the boy you and Kiara were secretly talking about earlier,” John B says with a smirk, wiggling his eyebrows.

I get scarlet red and shake my head, a smile waiting to be released.

“No way!” Kiara says putting the dots together in her head. “It is! isn’t it?”

I stay quiet holding in my smile but failing miserably.

“It all makes sense! No wonder the boy is with you 24/7. It makes sense as to why he’s so clingy with you. You locked him in with a kiss!” Kiara gushes.

“You’re ridiculous!” I say with an eye roll.

I look away from Kiara and lookup.

My eyes meet JJ’s and my heart skips a beat. He’s so beautiful. His blonde beachy hair and sky blue eyes. For a second his facial expressions seem kind and warm, but they quickly change to cold and menacing ones, once he sees my gaze on him.

I look away.

“Next question!” I say as I place a card onto the table.

“What? But you never finished the story,” Pope reckons.

“Oh right,” I say with a playful sigh. “I was dancing with my friends when a slow dance came on. He came over and asked me to dance with him. Me and him weren't exactly friends at the time but we knew each other, he was really nice to me despite him being an eighth grader. We spent the rest of the night together. Dancing and having a good time. I look back at that night and know it’s one of the best nights I’ve ever had. It was remarkable and straight out of a cliche movie. The last dance was of course a slow dance and he offered to dance one last time. Of course, I said yes, so he takes me by my hand and takes me onto the dance floor. In the middle of the song we both leaned in and kissed. I was dying on the inside, I remember I was like oh my god I’m kissing the cutest guy in school!” I say ending the brief and quick story with a laugh.

“Okay, and what happened next?!” John B presses.

“What?” I say with a laugh. “I thought we’re only talking about the first kiss,”

Pope and Kiara gasp.

“So you’re saying you shared more than one kiss?” Kiara says with wide eyes.

“What! No!” I say knowing I just exposed myself.

“Now you gotta tell us more!” Pope says intrigued.

“Okay fine!” I say with an eye roll. “After our kiss ended, so did the dance. So, he offered to walk me home. We talked and he made me laugh the whole way there. When we made it to the gate of my house we were saying our goodbyes and right as I was about to enter he pulled me into another kiss. Might I add it was even better than the first! Maybe cause I was a bit more comfortable with kissing. Who knows but it was. I know if I leave the story at that, you guys will continue to ask questions. So let me sum it up, he graduated middle school but we continued to talk during that summer. We became friends and now after all those years, he’s still my best friend. I know he’ll always be there for me and I can trust him with my life,” I say to them.

“Wow,” John B says looking up at me after placing his card.

“We’re definitely talking about this later!” Kiara beams. “Cause I know for a fact it’s him!” Kiara says, referring to Rafe.

I roll my eyes and groan.

“It’s not!” I claim. Even though it is. Rafe was my first kiss.

“What! That’s not fair.” Pope states with a whine.

“Yeah I agree. Y/N if you’re going to continue to hang around we have to know what you guys are going to talk about,” John B says.

“Are you trying to blackmail me?” I say with a raised brow, letting out a laugh. “But don’t even worry about it. We’re not talking about it!”

“Yes, we are!” Kiara says as she places a reverse card.

“Gosh! You guys are so annoying,” JJ says with a huff.

“I think it’s just you,” Pope says.

“Alright, then my turn!” JJ says determinedly.

“Never have I ever been so bored with my kook life that I had to give it some spice by hanging out with pogues as entertainment,” JJ speaks looking at me with fire in his eyes, waiting for my answer.

I look him straight in the eyes. “Never,” I say.

“I have,” Kiara answers.

“The question wasn’t meant for you,” JJ says, moving his eyes off mine as he speaks to Kiara.

“Well, it applied to me so I answered,” Kiara says with sass.

JJ rolls his eyes in defeat and lays back in his seat.

John B nudged me causing me to realize it’s my turn.

I look down at my card and see that I have a blank action card.

I place it down in the pile.

“JJ,” I say with a smirk, catching his attention.

His heart skips a beat, as he hears his name rolling perfectly out of her lips.

I can feel everyone’s eyes on me.

“What?” He says with an eye roll.

“Draw 20 cards,” I say with a fake sweet smile.

Next to me, I feel Kiara stifling in her laughter.

“Ooo. This just got interesting,” Pope says with a laugh.

“I’m not doing that,” He fumes.

“You okay there JJ? I think I can see smoke coming out of your ears,” John B teases.

“Cut it out, man!” JJ says at John B.

We all continue to laugh which proceeds with JJ throwing the cards down on the table.

Kiara, Pope, and John B look up at him in surprise.

“I’m not playing this stupid game, anymore!” He says standing up from his seat and walking away into the house.

We all let out loud laughs and continue to play.

“Go Kie,” John B says, but worriedly looks over at JJ.

“Hmm okay. Never have I ever had a one night stand,” Kie asks.

“Never,” I answer.

“I have,” John B says.

“Regretfully yes,” Pope responds.

“Yeah me neither,” Kiara answers.

“Never have I ever fallen in love,” I ask them.

We all answer a no.

“Never have I ever called a teacher mom,” Pope asks.

I giggle.

“Oh come on! I think we all have,” Kiara laughs.

John B places his second to last card on the pile and is left with one.

“UNO!” I yell at him.

His eyes widen and he looks down at his card.

“Darn it!” He says and lets out a groan.

I smile and let out a laugh.

Kiara hands him four cards.

I look straight ahead of me, where JJ previously was. The night approaching.

Wow, the time has gone by so fast. I smile knowing that I've had a great time. John B and Pope were amazing. They’re funny and welcoming. They made me feel nice and equal to them.

As I was in my head, Kiara placed her last card causing her to win the round.

Pope and John B roll their eyes.

“Why do you always win?” Pope says with an eye roll.

“Because I’m smart. Duh!” She says with a smirk.

I roll my eyes at her.

“Oh relax!” I say giving her a look.

“Is this a challenge I’m sensing?” She scoffs playfully.

“OOO girl fight!” Pope comments.

Kiara rolls her eyes and I just laugh.

We start picking up the cards and placing them back in its box.

“JJ! COME OVER HERE! John B yells. Hoping it would reach JJ inside the house.

I look behind me in the direction of the house and see JJ reluctantly walking out.

“Come on, man!” John B says once JJ is outdoors, trying to convince his best friend to come back.

“Yeah, before we replace you with Y/N,” Pope jokes.

“Haha!” JJ says in monotone, shooting him a glare. “So funny, Pope,”

“Aw. Come on lighten up, J,” John B says with a smile.

“Yeah,” JJ says once he makes it over to us, keeping his response short.

JJ sits back down in his seat.

I sense the awkwardness in the room, even though we’re all outside.

“Hey... I think I’ll start heading out,” I say to them.

“What? Why?” Kiara asks in surprise, frowning.

“I- I just don’t want to make things weird,” I say standing from the couch. “But it was very nice talking to you guys!” I say looking over to my left where Pope and John B reside.

They shoot me sympathetic smiles.

“Likewise,” Pope says smiling sweetly.

“Thanks,” I smile.

“Fine. Let me walk you out,” Kiara says, starting to stand from her seat.

“No!” John B interjects, standing up from his chair instantly. “I got it.”

“Oh. Um okay..” Kiara says sitting back down in her seat, before even getting to fully stand up.

I blush and hesitantly look up at him.

He smiles assuringly, making my heart flutter.

I look away shyly. My eyes falling on JJ’s.

He looks bothered by the fact that John B intervened with Kiara walking me out. His eyes look like they’re filled with rage and annoyance.

If I knew any better I’d say he looked jealous. But why? Literally the whole goddamn time he treated me like his punching bag.

“Actually I’ll join you. Let me just get my things,” Kiara says standing from her seat.

John B and I nod, as she walks into John B’s house.

“Come on,” John B says, placing his hand gently on my back. Insinuating for me to walk off the porch.  

I start walking off, John B behind me.

I turn around as I make it to the steps.

“Bye,” I say brightly, looking over at Pope.

He grins and waves goodbye. “I’ll see you,”

I nod and then look over at JJ.

This time he’s acknowledging me. Maybe because I’m leaving?

“Bye JJ,” I say softly, giving him a small wave.

His icy blue eyes locking with mine.

My stomach erupts in butterflies. Fuck.

“Bye.” He lightly says.

I smile and look down, looking away.

I smile, blushing.

He seemed quite sincere in his response. Gosh, this boy is making me go crazy. First, he looks at me all flirtatiously winking at me and all. Then, when we meet he’s a completely different person. And now he says goodbye to me, like in such a kind manner. He doesn’t make sense. Does he hate me or not?

I make it down the steps of the porch and John B and I continue to walk a good distance away from the boys.

“Thanks,” I say once we make it to a stop.

I look up at him. I feel tingly as my eyes lay on him. His tall figure giving me butterflies and his tan muscular skin making me spin.

He smiles looking down at me, causing me to blush even more.

“Yeah. No problem,” He smiles, continuing to look down at me.

“Gosh, you’re making me act all shy…” I say looking down at the ground.

I hear him chuckle, making me smile.

“Sorry!” He says, thinking of how adorable the girl before him is. “But look before Kiara comes. I just wanted to say I’d love to have you around. Ignore JJ. Don’t let his attitude discourage you. He’s just protective that’s all. I’m really sorry about him. It honestly surprised me, I didn't think he'd be that harsh…” John B says, running his hand in his hair awkwardly, in hopes that it’d make up for it.

“Wait? Really!” I say in awe about him wanting me around.

“Yeah! Definitely,” He says in a reassuring tone.

“Okay,” I say with a pleased smile.

“Okay..” He says, repeating after me. “Look and yet again, I’m really sorry about JJ and his rude comments and remarks. I don’t know what got into him. Really,” He says looking into my eyes, again, trying to explain.

I nod.

“He’s just very…. How do I say this? It’s the dumb kook vs. pogue rivalry. But he should’ve realized that you’re different. I mean even Pope realized it. He’s just probably still not over the fact that you’re a kook. But I mean Kiara is a kook too. So, it shouldn’t be any different. But I’m sure he’ll loosen up soon. So please don’t let him discourage you from coming over. We’d all love for you to be here more often,” He says smiling.

“Okay. I will. It was really fun. I had a great time. So thanks,” I say looking up at him to keep eye contact.

“Yeah.” He says.

He opens his arms and I smile joining his embrace. He wraps his arms around my back loosely as I place my arms under his, wrapping them around his back.

The hug was short but nice.

I look back at the house and see Pope and JJ looking over at us.

I look back at John B, he too notices them looking.

He shakes his head and laughs.

“Ready?” Kiara yells coming out of the house.

I nod and smile.

“Bye boys!” She says to Pope and JJ as she passes by the porch.

They say their goodbyes as John B and I wait for her by the hammocks.  

Once Kiara makes it over to us, John B gives me another quick hug.

“Bye friend,” He says with a playful smile.

I laugh and wave him goodbye.

I can feel Kiara smiling as John B walks back to the porch.

“Sooo! What was that all that about?!” Kiara says happily poking my sides.

“Oh god! Nothing, he was just telling me to ignore JJ and to come around more often,” I explain as we both start walking away.

“Really! That’s great! See! I told you!” She says poking my sides.

I laugh trying to get away from her as we walk off.

Kiara giggles. “Well just wanted to let you know that every time John B and you had a moment JJ looked furious!! I’ve never seen him act like that!” She gushes.

“Oh god,” I say, rolling my eyes at her.

✿❀

Hello Everyone💛Thank you so much for reading my first ever series and imagine that was written specifically for Tumblr. So welcome☺️

This part is an introductory chapter. I made sure you all got to know more of the characters including Y/N. I have so many interesting and amazing thing planned for The One and Only JJ: Maybank. So, fasten your seatbelts cause you’re in for a hell of a ride!

I would greatly appreciate your likes, reblogs, and comments :) 

Thank you all! 💖

taglist: 

@annab-nana​

#jj maybank #jj maybank x reader #jj maybank imagine #jj maybank series #outerbanks #outer banks #outer banks imagine #jj maybank oneshot #outer banks oneshot #jj maybank x y/n

[skywardscroll]

divine intervention | venti

✧ word count: 2.5k

✧ summary: baring witness to world can become wearisome. venti, though you don’t really know him, wants to help.

✧ warnings: really angsty with some fluff thrown in! the reader has depression / there is self-deprecation. reader is also afab!

✧ a/n: this is so sweet >-< . i’m really proud of this one! also, writing klee is literally the funnest thing ever lol. <3 hope you guys enjoy!!

Teyvat, as you’d come to learn through your years, was a dangerous, merciless world. Every day, people lost their fathers, sisters, friends, and lovers. The world was full of greedy bandits and vicious monsters, and it only seemed to be getting worse as the days went by.

This last adventure out to Liyue had really taken the optimism out of you; Growing weary from traveling, you returned to your home in Mondstadt quite exhausted physically, mentally, and emotionally. Was there any other facet of you that could be exhausted? Because you were sure that it would also be stricken with strife.

You told the Adventurer’s Guild that you were temporarily retiring from your work to take a well-overdue vacation from fighting and the ever-arising political strain you witnessed every time you left the City of Freedom. You just wanted to enjoy your safe corner of the world, at least for the summer.

The (admittedly strange) way you decided to do this was by staying indoors with your books, sometimes going entire days without once stepping into the sunlight. It was a pleasant way to spend the time, but you knew it was unhealthy.

Your books, when the main characters shared similar habits to you, called this behavior ‘depression.’ Though, you willfully ignored this, pretending that this was normal of someone with a heavy heart (just a heavy heart. Not all the other symptoms that you were falsely denying you had, like an aversion to engagements with friends, or a neglect of hydration.)

It was one of the hottest days in July, you remembered, when you heard a knock on your door. You contemplated answering it, thinking that maybe the Adventurer’s Guild would want you back to work prematurely. This was quickly disproven, though, when a small voice called from outside the door:

“Miss Y/N? Oh, Miss Y/N~! Please come out!”

Klee’s sweet voice seemed to somehow wrap itself around your heart and pull you towards the door.

“Miss Y/N?”

You hesitated, knowing that once you saw that endearing child’s round eyes, you would be forced to play outside with her for as long as she wanted you to. You loved Klee dearly, and would do anything for her, even if you didn’t necessarily wish to go along with it. But you really didn’t feel like leaving your house, knowing that the Freedom Festival was currently in full swing.

“Y/N? Are you in there?” You recognize a second voice to belong to Grandmaster Jean.

Inhaling deeply, you opened the door to see Klee’s face light up as she excitedly pulled on Jean’s hand.

“She opened the door! She did! I told you Y/N would open the door!”

“Y/N!” Jean said, obviously surprised by your appearance. “It’s so good to see you’re well.”

“It’s good to see you two, as well.” You said with full honesty. You hadn’t realized it until you saw them before you, but you had certainly missed seeing your friends.

“Y/N! I wanted to ask if you wanted to go to the Freedom festival with us! There’ll be food, and music, and I overheard Rosaria saying something to Kaeya about special drinks!”

“Oh… I don’t know…”

“Come on! It’ll be fun! They have this game, and it has a prize that looks like a biiiig dodoco! I want it but if you come you can have it!” Klee’s excitement makes a smile appear on your face.

“You should come, Y/N. It would be good for you, I think.”

You sighed a little, looking back at your book which sat with the pages down against the cushion of your reading chair, waiting to be returned to. But as if by design, the wind carried the smell of food into your door and your stomach rumbled. Besides, Klee’s eyes were bearing into your heart just as you predicted, and you could see Jean’s hand clasp onto Klee’s a little tighter in hopes that she wouldn’t be disappointed.

“Alright, I’ll come.”

If you were to be frank, you had no idea what the difference between the Windblume Festival and the Freedom Festival was. To you, it just seemed like another concocted excuse to party. Which, in your youth, you never complained about, and you weren’t inclined to complain now, either, as Sara handed you a particularly delicious-looking chicken and mushroom skewer. You hadn’t eaten something like this in a month, and it was very welcome in your stomach.

“Over there! It’s Venti! Venti!” Klee went running ahead of you and Jean, who were idly speaking to one another as you finished off your food and threw the stick away.

“Klee! Don’t run off!” Jean called out, running after the young girl while you walked a bit behind, enjoying the scenery of Mondstadt decorated in flowers and it’s streets lined with vendors.

“Hi Klee!” You looked up and saw a man hug Klee tightly (a boy? He was quite short, but you were pretty sure he was an adult.) It was hard not to notice the golden lyre in his hand and how the strings seemed to be luminescent. You’d never seen anything like it before, and accidentally stared at it in clear awe.

“Do you play?” He asked, a smile that seemed to lift your heart was directed to you after the question left his lips.

“No… Not anymore. I tried to learn when I was a child but…”

“That’s alright. It takes a lot of practice, yeah?”

You let out a breathy laugh and nod, “Yeah, I guess so.”

Jean scooped up Klee into her arms before she could run off again. “You two haven’t met before?”

“Sadly no.” Venti said, placing his hand over his heart. “I would’ve remembered such a beautiful face, surely.”

Bard’s and their sweet words. You thought to yourself. Out of kindness, you only laughed in response to his compliment.

“I’m Y/N.”

“Ahh! I’ve heard of you! The exceptional adventurer!”

Why does this guy say everything so enthusiastically? Is this what you used to sound like? His way of speaking, though you felt guilty for it because you knew he couldn’t help it, grated against your nerves. You weren’t in the right mindset for his optimism. Or, perhaps, it was that you were jealous that he still had a hold on his, and so easily too, while it had been so long since you were excited about anything.

When you didn’t say anything, there was a small look in Venti’s eyes that told you he could see right through you, or that he was at least aware that something was wrong with you.

“Well, I ought to be on my way back home.” You said, causing Klee to whine out.

“Y/N~! You can’t go yet! What about the giant dodoco?”

You frowned, feeling guilty for letting Klee down, but feeling too exhausted for any more socialization.

“At least stay for a song, Y/N?” Venti offered with a quieter tone of voice, pointing to a chair that was left unoccupied by the gathering crowd around him.

“Yeah! Just one song~?” Klee pleaded.

You bit the inside of your cheek before eventually nodding and sitting in the chair. Klee let out a cheer of celebration as Jean sat down beside you, letting Klee sit in her lap. You noticed how Jean had been particularly silent throughout this. Did she feel bad for you? Or did she, too, want you to stay for some reason?

“I’ll sing a very special song for a new friend!” Venti announced to the audience, to which you blushed a little at the attention and rolled your eyes. Though, once Venti’s fingers started gracing the strings of his harp, all feelings of discomfort and irritation floated away.

“Sit here closely, let me tell,

of the young maiden’s heart who one day swelled.

The once frozen walls, the once salty tears,

Now gone with a kiss that she wished had lasted years.

In the times of old, long before the gods were bold,

there was no remedy for a heart gone cold.

The young maiden wandered, hoping for peace

from the heartache and unrest the world did unleash.

Did she find it, you ask? Did she find it? I’ll tell.

She found it in freedom, from freedom it fell.

For Barbatos did bless her, from under the Windrise tree,

She only had to meet him in the morning at three.

The warmth she had searched for, that unlike she had ever known

was hers, finally, to own.”

The crowd clapped for Venti as he finished his short song, one that was unfamiliar to you and unsettled you to no end.

What was his motive?

You weren’t stupid. You’d read enough of your books in the last month and been on enough adventures with a multitude of twists and turns to know that he had just come up with that song for you. As beautiful as it was, you felt uncomfortable with the stranger being able to see through you so well.

Yet, when he flashed you a cheeky smile while he reveled in the applause, you felt that he had good intentions. In fact, you wondered if he could do any wrong. He just didn’t seem like the type to do anything evil… Ever.

“Did you like it, Klee?” Venti asked, bending down to talk to the girl who wriggled excitedly in Jean’s lap.

“Yes! It was sooooo pretty! I’ve never heard it before!” She gushed.

“A very lovely song, indeed, Venti.”

“Thanks Jean!” Venti flashed her a confident grin.

“Well, Y/N! Thanks for staying for the show!” He said, standing back up and turning to you. “I hope I can see you again soon!”

“Yeah. See you soon.” You replied with a half-hearted tone.

You were entirely conflicted. Your mind was telling you no; You shouldn’t go out there tonight. It was dangerous and you were significantly out of shape to be dealing with slimes and hilichurls. Besides, it was just a song… What if you were reading too much into it? And what if… You just wanted him to be singing about you and him?

Your heart wanted that to be true. It’d be like the books you’ve been reading, where the prince comes up with some elaborate way of asking the maiden to meet him in secret. You were, no matter how hardened you became, a hopeless romantic at heart. Something about Venti made your heart soar from the pits of depression you had fallen into. You… Trusted him.

You could do with a late-night walk, you supposed.

It took longer than usual because of the festivities, but the city eventually fell silent as everyone either rested in their beds or in a tavern. You found walking in the empty city strangely comforting. Rather than being shut away from the world out of fear of pestering others, you could now walk freely without a single care, if you so pleased.

You took your time walking out of the city, smiling at every stray cat and even stopping for a moment at the bridge to admire the water. You missed how, when you were a young girl, you used to look at the lake and dream about visiting all the other lakes in the world. You’d seen a lot of them, now, but this one still held a special place in your heart.

Windrise, though it had been years since you visited the Archon Statue, was as beautiful as ever. The tree looked even more alive in the moonlight, if it were possible.

You were raised to believe that you were under the protection of Barbatos, though you never would call yourself devout. That title belonged to the sisters of the church, who were truly faithful to Barbatos. But you would feel comfortable saying you were a believer. You liked that Barbatos was so just, and his famous story of his liberation of old Mondstadt was a tale you frankly would never tire of.

Regardless, as you sat in front of the statue, you saw no signs of the charming bard from before. You wondered if he memorized that tale of Barbatos; A part of you wanted to hear him tell it.

“I’m a fool, aren’t I?” You said, talking to the statue (not talking to yourself.) “A silly, odd, hermit of a fool. One who shuts themselves away and avoids all their problems. How cowardly can I be?”

