#like three of his scenes before his mental breakdown too

[hollyhomburg]

Before I leave you (Pt.67)

(Omegaverse au, Mafia au, Bts x Reader)

Summary: You and Hobi bury a dead body (That's a lie, Yoongi buries it for you).

Tags: blood, gore, body horror, death, dead bodies, everyone is pretty beat-up in this, brief implied self-harm but it's very quickly squashed- seriously it's nowhere near as bad as past scenes but i do have to tag it, Dissociation, tae is in the freeze part of fight or flight. hurt/comfort, mental breakdowns, flashbacks, discussions of past abusive relationships, everything is very fluffy until it's not,

W/c: 12.5k

A/N: Are you guys ready for Hoseok's secret reveal??? I'm really excited!!! But also terrified because this whole series has lead up to this point!!! A good number of people have already guessed his secret so congrats on getting it early <3

Previous part - Masterlist - First part

Jimin sits on the stairs going down to the basement. His arm in a sling and bandaged up to the elbow. It aches with every small movement he makes as he peals a tangerine. He hasn't had any narcotics in a few hours and they're starting to wear off.

Jimin needs all of his brain power for this; For covering up the murder.

The fewer things running through his system the less sluggish and fuzzy his thoughts are. Jimin picks his poisons and fewer things make him less coherent than the panic and pain and near constant avalanche of thoughts. Tae, Tae's hurt, Tae's-

Tae's fine, Tae's upstairs with Y/n. he has to remind himself of these facts every few breaths. Tae's going to be okay because you wouldn't let anything happen to her.

There is evidence of that virtually everywhere; In the lines across your hands that Yoongi had dabbed at with a cool cloth, the swollen side of your jaw that he'd cradled. The blood drenching the opposite side of your face that he'd tenderly washed away. Not to mention the blood on the kitchen table, the floor, the ceiling. The blood splattered across your nest-

You don't fuck with an omega's nest; you don't fuck with their packmates.

Jimin quiets his brain with a steady breath as he looks down at Yoongi, Jin, and the body between the three of them wrapped in plastic.

He manages to peel the tangerine in his hand despite how uncooperative his left hand is. Numb at the fingertips just like it’s been since the surgery.

Namjoon had stroked his fingers and tested their give every chance he got, holding onto them and prodding while they waited in the hospital room and then again when Jimin got discharged. He said that they’d probably get better. Probably.

Tae's going to be fine because Namjoon is there too- had checked out her head with that soft alpha grumble croon of his. The most soothing sound in the world, and yet incapable of soothing this.

But Jimin knows nothing’s for certain, he might never get the feeling in his hand back. (This is Jimin's penance; The reminder of these tangled few weeks and how things went will be ever present. The reminder will be the first press of every touch with his non-dominant hand. He will never regain full feeling to the tips of his fingers. Never).

There are a few of noodle paw prints in the dust here, Jimin's ass is no doubt covered in it too from resting on the rickety stairs that lead into the half-finished basement. Little paw print marks that would make you coo and take pictures if you were down here.

But you’re not, you’re upstairs getting the evidence washed off of you.

No one's in that kind of mood right now anyway. No one’s been in that kind of mood for a few hours (or a few days, if he’s being honest, from Jungkook’s seizure, to getting shot, and then coming home to a dead body in their living room).

It’s been 4 hours since you killed someone in the kitchen. 3 hours since Jimin was discharged prematurely from the hospital and the rest of the pack was summoned home via a disturbingly calm call from Jin.

It’s been a tangle of moments even for the people not on hard drugs. Jimin feels like he's doing pretty good at answering the pack’s questions given the circumstances. You'd never know that, given Yoongi's eye roll and Jin's heavy sigh.

"Minnie- we're not asking you how you would have killed him just how you'd cover it up."

They used an old shower liner to wrap the body before they carried it downstairs. It makes a squeaky noise against Jin's rubber gloves (The pink elbow-high ones that he uses to do the dishes) as he pulls back the plastic sheet to reveal what's left of the assassin's head and face.

“I already told you, I don’t know his face- not even a little.” I’d have a pretty hard time identifying his face with the state she left it in regardless Is what he doesn't say.

Jimin tucks his chin, unsettled to look at the man's half-blown apart face for long. "I think he might be the spider but I don’t know. I never met him, only heard his name in passing.”

A small tattoo on the man's wrist reveals as much. A small spider tattoo that someone going to have to cut out and bury separately. Someone's going to have to get all of his teeth too- no identifying marks. None.

He’s a little too impressed with the state you’d left him in when he thinks about it. But once he’d seen your face and Hobi’s neck, not an inch of Jimin had felt the kill wasn’t justified. The whole pack feels that way, he knows they must even though they don't say it. Everyone's a little bit in shock right now.

Even Namjoon hadn’t even given the body a second glance when the pack had tumbled into the house. The pack alpha had simply alternated his fussing from you to Hobi to tae and then Jin. Torn between who needed him first. It was the first words Jimin had heard you speak. Your wet gasp, blood that wasn't yours flashing on your teeth. "Joonie- Hobi needs you."

Namjoon had calmed only once he realized that most of the blood on the three of you was the man’s. Yoongi had a similar reaction and so had Jimin, clutching at Tae. Angry at his arm for its uncooperativeness. About ready to tug off his sling and his bandages and stitches if it meant holding tae easier. He'd even tried it, only to be on the receiving end of a disapproving pack alpha growel too.

“Jimin you can’t; your stitches.”

“Fuck my stitches hyung.”

Numb fingers meet numb faces.

He's a bit ashamed of it, but when he first looked up from Tae to you- where you sat crumpled in Yoongi's hold. Your mate laying down a volley of sweet nothings to you to get you to stop shaking. There was only one sentence running through his head.

That’s my girl.

He'd reached over and squeezed your hand, blood and all. That blood has dried now. Soaked into the lines of his palm. Coloring his fate and love lines all rusty while he eats the tangerine. He should probably wash his hands. All of them probably need too.

Jungkook had been the only one willing to speak, closing the door softly behind him, locking it and treading softly closer. Careful to sidestep both the pools of blood and the piece of a skull sitting next to the couch. He looked down at the 7 of you with a surprisingly calm expression on his face.

"Can't we have one normal fucking day?"

Jungkook was the one who’d gone to the kitchen and gotten one of the hand towels to clean your face. His lips tightened to a line when he wiped away the blood and started to see the bruising, the cut across your temple dripping fresh. Lower lip wobbling ever so slightly.

“Kookie-”

Jungkook had turned to Jin and Namjoon, “I don’t want to deal with the body hyung." His hands were already under your arms, lifting you up, helpless. "Help me get them upstairs. We need to-” he’d let out a frustrated noise. Instincts coming to the full front- instincts he rarely feels.

Who knew blood would incur Jungkook's grooming instincts?

The last time Jimin saw Jungkook; He was helping Namjoon and Yoongi herd the three of you upstairs for a much-needed shower. Hobi hadn't been able to do it under his own power. Namjoon had to carry him.

Hobi; who's choked on every word he's tried to speak. Whose eyes are still red from all the burst blood vessels. Who easily got the closest to dying out of the four of you.

Everyone shakes when they touch Hobi and everyone touches him softly. Namjoon just about snaps his teeth at anyone who tries to get close. His hands turning red from the cold of an ice pack wrapped gently around the alpha's throat.

Jimin knows Jungkook's a lot more unnerved than he lets on, shuffling from foot to foot as he bound Tae up with a towel, taking her delicately from Jimin's arms. Carrying her in the same way Namjoon carried Hobi.

Yoongi was all soft helping you upstairs. Speaking in that quiet voice that he saves for Sunday mornings and stolen moments of quiet. Every moment, all of this is stolen.

And now- the beta is down here, leaning over the body and looking at it like it will tell him something that you won't. After your initial demand that Namjoon he tend to Hobi; you haven't spoken a word. Neither has Tae. Jin's done all of the talking.

There isn’t much to say.

Jimin feels the numbness in his hands and looks at Jin. He hasn't apologized for the bullet yet. But the more time that passes the less Jimin wants an apology. Mating marks come in many forms. Jimin has a scar on his body from one of his omega's- so really? What does he have to be upset about?

The whole house needs to be deep cleaned, and then deep cleaned again. There's blood everywhere; on the couch, the ceiling, the curtains. It's a lot to clean. It's going to be a lot to hide.

That's the only reason why Jimin's not upstairs helping you and Tae clean up right now; the body is unfortunately the biggest threat to the pack's safety at the moment.

There’s a bloodstain on the stairs too, a droplet next to where Jimin sits. he makes a mental note of it but doesn't move to wipe it up. He puts a tangerine slice on his tongue and chews before he answers Yoongi’s next question.

“I don’t know how to dispose of a body, I never dealt with this part. My only job was to kill, not take care of them after. I know there’s a way that you can do it with soap.”

Jin snorts, “You only know that from breaking bad-“

Jimin’s a little miffed, “We already have a plastic tub upstairs-”

“Lye,” Yoongi corrects, looking down at the body before he stoops to retape the plastic over the man's face. It was a bitch to wrap him up, the body stiff and heavy from rigor Mortis. The blood beneath it bubbles and darkens, coagulating. Yoongi's long hair falls over his face and he tucks it behind his ear.

“We could use the soap, but it might take a few days.” Jin clarifies.

“Do you think we can wait that long?”

“Absolutely not,” Jin’s got a similar ice pack to his wrists, the skin there bruised and red and swelling where he fought to get free from the handcuffs, where he eventually ripped down the banisters and broke through them with brute strength and panic.

You’d found the keys on the man’s body soon after and released him from the handcuffs, they're wrapped up in the plastic along with the frying pan, the gun that killed him, and a few other items from the living room that were just too bloodstained, every big piece of evidence will lie right beside him where he rests.

Jimin eats another slice of the tangerine, and Jin shrivels his nose at it. “Isn’t that a little gross?”

Yoongi mirrors his disgust. “Yeah Minnie, weren’t those covered in blood?”

But Jimin just shrugs, “I washed it and peeled it hyung” And keeps eating. After a few days of hospital food, the tangerines taste divine.

Yoongi stands from where he’s kneeling on his knees with a faint crack. “One part kitty litter, two parts concrete should keep out the smell,” Jin says, eyeing the 6 by-six-foot hole in the basement's foundation, already there from the plumbing that needed replacing.

Most of Yoongi's tools are down here too. His scrap pile of wood and the dozen bags of concrete. His hack saw and his circular saw that none of them are looking at. Yoongi had only just fit in the plumbing a few weeks ago. He'd been about to re-pour the foundation anyway.

“I’d rather not have a body buried in our house.”

Yoongi touches Jin’s wrist, so feather-light, removing the ice pack to check the swelling to see if it’s gone down. Jin's left hand is just as useless as Jimin's, the knuckles bruised and ballooned.

“It’s just for a few weeks, we can deal with this once it’s all calmed down, but we absolutely can’t go try and bury it. Who knows what the neighbors heard?”

They're all silent at that, silent at the idea that these few hours might be the last few that the pack spends free.

But over the next few hours, there are no blue and red flashing lights outside or concerned neighbors that come knocking. Your one saving grace is that this all happened during the middle of the day and all of your nearest neighbors have nine to five's. Is it so simple to hope that everyone was just at work? That no one heard the gunshots over the nearby roar of the passing train?

(Maybe they're just too used to the pack next door; the one that has the noisy ruts and noisy noisy packmates. The one whose alphas have a habit of opening the windows in the back room and let the sound of their roughhousing and video games flood the street. The ones who have extra loud movie nights. They're just a bunch of kids, how harmful could they really be? At least the pack alpha and omega look respectable.)

It's a good thing that no one comes; because Namjoon has more important problems, more important things to handle beyond the body in the basement or the police at the door.

Namjoon’s hands cradle Hobi’s neck. He wheeze as he tries to speak, his mouth falling open. He's mostly clean, but a rusty trickle of water from his hair trails down his shoulders.

Jungkook tugged him into the shower first and gave him a rough clean before handing him back to Namjoon. They sit on a towel together on the edge of the nest. they only moved him in here to give him some privacy- to distract him because Hobi kept reaching for you. you'd kept reaching back, tae was already in the shower under the stream.

"Pup- your hands- you're going to hurt yourself."

The Nestroom is dark and quiet. Every single blind in the house is draw. Only the christmas lights illuminate Hobi's injuries. Namjoon will tend to Tae and then you after he's checked out Hobi's injuries. will send him downstairs with Jin for some cold water to soothe his throat once he's done. once he's been cleaned again probably.

Hobi was covered with the most blood, having been just under the man when Tae had blown his throat apart while you- Namjoon doesn't want to think of it, doesn't want to see it.

(Namjoon thinks of every moment, sees them behind every blink. Blink and he sees you sitting in his lap over breakfast squirming happily. Blink and you're kneeling in a bloody puddle looking up at him.

Blink and you're curled up in the nest wearing the first pajama pants he'd given you. Blink and he's watching Jungkook dab at your bloody cheek, blink and you're turning into his hand to nuzzle as he wakes you for sunday morning breakfast. Blink and there’s sunlight spilling across your face and blood slipping down your chin. Namjoon's smallest and most sensitive pup not so innocent anymore.)

Namjoon touches Hobi's throat with no small amount of reverence. it cools the anger in his throat. Namjoon's anger has no good place to go.

When Hobi closes his eyes, he sees it too; the explosion of the bullet and the splat of blood pouring down his face. The shower earlier felt so similar- he almost couldn't handle it. He had to concentrate on Jungkook's voice narrating everything.

"Here Hobi, I'm gonna use some soap now. I like Tae's body wash. You know she always just picks whatever bottles are pinkest because she wants all her toiletries to match. It smells good, doesn't it? Can you take a deep breath for me? Through your nose?"

Endless meaningless Jibber jabber to distract all of them.

Now he shivers and shakes in Namjoon's hold. One part terror and one part near frostbite. Namjoon turns the heat up but Hobi still shakes as Namjoon checks his throat. "Open for me baby- that's a good boy."

He flashes a light down there, listening with his stethoscope. The cold metal end of it presses against his collarbones and the bruises too. Finger-shaped that lace over his jugular like a collar. Over Hobi's heart. Every thump ba-thump ba-thump music to Namjoon's ears.

Namjoon’s growl is soothing as he scoots closer to gather the injured alpha close to his chest. Shushing Hobi as he tries to speak for the dozenth time in the last hour. “Don’t try it, careful- I don’t think he did any lasting damage but-”

Namjoon breaks and his forehead drops to Hoseok’s shoulder, fingers rub out soothing circles on Hobi's wrist even as he starts to cry. Namjoon already stitched up the deep puncture wound there. He had to hold his wrist still as he dabbed the stingy antiseptic, the impulse to pull it away too great. The wound wasn't from a bullet but from the piece of the door that embedded itself in Hobi’s wrist. Blown apart the way he could have been.

Namjoon was so close to losing everything, to losing them.

The bruises, Hobi’s eyes, and his little raspy breaths. Everything both punishment and payment for every violent thing Namjoon wants to do. He feels powerless to do more than hold the smaller alpha right now. The strength in his arms doing little to protect Hobi from the hurts he's already nursing. Hoseok leans his head on Namjoon's shoulder and Just lets the alpha hold him.

If he’d come home to the four of you dead what would he have done? more accurately- What wouldn’t he have done?

Namjoon imagines it- the same way he's imagined it thousands of times. Tae's blood on her lips as pretty as any lip stain. Jin on the floor, his little big love wrapped up in permanent stillness like a mating shroud. Your body turned small and quiet the way you'd been when he'd met you- only so much worse. Hobi with his heart slow and absent of his near-constant music. Bodies stiff as statues, turned alters meant to worship both grief and love.

He’d probably have demanded Jimin and Yoongi tell him everything they knew. And then he’d have gone hunting.

Namjoon lets out a shaky breath and pulls away from Hoseok only to continue dabbing at his wounds. The violence of his alpha's instincts calmed by the sanctity of this- of making it better. of being gentle even when namjoon wants to be anything but.

Hoseok’s mute. Throat too swollen to make more than a soft hissing sound on command. Vocal cords not damaged just swollen. Leaving his brain to hurdle through the last few hours. Eyes closed but his mind wide open.

He sees it all behind his eyes; your hand descending with the frying pan, the explosion of wood near his head. The splat of hot blood against the wood floor. Gasping and getting blood in his mouth accidentally. Choking in it- drowning a little. Everything. The sting of smoke on his eyes. Your words ring in his ears like the final notes of a symphony.

“You can take me. I’ll go with you. Willingly. That’s what she wants isn’t it?”

Hoseok’s brain teases through what you might have meant with that. The unnamed she that you mention. Who, why, and what aren’t you telling them? Is it the woman that Yoongi talked to you about before?

He's unable to say anything to Namjoon even as the alpha softy cradles his damaged throat. Unable to even whisper it out through the swelling that threatens to cut off Hobi's airway. It feels like he's breathing through a straw. Namjoon says he's not going to choke, that it only feels that way. The panic is hard to let go of.

But who do you have to go back to there? You've never talked about the family like you wanted them, like they were your pack. Who have you run from? What monsters are here to haunt you? Who is after you? Or is it something darker- more sinister?

Maybe Hoseok's heart has never truly healed from Yoongi leaving them. Maybe a wounded heart remembers. Yoongi always had them to go back to that Hoseok had never questioned. But he's never wondered about you or stopped to consider that maybe, Yoongi's not the only one who left something.

The family doesn't exactly seem like something you can walk away from unscathed. Yoongi managed it, but Jimin didn't.

Hoseok should warn Namjoon, should tell someone but- it's impossible. His airway protesting with an agonizing twinge with every attempt he makes at speaking. He wonders if this is what being nonverbal felt like for you.

The pain pulses dully without adrenaline to dilute it as Namjoon so lovingly examines the marks, again and again. But he shouldn't be spending so much time. You and Tae are bruised and battered too- even if Hoseok’s are by far the worst; you need tending to.

Jin’s hands. Your face. Tae’s head. Hoseok’s throat. Each of you has lost the thing most necessary to your survival.

Hoseok thinks of the body, not the one that sits downstairs, but the one that you found months ago in the ocean. Maybe this wasn’t a coincidence. Maybe none of this was. How far back do the coincidences go? Between Jin and Yoongi who wouldn't have a relationship to stand on without Yoongi's family- how many other things in the pack are because of this?

Hoseok struggles to speak, to talk to Namjoon about what you'd almost done, what you'd almost bartered- but nothing but air comes out, and the pack alpha shushes him. His hands grip Namjoon's shoulders hard.

Namjoon wishes he had more than just numbing cream and sutures for Hobi’s hurts. Jimin’s already offered up some of his opioids for Hobi to sleep and as much as Namjoon hates the idea of anyone swapping medication- Hobi might actually need them.

Jimin’s doctor had been a little bit liberal with them, sure that his 6 on the pain scale had to be at least a 9. He could spare one or two. The truth is that nothing hurts more than this- seeing the people that you love in pain. Jimin and Namjoon save their 10s for days like this.

With the blood cooling, Namjoon’s anger has nowhere to go. The body in the basement has already gone cold.

In the quiet of the house they can audibly hear Seokjin and Yoongi start mixing the concrete. The dull scrape of a shovel against a bucket and the sound of a faucet dripping.

Namjoon wipes at Hobi’s throat, and Hoseok tries again- futile in his efforts to speak. Namjoon shushes him.

In the basement it goes; drip, scrape, drip.

~-~

Jungkook holds Tae up underneath the warm spray of water. The glass is foggy in places and clear and others, occasional spots of red water joining the constellation of them. She rests against Jungkook's chest, her body is prone and almost lifeless. Eyes vacant and glassy.

So shaky and tired as her body rockets down from its adrenaline high. A drop so abrupt that she could hardly hold herself up. A drop so terrifying that Jungkook must do it for her.

He doesn't mind, none of him minds as he cradles the back of her head oh so gently. Tae flinches, whether from pain or the sudden movement. Jungkook meets Jimin's eyes through the foggy glass and then yours. Biting his lower lip before Jimin nods and tells him to keep going.

Evidence is evidence. Washing off can’t wait.

Jimin has joined you upstairs with the body already packed away and on its way to being buried under the foundation of the house. Jimin watches on from outside the shower as he instructs Jungkook in a quiet voice on how to clean Tae of evidence properly. He's been quiet since then. Staring at them while Tae stares blankly back.

You watch them from where you sit. Mostly you just watch Tae. When Namjoon's body doesn’t block your view. He stitches the gash on your forehead, hands pulling the sutures closed in a gentle and practiced way. The pass of the needle through your skin a distant sensation.

The wounds on your hands are in that awkward place of not being deep enough for stitches but still a little too deep to not need something. After a brief debate, Namjoon sealed them with a bit of non-surgical glue that stung terribly and then regular gauze over the top.

Your hands are swelling and clotting. Scabbing although trying to touch anything is too painful. Closing your fingers at all hurts. Namjoon holds you so lightly it hardly feels like he's holding you at all.

Namjoon apologizes after every wince.

The second he’s done he tosses his suture kit into the bathroom sink with a clang the second he’s done. Namjoon gets on his knees before you. The plastic that covers the whole bathroom crackling as he does.

Jimin had the great idea to cover the bathroom with sheets of plastic to cut down on the cleanup. Hoseok's bloody footprints join Tae's trailing from the doorway to the shower. Join the trail that you left. Parts of you are still dripping.

"It's going to scar," Namjoon says, a little sadly. Thumb skimming over the mark on your forehead.

You swallow hard. You still taste blood. You want to brush your teeth; you want to shut the lights off and go to sleep. You want Noodle and you want Yoongi you want everything from the past few hours- the past few years to be gone and over with. You want-

You want to snap at him and tell him that it doesn't matter that it will scar. That you're covered with scars already and you don't care but-

Namjoon kisses your forehead. A lingering brush. The one spot that's not bloody.

You look over at Tae and her eyes flicker blankly to you. Jungkook keeps bringing the boar bristle brush up and down her back in soothing little circles.

When you turn back to Namjoon he's pursing his lips and blinking away tears as he looks down at your hands. You resist the urge to say you’re sorry. You’re not sure what for. The terrible feral hunger in you gone as quick as it's come.

Namjoon’s fingers wrap around the hollow of your knees, and you meet his eyes, even though you don’t want to. It feels too much like a confession already.

“I’m going to say this now, before you get any ideas; This is not your fault and I am not mad at you and Tae for doing what you did-”

“Namjoon-”

He continues on, words rushing out. “I’m proud of you pup, so proud. I’m sorry that I wasn’t here. I promise I won’t disappoint you again as pack alpha-” You cover his mouth with your hand, gauze and all.

The bit of gauze over your palm is already turning bloody. It's hard to tell if it's your blood or if it's his. You’re the last one to shower. The last one to get clean. Namjoon shouldn’t be touching you at all.

And yet he does, yet he cradles your face, brushes the tears from your cheeks, gets blood on his hands. Evidence is evidence, but love has a steeper sort of price if you don't express it when you can.

When you take your hand away, Namjoon doesn’t try to speak again. someone says something that you don't hear, that you can't hear.

Namjoon stands and when you look up, Jungkook has the shower door open for you.

Because the bandages and the glue on your hands can’t get wet Namjoon binds your hands with Ziplock bags and duct tape. The plastic rustles, and you follow Hobi's bloody footprints into Jungkook’s arms. Namjoon closes the door behind you.

Every bit of plastic is going to get melted down later, until all the blood and terror evaporates through something as simple and trivial as fire. Fire will cleanse it of all evidence, as sure as the burning water you step under.

You're not quite sure what you're going to do about the bullet holes in the walls or the blown-apart door to the upstairs bedroom, but Yoongi’s always had a handle on the home improvement stuff.

Jungkook helps you disrobe off your bloodied clothing. Lifting your shirt over your head and stooping, telling you to hold onto his shoulders so that he can take off your sweatpants. You're pretty sure they're Yoongi's but there's no time to get sentimental as he puts them inside a garbage bag along with Tae's and Hobi's clothes.

Everything on your person is evidence. When you look back Namjoon's gone, summoned by Jin's distant call from downstairs. It's just Jimin outside of the shower. watching you, but mostly watching Tae.

You’d be more self-conscious of your nude body if your brain wasn’t still racing. It’s hard to do much with the bags on your hands. But Jungkook squirts out a healthy dollop of your favorite shampoo and gets to work once the conditioner is in Tae’s hair. She sits like a discarded ball-jointed doll on the built-in bench. Her long hair hair stuck like a sheet over her eyes.

Nothing is as important as making sure you’re not found out. And the frothy shampoo turns rusty around Jungkook's fingers. You have to have a lot of blood on your face. All the water that rolls off of you goes pink.

Jungkook is gentle even by your hairline scratching against your scalp with his fingers. The skin there is tender. Namjoon taped a bit of gauze over the sutures too. You don't remember when he did that.

You make a noise. “Too rough?” his voice has something unreadable in it, something soft and concerned.

You don't respond because Yoongi makes his reappearance at the doorway. The black shirt he wears is dusty at the front from the concrete. His eyes single focused on you the second he enters the room. You stare at him the way that Tae stares at Jimin. Jungkook just huffs and pulls you a little more snugly against his chest.

Tae stands in the corner of the shower, still staring at Minnie. Minnie who stares back, practically not blinking. Both of their anguish are hidden behind glass. Like fish in tanks that could never get out. Not really.

Part of Tae gets washed away down the drain. Swirling and gurgling down and down with no one to notice.

Tae stares off blankly into space. Sometimes Jimin talks to her and sometimes he hums through the glass, he'd be in there too if his bandages couldn't get wet either. If Namjoon hadn’t yanked him back from the doorway and told him that he couldn't.

Jungkook takes the boar bristle brush to your body too. Everything has to be scrubbed multiple times until your skin feels nearly raw from it. Tae’s fingernails, her arms, your neck, the side of your face, the hollow at the inside of your arms. Your knees. Everywhere.

He apologizes when he goes over bruises, wincing, clutching you a little tighter, a little closer to make up for the pain. But Jungkook is meticulous as he cleans of evidence until you feel groomed clean. Until there’s no more blood swirling down the drain just clear water, and the light outside has turned pearly and blue in the twilight.

Tae's still silent. She's been quiet beyond the occasional heartbreaking whimper since you both killed that man. Eventually, You push at Jungkook's hands with a pointed look in her direction where she's slumped and he goes with a soft nod. Two omega's taking care of their alphas.

Jungkook’s delicate with Tae’s head, gentle in the way he cradles the bruising, half hidden by her hair. Washing out the conditioner with a quiet hum. Namjoon had diagnosed her with a concussion pretty quickly, it's not a crack in her skull plate but she's not going to go putting her hair up in a bun any time soon.

Jungkook alternates from you to Tae. One moment you're standing, the next Jungkook is taking you up gently from the floor and Yoongi is at the glass, hand on the door- looking at you anxiously. Letting out a volley of cursing. You can't remember the last time you heard him use language like that.

"Hyung she's fine- she's just slippery, I've got her."

Their voices are so soft and grave and so quiet. Or is it just that you can’t hear it? Why are their voices so far away and muffled? Sometimes Yoongi is here and sometimes he isn't. Sometimes Jungkook is holding you, talking to Namjoon about something, and other times he and Yoongi are talking. Keeping their voices low. Your ears ring. It's so loud it deafening.

“Do you need me to take over?” Yoongi asks Jungkook. Jungkook has blood on his feet, from you or Tae you’re not sure, it soaks the hair there. Jungkook’s got hairy fucking feet for an omega- you’re not sure why you’re concentrating on it. Why you’re noticing all these things now. Cataloging little things about them like you might never get the chance to notice them again.

Your heart beats quick, fear still consuming you even though the danger has passed. You look down at the tiled floor and the room spins.

You don’t feel a thing when you close your eyes. You don’t feel anything when you think of the man that you just killed. You don’t feel anything but roaring, like the crashing of the ocean or the sound when you lift your ear to a shell. The hearing in your left ear where the gun went off feels…off, muffled. You put your hand up to toy with it and freeze when you realize it isn't right.

"Guys" You paw at your ear. But they don't seem to hear you.

"No, I've got them.”

“We need to clean up the downstairs. Kookie, where do you keep the oxyclean?”

"Guys"

They still don't hear you. Maybe you're not making a sound at all just mouthing the words. Your movement gets Tae's attention and her eyes focus for the first time in hours. Slumped on the bench, her hand grips the tiled edge hard as she tries to stand but can't. Jungkook hands Yoongi something through the steam, the black trash bag full of bloody clothes.

The notice Tae trying to get to you first. she hits the floor with a small thud and tugs her way over to you. You make a noise in your throat- a distressed chirp that makes the alphas flinch. Tae cups your cheek as you dig your finger in, slippery from the plastic- and pull something small and fleshy out of your ear.

It's soft and squishy. A curved piece of pink and white brain matter. A little bloody but bleached from the water.

You try to stand to your feet but teeter, shaking, staring down at the chunk of person that you just got out of you, that was just in you.

For a second, no one says anything, but then-

“That’s so fucking gnarly.” Your head jerks up in Jungkook’s direction.

"I think I'm going to be sick," Tae actually does look a little green, but it's good to hear her voice at the very least. She hauls herself over to the drain and starts to dry heave.

"Oh tae don't-" the sound of vomit hitting the floor joins the sound of the shower. You don't look at her. just at the lump of person in your hand.

"Someone please take it from me," Jimin is already there opening the glass door and holding out a cloth for you to place it in.

Yoongi presses his hands to the glass as he watches you struggle to grab the brush that Jungkook was using on you from the floor after finally getting your feet under you. Jungkook is torn, his hand on Tae's shoulder as she wretches turning from her to you like he doesn't know what to do or who to help first.

You don't care about the state of your hands you just need to get clean. You Ignore the twinge of pain in your hands as you try and get the bottle of body wash open. Ripping off the plastic bags that cover your hands when you can't unclick the cap immediately. frustrated and panicking. You ignore Jimin calling your name. The gauze falls to the floor with a wet thwack and you take the boar bristle brush to your hands. Cuts and all.

Big hands stop you. Hands that dwarf yours. Hands that you'd know blind.

Yoongi's standing under the spray fully clothed, the water pinning down his hair and quickly soaking him. His hands tangling with yours, taking the brush from you. Wordless as he grabs your wrists and jerks you forward hard.

He holds on until you stop shaking. resting against his chest. guiding your face to his scent gland. "Take a deep breath for me now sweetheart- there you go- just like that."

Jungkook doesn't say anything and neither does Jimin, not as Yoongi starts to wash you again. Jungkook just stoops to lift Tae and place her back on the bench. She goes easy, limp, and doll-like. But she's almost done- she's almost clean. Tae pushes at Jungkook’s shoulders.

"I’m fine. I need to wait for the nausea to pass before I try getting out of here.”

With you, it's going to take a little longer.

Jungkook has already shampooed your hair, but he does it again. The telltale signs of rusty red in the peach-scented shampoo. Bubbling orange-pink. Yoongi does it slower, gentler- it feels more normal. Like the slow loving you're used to.

“Do you ever feel like-” your voice is a little crackly from all the screaming you did earlier. You hate how the terror makes you not remember all the details. Did you make any sound while you killed him? Did you say anything through the rage?

The others are looking at you but you have eyes for just Jimin. his hand tightens to fists, knuckles pressed against the glass. eyes darkening ever so slightly. “Do you ever not feel guilty? About killing people Minnie?”

You are nude, as bare as you’ve ever been before him, it's hard to be self-conscious about it. Maybe this would be a little sexier- showering with Tae and Jungkook and Yoongi with an audience if you weren't literally trying to cover up a very violent murder.

You remember the words Jimin had said to you weeks ago now. “Would you kill for me?” “I’d do worse” you wonder if this qualifies as worse. You can’t imagine what would be much worse than this.

Jungkook's hands are rough as they massage a bit of soap down your back but instead of being comforting, it feels like you’re going to vibrate out of your skin.

Jimin hums. Eyeing Tae still sprawled on the built-in bench. Jimin gathers his thoughts before he speaks. “In my contract, at the beginning-” He starts but cuts off as you start to slip. Jungkook's hands find you, helping Yoongi hold you up more properly. Your mate doesn't let Jungkook take you entirely just moves a bit to the side to give him space. Any other day you'd love to be in the middle of a yoonkook sandwich but-

“Your contract?” he nods, blond hair bobbing. Yoongi meticulously removes the dried blood from under your fingernails, careful to hold your glue sutures out of the direct spray.

“I specified that I’d only ever kill bad people. of course I got a little lazier after I got used to it." He shoots an anxious glance in Tae's direction, but she's still just sitting. "But at the beginning, I’d go back and look through their files to try to find out what they’d done to warrant a hit getting taken out on them. I couldn’t always find a reason but most of the time I did."

You can see it in his face, that Jimin doesn't want to say that they deserved it. Because if they deserved a violent ending then you could say the same about the 8 of you. Jungkook's hands get a little close to the nape of your neck and you turn to him and snap.

"Don't scruff me."

"Sorry." You need it. Is what he doesn't say.

“Most of the time it was worth it?” You cling to his words. With Geumjae you’d never had to guess if he deserved it or not but this-

Jimin’s eyebrows are brought into a hard line, “Karma is a fickle thing. Sometimes it never comes but-” his eyes are downcast, "Sometimes it's a good thing, being the karma."

You sit quietly, digesting his words. Your lower lip trembles, and you don’t know if you feel terrible or better when the tears just won’t come. Yoongi delicately cradles your body, wrapping his arms around your waist from behind and pulling you back against his chest.

“Yoongi.”

“Let me hold you for a minute.” You do, body sagging under the weight of your exhaustion.

Tae teeters in Jungkook’s hold, but she pushes against his hands weakly when he tries to make her stand again. Her voice sounds warbly and fragile when she shakes her head. “I’m still dizzy.”

He tries to guide her gently back to the bench, but she doesn't make it that far. Pushing away his hands when she descends to the marble floor. Closer to the wall, Closer to Minnie who mirrors her, falling to the floor too. Getting as closer to her as he can without being in the shower.

Jimin lets out a sad and bitter-sounding laugh and Tae smiles in reply while Jungkook and Yoongi share an anxious glance over your head.

He's still grinning, words twisting, eyes shining with sorrow and fondness. “You couldn’t wait 24 hours until you had to make it even, didn’t you?”

Tae closes her eyes as her smile twists and she starts to cry “Where you go, I go. We’re the same now Minnie.” Jimin doesn't mean to ask what she means. He knows.

If you're a killer I'm a killer. If you're damned, I'm damned. Even though neither of them believes in God or heaven or damnation. Not really. Not anymore. It's very half-hearted.

(I don't know if it's worth wondering if the people you love are bad people, I think when worse comes to worse, you just put the heaviness down and keep on loving them anyway).

Jimin’s eyes are soft on her, the way that they only ever are with Tae. He places his hand on the glass fogging around his fingertips. She doesn’t match his hands, just leans her cheek against it. Love is only a thin layer of glass away.

