#i forgot 2 draw his capsule :’) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

seodami · 3 years

Text

Dearest treasure | KTH

Summary: Every kid in town was afraid of Kang Taehyun, the old -slightly creepy- man living alone for years and years in the same run down house. Every night he would go into his backyard with a shovel and dig a hole into the earth. No one knows why and there are kids rumouring about him burying people. Jungwon was a bright kid, wanting to find out the truth behind this widely spread rumour for a school project. And what he found out would change his life forever.

Genre: fluff, angst, flashbacks, story of life, snippets of life, tiny bit humour

Warning: old Taehyun, mention of death, mention of suicide/suicidal thoughts, death

Word count: 10152 (all 3 parts)

Pairing: Kang Taehyun x reader, (Yang Jungwon)

Note: Wow okay so this story took me a while to write and I listened to hours of das music to finish this🥺 this was honestly an emotional rollercoaster. But I’m so glad it’s finally finished so I can post it on here yayyy!!! I hope you like it an enjoooyy (please tell me if you cried I would really appreciate your responses haha bc I did)

Main masterlist

2089 (present)

Deathly silence hung in the air as thick as smog. In Jungwons eyes pooled tears, ready to spill over the edges to fall into free fall and drop heavily onto his trousers. His heart was burning, not finding any suitable words of comfort or understanding for the old man in front of him. His throat felt like it was tied up so tightly, he couldn’t breathe. Oh, how didn’t he know? Oh, how could anyone talk bad behind his back? So much hurt…

Mr. Kangs head hung low, not daring to make any other noice than his sniffling nose. Hot tear drops were silently dropping down, it felt suffocating just watching him so full of hurt and sorrow. Suddenly Jungwon felt sorry to let him relive his whole life together with the terrible pain even the young boy could feel.

“I- I…I never could…forgive myself. It was my fault-“ the once handsome mans face was dark and the wrinkles now seemingly even deeper full of regrets and unspoken words. “You wouldn’t understand, boy-“

Jungwon couldn’t form any appropriate words at that moment and let the sadness let him take away just for a little longer. His story was heavy… he felt like he just heard something he shouldn’t have heard. Something so private and fragile. It had touched him more than he had thought.

“I didn’t want to live anymore… it was all worthless since then… I had no motivation to keep going.” His voice became a tad more stable, yet still quiet and weak. His tired eyes met the innocent boys and for a second the old man could see his younger self inside his big brown eyes. Sadness and nostalgia rolled over him and he averted his gaze.

“I tried ending my life many times since that day- it never worked no matter how much I wanted it… and then I just…I just mouldered…alone, broken- and just a shell of my old self. I wasn’t the once happy, bright, clever boy anymore. I could never be that again…”

Jungwons heart felt heavy, breathing wasn’t bearable. His hands unconsciously reached forward to the tiny lost figure sitting in his sunken mould. It was a simple touch but for Mr. Kang it was the first reassuring and comforting gesture he had received in a long long time. It made him tear up stronger, still staying silent. The young boy wanted to be there for the old man. He wanted to show him that he wasn’t alone in this.

Moments of depressing, yet healing silence passed, just the ticking of the old clock in the dark living room was heard. “I’m so sorry Mr. Kang…” Jungwon finally whispered, unsure if the man spoken to even heard it. He couldn’t do much but be there in this moment. Quite honestly he felt like crying himself. But he wanted to stay strong for him.

“One day-“ Mr. Kangs voice shook a little but he kept talking. “-I remembered the time capsule. My dearest treasure. So long ago. And I made it my life mission to find it. One last moment to hold onto and…look back to.” A thick single tear slowly rolled down Jungwons cheek. So that was it. That’s why… and everyone had dragged the vulnerable man down, putting even more dirt into his deep wounds.

“I-I searched everywhere. But…but i just…forgot. It’s my last wish before I finish this…” life he wanted to say. Finish his life. It made the school boy unbelievable sad. Oh how much he must’ve suffered his whole life. And before Jungwon could’ve decided differently, a strong feeling of wanting to help and support creeped up to him.

“I’m gonna help you Mr. Kang. We will find your treasure.” Jungwon reassuringly took the heavy, wrinkled hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze. It was the first time since that day, that he felt hope again. Just a tiny tiny splinter but it was there. Hope.

The next hours, both of the males digged holes through the whole garden, not saving any sweat, too focused on finding the mans greatest desire. Mr. Kang had already reached his limit after three holes, following with the 14 year old boy leading him towards an old wooden garden bench to rest on. Jungwon on the other hand was full of verve and energy to fulfill his dearest wish. To find his dearest treasure. Mr. Kang watched him with surprise and thankfulness, never had anyone gone all the way out to help him with something so important to him. There was never someone who he could’ve went to. After that day, he had broken off all the contact with his old friends. He wanted to feel alone at some point. He deserved the pain. That’s what he had always told himself. But now he was old and weak and just wanted nothing more than to be finally reunited with his beloved family. He missed you everyday. He heard his daughters laughters everyday. And he saw his son running around outside in the garden everyday. He finally wanted to be with his family everyday.

It had already gotten dark and cold at this point, Mr. Kang had brought the hard working boy a jacket and a warm tea. The sun was already long gone, just the small lights from the veranda and from the street shined over towards them. Jungwon was still digging, his once tidy school clothes now full of dirt and dust and drenched in sweat. He couldn’t give up. He knew that. So he kept digging and digging. The moon was fondly watching at the pair below, shining just a tad brighter tonight for them. Short friendly small talk about school went quickly over to heartfelt conversations about life and this and that. Nobody, not even the moon, would’ve thought that the bitter, lonely 87 year old Taehyun and the bright, cheerful 14 year old Jungwon would’ve ever even crossed paths, yet life showed again how unpredictable and full of surprises it could be. This night, a tight bond between the two men was woven. So unexpected but yet so lovely.

The clock already told them it was 6 minutes before midnight when another noice cut through the silent night air. A metallic sound. Gasping, Jungwon threw the shovel away, excitement now rushing through his veins. He fell onto his knees, not caring about the moist soil on his trousers. His hands digged through the last part, brown earth now sticking behind his nails, and moments later, he pulled out a medium sized metal box, securely wrapped in plastic. Jungwon felt like he just won the Olympics, he felt like he did it. He did it…

A quick gaze onto the bench showed him the sleeping old man, now seeming even tinier than before. With shaky steps and a weird feeling of proudness and fulfilment, Jungwon waddled over to the sleeping form, gently waking him up. The box in his hands was tightly in his grasp, not letting go. Mr. Kangs heavy lidded eyes flew open in an instant when he saw the metal box in the boys arms. Tears burned in his thankful eyes, reaching towards it with shaking arms. Everything felt heavy, yet his heart felt the lightest it had felt in a long long time.

“Thank you…so much.” Tears were now unstoppable rolling down his cheeks. It squeezed Jungwons heart, knowing he could make this man happy again, fulfilling his last wish. The both of them moved up to the house again, warmth engulfing them with its now familiar scent. Comfort. The old man reassured the boy to stay but seeing the box being opened, Jungwon felt as if he got to see something way too private. But he stayed, looking over the sniffling mans shoulder when he pulled out a small pink toy dolphin. His hands were shaking. “This was my daughters. It was her favorite toy when she was…two years old.”

Taehyuns heart clenched, seeing all his treasures in front of him. He desperately pressed the small toy against his chest, letting all his emotions in. It was intense, yet it was all he ever wanted. Seeing the familiar drawings of a green giraffe, sitting on a cloud with a family next to it. He could read all their names above the figures. Oh Taehee…

Looking through the photographs, old memories surfaced and made the man tear up even heavier. He didn’t knew how much he really had missed them. It was as if his empty shell was slowly filled again, reliving all of your best and worst moments. He saw a picture on his old friends Hueningkais 18th birthday. All of his friends were there, cake smeared all across your faces, the brightest smiles someone could ever see. The day he had first met you… Another picture had all of your friends sitting around a small bonfire, being cuddled inside blankets. Taehyun saw his younger handsome self smiling unsure into the camera with you sitting beside him. He could only laugh sadly at the memories of your camping trip where he first had kissed you, the guilty feeling just as clear.

“She looks so happy here…” Taehyun noticed with a testy smile, gently touching your face on the picture, seeing you and him laying on a bed, arms tightly slung around your frame, as you held the camera. His large eyes showed nothing but the purest form of love as he looked over to you. Oh he was such a lovesick fool. “You were a pretty couple…” Jungwon whispered, glancing over the handsome young man and the pretty women. He wished to find someone in his life later, he could look at with just as much love as he did. Taehyun nodded, pulling out the next photo. It was the two of you kissing in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, big smiles on both of your faces. Taehyun remembered, it was when he courageously decided to fly around half the globe to you to fix your relationship. He didn’t want to give you up, thank god he didn’t. Another photograph showed you holding your first ultrasound picture, tears streaming down your face. You were both so young and already on the way to becoming parents. It was scary, yes it was one of the most scary moments in life but it was all worth it. The next picture showed you in the hospital bed, looking weak, yet happy. Taehyun was kneeing down next to you, his gaze focused on you and the tiny newborn baby in four arms. A tear dropped down onto the photo but he quickly wiped it away. “Our little Taehee…”

The next picture showed a kissing couple dressed in a gorgeous white dress and a neat black suit. The priest between them was smiling fondly at the newlywed couple. On another one he could see the couple dancing in midst of their guests, white petals laying all over the place. Taehyun sobbed, holding a hand over his mouth. Jungwons hand reassuringly squeezed his shoulder. He was there for him. Taehyuns and your parents were dancing next to you, he could see his friend Yeonjun and Beomgyu dancing with each other playfully and many more of their closest circle. It had been so long. And he missed it. It was such a happy memory.

There were other photographs with you being pregnant, both of your baby pictures, your friends and your parents and a ton of little Taehee running around bubbly in her adorable dresses and overalls. Taehyun hadn’t seen these pictures in a while and it tore his heart into a million pieces. The last picture was inside your new house, the house he never could bring over him to leave. You were all sitting on the carpet, smiling into the camera. The little baby boy snuggling closer in his blanket and the girl pressing a soft kiss onto his tiny head. Taehyuns arms were slung around your frame, head laying on your shoulder relaxing. They were so happy. So happy.

He pulled out an edition of your favorite book with a hand written text inside: ‘For Taehee and Taejun- may they find wisdom and happiness in their long lives. From mum and dad’ Taehyun remembered. Oh he remembered everything. You two would always read this book together since your honeymoon, where you discovered it in one of the local bookstores. Since then it had always be your favorite book. And it hurt him seeing his children never got to read it. Their future was just robbed because of one moment. It was unfair. Why did he get to live when they couldn’t? He never understood.

The last thing Taehyun pulled out of the box was the pink letter littered with dozen of glitter stickers. ‘To my love’ stood on top of it in your cursive handwriting. He gulped, knowing exactly this was made for him personally. It was the letter he dreaded reading. The moment he waited for. The reason he wanted to find this box in the first place. His love. Jungwon stood stiff and still next to him, not daring to say a word. With shaking fingers, he carefully opened the envelope without tearing it. He could immediately recognise your pretty handwriting and already teared up when he read over the first sentence. ‘To my dear love Taehyun, whom I always love’ with another nod, he dared reading through the heartfelt letter.

‘So this is where life led us, what? To be quite honest with you, my 17 year old me would’ve never thought about marrying the handsome boy from Hueningkais birthday party, let alone have his children and buy our first house together. Life went wild with us, am I right Tae? But I regret nothing. Not even when I stole your favorite hoodie out of your closet without you knowing. Everyone was so done with my reckless personality and I often felt misunderstood in my younger days as you know. But you just always seemed to just see the best in me. Even when I felt like giving it all up. You were always there for me. And you were the only one to fully understand and accept me how I am. This is something I never told you in person but I can’t remember how life was without you before. In my mind, you were always there and I know that you will always be there for our family in our long future. I hope when you read this, we are both still happily married, watching our children and grandchildren laugh about all our ridiculous photos inside this box. And Taehee, oh she must be so happy to see her favorite toy again haha. Taehyun, you are my best friend, my first love, my first heartache, my true soulmate and the best husband in the whole world. You are and will always be my love, no matter how time will turn our lives around. We are always together. I love you always,

Your dearest wife Y/N

(P.S. don’t worry about getting old, you are still my handsome prince I fell in love with!)’

At this point, Taehyun was a sobbing mess, not caring what the young boy might think of him. This letter had touched his soul, his deepest heart. He felt every word you’ve written just as if it was you whispering each of them into his ear. He never felt the urge that strong before to be by your side, hug you, kiss you all over your face, tell you how beautiful you were and whisper how much he loved you and would forever. His life made sense only with his family by his side. There was nothing left to live anymore for Taehyun. And he knew that for a long time already.

Jungwon in this moment didn’t knew what to do anymore. He felt like he had fulfilled his mission, making the old man happy for a last time. With quiet steps, he took his video camera, he totally had forgotten and put it in his backpack laying on the floor abandoned. It was his sign to leave, let the man dwell in his emotions and memories. He was done here. With careful steps he went closer to the sobbing man again, softly putting his hand on his shoulder. He looked up as if he knew what the boy was about to say.

A small smile was on his wrinkled lips, clenching on the boys heart. He weakly pushed himself up just to pull the sweaty, in dirt covered student into a warm embrace. It was the first hug since ages it felt like. The hug remembered Jungwon of his own grandmother and tears stuck in his throat. He missed her. “Thank you so much, Jungwon. You are a wonderful kid. You’ve fulfilled my dearest wish. I will forever be thankful to you. May you be blessed forever. You were the only one willing to listen. Thank you.” Jungwon nodded in his shoulder, trying not to burst into tears on the spot but failed nevertheless in the end. He was so glad seeing the happy man in front of him, now seeming even younger than before. The deep sunken eyes didn’t seem frightening anymore. They were warm and welcoming. He could see sparkles of youth inside them. Yes, Jungwon did the right thing.

When the clock showed sharply half an hour past midnight, Jungwon bid his farewell to the man, he weirdly would consider his friend now, knowing he could sleep well tonight. Taehyun insisted on him keeping the jacket he gave him as well as one of the pictures inside the box for his school project and as a token of gratitude. On his quiet walk back home, he smiled endearingly down to the old photograph he carefully held in his hand. It was the last picture. Where the family of four smiled happily into the camera, sitting onto the fluffy rug Jungwon recognised now. He would treasure this picture forever. It was a generous gift, knowing how important it had been to Mr. Kang. He was so thankful.

The next day, Jungwon excitedly presented his project in class. Even though his mother yelled at him concerned where he was until this late, he managed to edit the video for his project, tearing up in the process but still felt motivated to keep going. It was important that he made this his best project. Not for him or his grade, no, it was for Mr. Kang. He was determined to change everyone’s horrible opinion about the old man.

It was eye opening for everyone. Even Park Jongsong, the scary older student, couldn’t come up with a counter attack and stared wide eyed at the screen in front of the class. It was freeing, knowing that just a bit of courage and kindness could lead you to such wonderful moments. He changed everyone’s opinion about ‘Killer Kang’. And he managed to make an old sad man happy again.

After school, the kind student hurried over to Mr. Kangs house. In bright daylight, the garden looked like a battlefield with tons and tons of freshly digged soil laying all around. Now with a much happier feeling, Jungwon crossed the chaotic lawn, knocking energetically onto the old wodden door. After a while he still hadn’t heard any steps so he tried knocking again. “Mr. Kang? It’s Jungwon. I wanted to show you the finished project. It went amazing.” The boy excitedly bounced on the balls of his feet, too giddy to stand still. There was still no answer, so Jungwon made his way towards the backyard, now being familiar with every inch. He had a weird feeling in the pit of his stomache.

And when he saw the open veranda, the old man sitting in his mould on the old couch, Jungwon let out a relieved breath. With careful steps not to step inside one of the many holes in the ground, he made its way over to Mr. Kang, not without knocking on the wall outside. Still no answer. Maybe he hasn’t heard it or he was sleeping. Jungwon waddled over to the familiar couch, seeing Mr. Kang sitting in his usual spot with his eyes closed. He looked so peaceful, Jungwon first thought the old man was sleeping tightly. Yet when there was still no answers or reactions from his side and when he noticed there was no movement of his upper body, he understood…

Mr. Kang passed away last night. Tears welled up in Jungwons eyes and he heavily let them flow when he saw all the contents of the metallic box scattered around the small desk in front of him. The photos, sorted into time accuracy, the book untouched, the adorable drawings of his young daughter, the green giraffe smiling cheekily at him. The pink letter was open and the neat handwriting was still the same as yesterday. And in Mr. Kangs hands, layed the pink toy dolphin.

Jungwon went onto his knees beside him on the fluffy carpet, letting his hot tears fall freely without restrictions. He may had lost a friend today but he knew deep down, the old kind man was happily reunited with his family. He had gained everything he lost. And for that…how could Jungwon still be sad?

For now and forever, the courageous 14 year old boy, who acted righteous and kind, carried Kang Taehyuns life story out into the wide world, spread his last words so no one would forget the once mysterious man everyone feared to look at. Kang Taehyun, a man who got everything he wished for and then got it taken away from him. A man, who loved dearly. A man, whose story would never be forgotten.

45 notes · View notes

queenoftheworldisdead · 3 years

Text

Home coming 4

Summery: Slow burn. You are forced to move back to your home town due to the pandemic. When your high school tormentors return to remind you why you never wanted to come back. This gets darker as it goes. I’m not a good writer folks sorry.

Warning: forced oral.

Dark Steve x Black Reader, Cop AU

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5

You watched antsy as the text bubble animated then disappeared. The pause between Steve's text was strangely long. Making you wonder what could have stopped the normally persistent Steve. Not willing to wait in the car any longer you headed inside.

When you unlock the door of course Uncle Nick was on the couch very much annoyed. "You need to ask if your gonna borrow my truck."

"Sorry I went to the bank" it was a lie, but you knew he would never bug you about something like that.

"What happened to your face?" He shot up rushing over, fuming. "It was that fucking Steve wasn't it!" He examined your face, you pulled away when he tried to cup it.

Shit

You forgot to cover your face backup. "Unc... it wasn't Steve. I fell, tripped on something getting out of the truck. Damn thing is so high up off the ground."

By the look in his eye he wasn't buying it. You moved and pushed past him, you could her him cursing under his breath.

When you got to your old room you close the door. Leaning against it you took a deep breath.

*Buzz Buzz

Ripping the strap from your arms you throw it across the room. Your hearts pace quickened, the thought of that squad car from earlier containing Steve. What he might do if he knew what you were planning.

Pushing off the door you run to your closet. Tossing things around, looking through unopened boxes for your duffel. Your hands tremble as you search. When you hear the faint buzz again and curse.

You had to go to it. Turning around you stare at the purse again. Swallowing thickly as you approached it.

Unzipping the bag, you dip your hand inside, pulling it out. The screen lit up with his name.

MSG Steve: Come outside

Your heart felt like a hammer. The short text not giving any hint to what you would be walking into if you walked out that door. Texting him back you tell him to give you a minute.

Had he seen you?

Blinking away tears you try and collect yourself.

You wanted to avoid another confrontation from your Uncle so you decided to go out the back. Slipping out the room you close the door quietly. Walking with bare feet and shoes in hand gingerly on the old floor.

You peer past the archway to see him laser focused on the screen. Still on tip toes you walk into the kitchen and through the back door.

The yard was over grown, Nick's old car rusting and in pieces in the back. You put your shoes on and walked around the house.

When you saw the cop car your mind reeled. Was he going to arrest you for steeling? He knew you stole those tools. It was him.

Through the squad car window's the tent was so thick that Steve's features were barely eliminated by his cell phone. You wanted to run back to the house, board up the doors and hide, but you knew you couldn't.

Each step you took toward the car seemed heavier and heavier like a weight was drawing you down. When you finally approached it he looked away from his phone and up at you with a smirk.

He opened his door and towered over you. "Sorry have to go to work later, so I hope you like a man in uniform" he joked. His eyes burned on you. Twitching a bit when he finally noticed the damage.

Lacing his fingers with yours he said nothing as he led you to the other side of the squad car. He boxed around you on the car when you reached the passenger door giving you another once over. The last time he saw you like this you had fucked up and trusted the wrong person. He sucked in air before letting out a long sigh. You flinched when he lowered his hand down and opened the door. Still silent he watched you slid inside.

Your stomach sat in knots while he drove you. He kept his hands on the wheel. The controls and laptop on the dash made the cop car feel like an alien space ship to you. He kept his work radio low, the back and forth chit chat filling the quiet spaces.

Steve's presence was so overbearing even with him not touching you. You couldn't remember a time being in a car alone with him like this and he hadn't tried touching you in one way or another.

*Ring Ring

Steve shifted in his seat, pulling out his phone. Splitting his attention between the road and the screen. He didn’t answer it. You glanced over quickly to see him silence the phone and tuck it away.

Your head tilted toward the window as the trip trekked on. The scenery slowly changing as you passed. The little town of Yielding looked like it was just waking up. The traffic just starting to get busy.

"It's just me and you today." When he spoke it was even. Still no hint of what his mood could be.