A peculiar phenomenon began: The words started pouring out like an uncontrollable waterfall. Once the self-deprecation started, it didn’t seem to want to end.

“My family was so proud to hear I was a part of the guild. They said that you – that Barbatos – had blessed me with the life of an adventurer – a life of freedom. Am I selfish to despise it? I don’t feel free. I feel heavy with all the troubles of the world. Outside Mondstadt it’s… Well, you’re a god, you know how it is.”

You hadn’t spoken much to anyone in over a month. You didn’t even know if anyone was listening. Was he listening? Did he see the tears starting to run down your face and did he hear the cracking in your voice?

“I feel like a joke. A witness to trouble without the power to make things right. It’s so… Frustrating. I hate myself because I hate the world. I’m so useless… So useless.”

And you cried, your head leant against the statue of Barbatos. The months of pain finally bubbled over and bared itself for the world and the gods to see. You were ashamed, and angry at yourself, but you let yourself cry. You cried up to the heavens, to Celestia. Was he watching? Listening?

“Y/N?” A voice softly spoke your name, but your sobs turned into wails immediately following and you couldn’t make yourself stop even if you wanted to.  You felt a pair of arms wrap around you and you hugged Venti back, breathing in his scent of Cecilia. He was so warm compared to the cool summer breeze that blew through the leaves above.

“I’m sorry.” You cried against his shirt; the words muffled but still understandable. There were so many apologies you were making with the single phrase: Sorry for crying, sorry for being rude. Sorry for shutting everyone who cares about me out. I’m sorry for being ungrateful. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.

“You don’t have to hide your tears from me, okay?” His voice was so soft and gentle as he pulled your head away from his chest and wiped away your ever-flowing tears from your cheeks.

This went on for a while, him running his thumbs over your cheeks every few minutes and catching the tears. You felt so awful that he was witnessing you like this, he barely knew you. But something in you was saying that this was right. Trust him, this is where you’re meant to be.

You calmed down enough about an hour later that he felt he could speak.

“Everything will be alright, Y/N.”

You let out a jagged exhale. At this point, your jaw was numb, and you were developing a headache. Still, being in Venti’s arms brought you comfort unlike anything you’d ever experienced. It was… Divine.

“Do you think he heard me? That he’s watching over me?”

Venti gave you the most assured, comforting smile you think is humanly possible. Brushing your hair from your face, he replied.

“I’ve never been so certain of anything.”

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[sugar-petals]

Club Daemon (m)

PAIRING. merman!baekhyun x vampire!reader

↳ PLOT. You join a club of half-demons all hailing from different supernatural species — and find an unexpected love.  

↳ WORDS. 27k

TAGS / WARNINGS ⚠️ eventual smut, jealousy, explicit bloodsucking sex (mutual oral, vaginal), fangs kink, pining, groping, femdom!reader, angst/action, neck fixation, rough sex, fantasy au

The room is filled with smoke, but not from any cigarettes. Somewhere around here, or so you’ve been told, must be the entrance to actual hell. 

A gloomy spiral staircase headed for the core of the earth, kind of rusty and gleaming in red, fog everywhere, you get the idea. But so far… that’s none of your business. And either way.

The architecture in the part of the mansion you were invited to elegantly pools into a massive door of brass and copper. An embossed piece, amazingly sculpted — a hundred years old or more.

The center depicts a translucent emblem that appears to be strangely double-headed. Two facial profiles. One gazing east, the other, west. What exactly that’s supposed to mean: You have no idea, but you get the gist. Some kind of Greek mythology visual going on there. 

Doesn’t look like hell, does it.

You approach the door with slowed steps, tug your blazer into a comfortable fit at the lower hem. Had a mint? Check. Documents? Check. Posture? Semi-check. Adjusting necessary. Back straight, firmer walk. Done. Hopefully. As long as you don’t have to take those reckless stairs down south, you’re surprisingly ready for this. And what kind of preparations can you take for this kind of encounter in the first place anyway.

Beside the door, a concierge behind a luxurious, bulky table lifts his golden-framed glasses. They’re exceptionally thin and round, making their wearer appear like a wise, yet prying owl. Mister Mark Lee, apparently, going by how Taemin described him to you. 

Oh God, Taemin’s pointers saved your life finding this place. He’s been so forthcoming and took the time to explain as much as he could. The moment makes you reminisce a little. Your eyes lose focus.

Meanwhile, fully in the moment, the conscierge seems to cloud himself in the mystery of his dark green suit without any words. A man as groomed as this very Victorian penthouse. And this very borough, and this very carpet you’re standing on. Greeting you with a nod as understated as can be. 

It’s not like he’s treating you like air — he simply keeps the certain reserve you’d expect from a nocturnal bird. Or so it seems. That you’d be scrutinized you already expected, but this way feels a bit uneasy in the chest. If you’re the mouse to the owl, you want to move on past that door as fast as you fucking can.

You try to continue standing straight and hand him your letter as inconspicuously as possible. Oh, that damn piece of paper that turned your life around. A little ‚good evening‘ barely leaves your throat and Mister Lee presses a button underneath the table top after gazing over the document nearly thrice. Following his insistent eyes, you leave your phone on the table altogether, and now have virtually nothing to hold onto. You opt for putting your hands in your navy blue pants pockets. If that’s any good around here, staying a little hellishly casual. 

‘A very good evening indeed,‘ is what Mister Lee’s eyes seem to reply.

The door shifts open with a dull, booming sound. Very well then. You stagger inside toward what’s hopefully behind it — suddenly feeling so terribly exhausted. Hazy. You don’t know how it hit you. So many scents. Impressions. Movement. Space. Eyes. Heartbeats. 

You try hard to focus on the first candle you can see around, and you do find one, and it does ground you. After their split-second delirium, your feet anchor on the carpet now, and the scenery pulls you back to breathing. Now, the bigger picture becomes a lot clearer. 

There are several men settled everywhere across the room that opens before you so luxuriously. All dressed in the finest of garments and polished shoes, donning the most annoyingly impeccable haircuts on top of that. Everything about this room screams dignity, and haughtiness, and a hefty bank account. 

But you can’t deny another, stronger hunch. The presence of one gentleman in particular sends a chilly feeling down your spine. You can’t tell who it is now. You just know that somebody here is very different. Dangerously so.

Between armchairs, chandeliers, blood-filled cups and side tables, you spot arrangements of night-blooming jasmine and daffodils. Large and opulent, really catching your eye with their elegant trumpet shapes. 

Perhaps, and you really have no clue whether that’s a good theory, to suggest that however solid teak and mahogany this entire interior might be, there is still life and scent in it. But it’s all… so carefully curated. Too deliberate to be authentic in the very least, and that’s what is making you tense up so much. You know very well that nobody in this room, if it weren’t for this meeting, would be preoccupied with flowers. Except maybe Taemin. But he’s half-elven, so that doesn’t count. Elves love jasmine.

Meanwhile, you suspect that the cups with blood were purposely brought in to catch you off guard pretty much right away. To test your self-control, get you startled, or lord knows what. Power games in this club, you’d not be surprised. But the scent really is so overbearing. You become all light-headed. Whatever they set up for you here, it’s already working. You feel like falling asleep in the middle of the damn night. 

The fumes, and the candles, and the daffodils—

„Wong Yukhei,“ a voice finally pierces through the mist inside your brain. 

You perk up. It belongs to a figure seated in the deeper middle of the room. A dark-haired man, noticeably tall and baritoned, with full lips, immense shoulders. In fact, a frame to behold all tailored in matte black. Down to the pointed oxford shoes, laced up in a very brisk way as if someone pulled a corset very tight.

„Yes—?“

„Half-lycan. Club president. Have a seat.“

Now you know why he speaks first.

It’s like you’re frozen on the spot. Judging by how muscular he is underneath that very suit, especially around the upper body, you don’t want to catch a glimpse of what happens when the moon says hi. Half werewolf it is. No wonder his hands are huge like paws. You don’t have to count one and one together to know that this guy could go casual beastmode and rip the room’s door in half.

„A... alright.“

Stammering like a fool isn’t something you planned but comes out as a sheer reflex. To distract from the awkward tone, you resort to looking around. You wonder if the club is in full attendance. Because who knows, they could await some more people like you later on. There are actually quite a few empty seats to choose from. A dozen, perhaps a bit more. Each with a filled cup on a table, right to the brim, one more flavorful than the other.

Since the president didn’t gesture towards any seat in particular, you find yourself having to make an intuitive choice. Whether that’s some werewolfey ‚where does she put up her territory?‘ personality quiz or whatever… is unimportant because your nose is already telling you precisely where to sit anyway. In fact, obnoxiously so. It’s itching like crazy at most of the scents except one. You realize — at least that you can rely on. There’s that one cup you want to be close to. Ignoring it would probably torture you for the entire night so you give into it.  

Taking the empty chair at the chimney fire on the right side of the room comes naturally. And: With several eye pairs resting very firmly on you. But your attention is elsewhere already. The blood in the goblet of this particular table really does smell like the most delicious thing. There’s something magically attractive about the consistency. You can feel with your whole body just how amazingly juicy and welcoming the drink is. For a strange reason, it seems like it’s almost iridescent. You’ve never seen that before. Everyone in the room has the current pleasure of watching you being smitten by a fucking drink.

There’s no way they didn’t see you lick your lips like a first class pervert either.

Whatever first impression you’re giving them, it’s one that makes a part of you mentally run out the door again. Poor Taemin thought you were a promising invitee. You feel bad for disappointing him already. Slave to your instincts, how on earth are you even supposed to sit here in the finest and highest of company. Creating sexual tension over a glass of blood in a millionaire’s club or whatever.

Still, against all odds, the other part of you glady reclines in your seat, sleazy like a retired Russian oligarch on his yacht. Because that means: Smelling that heavenly scent up close. Hell, just fuck everything else. It’s the most gratifying thing you’ve come across. Did they brew you a damn magic potion or something? 

You have a hard time snapping back to the conversation and realize everyone is still intently looking at you admiring your cup as if it’s a prime time television event with Zac Efron in it. Which you now force yourself to break from. Not so gladly this time. You really want to have a sip, but Yukhei’s pressing gaze demands you to make your move. You wonder why his eyes are so livid, but again realize that he probably doesn’t need the moon to be wolf-like, does he.

„So you were the one who came up with inviting me, then?“ you say, and the words come out much more bluntly. It surprises you. Since you skipped the introduction and small talk altogether, maybe your mouth thought, why not strike a direct tone. Just being in the vicinity of something so mouthwatering makes you feel on top of the world out of literal nowhere. You’re about to lose your train of thought again that Yukhei fervently shakes his head.

„It was Baekhyun’s suggestion. A terribly daring one I thought,“ he says. „Thank him that we agreed to meeting you in person. In fact, he was very adamant we’d do so.“

You look around the assembly, hoping to find clarity about whoever prompted the invitation letter. Since nobody seems to put anything forth, you quiz yourself on who of these gentlemen looks like a Baekhyun, and why nobody is reacting. Everyone’s literally sitting there like marble statues. 

According to Taemin, getting an invitation to Club Daemon is not only something that excludes the general public, but also merely a fleeting ‚rumor‘. Not even a neighborhood legend if it came down to it. Because on more official papers, this guild does not exist. Whoever wanted to invite you was indeed taking a notable risk — to the president’s nuisance, on top of that.

Oh yeah. Now you’re at the edge of your seat.

„Eh. I’m afraid Baekhyun cannot meet you in this particular setting,“ Yukhei breaks into a lop-sided smirk. You’re shocked he’d pull a dismissive face like that. So openly, like he simply doesn’t give one damn all of a sudden. Strangely enough, it still doesn’t take away from just how nobly he’s dressed. It’s seriously messing with your head. Or is it the goblet?

„So, this setting, um—“

You look like Yukhei just spoke in a different language now. Stifled laughter among the guild members. At least they’re reacting now. That’s progress. But you’re even more confused and stuff your hands back into your pockets.

„See. Carpets are typically not Baekhyun’s favored grounds. He’s half-merman,“ Yukhei continues, very much composed in his seat now just as before. And it finally registers.

Oh man.

You can’t spot some giant water tank in this room or anything of that kind. There’s no way he could just casually hang out here. Of course he can’t greet you in the club. Sweet Jesus. You have too much blood and flower scent around you.

„But not to worry. You’ll get to meet your sweet benefactor,“ Yukhei leans back, the smirk growing even wider. „Baekhyun can speak to you in the club bathroom from time to time. If he’s not out there playing around in the bays like the kid he is.“

„I see? Uh...“

You shift back and forth in your seat. Even if your brain somehow tries to piece that information together, keeping your eyes off the chalice is so hard all over again. 

You can’t lie, it’s even starting to get you hot and bothered from the toes up. Gritting your teeth is all you can do not to gasp out loud. Literally, you’re one moan away from semi-public indecency. That is, if human law applies to this room. Going by how everyone is so keen to see you react, it probably doesn’t. Your ears are telling you that pretty much everyone is holding their breath right now. Untouched orgasm at 7:30 PM? Wasn’t on your plan either. But looks like you’re headed for it. You wonder if Yukhei has been planning to set you up for this and—

„We didn’t put this up to confuse you, Y/N. Please feel free to drink. We want you to feel welcome here,“ a second, innately friendly voice addresses you now, parting the silence like a vintage knife through warm butter. It’s much softer than Yukhei’s, as if laced with honey.

Immediately, you recognize the sound. It is Taemin.

Seated to Yukhei’s far left in a flawlessly upright posture. Blond and lavish, dressed in a type of brocade tux. It seems to be a mix of burgundy and golden pipings in the fire light, but you could be wrong. With good reason and regard to most members present, the room is kept very dark. In fact, the atmosphere couldn’t be any more controlled. Nevertheless — finally reuniting with him is such a relief. You already want to thank him for averting a full-on catastrophe.

„Taemin! It’s good to see you again,“ you finally break the tension. Your tone loses all discomfort, your face brightens. Taemin gently bows in response. His poise lights up the room, and you even manage to detach from the chalice.

„The pleasure is ours. It’s great to see you again as well.“

You recall. The memory is still so vivid. He was the one who brought you the letter in the late evening. You were sitting on your balcony scrolling through your phone feed and boom. There he was, sitting — even seemingly glowing or whatever it was — in a cherry tree. With his pointy ears and an envelope for you, the exact invitation Baekhyun had suggested. As far as you can remember, he’s been elected as the Club’s vice president very recently.

Taemin explained a lot of the club’s incentives to you on the balcony. Even if you did manage to drop your phone in shock at his appearance, his open approach had you packing up your bags for the mansion in a matter of two days. Seems like the club knows who to send when they don’t want to intimidate possible recruits. If Yukhei showed up in that dark suit and the low brow, you probably would’ve turned into a bat and headed for the forest. Well, or something like that. Meanwhile, Taemin feels like you’ve been familiar for decades.

„Do drink. It is handpicked for you!“

„Thank you, Taemin,“ is all you can say, and turn back to your drink with shaky hands. Finally. And well. If Taemin offers it, it can’t be wrong. It’s far too late to ignore it anyway. You already grab the base of the chalice like you’re holding on to dear life.

The first sip is so hasty, Yukhei almost has to laugh out loud. Or is it a laugh? Taemin frowns right at him, but you’re too busy chugging to notice. Hawthorn, lotus, apples, water lily, chestnuts and vanilla. So many nuances, too little tastebuds and too little words to describe it. You’ve never tasted blood of such a quality. For free. Not one pause to breathe, it just goes down like fine liquor.

Everything in your body starts to feel completely alert. Whoever this blood belongs to, whatever is going on, this is the most thrilling feeling you’ve experienced in a while. It’s like floating inches above your seat. Your face is feeling all heated as if the chimney fire burns your cheeks. Your skin is normally pretty cold and stays that way if you think about it. 

At the same time, you’re surprisingly refreshed on the inside. The blood left a minty trace on the back of your tongue. You know the men are watching you, but you can’t help but ride the high of the taste for a few seconds with your eyes closed. Once the rush is fully over, you slack in your seat. Open your eyes. And sigh out. Goddamn. 

If that means to feel welcome here, then you’re more than convinced. Taemin knows how to serve an aperitif. Everything about your body feels relaxed. You bet your pupils are more blown than Yukhei’s dick in his freetime going by how he sits and watches your reaction. Manspreading is an understatement. Wolfspreading is the new thing. Literally, what on earth happened. He’s glowering at you like you just stole the keys to the glitzy silver sportscar that’s parked in front of the mansion and without a doubt must be his. Your eyes aren’t deceiving you even if the light is so dim: He’s straight-up gotten all angry to the point of gritting his teeth.

But there’s also something that tells you he’s afraid.

„Now, you probably want to know why we’re interested in you, right,“ Taemin gently continues once you put the empty chalice down and make very needed use of the napkin already placed next to the cup. Heartbeat: Speed of a bullet train arriving at a station.

„I’m starting to see why.“

Most of your exhaustion is actually… gone. Out of the blue. You’re feeling much more perceptive, much faster in every move. Maybe Edward was right with his personal brand of heroin. You just never knew because you had 5 Pounds 50 blood from TESCO’s every day until now. So that’s that.

„We didn’t find a novice in twenty years,“ Taemin says. „Nor a half-vampire for that matter.“

In passing, he ushers a slender-looking butler towards your table. Casually, as if he did it a million times already. So far, using the shade of the lighting, the butler had been blending in with a velvet curtain until now. You ask yourself if you’ve actually noticed him or not. You can’t clearly tell which is strange. But then again, going by the course of events until now, not really.

„Right,“ you reply, trying to focus on Taemin — without much success. The butler simply looks too striking. He uses a large carafe to refill what probably measures up to another quarter liter into your chalice. He looks at you with sheer intent, it’s Yukhei’s gaze times ten, almost like it’s bundled into a lazer. Instead of being excited about the refill, you find yourself trying to desperately decipher the butler’s look. It’s not wolfy this time, that’s for sure. It’s something far, far different. It’s something deeply scary.

The butler lingers. It takes five seconds too long for him to return to the curtain. There’s that feeling again. That hunch from before when you came in, so much stronger now. You’re shivering. The man looks so serious in his crisp red suit, with the pin stripes and a golden pocket watch at his lapel. His aura is so freezing cold.

„Meaning, our guild could urgently use a new addition,“ Taemin keeps on speaking, with Yukhei closely listening to how he puts his words. In the meantime, the butler stands completely still in the dark, merging with the curtain almost completely again. But you can tell his eyes are on you. His frame looks so skinny at a distance, but you can tell he’s much stronger than that. Lord knows Yukhei might not be the only one who could break the door in half.

You hold on tight to the napkin in your lap. Where you thought you’d feel elated, you’re all sober now.

„Twenty years is a long time,“ you comment, a lot more dryly this time.

Even in a club where nobody ages by human standards, this could be quite a frustration. Looking around, you begin to understand why the invitation was such an urgent matter and there are many more empty seats. All the members look very established and at home to say the very least. Nobody here appears to be a novice.

„It is,“ Taemin replies. „You can see why we wanted to talk to you.“

„Yes. I can. Thank you for considering me. It was a bit out of nowhere but, I guess there’s no way to do it differently.“

Taemin nods. Meanwhile, Yukhei remains visibly displeased in his center seat, with his expression growing much darker by the minute. You can’t tell whether he didn’t like you downing the blood so fast like a post-diet Dracula or how Taemin explained all of this to you now. You don’t have to wonder for a long time, though.

„That we expand our assembly with a half-vampire out of all possibilities— was not my idea,“ Yukhei taps his fingers onto the lion-shaped armrests of his chair. The poor fellas probably have a hard time carrying his frame, fragile as they look. Taemin, on the other hand, is as nonchalant and petite as you got to know him. Like a feather on his seat, he sways his torso ever so slightly while he listens. Then, he reaches over to pat Yukhei on the shoulder with a wide, reassuring smile.

„But you were still delighted that Baekhyun found someone, didn’t you.“

„You make it sound like a public holiday. Eh, we’re recruiting, Taemin.“

„You didn’t take too long to agree to sending the invitation at all. Back when Kai joined, you needed five months to say yes. And he’s half-lycan himself.“

„Because Jongin was a grade A stupid bastard… and still is,“ Yukhei darts an even lower gaze to a particularly shaded corner of the room. Whoever this guy Kai is, he’s sitting right there and grins his life away. Now that you set your eyes on him, you’re about to piss your fucking pants.

Even behind a particularly large array of jasmine bouquets, his silhouette looks the most powerful out of all the club members despite him not being as tall as Yukhei. Where you would’ve called the Yukhei ‚strong‘, Kai was first and foremost athletic — head to toe, with a looming frame. He’s kept silent for the entire time, but he sure listened well.

„It’s a competition, Yukhei,“ the silhouette crosses his legs, laughing. „Whoever is bastardly enough is qualified for being the club president. Sounds like I’m headed right for it. But you’re also knee-deep. Knee-deep, I’m telling you.“

Kai’s voice is much lighter than you thought it would be, but the way he speaks commands instant respect. Yukhei’s answer is a mixture of a growl and a huff, but it’s so blended together that it’s becoming hard to distinguish to your reeling ears. All you know is that the atmosphere in the room feels like a string ready to snap.

So that’s what half-lycans are all about, then.

In case they’re about to fully out-bastard each other, you take another sip to distract yourself. You hear your ears pulse even more. The blood really is delicious and takes your mind off. To your surprise and relief, Yukhei squarely turns to the assembly with a much more point-blank attitude in his movement now. Kai remains entirely ignored.

„That she’s not part of a vampire clan and we couldn’t find possible members for so long is the only reason she’s here, that’s all.“

„Enough a reason,“ Taemin smiles even wider, and puts more soothing into his phrasings. Kai’s unsettling presence doesn’t seem to faze him the very least. 

„We’d be happy to have you join us if you’re inclined,“ he now addresses you again. „I’m sure our talk about the training and formal things will bore you, though. I reckon you want to be introduced to your kind first.“

„Oh…“

Your kind.

