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#maybe that’s unfair cause I haven’t seen it but!! I don’t care to!! it looks bad!!! it’s looked bad every year for the past six years!!!
websterss · 1 year
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𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐄 𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐒 — 𝐋𝐔𝐊𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍
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𝐑𝐄𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓: Hi!! So I've seen your account recently and I really would like you to write jatp luke Patterson x reader, when the Reader is always so goofy and childish. So they are sick like they have a very bad fever, and they are very weak and Luke takes care of them, and maybe sings a lullaby to help them sleep by singing to them and rocking them please. 
𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆(𝐒): um cussing mostly, and fluff
𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓: 985
𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆: Luke Patterson x fem!Reader    
𝐀/𝐍: Hope you enjoy it! This is my shortest story omg. I am fully recovered from having the flu this past week, so I’m trying to get back into my writing, but it’s still a slow process for me, because I was really drained of energy for a week, so be patience with me lovelies. ♡
𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓
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“Y/n, I know you’re in there!” Rapid thuds against your window can be heard. The loudness that vibrates through the window shook through your body. You pull the duvet over your head to hopefully muffle the sounds of your annoying friend.
“Come on, let me in!”
“Goaway.” You muffle yelled. Though to your annoyance, it simply slipped your mind that Luke has the ability to poof in and out of places. Perks of being a ghost. “No. I wanna be at peace!” You whine as you sense his presence before you.
“Hello to you too, sunshine.”
“Goaway.” Your voice muffled under your blanket.
“Can’t do that. Julie specifically told me to come and help you around the house since she’s at school.”
“Why!” You kick out the duvet off you. Moving around frantically, part tantrum. “I don’t need a ghost. I need a goddamn miracle-“ You stop feeling clogged up air in your chest causing you to cough. “God I hate being sick.”
“Do you need anything?” Luke walked over, pressing the back of his hand against your warm tempered forehead. “No fever.”
“I just wanna sleep honestly.” You sigh heavily. Turning your head to meet his eyes. “I have this massive migraine that I’ve been trying to cure with ibuprofen for the last couple days, but I stopped because I’m scared of growing an addiction.” You muster a grin, finding the bit hilarious. “Then there’s my congested nose, trying to breathe has been a bitch. I keep waking up in the middle of the night in coughing fits because my lungs can’t get any air.”
“You gotta tell your lungs to work man!”
“I’m trying!” You laugh, heaving a slight bit then feeling the urge to cough again. “This sucks. I don’t even know how I got sick. It’s like all my energy just got drained right out of me. It’s ruined my whole week.” You let your arms fall in defeat by your sides. “I’m sorry, Luke. I know I said I’d be there for the band’s rehearsals but— I barely have the energy to get out of bed these days.” A faint smile paints your face.
“Hey, don’t sweat it okay. Rehearsals will still be there for you to watch after you get better alright? Besides, we can always record what you’ve missed.” Luke sat on the edge next to you. His comfort dissolves the aches and pain that run through your entire system. The mere thought of knowing someone wanting to look after you, gave you hope for a full recovery sooner rather than later. “Though you’re not missing much honestly.”
“Only my social life.” You dismissed passively. “Can’t believe I’m stuck here and you guys are making music. Unfair.”
“Well, if it makes you feel better-” He pointed at your side, activating your flight or fight response. You laughed moving away from his hands, never one to enjoy being tickled. “We’re not really having much luck with coming up with new songs.”
“Now that I found it hard to believe.”
“No seriously, it’s like we ran out of inspiration.”
“Oh come on! You guys seriously haven’t written anything while I’ve been at home sick?”
Luke shrugged. “We’re all missing our muse…” He reached forward to boop you on the nose.
“Please, I’m no muse.” You half heartedly laugh.
“Maybe not the guys, but definitely mine.” He nodded surely.
“Well then, I’m honored.” You reach forward and take a hold of his hand. Twiddling with his fingers. Intertwining and untwining your hand with his. “Any chance I can hear something?” You batted your eyes playfully. A pout full on display. “Would you sing for a poor sick girl?” You force a cough out of your mouth. “A sneak peek of what’s to come?”
“You sure know how to persuade a guy.” Luke smirked.
“What can I say–“ You cough again. “I’m pretty convincing.” Your eyes crinkle, a sleepy haze falls over your tired form.
“Alright sleepy head, I’ll give you something.” He brought his hand up to lightly brush away some flyaway hairs from your eyes. His touch softly lingering. Soothing the slight ache that didn’t want to go away.
“What’s it–“ You yawn big. “called?”
“Well, Julie, the guys, and I haven’t really settled on a name yet, but I think we’re inching closer with Those Eyes.”
“It sounds nice…” You adjust yourself into the bed. Bring the covers up to your chest. The thing about having the flu was that you had the tendency to get shivers here and there, other times hot spells causing you to kick off the covers. A continuous back and forth situation. Right now you were just simply feeling cold. 
“It does. It’s a little slower than any of our other songs, but I think it’ll be a nice touch to the album.”
“Let’s hear it, rockstar.” You hummed. Placing your hands flat over your covered stomach.
“Give me a second.” Luke scoffed humorously. He began making a rhythmic beat on his jean clad thigh, head slowly bobbing as he tried to find his pitch. He took a deep breath and began singing.
“Cause all of the small…things that you do…are what remind me why I fell for you...” His smile grew seeing you start to slip into a deep slumber. Your breathing evening out and becoming slower. He leaned forward, letting his hands caress the side of your cheek gently. His heart fluttering as you subconsciously leaned into his touch. “and when we're apart, and I'm missing you. I close my eyes and all I see is you...and the small things you do.” He leaned back and watched you sleep. His favorite pastime, knowing you were getting rest, and at peace in the comfort of your bedroom. “Sweet dreams, peaches.” Then he was gone in a poof. Silence filling the space, and your sleep unbothered.
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jhuzen · 1 year
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stranger at the rooftop [m.reader]
xiaaaaoooo. i’m writing this so the non-xiao-havers may have him, and those that have him may pull his weapon and c6 him. don’t worry baby i’ll manifest for you ,’;^). i’d like to pull for him but ugh. can’t risk it. on his next rerun maybe. also,,, descender reader,,, a-again? omg. this ought to be a series of one-shots at some point. i’ve also always liked the trope of a healing character helping someone who’s in a similar position as them before. good shit.
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There was a gentle lull in the wind that blew past your face. You sat on the railings at the top most place of the inn you were currently staying at. The cold air nipped at your skin and you could care less. There was an alluring flavor that stained the atmosphere, something not even you, who has seen it all, can decipher. You figured this was something that you have longed for other than the possibility of falling to your death with one wrong move from the ledge you were sitting on.
And you could hear the footsteps that ghosted from behind you, likely the owner of this inn that you so graciously infiltrated. You understood his actions however, if a man just barged in and suddenly decided to indulge himself on the ledge of the railings you put up for the sake of safety, that could may as well cause an unwarranted death, you’d be worried too.
The occasional glances born out of pure concern and curiosity wasn’t something that fazed you — and when the innkeeper went back to look after you (quite possibly hoping that you haven’t plummeted to death yet), you finally graced him with a small reassuring smile, that you will be alright and that his business wouldn’t be responsible for a young man falling to his death any time sooner.
Whether or not he took in your little reassurance, you didn’t care for it much.
You stewed in the meek silence that nature has generously offered you — and with every bird that sang a tune, every tree whose leaves rustled with the gentle breeze, and every cricket that filled the deafening silence, you took in with so much gratitude.
You were grateful to be alive.
Not so much at the fact that you were left alone.
Before the winds of Barbatos could even blow it away, you finally took the flower tucked into your ear, something that your comrade gave you just days away before they left you. It was such an unfair gift, giving you something so perishable when it’s supposed to be a memento that you keep for them.
And within the centuries after their passing, you were left with the burden of painstakingly nourishing the spider lily that they left you. But you were no longer in the comforts of your home world. You never stayed in the same place, only opting to welcome a few millennia in a world before finally moving on.
You were so confident that you can keep the flower alive with your greatest efforts. But it seemed that it also wanted to rest after being kept alive for so long by a selfish being such as yourself.
A quiet sigh left your system. I was always bad at letting things go. You admitted to yourself and not a single fiber of your being protested. Perhaps even you grew tired of denying things, continuing to preserve a flower that was long dead, hell you were sure your abilities were the only thing keeping it in a relatively alright appearance. You were certain it actually wilted just days after you were given it.
You ruminated at the moments spent with your comrade. They were your beacon of hope, the reason for your survival, and the reason why you absolutely refused to die. But much like how the stem of this flower was cut off after being plucked by them to gift you, you were also uprooted when they took their final breath. And while you didn’t cry that night, you waited until the remaining warmth in their body left within your grasp.
Your eyes continued to gaze at the spider lily, in a way, it was much like the reenactment of when you cradled your comrade in their final moments. No words left your lips and tears were nonexistent, you can only bask in the numbing feeling it brought you as you watched traces of your magic that kept it alive leave.
“You’re going to fall.”
Quickly, you perked up, head turning to look over your shoulder to see a young man, armed with a shiny polearm and a stance that held defiance and exhaustion all at the same time. You can only crack a smile as you acknowledged his words — they were not brimming with concern, but there was a hint of curiosity within it.
“Oh? Wouldn’t that be a nice treat,” you quipped without missing a beat.
Xiao expected you to apologize and scramble away, but his breath lightly hitched at your words. Are you some kind of a lunatic? He could never point out. And what kind of answer was that? Humans value their life, don’t they? They’re mortals with numbered days on this world and they would do anything to keep it. In a sense, it was also one of the reasons why he exists, to be a protector of the fragile humanity.
So why are you so quick to disregard it?
He tucked his weapon away after sensing that you were barely even a threat to him — only that you made the innkeeper unsettled with your very… risky actions. And while he didn’t appreciate most of his interactions with humanity (most of them were rabid fanatics that kept chasing him to the ends of this nation), he felt strangely drawn to you.
There was a familiar atmosphere that you emanated, an aura so somber wafting around you. And it was something that Xiao understood in all his living days.
You were mourning.
With much reluctance (despite the sudden comfort your familiar actions brought him, he wasn’t one for companionship, at the very least he was merely around Morax or the traveler and the staff of Wangshu Inn), he leaned into the railings, a few feet away from you. Why should he feel anxious? This was his place of comfort, and if anything, you were intruding and should be the one who’s feeling the gnawing anxiety.
A pregnant silence enveloped your lonesome company and neither spoke for awhile. Your eyes were trained to the flower in your hands and Xiao could barely muster the strength to look at you. You encompassed a sense of foreboding that even he could not understand what it was; but then again, when was he ever a master of deciphering emotions other than grief and self-sacrifice.
“If I plummet straight down right now, do you think I can accept the reality of my life within those few seconds before my death?”
You broke the silence and for the second time, Xiao had to do double take. Did you have a penchant for catching people off guard?
It took a good while before Xiao found his voice, finally looking at you (perhaps it was your dubiousness that gave him the courage to finally stare at you), crossing his arms firmly to his chest, “Why? Do you have any intentions of doing that?” He asked. “I don’t think the innkeepers would be too thrilled at the thought of their customer dying.”
Your laugh threw him off of his course, “Then is that a suggestion for me to fall from a height somewhere else?”
“Wh— This is absolute lunacy.” Xiao had to grab every ounce of self-control not to disappear on you right now. “I never said anything.” But I won’t stop you. He meant to say, but was tongue-tied at the last second.
And a part of him wonders why. He can just as quickly dissipate into a black smoke when others pester him, but why do you, a nameless and odd wayfarer make it so difficult for him to do so? There was something prodding at the back of his mind, saying that it was a bad idea to leave you alone, that he has to bear through it and stick it out with you until the end.
“Hah. I jest.” Your laugh filled with unbridled mischief disappeared as your lips curled into a soft and longing smile. “Though I never thought of death until recently. I suppose the motivation to leave the plane of existence never occurred to me until now…” you trailed off before picking up the flower from your lap and showing it to your companion (whose name you still are very much unaware of).
Xiao peered into your cupped hands where a wilting flower sat. He’s never seen one before, and he wonders if it’s a flower from one of the other nations, given that he’s never left Liyue for even a second of his life.
“It’s dying,” he pointed out with a soft murmur. “And you’re letting it?”
“Believe me, my good man, for eons, I’ve tried to keep it alive with all that I have.” Your longing smile turns into something bittersweet, “But it seems even when I can still fight, it no longer wants to.”
“You talk about it like it holds great importance to you.”
You chuckled at his words, what an odd companion you found yourself talking to (unbeknownst to you, he feels the same), “Of course. No one in their right mind would seek out all solutions just to preserve a flower that may have been dead long ago.” And when you were met with silence, you pushed on, “It’s a gift from a friend. A memento to remember them by. Surely you’ve had some.”
Xiao didn’t respond, but he thought back to all the things that he often picked up along his travels through the nation that greatly remind him of his friends, of his family. His mind even drifted to the shrine that was dedicated for Pervases, how he would often find himself resting on its roof just to bask in the scent of incenses offered to his long gone comrade.
“That faraway look in your eyes suggest that I’m right.”
And he wasn’t one to deny it, it would be hypocritical if he did in the first place.
But that was the least of his concerns. Especially when he realizes just how close your situation is with him. It was so close, and yet he could see himself in you. Someone who still hasn’t let go of the past and still dwells on the grief that it almost dictates your life. Someone like him before he went and succumbed into the bed of the chasm when he went to look for one of his friends.
And for some reason, Xiao felt even more drawn to you. He felt the need to stay by your side as he glanced at those eyes of yours that held a millennium worth of pain and suffering. He felt the need to suddenly be around you as he continued to watch you cradle the wilting flower in your hand.
For the first time, Xiao found complete solace in your somber company. You were a familiar stranger, a man of oxymoronic truths that Xiao feels the thrill in discovering. You were standoffish and yet he felt your pull and suddenly he was tasting his own medicine — when he expressed his clear dislike for company and yet people offered him food countless times, desperate for his appearance for even just a second. Your distance closes gaps, as it turns out.
“Have you tried planting it?” He finally asked, after leaving you unanswered for a moment.
You hummed as you softly caress the petals with your thumb, lips slowly forming into a frown as it disintegrates the parts you’ve touch slowly break apart and disintegrate, “This is a flower native to my world… and even then, it only grows under special conditions.” You let out a wet laugh, “And it’s not like I want to, anyway. I suppose it’s finally time to embrace the bitter truth I’ve been avoiding for years.”
Xiao hums as a lone tear drop falls down directly onto one of the petals, destroying it. He doesn’t question it, not when he has felt the same thing when he would find himself at the top of Rex Lapis’ hand-crafted mountains, in need for a blissful comfort that he knows he can never find.
At least, not until now.
And as you felt the last traces of your magic leave the spider lily, it suddenly felt light on your palms, like you weren’t even holding anything in the first place. You lifted your hand up to your lips, pressing a gentle kiss on the flower and watched it crumble to dust before finally blowing on it, watching every ounce of it embrace the winds of Teyvat.
The moonlight above only gave a soft and comforting glow in the midst of the sorrowful goodbye that you had to do and endure and Xiao can only bask in your presence as much as you do to him. How taxing and tiring it was to always be the one to grieve, but at the very least, both of you were glad that throughout all of it, none had succumbed into the fate of numbness that is far worse than suffering through it all.
You wiped away the third and last tear that your eyes could muster in this sad farewell.
You finally got a good look at your companion, finding yourself to be the one who’s absolutely breathless when your eyes met his golden ones, the diamond mark prominent on his forehead. His teal and dark hair blew in the winds and all you could ever think of was how marvelous your stranger-turned-companion was.
A small smile overtook your features, “How curious… you and I share the same fate. And yet it seems you’re taking it far better than I am.”
Xiao couldn’t avoid your eyes even if he tried as his gaze only seem to ever gravitate towards your face, “I’m not an expert… but I’ve grown recently. I’ve had… some help.” He said, mind traversing back to that dreadful time in the chasm.
“Then,” much to the probable relief of the innkeeper, you jumped off the railing and right in front of the adeptus. Without so much of a warning, you closed what little gap you and Xiao have left as you clasped his hands into yours with a gentle touch that almost knocked the air out of Xiao’s lungs. “Would you mind helping me?”
The yaksha looked away from your eager and captivating face, “I already said I’m not an expert…” he grunted, but he answered your pleas either way. “But… I can try.”
Your grip on his hands tightened but there was no sense of discomfort in it, only a loving and reassuring hold, “Thank you, dear stranger.”
“…You can just call me by my name, you know?”
And unbeknownst to either you or the adeptus, you would be calling out to him so tenderly, and he would speak your name like a sacred word so lovingly.
All because you and him crossed paths under the fate of vulnerability.
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xskyll · 1 year
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“Todoroki-san…” Shouto had never cared about honorifics before, but something about Midoriya’s voice speaking his name with such careful, precise formality made him feel like he’d stepped into a fog of humid air. It was thick and oppressive and uncomfortably stifling in a way his quirk could never abate. “It’s not Ka—Bakugou-san—it’s not him I’m avoiding. I mean,” he bit his lip in the same way Midoriya did when he wanted to slow his speech, to ensure he took the time to choose his words carefully, “it’s true that it’s weird for me. It’s not just the cousin thing. Or, I mean, maybe it is, in the end, but it’s just…where I’m from, my Katsuki, he’s always protected me. So it’s odd, being near yours. I know your Izuku isn’t me, but…well, we’re similar, right? I think maybe we have to be. So I don’t like the idea that there’s a version of me out there that a version of my cousin could hate. But more than that…Todoroki-san, more than that, the person I’m avoiding is you.” “Midoriya.” He wasn’t sure what he was going to say and he wasn’t given time to figure it out before Midoriya was speaking again. “I’m sorry,” he said, gripping the edges of his jacket and twisting them in his hands. It was a nervous gesture he’d seen dozens of times, performed by hands that were rough and mangled and broken and nothing at all like the pristine hands he was now looking at. “I’m sorry,” Midoriya repeated. “It’s such an awkward situation. I sort of…I thought maybe your teachers, or your heroes, or whatever it is, I was hoping they would figure things out and this wouldn’t come up. But they haven’t and…I’m so sorry, but if I’m being honest, Todoroki-san, it really hurts to look at you and it feels unfair, because the others, they say I look a little different from your Izuku, but for me, you look just the same. You look exactly like my Shouto, so when I see you, it’s hard because…because in my world, Shouto is…he’s everything, Todoroki-san. To me, I mean. He’s everything. And I know he feels the same because he looks at me like I’m everything, so when I see you and you’re looking at me like you don’t like me, and it’s with his eyes—” “I do like you,” he interrupted. “Or him. Midoriya. The one from my world. He’s one of my best friends.” Midoriya smiled and any words Shouto had left to speak turned to dust in his mouth. Midoriya smiled like he’d been hurt. He smiled like he wanted to apologize for his own injuries. “It’s not that kind of like, Todoroki-san.” Understanding bled through him like a slow-growing stain, permanently altering the fabric of his person. “You mean…you and me…?” “Right. And so that’s why. A Katsuki that isn’t my cousin and a Katsuki that dislikes me…that’s odd and it makes me feel a little strange, but it isn’t something I can’t handle. But a Shouto that treats me like I’m only a friend…that’s more than I can bear. So please. I know I’m overexerting myself. I know it isn’t healthy to keep practicing like this. But right now, this is all I have. So please, Todoroki-san.”
Don’t mind me, I’m just back on my nonsense. Anyone who knows me knows I love Idol Izuku, so this is just based on one of the many daydreams I’ve had on that subject. In this one, a quirk accident causes Izuku to swap places with an Izuku from an alternate universe. This Izuku is cousins with Katsuki (thus the eye color change), has a quirk that is related to increased agility (which he uses for dancing), and is dating Shouto. In this world, there are no heroes or villains, but simply law enforcement and criminals. Quirks aren’t as strong or diverse as they are in the normal bnha world. UA exists, but rather than training heroes, it’s simply a renowned school for specialized career training. Izuku is in their music academy, under Hizashi. Shouto and Katsuki are in the law academy, maybe?? Katsuki wants to grow up to be Izuku’s bodyguard, lol. Enji is a professional fighter—sort of a quirk MMA type of thing—and he wants Shouto to follow in his footsteps. Shouto doesn’t want to. I’m thinking he might want to be a defense attorney. Anyway, I’m never going to write this as a fic but enjoy this little blurb!
