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#i did look up many of the answers xox
profesorlayton · 3 months
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all the unlockable figurines from all the daily puzzles in azran legacy :]
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juletheghoul · 2 years
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The Date
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AN: It's wild to me, that whenever I have a writers block - the cure is inevitably to write a pussy-drunk Francisco Morales. This is a sequel to The Party, couldn't leave these two without another meeting. I'm trying to reintegrate myself onto tumblr and to continue to work on my many projects - quick thank you to my girl @wheresarizona for beta-ing this fever dream and for generally being supportive and amazing. Hope you enjoy xox.
Pairing; Frankie Morales x f!reader
Warnings;  piv sex (wrap it up), swearing, dirty talk, Frankie eats pussy like the champion he is, let me know if I missed anything.
Word count; 2k
reblogs are appreciated
Masterlist
----
It had been months since your interlude at the party Maureen had dragged you to, months since you’d let the gorgeous, married man fuck you in the back of his truck, and if you were honest with yourself - you never actually thought he’d follow through and call you. But he did. 
He’d called. 
It had happened a few months later, after a particularly rough day, and had you not brought your phone into the bathroom with you while you ran your bath, you might have missed it. It rang loudly as you shut off the water, your annoyed sigh melding with the sweet-smelling steam in the air at the thought that your overeager coworker might be calling you after hours. 
The sigh turned into a gasp at the flash of his name across your screen, and that roller coaster feeling in your gut froze you in place; it almost made you miss the call. 
“Hello?” Your voice echoed through the small room, accompanied by the steady drip of water into the warm bath. 
“Hey-” His voice sent a shiver down your spine, the sound of it in your ear bringing your thoughts back to his truck with crystalline clarity.
“Hi-” You repeated the greeting, now with a smile on your face. “I’ll be honest - I never actually thought you’d call.” Your hand toyed with the towel on the counter. 
“I didn’t actually think you’d answer.” He laughed, the sound rich and warm and so welcome. “I thought you might have forgotten about me, figured you’d deleted my number.”
“Does this call mean that you’re single?” The phone was cradled between your shoulder and your ear in order to begin disrobing - the bath water wouldn’t stay hot for long. 
“Yes, finalized everything a couple of weeks ago.” You could hear keys jingling, and your thoughts brought you back to the truck again, the steam on the windows and the bruise you’d worn on your thigh for days. “Think you’d maybe want to grab dinner with me or something?” His tone suggested that those same memories followed him as well, and you couldn’t help but laugh. 
“Yes, or something.” He laughed now, too, “How about Friday?” You shucked off your sweats as you spoke, eager to submerge yourself into an epsom salt oasis. 
“Definitely works for me. Send me your address, and I’ll pick you up. Can’t wait to see you again. Have a great night.” And with that, the day suddenly didn’t seem so bad. 
-
It had been a long time since he’d gone out on a first date, a long time since he’d been excited about the prospect of one, but here he was - nervously rubbing at his denim-clad thighs as he walked up to her front door. He’d been nervous about the whole thing as he knocked softly, worrying briefly that maybe he’d misunderstood the meaning of the outing. Maybe she hadn’t been flirting with him over the phone - maybe she didn’t want to date a recently divorced man. 
It all went out the window when she opened the door, her pupils dilating that same way as their first encounter, her pretty lips stretched into a gorgeous smile. 
“You’re on time.” She breathed it out, moving aside for him to come in, and he followed. 
“I was eager, you look amazing -” He frowned suddenly, annoyed with himself. “I should have gotten you flowers-” He tapped at his pockets as though he might tap them into existence. 
“Oh-” she laughed, the sound tinkling in his ears, “don’t worry about that I wasn’t expecting any.” She waved away his concern, the movement of her dress drawing his eye. 
“I still should have, I’ll make it up on the second date.” The same tinkling as she checked a mirror hanging in her foyer.
“Haven’t even left for our first date and already planning the second?” She smiled at him shyly, the air between them charged. 
“Oh yes, I’m not done with you yet.” He looked her up and down, bold and unashamed. 
He looked just as handsome as you remembered; tall and strong with those lovely brown eyes and that gorgeous dimple. His hair had grown out a bit, curling over the tops of his ears and your fingers itched to reach out and thread through them. 
You never made it to the restaurant, you never even made it to your bed.
His tongue was insistent, tasting every inch of your mouth as he devoured you while his hands held you tightly against him. First at your shoulders, slipping between the straps of your dress and your heated skin to expose every inch he could. Then to your waist, pulling you close to his body, solid muscle tense under your hands.
They moved further down, bunching up the bottom of your dress so he could reach under and grab greedy handfuls of your ass, feeding a groan directly into your mouth once he made contact. His kiss moved to your neck, open-mouthed at your pulse point.
“Lay back.” He pulled your earlobe between his teeth softly, sending a shiver down your spine and making you throb. He guided you to your sofa, the hungry look on his face driving a hot spike of arousal into your belly. He pooled the dress up, curling his fingers around the waistband of your panties, and you lifted your hips to help him with a smile. “Been thinking about this since the truck.” He licked his lips as he pushed your thighs up and apart, his gaze making you drip.
He dove in like a man lost in the desert, dove in like you were a freshwater spring, groaning into your skin with his nose pressed against your mound in his need to taste every inch of your pert little clit. The itch to run your fingers through his curls was sated with a pant, the soft strands slipping through your fingers as your nails scratched reverently at his scalp in the soft glow of your quiet living room.
He held your thighs apart with heavy hands, keeping you spread open and pulsing for his mouth, his tongue dipping down to swirl deliciously around the rim of your opening before slipping it in as deep as he could. Desperate, it seemed to taste the very heart of you. He moaned into it, shameless in his enjoyment, before pulling away to adjust himself on the couch. Strings of your arousal tying him to you for a brief moment, the image of which would be burned into your memory to treasure forever. 
“God, baby, you taste so fucking good.” He bit at the meat of your thigh, kissing the lips of your sex as though it were your mouth. It was so fucking erotic, his pussy-drunk expression, hypnotized and starving for it. 
“Don’t tease me, Frankie-“ He dove back in with gusto, wide licks to your clit, and it was almost unfair how quickly he pushed you towards the edge, your stomach clenching the closer you got to nirvana. “Frankie baby, oh god, I’m gonna come-“ his hand moved quickly, and with two thick fingers, he speared into your aching heat. His tongue kept up that perfect rhythm, and after a handful of petting strokes from his fingers - euphoria exploded, radiating out through your veins.
He groaned to feel you clench around his fingers, his tongue never faltering, the breadth of his shoulders keeping your legs open to his assault. 
He was softly kissing your mound when your soul re-entered your body, worshiping at the mouth of your sex. 
“Come up here.” You grabbed at the collar of his shirt, eager to feel him inside again, and for a moment, he resisted.
“I wanna keep eating your pussy.” He palmed your cunt for a moment before he let you pull him toward you. “Can I?” He slotted his hips between yours on your narrow couch, his face shiny with your slick.
“As amazing as that sounds, I want you to fuck me, need you to stretch me open with your big dick like you did before.” You undid his shirt as you kissed him, licking into his mouth to taste yourself. 
“Fuck,” he groaned, his hands hurriedly undoing his pants to pull his cock out, a loud sigh leaving your lips at the sight of him blushing red and sticky with precome. “Spread open for me, gorgeous.” He leaned back for a moment, his cock grasped in his hand - brow furrowed as he fed it into you achingly slow.
Sweat beaded in your hairline, it coated his chest where you managed to get his shirt open - your gaze moving from the hollow of his throat down to where you were joined - mesmerized at the image of him coating himself in you with every thrust. 
It felt too good to speak - neither of you were able to articulate a word, the only sounds were sharp breaths and pants, the wet plunge of him into your hungry little cunt. He added more force, and it pulled an involuntary moan from somewhere in your throat. 
“I’m close, your tight little pussy is going to make me come.” He sped up a little, and it was much too soon. 
“Wait - wait, baby, not yet.” You wrapped your legs around him, holding him tight to you, and he stopped for a moment - his eyes almost unfocused with lust. “Don’t come yet, I want you to fuck me longer.” You kissed his neck, holding him still, and he pressed his forehead to yours, a gorgeous sigh rewarding your words.
“Fuck, you’re going to kill me, baby - don’t move - I’m so fucking close.” He closed his eyes, holding himself stock still, and you had to fight the urge not to clench around him. Instead, you slid your hands under his open shirt to caress the skin of his back, careful not to jostle him. He took a few steadying breaths before he opened his eyes to look at you, a soft smile on his face. “I’m really glad I called.” He placed kisses around your collarbones like a necklace, pulling your dress down along with the cups of your bra. 
“I’m really glad you did too - oh - that feels really good, Frankie.” Your fingers slid up to hold onto his curls as he took one nipple into his mouth, then the other. His mouth was just as relentless with the sensitive buds as it was between your legs - pulling wave after wave of slick to drip out around him, and before long, he was rocking in and out again.
“I can’t hold still, you feel too good.” He breathed the words into your chest, kissing a path up from your breast to your lips, and then his tongue was in your mouth; he was stealing the breath right out of your lungs. 
His shallow rocking soon became a heavy thrust, his hips pistoning harder than before, and with every press, your mind blanks. Cock-dumb. Euphoria. Heaven.
He reached for your hand blindly, and with what could only be described as desperation, he stuck your fingers into his mouth, moistening them before guiding them down to your clit. There weren’t any words needed, there weren’t any words left in your brain or in your mouth, and it was only a few practised swirls before you were clenching around him with a pained gasp.
“Fuck-“ his voice was guttural, “There it is, fuck baby, I’m gonna come, can I come inside you? Please?” His hips stuttered, and your cunt fluttered from the aftershocks of your orgasm, fluttered at the thought of being filled, and now he was almost whimpering in your ear, and when you breathed out yes Frankie, inside, he seized. 
His hand on your hip squeezed as he ground his come deep inside, replacing that bruise from the first time, and you couldn’t help but smile at the thought of feeling it tomorrow. 
He breathed deep, face buried in the crook of your neck, and for a moment, there was only peaceful shared breath.
“I haven’t come like that in years.” He was shaky when he pulled up a bit to look at you, his flushed smile almost nervous. 
“Me either.” You smiled back, pushing his sweat-damp hair away from his face before pulling him in for a kiss. “Let’s make it a goal.” He laughed, nerves dissipating one moment at a time. 
“I would be happy to.” 
-
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fullofgiggles · 16 days
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This post/fic is for my best friend, but if you’re not her and you’ve stumbled across this, hello welcome
@switch-writer
over the course of the past few years you have been nothing short of an actual gem in my life. from our daily talks, to our watching of shows, i can’t think of anyone else that i’d rather spend my time with. you are my comfort person, the one i’d go to for anything, and it blows my mind that a community like the tword community was able to bring us together and create such an unbreakable bond between us.
as i’m writing this, it’s been over a year since we met up the first time, and since then, you’ve helped me improve so much. whether that be mentally, emotionally, with my writing, with my confidence, etc- you’ve helped me improve every aspect of my life.
with that being said, since you’ve indulged me so often the past few years by reading whatever i’ve written, and even posting one of my fics for me since i was too scared to do it myself, i felt it was time to repay that. i’ve been a while revising this, screwing up rough drafts, and figuring out characters- all the while trying to not stray too far out of character. so without further ado, i love you so much light switch👹👹 and i hope you enjoy this as much as i enjoyed writing it. it might be on the shorter end, but still😅
may not be as many twords, but i just kinda wanted to write soft mihawk :))
An unexpected smile, xox, Ghost Princess
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Although a calm day on Kuraigana Island, it wasn’t unusual. The warlord sat comfortably on a plush chair, taking his time as he flipped through the pages of the daily news.
What was unusual, however, was the fact that Mihawk hadn’t seen Perona in a solid three hours. It was already half past noon and he hadn’t heard a peep from the pink-haired nuisance. Usually she’d have peeked her head in to pester him or argue with him by now.
Despite that, Mihawk couldn’t really complain. He enjoyed the quiet, and he certainly enjoyed not having someone pester him every five minutes. Just as that thought crossed his mind, he directed his eyes up and away from the newspaper.
Surely he didn’t miss her- No. Definitely not. It was just quiet, something he hadn’t been used to since before Perona had taken refuge in his castle. It was almost sad how Mihawk had felt from the unexpected change in routine.
Wake up, brush teeth, brush hair, get food- And there, sitting across from him at the table, was usually Perona. Every time she opened her mouth to speak or laugh, Mihawk had felt a part of him shrink away as his daily bout of annoyance began. But today was different- Why hadn’t she joined him for breakfast or lunch so far?
Again, it’s not as though he cared at all. However, the thought did cross his mind that he should check on her. And so that was exactly what he did.
Walking through the halls of the castle, the warlord took his time getting to the Ghost Princess’s room. Once he got there, he rapped his hand three times on her door.
“Perona?”
No answer.
He knocked once more.
“Ghost girl? I haven’t heard from you all day.” He spoke, half mumbling his words. He didn’t exactly care, it was just out of the ordinary to not hear her high pitched squawking at this hour of the day.
Despite his knocking and calling of her name, there was still no movement nor noise from the other side of the door. Finally, the warlord huffed and slowly opened the door.
“Are you even in here?”
By looking around the room, he answered his own question. She wasn’t in there. In fact, he wasn’t even sure where she could be, because the chances are that she’d say something if she was headed somewhere.
Mihawk narrowed his eyes in confusion as he thought for a moment. How peculiar. First, he hadn’t heard from Perona by half past noon- She hadn’t showed up for breakfast or lunch. Her high pitched voice wasn’t heard ringing throughout the castle all day. And now she wasn’t even in her room?
The warlord shrugged, closing the door as he began to walk away. She was an adult, she could handle herself. It wasn’t his problem.
As he made his way back towards his chair, Mihawk felt two hands grab his shoulders from behind. Though the feeling was slightly startling, he tried to not let that show.
“You do care! You even came looking for me and everything!”
There was that high pitched voice… The warlord sighed and closed his eyes, his daily bout of annoyance and frustration already beginning.
“I don’t care. It’s just not usual for you to be gone all day. It’s been so pleasantly quiet, I thought I was dreaming.”
“Damn, once an asshat, always an asshat.” The ghost princess sighed as she stepped up next to him. “Then why’d you come looking for me in my room?”
“Like I said- I’m not used to the silence. I was almost beginning to miss my daily frustration upon hearing your dog-whistle of a voice.” The warlord nearly cracked a smirk at that one.
“Okay-! That was incredibly rude! Uncalled for! You absolute negative nelly! Actually- I don’t mind the negativity, keep that up, but still!!” Perona huffed, crossing her arms. “Even I lighten up a bit sometimes- Clearly that’s almost impossible for you.”
“Most likely, yes.” Mihawk spoke, rather unfazed as he made his way back towards his comfy chair.
Perona huffed, straightening up her hat as she floated over to him.
“You’re such a sour old man. Too sour even for me.”
“You’ll live.”
“Seriously! I mean- Put a damn smile on your face every once in a while!”
“No.”
“I- What do you mean ‘no’?! You can’t just say no!”
“I can. I did.”
The ghost princess scrunched up her nose and furrowed her brows in annoyance. The daily arguments between the two finally began, and it was already quarter to one in the afternoon.
“You’re worse than my ghosts! Making everything around you depressed- You’re the worst!”
“Woe is me.” Mihawk sat back down in his chair, beginning to flip through his newspaper once more.
“That’s seriously all you have to say?!”
“Indeed.”
Perona huffed in annoyance as she went silent. Once more, the castle was filled with silence. The only sound being the occasional rustle of a page as Mihawk flipped through his newspaper.
After a few moments of peaceful silence, Mihawk saw Perona out of the corner of his eye. She was kneeling down next to him, her eyes glued to the newspaper just as his were.
The warlord paid no mind to it. She could use a bit of smart people entertainment, in his words.
The two sat in silence for a bit… that is, until Mihawk felt two fingers drill into his hips. The ravenette’s breath hitched as he jumped up and looked at Perona.
“What was that?”
“What was what?”
“Why did you do that?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The pink haired one responded, a smirk evident on her face.
“That thing you just did. Why did you touch me?”
“I didn’t.”
“You’re lying.”
“Maybe I am, maybe I’m not!” Perona giggled, standing up as she floated towards him. “Even still… you really do need to lighten up. Your gloominess really can be a lot sometimes. And that’s coming from me. That’s saying something.”
“I really don’t.” Mihawk responded, though he took a step back as Perona reached her hands for him.
The ghost princess snickered as she lunged for him, skittering his fingers up his sides and ribs, then scribbling back down to his tummy.
The warlord gasped, flinching away as he held back what he presumed to be a giggle… a giggle? That’s preposterous. Practically unheard of. He rarely smiled, let alone laughed.
“Oh, oh! I almost gotcha! Cmon! Smile! I’m literally doing the complete opposite of what my devil fruit does… isn’t that ironic?” Perona laughed, her signature ‘horo horo’ slipping through every now and then.
Mihawk, being the strong person he is, could have easily slipped away. But did he want to?
It was hard to say. He was curious as to what Perona was doing- But perhaps she was right? That thought was rare in and of itself, but still. Maybe he did need to lighten up at times. Shanks had told him that previously as well.
However, his thoughts were cut short as one hand squeezed his hips, and the other skittered up his back. That caught him off guard, and he quickly flinched away with a slight chuckle.
The pink haired one gasped, freezing as she stared up at him.
“Was that-“
“No.”
“Oh, I think it was-“
“It wasn’t. You’re hearing things.”
“Oho… Oh, I got a laugh out of you! I did!! I did! I did! Oh, I’ll never let you live this down!” Perona laughed as she squeezed away at his hips, occasionally a hand would scribble around his tummy or sides.
The warlord yelped, bursting into somewhat uncharacteristically soft laughter. Not mocking laughter, nor fake, but genuine soft laughter. Who knew it was possible for the famous Hawkeye to have such a soft moment?
Mihawk could’ve easily shoved her away as well… but he didn’t. Surely he wasn’t enjoying this… Surely he wasn’t having such a soft moment with such an annoying person-
But he was. He was having a fun moment. One that was a long time coming, and well deserved for that matter. Since he was someone who’s dealt with a lot, he deserved a break- He deserved a chance to smile and laugh.
“WahAHaiT- CuhuHut iHiHit ohOut!” The warlord snorted slightly.
“Holy shit! You just snorted!” Perona giggled, skittering her fingers up his ribs.
“NoHOho IhiHi diHIhiDn’t!”
“You did! Do it again!”
“IhIhI- NoHo!”
The ghost princess snickered, scribbling her fingers across his tummy. Once more, he could’ve pushed her away… he could’ve remained stone cold and blank faced. But he didn’t.
Perona had known that he’d been working hard lately. She’d known that he’s been unusually tired.
And because of that… she’d known that he needed a chance to smile. Perona wasn’t exactly known for her ability to make people laugh and smile… but this would do.
So for the rest of the afternoon, soft giggles and snorts rang out throughout the castle halls. From Mihawk, occasionally Perona, but what mattered was that they were both happy. And more importantly, getting along.
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twilightlane-archived · 10 months
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"⌛" A memory to do with Dan?
[XOX]
Liz knew there was an underlying queerness to Dan. Being pansexual herself, there was the smallest of hints Liz had picked up on over the months they were together. 
It was quiet in the study, as Dan had been hunched over book after book jotting down notes and ideas for future gadgets. Liz basked in the domestic silence as she flipped through one of the many birdwatch books Daniel owned. But her eyes were steadily on the man before her. Of course the brunet sensed eyes on him and looked up from his desk.
".. Wh.. What?" Dan had the sheepish of smiles on his face as he let out a nervous chuckle.
"Nothing~" Liz cooed, a grin growing across her own face at the sight. "You just look cute is all."
"Shut up." Dan chuckled again as his face flushed with a bit of color.
God, how adorable he was. How easily he could make her heart melt. Liz's thoughts were soon interrupted.
"Besides, I know that look." The brunet spoke with more confidence. "Means nothing but trouble."
"You read me that well, huh?" Liz smirked, thinking up the best way to tease Daniel while genuinely mapping out a rather touchy subject to most. "Who's your favorite male vigilante? Besides our dear Hollis Manson."
Dan seemed a bit surprised by the question, but gazed down in thought nonetheless. "... Well, if I had to pick anyone besides Nite Owl, Captain Metropolis and Hooded Justice are one of the top masked heroes I'd choose as my favorites. Popular picks, I know." Dan huffed, getting ready to defend them. "I would say Ozymandias, but Adrian sometimes just.. rubs me the wrong way. Maybe it's the businessman in him. Selling action figures of himself, and all." He shrugged.
Instead Liz only arched an eyebrow upward. 
"What?" Dan asked in confusion at Liz's reaction.
".. What are your thoughts on Silhouette being kicked out of Minutemen?" Liz continued.
Now Dan was growing suspicious as his eyes narrowed toward his girlfriend lounging across the room. However he answered. Albeit rather tensely. "Hollis mentioned it a few times. How he liked Ursula, and felt bad about excluding her, but that he didn't care for her being so open about her sexuality."
"That's Hollis' opinion." Now Liz's eyebrows furrowed together. "What do you think, Daniel?"
Dan bit the inside of his cheek realizing he was being caught hiding behind someone else's opinions for the sake of blending in. But why was he trying to do that in the first place? It wasn't like he was... different.
"I have liked Silhouette since I was a kid. I thought she was the coolest. And well... I felt sad hearing she was kicked out." Dan processed. "I don't think she deserved the hatred she got. Or her.. murder." He ran a hand through his hair, scratching the back of his head. "I dunno. I was definitely shocked to hear about her... And her partner. But... That didn't change the fact that she was still a good person.