You know it hurts her a little bit, must make the dysphoria a little harder to breathe through, to let Jimin and Jungkook see her like this; just the long hair and nothing delicate to cloth her soul in. A soul that now you’ve irreparably tarnished.

A soul that is damaged beyond repair now thanks to you.

It is your fault. All of this is because of you. all of this pain and anguish and damage is because of the choices you've made. the stupid idiotic childish choices. If you'd never needed it- if you'd just been strong enough- Tae could have been whole. Tae could have been unharmed. Hobi and Jin too- if you’d just-

Back at the hospital, Tae had so many questions about Jimin’s job, so many questions about when and where, and why. But she finds her head empty of them in the aftermath. She has no desire to learn anything else about Jimin’s job. Not now that she knows what killing feels like.

Tae is never going to be able to look at red nail polish the same way again.

Jungkook reaches over and turns off the water.

~-~

Eventually, you finish washing. Wrapped up in fluffy white towels that will have to be burned too. The house smells like bleach and gunpowder. It covers everything.

Even the noodle is looking a little more grubby than usual when he zips by, meowing for someone to give him attention. You hear the saw going and you know that Yoongi is cutting the bullet holes out of the walls while the others clean up the blood.

Your skin feels pink and sensitive were the towel brushes as you go looking for pajamas, you'll get some for the others too. Later, Jin will fuss and ask to put some cream on you. Will massage it in something of an apology and pretend that Yoongi isn't going over the whole house with a blacklight to spot any errant blood splatters.

Later Yoongi will take a wood scraper to the floorboards where the man died, will rip them up, and burn them in the house's ancient fireplace just to be sure that no one finds any evidence.

You'll all pretend that Tae doesn't shake through a panic attack when you have an informal dinner in the nest. jin's rule of "no food in the nest" broken for this. You'll all pretend that Hoseok won't choke choking on all but the smallest sips of water. You'll all pretend. You're good pretenders, good liars too.

Later, Jin will put cream on your skin and dot it all with kisses, the swelling in his hands won't take too long to go down. You'll get the love and You won’t deserve a single second of it.

You don't know how you fooled yourself into thinking you ever deserved it. The last 8 months have been stolen. Not earned.

The one-year anniversary of Geumjae's death comes and passes as you go to the top of the stairs in your towel, Ears straining to hear what's going on downstairs.

There is a lot of talking going on downstairs, between Yoongi, Namjoon, and Jin. About what to do, and how to handle this. Hushed voices kept mostly out of earshot. And other more dangerous questions get asked, with equally as dangerous answers.

One of Jimin's guns sits on the kitchen counter through all of it. No one moves to put it away. They're not sure when they're next going to need it and they'd rather not get caught off guard again.

“I could talk to some people- call them. Some people owe me favors, There has to be some section of the family that doesn’t want her too-“

"Absolutely Not, I am not having you get into some weird ass mafia debt"

"Yeah, jailcell orange is so not your color hyung"

“We stay quiet. For the next 48 hours- it’s likely no one will know what happened. They’re too hurt- we need some time to regroup and think.”

Hobi’s voice is absent from the fray. You hear something quite like he's trying to speak, and someone shushing him softly. Namjoon says that his swelling won’t go down enough to talk until tomorrow. You hear the sound of someone opening the refrigerator to get ice.

The door to the bedroom has been blown apart, and a flurry of bullet holes chewed through the top corner. It sits off its hinges and in two pieces.

You remember watching Yoongi paint the door, sitting at the bottom of the stairs while he worked at the top of it and painted it to match the wallpaper in the staircase, a dark cobalt blue. You remember all of it, every little thing you watched him do to make this house into something worthwhile. To make it into a home and now it's riddled with bullet holes and stained with blood.

It's funny, you hardly remember every little thing he did for you, to make you worthwhile.

You have always been a reminder that you don't make houses out of abandoned buildings, and mates out of monsters that bite.

The water has turned the cuts on your hands white and gummy when you look down at them in the closet room. They’re already oozing, not bleeding, it will be at least a day or two until you can touch anything without discomfort. Namjoon will scold you ever so gently later and re-do your bandages.

The pink curtains are drawn already to keep out any wandering eyes from the outside. This is a dressing room after all. The whole room feels like a blush-toned jewel box and you, the one piece of cheap costume jewelry at the center.

You get up and shut the door before you sit on a small poof- something silky and tufted that Jimin had gotten Tae right after she'd come out.

You sit in your towel and look down at your wounds. Thinking about Tae's concussion. Jin's wrists. Hobi's throat. Both of their blank looks and the violence of death and trying to live. You think it all through, every possible ending to this before you pick up your phone and dial Her number.

Moonbyul picks up on the first ring. It’s like she’s been waiting for your call.

“Did you like your courting present pup?”

Your throat is dry and you don’t know exactly what to say, even less how to say it. She hums at your silence, an alpha's imitation of a purr. Waiting until your quietness builds to a frantic pulse.

In the pack, you've always been the one with the best survival instincts. Geumjae made you this way. Although the pack has spent the last few months trying to heal you; deep down you know you've never been anything more than a scared animal. Fight or Flight. Freeze or fawn.

Bullet to bullet. Tooth to tooth. Heartbeat to heartbeat. This time is different. This time you have something worth protecting.

You stand, no longer able to sit. There is a noise at the door, and you wait with bated breath for someone to come in. They don't come. But you stand and move farther inside. Hoping that the distance will disguise the sound of your whispered conversation.

She continues when it becomes clear you're struggling to speak. “I’ve got another one on the way. Hyejin’s here, wanna say hello? You’re on speaker.”

“Pup,” she giggles, and you feel like you might vomit. It’s a struggle really, not to end the call right there, not to let the fear overtake you. “We haven’t heard back from Spider yet, and I have a feeling someone’s been a little naughty.”

You lift the curtain to look outside, the train chugs past and the cars flit by like the fast small birds searching for seed in the snow. The whole world is grey and flat. The sky is orange from the lights of the city reflecting the clouds. The trees bare of all but a few crumbly leaves. It’s strange how all at once, the train is all you can look at. All you can think about.

You think about hoseok, the night at the train tracks where he stopped you from leaving. When he asked you to stay.

“Tell me what I need to do. Tell me what I need to do to get you to stop this, please.” Your voice sounds off, even for you. Too flat, strange even to your ears.

“I’m afraid we’re too far along for that.”

"Please, please Moonbyul-" You turn, pacing back towards the door. Past Tae’s clothes, past yours, past Jungkook’s, past the alcove where Hobi hangs his sweatshirts for you. You pause there. Looking at them.

“You said- you said when it was over you’d give me anything I wanted. Well I want them alive. Even if-"

Your voice is so shaky, you're careful to make sure you're not overheard. The pack is in the other room, just downstairs. You can hear the distant hum of their sweet voices; the people you love always sound like a melody. Your absence hasn’t been noticed yet.

"Even if I’m not here.”

For once they’re silent on the other end of the line. It’s a full silence, filled with one part lust and one part hunger. Both of them are like Noodle playing with a mouse. Waiting for the right time to drive their teeth in and end this game.

But even mice have teeth. Your hand is holding your phone so hard that the plastic makes your bones ache and your cuts bleed fresh.

“If you don’t let them live, I'll never stop fighting. But if you want me to be willing- If you want me to be your pup the way I think you do."

You can’t even close your hand into a fist with how wrecked your hands are. They hurt with every clumsy movement. you hold the phone. Your every heartbeat lurching with the horror of what you're doing.

I can’t lose them; I can’t be the reason why they die. They'll keep sending people until we're all dead unless I do something.

“All of them, all of them need to be safe, Jimin- you need to let him go of his contract and let him go back to living a normal life and you need to not punish Jin for working for the FBI.” Your words rush over themselves. "Leave my pack alone and I’ll be obedient. I'll be yours. I’ll never try and go back to them again. I won’t ever try and leave. I promise.”

Moonbyul and Hyejin are silent on the other end of the phone. You wait for a few moments. They must be looking at each other, deliberating.

Everything in this room aches. The closet bedroom that Yoongi made he made for you. The wainscotting just so. Everything in this house was crafted with an equal amount of love.

It was never meant to be yours forever, you’ve been keenly aware of this fact since the moment you met Yoongi. Since the moment you met his eyes across the dining room table and the moment his teeth met your skin. Borrowed things don't belong, they never do. Good things do not last. You only get them for as long as you get them and not a moment longer.

You're looking at Hobi's sweatshirts, in the alcove where he stacks them for you to take when Moonbyul and Hyejin respond.

“We'll agree to those terms, but remember their safety depends on your performance."

"You have 24 hours to get to us pup. Make them count.”

The dial tone drones like a funeral drum.

~-~

(Hoseok, a few years prior)

The backroom at the record shop is cramped with all sorts of things from a bygone era;

A mini fridge with a decrepit desktop computer and logbook balanced atop it. Pictures and bulletins glued to the wall from the 1960's. A greasy coffee machine piled high with bags of expired tea. A cramped spot for employees to hang their coats and a yellowing old table with a pair of chairs; both occupied by people also out of place. a beta that has a thing for 1980's rap and an alpha with a broken heart who admittedly loves 2010's pop.

A poster of some glittery showgirl omega from the 20s bats her eyelashes down at Hoseok as he has a mental breakdown. Offering neither comfort nor absolution nor love.

Maybe if he'd been born an omega like that, it would have been easier. Maybe they'd have wanted him then.

Yoongi's hands rub down Hoseok's shoulder, his back, places only lovers have touched. Up and down. An endless circle. An ouroboros of affection nibbling Hoseok's fickle heart. Hoseok aches harder with every passing moment.

Yoongi looks at the clock as Hoseok continues to sob. The shop should be open right now but Yoongi won't let it. It can go out of business for all he cares. As long as no one makes Hoseok get up from this chair before he's ready.

Beta instincts are fickle things, but Yoongi has always had a third sense. Something in him always knows if people are trustworthy and if they need him. Something in their scents or faces or eyes- like small planets reflecting the cosmos back to them. Do planets bear life only when someone is willing to look for them? Do people only deserve help when they're willing to ask for it? or is it like this?

Eventually, Hoseok gets his breath back in his chest and his sobs quiet down. His eyes open bloodshot. All sadness has an expiration date (thankfully). Yoongi's hand slides down his arm and gives his hand a firm squeeze (and stays there).

It's the first time someone's touched Hoseok without wanting something in God knows how long but he's too sad to properly appreciate it or savor it. (Yoongi doesn't want anything from him that Hoseok wouldn't willingly give. Doesn't want anything but his smile. fuck- he's just a co-worker, isn't he?). Who knows when the next touch like this might come? (Yoongi is going to hold his hand tomorrow because Yoongi likes holding people's hands, Jin will give him the tacit permission to do that at least. But all of the pack are keenly aware that Hoseok needs time to heal, no matter how obvious Yoongi's crush and Hoseok's needs).

(Hoseok is definitely not just Yoongi's coe-worker at this point, but saviors come from all sorts of unlikely places)

Eventually Hoseok's sobs quiet and Yoongi sighs, pulling back. He takes one look at hoseok's red nose and pale cheeks and puffs up. "I'm making your hot chocolate and you're going to tell me what's happened."

He gets up like he needs something to do. Like he's tired of taking care of Hoseok. He doesn't take it personally, he's tired of it too.

“My mates they- they kicked me out of our den,” Hoseok confesses. Yoongi's got two mugs in his hands, they thud against the counter when he reaches into one of the cabinets.

It’s warm in here but Hoseok is still thankful for the sweatshirt the beta gave him. Not only for its warmth but for the layer of scent it provides; It’s soaked with the smell of chocolate. So comforting and heavenly that it makes Hoseok a little dizzy when he tucks his nose into it and takes a hefty sniff when Yoongi's got his back turned.

Hoseok was never given the other pack's items, never allowed or encouraged to indulge in their scents. They never asked for his either.

Yoongi hangs both their jackets above the radiator in the back so that they’ll dry faster. He bears an impressive bite mark on his arm, visible because of his short-sleeved shirt. It's bruised just ever so slightly- an alpha bite but not a mating bite because betas don't mate. A mark like that on him is as good a claim as any. Even with the other scents that cling to the sweatshirt.

Hoseok hasn’t known him long, but they’re friends even if they’ve never met up outside of work. You can't not be friends with someone you spend upwards of 30 hours a week with.

Yoongi just hums. "Have you been with them long?"

Hoseok appreciates that Yoongi doesn't use the past tense, his heart too tender around the idea of endings. Some part of him is unconvinced that it really is over. A stubborn heart for a stubborn alpha.

His hair is starting to dry when he nods. "It's been a few years." Hoseok bites his lip, "I could lie and say I didn't see signs but-" his hands end up in his hair, elbows leaning against the creaking yellow table. Tugging a little. "I'm so fucking stupid."

"I don't think you're stupid," Yoongi says, hand on the back of his head. warm rough fingers. Touching him ever so briefly as he passes to put the milk back in the mini-fridge. "It's not stupid to want to find more love where you got it."

But in truth, There's not much more than Yoongi can say. Not much more that he knows to say. He'd never met Hoseok's pack. Whereas Namjoon and Jimin and the pups have a general tendency to linger around Yoongi person at all hours and locations. Stopping by to drop off coffee or just to make funny faces at him through the window when they're on their way to work. Yoongi has never met his co-worker's pack and has never seen much evidence at all on him beyond some vague hints of scents.

That alone is enough of a hint; usually, when people have packmates they're soaked in their scents. Visceral claims to keep any wandering eyes wandering still. He'd be lying if he said he hadn't wondered why Hoseok didn't wear his packmate's scents.

It’s not like the alpha smells bad at all- a little strong sure, but less genetically dominant alphas tend to smell a little sweeter like omegas.

At least that’s what Namjoon says when he feels like info dumping. Late at night when the pack asleep around them and only Yoongi's stayed up to listen. Because Yoongi likes the sound of Namjoon's voice when he gets into the details. Stroking across Namjoon’s bare chest just to feel the alpha's words rumble against his fingertips. His heartbeat against his ear the backtrack for all of it.

Whoever Yoongi’s pack is; they surely love him a lot. That much has been evident since the second that Hoseok met him. Evident in the packed bento boxes and the bunny-eyed omega that walks with him to work sometimes. Or in the tall omega and alpha pair that Hoseok has seen perusing the shelves when he comes in to relieve Yoongi of his shift.

Hoseok has worked here for 6 months. It’s impossible not to collect these details. The hickeys on his throat that he wears after weekends, how ruffled but generally loved Yoongi looks when he comes back from rut and heat leave.

“Is there a reason why they left?” Yoongi tries to be as undiscerning as possible. Voice gentle and measured. Stirring the hot cocoa and putting it in front of Hoseok.

Hoseok takes a sip and it feels like he's drinking a cup of the beta in front of him. Yoongi melts a little into the chair at the happy noise Hoseok makes.

It's good. Really good actually, Yoongi uses twice as much Swiss mix as the package instructs and a tablespoon of honey to boot. More chocolate can never be a bad thing.

Before Hoseok has a chance to respond, The phone next to the cabinet rings. And Yoongi takes it off the stand and hangs it up again in quick secession so that it doesn’t ring anymore. It has to be important but he ignores it for Hoseok's sake. Yoongi does a lot of ordering for the shop, the rare records that their boss is always trying to source and sell. It's a lot of chasing down leads and curators.

(This is not true. This is a lie that Yoongi and his boss have fed him. This phone is set up for the family's use. Hoseok doesn’t know that most of the calls Yoongi answers are more delicate than just simple stock orders.)

“I just found out that my brother has stolen from me, what should his punishment be beta?”

“How much did he steal?”

“300k”

Yoongi swallows, fighting his narrow margin of benevolence. The drops of mercy that he's allowed to show without suspicion. He tells himself that the other beta would order a far worse. People only call him when they want lighter punishment.

“A finger for every 100 then.”

The people who call ask him all manner of things. Things like “I think my child might be planning on going to the police, what should I do before anyone finds out about it?” He is both a secret keeper and a jury.

“Send them away. Out of sight and out of mind of anything that they might be able to share. I hear the military academies are lovely this year. So much snow. Yes, they take omega recruits.”

“My firstborn child presented as an omega instead of an alpha. They're my firstborn and heir, how should I proceed?”

“I can ask around for an advantageous match but I’m sorry, there is no fixing presentation.”

Hoseok hasn’t seen a phone like that in years. Didn’t even know they made old-fashioned ones like that anymore. Ones with a dial, the blue plastic worn from the number of times Yoongi's had to pick it up. It doesn't stay silent for long, ringing soon after yoongi's hung it up.

“I'm the only- they’re an all-omega group.” As if by the mention of his sub gender Hoseok’s angry burning sugar scent fills the room. In reply, Yoongi’s sweetness rises. Hoseok takes another sip and pretends it's just the hot chocolate warming his cheeks. “I guess they wanted to keep it that way.”

"I've got two omegas and they keep me on my toes, I can't imagine four." That gets a laugh out of Hoseok.

"You've got a bunch of alphas in yours though, right?" A bunch already, I wouldn't be needed. Hoseok has seen them, the tall one with dimples that looks like something out of a soap opera. The scary-looking one with the chubby cheeks who's always holding hands with the pretty academic one who likes the jazz in the corner.

Yoongi nods, "That must be nice," Hoseok's eyelashes are all clumped together from the tears. "Having so many people to take care of you."

Yoongi hums, knuckles brushing Hoseok’s hand on the table. It’s just one tender touch but Hoseok starts to break. To crumple.

Yoongi senses Hoseok breaking, pulling him in close before he has a chance to really fracture (he comes just in time, Yoongi loves Hoseok just in time). Yoongi’s scent alone is enough to soothe him- beyond the way he guides the alpha to rest against his throat. Hoseok fights it only a little, what's a little scenting among friends?

They're not just friends, it's not just scenting.

Hoseok wants to bury his nose in the beta’s throat, but that wouldn’t be appropriate, not with the scent of so many others clinging to him. He still sags into the hug. Turns his face away to avoid the temptation.

“They didn’t even tell me- and now the lease on the apartment is up and I can’t afford it on my own and-“ I’m so scared and I just wish there was someone to take care of me. I wish I was a pup again.

They sit like that at the table and Yoongi just lets him cry, He pulls back after his sobbing has cooled. They hug until they both smell like gooey chocolate chip cookies with too much brown sugar.

Hoseok sniffles, “We have to open up the shop,” Yoongi's arms tighten around Hoseok's shoulders in reply.

“It can wait a few more seconds.” Hoseok wants to say that the owner wouldn’t like that but he doesn’t.

Yoongi sips and hesitates. “Do you have a place to stay tonight?” Hoseok pauses for a second, flushing before he shakes his head. “Okay, it's okay. You can say with me.”

“Are- are you sure they won't mind?” But Yoongi is already typing away on his phone, shooting a quick text to the pack group chat (a chat that Hoseok will be added to in exactly 23 days, but who's counting?)

“Not at all. It’s a bit cramped with all of us but we have a spare bed in the closet room that Tae likes to read on sometimes- Jungkook's boss slept there last night after they came back from drinking and Namjoon was so mad- he won't be mad about you though- it's just that Jungkook- he just really shouldn't be drinking."

"Is he underaged?"

"No, he's just got health issues."

"Oh." Yet another person who gets the love he needs, the care he needs. Hoseok tries and fails miserably not to be jealous over Yoongi's omega whom he's never met.

He won't be jealous for long. Later Jungkook is going to challenge him to an arm wrestle just to prove he doesn't need babying. Beating alphas in feats of strength is his favorite thing. He'll feel Hoseok’s hand in his and get completely distracted. "Wow, you've got like- really pretty hands!" and drag them close to his to compare sizes. He'll be smitten nearly instantly with Jungkook- for what it's worth. The jealousy only lasts for a few hours.

Within a few seconds his phone is ringing off the hook, he shows Hoseok the chorus of, “Yes it’s okay!” and “Poor thing, tell him he can stay as long as he wants.” "Of course hyung!" "Does Hoseok like kimchi-jjigae or should we just order pizza?" “Oh! Can we get some with pineapple?” “Gross Jk.” "Yeah we all know Minnie doesn't like the aftertaste of burnt fruit."

And Hoseok can't help but feel like he doesn’t deserve this kindness and such an effortless acceptance. There is a knock at the front door before he can say anything. A few short taps against the glass. Yoongi tells Hoseok to stay put while he goes to deal with a pushy customer who wants in. Leaving him alone in the backroom with his cooling hot coco and the poster still staring down at him.

(They say two can keep a secret if one of them is dead, but that's not the only way a secret stays buried; the best secrets are the ones you’re not even aware of.

Out of all the people in your pack. Hoseok is the only one in possession of a secret like this. The best kinds of secrets are the ones you don't even know are secrets see- he doesn't even know that this memory is enough to save you. Hoseok is entirely unaware that in his mind lies this memory.

Hoseok was the first person to get on the no-kill list, and it wasn’t because of Yoongi.

All packmates of a Don get put on the list;

no matter if they're active or past.)

Sitting at that yellowing wood table; Hoseok feels more settled now that he knows he has a place to sleep tonight that isn’t this backroom. Pulling the sleeve of Yoongi’s sweatshirt over his palms and sniffing at the collar where it was pushed up against Yoongi’s scent gland.

If he thinks hard, he can pick out a few scents here and there soaking the fabric. (Milky Omega Jin, Honey Sweet Puppy Jungkookie, Cinnamon sweet Alpha Tae and vanil-lalalala Jimin, Coffee Alpha Namjoon and Chocolate Yoongi).

It's so different from his ex-pack's scents. Their sugary sweet omega peppermint and sharp lemony evergreen, winter berry and pine, the cold smart of snow against his nose. His burning caramel scent- so off-putting. The one scent not Christmas-themed. The one that didn’t fit.

By comparison- Yoongi's pack smells like a bakery in summer. Every scent that could be added to a cake maybe (one day, in the kitchen, he’ll eat your tiramisu and realize yes- that’s exactly what it’s missing. Your cakey scent makes them all complete, the warmth of baking things).

He has somewhere to go now. Somewhere to be. Someone to trust. He trusts Yoongi- even if they’ve only known each other for a handful of short months.

And Yoongi’s pack can’t be worse than his last one.

As if in reply to Yoongi’s phone (buzzing with more texts that he doesn't check because Hoseok is nothing if not respectful of people's digital privacy. If he checked he would see "Is that the hot coworker you're always talking about? The one who always looks a little sad?")

Hoseok’s phone buzzes with the notification he's been waiting for.

Pack Omega 🌙 calling.

Pick up? Decline?

Hoseok hasn't yet gotten around to changing her contact information. He scrambles at it, spilling the hot cocoa across the table as he rushes to pick it up. Scrambling to get to it before it goes to voice mail. Blood pounding in his ears.

Hoseok’s voice is broken as he says his pack omega’s name, his old pack omega’s name.

“Byulyi- Moonbyul please-”

Moonbyul is cold on the other side of the phone. Maybe she’d have liked him more, and wouldn’t have given up on him if he didn't beg. But Hoseok has never been above begging. Not for love. Not for the thing he wants and needs the most. Hoseok needs love more than air and as Yoongi said- it's easiest to go looking for love where you once got it.

Even when you know it could hurt you.

Her voice is flat and unaffected. “I just wanted to make sure you found a place to stay tonight. Are you still going to be around to give the landlord the keys?”

Hoseok finds himself nodding even though he knows she can’t see him. “Yes- I can do that, I can do anything you want. Can we talk?”

“No.”

“Moonbyul please-”

“Goodbye Hoseok.” She says, hanging up after a second. Hoseok looks at the phone. Pushing the button to redial. It doesn't go. She’s already blocked him.

It will be a long time until Hoseok hears from his last pack again, a long long time until he says their names again. He will remember the way he’d begged, the way her name had sounded smack dab in the middle of it. And hate hate Hate how it makes him feel. He won't ever say their names, regret and self-disgust getting in the way.

It's a little funny, thinking of how different things might have gotten if he'd just told yoongi their names. If he hadn't let his alpha pride get in the way. A few days from now they'll talk about it together. "I don't like the way saying their names makes me feel- it feels- I hate how much I want to say it- to see them again- saying their names just reminds me of the power they had over me."

Never again, will Jung Hoseok beg for someone to give him the bare minimum. This is his lowest point. The moment where it shifts- for good.

His head is in his hands when Yoongi comes back into the room. Still sniffling, crying yet again. Yoongi sets a palm in his hair, ruffling it. Eyeing the spilled hot cocoa with a raised eyebrow.

“If you wanted coffee you could have just said so-“ he makes an attempt at levity and is rewarded with Hoseok’s small snort. Wiping his wet cheeks. Neither of them is aware of the secret. Neither of them is aware and so much worse off for it."

Hoseok grins, “Are you buying hyung?”

~-~

Please Like, Comment, and Reblog! Every bit of encouragement helps me write the next chapter!

Come tell me what you liked about this chapter!

Series Masterlist ~ Donate ~ Twitter

~-~

Notes:

in the story there has always been this question- mainly raised by jimin during his secret chapters- if the m/c is actually in love with them or if she's just manipulating them- at the beginning of this chapter- we actually see jimin finally dispel the last bit of him that thinks even a little bit that this is the case. once he sees how much she put her body on the line- that question isn't even in the back of his mind- even a little. i ended up re-editing this part alot because of it.

every time i write something from jimin's pov i'm always like "why is everything so meandering? why are things disjointed?" and then i remember that's literally jimin's character- that he is in a lot of ways an unreliable narrator.

(TW) i have this idea in my head that namjoon DOES NOT become a good person in the event that all of them die like- a whole separate idea of him becoming a doctor for the family through yoongi's connections with the soul purpose of one day killing moonbyul and her entire pack…including their pups on accident which ends up destroying the last bit of namjoon's innocence as a person…and he ends up becoming one of the families assassins alongside jimin as a result, in this event jungkook does not stay with them and instead moves on and yoongi stays and tries to get them to stop only to ask them to kill him as their last kill because he's unable to cope with the loss of jin, hobi, the m/c and tae. BUT ANYWAY I DIGRESS THAT IS NOT THIS STORY.

i think in this story there is this really interesting dynamic of femininity and death and morality- that being said red nail polish is definitely a metaphor for whose comfortable killing and who isn't. i like the contrast between tae who will never wear red nails again- vs the moon pack who all are not allowed out of the nest if their nailpolish isn't perfect like- thats another layer of the fucked up shit.

are you suprised that the m/c is going to leave? Did you see it coming from a mile away? i mean...it is in the title of the series 😈

….the parallel between hobi losing his voice and the m/c not having a voice at the beginning of the series- you can project whatever meaning you want onto that <3

also on that subject the line "Jin’s hands. Your face. Tae’s head. Hoseok’s throat. Each of you has lost the thing most necessary to your survival." it's worth mentioning that thats not what i think is the most necessary thing to their survival but it is their own interpretation of what keeps them alive. like i for one actually think that the m/c is a lot more pragmatic than anyone gives her credit for but i digress. i could go on about all of their strenghts.

what did you guys think about hobi's secret reveal???? a fair amount of people have guessed it and i think when someone got it at the beginning of the series i lied and said it wasn't- i'm allowed to be an unreliable narrator too!!! kudos to everyone who got it! i feel like it could have been revealed better and originally the big one off was slated for next chapter but i decided to shift it to this one (mostly because i think the next chapter is about to get up there in terms of word count tbh 😭) but T-T its done now! please give me praise because i'm baby and this week has honestly been really hard

#bts omegaverse au #bts a/b/o #bts x reader #bts poly au #bts gang au #bts mafia au #bts polyamory au #bts au #bts fluff #bts hurt/comfort #bts werewolf au #bts angst bts omegaverse fic #bts hybrid fic #min yoongi fic #kim namjoon fic #kim seokjin fic #kim taehyung fic #park jimin fic #jeon jungkook fic #jjk #pjm #myg #knj #kth #ksj #jhs #jung hoseok fic #min yoongi x reader #kim namjoon x reader #kim seokjin x reader

[starlostastronaut]

DAY 03 | A STATE OF MIND

PAIRING: bang chan x reader

GENRE: angst, hurt/comfort, eventual fluff

WC: 1.76k

CW: (not only) appearance insecuritues (chan), mentions of hate comments, implied panic attack/mental breakdown (chan), there's crying, and lot of kisses, y/n used like once, chan gets called baby

PROMPT: you're beatiful - the rose

well, the angst is here. trust me to take a cute song and turn it into this lol. i promise it gets better as we go, and i don't really go into much detail, but still mind the cw. i still hope you enjoy <3

title from you're beatiful - the rose

general masterlist here

<< previous | mctc masterlist | next >>

You knocked on the door to the 3RACHA + Hyunjin dorm. Tapping your foot against the ground, you waited for one of the boys to let you in. “Come on, guys, come on,” you murmured, growing more and more impatient with every second that passed. This truly was the worst time to forget your keys at home. But you were in such a hurry to get here that the thought of bringing anything but the absolute essentials, such as your phone or the keys to your own apartment, hadn't crossed your mind until you were halfway to the dorm.

When Changbin called you twenty minutes ago, begging you to come over, you weren’t thinking straight. As soon as Chan's name was mentioned, you grabbed your stuff and ran out the door. Poor Changbin didn't even get to finish what was so urgent, but that didn't matter. You will find out when you go there. What mattered was the fact that something was going on with Chan, and you were too far away from him. So there you were, in the hallway of the Stray Kids’ apartment complex, standing in front of the door like an idiot. Just as you were starting to entertain the thought of busting the door down, the doorknob moved and revealed Minho in a similarly distressed state as you. His hair was messy, his hoodie rumpled, and there were a few faint damp patches around his chest and shoulders.

“Thank god you're here.” Minho let out a sigh of relief, ushering you to come inside and towards Chan's room, not even pointing out the fact that you didn't take off your shoes. Oh, so this was really serious then. Minho was very particular about these sorts of things, so the fact that he now completely ignored one of his precious house rules spoke volumes on its own. Walking through the apartment, you noticed the rest of the members sitting or standing around, looking similarly uneasy. Hyunjin and Jisung paused their murmured conversation with Changbin to give you a small wave as a greeting, which you returned. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Seungmin comforting a crying Jeongin, but before you could inspect the scene further, you were dragged away by Minho. “Yongbok is with him right now, but he keeps asking for you,” the dancer said, placing a hand on your shoulder blade and gently nudging you towards the closed door.

“Um… Do you mind telling me what exactly happened? I kind of rushed here before Changbin got the chance to explain.” You ran your hand through your hair, suddenly feeling a bit awkward.

Minho didn't make a big deal out of it. “It's been a hard few weeks for him. And you know how he is, he never tells us anything and keeps it bottled up. I don't know what set it off, but with the deadlines closing in three days and the haters getting more active lately, I guess it got too much. He broke down about an hour ago, and we don't know what to do,” he explained with the same sad and worried tone he greeted you with. You nodded, and Minho carefully opened the door.

Felix raised his head to the noise, and his eyes sparked up when he saw you. Though it wasn't the usual spark in his eyes, this time it was much more bittersweet. I'm glad you're here, and I'm sorry I can't help more. “Chris, Y/N is here,” Felix whispered in English, gently running his fingers through Chan's hair to make him acknowledge the information.

Watching the whole scene unfold in front of you, you could feel your heart breaking into a million pieces. The two boys were sitting on the bed, Chan cuddled up to Felix. At least he wasn't crying anymore, so that was already a step in a better direction. He still had his face buried in the younger one's chest, though. One of Felix's arms was steadily wrapped around Chan, while the other was now massaging his scalp. Chan looked so small and vulnerable, curled up into a ball like that. You had to fight every urge to run over there, pry him out of Felix's arms, and never let go again. But you knew you had to approach carefully.

Kneeling down next to the bed, you gently ran your hand around Chan's back, letting him know you're here. "Baby," you whispered. “Baby, it's me. Can you look at me, please?’ you said, getting up on the bed as well. Felix gave you a weak smile, and slowly, with so much care, he disentangled himself from Chan, who immediately latched onto you, grabbing you with a force you didn't think he was capable of right now. You didn't even notice Felix and Minho leaving the room; all your attention was focused on your boyfriend the moment you saw him.

“Want to tell me what happened?” you gently asked, hugging Chan tighter when he shook his head, mumbling something about wanting to just hold you for a while. You nodded with a sad smile. “Of course.” He'll tell you later, if he wants to. For now, you would just hold him, knowing that just your presence helped him. He said many times in the past that just being close to you always made him feel better. But now that saying has reached a completely new, heartbreaking level. You watched Chan get comfortable with a stinging pain in your chest. It hurt to see him like this, clinging to you like he's drowning and you're the only thing keeping him above the water.

For a while, you just stayed, intertwined with one another. For the whole time, your fingers gently brushed through Chan's soft curls because you knew it always helped to ground him. As the minutes passed, you felt how Chan's breathing slowly steadied, and he was coming out of his current state. 

Feeling him move, you smiled and helped him into a more sitting position, but you still kept your firm hold on him. Reaching over for the bottles of water Minho brought in some time ago, you handed one to Chan. “Feeling better, baby?”  

He took the bottle and opened it, bringing it to his lips. He set it back down and nodded in response to your question. “I'm sorry… Don't know what…” he mumbled. “The deadlines and comments... It was too much.” 

“Shh, it's okay.” You began stroking his hair again. “They're wrong. Whatever they said to you, they're wrong.”

Chan looked at you. His eyes, always so sparkly and happy, were now heavy with sadness. “They said that I'm not a good leader. That I don't deserve to be an idol because I'm ugly with no talent,” he whispered.

You felt a burst of anger inside you. “Channie,” you said, more insistent this time. One of your hands came to rest on his jaw, your thumb gently caressing his cheek, while the other interlocked your fingers with his, holding his hand tightly. “They're wrong. You're a great leader. No one loves the boys more than you, and we both know you'll do anything for them. You take care of them, of me, of other artists in your company. You protect them when it's needed, and you help them grow and achieve their own success outside of the group. Are those the qualities of a bad leader?” 

Chan shook his head slightly. 

“Exactly. You are the best leader they could ever ask for.” You smiled at him, hoping to convey how much you loved and appreciated him with that one smile. And it might have worked. His face lit up a tiny bit. Blink and you would have missed it, but at this point in your relationship, you were so accustomed to Chan that you sometimes felt like you could read his mind.

“And I don't know who said that other thing, but they need their eyes checked,” you continued. “You are beautiful, Chan, inside and out. From your adorable curly hair..." You reached to kiss the top of his head. “Over your eyes, your nose, your entire face, to your lips.” After every feature, you placed a kiss on that spot, and your heart swelled with happiness when you heard soft giggles coming out of Chan at the fact that he was being showered with kisses all over his face. “And even if the haters don't think that, who cares? Their opinion doesn’t matter. Beauty is much more than looks. It's the personality as well. You have thousands of fans ready to tell you the same because it's true, but you need to believe it yourself. Please try, for me?”