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ellewritesandrants · 2 years
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This more mature than I usually write but I just thought of something for the hidden omega Billy AU I have and I had to share it. Male omegas have both parts in my AU so…
So imagine that Steve is done courting Billy and they’re about to mate so they’re making out and stuff and suddenly, when Steve starts trying to remove Billy’s pants, Billy goes:
“Steve, can we stop for a bit?”
Steve immediately got off of Billy, letting him sit up.
“What is it, baby?”
Billy avoided Steve’s eyes, wringing his hands out of anxiety.
“I-Um, shit I don’t know how to tell you this.”
“Hey.”
Steve pulls him in for a quick kiss before booping his nose.
“Baby, there’s nothing you could tell me that would make me stop loving you. What is it?”
“Y-You know all of those rumors about me sleeping around with all of those girls?”
“Yeah, so?”
“Well, they’re not exactly true?”
Steve took a deep breath, trying to keep himself calm even if his head was going through different scenarios a mile a minute.
“What are you trying to say, baby?”
“I-I haven’t done anything with anyone. I mean, I’ve done things for others but I’ve never allowed them to reciprocate.”
Of all of things Steve was expecting to find out tonight, learning that Billy was essentially a virgin was not one of them. Steve’s breath hitches and he has to try and will away his libido.
“How did you even-“
“I know my way around a girl’s parts because I had to figure out my own pleasure, you know? So all I would do is give them a few orgasms and overstimulate them to the point of fainting with my fingers or my mouth and then, I’d take care of them and comment on them not lasting long enough to get my dick the next time that I see them. It usually makes them so mad that they pretend they had me fuck them and the rest of the girls that follow only make it more and more outlandish because they don’t want to be embarassed to be the only girl Who didn’t last long enough for me to fuck properly.”
Steve doesn’t know how to process this.
“So you’re telling me that every single girl out there claiming to have been fucked by you is lying?”
“Steve, I never even removed my clothes because then, they’d find out.”
Steve’s brain bluescreens.
“Are you telling me that I’m the first person to have seen you naked?”
“Outside of family and medical professionals, pretty much, yeah.”
“So you’re telling me that I’m the only one who gets to have you, the only person who’ll ever get to fuck you? Are you saying that I get to give you your first orgasm from another person, that only person who’ll get to see you high on pleasure, the only who’ll ever get to touch you? Is that what you’re telling me?”
Steve’s voice kept getting lower as he moved closer and closer to Billy until their noses were practically touching. Billy’s eyes were widened in shock and darkened with lust while Steve’s were a dark pool of want and possessiveness. Billy’s heart started to pound and he swallowed audibly, calling Steve’s attention to his untouched neck.
“Yes?”
Steve growled.
“Fuck, baby, when I finally get to mate you, I’ll make sure that you’ll never have to look at anyone else for your pleasure. I’m going to give you the best night of your life.”
Billy can feel how hard Steve is right now and it caused his breath to hitch. It was unfair how all Steve had to do was talk and all of sudden, Billy was wetter than he’d ever been before. Billy had one more card up his sleeve though. He flutters his lashes, all coy.
“What are you waiting for, alpha?”
Steve pounced.
“You’re playing with fire, omega.” Steve mumbles, in between kisses.
Billy chuckles and pulls away for a breath, looking up at Steve, trying to convey all that he couldn’t put into words.
“Maybe I want to get burned.”
Billy dared to get close to his alpha’s ear, to whisper the words he’d never thought he’d say together.
“I want you to wreck me, alpha. I want you to ruin me for anyone else.”
Steve growled again, louder this time and Billy could feel himself dripping at the sound.
“Are you sure, omega? This is your last chance to say no. I won’t mind waiting because I’m ready when you are.”
Billy loved that about his alpha, how sweet and caring he was but Billy wanted his strong and possessive alpha back. He moaned and purposely leaned back to expose his neck and mating gland.
“I’m yours, alpha. Make me yours.”
“As you wish, my omega.”
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Me endlessly rambling about the morality of Adriens plot involvement in “Evolution”, bc DAMN!
In "Evolution" there is one aspect I haven't seen anyone talk about yet which bothers me in how tragic and unspeakably unfair it is: Gabriel is not the only person who missed his chance of being able to safe his family that day, so did ADRIEN.
And that's the core stinger of this show not letting Adrien/Chat Noir actually BE the villains son (yet?). It's one thing that Gabriel, the villain, has fallen so far that he is now unable to make the right decision on his own, but the same wouldn't apply to Adrien. And I also wanna talk about how horrible it is that Adriens father basically turned into a collapsing mess further descending into madness right in front of his sons eyes for the entire episode but Adrien isnt given the chance to maybe make the choice to TRY to reach out and help him.
Disclaimer: My post is NOT about me thinking that Gabriel is owed to have his son at his side to help and save him. No, my concerns and feelings regarding the morality of Adriens involvement are 100% about ADRIEN. Gabriel I only care for in this regard of him “being denied his sons help” in the sense that he is Adriens father. Thats it. My priority, as per usual, is Adrien and what all of this means for him.
Because my goodness if s5 continues like this I seriously have to wonder how Adrien is supposed to be able to life with himself after all of this.
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Look, I’m going to take the matter seriously if thats not something for you than this wont be the post for you. I am allowed to talk about the portayed morality of a parent-child relationship in an international very popular family cartoon. I’m pretty certain this is all deliberate set up since the writing made way too many specific decisions regarding these two and the big picture in this episode (and in that case I’m gonna LOVE this) but I still wanna talk about it in the way that reflects the fact that we dont have the rest of the season yet. And in this regard this episode got morally questionable at times.
If this IS something you care about too though, dont let me stop you any further and “read more”
My "problem" ( not really problem since with the right continuation I will love ALL of this, so its a “inbetween-problem” right now. You get it) is not that the writing says that Gabriel doesn't have enough true goodness in him to actually safe his family, or that the Agreste family in the end is beyond saving and not worth it and Adrien will end up happy with the Dupain-Chengs. All of that is not my problem. It's that Adrien is denied every opportunity like this in his plot involvement to be allowed to make the choice of saving his family himself. To at least TRY to have the saving grace influence on his family's fate that Adrien embodies.
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"Evolution" is actually the first episode where this problem actively crosses the line for me (which I strongly believe was the intention), cause up til the end of season 4 Gabriel/Hawkmoth (or whatever) wasn't straight up a hurting mess on the battle field who, yes, would desperately need his son on the heros side as a familiar and sympathetic influence when no other hero can or maybe even should, who can reach some of his last remaining humanity and possibly make the small but immense difference in how Gabriels and the Agrestes story ends.
Do not get me wrong, I don't care for Gabriel just for his own sake, I primarily care about his fate because he's Adriens father. I am NOT saying Gabriel deserves a happy ending just because he has a sympathetic reason to have started his villainous doom (I know alot of people will disagree here but respect that I absolutely LOVE these kind of morally complex family stories, about the humanity in inhumanity and abuse, even if it doesn't end in a happy ending. Fuck it, ESPECIALLY if it doesn't end in a happy ending!) but I AM saying that this episode did a phenomenal job at characterizing and portraying Monarque through almost all the very core reason of his fall and the horrible consequences he has brought down on himself.
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I 👏Love 👏All 👏Of👏THIS👏
And I don't NEED this (or WANT it) to have an happy ending. But what punched me in the face the entire episode through were moments like this:
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Or this:
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Or this:
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Because in the end of the day you can turn and twist it all you want. Condemn Gabriel, understand Ladybug and the other heros, Paris and the general morality of good and bad all you want; in the end it doesn't change the fact that this is Adriens father and Adriens fate and losses too. And that fact alone deserves proper respect.
Cause again, NOT for Gabriels sake but for ADRIENS.
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Adriens father is laying motionless on the ground because Gabriel has fallen so far in his grief, madness and almost completely isolation that he is wrecking himself and frying his own brain with too many miraculous at the same time. And Adrien is narratively denied the opportunity to react like the SON he is in this.
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Adriens villain father just gave up and therefore lost the opportunity to make everything right again, safe their family on his own accords but then immediately showed immense regret for the decision he made. And Adrien is narratively denied the opportunity to make the choice to reach out to his fathers very open humanity here and perhaps get to solve the problem in his stead.
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Chat Noir was literally entrusted by Ladybug in this episode to wield the Rabbit miraculous. Chat Noir and the Monarque were in the same position. Adrien had just as much the power and the opportunity to go back in time and deliver the stick to his parents in the past (even if Gabriel had told him a different reason for why, fixing the peacock wouldn't have stopped Adrien from existing) as his father did.
But whereas Gabriel lost that chance because of his own actions and decisions, Adrien has lost that chance and even the choice to MAYBE save his own mother, his father, HIMSELF, his family, every victim and all of Paris because he is being kept out of the loop.
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Adrien lost just as much as Gabriel in this episode if not even MORE, he just doesn't know it and that is the biggest tragedy of this entire show.
Because the thing is, Adrien loves his family. Adrien loves his father. Even if Gabriel has never and will never deserve his sons love or Adrien himself at his side. It doesn't matter, because this is about ADRIEN.
And ADRIEN has done everything he could in the last 4 seasons to reach his father, see the good in him, and forgive and support him. Reach out, see his fathers perspective and be as good of a son as possible to not make the situation even harder for his father as loosing Emilie already was for them. To grow closer as father and son, become a family again and get the chance of a better future.
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Adrien LOVES his father and never wanted to loose him. And Adrien has made countless sacrifices too many to give their family a chance to heal through patience and understanding. Adrien is a PHENOMENAL son and the true saving grace of his family. But he never had the needed knowledge to understand the actual PROBLEM that kept Gabriel from moving on and getting better. To possibly help his fathers good side reach the light again.
No, as the kid this is absolutely not Adriens job, but in a family who goes through such extreme circumstances that shit legitimately gets ugly in too many ways as it happens in real life too, this moral ideal of leaving the child out of it becomes a luxury that sometimes just isn't realistic or affordable even for the kids own sake and can also be morally put into question depending on the context.
And in this context I'm absolutely putting it in question:
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There is a difference between what happened here in the episode without Adrien knowing it and Adrien actively making the decision to NOT use the Rabbit power to right his fathers wrong and give their family another chance.
There is a difference between Adrien actively making the choice to distance himself from his villain father even as Chat Noir and leaving him to his self-made demise because that's what Adrien choose to do and sees as morally right in his unique position of having one foot on each side of the war, and Adrien not even getting that choice in the first place.
There is a difference between Adrien choosing to stay on Ladybugs side and stand so actively against his father as her partner when shit goes down so fatally for Monarque like this, and Adrien not knowing what siding with her means in the bigger picture.
There is a difference between Adrien making the choice to not save his mother before giving up the Rabbit miraculous, because unlike Gabriel Adrien actually managed to move on from that loss and does what Gabriel can't, and Adrien not even knowing that he had the power to resolve all of this and save his mother, his father, the miraculous and Paris in a way that wouldn't have hurt anyone (to our knowledge right now)
The difference is that in one case Adrien gets to actively make the choice that is right for HIMSELF, so he can properly adjust his role so he can actually LIFE with himself in the end, whereas in the second case he makes the choices while thinking himself to not be connected to Monarque at all and therefore acts only to the benefit of the general greater good and Ladybug.
And it's the SECOND case that rings true in Canon. Adriens actual position in this still remains completely neglected and he is going to stay without any kind of necessary closure and own moral adjustments to his role and actions in his family's demise. And this leaves Adrien in the position where he will/would simply life to regret his actions or at least beat himself up for it. And those are regrets and grief that no one can rationalize away for him, this kind of guilt stays for a life time. Because how THE FUCK could it not??
Cause for all it is, he is the only person for who the overall truth of the good and evil side of this war is not enough to justify or excuse his actions and behavior. Not in his own eyes. Because Gabriel wasn't just Hawkmoth, ShadowMoth, Monarque or whoever. He wasn't just the evil bad guy, he was his father too. And while Gabriel probably has always been difficult, he sure as hell wasn't THIS (Monarque) for Adriens entire life as we know from Adrien himself:
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So everyone else has the luxury to, in the end, make peace with the situation through breaking the grey area down to basic black-and-white thinking, because they have the necessary distance to Gabriel and his motivations to do so.
But you can't just apply the same way of thinking and moral standpoint to Adrien/Chat Noir, he simply ISN'T in the same position as everyone else.
In my opinion it always was Miraculous biggest loss that Chat Noir/Adrien is not allowed to actually BE the villains son with all the amazing character and plot potential that comes with it. But "Evolution" was the first episode where this unused connection actually made me grimance while watching.
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Adrien deserves the chance to at least TRY to help his father when its already happening right in front of his eyes!
All of this had a chance of being resolved in peace through Adriens best and defining character traits: his compassion, love and loyalty even in the darkness hours. You have to do a FUCK TON to loose him and there are simply too many moments in this episode where I think Adrien would have tried to help his father to do the right thing for me to not talk about this.
And again, I'm not asking for this to actually have happened this way and have a nice sunshine ending. I'm not saying that Gabriel would have absolutely had listened to Adrien and that things would have turned out fine if only Adrien and Gabriel had found out each others identities somewhere in the borrows. No, I'm not giving Gabriel that much credit, neither as a person nor as a father. We have watched the show til now and what happened when Gabriel found out under different circumstances:
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No, I'm never bringing this up for GABRIELS sake, in all of this I care with all of my heart for ADRIEN. And what HE goes through in everything going down on both sides, what HE looses and what this means for HIM because he is the one in the almost agenciless and inescapable position. He is the biggest victim in all of Miraculous and season 5 right immediately started off with an event where Adrien is even more wronged regarding his fathers villain backstory comeuppance than Gabriel himself.
Adrien is the actual tragedy in this very episode and entire show and I can only hope that the show will treat his loss with the respect it deserves. "Evolution" actually gave me alot of hope in this regard because of how it treated Gabriel, the Ladynoir moments, Chat as a hero character in general and of course:
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Alix family moments paralleling the Agrestes with another father-hero child bond whose family is being seperated (also interesting to remember is that back in s1 people suspected Alix' father to be Hawkmoth as a second option to Gabriel)
These things are intentional, but I'm still anxious, because DUDE
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Adrien being left out of the loop in everything is reaching beyond BRUTAL extends. The Ladynoir and father-son sides of his life have now collided in the most painful way with undoable consequences yet (and on both parts he is still kept basically entirely oblivious to the secrets and offenses being done to him). The morality in all of this is beyond questionable at this point, and simply in particular regarding his damn father. This is fucked up.
I really have to ask how Adrien could ever be able to forgive himself for his family's fate, his mother and especially FATHER'S fate, once he looks back on it concidering how actively INVOLVED he was in all of it. Without getting a choice, proper agency or much needed closure while going through this. Adrien isn't doing nothing here, "Evolution" in particular, the episode of Gabriels villain backstory commupance.
You know what? Screw it, this is theoretically speaking just as much of a damnation backstory set up as the one Gabriel has, just so much worse. His fucking father would be the core reason of why Adrien could never forgive himself for what happened to his family while he himself (unknowingly) took huge active actions in making his father go this far (again, THIS episode for example) when in Adriens eyes his father was in desperate need of help through his grief no matter how inexcusable his actions became. Because Gabriel needed and NEEDS help (and not the one Nathalie gave him, you know the person Adrien gave his father his blessing for to MARRY) and COULD have turned back to the light at some earlier point. And Adrien saw that potential the entire time. And tried to help and reach out over and over again. But he was never able to do it "right".
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He would think himself a failure of a son when he only finds out about this when it's way too late and he has to let his father behind who is too far gone. Or a failure of a hero all together for not having noticed and stopped it earlier and to his family and the citizens, when he was in the position to all along. How is he supposed to just let that go when Adriens noose has always and forever been his loyalty and LOVE?
This shit is so messed up on a morality level for Adriens position because Adriens situation just gets worse and worse and he is hardly given any chances to chose to adjust his behavior/actions in a way to his actual circumstances or get any true closure with full context to be able to properly DEAL with this. Because he doesn't know what his actions are causing/ influencing! It wouldn't even be Gabriels abuse or bad influence that would be the core of his tragedy, it's the fact Adrien was denied to get closure of not being able to properly help his father and family. That everything went so catastrophically far and hurt so many people and loved ones and he could have helped "but didn't".
How is Adrien supposed to life with himself after loosing his father like this while he was Chat Noir? In a way that is actually in-character for him and his core principles? Adrien, who is taking the blame for his loved ones in too dangerous degrees just so they have to suffer less? If Adrien knew he would react differently, in ways he wouldn't life to regret or at least hold against himself for how it went down. Fuck, let's go with the scenario: If Adriens love would stop him from being able to let this go he would actually become and have the motivation that Gabriel THINKS he is and has!
Have this go wrong and Adrien will step into his fathers footsteps no matter what any third party (including Ladybug) will say that it wasn't his fault. He will just not be evil while doing it, but just as desperate, lost and haunted by the past. Maybe even more so than his father because Adrien is actually a good person.
Seriously, I know Miraculous has pulled some morally questionable stuff by now (hello season 4), but this episode really made me shallow hard in how far Adrien being left out of the loop is being taken and what the consequences of his actions symbolize. Adrien literally left his father back in the past and he didn't even know it.
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I know for most people this is hardly a factor they think is important to concider, but for me it is. The episode put Adrien in too specific of a position, take too consistently brutal actions regarding his fathers backstory comeuppance here, and made him be the one to take the lead and therefore alot would fall back to in Adriens mind if he found out in this one particular episode now.
The writing of the episode made deliberate morally beyond questionable choices regarding Adriens position between Ladybug and his father that just... gut punched me.
Because fucking Christ, Adrien is still being kept in almost complete obliviousness and it made him do things and act in ways I cannot imagine him doing like this if he knew, in way too crucial of a situation regarding his entire civilian familys fate.
And therefore: Fuck, he. Should. KNOW. But he doesn't. And I don't know how Adrien is realistically suppose to life with this. This goes against everything Adriens characters has ever been.
Really, we are entering some seriously messed up moralities now for Adriens position between Ladybug and his father...
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Jim Bickerman x Reader || Drabble
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Plot: Reba tells you that Jim was killed this time- but then he comes home.
Warnings: Character no one cares about from a movie series nobody likes?? 😅 References to gore and wounds (Very lightly), and sexual references. Also? Unedited.
~
“He… what?” You almost don’t even believe it, even as Reba stands on your porch and tells you what happened; That Jim fell off a boat at Black Water and they haven’t seen him since. “Were you… there?”
She lets out a slow sigh like a cowboy, broken and weary after everything she’s been through, and shakes her head. “No, but I’ve got it from sociopath that she caused it, and she’s got no reason to lie, so... ”
Nodding back, feeling weird and… bad, really bad… you keep thinking for a moment. He can’t be dead, can he?? No way. He’s been attacked by crocs before, he lost a leg and an arm and an eye, he looks like one of Sid’s creations in Toy Story with how many different parts he had nailed into him, but he survived, so there is no fucking way that in the end a crocodile still got him!… It’s not fair. And that’s just the tip of the unfairness, here! You shouldn’t have even liked him in the first place. If you had listened to your first official opinion of him, that he was a handsy old bastard, then you wouldn’t care right now about any of that and you wouldn’t be feeling like your legs are about to give out under you. But you didn’t, and now- “Um, Reba I’m gonna close the door now. Cuz I’m gonna fall apart. Thank you, though, for um… telling me… “
“Yeah. I mean- no worries. Thought you might wanna know… ” Reba steps back, as if to let you close the door but continues to watch you cautiously- there’s a frown on her face but you know she’s worried. “Look, Y/N, do you want me to stick around? I’m not a great cook but I could whip us up dinner?- “
“Thanks,” Your eyes are tearing up pretty heavily now, and you are not about to cry in front Sheriff Reba so you just waive, and close the door in her face. Then, taking a deep breath in a last-ditch attempt to calm yourself, you lean back against the door and just blink; Hoping it’ll make the tears go away. It doesn’t help though, and before Reba’s ignition even turns on, you’re sobbing into your hands.  
~
You wake up later in the middle of the night because you thought you heard a knock at the door, but when you listen out there are no more sounds, so you assume you imagined them. You can’t go back to sleep, though, so you slowly get up from the bed and run a hand through your hair. Because of that you immediately see the old flannel of Jim’s that you’re wearing, and groan.
That’s just great. Absolutely super.