When he turned to go the opposite way from the direction of his house, you got more worried.

"Um... Steve where are we going?" You somehow found the courage to ask just above a whisper. Your nails picking at the seat as you waited for a reply.

"It's a surprise" he said coolly.

It wasn't until he turned down a residential street that you realized where you were. The row of houses flooding you with memories. He had taken you to his parents house.

Slowing to a crawl he parked in the driveway. Steve got out of the car and you watched as he walked over to your door. Opening it he held out his hand for you to take. His hand was so warm when you took it, but that didn't stop your skin from prickling.

Hand in hand he walked up the cracked walk way, halting only to unlock the front door.

Following behind him, you noticed just as at your uncle's house how everything looked frozen in time.

"Mom you in here?"

You looked at him puzzled. He lied.

Dishes clanked from the kitchen. "Just a minute" his mother called out. When she walked out it looked like she had aged a bit since you last saw her. Her once platinum blonde hair now mixed with grey.

"Hey Ma look what the cat dragged in."

his arm wrapped around your shoulder bringing you into a side hug. The move made you stiffen and shift from his side uncomfortably.

*Ring Ring

"Oh my goodness!" She opened up her arms to you, embracing you. "Steve told me you were back in town." Apprehensively you rose your arms to hug her. In you peripheral going in his pocket likely silencing his phone again.

She pulled back and frowned at Steve, you crossed your arms and picked at your sleeve. "You should've told me you were swinging by."

"Are you hungry Sweetie? I have some coffee brewing and I can whip you up something."

"No thank you Mrs.Rogers." Stepping back from you turned to address her son. You looked away as they talked.

Above the old TV a family picture hung on the wall. The sight of his smiling father opened a boxed memory.

You were never a favorite guest when the patriarch was around. Your 'study sessions' at the Rogers home diminished greatly after one faithful night.

Steve's father busted through the bedroom door, to find you two entwined. It was the first time you saw fear on him. He was whiter than the sheets you two laid upon.

He yelled for his wife as you redressed quickly. Mr.Rogers dragged Steve to the living room. Even though Steve surely could take the older man he coward on the floor in a ball.

The one time in your life you watched the great Captain brought to his knees. It was as if he had turned back into that scrawny boy from Mrs. Peppers class. His mother and you watched on as the older man beat his son. You wished at that moment for it not to stop.

She gripped your shoulders, her nails dug into you. "They were just studying?" She had shouted at him over and over again.

You didn't care that the old man cursed you for being a 'nigger'. Bringing trash in the house as he called it. The cacophony of blows that rained down on Steve filled you with joy and you tried to hard press down the smile on your lips. Even when Steve's tearful eyes found you, you could not hide your delight.

"I'll be right back Ma." He told her before capturing your hand again. She nodded and waved you off with a smile as Steve led you.

Walking through the house until he landed at his childhood door. You accidentally squeezed his hand because of your anxiety. When he felt it he brought your hand to his lips and kissed it, trying to comfort you. Instead it gave the opposite affect.

Urging you to go inside once it opened. You went in alone.

"You stay put I need to talk to her for a minute."

He closed the door behind you and you listened to his foot falls disappear. You hear his phone going off again as he moved further away. Steve uniform making his presence heavy as he moved down the hall. You scanned the familiar surroundings. crossing your arms again you pick at your sleeve, even with him not in the room it was hard to escape the feel of him. There was never enough distance you could make.

Trophies mounted on the wall next to ribbons of all his athletic achievements, movie posters, his twin bed pressed against the wall. All a time capsule.

You heard music turn come on from somewhere in the house. A thing she always did to give you both privacy. The classic tunes making your stomach knot tighter. Steve opened the door to find you unmoved. He closed the door behind himself.

"Do you know why I started dating Peggy?" He paused, his back pressed to the door. You couldn't face him. Walking around to face you he lifted your head with one finger, you were already crying.

"To find ways to make you fall for me, for you to love me." He looked at you so endearingly wiping a tear away with his other hand. You hiss when his thumb dragged across your bruised cheek.

*Ring Ring

The phone broke his train of thought. You could feel his agitation grow. Steve sighed dropping his hand, the vein on the side of his head started to become more prominent. He didn’t silence it, just letting it ring out before he started again.

"Bucky...I didn't tell him to do that."

You didn't believe him. "I'm sorry I didn't think he would lash out on you. I’ll talk to him..." When his hand rested at the hip of his holstered gun your trembling intensified.

“Get in position.” His request was soft, but it still made you break down harder.

There was no point in begging. Sobbing, you step back and get in the middle of the room.

"No...not like that...get on the bed. I need to show you how sorry I am."

"Pleas Steve there is nothing to apologize for." You assured him. It was a rare occasion when Steve wanted to 'apologize', and you never looked forward to the endeavor.

His face turned cold. His lips a hard line. It felt as if Steve had sucked the air out of the room. You felt the wetness from your cheek travel down your neck, sniffing repeatedly. You walked backwards, wiping away tears until you bumped into the mattress.

The bed dipped and squeaked as you lowered yourself on to it. Scooting back enough until your knees hung over the bed and your feet on the frame. Your legs splayed on the bed, then laying your back flat on the mattress. Steve only stood and watched, his dark uniform made him much more menacing.

He was unmoved by the puffiness of your face and red teary eyes.

You kept your clothes on, he preferred it that way. Steve felt like you shouldn't have to lift a finger when he needed to atone.

"Steve.." You spoke out softly. "It's not your fault..please" you sniffed. Steve walked over to the bed, his badge twinkled as he approached.

Hiccups started the instant his hand fell on your jeans. Closing your eyes tears fell from each side, the salty water getting into your ear. The sound of his clothes crinkled as he half bent over you. The bedding wrinkled in your hands as you gripped it.

Steve’s palms pressed into your belly as he unfasten your pants. His fingers felt as if they burned your skin as Steve hooked his hands on the waist. Pealing them down slow, taking your panties with them, making sure that your entire lower half was bear for him.

"I need to show you..." Steve's voice went low and you locked your ankles. "How sorry I am for not being there to stop him." Steve lowered and knelt on his knees.

"I forgive you please" your eyes shoot open when he palms both your knees. You tried to keep your focus anywhere, but him.

Steve's hands moved your knees apart, your ankles unlaced with ease. You tried to control your breathing, the hiccups fell with every exhale. All you could do was stare at the blurry ceiling. Steve's weight pressed into your thigh when he came face to face with your sex.

Steve’s arms wrapped around from the back of your legs. Locking you in place, his hair tickled your thigh the closer he got to your mound.

"Forgive me." He softly pleaded with you. Pecking down your inner thigh each time. Your legs tense hard at the contact.

"Stop I forgive you please stop" your shaky voice was so small when you felt his breath on your skin. You felt his lips part, taking your folds into his mouth and then pulling off slow to release.

“Mmm...”

"I'm sorry" Steve spoke softly before he began again. You felt every word as he talked into your lips. Every syllable driving sensual a moan from you. Steve's teeth grazed your folds until he moved to play with your clit, taking it between his teeth.

"Please..." His tongue plunged deep, curling and swirling. Steve's nose grazed your clit as he swirled around, the touch electrifying you.

"Show me you forgive me.." He begged.

You fought the urge to grab his head and press him further when he sucked you in.

You knew exactly what he meant by that. He was forcing a need onto you. If you broke, then to him he was won.

"Forgive me...." He pleaded before flattening his tongue on your mound, making your back arch and spasm. Through it all his phone rang again and yet again unanswered.

Even though you cried, even though your eyes burned, you came for him. Steve devoured you, lapping up your wetness.

"Captain please I forgive" you panted, he wasn't finished. Steve wanted you to cum over and over again until it hurt.

There was no way to fight the desire for him like this and he knew it. Steve unwrapped his arms and moved his hands behind your knees. They bent as he slowly rose them up, folding you as he continued to apologize. Deepening his kiss, fucking your pussy with his tongue, your mewls louder than the last.

Your thighs tried to squeeze Steve's head, but he forced you to stay in place. Gritting your teeth hard you moan and cum on his face again. Each orgasm filled with tears.

"I-I...I need you...I love you, Captain I-I love you, I forgive you!" You were delirious as you come a third time or a fourth you weren’t sure. You wanted to say anything to make Steve stop.

When he finally released your legs they were a shaky mess. He rose from your mound, his face wet with your juices. You could feel his eyes as you laid there, a crumbled mess on the bed.

Before leaving his mother asked you two to stay for lunch. Steve declined. He needed to start his shift soon. She hugged you both goodbye and you felt numb.

When he dropped you home it was close to noon. Steve kissed your cheek and apologized about needing to go into work. Promising that he would text you as soon as he could and you shuddered.

Reminding you of the times you had to wait for him while he was at practice. Forcing you to lay down in the back seat of his car until practice was over.

Sliding out of the door your thighs felt sore. He offered to walk you up, but you managed to dissuade his help. Steve waited in the driveway for you to enter. A wave of relief washed over you when you saw that your uncle wasn't in his usual spot.

His truck was still here so you were sure he was just sleeping in his room. So while he slept you packed.

Chapter 5>>>>>

Tagging: @readermia ; @mrsbanreswillseeyou ;@astrobabezblog ; @sebastianstansqueen ; @tian-monique ; @shadowcatsworld ; @sllooney ; @tinystudentfirepurse; @mrsbanreswillseeyou; @jxtr610; @villanellevi ; @2fab4utheatrediva; @afriendlyblackhottie; @stupendouslovegardener;

#Dark Cop Steve x reader #Dark!Steve x Reader #Dark Steve x Reader #Dark!Cop!Steve x Reader #Dark!Cop!Steve x Black!Reader #Dark Cop Steve x Black!Reader #Dark!Steve x Black!Reader #dark steve x black!reader dark buck xblack!reader #Dark Steve x Black Reader #black writer #cop au #dark steve x black!reader

173 notes · View notes

wavesmp3 · 3 years

Note

wait are you still doing the fake title thing-

skdkdj if so,,

‘tell me‘ 😼👌

tell me | eric x reader | an unintentional continuation to this drabble | a/n: i tried to make it so that this could be read as a stand alone but i’m not too sure if i was successful in that | requests closed

1. letters

“so,” eric says, setting down two drinks and a plate of snacks next to the dirt-covered shoebox that was buried somewhere in a park just this morning, “where do we start?”

the first thing you pull out from the time capsule are two envelopes. eric immediately knows what it is.

you shake your head. “not with these.” the letters were written to each other when you made the time capsule in the summer before your freshman year of college. “let’s look at these last.”

eric is more than happy to oblige.

2. totally awesome no skip summer mix 2011

“oh my god,” you mutter, pulling out the next item in the box.

“what is it?”

you hold up the old, dusty cd for him to see. “remember this?”

he does.

he remembers sitting in front of your family’s old computer and carefully selecting which pop songs from that summer to add to the cd. he remembers feeling entirely like a criminal while you found the best website to download the songs and then also how quickly the lawless feeling escaped from him after the act was done. he remembers burning the cd that afternoon. he remembers the entire summer he spent listening to the cd with you.

“no one even uses cds anymore.” you say with a bit of a laugh. “should we listen to it?”

eric nods, and the two of you spend the next 20 minutes looking for a way to play it.

10. baseball jersey

eric pulls out the jersey five songs into the cd mix. “gosh, this takes me back.” the jersey was from when he was young an old jersey you and him decorated together when he switched to a new team.

you make a face of disgust, pointing to a questionable drawing done around the neckline of the jersey. “who did that?”

“you, probably.”

“no way.”

“look. you even signed it.”

you squint your eyes at the drawing for a long moment. “damn.”

eric just laughs

15. picture from the beach trip

eric is the one who fishes the picture out. the picture which made you dig up the box to begin with. you see it between his hand, before he can tell you he found it. neither of you say anything. you both just stare at the picture, silently. your smiles are big and bright, with the sun casting down over your faces and ocean in the background. you look happy in it. eric does too. he turns away from the picture and stares at you, wondering where did it all go wrong?

23. big fish program

“look at this.” you say pulling out the crumpled program from your high school’s production of big fish. “i forgot i was even in the show.”

“you know how daffodils are a big part of the show?” eric says and you nod, flipping through the program. “i remember spending so long at the show trying to find daffodils for you.”

“but you gave me roses that night.” you say, tossing the program aside.

“yeah. i couldn’t find any.”

“well,” you murmur with a smile falling off your lips, “at least you tried.”

27. birthday card

“what’s this?” eric mutters pulling out a card that looks new. or at least new in comparison to everything else in the box.

“what did you-” you freeze when you see the card eric’s holding up. “not that.” you blurt reaching over to grab it from him. eric pulls it out of your reach. you reach for it again, and eric evades you grabbing it as well. it goes on like that for a minute before you finally give up.

“what is it?” eric asks again, laughing at how hard you’re trying to get it away from him.

you don’t mirror the laugh. instead you sigh, eyes turning dark. “a year ago, i dug up the time capsule and added that.”

“a year ago.” eric echoes, brows knitting together. “but by then we were...”

“we were broken up.” you finish, shamefully almost. “i wrote it on your birthday. and i don’t even know why i bothered adding it to the box, but i was just so upset at the time. i hadn’t seen you in forever, and i was just so angry at you. at me. at us.”

“i take it it’s not a nice birthday card then.”

“please don’t read it.” you reach for the card again. and this time eric doesn’t stop you from grabbing it. “i don’t mean any of that stuff anymore.”

“but you did?”

“i don’t... i was upset.”

“you were right to end things between us.” eric says then. “it was the best thing for us.”

you’re quiet. then after a long moment, you say, “it was the best thing for us then.”

“what do you mean?”

“i mean,” you frown, folding and unfolding a corner of the card, “don’t you think there’s a way we could make it work again?”

32. letters

the box is empty now. the only thing left to look at is the letters from the beginning. “here.” you say quietly, handing the one you wrote to him. he hands you his.

dear eric, i know the letters were my idea but this feels so lame LOL. good luck in college, but i wish we were going to the same one :( thanks for all the laughs and good times. i’m happiest with you. - love, your bestie (sorry this is so short. i have no idea what to say. i’ve been sitting here and pretending to write since you havent stopped yet) (OMG eric stop writing!!) (you just pulled out a second sheet of paper. rip. you’re gonna be so disappointed when you read this)

eric finishes the letter, remembering how much thought and care he put into writing his, and how long it ended up being. and that whole time, this was all you had written, the realization only makes him laugh.

he looks up at you still reading his two page letter. he watches as your eyes skim the page. as you get teary eyed reading it. as you finish, folding the letter back up and saying, “eric i--”

“let’s do it.”

“what?”

“let’s try again.”

#the boyz scenarios #the boyz fanfic #the boyz x reader #the boyz drabbles #eric scenarios #eric x reader #eric imagines #eric fanfic #eric drabbles #mine #tell me #honestly the entire cd mix one was inspired by having to clean out my family's home and throw away all these cd and dvd and vhs players #because technology has improved so much and so fast that we never use those things anymore #but like my childhood consisted of a few select movies becuase thats what we had on tape or on dvd #and yea it was just a sad moment #like even my laptop doesn't have a place to put in cds and dvds :(#asks

102 notes · View notes

swiss-mrs · 4 years

Text

Let There Be War (3/?)

(Clyde Logan || Hunger Games: Catching Fire AU)

Word Count: 3.2K

Warnings: Cursing, Angst, Mentions of PTSD, Graphic Descriptions, Death

The militant rhythm of twenty-three pairs of feet echoed the halls, creating an eerie countdown to each person’s final moments of civil encounters. Once the last person stood in front of their door, they all whooshed open, disappearing into the wall and allowing entry to the rooms.You were the last to enter your room, taking a moment of breath before stepping in. Your eyes were trained on the steel grey floor, but the gaze was interrupted by a pair of dark colored shoes belonging to your mentor. You drag your eyes up his thin body to meet his tight smile. His hands were clasped in front of his stomach awaiting your arrival. You two stood there a few steps apart, staring in silence until the door secured shut. He sighed through his slender, crooked nose, a sign of its past breaking. “Hey, doll.” His midtoned voice greeted softly. His stiff stature broke a bit as his sad eyes left yours.

“Hey, Marcos.” You said, equally as soft, your wilting eyes not leaving his sharp, angular face. “You came to say goodbye?” you smiled with sickening sorrow. He grimaced at it.

“Never a goodbye.” He shook his head, bringing his eyes back to yours. His age showed when he was like this, wrinkles forming around his frown and squinted eyes. “Just a simple conversation with my favorite person.” He tried to smile. “We don’t have much time left together so I just wanted to say this.” He walks up to you with three, frantic and outreached steps and envelopes you in a tight hug, your head resting just under his chin. He nuzzles his face in the top of your head a little, letting his cheek rest against your securely braided hair. His eyes close as he breathes deeply, trying to stay in the moment as long as he could, you doing the same.

“Come on, Marcos. We both know I’m not gonna pull myself out of this one.” You laughed out humorlessly. You train your left ear on his heartbeat, as his breath hitches in his chest.

“Don’t say that-”

“Marcos.” He sighs and you feel his jaw clench against your forehead.

“I’ll miss you, sweetheart.” He finally comes to terms, sorrowful. You both tighten your grip on each other. You both pull away just slightly, enough to see each other’s faces. “I’ll be rooting for you as always.” He smiles gently. You exhale a similar smile.

“Thank you.” Your brows furrow, as if determined to get out your final words to the man. “For everything.” Your fluttering eyes search his. “You’ve been the best person I could’ve ever hoped to be my mentor, my friend.” He smiled a little wider, it giving you the same sense of comfort and hope it always did.

“As you to me. You have taught me more than you will ever know, and I am truly honored to have been alongside Panem’s very own Goddess of the Sea, the best to ever grace the land.” He plants a gentle farewell kiss on your forehead. “Keep an eye out for that handsome lumberjack of yours.” He smiles playfully. “All of Panem saw the eye-contact.” He winks, trying to lighten the mood.

The glass tube that sends you to your doom slides open, awaiting you to walk in. You both lose the moment as you both look over his shoulder at the capsule with a frown. He looks back to you as your gaze stays glued to the thing. He sighs shakily and gives your forehead another kiss before switching places with you, rotating you both around by the hold on your arms, your back now facing the elevator, forcing you to focus on the man who's become family to you, more so than an appointed worker. He bends down to lock eyes with you, the hold on your upper arms tightening comfortingly. “Promise me you’ll try your hardest, Angel.” His tone deepens with the seriousness of his demand. You swallow and nod, stepping back out of his hold and into the tube.

“Take care of that family of yours, Marky.” You give him one last smile before the tube closes. He stares at you as you are lifted up, lifting his slender hand in the air. ‘Goodbye, brother.’ Your mind sends out as a tear runs down his face, the final thing you see of him before you're brought up and blinded by the sun on the surface.

Your eyes adjust as you look around you, finding yourself on the end of a runway that leads to the deceivingly inviting platform. You look around at each person around you, searching for Clyde. You find his broad shoulder and dark hair just barely peeking around from the other side of the platform. You see him rocking from side to side, searching, searching for you. Your eyes connect and his face is full of concern, but it subsides a little once he’s found you. The concern is replaced by what looked like fear. You didn’t think too much of as most everyone has that same feeling. The Countdown. Your heart rate quickens at the sound of it and you start to feel nauseous. Every beat brings a different bloodied, dismembered, vacant, phantom face into vision. The final boom breaks you out of your hypnosis and jolts your body into instinct mode. Your mind goes blank and nothing but a ringing rattles through your skull. Before you know it, you’re on the platform. Your vision tunnels the second your eyes spot your weapon of choice, the staff, but it’s interrupted by the feeling of an incoming strike from your left.

You lean back with vision obstructing speed, going into an instinctual combat mode. ‘5.’ Your mind establishes, as the strong, uncoordinated swing passes the front of you. You avoid looking at the man’s face but you can tell by the blur of dark, graying hair who he is. Out of the older, white men in this game, the tribute from District 5 was a little taller, a bit stronger and less grey than the one from District 8. You swiftly move around him and grab the nearest thing you could as he lost his balance from the missed swing, using the momentum from your turn to bring the machete into the side of his head, all in one continuous movement. He didn’t even have time to regain his composure. But it was quick and that’s as merciful as one could be here.

You use your foot to remove the blade from his head and kick his lifeless body into the water. You hear screams of anguish cut short by the sound of weapons clashing against skin and bone. You quickly assess your surroundings finding your next opponent. ‘2.’ The stocky, bald man menacingly marched his way towards you, his last victim’s blood tainting his appearance. You furrowed your brows and stayed put, standing your ground and lowering your stance, readying yourself, but the buildup was cut short. The man falling to the ground with an arrow sticking out of his head. You are quick to crouch down behind the metal box to your right, your sight trained on the dormant body of the man a short distance in front of you, again avoiding his face. You hear footsteps running but further away from you until they’re too far to hear. You peak from behind the box and find that the archer vanished.