"Why are you asking these questions? What does Silhouette have to do with the other Minutemen?" Dan's attention turned back to Liz. Maybe Rorschach's paranoia was rubbing off on Dan, but even then he had a good sense when someone else had different intentions. Although it wasn't like Liz was trying to hide it either as she softly smiled.
"Oh, I was just curious." Liz hummed, fairly content that Dan still had a good heart. And was perhaps not ready for that kind of conversation just yet.
"No. Tell me what you mean." Dan confronted firmly. Which slightly surprised Liz. She closed her book and sighed.
"Fine. I'm pansexual." Liz responded nonchalantly. "There, happy?"
Liz could see the cluelessness washed over Dan's face for a moment before he finally answered. "... Oh."
"Does that change your view on me?"
"No." He answered sincerely.
"Good." Liz smiled.
She knew Daniel had questions, and eventually he did voice them over the course of the next few days. Liz was nothing but patient with him, understanding that he had come from a sheltered background. And there weren't exactly a lot of books painting homosexuality in a good light. And Liz would never push anything onto Dan. But the more questions he’d ask, the more silent confirmation Liz had that this man was not fully straight as he so claimed.
“I’m only just curious.” He’d protest.
“Mhm.” Liz knowingly hummed. “Curiosity is good.”
“Well! I’m not that kind of curious.”
“I didn’t say anything.” Liz’s smirk grew.
“I- I know! I’m just saying.”
“Mhm.”
“You’re starting to sound like Rorschach.”
“Is that a good thing~?”
“God, no!” Dan quickly responded as they both laughed.
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nickalphonsus · 1 year
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5th June 2022 Lemon Studios
“It’s always about being super extra. I love everything pink and sparkly that’s why this collection is– -” Jojo was poised with an ungodly ball of fur on her lap, as always, when someone called out cut! She giggled and relaxed, someone had turned up the music between cuts but Jojo was in her own little world. Chin tilted upwards so her make-up could be touched up. Her kitty was temporarily removed. “Sweetie how much do we have left to shoot today?”
“Just a few more questions, then you’re free to go.” 
“Excellent! Do you mind if I take a break?” Jojo smacked her lips, pulling up her sweetest and the most gregarious smile.
“Sure just the sooner we finish–-”
Jojo didn’t let the producer finish. She’d already bounced up out of the chair and headed down the hall of the studio to find her assistant. She commandeered her phone back off the poor kid and took her JUUL outside. It was bubblegum sweet today, as always. She turned up her nose at leaning against the wall it looked and smelt like someone had pissed against it. Gross!
“Sweetie…sweetie…” Jojo flipped open her phone. Retro was totally in.
She waded through the swathes of notifications. Dialling the number was easy when Jojo had programmed them in as ‘INVESTIGATOR #8 XOX.’
“Hey!” Jojo cut in before the answerer had a chance to introduce themselves. “It’s Jojo darling I wondered if you had an update on the case for me?”
‘Jojo… I don’t know how many times I have to tell you it’s been nearly two years there is no updates.’
“I don’t pay you for inaction!”
‘Actually you haven’t– -’
“Yes, yes, my assistant will get on that. Sweetie…” Jojo paused to suck on her JUUL. “I just need to know if you have any update on him? On either of them?”
‘We did trace a one… Michael Kaufman…’
“It’s Mik!”
‘Yes… well we did trace one Mik to a Salvation Army shelter on Hunter Street but he hasn’t returned in over two months…’
“That can’t be…Mik would never…” Jojo huffed. She’d stuffed the JUUL into her hot pink sweatpants to move her phone into her other hand. “Still no news on Nick?”
‘Apologies ma’am… he was last recorded at St Thomas’ Hospital for the incident we have already discussed. Our understanding is that he was going to seek shelter at the Salvation Army shelter but was turned away…’
“Ugh! Anything after? He couldn’t have just disappeared.”
‘No ma’am, we’ve tried every avenue but no-one has seen him in years now…’
“Well! Impossible! He wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye.”
Jojo hung up before they could scold her clinging on to false hope. It was bullshit! Big hot steaming pile of bullshit that the pair of them would disappear without a trace. Nick was flighty but not like this. The only new tidbit was the Salvation Army shelter. Jojo swapped her phone for her JUUL. She didn’t get very far as someone came pounding on the fire exit door. Conveniently opening it from the inside alleviating the Ooopsie! I’ve locked myself out! excuse. It was her publicist. 
“Jojo we’re on.”
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biffhofosho · 1 year
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Hello! I'm so sorry I haven't responded in awhile, I came down with the flu lol. However, I am in awe that your favorite discography is No Limit(that's mine too🥰). I hope that you enjoyed your weekend with your family, I'll try to save my longer asks for week days as to not infringe on your deserved family time.
Im excited to start working on your gift, I already have a few ideas. Bare with me as I throw random questions at you haha
What is your favorite Hyungwon photoshoot? I'd love to know, or what about a favorite Hyungwon era lol? I personally am all about Gambler and No Limit.
You mentioned listening to Mercy so I HAVE to ask, do you have other favorite tracks written by him or the rest of the boys? Speaking of the rest of the guys, what's your favorite monsta x photoshoot if you have one? They can all be the same but for me personally they're different for some of these questions which is why I ask.
Anyway, I tried to keep this message rather short as to not consume too much of your time, Biff. However, during the days between responses, I wish you good heath and lovely days💚
xox mbb Secret Santa
The flu??? NO! I hope you are recovering well and that it wasn't too bad! But I did miss you, so I'm glad you're feeling well enough to send me another ask. <3
Hahaha, you were concerned about taking up too much of my time, but the joke's on you, babe: I can't do anything in a timely fashion when it comes to the Monstas. This reply has taken me an hour and a half legit because after collecting six years' worth of content, it's easy to get so lost in it. MBB are so spoiled. *sobs*
(Also, that's not a complaint. I had fun, but I promise that this is a lot more than you bargained for loooooooooooooool.)
Oh boy, gifties! Let's do this! ;)
Favorite Hyungwon photoshoot? In order to answer this, I had to endure the pain of going back through my comically large Hyungwon folder, and it was nothing but pain, but I endured for you, dear Santa. Since I am forced to choose, I will go with either the newest Dazed magazine shoot, which I imported a copy of, you better believe (heh heh), or his spread in Xiesta, which I just MIRACULOUSLY acquired a copy of after a full year of searching (mbb be going to their graves with that photobook in hand).
Evidence A:
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Evidence B:
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Don't let this confuse you though--my all time FAVORITE boy looks (and this goes for all the MX boys, though I'm in a mood now thanks to having to comb my folder, so I'm gonna double-down on the HW ham here) are:
1) [most fave] white tee/jeans (bonus points, ballcap)
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2) GLASSES.
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3) Hoodies
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4) Candid boyfriend looks
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5) One-of-a-kind features
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(Hyungwon's lip freckle and his special ear make me scream incoherently into the abyss on the regular just like Wonho's bellybutton freckle or Minhyuk's slow blink or Kihyun's lip corner beauty mark do.)
Favorite era for Wonnie though??????? Okay, the ones you named are top-tier to be sure, but as far as I'm concerned his era for me is now. I've never seen him living so bravely or truly, and it is doing all kinds of funny things to my brain. He's grown into such a confident man that it has me, a very confident woman, quaking.
My other favorite Hyungwon tracks are "Nobody Else" and "Wildfire." Head empty. Only Hyungwon. Oof. As far as other songs: "Night View" destroys me; "Kiss or Death" remains my favorite MV and I absolutely HATE that that gem of a song was relegated to the Universe app and I never even got my gd choreo; "Love" in headphones is a masterpiece; "Champagne" is my fave Japanese track; and "Monsta Truck" is my fave OT7 song.
Favorite group shoots are: OT7 - Are You There? album shoots, specifically Versions II & III
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(Is my bias showing??? haha)
OR
Fatal Love shoots, specifically this one where they are all millionaire CEOs:
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And the Chillax Mode photobook (though the MX University is a close runner-up as well).
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Sorry this was excessive. I spiral easily. ;) Forgive me?
Real talk: I love that we have so many things in common! You are the perfect Santa for me, beloved! <3 And as you can see, you remained anon! I have been TERRIFIED of doing that myself. I check and re-check and re-re-check before I send mine lol!
Have a wondrous day/night/twilight/whatever, my precious Santa!
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1, 10 and a wildcard of your choice for the questions pls and thank youuuuu!!! xox
Hey neighbor! I’m just catching up on things, so forgive my lateness. These look like some fun q’s, so I’ll give it a go. Be prepared for some long, rambly answers! 1. What are 3 things you’d say shaped you into who you are?
Fandom: Okay, so I’ve been in fandom for a longggg ass time. I think we’re going on to 19 years soon? I have no idea where I would be without fandom because the person I was before that was unsure, lost and intimidated. Fandom has helped me cultivate so many long-lasting friendships and that was what turned me into a creator. I don’t know how people know this, but I started off as a fic writer before becoming a fan artist. I used to write weekly drabbles, long fic and I did write a BB (44k!) once upon a time. The community I joined then was super wholesome and welcoming. The writing from those days makes cringe like hell now, but I really appreciate what I learned from that time. Then a couple of years later I jumped into making art, and for a while I was writing and drawing at the same time (don’t ask me how I did that while in uni either). I actually made my first HP art pieces while still in school, and I was thinking about pursuing art for uni. I had one piece that was accepted into an art gallery for a HP convention, and that was when I also made my first Drarry piece for a fest. I have not looked back ever since. Since I recharged my batteries and I’m now writing and drawing at the same time again, it’s amazing to see how much has changed and how my styles have matured. Processes have changed, and quality is way more important than quantity. But also, seeing how all of these things have reached other people and brought them joy has been pretty awesome. Art: See above. I am 10000% sure if it wasn’t for fandom, I would not be making art right now. And I know that would be super sad, because art has been part of the reason why I’ve always gotten hired for jobs, even though it’s not the premise of any of the roles I’ve had/have. But it’s the methodology and thinking out of the box that counts. Taking risks and seeing what sticks. That’s what has made me stick out every time I meet new people and I tell them I’m an artist.
Original art (which I do make too) is fun, but fanart has always given me a liberty to play in one or multiple sandboxes and has allowed me to take things to the next level in some crazy ways. I’ve found that it’s almost like journaling or milestoning things and ideas whenever I make something for a fest/event. It’s super different from making art to be sold for online or at conventions. Since I’m part professionally-trained (traditional) and part self-trained (digital) and I’ve been making art for quite some time, I also can’t see myself not making art. That’s just how I express myself...when visuals are easier to portray than words are. Life without would be like be cutting my limbs off. Tea + Tumblr: Okay, so here’s a fun story! I got into loose leaf teas and became a tea blender because of Tumblr back in 2013. Yeahhh. Adagio Teas introduced fandom teas at the time (where you can make your own blend of teas), and since I was using Tumblr to promote my art biz when that was the thing to do, I met some other artists who were making teas and I jumped on the bandwagon. It was such a pleasure meeting some amazing tea blenders (like Cara McGee or Aun-Juli Riddle), because we all were putting so much love in making these dumb teas about characters we loved. We’d illustrate all the labels and figure out tea percentages that suited each person. There’s actually some strategy around this (feel free to ask more if you’d like :P). Sooo, yeah, I’m still making teas to this day. Selling fandom teas somehow became a big foundation that has kept my art biz going. Local cons know me as the tea person, I have regulars who come back for more, and when I do come out with something new, people get really excited about it. I’ve sort of turned tea into an experience for people. And you can probably guess it...mentioning this in job interviews has gotten me some major kudos. :D 10. Would you say you’re an emotional person? YESSSS. 1000000% This doesn’t need a long answer, but I’ve always been a sensitive person since I was a kid (my mom actually had to read books on how to deal with that), and given my answers above, I pull from emotions when it comes to creations, listening to music, and pretty much everything. 6. What’s the best and worst part of being online/a creator?
Best: Ummm, I have to say, seeing people lose their shit about something you’ve had to keep quiet about is kind of fun and amazing. I’ve been participating in anon fests for a long time, and it’s always fun to see people guess who made what. I know that my style for art has changed a lot over the years, and it’s way more obvious whenever my art does get posted (since I have yet to find someone who draws so crosshatchy like I do). I’ll take that as a win though. People will either leave comments of squee, or they’ll reblog the crap out of it (something that wasn’t as easy to do back in the LJ days).
Worst: Imposter syndrome is so realllll. I know we’re our own worst critic, and sometimes, it’s difficult when I have days where I think my work sucks, or I have to ask why I’m making something. I’ve definitely learned over the years that it’s super important to enjoy not just the end result of something but also the process of making it. Because at the end of the day, we should do what makes us happy.
Thanks for the ask! ___ Previously answered: 11 and 17 Want to know more? Ask a q for questions I think would be fun to be asked!
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oopsimbug · 3 years
Text
in which... y/n is just trying to put on eyeliner and harry is bored pt. two
a/n: when she’s back from a six month hiatus after making only ONE fic. wow, do i suck. for anyone who cares, school has been pretty rough. i’m actually procrastinating studying for an exam to finally upload this. it’s been pretty hard to balance both school and writing but oh well. anywho, here it finally is. it took so long to write because i wasn’t feeling very inspired by this. a lot of people asked for a part two and even though i kinda wanted to leave it on a sad note, i am a sucker for giving the people what they want, so sorry if this is a bit shit- i definitely don’t like this one myself. i guess i’m not one for fluffy endings. well, at least for this one i wasn’t. i really hope you enjoy it! more stuff to come, if school doesn’t mind fucking off for a little while (or maybe just forever?) xox -(a) bug
pairing: best friend! harry styles x reader
summary: Harry is worried about Y/n. Y/n is worried about Harry. Harry is solving it by thinking of ways to check on her, while Y/n uses cheesy pasta and the Fresh Prince of Bel Air as an excuse to not think. But what will happen when someone is at her door, and it’s not her delivery man?
warnings: angst, swearing, y/n and harry being idiotos, fluffy end, kissing
word count: 5.3k
It had been a week.
One gruelling, painfully long week.
Harry was biting his nails, staring up at the ceiling as he laid in his bed, worrying about her.
About how he fucked up.
He didn’t think that she would be upset for this long. He thought she would scream at him and then text him the following day, wanting to hang out- a silent “I forgive you”, he supposed.
But after two days of radio silence on her end, he decided to call her. The only problem was that her last words to him were “leave”. She wanted space. She needed to think things through- what things? Harry had no clue. But he had to respect her and her choice to not want him around. So with that, he put down the phone.
But a small part of him (okay fine, a big part of him), wanted her to just show up at his house so they could cuddle again, talking about the stupidest of things while they made cupcakes in his kitchen. They would be listening to groovy music and now and then, they’d stop mixing bowls and sifting flour to dance- well, they were horrible dancers, so more so just wave their hands, hips and shoulders around. It would be fun and would always end up with them laughing at one another. He would lick the batter and she would berate him, telling him that “one of these days, you are going to get salmonella and I’ll just laugh at your stupid ass” and he would retort with something witty and a bit flirty like “don’t worry darling, we both know you would be right at my side if I got sick. I know you can’t stand being apart from me” with a wink and a cheeky smirk. He just wants to see her in her oversized Space Jam hoodie and little basketball shorts. Or her short flower shirt and his sweatpants that she has to cuff at the bottoms because they’re too long. Or even-
He’s gotta stop thinking about her, or his brain will soon explode. But he just can’t stop. He tries to think of the happier moments, like her showing him a tour of her very healthy houseplants that she prides herself in, but every time he closes his eyes, all he can see is her teary face telling him to leave. So no, if he was given the choice to think of her flailing her arms around in his kitchen to dancehall tunes while making sweet treats or crying at something that he provoked, you bet your ass he’d choose the former.
But after the seventh day, he knew that something wasn’t right. This was too much “thinking time”. For all he knew, she could be fine, but she could also be positively bawling. She could be living for this free time, but she also could be waiting for him to make the first move. She could be wanting Harry out of her life for her benefit forever, but she also could be feeling lonely and counting the seconds for their makeup, just like he was.
That was it. He had to go see her and make sure his best friend was okay.
He practised what he was going to say to her in his car on the way to her apartment. “Y/n, I’m so sorry for how I acted. I didn’t stop to think about how you were feeling and didn’t take your emotions into account which was unbelievably wrong of me. I’m truly sorry. It’s just that I really care about you and you’re my best friend and I can’t see you choose a tinder fuck over me and if I saw him in the street I would knock his lights out and I just want to kiss you, can I kiss you, oh god please let me kiss you I just want to-“
Fuck, what was wrong with him? Why was he so upset? He had been on plenty of dates with other celebrities and models and she was always on the sidelines, cheering him on. So why was he getting so touchy-feely about a single tinder date? Maybe he was just in desperate need of attention. He hadn’t had a girlfriend for almost one year and casual fuck arounds also stopped about four months ago, so maybe he just needed to fuck someone quick. That would explain why he sees his best friend’s kindness and natural flirty nature as something more romantic. Every laugh at his jokes, every look in her eyes, every graze of her hand on his thighs as she leans over him to get her drink on the side table next to him, he becomes more switched on and awake. She leaves him feeling giddy and excited at every conversation. “This can’t just be because I’m horny right?” he cannot believe he would ever be that horny. What the hell was he going to do?
*
This is pathetic she thought.
I’m pathetic.
She let out a huge sigh before shoving another forkful of cheesy pasta into her mouth.
What am I doing?
The answer?
Eating carbs upon carbs upon carbs, lounging on her comfy sofa in the most comfortable, yet daggiest pair of pyjamas ever while watching reruns of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air for the fiftieth time, actively avoiding all commitments, housework and jobs that involve moving further than to the kitchen, which even then was an embarrassingly burdening trek on its own.
But she let it slide. How could she not? She was upset and this was how she coped. That’s what she kept reminding herself as she boiled more and more pasta watching the days pass her by without realisation, but now, she’s beginning to question if this was the best idea. Pushing all thoughts of him out of her mind by not looking at her phone just in case he called or texted. But she was beginning to struggle.
It wasn’t his fault. He didn’t know what inner turmoil she was facing. He seemed genuinely hurt when she snapped at him. He truly didn’t understand why she took so much offence to the playground ribbing, it seemed. And she had to go be a dick and ignore him. He was probably worried sick. How many times would he have called to check up on her? 10? 15? The more she thought about it, the more she wanted this stupid feud to be over and just be in his arms again, even if it’s just as a friend. So she caved. Turned on her phone, expecting there to be at least a call or a text asking if she was still alive or not. And although she did receive a message of that likeness, it wasn’t from Harry, no. It was from her daily water tracking app, pleading her to fill in her daily intake of water so as to not die of dehydration after she was suspected to have not drunk any for the entire week when in reality, she was just too in her head to open her stupid phone and log her water.
Wow, she thought.
Now not only has Harry chosen to not speak to you, but you also look like a huge idiot right now. Of course, he wouldn’t want to talk to you! You got pissed at him for absolutely no reason and now he hates you. He’s gonna ask for his cardigan and track pants that he keeps at your house in case he wanted to sleepover. He’s going to take back all of his little knick-knacks that he leaves over, like the cute diffuser that he leaves because he knows you need it for your constant hay-fever that blocks your nose and then he’s going to declare that you aren’t friends anymore and then you will never get the chance to tell him how you feel and then-
Her panicky brooding is interrupted by a knock on the door.
“Who the hell could that be?”, she thinks. It was too late for it to be the postman with her package containing her entire Amazon wish list that she bought on the third day of mourning to make herself feel better. But it couldn’t be Mrs Xiao asking her if she had any holes in her shirts that needed stitching. The sweet old lady fell asleep at 8:37 pm sharp after her medicine that she’d take at 8:30 pm would kick in (which she learnt after spending nights over at her apartment where her niece, Mei, took care of her. Y/n would learn traditional recipes like baozi and watch movies with her two friends all the time). It couldn’t be Mei either, she was always in online uni lectures from 8:30-10:30 pm, locked away in her little study, so as to not bother or be bothered. So now, a little panicked, Y/n wondered who was truly at her door?
Another two knocks come, echoing off the walls of her little apartment as she turns down the volume of the program she was watching. She stares at the door from her couch, debating whether she should risk getting stabbed by a possible murderer or not, before ultimately deciding that life was too short. She was also getting sick and tired of the knocks that kept arriving in threes. She swings her legs off the couch and onto the floor, pushing them into her slippers so that her feet wouldn’t touch the cold floor, waddling her way to the door before shyly opening it, peeking at who it could be through the tiny crack in the opening, hoping whoever it was wouldn’t mind her current state: belly filled with pasta, hair knotty, giant shirt with sweatpants on and Harry’s patchwork cardigan hanging off her shoulders- which she had been wearing all day, cherishing the pretty piece of clothing and his scent imbedded in it, taking it all in just in case he asks for it back. She peeps at the torso of this mystery person, realising that Harry owns the jumper worn by them, before looking up and locking eyes with a worn out and tired eyed Harry, one hand in the pocket of the familiar hoodie and another extended out near the door, ready to knock again before freezing when it opens up all the way to show herself to her best friend. He doesn’t eye her up and down cheekily like he normally does when she is wearing pyjamas, wolf-whistling at her relaxed state, claiming that “You look runway-ready, my love! Do a twirl for the crowd, will you?”. Instead, he stares her right in the eyes with what looks like almost relief, before smiling a weak and broken smile.
One of them needed to break the silence or both would have just stared at each other in her doorway until the world exploded. So she starts.
“Hi.” her voice hovers a tinge above a whisper, almost as though if she dared to speak louder, this probable illusion of the one she loves would fade away. He lights up a little bit, probably relieved that she started the conversation.