That explains a lot. A whole damn lot, to be exact. You can’t help but suck in air, but it’s less awkward than you thought. In fact, your reaction brings some life into the room. Looks like everyone has anticipated this. Yukhei’s eyes narrow. Kai seems even more alert. You feel like a lab rat new to the cage.

„You felt his presence when you stepped in, didn’t you,“ Taemin asks, his head tilting a bit to the side.

You did. The half-elf looks confirmed in his statement.

„It’s him, right,“ you direct your eyes toward the curtain, but don’t dare to lift your gaze any further.

The butler.

He’s been sticking out like a sore thumb.

You felt him since the very first moment.

„Yes,“ Taemin says.

Your suspicion, or rather, what your body told you from the beginning with every shiver and every fiber, was entirely right: With an interpretation you couldn’t grasp just then. But now you do. Your intuition didn’t lie.

„Ma’am. Pleased to meet you. Lee Taeyong,“ the butler strikes a surprisingly fluid introduction. You freeze up again. It’s very unlike his stiff positioning, stepping forth from his usual waiting place so his face is visible to you in candle light entirely at a bit of a distance. Lee Taeyong. His face… really is sharp.

„I was expelled from my clan 80 years ago,“ he disposes of his tray to speak freely now. His voice is so deep, it almost resonates in your ribcage. But then, you see something vulnerable in him. You don’t know what it is.

„Expelled?“

„You can imagine. They found out I wasn’t full vampire,“ he continues. Now you do see them. His fangs. You should’ve noticed. Damn. „That’s how I got here.“

And now you actually get what happened. Taeyong is an outcast. Looking past his teens, 150, 170 years, a tenth of Taemin’s age at the very least. And he’s half-vampire who’s been on his own pretty much: Just like you. That’s something that still didn’t sink in yet. Your kind. The butler of Club Daemon. 

No wonder he took his time pouring the blood into your chalice and looked at you like you’re some kind of revelation. If the cups in the room smell only half as delicious to him as they do to you? He has admirable self-control just standing there at the carpet without losing his mind.

You shift forward on your seat — as does Yukhei, unseen to you. Almost automatically, your tone becomes more tense.

„So what happened?“

„I didn’t know my entire family history until that point. I was orphaned,“ Taeyong expands, his mimic controlled. „The clan was all I knew. I never thought I could have any demon heritage. Literally any. For decades. Until my father showed up. It was…I didn’t know he was that far up the hierarchy.“

Your jaw drops. He has to be kidding you. That can only mean one thing, there’s only one person he could refer to.

„You met Satan personally?!“

Dead silence in the room. You could hear a pin drop. In fact, an elven hair strand.

„I wish I didn’t,“ the butler finally says. With a more silent voice. You can tell he has to cave in, force himself. „He gave me this.“

Taeyong begins to slowly loosen his tie. Taemin already averts his eyes. The butler goes on to reveal a left collarbone so scarred, you can’t bear to look at it for very long yourself. The tissue has been deeply torn. The bone, presumably broken twice, healed in an odd way on top of that. You feel the pain in the very same spot within your own body.

Taeyong doesn’t have to tell you that the altercation left his arm fully paralyzed. You just know, like you could sense his presence from far away already. Meeting his father changed his life forever in the worst way possible. Now you understand why Taeyong does the butlering in the club — he can keep his left hand behind his back at all times.

„His father rejected him,“ Yukhei says, sterner than ever. His anger has faded, and an extreme seriousness begins to sink his brows.

„It’s that — Neither my clan nor demon folk really want me present,“ Taeyong’s face is even more barren of an expression now. He’s bottled it all up, it’s hard to watch. It sounds like he hasn’t spoken about this for years. „This was the only place I could go at that point. Yukhei was very helpful. I hope you can feel the comfort of being accepted here like I do.“

„I… don’t understand why Satan would disapprove of you so much, Taeyong.“

„Some demons willingly get together with vampires,“ Taemin steps in now, careful in his intonation. „But Lucifer rarely does. And, only when he’s drunk. If you ask him on a normal day, and I know this sounds harsh… he despises most of pure vampires, and half-breeds even more so. He is also Yukhei’s father.“

„He is?!“

Now you’re almost falling off your chair. That Yukhei’s father must be one of the higher-ups in the demon ranks was already a no-brainer, but this —

„Idiot cast me from hell the second he found out I can grow these longer than his silly horns,“ Yukhei points at his mouth, baring all teeth now. Even in their natural shape, they’re already razor sharp, sporting clearly prominent fangs. Even your canines, and those are hardly used and worn down, aren’t as slicing as his. When he says he can grow them that long, you fucking believe him.

„He’s… not been the most accepting dad to say the least,“ Taemin folds his hands in his lap. “And doesn’t stick up for any mistakes.”

„’Cause he’s an insecure ass,“ Yukhei makes a disgusted grimace. „Fucks around and then gets mad at what he’s done. Vampire girls he sure likes when he’s doing one of his stupid orgies. But not the consequences. He’s so easily threatened. That’s almost funny.“

You’re stiffer than ever now, glued to your seat. Not in a million years did you think there was some serious family drama going on behind those fancy suits.

„So that’s why this club exists. Satan can’t handle us,“ Kai adds, kneading his thighs. Looking much more detached, almost demure. You can tell that Taeyong’s speech hit the underbelly of everyone in the room. That even Kai looks so sunken catches you off guard. „We’re half this, half that. I mean look at us. Yukhei and I could never be part of a pure wolves pack. Never. We can’t mingle with demons either. They doubt us in any place. Shitty situation.“

Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Now, the double head emblem on the embossed door makes a lot more sense. It’s not just for the aesthetics. Two faces going into opposite directions. Always torn. Always the onlooker, yearning from a distance. Unable to go in either direction. Seems like you’re in the right place. Or the wrong one: Because you bet this assembly is the very eye of the storm.

„Why did Satan not try to attack the Club yet? Isn’t there even a stairway to hell in this house?“ you ask. If Satan got pissed off by Yukhei’s or Taeyong’s abilities, several people of that kind in one place sounds pretty much the ultimate provocation. Installing a designated hell door with smoke all around even more so. 

„He sure wants to,“ Kai shrugs, again, smirking in this very distinct way. He builds himself up again, and the teasing undertone in his voice strengthens back to normal. „But he’s afraid and doesn’t know about half of us. You see… Hellboy has no way of gauging what expects him. Even if he fucking hates us and wants us dead in a ditch, whatever. We know him inside out, too. Even more than he knows us. I’m sure he doesn’t want to face Taeyong now that he’s not young and weak anymore. He only exploits way down the hierarchy. He knows he can win there.“

„Makes… sense. Sort of— preying on vulnerable people.“

That an insecure hell boss is the reason this very club has formed? Seems to be a better explanation than you thought. No way so many species could stick together otherwise. How you’re in a room with two high functioning, protein-powered lycans both standing over six feet is already a miracle. Just sitting there sipping your bloody drink. There’s even an elf guy. That’s some surreal shit, even Salvador Dalí wouldn’t believe it.

„And, um. Saying that there’s a hell door is a joke Taemin pulls on every recruit,“ Taeyong scratches his head now. 

„Everybody thought that Mark was vaping but he actually put up a room difuser down the hall,“ Kai adds. „He’s using essential oils in there since a couple weeks. So sometimes we do have some fog round that area. But there’s no actual stairway or anything. It’s a club tradition... a hoax.“

Your what-the-fuck expression must be hard to beat right now.

„Er. All right then. So much about hell smoke.“

A whole damn prank. Taemin is not as angelic as he looks, is he. Still part demon, after all. It really felt like there was an entrance to hell around when you arrived here. Taemin’s little giggle right now doesn’t worry you as much as Yukhei’s grunting.

„So much about a hoax,“ he growls back. „I wish we actually had that door so I could go beat his ass.“

High functioning, protein-powered lycans with daddy issues. You never thought this club had major drama. Your lips think its time for another comfort sip from your chalice. Blessed thing you have that one. Because all this… got you into something bigger than expected. Eating shrimps on a terrace with some fellow half-breeds on a cozy Sunday evening? Nothing of that kind. Rating Christopher Lee movies and signing up on vampire tinder together just for fun? Nothing of that in sight.

„So, naturally. That we can recruit you is a good feat,“ Kai continues. „You might grow very strong in training.”

“Strong in training?”

“Vampire half-breeds are always up for a surprise. You see how Taeyong is like. He can open jars even I can’t crack. With just one hand. Long as we have a balance of power with hell, the Club is quite safe. Even from my father.“

Looks like what you got yourself into is a Cold War that coincidentally involves people from Down Under — but it’s not Australians.

„Are you Satan’s son as well, Kai?“

Kai shakes his head quite firmly. Just how stark his face structure is becomes visible when Taeyong puts a candle into his vicinity, helping you gauge Kai’s outline much better, which is a bit more reassuring. The butler seems to almost read your thoughts. Your initial shiver gladly has been in decline ever since Taeyong spoke up. And you do believe he can open those jars.

„My old man? Mammon.“

„Mammon? Ugh.“

You can already guess what this is all about. You don’t need to wait a second for Kai to go on a rant.

„He’s a fucker, fucked up, a fucking twat, and fucks around even more so than Satan,“ Jongin kicks his left foot, looking mighty grumpy in the candle light. „I’m sure you know what he’s in charge of. He likes fear and chaos. To say the very least.“

You sure can imagine. Mammon governs the most powerful resource on the planet. Or rather, what people do with it, so… you already don’t have to know anything more than that.

„Talking about him is of no use,“ Yukhei intervenes. „Lost cause, wasted time. What I wanna say is. The vampire clans also don’t know much about us either,“ he now points at you. „That’s our advantage. And the reason why you will have to quit most of your regular life if you agree to be a member. Or take a serum that will make you forget about meeting us. At least, up to the point where you received the letter. I know this is quite a severe change. You can imagine how discrete we have to be. Given everything you heard.“

Yukhei looks dead serious.

Well, alright then. The case is clear. This is legitimate big business.

Club „Most Hated Half-breeds“ Daemon. Outsiders, all of them. The first rule is: You do not talk about Club Daemon. A guild for the All-Transylvanian Rejects, the crossovers from hell gone hiding, the MIB of supernatural creatures. And all just because big daddy Lucifer loves to host an infernal orgy every now and then and never heard of a condom. It’s crazy. So much information intake, it’s time to sort your thoughts.

You take a deep breath, let the blood chalice dance in your cupped palm. Sweeping the remaining liquid at its very bottom, rhythmically. Sweet lifeline. You observe how the drops run as if nothing else in the world existed. And still, you have crystal clear hearing, and your voice is again becoming firmer. It’s the effect of the drink, you can feel it. Such good stuff, really.

„It’s not that I didn’t anticipate it. Taemin said something along those lines when we met. I get why you have to be discrete,“ you hum. Even telling you about the serum before any other information would give away too much. „I’d be back to square one anyway.“

Taemin nods at you.

„We’ll always be between elves and demons, mermen and demons, vampires and demons, werewolves and demons… This club wants to protect anybody who’s caught between chairs. We go to great lengths with secrecy. I hope you will join us in our cause. It’s a new life. Lucas has great plans for us.“

‚Lucas‘ seems to be Yukhei’s club nickname. Taemin appears to confide in him a lot even if he will smooth out his blunders. Meanwhile, you remember how Taemin talked to you about his own parents on the balcony. 

Apparently, none other than Beelzebub is Taemin’s father since over ten centuries. His latest habit seems to be blowing up his son’s phone with strange texts about recent hell politics. If that’s not enough, he asks about what he’s doing all day. It really is a new level of hell-icopter parenting. No wonder Taemin learned to be so appeasing in all situations.

„There are also ways of us finding out who your parents are,“ Taeyong comes to rest his right hand on your shoulder. Carefully, as if asking if it’s okay to touch you. You let him, without much care. Simply by— well, what is it, instinct?

Particularly Yukhei seems to observe this moment with much intent. Monitoring with piercing eyes, wild and deep. Trying to see through you at all cost. Surveying whether you’re a suitable club member, fair enough. But you seriously begin to wonder why he’s trying so damn hard to get into your head. He wants you on his side, sure, why’d he stare like that all the time?

Meanwhile, you don’t even know much about yourself except that you find veiny necks extremely appealing. Duh. So what’s there to analyze. You’re still kinda new to this. Blunt how Lucas is, wouldn’t he tell it to your face if he knew something you didn’t by now?

„At least, your demonic heritage,” Kai finishes the butler’s thought. “It’s not an easy discovery, however.“

Taeyong’s hand really does comfort you. But the thought of involving yourself in family affairs feels more than daunting and spoils the moment more than you want to. It’s something you could avoid until now thanks to simply not knowing much about your background. But apparently there’s no way to run from it.

„You might wanna anticipate that shit,“ Kai cracks his neck from side to side, then adjusts the sleeves of his white camisole. You’re suddenly so very well aware that he can probably see and smell your hesitation from a mile away. „Because when pa from hell shows up to see what’s going on? Preparation is better than being sorry. You gotta know who you’re dealing with. Art of war 101.“

Kai pointing at Taeyong’s battered left side reminds you all the more that lifting the veil is probably better than hoping for the best. If Satan happens to be your dad as well, you’re in huge trouble should he ever find you. Kai is right. Without allies and any knowledge of what you’re dealing with, you’d be lost.

Not to mention that Taeyong and Lucas would be your half brothers. Among probably a thousand other people. You didn’t walk through this door to get instant patchwork family. It would be a whole town of siblings now that you think about it.

If Satan has been even busier than that, which you’re sure of, that could mean an entire nation of people related to you somewhere overseas. Most of them being far from half-breeds. Why? Because Satan still preferred his own kind if he wasn’t completely hammered.

„Sounds like a nice prospect,“ you mumble, arms tightly crossed. Thousands of demons all out for your neck. Joining a notorious club network would certainly hide your identity much better than you hanging out in your small apartment in the middle of nowhere behaving like an average citizen. Glorious. You hate everything.

Which one person, as always, disagrees with.

„He makes it sound more dramatic than it is. Especially in this club you are more secure,“ Taemin softly adds, swiping a blonde strand from his right eye. „You must understand. Kai is in charge of defense. We all have our tasks.“

„Figured as much.“

„We all specialize in something we’re really suited for. Depending on our species, usually,“ Taeyong picks up Taemin’s point, and you begin to understand.

On the balcony, Taemin had even mentioned a gryffin member who worked as the designated club driver. Mister Ten as they called him, who was always out and about for a gazillion tasks. From hell mail to picking up tailored suits to doing the shopping to frequenting hospitals and various butchers for… leftovers.

Taeyong being an older vampire would require very specific blood (type A respectably, whreas you preferred O), and both Lucas and Jongin are in their wolf prime. Kai being slightly older but all the more active by the looks of it. So, just like Baekhyun, Ten seemed to be busy tending to that all the time, nowhere to be seen nor even mentioned. Which was a little… suspicious. 

But the ‚everyone has a task‘ seems to be a big deal. And: Everybody is set up to take their spot very seriously, in their supposed element. Being the VP suits Taemin just like being the butler really suits Taeyong. Even Yukhei, you admit, has the exact leading, head-on personality, although mixed with a lot of tempers, that his position would require. And Kai — his body doesn’t lie. Of course he is in charge of defense.

„We would strive to find out your ideal role in the club, too,“ Taemin says. „Kai thinks about this scenario from a combat perspective, but know that cases like Taeyong’s are extreme ones. We’re used to this but you don’t have that struggle. It’s probably like different worlds at the start but don’t let it phase you.“

You exchange looks, and Taemin gives an empathetic nod. His face is really gentle. It seems trustworthy. Again, you notice how his diplomacy helps you the most right now. It’s a bit cryptic, but it’s the type of classy conduct you were expecting to find in the club. You’re damn glad he’s here. Half-elves simply have a different kind of wisdom.

„I guess,“ you look at Taeyong. „It’s an extreme case because he was part of a clan, right, and I wasn’t.“

„Smart,“ Taemin takes up a porcelain cup from his own table and guides it to his lips. It appears to be some sort of elven elixir inside of it, light blue and sparkling. Maybe that’s the source of his maturity or something. „This is exactly the reason how so much conflict was possible in the first place.“

„Right.“

„You grew up with adoptive parents after your mother’s passing. It was unfortunate but also a hidden feat of luck later on,“ Taemin balances the cup between his elegant fingers. „Nobody from hell could find you. You didn’t show many abnormal traits. Nor were you close to any clans that fostered your abilities or spread the word. But especially the former. You grew up in human ways. Your abilities weren’t worked with.“

„Which we can do for you now if you want to,“ Taeyong clears your table off the empty goblet. Instead, he puts a booklet with a red ribbon around its hard cover just there. „In a more covert way that doesn’t arouse any attention.“

„Can we really do it so secretly?“

He really did read the concern out of your face all over again.

„Yes,“ Taeyong emphasizes, then directs his gaze toward the fireplace. „For any half-demon, half-vampire, this is the place to develop herself. We want to honor both sides and work with it. As good as we can.“

„All other approaches usually fail because they’re one-sided,“ Taemin raises his tea cup indicating towards a thoroughly disgruntled Yukhei. You get what the elf wants to say by that.

Yukhei — another extreme case, perhaps the most severe. From a certain perspective, you can imagine how being antagonized by his father and wolf packs at the same time would motivate Lucas to run a club like this. And what would motivate him to act like this, anyway. 

Leading Club Daemon with a velvet gloves approach? It’d be more dangerous than an iron fist mentality. Although it feels so clear to you, past the nebula of the blood cocktail, that Yukhei completely turned this aggressive style into a hyperbole. But you never know what or whom he’s doing it for.

Even at such a young age. You are convinced he really can’t be anywhere near 30 years of equivalent human age even if his height and way of dressing makes him look so settled. His overall presence on top of that: Whatever training they have to offer, it must be compelling.

At this point, you can only say to yourself — fuck everything. And lords knows the whole club is green of envy. No wonder they’re staring at you like that. You grew up so unbothered, your life is a joke compared to theirs. You were ignorant about way too many things about yourself. Looking at how everyone here embraces their origin, not developing your abilities was a full-on heresy.

„I’m actually considering it,“ you browse through the booklet, directing all attention in the room at you so keenly. Taemin sits at the edge of his seat himself. The paper feels luxurious between your fingers. As a first page, the name of who assembled the booklet’s contents is printed in bold. Mark Lee, conscierge, Club Daemon. 1999 edition.

The text details several time lines, diagrams, and fact lists about vampire-demon halfbreed history, on top of outlining a program featuring traits that a club novice could develop. 

Sprouting and care of demon wings. Usage of blood banks. Defense against crosses and garlic. Cities with high vampire populations. Types of claws. The culture of hell. Demonic Spells. Battle Gowns. Impact of ‚Twilight‘ on public perception of Vampires. Symbolism. Vampiric Reflexes. Christopher Lee Movie Analysis. Avoiding Exorcism. Communication with hell hounds. On Hunting and Forests. Fist-fighting Lucifer. Evolution of Ancient Vampire Dress Codes. Fang safety. Hierarchy of hell. Nutrition. Choosing a castle. Strength development. The list is nearly 200 bullet points long.

And the majority of training, it states, is supervised by Kai. Even the lessons on Vampires and Sexual Relations. Other lessons are conducted by Taeyong and Mark, mapping the more theoretical contents.

Most of the listed training units feature things you never knew you could possibly try let alone perform. Some lessons are even more vital than you thought they would be. Things your apartment life wouldn’t have to offer in the very least. At this point, walking out the door would be a grave mistake for an entire variety of reasons and you trust your instinct. The only thing that makes you bargain is not the elephant — but the big and bulky alpha wolf in the room.

What to do about Yukhei. 

Given the hardliner choice between serum or a complete new existence, it’s a question you’ll have to postpone. Interestingly enough, even though he was lycan through and through, Kai doesn’t bother you nearly as much anymore after the initial shock effect faded.

So what is it about Lucas. Even more things you’ll have to find out, then.

You’re nervous with the booklet in your hands, but you can’t complain. The two cups of blood in your system have given you more courage to look the four of them in the eyes.

„Considering what: Joining for the cause or the heritage?“ Yukhei crosses his arms at the solar plexus. His eyes are so probing on you, but you keep your head straight. You very well know that he’s testing you with this one.

„Both. And I want to know my role, too.“

The president seems to ponder for a bit. Then, he hums. More placid than before, you note. He actually seems satisfied with that answer.

„Then let’s start out,“ Kai rises from his seat alongside Yukhei, and both walk towards the red curtain in big strides. Taeyong sweeps it to the side, revealing a heavy door to another room.

Unlike the rest of the house, or at least the parts you’ve seen so far, this area has no embellished walls or ceilings. Not a spark of luxurious colors, either. No dark materials, no curtains, no dutch paintings, just concrete everywhere. It looks heavily worn, but strangely, doesn’t seem to be a relic like the fireplace room’s wooden tiles. All lighting is purely artificial. It seems part gym, part studio, and all furniture is solid metal, minimal, angular. You’d never expect such a modern, plain grey room to be anywere around the house. It smells like a damn hospital in here.

„Our training grounds,“ Kai paces around the area, clearing it and turning a knob that seems to activate floor heating. „The second safest place in the manor.“

„What’s the safest one, then?“

„We have a bunker downstairs. Flood-proof, radiation-proof.“

And Satan-proof, you don’t have to guess.

„Oh wow.“

„It’s unused so far when it comes to catastropes,“ Yukhei roughly pulls off his tux jacket and hangs it over a steel chair. Given how he stretches his arms, you figure it’s to gain some mobility. Or… to show off his huge build to impose his authority and intimidate you which surely is working. „But we do run it as a makeshift jail.“

„You’re keeping criminals in here?!“

„If you’d call Kai a criminal,“ Yukhei raises a brow.

Now you understand. The bunker is actually not meant for somebody else unless the situation calls for it.

„You’re isolating yourself during full moons.“

„You got it,“ Kai nods. „Nothing gets in, nothing gets out. Two days. I got used to the cold down there. And Yukhei locks himself in here with a pile of meat.“

„I…see.“

So that’s why the concrete walls look so damaged despite not seeming that old. If you look close enough, it’s actually not hard to imagine how there’s massive strength and claws at work here. And there must be plenty of things to desinfect afterwards. Hence the hospital smell. 