The sound of a grunt, crushing bone and compromised flesh erupts from behind you, further off to your right. You find the coast clear as you make your way into the mass of the survival tools. You stay crouched as you swiftly sneak a pack off from the rack, your eyes never remaining in one spot for too long as your head swivels to scan for any potential threats. You grab as much as the backpack can fit, tools, food, weapons, anything you could reach. You strap it across your chest once it's found its way onto your back. Lastly, you pick up the speared staff and slowly make your way around the structure and search for the source of the noise, to see if the threat was still there. The small sound of sloshing water makes its way to your ears as your silent footstep near it. You round the corner to find the one person you’d hope to never have to see again. Clyde.

He was crouched down into a semi-seated position, rinsing the blood off of his hands and face. You tighten the grip on your raised staff. You come to a stop just as the pointed end of the spear makes contact with his right shoulder, he joints up and spins to face you, grabbing his axe on the ascend. His face softens a bit when the realization sets in and he sees your face, though it does hold a little bit of determination. He calls out your name in a small whisper, instantly bringing your heart to a stop, but it doesn’t waver your body. His breathing remains calm and his body relaxed, opposite of yours. You bring the staff even closer to your center of mass, as your brows further sink together. The point of the staff aimed square at his chest, where his heart lies.

“Hey, hey, hey.” he rushes out, the tone of his voice keeping its calm, relaxing nature. “It’s okay. It’s alright.” His accent shining through, slow to move as he lowers his weapon to the ground and raises back up to lift his arms in the same surrendering fashion they did on that night back in the training room. He lowers his chin and looks you in the eyes, sympathetic orbs that bore into yours. The center of his brows draw together and raise ever-so-slightly, painting his face in the same expression of a puppy. “Remember what I promised ya?” He gently asks, “The time is different. It’s gonna be different. Right? We’re in this together; No more bein’ alone.” He speaks, as if you could even forget. “I gotchya.” He whispers breathily. His jaw clenched as he exhales into a tight, determined pout. You two stay like this, staring at each other through the tense atmosphere, you unaware of the ready arrow trained on you, in case you made the wrong move. Releasing a breath you forgot you held, you lowered your spear slowly, and frowned, your bottom lip quivering momentarily before getting pursed into a stiff expression. “There she is.” He breaths out, a small, almost unnoticed smile creeps out for a second. His content eyes almost look proud as you searched each other’s eyes.

In a blur, Clyde is ripped from your sight, a surprised yell and the sound of splashing water breaking the peaceful silence you’d shared. You were only able to catch a glimpse of a dark haired girl before Clyde was dragged under the surface with her. ‘Fuckin’ 2!’ Your mind rattles. You’re quick to drop all your things, sliding off the backpack, and rushing into the water after them, diving head first with a form that’d make any District 4 member blush.

You open your eyes to see Clyde sloshing around trying to kick her grip on his leg off. You could tell by the amount of moving he was doing and the bubbles coming from his mouth that he wouldn’t last too long. The air was leaving his body too fast and he was in too much panic to hold what was left in. The shark fanged District 2 tribute bit down on his calf, causing him to scream out what was left in his lungs. You reach them just in time to ring your arms around the woman’s neck, pulling her away from Clyde, forcing her to focus her energy on you, Clyde struggling to messily swim his way to the surface. Not being able to see if he made it out or not, you hone in on the fight at hand.

The two of you sink your way to the bottom of the approximately 12ft deep body of water, your ears popping from the pressure. You tighten your forearm’s grip around the girl’s neck and use your legs to trap her flailing arms in the fold of your knees. You barely emit any energy as you are entangled around her, allowing you to keep the air in your body. A few short seconds of her struggling continue before she lets out an enraged scream of defeat, though muffled by the surrounding water. You kept your eyes squeezed shut just as her body convulses in your hold, the last string of bubbles leaving her. Once she’s stopped and the mere fifteen second altercation ends, you release her body. It floats away from you as you look up to see if Clyde got out, which is not the case. His head bobs in and out of water as he moves around frantically, trying to get his body to move towards the nearest place. You kick back into gear and repel yourself off the ground beneath you. You reach him in under two seconds and encircle your arms under his armpits from behind him. He starts panicking even further and begins to try and wiggle from your grip, thrashing his arms and almost elbowing you in the face. You lift him just so he is above water, “Clyde!” You yell in an attempt to get him to calm down. “Clyde! It’s me!” He cuts his escape attempts short at the sound of your voice. He’s gasping for air and coughing but you can tell he’s trying to regain his composure.

You float the two of you on your back, Clyde flush against your chest. His eyes are closed as his mouth hangs open, the coughing fit ceasing and he’s left trying to catch his breath. You switch your arms to wrap across his chest in a ‘hug’, his body relaxing into you even more as his head floats next to yours and his arms raise up to rest on yours. You look over to him to check and make sure he’s gonna be okay. A few dark strands drape themselves across his face, the rest tickling your left ear. You determine that he’ll be fine and avert your eyes to the platform surrounding you, the nearest thing to you being one of the runways extending from the large structure in the middle. You swim backwards until you reach. “Clyde?” You say softly, trying to get his attention, though his ears were just under the surface of the water. Your voice brings him from his daze and he turns his head slightly to look at you, the tip of his prominent nose touching the top of your cheekbone. He puffs out a short burst of air as a silent hum, letting you know he’s listening. “I’m gonna need you help to get you out.” You slide one of your arms out from under his to reach behind you and grab a hold of the edge of the runway. He nods as you use your grip on the corner of the runway to turn the both of you and keep above water without being on your back. Your hold on him stays put until he is able to reach out to the platform himself. He uses his left forearm to balance himself as he uses his right arm to hoist him high enough to turn and sit down on the runway, facing you. He retreats his legs out from the water as you make your way to the left of him. You stare up at him. “You okay?” You ask in the same soft tone. He nods and pushes some miscellaneous strands sticking to his face back out of the way.

“I’ll be fine, darlin’.” He horses out, still gaining back the lost oxygen. “I’ll be fine.” He repeats just as you gracefully lift yourself out of the water, going straight into a standing position with ease. He looks up to you with his determined pout from his seated position, “Thank you.” You look down at him, holding his eyes for a few seconds before nodding and looking out to your surroundings, sighing and trying to think of your next moves. You should’ve let him drown. It would’ve been easy. Leave someone else to kill him. Before you had the chance to grow attached. You should’ve walked away. Gather your things and-

He raises up, obstructing your view and your train of thought. He is incredibly close, your nose just a few inches from the center of his chest. Your eyes trail up to meet his, that same pout still on his face, it becoming a signature of his. Your face remained in its unchanged slight furrowed brow frown. “I know savin’ me wasn’t easy for ya.” He was wrong. It was the easiest split decision you’ve ever had to make in your life, but right now, he wouldn't know that. You turn away from him and head back to the platform, where you discarded your backpack, Clyde in tow. You gather your things and turn to find Clyde doing the same, facing back to you with an uneasy posture.

“We’re going to have to swim out of here.” He knew it was coming but he didn’t want to complain about it and make matters worse. “Just don’t let go of me, and I’ll get us across in no time.” He just nods. You clip on your backpack and he does the same.You close the distance in between you two and lower to sit down with your feet in the water. “Hug my backpack.” You command just as you get in, swimming out just far enough for him to lower in behind you. He uses his right hand to steady himself in the water as you back into him, his left forearm lacing its way to the tight space between you and the backpack. He lets the platform go, his right arm quickly following the actions of the left. He hugs the pack tightly but due to it being so snug to your body he pulls you back into him accidentally harshly, causing you to lose the rhythm of your tread, forcing an apology from him. His smooth voice dripped its way into your ear. You dismiss it, muttering your response quietly. Trying your best to keep both of your heads above water, you paddled your way to the dry land with a breaststroke. It wouldn’t have gotten you there in the fastest way but you figured this would have been the easiest on the axeman.

You finally reach the point where his feet can touch the ground, allowing him to comfortably let go of you once the top of his chest is above water and he can wade out by himself. Drenched, you both reach the treeline. You turn your head to look over at the right side of his face as if asking what to do now. He steps forward a bit then looks back at you with a gentle, inviting smile that barely moved the corners of his lips. He reaches his extended, upturned palm to you with a slight tilt to his head, motioning to the forest. “Come with me.” You look down to his outstretched hand. “A promise is a promise.”

----------

NUMERO TRES!!

ooooooooof we gettin’ into the nitty gritty, the dirty work.

hope you guys enjoyed! Pt. 4 will be more in depth on their building relationship and more aCTION WOOO

Tag List:

@douglasdriver @clumsycopy @morby

#adam driver #adam sackler #ben solo #kylo ren #Clyde logan #flip zimmerman #philip altman #charlie barber #toby grisoni #ronnie peterson #adam driver x reader #adam sackler x reader #ben solo x reader #kylo ren x reader #clyde logan x reader #flip zimmerman x reader

54 notes · View notes

maladaptive-ninja-returns · 6 years

Text

J.B.B. (11)

Bucky x Reader

Content: Fluff, light smut

Warnings: light smut.

Word Count: cramps are bad. They suck. I could’ve done this on time but NO!

MASTERLIST

^J.B.B., ^Part 2, ^Part 3, ^Part 4, ^Part 5, ^Part 6, *Part 7, !Part 8, ^Part 9, ^Part 10, !Part 11, ^Part 12, Part 13

"So, is he your boyfriend?"

The question had been a repetitive invite to embarrassment ever since you arrived in Wakanda, which was a day ago.

"Uhh..." Your broken voice along with the betraying reflex of you fingers tucking your hair behind your ear gave you away every time.

"Relax! I'm just messing with you. You're Kalisha's friend and we're good with just that."

You looked at Shuri, who's enthusiasm ignited her lab with such positive vigour and light, that you couldn't help but mirror her smile.

"Thank you for accommodating me here, in your country. Kalisha told me about the ground rules and keeping the identity of Wakanda a secret and I promise I wo-"

"Promises? In this economy?" Shuri interrupted you, catching a look of surprise on your features before forcing a giggle out of the two of you. "Take it easy, my girl. You're really helping us by staying. Here," she pushed forward a tablet that had a questionnaire opened up, "fill them up so that we can find the best area for your skills."

You scrolled through the questions, impressed at their variance based not only on your past work experiences but also on life situations, work conditions, mental health issues and the overall environment.

Wakandans are way ahead of the rest of the world in more than just one way.

You filled up the entire thing within an hour, surprised at the fact that unlike the anxious times of making your resume over and over, this went quite smoothly, not making your brain overwork for no reason.

"Done." You placed the tab and turned it towards Shuri, who had been busy with a prototype of Bucky's vibranium arm. The black and thin back-lit purple striped metal rested over a support nerve rod connected to the systems sending her the readings from all the parts.

According to Shuri, her team of scientists had been able to map Bucky's targeted memory that brought forward the winter soldier persona whenever he heard the trigger words and they had been successful in wiping off the first partial imprints even as he was being kept in cryo-sleep and would be done with the rest in two more weeks.

Submitting your resume over to what you believed was the HR, she showed you around the lab.

"Would you like to see him?"

She caught you off guard despite your knowledge that he was here somewhere. Your right hand went over to your other arm, pressing down hard over the muscles while your mind focused on steadying your breathing.

"Am I allowed to?"

All Shuri did was give you a sly grin as she tilted her head in the direction she started moving. Behind a section cut off from the rest of the lab, stood a glass capsule resting at an angle, covered with what appeared to be a blanket adorning Swaziland art.

"Did you...?" You tried to suppress your laugh as best as you could at the irony that stood in front of you.

"I had to hide him. Long story. But I am ninety-seven per cent sure he would have been ignored anyway."

You tilted your head in acknowledgement, not bothering to ask the reason behind the setting as she removed the blanket from the glass.

It was the raven hair that first came in sight through the frost covering the glass. Then his eyelids and lips. The stillness surrounding the man you'd experienced a thousand emotions with, in seventy-two hours, scraped at your skin, raising all the tiny hairs over your body. Kline's sordid words echoed through your skull as you looked at the dead expression of Bucky sleeping upon the time surrounding him. Just when the waterworks started coming for the brim, you looked away, making Shuri cover him back before resting her hand on your shoulder. "He'll be fine. I promise."

"Promise? In this economy?" You threw a suspicious glance at her, laughing as she nudged your shoulder.

"But, you have my word. If I don't fix him up, I promise you T'Challa will give up on pursuing Nakia," she responded with dead seriousness.

Just at that moment, somewhere in the capital, T'Challa nearly sneezed the life out of himself, wondering what his sister was up to this time.

It was a surprise when Nakia informed you how impressive your resume had been as you had only taken up menial jobs after college and never really cared much about earning more than what kept you content. Turns out it was your voluntary activities with unprivileged kids and knowledge of certain languages and geography of the places you'd visited that attracted the woman. She wanted you to help the younger lot with the languages and geographies you were fluent with along with interning at Shuri's lab to further your experience in the advanced technology, given your Computers and Biology majors in college. You were sceptical of the choices she gave you to try out before moving to other options but all it took was one trial in a classroom full of curious faces- both eager to know and patient enough to listen to you- and a day at the lab- where the scientists and lab techs had been really patient in helping you adjust with their technology, something you knew had Shuri written all over it- for you to settle for them by the end of the day.

You had also nearly surprised Okoye with your tears of happiness when she confirmed that there was a place on the outskirts, away from all the chipper bustle of the capital, where you could settle down, but it was within a community of farmers and herders who had decent lodgings and the open skies with vast scenery in the name of luxury.

"Good thing that I come from a line of goat herders and wheat harvesters."

A week passed with the length of a year. Your eyes would wake up to the calls of early birds and the rising sun, breathing in the dew of early morning grass under your bare feet, tingling you all over, forcing you to get ready for your day. The first four hours would go by in the flash of an eye as you would fill up the young minds with places they had not visited and the things they had not seen. The next two would go by learning something new every day at the lab before Shuri would force you to learn some hand to hand combat from the Dora Milage along with her 'just in case'. You knew it had to do with the recent insurgency that happened in the country but you were more than willing to learn if it meant keeping her company while learning to defend yourself, though living here you felt you didn’t it much. But Okoye, who knew the reasons for your hidden scars, never neglected your learning and made sure you were ready to take down at least one warrior by the end of the week.

Your nights would pass on your hard bed under the blanket of stars too beautiful to get used to as you tried to look back at the blur that was your life before this but couldn't find anything to hold on to- except, maybe, Gina and Michael. You would fall asleep under the glow, to the sound of curious but harmless nocturnal animals as you would feel yourself drifting into a world with nothing but pleasant silence.

Today was your day off. No classes, no internship; not even training. You had busied yourself in tidying up your decent house and helped your neighbours in preparing lunch for the people busy in the field harvesting the season's first crop, who in turn surprised you by braiding your hair- which had recently grown long because you hadn't paid much attention to it for the last two months- while the kids had gathered blue and purple wildflowers and decorated the loose bun with them, making you gleam with newfound joy.

Thabo, the youngest of the kids, wanted to learn about the animals you'd talked about in class yesterday and you were happy to reciprocate their artwork in your hair with some knowledge about the Arctic Fox and the White Wolf from your books.

It had been one instant that seemed to have extended into a sweet elastic stretch of caramelised frames. You'd been talking about the latter when Thabo pointed out to someone standing behind you, making you turn towards a stranger coming in your direction, standing still himself as his distant blue eyes met yours. The book fell from your lap- rescued by Thabo's brother- as you stood up and turned towards the pale figure of Bucky clad in the familiar old shirt and trousers.

"Bucky?" You called out in a whisper as your heart tried to take in his presence but your eyes already gave up.

You saw the bag in his hand drop, his eyes taking in your existence as you walked towards him.

You could feel his breathing fracture lightly when he called out your name- making your whole being glow like the stars you slept under at night- before taking you in his warm embrace.

It was back. His familiar warmth, radiating more than it ever did before. His scent. Bucky's delicious scent still drowning you in his sweet wondrous latency. His warm flesh and cold metal stirring the oceans under your skin on your back as his grip ensured you he was never letting you go again. Ever.

You forgot every other company around you. The children, who were low-key hooting at the intimate sight between their teacher and this foreign man- and adults- dragging them away by their ear to give you the much-needed privacy- disappeared.

Drawing yourself away from his decelerating breathing, you gulped in every shade of his skin and every corner of his ocean eyes, smiling while you moved his hair away from his face.

"Hey," you smiled at him, trying to find words in your breathless state.

"Hey," he came back with a wide smile, placing his hands around your face, grazing your jaw and cheeks with his thumb as his own turned red.

"You are more beautiful than I remember," his breathless voice spoke, making you giggle through your tears.

"Not as breathtakingly beautiful as you," you responded, taking the back of his neck in your wanting grasp, your limbs pulsating at his touch. He brought his forehead down to touch yours, allowing your breaths to mingle.

You stood there, just like that, never wanting to move. Your fingers laced into his hair as your other hand came down his jaw, your index resting at the corner of his red lips.

"I thought I'd never see you again," you finally broke, your voice barely reaching over a whisper. "I had no idea wha-"

"I know," his hold around your face bringing you closer to his, the tears in his eyes breaking as he closed that with a whimper, "I know. I'm sorry. I couldn't drag you into the mess. I didn't trust anyone. I didn't trust myself. I'm sorry, Y/N."

You shook your head as your fingers came over his lips. "Shhh. It's not your fault, Bucky. Stop."

Bucky's tears made your body shiver, wanting to hold him close and tell him he was never the problem. "But your home, Y/N. It's because of me that you w-"

"No," your adamant eyes looked at him, making him still, "it is no home of mine if my judgement and decisions cannot be respected under the roof; if I cannot care for the person I want to."

A silent breeze passed through you, bringing the smell of the intoxicating wildflowers with it. "My home is where I can have peace, Bucky." You could tell he was holding his breath. Trying to stop the last of his restraints.

"And amongst all the turmoil in life, I found it with you."

The night took its first stretch outside; the brilliant stars already visible all over the sky. Inside your home, lips met to ignite a solemn fire. Hands rediscovered the skin over the shoulders, on the chest, over the back, burning every surface it passed over, arching into the compulsory touch. Limbs crossed over one another, aching at the pulsating desire between them while heavy breaths tingled the neediness in the throats. The tongues tasted the thirst over each other in an intricate dance as the arms drew each other's naked bodies closer. The marks and bites burned and the wet kisses soothed them. Bucky turned you over your stomach to find your back, leaving no scar unkissed, no mark untouched, replacing all the ache with the frames of his lingering collision inside your mind. His legs parted yours while his hand found your waist. Your hands grabbed the sheet under you as you felt him filling you up, forcing you to arch back to have him plant soft kisses right on your shoulders as his flesh hand cleared your hair away for him to find all your sensitive areas on the neck, while his metal supported his weight above you. The slow rhythm found a pace of its own, as your animalistic desires surfaced. The high built up with the pace so did the fervent kisses and gasps. You could feel your walls clench around him and his hand travelled down your waist to find your aching nerves, bringing the arousing high to its much-needed release. Your body trembled through your first of many pleasures as he found his own release.

"This must be heaven."

You looked up at Bucky with bliss, who was watching the stars, his flesh arm supporting your head. Both of you lay under the dazzling sky over the bed in the open air, limbs entangled under the sheets, taking in this calm night. "It is, isn't it?"

He lifted his head to look at you, smiling at the dazzle in your eyes.

"It is," he announced, never leaving your gaze as he kissed you. His thumb grazing the skin over your arm, taking in as much of your skin into his memory at a time.

"She didn't tell me."

"Hmm?"

"Shuri didn't tell me you were coming home today."

Bucky's smile disappeared for a second before a cackle burst out of his lungs. "So that's what they meant!"

He told how Shuri never told him about you either and had been pushing him to take the prototype with him 'for research purposes'.

You could feel the embarrassment surging through your body as you shifted under the covers to hide your face in his chest, making him chuckle.

You played with the rebellious threads of his red clothing that Okoye had provided him with when he came over as a thought played inside your mind. Finally, you gave in.

"Do you want to keep it?"

It was Bucky's turn to shift. "No."

"It must remind you of the things in your past, right?"

Bucky nodded. "Yes. Yes, it does."

"Then don't keep it." You half got up to face him. He looked at you with a blank expression for a second.

"You want to start new. If you feel this is the first step, then do it. No one's going to force you. No one can. It's a free country."

You rested your chin over his chest, feeling his fingers make circles and hearts over your back making you smile as Bucky had no idea currently what he was doing.

"What's stopping you?"

He sighed, never stopping the hearts.

"I'm whole even without this, right?"

You looked at him with your concerned eyes. "Bucky, you are definitely whole without this piece of metal."

You got up and shifted your legs over his waist while directing your upper body to his conjunction. "Here," you said as you found the control and swiped a few digits before Bucky heard a snap and the arm safely detached himself from Bucky's shoulder. You got up and tucked it away in Bucky's bag before coming back to his warmth.

"You are more than that metal, James Buchanan Barnes," you announced in his ear before kissing his lips.

His smile came back and he held your face in his flesh warmth as he came back for a lingering kiss.

"What did I do to have you here beside me?"

"Oh, you didn't do much," you pointed out, "It was Steve and his rebellious bunch who did all the work."

Bucky groaned, making you laugh. "He's at it again, isn't he?"