“Hey,” his soft voice matched her volume and tone as if he too didn’t want this to be a dream. “May I come in?” The words sound awkward to her coming out of his mouth. Harry never had to ask for permission to be invited in- he usually just strolled in without so much as a holler to indicate he was present, finding amusement in scaring her instead while she was doing whatever she was doing, whether that be reading, watching a movie, cooking or napping. They were the best of friends and never had to inquire about entry to each other’s domains, along with other small things like if they had anything in their kitchens to eat or if they could sit somewhere, so hearing it was a little disheartening and provoked Y/n to think about how serious this situation was.
“Okay”, she replied after the pause of contemplation, opening the door fully so that the lanky boy could follow along behind her, like a little puppy. She didn’t like how awkward the situation was. She just wanted things to go back to what they were.
But then you wouldn’t be able to tell him you love him... her inner voice argued. And she agreed. She knew that yes, this will be awkward, but it’s an opportunity for him to listen to her and know that she isn’t joking.
“Would you like some tea?” She enquires. They’ll need to handle this like proper grown-ups (which in all honesty, isn’t their dynamic- it’s more like first-year uni students who are mature enough to have deep conversations but still laugh at dad jokes and anything remotely serious, like a painting with boobs), and from what she knows, or has seen in movies when the characters are being serious, is that you need tea or a drink of that sort and a sit down on the couch where you talk stuff out. So that’s exactly what she does.
“Yes please,” Harry’s soft voice replies as he toes off his boots that most definitely cost more than her apartment. Y/n nods and heads to the small kitchenette and flips the switch on the electric kettle before going into her cupboard that housed the mugs. Harry stood awkwardly near the sofas, and to save him the embarrassment of waiting while standing, Y/n invites him to sit with a small, “You can take a seat,” and a quick glance at him before returning her gaze to the mugs to make herself look busy. She didn’t want to look him in the eyes for more than three seconds in fear of bursting into tears and the worn out and tired sight of him. She shakes the thought out of her head and begins to prepare the mugs.
Y/n put two teabags in her mug while putting one in Harry’s. She was raised in a household of avid tea drinkers and she inherited her strong tea quirk from her father who would always keep two teabags with only a dash of milk, and the only difference between her tea and her fathers was that Y/n wasn’t strong enough to take her tea without sugar, unlike her father, who thought that drinking unbelievably concentrated leaf juice with milk was a fun and relaxing time. On the other hand, Harry liked to keep one tea bag in his mug while he drank it, but just like her father, he too took little to no sugar with his cup, being the health freak he was. And early in their friendship, when she mentioned it to him, Harry chuckled and chirped, “Your father is a smart man. He has to be for raising amazing and talented people like your siblings. I’m not sure what went wrong with you though...” while booping her nose as they laid together under a tree for a little picnic. And though she rolled her eyes at him and punched his shoulder for the sly dig at her, she was practically beaming at the fact that he thought her family was smart. Harry had no idea how much that meant to her. Y/n loved her entire family, and she was unbelievably close to them, so it made her entire week to know that Harry, someone she respected and loved so much, recognised how talented and smart each of her family members were. Don’t get her wrong, she didn’t need the validation to know that her family was amazing, but she felt so special knowing he took the time to notice. He did that a lot though. Doing things that meant a lot to her without batting an eye. Saying things that only a person as observant as he could notice, like complimenting her eye colour in the light and asking her to read for him because he constantly mentions how much he loves her voice.
Y/n looked over to the same sweet guy she fell head over heels for, who was sitting on her couch, fidgety as ever, and wondered if they would ever be the same after the very next moments to come. She didn’t want things to change between them, but she was dying inside knowing that he wasn’t hers. And getting over him was not in the question, after the fiasco that happened last week. She just wished she could get inside his head to sate her painful curiosity.
What is he thinking about?
**
What is she thinking about?
It’s the million-dollar question running through his mind. What was she pondering over as she made them tea? Did she want to talk to him? Was she mad that it took him so long to find the balls to face her? Was she as nervous as he was? Was she worried that they would never be the same again like he was?
He was going into panic mode, questioning everything, while probably looking stupid as ever. As much as he regretted how awkward things were now, and the fact that he instigated her to lash out at him a week ago, he was realising that he was not regretting the fact that he did it. He didn’t want her to go out with someone else, and she didn’t. And yes, of course, he feels bad-beyond bad, in fact- for making her cry, and wishes he could take it all back, he also sees this as an opportunity to tell her how he feels about her. He could finally tell her that he thinks about her all the time. About her soft smile, her bright eyes, her melodic laugh, her speaking voice that brings butterflies to his stomach. He could tell her about how he loses himself at work, the grocery store, fuck- even at events- thinking about what she was doing at her house. Was she under her blankets on her couch, watching some corny tv show? Was she baking her signature choc chip cookies that taste like the gods blessed every single biscuit on the tray before they were put in the oven? Was she knitting her cat, Chesnut, another rug to plonk herself down on, with her feet up on the ottoman as she listened to the 7 o’clock news on the radio? Was she writing a paper for another deadline? Something so sophisticated, like the exploration of white and male privilege and how it is ingrained in our society? Something that Harry tried to understand and research so that he could stay in the loop with his smart girl’s interests, but he always struggled with.
It was a huge insecurity of his. Not that his best friend was smarter than he was, no way. He treasured the fact that she could and would whip his ass at a debate on things like the state of the world, or human rights. She could school him on global politics, languages, maths, science, history and literally anything else, and he would be cheering her on. What he was insecure about was her realising that he was probably slowing her down in life. Y/n was well within her rights to kick him out of her life for being nothing but a freeloader and stopping her from reaching her full potential, what with him constantly stopping her from her own life to help him go through shit happening in his. Whenever he was sad, or confused, or upset, Y/n was the first person he would talk to and he feared that she would realise that he was probably taking advantage of her and stop talking to him. And that scared him. It scared him because he knew that she didn't need him at all, but he needed her to do anything in life. Every major and minor decision in his life has been approved by Y/n first, and not because she was a controlling friend who didn’t trust him with his own life, but because Harry needed her validation. Harry Styles, a world-famous superstar, had girls, guys and non-binaries at his feet, following his every beck and call. Harry Styles, who was on the cover of every magazine, known by every celebrity, dated only the most perfect of women, required validation from Y/n, a psychology major at a small university. Y/n, who liked to plan her day out on a to-do list, end up not doing anything on that to-do list and cry about it afterwards. Y/n, who breaks it down to “Murder She Wrote” by Chaka Demus & Pliers like it’s her last 4 minutes and 5 seconds alive on this Earth while making pancakes. Y/n, who cries more when she’s laughing while watching Tik Toks than she does during sad movies.
To celebrities, Y/n was nothing but a regular. But to Harry, she was all. She was the warmth of a sweater that you toss in the dryer for a few minutes to make it extra toasty. She was the pad of butter that you spread onto your pumpkin sourdough toast and it ends up being exactly the amount you wanted. She was the feeling when you are driving home from a long day of interviews and premiers, and you’re on the freeway and the windows down and you just… exist. She is the feeling you get when you watch Pride and Prejudice, and the relief of when you find the perfect word to end a lyric. She is when your shoes fit perfectly, and when you finish a book so utterly fulfilling that you lie there in a trance, looking up at your ceiling at 3 am, wondering how you could have been so lucky to be able to be blessed with an ending like the one you just read. Y/n was all those things and more.
And that’s why he had to tell her he loved her. No matter how scared he was.
***
The electric kettle is finished boiling the tea all too quickly as the bubbling comes to an end and the distinct click of the switch turning back off echoes around the silent apartment. Y/n had poured the scalding hot water into the two cups she had prepared stared into them.
It was time. She had tried to avoid this for as long as possible, but now it was the moment to face the music. She picked up the two mugs of tea and brought them to her lounge where Harry was sitting on her worn in green sofa, staring at her coffee table, eyebrows scrunched, pouted lips, deep in thought, before looking up at her with wide green eyes, and followed her to where she stood in front of him. She passed his mug to him before sitting on the comfy chair a few feet away from the sofa and from him, putting some distance in between them for her sake, so that she wouldn’t try to hug him and say sorry without saying what she needed to say first. Which she needed to start talking about now, so as not to sit in the awkward silence created by the two.
Say something!!
“So…’
Jesus fuck…. was that all you could think of? Wow. I am going to lose my best friend.
Y/n was choking.
“I am so sorry,” Harry’s voice intercepts, raspy from the lack of use, looking up from the coffee table he seemed so interested in. “I am so fucking sorry Y/n. I have no excuse as to why I was making fun of you that day. I pushed too far and I am a shit friend for not noticing that you were already on edge. It was so wrong of me and I am so sorry.” He stopped himself before he started to ramble, looking at her with eyes filled with an emotion she couldn’t decipher.
Y/n felt… unsatisfied. Why did she feel this way? He apologised, right? So why does she feel unfulfilled? Why does she want him to say more? He hit all of the points he had to for a standard apology, so why did she think he hadn’t done enough? Was it that little optimist in her brain hoping he would maybe reveal a slight attraction to her? Maybe tell her that he loves her, and has loved her forever and ever? Confess that she has bewitched him, body and soul so that she didn’t have to? God, was she an idiot. But a lovestruck idiot at that. She bites her tongue and replies.
“Harry, I forgive you. Although you were annoying as ever,” She rolls her eyes and smirks, while he lets out a breathy, half-assed chuckle, showing his acknowledgement at her attempt to ease the lowered yet still prevalent tension. She continues. “ I understand that you were just trying to have fun. I guess I was the one who irrationally lashed out . I am always okay with you poking fun at me, but I was just frustrated and tired and I took it out on you. I’m sorry for the improper communication and I’m sorry for pushing you away when we should’ve just talked…”
“I forgive you too. I think this was just miscommunication on both parts.” He stared into her eyes, almost as if he could sense the discontent in her, but chose to ignore it.
“I guess so.” She halfheartedly answered, not really knowing where to take the conversation next. They had both apologised, but evidently still had things to say. Well, Y/n had things to say, that’s for sure, but she was pretty sure that Harry wanted to say something too. He had that look on his face where he wanted to say something but was forcing himself not to.
What does he want to say? Why can’t he say it to my face? I mean, sure, I’m also hiding shit I wanna say, but I have an excuse. This could ruin our friendship. What does he have to say?
“Great,” Harry replies, trying to fill the awkward pauses and conversation that is being held. He still looked like he had something to say, but seemed like he was not budging.
Well, if he’s not saying anything, I’m not either. Why do I have to confess my feelings and put our friendship on the line if he isn’t even going to say what’s on his mind?
“So, are we good?”
“I don’t know. Are we? I mean, I forgive you and you forgive me, right?”
“Right… No yeah, we’re alright. We’re completely fine!” Y/n replies quickly. Why the fuck would you say that? You’re not fine.
There is a pregnant pause and Y/n has half a better mind to just get up, walk to the bathroom again with her head down and lock herself in there till he leaves again, because she cannot take this awkward conversation. Not with him. She shifts, ready to stand up to get some water, when Harry looks at her, confusion and slight panic setting into his face.
“Wait. I don’t think I’m fine…” She looks up at the boy sitting in front of her, reading the words from her mind like they were scribed on a piece of paper in the blackest of ink, permanent and bold. Her heart stuttered. What else did he want?
“Is everything okay, H?” she tentatively asks. He loses eye contact with her, gaze lowering towards the table in front of him
“I-” he pauses, trying to collect his thoughts while simultaneously trying to explain to her why he wasn’t okay. “I just- fuck” his head falls down, his face inches away from the hot tea in his hands, the humid steam billowing out of the mug and warming his elegant face as he takes a deep breath and tries once more to convey his thoughts. “I don’t want us to be friends again.”
Her heart stops. This could go one of two ways. He could either be confessing his hatred or his adoration for her, and either one would probably end with her imploding. She tries to take a neutral tone when she replies.
“What does that mean, H?”
He looks at her once more. “It’s not enough, Y/n... “
“What?” She is confused. Her friendship isn’t enough? How is she supposed to reply to that?
“I want more. I don’t want us to just be friends. I want to be more with you. I want to do more with you. I want to do things that friends… they shouldn’t do together…”
Is he trying to confess he likes her? Why, in all the ways you could speak, would he choose to speak like that?! She has had enough of him dawdling around his feelings. “Harry, stop being cryptic and fucking tell me what’s going on?!”
“I love you, Y/n! I fucking love you, Y/n. So much. And it is eating me from the inside out. I hate that we can’t be normal anymore, and I hate that you don’t love me the way I love you, but I cannot sit here and pretend everything is fine, because I love you.”
Y/n is stunned. Frozen in her spot. Can’t move, can’t speak, can’t breathe. Stuck in space, and stuck in time.
Holy fucking shit… he loves me…
While Y/n processes the life changing knowledge that her best friend loves her, her best friend conveniently sits next to her, wishing that he was dead for the letdown he was about to receive.
“Say something… please, for the love of God, say something!”
****
She looks up at Harry. Not Harry Styles, playboy, whore, singer, millionaire, but instead; Harry, her best friend of five years, reddened face out of embarrassment. She sees the mortality in his eyes. Feels his presence so heavily in the moment. She is in awe. True awe of him, and his ability to love her. And with that awe- and that stupid look on her face, she reaches up and cradles his face in her hands, brushing her thumbs softly over his plush pink lips. He stands just as still as her, barely breathing, as if it would shatter the fantasy to stardust and he would wake up in his bed, cold shivers running down his spine, as has happened previously whenever he thought of this moment, staring up at his ceiling at 3:40AM wondering why he thought of his best friend in such a way. She creeped closer to his face before stopping a breath away from him, and whispered.
“Is this okay?”
She looked into his eyes, and he looked into hers, both never feeling so alive before. He wishes to tell her that she needn’t ask for his permission, and that he wants to kiss her forever. Eternally locked in an embrace that holds their souls together. But all he can muster is a weak and broken whisper back.
“Please,”
She can hold it for no longer, and leans in the rest of the way, their lips moulding together, for the very first time, eyes fluttering close, as his hands reach to grab her by the hips to straddle him, deepening the kiss even further. And when they part for breath, panting for air with slightly moist lips, they touch foreheads, eyes still closed. Words needn’t be exchanged- everything that yearned to be said was useless, as it could never describe how they truly felt for each other. So hopelessly besotted with one another, that all they could do was breathe together before kissing once more, hoping that their actions could provide even an iota of an idea of how much they love one another.
Two best friends, turned lovers forevermore.
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fbfh · 3 years
Text
I think you've horribly misread the situation [shitty roommate pt 2] - leo x reader
wc: 2.3k
genre: contemporary drama, you're definitly going to get second hand embarrassment, cozy fluff
pairing: leo x reader, attempted isabella x leo
reader: gender neutral, they/them
requested: hell yeah
warnings: mild swearing, roommate tries to steal your man once again, mentions of various mainstream vampire media (twilight, the vampire diaries etc.), brief mention of castlevania (even though i haven't seen it yet lol), breif mention of videogames and assassins creed, very mild delusion (roommate is secretly convinced leo is a vampire that's in love with her), attempted age gap relationship (she's 17 and leo's 19, he shuts that down real fast), very bad poetry
summary: You and Leo are both looking foward to spending a long weekend together, and Leo is determined not to let anything interrupt it, even if it means turning down your roommate's attempts to seduce him in the kitchen.
a/n: absolutley no hate or shade or judgement to anyone who has the same or similar traits as isabella!!!!!! at her core she's annoying because she's the antagonist, not bc of any isolated trait or traits
also she's shitty cause she keeps trying to steal your boyfriend?????
Edit: I forgot to mention before, but this is a college au where you're both still demigods, so you went to camp and on quests and stuff together
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This weekend is going to be all about recharging. Recharging from the ridiculous back to back closing and opening shifts at work, recharging from having to redo that stupid project twice because your professor couldn’t decide on a clear way to define the criteria, and recharging from Isabella having her townie friend Regan over almost non stop to “completely shake up her look” as she put it.
Between the constant presence of someone you’d barely consider an acquaintance and Big Time Rush’s self titled album blasting on repeat out of her giant airpod shaped speaker, it’s been harder than usual to get in some effective self care. You have no idea how many more times you can hear the phrase “I’m going for Jade West meets Elena Gilbert, with just a little Buffy Summers” before you lose your fucking mind.
Thankfully, the hard part is almost over. There’s some minor holiday tomorrow on friday, so you and Leo both have a three day weekend ahead of you, which you intend to spend entirely together. You planned ahead, frontloading homework, chores, errands, and everything you could think of to remove anything that isn’t cuddling or playing video games and watching netflix together from your horizon.
This includes going straight from work to the grocery store to stock the fridge and get any snacks you and Leo want. You had texted him a while ago asking for anything he was craving, and head into the store with a concrete list. After a while, you circle around some aisles, avoiding the check out.
“I feel like I’m forgetting something,” you muse, knowing it’s untrue, but hoping to trigger a memory anyway. You can’t put it off any longer, finally checking out and heading back to your apartment. You’d be lying if you said you weren’t avoiding Isabella just a little.
You know bringing in all these groceries would be way easier with Isabella and possibly Regan’s help, but you just don’t have the social energy to talk to anyone, much less her, right now. By some miracle, you bring everything in yourself, and hope to get it put away before you see Isabella.
You turn to the freezer, putting away the ice cream. When you turn back around, you’re suddenly met face to face with Isabella, who has opened one of the boxes and is picking at a pastry.
“Hey girlie,” she says, elongating the hey.
“Hey,” you reply lethargically, putting the last of the groceries away. She looks at the pastry in her hand like she’s just noticing it.
“Sorry, I can’t help it, I’m italian.” She smiles, endeared by her own behavior. You have no idea what being italian has to do with asking before you open a box of your roommate’s food, but this really isn’t out of character for her. She brings up the fact that she’s half italian more than Lele Pons blames her behavior on being latina.
She’s wearing sweatpants that say chaser on the leg in red and gold varsity font, and a tight tee shirt that says “it’s okay to love them both” with silhouettes of the male love interests from one of the vampire shows she always watches. You collect the plastic bags to put in recycling, and see a piece of paper on the counter.
It reads as follows:
Drowning in my mind
No one hears me cry
Who was I before society
Before society put me in a pink dress
And handed me blonde hair dye
And told me to lose ten pounds or be labeled a freak?
The happiest people cry the most
Let the lyrics be your story
But I’m not like the other skinny blonde pretty girls
I’m
Different
-b.g. xox
You hold back a sigh.
“I think this is yours.” you say, handing it to her.
“Oh, it’s just some of my poetry I left lying around, that’s so embarrassing.”
I know, you think, you do that all the time.
“Did you read it?” She asks, hopefully.
“Nope.”
“Thank god, that would have been so embarrassing. My poetry is something really… deep, and personal to me.”
“Uh huh. Hey, I’m going to be doing a lot of self care this weekend, so-”
“Oh!” she interjects, eerily similar to Phoebe Buffay - you guess she’s been watching friends again - “I wanted to ask… is Leo coming over later?” Her voice is riddled with subtext, the expression on her face a little too invested in your answer.
“Uh, yeah. I told you the other day we’re spending the weekend together…”
She cuts you off again, a sudden, intense look on her face.
“When will he be here?”
You check your phone, scrolling through your recent texts.
“By 7 at the latest.” It’s around 6:40 now.
“Oh my god, I have to change,” she rushes back to her room, presumably digging through her recent additions to her closet.
You’re frozen for a minute after the interaction, left with a furrowed brow and the beginnings of a headache. You blink, then choose to reschedule processing why she feels the need to change for your boyfriend to a more convenient time. That’s enough of that for today. You don’t care what else happens, you’re not talking to anyone besides Leo for at least the rest of the day. You retreat to your room to finally shower and change into something comfy. As you pass by Isabella’s room, you hear her talking to Regan.
“...There’s something almost… supernatural about him.”
You bite back a laugh.
“Do you think he’s a…” Regan begins, ending the sentence with something too quiet to hear, but you’d bet almost any organ she said vampire.
So close. So, so close, and yet… here you are.
Not much later, Leo texts you to let you know he’s here. You read his text, and run out to hug him in the living room before even typing a reply. He picks you up, and spins you around. The embrace is warm and fulfilling and familiar, and you wish it would last forever.
“Hi, Sparky.” you murmur into his neck.
“Estrella…” he says, rocking you back and forth gently and pressing a kiss into your jawline, “I missed you so much.” He punctuates the sentence with another kiss, this one to your lips, and you smile more genuinely than you have all day. You’re about to agree when you remember the good news you’ve been saving to tell him in person.
“Guess what I got on sale for like, half off,” you start, excitedly, continuing at his invested expression, “the Assassin’s Creed bundle I showed you!”
“No way,” he starts, and you nod.
“I’ll go get everything set up, drinks are in the kitchen!” He watches you retreat into your room, disbelieving how he could possibly get someone as perfect as you to fall for him. He’s not going to question his luck. He grabs a couple caffeinated sparkling ices, and meets you in your room, setting down his bag and grabbing some comfy clothes to change into.
As you both get settled in, you fill each other in on all the ridiculous shit you’ve been through this week. You finally conclude the bizarre - yet somehow standard - Isabella escapades.
“So I will be avoiding all contact as much as possible,” you laugh.
“Yeah, no shit,” he agrees, “Consider me your human buffer.” You thank him, hugging him again and pressing a kiss to his lips.
The next couple hours are spent cuddling and finishing season 4 of Castlevania. Both reeling from the season finale, you agree this is a good place to take a break, get some food, and decide what game you should start with. It’s already 10pm, which most people would consider too late for dinner, but you have all weekend to fuck up your sleep schedules.