Still, you don’t take it off; Just wrap it more securely around yourself as you make it gradually, heavy with sleep and a brain stiff from crying earlier, to the kitchen. There, you keep holding the flannel around yourself with one arm while picking up the kettle with the other and putting it into the sink before twisting on the water. You need a cup of tea… and maybe half a bottle of his bourbon… or what used to be his, you suppose.
Sighing, you make a new vow to try and not think about things as ‘his’ anymore- at least tonight. Its too awful, thinking he’s not coming back for any of it. So, this is just a ratty flannel and the bottle in your hand is just some bad alcohol.
… Yep. That’ll work. Already you feel so much better. Rolling your eyes, you tiredly pick up the kettle again and set it back on the bench to heat the water, before finding a clean mug and pouring the gross brown liquid inside.
As you lean back on the bench and take a sip, feeling the stuff burn all the way down your throat, you hear a knocking at the front door again.
Its kind of weak, but enough to raise your suspicions. Frowning, you set the mug down on the bench and set off towards the door. You peak out the window but its too dark to tell who it is, so you grab the nearest rifle (Stuffed in the umbrella bin) and unlock the door… before slowly opening it.
The sight before your eyes is immediately shocking, and gruesome. “J- Jim!?”
He’s leaning heavily on the doorframe, hunched over, dirty, covered in blood and looking as if he could fall over at any second. “Let me in… heh… I’m dying here… “
Without asking questions you rush into action, helping him to ease off the doorframe (Ending up with almost his entire weight on you), and taking him to the couch which - luckily, - is close by in this two-room shack the two of you live in. Then you grab the first-aid kit and get to work.
~ 2 hours later Jim’s clean, changed, and half his body is wrapped up in gauze (Luckily, there was recently a sale at the chemist. Honestly, Jim should be thanking all his lucky stars at this point. How does he keep surviving like this??) but he’s sitting up somehow, despite getting mauled by a croc for the second time and walking all the way back home. You’re drinking tea with him, sleeves rolled up still from saving him a second ago, playing with the teabag nervously, but you’re far too silent and he can tell somethings obviously wrong.
After a few moments of pleasant quiet, he sighs and sets his own teacup down on the coffee table. “We got anything stronger than this? - “
“No- “You snap, bursting like a party popper. “I used the rest of your stash to disinfect your crocodile bites. How are you alive!???”
“Now, I thought you’d be happier about it.” Jim jokes, dropping his hand on your thigh- and you glare at him, because this is not the time to be ‘cheeky’. It makes him huff out a sigh, dramatically, and moves to pick up his tea again. “Alright.”
“I am.” You assure, letting the tension out of your face so he can see how relieved you are. Then you tell him again- “I am, really. I just… I don’t understand… Reba said you were dead?”
Chuckling, he shakes his head. “I’m a hard bastard to kill, you know.”
Is that… the only answer? You feel like there should be more. Some good reason why you’ve almost lost him twice and he’s still come back, some assuredness that it won’t happen again or if he does nearly get killed again then he’ll come home again just like this. Does he have some kind of secret weapon? Can he talk to crocs?? You would believe anything he told you, now. Just for the hope. “… that’s all??” But if its just that he’s lucky, then… well, you can’t bet on lucky!! You can’t trust it! Luck can run out-
“Yep.” He takes a sip of the hot tea, and your shoulders drop.
 ‘Yep’. That’s it??
Jim takes notice of the crestfallen look on your face, and sighs; Setting down his tea again in favour of patting your knee this time. “Hey- I won’t be goin’ anywhere near that lake again, if that makes you feel better.”
Glaring, you straighten up and tilt your head at him. “… do you promise?”
“Yeah, I don’t need anymore chunks taken outta me. I’ll just hit the gym if I surpass my ideal weight, this time. Promise.” Despite the joking way that he promised, you find yourself believing him and take a deep, relieved breath.
“… okay.”
“Alright,” He gives a grin that’s almost gentle, and almost incorrect on his rough face- before he switches back to the regular suspicious, cheeky smirk. “But I will require incentive to stick around, you know. Y’think you can help out with that, princess?”
“Ughhh… “Reaching over, you take bunches of his shirt in your fists and shake him, gently; Affectionately. “Yeah, I think I can do that… “Because yeah, he’s frustrating and opportunistic and vulgar but you kind of love the old bastard.
His grin only widens. “Really??”
“Yeah, but there are ground rules. You have to be very careful, you’re delicate.”
“Psh, whatever. I’ll be right back.” Using a rifle as a walking stick, Jim gets up from the couch and starts hobbling over to the kitchen (*cough* for his boner pills *cough*).
“You need help?” You call, finishing your tea on the couch.
“No, no, no, I’m fine.” He huffs back, and you roll your eyes. Then turn your head as you set your finished tea down, to see him the kitchen doorway looking around. A little smile warms onto your face, just so glad that he’s alive. “Hey, we do so have bourbon here. You lyin’ to me?- Oh, hi-”
As he turns around, he finds you right behind him just before you throw your arms around him and hug him tight. Stupid old bastard, you think, closing your eyes and just appreciating him there, alive, under your hands. The smell of his soap and blood, the feel of his bear on the side of your face, and the sound of his breathing… God, you’re so damn relieved. You’re never letting him anywhere near those crocodiles ever again.
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nellyharrison · 1 year
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growing strong, CH. 3
aka my rewrite of season 2 of Teen Wolf based on the question: what if Erica was best friends with Scott and Stiles from the beginning?
Erica takes even more control of her life by changing her look to reflect her sexy inner she-wolf, creating a new and unexpected challenge for Scott and Stiles.  Meanwhile, Erica helps Derek pick the next member of their pack.
CHAPTER THREE - ICE PICK (click to read on AO3)
Something Erica had been looking forward to since becoming a werewolf was the ability to not make a fool out of herself in gym class.  She had no intention of becoming some star athlete, but the fact that she wasn’t dreading the rock-climbing lesson that week spoke volumes about her self-confidence.  As she watched Scott and Allison ascend the wall, she couldn’t help but overhear their conversation.  Scott had texted her to tell her what they had seen at Isaac’s after she and Derek had left, but she was at just as much of a loss as he was for what the creature was.  Only when he made a comment to Allison about “the view” did she try to tune them out.  Although, she wished she had kept listening so she knew what Scott had done to cause Allison to knock him off-balance enough that he fell to the mat below.
“McCall, I don’t know why, but your pain gives me a special kind of joy,” Coach Finstock joked as he sat beside Scott.  He stood, still chuckling, and looked around at the class.  “Alright, next two.  Stilinski, Erica, let’s go.”
Erica walked up to the wall, trying her best to ignore Stiles, but she could feel him glancing over at her every few seconds.  She began to climb, taking her time, and he stayed in pace with her.  When they got high enough that the majority of the class couldn’t hear them, she looked over at him.  “Either say something or stop looking at me.  You’re freaking me out.”
“I don’t know how to talk to you anymore,” he blurted out, and she gripped the wall as the weight of his words nearly knocked her off balance.  “I don’t know why, but you becoming a werewolf is really different from Scott becoming a werewolf.  I don’t know how to handle it.  You’re like a whole new person now.”
“You get how completely unfair that is, right?” she pointed out, trying to start climbing again.  “Maybe I haven’t changed as much as you think I have.  Have you considered that?  Maybe this is who I’ve always been.  Maybe you’re just finally seeing me instead of the image you had of me since we were six.”
“So you have always been into Derek?” he abruptly changed subjects, and she stopped climbing again to glare at him.  “What?  It was pretty obvious last night that you don’t see him as just a friend.”
“Why do you care?” she questioned once more, openly exasperated.  “Seriously, why does that seem to be the only change in me you ever notice?  I could come to school naked and you wouldn’t bat an eye, but the minute I even look at a guy that isn’t you, you jump down my throat.”
“You know what?  Fine.  I don’t care.  You can screw Derek, or Isaac, or Jackson, or whoever the hell you want, okay?  I could care less,” Stiles declared, starting to climb higher than her.  She tried climbing faster too, not wanting him to beat her to the top.  “You’re the one who’s spent all these years trying to convince me Catwoman and Batman were soulmates.”
It had been an off-hand comment, but it was completely true.  Over the years, they had many arguments about the relationship between the two comic book characters, Stiles remaining adamant that just because they had a romantic relationship didn’t mean they were destined to be together forever.  Erica never intended for their nicknames and her feelings to drive her fight to convince him he was wrong, but clearly he hadn’t been as oblivious as she thought he had always been.  This realization had knocked her off balance, her foot slipping, and she found herself falling to the mat.  As her back found the soft landing pads, her eyes met Stiles’s harshly.  She could see the apology on his face, but it didn’t matter.  The damage was done.
Standing up, she nearly ripped her harness in her attempt to remove it, Scott calling her name as she stormed past the rest of the class and out the door.  She had her phone out as she went to change, Derek answering with a dull greeting before she was asking him to pick her up.  He didn’t question her reasons for wanting to leave, simply agreeing and promising to be there within ten minutes.  She hung up and got dressed in her regular clothes, grabbing her belongings before making a quick stop at her locker on the way out.  As she left the school, Derek was pulling up out front, and she slid into his car with ease.
“Mall.  Now,” she demanded.  He shook his head, but set off for the mall, waiting for her to open up in her own time, like he knew she would eventually.  “I need some new clothes.  Lots of them.  A new wardrobe.  Something that will reflect the person I want to be now.”
“And who is that?” he questioned.
“Someone bolder, freer, sexier,” she answered, lifting her chin as she breathed through her nose.  “Stiles thinks I’m a whole new person?  I will become a whole new person.”
“Should I be concerned that you’re doing this just to shut Stiles up?” he asked, glancing over at her.
“Now who’s being jealous?” she countered, quirking a brow as she smirked.
“Erica.”
She sighed, looking away as she thought about his question.  “I’m tired of feeling invisible,” she admitted.  “I want them all to regret the way they’ve treated me.”
When Derek didn’t respond, she looked over at him, but he was intently looking at the road ahead.  She glanced away again, wondering if she was making a mistake.  “I want you to get everything you want, Erica.  I don’t think changing yourself to impress a guy is the way to go, but if that’s what you want-”
“It’s not to impress him,” she assured him.  “And I don’t think it’s all about him either.  I think he’s pushed me to do it, but it’s something I���ve always wanted.  I wanted it for the formal, and that ended up an even bigger disaster than I could have imagined.  I do feel like a new person, now that I’m a werewolf.  I want the outside to reflect the inside.”
“I can get behind that,” he declared, nodding certainly as he pulled into a parking spot at the mall.  Erica was expecting to shop on her own, but he parked the car and got out, waiting for her to join him before they both headed inside.  They ended up spending the rest of the morning shopping, trying on and buying an entire wardrobe of new clothes.  Erica bought some of the items with her credit card, but Derek insisted on footing the bill in a lot of the stores they went into.  He insisted it was just because he had the money to spend, but she had a feeling he wouldn’t drop that much money on Isaac if he asked.  Before they left the mall, she changed into the outfit she wanted to return to school in.  As she stepped out, he was initially stunned silent by the sight of her, swallowing dryly before promising, “They’re going to regret every wrong they’ve ever done to you.”
Erica arrived back at school around lunch, so most people were either in class or in the cafeteria.  She walked towards the cafeteria confidently, the click-clack of her heels echoing in the empty halls.  As she got closer, she focused on the conversations inside until she heard Stiles talking to Boyd.  She and Boyd had quite a few classes together, and they’d become casual friends over the course of a few projects together.  As she listened to the way he held his own against Stiles, she smirked and decided she wanted to suggest to Derek that he join their pack next.
Pushing down the last bit of nerves that appeared at the sight of the open cafeteria doors, Erica strutted around the corner, drawing the attention of everyone in the lunchroom.  Her eyes drifted over the crowd until she found Scott and Stiles’s shocked expressions, amusing and empowering her.  She kept scanning the crowd until she saw a guy she remembered had called her a freak throughout eighth grade, only now, his jaw was on the floor as he watched her approach.  She walked right up to him, bending over to grab the apple on his tray as she leaned towards him.  She looked over at the equally dumbfounded guy sitting across from him as she took a bite from the apple.  Wiping at the corner of her lips with a smirk, she straightened up and turning to walk away with an extra swing of her hips in each step.  She overheard Lydia’s question, smirking a bit more as she glanced back, then took one more bite of her apple, shot a wink towards Boyd, and left the room.
She barely got into the hall before she heard Scott and Stiles following after her, but she kept walking until they reached a quieter hallway.  “Do you two need something?” she asked coyly, turning to face them and biting off another chunk from her apple.
“Uh, you think?” Stiles gaped, squirming slightly where he stood.
“What the hell was that, Erica?” Scott demanded, his eyes darting to her lips when she licked at them before glaring at the knowing smirk of hers that followed.
“No,” she decided, shaking her head before successfully tossing the apple into a trash can all the way at the other end of the hallway.  “You two gave up the right to know why I do things when you shut me out.  You were supposed to be my best friends, but you couldn’t accept the decision I made.  This is me now.”  She didn’t wait for them to give her their blessings or tear into her for her choices.  She just turned and walked away, thankful that the bell rang and the halls filled with people, allowing her to escape.
Her best friends were not the only ones that had something to say about her change in wardrobe.  Plenty of girls either complimented her on her clothes, or they made snide remarks about them behind her back.  Most of the guys were too struck speechless any time she entered a room to be able to say anything positive or negative.  Danny told her she looked like sex on legs, and that was the only contribution she really needed from the male population.  It wasn’t until after school that she was approached by someone that she was actually curious to hear an opinion from.
“First things first,” Lydia started, sidling up to her at her locker.  “Where did you get those shoes?”
“If I tell you my secrets, then how will I keep any mystery for myself?” Erica joked.  “I got everything at the mall, but you have to put in the work to find them.”
“I love a good challenge,” Lydia assured her, smirking up at her.  “You know, every guy is going to want a chance with you after that display at lunch today.  I think you could use a little bit of my magic touch, so I’m going to set you up.  First, I’m going to need to learn about your type and dating style, so why don’t you join some of us on a group date tonight?  It’s Scott, Allison, Stiles, and I so far, but the more, the merrier.”
Erica had nearly snorted when Lydia suggested setting her up, but then she had mentioned a group date and told her the attendants and her face fell.  Scott and Stiles were having a double date with the girls of their dreams.  If she wasn’t already determined to do so, that right there told her it was time to move on with her life.  “I’m flattered, Lydia, but I… already have a date tonight.  Something new.  Not sure if it’ll work out, but I’m hopeful.”
“Oh, well then forget I said anything,” Lydia declared, waving her hand.  “But if it doesn’t work out, you know where to find me, yeah?”  She waited for Erica to nod, then bumped her hip playfully with her own as she passed her on her way down the hallway.
The date in question was less of a date and more of a conversation with her alpha on turning Boyd.  She knew his story probably better than she knew Isaac’s, and she was more confident in how good of an addition to their pack he would make than any desire he had for power.  Truthfully, she wanted to surround herself and Derek with people they could not only depend on but that they would feel comfortable with for many years, if not the rest of their lives.  She took the idea of pack very seriously, and only wanted those that she felt truly fit to be a part of theirs.  Eventually, Derek agreed to ask Boyd if he wanted the Bite, but made Erica promise not to approach him about it before he could.  He didn’t want her to sway the teen boy’s decision on such a serious matter.  Erica was okay with keeping her distance, feeling in her gut that Boyd would be pack soon.
The next day at school, Erica was at her locker during study hall when she felt Scott appear behind her.  Taking a deep breath, she turned around, quirking a brow in invitation for him to speak.
“Two’s not enough for Derek,” he stated.  “I know he needs at least three, so who’s next?”
Erica scoffed, closing her locker before starting to walk towards him.  “Why does there have to be a next when we’ve already got you?”
“Who’s next?” he demanded.  He had already made it clear to her that he would not be joining Derek’s pack.
“You know, you never asked me why I asked for the Bite,” she realized.  “Aren’t you at least a little bit curious?”
“I don’t care,” he shook his head, but she could hear the lie in his heartbeat, and he knew it too.
“It was Peter that told me it could cure my epilepsy,” she told him.  As she continued, she watched for his reaction to the truths she had kept from him.  “Granted, he only told me that because he was threatening to turn me if you didn’t join him, but it made me think.  I’ve had it for so long that I never really considered what my life could be like if I didn’t have epilepsy.  I dreamed and I hoped, of course, but I never actually thought it was an option for me until that moment.  Once I had, I couldn’t stop thinking about it.  He was going to give me the Bite the night of the formal.  He found me alone while you and Stiles were busy on the dancefloor, and he had my wrist and was about to do it, but then I realized I didn’t want to be like you.”  She couldn’t help but scoff when his expression changed from concerned to remorseful before settling on hurt, but she pressed on.  “I didn’t want to be stuck with an alpha that only wanted me for his power.  I didn’t want to be Peter’s beta.  So I said no, and I accepted that I would never feel the kind of freedom he had offered me.  And then Derek became the alpha.”
Scott rolled his eyes and Erica began walking towards him, backing him up towards the lockers as she continued.  “You never really trusted him, and I never understood how you couldn’t see what I do.  Sure, he’s a little rougher around the edges, but you are so much like him.  You are both loyal, and stubborn, and caring, and broken, and so, so judgmental.”  Her breathing grew shakier as she felt her anger bubbling up, her hand pushing at his shoulder a few times as she asked, “When did you realize I wasn’t the innocent saint you thought I was, huh, Scott?  When did you decide I was too messed up to be worth caring about?”
As his back hit the lockers, he grabbed her wrist, pulling her towards him as his eyes met hers.  “I have never stopped caring about you, Erica,” he told her, holding her hand over his heart so she could feel that he wasn’t lying as well as hear it.  “I never thought you were a saint, either.  I’ve always known who you are, which is why I was so thrown off when you asked for the Bite.  I never saw it coming.  After watching everything I’ve gone through, I never thought you would choose to be a monster like me.”
“Why does being a werewolf automatically mean we’re monsters?” she asked him, her expression softening as she stepped into his space.  His head tilted towards her, his forehead nearly touching hers as his fingers slotting over hers on his chest.  “Look at me now, Scott.”  Before she could elaborate on her point, she sensed a pair of eyes on them, and they both turned to find Allison watching them.  Erica immediately took a step away from him, but his hand lingered over hers for a moment too long, keeping her hand pinned against his chest.  “That’s right.  You only have eyes for her,” she realized, pulling her hand from his grasp as she took another step back when his eyes finally returned to her.  He spared a glance to find Allison gone, then sighed as he faced Erica.  “You and I both saw what happened to that omega.  You know what it means as much as I do.  Whether you join us or not, we need to prepare to fight.  That means finding strength in numbers.  I’m sorry, Superman.”
She gave him one chance to say something - anything - before setting off down the hall, pulling out her phone briefly to text Derek that Scott was onto them.  She didn’t think Scott would be able to stop them even if he wanted to, but she decided to keep an ear on him the rest of the day.  Better to know what he was up to than allow her alpha to get ambushed.  It was lunch time when she overheard something she probably could have gone without hearing.
“I know how it looked, but we were just talking,” Scott promised Allison.
“I’m not jealous,” Allison replied, and even from where she was sitting, Erica could hear her heart betray her.
“You’re not?” Scott asked, playing into her lie so she wouldn’t feel bad.  He didn’t want to force her into admitting it if she didn’t want to.
“She’s with Derek now, isn’t she?” Allison wondered in lieu of answering him.
“Apparently,” Scott sighed.
“Like Isaac?” Allison added.
“Oh,” Scott muttered. “Uh, yeah, that too.”
“You can’t get caught in the middle of this,” Allison warned him.  “Don’t you feel what’s happening?  My grandfather coming here, Derek turning Erica and Isaac, it’s…” she trailed off to clear her throat.  “It’s like battle lines are being drawn.”
“I know,” Scott admitted.
“There’s always crossfire,” Allison pointed out.
While Scott knew that Allison was referring to them, he couldn’t help but think about Erica getting caught in that crossfire.  The Argents would surely go after Derek and whoever was closest to him first, which meant Erica would be directly targeted.  “What am I supposed to do?” he asked Allison pleadingly.  “I can’t just stand by, especially with Erica involved.  I can’t pretend to be normal.”
“I don’t want you to be normal, I want you to be alive,” Allison told him.