But then again, Lucas is not the one who gets put in the bunker downstairs. If that one is the safest room, Kai is in all regards the strongest. Which makes sense given his task here. But something about it makes you shift from one foot to the other. If Kai has to jail himself in an atomic prison, what a fucking beast are you even dealing with?

So this is with who you’ll train with, then.

„Nothing you’ll see anything of,“ Taemin clasps his hands, bringing your mind back to the image of meat piled up all over this room. „The member’s private rooms are way up on the 3rd floor. You’ll be situated there as well, in whatever free room you choose. They are very pleasant suites. The interiors are selected Victorian antiques. It’s not like around here.”

“Thank you, Taemin. That sounds great actually.“

“And— we can always predict their transformations without failure.“

„The suites have steel doors as well,“ Kai adds on. „Easy to lock from the inside. We’ve had centuries to think all of this through.“

„Reassuring…“

„Mind you. In case you feel you get a bad craving, you’re doing the same thing Kai and I do,“ Yukhei re-ties his left shoelace, foot placed on the metal chair like a 6’0 Napoleon. „It’s not like we aren’t the only people who have to protect others from ourselves.“

You don’t like the tone he’s striking and try not to look into his direction. As if you’re some crazed vampire lord with a body count and not a bloody amateur. Whatever cravings he’s talking about, it’s hard to imagine how you’d go absolutely buckwild on a concrete wall whining for blood.

„With half-vampires, well… It can happen,“ Taeyong helps Kai pull off his jacket as well. „But lycans still have to take more prevention if I may add. Simply because their whole being transforms and they’re gaining unexpected strengths from it. Vampires hardly do. Our strength is present always. We naturally learn how to deal with it each day. Lycans have exponentional and way more erratic powers in a shorter period of time.“

Now that puts it into perspective. You exchange a thankful glance with Taeyong. The butler gives a composed smile. Yukhei sees that and huffs. Looks like someone’s been projecting.

„We’re dealing with threats from the outside, better check the ones from the inside,“ Kai says, shrugging. „We can’t change that we’re aggressive species but we can lock a door ten minutes before shit goes down. Early risk detection. That’s gonna be a lot of what you’ll learn in the programme anyways.“

„Pragmatic, I guess,“ you scratch your chin. 

And he’s right. There’s nothing else the members could possibly do. Unleashing someone outside of the manor into the surrounding woods sounds like an overall bad idea. There’s a town somewhat nearby, fifteen minutes down the road. And as a matter of fact, you’ve never heard of suppression pills for half-demons on the market. Each species would need a different concoction: Tailored exactly to them in a long chemical process. Given the variety of Satan’s harem, that equals pure scientific madness.

Yukhei cracks his neck, puts the steel chair back in its spot. „We hope so. What reasons you’ll have to lock your suite for we’re about to find out.“

Three minutes later, you’re face down on the center table of the room, Yukhei pulling off your blazer. Even if you thought it would be much more unceremonious, he seems to do it rather slowly. In the meantime, Taemin rings a little silver bell. The sound is shrill and obnoxiously piercing. Seconds later, the concierge enters the room with a clipboard, introducing himself fully now. 

Oh shit, you almost forgot about the owl guy.

„Mark Lee. Bookkeeper, treasure master. Half-goblin. I also do our finances.“

Joining the club officially unlocks a whole new level of information, does it.

„Bookkeeper, I see?“

„Yes, we do keep a secret chronic.“

„Oh, alright? Spanning for how long?“

„Older than this house. I’ll introduce you to the archive next week, in fact. Welcome to Club Daemon, Miss. I’ll be documenting the findings of this test.“

Then, he turns to put down your phone on another table. First you missed it, now you don’t even care. Mark’s sudden appearance has you all wondering. He’s different now. Maybe his initial silence was very much connected to the exact level of secrecy Taemin has been talking about.

Mark comes across much more high-spirited when he talks, and his face appears youthful once it comes into motion. You give a little ‚mh’ as a rather distracted reply, and he begins a lightning fast scribble on his board, using a golden pen that looks like it’s worth your apartment.

Meanwhile, Kai’s interest seems to gravitate entirely to your shoulder blades. He goes about tapping the skin and muscles surrounding the bone, even pulling down the backside of your tanktop by an inch, causing you to hold your breath. He circles the spine, presses too fingers in at either side. He’s surprisingly subdued, but still quite hands-on. It’s not hard to feel that he has experience with examinations like that. In fact, Kai has the touch of a modern day chiropractor. Whatever you should think about that you don’t know yet.

It makes sense he’s in charge of all things physical. And — that the first thing he’ll do is get your wings to grow and work, wherever they may be inside your back right now. Lord knows what kind of reflex or trigger is needed to make them sprout. Mark, in full haste, keeps on checking off boxes on his board and hums, cocks his head every now and then.

Yukhei only seems to care for another area altogether. He holds up your ponytail to take a closer look at the back of your neck. You glare at him for pulling at your hair more than you thought was needed. Taemin volunteers to take up that task instead, with Yukhei going on scanning the nape. His hands are so large and grip at your shoulders, it feels like you’re some kind of prey being handled. Taeyong has no problems reading the discomfort on your face and clears his throat, prompting Yukhei to slack off at least a little.

„It won’t be anything painful,“ Taemin says. „We’re looking for any birth marks to appear.“

„Birth marks?“

„It shows up when other demons or half-breeds are around. It usually gives away who you’re related to. The color and shape show which rank your demon parent had. Not to worry.“

You chant a little thank you, Taemin inside of yourself as a way to keep yourself together and nod.

„Yukhei and Taeyong have large black markings that resemble a lighting shape if you will,“ Mark now speaks up. „Taeyong’s is so noticeable, he always wears his hair past his shoulders. And Yukhei mostly uses a high white collar.“

How fitting. You didn’t expect anything else if you’re honest.

„So I should cover it as well, right?“

„You shouldn’t tie your hair up this way so it can be seen,“ Kai says. „You can be glad it hasn’t alerted anyone yet.“

So… that’s why Yukhei did not seem to be very happy with your ponytail. You’ve been utterly reckless without even knowing. If there was someone who didn’t think it was a tattoo, you could have caused some major issues. But before you can apologize, the president already shakes his head.

„Well. You can keep that silly hairstyle. Because there’s nothing on that neck where there should be something.“

„What?“

„Not one mark. I’ve pressed every spot, there’s nothing. The birth mark should be visible already anyways since we’re here. Our presence activates it.“

Commotion. Yukhei lets go of your neck, Taeyong begins inspecting the area very hectically instead, joined by Kai. Mark seems to be in the most confusion right now and gnaws on his lips.

„But Baekhyun clearly said she has demon descent!“ Taemin interjects. „He sees such things the best!“

„Baekhyun… Little fish only wants her here because he has an eye on her,“ Yukhei grits his teeth, looking like he’s ready to kick the steel chair into a corner. „Swims around and invites anybody he fancies long as they have some decent fangs.“

„Yukhei!“ Taeyong cuts right back.

„I knew something wasn’t right,” Lucas keeps shaking his head, now seeming even more convinced. “Not a drop of demon blood in her.“

„What are you saying!“

Taeyong’s stoic face is turning livid now. You never thought he could turn this angry.

„Stop kidding yourselves. Get the serum, Taeyong. All that jazz we’ve been doing… I’m fucking tired. I told you it wasn’t my idea to invite her.“

Yukhei curses an entire string of very canine-sounding things under his breath and Taemin tries to hold him by the shoulders. The whole room feels like it’s about to explode. Taeyong doesn’t look like he’s ready to comply in the very least. Instead, the butler starts baring his fangs with a defiant snarl. Mark shouts out loud.

„Don’t—!“

„Are you deaf? Get the serum, bloodsucker! We’re not playing around anymore!“ 

Yukhei begins grabbing Taeyong by the collar. His eyebrows start to become fuller, and his teeth begin to crack, growing rapidly. Taeyong, eyes turning blood-shot, fastens his left hand behind his back. He positions himself to bring forth a powerful fist about to shatter right through Yukhei’s face. Alongside Taemin, you struggle to get up and reach them in an attempt to hold them apart. But before either of them can strike out—

„Wings! Her wings!“

Exclamations from all sides. Everybody turns to Kai. Panicked, he rests his hands just inches over your kidneys. Mark screams, loud enough to make Lucas shift his attention. Meanwhile, Kai gestures everyone back to the table.

„Here! Look here, now!“

Incredulous, Yukhei lets go of Taeyong’s suit and jumps right beside Kai. He pulls up your tank top to expose the lower back completely. Mark drops his board and pen. Yukhei’s hands roam all over the area that Kai mapped out through the fabric. And yes. Now you’re feeling bumps there, too. A painful tear pools at the bottom of your spine. The adrenaline of the situation didn’t make you realize.

„They… they’re unusually low,“ Mark chops his words, eyes wide and crouching behind Yukhei as if petrified.

„That means they’re large,“ Kai puffs out. „Look at the color, too. White, grey. They’re spotted in red. I’ve never seen anything similar. As if they’re bloodied.“

You can’t believe your ears, wind on the table. „Spotted wings?! What’s that about?“

„It’ll be even more visible when they’re spread. They’ve been hiding really fucking well down there,“ Kai says. „It’s very unlike any wings of ours. And I can’t get them out, all we did was locate them now.“

Great. You have special snowflake wings.

„Really?“ you’re pretty much staring like Mark yourself now. Kai affirms.

„It’ll take a trigger event that sprouts them. I don’t know what yet. Too early to say.“

„But what does the color mean, then?“

„Our wings are all some kind of… well, auburn. Neither Satan’s nor Mammon’s children have colorings like this. Only Taemin’s are blue.“

„But that’s regular for elves,“ Taemin adds.

A churning knot of panic seems to grow inside your gut. The fact that Yukhei keeps on groping about your back is starting to tug at your nerves as the cherry on top.

„Why, why are they like that? What is this?“

„Y/N,“ Mark inhales sharply. „Please calm down, we only—“

„And why are you touching me like I’m some kind of science object? Who am I?“ you shout at Kai and Lucas, prompting Taemin to slowly pull away both their wrists from the table. In this moment, you could jump either of them.

„I’ve, I’ve only heard of one case with such wings,“ Mark begins, but ends up choking up a cry. He’s shaking all over, takes his glasses off. „If you… turn her around…“

Yukhei doesn’t have to be told twice.

„So her mark is elsewhere? Isn’t it? She’s from a different family altogether?“

Mark nods.

Lucas swiftly flips you on your back. You can’t even blink and you’re already watching the ceiling with five faces right up close above you.  

„Let Taeyong do this,“ Taemin begins to urge Yukhei. „Lucas, you shouldn’t touch her now.“

That you need Taemin’s words for Lucas to hold himself back is starting to bother you. Him just grabbing you by the hips and turning you around felt more than strange. You imagine how in his mind, you’re probably a sizzling steak in a pan that he wants crispy on both sides and you don’t like it. One thing’s for sure: You’re not here for being werewolf dinner. What the hell.

What’s been on your mind even more is that Kai is not even half as annoying despite being so full of protein himself. With his chiropractor hands all over you on top of that. Is it that they’re from different families? Wouldn’t you dislike Taeyong as well then? He’s from the exact same corner of hell, after all. What exactly makes Lucas so pushy to you keeps on preoccupying everything you thought of until now as a bottom line. It’s not like you can ask him directly why he behaves like an asshole.

Three minutes pass. Lucas has stepped back from the table, watching like a hawk. A bit more composed, Mark picks up his pen and clipboard. He still can’t concentrate on writing. Taeyong gently probes each of your legs and ankles, even pulls your shoes and socks off to look at the underside of your feet. Finding nothing, he moves on to survey your wrists by smoothing over them, sending Yukhei an evil eye for grinding his teeth. Looks like someone doesn’t like others touching your soft spots.

Kai watches reactionless, seemingly deliberating. He’s in a different headspace, you can tell. Taemin helps Mark with ticking off boxes on the paper. Taeyong turns your jaw to either direction and slightly upwards to inspect the underside. He glides two fingers over your temples, and also asks you to open your mouth. He counts through your teeth with his digit and moves your upper lip to look at your fangs. Taemin emits a large ‚wow‘ when he does, and Yukhei growls out loud. Kai looks visibly interested, although he still seems to piece something together in his head.

„Extremely durable and angular,“ Taeyong says. „I’ve never seen this shape.”

„Me neither,“ Kai props up his palms on the edge of the table.

„Nobody in any clan I knew had fangs like that. Not even the elders. They’re so sharp… it must be inconvenient often,“ Taeyong requests a measuring tape from Mark who pulls it out of his left suit pocket.

„It is. Shreds every toothbrush,“ you mumble.

Taeyong glides his finger all across your gums above both canines, pressing on the root of each tooth. It seems to get a nerve inside your jaw going, and again your breath becomes shallow. He measures, dictates the unintelligble results to Mark. For some reason, you find whatever he’s doing strangely pleasant. Meanwhile, Lucas has been prowling around the table with a heavy gait. You adapt Taeyong’s method of sending him eye daggers.

„Can you put your story-telling on halt? This isn’t some vampire underground bar at Friday 12 PM,“ Yukhei grunts back at you and Taeyong. „Just say whatever the fuck this means. Shouldn’t you search for the birth mark?“

„Can’t quite tell now,“ Taeyong, sounding rather absent-minded, goes on counting through your teeth each. He’s feeling about like it’s a box of jewelry. 

Beside being an obvious difference to what your mostly human high school mates sported — if you could call them that, high school makes everyone inhumane — you never thought your fangs were anything out of the norm. There weren’t many people you could compare them to in your small home town in the first place. You only saw vampires on late night TV at best.

There’s a strange tingle that spreads across your body now. It’s unusual having someone so comfortable with your teeth.

Your first and last boyfriend headed right for the door when it came to kissing. As if stung by a hornet almost, a complete change of mind. Meeting you at a festival he thought the idea of dating a vampire was „pretty sexy!“. He paraded you around at his birthday party two weeks later, you thinking he was actually proud of you rather than only himself.

You later realized that he just wanted to appear like the bravest guy in the world. To gather his guy friends complimenting him on the ‚spicy catch you got there!“. And maybe, you suspected, also making the female guests compete for him with some one-upmanship towards you. If he needed you to attach any value to himself, what value did he have himself to begin with? It still feels like a bad decision because you said yes to someone like him.

He liked the exterior, but doing the actual dating with all that it entails he had seemingly underestimated. It’s not like you expected him to use any tongue or try a blowjob. Why would you?  Doing that would always be a stupid idea for both. Did he think you would purposely hurt him? Or did he just leech off everything he could get until he had to be responsible and deal with limits? Crazy vamp is what he last called you, and you never heard from him again. No texts, nothing. Does your pussy have monster teeth, too? Just go back to your cave or wherever you came from.

„If you forgive me saying so. They really are pretty,“ Taemin chimes in, then urging Mark to note something down. You take a moment to realize he means your teeth. Mark seems to have a lot of trouble snapping out of his daze at first himself, but begins to immerse himself in sketching and documenting after a while, ruffling his hair like a mad scientist. Lucas regularly gazes over his shoulder and you can tell he’s one grumpy wolf.

„We can show you how to keep them in shape and do a proper bite on someone who agrees on it. But you probably even tried something along the lines, right,“ Taeyong says, and Kai nods, probably wanting to say the same. It seems to be nothing out of the ordinary going by their expressions. But the question makes you more nervous than you actually want to.

„Honestly, I… didn’t bite anyone so far,“ you shake your head, unable to meet the eyes of anyone at the table. You hate the feeling of shame that kicks in almost by itself.

„Come on folks, that’s the first thing you smell about her,“ Yukhei boldly announces from his wandering spot around the dumbbells. 

Way to go. You realize how comments like that are exactly why you’re so nervous. He’s already acting holier-than-thou again.

„I only ordered cheap blood online,“ you try to muster a shrug. Acting indifferent is at least helping you to say literally anything. „All legal but artificial.“

And disgusting, but that’s another story.

„Not hard to tell either,“ Yukhei laughs out. „Takes a blood virgin to down a whole liter of the real deal in five minutes. You were staring at that cup like you’ve gone mad. The difference to cheap blood is quite intense, isn’t it? Wanna see your face if you get a willing neck for the first time. Priceless.“

Something coils up inside of you. Eye daggers aren’t enough at this point, are they.

„Don’t get rude, you dog… Do you like spying on others or what?“

„Come on, come,“ Taemin steps in, ushers Yukhei towards the steel chair.  He leans in, speaking in a low tone to the president. „Little more tact and privacy with a novice. Your dad would thoroughly enjoy this.“

„Would enjoy what?“

„Us creating discord in the club without him having to do crook a single hoof.“

You’re starting to think that ‚Vice President‘ means nothing but ‚group counsellor‘. Fine by you, but Yukhei has been rubbing you the wrong way from the very start. That he tried to attack Taeyong and called him names isn’t something you’ll just ignore. You’re growing increasingly more tense. That there doesn’t appear to be a way to take matters into your own hands is even more frustrating. 

„I think… there’s a reason you’ve been living a more isolated life than most vampires,“ Kai interrupts your thought as well as the ongoing banter, trying to strike a more rational tone. He returned from his thought process, ruffling the long hair at the nape of his neck.

„Okay—?“

„See. Most half-breeds with the same father will find each other. Almost automatically. Look at Taeyong and Lucas. And all vampires will get picked up by clans, their scouts. But in your case… I think you have been purposely avoided. By both clans and demons.“

„What does that mean now?“

„My theory is, I… I suspect. Your father,“ Mark looks up from his clipboard, „is someone who hasn’t exactly been Satan’s ally.“

„My dad is — some kind of, Lucifer’s enemy?“

„Maybe. It’s likely. So, the clans would use to trust your father lot.“

„Does that make any sense?“ you frown at Mark, who hastily continues. You still don’t get why that has something to do with how you grew up completely uninvolved in clan affairs.

„His affinity for vampires was much higher on top of that, unlike Satan.“

„Get to the point!“ Lucas taps his feet on the concrete.

„I, I think that’s why you were born,” Mark carries on, pushing up his glasses. “He got together with a vampire. But he has been mingling with a lot of arch angels as of recently as well. Your father, I mean.“

„Okay? But how would you know?“

„The reasoning is this,“ Mark reads from the clipboard. It seems like he has been working on some kind of theory. „The clans don’t like the archangel’s power nor their politics. And the angels don’t really like us as a club either. Simply because we’re half-demons and have offsprings of Satan among us. I know that’s, that’s really complicated, so—“

Whoever Mark means in all of this word spill, your father is evidently a huge trainwreck already. Who’s against who now? It’s all so hard to understand.

„That all doesn’t sound very good,“ you grumble. „Are you sure your theory holds true, Mark?“

„It all sounds like he’s pulling that out of thin air,“ Lucas says. „Angels and whatnot. That’s some random bullshit.“

The conscierge looks rather overwhelmed with your question and can’t quite get a word out at first. Taemin encourages him with with a little supportive eyebrow raise.

„What I know is. By the signs your… body has. We have to keep you safe here and build your strengths at all cost. Because something’s going on,“ Mark eventually continues, earning strong approval from Kai.

Then, Mark addresses the president, much more fragile in his voice, but still secure in his judgement. „Lucas. If we give her the serum, Satan could someday get her if he musters up the courage and the helpers. Which I think he will. That won’t end well in any scenario. The club is in danger. Do you understand? Putting her out there is a bad idea and she doesn’t want it either. She wants to be a member and that’s instinctively the right thing at this point. Baekhyun happened to spot her now out of all times with good reason, I think.“

Lucas seems to ponder back and forth now. He props down on the steel chair with crossed legs, palms in the back of his neck. He looks genuinely concerned for the first time. You find yourself starting to nod along to Mark in the meantime. You like when he speaks like this. 

„Thank God you’re here then, Y/N,“ Taeyong says. „It’s important you get to know more about yourself. It creates a lot of chaos otherwise. For you the very most, unfortunately. We have to admit that joining the club probably makes it worse. But we can’t know what would have happened if you never found your way here.“

„Yeah, I guess.“

„Your heritage is probably much more… controversial I would say. I hope you don’t take this to heart too much,” he continues. “We’ll still have to find out more. But it’s something else we’re not accustomed to so excuse any crudities.“

You can imagine. If your dad is yet another person having beef with Satan, and there’s even people from heaven involved, things are bound to get icky.

„So, where is my birth mark, then?“, you exhale, voice growing with an acute panic. „Do you know my father’s name or not now? 

“Um...“ Mark stares at his own feet.

“Is all of this a fraud? And what can be more controversial than having Lucifer as your dad?“

Taeyong and Mark are looking at each other far too awkwardly not for you to notice. Kai crosses his arms and sighs out.

„Come on, you two are suspecting something. Tell us.“

All attention is now on Taeyong and Mark who are a puddle of sweating embarrassment.

„We have to… Well…“

You feel like a patient about to receive the most embarrassing surgery. Yukhei roams around the table murmuring and fuming.

„What is it now? What are you avoiding?“

„…pull up the shirt to see the birth symbol,“ Mark spouts in one go. „It’s located in the middle of the chest.“

So here’s the reason for all that tiptoeing and stuttering.

„And I thought you’d need my period blood to paint an ancestry sigil or something,“ you roll your eyes right at Mark who looks like he’s sinking into the ground right before you.

„That’s actually what we wanted to do next,“ Yukhei licks his fangs. 

Taeyong, as if lightning struck him, immediately kicks him in the back of the knees. Everyone turns their heads. Judging by Yukhei’s awkward, reaching step forward and no signs of retaliation, Taeyong has some serious leg strength going despite being so lithe. You never thought you’d see his butlery composure begin to crumble either.

„Stop making weird jokes. You’re a dog just like she said.“

Taeyong’s tone is so cutting, Mark breathes out as if he was the one getting kicked.