“Let’s review,” Isabella says, holding up two red lipsticks. She turns to Regan. “Which one?”
“That one,” Regan says, pointing to the one on the left, then turns to her list, and continues. “Here’s what we know; we’ve never seen him eat, and he never seems tired. He’s really smart-”
“Almost too smart,” Isabella adds, selecting black rose dangle earrings from her jewelry. Regan agrees, and continues.
“He’s almost hypnotically attractive, and his smile is a little too dazzling.”
“There’s something… supernatural about him. Like he’s not… all human.”
Regan writes this down.
“Plus he’s always wearing black and red, and those flowy button up shirts? It’s all adding up, Ree. That dream that someone was outside my window, the ring, everything…” She says, referencing the black and red cocktail ring she’d found with her stuff when she’d first moved, “I’m not saying it’s definite, just that… there’s a chance.”
“What about…” Regan says hesitantly, nodding toward your room.
“Please,” she scoffs, “he’s only with them to get close to me, like Damon and Caroline. Edward couldn’t have just approached Bella out of the blue, he had to infiltrate her friend group first, to seem less suspicious. Not to sound mean or anything, but they really don’t seem like the type someone… like him… would choose.” her voice gets dreamy when she mentions him.
In spite of having seen most mainstream vampire media almost as many times as Isabella, Regan still considers her the expert on these things, and decides not to point out that Edward didn’t infiltrate Bella’s friend group. Maybe it comes up in one of the retellings she hasn’t read yet.
“So, what now?”
Isabella sets down her lipstick, and turns to her friend.
“I tell him.”
Regan’s eyes widen.
“You’re going to tell him you know?”
“No… not yet. It’s too soon, we don’t have enough evidence. I’m going to tell him I know he’s in love with me, then once he’s secure in our relationship... we’ll see where it goes.”
She stands up, assessing herself in the mirror. She chose her outfit carefully; short red dress with black roses and black mesh collar, black rose bracelet to match her earrings, snug faux leather jacket, and black stiletto ankle booties with a very skinny heel, the zipper on the outside gold, not silver. She fluffs her wavy hair and turns towards the door. She looks back one more time, holding onto the doorway.
“Wish me luck.”
Leo enters the kitchen, seeing Isabella already there, leaning against the counter seductively. She’s wearing an outfit and jewelry this late at night that makes Leo wonder if she’s going to an emo tea party. He puts the takeout in the microwave. She’s still staring at him.
“Uh… hey.”
She lets out a dainty giggle, looking him up and down.
“... Hi.”
At a loss for words, and really wanting the awkward silence to be over, he continues, “Did you need something?”
“What I need,” she walks closer to him, tracing her finger over his collar, “is you.”
What the fuck?
His brain seems to stall for a moment, and she uses this opportunity to continue.
“I know why you’re here. I know that you’re only using them to get closer to me. I know-”
“Woah-”
“That you’re in love with me.”
Okay, double what the fuck.
She takes his stunned silence as shyness, and steps closer, putting her arms around his shoulders.
“You don’t need to play so coy, I-”
This time she’s the one that gets cut off. He grabs her arms and gently steps away, trying to make it abundantly clear that he’s not into this.
“Woah, okay, slow down. First of all, you’re 17 and I’m turning 20 in a couple months, so that’s a hard no. Second, I don’t know where you got this idea, but I am not dating them to get closer to you. We’ve known each other since we were like, 15, and have been through everything together. I’ve only known you for a couple months. I love them. Probably more than I’ve loved anything ever. I thought that was pretty obvious.”
He doesn’t want to be mean, he really doesn’t, but he can tell from the look on her face that she still thinks this is all part of some game.
“So why don’t I ever see you eat? Why are you so smart, and always up at night? I know what you are.”
He has to physically hold back a laugh. He takes a step back, and places his hands on the counter.
“Isabella, I have adhd. And I’m literally an engineering student. Why wouldn’t I be smart and have a shitty sleep schedule?”
She starts to protest, and he pulls out the reheated take out from the microwave.
“And for the record, I do eat.”
Exiting the kitchen quickly and retreating back to your room, he hands you your food.
“I got the game set up!” you say excitedly.
“Nice!”
You take one look at his face and can tell something happened. He sees this, and continues.
“I just had a very… interesting interaction with Isabella,” before he finishes the sentence, your head is already in your hands. You let out a groan.
“What did she do?” you mutter from behind your hands.
He pulls you into his lap, rubbing your back.
“I’m not totally sure,” you laugh, “but I think she thinks I’m secretly in love with her…” you’re both laughing before he can even finish the sentence.
“No…” you laugh, “no fucking way…”
“Believe me, I put an end to that as soon as it started.”
“Oh, I do.”
He runs his hand over your back, and you’re quiet for a moment.
“You know,” he continues, “I think getting our own place has definitely moved up the priority list.”
You couldn’t agree more.
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Character Deaths
“Hi! I love that I found your blog!
Little bit of a dark request, do you have a prompt list for character deaths?”
Hi, hi! I didn’t, but I’ll sure make you one! Here are 10 prompts for character deaths.
TW: DEATH (But I think that was a little obvious)
“It’s a- a little cold in h-here, right?” She asked, fingers shaking as she bled out on the bathroom floor. There was blood, too much blood; everywhere, on everything. He pulled her closer, trying not to cry too much as he felt the last of her energy drain from her fingertips. “Y-yeah, I-I guess so. J-just... don’t worry, it’ll be okay soon. I promise.”
She turned to him sharply at the sudden noise, watching as the colour drained from his face and the pain shot through him, “N-no,” She couldn’t quite believe it was that easy to die, briefly wondering when exactly she’d started taking life for granted, “No! No, no, no...”
He knew it would end this way, there was no other way for it to end, but somehow he’d tricked himself into believing he wouldn’t be alone after all this, “I- I don’t think I’m ready for you to leave me just yet. Not like this.”
Unexpected surprises were her least favourite sort of thing. That’s why she faltered when answering the phone to the receptionist at the hospital, “Miss Fraser? You’re the emergency contact for Miss Lucinda Grace, yes? I think it best you come and visit her- as soon as possible, miss, it won’t be long now.”
He wasn’t exactly sure how many times he’d had someone die like this, in front of him, eyes devoid of emotion. He’d hated it the first time and nothing had changed, even now. Sometimes he wondered what they were thinking in their last moments, did they know they were dying? Did they know that in less than three minutes or so, their time of death would be called and they’d be a name on a piece of paper?
Killing hadn’t been an option, even from the start, but now they had a dead body on their hands, “Well, I didn’t do it, so I’m not helping.” “It might not have been your fault, but it doesn’t make you any less involved!” “Yeah, there’s still blood on your hands.” “No there’s not! Because I didn’t do it!” “I meant literally, there’s blood on your hands, go clean up.”
She paced the room, trying her best not to cry; no tears, Hannah, I don’t like to see you cry at the best of times, he’d said to her, years before any of this had even started. She knew there wasn’t long for him, she knew he was only going to be in pain if they kept him in here, strung up to a million machines, but she was selfish. She was selfish enough to keep him alive all this time, so what was a few days more?
“If you’re going to kill me, please do it quickly.” He asked, a smirk plastered on his lips once the gag was removed. His eyes were bruised, vision blurry from the hits, “You really think I’m going to be so kind as to kill you quickly after everything you’ve done?” He closed his eyes, trying to tune out the voice in front of him, “No, darling, death is a reward and you haven’t been good.”
“Don’t look at me like that.” She said weakly, lips twitching upwards into a half smile. “Like what?” She asked in return, playing with their joined fingers on her chest, “I’m looking at you normally.” “No, you’re looking at me like I’m a kicked puppy. You can’t save everyone, Timea, you have to let me go.”
The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes was smoke. Smoke and dust and rubble. Her foot was in an awkward position and the weight on her arm was not nearly light enough for her to push off. “Rebecca? Becca? Look at me...” Came a voice from beside her. She looked over, meeting Jonathon’s gaze, a sudden rush of relief overcoming her, “That’s it, you’re okay, you’re going to be fine.” He said through gritted teeth, trying his best not to wince. He wasn’t about to tell her that he’d been clipped by a bullet in the ribs.
They’re not great, I’m going through a bit of a block myself which is really annoying since I actually have time to write now that my exams are over... Hopefully it’ll pass! It’s good to be back on this blog, regardless. All my love xox
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wizkiddx · 3 years
Note
heyheyhey idk if u do req but love your dad tom stuff! PLZ PLZ do tom helping his kids with homework but cant do it and reader has to help and its all fluffy 😩💕
ye im down to do req and this had me going completely ott cos its v cute (and a lot less angsty than what ive written recently aha) so apologies for my ramblings:
Summary: tom has the kids for a day and maths homework throws a spanner in the works - tomhollandxreader
implied smut + v slight reference to porn but basically just fluff I promise xox
\\\\\\\\\\\\///////////
Tom had dealt with a lot of whining today. Nova and Leo were the absolute joys of his life, there was no doubt about it. Of course, he also loved you a hell of a lot too - sometimes to his detriment though, hence the position he was in now. 
You’d had a busy week at work and he had been away for the first half of it - leaving you as an almost single mother to a 5 and a 7 year old. So completely fairly, you’d asked if he wouldn’t mind watching the kids for a the day on Sunday, allowing you to go to a friends baby shower. There was no answer but to agree, Tom loved quality time with the kids and he wanted you to kick back and relax with you friends too. 
However the afternoon had not been nearly as idealistic as it were supposed to be in his head. You had left him only one real job (apart from the unavoidable essentials of keeping the kids alive with food and water, something you’d hope he need not be reminded about now). Really it shouldn’t of been that hard, it was just each kid had two pieces of homework. After convincing and cajoling the kids into sitting at the table which he’d already set up with Nova’s ‘Liverpool FC’ and Leo’s ‘captain marvels’ pencil case, the English was easy. 
In fact 5 year old Leo took great joy out of writing a poem with his Dad, which basically involved trying to rhyme any word with another - especially when he tried to convince Tom that all his completely fictitious words were real and worked together. A personal favourite had been ‘snakes’ and ‘palakes’ which Leo was convinced meant pancakes - arguing so vehemently Tom almost started to doubt himself on basic English. 
Thankfully though his eldest and most sensibly child eventually took him out his misery. If anyone had any control over the Holland boys, Leo and Tom - it was the Holland girls. You and Nova had both boys completely under you spell, often taking advantage of the fact too. It was only when Nova got bored of hearing Tom and Leo mock arguing, interspersed with the little boys giggles that Tom tried his absolute hardest to keep a straight face at, that she swooped in.
“Stop being silly Leo, mummy told you he’s not good at school!” She looked oh so innocent, eyes immediately flicking down to continue the little short story she was happily going on with. In response  Tom scowled, knowing your highly curious and intelligent daughter had asked you (for one reason or another) why he was not so academic. Yet instead of Leo bursting out laughing, instead he just nodded and accepted it too - making Tom scowl even more. Not even Leo thought it was a joke. 
So apart from his children apparently taking pity on his simple mind, it was all going smoothly. Perhaps, due to the thankful fact your children had inherited their brains from their mother - something Tom was forever thankful for, until he was shamed for his substandard intellect in the family. Then again though, he was Spiderman. So take that. 
Until Nova brought out her maths sheet. Then the afternoon quickly descended into chaos. It was fractions, something she hadn’t quite grasped from school yet - a concept that still hurt her head somewhat. Normally though it’d be fine, she’d bring the sheet to you and the two of you used ‘ girl power’ to figure it out… you prior experience as a tutor while in uni helping you know how to break through to her. 
Unfortunately Tom didn’t share this same experience. Nor did Tom share a maths qualification… something that had evaded him completely during his schooling career. Of course, it had never been a particular issue, acting didn’t require the use of maths and algebra and Tom was in a very lucky position of being able to pay someone to manage his finances from a very young age. So no, dividing 2/3 and 3/7 didn’t come the most naturally to him. Or at all to be quite honest. 
“I CANT DO IT AND GRACE IN MY CLASS COULD!” For context, Grace was one of her school friends, who forever liked to compare herself to the young Holland - especially because she was normally ahead. Nova had gone from quiet frustration, staring at the questions with her tongue sticking out slightly, to one of pure rage - yelling at her dad with tears in her eyes. Nova was normally incredibly intuitive, she always found it difficult when she couldn’t do something. Now, with a ‘teacher’ who was more useless than her - the frustrations inevitably bubbled over. 
“Hey, we can work it out, just calm-“
“YOU CANT DO IT EITHER YOUR STUPID “ She was just young and frustrated, Tom tried not to take it personally but … it wasn’t always easy. Chiefly because this was the height of offensive statement Nova knew - this was her version of adult explicit language. 
“Nova you can’t be rude.” He used his stern voice, something Tom very rarely used with his little girl. Though he never wanted to upset her, neither did he want her to think it was ever okay to be so rude to anyone like that- no matter how crappy at maths they were. It hurt him to do so but it was necessary - life lessons about the importance of being kind needed to be learnt. And it worked… if what Tom was aiming for was his beautiful baby girl’s eyes to brim with sparkling tears, her bottom lip quivering slightly. 
Instantly Tom’s eyebrows drooped, trying to fight his natural reaction to scoop her onto his knee and reassure her everything was okay. But as you had lectured him many a time before, he had to put his foot down once in a while. So instead, the father and daughter were locked in a silence and intense eye contact, until Nova hesitantly began to speak. 
“I’m sorry Daddy.” During which, Nova shoved her chair back, making it screech against the tiled floors uglily before running off up the stairs. Tom knew she was crying a lot. Knew this was going to take a bit of fixing. 
With a sigh of his daughters name, Tom popped his head into the living to check on Leo who had already finished all his stuff. Seeing him completely zombified in front of ‘paw patrol’ on TV, Tom trudged up the stairs. He knew where she was, when Nova was upset she always hid in the corner of her wardrobe and cried in the darkness. So after steadying himself with a little internal monologue of how to approach the situation Tom walked in and sat down beside the wardrobe - knocking on the door slightly. 
“Nova… can we talk please?” All he heard was sniffing echoing from the wooden chamber until she tried to shout through the door.
“Go-go… go away daddy.” It broke his heart, the way her voice wavered, making Tom pout - gently letting his head fall against the wardrobe doors. 
“I don’t want you to be upset beautiful…. And you did apologise which I appreciate. You know why Daddy got angry right?” Her sniffles heightened before she muttered a quiet ‘yes’. “And you are sorry? Because that might’ve made me really sad too.”
“I’m s-s-sorry, I didn’t mean it.”
“Then that’s good and we don’t need to cry. You want a cuddle little one?” Before Tom could even properly get up the door was being pushed open by her little hands, revealing a tear stained face and big glassy eyes looking up at her Dad. Swiftly Tom scooped her up and out of the cupboard, whispering to her while she buried her face in his chest. 
“Oh come here my little bean.”
//////////////////////
When you came home late that evening, only mildly exhausted from spending the whole day gossiping with your girls, it was weirdly quiet. All the lights were out in the front room, which made you close the door gently, thinking Tom had managed to exhaust the kids - and himself in the process. With a relieved sigh at the peace you pattered into the kitchen to get yourself a drink (it had been a little concern that Tom would’ve worked the kids into a hyperactive and delerious state that kept them up long past bedtime - which ultimately you’d have to deal with). The house was remarkably silent and though it was clear from the littered toys everywhere that it had indeed been Tom alone in charge, everything seemed pretty okay. 
It was only as you were about to head upstairs to join your hubby in bed that you realised the study light was still on, streaming through the small crack in the doorframe. Assuming Tom had just neglected to turn it off, in otherwords Tom being Tom, you nudged it open with your hand. Surprisingly though, there was your husband, hunched over the desk, looking almost angrily focused - between the computer screen and a piece of paper below him. Normally you would’ve just assumed it was another script sent over or an edit Harry had sent of another screenplay they were writing together. 
But no, the blatant red flag was the screen that you could see. A screen on YouTube, of a man pointing at a whiteboard of fractions. 
So with a soft wrist you wrapped your knuckled on the side of the door, even if you had technically already entered the room. The reaction had you stifling a laugh, it was as if you’d caught him watching something *less PG* the way he jumped out his seat, closing the browser immediately. 
“Love!! I -er … didn’t know you’d got back?”
“I just did.” You smiled gently, while walking into stand behind his chair, wrapping your arms round his neck and pressing a kiss to his jaw. “Soooo…. what’ca doingggg” The glee in your voice was evident, making Tom groan and shut his eyes. 
“I hate you, you know that right?” 
“No you don’t… but you were watching a primary school video on fractions, if I’m not so mistaken?” He sighed deeply, making a point of turning the paper with his scribbles over to obscure it. 
“Nova’s homework.. she couldn’t do it and neither could I, so then she basically screamed at me for being thick and udseless and then had a breakdown.” 
Now you felt guilty. This was a bit of a sore spot with Tom, he always for some reason felt inferior because of his academic ability. Which was stupid- mainly because he was the most clever and talented man you’d ever met. Just…. Just not at fraction. 
“Oh T… you could’ve just left it for me to do with her, I don’t mind.”
“That’s not the point Y/n.” He snapped a little, shrugging your arms off him and spinning in the chair so he could face you. “She’s my daughter and I should be able to help her! It’s not like it’s that hard, it’s just I’m unbelievable thick.”
“Tom stop. Look - you can do this I assure you, it’s just been a long old time ‘kay? Your rusty and that’s only natural.”
“I really don’t think I could ev-“
“Can I teach you? It’s just the method and then I promise you’ll get it.”
It took a bit of persuasion but eventually Tom agreed, letting you pull the corner chair forward to beside his desk so you could demonstrate it to him. To be fair, he really could do it- just a bit of familiarising on the ‘stick-change-flip’ method. The way the lightbulb moment literally caused his face to light up; scurrying to do the question for himself, tongue sticking out in the process; then presenting it to you proudly - well it had you melting in your seat. 
“See! That took all of 5 minutes and you got it.” You elbowed  his side by leaning forward in the chair, which instead of letting go, Tom reached and caught, before pulling you up and round. You landed with you bum perched on the edge of the mahogany desk, Tom now stood up- his legs in-between your parted thighs - your feet hooking round the back of knees. 
“It’s all down to my incredibly talented teacher.”
“No…. No I really don’t think it is” You mused with a soft voice, fingers instinctively going to the nape of his neck - twirling the little curls round your fingertips. 
“Well even so… I think I could teach you a thing or two too.” Never one to mull on anything, Tom’s tone had immediately switched to something a lot more… mischievous. 
“Not even going to ask about my day? Wheres the chat mr smooth?” He had to repress the grin at your smirk because as much as you infuriated the hell out of him - you also had this weird ability of making him feel so entranced and helpless. He relented with a sarcastic chime.
“Fine, how was your day love.”
“Good…. but I have a feeling you’re about to make it a whole lot better.”
That was all the signals he needed to lean forward, in doing so forcing you back until your back landed completely on the cool wood. His lips feathered yours, both hands pinned either side of your head.
“Oh darling… you have no idea.”
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geordiewrites · 3 years
Note
Hey i just read exile inspired fic and it is soo good. I think you should write one based on the song tolerate it by ts? With harry plz. The drama, fight, tears.. I think you will reflect the emotion so well omg.
Tolerate It | Harry Potter
A/N: Hi lovely! First off, I adored this request so much and I really hope I’ve done it justice. Tolerate It is such a beautiful song and defo one of my favourites off of Evermore to cry to, there’s just so much detail hidden within the lyrics and I adore that. Harry too!! There’s not enough stuff for Harry, so I hope I’ve done well for you! ( Also this is super short, but I’ve been swamped with coursework xox )
Summary: Y/N is in love with The Boy Who Lived, and due to marry him in the Spring with a beautiful April wedding. Friends to lovers to that engaged couple who are just too in love to function, they share the most perfect story. But when Y/N begins to see their relationship for what it is, her entire world is thrown off key...
Warnings: angst and lots of it, loneliness, sadness, swearing.
~
“You’re coming home tonight, right?” Y/N asks, excitement and anticipation heavy in her tone, cherry red nails clicking against the cold metal of the answerphone.
“Of course, I’ll be back soon, love.” Harry Potter, her beloved fiancé, answered back on the other side from his workplace all the way in central London. His office is almost empty, devoid of any homely photos or colleagues: they had all gone home to their families long ago, and yet he stayed behind. He had no work to finish, no cases glaring to be solved. There was nothing to do but leave, but Harry didn’t.
“You’ve said that before.” Y/N pointed out blandly, her forced smile fading slightly. Many times had Harry said he was on his way home, only to send a letter the next morning apologising for suddenly getting swamped with unavoidable paperwork. “Please come home Harry, I’ve even made your favourite for dinner.”
“That sounds good, I promise I’ll be there soon. I’m just leaving the Ministry now.” Harry replied monotonously, not sounding nearly as happy as Y/N wished he would. Perhaps he had just had a bad day at the office, he must have done. But he had just one too many bad days now, and the reality that he might not want to see her was beginning to sink in.
Shaking off that horrible thought, Y/N inhaled a sharp breath and chewed the edge of her top lip. “Alright, if you say so. I’ll see you then.”
“Bye.” Harry said shortly before putting the phone down and staring at his office, desperately trying to find a reason to stay at work. He did love Y/N, he did. Heck, he had even asked her to marry him and kissed the edge of her lips as they set the date. And then postponed it. And then postponed it another year after that, all because of some urgent work that Harry had suddenly come across. He was just so young, forced to grow up so quickly he didn’t even have time for a scrap of a childhood. Maybe that was why he didn’t want to see Y/N, why going home to their apartment often felt like a chore.