Erica was going to tune out Scott for a while after that, but then she heard Stiles’s voice, and the realization he had about Boyd being missing.  Swearing under her breath, she texted Derek and waited for orders on how to proceed.  As she waited, she heard Scott and Stiles move through the school, planning their next moves.  She sent Derek what she was hearing, hoping it would help him decide, then felt herself freeze when Stiles started talking about her.
“You gotta admit, Erica looks pretty good,” Stiles stated.  “You know, the word ‘sensational’ comes to mind.”
“Erica looked good before she became a bloodthirsty monster,” Scott insisted.  “And how good do you think she’s gonna look with a wolfsbane bullet in her head?”
“We won’t let that happen,” Stiles muttered, instinctually protective of his best friend despite how weird things were between them.  He started talking about Boyd again, and she partially tuned them out, focusing on her phone when she finally received instructions from Derek telling her to keep Stiles distracted.
Erica didn’t have a plan when she followed Stiles to Boyd’s house, but as he ran up the front steps and began knocking on the door, she quietly trailed after him, stopping just behind him.  She couldn’t help but laugh when he turned and jumped at the sight of her, her head shaking as she asked, “What are you doing here, Stiles?”
“Uh, nothing,” he lied.  “I was just looking for, um…”
“Boyd?” she finished for him, smirking.
“Yeah,” he nodded.  “Yes.  Boyd.”
Her smirk grew as she shifted her weight from one leg to the other, watching as his eyes remained locked onto her own.  “You know what you’re doing right now that’s kind of funny?” she mused, laughing softly when he shook his head.  “You’re only looking in my eyes.”
“That’s funny?” he asked cautiously.
“Well, yeah,” she replied.  “Because it’s that kind of look where you’re trying not to look anywhere other than my eyes, but you want to, don’t you?”  Her tongue darted out across her lips, tempting him to look there instead, but his gaze was unwavering, even as she stepped into his space and lifted her fingers to play with the strings of his sweatshirt.  “You want a nice, long, hard… look.”  The tone of her voice as she said this had him closing his eyes, his hands settling on her sides as he breathed her name.  “Come on, Stiles.  Is it just my eyes?”
“You have beautiful eyes,” he told her, his own reopening to meet hers, silently pleading with her to put him out of this new misery he couldn’t understand.  He felt unstable, his mind battling with this new version of her and the version of her he had known for so long, and that instability had his hands flexing on her hips.
“I have beautiful everything,” she corrected, her hands reaching down to wrap around his wrists before pulling his hands off of her and taking a step back.
“And a newfound self-confidence,” he added, his hands clenching at his sides now that she was out of reach.  “Congratulations, Erica.  I should get going.”
“You’re not going anywhere, Batman,” she shook her head, putting her hand out against his chest when he tried to take a step forward.
“Why not?” he challenged.
“You lost your keys,” she answered, lifting the set of keys she had swiped from his pocket when she had stepped into his space.  She ripped the car key from the set and stowed it in the cleavage of her shirt, feeling the tiniest bit of satisfaction when his eyes followed her action and he swallowed dryly.  “If you stay out of this, I’ll drop it off at your place later.  Or let you reach down and grab it yourself,” she added, smirking when he glared at her.  “Catch you later.”  With that, Erica left him stranded with his Jeep and his remaining keys, texting an update to Derek before setting off to check on Boyd at the rink.  By the time she joined Derek and Isaac there, Scott was already trying to talk Boyd out of accepting the Bite.
“Whatever you want, there’s other ways to get it,” he told Boyd.
“I just wanna not eat lunch alone every day,” Boyd answered honestly.
“If you’re looking for friends, you can do a lot better than Derek,” Scott pointed out.
“That really hurts, Scott,” Derek stated after leading Erica and Isaac to a spot onto the ice behind him.  “I mean, if you’re going to review me, at least take a consensus,” he requested, gesturing to his betas.  “Erica, how’s life been for you since we met?”
“Hmm,” Erica considered it, playing with the ends of her hair thoughtfully.  “In a word… transformative.”  For the first time in Scott’s presence, she bared her fangs and let out a low and threatening growl.
“Isaac?” Derek prompted.
“Well, I’m a little bummed about being an orphan, but other than that, I’m great,” Isaac replied, Erica snorting a laugh.
“Okay, hold on,” Scott interrupted, seeing where this conversation was heading.  “This isn’t exactly a fair fight.”
“Then go home, Scott,” Derek challenged.
“I meant fair for them,” Scott shot back.
“Alright, enough,” Erica sighed, rolling her eyes at the huge male egos she had to deal with.  “You’re too late, okay?  We’re not going to fight you over something that’s already happened.”
“What?” Scott muttered, looking at her, then at Derek, before turning to look at Boyd in question.  “You already said yes?”
“I saw you go from a social no one to one of the most popular guys in school because of the Bite,” Boyd shrugged, lifting his shirt to show the mark still fresh on his side.  “I want to be like you,” he told Scott, lowering his shirt and following Derek and Isaac out of the rink.
“You might not have wanted the Bite, but that doesn’t mean others can’t want it,” Erica told him, shoving her hands into her jean pockets.  “I wanted it.  Boyd wanted it.  Isaac wanted it.  You don’t have to understand that, but you have to respect it.”
“You’ve all made a huge mistake,” Scott shook his head.  “I just hope you live long enough to be able to regret it.”  Erica inhaled sharply at that, clenching her teeth together before turning and following after her pack.
[text from: Jackson] I just lifted my truck.  And not like a little.  Like a solid two feet up.
[text from: Erica] Is that supposed to mean something to me?
[text from: Jackson] It means the Bite might have worked!  I’ve never done something like that before.
[text from: Erica] Do you want a parade?
[text from: Jackson] Fucking hell, Erica, will you just be happy for me?  The Bite might have worked after all.
[text from: Erica] Are going to join our pack?
[text from: Jackson] No, but I wanted to talk to Derek about why it’s taking so long for my abilities to show up.  He wasn’t at home, but I figured you’d know where he is.
[text from: Erica] Even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you.
[text from: Jackson] Because I won’t join your stupid pack?
[text from: Erica] Exactly.  Bye Jackson.
[text from: Jackson] Woah, what?  Just like that?  You’re not going to talk to me?
[text from: Jackson] Seriously, Erica, you’re just going to ignore me?
[text from: Jackson] This is fucked up, you know.
[text from: Jackson] And here I thought we were becoming friends.
[text from: Jackson] Whatever.  I’m better off without you anyways.
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10 Best Pokemon Unbound Cheats Of
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💾 ►►► DOWNLOAD FILE 🔥🔥🔥 You can even get a few cool things by doing so. Forgot password? Account Name. Password Forgot password? Keep me signed in. Community members will not see the footer advertisement. Seen December 31st, Yo, I need some help, I'm trying to enter the great desert and the game black screens. Same thing happens when I enter the day care. Respond Ignore User Report. Age Originally Posted by ski bum [ Original Post ]. Seen 2 Weeks Ago. Any word on if the gen 8 sprites will be added to the data? Even if Skeli doesn't want to rework the routes, allowing us to trade from Radical Red or BFD would be a decent alternative. Seen March 14th, Hey I completed this hack and I absolutely loved it. The map is gorgeous and the city and town design is also pretty good. I just felt it could be little more darker than it is now. You could throw in some blood Instead of burning during character deaths. Also the story was pretty simple and there is a slight drag in it. Please consider this constructive criticism. Overall, its a pretty good game and I haven't found a single bug or glitch in my entire play through. Very few hacks achieve this. Thank you for giving us Unbound! Is there really no way to gain access to the Pokemon Stunky until late game if you don't have the right rng to get him as an egg early game? Cause I really want one but dont know where to look to access one. Is there any way to obtain stunky other than the egg in Bellin town? Please help! Seen January 29th, I can only get the Battle tower demo to play and the full game comes up as a patch. Originally Posted by Mrlvlup [ Original Post ]. Seen January 2nd, Anyone know if there is a Cinder Volcano raid den? Riddhwimaan Mukherjee. Seen October 9th, Originally Posted by alexthegreat [ Original Post ]. Really enjoying the hack so far, just wanted to pop in to report a bug! Currently in Antisis City, just completed the socks mission and was heading back through a pipe when I realised I could just shortcut back with an escape rope. I did, just to find my sprite is now permanently stuck in the crawling sprite animations. Returning to the pipe instead replaces the spriteset with another character's one - spoilering in case Spoiler :. Seen March 12th, I want to battle the creator of the game and the other guys inside the house at Dahara city but they act like we already battled and they say comeback tommorow but i havent even battle with them. Does anyone know what to do to battle them? I have won the league And after saving mother from the tuins of void is there anything else to do postgame that includes battles. Seen June 13th, I think that gym 2's forced stealth section is badly designed. It's hard to make practically pixel perfect inputs to get into the 1 tile crevices if you're using auto-run and no, I don't think turning it off is going to be helpful. This game looks promising, so maybe I'll use a walk-through-walls code, but I shouldn't have to use a code to get past an unfair and required part of the game. Seen October 6th, Downloaded Unbound yesterday and was having a lot of fun with the game, then I got stuck. Theres 2 trainers on route 5 that are protecting an item. I made it past without battling them, but when leaving they initiated a battle with me and now theyre blocking the exit. Ive tried a noclip cheat, Ive tried exiting and reentering, Ive tried completely closing and reopening my emulator but they wont move. Need help. Dr Dovel. Seen March 22nd, Any info on when next update is? Have very much enjoyed this and still am, keep up the great work! Seen November 27th, Having a bit of trouble with the Treasure Hunter mission, does anyone know where item 2 is? I have found the other 10 items but keep missing this last one. Thanks for the help! The shiny rate have been changed? Because, I catch a shiny zubat in the first cave of the game. Now it is a beautiful crobat at level 70 and I love him. Seen November 12th, Originally Posted by d [ Original Post ]. Oh, then I guess I'm not finishing this then. Any game that makes you savestate scum is a hard pass in my book. Guess I'll watch a Let's Play. Thanks for the heads up. Seen January 5th, Originally Posted by Dieppa3 [ Original Post ].
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Yandere RE8: TRP Part 4
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"Uhh... hello?"
You looked at the woman standing in the stairs. She was wearing a dark veil that matched the rest of her outfit- oh shit, that's a funeral outfit.
I really did pick a bad time to come here, didn't I? She's in mourning, she sees an intruder, and her day went from bad to worst. Yep, she's gonna kill me.
You took one look at the woman and then at all the possible exits: the doors- no, they'd be too heavy to move and what if they're locked? The window- but I'd have to jump out and just because it looks cool in movies to jump through glass, doesn't mean it'll work, Y/n.
So, the only option was to eliminate the threat. Or maybe... defuse it.
"This is your doll, right?" You asked, pointing at the doll, judging by the lace designs on both of their dresses. The woman didn't reply. "It looks like its been... used a lot. To be honest, she's very different than most dolls I've seen, definitely a lot more spookier." You nervously giggled, hoping she didn't mind. "But... she looks like she's been loved. A lot. Despite being broken from a lot of places, someone still took their time to fix her." You smiled sadly, remembering your own doll that Mia had ripped. "Wish I had someone like that. To sew up the wounds and fix them."You mumbled, not really sure if you were talking about your doll or yourself.
"Your doll, she's- she's very pretty. My sister would've liked her." You began. "Which is why I'm here. My family, we were in an accident- I know it was wrong of me to come here without permission, but I need to find my sister, Rose and my father, Ethan." You took a step closer. "They both of have blonde hair. Rose, my sister, she's just 6 months old. She was dressed in a baby pink onesie, bundled up in a blanket. My father, Ethan, he's about this tall and has big blue eyes. I think he was wearing a jacket, with blue denim jeans. H-have you seen them?" You asked, eyes full of hope and voice laced with eagerness.
Please, please let her have seen them. God, please.
Unsurprisingly, the woman didn't reply, but she did turn her head towards the left window. You didn't know whether she was telling you to get out of her house or signalling that they are out there, but you knew you had to leave.
Nodding, you slowly walked towards the window, your heart beating faster as you prayed that this wasn't some sort of trap, hoping she wouldn't attack you from behind because that would be like... really shitty.
But you left the house unharmed, and without looking back at the window because you didn't want to jinx it, you walked towards the forrest once again, thankful that the sun had finally came out.
Where are you guys?
You had been walking for a couple of hours now, the sun had been a bit warmer today, which was good since you hated the snow that surrounded you now. You looked at the map, tracing the path to your new destination. The Salvatore reservoir. It seemed like it would take you a day's journey to get there, and you sure as hell weren't seeing any lake in sight.
God, when will this nightmare end?
You decided to sit on a stone and take some much needed rest. Your feet ached from all the walking, and your calves were cramping. You rolled your head, popping it from the side, before taking off the rifle that had been weighing down, stretching out your arms. Digging through the little back pack you bought from Duke, you pulled out a thermos of coffee and twinkie. You don't know how or where he got it, but Duke had filled your bag with a couple of snacks; saying its for his loyal customer.
So, here you sat, in the middle of the snowy woods, eating a twinkie and drinking a lukewarm coffee. Both didn't taste good, but they're gonna keep you alive so, no complaining.
After drinking the coffee, you rested your head against a tree, recalling last nights events as you waited for the caffeine to kick in.
You tried to make sense of what happened when you got... locked in the basement. You thought you had forgotten about her, Angel. Guess not.
Wait- didn't that lady lock me in the basement? Maybe, she didn't look very hostile, her creepy doll looked scarier than she did.
You laughed at the irony. You always made fun of the horror movies where the family would become so attached to the most horrifying doll, and you'd scream at their stupidity, And yet here you were, falling for the cliche as you found comfort in that creepy doll.
Man, I'm really losing it here.
You sighed, closing your eyes as you tried to come up with the next plan. But the warm coffee had lulled you right to sleep, which was dangerous but you were too tired to care.
Just for a couple of minutes...
You woke up to the sound of growling and heavy steps. And as soon as you opened your eyes, you knew you had definitely slept for far longer than a few minutes. But that was not of concern at the moment. No, it was the source of the growling that had woken you up.
Just about 40 feet away from you were lycans. Plural. Not one, not two, but 5 lycans, and one of them was a really big one.
You held your breath as you watched them wander around; they hadn't spotted you yet, and if you stayed quiet, you hoped they would just go away.
Stilling yourself as much as you could, you watched them with wide eyes. One of them started to walk in your direction, it wasn't looking at you, which meant that it hadn't seen you, but he would if he kept on walking this way.
God, I know we haven't been on good terms, but like c'mon, you gotta give me a break. Please, I love you? Come on, you know this is not how I want to go.
You sent a silent prayer, and perhaps it worked, since the lycan suddenly turned the other way, joining its pack as they started walking deeper into the woods.
Slowly, you began to gather up your things, silently shoving them in your bag, one eye on the lycans and the other one making sure that you don't accidentally drop something that'd cause noise.
Fortunately, you didn't. You swung the bag over your shoulder, and took a step forward, careful not to step on any twigs.
Maybe God did love me. All that time in church-
THWACK!
You jumped back as a huge sheet of snow fell from the trees in front of you. You whipped your head towards the monsters and they all had stopped dead in their tracks. Slowly, one of them turned and if they hadn't heard the snow fall, they'd definitely heard the way your heart was about to burst out of your chest. Then, it growled.
Motherfucker.
You pulled out your gun just as the two of them began running your way. With a quick jump to the side, you dodged them and shot them two times each. Hearing your gun fire, the other two began running your way too, while the larger one stayed behind as it watched. This time, as you shot one of them, the other managed to kick you in the chest hard, throwing you against the rock. Luckily, you didn't hit your head, as you rolled and shot it dead.
Spitting out the blood, you looked back at the last lycan who had already started running your way. You began loading up your gun with trembling hands, but just as you aimed, the lycan took a giant leap and knocked the gun out of your hand.
Fuck.
The giant grabbed you by your neck, lifting you up high before throwing you across the ground. You wheezed, scrambling up to your feet as you began running away from it, its heavy steps following you. It roared angrily behind you, and that only made you ignore the burning pain in your chest as you ran faster.
But of course, God had decided to make you live a cliche horror movie, because you tripped over a fucking branch, making you fall on your stomach. You flipped over instantly, and saw your nightmare come true as the lycan jumped on you.
On pure reflex, you punched it square in the face, which you doubted hurt it more than it hurt you, if anything, the monster was momentarily perplexed, but that was enough for you to slip from under it.
But you were only able to take a few steps away when it suddenly grabbed you by your neck and lifted you up again, snarling as it began opening its mouth, revealing its razor-sharp teeth at you.
God, if you're hearing this, I'm converting to atheism because I did not need this today.
Looking at the horrifying lycan, you prayed one last time before you were eaten by it. Surprisingly, your life did not flash before your eyes, which you were kinda grateful for because you did not need to relive that before your death.
But that moment didn't came. No, what came were familiar moans of pain, and then the sound of a drill, followed by blood splattering on your face as the lycan was sliced vertically from the head to the toe by the aforementioned drill.
The lycan fell to the ground, revealing the pair of soldats that killed them and behind them a smirking Heisenberg, who rested against a tree, tipping his hat at you.
You were far too shocked to say anything, and after a few seconds, the man walked over to you, blocking the view of his monstrous creations just mutilating the lycans.
"So... that was a bit traumatising." He started, chuckling at your stunned face. "You okay, kid?"
What the fuck. What the fuck. What the fuck. What the fuck-
"Yeah." You took his hand, and he helped you up. You groaned at the pain, touching the tender side around the chest where the lycan had hit you. Yeah, you probably broke a rib.
Heisenberg helped you sit down on a tree stump. "Hmm, that bastard kicked you hard didn't it." Wait- "But that was a phenomenal punch you threw at it. Nearly made me burst out laughing."
"You were watching? Why the fuck didn't you come in before!"
He shrugged. "I just wanted to see if you could really handle yourself- which you were pretty good at, but then you lost your gun and it was kinda an unfair match from there on." He pulled out some pills from his coat. "i was just passing by when I saw those lycans moving away. Thats when I pushed the tree which made snow sheet fall and you know the rest from there on."
Your eyes went wide. "You did that on purpose? What the shit, Heisenberg-?! Fuck." You doubled over in pain, clutching your ribs, heaving.
"Shh, stay still, kid. Here, take these. They'll help with the pain." You eyed the bottle before popping two in your mouth. Hey, if he wanted me dead, he wouldn't have saved me from the lycan. "I just wanted to see if you were worth the trouble, and as it turns out, you are."
"You didn't have to almost kill me to see that. And now I've lost my gun. And I don't have any money to buy a new one. I doubt Duke gives freebies." You huffed out.
Heisenberg rolled his eyes. "God, you sure do whine a lot. Here-" He dropped a tiny pouch in your lap. "There's some coins in there. That should be enough to buy you a new gun. And for fucks sake, get a gun with more rounds! You don't have time to be loading a gun mid battle." He huffed. "So, where are you going now?"
You rolled your head from side to side. "Well, I went to the Beneviento house. Didn't find Ethan or Rose there. Now, I'm going to the lake."
"The lake? Huh, well if you survived Donna, then Moreau should be a piece of cake. You got the map? Let me show you the short cut, it's not far from here." You gave him the map and he showed you the directions.
"Where are you going then?"
"Mother Miranda called. Don't worry, I'll keep our meeting a secret." He then nodded at you. "Alright, I'm off now."
"Wait!" Your voice stopped him. "I don't know when I'll see Duke again. And I don't have gun, so what if another pack of lycans come?"
Heisenberg slumped his shoulders as he let out an annoyed sigh. "Fine. I gotta do everything by myself." He dog whistled and one of the soldats stopped maiming the lycan and ran to Heisenberg. "From now on, you're gonna listen to her."The soldat looked at you and nodded. "If she tells you to kill, you kill. If she tells you to die, you die. Follow her around and keep her safe." The soldat nodded. Then Heisenberg turned to you. "He's already dead, so don't worry about throwing him in danger. Oh and also, just take him into the sun every once in a while so that his engine can recharge. You'll know when he needs the sun."
You were baffled. "Wait, Heisenberg- how the- what the hell am I supposed to do with him?"
"Figure it out, kid. Think of him as a guard dog."
You looked at the soldat then at Heisenberg's retreating form, then back at the soldat.
"So..." The soldat stared at you. "You got a name?"
"Handsome." You nodded to yourself as you trudged, using the soldat's arm to support yourself. "That's what I'm gonna call you. Handsome. What do you think?"
The soldat was wearing a metal contraption over its eyes, so you couldn't really tell what it was feeling.