„Technically not wrong.“

„You got what I wanted to say, Lucas.“

„Can’t hear you mumbling through your stupid old fangs, brother. I’m fucking proud of being a dog.“

Yukhei does an even more obnoxious werewolf-brand wink that makes even Kai cringe a little. Taemin looks like he’s slowly dying on the inside. 

While they’re all continuing to throw out retorts, you cut the debate short by pulling up your tank top. Must be the courage from getting your teeth praised.

Today’s braless day, but anyways.

Mark immediately starts crouching again, and Kai’s mouth drops wide open. Taeyong collapses right on the floor. Taemin buries his face in his hands.

„It… It is as dramatic as Kai said!“

„What is it now? Can’t you guys handle some breasts or what.“

You look down on yourself. And— soon freeze as you see the large round marking right on your solar plexus. Red as blood and crudely outlined.

„What the fuck is that!“

You get goosebumps. The mark has never been visible before. Whatever work Kai did on your back pressing all sorts of points, it must have activated not only your wings, but also this particular spotting. It appears to be shaped like a medal emblem, depicting a snake and a centaur or whatever creature in bold zigzag shapes.

„The sign of King!“ Mark shudders through his tears. The temperature in the room seems to drop, and the scent of jasmine smells like rotten coal. The sign glows red and large on your chest, and not even Yukhei is looking at your breasts now.

„We’re so fucked, man!“ Kai pulls at his hair. „What are we gonna do!“

„Wait! Wait, what is this!“ you pull at Mark’s suit, urging him to speak on. He can’t properly gather himself the very least.

“I can’t say—”

“Tell me, Mark! What is this sign!“

„Be, Before Lucifer… became the prince of the underworld. It was like this.“

„Like what?“

„There was a King who ruled the 9th circle of hell. For over a million years.“

„Who is that guy? He’s my dad?“

„Yes. He never left. That was, until Satan overthrew him after being cast from heaven. The King purposely decided not to come back and expand his influence elsewhere. He’s now a free-walking spawn of hell. The guy who’s technically… actually the boss. Satan is just tolerated but The King has the actual powers. You can guess… look at how large the mark is.“

„I am the King’s daughter?“

„You are,“ Mark contines. „The daughter of King Belial.“

He can hardly pronounce the name without everybody flinching.

„He’s the original guy in charge,“ Taemin bends to help pick up Taeyong, who’s breaking out in a cold sweat. Whatever is glowing on your chest, it’s something out of the Club’s league and that thought alone drives an equal sweat on your face. Belial, you’ve only heard that name sparsely, somewhere, and you knew hell had kings, but you didn’t know it was a very real tale.

„Satan was expelled from heaven for his pride,“ Kai picks up Mark’s point, but his voice is just as shaky. „So he took on hell and drove out your father after a decade-long war. And, plenty of tricks, dark magic. The King first settled in a radical vampire clan who thought he’d be the ultimate weapon to get back at Satan. And Belial thought he’d had an army now, too. But the arch angels also took interest in the King for that same reason. They wanted to fight Satan, too.“

„Didn’t Mark mention the angels earlier? What’s going on with them?“

„They don’t like vampires, so they lured the King away from the clan to only collaborate only with them.“

„So there’s a triangle going on!“

„Belial hasn’t really retaliated or done anything since then, but we’re thinking that he’s plotting something big together with God,“ Kai continues. „Against anything demonic that they set their eyes on. Not just Satan.“

Your head is spinning. Now God’s involved in this shitshow, too. It just gets worse with every new thing you find out.

„The foe of my enemy is my friend. That type of idiot logic,“ Yukhei says. „And Belial was stupid enough to fuck a trash vampire in the process. And you… are the result that we have to deal with now.“

„As if I can help it! You shut your mouth!“ you jerk up to lash out at Yukhei, but Kai steps in between you. He’s as fast as he is strong, and an impenetrable wall you can run up against all you want. And Kai isn’t foolish, either. He grabs you by the shoulders with extended arms to keep your fangs as far away from him as possible. All Yukhei has to do is step back.

„Stupid— because that got your mom killed,“ Kai says, teeth gritted, but sounding much more sensible than his stance suggests. „You gotta understand. Satan wants to eradicate or silence anyone associated with Belial. To avoid a revenge and losing his position!“

„Then you’re right that he’s a prick…“

„My damn words,“ Yukhei shrugs behind Kai, adjusts his tie. „Now put your tits back and sign Mark’s form, you’re part of Club Daemon without further notice anyways.“

„Wha—“

„Now listen closely madam,“ Yukhei burges past Kai to build himself up above you.

„I’m not gonna say this a second time,“ he throws the blazer at you, and you awkwardly catch it. Kai steps out of the way to let Yukhei step even closer to you. The grit in his eyes is too commanding, untouchable. Mark backs off against a wall, and even Taemin gives up on stopping Lucas. Only Taeyong lingers close behind the president, surveying his every move.

„Since Satan is an illegal worm on the throne and the King prefers to sip ambrosia with God, you happen to be the only legitimate heir. The literal, official ruler of hell. And as we saw, giving you the serum would cause even more trouble. You might even get used against us or yourself. You get me? We have enough trouble and craziness with all this! Do you understand that? From now on: You’re doing exactly as I say.“

„Why are you the one to declare all that now? Yu—“

„No objections. Training starts today.“

————————

„Your wings are so nice,“ Baekhyun smiles, turning twice in his bath tub. The water gently rises, bringing some foam to the corners. If you squint a bit, it actually sparkles. You’re feeling laid-back with the scent of fragrance sticks and candles lingering in the bathroom now. Tangerine, a bit of lemon. A pocket-sized music box strums away on the sink. The melody is foreign to you, but it feels nostalgic and welcoming. There are almost a dozen shell-shaped metal soap holders all around and pointy quartz clusters frame the two mirrors on either side of the room, creating an endless loop of reflections. Yours excluded, which always seems to amuse Ten even if he’s already used to it from Taeyong by now.

A snugly dim lightbulb screwed into a large pink lamp shade right above you spreads some warmth, as does a fluffy carpet underneath you. The vapors of the room become visible as little ascending particles in the light and you wonder how hot the bath water must be. Unlike the chairs in the main hall, the one you currently sit down on cross-legged is meant for comfort solely. A pink and poufy 50s relic, put there specifically for you since it’s Friday.

„Ah…Baekhyun. I forgot you see them for the first time,“ you settle, while he turns again. You find yourself laughing at how cutely Baekhyun spins. That this is the way mermen express their excitement and adoration you learned only last week.

„And, your fangs have grown so big!“ His cheeks are bright and giddy, and his tail glistens from all the soap he tossed around in the water for almost half an hour now.

„I’m on my 50th day of training now.“

„Ooh, that’s so impressive! You’re doing great for sure!“

„I don’t know if I do. But there are some results at least. Kai made me fight Yukhei with bare hands and they came out,“ you wriggle your either wing, and make their tops touch the ceiling. Ever so slightly, you don’t want to break anything around here. Baekhyun’s little bathroom paradise is too carefully assembled to pull any stunts in here, and it’s your Friday night safe haven for long talks and even watching movies on Mark’s tablet. Now, it doesn’t take a lot of stretching to do so in the first place. At this point, wearing your wings out this way is starting to feel natural, even if the way that they shift your balance is still new. They are red-white and stringy, feathery, and spotted just like Kai had predicted.

„He was in his full form, right? You’re really brave you did this.“

„It’s a strange thing sometimes. It’s like I followed an impulse.“ you say, shrugging a little. „I guess — Blame it on instincts.“

You really hoped he would buy that dodge, but it’s a futile try.

„Hey, I mean it. I’m proud of you. Really.“

You push a few hair strands out of your eyes. He’s not going to let you off the hook until you admit it, or maybe it’s only you so fearing to say that, and making it so awkward that he notices.

You don’t want to bare yourself but also don’t want to leave him in the dark about how much his words have been building you up over the last few weeks. It’s almost been two months since you first saw Baekhyun on Mark’s video call, discussing where to relocate the club chronicles after a shelf randomly collapsed. Even a fraction of him on screen made you hold your breath.

Maybe it’s because a whole lot of your ancestors were — although surely snobby and even aristocratic — so bite-first-talk-later and rather reserved folk staying in the shadows that accepting or never doubting flattery is hard for a vampire of your generation. And maybe it’s time you muster up something else than either extreme end of that aristocracy or that terrible shyness.

„Thanks for your compliment,“ you stare at the tips of your fingers that clamp around your knees. „Matters a lot, okay.“

Baekhyun props up his head on the edge of the tub in response and looks at you all blushed. He’s playing with the blue crystal penchant around his neck, and his light purple hair falls into his face in wet little waves until he shakes it. The strands are so thin and plush, they prop up all dry again so fast, as if by magic (which it likely is). His cheeks are so glowing when they’re rosy, you notice every time you see him, but today even more so. To the point where, and you feel it in your gut, your confidence becomes so shaky all over again.

„But don’t praise me too much,“ you say. „It’s only doing what I’m supposed to do and what I’m made up of, I think. It wasn’t that hard.“

„Not as hard as defense against crosses and garlic, isn’t it?“

„Damn right, that was something ese,“ you nod. „But there are much bigger problems.“

„Is there something that preoccupies you as of lately?“

Baekhyun blinks a few times with a falling smile, and you contract in your chair.

„I feel like… It’s so hard to say.“

„I won’t hold anything against you, okay. I just hate seeing you preoccupied night til dawn. That’s not right.“

„It’s…Yukhei is treating me like some kind of tool. Just fostering me because that means a hybrid demon sits on the throne of hell. It feels too much sometimes. Like I have to dance to the beat of his track all the time, you know.“

„I’m sorry. Lucas can be really zealous. I hope he’s not demanding too much from you.“

„Or… training me like a machine. I’m really not a dog’s toy. I don’t think that’s what made my join all this. I don’t have as many problems with my heritage as with the way he takes so much control. It’s… one-sided. And I feel like I should be above that already and just do my thing anyway.“

Baekhyun’s expression sinks even more now, but there’s also something single-minded in it.

„As long as you truly wish to take that position in the 9th circle, you can do as you please,“ he says. „Look at how strong you are. I don’t even have to tell you that. As I know him, Yukhei wants to protect his kind. Including you, that’s why he trains you so hard and wants you to have influence. I know it’s an ironic thing. That you have to be his subordinate now to be his superior in the future. He sees himself as a founding father, so he coaches us. His strict ways are not for everybody.“

„I guess,“ you shrug. It doesn’t sound illogical to you. Having a half-breed in charge of hell would raise the status and safety of Club Daemon immensely, and Yukhei does behave like the club is his child. „I just don’t like it when he uses his position too much without caring about how I want to go about it. I know I’m new to this, but I still have preferences. And the training is for my sake, he’s the one who emphasizes that the most but it feels like it only serves him. Telling him that is like, like— talking against a fucking wall, I don’t know.“

„That doesn’t sound good. I think that you inspired a lot of respect in him. Lucas is afraid of many things.“

„I feel that.“

All too often. When he trains you. At dinner. During any hand-to-hand practice. And especially: On Fridays, where he is tense all day.

„That the pack order is so wired into him doesn’t help. There’s always only superior or subordinate to him, he doesn’t know anything else. The social order of vampires is less defined than that.“

The roles, the hierarchies. You often find Mark talking about it.

„I try to understand it but our ways are so different. I don’t know what it is. Yukhei should know that vampires aren’t responsive to this alpha thing the very best. And I don’t think anyone in Belial’s family for that matter.“

You’ve seriously been wondering how Lucas was donning his big bad wolf attitude. That he was intimidated behind all that jazz would come as no surprise to you. But this type of explanation would be too… simple. Too easy, for all those intricacies, the weirdness of his behavior.

„If you look at it from what he does rather than what he says. He spends a lot of time developing your skills and puts all of his energy into the project,“ Baekhyun’s gaze drops from yours now. „To be honest… I’m jealous of him.“

Now that makes you swallow hard. It implies way too much for you to process right now.

„I don’t, I don’t think he likes me,“ you vehemently shake your head. „Or at least not in a way that feels good to me. And that’s what counts. He’s making me grapple with hell hound holograms and box with Kai until dawn under his supervision. I’d rather be here and discuss with you. It’s really valuable.“

„Ah… thank you.“

Now that you’re on a roll, saying it is easier.

„I’m really glad you were the one who scouted me. I really wish I could be here more often. And, you put a lot of effort into this. You think it’s just talking but it’s important for me.“

The last part you say with a much more subdued tone, but it doesn’t lose its meaning to Baekhyun. That he looks flustered is an understatement. He wriggles his shiny tail and it actually changes its color to light pink, matching his flush.

„You know, it was more of a coincidence. I was counting shells at the beach, I saw you coming out of a pharmacy at the quay. I haven’t told you that, have I?“

Back in May. A very breezy, sunny late afternoon.

„Taemin said something along those lines, but not in detail, no.“

„You had these huge sunglasses on. And so much sun screen. And a big hat. You came out with six packs of iron supplements and cranberry juice in a transparent plastic bag. I couldn’t quite believe it.“

„You really saw it that clearly?“

„Merman eyes can see even in murky water. Kai has trained me to read people at any distance on land.“

„And how did you see that I’m part demon?“

„You had a crop top on.“

What?

„I mean. Come on. That half-vampires like crop tops is clear to me. Taeyong is wearing them all the time. But don’t other people do that as well? Isnt’t that a little—“

Baekhyun starts giggling.

„The sun was hitting your back while you were opening the lock of your bicycle. I could see the wings folded underneath your skin.“

„Oh man,“ you puff out, reclining in your seat. And you thought he was going for a reach. „Okay, I get it. I hope nobody else saw that.“

„It can easily look like some kind of tattoo,“ Baekhyun shrugs. „At least someone who has no idea about demons wouldn’t have realized anything. And it was only visible for a split second since you weren’t standing upright.“

„Okay… that’s good I guess? Just me walking around in a crop top at the bay. Nothing suspicious going on.“

You’re ready to chastize yourself for being so careless, but then again. Arguably, you don’t have eyes on the back of your head. And on top of that, it took someone as trained as Baekhyun to discover your sleeping wings showing in a matter of one blink or two.

„It’s likely that your wings only started growing this very year. I really need you to realize. This didn’t happen in twenty years. I was never as fascinated in my entire life, I—“

And by saying that, Baekhyun’s pupils become heart-shaped, and pretty much everything else about him turns bright red. The hair, the tail, the lips.

Oh.

Looks like you’re starting to understand why Baekhyun didn’t just casually mention you to Yukhei to send out an invitation, bar half-breeds being a rare occurance and highly sought for by the club.

„I called Taemin with my shell phone right away so he could inform the club,“ Baekhyun stutters on. „I’m sorry we’ve been observing you that way. Many half-breeds don’t know that they are.“

„You didn’t do it to hurt me,“ you shake your head, gather yourself, and take Baekhyun’s hands in yours. They’re so pretty and slippery. „You don’t have to apologize. It’s been a lucky coincidence.“

He saw you in the right moment and it decided everything.

„I’d not be here without you, that was very needed,“ you add. „Lost and found, you know. I gotta be the one to say thank you.“

Baekhyun firmly squeezes your hands and looks you deeply in the eyes, even more so than before.

„We’re the ones who have to say that,“ he says. „We didn’t have many good prospects before you. Maybe we can have a better chance being half-breeds in the future. Don’t think of yourself as Yukhei’s chess piece. That takes away all your importance. I think he’s trying to tell you that, too.“

„Maybe. But just know that if he’s so invested in me the way you say, I couldn’t reciprocate it.“

You look down, retreat your hands. Baekhyun reaches out of the tub to cup your chin upward very gently.

„This whole werewolf-vampire feud thing,“ he starts in a low tone. „You don’t have to buy into it. It’s not good for our club’s unity.“

You cast down your eyes. „I know.“

„If we fall apart, that makes us very vulnerable to the outside. It’s important that you stick together, and… he really likes you.“

„Baekhyun—“

„You have an easier time with Kai, right. If you approach Yukhei the same way, that… could be beneficial to your bonding.“

„Bonding?“

You don’t like where this is going. All of your alarm bells are going off right now. There’s cold sweat starting to stick to your shirt at the back of your spine.

„It’s kind of an unspoken codex,“ Baekhyun sounds much more understated now, his eyes become droopy. „If there is a female half-demon with claims to the 9th circle, a mate from the guild may accompany her. But it has to be someone from the upper rank.“

„What!“

„Yukhei is the highest in our hierarchy... He might become your consort. He said to me he’d be ready to do it.“

„Yukhei as my mate? How do I know nothing about that!“

The shock in your voice makes Baekhyun rolls up in the bathtub and his tail turns into a lifeless green. You’ve never seen him so small.

„Because… because he can’t say he likes you.“

„I beg your pardon?“

„It’s all bound to happen because of his status, and yours, and— As I said, it’s an unspoken law. It doesn’t really matter if he confesses or not.“

„Are you kidding me now?“ you jump off your chair. Your wings knock over a ceramic vase in the bathroom cupboard right above the sink. It comes down splintering. „Why on earth does Yukhei push me around like some political… genetics… preservation tool!“

„It, it is not the intention—“

„I don’t want to mate with Yukhei! Not because he’s the president, not because I need some fitting husband apparently, not because he spends a lot of time with me, not because of his money or because he cares a lot about preserving half-breeds, and especially not just because he likes me.“

„You— You don’t?“

Baekhyun’s eyes are wider than when Mark first saw your spotted wings, well-knowing he was dealing with a more delicate subject of the chronicles. But this was something that would turn the annals of the club upside down entirely.

„We’re not compatible. Not in the least,“ you frown. „Did you assume I did?“

„Of, of course! I mean in your position, who else would come to your mind? It’s such a given from both of your sides, I didn’t… even think about it. Please, I didn’t want to offend you!“

You settle on your chair again, fold in your wings. Cross your legs, lean back. An overbearing feeling of depletion makes your whole body ache.

„You know. That’s the thing with tradition. Nobody thinks about what they actually want. They just follow a program to satisfy some stupid custom. To soothe their ego, their morals, I don’t know what. But that leads them in the opposite of being satisfied. Because it’s against their real wishes. Doing away with quite a few traditions without causing much damage would be entirely possible, wouldn’t it.“

„I think traditions do serve someone,“ Baekhyun shrugs. „Many people.“

„In this case, only one person. Hint: tall lycan man who wants to fuck me. And take me as a wife which I didn’t even know until now. And how would I if he’s yelling at me about putting away my tits as if I’m some chunk of trash.“

Baekhyun stutters, decoiling not one inch from his position.

„Didn’t he do that in front of others?“

„Yeah, but why are you asking?“

You can’t help but put some sharpness into that reply. All that mating monkey business is reeking of bullshit.

„Lycans are, well you know it. Really possessive. He wants you for himself, he… he’s affected by your body. Everyone can see that. So, everyone automatically thought he’d just, sooner or later make a move on you, you know. You’ll be exclusive to him.“

„You really think that Yukhei is territorial over my fucking tits.“

„On the outside he was acting grumpy that it was a half-vampire coming to us out of all races. But he sent out Taemin with the club invitation letter in a matter of a day. The fastest he ever wanted to get someone to join was when I scouted Ten as our chauffeur. Ten had all the qualifications and he’s half-harpy, they get on with lycans very well, but Yukhei was deliberating for two weeks.“

You shake your head.

„He sent it out because the club direly needs extra manpower, a new element, whatever, that’s why. He literally said so.“

„Yukhei ordered to send out the invitation only when I told him that you’re a good-looking… woman.“

You’re gasping for air. Can this get any worse? This has got to be a bad joke. It sounds like Yukhei literally wants to own you.

„Is he— that desperate?“

„He’d not mate with any full-lycan or half-human half-lycan, or humans altogether,“ Baekhyun shakes his head. „And how could he, he’s the president and protector of the only demon half-breeds club there is. Anything else would be out of character.“

„So me being in need of a mate because of all this heir thing… serves him well and he’s already planned all of it and treats it as a given in the club. All behind my back.“

You could rip out all your hair at this point. You curse him. This dirty, sneaky, cunning wolf guy.

„From his perspective, it makes sense. Nobody else in his shoes would do it differently. He didn’t mate at all yet. We respect that he will take that only chance because he has the last say, you saw that. If a lycan runs a club, we go by lycan ways.“

All you can do is plant your face on the edge of the bath tub and puff out a deflated noise.

„So I’m the only fuckmeat in sight. To get rid off his virginity.“

Oh God, no. This has got to be a terrible dream, even the club’s chronicles pre-1689 aren’t as tragic.

„Yukhei’s instincts are going crazy since he reached maturity. Kai already mated earlier in his life and takes Beta status. I guess that’s why you get along a little better. But with Yukhei… he’s so depraved, he’s even ready to mate with a half-vampire.“

„I saw how hostile he can get with Taeyong…“

It still pains you. That Yukhei would go at him with full fangs and claws even if Taeyong is so severely marred was a punch in the gut. You don’t doubt Taeyong’s strength, and you saw he was ready to defend himself properly and resolutely. But it showed a lot of true colors and you thought about it for many nights.

„Exactly. That he said he’d be your consort tells you how much he needs somebody. He’s even ready to bury the rivalry and also contests anybody of your race. Taeyong is competition to him.“

„Jealous possessive alpha looking for a trophy,“ you bury your face deeper in the enamel of the tub edge. „Baekhyun. I fucking swear. You’re giving me even more reasons not to get with him. He’s even dragging Taeyong into all of this.“ Taeyong, who made you feel so at home and comfortable with being half-vampire. Who was very open with you and had exactly the integrity and dedication and utter class a club member needed to have. A confident, quiet strength and rolemodelship that you could always look up to.

„So talk about unity,“ you grit on. „And I’m only tolerated to Yukhei. If I’d be a guy, he would’ve sent me an invitation after like 5 years, wouldn’t he? Yukhei cares a lot less about halfbreeds than he pretends. How would I get with this guy if he’s such a mess. Never ever.“  

„You actually wouldn’t?“

„Come on! If that’s not clear at this point. No degree of Yukhei wanting me means I want him. Man, what the—! He’s planning my life as if it’s his factory. He’s making chaos out of everything.“

Hell, Yukhei must be more than insecure if he reached that level of entitlement. And you only get to hear it from Baekhyun? He’s not just insecure, but also a coward. Just how much he’s living in his own bubble is hard to fathom.