Back at their cosy flat in the nicer part of Greenwich, Y/N put the phone down after hearing an abrupt beep on the other end that let her know he had hung up. She sighed before walking over to a tall cabinet that stood to the side of their kitchen, taking out a set of nice china plates her Grandmother had left her and crystal wine glasses. It was the lovely cutlery only used for things like Christmas and obligatory dinner parties her family forced her to hold.
After setting it out on the table, Y/N checked the time and supposed that if Harry really had left as he said, he would be back in just a minute through the wonders of apparation. Carefully so she wouldn’t somehow spill the food in her clumsiness, a quality Harry once said he loved about her, Y/N moved the food from the oven, to plates and then through to their front room where the fancy cutlery was set up. A smile made its way onto her face, a beaming, gorgeous smile of confidence that her and Harry would finally have the night she deserved. One where work or his reluctance to put effort into their relationship, even if she did pretend she knew nothing about this, didn’t get in the way.
Alas however, minutes passed and there was no sign of Harry anywhere. The food grew colder and that wonderful, rare smile of hers faded into an all too comfortable frown, the crease between her eyebrows deepening with not only disappointment, but anger. A growing resentment for Harry’s lack of care or even acknowledgement of their engagement. He didn’t seem to give two hoots that she had made a lovely meal; after all, he had only called it ‘good’. Not fabulous or decadent or even something praiseful. Just good.
They hadn’t said ‘I love you’ before they hung up the phones. Harry had only said one word. Y/N’s mind began to spiral, her breathing growing quicker and sharper as the thought that it might be time to confront Harry about the buildup of letdowns over the course of the last few months. A year even, since he had properly spent time at home. At their home, the one in which he had knelt down on one knee and told her he wanted to grow old with her by his side, failing at muggle card games on the front porch as they watched their grandchildren play.
Not knowing exactly what to do, Y/N retreated to grasping at the doorframe to keep her body from tumbling to the ground. Her mind whirred with the usual possibilities to try and chase away his lateness. Got caught at work, perhaps Ron called. But none of it compared to the looming threat that Harry was scraping any old excuse together in order to stay away. That he was lying, something she never thought she would have to think about him doing. Harry had always been such an honest person, even as a child.
Y/N remembered how nervous he was when he first asked her out during their fifth year at Hogwarts. He had been on this disastrous date with some Ravenclaw she couldn’t quite remember the name of, and come back utterly defeated. Feeling sorry for a friend she had always harboured a crush on, Y/N had stayed up all night convincing him something better was around the corner. It occurred to Harry quite quickly after that that Y/N was that somebody. She liked him, and at the time that was enough to make him think he was in love. To some degree he was, but not nearly as much as Y/N had fallen for him.
It was almost midnight when the front door to their apartment clicked with the turn of a key, and Y/N, still standing in the same sad place by the door to their living room, finally saw Harry step into their home. It had been hours since they were supposed to eat the food that Y/N had worked to hard to create. There it still sat however, with the plates and crystal glasses and unopened bottle of wine in the same place, completely untouched.
Y/N had a thousand things to say to him. Usually it would begin with her asking him where he had been galavanting off to, but not tonight. Tonight was the final tear in her elastic heart, just enough to finally make it tear into two broken, hollowed out pieces. She stood, silent and just watched as he took off his shoes and put his coat back in it’s place without saying anything. Harry wasn’t even trying anymore, and that hurt more than him being late to begin with.
“Sorry for the delay, something came up.” Harry said, standing a few metres away from her. There was no affectionate kiss to the forehead like when they were fresh out of Hogwarts with teenage dreams and ambitions. No arm comfortably slung around her waist in a protective manner. Y/N missed that especially out of all the things that had faded away. That simple gesture that showed he wanted to hold her above all else, above everyone else who had ever wanted to touch the Chosen One like she did.
“Something.” Y/N repeated, no emotion in her voice. It sounded almost like a recording being played back to him, just with any tone sucked away. “It’s always something, isn’t it?” She continued, not finding quite the right words to encompass the flummox of emotions seeping into her veins. “Work. Ron called. Hermione called. Work. Work again.”
“There really was something.” Harry pathetically added. It was a lie of course, he had spent the hours at his desk alone and staring aimlessly at a fountain pen as it leaked ink onto the black carpet of his office.
“Do you really think I don’t know you at all? Stop lying to me, Harry, just stop it. I’m done with being lied to.” Y/N says, her voice remaining as monotonous as ever as if she’s already grieving something. “I want to know what was so important that you’ve missed the dinner I made. The last thirty dinners, in fact.”
Harry just runs a hand through his messy hair as he tries desperately to think of something to say. But he can’t. There’s nothing to say that would make him any less guilty.
“I’m so sorry, Y/N.” He manages to whisper.
“You’ve said that already.” Y/N points out without missing a single beat. She’s exhausted of pretending that she doesn’t know what Harry’s been doing, drained of all energy to put in effort anymore.
“Just tell me what the problem is and we can fix it.” He begs, but his voice is shaky and the words sound as though he’s reading them from a script.
“Fine. When did you stop being in love with me?” Y/N asks, sadness seeping into her voice. Tears began to form in her eyes but were quickly blinked away; the last thing she wanted was for Harry to see her as weak. She might be pathetic, pitiful, stupid for not realising earlier... but Y/N was not going to be weak. Not now, not ever.
“Why would you think that? Y/N, I could never stop loving you.” Harry said, trying to wrap her into a hug only for Y/N to quickly wriggle out of his cold grasp. His fingers left icy burns where they had briefly touched her arm, and Harry’s face dropped as he realised she didn’t want him anywhere near her.
“But you have, Harry. Otherwise you wouldn’t be coming home at ridiculous times, or avoiding even looking at me like you are now. You don’t love me, you tolerate me because you don’t want to be alone. I feel like I’m begging to be in the footnotes in the story of your life, not a main character anymore.” Y/N explained quietly, neither expecting her to be so frank but once the blunt words were spilling from her lips, not even she could stop them. She watched as Harry’s face crumpled, sadness twisting her gut as she fervently tried not to cry herself.
“Y/N... I don’t know what to say.” Harry trailed off. Y/N used to be so infatuated with him, so desperately in love that she was blind to his flaws, much like his ridiculous fan base. But she had grown up from the teenager with a crush to a young woman with heart and with ambitions, and Harry was no longer apart of what she wanted out of life. She had stopped being a part of his long ago, she just hadn’t realised it then.
“Is this in my head? Tell me I’ve got it wrong somehow, Harry. Because please believe me, I could do it. I could leave.”
“I can’t.” Harry finally said. “I did love you once, Y/N. I’m not even sure what happened to us if I’m being completely honest.”
“That’s the problem: you don’t really even want me to stay. But that’s the thing... you built an entire new wizarding world after you defeated You-Know-Who, and where was I? I’m sorry for being dramatic and shit but I’m taking this dagger out and finally going where I need to be.” Y/N continued, not pausing as not to give him any time to ask her to stay, not that he would. Her mind was made up, and even Harry could see that.
“I’m sorry, Y/N.” Harry whispered, his voice trailing off as Y/N went to get her coat from a peg just beside their front door.
“It’s alright, really. I know you don’t hate me, but both of us know this isn’t working anymore. I deserve someone who celebrates me and my love, and that isn’t you. I’m not really sure that it ever was.” Y/N said, a sad smile gracing her delicate features. She looked almost relieved. Utterly broken-hearted, but relieved all the same. “I’ll come back for my stuff tomorrow.”
“You’re leaving me?” Harry said. Even though she had told him why, it still came as a shock. Y/N nodded. “I’m so sorry I didn’t treat you how you deserve.”
“I’m sorry about that too.” Y/N replied, both warmly and coldly at the same time. “Goodbye, Harry Potter. All the best.”
“Goodbye.” It was all Harry could fathom to say as she pressed her engagement ring back into his hand, the final recognition of their relationship officially being over. It was a beautiful piece of jewellery, one she at one point she thought she would never take off her finger. There were no more words exchanged about the gesture for none were needed, all had been said already.
One simple word that locked the door on their relationship, the one that Y/N had finally gained the courage to close in the first place. It had taken her so long, so pathetically long, to realise that something wasn’t right. That Harry was meant to love her, that love shouldn’t and can’t survive while being one sided. It shouldn’t have to be tolerated, and Y/N had finally learned that through all those lonely nights of wondering where Harry was, what he was getting up to at work, if he even was there.
But as Y/N’s grandma used to tell her every Christmas, as one door closes, another always opens.
-
A/N: hoped you liked it anon!!!
Nancy xx
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harrysweasleys · 4 years
Text
two heads of red hair // r.w
Summary: omg i love your writing so much- can you please write something REALLY soft for draco malfoy or ron weasley? thank u- HAHA SORRY IM A WH0R3 FOR FLUFF
Warnings: enough sweetness to give you a cavity, i swear.
Word Count: 1.4k
A/N: oh, sweet anon, aren’t we all whores for fluff?? bc i know i am. also sorry this was late! i’m feeling a tad better! now enjoy what’s quite possibly the softest thing i’ve ever written. xox (also it’s not proofread sorry)
—————————
The pouring rain was the only think keeping you awake as your rushed back into the house, wet hair sticking to your face and all your clothes glued to your skin.
Your first outing in nearly a month and you had regretted ever even leaving the house. The cold November rain made you feel as if your very core was frozen — a very rude awakening at this late hour of the morning.
You slammed your door shut behind you as if keeping out the rain demons, leaning back against it and sighing out in relief that you were finally in a dry environment.
You shrugged off your sticky rain jacket, not even bothering to dry it off so that the drops wouldn’t puddle onto the hardwood floors. You hung it up, tossing your rainboots to the side as well. You dropped the full grocery bag to the floor, planning on putting the stuff away once you had regained your energy.
The house was quite, which was no surprise. Ron was fast asleep when you left that morning. He probably hadn’t even noticed you were out, really. He’d probably lose his mind once he found out, but he couldn’t have stopped you while sleeping so it wasn’t your fault.
You tiptoed over to your room, spotting the familiar head of ginger hair still sound asleep, a smaller mop of ginger hair resting against his chest. Your heart swelled at the sight and you left the room, letting the two of them catch up on much deserved sleep.
After your son was born, about a month ago, Ron went into full defence mode. He didn’t let you leave the house, too worried that something would happen to you. Maybe it was paranoia from the war many years ago, or maybe just because his inner protective dad side was coming through, but you loved him for it anyways.
He loved your newborn unconditionally. The two of them were inseparable and Ron didn’t seem to complain one bit. You’d often find them snoozing on the couch in the late afternoons or watching telly together — Ron loved to watch your son’s face light up at the silly cartoons.
Being as quiet as humanly possible, you snuck into the kitchen and opened the fridge, beginning to put away the food you had just bought and taking some stuff out to make him some breakfast. For a month now, Ron had been doing all the house work — cooking, chores, laundry — you thought it was about time you worked up the energy and did something for him.
You took a few eggs out of the fridge, along with the bacon that you had just bought, and began making him the first meal of the day while hoping the smell wouldn’t wake him or the baby up. The pouring rain continued on outside, which was no longer a pain considering you were becoming drier by the second.
After you had beautifully arranged a little tray, pouring him a cup of tea as well, you began slowly walking back into the bedroom. You stared at them for a little while, a bright smile on your face at how cute they were together. But, alas, you didn’t want the breakfast to grow cold.
You walked to his side of the bed, placing the tray down on the window sill and kneeling next to the bed, placing a quick kiss on Ron’s nose.
He scrunched up his face, “Mmm.. mornin’, darling.”
You smiled down at him, lifting your hand to run it gently through his hair. The morning sunlight was streaming through the windows, illuminating his bright hair and the freckles that were scattered faintly across his cheeks.
“Morning,” you smiled, “Made you breakfast.”
“Ah, I thought I smelled something,” he chuckled quietly, lifting both of his hands to place them on the sleeping baby still dozed off on his chest, “I can’t bring myself to wake him.”
You stood up and placed your hands around your son, “I’ll take him.” You lifted him off of Ron’s chest and cradled him in your arms, his big brown eyes waking up to look at you, “Hey, Ollie.”
Ron had fallen in love with the name Oliver — and luckily, you had too. When your son was born, there was no doubt in your mind that the name Oliver would suit him perfectly.
He fussed slightly, letting out a small cry before readjusting himself and resting his tiny head against your chest. Ron grinned at the two of you, standing up to grab the tray and sitting back down in bed.
“Come join me,” he pat your spot on the bed, lifting the covers a bit so you could come join him. You happily obliged, carefully sitting down without causing distress to your sleeping son.
“Thank you for this,” he motioned to the food, “Still love spoiling you more, though.”
“You always spoil me,” you replied with a grin, “Don’t know what I did to deserve it.”
He gave you a look of mock shock, “Don’t know what you did? Blimey, woman. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Don’t be pretending you’re not.”
Resting your head against his shoulder and letting out a laugh, you nodded, “Fine, as long as you also know you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Both of you are.” You gazed down at your son, his eyes shut and his mouth hanging open. He had so many of his father’s features and you couldn’t help but beam with pride. If he had his father’s personality as well — his drive, his passion, dedication, loyalty — you’d be the proudest mum there ever was.
Ron stuck out his hand, holding a piece of bacon. You gladly accepted it with your teeth, enjoying the savoury flavour and suddenly wondering why you hadn’t made breakfast for yourself.
“Where’d you get the eggs? Could have sworn we were out,” Ron looked at you with furrowed eyebrows.
“We were,” you nodded, “I went to the grocery store this morning.”
He stared blankly at you, “You didn’t — Y/N, I told you not to go out there. You just had a baby, you need to rest up. Besides, I can hear the heavy rain hitting the roof. It’s miserable outside.”
You gave him a soft smile, “I know, Ron. But I was getting bored all cooped up. You’ve been doing everything, I wanted to do something for you.”
“And I appreciate it, darling, don’t get me wrong,” his eyes softened and he looked between you and Ollie, “I just worry about you. All the time.”
“I know, love,” you leaned forwards and pressed a kiss to his cheek, “If it makes you feel better, I did bring my wand.”
He pursed his lips and nodded his head, “Makes me feel a little better. But still. Next time, if you want to leave, we’ll go together, yeah?”
“Yes, Ron, we’ll go together,” you said slowly, like a child repeating orders from their parents. He seemed to accept your answer, though, for he went back to eating his breakfast, feeding you as well considering your stomach had begun to grumble loudly.
After you guys finished eating, you stood up and placed the still-sleeping baby in his crib, trying your best not to wake him as he looked incredibly peaceful. You smiled down at him before leaving the room and following Ron to the kitchen.
With a flick of his wand, the dishes were clean and began to float back to the cabinets where they belonged. You had barely had the chance to stand by his side before the cleaning had been done.
“Well, now we’ve got a whole morning of nothing to do,” he grinned, spinning around and wrapping his arms around you, pulling you flush to his warm body.
You lifted your hands and tamed his hair, “Wanna cuddle on the couch?”
“Of course. ‘S like you read my mind,” he smirked, pressing a kiss to your forehead and leading you to the couch, the two of you flipping down with you landing on top of him.
“Accio blanket,” you mumbled, the blanket from the other couch zooming over and enveloping the two of you in comfortable warmth.
Now comfortable and warm, you nuzzled your head into Ron’s chest, who had just turned on the telly to watch something about an upcoming football match — you were barely paying attention as you started zoning off in Ron’s arms.
“Go back to sleep, love,” he kissed the top of your head, rubbing his hand through your hair, “I’ll wake you up if there’s anything.”
“Mkay,” you mumbled, wrapping your arms around his torso, “Love you.”
The heavy rain nearly drowned out his words as he whispered back, “Love you too. To the ends of the earth.”
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softxhariana · 3 years
Text
34+35 live stream
description: ariana’s live stream before debut of 34+35 remix music video.
word count: 2.22k
A/N: little piece based off this live stream that ariana did in the countdown to her releasing the 34+35 remix music video with doja and megan. obvs not included every question but just a few fun bits and harry mentions for you x
also disclaimer, this is NOT real, if u don't wanna read about these two then don't, i’m not tryna act like they’re together it is fiction.
❤ anywayz hope u enjoy luvs xox
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❖   "HELLO EVERYONE! thank u for coming to this premier,” ariana smiled sweetly at the camera, as the video cut to a shot of her for the beginning of the countdown.
“we had so much fun making this 34+35 remix video for you, and uhh, we hope you love it.” she continued, playing with her hair. no matter how long she did this for she swore she would never cease to get slightly nervous in these situations. where it was her alone, in front of a camera. but her fans made her feel at ease, and she felt she owed them something, as she hadn’t done many quarantine interviews like other celebs have.
“i thought i would come celebrate and join the countdown with you guys. which is something that I've never done before, but i’m very happy to be here and i was very excited to get some questions from you all...” she held up the sheets of twitter questions she had received, “um that i’m gonna be answering while i’m here so, i cant wait to celebrate this together and countdown and answer some of your questions!” she finished with a smile.
and it was genuine. a real smile that her fans were thrilled to see.
ariana was genuinely so happy and content with her life right now. with her family, her music, her friends, harry. harry her FIANCE!! might she add.
everything just felt perfect, and after all the shit the last couple years had thrown her way, she appreciated the break.
 she got her love back, she was making music that she fully loved, and put her whole soul into, and she had fans who had stuck with her and supported her through some of the darkest times in her life, that were now able to experience her happiness and personal growth with her. so truly, little things like this, felt like the least she could do for them.
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“ohh this is a good one because its 34 35 related” she tucked her hair behind her ears, “@noirgrande said ‘ummm its just i wanna the end of 34+35 is it awww shit or nooo shit, i just wanna sing the song right”
“umm it is indeed no shit” she confirmed, smiling matter of factly at the camera before reciting the closing line of the song.
~~~~~~~~~~~
“@arianalocks1223 said ‘will we get to see the track list before the songs release?’” she paused for a second to process - which turned into a few more seconds, she was a bit slow today. she had told harry with full sincerity that she thought it was because she was getting old but he had just cracked up at her absurd statement, and told her that if that was the case he’d still think she was a milf
“you will!” she nodded with certainty, “indeed. ummm... i can tell you them now” she blurted, oops.
“i suppose thats not like... is that against the rules? can i do that?” she turned, to question scooter who was supervising off camera, not wanting to get her label mad at her for releasing too much information, something she has a tendency to do. 
after getting the nod of reassurance from him she turned back to the camera, “so out of ‘POV’, you go into, um, an interlude called ‘someone like u’. after that is a song called ‘test drive’, after that is the 34/35 remix with doja and meg” she smiles lightly, “and after that is a song called ‘worst behaviour’, and after worst behaviour is... a song called ‘main thing’...” she finishes, a shy smirk forming on her face, dimples appearing, “so that’s the tracks.” 
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continuing with the countdown, ariana felt her heart warm at the love her fans were giving her and this album. she loved interacting with them and making them happy and proud of her so knowing she had done just that, was an amazing feeling.
“umm hesbloodsline... @hesbloodsline ... i’m really fond of this question because its really to the point, ‘where's the pig and where the fuck is harry?’” she smiled, holding in a laugh.
“piggy’s here, she's great, she's really doing so well and life is really good for her right now, she's really thriving and doing her thing” she ranted, a hint of sarcasm in her voice, “um, i make her big salads everyday that she likes, she's doing really great. she asked me to stop posting her as much because she's actually really offended by a lot of your jokes that you make on twitter, she asked me to have a word with you guys” she continued to joke, well aware that she probably found herself more funny than anyone else did right now.
“she doesn't like the jokes about being eaten, they really hurt her, umm yeh, and she asked me to convey that... no she’s great...” she finally decided to answer, “and harry, is on set today, so um, yeh thats where he is... but don't worry i will tell him to keep you in the loop, i’ve got you” 
ariana unconsciously let a small smile take over her glossed lips when talking about harry. he had been so excited about this new project and seeing him passionate and happy about anything he’s doing, always made her happiest.
~~~~~~~~~~~
“nicole! @nastyctrl. nicole said ‘who helped come up with the concept for the positions music video, love u sm ari’ love you so much to, i love you so much more” she paused, she loved this story,
“um this is actually a really funny story, dave and i had been going back and forth on several different concepts, and i couldn't, like... marry one... i couldn't really, like, really commit to one, i wasn't 100% sold. and it was missing a certain element of empowerment. and i kept, you know, trying to think of things that would make it more impactful cause i wasn't loving what we had...”