"Well, you don't seem to have any complaints, so from now on, you'll respond to the name "Handsome". Do you understand?"
The soldat nodded.
You laughed. God, the pain meds were either making me stupid or everything else funnier.
You looked at the map again. Just a couple of more minutes and then a right turn. And then you should see the lake- god, this map was confusing as hell.
"So..." you wondered what you should ask the cyborg. Oh right. "You seen Ethan? Blonde man, crazy big eyes. Or a baby, Rose?" The man shook his head no.
Sigh. What else could I ask him? What about how did he die? No, what if that's triggering? I can't handle a Terminator right now. And I don't think I should ask him about his past or anything that'll cause him to have a existential crisis. Ah! I've got it!
"Hey, how do you see?"
The soldat looks down at you for a few seconds then points at his metal contraption.
Wait- is that sarcasm?
You scoff. "Of course, you see with your eyes! I meant, with the whole metal thingy covering them, how do you- oh, there's this vision specs in them."
You smiled. "Hey, you're kinda like Cyclops, yknow-" you were cut off as Handsome suddenly pushed you to the ground, turning on his drill.
"Wait, shit- you don't have to be Cyclops! We can talk this out-" but Handsome was focusing on something else, and that's when you saw it. Two lycans.
Handsome ran and easily maimed them to pieces, I mean, you had to look away from the horrific scene midway.
The soldat returned five minutes later, covered in blood. He extended his hand and you reluctantly took it, letting him support you as you began walking again, your heart still beating like crazy.
But you calmed down when you finally reached the lake, the setting sun gave serene feel to the entire reservoir. You inhaled deeply before looking at Handsome. "Lets go down there." You pointed at the lake.
You were both sitting at the wooden broadwalk, your legs hanging off the ledge. You looked at the water, it wasn't crystal clear, but you could see some fishes swimming around, so at least it wasn't dangerous to life. You looked at Handsome, then at his drill and you realised he was still covered in blood. "Lets get you cleaned up, hm?" You said, pulling out a rag from your bag and dipping it in the cold water below. You began with cleaning up his drill, then dipping the rag back in cold water and cleaning his chest and his other arm.
"Good job back there, Handsome."You smiled as Handsome nodded. "Heisenberg was right, you are kinda like a dog. Hmm, I wonder if..." You tested your theory as you petted him on the head. "Good job, Handsome!" But the soldat only tilted its head in confusion.
"Hmm, perhaps not." You cupped the cold water in your hands and washed your own face, You looked at your reflection in the water. "You wanna go for a swim? I don't mind." Handsome shook his head. "Yeah, I'm not a fan of swimming either."
Handsome stared at you. You scoffed. "Oh so you pretend you don't understand what I say, but you want to hear the story? Fine, but I'm only telling you because it might be important later."
You both stared at the water as you began your story. "Well, when I was 15, I had snuck out of the house to go to a party. It was at this rich girl's house and I knew she didn't like me, but I was surprised when she had invited me to her place. Yes, a red flag I should've seen from miles ago, but I was young and dumb and desperate to climb the highschool social hierarchy." You chuckled. "Anyways, long story short, one of the guys there pushed me into the pool because I don't know if they thought it was funny to see me drown? By some luck, I managed to grab onto the pool ledge and pull myself up. I immediately left the party, embarrassed and cold and on the verge of breaking down. Then on the way back home, there was this car following me and then some weirdo catcalled me and tried to get me in his car. Now, scared for my life because I watched a lot of Criminal Minds, I ran all the way home, praying that he leaves me alone. I think he stopped when he saw a Range Rover following him, but I don't know. I just rushed back home." You sighed. "You know what happened next? I bursted through the front door, slamming it shut and I turn around to see my dad in the living room, looking surprised to see me. He stood up and looked me up and down and then said, "Y/n? You're drenched completely. And you're messing up the floor. You know what? Mia's in the bathroom right now, why don't you go upstairs and I'll clean up here. You know how she gets when there's water on the wood." And I was just so shocked, that I didn't say anything and went back upstairs. Once I was in the shower, that's when I broke down crying. I almost drowned, almost got kidnapped and my father was worried about me messing up the wooden floor? Hell, he didn't even ask me why I was coming home at midnight." Your tears fell into the lake, making small ripples. You chuckled, "God, I always wondered how tired he must've been from work that day to ignore all these visible signs of distress. I always hated his job, you know? They made him work way too much." You looked at Handsome who was looking at the lake. "Anywho, now you know I can't swim so, save me if I fall into this lake, okay?" He nodded.
You guys sat in comfortable silence for a few more minutes before a question popped up in your mind. "Handsome?" He turned his head towards you, only to see a mischievous smile on your face. "Are you seeing someone?" The man turned his back to the lake, making you laugh. "Ahh, so you like someone. Tell me, is it someone from the village?" The man further turned his head away from you in embarrassment. "Oh come on, tell me! Is it a girl?" He nodded reluctantly, making you punch his arm. "You dog! Does she know?" Handsome shook his head, making you smile. "Tell you what? As a payback for saving me back there, I'll help you get her. I'll be your wingman, Handsome, hm?" He nodded a bit enthusiastically.
"We all deserve good things, Handsome. No matter how we look, or what we are, these things don't really define one's self worth. Its our intentions, you know?" Handsome didn't know, but he nodded anyways.
"Good. Now, lets go check out this place. Keep an eye out for Ethan and Rose, okay?" You told him, not knowing someone was already watching the two of you.
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So... thought?
What did you guys think about Handsome? I'm gonna post a pic of him soon if you guys want.
Part 5 is here.
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yandere-sins · 3 years
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hiya! i see that requests are open :] i was wondering.. if you haven’t written this already, can you write what would shigaraki’s reaction would be to his darling willingly giving him affection? maybe it was completely out of the blue or he got injured and his darling was worried, etc!!
thank you!! 🥰🤍💕
Thanks for requesting!
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In no one plans does it ever say to get beaten up.
But no matter how disgusting the blood on his tongue tasted, no matter how little he could see through the bruised eye, there were days like these where plans didn’t work out the way anyone wanted them to. No one said anything as the League of Villains retreated to their hideout, some limping, some holding their heads in pain. A few of them sighed as they passed their leader. Others clicked their tongues in disapproval, moral lower than any of them ever felt before - that meant rock bottom.
Everything had been going so well for so long, Shigaraki foolishly had already forgotten the feeling of losing. He was strong, resistant, and in good company, and yet, maybe his concentration had been off, his perception slow, or maybe it simply was a bad day. Still, no matter how he tried to justify the bitterness of failing, in the end, he could only bite his chapped lip in frustration.
It took him longer to unlock all the locks and bolts on the door to his room on that day. Everything ached when he lifted a finger and using both hands almost felt like tearing himself apart. It definitely had been too long that he experienced a real beating like this, making him painfully aware of every muscle and every bone in his body again. But even more so, knowing that this was a setback in his plans was even more bothersome than all the pains combined.
Still, Shigaraki decided he’d deal with the consequences and further planning the next day. There was no nerve left in his brain to keep grinding the loss over and over again, analyzing it, and plan out improvements. Nothing good could come out of his frustration, he realized, as he almost disintegrated the costly, sturdy locks of the door. But catching himself at the last second, Shigaraki reminded himself of their trustworthy duty of keeping what was behind the entrance exactly where it was and that it would be a waste to lose them too.
Even though you must have heard the door open and fall into its lock again behind him, you weren’t immediately apparent in the dark room. Shigaraki grumbled a sullen, “... back,” looking around once more, trying to make you out as he set aside the few hands spared from the fight. But heaving a deep sigh, he realized you must have been hiding or locked yourself in the bathroom, shying away from his presence as always. If t wasn’t him dragging you out for his own sick pleasure of being with you, you were the last person he thought to be willing to come to him.
And for once, he didn’t have the strength to pull you out of whatever orifice you had crawled into.
Letting himself flop onto the couch he had brought in just for you, Shigaraki let out a long groan. The cold leather felt good on the bruises on his face, even though it told him you hadn’t used the couch in a while. He didn’t like that even though he tried to make it homely for you after all your complaints, you didn’t take advantage of the amenities he provided, but Shigaraki felt too exhausted to get upset.
Minutes passed in silence as he tried to get his mind off replaying the lost battle over and over. It was so unfair, so cruel that the brilliant plan failed to retrieve the items he wanted. Still, even if he calculated disturbances because of heroes, he didn’t think they’d sent an army of them to stand against him. It was just so freaking frustrating, his body immediately started to itch everywhere.
Shigaraki wouldn’t have assumed for you to make a move, but he could clearly hear how uncomfortable you were as you contemplated moving out of your hiding spot. The shuffling of your clothes was louder now that there were no games on, and neither of you were talking, so he noticed you trying to get up a few times before sinking to the ground again hesitantly. He only sighed in exhaustion, wondering what he could do to make his face stop itching.
You had long ceased to be a threat to him, even if he didn’t have a brilliant achievement to boost that day either. It wasn’t like you two had come to any kind of understanding, a middle ground even. Still, he at least seemed to have earned enough respect or fear from you so you wouldn’t try anything funny when he was asleep. Perhaps he was too trusting, but it wasn’t like you weren’t scared enough of him and his quirk.
“Shigaraki...?” you whispered, testing with a tiny voice if he was sleeping already. He could hear your fingers curl into the leather, causing it to let out air loudly, which made both of you flinch - him from the headache, you from fear. Grumbling quietly about the disturbance, Shigaraki propped himself up on his forearms, looking up at where he assumed your position from beneath his unkempt hair.
“What?!” The words came out much harsher than he intended, but truth be told, he wasn’t in his right mind ever since he returned, so there wasn’t even any mercy left for you. You made a step back, the floorboards creaking under the sudden pressure, and you let go of the couch, too afraid he might snap.
“A-Are you...” you stuttered, annoyingly so. Shigaraki just wanted the world to be quiet that night. To have some peace after all the trouble. “Are you okay?”
Sighing, he plopped down into the couch again, letting his arm hang from the cushions. Of course. The only time you were actually worried about him, he was actually not okay, and he told you as much. “Not really,” he confessed, and silence fell over you two again before he heard you round the couch to stand by his side. It would have been so easy to grab you and pull you to him now, and maybe on any other day he would have, but even that seemed too exhausting to him.
“Do you need some water? Or should I go ask someone for bandages?”
With your questions so innocent, it made him snort loudly. “So you can run away?” was his counter-question. If not for the darkness in the room, he would have seen you tense up, read your body language to determine if you had planned something or if you genuinely were just worried, but Shigaraki couldn’t be bothered with the necessary actions if either of that was true.
“I was just asking,” you whispered, discouraged as he thought he heard in your voice. Your presence shifted away as you went and hid again, and it actually gave his heart a slight, additional sting when you seemed to settle somewhere. Ultimately, the silence was what he had wanted, but now that he had refused your presence for the first time ever since he took you for himself, he realized that it helped neither of you.
“If you really want to help...” he mumbled, taking a deep breath as he thought his words over, realizing they were foolish. “Come and scratch my face.”
There was nothing in response to this, only more silence, and now he truly felt stupid for even bringing it up. He could scratch himself just fine and probably better than a second person could, but really... it would have been nice if you were the one doing it. It must have only been seconds, but it felt like whole minutes passed before he heard another stir, and the warmth of your presence returned to him, slowly sitting down next to the couch. He turned to his side, waiting expectantly for you to act, hoping it would be soon as the itch grew stronger.
“It’s not good to scratch it,” you mumbled, and Shigaraki couldn’t help but click his tongue at you lecturing him. “I didn’t ask for your opinion, just scratch it!”
Until the last moment, he honestly didn’t expect you’d do as he said, and it was almost amusing that when you did reach out, you still would resist his instructions, doing as you pleased. Instead, you seemed to want to smother him between your palms, laying them over the extensive areas of his face like cheeks and forehead, constantly alternating between them. It didn’t help, the itch still remained, but he would be a liar to say he didn’t actually like it.
Your touch was much gentler than what he expected you’d use when you finally touched him. Much less pressure and more tenderness than what he was used to from being touched. It was actually, truly, really nice.
“More,” he mumbled, and you gasped loudly as he reached out his hands to grab your wrists, tugging away his pinky as to not hurt you. No matter how nice it was to feel your touch, Shigaraki couldn’t help but grow needy even after all that happened that day. Perhaps because of what happened that day, he couldn’t help but want more and more of the comfort of your touch, ultimately pressing your hands so tightly against his skin, the bruises began to ache. But it didn’t matter. It all didn’t matter because it was your touch, and even if you tensed up, you didn’t pull away. You were so warm, and your so skin soft, so even if it hurt, it hurt good; just right. It made him feel alive even.
It was exactly what he needed after this long day.
“Do this more often,” he mumbled, dragging your hands from the top of his head down to his lips and start again. “Touch me more...”
You could have scratched him right then and there, plucked out his eyes for all he cared, and ripped off his skin, but your touch, combined with the warm, jittery pulse he felt in your wrists, gave him an unknown satisfaction, one he’d have liked to experience regularly.
“Don’t stop...”
His voice was shaky - needy and greedy at the same time. He rubbed his own face with your hands over and over, which felt almost as good as scratching but hurt like hell at the same time. Yet, he wished these feelings would never stop, so he could enjoy them infinitely. Screw plans and the future if only he could have your touch all over him until the end of time. So even if it didn’t resemble the way you touched him before, Shigaraki couldn’t get enough of your hands, only ever wanting more.
Was it truly too much to ask for? Shigaraki wondered as his grip loosened on you. You yelped as he accidentally lost control over his pinky while drifting off to sleep, giving you a second of stinging pain before you tore yourself from him trying to deal with coming into contact with his quirk. Only a satisfied smile was able to cross his lips before he was overtaken by exhaustion, hoping that this was reminder enough to not try anything funny while he slept. But honestly, as happy as he was now, he would have even enjoyed having your hands around his throat. It didn’t matter where, as long as you never stopped making him happy with your touch.
And god, was he happy he fucked up his plan that day.
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Text
Song of a Mermaid Warrior pt 2
Part 2 to the mermaid story!
Decided to continue it, wanted to see where Jordan's story ends up.
You can read pt 1 here.
Enjoy!
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“Well, well, well! Never thought I’d see the mermaid herself swimming over to my fetid swamp here in the slums!”
A slim young man with bright purple hair grinned, flipping a silver coin into the air over and over without looking at it. “Thought you said you were never coming back? What, did your last book not sell as well now that you're peddling comforting little lies about your species?”
Jordan leaned against the doorframe of the dilapidated shop, wondering for the thousandth time if this was a bad idea. She knew the answer, deep down, but chose to ignore it. “Tock, cut the crap.”
“Oh sweetie, you haven’t changed. “ Tock laughed. “ I can cut the crap, but not sure what use it would be… crap is notoriously difficult to cut, tends to mush up, you know… and whose crap should be cut? Mine?” He shrugged. “ Sorry to say this body doesn’t make physical waste. What about yours?”
Jordan rubbed her forehead. “I should have known better than to do anything other than speak as literally as possible… I hate fairies.”
“You only know one fairy, darling.” Tock’s eyes blinked, the irises turning green, than orange, than staying at a robin’s egg blue. “Unfair of you to judge the whole species just because you don’t like me. Especially because I have been nothing but fair and helpful to you.”
“You tried to trick me into giving you my skin.”
“TRIED. Tried is the key word there. Plus you didn’t fall for it, so what’s the problem?”
Jordan sighed, knowing that there was never any point with arguing with Tock.
She had run into the fairy over two years ago. At that time she was frantic, trying to find Hunter’s location, and her desperation had led her to the darker corners of the city. She had spent every last coin she had, unable to eat or sleep, and at her darkest moment, she stumbled into Tock’s shop. Later Jordan had realized that it was likely that despair that had allowed her to find his place. There were magic wards to keep all but the most vulnerable out.
When they met, Tock had seen her madness, her obsession, and was ecstatic. He tried to get her to agree to many terrible deals in exchange for tracking down Hunter and after adding a small addendum she had agreed, feeling that whatever price she had to pay was worth it.
In the end, the addendum she had insisted on saved her skin, quite literally. She had added on a time limit that he had to track Hunter down and arrange a meeting. And to Tock’s shock and dismay, whatever elven magic was hiding Hunter’s identity; it was beyond the fairy’s ability to dismantle.
Tock had failed to find Hunter, and the contract expired. Jordan left, at the time feeling a strange mix of disappointment at the failure and gratitude to be still in one piece. As they parted ways, she swore never to come back to his broken place of deals with the devil.
Until today.
“So what brings you here, my lovely little fish?” Tock flipped his coin again, and it sizzled as it disappeared into thin air. “Still trying to find that stubborn elf boyfriend of yours?”
“He was just a friend, and no. I gave up on him years ago.”
Tock frowned, blinking as his eyes turned a bronze color. “Pity. Your skin has only gotten prettier since the last time I saw it… would love to find your price to part with it.”
“…” The memory of Hunter cheerfully making plans to run away with her still hung in her mind. What was it that he had said? “We might lose our clothes and money, but at least we’d have a fun story to tell”? We had no idea what real fairies were like. The ocean’s song in Jordan’s ears was rising, she kept her lips closed to hold back the seductive call of the magic. The fairy noticed her struggle, backing away slightly.
“Fine, fine, no more talk about your skin. Why are you mermaids so sensitive about losing organs?” He paused for a moment, thinking. “Mermaids regenerate, right? Or was that trolls?”
“Tock….” The name was forced out between clenched teeth.
The fairy rolled his eyes, changing them to a pure silver color. “So what deal DO you want to make today, my angry mermaid friend?”
She dug through her pocket handing over a silver badge with a handkerchief. Her touch shouldn’t affect his abilities, but Jordan still didn’t want to touch it. It represented something she had tried to move beyond in the last few years, a part of the past that caused her to wake up sobbing some nights, and to stay up drinking others.
Hunter had been her only friend, the only person in this world she thought she could trust. She had learned the hard way how foolish that trust had been. But once she had finally made peace with that fact, he had sent someone to intrude in her life once more. After forcing her to stay out of his battle, he was inviting her to join him, dangling the one thing he knew she couldn’t resist to get her to agree: the existence of other full blood mermaids.
She wasn’t going to play by his rules. If he was expecting her to run back to his side after forcing her away years ago, he would be sorely disappointed. And if she was going to use the clue he had given her, it was for her reasons and no one else’s. Because for everything he had gotten wrong, Hunter had gotten one thing very right:
She did want to find the mermaids in the city.
Not out of any sense of loyalty or need to find others like her, however. She was simply desperate. The instincts to fight and kill, to use her magic to trap and destroy, grew stronger by the day. Soon she was afraid she’d start killing innocent people. She needed to find a way to control it.
Jordan was hoping that other mermaids would know how.
Maybe other mermaids don’t have this problem. She thought at her darkest moments. Maybe I’m just a killer, a monster.
She tried not to think about that to often.
Tock gingerly picked up the badge, his eyes widening with surprise and turning a glowing violet.
“You always have the best things! Let’s see… silver… It was made several years ago… it had other forms years ago… but the owners of those items died quite violently…” He paused, glancing at her curiously. “Your handiwork, I would guess?”
“No comment.”
“Such an unfriendly fish… good thing you have such pretty skin, otherwise I wouldn’t pay you any attention.” He turned back towards the badge in his hand. “It was made with care and love… quite a pure emotion of care… along with a large amount of hope, all mixed in with the silver as it was reformed… it was part of a set?”
“Yes.” She swallowed uncomfortably, pushing back the memories of a young naïve girl, who thought herself hardened and bitter, carefully making a birthday present for her best friend.
“Can I see the other one?”
She thought of the location of the badge she had once treasured. “No.”
Tock pouted. “Fine. It contains quite a few auras, but the strongest one… is quite familiar.” His eyes turned a bright angry red. “Elf!”
“Yeah, it was Hunter’s.”
“That BASTARD! His blasted elf magic forced me to lose my contract with you!” He tossed the badge to the counter with a disgusted grimace. “You’ll never be that perfect combination of desperate and vulnerable again!” He looked back at me. “You are STILL trying to find that elf who dumped you three years ago? And I thought you had standards.”
The ocean song roared in her ears as it sensed her anger, pushing at her control, leaking from her lips. She could feel it swelling beneath her skin, threatening to force itself out. Tock rolled his eyes at the sight.
“Don’t try your battle magic here. You may be quite terrifying to meet in a dark alleyway, but I have some great wards in place.” He sneered as she kept her lips closed tightly. “Just a word of advice: Don’t face off a fairy in his own home.”