"Yeah, he told me all the stories, mister. And he approves of me if you wanted to know. I mean, as you can see, thanks to him, I'm here."

Bucky's ocean orbs reflected the stars in them as he got lost in yours. A pleasant pain filled him up as he kissed your forehead and pressed you closer to himself.

"Yes. You're here."

And with that one satisfied thought, both of you found the once disappeared sleep again in each other's arms under the best blanket the universe had put on display.

(Send me an ask if you’d like to be tagged in future fics or if you’d like to tell me how you good/not good you found this fic/chapter. xx)

^J.B.B., ^Part 2, ^Part 3, ^Part 4, ^Part 5, ^Part 6, *Part 7, !Part 8, ^Part 9, ^Part 10, !Part 11, ^Part 12, Part 13

TAGLIST

Permanent

@greenarrowhead @magiclolipopqueen @choke-me-sweet-pea @classy-swiftt @smexylemony @hazzastyles2471 @lokis-lady-death @lokixme @l0kisbitch @bambamwolf87 @tarithenurse @hiddlestonstansworld @itheoneofmanyfandomsi @nalokoniloki @fuckidontknow @qualitynerdwasteland @cryinglots @unipanda1006

J.B.B.

@lost-and-wandering-alone @imsunnysu @vxidnik @sebbies @unknownuserhasjoined @cauraphernelia @queen-of-elves @doitfortwitter @ladywintersoldat @introvertfangirl @alt-er-love-er-alt @klmpun

131 notes · View notes

shiranai-atsune · 6 years

Text

VLD gKND (cuz’ I couldn’t think of an actual title)

I just had a burst of inspiration and it actually got me to write again after such a long time! I wrote this little piece of fanfiction based on another fandom and a bunch of other ideas I had in my storage. I hope you give it a chance to read it. Tell me how it is, be honest but go easy on me.

Write a scene based on the gKND trailer. Lance is Nigel while Lotor is Chad.

Set Post Season 7. Season 8 is disregarded.

Lance is part of the Alliance, one of the members of the Great Diamond Authority. Her outfit is a combination of armor and a dress, like Arturia Pendragon, but there is a cut on the chest revealing her Blue Diamond gemstone.

Red had agreed with Lana’s desire to retrieve Lotor She was glad he understood, they had actually begun to become quite close. Although she missed Blue, she and Red had something greater of a bond entirely, seeing as their time together excessed her time with Blue.

Lance took Red and teamed up with Honerva to gain access to the Quintessence field and retrieve Lotor. There, she double-crossed Honerva (guess she’s teaming up with the Paladins to stop Lance and the Alliance?), took the Altean colonials to Pink Diamond’s Human (now also Lance’s Altean) zoo, and turned Lotor into C.C. (putting him in that weird prison suit outfit and putting him inside a capsule dome which is thought to hold poison gas)

In a big but dark room, Lana stands, her finger hovering over a large red diamond-shaped button. It was the button that would activate the Alliance’s Diamond Starkiller base.

A bead of sweat rolls down her cheek as Lana takes a deep breath. She is nervous, pressured by her higher ups to make this decision. She is aware that after making this choice, there is no going back. She knew that she has to make sacrifices in order to reach her goal, even if that sacrifice involved the genocide of billions of lives.

She slowly lowered her finger, trying to stop herself trembling, and inwardly hoping that her observers are far away enough to not notice her nervousness, when she heard an all too familiar voice.

“NO! There are innocent people there! Your people! Your family! Your friends!”

It was Prince Lotor. After double crossing Haggar and shooting her off into space and to who knows where, she knocked him unconscious so he would not cause a disturbance during her trip back to one of the Alliance’s main base, the Kingdom of Lucis, where she and the rest of the Valvraves resided. She forgot to check the dose of sedate in the tranquilizer gun before shooting him. He surprised her, she panicked and in the heat of the moment, just picked it up and shot him.

He was once a prince. Great, powerful, and had plans to change the entire universe. She slightly turned her head to look at him, with his disheveled appearance; his beautiful long silky silvery white hair was now a tangled mess, his armor gone and now wears the orange jumpsuit for a regular prisoner. He is kneeled down to the grown, pulling back those plasma-charged chains linked to the floor and his handcuffs, restraining him from running towards her or to his escape.

“It’s riddled with the disease. Infested. Too far gone.” Lana coldly replied. Deep down inside of her, there was a part that was fighting, resisting, telling her not to go through with this.

“What about Team Voltron?” Lotor cried. “Coran, Allura, Shiro, Pidge, Hunk, and Keith!”

Of course, she never forgot about them. They were all-too familiar names she recited every night before going to bed. Hearing them out loud from another’s voice felt so foreign to her. Even though she never forgot about them and no matter how much time has passed, the last name had shot a pang through her heart and left her wondering about his, as well as the others’ well-beings.

“Keith would never let you do this…” He said in a condescending tone. She could tell her was pointing his finger at her and she doesn’t know why, exactly.

Lana had wanted to snap back, “How do you know that?! You don’t even know him!”. Lotor only knew Keith as an enemy from whatever intel he received from his spies. But even so, he was right and she knew it. That made her draw her finger back, her face twisting to one of conflict.

“There. Do we need more proof on where this one’s allegiance lies?” A screen showing the sigil of the Black Knights of Britannia.

Although the voice is distorted and disguised, she can tell whose voice that belongs to. Judging by the tone and accent, it’s safe to assume that it belonged to one of her (former?) comrades, now reduced to colleagues, and currently her greatest and most outspoken critic, Lelouch vi Britannia. He had never trusted her, and became even more suspicious of her once finding out that she worked with the enemy.

“Species… indicative.” Only two words were spoken but she can tell that belonged to either L-elf or A-Drei Karlstein of Dorssia. They may not have interacted much, but Lana can guess that he’s in neutral standing to her.

“This human not a Galactic Level operative, no?” That one, she could not tell, but he did not seem to be a high ranking observer as the screen only showed the symbol of the Alliance. She wondered who brought him, or her, here?

“There are no human Galactic Level operatives.” Again, an unfamiliar voice.

Another screen pops out showing older sister Veronica. Which made Lana wince as she could see her perfectly and clearly in all her royal Magius glory. “Ah actually that’s not true. There was- wait.” It was only then she had noticed that she was the only one being fully broadcasted with no filter.

“Oh I could never figure out these privacy features on these planetary conference calls.” Lana bit her lower lip to hold back her laughter. Her powerful older sister, a member of the one of the greatest beings in the universe, especially the royal family, royally screwing up and making herself looking like a goofball. Just like her.

“Gah! And now my video call filter isn’t working!” Veronica exclaimed. “Who was running the tech department while I was on Earth? Agent Moron?!” She threw her hands up in the air for extra dramatic effect.

“Who you calling moron?! You’ve been on Earth for so long you reek of the infection!” Ah, so it was Lelouch who was in charge while me and Veronica were… doing other things. Lana thought as Veronica just crossed her arms and glared at him all the while Lelouch yelled at her. Then he added, “Just like that one.” Lana knew that while she couldn’t see him, he was pointing at her accusingly, his face twisted to a scowl.

It was partially true. Lana and Veronica, who got into this whole Alliance business not more than 5 years (actually 2 for Lana since 3 years passed during the time she was in the Quintessence field in Season 6 Episode 6) ago after discovering their true heritage as members of the Royal Family of the Magius. But they were only two among the thousands of children their father, the king of the Magius, have.

It was then that the entire room was suddenly lighted up with multiple screens from multiple of the Alliance’s divisions and members and even more randomly lower ranked members. So many voices talking all at once, chattering on about gibberish nonsense that Lana could not catch on.

But they all fell silent once they heard that one voice… the distorted, but very much obviously White Diamond’s, authorative, and loud voice that made her sound so powerful, almighty… and big. All three of which she was.

“Please members of the Alliance…” she spoke in a soft tone. No visual screen, her voice boomed throughout the entire room, “The decision does not come lightly… the decision is…” she trailed off.

That last line sounded so… off to Lana. It was like White Diamond had snoozed off. She sounded so… like in a tone that made her seem far away.

She always struck Lana as somewhat of an anomaly. Odd, strange, Lana has no definite read on White. She was calm, soft-spoken, warm, and she almost seemed kind and motherly, but her mother Blue said she had quite a temper. Her Pearl reflected on what kind of “owner” White can be. Lana was glad she was not on White’s bad side. …yet?

“Don’t do it Lana! None of them deserve this! This isn’t what Voltron stood for!” Lana had almost forgotten about Lotor. He had been so quiet when Lelouch first came to interrupt them. She imagined he just sat there, in obedient silence as the Alliance just said what they said.

Voltron… it was where Lana had allied herself before siding herself to the Alliance, and by extension, to the Valvraves. Her thoughts drifted to her fellow Valvrave pilots and teammates, Ignis, Gladio, Prompto… Noctis… all the good times they shared… she had just like she had with Voltron… before White’s loud booming distorted voice interrupted her reminiscing.

“The decision… is Lana McClain’s…” White Diamond has slowly said. Her tone changed into one of warning. Mother Blue had told her that this means that White is slowly about to be set off. White was getting impatient. Lana knew she had to make a choice right now, and she had to pick the choice that would definitely please White.

A tear rolls down Lana’s cheek as she makes a determined stance, her decision now made and she now fully stands by it. There’s no going back… But Lana never planned on going back.

“For the Alliance!” she almost choked at her words, “Blitzendegen!”

With no further hesitation, she presses her finger down to the button.

As the screens around her shut off, and the large room is now suddenly dark again, Lana can only imagine hearing her beloved Keith’s voice…

“Lana McClain… what have you done?”

Haha! I somehow ended up imagining my own little Kingdom Hearts/Marvel Cinematic Universe crossover universe.

Another intro of the beginning, made by the talented lunadiane: http://shiranai-atsune.tumblr.com/post/179161320757/this-is-universekiddies-lunadiane-is-my-main

14 notes · View notes

scarletraven1001 · 6 years

Text

The Final Price (Chapter 4)

Chapter Summary: Bulma’s curiosity leads her to make a few startling discoveries, while her and Vegeta’s bond continues to grow stronger. However, evil is always afoot, and Bulma finds herself in a situation where, possibly, not even Vegeta could save her.

Entry for the @tpthvegebulmayhem, Week 3.

Prompt: 1) Twenty mattresses and a pea; 2) Who is trip-trapping on my bridge.

Chapter Warnings: Rated E - Profane language; Crime and Violence.

All Chapters: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10

Also on Ao3.

8-8-8-8-8

Chapter 4: The Spirit Bridge

8-8-8-8-8

Note: The original Week 3 entry was more than 17,000 words long, so I have split it into three parts. This is Part 1 of 3. I hope you like it!

8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8

As a woman of science, Bulma Briefs was a naturally curious person.

Since she was a little child, Bulma had always been the type who would never be content with short answers. There always had to be an explanation… a logical reason behind everything, every concept and every occurrence.

She needed to be convinced… to know exactly how something worked, before she would ever begin to be at peace regarding anything.

It was because of her inherent inquisitive nature, that Bulma was perpetually aggravated about the one thing in her life right then that did not quite make sense.

Vegeta.

He was the only person who thought of and believed in her abilities, spurring her to begin her research into the true embezzlers. It was something that she, in her focus on keeping her mother alive, had all but forgotten, but he somehow knew that she could have had what it takes to find the true perpetrators.

It had let the corrupt ones know that Bulma was still a player in the game, causing them to go after her, leading her into wishing her problems away. Even though her research had never needed to see the light of day after all, it had still been a catalyst in how everything had wrapped up.

There was also the fact that Vegeta always seemed to have a predilection for protecting her. He had saved her from her would-be rapists and murderers, and now kept near-constant vigil with her.

In the three months that she had known him, the Prince had become a steady companion to her, a regular fixture in her life, no matter how deeply he remained firmly hidden in the shadows whenever any other person drew near.

There were times when he seemed so normal, so unapologetically human, that she almost forgot that he was actually a mysterious phantom, a warrior spirit that she had summoned to grant her impossible wishes.

He was a demon of sorts, who seemed to still be biding his time until he finally revealed the final price that he would be taking from her, in return for his services.

She dreaded the moment when he would finally come up to her and ask for his payment, and that, within itself, aggravated her even more, since she had recently realized that it wasn’t her fear of the ultimate consequences of her wishes that she truly dreaded…

Bulma realized that she was terrified of the time when he finally stopped playing games with her, since she knew that upon gaining his price, Vegeta will, undoubtedly, leave.

It scared her witless when she understood that, all that spectacular golden-haired power aside, she did not want him to go.

She was dying to understand him, to know more about him, beyond the small snippets of random memories that he shared with her whenever he was lethargically pumped full of good food.

And ultimately… she wanted him to stay.

At the moment, she was content with having him literally floating with her in their family’s private swimming pool while they snacked on tropical fruits.

“And what is this one?” he asked, picking up a slice of yellow fruit.

“That is pineapple,” she answered. “You’ve had that before.”

“It looks different,” he said, popping the fruit in question into his mouth.

“This was sliced into chunks,” she commented, picking up a small bit of melon. “Bite-sized, easier to eat.”

“Tch,” he sneered. “You Earthlings… too lazy to even bite into food.”

She lowered her sunglasses, peering at him over the top of the rims.

She was on a pool float, wearing a blue two-piece bikini… one that she had purposefully picked out, as she recalled that it made her boobs look amazing.

The Prince was hovering in the air beside her, hand digging into her fruit bowl. He was wearing a pair of shorts and no shirt, an attire that she had coaxed him into, and as she ran her eyes up and down his obscenely defined chest and abdomen, she rationalized that her scheming to have him half-naked was her benevolent gift to mankind.

He was quite the view.

“Oh, don’t give me that, Mr. Prince of a warrior race. You can’t tell me that you didn’t have servants slicing your fruit for you.”

“My servants cooked my meat and peeled my produce. We didn’t have them cut the plants up into chunks,” he sneered, even as he merrily helped himself to another piece.

He was trying to find another slice of mango when he froze, and Bulma stiffened as she watched his eyes glaze over.

She knew what was coming next.

In a flash, he had materialized into his armor, eyes alert, body tense.

“I need to go,” he muttered tersely, before he brought two fingers to his forehead in a now familiar gesture, a second before he vanished into thin air.

Bulma sighed.

The man was a true mystery, one that she wished to unlock. She wanted to know who and what he was, forcefully casting aside her questions regarding why exactly she was so determined to get to know him.

8-8-8-8-8

Vegeta appeared into the middle of the tiny island house, looking around for the old woman who had called to him.

He keenly felt the ki signatures of his men, sensations that he had recently become reacquainted with.

He strode out of the house, noting the pandemonium happening just beyond the shore.

A tall, spiky haired Saiyan floated above the waters. He was wearing an orange martial arts gi and he was soaked in sweat, focusing a small and extremely potent energy ball into his hand, before he, with a strangled shout, blasted the tiny orb into the sea, forcing the placid waters to rise into towering waves of energy.

A few meters up into the sky, Vegeta spied the sparring forms of two disproportionately large men; both wearing the same orange attire as the first man, but while the first was lean, these men are both extremely muscular. For these two, however, one was completely bald headed, and the other had entirely too much hair.

Vegeta powered up, drawing their collective attentions to him.

All activity stopped, and the three hastily flew downwards, dropping down on one knee before him, with their right fists clutched tightly to the left side of their chests, heads down in supplication.

“Your Highness,” the bald one, the highest-ranked of the three, was in the middle.

“Nappa,” Vegeta greeted. “At ease.”

All three stood, facing their Prince.

Their race was gone, and only these three remained as his subjects. Though Vegeta would never admit it aloud, he was glad that they remained loyal to the crown.

“Raditz,” he turned to the man whose thick, dark hair was down to his knees. “I trust your travels went well.”

“Yes, my Lord,” he nodded. “I rushed here as fast as I could from planet Arlia, when I was told that you were back. I am honored to be in your presence once again.”

“And you, Kakarot, how fares your training?” he asked of the youngest one, who had barely been a man when he had last seen him.

“It has been going well, Prince Vegeta,” he scratched at his spiky hair as he went on, “I just need to relearn to focus my long-range attacks.”

“It is understandable that you are out of practice, as you have been at peace for several years,” Vegeta said. “Where is the crone?”

“Here, Prince Vegeta,” a hoarse old voice called out, making all four men turn to look back at the tiny house.

Uranai stood at the doorway, her crystal ball floating beside her as she took her slow steps towards the Saiyans.

“I am glad to see that you have all been reunited now. I am sure that the Prince is delighted to have his team back together.”

“Thank you for gathering us, Uranai,” Nappa said. “When the Prince was released, I felt his ki immediately, but Raditz was off planet, and Kakarot here had rather vague memories of our battles and was thus unable to quickly place the ki.”

“He had been barely more than a young boy at the time,” Raditz said. “Kakarot was only fourteen Saiyan suns old.”

“I am now twenty eight, by Saiyan count, right?” Goku asked. “Because we have been on Earth for nearly thirty years.”

Vegeta did the mental math. He had been imprisoned in the middle realm, within the ball, for fifteen Saiyan suns… thirty Earth years.

“Yes, and it has been thirty Earth years too long,” Vegeta said.

He took a deep breath, passion igniting in his eyes as he commanded. “Prepare yourselves, my loyal Saiyans. Soon, we shall go into war. And this time, we will win.”

8-8-8-8-8

Bulma tossed and turned in bed, unable to shake the feeling that something, at that very moment, was going incredibly wrong.

It was a gloomy evening, cool in temperature, but the darkness was so deep that it seemed even the moon and the stars hid from sight. The blackness was so disconcerting, more so since she was bogged down by worry for her missing non-human friend.

It had been three days since Vegeta disappeared, and she wasn’t quite sure if it was alright to call for him since he had looked so troubled when he last left.

She had waited for him to show up like usual, perhaps popping into existence beside her, or slithering into her bedroom in the dead of night.

She sighed, resolved to go to sleep, even as she offhandedly wondered if perhaps she was just uncomfortable on her new bed.

She had purchased a new, larger one after they came back to Capsule Corp, because she felt like the world owed it to her to let her lay on the largest possible bed after she had been forced to sleep on a narrow, hard cot for months.

She had taken forever to choose her bed, rejecting at least twenty mattresses until she finally settled on what she felt was the perfect one.

She was laying on the most amazing bed this side of West City, and yet, was unable to sleep because a certain pea-brained man had her worried to death over his whereabouts.

She was about to finally give up and just take sleeping pills when a dim flash of light appeared beside her, and she turned in surprise as she watched the form of the flame-haired man begin to form.

She almost heaved a sigh of relief, before she remembered that she was actually rather cross with him.

“What the hell have you been up to?” she asked suspiciously as soon as he was fully-visible before her. “I didn’t see you all weekend.”

Vegeta approached her side, floating gingerly beside her bed. “I have been sorting out some… private matters.”

She frowned, then reached over to flick on her bedside lamp.

A loud gasp was wrenched from her chest at the sight that greeted her.

“Oh my God! What happened to you?” she shrieked, one hand reaching out, as if to touch him, but her hand remained hovering a few inches away from his arm as confusion and alarm warred for dominance inside her head.

It was like Vegeta was there, but not completely. She blinked hard, until she finally accepted that what she was seeing was real.

Vegeta was nearly translucent.

It was like he was nothing but a mere reflection on a glass window, and Bulma was utterly mystified, worry eating at her as she looked at him, even while he himself remained nonplussed.

“Do not fret, woman. I am fine,” he responded, carelessly leaning back until he was floating beside her bed on his back.

“Are you… are you nuts?” she shrilled. “You’re see-through, Vegeta. How do you expect me not to freak out?”

“It is nothing. Besides, this is not the first time.”

Bulma’s eyesbrows shot up. “Yes it is.”

“It is perhaps the first time that I have come to you in this condition. I see now that I should not have done so.”

She felt a tiny pang of pain at this. “You… you regret letting me see you… like this?” she asked, and the hurt must have come through in her voice, since he turned to face her directly, brows lowered together as he spoke.

“I do not regret it. However, I did not intend to frighten you.”

She smiled. “I’m not scared, Vegeta. I’m worried for you… with you like this, I think… are you sick or something? Will you… will you tell me why this happened?”

He kept staring at her as she spoke, and she thought she saw a flash of emotion flit through his eyes, only to be rapidly dashed as he answered.

“This night… I am weak tonight, Bulma. My strength follows a cycle. It would have been wiser for me to remain hidden, alone, and yet… I don’t understand why but… but I wanted-” he shook his head. “Never mind.”

“Vegeta,” she whispered, reaching out, very gently laying a hand on his arm.

He felt cold.

It was a shock, considering that she could still remember the fiery heat of his skin, when she summoned him on that fateful night of the full moon...

“Vegeta, tell me? You wanted… what?” she said gently.

He looked away, crossing his arms tight across his chest.

“I don’t really understand my motives… but I wanted to be here tonight, Bulma.”

Her heart stopped, before it furiously began pumping so strongly that the beats seemed deafening within her ears.

He… he wanted to see her, when he was at his weakest.