“anddd then me and harry were on this huge hike, and he just turned to me and was like, ‘what if you were the president?’ which was like, not at all fitting cause i was dying and complaining the whole time. but i was like,” she tried to imitate a shocked face through her smile and laughed 
“and when i called dave he was like ‘oh... kay, ill call you guys back’ and had the whole production team redo everything, and i had mimi pull completely different outfits and we completely started over cause that idea was what i was, craving and missing. and i was like, wow, thats so perfect” she smiled, shrugging her shoulders, “so yeh, honorary directing credit to harry styles, if you liked that”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
“this is from @borderlinevinyl, who said ‘how much of the album was recorded at your little home studio?’ ummm..” she sang, looking off camera in thought, everything in quarantine had honestly just blurred into one so she was struggling to remember what exactly she recorded where,
“um... a lot of it was... i think i did parts of everything here and parts of things at tommy's i know i did, um, the final chorus ad-libs for positions at home” she began listing in her head, “i know i did all of off the table at home... i know i did the final chorus of my hair at home because we- i-” oops. she had to control the laugh threatening to leave her lips at the lack of subtlety in her correction
“-i got out of the shower and he was like ‘oh your whistles are really here right now’, and i was like y’know what... yeahh they are aren’t they” she laughed as she squinted her eyes and recited that part of the conversation, even trying to imitate his deeper accent.
she had been singing in the shower - as she always did - and harry joining her never seemed to stop her from belting out any whitney or old one direction classic she wanted to. he would even join in sometimes and they'd end up with their own mini concert, dancing around naked, shampoo and conditioner bottles in hand singing their hearts out to everything from high school musical to nicki minaj to fleetwood mac.
while it felt like too bold of statement to make as she truly revelled in and enjoyed everything they did together, showering with him was truly one of her favourite’s. whether it was steamy shower sex that had all glass surfaces in the room fogging up or letting loose and dancing and singing under the pouring water, every moment felt so intimate and sacred. it truly made her feel like they were they only people in the world. 
of course he would claim she was out singing him every time she whistled and would jokingly try to replicate the note but he was truly just in awe off the sounds that came from her mouth (in all senses of the word;)
"-and so i opened ‘my hair’ and just randomly did that” she continued, “um what else did i do here, i did the a lot of the backgrounds and ad-libs for 34+35 here, um, obvious was done at home, a lot of six-thirty was done at home”
caught in her own thoughts she only realised she had probably been droning on for too long when she caught scooters eye across the room and with a blush she shook her head as if to clear it, “this is an annoying answer, everything was kind of all over the place but i did a lot, a lot, a lot of the vocals for the album at the house" she finally finished the long answer, moving on quickly as she realised she didn't have long until the premiere and she wanted to answer as many of the questions as possible.
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“ok, second last question from hannah, ever- @everdxystxless, im sorry i don't know how to pronounce that” she laughs looking up at the camera with wide eyes, not sure how exactly how she was supposed to go about pronouncing the username, 
“im sorry, um, but anyway she say’s ‘ari baby, how do you feel about harry getting to do a movie with florence pugh, we know your a big fan of hers, ps. i love you so much!’ well hannah, i love you too” she replies, as she thinks back to when harry first introduced the two, after she had gotten over the initial fangirling, the pair became amazing friends. florence struck ariana as such a genuine, loving person and they shared the same dry sense of humour. plus ariana might of been just a little obsessed with her accent - not that she would ever admit that and scare the girl off.
“and... um, yeah, it literally, made me beyond happy, i was fully like, fangirling when i met her the first time” she laughs as she plays with her hair, “she honestly, probably was like, ‘who the fuck is this girl? what is she doing?’”ariana imitated, a faux scared/weirded out look on her face, playing the part of a mildly pissed off florence - which she luckily had never been on the receiving end of, “im sure i was being the opposite of subtle about it but, no, she really truly is the sweetest, kindest, most beautiful, talented human being” she emphasises, the thought of any news outlets of fan’s trying to spin a ‘jealousy’ story about this making her internally role her eyes,
“midsommar is, like, one of my all time favourite movies, and she's amazing in it, and harry’s like so fucking lucky its crazy. so yeah, thats insane”
~~~~~~~~~
"...so yeah... thank you so much! this was so much fun!” ariana exclaimed as she wrapped up the Q&A, smiling wide at the camera, she knew her fans were going to love the music video and she couldn't wait for them to watch it, plus interacting with them in this way always made her happy.
“i love you guys, i miss you” she reminded, “i am so appreciative of everything you've done for this album, for these singles, for this music. i hope that, um, that this makes you super happy, i hope it makes you smile...we had so much fun shooting it and um, the girls are so fantastic, so i hope you love this and i hope you love the deluxe!” 
ariana didn't know how many more ways she could say thank you and express her gratitude but she still had over a minute and a half so she’d have to come up with something, even if it meant she’d sound like a broken record
“i am so thankful for everything and for the love that you've shown this music i cant even begin to articulate it properly so, thank you! i appreciate it so much” she breathed out all in one, “but anyway, the video should be starting soon, so... i hope you like it, don't refresh! it’ll be here soon... i promise... just don't refresh” she urged dramatically, she was really dragging this out, “but yeh” she got out through laughs “the video should be starting anytime now, i love you guys” she blew a kiss to the camera before moving as close to the lens as possible “byee”.
🖤 there u go!! i hope you liked it, and any feedback would always always be welcomed and so so appreciated pls and thanku x 
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alicanta77 · 4 years
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Finale: All or Nothing
Pairing: y/n x Haechan
Themes: angst, fluff, suspense(?)
Warnings: swearing, zombies, blood, violence, death, virus, illness, anxiety, mentions of abusive family, needles (one injection)
Words: 12.4k
Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Finale
——————————————————————————
The inspiration for this story came from my amazing friend @2-cute-4-school and her story called ‘Evanescent’. Her work is so brilliant and she is such an under-appreciated writer. I can’t recommend or praise her enough. Thank you to the ends of the earth for letting me use it as a starting point.
I just want to say a massive thank you to everyone who has read post mortem. This is my first series and it so special to me so it means so much to receive likes, comments and tags saying that you enjoyed it. It has brought me brilliant friends such as @in-my-neofeelings and @honei-n and I couldn’t be more thankful for that. It’s been a wild ride so far and I hope you enjoy the finale!
Felix xox
——————————————————————————
Jeno walked swiftly down the hallway. He had holding a single piece of paper, folded in half to hide what was on it and his feet were almost silent as he made his way to your room. He turned a quick corner, knocking on your door three times, pausing for a second, then knocking again twice, before letting himself in.
He closed the door behind him, twisting the lock so that it clicked, before turning around and facing the rest of you. He held up the paper in his hands.
‘I’ve mapped out the blueprint of the army base.’
I.N. spoke next, running a hand through his hair to hide the fact that it was shaking slightly.
‘I’ve figured out how to override the system.’
Wooyoung joined in, swallowing before talking.
‘I’ve sorted our weapons.’
You spoke last. 
‘I’ve planned our route.’
The four of you looked around at each other, your obvious nerves making the tension levels rise.
I.N. took a deep breath.
‘Ok, so we’re all set for going back into the simulation.’
You nodded, determination taking over your mind as you shared a look with the boys in front of you.
‘Let’s blow this thing up.’
It hadn’t been easy to get organised. Especially not without drawing any attention to yourselves. Jeno had managed to draw up a map of the army base, marking the easiest route to the kill switch. He still remembered the ins and outs of that place from his summer camp, therefore was nominated the best person for the job. I.N. had spent his few days in the tech lab. He worked alongside a few other technicians, supporting people in the simulation. He quickly realised however, that they weren’t supporting them, but instead were directing packs of zombies towards them, trying to get as many people as possible to turn. It was in mindless conversations with these people that I.N. managed to ask a few questions about the system and get a vague understanding of how it worked. Wooyoung had been the one to realise that you would need weapons. Once the people here figured out that you had gone, they were going to come after you with everything they had. You knew too much. You were going to have to protect yourself, and Wooyoung managed to figure out how. And your job was to plan the way to the army base. You were hoping that I.N. could find a way to place you at the army base but, just in case, you had planned seven other routes. You had also spoken to Donghyuck’s sister, begging her to stay safe and keep her head down for the time you were away. You didn’t tell her much, only that you were going to get Donghyuck. She seemed to understand a lot more than you thought she did, as she gently held on to you while you hugged goodbye, taking the chance to whisper “do what you have to” in your ear. You had no idea if she had figured out what was really going on, but you knew you would never underestimate the girl again.
Tomorrow was the big day. Tomorrow was when it mattered. Tomorrow you went back into the simulation.
---
You were lying in bed that night, Jeno next to you as you chatted with each other about random things, trying to ease your nerves. You were glad that he hadn’t left you alone, instead claiming that he would wait for you to fall asleep before heading back to his own room.
‘What do you think will happen to us in there?’ He asked, changing the subject from whether starfish have feelings to the task ahead of you.
‘I don’t know.’ You answered honestly. ‘Probably what happened before, except harder. There are more zombies and we have to be careful not to get bitten. I mean, we always were careful but... everything relies on us now.’
‘As long as one of us makes it we’ll be okay.’ He reasoned, keeping his eyes on the ceiling above him. ‘We’re gonna get to see everyone again too.’
‘Yeah.’ You breathed out, your mind filled with the memories of Hyuck and you couldn’t begin to imagine what it would feel like to see him again. ‘It feels like it’s been a lifetime since I saw them last.’
‘I know.’ Jeno replied. And he really did. Since you both got your real memories back, your friendship had gone right back to normal. It was such a relief to have someone who understood the situation you were both put in, especially as it was so hard to explain.
A silence fell over the two of you for a second.
‘Are you thinking about Hyuck?’ He asked, turning his head to look at you.
‘Yeah.’ You said honestly, keeping your eyes on the ceiling and blinking back the tears that were gathering. ‘I miss him.’
‘I know you do... I also know that he misses you too, if not more. I still can’t quite wrap my mind around the fact that they actually think that we’re dead.’ Jeno looked back at the ceiling, blinking back tears of his own before you saw them. ‘Do you think they’ll believe us when we tell them about the simulation?’
‘I mean, we’ll be alive. Surely that must be proof enough?’ You wondered. ‘Although, it almost doesn’t matter whether they believe us or not. We actually don’t need them to, we just need to hit that button.’
Jeno nodded.
‘You’re right. We need to focus on shutting it down and we can properly reunite and explain everything to them once we’ve woken up again.’
You hummed in agreement, your eyes shutting slightly as tiredness began to take over you.
---
Tomorrow had arrived.
You woke up to an empty room, Jeno fulfilling his promise and heading back to his once you had fallen asleep. You looked over at the alarm clock on your bedside table, the red numbers staring back at you. 
9:37am
You were meeting the boys in Wooyoung’s room at 10am, as per I.N.’s request, meaning you had 20 minutes. You lay in bed for a short while, the thought of what you were preparing to do occupying your mind, before climbing out and heading towards the shower.
After a quick shower, you dried off and pulled on some more clothes. All the clothes supplied here were the same, tracksuit bottoms and a t shirt, the colours just varied every day. Today you had white bottoms and a white t shirt as well. You pulled them on before walking towards your door. You opened it, stepped into the hallway and began making your way to Wooyoung’s room.
---
By the time you arrived, the other boys were already there. There was a heavy silence in the air, it was clear that they’d been discussing something before you’d arrived.
‘What wrong?’ You asked, afraid of what they were about to tell you.
‘Dr Kim is in the pod room. He booked it last night and apparently won’t be leaving for the rest of the week.’ Jeno explained.
Your brows furrowed slightly in confusion.
‘Ok, that’s not good, not at all. Is Dr Kim-’
‘The one you overheard with Jeno? Yes.’ I.N. cut you off. ‘Look, we can’t waste any time. I say that, as soon as he leaves the room, we go in, lock the door, and get into that simulation.’
The three of you nodded in agreement.
‘I.N’s right.’ Wooyoung said. ‘We don’t have time to wait for an opening, we’re gonna need to create one. We can hear the door opening from here so, as long as we are near, we can make sure to take that gap.’
‘There’s something else.’ I.N. abruptly mentioned. You and the two other boys turning to look at him quizzically. ‘The three of you are going in alone.’
‘What? I.N. wait-’
‘No, let me explain.’ I.N. interrupted Wooyoung’s protest. You didn’t know how to feel, you had been prepared for all of you going in, you weren’t sure how you were going to leave him behind. ‘The three of you are going in alone because you have to. Firstly, in order to get into the simulation, someone else has to “authorise” it, for lack of a better word. You are going to be lying in a pod, and I’m going to “authorise” you going in. No matter what we try and do, one of us would always have to stay behind. And it has to be me. The three of you are much more suited for the challenge ahead, I’m just the brains of the operation. Plus, I’ve got to make sure that no one can follow you in or pull you out, therefore I need to stay here. Besides, from out here I can throw them off your scent, hack into the camera system to make sure that the cameras don’t follow you, and other things like that.’
He looked around at you, easily telling from your faces that you clearly weren’t okay with this development.
‘I.N. we need all four of us. We can do this if we’re together.’ Jeno pleaded, but I.N. simply shook his head.
‘You can do this alone.’
‘No I.N. we need you. Like you said you’re the brains of this and what if we come across a problem that you know how to solve but we don’t? You have to come with us.’ You begged him, but he didn’t change his opinion.
‘You have to trust me on this. You need to leave me behind.’
Wooyoung was the only one who hadn’t said anything, just staring at his friend sadly.
‘You know they’ll punish you for us going in right? You’re going to pay for the consequences of our actions.’ Wooyoung whispered, obviously scared for what would happen once you leave.
‘I know.’ I.N. replied, his voice quiet but surprisingly calm. ‘But that should buy you guys some time. And you’re going to need all the time you can get.’
The three of you nodded, finally understanding that, even if I.N. wanted to, he couldn’t join you in the simulation. He needed to protect you from the outside.
‘Just... promise me one favour?’ I.N. asked.
‘Anything.’ Wooyoung guaranteed.
‘Let them know that I’m okay. Especially Chan... please just make sure he’s not blaming himself.’ He whispered.
You felt yourself nodding. You couldn’t help but let your mind drift off to the boys who were in there, waiting for you. You thought of how Renjun had argued with you not to become a raider in the first place, claiming that he just wanted you to be safe. You thought of how Jaemin had only ever asked one thing of you, and that was for you to stay alive. You thought of how desperate San had been to stay with you when you had told him to leave you behind. And you thought of how Donghyuck had looked when you told him you were going on that final run. You thought of how you could see every part of him want to tell you “no”. You thought of how many times he had pulled you in for a hug and begged to stay with him. And you thought of how he had looked when he sat by your grave. They needed to know that you were okay. They needed to know that you didn’t blame them. They needed to know that you loved them.
The sound of a door opening and harsh footsteps treading down the hallway next to you interrupted your thoughts. The four of you froze, listening to the muttering voice of Dr Kim disappearing down the corridor as he muttered about being interrupted.
‘The room’s empty.’ I.N. stated.
Jeno stood up, quietly opening the door and checking that it was clear before turning back to the rest of you.
‘Let’s go.’
---
‘This better be important.’ Dr Kim stormed into his office. ‘I have other business to attend to.’
‘Sir, you’re going to want to see this.’
The head doctor, Dr Kim, turned his head towards the voice of his assistant. On their computer screen was a video, a video of your conversation from last night. Dr Kim leaned on the desk in front of him as he listened to the four of you talk.
‘Ok, so we’re all set for going back into the simulation.’
‘Yes. Let’s blow this thing up.’ 
Dr Kim took a deep breath as he tried to make sense of this development. 
‘How did they find out?’ He asked, his voice quiet but the anger clear.
‘We don’t know.’ His assistant replied. ‘But they’re planning to head back into the simulation and shut it down. They’ve... they’ve found the kill switch.’
Dr Kim’s eyes shot to his assistant, who once again shrugged, answering the question he hadn’t yet asked.
‘Then the answer is simple. We need to stop them. Shut down the pod room, no one goes in and I want to be alerted if there is any attempt to override the system. And you-’ Dr Kim clicked at the bodyguard on his right side. ‘Let’s go pay our little heroes a visit. I think they’re in need of a few new memories, don’t you?’
---
You watched as I.N. shut the door tight behind him, making sure to twist the lock. He stopped briefly, taking a quick look around before beginning his instructions.
‘Ok, Wooyoung, go into that cupboard and grab the solution that’s there, y/n, find me a syringe and Jeno, go and open three of those pods.’
You all nodded, quickly scrambling to fulfil your orders. You were pulling open random drawers, desperately looking for a syringe for I.N. to use. You were on your seventh when you finally found it. You turned around triumphantly, holding it out for I.N. to take when the lights surrounding the door went red and a low electronic groan echoed out.
‘What was that?’ Jeno asked to no one in particular.
‘We don’t have time to wait around and find out.’ I.N. grabbed the syringe out of you hand while uttering those words. The tension was unbearable, all of you knowing that you had a very short amount of time before you were caught.
What none of you knew was that, you had already run out of time.
---
Dr Kim threw open Wooyoung’s door, a shout of frustration leaving his mouth as he found it empty. He had been to all of your rooms in an attempt to find you. He stormed into the corridor again, his eyes drifting to the pod room down the hall. He walked up towards the door, pressed his ear against the wood, and listened.
His guard behind him had a hand on his gun as he watched Dr Kim’s face transform into an expression of absolute rage.
‘They’re in there.’ He forced through gritted teeth. He turned around and looked at his guard before shouting. ‘Get this door open!’
The guard moved forwards immediately, putting the gun back in its holster and attempting to kick down the door. After a few tries he turned around.
‘It won’t budge. It needs to be opened from the control room.’ He informed the doctor in front of him.
Dr Kim let out a strangled scream and lunged forward to grab the radio off the guard’s waist. He lifted it up to his mouth and spoke into it, shouting instructions at the people in the control room.
‘I want the door to the pod room open right now!’
‘But Dr Kim, if that-’ A static voice came through from the other side, giving him some excuse as to why he needed to wait.
‘I don’t care! Open the door now!’ Dr Kim threw the radio back at the guard in front of him and watched as the lights around the door changed from a red to white, signalling that it was unlocked.
He threw the door open and burst into the room.
---
‘Get this door open!’
Dr Kim’s voice travelled through the door separating you and the four of you inside looked at each other in fear.
‘Jeno, quick! Come here.’ I.N. instructed, moving the syringe so that it was close to his neck. He had already given you and Wooyoung injections, only Jeno’s was left. He pulled the syringe out, ready to send you back into the simulation. ‘Go and lie in a pod and close the door on top of you.’
His voice was sharp and clear, not a single trace of fear in it, the only thing betraying him were his slightly shaking hands. You could hear a loud bang come from the door as you ran towards the closest pod. You turned back towards I.N. as a thought crossed your mind.
‘I.N.!’ You called out, only getting a hum in response. ‘Can you do me a favour?’
I.N. looked up at you for a split second, his expression conveying all he needed to say.
Now is not the time to ask questions but yes, what do you need?
‘Please, look after Hyuck’s sister for me? Make sure that she’s okay.’
I.N. nodded.
‘I promise.’
You felt a small amount of relief flow through you. You were leaving without speaking to her so you were glad to know that she would be protected. You quickly lay down in your open pod, pulled the door down over you, and, as the door clicked shut, you were encased in a pale blue light.
A few seconds passed before I.N’s voice came through.
‘Ok, I can’t seem to put you straight into the army base for some reason, the location is locked on here and I don’t have time to figure out how to hack it, but I’m going to drop you as close as I can. It’s in the nearby city and looks like it’s just under half a day’s walk away.’
You took a deep breath as you mentally pictured the maps you had drawn up. You knew you had planned some routes that went through nearby cities, you just weren’t sure which on you were going to be dropped in.
‘If I remember correctly from when we went in, you’re going to get very drowsy in a minute, just relax into it. Let the simulation take you okay? Don’t panic.’
He paused for a minute, leaving you in silence, your own breathing being the only thing you could hear. You could feel your eyes begin to relax and the tiredness swept through your veins. You could feel your heart rate begin to rise, all the memories from the simulation flooding back through your mind. Your father’s death, Jeno’s death, Donghyuck’s sister’s death, the first girl you killed. But you forced those pictures out of your mind. This time wasn’t going to be like that. You were prepared. You weren’t going in there to just fight for your life, you were going in there to save everyone. I.N.’s voice came back over the speakers, just as you lost consciousness completely.
‘Good luck.’
---
You opened your eyes.
You were surprised to find yourself standing up. You were stood in the middle of a road, clearly on an abandoned high street. The shops up and down the pavement were empty, some even having been looted. You turned to look around you, spotting Wooyoung and Jeno a little further down.
You took an experimental step, relieved when you didn’t go crashing to the ground, and took off in a jog. Both of the boys saw you moving towards them and came forwards to meet you halfway.
You came to a halt when you reached them, the three of you standing in silence.
‘Well...’ Wooyoung spoke, his eyes constantly darting around your surroundings. ‘We made it.’
‘Yeah, I guess we did.’ You mumbled, your eyes looking down at the ground. It was only when you did this, did you realise the clothes that you were wearing. ‘Oh my god! I’m in the clothes I died in.’ You realised, both Jeno and Wooyoung’s eyes darting to their bodies as well.
You recognised Jeno’s outfit from the final day at Mark, the sight of him running through the infested house on the monitors was not one that you would easily forget, and judging from Wooyoung’s shocked face, he was also wearing what he had been killed in.
‘Wow. Yeah, thankfully the clothes from just before we died. Cause, you know, there wouldn’t be much left of mine otherwise.’ Jeno’s shot a smile at the two of you. 
You stared at him in disbelief, a laugh leaving you despite the circumstances.
‘Only you could joke about blowing yourself up like that.’ You chuckled.
But Wooyoung whirled around to stare at Jeno.
‘You blew yourself up?’ He asked, as Jeno nodded in confirmation.
‘Yeah, just pulled the pin on a grenade and ran into a group of zombies.’ He shrugged like it was no big deal, causing Wooyoung to stare at you.
‘It’s true.’ You informed him. ‘We were in the floor above. The blast knocked us off our feet.’ Your voice got quieter towards the end. Even though Jeno was very much alive, listening to the blast and coming down to the wreckage of Mark’s kitchen wasn’t an easy thing to forget.
Jeno placed a hand on your shoulder, sending you a comforting smile. You sent one back before turning to Wooyoung again.
‘But what about you? San told me all about your heroics, sacrificing yourself so that they could get into the army base.’ You grinned at him, watching as Wooyoung blushed slightly.
‘I’m not the only one though, who sacrificed myself for San am I?’ He asked, looking you directly in the eye.
Your smile shrunk slightly, leaving only a sad one on your lips.
‘We weren’t both making it out of that alive.’
You all fell into silence after you spoke those words, all replaying the scenes of your own deaths in your minds. It wasn’t something you ever expected to be haunted with, but here you were, stumbling back through this wasted version of the world, being stalked by your own ghost.