Jordan forced her magic down with great struggle, every instinct wanting to lash out. “I don’t want you to find Hunter. I want to know most frequent locations this amulet has been over the past six months.”
“And that’s not the same thing because…”
“Because it’s not him I’m wanting to find.” If he's found mermaids, then the locations he's been, the people he's spoken to... they'll be clues to track them down.
Tock raised an eyebrow. “Then what ARE you trying to find?”
“None of your business. I just need the locations this object has been most frequently.”
“Very well.” His smile became sly, his eyes shifting away from the angry red to a dark blue. “What deal shall we make for me to do this? How about your skin…”
The last word trailed off as Jordan held up a golden coin.
“…”
_________________________________
The silence in the room stretched on, as Tock’s gaze was locked on the object in her hand. His eye color was shifting rapidly, brown, grey, orange, green, before the whole eye filled with color finally turning a solid, glowing silver. His shoulders twitched, and his teeth grew longer in his mouth, the sharp points pressing into his still human appearing lips.
“Where did you get that?” His whisper had lost all of his previous joking tone. There was a small amount of magic woven into his words, a minor compelling spell to force her to speak, and speak truthfully. It buried itself in her ear, making her thoughts foggy. Jordan smiled, shaking her head as the ocean song within her rose in volume, drowning out the fairy magic easily, keeping her mind clear.
“I’ve picked up a lot of things these past few years.”
“ANSWER. THE. QUESTION.”
“No.” Jordan flipped the coin, mimicking the fairy’s earlier actions. “Don’t try your magic on me, fairy. I’ve had too many years of practice ignoring magical compulsions.”
“Fine.” He sighed loudly. “Do you know what it is you have there? Do you know if there’s any more?”
“I’ve heard stories… tales only whispered in dark alleys and in crumbling basements. Do you know in schools here they teach that the humans are the only ones affected by the Darkness? That losing the ability to have children was the be all and end all of the curse?”
“…” Tock kept silent, staring at her. Shrugging, she continued with a mocking smile.
“What a limited view, right? Turns out that everyone lost something to the Darkness. Every single one. It took whatever that species valued most. For humans, such a short-lived, social people, it was taking away the ability to make new generations. But fairies… you are born of magic and air, part of nature and outside of time. Procreation means nothing to you.” She flipped the coin up, letting it spin in the air before catching it and holding it firmly in her hand. “The Darkness took something much more important to you fairies.”
Tock was trembling at her words, unclear if it was with fear or anger. “What do you think the Darkness took from us?”
Jordan glanced at his empty back. “Your wings.”
“…” The fairy’s hands were gripping the counter in front of him. His fingers sank into the wood as easily as if it was made of clay.
“If it were just something to help you fly, I bet you would have simply made do without them. But they represent something much more important, don’t they?” She leaned closer, ignoring his threatening aura. “That’s where fairies store their magic. So now you have the live with the scraps of magic you absorb from the earth and enchanted items, unable to store it within yourself. That’s why you work here, in this pitiful little shop, unable to do more than hide behind these wards and peddle minor magic tricks for favors.”
“Be careful, mermaid…”
“Oh I’m careful enough, Tock.” She opened her hand and stared at the coin in her palm. “No wonder you wanted my skin… how much magic should be stored within it, I wonder. Enough to last you a few years I would think. Which is why this little coin is so important to you.”
“…”
“Fairy gold.” She held it up again. “Quite pretty, actually, looks like the real thing even on close inspection. But if I were to try to spend it… it would expel all the magic stored inside, turning to wood and taking away my lifetime’s luck. An inconvenience for me… but for you?” She grinned. “It stores enough magic for you to live comfortably for quite some time. You could leave this shop, set up protective wards wherever you ended up. Magic enough to stabilize your appearance so your eyes and ears don’t change; let you blend in if you wanted to leave your house for a change. “
“…”
“So what do you say, Tock.” Jordan flipped the coin one last time. “Do we have a deal?”
After a long pause, the fairy spoke up. “… I …”
“TOCK ARE YOU HERE?!!”
The shop door slammed open and a short redheaded young man burst in. As he rushed to the counter, Jordan got a closer look. He was a few inches shorter than her, his leaner frame still obviously muscular. His facial features were handsome, with bright green eyes that glowed with excitement and fiery red hair that was cropped short. He wore regular clothing, a grey t shirt and jeans, and would have seemed very average except for the massive axe strapped to his back.
Who the heck is this?
“Glit, this isn’t the time.” Tock warned, his tone still angry and tense.
“No, Tock, I’ve been thinking about it… maybe I SHOULD be willing to compromise… exactly how much skin would you need to help me find the dwarves?”
The fairy’s eyes glowed an excited gold, his teeth retracting once more as he stabilized his appearance. “Well now…”
“Add his bill to mine.” Jordan interrupted, glaring at Tock. “No skin.”
“But… that’s unfair! We already had a deal!”
“You didn’t accept it in time, so now the deal has changed. “ She shrugged “The price I’m offering is more than enough to cover us both. I would suggest you take the deal before it changes again.”
Tock glared. “FINE! FINE, I ACCEPT!”
The young man turned to her, shocked. She met his gaze, holding back the urge to sigh. Jordan wasn’t much one for random acts of kindness to strangers, but he reminded her of herself a few years ago. Lost, desperate… the only kind of people who can slip past Tock’s wards. She just wasn’t sure what his reaction would be to her interference… annoyance? Gratitude?’
He grinned at her. “You look really strong! Wanna fight?!”
… Well that certainly hadn’t been the reaction she was expecting.
“Maybe later…”
His shoulders slumped. “Dangit. I was losing hope of meeting a strong person in this awful city… no offense if you like it here.”
“None taken, I don’t.”
“I finally meet someone worthy of a good fight, and I make a terrible first impression.” He sighed. “My Ma always did say I needed to work on my introductions.”
“…And you are?”
His eyes widened. “I haven’t told you that yet?” His hand slapped his forehead. “Sorry, must have been distracted by the whole ‘trading my skin’ thing. I’m Glitenaere ni Tolk Vhelarite, firstborn of Marleiun ge Nerturin, the greatest Dwarven warrior alive… but you can call me Glit!”
She looked over the short young man. “You are the greatest warrior?”
“Nope. My Ma.”
“You’re a dwarf?”
“Since I was born.”
Jordan felt curious, having only ever read about dwarves from human textbooks, which said they were a reclusive, unfriendly race.
The reportedly unfriendly, reclusive dwarf was reaching out to shake her hand. “Thanks for the saving my skin, friend!”
She didn’t take his hand. “Shouldn’t you have a beard?”
Tock burst out into laughter, his eyes turning a humorous magenta. “Wow, way to go straight for the gut.”
“Aww, shut up fairy, she didn’t mean anything by it. Can’t blame her for not knowing in a city like this.” Glit leaned against the counter, rubbing his chin with an idle hand. “I’m a darkling, a child born infected by the Darkness.”
“Every race lost something.” Jordan whispered.
“Not everyone was infected, but those who were never grew beards.” He looked sad for a brief moment. “It’s a symbol of strength, of connection to the Earth… everything in our culture revolves around it.”
“What about the women?”
“Oh they grow them too. You should see my Ma. Her beard makes all the boys cry with jealousy.” Glit laughed. “They all thought with her being the strongest and all, her child would be too… but…”
“…Sorry.”
“Oh don’t worry, friend. I’m not weak. I may not have a connection with the earth and a powerful beard, but I’m a force to be reckoned with when I have an axe in my hand!”
Tock looked up, his eyes turning bright white. “You may have to test that out sooner rather than later. We have company.”
BANG! Something slammed into the closed door behind them.
_________________________________
Jordan took a defensive stance, while Glit drew his axe. “Who’s coming?”
“Probably one of those damn purity obsessed groups. They constantly sweep the slums, looking for low bloods and part elves. Usually the wards keep them away, but today, I got a little… distracted. “
“Great. Not really in the mood to deal with these guys, Tock.”
“They bad guys?” Glit spoke up.
“Yep.” Jordan answered softly. “They do horrible things to those who can’t defend themselves.”
“Fair enough. Today they picked on the wrong type of people, though.” Glit grinned. “Let’s kill them!”
His easy acceptance of the violence they would face ahead gave her a little pause. Before she could examine it too closely, the door crashed open, and a large group of men wearing black cloths around the lower halves of their faces rushed in. In their hands were standard pistols, the dull metal glinting off the many lamps of Tock’s shop.
“Looks like we got a haul, boys!” One of them spotted Glit and Jordan, his eyes widening with shock. “That short one definitely can’t be high purity… he’s either a low blood or a dirty elf mix blood! And the other…” He glanced and Jordan and laughed. “A No Blood? Thought they were all gone!”
Glit twirled the massive axe in his hand with ease, looking confused. “Do I look like an elf?”
Jordan thought of the tall quiet young man who had always followed behind her, always trying to avoid violence. “Not even a little.”
“Ah.” He tossed the axe lightly, catching it with the other hand. “Hey fellas, despite your insults and poor eyesight, I’m gonna be nice. Here’s your one chance to run away, before my strong friend and I start slicing you to pieces.”
Even with the majority of his face covered, the disdain on the attacker’s face was evident. “Shut up, dirty elf! Even with your axe, you really think you can face a group with guns?" He snorted, "Now we’re gonna have fun killing you.”
Glit just laughed at the threat. “I was hoping you guys would say that!”
As the group of attackers spread out around the room, he turned to face one side, leaving his back open to Jordan.
Jordan hesitated briefly at Glit’s open back, startled at the gesture of trust, before slowly turning to cover him. She glanced around to see that Tock had disappeared before closing her eyes, calling up the song within her and setting it free.
From her mouth a song of battle rang out. Several of the attackers stopped in their tracks, caught in her illusion, but the rest were only mildly affected, just barely losing their grips on their weapons.
Jordan cursed silently, still singing. Her magic was very effective against small groups of enemies, but the more people it was spread out against, the less useful it would be.
As the song of death spilled constantly from her lips, she felt her nails grow out into claws and moved forward, striking the attackers that were not incapacitated first. From the side she heard Glit run forward, spinning his axe, blood and tissue flying through the air as he cut through enemies.
Blood dripped from her fingers. She heard someone behind her, preparing to strike and turned, grabbing his neck. She felt the water within his heart, and used her magic to stop it in place. His face turned pale, and clutching his chest, he fell to the ground.
Jordan was feeling the drain of her magic. Her vision was turning a bright blue, the song growing in her mind, calling for her to give in completely.
BANG! A shot rang out past her ear, and sensing the danger, the song surged louder in her soul.
Can’t give up all control to my instincts. She thought grimly, slicing the shooter’s face. I might just lose myself completely.
It was hard, fighting against physical enemies while resisting the magical bind of her own blood, but Jordan forced herself forward, grateful for the help of the dwarf beside her. If she had faced all these enemies by herself, she might have lost to the bloodlust within her.
The air was filled with blood and screams.
And then… there was silence.
__________________________________
Jordan’s vision cleared as she forced the song of the ocean down, keeping it tightly controlled within herself. Her nails retracted and she stood in place, staring down at the blood on her hands.
Hunter always said he didn’t want me to be a killer. She closed her eyes briefly with pain. She felt dirty, worthless. Maybe if I wasn’t one he wouldn’t have left me behind.
Lost in her thoughts, she only came out of it as she felt a warm touch on her hands. Shocked, her eyes flew open, only to see Glit pushing a large wet cloth into her grasp.
“Here, friend, you can clean your hands with this.”
She paused, unused to the kindness, but took it anyways. “Thanks.”
“No problem! You’re amazing! That battle song… had magic in it right? Are you not human?”
“Mermaid.” The word came out before she could stop it, and Jordan pressed her lips together, annoyed. He’s a stranger. No need to tell him anything more. She tucked the dirty rag in her pocket, not wanting to give Tock a free sample of her blood.
“Really? I thought they had all disappeared!” Glit’s face lit up. “My Ma always said that the mermaids were the only warriors she wouldn’t want to face up against! That’s awesome!”
She glanced at the dismembered bodies on his side of the room. “You’re not such a bad fighter yourself.”
His smile brightened. “Really? Thanks! Those guys back home thought I was pretty useless, being a Darkling and all, but if a mermaid warrior says so, I’ll trust your opinion!”
“This is all very touching… but what am I supposed to do about the mess you made?” Tock’s annoyed tone caught their attention.
“We fought off your attackers while you hid in the back, fairy.” Jordan raised an eyebrow. “You can worry about the mess. You’re lucky we don’t charge you for the service.”
“Yeah, what she said!” Glit crossed his arms, standing at her shoulder, and smiled at Tock, the still bloody axe in his hand making the gesture threatening.
Tock rolled his now yellow eyes. “Fine. While you two were gleefully tearing those idiots to pieces, I finished the tasks you gave me.” He spread a map on the counter, ignoring as the far corner was stained with blood. Jordan recognized it as a map of the city. With a golden pen the fairy circled a few buildings. “Here’s where the amulet has spent the most time in the last six months, in order of most time spent.”
She glanced over at Glit beside her. “And the dwarves?”
“Tougher, since he doesn’t have a possession from the dwarves in question, but…” He picked up a silver marker, and circled one place. “There is a high concentration of earth magic here.”
Glit and Jordan stared at the spot, where silver and gold overlapped.
“Looks like me might be looking for the same place.” She whispered.
“Really? That’s great, friend!” He paused. “By the way, what’s your name?”
“Jordan. But I don’t think we’re friends. I don’t trust anyone.” Not anymore.
“Jordan!” He grinned. “Don’t worry, we can still be friends. You don’t have to trust me. I’ll trust you enough for the both of us.”
Tock groaned. “You’re so naïve… why couldn’t you have shown up when the mermaid wasn’t around?! I could have extorted you for so much skin!”
Jordan grabbed the map silently, unsure of how to respond to the dwarf’s enthusiasm.
“If you’re going there, can we go together? I’m looking for a large group of dwarves that disappeared, we think they might be being held captive in the city.”
“…You really shouldn’t trust people so easily.” Her words came out as a pained whisper.
Glit’s face became solemn for the first time since they met. “It’s okay. I’ve grown up in a world that hates me. It’s not been easy, but over the years, I’ve developed a good sense of those around me, and what kind of people they are.”
“And kind of person do you think I am?” She was genuinely curious what the cheerful dwarf thought of her.
“You? Well, you’re someone who cares too much and wishes you wouldn’t. My guess is that you’ve been hurt very badly by someone you trusted… and now you would never wish that same pain on another person.” He shrugged. “So that’s why I trust you. You might kill me if you have to, but you’ll do it facing me. You won’t stab me in the back. You couldn’t bear to do that to someone after what you’ve been through.”
“Interesting opinion.” Jordan felt a strange mixture of despair and relief at his words. “Not put off by me killing men while they’re stunned by magic? That wasn’t just a fight…I’m a killer.”
“Hmm… well, I just chopped up six guys with an axe, and the only reason they didn’t shoot a bunch of holes in me is because of your magic, so I’m pretty sure I can’t judge.” Glit patted her on the back. “Are you looking for mermaids, like I’m looking for dwarves?”
She nodded silently, although silently she thought their reasons for looking were quite different.
“Then let’s go find our people together! You don’t have to trust your back to me, but don’t worry! I’ll defend it anyways.”
“Can you two leave?" Tock rubbed his face tiredly, his eyes flickering between purple and pink. "This touchy feely stuff is bad for my business. What if some desperate fool walks in and is inspired by all your motivational speaking?”
Jordan tossed him the fairy gold, taking back the silver badge she had given him, and turned and left the shop. “Never coming back, Tock.”
“Keep telling yourself that, my fishy friend!” He called back. “You’ll come back. They always do.”
“Okay then! See you later, Tock!” Glit called out as he walked behind her.
“…Actually, I would prefer it if YOU don’t come back. You give me a headache.”
Jordan and Glit left the carnage filled shop behind them
_________________________________
“So mermaids and dwarves being held in the center of the city.” Glit thought out loud. “Some sort of human conspiracy?”
Jordan thought of growing up in the orphanage, the city’s emphasis on having higher purity of mermaid blood rather than human, the complete lack of information on other races. She thought of Hunter and the underground Resistance. Of the Darkness that spread everywhere, touching every species.
Everyone lost something to the darkness, right?
So what did mermaids lose?
... What did I lose?
“There’s something broken about this world, more going on here then we realize.” Jordan answered softly. “But we’re going to figure it out.”
“Together?”
“For now.”
“Awesome!” He pumped a fist in the air. “Wait until I tell my Ma I went on a quest with a mermaid warrior. She’s gonna be so impressed!” He paused. “You two would get along, I think. Strong warrior types and all.”
Jordan sighed, rubbing her forehead.
“Why does everyone keep sighing around me?”
“… Let’s go. “
_________________________________
They moved quietly towards the place marked on the map. Glit, surprisingly, activated a hidden mechanism on his axe, folding it into thirds and hiding it in a backpack, and pinned on a “34” badge. He saw her glance at the silver ornament and shrugged. “Snatched this off some guy who tried to mug me when I arrived in town. Most people think I’m just a low purity level student when I’m dressed like this .”
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-three.”
“…” Older than me? Jordan adjusted her mental view of him silently.
“Don’t worry if you thought I was younger.” He raised his hands helplessly. “No beard and the dwarven height tends to confuse people.”
“Sorry.”
“No worries, as long as you don’t think I’m weak and helpless just because I’m shorter than you.”
She thought of him cutting through enemies with his axe. “No chance of that.”
They made they way to the abandoned factory that Tock had marked for them. As they neared the area, Glit pulled out a machine from his bag waving it through the air.
“What’s that?”
“Dwarven machine, it detects the presence of magic.” He frowned. “We need to be careful. This whole place is covered with spells.”
“If this was a human holding place…”
“It shouldn’t have magic.” He finished her thought. “Maybe go up to the roof and enter from there instead?”
They scaled the wall silently, cutting a small hole in the roof with yet another tool from Glit’s bag. As she peered into the building, she felt the ocean’s song start welling up within her.
“There’s danger here. We should go back and regroup.”
“Jordan, look out!” Glit pushed her to the side, wincing as the blow from behind her struck his head instead.
Jordan opened her mouth to release her magic, but before a sound could escape, a hand grasped her arm and magic flooded her body.
“Sleep.” The voice was familiar, but her mind was already falling into darkness.
Jordan woke up on a couch in a dark room. Groaning, she rubbed her head, feeling angry. She knew this feeling, this hung over dizzy sensation. Remembered it too clearly even though she wished she could forget.
“Elven magic.”
Glit groaned from his sprawled position in the corner of the room, his arms and legs tied tightly. The ropes dug into his skin, but he ignored it as he flipped his body into a sitting position on the floor, looking up at her with a sad expression. “Sorry I missed them behind us.”
“It’s fine, thanks for taking that hit for me.” She glanced at the wound on his head, crusted with dried blood, and winced. “You okay?”
“Yeah, just a friendly tap. I’ve got a hard head.” He grinned, then looked around. “Real question is, who has us, and why?”
“I have an idea... but I really hope I’m not right.”
“You always did have good instincts, Jordan.”
The familiar voice spoke up from the doorway, Jordan forced herself to sit up on the couch, staring at their captor with a pained expression.
She knew him.
Of course she knew him.
He had set his trap, sent her his badge, knowing she would use it… and she had fallen for it.
The man who haunted her nightmares smiled sadly at her. “Not happy to see me?”
She blinked, shaking her head slowly. “Hello again, Hunter.”
209 notes · View notes
eyoricka · 3 years
Text
Fight - Pete Davidson
Requested: yes
Words: 2300
Trigger warnings: some curse words
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Pete was not his regular self this past few days. The BPD was hitting hard probably because of stress. He was under pressure for his new special and his whole mental state was affected. You did everything you could to make him feel better, but it was tough. He booked more therapy sessions but on a short run it was not enough. You encouraged him to watch some movies he likes to relax, to express himself creatively and to do some exercises with you however it created more tension than everything. Small things were triggering some Pete’s negative reactions, it was very hard to keep up. You wanted to be there for him, showed that you cared. Sometimes it was just nearly impossible and that worried you. You were kind of used to those situations but this time it was a longer, rougher episode and it began to play with your own mental state.
You were in the kitchen baking some peanut butter brownie for the dessert when Pete entered in the room. He seemed tensed but smiled at you lazily. He approached you and kissed your temple while looking at what you were cooking. He frowned a bit but said nothing. You were surprised by this reaction, he usually loved this treat.