„But, it’d be an honor for you to be with the president. Is there a reason you don’t like him back?“

„Baekhyun. I don’t give a fuck about his arranged marriage thing. He has no respect. I want someone else.“

„I mean, I… You’re free to choose from the assembly. You’re the Queen of Hell. You can do whatever you want.“

„Apparently not.“

You cock not one, but two brows right at him. Baekhyun seems entirely confused. It’s so strange to you how he doesn’t seem to catch on in the very least. Yukhei really must have threatened the other club members. Nor does he seem to take your role seriously in the very least.

„Is there someone you want to mate with, then?“

„First time someone ever asked.“

You straighten your posture and tap your fingers on your knees. Admittedly, you’ve probably picked that one up from Kai.

„The guild accepts any of your wishes. It’s just a recommendation or a tradition that—“

„Yeah yeah. A dumbass expectation. Disguised as some… guideline. And everyone’s parroting it just because Yukhei is the boss. I don’t like that, okay. I’m not on board with his personal agenda. Because it’s shitty. Full stop. I’ll shove his bonding schtick up his ass until it comes out of his ears.“

„Ah, I, I see. I get it now.“

„Understand, Baekhyun. Rules have to be adapted to the benefit of those they concern. Are we agreeing on that?“

„That’s only logical!“

„So you get that I have someone in mind that I want to have a consort. That person is not Lucas. You see that the benefit would apply here, that, you know, I mate with that other person instead.“

„Sure! Do you need any help with selecting somebody? Wouldn’t Kai be a perfect match? You’re both so strong! Or Taeyong. You have great chemistry! Mark is very impressed by you, too! Haven’t you seen how shy he is?“

You want to sink into the ground on the spot. It just goes on and on. Man, you need a 500-year coffin nap with extra dust and spider webs and no garlic in the radius of ten kilometers.

„Baekhyun, you, you are… God damn…“

You can’t say it. You can’t.

„Always glad to help,“ a bright smile lights up his face once again. His tail turns back to a very familiar turquoise.

And just when he decoils himself to his full size—

It happens.

„Ah! What was that!“

Baekhyun begins to jerk up and winds. You panic. The surface of the bath water colors with red almost right away. He grabs his tail in pain. You dive either hand into the tub to pull up his tail.

„It’s a splinter! It fell inside the tub!“

„From the vase?!“

„Yes, it’s, it’s…“

„Are you okay Y/N? You look different!“

He seems more shocked about that than the fact that he just got pierced.

„It’s…stuck here. I’ll pull this— out and… and. Very carefully, and…“

Your hands work on their own. There’s nothing in your mind that has to direct them. The piece of ceramic is easy to remove from his scales, nor is the cut too severe at all. It’s not even two fingers long. But he’s bleeding. He’s bleeding. It’s unbearable. You mindlessly cast the splinter into the sink and look at your hands, and the water, and his tail.

„Are you really okay? It really doesn’t hurt a lot!“

„Baekhyun,“ you slide forward from your seat and linger at the edge of the tub, facing him. „I can’t take this shit anymore. Please.“

„Oh my god. Your eyes are going red! Should I call for Taeyong? You’re looking really sick!“

„Don’t you understand. How, how are you not seeing it,“ you clutch at the bath curtain, dizzied, and it’s like you’re seeing double. Baekhyun tries to keep you upright in his arms that wrap tightly around you. But your head has lost all its stability, tipping way forward. You’re face-to-face, forehead-to-forehead with him now, a frantic, salivating mess. Your lips feel so swollen and pulsing, it’s hard to keep them pressed together at all.

„I’m… I’m not sick. I’m not. Hush— Listen to me now, Baekhyun. I don’t want anyone else’s blood. You’re the one I wanna mate with. I want yours. And not just a little bit of it.“

Open mouths. You gape at him, he stares right back. You’re already expecting him to call for Kai to drag you into the serum room. So much about Club Daemon.

To your surprise, he doesn’t. Instead, he begins to blink like he just heard the most incredulous news, pulling away from the embrace. He looks at you in earnesty.

„Why didn’t you just say that right away?“

Baekhyun turns the brightest shade of pink all over yet. „I never thought you’d like me back this way.“

„Really?“

„Of course…“

„God,“ you laugh, „oh God.“

„And who said you can’t drink all you want from me? That’s literally what I was gonna offer—“

You are already shoulder deep leaning into the water with your arms grabbing hold of his tail. Some of the water even gets into your nose and it’s terribly soapy from Baekyun’s shampoo, but saturated with enough blood to knock a tidal wave of adrenaline right through your system.

This is the freshest and warmest you’ve ever had it. It’s feeling like a shark in the water. The lithe red clouds wavering through the tub loosely clinging to your face and lips makes you go weak in the legs. It tastes sweet like actual candy. And it’s so, so… familiar. Being surrounded by all that cherry pink water is better than a coffin nap and no garlic pizza combined. This is way too good. You can be glad your air is running out and the wound begins to close behind scales getting back into order.

„Wow! You can hold your breath for a long time,“ Baekhyun gasps when you surface.

„I didn’t,“ you cough, and take two minutes to gather yourself.  But not exactly because of that much water getting inside of you. Rather, the blood is showing its very effect already. „The wound should be fine, um,“ is all you can say, but Baekhyun only smiles in reply.

„Oh? You don’t look full in the very least.“ he swipes his hands over his wet neck and pats it. „Try it here!“

Oh please no, not the patting and the slapping. It brings all the best veins out, oh fucking no. But he continues to do just that. At this rate—

„Can’t guarantee I’m not getting really horny.“

„Huh? If you’re not I’d be worried. Didn’t you say you want to mate with me?“

„Well… yes.“

„I’m just really honored, I need a little moment.“

„You don’t have a problem with me just… vandalizing your neck?“

„Isn’t that what it’s for? It doesn’t suck itself.“

Baekhyun, with the most innocent little expression, continues just as before kneading into the sides of his neck. His long… tan, glistening piece of art neck. You probably look like a starving wet poodle preying for a bone, and then there’s him in the tub, sparkling like a water god with his beautiful cherry hair and droopy brown eyes.

With every smack on the side of his neck, your pants squarely decide to get a little more soaked. Maybe because it sounds like you’re already fucking. Maybe because his neck is bursting with everything a girl needs. It doesn’t suck itself, huh. And your canines are in best shape because you floss them twice a day just like Taeyong said. Uh oh.

„I’m so sorry I… I think I’ll tear you up.“ Why does it have to be so long and throbbing. His smell is turning your brain inside out and back again. „God Baekhyun, you’re tormenting me.“

„Hey, not fair! That’s your job,“ he’s pouting again, and probably begins to realize he’s been doing more prep than most porn stars nowadays because the kneading stops. Without much further ado, Baekhyun squarely beckons you to climb into the tub.

„Are you really ready—“

„Don’t worry, Taemin is great at cleaning the tiles. He actually loves doing that.“

„I want to make this enjoyable to you, Baekhyun, so…“

„I don’t know, you don’t have to please me or anything,“ he shakes his head. „That you like me is already overwhelming enough.“

„A bite is serious business. I still want you to enjoy it like I do.“

„If you want that. Just, just do it harder,“ Baekhyun wriggles himself up, pinker than ever. „If we’re doing it unprotected… I want this properly.“

Finished off with a shy smile. This guy is making you go times more nuts than the first raw blood you had in that chalice. You start to understand what Mark really meant by recently mentioning how Baekhyun’s parents gave him „A certain inclination“. A well nymph and Asmodeus, demon of lust, combining? That could not possibly create anything less than somebody so enticing.

„Baekhyun, always tell me if I should stop, I, I try to rein myself in, okay. You’re too delicious…“

„My veins stop swelling, just bite already,“ he sways his tail, keeps on rubbing into in throat again with his flat palm. „Just don’t worry. You’d have a hard time draining me. You saw my body just heals itself fast.“

„Yeah. Merman thing. Mark said that.“

„You can also fuck me if you want to.“

„Baekhyun, you really don’t have to offer yourself just because my body is going crazy.“

„But I’d really enjoy it. How aroused are you?“

„In all honesty… Bram Stoker novels level horny.“

„I’m not gonna leave you like that.“

And something in his tone tells you that Baekhyun has it all figured out.

As much as your wobbly legs permit it, you get into the tub more or less elegantly. You already want to apologize for mounting him that way, but Baekhyun squarely sits you down on his crotch with his hands on your waist. That his wrist and knuckle veins have gotten the word does not go unmissed by your tunnel vision. All those pulsing underarm serpentines… leading your gaze upwards, and more, and more. Up, up, until you cannot rip your gaze from his puffy little throat. Baekhyun lets out a content little hum and lifts his chin. You really get the full damn view.

„Sorry teeth, I’ll devirginize you. No more blood oranges,“ you babble to yourself, and you can tell your brain just switched off all inhibition. You never thought you’d be slurring your words about what types of emergency fleshlights you use, all in a bath tub with a merman. „About time I pop my cherry boy.“

„Exactly right,“ Baekhyun proudly huffs, and leans back. With his Adam’s apple bulging out his throat even more, you lose all trains of thought and just grab him by either side of his head. You sink your teeth in as far as the power in your jaw can drive them, and going by how his pulse is beating inside your ears, you drilled them in pretty damn hard. Oh fuck. Beginner’s mistake. A huge gush comes out to spritz against the back of your own throat, and you almost pass out from the incredibleness of the taste.

It’s too much at once. You’re hanging by a mere thread. All your body does is follow whatever its instinct dictates. Grabbing Baekhyun by his hair is all you can keep track of, shoving your teeth right up his throat again all dissipates in a blur because your entire mouth is dripping full with him. He’s moaning so loud right now, his neck vibrates along.

„Yes…!“

You don’t want to be a weakling. And, get yourself to swallow for the first time — but then. regret it right away. His blood melting down your esophagus is like a liquid marriage proposal on the Eiffel tower. You don’t know where the noise comes from, but the birds are singing. Once it’s down your stomach and pooling there, you’re already high as fuck. Grinding erraticly all over Baekhyun’s more than steel hard boner that parts upward through the scales of his crotch. He’s really giving you all the best things.

You bury your whole face in his neck. No more neatness. All you do is let your tongue loose and drag your mouth all over his face, and his chin, and his lips, and his jaw, and all of his neck. Every angle, every side, every nook and cranny until your mouth is bursting full with all of his sweet-tasting sweat and pinkish blood that has thinned out with the water dripping from his gills. If it wasn’t diluted, you’d probably forget your own name.

You melt your teeth into his pulsing skin. A vibrant image opens before your inner eye. You’re getting visions of the beach and you as seen through Baekhyun’s eyes. And then— Baekhyun from an outside perspective, swirling through the water the moment after he saw you walk at the quay for the first time. Singing so beautifully, your ears are ringing and you never want to hear anything else.

His blood is all over your lips and chest, your training print shirt. You admit you’re tempted not to ever wash that thing even if Taemin politely asks you to or Yukhei calls it crazy. You want it to be as sullied as a white shirt can possibly get. What must be your eleventh bite in a row gives you a particularly big shot right to the tongue. It’s so much, Baekhyun’s blood starts running out of your nose, only to get back onto your lips that suck up all that candy right away all over again.

Being all drenched in Baekhyun’s nicely bloodied wonder shampoo water and your own horny leaking shit at the same time, your pussy is double wet and way, way too ready to get stuffed up with all that merman dick. You never thought that he would be any larger than your thumb, but you’re mistaken.

„No wonder Yukhei has been keeping you outside the club so often.“

„You can have it as often as you want, eight times a day, I’ll manage to be there, don’t worry.“

It’s so stiff and glides into you so easily, you groan out loud and loose a whole portion of blood from all that open mouth. It sprinkles over Baekhyun’s little nose and lips, and makes his way down to his belly. The scent is turning your brain upside down. You find yourself hooked on his nose, sucking and licking it with your pussy reaching the meaty base of what’s all the way inside you now. All the precum he’s leaking into you is taking its time, but comes down to cream you up when he starts moving. Really smudgy thrusts from below, several big fat fillings from above that you can have your fun gargling on the back of your tongue. Baekhyun knows what makes you happy. You squeeze every bit your can get out of his throat and plunge your teeth inside of him far enough to feel his vocal chords vibrating during his moans. You don’t wanna damage those. So you decide to switch things around a little and slip off his cock. It’s grown a lot inside of you and peaks out the water still brimming. The whole tub gets a taste of soapy foam mixed with Baekhyuns semen and lord knows how much delicious red cherry juice that you’ve been milking out of him. Oh god, you feel like cumming. You turn Baekhyun underneath you so the back of his head comes to face you, and you bow down to violently bury and seesaw your teeth in his nape like a lion shaking a little prey animal. His little helpless moans are so melodic and out of this world, you do notice you forgot your own name. Well, he can tell you afterwards so, no problem. For now, you made him completely yours. You don’t miss how Baekhyun didn’t reach down to get himself a hand but has grown even harder.

Going by how much he’s been begging you to do your carnage on him, and you’re tempted to ask him, you know for a fact Baekhyun would probably fanboy like mad and ooze his cum all over the place if you broke his neck altogether, but you decide that’s probably way too edgy for now. And too much, hello. His body can heal anything in a matter of five minutes, doesn’t mean you have to challenge it with a clean snap during the first time. That’s a schtick for the later fucks, maybe a birthday. Just when you find that what you’re doing with his little nape all between your jaws is way too sick for a novice, a string of tiny „please, please, please!“ noises spurs you to sink in deeper and even work your tongue just like it’s a french kiss.

„Oh woah, ah! Do it, do it more!“ His pleasure screames and demands for roughing him up leave no second for a pause. At this point, you’re just digging in and he’s all the way close to going off like a bomb. Taemin doesn’t just have to clean the tiles alone, there’s gonna be sperm everywhere. Probably even as far as the door, and that one’s all opposite to the bath tub and four meters away.

Now that you’re so snugly penetrating with your fangs pierced in around his spine from either side, you notice how Baekhyun has successfully corrupted you into a sadistic freak. The more blood seeps into your mouth, the lewder your slurping gets, and the tub water has long gone from pink to very crimson like it’s the type of apples Taeyong loves to test his fangs on pretty much daily just for practice. You swallow again, and this time, a wave of Baekhyun’s sexual fantasies crashes down on you.

Looks like since you’re closer to his central nervous system, you’re tapping his entire stream of thoughts. However this works, it’s giving your pussy severe missing-cock-disease. Drinking and swallowing repeatedly makes the visions even more vivid. The images are so vast and animated, you can hardly keep up. His face, buried between your thighs. His tongue, dragged all over your legs. You riding his tail like it’s thighs. A big gush of semen between your breasts. You slobbering blood all over his cock and making good use of its protruding veins. Images of you cumming and screaming his name. Baekhyun screaming even louder because he can. Baekhyun sucking his fingers and you licking his wrists clean. Baekhyun cumming inside you and everything bursting right out because holy shit, that’s a lot.

You want his dick and properly connect to his lips for the first time now, so you ease your teeth out of his nape, much to his protesting. You cave in and give him another bite, and make it brutal so he begins squeaking and gasping that he’ll cum. Now that you have him there, you can venture a second try and turn him around. Because you’re afraid of blowing up the second you sit on his cock again, so you start with his lips.

Kissing Baekhyun is all you expected and even more than that. Even if you’re so saturated with his blood that your taste buds are on fire, you can still clearly taste how sweet he is. Everything about him is so delicious and he’s so cute. All that pleasant taste and the gentleness of his tongue has you riding up and down his cock in less than a minute. Busy like a New York high rise elevator. Gentleman he is, Baekhyun retorting with his own thrusts feels nothing short of whipped cream consistency fucked into you with a headspin-inducing mega girth. Where he mustered that one from, only Neptune knows.

Since the entire water is ripe with his blood, that can’t go without pumping some of it into you. You’ve never found yourself horny all over your period even if the scent does make you tingle, but now, somebody else’s blood squeezed into you? Your legs feel like doing somersaults. You’re probably asking for too much, but you hope your walls soak it all up, his pre-cum included. Hell, if all that mixture shoots up in your womb, you’d probably be on a permanent high for one week. Who would have thought. This giggly little merman has turned you mad and lawless.

It doesn’t take for very long that Baekhyun’s tongue has been wrecking a havoc of pleasure between your fangs and has started bleeding after deliberately giving himself a small little prick with them, you want to get bursting full with his cum now, you can’t wait any longer. You lost your breath so it takes a few seconds until you can verbalize it, but when you do, Baekhyun doesn’t take even half a minute to have you pussy bubbling with a particularly scented load of deliciously fertile semen.

It’s such a huge amount, you have to hold onto his upper arms. Baekhyun breathes like he’s curently swimming a marathon, and has his eyes closed to concentrate on giving you the best to the best. What makes you moan is just how wildly his cock is throbbing and pumping against your cervix, that girl has never seen an avalanche of white stuff like this, she’s so lucky she gets to see this up close. Baekhyun has sunken so deep into his orgasm, he’s starting to mumble some kinds of magic words. Which seem to be directed at keeping his dick hard and keeping the cum flowing just like that.

„Shit, I want that in my mouth,“ you promptly decide, and pull your all-loaded pussy off, causing leakage all over the water. You turn to prop his cock between your lips, and Baekhyun makes it no secret that he won’t hesitate sucking his creampie right out of you. So while you’re busy sliding your tongue up and down all that veiny shaft, Baekhyun glides his nose and chin between your slippery pussy lips. The stimulation of his tongue has you twitching and stuffing his cock even deeper until your mouth is nothing but filled except a few remaining spots.

His cum is all fizzy in your mouth, it’s the most addictive thing. You decide that all that vanilla ice cream needs a juicy strawberry sauce to top it off. You do exactly what Baekhyun’s steamy fantasies displayed to you. That you lock your horny fangs deep inside of Baekhyun’s cock and squeeze him out by the liter for sperm and cherry milk is already having your eye lids flutter because you’re that stoned. Not to mention that you will smell like candy to the lycans and certainly also Taeyong for at least a whole month.

You’re the farmer, he’s the maple tree, and Baekhyun’s blood the runny, sugary syrup. The mix with his semen tastes like you bite right into a large fresh lemon and melon popsicle. and swallowing comes easy once you got into the rhythm of his continuous little bursts. Your stomach is telling you oh babe, I adore you for this. It’s stuffing full a) with the one thing is needs and b) the other thing it loves. All while Baekhyun’s bloody tongue is having a party on your clit and you can’t help but heavily rock your pussy all slapping up against his face.

The friction is unbearable, it makes you sopping wet on top of already being shot up with a ton of cream. Which now faithfully drops right into Baekhyun’s awaiting mouth and his nostrils along the way. He just snorts it up, gathers it on his tongue, then swallows it down like it’s a mild cold. The noise is so disgusting, it’s so sexy. You didn’t know mermen were this hardcore. You bet your fangs Yukhei can’t do that.

Baekhyun keeps on slurping on your creampie like it’s a desert pudding, and puckers his brazen lips to suck your clit between giving it little kisses and licks. The point where you forgot not just your name but your hometown and birth day is already passed, with Baekhyun indulging your pussy like that, you even forgot about planet earth being a thing.  His petite „Aw pretty“ and „So tasty“ noises have you clenching up and wildy deepthroating whatever impossible length of his dick is still left.

It’s oozing out too much to deal with at this point, so you just let it flow into the bath water. Your mouth being so slobbery, Baekhyun’s cock pulsing in and out of it causes a wet, hollow noise. It’s strangely satisfying and dirty to hear, you just love it. The blood seeping into your mouth makes you spiral even deeper and resorting to drift off into a wonderworld again, blowing big pink cum bubbles while you’re dreaming of Baekhyun in a groom suit out of nowhere.

Swimming at the edge of a pool, he’s stroking your hair and admiring your skin that seems so completely without any veins. Cut to Baekhyun standing in the kitchen with an apron making pancakes, drizzled with what can’t possibly just normal strawberry sauce. He perfectly balances himself on his tail to stand upright, and you’re wearing a Christmas sweater signed by Christopher Lee and Bela Lugosi.

Image three, Baekhyun massaging your feet with his pretty hands while you watch Nosferatu Reloaded on television. He whispers sweet nothings but they mean everything to you. Image four, a big house with a nice water system inside, and on top of that, a really shapely coffin that smells so dusty and snugly by just looking at it, you’re enamored with no return. Oh my god, there’s a moth plague in that house, too, and the garden grows nightshade!

Swallowing the remaining semen, thick and marshmallow-y as it so savoringly is, you shift back to your senses. Shit, that was a ride. You have a hard time letting go of his cock, but he’s not sustaining it with a spell at this point. Rather, it closes back behind his scales. Probably regenerating, you sucked and performated the shit out of it. Preoccupied, Baekhyun is still busier than ever making your pussy his personal oozing face grave, he’s particularly enjoying the digging part with the tongue. You promise to unearth him once he’s zombiefied, can’t let the poor tiny merguy just drown in there.

To think that he could do all the things you saw makes you furiously thrust back and hear his face smack into you. All of the cum he pumped into you is slathered all over his mouth and makes it all the easier to get all the clit stimulation you want from his bottom lip in particular. That he catches a hang of it and moves right along doesn’t help with your arousal. Your entire lower body is so heated and bustling, any south-Texan bat cave is a joke compared to that.

You hardly catch a direct glimpse of what’s going on, but from the reflection in the tiles you can see that Baekhyun’s hair has changed its color to how it naturally grew according to Mark’s seemingly random chronicle recital on Monday. Baekhyun only ever does it when he’s really serious about something and vulnerable enough. You can tell be picked up the pace and makes sure not one lick will miss.