You leaned in to press a final kiss on Chan's lips. When you pulled away, you noticed tears beginning to form in the corners of his eyes. “Oh god no,” you murmured. This was the last thing you wanted to happen. Just as you thought he was getting better, you made him cry again.

“Happy tears. It's happy tears,” Chan quickly said, noticing you getting into your head. “It's okay, you didn't do anything,” he assured you, a small smile creeping up on his face.

“I should be the one telling you that,” you chuckled, cupping his face in your hands and wiping the tears away. 

“Can't have you steal all the spotlight, can I?"

That did get a full laugh out of you. A joke. That meant Chan was coming back. “I'm glad you're feeling better,” you said, your voice sweet and sincere.

“Thank you. For being here and... and helping. I promise I'll try for you,” Chan said, and you lit up at his words. It was going to be a long and difficult road, for sure, but this was already a huge step in the right direction. Then he yawned and snuggled up closer to you. You stroked his back a few times. It was understandable. He was exhausted, both physically and emotionally. “I'll go tell the boys you're okay, and then I'll come back so we can sleep, okay?”

You got a murmured okay in response. Smiling, you gently laid Chan down on the bed and gave him a last kiss into his hair before walking towards the door. When you looked over your shoulder before exiting the room, he was curled to himself just like before, but this time his breathing was slow and steady, his face calm, as his body was finally ready to let go and relax.

taglist: @stayconnecteed @saintriots @vivioluh @ivaneedssleep

©starlostastronaut 2023 | do not repost/translate my work without permission

#moony's countdown to christmas #mctc #stray kids x reader #bang chan x reader #bang chan #angst #hurt/comfort #fluff

[lovelyiida]

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐬.

KATSUKI BAKUGO X SECRETARY READER

❥SYNOPSIS: as the years went by, bakugo realized that he was the last to get married. the days grew cold and the nights turned lonely. bakugo want's to marry, but he doesn't really feel like falling in love. at least he has his trustee secretary!

❥ WARNINGS: implied fem reader, aged-up!, Pro-hero MHA characters over the age of 27, vulgar language, sexual themes, suggestive wording and content, mentions of anxiety, mental breakdowns, experiences of panic attacks!, strained mother-son relationship, imbalanced family dynamic

❥ MASTERLIST

❥ JOIN TAG LIST!

WORDS: 4.02K

CHAPTER 5: THE BREAK DOWN

"we just want our son back"

"Office whore Y/n L/n takes the cake, honestly."

"Please, I can't talk about it anymore!"

Around three days after the whole shit-show of a performance your boss put on, you cowered away from the whole office scene entirely; you were on paid absence, of course. Red Riot tried to get a hold of you, but you never responded to any of his calls and emails.

Things were becoming too intimate for your liking.

The line between secretary and lover was blurring right before your eyes, and you didn't even know the man's damn birthday. So now you sit here, eye to eye with the one person you really didn't want to see—your sister.

"We have to talk about it so that we can get it out of your system, and so you can get back to work with Mr. Money," she laughs. One thing you knew about your sister is that the both of you never got along. From stolen clothes to stolen boyfriends, if someone told you they could pay to push her in front of a bus, you'd say, "How much?"

But at the end of the day, she was your sister, and you loved her. She was there when you had many breakdowns, mid-life crises, depressive episodes, etc. And you wouldn't let just anyone push her in front of a bus; you'd do it in a heartbeat for free.

So when your sister arrived at your doorstep as a "surprise," the sight of her face made you break down in tears and confess everything that has happened to you. It's like she could sense when you're in utter despair.

As your sister stands in your kitchen, you sit on the floor with a bottle of wine and take turns from the bottle, talking ever so thoroughly about the situation.

"I mean, the man asked for my hand in marriage after shunning my existence in front of the press! What am I to him?" you say, tear stains drying on your cheeks. Your sister frowns at your state, bending down to your level, she smiles.

"What you are to him is reliable, headstrong, hardworking, and hot as fuck. He knew he couldn't lose you, so he needed to keep a tight leash on you," your sister responds, swiftly snatching the bottle from your hands. She stands back up and sets it on the counter.

"Everyone's life is given to them for a reason; what you don't realize is that the universe just blessed you. And you're getting everything you've ever wanted and more," she says, her tone calculated and sharp. With a smile on her face, you could tell she was plotting something.

You sniffled to yourself, wiping away excess tears as you looked into her eyes. "What do you think I should do?" you whimpered. With a smile, she spoke, "Play his game." Furrowing your eyebrows, you became confused at her answer. "And what do you mean by that?… 'Play his game'?" You asked.

With a roll of her eyes, she stood up once more. Extending her hand out to you, you grabbed it with ease and hoisted yourself up. With swift movement, she grabbed both sides of your arms and looked deeply into your eyes.

"You make him want you even more than he wants you, and once you get what you really want… you leave and never turn back," she said with a sinister smile. It took a little bit to really grasp what she was saying.

"Don't think of it in a harsh or conniving way. Think of it as a get-back. A taste of how much he's treated you like shit, how he's disrespected you; embarrassed you; put you through hell and back every single day! If you gave him a single taste, you'd fight for you and all the other secretaries that he's done wrong."

Looking into her eyes, you saw her burning passion to protect and take up for what's right… to help you get what you deserve.

"Now you have something none of those girls had, and it's a chance… it's up to you if you'll take it," she said.

You pondered with your thoughts. Everything that she said was right. From all the moments when you were disrespected and degraded and made to feel like absolute shit, maybe it was time to finally fight back. This plan, while not what you initially had in mind, started to appeal to you. It would give you a chance to turn the tables, to regain some power and control in a situation where you had felt powerless.

With newfound determination, you looked back at your sister and nodded. "You know what? You're right. I'm not going to let him walk all over me anymore. I'll play his game, and I'll make sure he knows that he messed with the wrong secretary."

Your sister's smile widened, proud of the strength and resolve she saw in you. "That's the spirit!" She exclaims in excitement, quickly getting yourself up from the ground, you grab your sister by her sides and walk her towards the door.

"Thanks for the advice, I'll let you know if I have another life-defining breakdown," you say softly. Earning a chuckle from your sister, she silently nods at your praise "any time." Letting go of her, you watch as she lets herself out. As you watched the door close with a thud, you let out a sigh.

Feeling a mix of nerves and excitement, you prepared yourself to face "Mr. Money' once again. This time, though, you were armed with a plan and a newfound sense of self-worth. You were ready to play his game and take back the control he had taken from you for far too long. With a determined glint in your eye, you stormed to your room and picked up your phone from your nightstand.

It was time to show him that you were nobody's lapdog that just followed anyone's orders, it was time to fight back. Opening your messages you immediately press onto your boss's contact and begin tying into a frenzy.

To: Dynamight (BOSS)

coming into work tomorrow

same time as usual?

Placing your phone down, you turn away to make a run for the bathroom but the buzz from your phone puts you into a halt. Scurrying for the phone you pick it up and race for the bathroom once more.

As you sit down to "handle your business," you turn on your phone to see an immediate text back from your boss. You let out a disappointed sigh as you read the message.

from: Dynamight (BOSS)

sure

Nonchalant as per-usual.

After finishing your business, you get some dinner and prepare for bed, as you finally lie on your pillow you can't help but smile at the thought of your plan. The thought of seeing him the next day made you shiver for all the wrong reasons.

As you drifted off into a deep slumber, you never read the next message he sent to you back...

Things went smoothly for your return, at least so far...the day just started.

You woke up and got ready for the day ahead of you and comfortably sat outside your apartment doorstep to wait for your knight in shining armor. As you waited there you realized one thing about your plan.

There weren't necessarily any steps or phases to it, just great. It's not anything new that you have to do something on your own.

You started to think hard, what were you even going to say to the man when you saw him?

Hey Dynamight! Feeling better after being called the office slut the other day!

No, that’s not how it’s going to go.

You need to stay calm today, no matter what is thrown at you. Even though that may seem hard because every day is a new problem with your boss, you think you have it in you to do so.

Should you even accept his proposal? He has a right to know an answer, but you’re just not ready.

Going from Secretary-to-fiancé wasn’t that exact promotion you were thinking of when you walked through the two front doors of this office.

Keep calm. Stay cordial. Stay balanced.

Stay grey.

As you stand outside, you clutch tightly on your bag. (Late) documents held inside as the cool breeze of the early morning air tickled your neck. With a frown on your face, you shiver whilst looking at your watch.

10 minutes past schedule, that’s a new record.

As you casually checked between your watch and your phone; you began to throw yourself in a frenzy. So now he doesn’t even want to show his face? Are you that embarrassing?

Rolling your eyes, you turn your phone off and shove it into your work bag. Letting out a sigh of defeat, you tread your tired feet towards the bus stop.

Thirty minutes roll by and you stand in front of the offices’ glass doors, waiting to be walked through with just a push. But it wasn’t that easy, at least not today that is.

Your eyes were dry as the fluorescent bright lights bore into the core of your irises; slightly red and agitated from the night before (mental breakdown and lack of sleep in all). You close your eyes to try and soothe them, but the uncomfortable feeling in your chest begins to take over. Imagining the sight of everyone’s faces as you walk through those doors makes your chest sting with anxiety.

Blinking your eyes open, you began to frantically check yourself. Was your skirt too tight? Were your buttons too loose? Did you wear the dark lipstick, or the nude one?

Even the tiniest of details could throw your alibi out of the window; not that you hide any…only thing that you hide is the underlying self-embarrassment you feel.

But what’s new?

Licking your lips ever so slightly, you take in a deep breath and walk through the doors. The sound of the door breaking open causes everyone to crack their eye.

With your face held high and a new swing to your hips, you take in the situation around you. Coworkers amongst coworkers chatter quietly to themselves. The sight almost makes you want to vomit, but you promised yourself to not show any weakness.

Eyes set on a deep brown wood door of your boss’s office, step ahead and stop in your tracks. The golden plate etched with the hero’s name shined ever-so dull. Seems like it hasn’t been polished, maybe you should get someone to fix that—

Focus!

Blinking down at the matching golden knob, you reach towards it. Your fingertips lightly grazed the handle, treating it as if it were the more delicate; fragile thing on earth. Your other hand laid firmly against your skirt, hand balled in a fist; slightly shaking.

“Just do it, Y/n” you whispered to yourself. Cursing under your breath, cowering at the thought of what was (obviously) behind the door.

Taking slow deep breaths, you then grasp the door entirely. The feeling of the cold metal graced your skin. Adding a cooling comfort to your body; hot with anxiety.

“my god”

Looking up, you turn to see a random group of workers looking at you. Snickering at your efforts to open the door. Eyes sharp with judgment and lips turning upwards in a sinister smile. Their energy oozed with toxicity.

Pretentious fucks.

Swallowing your spit, your eyes begin to tear up. Head leaning low, your nails dig into the skin of your palm. Your face grew hot as you tried your hardest to stifle in the wanton sobs you yearned to let out.

‘This wasn’t supposed to happen.’

Lips quivering, you let go of the door handle and adjust your things. Turning around you quickly head for the door. You felt as if the room was closing in on you whole, your body felt heavy and your heart felt like it was going to burst.

“should’ve never came,” you mumbled.

“Y/n!”

Startled, you stop ahead for the voice before you. Looking at the ground, you could make out from the shoes who it was.

“Mr. Riot?” You slightly whimpered.

“Hey, I was looking for ya! Sorry, we couldn’t get ya today—“ the redhead cuts himself off. A silent pause fills the room, if your head wasn’t so stuck on the floor you would’ve seen a very rare sighting.

An angry Red Riot.

His red eyes shoot across the room, piercing metal bullets into each and every person in the room. Mr. Riot was an indescribable force when upset. He’s the total opposite of himself.

From a cheery, happy-go-lucky optimist, to an absolute brute. You feel him grab ahold of your shoulder, his large hand warmly covers your shoulder and gives it a squeeze.

“Come on—take this conversation to my office…” he says, his tone almost unrecognizable. Deep and monotonous, unusual from the peppy and colorful use of tone he’s had equipped.

Following him over, raising your head just a little. You notice how you walk a new path today. Just beyond a new set of frosted glass doors lies a whole new office.

The workers seemed laid back, getting their work done. The slight tune of music added to the atmosphere of the office— is that a cat?

“Muscle!” The hero beamed.

With quick steps, the hero scoops up the grey-haired feline. The cat lets out a startled noise as the pro-hero picks them up. The hero turns towards you and extends the fur ball towards you.

Blinking, you let out a soft smile. Before you could reach your arms out, the hero placed the cat under his arm. Reaching out for your bags, he takes them away from you, letting you reach your arms out for the cat.

“Ms. L/n, meet Muscle,” he hero quipped.

You look into the blue-eyed animal, silently cooing. You place the cat in a cradle position. “Why the name muscle?” You slightly chuckle.

Walking alongside him, he turns a corner. Smiling, he stops at a billboard, turning you to look; you can’t help but chuckle.

‘NEW OFFICE KITTY NAME: PLEASE VOTE!’

1. Sunshine

2. Misty

3. Muscle

4. Cat

5. Feline Riot

It was nice seeing how Riot would interact with his workers, he kept things light and casual. Unlike the other side of the building, maybe you should’ve applied here first.

“Personally, I chose muscle. Feline Riot is too corny, right?” He says. This earns a laugh out of you, holding out the cat in front of your face you smile.

“Well, I’d have to agree. But I think sunshine would be nice, but I think cat is quite silly as well.”

With a smirk, you bring back the animal into your embrace. The hero nods, taking note of your response. With a sigh he turns back around, “Well c’mon; that’s up for the people to decide.”

Walking a few more doors down, you head into Red Riots' office. Your eyes widen, letting out a small gasp; you are amazed by the interior of the office.

Surprisingly not as red as you thought.

Besides the obvious action figures and cardboard cutouts, his was modern. Sleek glass and cutting-edge metal. And maybe he was quite a botanist as well, his desk (along with other various places) sprinkled with succulents and hanging plants scattered around the area.

Walking slowly, your eyes catch a large wooden shelf. Adorned with many awards, collectibles, and photos.

One of these photos you couldn’t believe.

“Oh my god!” You whispered to yourself.

“Yep, the older days…kinda get a little teary-eyed when I think about it for too long” he replied bashful yet humble.

“Look at you guys, there’s you, and Mr. Dynamight!” You chuckled. Looking at a group photo of the notorious class 1-A of UA High. More than half the people in this photo are currently in the top 10 for pro-hero.

“Yeah, that’s us! We were so young and determined, but that’s what fucked some of us over in the end eh?” He says.

You frowned, unsure of what he possibly could’ve meant by that. But you chose not to probe. Breathing in, you walk away from the bittersweet photo and sit down by his desk.

“So…why am I here?” You asked.

The pro hero rolled his eyes at your response, “I mean—I feel like I should be asking all the questions around here—what happened back there?” He asked, his voice filled with concern.

Pressing your lips into a line you shuffle in your seat. Letting out a sigh you put “Muscle” down to frolic and place your hands in your lap.

“Just the coworkers that’s all, they can just be assholes y’know?” You chuckle, trying to blow off the situation. This earns a not-so-amused expression from the hero.

“Mhm—I hope you know that bullying of any kind is strictly prohibited within these corners we call our office. I can drop anyone from here just as easily as your boss can” he says sternly.

Eyes widening you shake your head, “I promise you that no one needs to leave this office. They need that job just as much as I do… no matter how much they deserve it.” You say softly.

The pro-hero nods at your response. “Reconciliation before retaliation is what I always say!” He says, tone somewhat defeated.

A long pause is set after his words, it was somewhat comfortable. Unlike your boss, when it’s silent it’s suffocating, almost deadly.

“He wants to apologize…we want to apologize for not taking you here today. I totally forgot to swoop in and bring you once he canceled on you. Got to take my kids to school today, I couldn’t miss up on that opportunity,” he smiled.

You nod understandably, “so then where is he?” You asked.

“Uh…he’s at a meeting,” Riot responds. Turning your head to the side, you were confused by his words. “He knows not to go to a meeting without me, damn show off…thinking he can do everything himself—“

“No, it’s not that! It’s a more personal meeting.”

You paused, irritation turning into curiosity; you sit back and bite the inside of your cheek.

“Personal you say?”

“So you bring me all the way over here to talk about—babies?”

The blonde says, trying to not show the visible anger in his every being. Sitting before him was his mother in father, visibly distraught; over what? Babies.

Currently sitting in the living room of his old home, he was called over to have an "important" talk with his parents. He assumed maybe it was time to hear one of the inevitable.

They are dying, they're selling the house, or they're disappointed in him (the third one is highly unlikely). But no, they’re bitching about babies.

“It’s just— your mother and I aren't gonna be young for too long. We’re not asking for too much, maybe at Ieast have a girlfriend?” Bakugo’s father tried to soften the blow.

“Excuse me?”

It failed.

“Oh please! By the time he settles down I’ll be a grandma when I’m goddamn 90” his mother complains. "I mean, have you ever lost your virginity Katsuki?" She quips in.

"Mitsuki!" his father complains, throwing his hands towards his face he lets out a sigh.

"What did you say, woman!" Bakugo says in anger, the blonde shoots from his seat and walks closer towards his mother. Bakugo's father stands with him and gets in between them.

"Please guys, not today" his father groans.

"No, no, no...she's the one who started it, stop trying to fight her own battles for once," Bakugo says. "I'm not just some teenager you can talk to any type of way, I'm the fuckin' #2 hero; understand me?" His tone is quiet yet poisoning as it seeps through his teeth.

The blonde peers over his father's shoulder and looks into the matching red eyes of his mother. Her frown; visible with disappointment.

If only she could look back and see how tired he was, if she would actually understand.

Ever since Bakugo stepped through the doors of UA High School, things haven't been the same between him and his parents. One of the major costs of becoming a pro-hero. He's not able to be at home like he used to, it would come to times like this where the overwhelming emotions would all spew out.

Anger being one of them.

"Do you even love us anymore?" Mitsuki whimpers, tears begin to brim her eyes as she rises from her seat. Bakugo is taken aback by the accusation.

"What the fuck are you going on about?" he says, offended that his mother could even come to such a conclusion. Bakugo looks at his father, eyes wide and searching for answers.

Looking into his father's eyes, he finds the results that he regretted to find.

"Oh, so you feel the same way?" he chuckles, hurt prevalent within his tone.

"Son...you're always busy, even when ya' aren't," he says quietly, his father lands a hand on his shoulder as he tries to console him but it doesn't work.

The blonde groans, slapping his hand away from him, and backs away. This makes his father frown, "you don't call us or text us! Every day me and your mother watch you risk your life on TV wondering whether or not another battle will be your last!" he says.

Bakugo's head starts to hang low.

Lips pressed into a thin line, Bakugo's father places his hands on his hips in defeat. "We can't always come and pick up the pieces when you break down at our doorstep in the middle of the night, you have to talk to us Katsuki—"

"Do you even know how much I sacrifice just so that the both of you are able to go to sleep at night?" Bakugo's voice grows strong, hands balled into fists; smoke growing visible from his palms.

"Do you even know how many nights I go to sleep and wake up from night terrors just so that the both of you can go out freely? Every day I'm out there busting my ass so that the both of you can live normal lives. And I'm not doing enough? Okay."

"That's not what we're saying son—"

"Then what the hell are you saying?" Bakugo exclaims.

"Because that's what it exactly sounds like to me! It sounds like you guys don't care what I go through as long as you reap the benefits—"

"You seriously think we want you out there risking your life for us? Katsuki you could quit the next day and we would care! We just want our son back" Mitsuki says. Exasperated and teary-eyed, she clings to her son.

"We don't want you to bottle things up anymore, we don't want you to suffer as you think we do. You have to talk to us in order for us to be there for you!" Mitsuki yells.

A rift of silence follows after her words.

Bakugo looks at both of his parents with a frown, biting the inside of his cheek he closes his eyes and takes in a deep breath. Hands softly simmering down, he softly pushes his mother away.

Reaching in his pocket he pulls out his phone and calls the only person on his mind.

"Hey bro, when ya comin' in?" Kirishima says on the other end.

"Ejiro," the blonde says.

"What's wrong?" The redhead's tone matches Bakugo's with a twinge of worry. "Not comin' in today, um...just take over for the time being alright?" he says.

"Got it," Kirishima says.

Bakugo ends the call and throws his phone on the couch. Walking back into the brown couch, he crashes down and sighs. "If we're gonna talk we're gonna do it now."

His parents then look at each other then at him, with no words said they follow suit and sit next to him on the couch. "Just say whatever is on your mind, we're here for you," Mitsuki says.

Swallowing his spit, Bakugo says something he never would've thought to come out of his mouth.

"I have a fiance."

WOOOOOO WELL SHIT, THANK YOU FOR 1K!!!

Apologies to all of my readers out there, I’ve been so busy with school that it’s consumed my life whole. I hope you all understand :(

— 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐢𝐝𝐚 ❤︎︎

❥: @r-ans, @xo-evangeline, @inlovewithteo217, @im-better-than-your-newborn, @nar00 , @king-dynamight , @gold24fish , @xasilex , @the-queen-of-sorrows , @itgetzweird08 , @yoyosocks165 , @pebblepoop , @lovra974 , @bakugospartner , @gaby-11 , @akqsa-xxi , @jolynegf , @goldenglow149 , @aliruuiz , @zukowantshishonourback ,  @ilovedenk-i , @atsushiki , @smolbeanzzz , @urdecentartist09 , @lem-hhn , @stevenknightmarc , @katsu-shi @ryumiii , @idontevenknowlolls , @lyn07 , @kennshifts , @ackerman-suck-3-r , @alicen23 , @xasilex , @elegantvoids , @lowkeyremi , @plutounderbridges , @k0z3me , @thecurlyhairedgoddess , @sunyrose , @winterv-black , @chuugarettes , @kiarathace , @thisbicc , @thekookiecorner , @hyu-hl , @katsukisxslut , @optimisticprime3 , @cosmicbreathe , @yessimo

#mha headcanons #lovelyiida #mha imagines #mha x reader #mha #bnha x reader #bnha headcanons #bnha insert #mha fanfiction #bakugo x reader #theracetoweddingbells

[lizaluvsthis]

So like appearantly this fic touched my point into deep crisis of mental breakdown

Thank you for writing the fic <3<3 we really love this! @b-r-i-n-g-x

I chose this scene because it gave that massive hit on four cuz he f-cked up real bad on that-

(I promised a quick animatic before I go to bed ^^)

I still find it weird I could hear Three's voice actor when reading his dialogues- its just- ah- i dunno man-

Still- thats the problem of being the Golden Child for four. No matter how many times he'd gained too much, he still gets whatever he'll want to.

Thats his problem.

It's just I genuinely would think about three's reaction from the message four made right after with bob's place.

I mean- having all that frown and stuff- man- it seems to me that Four has already caused enough problems with the dude- and thats getting pretty out of hand.

(What would we expect for him to experience such a thing when three is just making some good quality time contents and him always coming in and leaving him mental bruises)

Sigh- (hyperfixating again oh boy-)

#lizaluv #smg34 #smg4 #smg3 #smg4 smg3 #my art #my animatic #b-r-i-n-g-x #The guy who tried to kill you

[mdzs-is-rotting-my-brain]

Wangxian mermay 2023

Day VII: The Deep.

"The university must really be hurting for money if they brought him back."

"Who is he?"

"Man you don't know? That's Wei Ying, he was one of the university brightest stars thirteen years ago. Until he had an accident in an HOV and claimed he saw a mermaid of all things! Can you believe it?"

"A mermaid? Is he crazy?"

"A lot of people thought so. His family cut him off, the madam of the estate even kicked him out after he fathered a bastard. Or so I heard."

"I heard he was gambling to pay the bills. Got in too deep and he works for the Mafia now."

"Diedie?"

Wei Ying looked up from locking his cases, smiling at the soft-faced seventeen-year-old in front of him.

"Don't worry about them Yuan-er." He tucked a strand of hair behind Yuan-er's ear. "They're gonna be on the escort ship."

Wei Yuan looked back at the group of men gathered around the fishing vessel. His hands tightening in Wei Ying's jacket sleeve.

"I don't like the smell of them."

Wei Ying laughed, ruffling his son's hair, "They reek don't they?"

He glanced at the crew that would be on the escort boat. They were ragged men, rough from life and the sea. Angry that nothing had gone their way and taking it out on anyone who deviated from the "correct path" of Deep Sea Marine Biology.

More than anyone alive Wei Ying deeply understood the important science behind Deep Sea Ecosystems, and just how much claims of mermaids, especially from such a renowned expert in the field, would reflect on the study. How scientists in other fields even within marine biology, would use one rogue or 'crazy' scientist to siphon money, support, or students away from Deep Sea Research.

Which is why he never repeated what he said in any official documents after his concussion diagnosis. His claims could have been chalked up to a concussed, oxygen deprived mind. Hallucinations, boarding on a full mental breakdown.

It would not be the first time he had seen things and they were claimed to be conjurings of an unfit mind.

But someone had gotten word of what he'd said. Someone important. Someone who other people listened to, and took their gossip as provable fact even without supporting evidence.

In the three months it had taken to get him back to shore, it had spread like wildfire. His career was over, his stipend from the Jiangs was reduced to a trickle, and was cut off before the end of the year. When Yuan-er appeared on the scene, a fat little toddler that someone had snapped a picture of when Wei Ying as he was leaving his apartment, it was all Yu-furen needed to end what little she was giving him anyway. His calls were blocked, his letters were probably destroyed upon arrival. While he never attempted to visit after the disaster of his crumpled reputation, he was sent a strong message to never try.

It had been him and a handful of surviving Wens for ten years. Three years ago they took the journey he had spent Yuan-er's entire life training him for, the fact that the university needed an HOV pilot was just a happy coincidence.

If that meant they had to spend a few weeks around humans that reeled of sour alcohol and cigarettes, it was worth it to get back home.

He shifted his eyes to Yuan-er, taking his hand, he smiled, "Come on, we're almost there."

Keeping Yuan-er's hand in his, he led him up the gangplank to the research ship.

Three weeks later.

The HOV was poised over the dark blue water.

The air smelled of the storm and blood, the deck was streaked with it. Body parts of the crew members were scattered from the command cabin to the gearbox that controlled the HOV's descent.

Wen Qing was going to have a lot to say about this when they finally met up again.

Wei Ying wrapped the burn on his chest as best as he could. The lack of medical supplies should have been a clue that this 'research' was designed to get rid of him.

He knew who was behind it.

It was fine. He didn't need to do anything about them…right now.

He climbed into the HOV cockpit, sealed the hatch, and hit the button to start the drop.

Yuan-er was asleep in the bunk, sung to sleep by Wei Ying's spell when he first smelled the chemicals Wang Liangjiao was planning on using to subdue them.

Shame, really, no one told her that Wei Ying's breed had heightened smell.

He had to keep Yuan-er safe. He had promised, so he couldn't risk attacking her and her screams alerting the crew that something had gone wrong.

He settled for giving her a taste of her own medicine.

Hiding Yuan-er had been his first step. His second was to scuttle the ship. They would all reported lost at sea.

How tragic.

He was sure only a few would mourn him. But no one important, no one that he needed to stay for.

The control arm retracted after the HOV was in the water. He detached the steel cable that would have retracted the HOV back to the surface earlier, while hiding from Wen Zhuliu.

He turned on the engines and pushed the HOV under water.

He discovered the sanctuary of the deep when he was six. Fleeing predators in Yiling, the river running through the town wasn't that deep, but it hid him well enough, and the lake, the dark depths he could dive too, to hunt and hide.

He never should have left.

Never would have met Wen Qing, or Wen Ning or….him.

Golden eyes, stern face staring at him from the end of a crystalline blade, a face as white as jade, lit by the bioluminescence around them, and the shattered HOV lights.

Dark hair against caught on his face from the torrent rivers, his expression softened by the dark clouds above them, and the misty, rainy evening.

The HOV lights caught on a rock face, Wei Ying had drifted lower than was safer, shaking his head, he pulled back on the controls, pulling the HOV up, angling the lights down, searching for the cravice he found the first time.

"Die?"

He smiled over his shoulder at Yuan-er, "Hey baobei, wake up. We're almost there."

Yuan-er slid into the chair, his face looked sickly light by the green lights around him.

"Die. Will…" He pressed his lips together, his eyes wide at the dark ocean ahead of them. Under his jacket, the edge of a white forehead ribbon.

He untied it, holding it between his hands, his thumb running back and forth over the heavy emblem and dangling jewel in the center.

"...Will he want me?"

Wei Ying took his hand without taking his eyes off the view in front of him.

"Yes. He will. He has never expressed his desire for anything else but us."

Yuan-er's shoulders dipped, his back eased, a smile.

"How long until we get there?"

The lights caught the edge of a deep crevice, too narrow for the HOV where they were, Wei Ying angled the HOV along the crevice, following it until it was wide enough for the HOV to pass through.

Technically, they could have just jumped off the side of the ship, but swimming would have taken so long, and he had waited thirteen years already. Raised their child alone, in a hostile world, taken back what had been stolen. Everyone else had already left him, he was tired to stinking of human. He hated the taste of their blood between his teeth. He wanted to be home as fast as possible.

He took one of Yuan-er's hands in his.

"Soon."

The ocean dipped into darkness, cut only by the HOV lamps, skimming across bleached white sand, deep dwelling creatures skimpering out of sight, bones of whales laying scattered across the landscape like morbid waymarkers to find their way back, and eyes at his left, watching them.

Wei Ying jerked his head around, blinking to be sure it wasn't just a figment of his imagination and desire.

It wasn't.

In the deep two golden eyes watched them from between two pillars of rock.

He brought the HOV to a stop, smiling wide as he turned to Yuan-er.

"It's time. Are you ready?"

Yuan-er, staring at the eyes, only nodded. His body was tense again, he kept looking around to see if anyone else was there.

So far it was just the one pair.

"You go first, I want to make sure the Black Box is scuttled."

With effort, Yuan-er pulled his eyes away from the ones outside, meeting Wei Ying's.

He hesitated.

A thousand thoughts, normal ones, even as he'd been told their story. The need for their separation, he still had doubts his father loved him. Even if a painting of a white-tailed "mermaid" handing a child over to a man in black on a rainy night stood prominent in their house. Even if he knew Lan Zhan loathed losing both of them. The doubts were natural, and understandable.

Yuan-er looked down at the ribbon in his hands for a long time, his thumb tracing the embroidery his father had done.

He smiled and held the ribbon out to Wei Ying.

Wei Ying kissed his forehead before he tied the ribbon in place. The blue jewel hanging between his eyes.

"Okay." He stood, giving the last connection to their humanity and life, a last glance.

He stepped into the pressure chamber, keying the long practiced sequence that allowed the internal pressure meet the external without crushing the HOV like a tin can.

Wei Ying turned on all the outdoor lights, flooding the area. He wanted to see the reunion.

The HOV jerked, a muffled thundering sound as water flooded the chamber Yuan-er was in, and the outer hatch released.

A stream of bubbles blew past the window, Lan Zhan was fully in the light now, his long hair drifting like a curtain around his head, his eyes darting between Wei Ying and the hatch. Wei Ying was too far away, but he could easily picture his husband's anxiety, the long awaited day for their return.

Yuan-er, beautiful in his form, Wei Ying's lighter hair tied up with a white ribbon gleaming on his brow. A tail of white scales lined with silver and a faint streak of red at his side, swam past the window, displaying a confidence he hadn't within the HOV, right up to his father, smiling a beautiful winning smile at him.

Lan Zhan pulled Yuan-er into a crushing hug.

Wei Ying didn't linger to watch the reunion. He wanted to be a part of it.

Ducking his head under the control panel, he was unsurprised to find no Black Box. For wanting the location of the Ancestors Home so badly, Wen Chao went about this whole expedition in the same fashion a child glues pasta to paper and thinks it's art.

Shrugging, he powered down the HOV, turned off all the lights and headed into the same pressure chamber Yuan-er used.

He started the equalizer sequence, then stripped quickly, shivering with delight, anticipation, and cold.

The pressure matched, vent ports opened, flooding the chamber with rich salt water, he laid down on the floor and let the change come over him. When the chamber was halfway full, he swam over to the door, tapping against the light he knew was red, but his eyes no longer human, perceived it differently now.

The water filled to the top, the light changed. The heavy, industrial locks disengaged, the door slid back.

He swam back into his home waters and right into his husbands arms.

He was soft and warm. He smelled of their home, and their species. Everything he had ever missed. The thick, earthy spice that he never found a replacement for during his time with the Humans.

"Lan Zh-" his face was tipped up, a kiss thirteen years overdue silenced anything else he wanted to say.

He quickly deepened the kiss, holding Wei Ying by his face and neck, keeping him an inch or two lower so he had the advantage to press.

Wei Ying curled his fingers into Lan Zhan's side, moaning softly between them.

He did not flush like a human anymore, his face still felt hot as Lan Zhan pulled away, a smug, grin and satisfaction gleaming I'm his eyes.

"In front of our son, how scandalous!" They did not speak in terms humans would understand. It was a song, one he had missed singing, and being heard.

Lan Zhan's face eased, pleased at hearing his voice echo in the waters around them.

"You have raised him well."

Wei Ying kissed his lips, gently biting the lower one as he pulled away.

"That must be your side-"

"What happened?" Lan Zhan's brow creased into an unhappy frown, his face tight with anger. His hands were on Wei Ying's bandaged chest.

"Lan Zhan, interrupting! Lan Qiren cannot blame that bad habit on me! I haven't been here."

"Wei Ying."

Lan Zhan had a number of preverbal weapons he could deploy to effectively manipulate Wei Ying into whatever he wanted him to do.

His low, rasping voice of worry, fear, with the undercurrent of possessive anger was just one of the many ways Wei Ying allowed himself to be manipulated by his husband.

"Ah Lan Zhan," Wei Ying held his husbands face, rubbing his thumbs under deep golden eyes, "it was Wang Liangjiao, Wen Chao's consort…I think. She wanted to Mark me. Make me submissive to her and Wen Chao."

Lan Zhan's eyes flashed, his fingers twitched on the bandages, curling around the edges of them. He looked Wei Ying over, marking each scratch, or cut, until his eyes landed on the faded scar on his right wrist. The old bit mark had been covered for most of Wei Ying's time on land, only when he was absolutely safe did he run his fingers over the skin, remembering the night his husband claimed him as his.

Lan Zhan's Mark as at the junction of his neck and shoulder, lighter, and more prominent, the scars were raised from the skin, a Sect tattoo wove around the Mark, swirling clouds and small birds, one baby bird perched on the highest scar.

Wei Ying swooped in, kissing that scar and baby bird. Burying his nose Lan Zhan's scent,

"Lan Zhan, take me home."

A gentle kiss was placed on his head.

"Wei Ying." Lan Zhan kissed him again.

Eventually, they joined Yuan-er, who was giving the pillars that formed the barrier that kept them safe, a thorough examination, like he was going to be tested on it.