“You don’t like it anymore?”, you asked still taken aback. He rolled his eyes but remained silence which upset you. “You can use your words to answer, you know.”
“I am just wondering if you really know me and want the best for me” he replied growing annoyed.
“You what??!! Where does that come from?!!”
“You know I have Crohn and you know it can be worsened by nuts” he placed a huge emphasis on the you know. “But still you are baking this” he glanced at the brownie meanly, rose his hand towards it and for a second you thought he might throw it in the trash or on the floor. Instead, he put his hand on his face and sighed: “I really wondered why I still get home to be welcomed like that.”
Those words stung you, hard. You had taken of your time to bake this, it was just a small attention and you didn’t expect this reaction. You bit your lips refraining yourself to reply harshly, deep down believing that he didn’t think that, didn’t actually mean that.
“Well, I think you are stressed and angry and maybe you should go relax and we can discuss that later.” You kindly reply, putting a smile on your face.
“Now actually we should discuss that now, you are the one who says that when there is a problem, we have to discuss it, let’s do that.”
“Yeah, but when you are calm, ready to talk without your feelings interfering and risking saying things you don’t mean.”
“I am calm and ready to talk” he insisted visibly growing upset. You nodded and sighed frustratedly. There was no point arguing and you didn’t want to deal with him being angry for such a flutily, so you let him speak. You weren’t really listening carefully to what he was saying considering that he just needed to let some stuffs out because he was stressed. You were sure that he would apologize as soon as his crisis would be over so there was no point in taking to heartedly what he was saying. You didn’t want to ignore him, but it was easier that way, else you would probably be hurt by some words he pronounced without thinking. “Are you even listening to me?!!” he snapped at you while you were lost in your own thoughts. You winced trying to find a way to explain why you were not very into what he was saying without upsetting him even more.
“I…No I don’t really listen. But look Pete you are annoyed and half of the things you are saying, you will regret them later so…”
“You must be fucking kidding me!!! How can you know that I will regret them if you don’t even listen to them! You know what it proves, it proves that you don’t care about how I feel or why, that you don’t give a fuck about me!!”
“No, it is not like that!” you exclaimed trying to make your point.
“Stop trying to make yourself look like the nice guy while I am the bad one!!! Fuck… I can believe you, from all the people I thought I could trust you!”
“But you can” you pleaded.
“No!! Visibly I can’t but I should not be surprise you can’t even seem to remember or care about what I can eat or no so I guess listening to my feelings is too much to ask!!” You opened your mouth to reply to that but he continued: “Maybe if it is too much you should leave, you would probably be happier without me, without pretending you love me, care about me. And I would also be happier, I would finally find someone for me!!” he yelled certainly not even knowing what he was saying, the stress, the anger he was feeling for days were taking the best of him.
Even if you knew that, you still never expected such words. You were astonished to say the least. You couldn’t even answer to that, you were still processing those hurtful words. After few seconds at looking silently at each other, it hit you, what he just said, what he meant. It took every ounce of courage you had to not cry in front of him and simply nod, leave the room silently. You went to your share bedroom and grabbed a bag, put some clothes in it with your toiletry bag. You sent a quick text to a friend of yours asking her to sleep at her place for the night and she accepted without questioning you further. When you crossed the living room to leave the place, you saw that Pete was still standing there, looking at the window. He was back at you. “I will come back in few days to get back the rest of my stuff” you stated, and he didn’t turn around. You put everything in the car and drove to your friend’s place.
When Pete heard the sound of your car driving way, he realized. He realized what he had just say, what it implied, how badly he had screwed up. He wanted to run to you but it was too late, you were gone and he didn’t even know where, he haven’t even seen your face one last time. This broke him and tears streamed down his face. What an idiot. You were right. Of course it wasn’t the moment to talk, of course the anxiety he was feeling was taking the best of him, of course you had nothing to do with all of this. He had been so unfair to you, during all your relationship you had cared, you had listened to him, you had made your best to make him feel better, good, you always had been careful about his feeling, you had been supportive of his decisions and involved in everything he had tried to do. He never thanked you, not really and the only time you were not listening because you were sure that he was not thinking straight, he had been an asshole. He wanted to make it up, he needed to apologize, he wanted to fix things, but he ignored where to start. He was crushed by the idea that it was definitely over, that he would never see you smile at him, wear his shirt, cook for him, play video games with him, falling asleep in his arms while watching movies… All those precious, treasured moments you shared would vanish and he would never be able to relive them.
He tried to recompose himself and called you, but he never reached anything else than your voicemail. The sole sound of your voice humming asking to leave a message was enough to make him sob again. He fell asleep that night crying while you did the same some miles away. Those few miles felt like the abyss between you, an abyss that none of you would be able to cross that night to join the other.
When you woke up the following morning, you had a lump in your throat, you felt sick. Your friends had made you a delicious breakfast to cheer you up and you smiled kindly at her. She didn’t pry in your intimacy last night, she did what she could to make you happier, gave you space and let you sleep while insisting that she was there in case you needed. You were so grateful to have her. As you were eating, you received a text from Pete, you were not sure if you wanted to open it or not, if you were brave enough to read it but you couldn’t avoid it. You would have to read it at some point so there was no need to put it to another moment. You were a bit shook by his words, expecting a breakup text, a date to pick up your remaining stuff. You couldn’t help but smile a bit at your screen: “I am so dumb, I am surely the dumbest dude in all New York, and I am sorry, I can’t apologize enough for my behavior. But please give me one last chance to talk to you, if you don’t want to see me after that I can understand but I want to apologize to you in person, you deserve it, you are amazing and that is the least I could do after all the hurt I caused.” You texted back a brief ok, thanked again your friend and drove back to your place. Your fingers were drumming nervously against the steering wheel.
To your surprise the front door wasn’t locked and then you remembered that you had left in such a rush that you hadn’t even taken the keys. As you took off your shoes, you heard Pete made his way to the entrance and you took a seconds or two to look at him. Judging by the enormous bag under in eyes you guessed he hadn’t had much sleep last night, his eyes were glossy giving you a clue on how he spent the night crying. He looked miserable and you presume that you looked the same. He approached you slowly like he was scared that you would reject him. When he realized that you were not angry at him but rather hurt, he internally felt like dying. He had always sworn to make you happy, laugh, to protect you and in the end, he was the precise reason you were pained. He rose his hand to help you to take your coat off and you noticed that his hand was shaking.
“I am that intimidating?” you humored him, and he smiled sadly at you. You then proceed to follow him in the living room, as you sat on the couch, he paced around the room. Your eyes followed him closely as he was moving, chewing on his lips, and playing with his sweatshirt. He eventually locked his eyes with yours and decided to sit down in the armchair in front of you.
“I am sorry, I fucked up immensely, I don’t even have words to tell you how sorry I am. What I did, what I told you, it was unspeakable, ignominious, and if you can’t forgive now or never, I would get it but sincerely I am sorry. I can even begin describe how much I feel like the worse for making you feel like this, to have accused you of things you never did. You always had been there for me, always, even in the harder moments, you had always tried to make me feel better when I am low, you spent hours listening to me and my struggles and the only thing I do is to tell you that you don’t do enough. Fuck, I am so stupid. I should have listened to you. I know apologize are not enough, I realize how badly I hurt you, how from the start I was an ass. You baked me something I like and because I am feeling bad, I take all my anger at you, this is fucked up I am sorry. My mental health is not an excuse for what I did to you, to treat you like this it was awful of me. I felt anxious and attacked at work, so I attack you and this behavior, my behavior it can not lead us anywhere except to our downfall. You don’t have to forgive, you don’t have to say anything, I would get it you know, I am just sorry.”
You brushed away a tear on your cheek, you felt like crying and you couldn’t pinpoint why. Maybe because you were really hurt, or because this apology seemed so sincere or simply because you couldn’t stand to see him like this considering that he had realized how cruel he had been. You stood up and took his hands in yours, enjoying their warmth. You let him engulf you in his arms, intoxicated by his scent while he buried his head in the crook of your neck.
“What you said yesterday, it stung me hard, but I am willing to forgive you, Pete. But I don’t want to relive that again, not in few days, not in months, not in years. I want this to make us stronger, we can use this to advance, to be better, okay?” you whispered as you pressed your head against his chest. You felt him tighten his grip on you as he murmured back “okay”.
450 notes · View notes
light-yaers · 3 years
Text
Sweet Escape: Chapter Seven
Poe Dameron x Reader
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Warnings: banterous flirting that may or may not crack your teeth, slight injury, alcohol, and OSCAR FUCKIN ISAAC
A/N: Honestly this is a bit of a filler, but I was having too much fun writing Poe and her's interactions that I simply couldn't stop. I didn't want to have such a large chapter, so I stuck with this little filler just for funzies. They do be getting closer doe....
Find the Masterpost here
Word Count - 2.5k
Chapter Seven: Blush
The first feeling upon gaining consciousness was ouch. Even opening your eyes made your muscles throb. The slow realisation that you were in the base’s med-bay, lying in a bed, came to you in waves. First, you let out an internal groan. Then, you let out an actual groan, as you tried to hoist yourself up to a sitting position.
Your body objected, rushing your limbs with an aching sort of pain that felt like you’d been training for 48 straight hours, but nevertheless you managed to sit up. The bay was quiet and collected, like a library, and only a few beds were actually occupied.
You felt her before you even saw her—Leia strolled round the corner then, eyes fixing upon you instantly. She gave you immediate comfort, despite your internal bruising and the anxiety that had started to bubble within your gut when you thought about what you’d just done.
The cat was out of the hypothetical bag. Your Force abilities weren’t just known now; you’d given the base an entire fucking demonstration. Brilliant.
“That was quite a show,” Leia said as she approached your bedside. You gave her a tired and half-hearted smile. “Thank you,” she added, and the seriousness in her voice was apparent. You nodded at her in response, not yet knowing what you could even say.
There was a silence that radiated from her—an intelligent and knowing quiet that told you all you needed to know; if you hadn’t of done what you did, many would have died. The base would have been all but destroyed.
“Are you okay?” she asked then, trickling her kind words over you softly.
“I feel like I’ve been punched all over my body, repeatedly,” you let out. A small scoff burst from her lips.
“I understand. The Force takes a lot out of you,”
“You could say that again,” you replied, testing out the movement of your arms. You stretched them out slowly, and your elbows clicked noisily. “Is everyone okay?”
“Some are more shaken up than others, but everyone’s just fine. Thanks to you,” Leia said, raising her brows at you in understanding. “Dameron’s waiting outside,” she added, causing you to whip your gaze to her suddenly. You let out a groan in pain as you brought a hand to rest on your stiff neck.
“Dameron?” you winced. Leia only nodded.
“I’ve never seen him be so proactive. He carried you here after you collapsed,”
You looked to your lap, overcome by a feeling half-way between wanting to vomit, and wanting to smile. Sure, you’d just revealed your gift and saved the damn Resistance, but you’d fainted afterwards—embarrassment wasn’t something that you dealt with well, as much as you shouldn’t have cared.
“Great,” you whispered to yourself. Leia let out another comforting chuckle, before placing a reassuring and gentle hand on your shoulder. You looked at her then, not even trying to cover up the absolute fear and anxiety on your face. Leia could feel your Force; she would have known your true feelings even if you had the strength to try and hide it from your expression.
“Shall I tell him to come back later?” she asked, but you were already shaking your head.
“No, no. He can see me,” the confidence in your tone was more prominent than you’d expected it to be, but maybe it was because it was him. It wasn’t Heidi or Lynx, who, as much as you liked them, were still closed books. Poe, though—
You already shared a room. What was one more?
Leia left after giving you a small nod. You took the few seconds it took her to leave the med-bay to mentally prepare yourself. You needed a nap, or ten naps, and you needed to keep it together. You’d never used your Force this way, nor had you been expecting to. The entire situation was a lot to take in.
But everyone was fine. You were fine. And that’s all that mattered.
Poe bound in before you could even slide yourself up the bed to lean against the wall. The first thing you noted about him was his expression; it wasn’t what you’d been expecting. His eyes were wide, his brow dotted with sweat, his shoulders hunched and tense and rigid. Maker forbid, the pilot was scared.
He grabbed a chair on his way over and sat down on it immediately, tucking himself in next to your bed as you fumbled with sitting.
“I’m fine, Dameron,” you said, as an involuntary chuckle escaped your lips.
“You sure?” he questioned, just double-checking. You nodded at him firmly, and then he visibly relaxed. He let out a large sigh of relief, leaning back in his chair and wiping his forehead with the sleeve of his jacket. “Had us worried there,”
“Had you worried,” you replied, shooting him a smile. It felt good.
“Hey, you’re the one that blacked the fuck out,” he let out, and you bit on your tongue as a wave of anxiety rushed through your gut. Dameron’s demeanour changed then, as an understanding settled onto his face. “Why didn’t you tell me you could use the Force?”
You swallowed uncomfortably, knowing that he’d obviously have questions. “Don’t take it personally. I haven’t told anyone before,”
“Why?” he repeated, looking at you with those big pretty boy eyes and delving deep into your damn soul. You didn’t realise just how hard it would be, being put in this position, but it was your own doing. You’d chosen to act.
“It was always easier to keep it a secret, okay? I wasn’t planning to ever use it in front of any of you, but—,” the breath hitched in the back of your throat as the image of the hurtling TIE hit your mind.
“The TIE followed Green-Two through hyperspace. It got hit and entered the atmosphere,” Poe explained. “They didn’t have time to realise what was happening and destroy it from the sky,”
“Yeah,” you replied, feeling overexposed and vulnerable and all of the feelings that you hated.
Your brain pelted thoughts at you then, as you tried to keep it together. It told you that everyone would look at you differently, even though you were all fighting for the same thing. It told you that you’d only become the brunt of another joke, that everything you despised about cadet life like this would be all-encompassing.
It told you that pilots would look at you like you had an unfair advantage; like you didn’t work to become as skilled as you were. It told you that Poe would think the same.
You fiddled with your fingers as Poe’s stare stayed glue to the side of your face. You didn’t want him to see that you were almost trembling, so you sucked it up. You forced yourself to perk up, to put on a blunt face, to ignore how close to screaming you were.
“I understand if you choose to take me off Black squadron,” you said plainly. Poe’s expression changed quicker than you could blink.
“Why the hell would I take you off my squad?” he replied. His squad.
“Unfair advantage and all that shit. Like I cheated or something,” you replied. Poe shifted in his chair and clenched his jaw.
“Did you use the Force on rank day?” he asked plainly. You immediately furrowed your brows at him, slightly angry.
“Fuck no. I don’t use it when piloting. I never usually use it—,”
“Then why the fuck would you take you off my squad, Ten?” he repeated, sterner this time. You let his words sink through your skin as you focused on calming your raging emotions. You were torn between kicking a wall, throwing a chair or crying on the floor like a baby. All three options sounded appealing to you.
“Even if you did use the Force to fly, I wouldn’t change your rank,” he added. “You’re a fucking good pilot. That shit can’t be learned just because you possess the Force. Unfair advantage my ass, Ten,”
The blush crept into your cheeks before you had the chance to look away. Poe’s lips curled into a small smirk—his most punchable expression. You had to speak away the tension before it consumed you.
“Can you go back to teasing me or horrendously hitting on me, now? All this mushy stuff is insufferable. It’s not like I fucking died,” you let out, trying to subvert his gaze away from your blotched cheeks. This was the second time the pilot had made you blush today—you didn’t want it to become a fucking daily occurrence.
You froze when Poe’s fingers reached out and touched your face. Your stare was upon him in an instant, watching the gentle way his eyes looked from cheek to cheek.
“I call you a good pilot once and you start blushing, huh?” he said lowly, sensually.
He was doing it on fucking purpose.
The redness of your face immediately elevated, but you’d grabbed his wrist and twisted his arm within seconds of taking in his words. He yelped in pain as you twisted his arm over the bed, causing him to stand from the chair and lean forward as you jerked him painfully.
That’s when you grabbed him by the collar, pulling his face close to your own and shooting him with a stare that only communicated one thing—death.
“If you want to keep this pretty boy face then I suggest you tread carefully, Dameron,” you said unapologetically, ignoring the pain in your limbs. Poe started to relax more now that your grip wasn’t on his arm. Hell, maybe he fucking enjoyed being threatened this way, because the smirk didn’t wipe off of his face at all.
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re hot when you’re angry?” he said it as clear as day with no hesitation.
You dropped him immediately, causing his upper body to whack onto the mattress and spring back into his chair. He fell back into the chair and almost twisted onto the floor, but he regained his balance as chuckles fell from his lips boyishly. “Hey, you asked for this,” he said, raising his arms defensively at the unamused look on your face.
You pinched the bridge of your nose quickly, clamping your eyes shut as the hammering heartbeat beneath your ribs all but consumed you. “You—you—,”
“I really rile you up, don’t I?” Poe cut you off, crossing his arms smugly as you started to calm down slightly. You composed yourself as best as you could, not removing your angry stare from his pretty boy face. He thrived off of this, that much was certain. But it was true—you had just asked for it.
You just hadn’t expected reacting this way when your guards weren’t all the way up. There was something about being here with Poe, alone, after knowing that he’d been the one to place you on this bed himself, that hit you harder than you’d ever fucking admit.
These weeks hadn’t exactly been easy; being in the Resistance was literally the hardest job in the galaxy; but Poe had been a constant that you were only now realising. He was there when you went to bed, he was there when you woke up. His smug face was there whenever the subject of sex arose, or whenever he was ready to push your buttons, but his anger and rage was there whenever someone crossed you, as well.
Maker, it was almost like he cared.
And you weren’t used to that. You weren’t used to that at all.
Apparently, all of your thoughts had just made themselves known through your face, as Poe let out a soft scoff, eating up your expression.
“I’ll take that as a yes. What can I say? There’s no one like me,” he spoke so easily, so happily and upbeat. You could tell he was just trying to tease you more, but he was right.
“There is no one like you,” you repeated his words, jaw clenched. It wasn’t a compliment, and he knew that.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Poe said, waving his hand in the air. He leaned forward then, perking a brow at you questioningly, overly confident to the point that you were almost jealous of how open he was. “Does this mean there’s a tiny, minuscule, microscopic part of you that actually likes me?”
You rolled your eyes immediately, as you began to twist your legs to dangle over the side of the mattress. You placed your feet on the floor gently, applying pressure to them to see if you could stand.
Poe stood quickly, pushing back the chair as he got out of your way. You stood, leaning against the bed for subtle support, but other than the aches and internal bruises in your muscles, you were just fine.
“Don’t hold your breath, Dameron,” you said, as you started to stroll towards the med-bay exit. Dameron was at your side, cautiously staying close while also somehow keeping his distance. He was hyper-vigilant to make sure you weren’t about to fall.
When you both reached the door, Poe gently took hold of your forearm. All prior playfulness was gone from his face. “Thank you, for stopping the TIE. A crash like that... it would have ruined us,” he said sincerely.
“We’re all fighting for the same thing,” you replied. “I’m glad I could be of service,”
He smiled at you genuinely, and you couldn’t stop the warm feeling in your gut from spreading all over your body. As much as he teased and toyed and you had this back and forth; somewhere between hatred and likeness and flirting and fighting; you were both fighting the same war, performing the same jobs, living the same life.
He nodded once, before the two of you made your way down the corridor slowly. He stayed at your pace, not complaining as you got used to your creaky and stiff limbs or winced at the way your body pulsed with every step.
“So, no chance of a beer tonight, then?” he spoke up, perking a brow at you. You perked one back at him as an unexpected smirk curled onto your lips.
“I exposed my Force abilities, moved a crashing TIE with my mind and blacked the fuck out today. I think I’ll take a fucking beer,” you said. Poe chuckled to himself and you couldn’t help it when you joined him.
Slowly, he brought his arm to wrap around your shoulders. He shoved you into his chest playfully, just once, before gently pushing you back and removing his grip from you. “That’s what I wanted to hear,”
You and Dameron headed for the dorm together, shoulders often swiping against each other. Tension still hovered in the air, but it was as if both of you were slowly getting used to it. Maybe that was something that should have been scary to you, but when your Force wrapped itself around Poe when you both entered your dorm, exposing the gentle and fond way he was thinking of you—
All you felt was peace.