With that level of determination, Baekhyun is sure to earn your moans and shaky thighs after a mere minute or two. You think that because he’s part demon, his tongue is… a bit longer and pointier and stronger than the average merman’s. It’s simply how the genes tend to mix and your clit very well feels that. The way he’s driving in the tip of the tongue in rapid sequences that resemble Ten’s piano suites, you’re tipped over the edge hard enough to grab at his tail not to slip from the massive tremble that rocks you.

Your orgasm rolls your eyes back to places even ghouls could dream of, and the amount of pleasure is so strong that your hearing and vision sets out for a solid ten seconds. You just scream and moan and scream again, and Baekhyun’s face gets one massive cum shower all over again. He’s not shy to move his mouth and head around like a madman, so your cum ends up being stuck in his hair altogether. Through even more frantic sucking and kissing, he seeks to prolong your high for another fifteen seconds of blissed out grinding against his face. You drank so much blood, you

By now, your face must look so blown up with all that cum and Baekhyun marked up so relentlessly, even if his bite marks have closed by now, Kai must think you switched roles going by your scents.

„Really sorry for my big cock.“

„Your blood… does it cause random hallucinations or something of that sort, can you direct it in any way?“

„It causes prophetic visions in some cases, if you experience it clearly as an image it will come true. Did you see something?“

„Um. Lots of things. Let’s say I… liked what I saw.“

„Actually, don’t tell me. I like being surprised.“

„Doesn’t it take 50 years until the egg fertilizes?“

„47, 48 is usual. Mermen cum is really slow but it’ll get there.“

„Nice. Isn’t the firstborn always a girl?“

„Yep.“

„We’ll name her after the song that’s always on the human radio, what is it again. Janine?“

„Jolene I’m thinking. I think it was that kind of song.“

„Yeah, I like that. And in the meanwhile we have some time, do we.“

„We can just go on like that. What are you thinking?“

„Shit, shit. I’ll suck you dry, Baekhyun, you don’t even know.“

„My blood regenerates the fastest among all half-species. Shouldn’t be a problem.“

„And what will we do about Yukhei’s mating drive?“

„Don’t worry. He’ll smell it.“

You pull the bathtub plug with a heavy heart and begin washing Baekhyun down. The blood doesn’t seem to stick to him very easily, which is as unsurprising as you not getting it off your own body. Even with his whatever pricey merguy body scrub thingy thing that’s normally used to keep gills and scales in shape. Resorting to staying bloodied for the day is nothing you’ll particularly hate, though.

Ten minutes later, you find a very unsettled Yukhei standing at the window of your designated club office, not able to meet your eyes for more than a second. In that expensive black tux, and you… in your bathing robe with blood all over your hair, and just a pair of Baekhyun’s sparkling light blue and silver ‚i ♡ dolphins‘ socks he borrowed you. He can’t wear them anyway, but they were so cute that he ordered them online.

Very much naked underneath all that, and water running down your legs in drops, alongside— something that does not feel like water. You already plan to hop right back into the shower and do the rest of the cleaning. The sex is great, but vampire hygiene is a pain in the ass sometimes. The scent must be killing him. You don’t even have to sit down for the word spill to start.

„Y/N.“

„I told you I don’t like you sneaking in here.“

„After working out. And, you know my senses are always heightened after this…“

„What is it now, hellboy. Just cut to the chase.“

„Please let me talk for a minute. I came walking by in the northern corridor,“ he starts out low once again. „You talked about your wings sprouting and you were being open with him. So—“

„You listened to us!“

He keeps his lips tight, not granting any reply.

„Piece of shit, you! You’re an all-round asshole.“

The water contained in a silver jug on the office table goes right over Yukhei’s head. He doesn’t react, lets you poor it all over him stoically. You hope it’s particularly cold. Since the water is silver-infused, it stings him, but he takes it.

„I can’t switch my nose and ears off, even at such a distance. It… it just reeks, alright. I just heard what was going on without intending. The talk, the— I didn’t know what it would develop into.“

„From start to finish. Am I right?,“ you dig your nails into your palms. „And you didn’t just walk off like you fucking should. So stop blaming your ears or what topics we started out with or whatever! You talk about mating behind my back, you eavesdrop, you invade my office just like this. Do you think that’s gonna make me marry you on the spot?“

All the magical afterglow — ruined. You cast the jug into a random corner and prop down at your desk. Yukhei wipes the wet bangs out of his face and turns from the window to face you now.

„I’ll stop with all this. Okay. I don’t want to treat you like a crusade machine against my dad or just to satisfy me. I’m sorry if I’m like you said. I’m just a stupid voyeur. I really didn’t want to.“

Yeah. Of course.

„If I spied on you? You’d be kicking me out in a hearbeat,“ you cross your arms and leave them in deadlock. „And what, you’ll stop what?“

„Training you for your position and fighting dad’s army.“

„Eh.“

„I know very well that’s Kai’s job and mine.“

„No shit, Yukhei.“

„And that we should defend more and not just plan the attack. You don’t enjoy the training as much as the normal recruit. You said you’d rather be talking with Baekhyun and that you chose him as a mate.“

„You’ll change your program?“

„A lycan will respect a no. We’re determined but not a creep. And my nose works perfectly fine.“

„What?“

„I’ll be realistic, I don’t think I could satisfy you like him.“

Now that sounds very different from all he’s ever said. You turn your chair toward him and stare Yukhei down.

„I’m listening.“

„I’m not stupid, okay.“

„Inaccurate, but go on.“

„You’d… bite me once and either I bleed out if I control myself or go wolf when I don’t. That’s lose-lose.“

„So you got that all of a sudden,“ you murmur. Yukhei just keeps on talking. It’s almost a prepared monologue.

„I’m a wolf, okay. I only get it when I smell it.“

„That’s some weird shit but fair enough, Mark says that too.“

„You smell like you had almost nine liters in one go. The whole fucking mansion feels like a butchery just opened. How many times did you bite him, fifty, sixty?“

„As if I’m counting. Do you count down when you drink water? You have it easy, you’re normal when you’re not in the moonlight. I’m vampire all the time.“

„What I try to say is. I don’t boast that much regenerating ability even if I wish I had.“

„And you realize that only now.“

„I came here to be honest. I gravely underestimated Baekhyun. You bit his nape and he really enjoyed it.“

„Well thanks for the information. About my private business…“

Yukhei’s senses must be really sharp to discern all of this. He might have stood in the bathroom in person. And if he knows it, Kai does tenfold if he was anywhere near the house. His senses are time-tested and four times as trained.

„I know that doing a bite like that is a big deal in half-breed… couples.“

„You’d find that inacceptable for me to do on you, wouldn’t you.“

Silence again. You tap your feet. Yukhei ends up nodding.

„To the extrent of how you reacted when I grabbed you by the hair. We’re not much different. Trying to make someone ours. Call me possessive but you’re also territorial. You didn’t just bite his neck tonight.“

„You understand why I said we’re not compatible. then.“

Yukhei remains silent for a while after that.

„The tension between our kinds has a reason.“

„No way. Never thought of that. Totally groundbreaking news.“

„We’d probably kill each other when we fuck. Simply because of what we naturally do. We’re suited for other species. Baekhyun matches you very well with his abilities. I admit that even if it hurts my pride.“

„One man’s trash another man’s pleasure.“

„You’re not trash. You know you’re my MVP here. And Baekhyun is going to please you well himself. He’s not as selfish as I am. He’s 290 years old, he’s very experienced.“

„Your instincts are really dying for a mate, don’t they.“

„Just like you deflate to a literal zombie when you’re not drinking, I can’t go without my pack hierarchy being complete. You go stupid when you sense blood, I go stupid when my senses aren’t challenged and I have to suppress my form. It’s that easy.“

„Now tell me something I don’t know.“

You comb your fingers through your hair. It’s kind of comforting right now. Yukhei comes to sit at your desk now himself, opposite to you.

„I should have left you to your own devices when you picked your spot at the fire place already.“

„What do you mean?“

„We left you seven empty places, right.“

„So that was not a coincidence.“

„We spiked each cup with a blood probe of each member. Enough to emenate a scent, but small enough not to have you figure out which cup belongs to whom. Especially not in a room with so many people was it possible to tell that apart so it worked.“

And of course they put up flowers to further confuse you. It was all planned.

„Did you… you…“

„It was a test. I made it so that if was covert enough and fair to everyone.“

„Fair? What the hell did you do with me!“

„Find out whose blood you like the very most. It was my idea. I wanted to see if I have a chance with you or not.“

„That’s insidious.“

„You picked Baekhyun’s probe right away. And you even drank a second cup. That should’ve answered my question by that point.“

That’s why the blood in the cup was so strangely shimmery. You knew that was familiar when you slept with Baekhyun, but couldn’t connect the dots entirely because there was so much soap in the water.

„And you still kept on talking about mating with me?“

„I didn’t know about your heritage before you came to us.“

„So?“

„That gave me a second chance that I hoped you would reconsider. Because it’s tradition tha—“

You smack Yukhei right across the face with your right backhand.

„Never say that word again.“

„And you said you’re here to tell the truth anyway. It’s a shallow excuse to get with me.“

„I’m not denying that, Y/N.“

„It’s been clear to you who I like since our first words. You’re acting like you can bend me to your wishes. You tested me and knew I wasn’t into you. Why?“

„It’s like when you couldn’t take your eyes off your cup. We’re not far apart with our instincts.

„I never said that’s a lie, Yukhei.“

„You can’t expect me not to get the hots if you’re lying there on the table without your top on. And I already controlled myself. I did my best, alright.“

This man is infuriating. You wish you had more silver water to splash him with.

„Taemin was right, Taeyong should’ve done the examination. Touching me fucked with your virgin head. You’re just hunting some one-sided dream looking for some omega girl that fits into your ideology thing.“

„Well you’re right.“

„Unfortunate.“

„But at the same time at least acknowledge that I realized we wouldn’t fit together. I changed my mind about that prospect okay, I’m trying.“

„That you’d make the worst blood bank ever is already clear.“

„I really wouldn’t.“

„Just know that the next time you’re trying to own me or do your wolf stalking shit. Or try to mess with Baekhyun. I’ll be skinning your hairy back with Taeyong’s 17th-century silver dagger and use you as a mud boots doormat.“

„I’ll control my senses as good as I can.“

„Leave away the last part of the sentence.“

„I’ll control my senses.“

„Ma’am.“

„I’ll control my senses, Ma’am.“

„You’re one desperate little shit. Club president and you need to be trained like a rowdy dog. How old are you again?���

„Last time I checked, 21.“

„Not surprised Kai still calls you a puppy and Ten thinks you’re a giant baby.“

„I say, found your own club if you can’t handle it.“

„That would put it back to square one. The only problem is you being horny for the wrong person, the rest are only consequences.“

„As if I can control what my nose tells me. And you know that the very best.“

„You’re still mad your own test backfired,“ you remember the cups put up in the fireplace room.

„Is it wrong wishing you would’ve chosen my blood?“

„Yes, after I clearly made my pick.“

„Then that’s that.“

„That’s that.“

„So what are we gonna do?“

„You cut your wolfy shit, that’s all. It’s creepy. And don’t annoy Taeyong either. You got me? Just stay in your own lane.“

„If I can.“

„Are you the president or are you not?“

„Fair enough.“

Taeyong rings a bell, and you gather for some tea under the backyard Wisteria. Shrimps are served, and Taeyong even bothered to prepare a minestrone that’s wonderfully dark red. Lucas savagely chews on raw chicken wings, Ten relaxes in a hammock, Mark writes, Taemin knits, and Baekhyun plays in the nearby pool, watching and listening and chatting, upbeat as always.

Kai arrives the very last in his post-jog showering robe, but greets you the very loudest in front of everyone.

„Hey, hey! I heard you waterboarded yourself to get some soapy red juice!“

Some confusion at his word choice, some giggles.

„So that’s been making the roun—“

„Amazing! That’s my girl,“ Kai burst out and pats you on the back so passionately, it feels like a freight train hits you.

„O—okay?“

„That greed is all I ever wanted to bring out in training! Where was that determination when we peeled garlic? I tried every method in the book to get you to that point!“

Awkward silence among the members. Then, some shrugs. Mark seems to be the only one who doesn’t get it. Figures, half-goblins don’t have hyper-developed senses. Thank God, his innocent soul. The club chronicles would be filled with details of you doing all sorts of things in a bath tub because Mark never leaves out anything unless he’s currently dropping a pen out of nervousness. Which doesn’t happen anymore.

„Kai, um… I still don’t think you understand what really motivates a vampire,“ Taeyong scratches his head, with you well-aware that he can smell merman blood across the entire house without even trying himself.

„So, what is it, then?“ Kai puffs himself up, arms crossed. „I’m the fucking trainer of how many species again? I should know best!“

It doesn’t take two seconds for a heated discussion to break out. The Venerable Pyramid of Essential Vampire Needs — which author defined it the most accurately? Which peer-reviewed vampire journals are trustworthy? Which interviewed populace is the most reflective of all vampirekind? Serbia, Romania, Turkey, Russia, Greece, overseas?

Everybody wants to weigh in: Taeyong and Mark at the forefront, with Kai and Lucas saying the exact opposite of what they expertly claim just because. Ten starts trolling them with made-up facts („a vampire’s #1 need is premium cellar dust!“), Taemin unsuccessfully tries to calm everybody down with a theory that considers all perspectives, and the tea gets colder and colder.

In the meantime, you squat down at the pool and muse over Baekhyun’s hair in the wind. You twirl it and tell him he’s gorgeous. He whispers just how good you smell. Why debate about essential vampire needs when it’s all right before your eyes.

Thinking about it. It was all about which relationship was mutual. That’s what the decision had been all about, and yes, it had been crystal clear from the very start. Lucas desperately wanted you, but it was one-sided. Mark was flustered by you, but didn’t make a move, nor did you have feelings for him. Taeyong you loved, but his age and mentor status were incompatible with turning it into a relationship. You understood him, but it was motivated by an admiration — there was a pedestal, which again made it one-sided. Ten was a mystery, it wasn’t clear on either part, and leaving each other guessing was no good sign instead of going about your ways. Kai was a compelling man, but had his piece of cake and aspired to different things. Baekhyun — he loves you and you love him.

A powerful engine revvs in the nearby garage, then, the motor stops. Onto the Wisteria jogs Ten with a huge bag of groceries.

„Hello, hello!“

Everybody greets him and picks their favorite snack from his bag. He really thought of everything. Yukhei and Jongin get a huge pile of meat from the car trunk’s cooling box. As a crowning finale, Ten presents you with the latest newpaper. The front page splayed out on the Wisteria’s main table causes everyone to steer and gasp.

SHOCKING!

SATAN’S HEAVENLY RETURN

Ruling hell too stressful after all?

„Rumor has it the King finally got bored of chatting with God and kicked out Satan from the 9th circle without much further ado.“

„No way!“ you toss and turn the newspaper. Five whopping pages are filled with cover story details.

„So dear horned guy went back to where he came from,“ Ten shrugs, then points at the snapshots all over the newspaper. „I mean look at it. This is all just a big ole jealousy drama.“

Who knows God talked some sense into Lucifer.

„I know that dad was getting envious about the King associating with the arch angels,“ Yukhei says. You start to get why. Satan had the privileges of being an archangel for who knows how long until he reached puberty and rebelled or whatever.

„Doesn’t that mean dad has the throne back now?“ you ask.

„Yup,“ Ten turns to page three, where @king_beli’s instagram feed is filled with selfies of the 9th circle, posing with Sisyphus, and throwing peace signs in a sulphurous-looking throne hall. 666,000 likes after just 6 hours. If that’s not a good sign.

You keep on debating how exactly Satan got kicked out so effortlessly until Taeyong rolls in a little swirly metal wagon after the tea is finished. On top of it: An almost ancient relic that Alexander Graham Bell probably built himself.

„Sir, the Hell Telephone might be a good idea right now.“

„Your turn Y/N,“ Yukhei declines, ushering Taeyong to bring the wagon to your side of the table. You dial and wait roughly half a minute.

„Sorry, I was partying,“ a voice creaks through the old speaker. „How can I help? Isn’t this Club Daemon speaking? Is it who I think it is?“

„Hey dad.“

„It is!“

„Hello. You’ve heard about me, then.“

„Yup yup! That you’re Yukhei’s personal dog trainer is what Kai wrote me on Whatsapp! Did you really pour silver water on him? That’s funny as hell!“

„Oh God.“

„I say that a lot these days as well, man. Sorry, we have some music blasting here by the way!“

„Hey dad, what actually happened with God and Satan?“

„Ah, long ass story. Satan chickened out recently, hell is one hell of a job you know. New job opportunity for me. But you gotta take it easy and have fun.“

„I can tell.“

A spitfire verse of what sounds like Megan Thee Stallion is currently pumping through the telephone. Ten grooves right along in his hammock, smiling way too ominously. You can tell he knows every bar by heart. He’s been listening to the human radio way too much during his errants.

„I’m only stressed because the furniture is terrible.“

„The what?“

„In the years of my absence, horned geezer got a little too creative with the design, you know. I’m more of a romantic.“

„So… you just moved in there just because.“

„You could say that, yeah!“

Confused shrugging among the club members. Belial keeps on babbling and blasting something else at the other end of the line. It must be K-Pop or something like that.

„Talk about romance, I hear you have a mate?“

„Yeah dad, it’s Baekhyun.“

„Oh him? I’ve heard of that guy! The merman!“

„He’s really sweet.“

„Make many cute demon babies alright. That would be so adorable. I’m all ready to cuddle wuddle them. I actually came up with baby name suggestions.“

„Dad!“

„You know, 80 years ago. I met your mom…“

„Dad, I don’t wanna hear your love stories. Rather tell me what happened to mom. What did Satan do?“

„Listen here. That was a stupid rumor Azazel was spreading because he’s a gossip man!“ Belial rages at the other end of the line. „Your mom was 8906, alright. She died of diabetes. You got adopted by humans she found trustworthy and planned to be your caretakers.“

„That was all planned?!“

„You were… a bit too young for hell back then. She wanted to leave you the choice later on in life whether you want to be in a clan or come here, or neither of that. I know being a half-breed isn’t easy. And you should get into all these worlds by your own devices. I learned about all of this only much later you see. I’ve been hanging out in the clouds for some time. It’s pretty chill there. But now I’m happy to hear from you.“

„Yeah.“

„If you got anything you need paid? Rent, marriage, car, diapers? Just ask me when needed.“

„I dunno…“

Looks like your dad is a rather forward thinker indeed. Well, least he thought it through.

„If you need it spontaneously and I’m not available, just force Yukhei to give you some pocket money.“

„I don’t have to force him. He already does that without me even asking.“

„That’s what I call a great president!“

„He literally thinks my bank account is free real estate where he can dump anything. I can’t even manage all that,“ you roll your eyes, with Yukhei grinning his most satisfied smile at the end of the table.

On the more unsatisfied end, Kai is about to jump up and sock him in the chest. You know damn well his salary hasn’t been increasing since Yukhei discovered his unsolicited Sugar Daddy hobby. You can buy Baekhyun some extra cotton candy now, but you’ll have to figure out a way to transfer some pocket money to Kai yourself. Now really, he’s been training the shit out of you.

„Even better! Cheers to him. He’s too straight for his own good sometimes though. Anyways. You can drop by as soon as we cleaned up here. We’ll open the circles of hell completely next month.“

„Okay, that’s good news!“

„Once you get pregnant, make sure you two find a flaming cave apartment on the east side! You really wanna raise your kids here. Hellraiser, get it?“

„The east side is too hot for Baekhyun. His tub water would just evaporate, man.“

„Oh! Then the west side. A nice penthouse with panoramic views on a volcano. You’ll get a baking Pompeii face mask every time you’re stepping out! There’s so much ash raining down, your kid can do snow angels on every pavement. Don’t worry, I’ll pay for everything.“

In the meantime, the party guests are blasting Caramelldansen in the background and louds clapping numbs your ears.

„Dad…. you realize you have a lot of clown energy, right? Do you even hear me?“

„Talk about clowns, actually,“ the king carries on completely unbothered. „Mammon really wants to see Kai too, I think he’s missing him. He’s calmed down a little after the Corona crisis messed with his bank account.“

Commotion at the table. Kai almost chokes on his cold tea.

„That’s unexpected… I thought he’d never do that.“

„Yeah aw, I know,“ your father says. „Satan has spread a lot of fake news while he was here, you see.“

„We’re glad to be welcome then? That sounds like a good idea to meet up some time. Maybe for a day or two.“

„Strike! I convinced you!“

„Yeah, you did…“

„Few of you saw hell back in the day, right?“

„Yukhei, Kai, I dunno who else, Ten I’m guessing.“

Nods from the hammock. Wouldn’t be strange if Ten was a regular hell driver.

„Oh Ten! Greet Ten from me. His instagram is what I aspire to. Ten is the coolest. Even the ghouls I know don’t have that kind of fashion sense.“

„Will do.“

„And— about aspirations. We’ll be talking about your heir thing when the time is right you see, I know you want to know about all of this.“

You perk up, as do the club members.

„It’s a thing for the future. I’m not hellbent or anything,“ you say, tongue in cheek.

„Hah! You’re funny. I see we’re agreeing on this. You’re very busy with Baekhyun, right. Love is priority. Hell later. This place is a lot to handle anyway.“

„…exactly.“

„I know my daughter and I didn’t even meet her yet!“

Taeyong does a little aw noise in the background and even Yukhei has to smile.

„I’ll probably tell the same stories you do and blast the same music in a couple years, I can see it coming.“

„And that’s when you’re ready for the throne. Remember—“

„Gotta keep it easy and make it fun.“

„You got it. Until then, live a tense life man, that’s also needed.“

„Dad, what the hell!“

„I actually mean it. Leave it to your old man to get this 9th circle popping in the meantime.“

You get the image of your father watching youtube music videos all day and trying to keep up with the latest slang words on twitter.

„Okay, crazy old man.“

„At your service!“

It almost makes you laugh how the old generation of full-breed demons is completely gone wild and the youngsters are the opposite. Well, except the half-lycans, but they’re always living on the edge anyway.