With Yuan-er at one side and Lan Zhan his other, Wei Ying made the final journey home.

Behind him, the HOV went into its programmed shut down. The lights that previously flooded the darkness, clicked off, returning darkness to the deep.

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #wangxian #wei wuxian #lan wangji #wei ying #lan zhan #lan sizhui #wen yuan #mirmb wangxian mermay 2023 #wangxian mermay 2023 #day seven #mirmb writes

[nightgoodomens]

Do you think there's a big mystery to play out, clues and all, hidden in the last 15 minutes or did Aziraphale actually want to return to Heaven? The fandom is messing with my brain on this regard

I’m not 100% sure to be fair.

When I watched S2 ending for the first time so without any fandom influence I basically went well, no surprise, Aziraphale has always been naive in his belief in Heaven (if he didn’t learn over 6 thousand years no matter what has been happening then what were we meant to expect?) so zero shock that he ran there forgetting everything they have done - just like he wasn’t suspicious of Gabriel at all and dissed Crowley’s logical concerns - he’s always been shown to be very naive after all.

When this last scene started playing out I was just crossing my fingers that Crowley won’t follow him. So I wasn’t even upset, I was relieved that Crowley stayed true to his character and NG didn’t turn it into a toxic fest.

I always appreciated that while NG showed Crowley and Aziraphale loving each other, they never disrespected themselves for the sake of the other one. Crowley especially always knows when to leave.

But after looking a little more into it - the things I can’t get out of my head are:

1. Aziraphale keeps on looking towards the window

2. Aziraphale being nervous - and it doesn’t make sense that he’s nearly jumping there in excitement even though he’s been shown leaving Metatron with a face of fear and like his brain is working overtime how to figure it all out

3. Why the fuck is he so surprised when Crowley starts confessing to him when he spent the last few days trying to make them confess to each other?

4. Now the absolute shite that came out of his mouth - I’m conflicted because he said stupid things before so I wouldn’t be surprised however that was a lot of stupidity in just a few mins - but! - he was also shown to be a bratty ass when he doesn’t get his way so…

5. Oh but! There is the moment where he learns it is all a Second Coming plan and his face turns into “oh shit I was wrong and did indeed fucked up” as he looks at Crowley which makes me think he was being a naive idiot after all - no wonder he looks like he’s having a mental breakdown in that lift. He loves Crowley, and yet the fool forgave him when he kissed him. And then realised he did it because Metatron manipulated him with three nice words. Fuck. I’d be losing it too. I actually hope he realises how many times he hurt Crowley because he was being naive and now this was the moment when it finally came back to bite him in the ass.

So generally, if it turned out that no Aziraphale is simply still a bit of an idiot and NG needed to separate them so Aziraphale can face the music without Crowley’s protection and finally learn (like NG said before, he has learning to do) then I will understand. If there is something more at play… maybe. The only theory I sort of think might be true is the one with time. Maybe they had to go back and fix things for some reason, something like that.

#NightGoodOmens answers

[jinx-on-mars-19xx]

Photogenic Admissions and Confessional Panic Attacks

Gunpowder and Watermelon (part one)

Autocorrected Anxiety Attacks and Messy Sexts (part two)

Pachyderms and Pointed Teeth (part three)

Knocked Up Knockouts and Cheesy Puns (part four)

A Little Less Sparkle, A Little More Reality (part five)

The Overwhelming Significance of Surprisingly Small Jellybeans (part six)

The Folly of Fracturing Sharp China and Soft Hearts (part seven)

Fear and Lusting in London Flats (part eight)

The Inevitability of Egos Clashing and Vicious Tongue Lashings (part nine)

Of Sugar and Spice and Virgin Tight Asses (part ten)

A Rebel's Yell and A Gangster's Paradise (part eleven)

Candy Hearts and Paper Cut Families (part twelve)

Dom x Colson (Yungblud x Machine Gun Kelly)

Warnings: ABO/Omegaverse dynamics (knots, slick, vaguely confusing reproductive explanations), love confessions, coming out, nervous boys, mpreg 🖤 Rating: mature in a PG-13 way, sorry guys. More smut soon!

"Jus' like tha'! Fuck, perfect. Don't bloody move an inch." Dom demanded when his lover found just the right angle.

"I'm trying, shit Dom I'm not good at this." Kells whined back.

"You know wha' you doing. Jus' stay- fuck!"

"Dom this isn't right. It doesn't feel right. Please can we… it's too tight! Let me just-" Every sentence seemed wrong so he'd try another but it was getting harder to speak every moment that passed. The exertion was too much.

"Don't you dare! I'm almost- almost- jus' fucking let me wiggle. 'Old still!"

"Fuck you no, we're gonna hurt the kid or you- Tom can you help?"

"I can help by promising you aren't getting into those pants right now Dom. Colson, you have to learn to tell him the truth. We've wasted ten minutes on this and now you might have imprints on your belly. The part of you that needs to look photogenic!" The beta scoffed, walking to his friend's closet to look for something else. Of course the scene playing out was a special kind of hilarious but he was far too tired of their shit at the moment.

Kells sighed and let go of the fabric in his hold, leaning back on his ankles. He was kneeling in front of his mate, trying to help him close a pair of slacks around his belly but it was impossible. The boy wore them too high and the zipper wouldn't close over his bump no matter how much wiggling he did or how hard Col yanked the edges.

Dom whimpered, his friend was right and he knew it, he just hated to admit it. If he already couldn't wear his own pants, how big was their whelp planning to make him? "Fine. Fuck am I supposed to wear for our shoot?" His voice broke on a whine, his eyes welling with unshed tears. It wasn't fair. His mate got to stay looking like a sex god while he turned into a pear.

"Ain't the point of this to show off the belly? You wear all your damn pants high enough you strangle your whole fucking package. Just put on some cute panties and I'll wear boxers and we'll… I dunno. I'm sure we'll make everyone very happy." Col teased, winking up at his gorgeous mate. He hated watching him get increasingly sad about his clothes when the alpha was so obsessed with every new ounce of growth.

His hands gripped the fabric again but this time he tugged them down and helped his bitch free of them before leaning closer. He pressed his cheek where he always felt like he belonged and nuzzled slow to soothe them both. They were both stressed as hell, this was a huge important terrifying thing they were doing but it was exhilarating too. Before the day was over the world would know about their Jellybean. "You driving momma crazy today huh? Think you can play nice? Tell him how much you love him?" He cooed against warm skin.

Dom was so overwhelmed but he still found himself smiling down at his baby daddy. How dare the man be so adorable while he was having a mental breakdown? "Nuffin for it luv. Damage is already done." He teased back, his fingers petting softly through his alpha's messy hair. The man hadn't left for a trim in almost two months so the bleach blonde locks were trying to rival his own wild raven nest. The bastard was beautiful though, as always.

"He doesn't mean it. He's just trying to do daddy a favor by making momma sexy as f-"

"No! Bad children, god! Here! Put these on." Tommy huffed, cutting off whatever come-on Kells was going to growl. The offering was a pair of silk leopard shorts that Dom knew barely covered any part of his ass but… they settled low enough they might frame his bump just right. "Cover up you little heathen and you! You're an alpha. Get off the floor." They all knew he was joking but the poor guy probably was exhausted by their little pack and even though he was hiding it he was just as anxious. This was his family too.

Colson helped his boyfriend into the shorts before he got up to find something for himself, he couldn't help glancing back though, Tom was right. The barely there shorts were almost too perfect. The band stretched just under the swell he loved so much, but they were loose enough the omega's cock wasn't completely on display. But that ass. That ass was going to be the death of him.

The omega smeared on his eyeliner while his mate was busy changing but his gaze kept dropping to his chest in his reflection. "Should I wear pasties?" He grumbled, immediately getting a scoff from his lover and his best friend.

"You've barely grown there. Shut the fuck up, you have to know you're perfect doll. Do I need to remind you how much I love you?" Colson asked, coming up behind him, those big palms settling on his hips.

"You do and we won't get nuffin done." He sighed back, finishing his makeup but he couldn't help a little wiggle against his alpha's cock. The man was a vision as always, bare besides a pair of black shorts with leopard accents. His actually had a little length though and Dom had to quip- "Prude."

"Slut."

"For you maybe."

"Good boy."

"NO! I am not making a bloody porn… unless…" Tom was half joking but honestly, the fans would love it.

A low growl rumbled in the alpha's chest. He wasn't in a state of mind to handle the idea of his mate on that much of a display but maybe someday. When he wasn't carrying their pup. If that ever fucking happened.

They let the photographer direct them, they'd made the bed up nice as well so everything matched and looked… well perfect for a porn. Tom was right. Colson didn't know how long they posed and moved and posed but eventually they started just cuddling and laughing together. Before long they slipped into their own little world and stopped caring how nervous they were. Eventually everything else completely fell away and they were just spending family time together. Tom captured every moment, sometimes filming little videos of the two laughing or snuggling and other times he snapped picture after picture. When Dom curled up and accidentally fell asleep with Colson's hand on his belly the beta knew that was the one. He almost teared up at the emotion of it all, the way the rapper stared at his mate and child. He couldn't help wondering how little the man slept, did he just watch all the time?

"I'll find the perfect one and send it to you." He whispered to the alpha as he pulled a blanket up over them all. He'd felt a bit like his best friend's mother for a long time but he was finally starting to see he could trust the other man with him. He'd never seen more devotion in someone's eyes.

"Thanks Tommy." Kells mumbled back and the beta rolled his eyes. He couldn't seem to get the dick to stop calling him that. With one last flash of his camera he slipped out the door, he knew he wouldn't be editing or searching long though. He already had the best ones in mind.

-Later-

Dom groaned as he woke up, his face burrowing against his lover's inked chest. He thought he heard singing but the room hushed when he moved. "M'up." He slurred, wiping a string of drool on those beautiful tattoos before he blinked his eyes open. His daddy was smiling at him lovingly but he could have sworn they were supposed to be doing- "Fuck! Where's Tom?"

Col couldn't help but laugh before pressing a kiss to his boyfriend's forehead. Shit the kid was precious sometimes. "He's already done, you crashed out dude. He got some cute pics out of it though." He hummed, handing Dom his phone.

He blinked his eyes clear and pushed himself to sit up before he took the phone and scrolled through the content. He knew his friend was a master at making him look good but fuck the photos were incredible. Each was sweet and just the right amount of sexy, some made the baby obvious and some seemed more about their love. He thought he knew how they looked at each other but- "Fuck, I'm really in love wiv you ain't I?" He whispered.

The rapper froze, his breath catching in his chest, and his heart racing. He was almost scared to say anything but he'd noticed the same look on himself in every picture. They'd said they loved each other as brothers, then admitted it as mates, but this was yet another step deeper and he was surprised how easily it rolled off his omega's tongue. "Yeah?" He finally made himself ask and the punk turned those soft jade eyes on him.

Dom felt himself blush, he hadn't meant to say it like that but he'd known it for a while. He'd realized it one day while watching his mate cum mark his skin but he never admitted feelings so easily. Maybe the hormones were making him soft. "Meant obviously you is wiv me. Duh. Course you is 'ough, look at me." He tried to change tactics and he flashed his lover the picture on screen.

Of course it was obvious, especially in the photo he'd paused on. In it Dom was on his lap, his legs spread over his hips. It was a position they knew very well but normally they didn't have clothes on for it. His big hands were framing the boy's belly but he was looking up at his face and they were both smiling. "It's obvious because I am. In love with you I mean. How could I not be?" He wasn't normally so… brutally honest. It wasn't their thing and his heart was in his throat with every word.

Dom whimpered but tried to keep hold of the teasing nature of their talk. If they weren't joking around and needling each other they were just… exposed and not in the fun way. "Yeah, I mean you looking at me like.. like uh… um… fuck off wiv tha'." He sniffled, his gaze dropping to his lap. "Your fault ya little brat. You make ya daddy gooey as fuck. Ya should 'ave seen 'im before you. He were a right scary bastard."

"Nah, that was just me before you. I'm still scary though. Just wait till someone tries to touch you." The man growled without meaning to and he tried to pull his lover close. Obviously Dom was up in his feels and he didn't want him upset in a bad way. Wasn't love supposed to be a good thing? Somehow they never seemed to act like it. They both fought the idea every step of the way until they admitted something by accident. He'd hoped they were past it since the night he let the omega fuck him but of course not. This had to be the last step though right?

"Same 'ere. You mine." The kid wasn't as threatening as he was probably trying to be, his wide Bambi eyes were wet and his pillow pout was quivering. More than anything Colson wanted to hold him but he didn't want him overwhelmed.

"Bet. I remember those shit kicker boots you got. You'll take them down." He purred, winking at his boy as he sat up and leaned closer. He pressed a kiss to his mate's cheek, his neck, and down to his shoulder until the punk shivered and let out a soft sigh.

"Which one do you like? Tom's got his pick and I've got mine. You choose your favorite and we can all post them together." He shrugged, resting his head on that pale freckled shoulder so he could watch him scroll. He knew he was changing the subject but did they really need to talk about it? Couldn't it be okay to just say it and move on? It didn't change their lives any extra, they were already mates. It had no bigger impact than the child they were having. They were in love. Fucking duh.

Dominic nodded and focused on the phone, his thumb shaking but he scrolled through. He already knew his favorite though, of course he did. How could he pick anything but what made them admit their feelings? He could blame the sentimentality on their little one. "Jellybee looks good 'ere. Photogenic jus' like her mumma." He teased, going back to the one he loved.

"Like his daddy but you're right, it's perfect babe." The alpha grinned but his heart rate picked up again when he saw Dom sending a text to Tom.

After a minute the beta appeared at their door and joined them, his own phone in hand. Oh fuck they were really doing this. "Breave." The singer commanded but he probably needed it the most. With the second trimester he was less nauseous but his nerves were back with a vengeance and his stomach was turning. He could feel both the others anxious as well but they tried to act calm. Three phones shook in three hands. "One…"

"Two…" Tom sighed, resting his free hand on his best friend's thigh. He was worried, he couldn't help it. This was his family too.

"Fuck it. Three." Col cursed, pressing post and closing his eyes tight. He hadn't added much besides tagging his mate and typing one word below it. 'Mine.'

Dom stared at his phone, his breath coming fast. He'd written simply, 'family' as a caption with three black hearts. One for each of them.

Tom squirmed in his seat, inching closer to his family, he didn't know why he was so on edge but he hated seeing his friends in pain. He had to hope at least most of the people were supportive. Someone's phone dinged and they all jumped, looking between them all. It was Col's and the comment was Ashleigh but it was only a moment before they were all going off and they had to mute them or go mad. Dom didn't do his usual, he didn't try answering any yet but they all set the electronics in a line in front of them and just… watched their world's change.

"Anyone else getting as many sex face emoji or is that just my peeps?" Kells laughed, and Dom rolled his eyes with a fond smile.

"'Earts mostly. Lots of 'wtf's and 'omg's." The omega sighed, at least people seemed happy for them if surprised. When Travis Barker posted a congrats to his stories Dom felt himself tearing up again. "I miss beer. Can I 'ave a beer?"

"No." They answered in tandem but Col curled his arm around him and kissed his hair. He caught Mod congratulating them too and so many more of their friends. The alpha was starting to regret hiding out so long. Of course there was bad as well. Homophobes, omegaphobes, just random haters, but overwhelmingly people were sending love. He knew it wouldn't be long before the rags picked it up but he didn't plan to look yet. That was Ash's job and she was on her way. They'd have to make a statement, they'd probably get asked to do interviews, they'd have a spotlight on them soon but for the moment they just got to focus on how sweet their fans could be. His favorite were the fights in the comments when someone would say they called it from the music video. He couldn't help but laugh. Maybe it really would be okay, maybe they'd been scared for nothing. He was just happy his lover was distracted from his confessional panic attack.

"I love you." He hummed low, almost purring when Dom pressed against him.

"Love you too daddy." The boy whispered back, at least that he wasn't scared to say.

"I don't feel left out or anything..." Tom teased and they both laughed, Col reaching around his boyfriend to pull the beta close.

"We love you too auntie T." The scoff he got for that one was loud and indignant but he could tell the man was happy to be included. After all, they needed all the family they could get.

Author's Note/Tags: @manicpixiedreamb0y @jaxbreaker @hollywoodxwhore @cole-way-iero28 if anyone else wants tagged let me know! Hope y'all enjoyed their public coming out. More smut soon though don't worry, it never takes these boys long 🖤

#yungblud #dominic harrison #dom harrison #machine gun kelly #mgk #colson baker #dom and colson #dom x colson #dom and colson fic #yungblud x machine gun kelly #com #com fics #my fics #abo #alpha beta omega #omegaverse #coming out #nervous boys #mpreg #boys in love

[vashtijoy]

i have a translation question ive been wondering abt (sorry if you've answered this before, I tried looking but couldn't find if you've mentioned it).

So Sae's conversation with the SIU director on 6/5 after madarame's change of heart has her asking to investigate the psychotic breakdown/mental shutdown cases, specifically saying "we need to find a correlation among the incidents these past two, three years." This struck me as odd because as of 6/5 hasn't it only barely been about 2 years? I know Akechi has only been working for shido around two years at this point which is when he first induced psychotic breakdowns to prove his worth to shido, and then Wakaba is noted to have been around when the mental shutdowns started happening on 8/21, so it seems odd to me that sae who is usually pretty precise with her knowledge on the case would suddenly give a range that doesn't seem to be accurate, implying the cases have been going on longer than they have.

I'm wondering if something got lost in translation, or if perhaps I'm looking too deep into it and this line is alluding to metaverse incidents that happened before akechi met with shido (like the stuff that happened with maruki, or maybe even akechi figuring out his own powers himself before turning to shido, idk)

thank you, you usually give really great in-depth analysis on this stuff and I've loved reading your meta so this is just one thing I thought to ask haha

Hello, anon, and thank you! I have not answered this before and I'm delighted to look at it.

Here's Sae in the SIU Bastard's office on 6/5.

Sae ここ2、3年の間に起きた事件を関連付けて、調査すべきです。 koko ni, sannen no aida ni okita jiken o kanrenzukete, chousa subeki desu We need to dig deeper and find a correlation among the incidents these past two, three years.

Literally, "the cases that took place over the last two to three years".

But what's going on here? What's the context of this scene?

on sae's case and others

6/5 is the last "real" day of the Madarame arc, the day it all wraps up. Madarame confesses; Akechi pops up in Station Square to watch (and, coincidentally of course, Kichijoji unlocks); you have a flashforward to the interrogation room where your next target is named; and Sae visits her boss, to link the psychotic breakdown cases she's been working on with the Phantom Thieves case that she has, to date, not been working on.

He is not best pleased, put it like that. Niijima is getting far too close to the truth. This will play out in later months.

One of the first things that happens in the game is that subway crash cutscene on 4/10. That's when we first see these two talk; Sae has made the connection that the "incidents" that have been going on, the scary accidents where people suddenly lose their minds, are all connected—a single case. The likelihood is that she brings Akechi in that day because he's known to have solved several of those cases.

On 5/4, at the end of the Kamoshida arc, Sae visits Leblanc, and talks about the psychotic breakdowns and the Kamoshida case: "Can a person's mental state really change so easily?" So here on 6/5, when she insists on the similarity between the psychotic breakdowns and the changes of heart, she's following a trail she's been on all along.

But of course, this is an ongoing case. Sae is likely refining and eliminating her data as she goes. It's perfectly possible she says "two or three years" because she simply hasn't narrowed her timeframe... or is it?

the news report at the start

Something else I want to quickly highlight from this scene:

When we cut to the scene, Sae and the SIU Asshole are watching a news report:

Newscaster: ...The suspect has repeatedly testified that he does not have any recollection of his actions. Newscaster: A full psychiatric evaluation will be performed to further investigate the crime's details and motives.

Note that this unfortunate suspect is not Madarame. Madarame remembers his actions. He's just confessed to them all on camera. His news report, earlier in the day, stated that "initial psych evaluations state that he is mentally sound and likely responsible for his actions".

This is a totally unrelated psychotic breakdown. This is interesting, because at the start of June, background gossip is suggesting that "those weird incidents just stopped all of a sudden". But they haven't; there's one right here.

So are they just being reported on less? Has the Madarame incident made it necessary for there to be a publicised psychotic breakdown, to remind people of the scary incidents? Don't forget, the news we see is constantly manipulated in Shido's interests.

the timing of the incidents

Anon, you summed up the timing pretty well, but to quickly go over it again—Akechi starts working for Shido some time around 2014/05/21. We don't know when he awakens, or what he initially does, though he likely has a window after the conclusion of P4AU (is that in 2012?) when it can happen—Velvet Rooms may be unconnected, but I don't think there are multiple Igors, and I can't see Igor sitting on his ass with a brand new wild card running about. So IMO Akechi must awaken after Igor is imprisoned. Don't forget he gets the app from Yaldabaoth; he—and Joker—don't spontaneously awaken. And they both awaken into the Metaverse we know—a cognitive world centred on and controlled by Yaldabaoth.

On 11/21, Akechi states that the first thing he does for Shido, the act that proves his value and that he's not insane, is to give psychotic breakdowns to a group of Shido's critics in the Diet. So Akechi must a. have Call of Chaos, and b. have used it enough to know how it works, before he approaches Shido.

Again, we don't know what this looks like. But if, say, Akechi begins causing psychotic breakdowns on his own behalf, in the spring of 2013, when he'd be fourteen-turning-fifteen-in-June, then that would give us the three years Sae mentions.

The fact that the dating is uncertain, though, IMO, suggests that Akechi's personal use was rather sporadic and not easily traced back to him. It wasn't systematic, like Shido's use of him would later be; it wasn't the wave of terror it would become.

Essentially: just as you say, Akechi exists in canon and has a life long before he arrives on Shido's doorstep. He doesn't awaken two years before canon; he awakens before that point, and contacts Shido two years before canon. He has his powers before that point.

And we just don't know what he's like then, or what he chooses to do—except that there's presumably some conflict between the sides of him represented by Robin Hood and Loki, where his worse nature wins out.

sae on 8/22

Let's take a look at that other line of Sae's you mentioned:

Sae 若葉の死は2年前⋯『あれ』が起き始めた時期とも一致する⋯ wakaba no shi wa ninenmae... "are" ga okihajimeta jikan to mo icchi suru... Wakaba's death was two years ago... That also coincides with when the incidents started occurring...

Sae does not actually say "the incidents"—a phrase that, in P5 at this point, unquestionably describes the psychotic breakdowns. She says are—"all of that". It's quoted in the textbox, to emphasise its significance. We're supposed to understand what she means from context. And what's the context?

Well, Wakaba suffers a mental shutdown. We know, and Sae suspects, that the psychotic breakdowns, the mental shutdowns, and, yes, the changes of heart, are all one big, interconnected thing. Sae could be conflating all of it here.

But the thing is, she goes on to bring the psychotic breakdowns back into the conversation:

Sae 騒がれてる『精神暴走事件』のこと⋯少し話したわよね? sawagareteru "seishin bousou jiken" no koto... sukoshi hanashita wa yo ne? Earlier, I briefly mentioned about those psychotic breakdown incidents that have alarmed the public.

So Sae wasn't talking about the psychotic breakdowns before. She's only now raising the connection. She's reminding Joker (and us) that she talked about them in an earlier scene. Her are in the line about Wakaba's death can only have been the mental shutdowns. "all of those things that are like Wakaba's death".

What does that give us? "Wakaba's death was two years before that."—note, Sae is speaking in November, in flashforward—"That coincides with the start of the mental shutdowns."

what about maruki?

Going by his journal, Maruki's activity period seems to overlap with Akechi's—no years are given, but his journal describes an almost-three-year period, culminating in January 2017—the third semester.

He doesn't use his power until August 2014, at the same time as the mental shutdowns begin. But he's making small changes to the cognition of individuals—there's no sign he causes anything like a psychotic breakdown.

conclusions??

Let's sum up:

on 8/28, Sae's "two years before" likely refers only to the mental shutdowns;

on 6/5, Sae's "two to three years" likely refers only to the psychotic breakdowns;

we don't know when Akechi awakened, or what he did, but he did less of it than he did once he was working for Shido;

... but he almost certainly did do some of it—so there will have been psychotic breakdowns before ?May 2014, that might account for the "three year" period.

#asks #persona 5 #p5 meta #sae niijima #goro akechi #wakaba isshiki #takuto maruki #fucking yaldabaoth

[pinkpruneclodwolf]

Wired Take—Chapter 2 is About Nature v Nurture.

Why Savanclaw chapter is about siblings relationships

Before I get into why Chapter 2 is about Nature v Nurture we're gonna unpack the Savanaclaw chapter and why it was actually the hardest chapter for me to grasp because of

1: How short it was—

21 episodes compared to Heartslabyul's 28, Octavinelle's 39, Scarabia's 41, Pomefiore's 69, and Ignihyde's 89.

Listen, I'll give Savanaclaw the benefit of the doubt when it comes to Pome and Igni bc they're later chapters meaning Yana had time to put more than enough effort, but Heartslabyul having 7 more episodes (plus the strong ass start from the Prologue) and Octavinelle having 11 more episodes feels weird asl, especially when you consider how iconic the Lion King is. Becoming the highest grossing movie in 1994 (it beat out Jurassic Park) not to mention the Lion King Broadway that's been running for 24 years, rakes in 1.6 mil a week, and has a gross value of 9 billion and counting.

And you're telling me it's the shortest out of the chapters??? Be fucking fr.

2. How the characters were characterized in a way that you'd have to read the next chapter (or personal stories) to grasp the fundamentals of those characters.

Cramming three hyenas into one boy was a choice and some change but I'm willing to say that Ruggie is a solid ass character, could there have been more? Absolutely. But Ruggie is holding his own pretty well.

Leona actually gets more characteration through Vignettes, Personal Stories, Events, and other chapters and I appreciate it because he was done dirty.

In his own chapter.

But Jack, the one non-Disney character and based off the wolf-dog in White Fang, written by Jack London. The story is about how the wolf dog is rescued from his abusive owner and slowly becomes domesticated through patience and compassion to a point where he protects the father of the man who adopted him.

And 3: How Leona's motivations were ruined because of how much his story ties into Scar's.

Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with Leona after Savanaclaw (bc he had his magical mental breakdown and came to terms with the fact he'll never be king... not) and the sure as hell isn't anything wrong with a "what if" version of Scar who didn't kill his brother and attends school where he can pretend he's king for little whilst that it looks like he's got his shit together and isn't fighting the constant inferiority complex that gets fueled whenever he's sees Malleus exist a likkle too hard...

However, in the face of Riddle (based off the Queen of Hearts) and how strictness ties into his character, how—despite relying on rules—he's actually pretty mischievous, how his mother essentially played God with his life from his very conception until he got to Night Raven and sharing motivations with the protagonist.

In the face of Jamil whose life was decided to be less than Kalim's because of the longstanding history of his family being subservient to the Al-Asim's to a point where his family told him not to overshadow Kalim, but even so he still yearns to be greater than who he is and be able to show the world that his life has as much of the same worth as Kalim's.

In the face of Azul (based off of Ursula) who had been ostracized to a point where he refuses to return to his original form, still keeps every secret, problem, and trait of his childhood bullies who wants to burn away the last vestiges of who he was before NRC yet is still ruled by his old world...

Leona falls short. His motivations are rushed, his backstory a watered down version of Scar's, and his OB scene barely memorable besides the cool ass fit.

Chapter 2 upsets me because Lion King came from Disney's Renaissance era, was the highest grossing moving of 1994 meaning people lined up to watch Mufasa die in a theater to a point that an entire generation is defined by remembering that one scene in that one movie.

Vines and memes centered around the scene and people shaking and crying and throwing up more than Simba did in the damn movie and you mean to tell me Leona rode on those coattails and still flopped????

The Devil is a damn liar.

In an effort to make Chapter 2 less eldritch than it is in terms of incomprehensiblility, I've decided to come up with a better explanation (and fix it) for Savanaclaw.

Only the real will understand.

1. How Short it Is.

I mention how Savanaclaw is the shortest chapter in the game, which is insane considering the game has no sense of time-frame—I would say the Overblots span over a month, but Octavinelle proves this wrong when Jade says "you were the one spying with Riddle the other day" in the JP translation which means Leona's Overblot was the "fastest".

But that makes no sense considering it takes, 3 days~ (making a timeline up) for Jade and Floyd to propose Yuu confront Azul, and when Grim and Yuu take Jack's proposal the Savanaclaw students literally say "Aren't those the guys that trespassed on our dorm the other day?!"

Savanaclaw takes place in October and Octavinelle takes place in November, if I recall most midterms start after 5 1/2 weeks into school, especially in colleges, meaning from the last two weeks in November should be prime time... And this is for a college, not a Highschool, and while NRC is based off of UK schooling they don't refer to the Mid terms as Finals because BrE doesn't have midterms, they have end of the year examinations and this is considered a recent development. [Though I cannot speak from the Brits I just read through a couple articles I will be linking below]

So, yes, I know that Octavinelle starts with Yuu and Grim waking up and then taking the exams but like,,,,, I refuse to believe charas are saying the other day and referring to a week or so ago.

Time is a social construct but it's a prevalent one for a damn reason.

Anyways, why is Leona's Overblot the fastest? Riddle starts accumulating Blot early on because it's a tutorial Chapter to show what you'll be dealing with, Azul doesn't start accumulating Blot around the time Yuu offers Ramshackle as collateral. (Or am I misremembering???) Which becomes a track record as Jamil, Vil, and Idia start accumulating Blot nearing the middle of the chapter and everything starts derailing into Overblot and it wasn't even Idia accumulating Blot, it was Ortho.

Leona does accumulate Blot but it's after the dorm leader meeting which is directly after Ruggie is shown to be the culprit which still threw me off.

The rant about not being told he couldn't be number one should've been reserved for a one on one conversation or after said convo.

I physically cringed when he started off his rant with that bc it sounds like he's in cahoots with whomever is causing students to be injured, he's lucky no one in that room took a moment to process what he said—ntm Azul reacted with interest when he proposed an alternative to defeating Diasomnia.

Leona got as far as he did not bc he was displaying smarts or cunning but bc the ppl around him were dumbed down/not paying attention to his words. Which is crazy since Leona is propped up to be NRC's top student in academics and he's sitting here in front of someone who discovered and honed their Unique Magic at 10. Merman who got bullied to the point of obsessively studying magic and discovering it naturally. A world class actor and model who knows multiple languages and multiple sports, and genius enough to create a poison strong enough to take the Dorm Leader spot of Pomefiore. Kalim who has (possibly) been advised to be very careful of his surroundings due to multiple assassination attempts, a genius who made a robot in his brother's image. Crowley who runs the show essentially throwing his motivations on the table.

Like,,,, get a fucking grip, save the villain monologing for after you're sure you've won.

Thing is, this goes on for the entirety of the chapter—The fakeout of Ruggie seeming like he's the one accumulating Blot since he's doing all the leg work and Leona throwing out his plans for anyone to hear, the whole point of Jack confronting Leona stems from the first year overhearing his conversation lmaooo.

You can throw your hat in the ring and say that Leona doesn't care. That he genuinely believes that he or Ruggie will get caught and stopped feeding into his complex of "if there's no immediate reward what's the point?"

But why the hell would start by injuring students for funzies if he thinks at a moments notice he'll get caught? Why go on a monologue ab how the Great Seven secured their positions through wisdom and cunning and have the table of Dorm Leader's (besides Idia) rallying behind him if he thinks Crowley will just pull him aside and call him out??

The math ain't mathing.

But it will.

Some events in the chapter need to be reordered.

Jack should approach Leona and tell him about the students dropping like flies—I genuinely believe that Leona should've allowed some students in Savanaclaw to get injured, it looks suspicious if the only dorm not suffering from losses is the one that wants to win the most.

Leona should dismiss his concerns or imply that he'll start investigating the matter and when Jack leaves, cackle evilly with Ruggie to set up the chapter.

You could bump up the Meeting scene but I'd keep it where it is, why? Because Azul can say, "due to recent injuries, if you want to swap students out of your previous roster it will be an additional fee; submitting your Magift forms late will also cost you."

This would imply that the dorm leaders already put in their Registration Forms and the process of changing students can be difficult because the VIP guests, Newsbroadcasters, and scouts will have to be informed of the decision.

Again, that villain monologue Leona through it was insane work, like he was the only one praying on his downfall. So I propose a different monologue:

"Denying students the chance to be number one?"

"You expect Savanaclaw, founded off the Tenacity of the King of Beasts, to lay on our backs and let that monster stomp all over us and our dreams?"

"Magift isn't just about physical prowess. Technique, magic; that lizard only relies on two of those components."

This is Leona's complex talking bc Sebek says that Malleus summons mountains and thunder during Magift because it's all based on spectacle. Think of it is the U.A. Sports Festival in MHA, it's all about spectacle and showing off in an effort to get noticed, which emphasizes another point:

The whole reason Leona is even doing this is bc a part of him believes he owes his dorm members a win. He assumed the Dorm Head's position and since then has lost to Malleus and thus cutting down the opportunities his dorm students can get, thus saying he will never be a true king.

Again, I said that if the scenes were played out right it could've been subversive. We still don't know who would OB between Ruggie and Leona (exactly like Jamil and Kalim) because after the meeting two Blot splatters appear and Ruggie attacks two students.

A lot of people have even said Ruggie should've been the one to Overblot bc Cjapter 2 trivialize Leona's struggles with never being King, relegated to a spare heir who will never see the seat because Cheka is sitting there.

His magic is said to be the manifestations of his people's fears: drought, famine. It wasn't a Unique Magic he discovered like the rest of the OB group, he was born with it.

Imagine your first display of magic being met with disgust and horror while your brother's UM (discovered later in life) is met with praise.

Play it up!!!

Leona has a good grip on his magic but with Overblot let him melt some stairs! Let him dry out the air! Let him have a conversation with his Brother (over the phone/face to face) and turn a door handle to sand/leave a trail of sand in his wake!!!!!

Have students complain about the growing frequency of sandstorms at Savanaclaw, how dry the air feels, have Jack's cacti nearly die!!!!

Stand up Savanaclaw damn!!!!!!

2. How the characters were characterized in a way that you'd have to read the next chapter (or personal stories) to grasp the fundamentals of those characters.

JACK, FIGHT BACK

RUGGIE, STAND UP

LEONA, GET UPPPP!!!!

The Chapters are there to help sell a character, to make you roll for them and get you invested in their arcs and growth throughout the story.

So why in the hell....?

Lemme ask yall this: Who are your fave characters in twst? What attracted yall to them? What was your fave chapter? What characters stand out to you?

I've scoured the twst tags and I've noticed that Savanaclaw ranks lowest amongst the people. Or they are never properly characterized in headcanons/yumeships.

Ofc we can chalk it up to the rampant racism that is within twst—I've seen yall hcs of Savanaclaw being smelly and full of jocks as if these students don't have heightened senses and would probably be the cleanest dorm in Night Raven, beating out Pomefiore.