She could not comprehend the elation that filled her entire body as she thought that perhaps… perhaps this meant that he felt at home with her.

“I can still destroy this entire planet with a single finger, I simply tire more quickly in this state,” he bragged, and Bulma noticed that, in spite of the bravado behind his words, she could still see a slight flush behind his translucent cheeks.

She was no closer to understanding who he really was… what he really was…

But Bulma now understood that on some level, the spectacularly powerful Prince felt at ease with her.

Perhaps.. Just as much as she felt safe, with him.

“Maybe… maybe you should get some sleep,” she said, moving over, patting the side of her bed invitingly.

He looked down at her hand on the sheets, and though he said nothing, she could sense the war going on behind his eyes.

“Vegeta, it is a very large bed. You could just… lay here. If you don’t feel your best today, maybe some sleep would help,” Bulma said as she began to pull the sheets back.

The Prince looked extremely conflicted, but Bulma noticed that he was floating closer and closer to her side. Before he could change his mind, she reached out and tugged him down to lay beside her.

He lay down with a small sigh. “These sheets really do feel good.”

“They do,” she said, turning so her back faced him as she settled into the comforter.

A yawn left her lips then, and she noted with surprise that she finally felt the desire to sleep.

“Good night, my Prince,” she said lethargically, before her eyes closed, and she was lost to slumber.

8-8-8-8-8

Vegeta never really seemed to need much sleep.

The morning after his night of weakness, just as he did every day, he woke at the break of dawn. He looked down at his chest, sighing in relief as he noticed that he was back to his tangible form.

However, unlike on all other nights, he woke surrounded by the soft scent of exotic flowers, the smell of fresh morning dew, teasing his body into wakefulness as it quieted the typical chaos of his mind.

Her scent… was like a salve for his exhausted, ravaged being.

He turned to his right, seeing the riotous wave of blue that partially covered the creamy white skin of the woman’s beautifully sculpted face.

He reached a hand out, wanting to brush the locks of hair away from her cheeks, before he caught himself, and with a disgusted huff, he rose, flying out of the room through her large, open glass window.

Perhaps, thirty Earth years without contact with anyone, other than the memories of his battles in his head, had made him soft.

It had been thirty Earth years since he was tricked into being trapped in that blasted orb. He, in a desperate attempt to tether himself to the living world, sent out a final ball of ki that contained a small part of his spirit.

He had intended to use that ball of energy to pull himself out of the middle realm, but as he had not fully mastered ki alchemy yet, the ki ball dissipated in an unexpected way that now landed him in this… problematic situation.

He knew what he had to do.

However, whenever he thought of going ahead with the next step, he would be halted by the image of smiling pink lips and light blue eyes, and his resolve would crumble into dust.

Bulma…

He had realized as soon as he gazed at her terrified face as she summoned him, that things had become a tad more complicated than he had originally intended.

He had stupidly indulged his curiosity that first night, when he had claimed that he was asking her for an “initial fee”.

He had not anticipated the electrifying heat of her skin, the exhilarating feel of her lips.

He was not prepared for how his blood roared to life, pumping madly through his veins as he clutched her close, feeding from her mouth as he appeased his hunger with her softness.

It was a mistake.

He thought of his small remaining team of Saiyans, remembering their determined faces, and he knew that for the sake of these few men who still believed in him, he could not afford to make any more missteps.

For the sake of his men… for the sake of all the Saiyans whose spirits are now clamoring for revenge against the man who betrayed them…

No matter how his own soul screamed at him that he needed to protect Bulma… His own personal inclinations be damned…

He must claim his price.

8-8-8-8-8

“Ms. Bulma, your next appointment will be in fifteen minutes.”

Bulma smiled gratefully at her secretary, knowing that the girl must have gone through enormous lengths to squeeze in those precious few moments as her break.

“Thank you, Lazuli,” she said.

The girl turned away with a small nod, leaving Bulma alone in her office.

She needed some spare time for her to be able to concentrate on her new discoveries.

Her curiosity regarding Vegeta, and the circumstances behind their meeting, never ceased to bother her, moreso now that she could not ever seem to get him out of her mind.

Now that she was back in Capsule Corp, she once again had the resources to help her find information, and though she was still unable to find anything about Vegeta, she realized that there was one character whom she could pursue, that could link her back to him.

The old woman who had given her the glass ball.

Bulma did not know much beyond the name that she had been given, but the more she thought about the day she met the old lady, the more she began to realize that their meeting was not by chance.

She was convinced that it had been deliberate, and Bulma used the only thing she remembered from that night to help her find the answers.

The old lady had called herself, Uranai.

The word was common, but fortunately, she had found one peculiar entry in a very old newspaper archive… from two hundred years ago.

She used this as her starting point, and from there, managed to find a contact that had promised to provide her with more information about the mysterious Uranai.

They had found that the old article was referring to a lady who called herself Uranai Kame.

Bulma was expecting an email from this contact, and as soon as Lazuli left, she immediately accessed her personal email.

The first unread email that she saw in her inbox was from her contact, Krillin.

Excitement flowed through her as she opened the attached PDF, and she sucked in a breath at what she saw.

The first page was a very old photograph, a very grainy and shadowy sepia image that showed a lady in her early fifties, wearing a very dark cloak and a stereotypical pointed black hat.

In spite of the clear changes brought by age, Bulma immediately recognized the light hair and small but angular face, and she could have sworn that she could see the eyes turn dark red, the longer she stared at the photo.

It was the old lady Uranai from that night in the dark street. She was absolutely positive.

On the second page was a strange set of coordinates, and Bulma realized that it was the last known location of the old woman.

Bulma nearly ran out of her office, instructing Lazuli to cancel all of her remaining appointments.

This, was more important than all of those meetings, combined.

8-8-8-8-8

The coordinates were leading Bulma to the middle of the sea.

She had taken off in a hovercraft, and as she flew deeper and deeper into nothingness, she was beginning to think that perhaps, the information from Krillin was inaccurate.

A large chorus of sparks in the distance caught her attention, and she realized that the sparks were almost right above the point that she was trying to travel to.

She sped up, turning on her cloaking mechanism as her earlier excitement began to return, and she gasped as she finally understood what, exactly, she had been seeing from a distance.

It appeared to be three large men, floating – flying! –in mid-air, simultaneously firing long rays of energy from… something. Whatever they were using, it must have been miniscule, as she swore that, from her vantage point, it appeared as if they were firing blasts from their bare hands.

She tried to slow down as much as possible, to keep the volume of her already silent car to a minimum.

Her head began to pound in anticipation as she saw a tiny island, in the middle of the vast sea, a ways away from the three men.

The coordinates were correct!

A small house stood in the center, shaded by a single palm tree. She parked her hovercraft behind the house, away from the three floating men, before she encapsulated it, storing the miniaturized vehicle in her pocket as she began to walk towards the house.

Her heels dug into the sand, and she knocked lightly on the back door, not waiting for a response before she tried the door knob.

The door was unlocked, and she pushed it open, walking into the tiny home that had sparse furnishings within a tiny living room, flanked by a kitchen and a narrow set of stairs leading down into what she could only assume was a cellar.

Bulma was about to head back outside to sit in the sand until someone came home, when she stopped dead, hearing a peculiar howling sound coming from somewhere close by.

It sounded as if the sound was inside the house, but the entire interior of the house was within her view, so that seemed rather impossible.

She stood silently, unmoving, listening for the sound again.

Nothing.

“Must have been my imagination, then,” she muttered, turning once again to leave.

Another sound, closer to a growling sound this time, sounded once again, and Bulma stilled as she finally realized that the sound was coming from somewhere beneath her.

Her eyes flew to the narrow set of stairs leading downwards.

Before she could think twice about it, Bulma made her way to the small entryway, peering into the darkness below.

The sounds she heard from within sounded inhuman, but even as she shook in terror, she started making her way down the stairs.

She still wore Vegeta’s amulet around her neck, on a longer chain, so it remained hidden behind her clothes. She clutched it through the cloth of her blouse, ready to scream for him at the slightest sign of danger.

The stairs creaked slightly beneath her light feet, every small sound making her cringe in paranoia.

The cellar grew darker as the growling and howling grew louder, and Bulma, startled, missed a step, catching herself on the narrow banister before she fell, but her abrupt movement made a loud, knocking sound on the steps, and Bulma heard the howling noises come to an abrupt halt.

“Who’s there?” a familiar voice, raspy and tinged with irritation, called from further into the cellar, making Bulma freeze.

She heard steps coming closer, small, slow steps…

“Who is trip-trapping into the cellar? I have told you all to stay away from this place when I am on my Spirit Bridge,” the old voice called.

Bulma sucked in a breath as the footsteps turned a corner, and she saw the tiny woman from before, fading pink hair covered by a pointed hat, flowing robes concealing her short and gnarled form.

“Prince, is that-” Uranai stopped mid-sentence as their eyes met, a small gasp leaving her as her eyes widened, jaw slack in surprise.

“Y-you!” the crone shouted, pointing a finger at Bulma. “What are you doing here?”

Bulma put her hands on her hips, glaring at the old woman. “I was looking for you! I want some answers about that orb, old lady!”

“You should not be here! This is no place for a young, living woman such as yourself!” Uranai said as panic settled onto her wrinkled features.

“Upstairs with you! You’re lucky the spirits did not sense you!” Uranai said as she forcibly pushed Bulma up the stairs, and Bulma, in her confusion, just went along with it, taking the steps two at a time as she felt the sense of urgency in the old woman’s hands.

When they were both on the upper floor, the tiny old woman quickly turned, pushing a slab of wood that Bulma had not noticed there before, to cover the entry into the cellar.

Bulma watched as Uranai huffed in exertion, and as soon as the cover was fixed, she turned back to Bulma, a look of astonishment mixed with the upset in her face.

“How did you even find this place?” she asked, and Bulma straightened, annoyed.

“I have my methods. But you!” Bulma pointed an accusing finger at Uranai. “You! When we met, that was not a coincidence, was it? You planned that meeting! Why? What is going on?”

Uranai cringed, and Bulma stared in defiance as the woman’s gaze flitted around, as if trying to find a way to escape.

All of a sudden, Bulma felt a large, incredibly heavy pair of hands clasp onto her arms at her sides, and she screamed as she felt herself lifted up in the air.

“Aiyeeeee! Let me go! Put me down!” she shrieked, trying her hardest to turn her head to see her attacker as her legs flailed helplessly beneath her.

“Oi Uranai? Who is this?” a loud, deep voice called out, and Bulma stiffened at the gruff tone.

“Who are you? Let me go! Just wait til I get Vegeta, he’s gonna kick your overgrown ass into space!” she screamed indignantly.

The man behind her jostled her a bit, before he addressed Uranai. “Oi. This woman. How does she know the Prince?”

Uranai sighed, seemingly in defeat, before she answered. “Nappa. That woman is the Blue Moon.”

The hands holding her suddenly released her, and Bulma fell to the ground, her butt painfully hitting the floor.

“Oof!” she cried, turning accusing eyes at the man who dropped her.

Her eyes widened as they travelled an inordinately long distance until she reached the top of her captor’s head. The man was humongous, a bald behemoth with arms wider than trees, legs twice as thick, and a torso larger than a buffalo’s.

Behind him stood two other men. Bulma realized that these were the three flying men from earlier, when she saw the long, wild hair of the second man, which she recognized even from her earlier distance.

The third man was tall, with unruly hair, and large round eyes… that looked a tad familiar.

Bulma craned her head, peering curiously at the thinnest man.

She gasped as a distant memory from her teens resurfaced, and she scrambled to her knees, not quite believing her eyes.

“Goku?” she asked, a bit uncertain.

Surely, it wasn’t possible…

The man in question perked up, looking at her questioningly, before his own eyes widened comically.

“Bulma?! You’re the Blue Moon?” the spiky-haired man exclaimed, pushing past the two other men as he ran excitedly to her.

“I can’t believe it! It’s been a while! Wow, you look so different!”

Bulma stared.

She had met Goku when she went on a mountain trek with her friends, fifteen years ago, when she was fifteen.

Goku had been a helpful older boy, leading her and her friends to the easiest paths, befriending them before he suddenly disappeared as they reached their destination.

Bulma almost didn’t recognize him, since Goku looked younger than her now.

“We came in because we thought we felt Prince Vegeta arrive,” the long-haired man said from behind Goku. “Now I see why something felt different.”

“It was her, Raditz, that’s why,” Uranai said, before she motioned for everyone to follow her into the tiny living room.

It looked rather ridiculous… three large, muscular men, squatted over a low table, flanking the shriveled old lady, all facing Bulma.

Bulma took a deep breath, before she spoke.

“What was that down there Uranai? And who are you guys? How do know me? And how were you all flying?” she asked, voice rising in volume as she felt her confusion mount.

Uranai regarded her carefully. “That down there, is the Spirit Bridge… a portal into the netherworld. I am the custodian of the portal. And you…” Uranai paused, fixing her red eyes on Bulma. “I know of you, because you share a spirit link with the Prince, whose soul has been under my watch for over a decade.”

Uranai coughed, gesturing at the three men. “These three, are Saiyans. They are Prince Vegeta’s warriors.”

Bulma swallowed. “And where is Prince Vegeta?”

Nappa spoke, brows drawn together in confusion. “We actually believed that he was with you.”

Uranai nodded. “He left today, saying he was about to get ready. You see Bulma… the Prince needs something from you… and we thought he was about to claim it today.”

Bulma stilled with realization. “The price? He needs to take it from me now?”

A bright, angry aura suddenly appeared, and all four jumped back as the red glow licked menacingly at them, moments before they cleared and revealed the golden form of the extremely livid Prince.

“Woman! What are you doing here?” he demanded. His fists were clenched tightly, eyes blazing, his voice a hair-raising, angry growl that had the three Saiyans cowering before him.

“My Lord!” Nappa said, scrambling to supplicate and get on one knee before him, his bald head down. “She just showed up. We were about to ask her to leave.”

Vegeta focused his intense green eyes on Bulma, and she cringed back, an apologetic grimace on her face.

“Vegeta,” she said gently, and she felt the eyes of Uranai and the three Saiyans turn sharply to her.

“I just…” Bulma stuttered. “I was searching for Uranai. I… I had a few questions…”

Vegeta swooped down and puller her up by her forearms, lifting her until she stood straight up before him.

He pulled her in with one hand, splaying her flush against his body, while he brought one hand up, two fingers raised to his forehead.

She felt that quick, dizzying sensation that made the bottom drop out of her stomach, a second before she found herself on solid ground, inside her bedroom, alone with the furious prince.

“Let me hear those questions,” he commanded as he released her, gently pushing her down to sit on her bed, while he backed away, leaning against a wall, arms crossed across his chest.

“You’re angry,” she muttered, casting her eyes down, not able to look at him as she saw the furious slant of his eyes grow narrower.

She heard him sigh, before she felt the furious aura surrounding him fizzle out. She heard his light footsteps as he approached her, sitting beside her on her bed.

He sighed. “That island is dangerous, Bulma. If you had been any other Earthling, the portal would have devoured you.”

She looked up, peering into his now dark eyes. “Why? Why me? I went there to ask Uranai why she gave me the ball that held you. I don’t understand… I want answers.”

She turned so her whole body was turned to him, and she slowly reached out until her hand covered his that were resting on his knees.

He turned his hand slightly, letting their fingers twine softly, and Bulma felt an incredible thrill at the feel of his gloved fingers gently linking with her own.

That feeling, was another thing that she needed to understand.

“I… Vegeta. I have grown fond of you. Maybe a little too much,” she whispered hesitantly, and she felt him stiffen slightly as she continued. “I just needed to know… more, before I get into a situation that I couldn’t get out of. I know that… there are a lot of things that you wouldn’t tell me but, can I just have… anything?”

Vegeta looked hard at her, before he too turned his body so he faced her on the bed. “Bulma. I will tell you all I can. But do not ask me for more, as I can tell you nothing beyond this.”

Bulma nodded, anticipation filling her as he took a deep breath, before he began. “I am the Prince of an extinct race. We were called the Saiyans, and we inhabited a planet called Vegeta-sei, a few light years away from Earth.”

She sucked in a breath. She had suspected, from his earlier slip-ups, that Vegeta was not from Earth. His powers, his strange behaviors, and the complete absence of literature for any possible legends behind his glass orb, now made so much more sense.

He continued. “Those three men you met back there, along with I, are the last of our kind. We were betrayed by an evil being thirty Earth years ago, who had not just destroyed our home, but also trapped me in the ball. We are here, waiting for the perfect time to take our revenge.”

“You got mixed up in this because of an earlier complication. We needed someone who wanted to free me, and since you needed a wish, your desire for the wish made it seem to the powers-that-be like you desired to release me. I do, however, need that final price from you still, since I need it to lead my remaining people to victory.”

Bulma nodded. She knew that what he was telling her was just the beginning, but she had agreed not to ask for more than what he could tell her.

There was one question that nagged her though, and unable to stop herself, she asked, “Why haven’t you claimed the final price, then? If you need it?”

He stilled, and she thought she saw a haunted look enter his eyes as he responded. “Because I am not quite ready, yet.”

He brought his two fingers up to his forehead then, and before Bulma could stop him, he disappeared.

She spent the rest of the remaining day mulling about his words, trying to figure out what he meant when he said that he wasn’t ready to ask her for the price yet.

He may have given her some answers… but he just made her come up with even more questions, as well.

8-8-8-8-8

Bulma was up to her neck in work, after her impromptu ditching from the day before. She was barely getting by, and not even Lazuli’s fastidiousness helped with the mounting paperwork and twice as many appointments, due to her regular ones and the previous day’s cancelled ones all being squeezed into one day.

She was dying to get to the last appointment of the day, a four o’clock meeting with the head of a refrigeration company.

The last of the paperwork finally petered down, and she looked at the clock in her office with exhaustion, relieved to see that it was finally three fifty-nine in the afternoon.

“One last meeting and I’ll be home free!” she sing-songed, and exactly as the clock struck four, her phone rang.

“Ms. Bulma,” Lazuli greeted. “Your four-o’clock is here.”

“Please send them in, and you can go on home,” she instructed, to which, Lazuli hummed in acknowledgement.

The blonde assistant was definitely not the friendliest or liveliest person, but she got the job done to a ridiculously efficient degree. If Bulma didn’t know better, she’d think Lazuli was a robot.

Her door swung open, and Bulma raised her head to greet her visitor, only for her voice to lodge painfully in her throat.

On the surface, the man was absolutely nondescript. He was rather short, pale, with narrow eyes and a bald head with a large purplish birthmark on his temple. He wore a pristine white outfit, and he was smiling politely at her as entered her office, a pleasant greeting on his lips.

However, something about his manner, his aura, if she could even say that, made her uneasy, but she stubbornly quashed the uncomfortable feelings aside as she smiled back, indicating the chairs before her desk so he and his assistant could sit and be comfortable as they discussed their business proposal.

The assistant was tall, with long greenish hair and a very handsome face. Bulma smiled at him as well, finding it strange that she was so uneasy around such an attractive man. She’d usually be more comfortable with an attractive visitor, but right now…

She felt for Vegeta’s amulet through her blouse…

“Don’t be silly, Bulma. It’s just a business meeting. You’re being paranoid,” she scolded herself as she mustered up a professional smile, leaning back on her chair as she regarded her guests.

“Good afternoon, gentlemen. I am Bulma Briefs, it is a pleasure to meet you,” she said, extending a hand to each of them as they sat.

“The pleasure is all ours, Ms. Bulma. My, but do you look stunning! The magazines do you no justice,” the shorter man said. “My name is Frost. And this,” he gestured to his companion, “is my assistant, Mr. Zarbon.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Ms. Bulma,” Zarbon said, extending a small box filled with chocolates to her. “We have brought you some pastries, hopefully so we can come upon a sweet deal.”

“Oh, thank you, you really shouldn’t have,” she smiled, placing the box before her on the desk. “Now, I received a fantastic proposal from Chiller Corp. about a possible refrigeration deal with some capsule tech. Mind enlightening me on the exact details, gentlemen?”

They spoke about the deal for more than half an hour, and Bulma’s feeling of unease slipped away as she became engrossed in what was rapidly appearing to be a very lucrative deal proposal.

She was about to make a suggestion to one proposed clause, when her stomach suddenly released a very loud, extremely embarrassing growl.

“Oh my God,” she laughed, face flaring red. “I am so sorry, I haven’t eaten all day, my body is just trying to remind me!”

Zarbon was quick to raise a hand in placation. “No worries, ma’am, we understand!” he said with a chuckle. He motioned to the box of sweets on her desk. “Perhaps you should have some of these pastries.”

“Oh no, I couldn’t possibly…”

“Please, Ms. Bulma, we insist. They are absolutely divine, and we feel terrible for taking so long here that you can’t take your meal!” Frost said, nudging the box closer to her.

She looked at the food, and her stomach grumbled at her once again.

“Ah, what the heck, right? I am famished,” she said, opening the box and taking a round, chocolate-coated piece.

She popped the pastry into her mouth, groaning gratefully at her first mouthful of food all day. “Gosh, you were right, this is delicious! Where did you buy these, I might have to place a bulk order.”