„Can I speak to Mister Lee as well? Is he around?“

„Mark or Taeyong or Taemin? We have a lot of Lees.“

„Um, the butler guy.“

„Taeyong, here it goes. See you dad!“

You pass the hellephone, Taeyong poises himself.

„Hey there, young man!“

„Not that young. 552, Sire.“

„Hilarious, you can’t even get a Styx boat license around here at that age. Anyway. Got some news for you.“

„Yes, Mister?“

„Mammon recently splurged on the latest robo fancy schmancy tech stuff from Japan for no reason. I guessed you would want to try one on.“

„Pardon— Try on what?“

„Oh, a prosthetic exo-skeleton I mean. I heard you had beef with the loopy guy. Just drop by whenever.“

„A prosthetic arm aid?“

„Well yes!“

„That’s… that’s very kind of you.“

„No problem! Is the your Professor X available to speak to as well?“

„Of course, Sire, one moment,“ Taeyong composes himself, but you can tell he’s still processing it.

Everybody is on the edge of their seat.

„Hi down there,“ Lucas takes the speaker and leans back in his seat very laxly. Compared to how defeated he looked in your office, his posture is much more unwound now.

„Hi up there, Lucas what’s good?“

„Doing mighty fine these days. You gave us a good headline.“

„Oh, you’re very welcome Mister President. There’s headlines about me?“

The King sounds genuinely surprised.

„Yeah. You’ll have to add me in Kai’s Whatsapp group or give me your number. I’ll update you on these types of things.“

„Note down 1666 2666 3666, and I have some updates for you as well.“

Mark and Taeyong instantly start scribbling the number into their vest notebooks, meanwhile Lucas swirls the tea in his cup around.

„Shoot.“

He begins drinking it.

„Mister Cerberus’ daughter graduated today. Canine sciences. Lovely girl, calls herself Circe, you know, like the evil witch. Very intelligent person. She’s looking for a job and a mate in the upper world. I told her about the Club’s situation and you know, gossipped a little. She says she’s interested in you.“

Lucas spits out the tea.

„Sorry, what?“

„Hey, do you really think you’re not a man in demand? Anybody who studies werewolves knows about you. And you have free membership spots, or is that information outdated?“

„I-Is she a half-breed?“

„Of course, do you think Mister Cerberus would date another demon? That would make no sense! Hell, wouldn’t that be beastitality or something? Is it that what you call it?“

„Uh… Bestiality I thought, Sir.“

„Anyways. I haven’t seen Cerberus with anyone else but werewolves.“

„Werewolves are the closest genetically to hell hounds, Mister President,“ Mark leans in confidentially to brief Yukhei. „It’s good conduct for them to date.“

„Oh, uh, I get it.“

„So, do you want to meet her or not?“

„We, we have free spots all the way!“

„Great then, I’ll send her up the staircase now. She’ll be there in a minute or so.“

„The stai—!”

© 2017-2021 submissive-bangtan. all rights reserved. no reposts allowed.

#baekhyun smut #baekhyun #superm #super m smut #sub!baekhyun #super m #super m x reader #superm fanfic #club daemon #female reader x super m #super m fanfics #long post #baekhyun x reader #exo #exo smut #sub!exo #sub!superm

[honestlyfrance]

It Rains Every April 10th

ship: sam/bucky

warning: grief, depression, mcd, hurt/comfort

summary:

"I love you, baby," Sam had spoken, three words so sweetly spoken, an angel could've said it, and Bucky wouldn't mind if that meant that he had crossed to the other side and reached heaven, because it was Sam Wilson.

Bucky had twirled Sam once, the two of them sharing a laugh before he pulled the man closer by the waist. "I love you too, honey," he replied, making sure to put in much eye contact, to let his own eyes send the message his heart failed to say.

OR

A sneak peek in the life of Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson to know the real reason why they think April 10 was a bad date.

—■—■—

Depression hits like a wave on a cliffside — sometimes you see it coming, sometimes you didn’t see it, and sometimes you just let it happen. It sometimes gnaws at your skin, always there, but more of a ghostly hand hovering over you; there’s that presence but you think you don’t have enough proof to prove it existed. Times like these you try your best to move but you become unmotivated, absolutely immobile except for the moments your body decides to exhaust itself for unrelated things you shouldn’t be doing. It takes a toll on you you wouldn’t even realize, and even then, who else realized it? You’re just tired. You don’t cry. You’re just tired. 

It’s moments before dawn that the rain began to pick up, basking the entire scenery in a state of loneliness and tranquility, and it made everything more silent than before. Birds weren’t chirping, and all anyone could hear was the deafening downpour outside their windows. The bedroom is blanketed in blue lighting from the grey clouds outside, and the rain slips down the French windows and the slanting skylight. Bucky Barnes laid in bed, staring solemnly towards his windows with disdain, buried under his duvets. There are bags under his eyes, but they’re almost faint, and there’s a red tinge to his eyes, but he doesn’t feel discomfort from it; he felt as if whole, if anything. He’s just tired.

Bucky lets his eyes flutter shut, grunting as he buried himself deeper into the sheets, pulling his pillows to envelop every side of his body: his back, his chest, his head, his feet. He wanted warmth. It was too early to wake up.  The faint smell of something icky wafted through the cold air and suddenly, all Bucky could think of was how slow time had passed by — he woke up before two in the morning, but his body felt as if it was midnight. It was dawn now, and he still hasn’t sat up. He rose and went, his consciousness blanking ever so often, and all he could think of was how numbed he was to the point that he couldn’t remember how many times he slept and woke up.

Bucky sat down in his tub, the cool but refreshing water pouring from the faucet. The bathroom was dim-lit and the orange lights bounced off of every reflective surface in the room. Here he sighed, watching the excess water go into the side drain, setting his head on the side of the tub. All he could ever hear was the sound of gushing water and the ache of his own heart, and there's that dread of going downstairs and actually living.

His dog suddenly pitter-pattered through the open door, suddenly sitting by the side of the tub. Bucky lazily looked back at the golden retriever. His eyes were barely opened as he spoke, “Roger, go back outside…” His voice was gruff and worn down, like a path down memory lane; so distant and faded that even the memory couldn’t recognize itself.

Bucky turned his head back towards the ceiling, and with a heavy sigh, he grabbed the tub by the side with his one hand and slid himself with a strong push, he lowered himself under the water, and there he felt free. There was nothing waiting for him down there and there was nothing worried for him down there. All he had in that tub was himself and his thoughts, and all his thoughts said to him was, “It’s April 10. You need to wake up.”

He needed to wake up. 

Breakfast was quiet, and with every long drawn-out bite of his cereal was a much longer painful dread in Bucky’s chest, one that swallowed in itself for centuries before and centuries more. It’s a sickening twist to the plot and there’s nothing more emptying than feeling drowsy from one’s own solemn adventure. The outdoor lights filtered through the drawn open blinds and there they go, dancing on tabletops and the clean dishes left on the open sink like ballerinas, and there’s a piece of accompanying music that was dulled to a filtered flute of wind by the rain; water dripped against the windows and made the room look bluer than before, and the white walls seem to close in on Bucky, but he just kept on eating in his bathrobe, his one leg propped up on another chair as Roger sat on his hind legs beside him.

Bucky sighed with his mouth full as he waved his dog off. Roger goes dashing through the open doorway and into the other which led to the expansive library. Bucky didn’t want to look out into the window and see how beautiful the morning was, now that there was something so elegant to see when the whole world just drained itself out of color, and it all seemed unfair — a misuse of justice. Roger brought in a book, and Bucky couldn’t even look at the cover. The Masque Of The Red Death. His hands gripped the pocketbook, his mind fuming and his lips searing at the seams; he fumbled with the book and his muffled sobs, and he suddenly thrashed — he threw the book across the room, successfully breaking another picture frame that was hung on the opposite wall. Roger whimpered and set his head on Bucky's stomach, pawing at his hands until all Bucky gripped was the dog’s coat, gently and softly, feeling his heart squeezed out of life but he’s lightheaded. He’s not better now, but he feels like he could be. 

Bucky whispered something to Roger's ear and he pets him, even gave him an extra treat. 

It’s an unmistakable kind of brokenness that is almost like a “tell,” you know something is wrong, but they don’t fess up to it. Ending up with a game of cat and mouse, and both of you are chasing each other's tail, not knowing who is the culprit and the victim; both of you victimized yourselves because it was the only solution left. You weep at the mess you’ve made and that’s all that you can do. It’s all anyone’s ever done these days, and you shouldn’t apologize for it.

People should start screaming from the top of their rooftops and get that anger out of them, find a victim to mesmerize, and leave them for dead or nothing. Bucky wanted to drive off to the nearest cliff and scream his guts out, vomit his spine out, and just gouge his eyes out, because in a world where the skies seem bleaker — it wasn’t a world. It sounded like a page ripped off of the book of legends, burnt to a crisp, never to be seen again, and Bucky had hoped he would never see it, but then again, here he lies, almost dead and unhinged, mesmerized by the beauty of death to the point that he’d let her sleep in his room for the night.

Bucky would let death spend the night and pick at his skin, peeling it off of him like some sadist, wear his skin, even — let him have a bit of life, even if he was a puppet. There’s nothing more shameful than thinking of such atrocities, yet what other choice does he have? He couldn’t handle it anymore. He was pained, mourning, and helpless. If an angel went down from the skies and told him to jump off a cliff, Bucky would jump off a bridge; if a second angel came down and told him to get lost at sea, Bucky would get lost in a swamp; if a third angel came down for him and told him to suck a dick, Bucky would suck a shoe. Bucky thought he didn’t deserve the gentleness of suffering, so he let himself hurt worse than what was anticipated. So, he lost his leg, had another prosthetic, then he’d lost his sanity. 

Out on the couch at the back porch that overlooked the vast fields of his property, he could feel the tiniest of pinpricks of rain whipping him in his face if it was not for the wall of crawling vines dangling from his rooftop. He set his foot on the coffee table, and right beside him was Roger, resting his head on Bucky’s lap. Bucky’s hand ran through his dog’s fur as he read another random chapter of Pride and Prejudice. He couldn’t say. He didn’t even notice. He’s been so out of it, he wouldn’t even realize the title of the book until he’d put it back into the bookshelf. Bucky’s mind had been empty except for anxious thoughts that he had become numb with the idea of surprises. He left his phone buried in the backyard because he didn’t want any unexpected calls. 

His hands were calloused over the years of stressful work, eventually leaving him with thin and rugged fingers that feel pinpricks almost every second. His hands were once a thing of beauty, and ever since the accident, he couldn’t think much of it. All Bucky now wanted was to decay faster, to lie down on the grass, and feel moss crawl on his skin and declare himself one with the earth. Now that would be a thing of beauty. 

His breath was slow and steady, turning into nothingness a few seconds here and then. Holding onto his breath was the only thing he knew he could hold onto and never let go of. It was the only thing he remembered to be tangible. It didn't use to be like this. Then again, April 10 didn't exist back then.

Sam Wilson would walk into the back porch right now, holding two mugs of hot chocolate, because he adored the rain with his whole heart, and as much he loved nature, that's how much he loved Bucky Barnes. Sam would now then sit right beside his husband and they'll stay snuggled together, bare legs intertwined together, and they'd be giggling like children at the warmth in their chests.

"Look, baby," Sam had said, pecking a quick kiss on Bucky's lips. Bucky's eyes would be overcome with stars that he'd become dizzy at the sensation, "Rain. Do you think it'll rain all day? The weatherman said only a 30% chance,"

Bucky had hummed into Sam's cheek, feeling the way Sam's skin tasted right on his lips. Bucky's mouth would trace the edges of Sam's jaw and the man would let him do more. "Maybe. Perhaps," he had breathed out, "Do you want to stay like this forever?"

Sam had laughed into Bucky's mouth, leaving another kiss that lasted a second longer now. It was sweet, and there were stars dispersing in their hearts. "What else am I going to do all day?"

They had spent the whole day like this: sneaking kisses like teenagers and sipping on hot chocolate like children. Their hearts grew as the rain poured stronger. The pitter-patter of downpour had drummed against their roof like bullets and all they could feel is how safe they were in the war with each other's arms wrapped around each other. It was their own kind of shield, and it was perfect .

That kind of day was now replaced with Bucky and Roger. Bucky would read a random book as Roger would look out into the backyard, longing to run around the rain, but Bucky needed Roger right beside him, and that's what the dog shall do.

READ MORE ON AO3

#sambucky #sam wilson #bucky barnes #winterfalcon #france: works #france: writing #onlysambucky #sambuckyfic

[evermorehaikyuu]

Is it ok if I request a fluff song fic for a kenma x reader where the reader has had a crush on kenma when they were kids and the reader accidentally confesses their feeling for kenma with this song?

Title: Wishing

Note: Hello! Yep, of course! I hope you’re okay with me doing childhood friends to lovers, so let’s get started!

Song: Dandelions (Ruth B.)

-

Childhood memories were full of laughter, friends, summers full of playing and occasionally sleepovers. There was always one friend that you’d care about more than anyone else and that was the one friend you could count on and them on you. For Kenma, that person was Y/N. 

Y/N was his best friend since they were little. Kuroo had been his other best friend, but the one Kenma counted on when it came to video games was her. She always offered a good challenge and he couldn’t deny it when he said that he had fun with her. On the days where their breaks had started, they’d spend a lot of time together, enjoying each other’s company. 

Through the years, they changed but their friendship never once wavered. They had gone to Nekoma High School and Kenma was known to have Y/N hanging around him while he was just quiet. It was strange to a lot of people, but Y/N didn’t think anything of it. Kenma was her best friend. Who was she to leave him behind if someone said something bad about her? 

“Kenma, have you been fighting with Yamamoto again?” Y/N sighed as she sidled up next to him at lunch. She already had his food packed, seeing as he forgot it and she set it in front of him. “You need to eat.”

“He started it,” Kenma grumbled, thinking about the fight he had had with Yamamoto earlier. He was barely a first year and he was already on someone’s bad side.

Y/N picked at her food, thinking before laughing, “You two are going to give poor Fukunaga white hairs before he’s supposed to. You’re teammates, try to get along.”

With an expression of disbelief, Kenma replied, “Didn’t you get into a huge argument with Kuroo because he wasn’t doing what you told him to do?”

“In my defense, it was air hockey! How do you fail at air hockey?! I was just giving him tips, but he said he could do it himself and the idiot didn’t let me help him!” 

Kenma’s hair fell, shielding the side of his face from her. It was a good thing because he had a smile at the time. Kuroo and Y/N were friends but there were times where it was clear that they’d strangle each other if it wasn’t for Kenma. At least they tried. 

When Yamamoto had told him that he looked like the girl from the Ring with that dark hair of his, he resorted to dying to tips blond, making him look completely different. Going to Y/N’s house for their scheduled study session, she had screamed at the sight of him before quieting down when she realized it was just him. Trying to explain to her what had happened, Kenma knew that she was internally laughing and he was grumbling the entire time before they got down to studying. 

What Kenma didn’t know was that Y/N was slowly coming to the realization that she was having feelings for him. She was having feelings for her best friend and she wasn’t ready to face them up front. After all, if Kenma rejected her, they wouldn’t be able to go back to their friendship. That was the one thing she couldn’t bear to lose. Kenma was her best friend since forever and she wouldn’t allow her feelings to get in the way of that. 

In their second year, it was clear to Kuroo that Y/N had feelings for him. Instead of teasing her about it like he wanted, he decided to pull her aside after school. “Can we talk?”

“Whatever I did, it’s not my fault, you made me do it.”

Rolling his eyes, he waved Kenma forward, saying that he’d return Y/N afterwards. He led her to a secluded place and crossed his arms across his chest, raising an eyebrow at Y/N. “Do you have a crush on Kenma?”

Her heart dropped. It was that obvious? “No, definitely not--”

“You’re doing the thing where you’re lying.” Kuroo smiled gently at her, shrugging his shoulders. “I mean, with the friendship you two have had, I expected it. But how long ago did you realize?”

“First year. Just...don’t tell him. Please. I don’t want to lose him because of my feelings for him, I couldn’t bear to have that. Kuroo, please don’t tell him.”

“I won’t. But you never know, maybe he’s just good at hiding the mutual feelings.”

If he had feelings for her, he hid it better than anything. Kenma did have feelings for her and he decided to put it aside because of the same Y/N was sparing hers for him. They didn’t want to lose each other, not after so many years being inseparable. If the rejection was too much for both of them to handle, who knew what’d happen to the both of them. 

Wishes were made by the both of them, hoping that the other would return the feelings with some sort of miracle. Whenever one of them saw the other smiling, they’d feel much more comforted in the end. It was hard to hide it from other people, it was like everyone knew about their feelings for one another except them. They were friends for a long time so the affection they had for one another did not seem romantic whatsoever, it was only seen as platonic for the both of them.  

The years kept going by and now they were in college, Kenma rising to the top faster than ever. He was already preparing his new company and was a famous Youtuber as well as a professional gamer. It seemed like he had everything figured out. The one thing that never changed was Y/N. They were both still pining after one another and it was driving everyone around them insane to know that no matter what, they’d be so utterly oblivious to their discreet ways of showing romantic love to one another. 

The first strike was during Kenma’s stream. He had been playing a game and Y/N had gone to his house because she had a key for his place (Kuroo was on the verge of tears when he heard this, he couldn’t believe she didn’t know what that meant). Walking into his room, she asked, “Kenma, where’s the jacket?”

“Which jacket?” Kenma was focused on his game, but his mind was whirring as to try and figure out what she was talking about. “Yours or mine?”

“Mine, I’m pretty sure I left it here. I’m cold.”

“You can take one of my jackets--” Kenma paused at the sight of the screen’s comments going wild from the conversation. So many of them were asking if that was Kenma’s girlfriend, what her name was and others were just screaming about the revelation. “Guys, this isn’t my girlfriend, she’s just my best friend.”

Y/N’s heart froze at that sentence. He clearly didn’t see her as anything more than a friend. But it was also quite common because Kenma had always called her his best friend. So why did it hurt more now? However, she made sure not to let that hurt show as she tugged on one of Kenma’s hoodies, bringing up a chair next to him. “Can I stay?”

“Of course you can stay.” He paused at the sight of her in his hoodie, his own heart rate increasing and it was clear to everyone else that he was head over heels for her, except her. She didn’t notice. This drove the Nekoma team insane, considering they watched a lot of Kenma’s streams. Yamamoto literally said something along the lines of them to date already because no one wanted a 500k slowburn and if they did, they were masochistic. Luckily, the rest of the comments drowned out that one comment or else Kenma and Y/N would’ve sat in awkward silence. 

“Kenma, you’re going to lose!” Y/N said, gesturing at the screen. 

Quickly turning to his game, he continued talking and playing, all too aware of Y/N next to him in his hoodie. He decided to play with her in the next stream, seeing that a lot of the followers liked her. When he asked, she eagerly agreed and left with his hoodie on. Kenma sat in his gamer chair, staring at the wall. How could he find out if she shared the same feelings for him as he did for her without any consequences?

The day of reckoning arrived for Y/N. She decided to talk to him and tell him because it was already driving her insane to know that her feelings hadn’t faded away through the years at all, they just increased. Picnic dates were Kenma’s favorite thing to do with her, so she chose to take him to their favorite spot and confess there. 

Both of them were going to the place and before long, they were joking around and laughing like they did before. Y/N almost forgot the reason why she had invited him until Kenma asked, “Why’d you invite me here? I mean, I don’t mind but usually it’s because something big is coming up. Is something wrong?” He knew her better than anyone else and it made her glow internally. 

Staring at the landscape before them, covered with thousands of dandelions. The reason why it was Kenma’s favorite place was because of his quiet fondness for dandelions. When they were younger, Y/N and Kenma would make flower crowns of dandelions and put them on one another. He never got the hang of it, but he wore his crown the entire time and even kept it afterwards. He was always sad when they wilted away but she told him that she could make some more for him. That was when they found the hill with the scenery of dandelions. It became Kenma’s favorite place and he found it to be much better when Y/N was at his side.

Y/N gathered up all her courage to say the next words. “I brought you here because I wanted to tell you something. I don’t know how to say it subtly but I don’t think subtle will work here. I like you, Kenma. I have for a long time, I can’t even remember how long it’s been. Originally, I didn’t want to tell you because maybe we’d lose our friendship, yet it’s been years. I had to tell you at some point. But if you don’t return those feelings, it’s okay. We can try to go back to our friendship.”

Kenma could have combusted right then and there from the confession. She liked him. She liked him back. All this time, those times she had been affectionate with him, it wasn’t platonic. He had been blind to it and thought that it was like any other day. Reaching for her hand, he mumbled, “I didn’t want to tell you for the same reason, but I like you too. I have for a while now and I didn’t want to believe it when people told me about you.”

Y/N turned to face him and saw the small smile on Kenma’s face. She inhaled sharply as she stared at their entwined hands. It wasn’t a dream. It was real. Placing her head on his shoulder, she reached for his other hand and when she squeezed his hand, it gave him the answer he needed. Leaning his head on hers, he just barely turned to give her the smallest kiss on the side of her head, causing her heart to race as they both gazed at the yellow field before them. It was the happiest they had been and it was because of each other. 

“I think Kuroo’s going to scream when he finds out.” Y/N mumbled.

Kenma sighed, realizing that she was right. The entire team would lose their heads at the news. However, instead of thinking about that, he wrapped his arms around her and replied, “We’ll worry about that later.” His embrace made it clear that what he wanted to do more was stay in that moment with her. He loved her more than what he thought he did. Just being in that picturesque scene was enough for him to confirm it internally. It wasn’t time yet to say those three words, but within time, he’d be able to say it easily because it was her.  They felt safer with each other than with anyone else and they knew one another like the backs of their hands. It was enough for both of them.

No matter what would’ve happened, they would always choose each other. Kenma knew that he’d choose her over anyone and with that thought in mind, he let everything else disappear and only concentrated on her comforting warmth, finally feeling happy after a long time. 

#haikyuu x reader #kenma x reader #kenma kozume x reader #kenma x y/n #kenma kozume x y/n #kenma x you #kenma kozume x you #kenma imagines #kenma kozume imagines