Or the fact that yall characterize Savanaclaw students as only violent despite the fact they are a martial artist dorm (which requires discipline) as well as a dorm that is the major contributor in Magical Shift leagues (which is like football, you need good grades to even touch HS football not to mention College Football).

But I digress on that—Savanaclaw isn't popular bcccc the chapter was asinine.

Like I said, you'd need to read the charas Personal Stories/Vignettes to get a grasp on them whilst other chapters and characters (besides Pomefiore, Rook, Vil, and Epel are hard as hell to grasp, I tried to do a case study on Rook and was sniped twice)

Personal stories are meant to expand on a character and their themes, yet that's all Leona, Ruggie, and Jack can rely on bc they were written with failure on the brain and defeat in the heart.

The way Savanaclaw should've gone was characterizing Leona.

Someone who has a dichotomous relationship with his family, friends, kingdom, and public perception, the weight of being the black sheep, the scapegoat, ostracized for a power he was born with to a point that he gives up. He's stuck in a cycle of hubris, self hatred, procrastination. He wants to be praised bc he was denied it for so long, stuck in the shadow of the golden child that is his brother, his chance to be accepted swept away by his nephew.

When he graduates he will have nothing to return to but upholding an image.

He is stuck.

That right there is grounds for a reasonable Overblot. Bc I'm sure anyone has felt those feelings before—played those roles before.

And somehow Savanaclaw fails to show that and Ruggie steals the spotlight.

Thing is, I'm not even against Ruggie Overblotting bc the hyenas do eat Scar at the end of the movie.

However.

As much as I fw Ruggie Obing, I'm trying to fix Savanaclaw lmaooooo.

Anyways, Ruggie also is stuck.

Born in poverty with possibly no prior education, he has no mother his father abandoning him and the only person raising his us his grandmother, it's been implied that Ruggie's been picking up odd jobs prior to Night Raven—meaning he's lied about his age and the rich simply did not care. Children in poverty grow up with adult eyes, wisened up to the world in an effort to survive before the hole that is poverty consumes them. Adults hold child eyes because "hope" is the only thing keeping them going, Ruggie knows that one day he will look to the world with "hope" so having Night Raven choose him out of all kids is his golden ticket, surrounding himself with rich kids, mooching as much as possible until he can live a comfortable life...

That's also grounds for Overblot, especially when you consider Leona throwing everything back at his face and nearly strangling him to death.

His golden ticket turning to dust before his eyes.

No wonder yall fw Ruggie Overblotting, that boy was putting in the legwork!!!!

Jack is objectively the most normal mf in the TWST cast, I see yall try so hard to project Trey as normal and it's laughable bc the dude who literally asked to be ignored is the sneakiest mf in the cast, beat out by Rook and Jade.

Like Jack is easily overshadowed in the chapter and after. Only working when hes bouncing off of another character which is crazy bc he's based off of a feral wolf that slowly gets domesticated through compassion and kindness (a reason why he easily warms up to Yuu) him being all about just actually could work in his (and Yuu's) favor when you consider the fact that Yuu is the most proactive (read: forced) in stopping fighting Overblots.

Yet his character is never truly explored, even in his vignettes. Which is crazy work bc, like I said in a previous post, when Jack assumes he's in the right when that Justice comes into play he will shake you down.

He does it with Leona, Ruggie, Azul. FLOYD AND JADE LEECH BOTH??? Like that boy is a force to be reckoned with and somehow,,,,,,

Like I'm grateful Portfest is giving Jack crumbs but this should've been implemented, especially if you're going to sell what is essentially an Original Character in a game that focuses on Disney villains...

Which brings me to Crowley, who is also an Original Character based off of a real person—Aleister Crowley. A real life occultist who was dubbed "the wickedest man in the world." And that mf has been the basis for so many theories, esp popular ones like him being behind Mickey's entrapment in the mirror (it's going platinum in my delusions lmaoo).

So,,, why the hell is Jack?? Getting the short end of the stick??? See where Yana messed up was not expanding on Jack, Ruggie, and Leona.

The entirety of October is dedicated to Magical Shift they have enough time to plan, revamp, and execute Leona's plan. I honestly wanted Leona to come down on Malleus like he did to Azul, and THEN recreate the scene where Mufasa dies.

Thus leading to my next point!:

And 3: How Leona's motivations were ruined because of how much his story ties into Scar's.

Gonna give a strict rundown on what happens in Savanaclaw before we begin unpacking what should be changed and why:

As we know Savanaclaw starts of with Ruggie snatching the cutlet using his UM who then gives it to Leona, and they talk about his status as second Prince. Skip to the Dorm Leader meeting—which is where things pick up for Leona before dropping off the side of a cliff— he explicitly is against Malleus being inducted into the Hall of Fame, rallying the other dorm leaders (Excluding Malleus, obvi) and Crowley concedes.

Ruggie then breaks two other students' bones before prancing off, leaving Yuu to be tasked with investigating the strange circumstances behind the injuries. In that time Trey gets hurt and so Adeuce, Cater, and Riddle investigate those injured and on the possible hitlist to be injured.

In that time Yuu is taught Magical Shift, a game that while on the surface seems focused on brute strength and force ends up being a strategic game that has flashy spells to Wow the crowd.

Jack later ends up listening in on Leona and Ruggie discussing further plans. Fast forward and Yuu and the Investigation troop find out crucial evidence that points to Savanaclaw, but with no solid information they can't fly off the handle.

Thus leading to the final showdown: Ruggie procures a performance enhancing potion and recreates the march that killed Mufasa but—oh? It's all Cater clones? Heartslabyul warned Diasomnia and the other dorms in advance? Leona gives up and Ruggie tries to knock sense into him? The Investigation troop and Lilia give him a stern talking to?

He Overblots.

This is a pretty frustrated retelling of the chapter but I want to reiterate that Savanaclaw is the SHORTEST CHAPTER IN THE GAME and Leona only has a handful of scenes in the entire chapter, if I said he had 3 major scenes (EXCLUDING HIS OVERBLOT) you would assume I'm lying but 16-20 is a whole four episodes where he just ISNT THERE but you wanna know who is?

Ruggie and Jack.

I'm going to maul a small family and eat a couch.

It's not like Leona needs to show up to tell that his actions are harming everyone, other chapters have full on episodes where the Overblotee isn't there, however, it's that for everytime Leona isn't there Ruggie is—a sponge that soaks up and steals Leona's thunder and leads many to believe Ruggie is the one who should Overblot instead.

And the thing is, I want to say I don't care about how long Savanaclaw is because impactful storytelling doesn't need to bee stretched across say,,,,, 89 episodes but I can't lie, I believe many more people would rock with the Savanaclaw trio the way the rock with Octatrio if they had just a couple more episodes, a better vision and maybe coherent plot too.

But here are some things I'd change.

Emphasis on VIP guests, many royal families (especially Kingscholars) and scouts/recruiters. If Magift is supposed to be anything like College football it'd make sense that there would be an emphasis on recruiting and scouts as well as scholarship and internship opportunities. Savanaclaw is basically an all you can eat internship Hotspot, having Diasomnia usurp that means that internship/scholarship opportunities are becoming unevenly distributed

Sebek said that Malleus can summon mountains and thunder during Magift, meaning that Magift is about spectacle, which again harkens back to recruiters, internships, and scholarships. Magift is a big sport in NRC bc it showcases the overflowing potential and thus puts NRC in a position for more funding.

I mentioned VIP guests and royalty. Maybe Leona's brother is one of those guests? Maybe Cheka shows up? Maybe Falena attempts to reconnect with his brother through a sport he enjoys after years of being apart and nearly no contact? Maybe Cheka sneaks off more into NRC and is indentured into the Investigation Squad? Maybe Leona feels more pressure because not only is Malleus in line to be put on the throne but his Dorm might get washed in front of Falena and thus exacerbating his fears of being less than his brother? Maybe, maybe, maybe.

MORE 👏🏾 SCREENTIME👏🏾 FOR 👏🏾LEONA👏🏾 Have Leona have a dichotomous relationship with Ruggie, keep the audience on the feet and guessing who the hell will OB, I don't know ab twst en players but b4 the translations we had a TimeLoop theory and Leona Overblotting instead of (who we believed should've OBed) was essentially the golden puzzle piece when it came to those theories, entire theses and theories were built off the back of Leona OB being an error/change in the Timeline. Having the story alternate between those two? Twst jp theories wouldve carried over frr.

@/najmaviper already said this, but have Leona use his UM as a way to vent!!! Show that his grip is slowly loosening in the face of all these problems arising? Show that even with him learning to leash a UM that the pressure has his grip slipping!! That the divide between managing the innate magic he's been born with is growing thinner and its harder to grasp something that melds into a foundational problem!!!

Ruggie! Like I said society would advance just off principle of the Savanaclaw fake out! Make it look like Ruggie's gonna Overblot while also balancing the many reasons why Leona should OB as well!! Bc the hyenas ate Scar it would make sense thematically that Ruggie should also hold some burden of Overblot as Chap 6 said that it can have an area of effect and there have been instances of ppl OBing by proxy!!

Savanaclaw needs to be longer.

Now that we've gotten all of that out of the way. Here's my analysis for Savanaclaw.

Nature v Nurture—The Eternal Struggle of the Wild.

As we all know, the wilderness is a dangerous place to be in. To be vulnerable in the elements could very well cost you your life.

That is exactly why Jack London's White Fang, while not known, is still a profound body of work bc of the topic it tackles—The struggle of man v nature.

But we aren't talking about just the struggle of man v nature, we are talking about the struggle of man and nature, where animal and human begin and end and mix and blend.

It is through that that I present to you my analysis on Savanaclaw as a whole.

Leona, as we all know, had been ostracized and stuck in the shadow of his brother since the day he was born—this further exacerbated by the fact that not only are they born a decade a part (ten years apart) but their roles had already been decided.

Falena was destined to be king, and as such was whisked away into learning how to lead his country—to continue the reign of Kingscholars and make sure that balance and harmony would prosper in Afterglow Savannah.

Because of that, I believe that they never truly had a chance to bond—one always running away and the other always standing still; aimless.

It didn't help that Leona was a progidy, that his Unique Magic that he'd been born with essentially being a culmination of his people's fears— "I am your hunger, I am your thirst."

We know that when Scar had assumed the throne he'd allowed a disproportionate amount of hunting that led to food running scarce—I'd assume that Twst!Scar had such a devastating impact on Afterglow Savannah that droughts would forever be associated with him—I also believe that there is still an area of land in Afterglow Savannah that has yet to recover.

So, to be associated with someone who'd killed his brother for the throne, to be associated with droughts and famines, and to have a personality that wasn't favorable you could see now that Leona was doomed from the start.

Because it didn't just start with him being denied kingship—he was denied something essential.

Compassion. Attention. And love.

We can see that Leona doesn't yearn to be king, but rather he yearns for what he should've gotten as a child—recognition. Instead of his efforts being deemed less than his brother's by right of him being king and him being the spare what Leona really yearned for was to have that same attention on him.

Just for a moment.

And if I said that Leona's scar could've been borne from that want—that need to be doted on, to finally be free from his brother's shadow and not be compared to him would I be wrong?

Because at the core of it, what Leona was denied subsequently is what he begins to abhor. We see this when, despite many students of Night Raven coming to him when they face a problem, he actively avoids them. Despite his grades literally being a selling point at NRC you see him not trying at all to come to class. Despite him overseeing on of the most competitive sports in Twisted Wonderland, you see that he doesn't put in that same effort divided to Magift as he does his PE class (as seen in his PE vignette)

Because why strive for something that you know will not be given to you? Why put in effort that will be overlooked? Why do anything at all if there is nothing you can do?

But I wouldn't go as far as to say that Leona is entirely apathetic—moreso inert in his position in life. He was supposed to be the spare king, a thing to look forward to, but as of Cheka his role is now essentially moot. His achievements as a Magift player overshadowed by Malleus, who has been considered to be inducted into the Hall of Fame for his achievements—Something that Leona probably has already done and more but bc Malleus beats him out in sheer magic factor you can see why there'd be some bitterness in that.

He doesn't have to strive to be a king, but he wants to bc thats the closest he'll get to his brother and, in spite of his self sabotaging ways, ultimately have purpose in life.

I do not believe that Leona is lazy, but rather because he believes he has "no place" in life he finds himself meandering through it.

Savanaclaw is the best and worst that happened to him—because for a moment, he was separated from his title as second prince, for a moment he had a purpose.

Only to have it snatched away.

It's why I think that Malleus and Leona are direct parallels of each other at points. First v Second Prince, Treasured v Discarded, Fae v Beastmen.

Because the struggle of human v nature, the struggle of human nature, and the struggle of instinct are all things that have been written and talked about.

If Leona was raised better he'd be able to handle the disappointment, the dejection, and the shortcomings he faced. But that is an if scenario, and we know that if he were a better Beastmen he wouldn't have Overblotted.

However, for all his carefully crafted apathy we know that Leona still wants—we see that when he objects Crowley's proposal to induct Malleus into the Hall of Fame by arguing that everyone should have a chance to best him. Because to be in Savanaclaw is to have Tenacity, to claw for what you want regardless of birth order and predetermined circumstances.

In the end, we know that Leona has a competitive streak and clear cut goals—he wants to come out on top regardless of the odds.

And as we know, lions are group hunters, while reliant on their female counterparts male lions still have to hold their own.

The clear cut goal is—hunt and catch prey. There's nothing more and nothing less to be added.

And yet, his defeatist attitude always wins out in the end. A reality check that Leona had known since the beginning yet to hear it from the mouth of someone who, by virtue of being in Diasomnia and thus closer to Malleus (someone who would win by default), sends him over the edge.

Either way, even after his Over Blot I believe it's important to note that Leona does not truly change who he is fundamentally—its an act of defiance, because in the end he still gave it his all even if it was underhanded, even if it meant he'd possibly injure Malleus in the process.

In the end, after all those years spent being inert and constantly shifting gears to please that competitive streak in himself while also doing the bare minimum, he learns to go at his own pace.

He learns that he can't strive for a goal without truly, actively chasing after it. We see this in Chap 3 where he participates in Savanaclaw Magift training even mentioning that there is a RSA v NRC tournament coming up and that gives him the drive to train for it.

It might not be satisfactory, the fact that Leona hadn't drastically changed like Riddle and Vil had but it's a change that fits him. Because he'd lived his life wanting to have the odds play in his favor while actively sabotaging himself with his own defeatist mentality.

He doesn't change for the sake of changing, but rather he changes for himself and to make it easier to better 'hunt' for his goals.

#twst #twisted wonderland #Savanaclaw #leona kingscholar #ruggie bucchi #jack howl #dawgggg #do you know how long this mf had been sitting in the drafts just stewing? #this mf is my magnum opus #my great analysis that could put all my works to shame #i am god and this is my new testament #i really have become deranged yall this is it #Savanaclaw my beloved #This is the Savanaclaw manifesto i swear yall hop on the wave rnnnn

[letmetellyouaboutmyfeels]

can i ask you something? what makes this different from s4 with buck and eddie? didn't you say you lost faith after s4, so how was it restored and how did what happen in the s6 finale not make you lose faith in what would have been the series finale, they got buck and eddie together with random women they have no chemistry with?

I feel like I've answered this question a hundred times but, okay, once more with feeling! A one and a two and a three!

My faith was restored with season four after I a) calmed down b) took a step back and had more time to reflect and c) wasn't having a mental breakdown. As I've said before, my personal life was bad at the time, so when my fictional TV show didn't give me what I wanted and it was one of the few things giving me an escape/joy at the time, I didn't handle it well. But when I took a step back, chatted with others, and had some time to reflect, I realized I had been too impatient in my expectations. Season five was fantastic for me re: Eddie's growth and healing, as well as Buck approaching romantic relationships. I was honestly surprised they didn't get together in the season five finale, that was my expectation and it seemed properly built up, but then we had weird pacing in season six in regards to Buck and Eddie especially so I really suspect BTS stuff was going on.

I don't lose faith because I have seen what happens when people rush shit for a finale because they are cancelled or might be cancelled. You do not have to agree with my opinion on this. You are welcome to say, well if this was the finale I'd be pissed! But I, personally, would have been upset if they'd rushed my getting together moment because they were scared they'd get cancelled.

Additionally, again, we do not know what's going on behind the scenes. Clearly stuff was going on during season six. I don't mean to put on a tin hat here, but it's possible Fox said "no." It's possible Tim said "no." It's possible there was other shit going on that I can't even guess on because I'm not involved, that led to a "no" that will become a "yes" now that they've moved to ABC. We do not know.

I have not lost faith because guess what! It was NOT the series finale. I do not care for the "almosts" of other timelines. This is the timeline I'm in, thanks, and what matters to me is not what might have happened or what almost happened but what did happen. In my opinion, the writing team chose to take a risk and not get Buddie together, not compromise their relationship, in the hopes they'd get picked up somewhere else. It's a risky move, but once you get Buddie together you can't take it back, and so I respect that they stuck to their guns.

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO AGREE WITH ME. But this is my opinion of why I'm not upset. As a writer, I respect when someone has the integrity to hold to their vision even if it means taking a risk.

(And frankly I didn't like it for a series finale for any of the characters, not just Buddie! As much as I love all of them. I want to see the Madney wedding, I want Athena to quit her damn job, I want Chim to get a storyline not tied to Maddie... etc.)

As far as where the boys are now, given this was not the series finale:

Back when it looked like Eddie would get with Ana, a lot of us were excited, because we felt it was important Eddie date other people before he dates Buck. Shannon is the only relationship he's ever had and we felt that for his own sake, his confidence, his maturity, he date at least one other person.

But that's not how his relationship with Ana went. He did it to give Chris a parent, he did it before he was ready, he did it because he felt he had to. Whatever sexuality you believe Eddie to have, the entire Ana relationship was steeped in comphet. It didn't give him confidence or help him learn to have an adult relationship. So Eddie needs, in my opinion, to date around a little. For himself, because he wants to. Then he'll have the confidence to be with Buck.

Buck's relationship with Natalia will, I hope, give him the growth I wanted him to have with Taylor. He did a lot of growth regarding his platonic family this season, but it was also made more clear to him than ever that he wants to be a father and a husband. But as we see he once again let someone else pick his couch. This time, Natalia. She seems like the band-aid solution to his post-death trauma, but the audience has already been set up to see that Eddie is what's right for Buck, not her. It's clear to me from the writing that they had to hedge their bets, again for whatever BTS reason, but they are still priming the audience to know Natalia's not right for Buck, Eddie is.

Personally, given Natalia's reaction to Buck's relationship with Kameron and Connor, I think Christopher will be the breaking point. Buck will never, ever choose anyone else over Christopher. And I don't think Natalia, who didn't seem super comfy with kids in the first place, will like that her boyfriend has a parental and unshakable relationship with someone else's kid. And who can blame her? It's hard to build a life with someone when they're co-parenting another kid already. It's kinda the number one concern divorced parents have when dating again - I already have a child, and I share that child with someone else, but I'm not romantically with that someone else, how can a new person accept that? It's hard! It's uncomfy! It's difficult!

Again, we saw Buck fall asleep on Eddie's couch. Eddie is Buck's true partner. Buck is already a father (and possibly will be again, I think it's looking more and more likely that Buck and Eddie will adopt a child once they get together, Buck loves Chris but clearly also wants a baby - c'mon writers give me a safe haven baby), to Christopher.

Just as he realized with his coma dream that Bobby is his true father, the one he already has, and that means he can forgive his parents for his own sake and meet them where they're at, because he knows from where his true support comes (Bobby especially, but the rest of the 118 as well)... so season seven will I think be Buck realizing that Eddie is his true partner and Chris is his true child. And Natalia is not Taylor. Natalia is a good person. She's a selfless person who helps people come to terms with their death and makes such a terrifying experience joyful and loving. Buck needs to reject the "perfect woman" because no matter how "perfect" she might be, she can never be what he wants. No one can, because Eddie and Chris already have his heart.

So that's why I'm excited. I'm excited for Eddie to get confident in his ability to be a romantic partner. I'm excited for Buck to reject the "perfect woman" because he needs to realize he already has what he wants.

I don't think it's like the season four finale. The season four finale they should not have gotten together. It was too soon. It would've been steeped in the trauma they both just experienced (and have yet to talk about heheheheh). I think that season six just gave us what we hoped would happen when Eddie dated Ana and Buck dated Taylor but Eddie especially was acting from a place of comphet and trauma, and Buck LITERALLY DATED TAYLOR BECAUSE EDDIE NEARLY DIED, it was a MASSIVE trauma response and he continued to be with her because she wouldn't leave him, even though he was absolutely miserable with her to the point where the intensely-loyal Buck drunkenly kissed someone else (I think that kiss was equally about Eddie, Eddie didn't show up even though Buck invited him, and Buck clearly is angry and missing him).

Season six finale gave us Eddie learning to ask someone out, Eddie trying to date casually, Eddie learning how to be an adult in adult romantic relationships. And it gave us the "perfect" woman for Buck, while ALSO showing us how she ISN'T what he really needs, to set us up for Buck realizing nobody will ever work out because nobody will be Eddie.

That's why I'm not worried. They're two entirely different scenarios. And while you may not agree with how the writing team chose to handle the possible cancellation and that is allowed, I do not agree with you, I will never agree with you, and people who do not agree with me need to stop dropping into my inbox because they will simply be deleted and also, a little bit, mocked. Privately. In silly voices. To my cats.

(Not saying that's you nonny, but I have had some rather annoying people drop me a line.)

So there you go. I got my faith back with season four because I was impatient and I just needed time to reflect, and I have not lost faith here because I believe they're two different scenarios, I like to give the benefit of the doubt to an excellent writing team because I don't know what BTS bullshit is going on, and I would've done the same damn thing and not compromised my vision of how I wanted Buck and Eddie to get together and taken that risk.

#mads answers things #911 meta #also if I see one more person say 'they have no chemistry!' I'm going to fling myself off a bridge #good or bad or nonexistent chemistry is frankly not what I give a damn about #(aside from making jokes) #I care about the WRITING and what the WRITING is telling me #especially because you all will claim that Eddie and Buck don't have chemistry with ANYONE EVER #in order to suit your needs #Oliver and Natalia's actress could be fucking like rabbits off-screen #they could look at each other like they wanted to tear each other's clothes off #and I do not give a flying rat's ass #I care that Buck asked her to pick out his couch for him after he fell asleep on Eddie's #I care that she ran out the door when Kameron appeared and was very uncomfy with the labor scene #I care that she seemed deeply relieved that Buck is in fact walking away from the baby #I care that Buck said 'she sees me' to Eddie as Eddie demonstrates that HE sees Buck #better than Natalia or anyone else ever could #THAT IS WHAT I CARE ABOUT #Christ on a cracker I'm so tired

[callme6olet]

What makes Arcane great: S1E1

I had no expectations for Arcane when it came out. I don't play League and don't intend to. But the show blew my mind, and a year and a half later, I can still say it's my favorite show ever.

Episode 1 is "Welcome to the Playground." The plot is pretty straightforward: a robbery gone wrong. Vi, Powder, and company bungle the robbery, the penthouse explodes, and they lose everything but a handful of crystals. There's pushback from the enforcers, Vander plays peacekeeper, and Silco experiments with shimmer.

What makes this episode stick? Long and short, it's a perfect Episode One: the character building, worldbuilding, and pacing are all on point, and it sets the stage for all the conflicts that drive the show. What follows, it's less of a breakdown and more of a commentary, a zoom-in on some of my favorite moments.

That first scene.

The opening scene is a flashback, our first look into this world, and it does what a good first scene should: it tells us what the whole season, maybe the whole show, is about. On a macro scale, it's the conflict between Piltover and Zaun: class struggles, the oppression of societal structures that built themselves over centuries. On the micro scale, it's the conflict between Powder and Vi: two people who love each other, but who are forced apart by pain. In three minutes, we see everything we need to know about their relationship.

The first shot is the bridge, the dividing line between Piltover and Zaun, in a firestorm. The first line is Powder singing: "Dear friend across the river, my hands are cold and bare. Dear friend across the river, I'll take what you can spare." The first character we see, it isn't either of our protagonists--it's an enforcer, their face demonized by the helmet and the glitched-out scribbling we'll later come to associate with Jinx's schizophrenia. The show is showing us, visually, that this is where Powder's mental illness starts. This is the root of her belief that everyone is out to hurt her, and who can blame her? Too, we're seeing people in order of power: first the city itself, then the enforcers, then the children. We are zooming in through layers of oppression. And in the background, the voice of a girl asking a friend for help, framing the maco conflict beautifully: ask without envy, and violence is what you receive.

The scene keeps showing and not telling. We see Vander's moment of realization, the point when he takes off the cast irons because he's seeing what his violence has wrought--not in the death of his allies, but in the pain of their children, now orphans.

Deeper than that, though, we see the core of Vi and Jinx's relationship--one which is founded in love, but which is deeply unhealthy. Vi is the protector. She will walk through the field of blood while Powder keeps her hands over her eyes. When they see Vander, Powder shies away and Vi steps forward: she will fight, will not let her sister get hurt. When they see their dead parents, Powder is not the first to cry--she looks at Vi. As long as Vi is there, she is safe. When Vi breaks down, Powder comforts her rather than crying herself. She is repaying the favor, learning by example: putting others before her. In short, they're codependent. Powder needs someone, and Vi needs to be needed.

The Job.

They rob the house, we get a chase scene. There's some great visual worldbuilding, and the writers also somehow manage to simultaneously capture the inciting incident of the show and a slice-of-life for the gang. This is just another day for them, and yet it spirals out of control so slowly and so inevitably. It doesn't feel forced, in my opinion, for one reason: the crystals. This is raw power that nobody understands--it's less like the main characters happened, by Main Character Syndrome, to stumble into the plot, and more like something was bound to go wrong from meddling with the arcane.

Another point: everyone--even Powder--is very competent. The heist goes wrong not because they fucked up, but because of bad luck and poor decision-making. Powder slips up, sure, but then, she's doing parkour at the age of . . . 10ish? She's also shown to have a keener eye for tech than the rest, and in the second episode, we get to see what she'd be like if she had access to a gun. The setup and character designs make me feel like Mylo or Claggor is going to slip up in some way and ruin the job; the fact that they don't is a relief. It would've felt like dumbing down the characters, taking the easy way out.

On the chase back across the bridge, one of the enforcers doesn't make the jump. It's not that big of a leap, but it is a very believable stumble. For me, this is such a great moment--it's explaining the world, the style, the rules of the show. It's telling us that people can be skilled, but they're not superheroes, not even action heroes.

Like, normally he'd make that, right? In a movie, anyway. In real life, I'd expect it to go exactly how it does. This sets expectations, sets the tone, and makes the main characters seem that much more competent. All in about two seconds of screentime. It's the small things, sometimes.

the brawl.

Not too complicated of a plot: street tough tries to mug them, they don't pay up, everyone fights. Powder runs and loses the treasure. What makes it stellar is the fact that the fight is only the backdrop, not the main focus. The focus is the characters. We have Deckard, the street tough--such a stock character, but even he has depth. The line "in my experience, trouble finds you" is such a prime example of good writing, of one line doing double duty. It's a threat, sure, but it also humanizes him. It makes us notice the scars on his face, realize that he's had his fair share of trouble that he didn't go looking for.

The fight breaks out, and we get to see Powder experiencing trauma purely through the shot's framing and the slow-motion. The return to a normal frame rate lets us experience her oh shit moment--again, purely visually. She runs, tries tossing a grenade, and the device malfunctions. Powder feels like a failure. There's an argument to be made that she was subconsciously self-sabotaging, that she wouldn't let herself make a working contraption because she needs Vi. Success would mean independence, would mean leaving the shadow of her big sister's protection.

At the end, Deckard pulls a knife and Vi walks up to him, asks if he wants to see how that ends. Because she's just taken a few punches and won the fight, this line feels earned. If she'd won easily, she'd seem arrogant here. If she'd gotten the shit kicked out of her, it would read like she was bluffing. As is, we get to see her as not only a badass, but someone who's willing not to fight. No empty threats from her--unlike Deckard--but she uses her words, this time. Doesn't want a death on her hands.

Welcome to the playground.

The title drop is in a song, both non-diegetic and later, in the Last Drop, diegetic. It's a banger, and the descent into the underworld is also pretty slick. Nothing special, but also beautifully executed. In my head, it's like the Mos Eisley cantina: a quick introduction to the scum and villainy, a vignette of a world that's dirty, inhabited, lived-in.

The other standout moment to me is Vander's introduction--not because of anything that happens this episode, but because the man he helps comes back later on to help Vi. This is just an example of what the show does so well and so consistently: there are no wasted details, and every character has depth. Everyone is human.

We see this again with Marcus and Grayson, the two enforcers. Grayson seems relatively important, but Marcus, in this episode, is just an overzealous nobody. The fact that he then develops into an important side character, that his story is shown with such depth and so little screen time, is incredible.

Vi and Powder.

The penultimate sequence is Vi comforting Powder, whose insecurities have only grown over the course of this episode--and understandably so. But she's not angry at Vi, even after she heard her seemingly agree with Mylo about Powder being a failure. She is not looking to right wrongs: she is looking for her sister's comfort. For attention. Vi is ready and willing to give it. Powder is her motivation for nearly everything she does. Vi rarely, if ever, does things for herself, for her own protection, security, or gain. Her selflessness is a great strength, but her codependence is what ultimately breaks her relationship with Powder.

This screenshot, it says so much about the show. For one, I picked it almost at random. Every frame is gorgeous. For another--look at Vi's face, close to the camera. Out of focus.

Out of focus. It's animated. There is no camera. It takes more work to put her out of focus than it does to put her in focus, and yet that decision was made. It tells us where to look, subtly tricks us into believing that this is real, what we're seeing, that it happened, was caught on film.

And I mean--look at it. At this piece of art. Look a the love in Vi's eyes, those eyes we can barely even see. Look at the hurt on Powder's face, the way she's pouting. How her shoulder's hunched. The art style does an amazing job of capturing emotion, of exaggerating just the right amount, of noticing and capturing the different planes of the face, the micro-expressions that make an emotion seem real. And you can't fault the composition--Vi in the foreground, big, protective. Powder in the background, backlit. She is the focus. Too, she and Vi are both surrounded by light on one side, darkness on the other--but Vi looks at the light, and Powder looks at the dark. It is, perhaps, her only real fault, the defining factor that makes one traumatized sister end up on the good side and the other on the bad side. Everything else Powder suffers is a matter of circumstance. This decision--reflected again in Episode 9 (and probably elsewhere), in a frame so beautiful I painted it and hung it on my wall--is the one thing that, in my mind, truly reflects on Powder's character. She is focused on her failure. She almost forgets to show Vi her success, the bag of crystals she held onto. It's not that she's wrong for feeling dejected, or that it's as easy as deciding to feel happy. It's more like this: looking at the light might not make you happy. You can't control that. But you can control the fact that you gave it your attention. That you tried. That you fought, that you searched, even if you came up lacking.

Vi is a fighter. Jinx, ultimately, is a destroyer.

Silco's lab.

Vi and Powder leave us on a perfect crescendo, a fade out, a vow that this city is gonna respect them--and then the writers leave that, somehow manage to pull off something better. We get our reveal of Silco, who's so over-the-top he ought to be trite, but he's not. The sadism, the scarred face, the orange eye--they're all too much. But they're balanced perfectly with his sibilant voice, his menacing but not overbearing manner.

We see Deckard, learn that he's answering to someone, that this underwater lair is the center of a secret organization. And again, no detail left behind--Deckard, that random street tough, is important.

Silco and his mad scientist--who, best I can tell, is named Singed--feed a rat some shimmer and watch it kill a cat. It's a perfect way to show off the drug. We could've seen a human hulking out, but instead we're also shown what the drug is for: reversing the roles, turning the hunter into the hunted. Making the meek powerful.

And then we fade to black. This scene, it solves a problem I wouldn't have been able to put my finger on otherwise: it escalates the stakes. It lets us know that the conflict we've stumbled onto, it's going to get bigger. Episode 1 is intensely focused on Powder and Vi, is practically a slice of life. This last scene, it's our reason to come back.

#arcane #league of legends #vi #jinx arcane #jinx #welcome to the playground

[daswarschonkaputt]

“With the weight of water above him, everything feels muted…Chan looks at him. “Porsche,” he says.” I’d love to hear your writerly thoughts on this section, as offered in the Chapter 8 end note. Thank you so much for writing, I loved the fic!

ah i see we're starting this off with some of the heavier stuff from the fic hahaha. this is from chapter three, or as i like to call it, the porsche has a mental breakdown chapter. he really goes through it this one.

under the cut to avoid clogging up people's dashes:

it's actually interesting you chose this part of the fic, because i have a deleted bit from this section that i still have saved. originally, this section was going to start like this:

Before he met Kinn, Porsche didn’t spend much time at all swimming. He’d been taught how, as a kid – had even competed, for a brief period of time during middle school – but like so many things in his life, it had fallen to the wayside after his parents died. Taekwondo was useful. It let him defend himself, defend Chay – and it provided them with a meagre source of income, in the form of tournament winnings, and sports scholarships. Swimming – with its private pools and gym membership fees – felt like an indulgence.

i cut this, because as much as i love a good bit of kittisawasd backstory, it didn't really fit the mood of the section. porsche doesn't have the brainspace for that kind of instrospection, as we'll see later in the scene.

With the weight of water above him, everything feels muted.

if i remember correctly, i ended up workshopping the first few lines of this section quite a lot. often when i'm writing i have an idea in my head that i want to convey that i don't necessarily have words for yet. usually in these moments, i just sort of throw words at a blank doc until something about the way they hang together tells the story i want.

i have issues with sensory overload personally, so one of the things i wanted to get across with this scene is that porsche was just craving, like, silence on all fronts. and one of the big ways i personally accomplish that is with pressure, usually in the form of a weighted blanket. so i wanted to get across the idea that he was like, held down all around him and enjoying the quiet of submersion.

Beneath the surface, the memories of that night feel far away. The ghost of Kinn’s hands no longer burns his skin, so he no longer feels caught between the urge to claw it out of him and the urge to let it consume him. He doesn’t have to trap himself in those moments with Kinn, if only to stop himself from slipping further back, to the blurry memories of English nursery rhymes and invasive, unwanted touch.

so obviously, one of the points of canon divergence in the diamond auction in this fic is that kinn didn't get to porsche as quickly as in canon. and because of that, vegas got a little further with porsche. i wanted to touch on that a bit here, because porsche spends most of the chapter processing his violation at kinn's hands -- he almost doesn't have the brain space to handle having to attack his violation at the hands of a stranger, too.

i also thought it was important to draw a line between how porsche feels about what went down with kinn -- not great, but a lot of that has to do with the fact that he didn't hate it -- and how he feels about what went down before -- invasive, unwanted touch. he lingers on the memories with kinn, because he likes them better.

and then absolutely refuses to think about why that is.

this chapter was one of my favourites to write for the fic, in large part because porsche's feelings on the matter of his dub-con sex with kinn are not simple. he's confused by his own reaction to it, which is added to by his already existing feelings of being trapped and powerless. porsche feels very keenly the power differential between him and kinn at all points in this fic, and a large part of their relationship is about porsche trying to negotiate around that to build something he can live with.

anyway i can ramble about porsche's feelings this chapter for ages, so let's stop there and go on a bit.