“We got it far from here, Ms. Bulma,” Frost said, and Bulma couldn’t help but feel like something about his tone had suddenly seemed strangely different.

Zarbon himself, was grinning, and Bulma, suspicious but with no idea why, simply went back to discussing their deal.

It was not until a few minutes later, when she felt an abrupt spell of nausea take over her, that she paused, placing a hand against her forehead as the dizziness persisted.

“Is something wrong, Ms. Bulma?” Frost asked when she cut herself off, mid-sentence.

“No, I…” she stopped as she realized that her words seemed slurred. “I am just not feeling well. I guess I am actually more tired than I thought,” she tried to excuse herself.

She tried to push herself up onto her feet, but her arms gave way as she tried to brace herself on the table so she can stand.

“Lazu…” she began, thinking of calling her assistant, before she remembered that she had asked the blonde woman to go home.

“Perhaps you should take a seat, Ms. Bulma,” Zarbon said, going around to her side of the table to help her sit comfortably once again.

“Thank you. I’m sorry… I’m not sure what is happening…” she began, panicking slightly when she looked at the tall man, only to realize that she was beginning to see double.

“Don’t worry about it Ms. Bulma, we understand,” Frost said, coming up to stand beside Zarbon.

Bulma stared at him confusedly, when she saw his smile widen into a smirk, and she swore that she saw small fangs peeking out from under his lips.

“After all,” Frost began, his voice now lower, more of a hiss than actual words, “we know fully well how Namekian root affects Earthlings. In just a few more moments, you will lose consciousness. Isn’t that right, Zarbon?”

Bulma’s blood froze in her veins.

“They drugged me?!” she thought, as she tried to lift her hand so she can clutch at the amulet at her chest.

Her limbs refused to move.

Frost watched her, before his eyes narrowed in on her chest.

The amulet had peeked out through the buttons of her blouse, and Frost smirked menacingly as he reached forward, slipping his fingers through the gap so he could hold the amulet between his fingers.

“What do you know? Look, Zarbon, the Prince gave her a keepsake,” Frost snickered, before he viciously pulled at the trinket, snapping the chain as he pocketed the amulet.

Zarbon smirked. “This may turn out to be even more interesting than we thought,” he said. “Perhaps we should begin cloaking before we take her with us.”

“I believe you are right,” Frost said, and Bulma, with progressively heavier eyes, watched as he raised his arms, making small beams of energy surround them in a circular shield.

She tried to keep her eyes open, to speak, to scream, but nothing in her body worked right, and she realized with dread that there was nothing more she could do to fight off the drowsiness that the drug had her under.

“Stop fighting it, Ms. Bulma. Don’t you worry, we will still be here when you wake up,” Zarbon crooned, and his aggravating face was the last thing she saw before the all-encompassing darkness of unconsciousness took over.

8-8-8-8-8

To be continued…

Read Previous / Read Next

#tpthvegebulmayhem2018 #tpth #week3mayhem2018 #vegebul #vegebul fanfiction #ratedE #DB AU #dragon ball AU #vegebul AU #romance #fantasy #mystery #dark #trigger #dragon ball #the final price fic #scarletraven fanfiction

27 notes · View notes

blankdblank · 6 years

Text

Coffee Pt 2

Pt 1

Bit short, next part should be up in the next few days.

Tags –

@himoverflowers, @theincaprincess, @aspiringtranslator, @sweeticedtea, @ggbbhehe4455, @thegreyberet, @patanghill17, @jesgisborne, @curvestrology

…

For the past few hours his eyes remained locked on you, taking in each detail and word you had said through his near silent struggle to inch closer to you while your supply of wine and brews were tapped nearly to completion. A tipsy smile eased across Tom’s face as he exited the kitchen after fetching the glass of water he feigned a need for, allowing him a few moments alone with you after Chris E had finally left when his cab arrived. In a quick scan his blue eyes landed on you, taking in the way your loose tank top draped around you perfectly over your tight Capri pants.

The past few months for him had been near devastating as he was so harshly dumped and swept under the rug while being left to face the harsh aftershock of the crumbling relationship plastering each painful detail over the internet and through the media. Only leaving him with work and his true friends and family to cling to through the ordeal. After that he’d nearly given up on finding another woman to claim his heart, at least until the day you had fallen into his lap. Sure it brought a small sting as his ex was brought up nearly daily attached to his name and stagnant romantic life when the media assumed it could be an adorable meet cute, and with another hiker snapping a picture of your trip back the idea of a newly formed relationship had spread like wildfire.

Entering the living room again your eyes moved to the figure approaching on your left, with a quick smile you tried to mask your nerves at being alone with the quite literal man of your dreams. Without a word he drew his bottom lip into his mouth for a brief moment as his glass gave a quiet tap from its being left on the table beside him while he stepped closer to you while you stammered, “So, you, um, have fun?”

Barely a foot apart your head tilted back to keep your eyes locked on his as he answered in a low soft tone, “It was immensely pleasurable.”

You nervously chuckled, as he grew closer you responded in a soft tone nearing a whisper at the end, “We had burgers.” Your voice ceased when his hand rose to brush along your cheek as his eyes fell to your lips that were soon claimed by his.

In a near hungry frenzy his lips met yours in a slew of deepening pecks working into a breath taking step from his body pressing yours against the wall. Holding you there while his thumbs spurred on a string of bumps along your skin while they grazed under your chin, tilting your head so his tongue could dart between your lips. Completely lost in his enamored wave of lust he forgot the world around you, including the abrupt onset of his passionate kiss. A soft whimper from you at the muscle cramp forming in your leg from the long day broke through and jerked him back down to earth.

A wave of internal screams ran through his mind while he hastily pulled back, in a scan over your stunned expression his hands lowered from your cheeks to wring before his chest as his reddened lips parted again while his head turned for a moment to scan towards the door then back to you again as he stated, “I never-,” Blinking through your paralysis his eyes scanned over your face landing on your lips again before he hastily added, “I should go.”

In a few steps he seemed to vanish as your door closed while your voice cracked with a simple, “But-.”

Sighing slowly you turned and squeaked again shaking your head certain you must be dreaming as you walked to your room. Stopping only in your doorway when the small Springer Spaniel the Brit had forgotten was still snuggled before Kirby at the foot of the bed, softly you stated, “Oh no.” In a race back to the door you found yourself out in the darkness looking around as you walked in a set of small circles without a sight of the man who had fled. In a soft groan you rolled your head and eyes before going back inside again wondering how he had vanished so quickly.

Once your door was locked you finished cleaning up and ran through your usual set of stretches for after your long hikes before bed. With a sigh you showered, pulling on a tank top and slipped into bed after turning off the lights, latching onto your pillow with a disappointed sigh at how close you’d been to possibly spending the night with him. All through the night you snuggled more around your pillow while your dreams completed the night you imagined you should have had.

…

With the sunrise Tom’s eyes fluttered and tried to focus on his surroundings. A loud groan escaped him while he rose up and staggered through his head ache to the bathroom. Various items clattered into his sink as he almost blindly searched for his asprin in his medicine cabinet, ending with a single capsule being popped into his mouth to be swallowed with a mouthful of water from his lean forward under the faucet.

Back up again he groaned at his reflection as he sarcastically stated, “Remarkable job. Amazing woman, check. Adorable meeting, check. Chance encounter, check. And the best for last, get invited over and without a word shove your tongue down her throat, triple check.” His hands moved to collect his toothbrush and toothpaste, adding a small amount before replacing the tube, “Simply remarkable, I’m sure to get a call back,” Raising the brush nearly to his lips he continued with a sarcastic chuckle, “Oh wait, I never asked for her number!” With a grumble he shoved the brush into his mouth to scrub his teeth as he continued mentally scolding himself through the repeated strokes, rinses and spit after gargling the water he’d once again claimed through the faucet.

A soft sigh left him as he gave himself an I’m disappointed in you look ending with a shake of his head while he turned to head into the kitchen. Another grumble left him as he walked blindly through his same path to his fridge, in a single motion his hands lowered to brush his t shirt over his briefs as his body rounded the island causing his eyes to fall on the two empty bowls waiting there without an eagerly waiting puppy beside it drawing out for him a deeply astonished, “Fuck!”

…

Trilling notes woke you from your slumber from your alarm on your phone. In a bouncing reach you claimed the vibrating appliance and silenced its noise before rising to follow the eager squeaking coming from your kitchen. Up into a messy bun your fingers worked your hair as you smiled at Kirby and the eagerly scooting Bobby, unable to sit upright for more than a moment at his fervent tail wagging. A few moments later you added an empty bowl to the counter beside Kirby’s bare bowl that you filled with the canned dog food packed with chunks of beef as you stated, “I’m not sure what you eat, but I hope you’ll enjoy this, or at least tolerate some of it for today.”

Two gentle clicks later the dogs eyed the food. Kirby started eating after his usual tap of his nose on your hand through his thanking wink at you before starting to eat. For a few moments Bobby eyed the food and Kirby’s eating from his bowl sparking a curious sniff at the bowl that drove him to start digging in with a pleased wag of his tail.

Smiling to yourself, you made yourself a quick breakfast and ate it while you grabbed your phone from the counter and dialed Tom SH’s number. Through his halfway conscious groan he mumbled, “I’m up!”

With a chuckle you asked, “You wouldn’t happen to have Chris Hemsworth’s number would you?”

Blinking through his scrunching face at his confusion he replied cautiously, “Yes?”

Giggling softly you replied, “I ran into the guys yesterday on my hike, and they came over, we ate, but the other Tom forgot his dog when he left.”

In a soft chuckle he replied, “Are you sure he didn’t do it on purpose?”

“I’m pretty sure.”

“Hmm, well I’ll send him a message, ask him to pass it on, when did you want the pick up to be?”

“Um, well it can’t be till later, I have a shoot today, at least a few hours.”

“What are you going to do about the dog?”

“I guess he’s just going to have to tag along, I can’t just leave him alone in a strange house, and you’re working…”

Tom nodded then racked his fingers through his hair, “Well just, I’ll send the message along and let you know when I hear back so we can set up the hand off. Oh and don’t forget our agreement, send the address and I’ll drop by to make sure you get home safely.”

You nodded as you went to pull on a pair of jeans saying, “Of course, I know the rules.” Turning back to your closet to grab a bra to put on before adding your socks and converse then started to make sure you had everything in your bag. With a pat on your thigh you eyed the pair of dogs coming to your side as you clutched Kirby’s prosthetic leg that he helped guide into place while you strapped it in place and led the pair out to your car after locking up.

…

Directly after a grumbled greeting a clear chuckle rang through the line before the Australian propped up on his elbow on his side and asked, “He did what now?”

Tom SH, “He forgot his dog.”

Chuckling again Chris asked, “Alright, so she’s up then, I can send him over.”

“Oh no, she’s not home, she had to work, took them with her. Don’t worry, she fed him.”

Chris’s brows furrowed, “How long of a shift is it?”

“At least a few hours.”

Chris chuckled, “You want me to pass on Tom’s number?”

A chuckle came over the line before Tom replied, “You should probably ask him about that first.”

Chris chuckled again, “He can’t take his eyes off her and made sure to hang back after we left, I’m surprised he doesn’t have her number already.”

“She probably blanked on what to say, happens around people she likes or admires professionally.”

Chris rolled his eyes, “I’ll pass on the message.”

Tom nodded with another smile, “Thanks, I’ll talk to you later.”

Chris nodded in return rising out of bed to follow his Wife into the bathroom after saying, “Talk to you later.” Flipping through his phone selecting Tom WH’s number and tapping it and typing out the message to send while his arms circled his Wife’s stomach after sending it and gently pressing a gentle kiss to his cheek, “Morning Love. Long shoot today?”

With a sleepy nod she replied as she brushed her teeth accepting the next warm peck on her cheek as Chris went to go check on their Kids after saying, “You will not guess what Tom did last night.”

Curiously Elsa watched his body leave her sight as she finished her morning routine before joining him and their Children in the kitchen, all happily eating their meal as she claimed her seat at his side eyeing the full plate he had set there while she asked, “What happened with Tom?”

Chris chuckled behind his hand mid chew before swallowing and saying, “Well, apparently after we all left Tom hung back and somehow forgot Bobby at her place.”

His chuckle continued through her asking, “Did he text you about it?”

His head shook, “No, she texted her friend, the other Tom, and he called me, I’m the middle man.”

Wetting her lips her fork tapped the eggs before her as she timidly asked, “You think he’s serious about her?”

Chris shrugged, “Don’t know yet. But she seems great for how little we know about her.”

The soft and slightly deflated “oh” from Elsa drew his eyes back to her.

“What?”

Sighing softly she replied, “Well it’s just the woman I’ve been trying to convince Tom to meet is gonna be there today and I was kind of going to invite her to our cook out tonight. But I mean if he’s going to be bringing the other woman I don’t think I should.”

Chris raised his brow, “You still can, I doubt he’s the type to be all over someone at a party.” She nodded and sighed again while filling her fork as he continued, “I’m sure you’ll like her just as much as your Photographer friend.”

“She’s just so perfect for him though!” Chris chuckled again.

“Well if this doesn’t work out you can bring her over every chance you get to ease him out of this heartbreak.” Making her smile grow again.

With a grimace Tom walked through his house to fetch his cell phone giving a muffled chime from his discarded short pocket crumbled along the wall. With a soft sigh he tossed the shorts into the nearby hamper and sat on his bed unlocking his phone and paused at Chris’ message. Furrowing his brows he replied, “Did she say when or how could get Bobby?”

Chris’ reply popped up within moments, “Tommy said she’s got to work for a few hours then she’s available.”

Tom, “Any more details past that?”

“Nope. Guess he’ll handle the hand over when they get off work.”

Tom sighed and bit his lip, “All she messaged about was Bobby?”

“That’s all Tommy mentioned, you forget something else? Oh I offered to pass on your number, you alright with that?”

“I don’t think she’ll want my number. And no, just Bobby.”

“Oh come on, I’m sure she didn’t take you being quiet badly, she barely said a word to you when she was stuck to your lap, so I think you’re even.”

“No. It’s not that.”

“Then what am I missing.”

With a sigh Tom replied, “I kissed her, and then I left.”

“Not seeing the bad part past you forgetting her number.”

“I didn’t say anything, just out of nowhere kissed her, and then I left. I doubt she wants to see me again.”

Chris chuckled, “Again, I doubt it’s anywhere as bad as you imagine it to be.” Tom sighed again, “I will let you know when Tommy sends word about her being available.”

“Thank you.”

…

In a bare spot in a dirt circle outside the grouping of large white tents you parked and climbed out, grabbing your bag as the dogs wagged their tails and waited on the back seat. Happily following you into the tent and claiming the usual spot on the ground beside your seat, with Bobby following Kirby’s example and curling up along side him again while you settled in your chair as you let your hair down for your make up artist. Nearly through your styling your eyes shifted towards the blonde claiming the seat at your side with a large smile as she patted your hand greeting you in her native Spanish, “Good Morning, sleep well?”

You nodded and replied, “Yes, you?” She nodded, and looked down to smile at Kirby who gently tapped her hand with his nose only to spot Bobby who gave her a soft greeting bark before he rose up on his back feet cheerfully greeting her making her smile grow as she looked at you catching your awkward smile, “So, funny story, met your Husband.”

In an excited tone she replied, “So you’re the one who’s house Tom forgot Bobby at? I tried calling you yesterday.”

You nodded, “Ya. Sorry about that, changed my number, the blind date thing didn’t happen and Lina and her friends wouldn’t leave me alone.”

Her smile grew, “Oh, well they suck and they don’t deserve to know you. Chris is going to be so excited!” Within moments her hand claimed your phone from the side pocket of your bag when your head was turned and she quickly texted her own phone from yours and added Tom’s number before dialing it and passing it to you saying, “Phone call.” Within moments her phone was drawn out and she snapped a picture of the dogs and sent it to Chris with a short message in English, “You are not going to guess who was brought to my shoot!” With parted lips you eyed the name on the screen then Elsa, as she mouthed, “Talk to him!”

A low voice carried through the line softly, “Hello, who is this?”

Through your glare you raised the phone to your ear answering, “Hey Tom, it’s Jaqi.” His brows rose as you remembered they only used your nickname, “Everyone calls me Bunny though, well everyone but Elsa apparently, you were at my house?”

Rising to his feet he nervously looked around his kitchen replying as calmly as he could, “Yes, yes I was. Um, Tom and Chris passed on my number then?”

With a soft chuckle you said, “No, Elsa did. We’re at the same shoot today and she spotted Bobby.”

“Oh, so you, you knew her before, or?”

“Ya, few years now.”

Inhaling slowly he replied, “Jaqi, the photographer. Apparently we both love tennis and long dramas.”

Chuckling softly you answered, “So it was on both ends then.”

He chuckled softly, “For the record, you sounded-.” His voice trailed off trying to find the right words.

“Don’t worry about it. Honestly I, had some stuff going on and dating wasn’t on my list. And I know you had, some, stuff, going on too, so no hard feelings. Besides, I think you have a small idea at how I tend to handle blind dates.” With a furrowed brow Tom tried to listen to the muffled voice of the man you were speaking with before you glanced over spotting Elsa on her phone as you stated, “Hey um, I have to go, they need me to change. But um, be prepared to be kidnapped, Elsa’s planning something.”

A smirk slid across his face, “How can you be certain I’ll be kidnapped?”

“Well for one her husband planned an ambush on me yesterday and she keeps looking at me with a growing smirk, her usual plotting sign. I’ll um, see you in a bit I guess.”

He chuckled anxiously and replied, “See you in a bit.” Eyeing the phone as the call ended mumbling to himself as he claimed his seat again, “Not angry then.” A few taps of his finger later your number was saved and the picture of you at his side last night was added as your icon before he went to get his phone charger to keep it close by and opened the old email Elsa had sent him about you to refresh his memory on your shared interests while he waited for his impending kidnapping.

Pt 3

#Tom Hiddleston x Reader OC

19 notes · View notes

latenightscribbles13 · 6 years

Text

I Am Not (part I)

Day 1

I did it. I DID IT!!!

Now, I wait.

Day 2

I don't really know what day it is. The concept of time ceased to exist. One day passes into another, tomorrow merges with the day after, and so forth. We do not need to know anything else. Everything is decided for us. They wake you up. They tell you when to eat and what to eat. They realized eating food for pleasure is a waste of one’s body. So they serve us all the important nutrients in forms of tablets, capsules and powders. Any sort of pleasure is being eradicated. It is not necessary for survival and can only cause distraction. We all have a special purpose in this network, and it has been assigned to us the moment we set our foot in this complex. You will be safe here, they said.

We are. But this is not living. We are not. We simply are not. What, you ask? We are not alive. We are not humans. It’s not how it’s supposed to be. Sterile, white surfaces. White jumpsuits. Blank expressions.

It’s not how it’s supposed to be.

I know that much. I was brought here very young. They tried to mould me into a productive member of the new society. I spend my days in the lab, researching for new, easier ways to enslave people’s minds. I play my part perfectly. But I know. I know.

They lied. Everything they said was a lie. I keep dreaming about the past. They don’t know it. I plug all the newcomers to the dream machine. We can extract all the necessary information from dreams to reach into the person’s core, and tear it out, replacing it with molecules that encourage obedience and loyalty. Sometimes literally, sometimes figuratively. I escaped the machine by volunteering to operate it and analyse the results. If they saw what was inside my head … I would be long gone.

I remember my mother. She was a hearty woman, with long and shiny hair, and a kind smile. She would always take me out for long walks through the forests and the fields. We didn’t have much, but it was enough. It was everything we needed. Sometimes, the bright colours of nature hurt my eyes. Around me, everything is white, white, white. It can drive you insane.

I would have jumped off of a roof a long time ago, had it not been for another dream. It started a long time ago, I think. First, I saw one young man, coming towards me, with a message in his hands. I would always wake up before reading it. Then, the boy was joined by more and more similar dark figures. Until there were nine. They were all wearing hoods, so I couldn’t see their faces properly, but I could feel their rebellious spirit. It made me excited and nervous, all the same. One night, the leader of the group handed me the message, as many times before, and I held onto it with all my might. I could feel the reality barging in already, distant voices disturbing the peaceful landscape of my dreams. Before I opened my eyes, I caught a glimpse of the short simple message.

I am not.

That’s all it said. I am not. And yet, I knew. I knew what it meant and what I would have do. The rebellion was near. The end of this fucked up reality was near. And I needed to do what I did best. Make a drug. An antidote. Something, that would keep the mind clean and free from any sort of control.

Yesterday, I succeeded. That’s why it’s called day 1. It’s the first day of the rest of the life that we know. All I have to do now, is wait. Wait for the boys from my dreams to come. They will know what to do.

Day 3

I shouldn’t be writing every day. It’s too dangerous. I could be caught at any moment. They are already careful around me when exchanging confidential information. It wasn’t always like this. Usually, they could hardly notice my presence. They thought I was less than a fly on the wall. I’m pretty sure they didn’t even know if I could speak.