‘Let’s just get our weapons and move on?’ You suggested, breaking the tension as both boys nodded in agreement.
‘If I remember correctly...’ Wooyoung muttered, mainly to himself as he walked through a broken shop window. He disappeared for a while, making yours and Jeno’s hearts race in fear. You had forgotten the terror that came along with losing sight of someone for a few seconds in this climate. 
His head popped up again, a childish smile on his face. 
‘Found it.’ He informed you, even though neither you nor Jeno had any clue as to what “it” was.
‘You know,’ Wooyoung continued. ‘I.N. actually couldn’t have dropped us in a better place, I grew up around here and I know that the owner of this store was very paranoid about people stealing his things. So he had a secret compartment put in, and filled it with these.’
Wooyoung appeared over the top again, this time holding a gun in each hand. They were large guns, similar to the kind that you had used at Mark’s. He handed one to each of you and then grabbed one more for himself. He also pulled a box out that was filled with cases of spare bullets.
‘I thought we might need these too.’ He said as he unzipped a backpack on the floor, emptying the contents and filling it again with the cases of bullets and a few spare pistols. He also made sure to hand both you and Jeno a handgun. 
‘How do you know all of this?’ Jeno asked, his eyes wide at the sight in front of him.
‘Hmmm? Oh I worked here part time. It paid quite well actually. He only ever took on three students a year so it was really competitive.’ Wooyoung replied.
‘So he told all his employees about this? How come no one else took these?’ You wondered aloud.
‘Oh no. He didn’t tell all of his employees. Only me.’ Wooyoung corrected you.
‘Well, please don’t take this the wrong way, but why you?’
Wooyoung looked up at Jeno’s question, diverting his eyes from the gun in front of him.
‘Simple. He liked me.’
Another large smile broke out across the boy’s face, one that made you smile with him, without realising it. Wooyoung was such a happy virus, someone who could make people happy or brighten their day without even trying. Your mind drifted to Donghyuck. The only boy who could make you smile even in the worst of circumstances. You missed him. You missed him so much that it physically hurt. It sometimes felt like he was the only thing keeping you going.
‘Right.’ Wooyoung’s voice cut through your train of thought. ‘Shall we go?’
You opened your mouth to answer but before you got a chance to, a low groan sounded through the high street. It was a noise that you hadn’t heard for a while, but nevertheless, still managed to send a chill of terror down your spine.
You turned slowly and made eye contact with the zombie staring at you through the broken store window.
---
‘Where are they?’ The Dr Kim bellowed as he burst into the camera room. ‘I want eyes on the three of them right now!’
All he got in response were frantic nods from the staff as they combed through every camera that they possibly could to find the four of you.
‘Doctor! I found them.’ A voice from the far left called out.
‘Put them up on the screen.’ Dr Kim instructed, watching as the main screen on the wall lit up with a picture of you all walking through the empty high street.
‘That street... I know that street.’ Dr Kim mused. He turned to the guard on his left and barked an instruction. ‘You, go to y/n’s room and grab the papers on her bed.’
The guard left immediately, running down the corridor.
‘Send a zombie their way.’
The staff nodded in response to his request and watched as you turned to look at the zombie now watching you through the window. Dr Kim focused as Wooyoung pulled the gun up and shot it through the head immediately, not wasting a second.
‘They’re not afraid to kill anymore. They know that they’ll only wake the person up. I want them out of there as soon as possible.’
‘Do you want us to organise for them to die? Or to pull their pods out?’ One of the crew asked.
‘No.’ Dr Kim muttered. ‘They know too much, and there’s no guarantee that they won’t figure it out again. Fake memories are hard to create and even harder to make last, our best chance was putting the two of them into a relationship. If that didn’t work before it’s not worth wasting the time and resources to try and do it again.’
‘So, what should we do doctor?’ The same person questioned.
‘There’s only one answer really, they can’t leave. We have to make sure they turn. Push forwards the mutation of the virus. What stage are we at currently?’
‘Stage 3 out of 5.’ Another voice appeared from somewhere in the room, Dr Kim didn’t know and didn’t care where.
‘Mutate it. I want stage 5. Enable the virus to be transmitted through insects. If they get bitten by an infected mosquito, I want them infected, if they eat a vegetable grown near infected bugs in the soil, I want the disease to travel to the food, if they smell a flower pollinated by a bee, I want that bee to be infected and I want the virus to transmit to them. Understand?’
He looked around at the staff behind him, all of them shouting agreement with his plan and turning towards their computers to put it into action. 
The guard appeared again,  holding out the papers towards Dr Kim. The doctor practically ripped them out of his hands, rolling them out on the table in front of him. He pointed to one drawing in particular.
‘Look, they’ve planned their route.’ He could now see exactly the journey you were planning to take to reach the army base. He checked the screen and saw the mutated virus already starting to have effects. He smiled and turned to the staff in front of him. ‘What do you say we send a few old friends to break up the party?’
---
Wooyoung reacted before either you or Jeno could, pulling the gun into position and shooting a bullet straight into the zombie’s forehead. You watched as its body hit the ground with a dull thud.
‘Jesus.’ Wooyoung breathed. ‘I forgot how terrifying seeing one of those was.’
Jeno turned around where he was and sent Wooyoung a nod.
‘Yeah me too, thanks.’
Wooyoung shrugged it off.
‘Probably better for them right? I mean, they’re gonna wake up now.’
‘Yeah, you’re right’ You piped up. ‘We can’t be afraid to pull the trigger anymore. We know nothing bad is going to happen so just, aim for the head so that it’s quick and doesn’t leave them in pain.’
Jeno and Wooyoung nodded slowly. As well as the three of you knew what was waiting for you on the outside of the simulation, and that dying here was nothing to be afraid of, it was still difficult to pull that trigger.
‘We seriously need to move, we don’t want to stop if we can help it.’ Wooyoung said, hoisting the bag over his shoulder.
Jeno turned to you expectantly, waiting to see what direction you were going in.
‘Ok, from the routes I created, we need to head West from here. Luckily for us, there’s an almost direct path from where we are now, to the army base.’
You pointed in the direction you needed to head as you spoke, Wooyoung nodding in agreement. Having someone around who knew these areas would be incredibly useful.
The three of you set off, your hands firmly on your weapons as you began your trek to the army base. You walked all the way down the high street, crossing the empty roads to take other paths. You ensured that you always took the largest street possible, not wanting to meet a group of zombies in a tight alleyway.
All the minutes seemed to blur into one as you walked. Your mind began to wander and you thought of I.N. You wondered if he had gotten into trouble when they had found him alone in the pod room. You were scared that they were going to wipe his memories again, but you were even more afraid that they were going to hurt him. You hoped that he had stayed true to his word and that he was looking after Donghyuck’s sister. You were praying that she would be okay.
The tall buildings gradually began to shrink as you left the centre of the town you were dropped in. Jeno was a few steps ahead of the rest of you and Wooyoung, naturally walking at a faster pace. The silence between the three of you was getting louder with every step when suddenly, the low groan that you had not missed in the slightest, cut through. Your heart sank, out of annoyance rather than fear.
That annoyance quickly evolved into fear when you recognised the zombie leading the silent pack walking towards you.
It was Hongjoon.
Someone who had run the army base when you were there. He had offered you support before and after every run, he had been there to listen anytime you needed to talk. You knew he was someone who could be trusted.
But here he was. In front of you, stumbling forward as though he had no idea who you were.
Wooyoung didn’t move, his voice shaking slightly as he tried to talk.
‘Hyung?’
Hongjoon’s eyes shot towards his younger friend, opening slightly wider for a second, as if in recognition, before they turned back to you, narrowed, and he shot forwards. He moved like lightening, you only had a second to shout out before you were on the ground, underneath Hongjoon who was biting at you with everything he had.
Wooyoung pulled his gun into position and aimed at his friend’s head. He could hear your shouts as you pushed against the infected boy with all your might, yet he didn’t pull the trigger.
‘Wooyoung, shoot!’ You screamed. ‘It’s not real! Shoot!’
A shot rang out and Hongjoon collapsed on top of you. You rolled him off you and on to the ground and looked up. It wasn’t Wooyoung who had fired, it was Jeno. Jeno grabbed you by the hand and pulled you up. He turned to shoot an accusing look at Wooyoung, preparing to say something, but he was interrupted by the rest of the crowd of zombies breaking out into a run behind you. 
The three of you took off. You tried leading the boys on your planned route to the army base but more zombies just appeared from that direction.
‘How are there so many all of a sudden?’ Jeno asked in between breaths.
‘I don’t know!’ You said, frustration bubbling up inside you. ‘It’s almost as if they’re spawning here.’ Then a sudden realisation dawned on you. ‘The lab must have found our plans. They know our route, we have to find another way.’
Jeno’s eyes widened in desperation, the both of you wracking your brains in an attempt to think of an escape plan. You hadn’t noticed that in an attempt to escape the undead hoard chasing you, you had circled back and were heading back into the main city. 
Suddenly, Wooyoung’s voice rang out.
‘I know a way. Follow me.’
He sped up as he ran back into the streets of the city he knew. You and Jeno both followed, piling on the extra speed in order to keep up. You turned a sharp corner a few seconds after Wooyoung and found him attempting to open a manhole cover. Jeno crouched down next to him to help and, together, they lifted the metal cover off. It was on hinges so it should be easy to close after you.
‘You’ve gotta be kidding me.’ You groaned.
‘It’s either down here with a few rats, or out there with them.’ Wooyoung nodded in the direction of the zombies. Their footsteps getting dangerously loud.
You sighed, nodding in agreement. Wooyoung climbed in first and then Jeno held out a hand to offer you help.
‘No.’ You bluntly refused.
‘No? y/n I thought you said you were ok going in? We don’t have-’
‘Not that kind of no.’ You cut him off. ‘I’m going in, I’m just going in last.’
You could see Jeno was confused so you explained hurriedly, trying to keep your voice as steady and as hard as possible. But you didn’t quite manage to stop it form shaking.
‘The last time you offered to go last was at Mark’s and the next think I knew, I was watching you die. I don’t care if this is a simulation, I’m not risking it again.’
Jeno’s expression completely changed. He looked like he wanted to say something but Wooyoung voice travelled up from below before he could.
‘What the hell is taking you two so long? Don’t worry, I know these tunnels.’
Jeno swung his legs into the manhole, climbing down the ladder quickly. You waited until he was a few rungs down before lower yourself in too. You had just got your lower body in and you were reaching for the lid when the first zombie skidded around the corner. It let out a sort of yell, almost in triumph, and you slamming the cover shut over you. You bent yourself in half slightly, not being far enough down the ladder to close the top and stand up straight.
You thought that would be okay but the lid started to move up again and you got a glimpse of the zombie trying to open it.
‘Wooyoung! How do I shut this?’ You screamed down.
‘The wheel on the inside. Turn it!’ Wooyoung yelled back, the panic clear in his voice.
If you didn’t get this wheel locked it would be game over.
You tried to step down slightly, not being able to pull the door down with force at the angle you were standing. However, it was incredibly difficult as you had both your hands on the wheel above you. You placed another foot down, but this time you misjudged where the step was and slipped. You went down about two rungs, a yelp escaping you as you did so.
‘Y/n!’ Wooyoung screamed from the floor.
You felt a strong hand come up and grab the back of your thigh, steadying you.
‘You’re okay. Now, close it.’ Jeno’s words brought you right back down to earth and filled you with the strength you needed.
You gave the cover a powerful tug, yanking the wheel to the right as you did so. You kept both hands there, turning the wheel until you couldn’t physically turn it anymore. Eventually you stilled, your hands stopping their frantic movements.
You stood where you were, pausing just to catch your breath.
‘We’ve gotta keep moving.’ Wooyoung’s voice echoed up through the tunnel and you nodded.
You released the metal wheel above you, instead grabbing the ladder and lowering yourself down onto the floor.
‘Let’s go. I know a path into the woods, I’m pretty sure that it has an exit close to the army base.’
Wooyoung made to move off but Jeno’s hand shot out, grabbing him by the shoulder, stilling his movements.
‘Not so fast kiddo.’ He said, staring the shorter male down.
‘I’m older than you.’ Wooyoung muttered, his eyes facing the floor. Despite the fact that Wooyoung was older, it was obvious who had the power in this verbal exchange.
‘You didn’t take the shot.’ Jeno said, watching as Wooyoung swallowed. ‘You had a clear shot, you wouldn’t have hit y/n, but you didn’t take the shot. Instead you put her in danger, and in turn, endangering everything that we’re trying to do here. You know it’s not going harm them. Why didn’t you take the shot?’
‘I tried to. But he was still my friend. I was staring at the face of my friend. I know that he’s going to wake up, and that he’s probably better off dead than as one of those, but... I just didn’t think it would be that hard to pull the trigger. I’ve done it plenty of times. Hell, I even did it earlier today, but when I was looking into the eyes of someone I knew... I couldn’t do it.’
Jeno sighed deeply. You could tell that he understood where Wooyoung was coming from.
‘Ok.’ He said, Wooyoung looking up in shock at how fast Jeno moved on from it. ‘No one got hurt, and hopefully by taking this route we shouldn’t have to see anyone else.’
Wooyoung smiled thankfully, turning around and pointing down the tunnel.
‘It’s this way.’
And once again, you set off.
---
Your throat was dry, your legs ached and you were tired. You had been walking for hours and you were worried that it was going to be dark when you left the safety of these tunnels. Wooyoung wasn’t lying when he said that he knew them well, from the easy way he was guiding you through them, he had clearly spent a lot of time in them when he was younger. You had to admit that Wooyoung had made himself an invaluable member of your team. You really had no idea how you could have gotten this far without him.
As thankful as you were to everything Wooyoung had done so far, you had never loved him more than when he told you that you could stop walking. He approached the ladder in front of him, gently placing his hands on either side and whispering.
‘This is it.’
He climbed first, turning the wheel to unlock it at the top and wincing as it creaked loudly as he pushed it open. Wooyoung paused with it open slightly, listening for the tell tale noises of the undead, and then continued to open it completely.
You climbed out of the top, savouring the fresh air, pausing to listen for a guttural groan or ominous footsteps but, instead, you were greeted with a blissful silence. 
Well, almost blissful.
‘Careful!’
A voice echoed through woods, a voice strangely familiar that caused both yours and Jeno’s head shoot up.
‘That sounded like Renjun.’ You whispered breathlessly, the thought of seeing your longest friend after what had felt like an eternity was almost alien to you.
‘I know. But it can’t have been him, he’s at the base.’ Jeno reasoned.
‘Jaemin, you ridiculously stupid moron.’ The voice appeared again, causing you and Jeno to share a smile.
‘No.’ Jeno’s eyes curved up into crescents. ‘That’s Renjun.’
‘Renjun!’ You shouted out, starting to jog towards where you had heard him before.
You didn’t get a reply, causing to you panic as an indescribable feeling of sadness took over you. 
‘Renjun, it’s the grief. It can cause you to hear people when they’re not there.’
‘I’m not an idiot, San. I know my best friend’s voice.’
Your heart sped up again, warmth spreading throughout your entire body as you called out.
‘Renjun?’
This time you got a reply.
‘Y/n?’ You heard footsteps speed up, getting louder as they got closer to you. ‘Oh please be real, please be real, please be-’
Renjun turned into your line of vision, his words and movements stopping suddenly as he laid eyes on you. You smiled at him, tears starting to blur your vision.
‘Hi.’ You said.
That was all it took. Renjun threw himself forwards, pulling you in for the tightest hug you had ever felt in your life. You wrapped your arms around his shoulders and hugged him back, feeling his tears begin to wet your neck.
‘You’re real. I knew it, you’re real.’
His words got lost in a haze of disbelief and shock at the sight of you standing in front of him, alive.
He pulled away, cupping your hands with his face, wiping away the tears that had fallen. He just stared at you, utter amazement gracing his features. Then, finally, a smile broke out. The largest smile you had ever seen. He wrapped his arms back around your waist, pulling you around in a circle as he screamed happily into the air.
‘I was right!’
It was at this moment that Jeno, Jaemin and San also found their way to where you were. You pulled away from Renjun, staring at the two boys behind him as Renjun’s eyes locked on to Jeno. You stroked Renjun’s face one last time as you moved away. Renjun hit Jeno at full force, hugging him tight and bursting into tears again. You didn’t move, looking only at Jaemin. He was staring back at you, clearly not knowing what to say.
So you smiled.
‘Miss me?’ You asked, watching as Jaemin’s face broke out into a smile matching yours and he laughed with glee as he ran towards you. He picked you up in a hug, his laughter never stopping. You couldn’t help but laugh back. He put you down, finally managing to get some words out.
‘Oh god I missed you so much. You’re alive!’
You nodded, the smile on your face was starting to hurt but you couldn’t make it smaller even if you wanted to. You pulled away from him after a short while, allowing him to greet Jeno and you were left facing San.
San didn’t meet your eyes, instead choosing to stare at his feet.
‘San?’ You asked, hoping that he would at least look at you.
You could see the boy blinking rapidly, chewing on his bottom lip at the same time. Eventually you couldn’t take it anymore. You walked towards him and pulled him in for a hug. The second your hand made contact with his shoulder, San broke down, hugging you as tight as the others and whispering about how sorry he was.
‘Shhhhh, it wasn’t your fault. You did exactly what you should have done.’ You comforted him.
You pulled away sooner than you wanted to, but you knew he had to see Wooyoung.
‘I have a surprise for you.’ You said, smiling at him.
San sent you a teary but confused smile back, and you wordlessly grabbed his hand and turned him around.
Upon seeing Wooyoung, San moved faster than you had ever seen him move before. He shot towards the boy, Wooyoung moving forwards too as they reunited. Renjun appeared back at your shoulder, keeping an arm around you, as if to remind himself that you were really there.
‘I’m so happy you’re okay, but I have to ask, how?’
You shared a look with Jeno and called out to Wooyoung and San.
‘We’ll tell you on the way. It’s not an easy story.’
‘On the way? Wait where are you going?’ Jaemin asked, placing a hand on your chest to stop you moving.
‘Back to the army base.’ Jeno explained. ‘There’s something there that we need to do.’
Renjun and Jaemin shared a nervous look.
‘What’s happened?’ You asked, your hope diminishing by the second.
‘We’ve lost the army base.’ Renjun said bluntly. ‘People started turning from the inside, with no scratch, bite, or even contact with a zombie. It was as if it was in the air. Anyone who could abandoned the building immediately. Within under two hours it wasn’t safe anymore.’
‘Are you three the only ones who made it out?’ Wooyoung voiced the question you were too afraid to ask.
‘We don’t know.’ San chimed in. ‘The three of us left within a few seconds of each other. All we know is that we were the first out. If anyone got out after us, they can’t be far away.’
‘This isn’t part of the plan.’ You whispered, bringing your hand up to your head to rub your forehead.
‘What plan?’ Renjun asked, his eyes flickering between you and Jeno.
‘The plan. The plan that’s going to save us, to end this all.’ You rambled, not even fully sure of what you were saying.
‘End this all? Wait do you know how to stop the apocalypse?’ Jaemin asked.
‘There is no apocalypse!’ You exploded. ‘None of this is fucking real! It’s a damn simulation.’
‘A simulation...’ Renjun repeated.
‘Yes, a simulation. Aren’t the three of us proof enough that this can’t be real life. Jaemin, you shot me. In the head. How the fuck would I recover from that?’
Jaemin flinched at the reminder of your death. Jeno, noticing how your distressed state was unsettling others, tried to calm you down.
‘y/n, just breath for a minute ok?’
You whirled around.
‘No! Not okay. I’m so fucking done with this. How much hell have we been put through. I have killed people, and watched them been killed. I have lost friends, lost memories, left people behind, fought for my life and it still isn’t enough. When is this shit going to end? What more can they put me through?’
You turned towards the sky and screamed.
‘Fuck you! You hear that Dr Kim? Fuck you and your little experiment. I’m still finding a way to shut you down. Because you know what? I’m getting that happy ending. Cause after all the shit you’ve put me through, I fucking deserve it!’
You sat down, trying to catch your breath after your meltdown. You stared at the grass in front of you, ignoring the five sets of eyes watching your every move.
‘You went through something pretty rough on the outside didn’t you?’ Jaemin asked, assuming there was something more to your anger than what you had just learnt.
‘Yeah. It wasn’t easy.’ Jeno clarified. You were glad he didn’t go into more detail and even more glad that the boys didn’t ask for more.
You stood up, pulling your gun around to your front and took off.
‘Uhhh, y/n? Where are you going?’ Renjun asked.
‘To the army base.’ You declared. ‘I’m still shutting this thing down. Even if I had to do it alone.’
‘Who the hell said you were going to be doing it alone?’ Jeno’s words caused you to stop and turn around.
‘You’re coming with me?’
Jaemin shrugged, grabbing the pistol that Jeno offered him and beginning to walk towards you, the other boys all following.
‘Well, we started this together. Might as well end it that way to.’
---
The doors to the army base were open when you arrived. The wide gates were oddly unnerving, open gates were normally a symbol of welcoming, but this only reminded you of the gates to hell.
‘Remember, just get to the button and press it. That’s all we need to do so just focus on that.’ Jeno reminded you all. His voice was clear and steady, not a hint of fear in it. It was the voice of a true leader.
You stepped forward, ready to face whatever came at you.
---
You don’t know where it went so wrong.
Only you and Jeno were left alive and unbitten. The rest of you had been picked off one by one. They appeared out of nowhere, moved quickly and silently and were almost impossible to find. You had no idea what had made the zombies so dangerous all of a sudden. They had lost the slow paces of the previous kind, the fast bursts only maintained for a few seconds, and now had the agility of 20 year olds. It was as if they had retained the characteristics of the people they used to be. It was even harder to know that it was you friends picking you off just predators pick off the weakest member of the herd.