There’s no guilt, because he knows he was unfair to Tae, has known it since the moment his self-righteous anger burned out and left him feeling empty and alone.

i thought it was important to spell out for my readers that porsche knows he's being unfair to tae when he throws tae's apology gift back in his face. porsche in canon very much tries to take people as they intend -- were he less fucked up by everything going on, porsche would have probably accepted tae's gift, or refused it more politely.

so he feels guilty, because he thinks he was a dick, and then he feels alone because he recognises that that was someone attempting to reach out to him, and he just ruthlessly threw them off. porsche has very few friends in the compound at this point -- and the list of people that know the full extent of his violation doesn't include any of them.

like i said. he has a rough run of it.

Even if his lungs scream, and his head throbs – he doesn’t want to break for air. He just wants it all to stop.

hello darkness my old friend.

obviously here, this is a brief little bit of suicidal ideation. this is touched on briefly with the hair dye scene in the chapter, earlier, when porsche strangles himself, but i think what i wanted to get across here is that porsche is really at his breaking point. there's so much shit in his brain and all his usual coping mechanisms (drinking and sex) are not available to him. so all that fucked up shit has to go somewhere, and it goes... well, yeah. here.

Something hooks under his arms, and yanks. Porsche’s eyes snap open to a flurry of bubbles and movement, and then he’s being hauled out of the water, up onto the rough tile surrounding the pool. His mouth opens on instinct, and he heaves in a breath of air, coughing and gasping as the smell of chlorine fills his lungs.

if i remember correctly i struggled a lot with how to interrupt porsche's underwater angsting with chan. one of my tricks when i hit stuff like this is to go fully into porsche's head and be like, okay, what does he see right now. because, obviously, what's happening is chan's hauling him out of the pool -- but porsche isn't going to know it's chan. so: something hooking under his arms, bubbles, breaking the surface, heaving in air.

you'll see this occasionally when i write fight scenes too. porsche being like, oh shit chay. that's me using this technique to write around difficult bits.

He pushes himself up onto his elbows, turning his head to see his rescuer. Oh. Oh shit.

oh you better run, porsche.

Chan is pulling himself out of the pool. He’s fully dressed – blazer, shirt, slacks, dress shoes – and soaking wet. He’s even still wearing his watch. He looks—well, he looks about the same way Porsche reckons anyone would look, after they had to fish their useless apprentice out of a pool whilst wearing business casual. He strips off his blazer and lets it drop to the ground with an audible smack. Chan looks at him. “Porsche,” he says.

i think i described this as chan having skyrim courier energy in my author's note. one of the things about my writing style is that i try to underpin the more serious parts of my fic with a little touch of humour, to try and break up the tension. here, i was sniggering to myself at the idea of porsche and chan, both of them soaking wet, after chan has just pulled porsche out of a pool he was basically trying to drown himself in -- and neither of them talking about it.

when i was outlining this fic into my friend's dms, i think i described this part of the scene as chan delivering his message with all the emotional investment of "are you paying too much for your car insurance?"

btw, don't think too hard abt the fact that chan didn't even take off his blazer before diving in to save porsche. don't think about the fact that he found porsche in the pool, waited for him to break the surface, and then realised porsche wasn't going to. don't think about the panic he must have felt, to keep his business shoes, watch, and blazer on in his hurry to get porsche out of the pool. don't.

also i think i've communicated this before, but that SLAP of chan throwing off his blazer? delicious. it lives in my brain. the huffy, pissed off slap of a wet blazer on tile.

a few more general bits from when i was writing this bit of the fic:

this scene was one of the last things i wrote for the chapter, and at this point i was basically frothing at the mouth to get to the kinn/porsche confrontation scene at the end (what do you want from me, porsche? -- that line had been rattling around in my head for literal DAYS at this point, and i desperately wanted to write it.)

i've mentioned this before, but this scene is one of a couple of ideas i had for porsche-breakdown-moments for this chapter. all of them fit a theme of porsche doing dangerous/reckless things. (i very almost had a repeat of the canon apple-shooting scene in this chapter, but instead it would have been porsche putting himself there, in front of that target, apple on his head, daring kinn to miss. this one got cut because i wanted to keep kinn and porsche apart, so that we could have the implication of kinn respecting porsche's need for space. this scene would have also taken place in front of tae and time, giving them all sorts of weird and concerning ideas about porsche and kinn's relationship.)

also as an aside, the big fandom drama happening when i was writing this chapter was the realisation that vegas plonked his still-trousered legs into the pool. so that was obviously on my mind as i wrote about porsche in the pool. still one of the most unhinged things to have happened in the show, and that's saying something.

#fic: between the sheets #asked and answered #sheets dvd commentary #suicidal ideation cw #dub con cw #canon typical content warnings for kinnporsche apply

[stitchlingbelle]

Watching Avatar, the Grand Finale

I am NOT ready for this show to be over and I'm sure once I've sat with it a bit I'll be brimming with takes and hooking myself to AO3 with an IV. For now, let's see how they stuck the landing.

18. “Sozin’s Comet, Part 1: The Phoenix King”: Yikes, what an opener. When did Ozai go batshit? I never understand the burn it all down mentality from people who want to rule—what are you ruling over at that point?? Isn’t the point of your power-hunger to, you know, EXERT that power? Over other people? Can’t do that if they’re dead! I don’t envy Aang his moral decision here, especially since, again. He is 12. My kid is older! (Barely.) Loved the bit about Zuko being the expert Aang tracker, which, fair, glad he’s using it for good now. Adored seeing June again, she’s great fun. (Where is Iroh??) What IS this ambulant island Aang just found himself on? Oh well, at least it’s nice to have our boy back in focus after the last few Zuko-themed episodes. Not sure if Azula should be pleased about being Firelord if Firelord just became a subordinate position. Nor do I think this is going to go well. The Phoenix King reveal was creepy and well-done. (I keep forgetting that’s Mark Hamill and freaking out a little bit when I see it in the credits.)

19. “Sozin’s Comet, Part 2: The Old Masters”: IROH’S BACK. I legitimately cried when he grabbed Zuko and hugged him. It was lovely seeing the mentor squad and having the White Lotus stuff pay off. (Please let Iroh have his tea shop back!) The plan to split the group sounds interesting and also like a good storytelling choice, allowing Aang to go face off with Ozai without the others complicating the scene. The past Avatars were interesting, although Aang doesn’t seem to notice that none of them actually SAY to kill Ozai—they tell him to act, to be decisive, and to put his responsibilities before himself. Also, I will exempt the lion turtle from my usual cries of “wtf is with the ANIMALS on this SHOW” because as a Discworld fan I am predisposed to believe in giant magical turtles that carry landmasses around.  

20. “Sozin’s Comet, Part 3: Into the Inferno”: Annnnd here we go. This was intense, although since we watched all four parts in a row, it was less cliff-hanger-y than it could have been. Iroh and team were obviously the optimistic part of the episode, giving you something hopeful before SLAPPING YOU IN THE FACE with the other three plotlines. Azula’s breakdown I did NOT see coming, and while it was a little abrupt and convenient, the paranoia does make sense as both a fatal flaw and a logical reaction to Mai and Ty Lee’s rebellion. (Also she 100% would have tried to blast Katara regardless of her state of mind, I don’t know why they didn’t see that coming.) Sokka/ Toph/ Suki’s plotline was actually the most wrenching, to me—the stakes were obvious and sickening, they were horrifically outnumbered, and the sense of danger felt very real. (They didn’t kill Suki, right? Guess I’ll find out in like twenty minutes but still.) Aang’s part of the story didn’t have much—I was proud of his stand and the fight kicked off well, I appreciated the lightning redirect, but I feel like the meat is coming in the next episode. This was just a fight scene so far, albeit a good one.

21. “Sozin’s Comet, Part 4: Avatar Aang”: I’m not ready for this to be over. Here we go. Again, the liberation of Ba Sing Se was just a grace note against the other fights, though I’m always happy to see Iroh and the mentor squad in action. (Belatedly it occurs to me that it would’ve been nice to see an old woman in that squad…) LOVED Katara’s defeat of Azula, immersing them like that was very cool. (What happened to Azula after all this? I hope Aang took her firebending too, or she’s going to be a problem.) Sokka and Toph continued to be the most intense part of the fighting for me. That broken leg, clinging to each other’s hands moment was very visceral, maybe because it wasn’t magic in nature. We can all picture broken bones and falling from great heights, you know? Thrilled that Suki survived and rescued them. (But kinda bummed Sokka lost his boomerang and sword). Aang reactivating the Avatar State at last was a fantastic OH SHIT moment. Just the way it went from “these guys are almost evenly matched” to “Ozai done fucked up” in a heartbeat was intensely satisfying. I was also happy with Aang getting to find a third path—taking Ozai’s bending was a very elegant solution. (And arguably an even more fitting punishment, since Ozai will suffer more in powerless disgrace than he ever would just dying. “To the pain” and all that jazz.) From a purely aesthetic view, I was happy when the comet left just because I was tired of the screen being solid orange for like an hour, but it did leave me with a lot of questions about the orbital mechanics here. (Are there fics with spacebenders? Please say yes.) The rest of the episode felt like it went really quickly, trying to wrap up in the leftover time—WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE DON’T FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO ZUKO’S MOM. Seriously??? Fine, fine, that’s what we call a sequel hook, I guess. But at least the final scene AT THE TEA SHOP YAY so happy for Iroh—ahem. At least the final scene was really cute. An expanded version of the Gaang, having fun together, getting to be kids again, getting to be friends, family (and eventually more, for Aang and Katara). Just getting to live. That’s what all the fighting was for. And there’s still magic in the world, and they can still fly. What more can you dream of?

#avatar: the last airbender

[ladyfly]

New Parts Pt2

The Sun and Moon side of things. Moon has a mental breakdown. Sun makes a plan. Chapter three soon. Like I said. It gets better. CW: blood, mental breakdown

Moon carries Sun back to the daycare through the tunnels. Parent's have already taken their kids home. Who knows what they were told. It'll likely be blamed on them. Moon grouses at the thought.

The pair aren't bothered by anyone as they move through the upper tunnels. Not that anyone really talks to them anyway. Moon almost feels powerful as people jump to the side to let him pass. Almost.

The daycare is a mess. Of course those lazy assholes would leave everything for them to clean. Moon calls the cable down to take them to the tower. Moon sets Sun down on the bed.

He feels numb. There was so much blood. He doesn't know exactly how much blood humans have but he hopes it's more than that. Speaking of blood, Sun has blood on his side.

Moon turns and grabs the wipes you use for cleaning them. As he looks down he sees it. His torso is covered in blood. The wipes drop to the floor.

His hands shake uncontrollably. Flashes of the things the virus made him do flash in his mind. Moon tumbles to the floor. His optics flash with error messages and warnings. He calls out for you... but you don't come.

Sun comes back online. The temporary shut down over. As his systems turn back on he looks around for you. He registers he's in the daycare. You are nowhere in sight.

A frantic muttering catches his attention. He looks over the side of the bed. Moon is on the floor muttering to himself. He's frantically scrubbing at his frame with a torn wipe.

Sun jumps into action leaping off the bed. He takes Moon's wrists in his hands gently.

Sun spots the blood "Moon?" He asks slowly "Can I clean you up?"

Moon's eyes are hazy and unfocused. His hands shake. Sun can finally hear what Moon is saying "It won't come off. I- I didn't... She... They..."

Sun puts a hand on his slowly "Let me take care of you. I'm scared for them too." He takes a wipe and begins to clean Moon "Hey, how about we get cleaned up and try to charge some hm? I bet Y/N would love it if we were at full charge for them. They are going to need us when they get back."

Moon nods slowly. He just sits there and lets Sun manhandle him. Moon tries to focus on the gentle care from Sun. He watches each swipe Sun gives the mess. It's paint, he tells himself, just coppery paint.

A message pings through both of their systems.

It's from Freddy ~Y/N is in stable condition. Surgery went well and they got several blood transfusions.~

That's it. No words of comfort. Just the facts. Sun scowls at the lack of kindness. That however, is an issue for another time.

Sun resumes cleaning Moon. Moon's shoulders shake and he reaches out for Sun.

Sun reluctantly pushes Moon's arms down "I'm almost done. Just one more wipe. Can you wait for me?"

Moon nods and allows Sun to finish cleaning. Sun quickly wipes himself as well. He takes off his stripped pants along with Moon's starry ones. He dresses the both of them in fresh pants.

Moon reaches for Sun again and this time Sun agrees. He turns the lights off and plugs in Moon's cable. After plugging himself in he pulls Moon close.

Moon clings to him quietly whimpering. Sun does his best to soothe his lover but it's hard without you. He plays the scene over in his head.

Moon had gotten a call from you. Sun could see the panic on Moons faceplate from across the daycare. He barely remembers talking to Moon. The daycare was shut down for the day.

Sun and Moon were sent down into the tunnels. Probably because they were the least important. They had received a message from a security guard on your last known location.

The two followed the signal from your Fazwatch. It led them to a hallway. The signal went dead then. Sun began to panic before he heard your voice.

It sounded so broken and scared. You called out to each other. Sun almost shut down as you cried out about your own death. He was both frightened and relieved. They knew where you were.

Sun tore the door open and almost fell into a hole. Moon caught him before he fell. You looked dead. Blood pooled around you smeared across the floor like a nightmarish finger painting.

Your skin was pale. Vomit covered your shirt. He could tell you tried to climb out but failed. His eyes caught sight of your missing limb. Again he almost shut down.

Even now laying in bed his systems threaten to shut down. He busies himself in bed making a game plan. Your clothes would need to be altered. Maybe he could make you something new?

No matter what he and Moon will still love you. He knew you would come back for them. He knew it. This time they would keep you safe. This time you would stay whole.

He would take such good care of you when you got back. Just like a... An idea hit him. He would need fabric and he knew just where to get it. He was already making a pattern in his head.

Would Moon want one? He would make one anyway. Maybe Moon would want to be.... He would do it for you. Knowing you, you'd like it. He chuckled at the thought of role play.

Moon clutched him a little tighter in his sleep. Sun rubbed his back. He planted a soft kiss to Moon's forehead just like you would. He closed his eyes and let the artificial sleep of charging take over.

#sundrop x reader #moondrop x reader #angst #cw:blood #mental breakdown

[sassyduckqueen]

Miraculous: Rise of Anatis 72

Hello! I am alive and finally bringing the next chapter! So as you can tell, it taken ages to do this. The main reason is that godforsaken ball of fire in the sky also known as the sun. I'm sure most of you are like 'but Sassy, the suns out everyday?'. Yes, I know. I hate that thing! It's too bright and too warm.... basically I'm severely sensitive to heat and summer. I suffer with hay fever and I have reverse SAD (basically I'm more depressed in the summer) plus work has been a little busy. Thank you, Doctor Strange, Top Gun and Jurassic world. Anyway, I hope the court scene isn't too bad. I have no experience with court so please don't comment that it's unrealistic. I know it is but its fine. Also I've tried to explain why Luka hasn't actually mentioned Issac and that since then. Anyway, hope you guys like and hopefully I won't take this long in releasing the next chapter

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

Chapter Seventy-Two: Midas

~Dr Lang's Office~

 "How are you feeling today then?" Mila asked as Luka sat on her sofa. He wasn't sat in a relaxed position and seemed more stressed then usual. She wasn't surprised given that the trial of his stepfather was getting closer and closer. Issac was getting charged with endangering a minor, attempted murder and assault. He had been released on bail but this didn't surprise Mila. His bail had been set to €10,000 and Issac had to meet certain things in order to be allowed to roam free before his trial. She wasn't surprised about him been able to afford the bail bond but she was a little worried that he might go after Luka. However, she learnt from Luka that Issac had to keep to certain conditions in order have bail. The lawyers dealing with his case investigated where Issac was in order to make sure he was keeping to his side of the deal and that Luka was safe. They had learnt that he had three conditions to meet for his bail. One, he was to stay in a private mental health facility due to his sudden breakdown. Two, he had to stay in a certain radius of the mental health facility and had a curfew. He was basically under house arrest. Finally, he was not allow to contact or go near Luka or his family. If he does, he will be returned back to prison. Mila personally thought the court was been way too nice considering that Issac attempted to murder Luka but she wasn't surprised that he had managed to get this deal. There was a lot of corruption in Paris so she suspected that someone in a high place had arranged for this. She wouldn't be surprised if it was the Mayor or his wife but she couldn't prove it. Speaking of friends of the mayor, Bob Roth was also facing his own trial for endangering a minor and conspiring to murder when it came to Luka as well as several misdemeanors and gang related crime. It turned out he had been quite the character in Paris' underworld. Dealing with illegal substances was just one of the crimes he was been charged with as the whole situation had opened a can of worms on him. He had originally been arrested for trying to prevent justice and with-holding vital information but they soon uncovered much more. Like Issac though, he was also allowed bail. Something she suspected had been done by the same person who was able to get Issac out on bail too. However, that wasn't Mila's concern. Luka was. "Luka?"

 He flinched, making her frown as he looked around wildly before he closed his eyes and muttered to himself under his breathe. She frowned and noted it as he opened his eyes again, a little calmer. She was very concerned for him.

 "Sorry," He muttered, making her frown. "I'm as ok as I can be,"

 "Luka, you flinched and it looked like you were about to have a panic attack," She pointed out, making him frown. "Is it to do with Issac?"

 "N-No," He replied, shaking his head. "I mean I'm not looking forward to seeing him again or Mr Roth but I'm not afraid of them,"

 "Then what are you afraid of?" She asked, making him look at her. "It's clear it is something,"

 "You're right.." He muttered, glancing down as he played with his hands. "I saw... something... but the thing is... I can't really talk about it. Not to you,"

 "Is there a reason?" She asked, making him frown but he didn't answer. "Can you hint to me what you saw?"

 "It's not what you think," He replied, making her raise an eyebrow. "I didn't see a crime or anything like that. I saw a terrifying akuma but I can't tell you anything more then that. If I do... who knows what will happen?"

 "An akuma?" She asked, frowning. "Luka, most akumas are terrifying and you have a fear of them-"

 "This is why I can't tell you!" He snapped, surprising her. "You just don't get it! No one does because no one else saw it! Only I did! Only I remember but I don't want to! I wish I could forget all about her but I can't! Every-time I close my eyes, I see her! I-"

 He shook as tears rolled down his face, making Mila frown as she reached and handed him a tissue.

"Luka, it's ok," She stated as he wiped his eyes. "This akuma... does she have a name?"

 He shook his head, making Mila frown. He wasn't going to talk about it anymore. She knew that. He said he couldn't, like he was afraid of the consequences of what might happen if he did but this deeply concerned her and it sounded like a miraculous issue. An akuma that no one else saw. It had to be an akuma from somewhere else. Maybe a different timeline or a different reality but as far as she knew, Luka hadn't held a miraculous but then again she didn't exactly know the identities of Anatis' allies. She only knew who she had given them to. She was even considering giving one to Luka as he had a good heart and a strong sense of justice. After all, that's how she chose her holders. They were either her patients or her students. Unbeknownst to Luka and Anatis, Mila wasn't just a therapist or at least she hadn't been until recently. She was also the mistress of a Dojo back in Japan which she had founded when she was forced to retreat there after Toutai's murder. For the last century or so, she had ran the dojo but as far as her students were concerned, she was the great-granddaughter of the original mistress. She used the dojo to find potential miraculous holders in order to prepare for the day where she would have to battle against Su Han and the Order. A small number of her students had been chosen over the years and were allowed to know her true identity but over the years, the dojo fell into hard times, especially after it's sister school in china was destroyed in a fire. She was devastated to learnt of it and had reached out to the daughter of the master but Fei didn't trust her. Her father had told her nothing of his connection to her and so Fei chose not to believe and distanced herself from Mila. As someone who understood lost better then most, Mila accepted that and hoped that Fei was able to learn to cope with her father's loss. Despite that, Mila still kept an eye on her and was happy to discover that Fei had gained a friend in Anatis. Though she wasn't fully aware of what exactly had happened in Shanghai. She just heard about it from an associate in China about it who acted as her eyes and ears in Shanghai. Speaking of her dojo, she was still the mistress but had left one of her student teachers in charge while she investigated Paris. Still, as far as she knew Luka didn't hold a miraculous but he was close to Anatis so maybe that had something to do with that. She would bring it up to Anatis tonight when they met tonight. She had already sent a request to him as Fu had sent word to her that he was finally settled in a new and safe place. While she had taught Anatis some small things about been a guardian, the differences between them were obvious and she was sure he would be happy to see his master again. Putting her attention back on Luka, she noticed he was shaking again. She grabbed some fresh tissues and gave them to him, getting a mumbled thanks of him. 

 "I'm not going to push you to talk about this akuma to me," She reassured, making him look at her with a grateful look before he nodded. "But can I give you some advice?"

 "S-Sure," He mumbled, wiping his eyes.

 "If you have someone who you can open up to about this akuma then do so," She stated, making him look at her in surprise. "I know you think keeping it in is right but I can see that whatever you saw is eating you up on the inside and bottling it up is not healthy, Luka. It's like having a poison in your system and not taking the antidote. All it will do is poison your mind and heart. It will make you akuma bait so talk to someone about it. It doesn't have to be me. It can be your mother, sister or a friend,"

 "I... you're right..." He mumbled, looking down. "I... I think I know who I can talk to about it..."

 "I'm glad there's someone," She replied in a sincere way. "Now why don't we discuss something more fun for the rest of the session? Like your band? Have you been working on anything new?"

 "I've been working on a new song for Marinette," Luka mumbled, wiping his eyes with the tissue but he seemed happy for the change of subject. Sometimes, it was best to talk about more causal things, especially after an emotional outburst like the one Luka had. While Mila wasn't worried about akumas coming into her office thanks to her protection spells, she knew that leaving a patient in an emotionally vulnerable state is not a good thing especially in a city with an emotional terrorist. So her solution was to get her patients to talk about things they love. With Luka, that is music. "It's not finished yet but she likes it so far,"

 "Marinette? She's your girlfriend isn't she?" She asked, remembering him mentioning her before. Luka nodded. "Does she have a hobby too?"

 "Oh yeah. She's an amazing artist and makes her own clothing," Luka gasped, perking up at the opportunity to tell someone about how great Marinette is. "She's such an amazing girl and I'm still surprised that she's my girlfriend. She designed me my favorite jacket and I actually modelled some of her clothing before. Though modelling is more of my sister's thing,"

 "Juleka right?" Mila asked, getting a nod of him. Luka had mentioned her several times. He seemed close to her and thought of her as one of the people he needed to protect. That was one of the reasons why she had considered him for a miraculous. He had a strong sense of loyalty and wanted to protect the people he loved. "How is she doing?"

 "She's getting better with her anxiety," He replied, making her nod. He had explained about it in one of his previous sessions. "Her modelling with Marinette is definitely giving her confidence,"

 "That's good," She replied before they continued to chat for the rest of the session. By the time the alarm went off, Luka had fully calmed down and seemed more relax then before but he still had a lot of tension. She knew that would be the case though as things like this don't just disappear instantly. However, she was glad with the progress. "Ok so that concludes our session today but I have some homework for you,"

 "Ok?"

 "I want you to open up a little to someone close to you today," She stated, making him bite his lip a little. "Now it doesn't have to be about this akuma... though I do want you to reach out to someone to talk about that even if it isn't me but with today, I want you to tell them something small that you need to get off your chest. It can be anything you want and that you need help with it,"

 "... you're trying to get me use to asking for help..." He stated, making her raise an eyebrow. Sometimes she forgot how perspective he was. "Aren't you?"

 "Yes," She admitted. "I want you to understand that it's ok to ask for help or to talk about things with others. You don't need to shoulder the weight of the world on your own. You have people who love and want to help you,"

 "I know," He replied, nodding. "I just don't want to stress them out or burden them... but I'll try to do what you asked and I think I'll try and talk to my friend about the akuma,"

 "That's a good choice," She replied, walking over to the door with him as he grabbed his jacket. She noticed it had a snake on it. "Is that the jacket Marinette made for you?"

 "Yeah," He smiled, looking at it with a soft look. "I thought I'd wear it today since it brings me comfort and seems to improve my luck. I guess you could say it's my lucky charm,"

 She chuckled at that, making him smile.

 "Well, I can see why you like it," She smiled, making him smile. "Marinette is truly talented,"

 "Yeah," He smiled happily before shaking his head. "Same time next week then?"

 "Yes," She nodded, opening her door to let him out. "Be safe, Luka,"

 "Thank you Dr Lang," He replied before existing the office and leaving. Mila closed the door behind her and walked back to her desk, taking a drink from her water before setting out the notes on Luka and getting ready for her next patient. Meanwhile, Luka began to head back to the Seine, coming to the Liberty. He had taken out his phone and sent an email to Mr Damocles, explaining that he had a particular stressful therapy session today and wouldn't be returning to school for the rest of the day. Because of his therapy, he did have an arrangement with the school in case of something like this as therapy sessions can be very draining. Once the email was sent, he sent a text to Juleka and Marinette as he crossed the gangplank and headed down to his room. With everything sent, he took off his jacket and shoes and flopped onto his bed, letting out  a sigh as Tikki flew out.

 "Are you ok?" She asked, making him nod. "Dr Lang is right. You should talk to someone about her,"

 "I know," He mumbled, moving his arm over his eyes. "I know... I can't keep on bottling it up... I think I'm going to tell Lady Noir. She is the best person to talk to about it and I did say that I would tell her at some point,"

 "That seems like a good idea," Tikki nodded as Luka yawned. "You should get some rest,"

 "Y-Yeah," He mumbled before curling up on his side and falling asleep almost straight away. Tikki flew over to the blanket that Marinette had made for him when he was in hospital and picked it up, moving over him as he slept, breathing lightly as he did. She curled up next to him and closed her own eyes...

 The echos of beeping was the first thing that caught his attention as Luka found himself waking up. The second thing was the smell that can only be described as clean and he recognized it straight away. It was a smell that only seem to exist inside a hospital. He had been in enough of them recently to get familiar with it. Slowly, he opened his eyes and found himself frown as he looked up at a white ceiling. As far as he remembered, he had just fallen asleep at home so why was he suddenly in a hospital? Had he been caught up in an akuma attack? Did he get hurt? He glanced at himself but saw he was still in his normal clothing, still with his shoes off so that ruled out he was a patient. He glanced around the room and saw it was empty. None of the medical equipment was set up but the beds were made so he was on an empty ward and by the looks of the way the walls were decorated, it was the children's ward. He sat up and climbed off the bed, heading towards the door. He went to open it but to his horror, his hand went through the handle. He took a deep breathe and calmed himself. So he was currently in a spirit form. He must be experience something similar to visiting Feng's hut but he didn't think that they could manifest a hospital. Still, at least he wasn't actually in one. He was sick of them. He stepped through the door and began to walk down the corridors. As he traveled down them, the sound of someone crying caught his attention. He frowned and followed it, coming upon a scene that ached his heart. Sat on one of the chairs was none other then his mother but to his surprise, she looked younger. Her hair was a little shorter and not completely gray. By the looks of it, she had only just started to go gray but he could see part of it was brown. She was hugged a little girl who he realized was Juleka. She couldn't be any older then four years old and was clinging to Anarka's side. To his heartache, Anarka was the person who was crying. Even though she was trying to be strong for Juleka, the tears just wouldn't stop.

 "Ma!" He gasped, rushing over to her. He tried to reach out but his hand went straight through her cheek as a dark shadow moved over, making him spin around. He gritted his teeth as he came face to face with Issac but the man just walked through him and moved to Anarka. Luka tried to grab him as he loomed over his mother and sister. "Leave them alone!"

 "Anarka," He stated in a cold voice, making Anarka flinch a little. "Have the doctors said anything since we admitted him?"

 "Only t-that he's in a coma and they need to run tests..." She sobbed, looking up at him. Luka couldn't help but wonder how long he had been in hospital for at this point. "W-What happened? How did he get so hurt?"

 "I'm sorry, Anarka," Issac replied, making Luka grit his teeth. "He was been reckless. I tried to stop him but the boy... Luka... he fell down the stairs and hit his head..."

 "Liar!" Luka screamed, trying to go for him as he realized what Issac was talking about and why his mother was crying. This was the time he was in hospital in a coma. "You lying bastard! I didn't fall! You beat him me up! You tried to fucking kill me, you asshole!"

 "I rushed him here as soon as I could," Issac continued his lie as Luka found himself raging more. He would have to be careful when he woke up though but before he could continue, the doctor came out with a somber look on his face. "Is he...?"

 "It's not great news," The doctor stated, causing his mother to look at him. "Your son's injuries are dire, especially his head injury. Due to it, he slipped into a coma almost straight away which is why we did tests and I'm sorry but the chances of your son waking up are extremely slim. If he does, there's a high chance of severe brain damage but right now, the only thing that's keeping him alive is the medical equipment... which is why I have to ask you... do you want us to continue treatment or will you allow us to let him pass?"

 Anarka burst into tears at that as Issac looked to the doctors.

 "What's the chance of him pulling through?" He asked but Luka could feel that he was hoping there wasn't one.

 "Honestly, I'd say there's less then 10% chance of him pulling through," He answered, making Issac nod. He looked sad but he could see glee in his eyes.

 "In that case, we should do the kind thing and let him pass on-"

 "What?!" Anarka screamed, surprising Issac. "No! I will not let you kill my son!"

 She turned to the doctor with a determined look.

 "Please don't give up on him," She gasped with tears in her eyes. "Luka is a strong boy. He can pull through so please keep him alive,"

 "Mrs Farrow-"

 "It's Miss Couphène!" She declared, surprising him. "Issac is not Luka's father but I am his mother so please save my baby,"

 "I see," The doctor replied, giving Issac a look of disgust before looking back at his mother. "I can't make any promises but we will do everything in our power to try and save him,"

 With that, he turned on his heel and walked back into the room, causing Luka to glare at his step-father as his mother sobbed. He ignored it as Issac attempted to reason with his mother, saying his survival was minimum before disappearing through the door into the room where he was. The doctor had directed the nurses to treat him as best as they can but it was weird seeing his younger self, lying there. His head had been partially shaved in order to place brain monitors on him and he was connected to a machine that was keeping him breathing and his heart beating. He had been so close to dying it actually scared Luka a little. Gradually the nurses and doctors left and the room became empty apart from the beeping of the machine. Luka had taken to sitting the chair next to his younger self, though he didn't seem to be able to affect the environment. From what he could tell, he was viewing the past in a similar to how he viewed his vision on leaving Paris, his dreams about Lady Blanche and his dreams about Feng's life. He seemed to always learn about things in these dreams so he wondered what he would learn about in this one. He frowned a little as he felt the room's atmosphere change a little but before he could do anything, a shade appeared in the room before taking the form of Feng himself. He seemed to ignore Luka as he walked over to his younger self.

 "Oh, Luka," He sighed sadly as he sat down next to the young boy. "I'm sorry. I should have warned you about him and protected you better,"

 "It wasn't your fault," Another voice stated, causing Luka to glance over as Khnurn walked over. "Humans are selfish creatures and most of them will hurt the innocent. We all know this better then most. Will he wake up?"

 "I don't know," Feng answered, frowning. "The others... are they?"

 "Toutai is panicking so Alpheus and Rene stayed with him," Khnurn answered. "He doesn't want to see another one be murdered as well. Is there anything we can do?"

 Feng remained quiet, making Khnurn frown.

 "Feng?" 

 "This machine is the only thing keeping his soul from moving over," He replied, making the younger guardian frown. "Humans have come far but even they can not stop death in it's tracks,"

 "I could," A new voice stated, causing Luka to recognize it as Finni. He glanced over with the other guardians and rose an eyebrow as he saw a young boy stood in the corner of the room. His eyes were the same silver as Finni's in his bird form and his hair was golden with colorful highlights. He wore orange and red robes and looked roughly the same as the Luka in the bed. "I can save him,"

 "Finni," Feng stated, frowning. "This isn't the same as when I was dying. He's already dead,"

 "I know," Finni replied, walking over. "His body is only breathing because of this machine and this machine is keeping us both here but I can't let him die. I can't go through that loss again. I failed to protect Toutai and I'm not about to fail this child either. I have the power to bring him back,"

 "It will drastically weaken you!" Khnurn gasped, making Finni look at him. "Not just that but there would be no undoing that merge. At least with what you have with us, you can separate yourself if you wish to do so and wonder about as a separate spirit but this would permanently merge you with his soul. There would be no way to separate you from him. You'd lose any freedom you had,"

 "I know the risks, Khnurn," Finni replied, smiling softly before looking at him. "But this child is more then just your latest life. He is a light soul and a powerful source of good but even if he wasn't, I couldn't sit there and let him die when I can save him,"

 "You've made up your mind," Feng stated, causing the phoenix boy to nod. "I see. Is there anything we can do to assist you?"

 "I need you to watch over him... and bound his abilities. Right now, it is far too dangerous for him to use them, especially with that man around," Finni replied, making them frown. "Since I will go into a dormant state as I have not fully recovered from Toutai's murder, I won't be able to protect him,"

 "How do we protect him then?" Khnurn asked, causing Finni to sigh. "With his powers binded, he won't be able to see us,"

 "I know but you can use your own magic," Finni replied, making them look at him. "You are all empaths. Influence someone to leave him alone shouldn't be trouble for you,"

 "I see," Khnurn replied, nodding. "We will try our best but it might be enough,"

 "I know but with his powers been bound until it is safe to undo them, that man and the others should leave him alone.  I will also repress his memories of you and that so his 'step father' can not use it against him anymore," Finni replied, frowning. "At the very least, the spirits will leave him alone since he won't be able to see them,"

 "Finni," Khnurn stated but Feng remained quiet. "Feng? You knew this would happen?"

 "I foresaw it," He answered as the three of them looked at him. "But this binding will not last forever. There will come a time where his powers will reawaken and where Finni will no longer be asleep. He will need all of us when they do,"

 Feng looked at Finni, who gave him a nod confirming his words.

 "Don't worry, old friend. We will always be by his side," Feng replied, causing Finni to nod again before he gently took Luka's hand and closed his eyes, beginning to glow...

 Luka gasped as he jolted away, finding himself back on the liberty and not in the hospital. He sat up as he took a breathe and ran his fingers through his hair. He got up and walked out of his room, heading into the bathroom. He locked the door and filled the sink up with water before washing his face and drying it. Once that was done, he took another deep breathe and glanced at his reflection. He needed to know if that dream was in fact his memory and if so, he had questions. A lot of them and he knew Feng or the others wouldn't be able to answer them. No, he needed to talk to Finni.