But now, they are more cautious. I can feel all those suspicious looks piercing my back whenever I pass them by. They don’t trust me. Maybe they noticed I have been spending more time in the lab, and brought in less successful drugs and analyses than before. I need to be more productive in the following days.

I hope the boys will be here soon.

Day 5

I didn’t dare to open my notebook yesterday. I spent all day in the lab, improving the dream machine, whilst also coming up with a new drug. I needed to feed them something. They seemed quite pleased, but I still felt uncomfortable under their scanning eyes.

They smell something.

I need to throw them off.

Day 13

I can keep track of days by drawing tiny dots on the wall behind my bed. It feels good knowing how much time has actually passed.

I dreamt about the boys again. This time, they didn’t bring me a message. They just kept walking towards me, but could never reach me. They just kept on marching and marching, the sound of their army boots resonating through the empty plain.

I woke up sweaty and anxious. What did all of that mean?

Day 20

This morning, I realized I might’ve gotten it all wrong. I had another dream, but it was all mixed up. I was working on the dream machine, when they brought in a newcomer. They laid him on the bed, and he obeyed without a word, as they had drugged him before, surely. I placed the electrodes to each side of his forehead, and ran the machine. As I tried to feel his temperature, his fingers suddenly latched around my wrist, and his eyes flew open.

I recognized him immediately. It was the Leader from my dreams. What was he doing there? He kept his grab on my wrist, and the machine began printing out images of our meeting. He dreamt of the same thing, as I did. And now we had it on paper. I was paralyzed.

Before I could react, the guards flew in, and dragged me away.

They know

I sat straight up in bed, heart beating against my ribcage, sheets drenched in my sweat. My mouth was dry, and I kept murmuring the same line - they know, they know, they know.

It took me a long time to calm down. The waiting was taking a toll on me. Every day was a nervous battle. I kept the antidote with me at all times, it was safer that way. I had to be very, very careful not to lose or break the eprouvette. That would ruin it all. I need to be stronger.

When I calmed down, I realized another thing. Maybe, the rebels will not arrive in tanks or aeroplanes, armed with guns and bombs.

Maybe they will arrive in handcuffs.

Day 26

I am carefully scanning each and every newcomer. It’s slowing down my working process but I can’t afford to miss any details.

But I am sure they are the ones that will make it happen.

Day 30

No luck so far.

Day 41

I haven’t dreamt about them in a while. I hope I don’t forget their faces.

I do dream about my mom a lot, though. We are always running around the field, laughing, being free. Then, they come and take me away. I never see my mom again.

Day 60

I’m starting to lose hope. I am getting sloppier with my work, and I don’t sleep much.

What, if it had all been a mistake?

What if they inserted that dream in my head to test my loyalty?

What if they had been doing that all along?

I’m going crazy.

Day 99

He is here.

Day 100

I couldn’t believe my eyes. Internally, I had already stopped hoping for somebody to come. I focused on my research and my everyday tasks to keep my head straight. All the conspiracy theories and all the guessing almost drove me mad.

So I went back to my usual self. I was quiet, invisible, and efficient. How they want me and need me to be.

The antidote was still safely tucked in my bra. It was the safest place, trust me.

I was going about my day, as the prisoner bus pulled up in front of the building. Well, I called it the prisoner bus, but officially it was the volunteer bus. It was full of taken children and young adults that would be trained and brainwashed to serve the system in any possible way. That’s where I came in. I analysed their thoughts and dreams to deduce the optimal position for them. Where would they be of most service?

There were at least 40 new people waiting to be examined. Most of them were scared and confused, but some of them showed stoic resistance. If they only knew how fast the system can break their spirit into a million distorted pieces. Then, they pick them up, one by one, and arrange them in their own way, they paint a new picture that will hardly resemble your old self.

I would know.

Before the night fell, the last of the newcomers was brought inside. He was laid on the bed, and I began my procedure. I washed his face, dried it, applied light blue gel on each side of his forehead, and attached the electrodes over it.

I almost ran the machine, when I realized I forgot to inject him with sleeping medicine. Everything happens for a reason. It was either a really long day, or I subconsciously felt that I shouldn’t put him to sleep.

When I glanced towards his tranquil face, I knew. It was him. The Leader. There was no doubt about it. My heart was racing, and my hands were shaking. The whole body knew.

I nudged him lightly, hoping nobody was watching me from the outside. When I nudged him for the third time, he slightly opened his eyes. He was drugged so he probably wasn’t thinking or seeing clearly. I just wanted him to see my face. It will stick with him, surely.

It was all I could do at the moment.

Then, I put him to sleep, and ran the machine.

Now, lying in bed with this notebook, an important question popped into my mind - where are the others?

#late night scribble #sci fi #dystopia #i am not #stray kids #district 9 #inspiration #scenario #imagine #short story #part 1 #writing

14 notes · View notes

igirisuhito · 4 years

Text

Title: Afflicted Relationship(s): Kamukura Izuru/Komaeda Nagito Hinata Hajime/Komaeda Nagito Rating: Mature Chapters: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / ? Chapter Summary: Hinata has a nightmare, Tsumiki attempts to manage Trigger Warnings: Needles, Intravenous Cannulation, Panic attacks, medication usage

[Ao3 Link]

┈┈┈┈․° ☣ °․┈┈┈┈

I'm in a classroom, sat at a desk.

There are other students there, their faces are indiscernible.

They talk among themselves.

'Privileged rich kid.'

'Selfish asshole.'

'Talentless.'

A pair of pale hands slam down onto my desk, causing me to jump back in instinct. I stare at the hands intently, my head drawn down in fear. The oppressive atmosphere this person gave off was terrifying.

"Insignificant."

A voice spoke, deep yet completely devoid of emotion.

"Parasite."

I bit my lip and mustered up the courage to look at this asshole. Leant over my desk, face mere inches away from mine, was a boy around my age. His eyes were piercing red, hair long and unruly, bearing a reserve course uniform.

There was no way this kid was a reserve course student.

His eyes made contact with mine, refusing to falter or shift.

"Boring."

I closed my eyes, attempting to control my anger. It was taking everything I had not to swing at this jerk. My rage subsided and I opened my eyes again.

I now found myself staring into hazel eyes, nervous, seething.

"You don't deserve to be an Ultimate."

It was me who spoke this time. I was berating the image of my own self.

"You're an anxious mess who's pathetic enough to believe that you could ever truly be special."

"The best thing you can do is turn off your free thought and fit into the role society created for you."

Hajime looked down towards the desk. He was clenching his teeth together, a weak attempt to stop the tears rolling down his face.

I reached out and grabbed his chin, pulling his face roughly so that he was forced to face me.

"This is why you're dead and I'm here."

"LEAVE ME ALONE!"

I screamed out, wrenching myself from the red eyed boy's grip. My blankets were thrown off my bed, falling into a messy heap on the hospital floor.

Wh-where did the classroom go?

Where did that boy go?

Where am I?

I looked down at my hands, my palms shone with sweat. Gross.

My breaths were quick and uneven. My thoughts swirled with conflicting emotions. I think I'm losing my mind.

I clenched my hands into fists and screamed from the depths of my heart.

I'm so scared.

I'm going to die.

I don't want to die.

No wait, I've already died.

This isn't me.

There is no Hinata Hajime.

There is only despair.

"P-please t-t-take deep breaths, Hinata-san!"

Huh, is somebody talking to me?

I looked to my side, seeing a worry-stricken Tsumiki grabbing at my arm in an attempt to pull me back to reality.

It worked, and suddenly everything became apparent. I had been absentmindedly digging my nails into my palms, hard enough to draw blood. My whole body was aching and shivering despite the lack of cold. My face felt damp with sweat and tears. I was still crying out with every exhale, but the sound was barely reaching my ears.

I pressed my lips together tightly to silence myself, receiving a grateful nod from Tsumiki.

"T-that's good, you're doing great."

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, attempting to rid my mind of thoughts. I was going to forget the nightmare, I was going to think about something else.

I...couldn't think of anything else.

That boy had felt so familiar. Like somebody who was close, yet I knew nothing of. He gave off the feeling of a photo from a time you don't know. You want to try so hard to remember, you feel as though you know who that is but it's not quite right. Such an alienating sensation.

And those eyes were merciless.

I bundled up my gown in my fists and squeezed tightly. The thin linen provided little comfort, but my breathing was gradually slowing down.

The adrenaline was wearing off, but exposing how I truly felt underneath. Tired and weak. I had almost forgotten that I was still sick.

"Y-you're doing a great job, Hinata-san." Tsumiki chirped. "Just keep breathing calmly, I'll grab your blankets.

I rest my back against the head of the bed, exhaling another deep breath. Tsumiki pulled my blankets back over the top of me, attempting to make the bed as she went.

I finally gained the courage to speak again. "Tsu-Tsumiki-san…?"

"Y-yes?"

"What- um. What was that? Was that a, uh, despair disease thing..?"

The nurse wandered over to the table beside my bed and picked up the jug Komaeda had left earlier. "I'm- I'm not s-sure."

"Not sure?" I inquired.

"Well...y-y-you had a p-panic attack." The nurse stuttered out, handing a cup of water to me. "I-It may well have been..."

I took it from her, only to have my shaking hands allow it to slip through my fingers and fall to the floor, spilling water everywhere. "O-oh…I didn't…. I didn't think that would happen…"

"Ah! It's okay! I can clean it up!" Tsumiki spoke quickly as picked up the cup from the floor.

I glanced around the room, trying to get a good gauge of the time. It was quite dark, likely late at night. The only light being produced was from fluorescent light above my bed, it's cool colour harsh on my tired eyes and aching head.

"My head hurts…" I mumbled, laying back down and pulling the blankets close.

"Would you like something for it? I-I-I know you said you did-didn’t want me treating you…" Tsumiki stuttered out.

"Mmnn…I'm having a hard time deciding which would be the least boring. To treat this would be boring, but to have me in a drugged state completely at the mercy of the despairs could be exciting…watching the symptoms manifest has been almost interesting, but this headache is truly predictable. The pain doesn't change, and that bores me." I babbled away to myself, turning the idea over in my mind.

"Huh? Wh-what do you mean by 'th-the despairs?'" Tsumiki inquired, leaning a bit closer. "A-are you referring to M-mioda and Owari-san?"

"Yeah."

"Oh! Please don't worry about them, they're actually quite useless at the moment." Tsumiki gave me a big smile. "I'm going to start you on fluids and get something for the pain, okay?"

I nodded and watched the nurse wander out of the room. A sigh left my lungs as I considered the consequences of my actions.

It was unusually difficult to predict what was going to happen. Normally I could see the path laid before me with perfect clarity. Anytime that path strayed was an exciting moment. Not knowing what was going to happen excites me, to see all the ways the despair disease may continue to affect me.

Perhaps even my life was at risk?

The thought brought a grin to my face.

Tsumiki wandered back in with a towel and a small tray of medical tools. Alcohol wipes, a pair of latex gloves, a needle, a line, a saline bag, and a small plastic cup. She placed the tray on the table and bent down to clean up the water I had spilled earlier.

"D-do you have any problems with n-needles, Hinata-san?" The nurse asked as she cleaned.

"No." I answered, unsure of whether I was or wasn't.

"That's good!" Tsumiki tossed the towel in a nearby clothes bin and washed her hands.

Tsumiki put on the latex gloves and tore open an alcohol wipe packet. "Can you prop your arm up on a pillow for me?"

I nodded and grabbed a pillow from behind me. Tsumiki placed a small paper sheet over it and motioned for me to place my arm down. The girl then began to prod her fingers at my inner elbow.

"Hmm, you're kind of dehydrated. Could you open and close your fist a few times?"

I followed her directions, obviously it must have helped because the next thing I knew she was wiping down my arm with the alcohol wipe. Tsumiki picked up the needle and held it close to my skin. "T-this is going to hurt a bit, okay?"

"Yeah." I whispered, trying to reassure myself.

There was a sharp scratch in my arm, causing me to bite my lip. Tsumiki seemed pleased as she removed the needle, leaving only the cannula behind. She flushed the vein with saline, causing a weird chilly feeling to go through my arm.

"That's cold." I mumbled.

"Ah! I-I'm sorry." Tsumiki apologised and stopped the flush. She took away the saline syringe and taped down the cannula and line.

She then hung up the saline bag on an IV pole and inserted a line into it. Then, she connected the line to the one in my arm and set up the small infusing machine attached to the IV pole. It would have been fascinating to watch her work, but this was simple nurse stuff. Even somebody like myself, who bears such a talent, could do this with my eyes closed.

Another sharp pang of pain rippled through my head, causing me to suck air through my teeth sharply and wince.

"Oh, that's right! S-sorry, I almost f-forgot." Tsumiki picked up the small cup and handed it to me, beginning to fill another cup with water.

The small cup contained two capsules, white and orange in colour. "Painkillers?"

"Mhmm, these ones are strong but they're likely to make you drowsy, n-not that I see that being an issue for you." Tsumiki explained before holding the cup of water out to me.

I tipped the two pills into my mouth and took the water, drinking it to wash them down.

"S-so…do you need anything else?" The nurse inquired, packing up the tray of tools.

I shook my head, receiving a grateful nod in return. I placed the cup of water onto the table beside me and pulled the pillow back behind my head. Laying down, a soft yawn left my mouth and I closed my eyes. Either the painkillers were kicking in incredibly fast or I was just exhausted from the panic attack, probably the latter.

Tsumiki picked up her tray and headed towards the door. On her way, she switched off the light above my bed.

"Sleep well, Kamukura-kun."

The door clicked shut behind her.

#Komahina #Hinakoma #Kamukoma #Hinata Hajime #Komaeda Nagito #Kamukura Izuru #Ficgiri

1 note · View note

junker-town · 4 years

Text

I rewatched Game 5 of the 2004 ALCS and it was magical

It took nearly six hours and 14 innings, but the Red Sox made it happen.

My heart sank when my baseball-loving kid asked when we were going to watch a game again. Then I remembered after the Red Sox won the 2004 World Series I bought the full set of games on DVD, including the entire American League Championship Series. Having never actually watched any of the discs, I vaguely remembered stashing them in a box that had somehow made its way from Philly to Boston by way of several Cambridge apartments.

Eureka! I still had them.

Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

We started with Game 4 of the ALCS against the Yankees because even in a quarantine I wouldn’t bother with the first three games. My kid soon became familiar with Papi, Manny, and the whole gang of Idiots. He promptly proved his Masshole bonafides, yelling, “Come on Millah!” when Kevin Millar came up to bat in the ninth against Mariano Rivera. For the record, neither my wife nor I have a Boston accent and he doesn’t either. I’d be lying if I didn’t say it was a proud moment.

My wife, incidentally, couldn’t care less about baseball, but she has fond memories of staying up late with her friends, living and dying with every pitch. When Dave Roberts stole second, she screamed like it was happening in real time.

Game 4 was iconic, of course. The whole sequence belongs in a time capsule. Starting with Millar’s walk to Dave Roberts’ steal through Bill Mueller knocking the great Mariano Rivera off the mound with the game-tying single like he was Charlie Brown in a Peanuts strip. And then, much, much later, Big Papi’s home run. Game 6 was even more famous with the whole bloody sock thing, while Game 7 was just pure cathartic release.

But Game 5 — holy shit, Game 5. I had forgotten how magically insane it was. Over 14 innings and almost six hours, it was like watching a slow-motion nightmare unfold only to emerge in a blissy dream state where unicorns are real and it ain’t over ‘til Big Papi takes a swing.

To set the scene, Game 4 ended after midnight, meaning Game 5 took place literally the same day. Your starters were Mike Mussina and Pedro Martinez, making perhaps his last start in a Boston uniform.

Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

The Sox took an early 2-0 lead but couldn’t bust out a big inning against Mussina, who settled down and pitched a gem. Martinez was also dealing, but that pitch count was rising higher as we got to the sixth with the Sox leading, 2-1, which is when I started taking notes.

Martinez is getting up near 100 pitches. I forgot that after 100 pitches he turned into Ramiro Mendoza. Thankfully, Joe Buck is here to remind us. Tim McCarver thinks pitch counts are overrated and now I’m yelling at McCarver to shut the fuck up. (For future reference, STFUTM will serve as shorthand.)

Earlier, he told an incredibly random story about Trinidad Hubbard that made absolutely no sense. Hard to believe, but there really was a point when McCarver was an insightful announcer. Happens to all of them, eventually.

Martinez gets Bernie Williams to pop up, but Jorge Posada reaches on a quirky infield single and Ruben Sierra follows with another hit. I’ve seen this movie before. It ends badly. Tony Clark strikes out and now it’s up to Miguel Cairo. Martinez just hit Cairo to load the bases. 2004 me is yelling at Terry “Tito” Francona: “GET HIM OUTTA THERE, FRANCONA.”

Photo by Linda Cataffo/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images

Tito leaves Martinez in to pitch to Jeter and Buck notes that Jeter hasn’t put his stamp on this series yet. Oh God. The inside-out swing. The slicing line drive landing in right. Three runs are going to score. I’ll go to my grave saying Prime Nomar was better, but it would really help if Captain Intangibles stopped doing stuff like this.

Looked like Cairo may have been out at the plate, but it’s real close. You know what this game doesn’t have? Replay review. There were at least eight plays by my count that would have been subject to replay review and this game would still be playing if that was the case. We got along fine without reviewing every close play and I would like to return to that nebulous state of affairs when the world stops burning.

You know what else this game doesn’t have? Fans on cell phones. Everyone is hanging on every pitch and it’s beautiful. I know this because the broadcast keeps cutting away to the stands and I’ve seen the same woman clasping her hands in prayer between pitches a dozen times. Pretty sure I’ve seen her at the Fresh Pond Trader Joes.

LOL, Martinez plunked Alex Rodriguez just because he could. McCarver doesn’t like it. STFUTM. Now Gary Sheffield walks to load the bases. Um, Tito? I think you can go get him now. Francona leaves Martinez in and he gets Hideki Matsui to fly out. Good job, Tito.

The Yankees had a chance to break it open in the eighth, but Mike Timlin gets A-Rod to pop up with a runner on third and one out. This was A-Rod’s chance to be a True Yankee and he blew it. Shame, really.

On we go to the bottom of the eighth and it’s time for the WebMD update. Today’s injury is a broken heart. Thanks, guys. Really appreciate it.

Photo by Keith Torrie/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images

Here comes Papi and he takes Tom Gordon over the Monster and off the Volvo sign. I miss the Volvo sign. Now Millar, who draws another walk. Dude could take a walk like nobody else. Roberts comes in to pinch run and Gordon throws over a half dozen times. He’s clearly rattled. It’s happening again.

We’ve officially reached the moment where Francona becomes a super genius. Everyone keeps expecting Roberts to steal second, but Tito calls for the hit-and-run and Trot Nixon executes it perfectly sending a line drive single to right center. God bless that dirtbag right fielder.

First and third, nobody out and Joe Torre calls on Rivera. Officially this will go down as a blown save when Jason Varitek lofts a sacrifice fly to center to tie the game, 4-4, but this is on Gordon. No Yankee ever scared me more than Mariano. Salute to him.

When McCarver gets what he considers a profound thought in his head, he slows his cadence for dramatic effect. Then he repeats himself like he’s delivering a dugout sermon from Whitey Herzog.

“After 169 games and eight innings, the Red Sox season comes down to one inning,” McCarver tells us before the ninth. “One inning.” Oh Tim, we’re just getting started.

Photo by Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Keith Foulke is on to pitch the ninth. He worked 2 ⅔ the night before and will pitch tonight and then again in Game 6. Foulke threw 14 shutout innings during the postseason and was never the same. He gave up his career for this postseason run and was never properly appreciated because he made some crack about fans the following season that caused everyone to turn on him. Here’s to you, Keith Foulke. I have no idea how you ever got anyone out, but you were nails.

In the ninth, Tony Clark hit a ball to right that somehow crawled up the short fence and landed in the stands. Had it stayed in play, Ruben Sierra would have scored and the game would have been over. Sixteen years later, the universe hates Boston and its run of championships, but in 2004, this was all strange and new. Kind of miss those days.

Bronson Arroyo, fresh off getting hammered in Game 3, strikes out A-Rod and Sheffield en route to a clean 10th inning. The strike zone, by the way, has been a tad inconsistent. It’s hard to tell because there’s no K-Zone or pitch tracking and again, that’s totally fine! Maybe we were better off not knowing everything all the time.

Even though I know how this is going to turn out, I keep expecting Papi to hit a home run every time he comes up to hit. Instead, he strikes out.

On we go to the 12th and it’s Tim Wakefield time. The knuckleballer’s normal catcher/binky is Doug Mirabelli, but Tito rides with Varitek, who has absolutely no idea how to catch a knuckleball. Super genius.

Cairo singles to left and Manny kicks it like only Manny can, allowing Cairo to get to second. My kid smacks his forehead and says, “Oh, Manny.” He doesn’t even know the half of it. Fortunately, Jeter flies out and so does A-Rod. Crisis averted.

The Sox have stopped hitting. This seems bad.