The two of you moved silently, aware of the moving shadows that signified the walking ghosts of your friends. You had only seen a few faces yet. You’d seen Chan, Changbin and Jongho as well as Mark and Chenle. It was seeing Mark and Chenle that was the most difficult, and in that minute you understood better than ever before, why Wooyoung couldn’t pull the trigger on Hongjoon. 
A scream came from your left and you turned and blindly fired. You missed and watched as a figure you recognised to be Jaemin’s slunk back down the corridor.
You were only a few minutes away from the button, but at the pace you were moving, it would take you ages. You had to speed up. There was a door up ahead, one that was already open, as if it was awaiting the two of you. It only took one short shared look for the plan to be formed. You counted to three under your breath.
One
Two
Three
You threw yourself forwards, sprinting towards the open door as fast as you could, Jeno doing the same. Jeno reached the doorway before you did, and, as you cleared the distance, he slammed the door shut behind you.
You whirled around as you heard another loud bang on the door and saw Jeno pushing himself up against it to hold it in place. All of a sudden it made perfect sense as to why the door had been open.
It had no hinges.
The zombified bodies of your friends were pushing against it, clawing desperately to try and reach Jeno.
‘y/n, you have to go! Run now and find that button.’ Jeno’s voce was strained, all his energy being used to keep the door in place.
‘No, Jeno you have to go. You know the base better than I do.’ You reasoned.
‘Do you think I can go anywhere right now?’ He asked, pushing back on the door again as it began to budge. ‘Don’t be an idiot y/n, just go! I’ll hold them off for as long as I can.’
So you ran, you turned on your tail and sprinted down the hallway. You were pretty sure that you only had to get down this hallway, one set of stairs and one last door before you were at the button.
You were so close. Surely nothing could stop you now. All the zombies were upstairs, you had a free run.
You had just turned the second last corner of the corridor when you felt two hands grab your arm tightly and teeth quickly sank into the skin.
You let out a scream in pain, the zombie releasing your arm and stepping back from you, its work now done. You spun around and came face to face with the zombie who bit you.
Donghyuck.
Your heart stopped as you looked at the boy you loved. He stared back at you with no recognition, his eyes dull and his skin coloured with a sickening grey tine. You didn’t have time to mourn him. Your only hope was now getting to that button before you turned and forgot who you were. If you turned, all hope was lost and this would all have been for nothing. You knew from the last time you were bitten that you only had a few minutes, probably less if the doctors at the lab had mutated the virus. The pain in your upper arm was excruciating.
You stumbled forward, trying desperately to remember Jeno’s drawing of the army base layout. You turned a corner and came across a set of stairs, taking you down into the basement.
You took the first one, you vision starting to disappear as dark spots danced across the scene in front of you.
You took the fourth one. Focusing only on that button you had to do something with.
You landed at the bottom.
You stood there, not moving, confused beyond belief as to what you were doing. Why were you here? You had no reason to be at this level. You should be upstairs so that you could leave the base soon. 
You turned around, away from the door in front of you. You looked up the stairs and saw Jeno. His eyes a cloudy white colour, and the veins across his arms and neck running black. Your eyes focused on a small black object behind him, however, something that was built into the wall, you had never noticed it before.
A camera.
You swung yourself around so that you were facing towards the door again. You knew what you were doing. You knew who you were. You knew what was behind that door.
You turned the handle, throwing yourself against it when it didn’t open. You banged the door with your shoulder, screaming in frustration when it refused to open.
You took a step back and lifted your foot. You kicked the door with all your force, relief flooding your system when it swung open. However, the momentum of the kick carried you through and you didn’t have the balance to keep yourself upright. You landed on your back, a sickening crack echoing off the walls as your head came in contact with the concrete floor.
You groaned in pain, recognising how your voice was sounding more and more like the undead’s. You summoned every bit of strength that you had and pulled yourself up so that you were on all fours.
You tucked your legs under you and pushed yourself up from the floor.
This was the room that Jeno was talking about. You vaguely registered a tunnel to the left, one that you assumed led out into the forest. And in front of you, only a few steps away, was an almost empty control panel with only one small button on it.
The entire room was spinning and your vision was getting darker by the second. You didn’t know if you had any strength left to continue forwards, holding on to the door to keep yourself upright. You head was pounding, your arm was throbbing and your heart was aching.
Your body was screaming at you with everything it had for you to stop, to give up, to rest. But you couldn’t. You couldn’t give up now. Not when you were so close.
You stepped forwards. You thought of Renjun. The boy who had never left your side since the day he met you. He was fiercely loyal, always prepared to do everything he could to protect the ones he loved. To protect you.
You stepped again. You thought of Jaemin. The boy who had saved your life more times than you cared to admit. He had diligently watched over you, cared for you and loved you when you couldn’t do it yourself. He wouldn’t hesitate to keep going. To rescue you.
You stepped once more, collapsing on the counter in front of you, the button in sight. You thought of Jeno. The boy who had been through exactly what you had and was the only one to know the true pain of it. He had protected you from more than you knew and you knew he would never stop protecting you. To shield you.
You pulled yourself up, the button within your reach. You thought of Donghyuck. The boy who you loved more than anything else in this world. The boy who you would do anything for. He was sunshine personified, always finding any way he could to make you happy and always ready to fight anything that had made you sad. There wasn’t a thing that he would not do for you. He would volunteer to go through hell and back a million times without even thinking about it. To save you.
You threw yourself forwards, the last thing you saw being the button spinning with the room as your vision disappeared completely. You brought your hand down in a final attempt to hit the kill switch, your brain only managing to register one final sound as your legs gave out completely and you blacked out.
Click.
---
The dull pain at the back of your head was the first thing you noticed. You tried opening your eyes, but your eyelids felt so heavy it was impossible. You gave up, trying instead to listen to the movement around you. You managed to register a woman’s voice somewhere in the haze.
You tried again to open your eyes, this time succeeding slightly. This prompted the woman watching over you to call for a nurse. You couldn’t see the nurse through the blurred slit of vision you had, but she had a soothing voice, one that radiated comfort.
‘Don’t overwork yourself y/n. You’ve been through quite an ordeal. Just take your time and you’ll be able to wake up.’
You took a deep breath, relaxing your eyelids so that they were fully shut, and tried again. Finally, you managed to open them all the way. The room gradually came into focus, and you saw that you were lying on your bed in your room at the lab. You saw the nurse next to you and your eyes widened.
‘This place- it’s not safe. It’s not what you think. We need to-’
The nurse put a hand on your shoulder, pushing your body back into the bed.
‘Calm down y/n, it’s okay. We know. A Yang Jeong-In called and explained the situation to us. At first, we were skeptical, but we sent an investigation over anyway. We owe you a great deal y/n. You’ve saved a lot of people.’
She smiled at you as you fell back into the pillows.
‘I didn’t do it alone.’ You insisted. ‘Wait, how long have I been asleep? How long was I in the simulation for.’
The nurse chuckled.
‘Don’t worry sweetheart. You haven’t lost a year of your life. In fact, it’s only just been around 30 hours since you went back in. You saved us in a day.’
‘Wait... it worked? We did it?’ You whispered, not quite believing that it was finally over.
‘You did it y/n. You’re safe now. In fact, your friends are also all awake. When you’re ready, you can come and see them.’
The nurse smile at you as you nodded. You began to sit up, but fell back immediately when the pain in your head flared up again. The nurse grabbed a pill and some water from your bedside table and handed them to you.
‘Here, take this. You took a nasty fall in the simulation and your body is convinced that it has concussion. Now since it didn’t really happen, you don’t, but it may hurt for a short while. This should help.’
You nodded absentmindedly as she spoke, purely obsessed with the thought of seeing your friends again.
You attempted to sit up again, this time with much more ease.
‘Wow, that worked fast.’ You commented, causing a light laugh from the nurse at your side.
She gave you a supporting hand as you climbed out of bed and stood up. You walked shakily over to the door, leaning on the frame slightly for support as the nurse opened it.
You headed outside, amazed by what you were greeted with. There were police, detectives and special investigators all over the scene. Dr Kim was sat in the lobby when you passed, in handcuffs and being read his rights. He looked up as you walked by, and if looks could kill, you would have been a pile of ash on the floor. But they couldn’t. So instead, you paused, held eye contact for a second and smiled before moving on.
You were finished with that.
Your nurse led you to the room that you recognised as the test centre. It was where all your skills had been testing once you left the simulation the first time.
‘The room has been cleared out and turned into a relaxing space. At the moment, we’re just using if for your group. We thought that since you saved all of us you deserved your own area.’
The genuine smile on the nurse’s face made you laugh in happiness. She turned the handle and pushed the door open.
‘I’ll leave you be.’ She whispered from behind, pulling it shut gently as you walked it.
The sight in front of you brought tears to your eyes. Jeno and Jaemin were collapsed next to each other of a sofa, looking at something on a phone in front of them, Chenle and Jisung were attempting to teach Renjun a sort of clapping game, Chan and I.N. were standing in the far corner chatting with Mark and a few others and San and Wooyoung were laughing at something over a box of pizza.
But the best sight of all, was right in front of you.
There, sat on the floor, his little sister curled up in his lap as he peppered little kisses all over her face, was Donghyuck. Alive and happy. He held he close, treasuring the fact that he got to have her back. He laughed at something she said, the sound reaching your heart immediately and you realised just how much you had missed him.
Renjun noticed you first. He had given up on learning whatever game Chenle and Jisung were trying to teach him and turned around, coming face to face with your smiling figure. 
‘Look who it is!’ He announced, easily gaining the attention of the rest of the room. They all turned around to look at you, smiles breaking across all of their faces as they did so. ‘Our saving grace.’
‘Lets hear it for our hero!’ Jeno called out, causing the room to erupt in cheers, screams and claps as you stood there slightly awkwardly. 
You looked at Hyuck again, this time finding him staring right back at you. His sister moved off his lap, allowing him to stand. The entire room was watching as he made his way towards you. He didn’t break stride, instead choosing to pull you in towards him for a hug. His arms wrapped tightly around your waist as he pressed you against his chest. Your arms moved up by themselves, finding their place behind his neck and holding on for dear life.
The hug got tighter and more desperate the longer it went on, Donghyuck holding onto you as if you slip away if he let go. Little did he know, you weren’t going anywhere. He mumbled out a few words, you only just managing to catch them because of how his face was buried into your neck.
‘I missed you.’
‘I missed you too.’ You whispered back, relieved to finally be back with him.
‘Don’t you guys think that you two are slightly beyond hugging?’ Renjun’s voice interrupted your moment, causing you both to turn and stare at him incredulously. ‘Come on! If this experience has taught us anything, surely it’s that time is precious and we shouldn’t waste it dancing around our feelings.’
As much as you loved Renjun, you had never wanted to hit him more than you did at that moment. You wanted to talk to Hyuck about your feelings but not in front of everyone and, now that the reality of that conversation was dawning on you, you were nervous for it.
Hyuck, on the other hand, seemed to ponder Renjun words before turning back to you.
‘You know, he has a point.’ He mused a cheeky smile on his face.
‘Hmmm?’ You hummed, not sure where he was going with this.
Donghyuck simply took a small breath before pulling you in again. He used his hands, that were still resting on your waist, you pull you in closer, and then moved on up to cup your face as he leaned it. You had about half a second to understand what was happening before his lips were on yours.
Donghyuck kissed you.
Finally, after all these years and struggles, you finally got to kiss the boy you loved. You kissed him back, shyly at first but, as with the hug, the emotions grew. Before you knew it you were pouring all the love you had for the boy into your kiss, praying that he would be able to feel it.
When you finally pulled away you stared into his eyes. You ignored the cheers and shouts of “finally” coming from your friends, only focusing on the boy in front of you. He gently tilted his head forwards, so that his forehead was pressed to yours.
‘I love you.’ He whispered.
‘I love you too.’ You replied, your voice as quiet as his, but your words just as powerful.
---
After a couple of hours, you and Hyuck eventually excused yourself from the rest of your friends, choosing to instead go back to your room and spend some time alone together. Hyuck’s sister had headed back to her room earlier, leaving just the two of you wandering the halls side by side.
‘You know.’ Hyuck grabbed your hand, lacing your fingers with his as he talked. ‘i always knew that, if any of us was gonna save the world, it would be you.’
You blushed.
‘I didn’t save the world... Besides, I don’t know why I’m getting all the credit! Without everyone in that room, we wouldn’t have done it.’
‘I know.’ Hyuck giggled. ‘But you’re still the one who pressed that button. And according to Jeno, you’re the one who figured out the truth as well. Let me just compliment you! I like being able to say that my girlfriend saved the world.’
You looked at him out of the corner of your eye, unable to stop the smile from spreading across your face.
‘Girlfriend?’ You questioned, watching as Hyuck began to get flustered.
‘Uhhh- I mean... we haven’t really had a chance to talk about it yet but... hopefully?’ He questioned, looking shyly at you.
‘Sounds perfect.’ You grinned, squeezing his hand that was in yours.
And for a minute, all was right with the world. Until two words cause Donghyuck to freeze where he was, terror consuming him.
‘You bastard!’ Donghyuck’s father came storming up to the two of you. ‘What gives you the right to act that way? Thinking you can treat me like that? I don’t care if it was in a simulation, you’re going to pay for that.’
Donghyuck’s father lifted up a fist, in an attempt to hit him, but Hyuck was faster. He pushed on the opposite shoulder on his father’s body and stepped back, watching as the momentum of his father’s punch threw his body around in a full circle. Donghyuck pushed you behind him slightly, wanting to protect you.
This action did not go unnoticed by his father, who tilted his head to the side, observing how you gripped his arm and how Donghyuck was shielding you.
‘Ohhhh.’ He realised, a wicked smile taking over his features. ‘So the two of you fell in love.’ The smile dropped off him completely. ‘How sweet. Maybe, if Donghyuck refuses to face the consequences of his actions, someone else could take the punishment for him.’
‘Back off!’ Donghyuck barked, moving you properly behind him. ‘You don’t touch her.’
‘Protective are we?’ His father teased but Hyuck didn’t reply. ‘What would you do to protect her? How far would you go? Would you shout at me? Would you threaten me? Would you hit me?’
His father had been circling Donghyuck all this time, trying to find the right moment to pounce. Only when you arm appeared around Donghyuck’s waist did he make his move. He lashed out with a harsh punch to Donghyuck’s shoulder, causing the boy to fall to the floor, and grabbed you holding you by the wrist with one hand and around the neck with the other.
‘I’ll kill you!’ Donghyuck screamed, losing his mind at the thought of his father hurting yet another person he loved. He stood up, preparing to charge at his father.
‘Take one step closer and I’ll cut off her air supply.’ His dad’s voice was quiet, no more theatrics or teases, just a pure, cold-blooded threat. Then his voice changed again, back into the taunting manner it was previously. ‘Or maybe I’ll just do it now.’ He began to push down slightly, making you swallow out of discomfort. He gradually pushed down more, making it increasingly difficult for you to breathe. ‘Maybe that will finally get you to throw a punch.’
Down the end of the corridor you recognised the police uniform, meaning that Donghyuck’s father had run out of time. You swung your foot underneath you, taking him by surprise and effectively ruining his balance. Hyuck took his chance while his father was out of it and pulled you back into the safety on his arms. He stroked the hair out of your face.
‘Are you okay?’ He asked, concern and guilt prominent on his features.
‘I’m okay.’ You reassured, falling back into his embrace.
‘You bitch!’ Donghyuck’s father roared and he prepared to throw himself at the two of you again. But this time he was met with the police. One officer tackled him immediately, forcing him to the ground as another secured his arms behind his back with a pair of handcuffs around his wrists.
You and Hyuck watched as he was arrested on suspicion of the murder of Donghyuck’s mother and multiple account of domestic, physical and verbal abuse. Just as he was being pulled up he look at Donghyuck one last time.
‘When will you be a man and learn how to throw a punch.’ He spat.
Hyuck stood up calmly, pulling you with him and keeping an arm around you at all times, but he never took his eyes off his father.
‘Being a man isn’t about being able to throw a punch. It’s about what you would take a punch for. I will never throw a punch, because I will never be like you. Goodbye father.’
You watched as Donghyuck’s father was dragged away in handcuffs. Only once he had disappeared around the corner did you turn to Hyuck.
‘I’m proud of you.’ You smiled slightly.
‘Thank you.’ Hyuck whispered, smiling back and placing a kiss on your forehead. ‘I have one favour to ask you though.’
‘Yeah?’ You looked up at him.
‘Can we go to bed? I’m exhausted.’ He said, watching as you burst into laughter at his mundane request.
‘Sure we can.’ You agreed, your body starting to agree with Hyuck.
---
You lay in your bed, your head on Donghyuck’s chest, his arms around you and your legs entwined. You’d been mindlessly chatting for the last few minutes but the conversation had since then drifted off into a comfortable silence.
‘I figured it out you know.’ Donghyuck informed you suddenly, causing you to look up at him from where you were laying.
‘What did you figure out?’ You asked, entertaining his antics.
‘That it wasn’t a real virus and that there were higher powers responsible for it. I figured it out first.’ His slightly smug yet still teasing voice brought a smile to your lips.
‘How did you do that?’ You were genuinely curious as to how he had come to this conclusion.
‘Remember? At the beginning, as soon as the virus broke out, I told you it was government created.’ Now the smugness was really coming through on his voice, showing how he was clearly enjoying this.
‘Go to sleep Hyuck.’ You chuckled.
‘I’m just saying.’ He whined, pulling his arms around you tighter.
You didn’t reply to that one, choosing instead to smile. You nuzzled further into Hyuck’s chest, relishing in the fact that you finally get to be close to him. 
And that’s how you spent your first night of freedom. Curled up next to the boy you loved, with him whispering sweet nothings into your ear, all thoughts and dangers of the simulation far behind you.
Turns out you finally did get your happy ever after.
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imagine-loki · 4 years
Text
Fur and Dagger
TITLE: Fur and Dagger
AUTHOR: SolaraMoonset
CHAPTER: 1 of ?
IMAGINE: Imagine being imprisoned with Loki (Thor: The Dark World) and learning with him during those weeks, months. He slowly learns to accept your company and you learn he's not as bad as others say.
RATING: Teen +
NOTES: Also on AO3. https://archiveofourown.org/works/26669680
~XOX~
Loki made no effort to escape as the guards led him to the dungeon. It would do no good, there was nowhere to go, not yet at any rate. Rumors had been flying about Odin's temper and his justice lately imprisoning many. Quick glances showed just how true that unfortunate rumor was. It was unlikely he'd get a cell by himself. He sneered at the thought. What lowbrow ruffian would he have to deal with this time?
"You can see how full the dungeon is. You gotta share. Be nice. This one's a prince." At first Loki thought the guard was talking to him, but the guard was looking in a dark cell. In fact it was the only cell that wasn't lit from within. In the furthest corner a dark shape shrank further from them. Loki was shoved in, and the guards disappeared almost as quickly. A table sat near the entrance he'd been shoved through, a bed sat across the cell. Loki sat at the table provided and looked into the darkness. Furs seem to surround the being. Joy, this being was already hiding from him, it would be of little use unless he could coax it out.
"Care to come out from those blankets and introduce yourself?" A low growl was his only answer. At the odd response Loki stood and approached the back corner. Was this being muzzled? Injured? Unable or unwilling to speak? It's rude behavior would not soon be forgotten, but for now he needed it to trust him. If he was to escape, whether he took this creature or left it, he would need it’s obedience so he could leave well before the guards were alerted.
The fur moved and twisted. Slowly a wolf untangled itself and stood. It was larger than it should have been. The growl grew at his approach, Loki stopped moving. The wolf was fur and bones, they were starving the beast, even still he could tell it would easily be well over 250 pounds if well fed. Loki backed up at the realization, they threw him into a locked cell with a gianatic starving wolf. As he backed away, the wolf's growls softened and eventually stopped. Loki sat back down at the table and the wolf laid back down in the corner. The two stare at each other. There was an intelligence in the wolf's eyes that spoke to it being more than just a beast. And even though it was clearly being starved, it didn't attack him. There was something wrong with the whole thing. There was far too little information and the pieces Loki could gleam weren’t adding up.
The guards calling out dinner, brought Loki from his thoughts. As the food appeared on the table before him, Loki's eyebrows rose. There was just enough food for him, but that was all. Clearly he would still get meals from the nightly banquets, his mother’s doing no doubt, but that would hardly be something appetizing for the wolf. No food appeared before the wolf, was he expected to share? Or let the beast starve?
"Guard. Am I meant to share this megar portion with the wolf?" Loki called. He noticed the wolf jump at his voice. Did he startle it?
"No your majesty. That is for you. The All-Father has decreed she shall not eat until she changes. I am to warn you, if you share your meal, your portions will be cut in half."
"She?" Loki asked but the guard had already moved on. "What does he mean changes?" Loki muttered looking to the wolf. In the dim light he could see her bare her fangs at him. Apparently that was the only response he would get from her. Leaving a clone of himself at the table eating, Loki stood taking the real plate of food close to the wolf. He slid the plate to her when she began growling. Somehow she was able to see through his illusions. Not even his mother could see through them anymore, he’d grown too strong. What was she, that she could see or perhaps detect him? That was something to think about later.
"Eat it." Loki turned to the bed and sat. He refused to watch the wolf to see if she would eat. If she was like the wolves of legend, she would make a powerful ally. If he could gain her trust, and if he could help her regain her strength. The only problem, the wolves of legend weren’t real. So what was she?
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