 "Finni," He stated, looking at his reflection. "I need to ask you something,"

 At first, nothing happened but then the room suddenly warmed up. Not like a fire but more like a feeling of warmth and familiarity. He glanced around the room as the light flickered a little before looking back at the mirror. The glass rippled, causing his reflection to change into the young boy from his dream. Finni in his humanoid form.

 "Hello, Luka," He stated, though his voice was like an echo. "I know you have questions and I'll do my best to answer them as clearly as I can,"

 "Thank you," Luka replied, nodding as Finni also nodded. "That dream I had... I was-"

 "In the hospital," Finni replied, nodding. "I know. I experienced it too. You want to know if it was just a dream or if it was real,"

 "Yeah,"

 "It was real, Luka," Finni replied, making Luka nod. He had a feeling. "I'm sorry. This must be hard for you, especially with the fact that we binded your magic,"

 "... It worked a little..." Luka confessed, making Finni look at him. "Issac was still abusive but he didn't try to kill me again... well not until recently.... and Ma finally got herself and us out of that situation,"

 "I'm glad you were about to get out of that situation," Finni replied before glancing down. "I'm sorry though. I wasn't able to help you,"

 "Hey, you saved my life," Luka stated, wanting to comfort the spirit. "But... was I really dead?"

 "I'm afraid so,"

 "You bounded yourself to me again but in the memory, they said it was different to the time with Feng," Luka mumbled. "That since I was already dead, you wouldn't be able to free yourself if you bounded yourself to me. Is that true and what does it mean? Am I just a walking corpse?"

 "No! You're very much alive," Finni gasped, holding up his hands. "While it's true that I am bound to you and unable to leave, the process brought you fully back to life,"

 "So I'm not dead anymore but I was?" Luka questioned, making Finni nod. "This is a lot,"

 "I know but I can explain it. It's kind of like those people who were dead for two minutes, only it was a little longer," Finni replied, making Luka frown a little. "I promise you that you're definitely alive but our connection changed when I binded myself to you. It is different to the connection I had to Feng and the others. Feng and the others were my host but I existed beyond them too. As a spirit, I was capable of walking both plains, though no one but the gifted could see me. When I binded myself to Feng, it was to save his life but his soul wasn't dead. It was damaged as all soul are when the body receives mortal wounds plus Simme had left damage too but it hadn't passed yet. When I binded myself to him, our souls intertwined which allowed his soul to heal itself from my soul. It feed off me so to speak but with you, the scenario was very different. You were already dead and those machines were keeping you breathing. When I binded myself to you, I wasn't merging myself with a damaged soul that could regenerate. I was merging myself with a one who's life force had already gone,"

 "Umm..." Luka frowned, still feeling a little confused. "I'll be honest... I don't really get it,"

 "Ok, let me simplify it for you," Finni replied, thinking. "Ok, imagine you have two smartphones?"

 "Ok?"

 "One of them is really low battery and desperately needs charging but it's not dead yet and the battery itself isn't damaged," Finni replied, making Luka nod. "You connect to a power outlet with a charger and it charges up right? Takes time but soon the phone is fully battery and it's capable of functioning right?"

 "Yeah,"

 "Well, that is what I did with Feng," Finni replied, making Luka nod as he understood.

 "You were the outlet with the charger and he was the phone who's battery was dying,"

 "Exactly," Finni replied, a little proud of his explanation. "Which brings us to the second phone. Like the first one, it needs help but its in a much worst condition then the first phone. It's battery is completely dead and damaged. It can't hold a charge no matter how hard you try so you have to replace the battery with a new one so that's what you do because you love this phone and you don't want to replace it. That's what I did with you. I replaced your battery so to speak with myself becoming your new battery,"

 "I see," Luka nodded, getting it. "But with the charger, you can remove it and the phone will last a certain amount of time but if you remove the battery, the phone will die... that's why you can't leave isn't it? If you chose to leave Feng, he wouldn't die straight away. He would live out his life but if you leave me... I'll die won't I?"

 "Yeah but it's not because your soul is still dead. The phone isn't still dead when you replace the battery. It is brought back to life but the new battery becomes part of it," Finni replied, making Luka frown. "I have become part of you. I became your life force,"

 "My life force but doesn't that mean that you're my soul?"

 "Not at all," Finni replied. "Life source or Esse in spirit terms is the energy that allows creatures to live. The soul or Chi in spirit terms is the thing that makes people who they are. Souls grow and change as they live through their experiences. In your case, it grows and changes throughout your different lives. I joined with Feng's Chi, allowing it to heal with his Esse. Because I stayed with him, it gave him a long life and when it was time for his death, he allowed his soul to move on and I followed. i did the same with the others and I intentionally did the same with you but because I was weakened from Toutai's murder and our connection had been weakened, I wasn't able to heal you in time when your stepfather attacked you. Your Esse was gone so I became it in order to save you but your chi is still you. That's why we're able to talk like this. If I had become your chi then you wouldn't be here. I'd be inhabiting your body... but I hope you can forgive me,"

 "Forgive you?" Luka asked, frowning. "Finni, there's nothing for me to be angry about. You gave up your chance of a life to save mine. You saved me. If anything, I should give you my thanks,"

 "But... we kept it from you..." Finni replied, looking at me.

 "Can you honestly say that I would have been safe if I knew?" Luka asked, making Finni think before he shook his head. "See? It's ok,"

 "You're too kind, Luka," Finni smiled, making Luka smile back. "However, those memories while locked away are not lost. I can return them to you,"

 "But that means the bad ones too, doesn't it?" Luka asked, looking to the side. While he remembered most of the abuse he had faced from Issac, he knew he didn't remember all of it. There were spots in his memory. He always just assumed that it was because he had blocked it out and even with the option to remember, he wasn't sure if he wanted to. "I'm not sure I want to remember the bad ones,"

 "You don't have to have them back right now. They'll always be within your mind," Finni reassured, making Luka nod as his phone vibrated. Luka glanced over at it and sighed. He picked up the phone, took a screen shot and proceeded to block a number, making Finni frown. "Everything ok?"

 "It's another anonymous text telling me to drop the case against Bob Roth," He sighed, looking back in the mirror. "I keep on getting them so I've been collecting them for my lawyer... well, Dad's lawyer. We think Bob Roth has paid someone to basically try and threaten me. He got out on bail but we're due going to court against him after we've finished up with Issac. Given the link in the two cases, Dad's lawyer has insisted that we do the two trial on the same day. Get it over and done with I guess,"

 "Is that tomorrow?" Finni asked, getting a nod of Luka. "Do you think he will get away with it?"

 "No, this one isn't really a trial but more a sentencing hearing," Luka admitted. Even though he knew Issac was probably going to go away for a long time, he wasn't looking forward to seeing him again. Finni tilted his head to the side as if confused. "Issac pleaded guilty. This court is basically for the judge to sentence him and reward me compensation. Dad's lawyer insisted on it been a thing so I can get closure but the real trouble is Bob Roth. As far as I know, he's refusing to admit guilt for anything even the stuff not related to me. Of course, those cases have nothing to do with me but it's still annoying to know he's refusing to take responsibility for releasing the information that directly led to Issac attempting to murder me,"

 "So what's the charges for him?"

 "Child endangerment, Perverting the course of justice, assisted kidnapping and assisted attempted murder," Luka replied, frowning as his phone vibrated again. He repeated his previous action before sighing. "I'm gonna have to change my number again,"

 "Maybe it's time to get some rest," Finni replied, making Luka nod. "It's late after all,"

 "Yeah," Luka agreed as he yawned. Finni glowed and left the mirror in a golden light before appearing in his kwami form next to Luka. He gently nuzzled his cheek before turning in a golden light that surrounded Luka. He gently placed his hand on his heart as it died down before heading to his room. He looked in on Juleka who was curled up asleep in her room before going through his door. Tikki was curled up in bed, making him smile a little before he got back into bed and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

 ~Next Day at the Supreme Court~

"Now remember that this is just a sentencing court. Issac is under restraint and has been under house arrest for the last few month since his bail was posted," Jagged's Lawyer, Salomé Monet, declared, making Luka nod. She was an interesting woman. Fierce and determined, he could see why his father had hired her. She knew the law like the back of her hand and she was not one to surrender. However, she was also compassionate for those who needed it. "If he does try anything, a number of guards will have him restrained before you can even say 'Anatis',"

 "R-Right," Luka nodded. He glanced over as his mother who gave him her best smile. Sadly, Marinette or Juleka couldn't be there as they still had to attend school but Anarka was and they had already arranged it with Marinette's parents to have Luka sleep around that night. "Shall we go inside then?"

 "When you're ready," Salomé replied before giving him a look. "If you need to step out, don't hesitate. We'll understand if you need to,"

 "Thank you," Luka replied, nodding. A few seconds later, they headed into the court room and took their seats. Luka began to figet a little so Anarka reached out and gently took his hand, making him glance at her.

 "You ok, Lad?" She asked, making him smile and nod as Issac was brought in by some officers Luka's eyes widen as he looked at him. He looked awful, like he hadn't slept in months. His once neat hair was frazzled and his clothes were crinkled and ever so slightly tattered. His beard had grown out and he had dark circles under his eyes. He honestly looked like the living dead. His lawyer, a meek man, trailed behind him as Luka watched them. Issac came to a stop and glancing around, his wild eyes landing on Luka. They widened in fear and he looked like he might start screaming but luckily, he didn't. Instead he looked away from him as he shook before glancing around. Luka realized he was looking for the kwamis and seemed to calm down when he didn't see any. He took his seat and glanced back at Luka, causing him to grip Anarka's hand a little tighter. "It's ok, Lad. He can't hurt you anymore,"

 Luka nodded, not trusting his voice but relaxed a little when Issac's lawyer told him to stop staring. 

 "That freak unleashed little monsters on me," Issac hissed back, making the man facepalm. 

 "Issac, you did take your meds today didn't you?" He asked in a tired tone.

 "I'm not crazy,"

 "Sure, you're not," The lawyer replied, shaking his head as the lead officer came out.

 "All rise," He declared, causing everyone to stand up as the judge came and took their seat. "Judge, this is case 1345 of Farrow vs Anarka Couffaine on behalf of one Luka Couffaine. All parties are here,"

 He turned to the small crowd.

 "Please be seated," 

 "It is my understanding that this is a sentencing case and that the accused has in fact pleaded guilty. Can you confirm this, Mr Auclair?"

 "Yes, your honor," Mr Auclair declared, standing up. "My client offers his deepest-"

 "Save it," The Judge ordered. "I doubt Ms Couffaine or her son want to hear your client's false apologies. Now according to my files, your client also suffered a mental breakdown and you have applied for him to carry out any sentence he is given in a mental health facility? Do you have Mr Farrow's medical records?"

 "Yes, your honor,"

 "I would like to read them before I make a judgement on where he should do his sentence," He ordered, causing the officer to grab the files from Mr Auclair and handed them to him. Luka watched as the judge read over them, making him nervous a little. "Mr Farrow, according to your records, you have no history of mental health issues and have never had a mental breakdown prior to the one you had before you arrest. Is this true?"

 "Yes, your honor," Issac replied, making the judge nod.

 "And while you experienced mental health issues after your arrest, you did not actual suffer another mental breakdown during the time in jail and under house arrest?"

 "Also true, your honor,"

 "I see," The Judge replied, handing the files back to the guard. "In that case, I will not allow your client's request, Mr Auclair. I find your client is of sound body and mind and therefore will complete his sentencing in a normal prison,"

 "But that brat caused me to break down!" Issac screamed, causing his lawyer to pull him down and tell him off.

 "Forgive his interruption, your honor,"

 "Mr Farrow, your stepson did not cause your mental breakdown nor is there any evidence that he was even there when you had it," The judge replied, making Issac tut. "Regardless of those facts, I would say after the trauma you put him through, he would have every right to make you feel as vulnerable as he felt when you kidnapped him,"

 "It's not my fault, your honor!" Issac shouted before pointing to Luka with a smirk. "He's a witch!"

 He had an expression like he thought the accusation would change everything and that the judge and everyone else would suddenly change their minds and agree with him but it didn't go his way. The Judge instead rolled his eyes and cleared his throat.

 "Witch or not, he is still a child," The judge stated, causing Luka to smile a little. "And you still committed a crime. I don't see why you shouldn't be punished to the full extent of the law or placed in a prison instead of a mental healthy facility,"

 "I'm insane!"

 "Playing that card are we?" The judge asked, glancing over his glasses at Issac. "Mr Auclair, your client has been examined by our doctors correct?"

 "Yes, your honor,"

 "Could you read out their findings?"

 "Um... 'Mr Farrow shows no signs of any mental health illnesses and appears to have had a freak mental break down. We have tested and observed him in order to determine a cause for it. We have determined that stress was the main factor in his mental breakdown due to his outstanding warrants for his arrest but we deem him sane. He has no history of mental health issues nor has suffered a mental break before this incident. However, he is a threat to society and has shown a taste for violence'..."

 "In order words, Mr Farrow. You did not act out of insanity when you attempted to murder your step son and were of sound body and mind," The Judge stated, causing Issac to go pale. "Therefore, I think it only fair that you be punished to the full extent of the law. I hereby sentence you to 30 years imprisonment without parole for 10 years. I also hereby reward the Couffaines with €5000 as compensation,"

 He turned to look at Anarka and Luka.

 "I can only reward up to €5000 so I hope this acceptable for you," The judge recommended, causing Anarka to nod. "And I hope that this ruling will allow you two some peace of mind,"

 With that, he turned to the bailiff who nodded. Two officers came back in and made Issac stand up before leading him out. He looked behind him and glared at Luka but before he could do anything, one of the officers roughly dragged him outside. Luka let out a breathe he hadn't realized he had been holding in before the judge cleared his throat.

 "We will take a recess for one hour before we tackle the second half of this case," The Judge announced before getting up and leaving. Anarka and Luka got up and left the court room, just as Luka's phone vibrated. He took it out and frowned as he saw another threat. He sighed and switched off his phone before turning to Anarka who was speaking with their lawyer.

 "Ma, I'm just going to use the bathroom," He stated, making her nod. He walked off and into the bathroom before running the water in the sink and splashing his face. This threat was the worst one by far and he was certain they were from Bob Roth even if they were from an unknown number. It basically threatened to hurt Juleka and he didn't want that. He let out a sigh as he felt Tikki press her paw against his chest, reminding him that she was there for him. However, the door to the bathroom opened and closed before someone cleared their throat. Luka looked up and saw a man in a black suit with sunglasses stood behind him. He turned around with a weary look. "Can I help you?"

 "Mr Couffaine, we want you to drop the case against Bob Roth," He declared, making him frown. "Our client is willing to... give you compensation for the troubles you have endured and will ensure no harm come to your family if you do so but we need you to say to the judge that you want to drop the case. Convince him to do so,"

 "How am I suppose to do that?"

 "Say that you made up the accusations out of jealous against our client's son. Tell him you lied for attention. I don't care how you do it as long as you do," The man replied, making Luka frown. Bob Roth and his people thought he could be brought and bribed but this went against everything he was. As if reading his mind, the man took a step forward. "If you don't, I can promise your loved ones will pay. Mr Roth has connections with powerful people who can make your life extremely difficult. I would hate to see your family lost the Liberty or your mother to lose custody of you and your sister. Speaking of your sister, we can destroy her future easily. She wants to be a model correct? We can easily blacklist from every fashion house there is and that nice little baker you're dating with the dreams off been a fashion designer. It would be terrible for her career if she was accused of plagiarism or if her family's bakery was closed down so I highly recommend you take our offer, Mr Couffaine or else your friends and family will suffer. I'm sure you don't want that so do the right thing,"

 With that, he turned around and left the bathroom, leaving Luka shook. He sunk to the ground as what the man said came into his mind. They knew he was with Marinette. They knew about her dreams and Juleka's dreams. Tikki flew out as he shook. They must have been following them.

 "Luka, take a deep breathe," Tikki gasped, pressing her paw against his cheek. 

 "T-They know Marinette and Juleka..." He gasped, shaking. "I... I can't... th-they... hurt t-them..."

 Tikki looked around panicked as his breathing got more ragged and panicked. She knew she should get Anarka but before she could, the air seem to shift in the bathroom, making it feel like the spirit realm. Footsteps echoed as Luka continued to have his panic attack. He gripped his hair as tears rolled down his face but he jumped as he felt a hand on his, stopping him from yanking his hair out. He shakily looked up and found himself face to face with Alpheus. 

 "Al-Alpheus..." He whimpered.

 "Follow my lead, Luka," He stated, making. "Breathe in.... and out..."

 Luka followed his actions, slowly calming down. Once calm, he wiped away his tears.

 "T-thank you," He replied as the Greek sat next to him as he looked around the room. It seemed different. Luka glanced over at Alpheus and noticed he seemed a little older then when he last saw him. He roughly looked around 25 years old. "Are we still in the court?"

 "Technically yes but I used my magic to pull you into the spirit realm," He replied, making Luka glance at him. "I know what just happened,"

 "I don't know what to do," Luka admitted, hugging his legs. "If I don't get the judge to drop the case, my loved ones will suffer but if I do, it goes against everything I am as a person. It means Bob Roth will get away with it and if this how he deals with a civil thing... how many other people have he threatened to get them to drop their cases against him?... I'm scared, Al,"

 "It's ok to be scared," Alpheus replied, causing Luka to look at him. "And no one will blame you or hold it against you if you decide to drop this case,"

 "B-But isn't that against the rules?" He asked, frowning. "That's why you're here right? To test me?"

 "Do you know what my trait is?" Alpheus asked, making Luka shake his head. "My trait is loyalty. The team I had in my life was built on our loyalty to each other. It was what defined us but it was also what was broken when Juno stole the peacock miraculous. She betrayed my loyalty and it hurt a lot but I learnt from it and fought against her because I couldn't give up on what I had started,"

 "You think I should continue?"

 "I think it's up to you," Alpheus replied, making Luka nod. "But that's not the question you need to ask. The question is if you don't... can you live that choice? You don't have to answer that question now but you'll know it when the moment to answer it comes,"

 "What if I decide to drop it?"

 "Then you drop it," Alpheus replied, looking at him. "and you'll have to live it with it,"

 "... I don't know if I can..."

 "Like I said you don't have to answer it right now," Alpheus replied, getting up and offering his hands to Luka. He took them and allowed Alpheus to pull him to his feet. "And even if you decide that, we'll still be here for you but maybe I give you something,"

 "O-ok,"

 "Here's some words that I think might help," Alpheus replied, making Luka raise an eyebrow as he cleared his throat. "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing,"

 With that, he disappeared in a wisp of smoke, leaving Luka with his thoughts. Tikki gently placed his hand on his cheek as he splashed his face again before walking out of the bathroom. It was odd seeing Alpheus so serious but that means it's important. Anarka looked at him and asked him if he was ok. He nodded and walked back into the courtroom before taking a seat. Would it be worth it if he dropped it? His family would be ok right? And so would Marinette? But Bob Roth also thought he could get away with stealing their work. Who else had he hurt? Who else had he threatened to get his own way? What if Luka standing up to him gave people courage to do the same? What if it didn't? Was it really worth it but more importantly... could he live with his choice if he choose to drop the case and go against his morals?

 "Luka, the case is about to begin again," Their lawyer stated as Anarka took a seat next to him. "Is there anything else you want to add before we do?"

 "I got another text just after we left for the break," He replied, showing him. The lawyer frowned as he read it.

 "Anything else?"

 "... A man in black came into the bathroom when I was washing my face and threatened everyone I care about," He stated, making both the lawyer and Anarka look at him shocked. "He said that I need to drop the case and that they would give us compensation if I did. when I hesitated, he said he would destroy my loved one's life. He knew about the Liberty and Juleka's dreams of been a model. He even threatened to destroy my girlfriend's dreams of been a fashion designer and threatened her parent's business,"

 "Damn it," The lawyer groaned, pinching his nose. "You're not my first client to experience this,"

 "Lad, if you decide to drop the case, I understand," Anarka stated, making Luka look down. "You haven't decided yet have you?"

 "... not yet..."

 Before they could continue, Bob Roth himself was brought in and had the nerve to smirk at Luka before he sat down with the man in the black suit. His lawyer. Of course. Luka's lawyer gave him a glare before the judge came in and took their seat.

 "Welcome back," He stated before taking his papers. "So now we are dealing with the second half of this case. Anarka Couffaine on behalf of Luka Couffaine vs Bob Roth. Unlike the previous part of this case, this is a trial not a sentencing hearing. Mr Roth has pleaded not guilty against the charges accused of him. I hope both sides have evidence readied. I do not wish to drag out this case longer then necessary. We will start with the opening statements,"

 Luka looked down at his hands as each lawyer did their opening statement. Bob Roth's lawyer tried to paint him as a family man who helped out the community and tried to make out that Luka and his family were ruffians and seemly trying to get money from Bob. Luka's lawyer showed how Luka was a kind and gentle person who tried his best to help his friends, even acknowledging his friendship with Anatis and tried to counter Bob's lawyer's ideals of him. With the opening statements done, the two lawyers presented the evidence to prove Bob Roth's guilt or innocent. A lot of Luka's lawyers evidence was countered by Bob's lawyer including the threatening texts. Soon Bob was brought onto the standing and was questioned by Bob of them. He tried to make himself seem like a nice man, joking and acting 'kind'. The worst part is it seemed people were falling for it.

 "Defense calls Luka Couffaine to the stand," Bob's lawyer stated, making everyone gasp. 

 "Objection! We agreed not to do that!" Luka's lawyer argued, making the judge call them over to the stand. The three of them discussed before the judge nodded, causing the lawyer to walk back over. "I'm sorry, Luka but the judge wants you to be questioned,"

 "... Alright..." Luka nodded, getting up and walking to the stand. He swore the oath to tell the truth before taking a seat. The judge leaned over to him.

 "Answer everything as best as you can and clearly," He stated, making Luka nod. "I will overrule if I think the questions are too personal,"

 "Ok," Luka nodded. He looked over at the captain who gave him a reassuring look.

 "Luka? Can I call you Luka?" The lawyer asked, making Luka nod. "Ok, Luka. Will you tell us your story of your accusations against Mr Roth?"

 Luka nodded and explained what had led up to this case.

 "An interesting story," The Lawyer replied, nodding. "But how can I be certain it's true? After all, your mother has butted heads with Mr Roth before as has your father. Could this be their way of getting even with Mr Roth?"

 "No," Luka answered. "My mother and father have nothing do with this case,"

 "Are you sure?" He asked, making Luka frown. "It seems very far fetched, claiming that Mr Roth and his son stole your music and then released your relationship to Mr Stone for revenge. Why would my client do that? And how can we be sure you didn't make it up?"

 Luka went silence as he realized what the man was doing. This was it. His choice. He could agree with him and get the case dropped... or he could tell the truth.

 "Luka, did you make it up?" The lawyer asked in his best 'child speaking' voice. "It's ok if you did. No one is going to be angry. You just need to tell the truth,"

 The question is if you don't... can you live that choice?

 "Luka, please answer the question,"

 The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing

 "Luka?"

 ".... I didn't make it up..." Luka stated, looking at the lawyer. "And my ma and pa didn't pressure me or anything. Mr Roth stole from me and my friends. He released that information on purpose and even got a message from Issac when I was kidnapped. I remember it. Issac had beaten me up then yanked my hair and took a photo before going on the phone with him so he could contact my parents for a random. I know I can't prove that it's his number but he has been harassing me for a number of weeks threatening me to do the case against him and then during the break, you came into the bathroom while I was trying to calm down from seeing Issac again and threatened me and my loved ones! The worst part is I thought about doing what you wanted. I want to protect my loved ones but the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing! I am not going to stand by and let him getting away with this. He is corrupt and greedy and you should be ashamed of representing someone like that!"

 "Why you little brat!" Bob shouted, jumping up as his lawyer looked at Luka shocked. Apparently, he didn't expect that. "You're gonna pay for this you little brat!"

 At that point, everyone apart from Luka started to shout. Bob was screaming about something, Anarka was screaming at him with both of their lawyers trying to calm them down while the judge tried to get control of the court room.

 "Order in the court!" 

 ~Hawkmoth's Lair~

 "Ah, all these emotions running wild and all because of Mr Couffaine. No wonder why he feels so much guilt right now," Hawkmoth declared as his window opened, allowing light into the room. "Should I have kept my mouth shut? Am I wrong to speak up? Have I done the right thing? These questions make for a troubled heart... perfect prey for my akumas,"

 He held out his hand as the butterfly landed on it before charging it up with dark energy. Once that was done, he let it flight off.

 "Go, my little akuma," He declared, spinning his cane as it flew towards the window. "And evilize this lost soul!"

 The akuma flew out the window and fluttered across Paris, coming to the courthouse as the parties continued to shout and argue while Luka tried to put his input and question if he had done the right thing. It crawled through the window and began to flutter down towards him but before it could enter any of his items, Bob Roth spotted it and made a rush for it, causing everyone in the room to gasp including his lawyer. 

 "Bob! No!" His lawyer shouted as he roughly grabbed it and forced it into his golden necklace, opening up the connection with Hawkmoth.

 "Well, this is unexpected," Hawkmoth stated, feeling the feelings of rage and greed going through Bob's mind. "You were not my intended akuma,"

 "Give me powers to shut down this case and I'll give you the miraculous," Bob declared as everyone began to run out of the courtroom and a number of officers came in, shouting at him to surrender and that they had already alerted the heroes. "That's what you want right?"

 "Hmm... I'd be a fool not to accept a willing akuma," Hawkmoth replied. "Midas, I am giving you the power to use your wealth to rid yourself of this case. In return, you will get me the miraculous of Anatis and Lady Noir. Do we have a deal?"

 "I will buy my way to victory!" Bob declared, laughing manically as the purple smog covered his body. As it disappeared, the floor where he stood turned gold and his appearance had changed. The akuma that stood before the officers was still very much Bob Roth but his outfit had most changed. Instead of his normal clothing, he was now dressed as a king. He had a golden crown upon his head where his glasses once were and his eyes had turned black with golden irises. His skin was an extremely pale yellow kind of color but his hands seem to fade into gold. He stepped forward, causing the floor that he stepped on to turn into gold. In a way, he resembled Style Queen but instead of glitter, his body appeared to be made of molten gold.

 "Bob Roth, surrender the akuma and come quietly,"

 "I am not Bob Roth anymore!" He roared, making them aim at him. "I am Midas and you will fear my golden touch!"

 With that, he summoned a golden whip into his hand before hitting the officers with it, turning them into gold. The whip disappeared into his hand as he walked past the statues and began to look for the rest of the people in the court. The main one he wanted to deal with was Luka Couffaine but he'd take everyone else too, regardless of who they were.

 ~Meanwhile~

 Luka and Anarka ran as fast as they could out of the courthouse as soon as Bob had made a grab for the akuma. Luka was glad that he hadn't been akumatized but now Bob had and he had to find an excuse to run off to turn into Anatis. They made a sharp turn but before they could, golden fire blew in front of them, causing the street and unfortunately Anarka to get turned into gold.

 "Ma!" Luka shouted as he stepped back in horror. He looked up and saw a golden dragon flying in front of him. On top of it was the now akumatized Bob Roth. Seeing the young musician, he jumped down, causing Luka to step back. "Stay away!"

 "Drop the case and I'll return your mother back to her normal form," Roth declared, narrowing his eyes at the boy. He edged closer as Luka frowned, clearly not expecting that but he intended that to be the case. He knew that he wouldn't drop the case but that wouldn't matter when he was gold. Seeing his chance, he went to grab Luka's arm only for the boy to realize what he planned and jump back as he ran off. However, his fingers managed to briefly brush the boy's skin, meaning he would slowly turn into gold. Satisfied, Midas smirked and left as Luka ran as fast as he could. He ducked into an alleyway and took a deep breathe before realizing his left arm felt stiff. He quickly moved it and pulled up his sleeve, seeing the golden poison. Tikki flew out, gasping as she did.

 "You got hit!" She declared as he frowned. "And it's spreading!"

 "Shit," He gasped as it slowly increased. "Tikki, how long would you say I've got?"

 "About... 30 minutes at the most?" She suggested, making him frown. "We need to defeat him now!"

 "Can I briefly use a lucky charm to get rid of it?"

 "No, the miraculous cure won't work until you've defeated the villain," She declared, making him frown. "I'm sorry, Luka but you have to fight the villain first then reverse the damage,"

 "Right," He nodded, swiping his ear rings. "Tikki! Spots on!"

 He transformed and frowned as he saw the golden poison had affected his outfit to. The patch was now the size of his hand, making him frown deeply. He really didn't have long. He took out his yoyo and checked the news feed, showing that Midas was terrorizing people near the court and Lady Noir was on the scene. He threw his yoyo and made it there but by the time he got there, his hand was almost covered in gold as well. He frowned as he glanced around. Seeing that anyone who had been hit was already gold made him realize that if Midas saw his arm, he would realize his identity. Somehow he needed to cover it without making it obvious. He glanced around and saw nothing that would help so left with no choice, he threw his yoyo into the air.

 "Lucky charm!" He called out, causing an arm sling to appear out of thin air. He caught it and quickly put it on, covering his arm before swinging down into battle. 

 "Annie! Don't let him touch you! He's got a golden touch!" Lady Noir declared as she dodged his whip attack. Anatis nodded before joining in with the fight. It wasn't easy fighting with one arm at all. Anatis had far too many close calls, especially with the golden dragon up in the sky. The worst part was they couldn't touch him, meaning getting his akumatized item off him was impossible. Lady Noir jumped back as he tried to hit her again. "Annie, I think we need help!"

 "I agree but I had to summon my lucky charm already!" He declared, making her look at him with surprise. Midas and his dragon charged towards them, causing Lady Noir to call on her powers and slammed her hand into the ground, causing it break and dust to cover their escape. With Midas blinded, the two heroes rushed from the scene and into the sewers. With no one on their trail, Anatis leaned against the wall and careful removed the sling. Lady Noir gasped as she saw his now completely golden hand. "I got hit when I was trying to protect Luka,"

 "Can't you just cast the cure?"

 "According to Tikki, I need to defeat the cause first," He replied, making Lady Noir frown as he put his sling back on. "I have about 20 minutes before I'm completely gold. We can't touch him either or we'll be turned to gold straight away,"

 "Isn't there anyway to buy you some time or like stop it?" Lady Noir asked, causing Anatis to make a face.

 "There isn't a way to buy myself more time," Anatis replied, making her frown. 

 "Then how do we defeat him?" She gasped, looking upset. "You'll detransform and be gold before we can and we can't even touch him,"

 Anatis made a face before sighing.

 "Let's go to Mulan," He replied, making Lady Noir nod and follow him out of the sewers, making sure they weren't followed. By the time they got to Mila's office, Anatis' arm and part of his shoulder was completely gold and that had been they moving as fast as they could. Lady Noir gave him a worried look before knocking the window, causing Mila to come over and open it.

 "What on earth happened?" She asked as Anatis' earrings beeped and Lady Noir's ring beeped. The two heroes climbed inside and Anatis rushed off to a separate room to detransform and recharge Tikki. "Lady Noir?"

 "Annie got hit while protecting someone from the akuma. Also could you not look? I'm about to detransform," She replied, making Milan frown as her ring beeped rapidly. Mila nodded and turned around, keeping her eyes closed as Lady Noir turned back into Marinette gave Plagg some cheese.

 "Tell me about the akuma,"

 "His power is literally turning to people into gold. He seems to have copied Guitar Villain and Frightingale too as he has a golden dragon and uses a whip to turn people into statues straight away," She replied as Plagg finished the cheese. She re-transformed and took out her baton, looking for the akuma's location. "But from what Anatis told me, if he briefly touches you, the golden touch is slow and spreads like a poison, meaning we can't touch him either. If we do, we'll turn to gold,"

 "I see," Mila frowned before walking over to the phone and dialing a number as Anatis came back out. Lady Noir gasped as she saw him. The golden poison had spreaded down part of his torso and part of it was spreading across his lower jaw. She went to go touch him but he shook his head.

 "We don't know if it's contagious," He replied, making her frown but she nodded.

 "Fu, it's Mila," Mila stated, making the two heroes look at her. "Bring the ox asap. Anatis and Lady Noir need it now,"

 She looked over at them, frowning.

 "Use the horse miraculous to get here," She added, frowning even more. "I know you're old but Anatis doesn't have long. You'll see when you get here,"

 With that, she hung up and not even a second later, a portal opened, causing Fu wielding the horse miraculous to step through. As soon as he saw Anatis, he gasped and rushed over.

 "What happened?" He asked, making the young hero frown.

 "I got caught up protecting someone from the akuma," Anatis replied, turning to Lady Noir. "Can you take the miraculous? I don't want to risk turn it into gold,"

 "Sure," She nodded, taking the box of Master Fu. "I have a good idea on who could be useful for this... if you're ok with me picking the hero this time,"

 "I'm good with that," Anatis replied before his eyes widen in fear as the gold spread to his eye. "But can we go a lot quicker. I'm down one eye now,"

 "Right!" Lady Noir nodded, worry covering her features before she turned back to Master Fu. "Can you take us to the local swimming pool?"

 "Of course," Master Fu nodded before opening another portal, causing Kim to scream and fall into the pool. Lady Noir giggled a little as he climbed out and grabbed a towel.

 "Whoa! Anatis and Lady Noir! And another hero! So cool!" Kim grinned, clearly happy to see them. "I never thanked you for- hey, Anatis you don't look too good? You ok, bro?"

 "Just peachy," Anatis replied, giving him a thumbs up with his good arm. Lady Noir took out the box and held it out to Kim.

 "Le Chien Kim, this is the miraculous of the ox," She stated, making him tear up. He looked like he was about to cry. "It grants you the power of... um... what power is it, Annie?"

 "The power of Preservation,"

 "Thanks, Annie," She replied, grinning before turning back to Kim. "It will give you the power of Preservation and um... look we need your help. You in?"

 "Sure," Kim grinned, taking it and opening the box, allowing Stompp to manifest. "Aww, a little bull plushie,"

 "I'm not a plush-"

 "Guys, I would love to get you to know each other but we don't have time," Anatis interrupted before looking at Kim as the gold spread down to his thigh and part of his hair. "The transformation words are Stompp, Charge Ahead. Please hurry,"

 "R-Right," Kim replied, realizing the seriousness of the situation. He put the ring in his nose before holding up his arms. "Stompp, Charge ahead!"

 He lifted his arms and threw them back, creating his mask before stomping his feet as his outfit manifested. He lifted his hands and placed them on his head like horns before stomping again, creating real ones then held out his hand, creating real horns. He held out his hand and created a ball of light that turned into a Glaive Staff before he stuck a pose. With his transformation done, he turned to Lady Noir and Anatis.