Photo by Rick Friedman/Corbis via Getty Images

Ah, the 13th. Nothing bad can happen here. Sheffield is swinging for the Mass Pike. He’s legitimately terrifying. Somehow, Wakefield strikes out Sheffield with a nasty knuckler that Varitek misplays into a passed ball. I remember thinking at the time, “This is how it’s going to happen. This is how they’re going to kill us.”

Two outs now and Matsui’s at first. Whoops, another passed ball. Now he’s at second. Intentional walk to Posada. Everyone at Fenway is nervous as hell. My wife comes into the room and starts watching. Now she’s nervous.

ANOTHER passed ball puts runners on second and third. Missed opportunity by McCarver to say something profoundly stupid like, “Johnny Pesky held the ball. Varitek can’t catch the ball.” Actually, that would have been pretty good.

Seriously though, one more miscue from Varitek and he’s Mike Torrez combined with Bill Buckner. Somehow, somehow, Wakefield strikes out Sierra and Varitek miraculously holds on. Fenway erupts. My wife cheers. “Mom, you know what’s going to happen,” my kid says but none of us care. This was the greatest game I ever saw and even now it doesn’t seem real.

Photo by Corey Sipkin/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images

OK, now the 14th. Esteban Loiaza is on to pitch for the Yankees and he’s somehow become Whitey Ford. His cutter is filthy. Johnny Damon, who has done absolutely nothing this series, draws a walk.

Two outs and here’s Manny. I always loved Manny in these spots because a) he’s a great hitter and b) he’s completely impervious to pressure. God, this is a great at-bat. He’s fouling off quality pitches and laying off sliders just outside the zone. Manny gets his walk and trots to first like it’s a game in June against the Orioles. Here comes Papi.

It took 10 pitches for Ortiz to end Game 5 with a bloop single to center off the handle of the bat. He fought off nasty cutters and sent one about 420 feet screaming into right that went foul. My wife is tense. My kid is yelling, “Come on, Papi!” Finally, the big man does his thing and Johnny Damon comes home from second with the winning run.

Buck had a great call. “Damon can keep right on running to New York.” McCarver immediately blows it by saying, “He didn’t do it again, did he?” Dramatic pause. “He did.” Thanks, Tim. Oh, and STFU.

Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

By the way, there’s no off day because there was a rainout prior to Game 4. I have no idea how either one of these teams turned around and played again the next night, but I’d give anything for another marathon Red Sox-Yankee game right about now. Thank Papi, I still have the DVDs.

0 notes

libraryofrewrita · 7 years

Text

Chapter 4: Protect the Seals (Part 2)

Nate: About time you wrote! Where were you for the past couple months?!

Me: I’m sorry! I had writer’s block for a while! Besides, I’m writing this out, aren’t I?

Katie: Be nice, Nate. It happens to a lot of people.

Whisper: Yeah, listen to Katie.

Nate: Alright, I know. Let’s get back to the story then.

Jibanyan: Nyeah! I want to see what happens next!

After letting that sink in, the two kids heard Tattletale snickering.

“Tell Tell!“ (Translation: “Both of your faces are so red right now!”)

Nate sighed to himself and said,

“Do you want to discuss this later? We should really find out why Tattletale was acting like this.”

Katie nodded.

“Alright, Nate.”

Tattletale was still snickering, but she seemed to calm down a bit.

“Tell Tell!” (Translation: “I like you guys!”

“Oh! Do you want to be friends then?”

“Tell!” (Translation: “Thought you’d never ask!”)

A bright light came from Tattletale and a medal flew into Katie’s hands.

“Tell Tell Tell, Tell!” (Translation: “Here you go, you lovebirds!”)

They both blushed.

“Please don’t call us that.”

Tattletale puffed her cheeks out.

“Tell…” (Translation: “Fine…”)

One explanation later:

“So, you had suddenly developed some extra energy and you had to get rid of it? Did I say that correctly?”

Tattltale nodded at Whisper.

“Tell, Tell Tell.” (Translation: “Yeah, something like that.”)

“Okay, now that we have that figured out, we should direct our attention to figuring out what the source of the extra energy was.”

Tattletale cleared her thoart before speaking.

“Tell Tell Tell Tell Tell.” (Translation: “It probably had something to do with the weird business suit guy I saw earlier today.”)

Tattletale then explained what she had saw earlier that day, with Whisper translating.

“So, you saw a strange man in a business suit wandering around the elementary school while muttering something about ‘breaking the seals’ and going to the post office tomorrow, then you suddenly felt a sudden increase in your energy?”

She nodded.

“Oh, boy. This can’t be good.”

Whisper had a look of worry on his face.

I may have been locked away from the world for 190 years, but I know that if there are seals in this town, they have to be there for a reason. No one makes seals just for the heck of it, after all. Plus, if there’s talk about breaking them, it can’t be for a good reason.

“We have to investigate this right now!”

Nate looked at his Yo-kai Watch and yelped.

“Oh, no! It’s getting late! We have to get home before our parents get worried!”

The sun was starting to set as everyone started back home.

“Okay, we’ll deal with it tomorrow, but I’m keeping my guard up tonight. I suggest that everyone else do the same.”

Everyone nodded and went their separate ways.

*****

The next day…

Nate woke up and rubbed his eyes. He had been up late last night, writing an entry about Tattletale and what had happened that day while the thought of the fact that Katie returned his feelings were running through his head.

If it hadn’t been for Tattletale, if we hadn’t met Whisper and got involved with Yo-kai, would I have been able to confess my feelings to Katie at that moment? Would we have been this age or older when I confessed, regardless of the involvement of Yo-kai or not?

The soft pitter-patter of rain distracted Nate from his thoughts and he wondered how Whisper and Jibanyan were doing at Katie’s house as he went downstairs to get breakfast.

*****

Katie had just woke up, running her fingers through Jibanyan’s fur. Whisper had been up for a while, most likely planning out what they were going to do today. Katie got out of bed and went over to her desk, where her sketchbook was laying open on a drawing of Tattletale she had been working on last night.

“Okay, I recommend dressing for this weather. It’s not going to hinder us in our investigation, but I don’t want to worry about either of you catching a cold.”

Katie nodded and closed her sketchbook, putting it away in her bag. She grabbed her pink raincoat and grabbed a Blehgal before yelling,

“I’m going outside, Mom!”

“Be careful, Katie!”

“I will!”

She walked outside, thankful that it wasn’t raining too hard. She walked over to Nate’s, glad to see that he was also outside and wearing his red raincoat.

“Hey, Nate!”

He smiled and waved her over as they walked to the post office.

“So, what do we plan on doing when we get there?”

“I haven’t thought that far yet, but be on your guard. For all we know, it could be someone dangerous.”

“Umm…can we stop at Everymart real quick? We should pick up some food just in case it’s going to take a while. No point in fighting Yo-kai on an empty stomach, after all.”

“Actually, that’s not a bad idea. I can’t believe I forgot to tell you this, but you can give Yo-kai food to make it easier to befriend them or to heal your fighters. They all have different tastes, of course. For example, cat Yo-kai like Jibanyan have a preference for seafood, but some of them prefer chocolate. I’m not sure what Jibanyan would prefer, but he can tell you for himself. If you need help with finding out what food a certain Yo-kai likes, don’t be afraid to ask me. I’ll do my best to find the answer for you.”

Whisper stopped talking as the four of them walked inside Everymart. As the two children picked up a few food items, Whisper pulled up a map of Uptown Springdale on his tablet to look for any other seals in town, just in case there was a bigger threat than the one seal.

“Whisper, why are you looking that up, nya?”

“Oh, that’s right. I forgot that you weren’t there when Nate and Katie met me. I was locked in a capsule for 190 years, so my knowledge of this time is not the best. I really hope to at least catch up with the current Yo-kai knowledge of this time, so please don’t judge me if I have to look something up.”

“Ohhhhh.”

Jibanyan crossed his heart and said,

“I promise nyot to judge you. I’ll even make sure that Nyate and Katie don’t accidently make you feel bad for looking anything up.”

Whisper felt his face heat up slightly and smiled.

“Thank you, Jibanyan.”

Jibanyan walked over to the chocolate aisle, picked up two Chocobars, and walked over to the two kids and whispered something to them. They nodded and walked over to the checkout lane. Whisper was very curious about what Jibanyan had said to them, but all he got from Jibanyan was a smile. After they paid for everything, the two kids walked to a blue spirit thing that Whisper identified as an Eyepo.

“I honestly have no clue what they are, but they are very helpful for organizing your Yo-kai team and healing if you’re low on health and don’t want to waste food or medicine, which we’ll worry about at a later point in time. If you want to switch out Yo-kai right now, you can.”

After consideration, they switched out Hungramps for Tattletale, promising to try to help him catch up with the other team members at a later date. They continued on their way to the post office and when they got there, they saw someone in a business suit tinkering with the mail box outside the post office.

“Is that the same guy Tattletale saw yesterday?”

“Tell! Tell Tell!” (Translation: “Yes! That’s him!”)

They walked up to him and asked in an innocent, “totally-not-suspecting-you-of-being-evil” tone,

“Excuse me, sir? What are you doing?”

He jumped from hearing their voices and turned around.

“Nothing for you to worry about, kiddos. Just some grown-up stuff.”

Tattletale got annoyed and hopped on him.

“Tell Tell, Tell Tell!” (Translation: “Time to spill the beans, suit man!”)

The man turned back around, seemingly ignoring Nate and Katie and started to evilly laugh.

This can’t be good…

“Fools! Little do they know that I’m breaking one of the seals that keep the power of this town from reawakening a very powerful force and why am I saying this out loud?!”

“Okay, our fathers might be businessmen and we may have no clue what half of the stuff they say means, but we know that whatever he said isn’t normal business jargon!”

The man suddenly turned into a Yo-kai that Whisper identified as Tengloom and it all made sense to the group.

Of course it was a Yo-kai causing this. I don’t know if there are any other people that can see Yo-kai, but I doubt that they would purposely put the town in danger.

The group went into battle and after a few select Soultimate moves, they defeated Tengloom and collected the items that he had dropped.

“Oh, it’s not like it matters! There are others that will succeed where I have failed!”

He disappeared and the group looked at the mailbox that was now leaking a strange and familair purple smoke.

“Isn’t this the same purple smoke that made the gate disappear?”

“Yeah! This was also from the capsule machine that Whisper was trapped in! Does that mean that purple smoke prevents a Yo-kai from escaping?”

“Yes, but in this case, it’s supposed to keep a huge threat in check. After I fix this seal, we have to track down the other seals and make sure that they’re safe.”

Whisper closed his eyes and started to mumble something under his breath until the purple smoke disppeared.

“Okay, let’s get going!

Whisper pulled up the map he had been looking at and said,

“According to this, there are three more seals that are keeping this power in check. We better go make sure that they’re okay!”

They nodded and Whisper pointed towards the bank.

“There should be a seal over in that direction.”

They walked over and saw the purple smoke pouring from the pig statue in front of the bank.

“Oh great. Let’s fix this before it gets worse.”

As Whisper was about to seal the power away, a purple chubby bird showed up. Nate whispered to Katie,

“Wanna bet that Yo-kai is evil?”

“Probably.”

“Gimme that power! I take that power and become the most powerful Yo-kai in existance!”

“Sounds normal for a Peckpocket with evil intentions. The faster we get rid of him, the faster I can fix this.”

*****

One battle later:

“We did it, guys!”

They collected some Gooey Candy (still in the wrapper) and at least a dollar off the ground.

“You meanies! All I wanted was to steal that power for myself!”

Peckpocket disappeared into thin air and Whisper sighed to himself.

“Okay, now I can fix the seal without any distractions.”

Whisper held his hands together and yelled,

“Pocus hocus! Oh great spirit seal, get well soon-ocus!”

The purple smoke disappeared and both kids looked at Whisper surprised.

“That’s it?”

Whisper looked at them with a sheepish expression and said,

“Well, it was only part of the spell. There’s still two more seals to fix up, so let’s get going.”

Whisper glanced down at his Yo-kai Pad, which was still miraculously dry, and pointed in the direction of the community center.

“This way, everyone.”

*****

They stopped at the monument near the community center. The purple smoke was a clear giveaway that it was the seal they were looking for.

“As soon as this seal is fixed, we can head-”

“Youse guys ain’t fixing nuthing!”

“Oh, great. An evil Mochismo. Just what we needed right now…”

The sarcasm was dripping from Whisper’s voice as Nate and Katie prepared for battle against the walking block of mochi.

*****

“Oh, my beans!”

After the Mochismo disappeared, everyone just facepalmed at how lame that expression was and collected the dropped items and money.

“Okay, fixing the seal now!”

Whisper moved his arms from side to side and said,

“Pain, pain, go away, come again some other day! Seal…FIX YOURSELF!”

The purple smoke disappeared and as Whisper pulled his Yo-kai Pad out to check something, Nate said,

“Whisper, is that really all there is to it? I mean, anyone one of us could have said those words…”

“I’m older than all of you, therefore my magic is stronger.”

Okay, he got us there…

“What’s our next step, Whisper?”

“Oh, that’s simple. We’re going to the school. Remember Tattletale’s story? She said she saw the ‘business man’ leaving the school.”

“Oh, okay! Let’s go!”

Katie checked to make sure they had enough food and pulled out a strange brown powder.

“Whisper, what’s this?”

“Hmm? Oh, that’s Bitter Medicine. There’s three types of medicine:

Bitter Medicine, which is brown and can revive fainted Yo-kai with little health. It’s fairly easily to find and very cheap if you know where to buy it.

Nasty Medicine, which is purple and can revive fainted Yo-kai with half health. Slightly more expensive than Bitter Medicine, but still easy to find.

Mighty Medicine, which is blue and can revive fainted Yo-kai with full health. It’s hard to find and very expensive, but if you have it, try to save it for an emergency.”

Katie counted out the amount of medicine they had collected and said,

“Okay, there’s enough for three Yo-kai. Let’s hope that we don’t get into too much trouble.”

“I was thinking of going to an Eyepo and healing up. There’s one at Everymart, as you know, and there’s also an Eyepo at the bank and the post office. The closest one would have to be…Everymart.”

After healing their Yo-kai friends, they started to head to the school and ran into a classmate of Nate and Katie’s.

“Hey, Lucas! How are you doing?”

Lucas hummed and said,

“Oh, I’m doing fine. It’s just…I’ve heard some weird noises coming from the school. I’m not sure if I’m just imagining things, but it sounded so real…”

“Don’t worry, Lucas. We’re actually going to the school right now for a project. If we hear anything, we’ll let you know.”

“Oh, thank you very much!”

Lucas ran off with a smile and the group continued on their way to the school, unaware of someone watching them.

*****

“Okay, if I’m correct, the seal should be right over-”

“There it is!

They walked over to the purple smoke coming from the statue near the school.

“Wow, there is a powerful aura here. I wonder what it was sealing up for so long?”

As Whisper looked over the statue, they heard a sinister voice.

“At lassssst…I have been sssssealed away for ssssso long. You four will be my firsssst ssssnack ssssince my imprissssionment!”

Their eyes widen as they started to prepare for battle.

*****

Jibanyan, Cadin, and Tattletale were in front while Negatibuzz, Buhu, and Dimmy were in the back, ready to switch at a moment’s notice.

“We can return this Yo-kai to his imprisionment! The town is depending on us!”

Whisper’s words rang in their heads as they realized what was happening.

This wouldn’t be like Dismeralda’s battle, where they were just trying to get their parents to stop bickering.

This was a battle for their lives and the town’s.

“Everyone in front, start attacking! Whisper, see if you can figure out what Yo-kai this is and what it’s weak point is!”

Whisper quickly typed a few words, found the answer he needed and whispered to Nate and Katie.

“Okay, this Yo-kai is Slimamander and his weak point is when his eye is exposed. But he switches the position of his eye between his…heads…mouths…thingys?”

“Thank you for the information, Whisper…ick…”

Although they were disgusted by the information, it was at least helpful.

At the very least, we can attack him and stop the…things that aren’t hiding the eye from attacking our Yo-kai.

Jibanyan took a hit from the fire that spewed out of one of the mouths on Slimamander and Tattletale quickly healed him before he attacked the head that attacked him along with Cadin, who struck one of the other heads with his sword.

“We have enough supplies, right?”

“Don’t worry, Nate. We have enough.”

“How can I not worry, Katie? Sure, we fought Dismeralda and some other Yo-kai, but this guy is bad news! He was locked away for crying out loud!”

“Nate, Katie, I understand that you’re both nervous, but I have faith in you two. If you two didn’t get the Yo-kai Watches you now possess, then this town would’ve been attacked by strong and evil Yo-kai and there wouldn’t be anyone to help the good Yo-kai put them back in their place. You can defeat him with the help of your Yo-kai friends. Show me that you can do it.”

Their fear went away and they went back to concentrating on the battle. Jibanyan got inspirited, so they switched him to the back, putting Dimmy in front. They started to break the chains off Jibanyan when the eye revealed itself.

“Everyone in front, aim for the eye!”

They broke the final chain and after giving Jibanyan some Y-Cola, which made his Soultimate move available, he was moved back in front. He released his “Paws of Fury” at the exposed eye before it went into hiding again.

“You’re doing great, everyone! Just keep it up!”

*****

After constantly tossing food for health and drinks to perk up their Soultimate moves, they had finally defeated Slimamander as his eye rolled back into his head for the final time and he collasped.

“Holy…we did it! We defeated him!”

Nate grabbed the ten dollars on the ground, splitting it with Katie, and grabbed the Bitter Medicine that also been dropped and their Yo-kai friends left to do whatever they did when they weren’t with the two kids, except for Jibanyan and Whisper.

“Well done!”

Nate and Katie took a breather as they realized they had taken on a major threat with the help of their supernatural friends. As they were about to head to the seal and lock him away, Slimamander suddenly used his last bit of energy to fire a large fireball at the group. They braced for the impact, but to their surprise, a Yo-kai that looked vaguely like a teen wearing a dragon scarf showed up in front of them, shielded them from the fireball before attacking Slimamander with his dragon scarf. This time however, Slimamander actually went down in a purple puff of smoke.

“Heh…”

The Yo-kai turned to the group, seeming to examine them before disappearing.

“Who was that? Was that a friend of yours, Whisper?”

“I’ve never met him before! But it’s a good thing he showed up when he did! I better get to that seal before there’s a second round with Slimamander. All right?”

“Go ahead, Whisper. We believe in you!”

Whisper smiled, went to the seal, and said,

“Oh seal, heed my words! And…how about…CLOSE SESAME!”

The purple smoke disappeared from the statue and they all celebrated.

“I guess we found the source of that strange noise Lucas heard, but what do we tell him?”

“We can just say that he won’t be hearing it anymore. It’s the truth by technicality.”

“That’s true…okay, if we run into him, that’s what we’ll tell him. Let’s go hang out at my place until the rain stops, then we can see about learning more about the Yo-kai in this area! We can even ask your parents if you can spend the night at my place tonight! ”

“Okay, Katie! I have to go to my place to pick up my journal, anyway.”

*****

Nate wrote the final words describing the battle between them and Slimamander as Katie colored in the final details of Slimamander.

“Okay, this is turning out to be a great guide! Hopefully, this will come in handy for future generations!”

“You know, Katie? I hope we become Yo-kai after we die.”

“Why?”

“We can be like Whisper, helping those that stumble into the world of Yo-kai without a guide. We’ll even help Yo-kai with their problems!”

As Nate put his journal on top of Katie’s sketchbook on her desk, Katie said,

“Normally, that would never cross my mind, but yeah…that’s what I hope for, too. All of us together, helping those in need.”

Nate started to get settled into his sleeping bag when Katie kissed his forehead and smirked.

“Goodnight, Nate. Night, everybody.”

She clicked the light off before Nate could respond. He was too tired to say anything about it, so he mumbled,

“Goodnight, Katie. Night, everyone.”

Then he fell asleep with Jibanyan in his arms and Whisper sleeping near Katie.

*****

The mysterious Yo-kai slipped inside Katie’s room. It had been easy for him to follow the group to her house. Besides, he had to investigate them. He opened the journal and after reading a few entries, he placed the journal down and flipped through the pages of the sketchbook.

I guess I’ll investigate them for a bit longer. If they’re strong enough to defeat Slimamander with their little collection of Yo-kai, then maybe…

With that in mind, the Yo-kai set everything back in place before he left the room.

*****

Nate: Yesterday and today was crazy! There was Yo-kai inspiritment and battles all over! Well, at least I know Katie likes me.

Katie: Be honest, if I didn’t like you like that, would you still be my friend?

Nate: Of course I would! We’re in this craziness together!

Katie: That’s true. Although, I think there’s something between Jibanyan and Whisper…

Jibanyan: Nyo there isn’t! *blushing* B-besides…we just met, nya.

Whisper: Did you guys say something?

Jibanyan: Let’s get back to studying, okay?!

Whisper: Alright! ^-^

Previous Chapter: https://libraryofrewrita.tumblr.com/post/152615774414/chapter-3-protect-the-seals-part-1 Next Chapter: https://libraryofrewrita.tumblr.com/post/160353921579/chapter-5-timers-and-more

#yo-kai watch #yo-kai watch au #rewrite #(part 2)#chapter 4

1 note · View note