 "You should be able to find a user's guide in the glaive," Lady Noir stated before turning to Master Fu as Kim quickly read through it. "Can you open a portal to the outside of the Louvre? That's where Midas is,"

 "Yes. Voyage!" Fu answered, causing a portal to open before he looked at Kim. "I suggest you use your power as quickly as you can, young man... and think up a name,"

 "Just call me Lord Ox and sure," Kim or rather Lord Ox nodded before going through the portal with the two heroes. As soon as they landed on the ground, they saw a number of golden statues and Midas sat happily in the middle of them. "Whoa!"

 "Ah, looks like I got one of you after all," He smirked, glancing at Anatis. However, he didn't seem to put two and two together. Anatis hoped that Hawkmoth wouldn't either. "Give me the brat and I'll remove that curse, Anatis,"

 "Not happening," Anatis replied before groaning as his leg turned completely into gold. "Lord Ox, now!"

 "Herd Immunity!" Lord Ox declared, causing his glaive to glow before he slammed it into the ground, causing a light to spread across the area. Midas jumped in shock as Anatis stood up and lifted his golden arm, flexing his fingers. 

 "That's much better," He smirked before turning to Midas. "Now to deal with you,"

 "B-But how?!" He growled before trying to summon his whip but he couldn't. "You brats! You made have taken my ability away but I'm still the boss and I have a dragon!"

 As if on que, the dragon flew down and blew golden fire on them, causing the heroes to jump back, changing the ground to gold.

 "Shouldn't his dragon not work?!" Lord Ox declared, looking worried.

 "It must be above the radius of your ability, meaning it's not been nullified!" Anatis declared, throwing up his yoyo and causing his outfit to change. "Lucky charm!"

 The magical swarm appeared and created a fire truck, causing the heroes to jump back in surprise.

 "How are you going to throw that?" Lord Ox asked as Anatis looked around before the hose, a fire hydrant and Lady Noir lit up. "It's a huge truck!"

 "I'm not throwing the truck!" Anatis declared, grabbing the hose as the dragon flew up in the air. "Lady Noir, can you open that for me?"

 "No problem, Annie," She replied as Midas ran over. Lord Ox dived at him, lifting him over his head like a wrestler as the dragon turned around. Lady Noir quickly opened the lid of the hydrant, allowing Anatis to connect it and turn it on, pointing it towards the dragon as it flew down, ready to fire at them again. "Fire!"

 Anatis switched on the water, causing a strong stream of water to hit the dragon, causing it to turn solid and crash to the ground before he directed it towards Midas, who had managed to the upper hand on Lord Ox. He was about to bring his hands down on the hero before Anatis turned the hose onto him, causing the water stream to hit him into the truck and push it back quite far, causing it to leave the radius space. It turned solid gold but caused Midas to fuse with it in solid gold before Anatis turned off the stream and threw his yoyo around the ladder of the fire truck, quickly pulling it back into the radius as his yoyo began to turn gold. Lady Noir skipped over as Midas' eyes moved and he made some angry noises.

 "It's in his necklace," Anatis stated, making Lady Noir nod. "But we need to be careful. He took it willingly,"

 "For real?" Lord Ox declared as Lady Noir summoned her power and tapped the necklace, causing the akuma to escape. Anatis caught it and released it before throwing the hose into the air.

 "Miraculous Ladybugs!" He declared, causing it to burst into the cure and sweep across Paris before it swarmed around him, returning him to normal. He moved over to Midas as he turned back into Bob, looking down at him as the cops who had surrounded him and been turned into a statue rushed over. "Bob Roth,"

 "W-Wait i can explain!" Bob gasped, getting on his knees. "I was desperate and angry. Hawkmoth took advantage-"

 "There was many witnesses, Roth," Anatis stated in a cold voice. "You took an akuma willingly... I will not allow that to happen again,"

 Anatis held out his yoyo.

 "Prosperity," He declared, pressing it open and taking out a golden charm that resembled a ladybug but unlike the two others he had created, this one did not have a nice look to it. It looked faded and old. Anatis held it out. "This is an anti-akuma charm but since you willingly took an an akuma, I have added an extra charm to this. It is not something you can take off. You can try to lose it but it will always come back to you no matter what you do. I can not risk you taking an akuma willingly again,"

 Bob Roth looked at him shocked as he took his hand and place it in it as the police moved in.

 "Bob Roth, you are under arrest for willingly aiding a terrorist," One of the officers declared as a portal opened, causing the three heroes to walk through. Anatis turned around to Lord Ox, who took off his miraculous and handed it back to them.

 "Thank you for your help, Kim," He smiled, making Kim grin. "Hopefully next time you can get to know Stompp a little more,"

 "Sounds good to me," Kim declared, grinning. "It was so cool! I can't believe I was a hero! Wait til I tell Ondine! She's gonna-"

 "Kim, you can't tell anyone," Lady Noir stated, making him look at her. "If you do, we won't be able to give you a miraculous again,"

 "Oh... you mean like Chloe isn't that Queen Bee anymore?" He asked, making them nod. "I see. I swear I won't tell anyone then,"

 "Thank you," Lady Noir nodded as Master Fu opened another portal for them. "See you next time, Kim,"

 The two of them walked through with Fu before he closed it and detransform.

 "I'm glad to see everyone is back in one peace," Mila declared, sipping tea before she got up and took out two pieces of paper to Anatis and Lady Noir. "Here,"

 "It is my new address," Fu answered as he took the ox miraculous back from Lady Noir. "If you need me, come here. Anatis, we will re-beginning your training again,"

 "Ok, Master," Anatis replied. "But can we discuss this later? I have to return to where I was. It's really important,"

 "Of course," Master Fu nodded, causing Anatis to nod back and leave via the window. He turned to Lady Noir. "You did good work today as well, Lady Noir. Feel free to come by if you need help or just want tea,"

 "Thank you, Master Fu," She smiled, hugging him. "It's great to see you again... no offense, Mulan,"

 "None taken," Mila replied before lightly grabbing her arm. "But please let Anatis know that if he needs my help or any of the western miraculous to come by. You are both welcome here,"

 "I will do!" 

 ~Later that Night~

 "How are you feeling?" Tikki asked as she ate a cookie. Luka was laid on his bed, looking at the ceiling. The court cases were finally over, meaning he could finally talk freely about them but he wasn't sure if he wanted to. He felt relief. Issac was gone from his life and Bob had been returned to the courthouse to receive his charges. His lawyer had confessed as well, admitting that he had arranged to have Luka threatened and had threatened himself. He also was willing to assist the law with the other charges against Bob Roth, having lots of dirt on the former music producer in return for a reduced sentence. Luka had a feeling that the lawyer knew all about Roth's dark side and was only helping to save himself, especially since his client was willingly akumatized. He knew to jump ship when the current one was sinking. If Roth was looking for loyalty, he should have hired someone else. After all, a snake is still a snake even when it sheds it's skin. The same when for the lawyer but none of that mattered to Luka. His part was done now and he was glad. He just wanted to move on with his life. He sighed and closed his eyes, taking a deep breathe. He felt the air shift, causing him to open his eyes and sit up. He was no longer in his room but in Feng's hut. Sat on the floor was Alpheus.

 "Congratulations is in order," He grinned, making Luka raise an eyebrow. "You passed my test. You proved your loyalty and thus have unlocked one of the keys. Three down, two more to go,"

 "I did?"

 "Yep," He grinned, holding up a jug. "Wine?"

 "I'm too young to drink,"

 "More for me then!" He grinned, taking a swig and swallowing it. "If you confused, it was because you stuck to your morals despite that snake's threats. Loyalty to one's self is loyalty never the less! Besides, I had to come up with a better test then friends or family because you are really loyal to them. No question on that!"

 "Then why did I have to get tested?"

 "Do I look like I write the rules?" Alpheus asked, making Luka smile a little. "Oh, no! I do not! Feng did! If I had been the first born, I would have written in a warning for myself! Beware the harlot Juno but nooo, he didn't think to warn me!"

 "Are you ok?"

 "I am dandy!" Alpheus smirked before hiccuping. "And a little drunk but we need to celebrate and you can't drink! So I shall instead!"

 "Who is Juno?" Luka asked as Alpheus took another drink.

 "A traitor!" He declared, placing down the jug. "Claimed she loved me then went with some guy then stole the peacock miraculous of me and terrorized Greece all because I broke up with her and moved on. Got myself a nice wifey too but nooo, Alpheus isn't allowed to love anyone but Juno! Well, fuck that! I stopped loving her the moment she laid with that other guy!"

 "Wait... she was your girlfriend?"

 "Yes!" Alpheus declared. "And then Mr Hunk came along and she fell straight into bed with him! You see you don't have to worry about that! You're too young for one thing and that sweet baker's daughter loves you full-heartedly. She would never ever consider hurting you like that but not Juno! Oh no, she did and then got pissed when I dumped her! She got pissed at me! I'm the frigging spirit of loyalty! I should be the one pissed at her!"

 "Alpheus, I think you've had enough," Feng stated, walking over and turning to Luka. "Congratulations for passing his test by the way,"

 "Thank you," Luka smiled as Feng helped Alpheus to his feet. "Will he be ok?"

 "He'll be fine," Feng replied, making Luka frown. "In his timeline, Hera... well, Juno just gatecrashed his wedding so he's a bit upset about that,"

 "Wait that just happened?"

 "Well, to you it would have happened a long time ago but to him it happened half an hour ago," Feng replied, turning to Alpheus. "Sober up. Ariadne is waiting for you,"

 "Ariadne!" Alpheus declared, smiling. "My sweet Ariadne!"

 "Yes, yes," Feng replied, shaking his head before looking at Luka. "Go back to your room. I'll look after this idiot,"

 "Ok," Luka nodded, waving to Alpheus who waved back before he laid back down and closed his eyes. When he next opened them, he found himself back in his room. He got up as Tikki looked at him. "Time to go meet Lady Noir... I think it's time I told her about Lady Blanche,"

 ~XY's Hotel Room~

 "I can't believe this!" XY declared, kicking a pillow before he paced across the room. His rich life was pretty much over. Not only was his father been sued but he had been arrested for aiding a terrorist. To say, XY was angry was an understatement. His father always had the nerve to call him dumb yet he was stupid enough to willingly become an akuma and on top of that, that brat Couffaine had won the case. His father was expected to pay that trashy family compensation for the stress he put them through and would be doing time for Child endangerment, perverting the course of justice, assisted kidnapping and assisted attempted murder. In other words, their image was ruined. XY growled and kicked something again. "This is all Couffaine's fault!"

 He punched one of the amps in the room, causing to it to break and a small box to fall out. 

 "Huh?" He gasped, reaching down and picking it up. "What the hell?"

 He shook it, causing to make a noise. He realized something was in there and opened it, causing him to cry out as a ball of light appeared. Once it disappeared, a little floating crocodile appeared in it's place. It opened it's eyes and looked at him before bowing.

 "Hello, Master,"

 "What the hell are you?"

 "My name is Snapp and I'm the kwami of Immersion,"

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

Next Chapter: Coming Soon (hopefully :p)

#luka couffaine #anatis #rise of anatis #anatis au #Ladybug Luka Couffaine / Anatis #Bob Roth #akumatized Bob Roth #Midas #Golden Touch #Roth is a dick #issac farrow #justice is served #alpheus #Test of loyalty #Lady Noire #black cat marinette #pro lukamari #le chien kim #Ox Kim #Ox Kim / Lord Ox #Master Fu returns! #lukanette #lukanette endgame #blueberry square #Luka needs a hug

[jess-unkommentiert]

[9] Shivers

-> Heartbeats 💕 Masterlist

End of November 2022 – Atlanta As the sun rose, light fell through the curtains into her bedroom right onto y/n's face. It would have waken her if she wasn't already awake for like an hour. It was currently 8:15am what means she had 15 minutes left until her alarm would go off. She hadn't sleep well – dreaming nervously about the upcoming day. The day she finally met the cast. The day she finally saw Anthony and Sebastian again. Her heartbeat fastened just by thinking about it. How would they react? Would they recognize her again?

She shook her head and crawled out of her bed. "It's too early for an unnecessary mental breakdown" she thought and sighed while heading to her closet. She rubbed her still tired eyes and thought about what to wear today. As Marvel didn't gave them any guideline what they need to wear on set, she didn't have to go shopping – or least even not more than usual.

A Marvel-shirt would be too pathetic, she thought. When she texted Christina to tell her that she was working with Anthony, Sebastian and Danny in the next month she got a package from her with a white Bucky merch t-shirt that showed a comic version of 40s Bucky along with a lot of his iconic phrases from the first movie.

As much as she loved the shirt – 40s Bucky was always her favorite as she was #teamshorthair – wearing it today while meeting Sebastian would have been more freaky than anyone could handle. So she rooted through all of her shirts until she found a black Star Wars shirt with a blueprint of R2D2 on it. That would be her shirt for the day. Paired with a blue ripped jeans and her black converse. As it was November she also decided to add a plain black fleece jacket to her outfit. It could be cold in the trailers so she wanted to be prepared for every temperature.

She was supposed to be on set at 10:00am which was very luxurious, because normally they started very early in the morning to prepare the actors and actresses for their upcoming scenes. If they needed to do a lot of VFX make-up or 'sculpting' it wasn't unusual for them to start at 4:00am because it took them hours to apply the make-up.

But as today was their first day working with the cast there were no scenes planned. They should get to know each other and discuss about the planned styles for the movie. Y/n got a big folder for each character with drawings of costumes and possible hair and make-up styles they were going to wear throughout the entire movie. It was her job to show them to the actors today, styling the 'base style' (which would be like a daily look of hair and make-up that was used for most of the common scenes) and taking a lot of pictures from every possible angle so that they were able to re-create the style every day.

The actors were told to not visit a hairdresser and barber for two weeks before their first meeting with the hair and make-up team. So they normally looked a bit wild, like they were living on an desolated island for the last two weeks. Y/n always had a picture of Tom Hanks in 'Castaway' in mind, but to be honest: none of the actors she worked with before looked that devastated when they first met.

She was going to meet all three of the main actors today, so Jennifer sent her an e-mail with a time schedule for the day:

1) 10:30am Danny Ramirez => Cutting hair and beard for his base style. (See the picture of him from FATWS in your folder) => Meeting with costume department to talk about his styling while wearing the new falcon outfit (see photo in the folder - we don't have any ideas yet, maybe you have one!)

2) 01:00pm Anthony Mackie => Cutting hair and beard for his base style. (See the picture of him from FATWS in your folder)

3) 03:00 pm Sebastian Stan => Cutting hair and beard for his base style. (See the picture of him from FATWS in your folder)

She also got the information that she should send all of them to the costume department after she was finished, so that they can be fitted into the new costumes. Although they had their first fitting months ago, they wanted to make sure that the costumes still fit and that they didn't become to skinny or bulky.

She stood in the kitchen of her apartment while she was rushing over Jennifer's mail again. She jumped from the sound of her toaster - telling her that the two wholegrain toasts are ready for further actions. She put them on a plate, turned on the oven and cracked two eggs in a pan. While she was waiting for her sunny-side-eggs to be done she cut an avocado and spread it onto her toasts. She added some spices and the eggs and finished her breakfast with some sprinkles of sriracha sauce.

Avocado-egg-toasts was her favorite and blueberry porridge her second favorite breakfast. She grabbed her mug with cappuccino with her left hand, the plate with the toasts on it with her right one and sat down at her coffee table for breakfast. She turned the TV on and watched „Good Morning America" while munching on her toast.

After she was finished with her breakfast, she put the mug and plate in the sink and packed her stuff to leave the house. She didn't want to be late on the big day and it was still a 30 minutes drive to the Marvel headquarter - if there was no accident on the way or she got stuck in traffic.

But thankfully at this time the streets were not that full - regarding the fact that she was living in a huge city - and so she parked her car in the parking garage at 9:40am. Plenty of time to head into the 8th floor and meet with the others at 10:00am. On her way to the offices (she liked to call them offices although their rooms are not stereotypical offices.) she greeted a few people that she thought she had seen before - she was still not good with names though.

She stuck her head into one of the office to see Michelle who was working on a brown haired wig at the moment - y/n recognized the wig as the one for Scarlet Witch.

„Good Morning, Sunshine!" y/n said smiling.

Michelle jumped a little because she hadn't expected anyone to enter her office - although the door was wide open. She turned around on her swivel stool and immediately ran to hug y/n as she saw her. „Ah y/n! It's so good to see you. Today is the big day, isn't it?"

„Yeah! We have a meeting with Jennifer at 10 and then I'll start meeting the actors within the whole day."

„How do you feel? Nervous, scared to death, excited, awesome, fangirly?" Michelle asked and laughed while she tried to imagine her friend meeting Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan.

Y/n scratched the back of her head in insecurity before she answered in a low voice: „I am super nervous. Hope all of them will like me and be happy with my work. They are all superstars. They pretty sure might have high expectations!"

Michelle patted her shoulder - then changed her mind and gave her friend a tight hug to comfort her. When she released y/n from the hug she said: „And you are a superstar in our business. Be confident! It's gonna be alright!"

Y/n smiled before she felt a vibration on her left wrist: her Apple Watch reminded her that the meeting with Jennifer was going to start in 10 minutes. She waved Michelle goodbye and headed down the corridor to one of the conference rooms. Jennifer was already inside the room but Mary and Susan weren't there yet. Y/n greeted Jennifer and smiled at her. Jennifer smiled back and said: „Big day, right?" y/n nodded nervously, the grip around the folders in her hands tightened.

Mary and Susan arrived in the room - both with a Starbucks cup in their hand. Jennifer quickly gave them instructions about who was working in which room. Mary's focus would be bringing Red Skull back to life in the room called 'Asgard', Susan would work closely with Emily today in the room 'Brooklyn' and y/n would have the room "Titan" for the boys.

She entered her room and threw her fleece jacket on a little couch in one corner. As they were staying in the headquarter today and not going to enter the huge halls that included different sets and trailers, she wouldn't need it. It was warm inside.

The centerpiece of the room was a large desk that was facing one of the walls and a comfortable looking turning chair in front of it. On the wall was a huge mirror that was surrounded by bright lights. Not like classical light bulbs – it was brighter. The light helped her to see everything as best as possible, although it made it sometimes difficult to chose the right tone of make-up. What looked perfect in the bright light turned out to look awful in natural light. That's why she was happy that the room also had a window with another chair in front of it so that she could immediately see how the make-up would look like in natural light. In the end the light on set was mostly something in between the bright light and natural light. That depended on the location and if they were shooting outside or inside.

Next to the desk was a large trolley with everything she needed for her job. Marvel gave them the best possible equipment, so she didn't need to ask for anything specific.

~~~

Right before 10:30am she heard a knock on the door. She was surprised because there was no need to knock as the door was wide open.

She saw a 5'9 tall black-haired man standing in the doorframe – smiling at her. She didn't recognize him as Danny Ramirez at first because he had curly long hair that reached almost to his shoulders. "Jeez, didn't they told you only had to skip your visit at the hairdresser for two weeks – not two years?", she joked and welcomed him to her office. She hadn't met him before, but he was very charismatic and around her age, so they had a good connection right from the beginning.

"Ouch. That did hurt.", he answered while entering the room. His hand went to his heart and he excessively pretended to be physically hurt by her statement. She smiled at him.

"Sorry, didn't mean to hurt you. I'm y/n by the way. You have the honor to work with me for the next months and today I am going to tame that before we even start preparing your falcon look." she said pointing on his hair. "Congratulations on the promotion by the way" she added.

"I needed to shave my hair completely for TopGun and afterwards I just let it grow the way it wanted to grow – not visiting a hairdresser at all. But I am pretty sure Torres won't be happy with it. Long hair seems to be impractical because there will always be at least one strand of hair in vision. We don't want Torres to crash just because of a new haircut."

Y/n nodded in agreement before she opened the folder with the letters "Joaquin Torres" on it. The first pictures were detailed looks of his style from FATWS – the style she should re-create out of his mane today. She showed him one of the pictures and asked: "Ready to lose some hair?"

"Ready when you are!" he answered and jumped onto the chair in front of the mirror. She prepared everything to cut his hair – but hesitated a second before she started. She took a deep breath, smiled at Danny and started to re-create the common look of Lieutenant Joaquin Torres. A lot of strands were laying on the floor while she whirled the scissors around his head. He watched patiently as his style changed from 60s hippy to a modern man.

When they were finished Danny looked at himself in the mirror and murmured: "Missed you, Torres." Y/n compared the new haircut to the pictures of FATWS and both of them were happy with it. She then grabbed her phone and called Mariana from the costume department, because she wanted to be there as well when they discuss about Torres whole style as the new falcon.

She arrived after a few minutes because her office was just on the other side of the corridor. Y/n opened the folder with the pictures again and put three pictures onto the desk in front of them:

1)      The comic-version of Joaquin Torres as Falcon

2)      The raw drawing of the MCU Torres-Falcon with helmet

3)      The raw drawing of the MCU Torres-Falcon without helmet

In the original comics Torres was kidnapped as a Teenager and experimented on by Dr. Karl Malus. As final result of those genetic experiment Torres 'achieved' permanent mutations including wings that allowed him to fly.

Obviously the MCU took a different turn with Torres as he was not a mutant in FATWS. When Sam left the old – broken – wings behind,Torres repaired them on his own and gave them a little fresh-up. So the MCU Falcon-suit for Torres was based on the old wings from Sam, that were worn like a backpack. As Torres was still part of the army the color pattern of his suit was green and brown – similar colors than his suit in the comics. But it looked more like a military uniform than a classical superhero suit.

Mariana cleared her throat before she said: "We are still not sure if we want the look with or without the helmet. What would be the difference for your work, y/n?"

"Well, if he is going to wear a helmet most of the time, we just need to style his hair in scenes where he is a civilian. Makes my job easier." She laughed before she continued "But if we decide to do the helmless version of Torres, I need to do a few tests with his hair and a wind machine to be sure that his style is realistic. When we pretend him to fly around for several minutes we need to make sure that his style has the perfect mixture between loose enough to move within the wind – so that the audience really believes that he is flying around and not hanging on some wires in front of a bluescreen – but also fixed enough to not destroy his style or blowing strands into his eyes."

Both Danny and Mariana looked at y/n with furrowed brows. She looked back at them in confusion – not sure if she said something wrong. Mariana was the one to answer:

"I never thought about the necessary to make the style believable for the audience but of course, that's a valid point."

"We don't want a repetition of the Captain Marvel hair failure from Endgame, do we?", y/n said calm referring on the fact that Captain Marvel's hair was fully CGI in one scene of Avengers: Endgame. She was supposed to be in space in that scene and her hair were not following any rules of physic – fans referred to her hair as anti-gravity-hair in articles. A lot of people laughed about the fact that it looked so unrealistic and how Marvel could do such a huge mistake.

Mariana sighed – seemed like she heard about that little fail. "We start with scenes before Torres wears his Falcon-suit the first time so I am going to talk to Anthony, Joe and Kevin about the helmet-or-no-helmet-question. How would you decide if you were them?"

"Well." Y/n said slowly "Even it is more work for me I would prefer him without the helmet. Sam Wilson's Captain America has kind of a helmet and I don't want Torres to be just a 'green duplicate of Captain America without a shield'. Also look at his hair. It looks gorgeous!" She fluffed through Danny's hair making him scream a little like a child. Both of them laughed and Mariana shook his head in disbelieve how childish both of them were.

~~~

She needed to clean the whole room because Danny's hair were literally everywhere after their meeting with Mariana. It was 11:50am when she was finished - time for lunch. She wasn't on the mood for going outside and find some restaurant to have lunch so she just went into the big cafeteria that was included in the Marvel headquarter for their employees. There was a big salad buffet so she grabbed a bowl and loaded it with all ingredients for her salad. She picked some baguette and a Coke Zero aside, paid and strolled through the cafeteria - looking for someone she knows.

She found Michelle sitting on a table with Susan so y/n took a seat on their table. The three of them had a lot in common - all of them loved to read books, were fans of science fictions movies and shows and liked modern rock bands like Green Day or Thirty Seconds to Mars. As Michelle was not on the same team as y/n she was happy that she had at least Susan by her side. They were going to Europe to film a few months abroad and y/n liked the idea of having someone familiar and friendly around.

Susan and her get to know each other just a week ago but they were immediately good friends. The same way as she and Michelle linked a few months ago. The three of them already had a movie night with popcorn and tortillas - watching FATWS. „It's research - so we're practically working right now!" y/n remembered Susan saying when she grabbed the remote control and opened Disney+.

Susan and y/n were chatting about their meetings before lunch and Michelle was listening patiently. She was not working on a specific movie right now. She just finished attending the re-shoots for 'Black Panther 2: Wakanda forever' and was happy to have little bit of free time in Atlanta. Regular working hours with free evenings for dates and parties were rare while working on a movie set.

Y/n felt the vibrations of her Apple Watch to remind her that she had 10 minutes left until her meeting with Anthony. She said goodbye to the other girls and headed back to 'Titan' - her office of the day.

Anthony was already inside her room, sitting on the couch and looking at his phone. He looked up to her when she entered the room.

„What an honor to work with Hollywoods best hair and make-up artist!" he said grinning at her. She reminded him saying that to her at Christina's party as well. He stood up and gave her a hug.

„So he does remember me. Crazy with all the people he got to know that evening. Will Sebastian remember me as well?" she thought before he let her out of the hug. She had both of her hands on his shoulders and was observing his hair and beard closely.

„Hey don't look at me like that. YOU told us to not get a haircut or shave the beard." he said as he thought she was shocked about his appearance. But as he looked exactly like in FATWS just with a little longer beard she answered snickering: „Mackie your beard grew maybe a millimeter, not more. You look like always."

„Thanks! I know that I look amazing." he answered and clapped with his right hand on her left shoulder before he turned to the chair in front of the mirror and sat down.

„This was not a compliment!" she hissed at him but he waved his hand as he was not accepting what she said.

He sat right in front of the mirror and she found him looking at her hands while she was combing his short hair. She wondered why he was observing her moves in such detail, but she pushed away the confusion and focused on her work again.

There was not much to do with Anthony as he was already looking like Sam Wilson who was on vacation without his shaving machine. So she trimmed his beard a bit and was done after 20 minutes.

„Well, that was fast and easy." she said while she took some pictures for the folder.

He smiled and checked his style in the mirror. He nodded in agreement before he looked at y/n and said: „Thank you. I am looking forward to work with you for the next months."

She smiled and said: „Me too, Mackie. You deserve to have your own movie on the big screen. You're doing a good job as cap!"

His look softened a bit as he was really touched by her words. „Thank you" he said before regaining his sassy look again: „Are you ready for the Romanian god himself ? Mister sexy Seabass?"

Her eyes widened in shock and she needed to cough in disbelieve what he had just said.

She hadn't realized the brown-haired man with the steel blue eyes standing in the doorframe behind her as she was focused on taking pictures of Mackie.

„You know that I hate it when you call me that, choccocino" Sebastian said with a trembling voice.

Y/n listened to his voice - unsure if she should turn around to him saying Hello or just melt into the ground right here right now.

It felt like Christina's birthday party was played like a movie inside her head. Making her remember ever word they changed. Making her remember the short period of time when their hands touched each other's. She felt her ears burning just by thinking about it.

„You are standing here like youre made out of stone. Do something you stupid idiot." she thought, but her body did not respond to her commands.

As she was finally able to move, she lifted her head and looked into Sebastian's eyes through the mirror in front of her. He leaned with his right shoulder on the doorframe, smiled at her and raised his left hand for a welcoming wave. She smiled back at him before she turned around to look at him face-to-face.

„You are early!" Mackie said before y/n even had a chance to say something. Not that she was fully sure, she would be able to speak.

She hadn't thought about him for months. She even was able to watch 'Pam & Tommy' without thinking of him - which was a miracle despite the fact he was playing Tommy Lee. But there he was standing right in front of her and she behaved like a 16-year old teenager again. What the hell.

„Yeah I was lonely in my hotel room, so I thought about coming over and look what you're doing." Sebastian answered while entering the room and heading towards y/n.

„Hi y/n, good to see you again. How are you doing?" he asked while giving her a hug. Her body finally decided to function again so she smiled at him while he let her out of the hug - his hands still laying on her waist.

„I am doing pretty good. Now that I have a safe job and can pay my rent and food. How about you?"

„Happy that I don't have to pay rent anymore as I bought my apartment a long time ago. But instead I spent my money on way too much bruschetta and pizza!" he laughed.

She looked critical at him from head to toes, her brows furrowed. „Well you still look like you are in good shape!" she said after a few seconds.

He sighed in relief as he was expecting her saying something mean - he spent way too much time with Anthony!

Speaking of Anthony: he laughed while he watched them interact before he stood up from the chair in front of the desk. „So y/n if we are done here, I am heading to the costume department to have a look at my amazing suit again."

„Yeah Mackie, we are done. Always a pleasure. See you around!" y/n said while Anthony left the room. Not without clapping on Sebastian's shoulder when he passed him.

As trimming Anthony's beard didn't make too much of a mess y/n quickly grabbed her vacuum cleaner and cleaned the place around the chair so that Sebastian could sit down. „I know we're way before your scheduled time, but if you want to already start - take a seat!" she said to him.

„I always do what I'm told!" he said while winking at her.

He sat down in front of her, looking into her eyes through the mirror. She rested both of her hands on his shoulders and felt the muscles underneath his dark blue sweatshirt. He really was in good shape.

He fixed his eyes on her while she was walking around the chair to open the folder with „Bucky Barnes" on it. She quickly grabbed the first photo and put it on the desk in front of Sebastian. She continued walking around his chair to diligently observe his beard and hair - imagining in her head how she should cut both to re-create Bucky's look. The producers and directors decided that he should look the same as in FATWS - he just got a new costume.

„Your eyes are even greener than I remember" he said into the silence. She looked up to the mirror and their gazes met.

„That's the light. Yours look more like shallow water on the Maldives than classic ocean blue eyes as Marvelpedia says." she casually answered.

„Shallow water on the Maldives? Nobody described my eyes like that before" he laughed. Thank god he didn't say anything about 'Marvelpedia' because that made y/n look like a little stalker. I mean of course she googled him. Who wouldn't? She needed to know stuff about him. For the sake of her work. Nothing else, of course.

Y/n blushed and she could feel her ears burning.

None of them said another word until y/n started preparing the trolley with scissors for his haircut.

„You're okay with that style?" she asked him while pointing on the photo on the desk.

„I don't have a choice, have I?" he sighed dramatically. Y/n raised her eyebrow while looking at him in the mirror and he added: „Just kidding. I like the short hair more than the long one. Wearing a wig always made me uncomfortable. Also the short hair mean a lot to Bucky as he is finally able to move on from his past."

„You sound like one of the Bucky Fangirls on Tumblr." she laughed and patted him on both shoulders.

„I am Bucky's biggest fangirl." he answered and made a strange movement with his hand. She wasn't sure what he wanted to express with it and he realized that it was awkward so he put his hand back on his leg - pretending nothing had happened.

His hair was a bit longer than it needed to be what resulted into small curls on the top of his head. He had very thick hair and a lot of them. One of the advantages of being Romanian. They have amazing hair!

Before she took the scissors she elevated her right hand at the back of his head and stroked carefully through the short hair on his neck. She saw him closing his eyes and moving the head so that his chin was laying on his chest. She continued running through his hair and reached the top part of his head.

For a brief second she thought hearing him purr, but that must be an imagination.

She enjoyed touching his hair and on his relaxed face expression she saw that he liked it, too. She tried to be as tender as possible as she stroked through his hair a few times. Of course she didn't need that for cutting his hair as it was just a little bit longer than it needed to be.

His shoulder lifted and lowered with every breath and she saw that he became more relaxed with ever stroke of her fingertips. She started to draw little circles with her finger what ended up into a head massage.

The room was filled with silence - you could only hear them breathing simultaneous. Somehow the massage connected them in a way that heartbeat and breathing were in the same rhythm.

As her fingertips continue running over his scalp a soft moan left his mouth. He was so relaxed that he didn't even realized it, but y/n did and the sound made something burn inside her core. She couldn't help herself of smiling like a maniac.

Y/n leaned forward to his right ear and whispered: „As much as I love massaging you Sebastian Stan, I really need to cut your hair or I lose my job."

Wait. Did she really use the term ‚love' in the same sentence as ‚Sebastian Stan'? What the hell had this man done to her. She barley knew him, but she never felt connected to someone the way she did with him. That's weird to think about, and even more weird to speak it out loud, so she was happy that she was just having an internal discussion inside of her brain.

After a few seconds - that felt like years - he opened his eyes with a shy smile on his lips and lifted his head again in a neutral position. Her head was still near his ear while they looked each other in the eyes - none of them able to speak.

She raised her upper body again so she was standing behind him, her hands resting on his shoulders again.

„I don't want you to lose your job. But you need to know that from now on I expect a massage every day before work." he said calm.

„You wish!" she exclaimed and with their laughter the weird tension between them was gone.

„You know..." she added. „I am not only good at head massages. I do pretty good back massages as well. At least when you trust the opinion of my ex-boyfriends."

His eyes widened a bit and when she saw it she realized what she just said - resulting her face in becoming red like a tomato. She needed to turn around to pretend grabbing the scissors, because she was scared that he could see her face.

„I will come back to this one day!" he winked at her - what didn't help with the whole tomato-face-situation.

She managed to grab the scissors and quickly started to cut his hair. It wasn't much work so she was done after 10 minutes. She continued to shorten his beard to a length that looked like he hadn't shaved for five days. This gave Bucky a wild, rusty and sharpe look.

When both of them were happy with the results she quickly removed the snipped hair from his shoulders and chest. He stood up and tapped at his sweatshirt to remove every remaining hair as good as possible. He turned around and faced y/n with a big smile.

„Thank you for cutting my hair and beard. And also for the massage. That was a pretty good massage." he said and his right hand touched her left forearm carefully. She smiled back at him - feeling very stupid that she was not able to do anything but smile.

„You're welcome. When you enter the hair and make-up trailer early on shooting days, I maybe have a few seconds to give you another massage"

„That would be amazing" he answered, grabbed her arm and took her into a tight goodbye-hug. Her hands were wrapped around his upper body, her head on his chest as he was taller than her. Meanwhile his arms were laying on her lower back and his face was placed on the side of her neck. She could feel his breath and felt his heart beat right next to hers.

He started to move one of his hands up and down - sending a shiver down her spine.

What. Was. This. Man. Doing. To. Her.

#sebastian stan #sebastian stan fanfiction #sebastian stan fandom #sebastian stan reader #sebastian stan x reader #sebastian stan x female reader #sebastian stan x y/n #sebastian stan x femalereader #sebastian stan x you #female reader #fanfic #fanfiction #marvel #mcu #marvel fanfic #marvel fanfiction #marvel fanfic writer #winter soldier #wintersoldier #james bucky barnes #buckybarnes #bucky barnes #love at first sight #lovestory #romance