@foxilayde @onceuponathreetwoone @ecuadorlady @voidmalfoy @20th-centu-fairy-girl @frickfrackpattywhacktictac @baueoud @300nightmare003 @lilitrth @salome-c @youre-a-wallflower-charlie
I know this chapter is a bit short, but when I tell you big these are coming then please believe me.... get ready. <3
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maddiwrites · 3 years
Text
Secret Lives (Part 2)
Paring: JJ Maybank x reader 
Summary: You and JJ never got along so your friends trap the two of you on a boat in the middle of the marsh to work it out. Only it doesn’t go as planned. (Part 2)
Note: I couldn’t be happier with the feedback I am getting from Part 1!! Thank you guys so much for helping me out and hanging on there with me as I figure all of this out! I’m so grateful for all the comments and messages and I am ready every single one! Now I saw a couple people asking to be a part of a tag list...so if someone could tell me how to set one of them up I would be more than happy to lol. I will tag the two people I’ve seen who asked to be tagged! But yeah, am I supposed to set something up for a tag list or do people just message me if they want to be tagged in my stuff? Someone let me know!! 
Word Count: 5.6k
Warnings: Language, angst, small parts of child abuse. 
Part 1
It’s been about two weeks since you’ve seen or talked to the Pogues. Everyday felt ten hours longer and the air felt thinner. You missed your friends. You missed surfing with John B, you missed debating about the accuracy of medical TV shows with Pope, you missed sleepovers with Kie, and yes, you even missed JJ. 
As much as you hated yourself for it, you knew you did the right thing. Staying with the Pogues would have caused more harm than good. It was clear as day that you and JJ would never get along because he didn’t like you and you weren’t going to stand around and be insulted by a guy you still can’t help but think about every single day. 
Every night, you pictured the hatred behind JJ’s blue eyes when he spoke about you being nothing but a spoiled brat who didn’t deserve his trust or your friendship with the other Pogues. Each word felt like an individual stab to the heart. You were use to people not liking you. The girls at your school hated you for not giving them the time of day, the boys threw hurtful remarks at you all the time after you rejected them. But they never hurt as much JJ’s. Because they didn’t come from the guy you loved. 
It didn’t matter how much JJ hated you. You couldn’t help but fall for his sparkling blue eyes, tan skin, and fluffy blonde hair. You swooned every time JJ laughed and smiled because you loved seeing him happy. You were turned on every time JJ stood up for one of your friends, threatening to fight whoever it was that was bothering them, even if it was an uptight Kook. You were silently heartbroken every time JJ told you and his friends about his sexcapade from the previous night.  You were concerned and personally infuriated when JJ would come to the Chateau with new sets of bruises without telling you where they came from because that little voice inside your head told you exactly where they were from. 
You loved him, and you hated that you loved him. 
But this was for the best. At least thats what you told yourself.
Kie didn’t agree though. She found you in your room the next day, ready to apologize for stranding you on a boat with JJ, but it just ended in another screaming match when you told her what happened. 
“So just like that? You’re gonna leave?” She yelled. 
“I can’t do it anymore, Kie! He doesn’t want me there, and I am so sick and tired of trying to get him to like me.”
“What about John B and Pope? What about me? You’re our friend too!”
“We can still hangout -”
“Without JJ? That’s so unfair!”
“He hates me, Kie! How would you like it if I forced you to hang out with Sarah Cameron, huh?”
“That’s not the same.”
“Its the exact fucking same, and you know it!”
Kie ended up storming out of your room, neither one of you feeling any sort of peace or satisfaction with your decision. You haven’t talked to her since, and you contemplated calling her every day. 
But you never do.
The alarm you set on your phone blared in your ear from the pillow next to your head - a reminder that you needed to leave to pick up your father. You slapped the touch screen of your phone until the stupid alarm turned off. The last place you wanted to be was anywhere outside of your room. The thought of being with you father, the man you continued to blame for all your problems, filled you with self-hatred. You hated how easily he was able to manipulate you to help him, making you and your mother out to be the bad guys. He used Andrew’s wealth as a guilt trip for you, saying that since you didn’t do anything to deserve his money, the least you could do was help him out because you and your mother left him with absolutely nothing. And you fall for it. You fall for it every single time because he says you use to be daddy’s little girl - that he had big plans for the two of you when you were old enough to learn life’s pleasures. Little did you know his biggest life pleasures had always been drugs, alcohol, and gambling.
You tied your hair up in a messy bun and bounced down the stairs. Swiftly, grabbing the car keys to your new Mercedes Andrew bought you for your sixteenth birthday, you sped walked past your little sister who tried showing you a new trick that she taught your maltese puppy.
“Look, Y/N/N!”
“Not now, Gracie,” You huffed. 
As you drove through the Cut, you couldn’t help but keep a lookout for your Pogues.  You tried not to slam on the brakes every time you caught a glimpse of blonde hair or swerve when you saw a guy John B’s height carrying a surfboard. 
You honked your horn twice when you pulled up to your dad’s shitty apartment. After no longer being able to pay his mortgage after your mom left him, he had no choice but to move into the cheapest apartment in OBX. He always tried telling you that was your fault too. 
A few minutes later, he walked out, looking like he hasn’t showered in days or knows how to change his socks.
He slid into the passenger seat with a grunt, barely passing you a second glance. “You’re late.” He said. 
You stayed quiet, knowing that anything you said would only piss him off even more since you weren’t in the mood to put up with his antics.
You drove him to his drug dealer’s house, parking outside of the one story home that looked like it was rotting from the inside out. Your dad made you take him here a couple times. Every time you stayed in the car. But today, your father had something different planned.
“Come on,” He said.
“What?” You looked at him with your brows pinched together in confusion. 
“I need you inside.”
“No, no, no, no. That wasn’t the deal.”
“Well it is now, so let’s go.” His voice was stern through his clenched teeth, his eyes unblinking. You stared at him for a long second, debating whether fighting with him was worth it. 
Without another word, you reluctantly opened your door and followed your dad into the house. It smelled like B.O and marijuanna, just like how you pictured a frat house would. Pots, pans, and plates were filled to the brim of the sink. A moldy meal that looked a couple days old sat at the round table tucked in the corner. 
Your dad lead you into the living room where three other men were sitting. Well two men and one boy you recognized immediately. You swallowed your nerves as they all turned to look at your dad, then you.
“What’d you bring me, today, Jerry?” The guy with the long black hair tied in a low bun looked at you like you were fresh meat. 
You took a small step closer to your dad, ironically looking at him for some kind of protection. You didn’t trust any of these men in this room. You didn’t care if they were your father’s friends. They were men who made poor life choices and you didn’t know how far they could take it.
You looked over at Rafe Cameron, who compared to these guys, looked like a lost kid in a carnival. He was sporting a black eye and jaw. He looked both shocked and scared to see you here, probably worried that you would torment his reputation by letting everyone know how he really spends his weekdays when he’s not partying on his daddy’s boat. Little did he know, he had just enough blackmail to use against you too. 
“This is my daughter, Y/N,” Your dad introduced you. “Y/N, this is Barry.”
Barry looked you up and down and smirked. “You look like you a part of Country Club’s world.” By the way he was pointing his thumb back at the Kook, you figured that was his nickname for Rafe.
“She is,” Your father answered for you. “Remember when you said you didn’t trust me to come up with enough money to pay you back for my blow? This is proof that I got it. That I’ll always have it.”
Bile rose up your throat and your heart twisted in your chest. Is this how your dad thought of you? An open wallet? 
Of course it is, you thought. 
Barry nodded, impressed that someone like you came from a man like your father. “Well, take a seat. Can I offer you anything? Beer? Soda? Maybe a whiff?” He pointed to the white line on his clear coffee table.
“No. Thank you.” You said slowly before looking up at your father. “I didn’t bring any cash...”
“Don’t worry sweetheart. I paid out this time - used the check you sent me for my water bill. But now Barry knows he can trust me with his shit - that I wasn’t lying about you.”
“Maybe you can help Country Club pass my shit around. You’ll get a nice discount if you do...and maybe something else,” Barry looked at you suggestively. 
“Don’t scare her off, dude, she just got here.” The other man said. He extended his arm out for you to shake his hand. “I’m Luke Maybank.”
In that moment, it felt like the whole world stopped turning. You stared at the man in front of you, drinking in all his features and matching them to JJ’s. Same blue eyes, sharp jaw line, and a perfect nose. You looked down at his hand as you hesitantly shook it. Dirty, dry, scuffed. You remembered the days and nights that JJ would limp into the Chateau. He would blame it on the Kooks but the details in his story never stuck, like he couldn’t remember them with each person he told.
“Maybank?” You repeated.
“Yeah,” He narrowed his eyes. “Do I know you?”
“I was friends with your son.” Just like that, you went from being nervous to being angry. You hated this man more than you’re own father. JJ didn’t deserve the beatings and the abuse from the man in front of you. He was nothing but a deadbeat dad who didn’t know how good his son really was to him. 
“I would have remembered a pretty face like yours.”
“He never brought me around your house,” You looked at Luke Maybank from his shoes to his face. He was wearing jeans with dirt stains on them, a fitted white tank underneath a grey and blue flannel that was ripped by the cuffs around his wrists. The bags under his eyes were as dark as the bruise on Rafe’s face and his chin was in need of a shave. “Wonder why.” You couldn’t stop the sarcasm that dripped from your tongue.
You wished you could say more, or spit in his face, or kick him where it hurts. You weren’t afraid of what would happen to you, but how he would take it out on JJ if you did.
You looked up at your dad. “I’ll wait in the car.”
You quickly walked out of the house, immediately taking in a deep breath of fresh air. Before you could hide away in the front seat of your car, Rafe called out for you to stop.
You turned, only because you didn’t know what he wanted.
“What?” You said.
“Tell your boys this isn’t over. They’re not going to get away with -”
“I’m sorry. What are you talking about?”
“The Pogues. They sunk Topper’s 2020 Malibu, 24-MXC.”
At least now you have an idea as to where his bruises came from. “Is that suppose to mean something to me?”
Rafe smirked. “I forgot. You’re not a natural born Kook.”
“And yet you and I are standing in the same douchebag’s yard. What a coincidence.”
Rafe sneered at you. If this were a cartoon, steam would be coming out of his ears. “Just tell them.”
When Rafe turned to walk back into Barry’s home, you called out to him. “How do you know it was them?” Rafe turned around. “What’s your proof?” He didn’t answer immediately, and you watched him wrack his brain for some bullshit lie, which gave you all the answers you needed. “I’m guessing there isn’t any but you think it was them because you gave them a good reason to sink Topper’s 2020 Mailbu, 24-MXC. A boat I know is the finest wake setter and number one in luxury, quality, and performance.” The only reason you knew that was because JJ would say it every time Topper and Sarah would cruise by you on the HMS Pogue, and the look on Rafe’s face made it worth every second having to listen to JJ repeat that almost every week.
If Rafe wanted to respond, he couldn’t, because your dad was now walking towards you with a mean mug on his face.
Before you could say anything, the back of your dad’s hand whipped you across the face. His wedding ring, the one he refused to take off for eighteen years, caught on the corner of your mouth, splitting your bottom lip.
Rafe jumped back, startled, and you bit back a scream. Your thumb skimmed over your lip, blood coating your finger. 
“Don’t embarrass me like that again. Got it?” You dad glared down at you.
“Sir...” Rafe’s voice shook with unease. If you weren’t silently shaking with shame, you would have been surprised that Rafe even said anything at all. 
“Trust me, kid. You don’t wanna get in between a quarrel between a dad and their kid,” Luke Maybank smirked as he made his way to his own truck that was parked in front of yours. 
You glared at the back window of the car, now shaking with both shame and anger. You knew there was nothing else you could do to change the way Luke treated his son. You knew you couldn’t stop him from hurting JJ. 
But it shouldn’t matter. Because JJ wasn’t your problem anymore.
                                                  ***************
The next morning your mom made you run her errands for her. A trip to the Cleaners to pick up Andrew’s suits, the pet store for dog food and treats, and lastly to Heyward's because, according to Gracie, he sells the best hot dogs she’s ever had. 
You were trembling with nerves as you stalked through the aisles. You kept your head down, focusing on finding everything on your mother’s list as quickly as possible so you could get the hell out of there. When you went to check out, Mr. Heyward studied you but didn’t say anything. Lord knows what Pope told him. You wouldn’t be surprised if he charged you extra just to make a point. 
“Thank you,” You said as he handed you the brown paper bag. 
He nodded silently. 
As you walked out of the store, you’re faced with three out of your four friends that you dreaded seeing. They were huddled together, whispering and bickering about something. When they heard the bell above the door chime, they all looked up at you. The four of you stood there like you had all just gone brain dead. Your mouth dried up and you forgot how to speak. 
Pope looked surprised to see you, like a ghost he wasn’t expecting to see. Kie looked glum, and you remembered your last conversation. You didn’t know what you were now. You couldn’t read JJ’s expression. His eyes are casted down on your face. He was staring at your lips. Your beautiful soft pink lips he’s dreamt about kissing for years. Now they were tainted and he was dying to know how, so he could wrap his hands around that bastard’s neck and set him straight. 
“Hi...” You said softly. You didn’t know what else to say. 
No one else had a chance to speak because the piercing noise of a police siren cut through the awkward tension. Officer Shoupe got out of his car and started approaching Pope of all people. 
"Morning Officer,” Pope said nervously.
Shoupe acted like he didn’t hear him. “I have an arrest warrant for felony of destruction of property.”
You instantly thought back to what Rafe said to you yesterday. Topper’s boat. How they’re not going to get away with it. 
You watched Shoupe with wide eyes as he told Pope to put his hands up. “Hands where I can see them.” Kie tried blocking Shoupe from getting any closer to Pope. “Young lady, out of my way.”
Heyward walked out of his shop when he heard the commotion. “You arresting my boy?”
Shoupe didn’t answer and forcefully pulled Pope’s hands behind his back. 
“Be careful!” Kie screamed at him. 
Everyone started screaming at Shoupe, trying to get him away from the boy who didn’t deserve this. Pope had a future ahead of him. One that didn’t involve relying on his parents money to get. He was a hard worker, stayed out of trouble, and even had a scholarship interview in a couple weeks that will be his one way ticket off this island. He couldn’t go to jail. It would ruin him. 
Your head started ringing as the people in front of you moved in slow motion. Rafe’s words repeated in your head - more importantly the words he didn’t say. He hesitated when you asked how they knew it was your friends. Because he didn’t know for sure. 
“Stop!” You screamed louder than anyone else, causing everyone to pause in their movements. Your friends looked at you with wide eyes and Shoupe narrowed his in suspicion. “Pope didn’t do it.” You couldn’t stop yourself from doing what you were about to do, but you knew it was better than Pope getting pushed down to the station. “I did it.”
“Y/N...” JJ started to say softly, but you cut him off. 
“You’re here for the Thornton’s sunken boat, right?” You continued, knowing that if you proved with some details that you were there, Shoupe would have no choice but to take you instead of Pope. “Pope didn’t do it. He wasn’t even with me when I did it.”
Shoupe shook his head. “Y/N, you don’t want to cover for -”
“I’m not covering. I was sick and tired of Topper and his friends always taking advantage of my friends, who do nothing but work their asses off to make sure families like mine can prop their perfectly painted toes up on some beach chairs and do nothing but lay in the sun all day. So I hit Topper where it hurt with something so replaceable as a boat because I know money is all that matters to that family.”
“Y/N, what the hell are you doing?” JJ said through clenched teeth. 
You shrugged. “What? I’m just telling the truth.” You took a deep breath and glanced at JJ one last time before focusing back on Shoupe. “You know my dad, Shoupe. And you know I’m not talking about Andrew. I mean, my real dad.” 
You tried to act like you didn’t just spill your biggest secret to really sell your story. You pretended like the eyes of all your friends weren’t burning holes in your head. 
Shoupe used to be the officer that would frequently visit your home when you lived with your dad. Neighbors would call the cops on your family a lot because the screaming got to be too much. Without your mom pressing charges, there was nothing he could do. 
“Yeah. Yeah, I know your dad,” Shoupe said softly, like he felt sorry for you that he knew exactly what you were talking about. 
“I guess I inherited his temper.”
“What?” Kie’s voice broke and tears started cascading down her cheeks. You forced yourself not to look at her. 
“I know you don’t have any proof that Pope did it. There’s no cameras posted around the Thornton’s dock.” You knew that because Sarah made you hang out with their friends a couple of times on that boat. “And there were no witnesses.” You were banking on Rafe’s reaction for this one. “So I’m guessing the Thornton’s, most likely the Mrs., paid you or something to make the arrest. But I don’t think the Sheriff would appreciate you taking someone who you have no evidence against in instead of someone confessing to the crime right to your face.”
You didn’t blink when you stared Officer Shoupe down, challenging him to go against you and fight his way to Pope. But both of you knew he couldn’t take Pope after this. 
“Is this true?” Shoupe looked at Pope.
“Yes -”
“Not you! I’m asking Pope,” Shoupe snapped, glaring at you. You knew you just ruined his entire day. 
Pope looked at you for some kind of answer. You tried subtly nodding your head, telling him it’s okay to agree. You wanted him to say it was true. 
You didn’t know what was coming next for you, but you knew you could handle it. You didn’t know if Pope could.
“Yes, sir,” Pope said.
JJ felt like he was punched in the gut. He didn’t want Pope to go to jail, but he sure as hell didn’t want you going there either. He wanted to tell you he was sorry, that he was an idiot, that he tried not to love you but failed. He knew he treated you like shit and he pushed you away. Yet here you were, still taking bullets for each of them. 
Shoupe nodded and began reading your Miranda Rights. You handed Heyward your groceries and said, “I’ll have someone pick these up.”
“Wait!” JJ tried calling out to you as Shoupe helped you into the back seat of his car. “Wait! No!”
You kept your head down as Shoupe drove away, only looking up when you knew you were at least a mile away from your friends. 
As Shoupe closed the door to a room where you were to wait to be interrogated, you smiled to yourself. Your mom was going to be pissed, you were about to get in a shit load of trouble, and the Pogues still may never talk to you again, but you knew you just saved Pope’s entire future - the one he deserved more than anything. 
And you were proud of yourself for that.
                                                   ***************
Of course Mrs. Thornton didn’t want you to go to jail. She wanted about $30,000 of restitution money to make up for it. You rolled your eyes when you heard that. All that family cares about is money. You knew she probably didn’t even care about the boat in the first place. 
Your mom screamed at you the entire ride back to your house. She took your phone and TV away and threatened to homeschool you for the next school year. Your mom was strict but her punishments never lasted long. She usually caved somewhere in the first week. You think its because she thinks your childhood was punishment enough and that behavior like this was to be expected because of it. You tried not to get that mentality stuck in your head, but sometimes you could get yourself into some trouble here and there. 
Another part of your punishment was to do the yard work around the house. Andrew had already written you a list by the time your mom forced you to wake up at 6 a.m.
You couldn’t even be mad at the punishment. Mulching the yard was the least you could do. Andrew even planned on paying the Thornton’s back if you worked for him for free the rest of the summer. 
It was about mid morning when a car pulled up your driveway. You felt like the wind was just knocked out of you when you noticed the junky Volkswagen van park. 
JJ hopped out of the Twinkie and walked in your direction. You didn’t know what to do. Were you supposed to say hi and pretend like nothing ever happened between you two? Would you go back to bickering? You looked down at your body and was mortified at what you were wearing. Although it was only some black leggings and a white tank top, you were covered in dirt and sweat, and reeked of cow manure, which you knew was what mulch was made out of. 
You tried pushing away the butterflies that swarmed your stomach when JJ stood next to you. You turned to look at him, unsure of what to say. You hated that he had this effect on you. Usually you were quick witted and were able force any kind of small talk. I mean, you were a Kook now after all. But this felt different. You didn’t want to have small talk with JJ. You wanted to really know him. His past, his now, his future. You didn’t want to be tongue tied. 
“Hey,” He said softly.
“Hi,” You wiped the sweat off your forehead with the back of your gloved hand. You glanced back at the van, waiting for one of your other friends to appear. “What are you doing here?”
“You weren't answering your phone and I got worried,” JJ sheepishly tucked his hand in his pockets and had a hard time of meeting your eyes. 
Ever since you mentioned a dad with a bad temper, JJ couldn’t stop thinking the worst for you. When you weren’t answering your phone, he wondered if he had done something to hurt you. The thought made him so sick with anxiety, he drove to your house to make sure you were all right.
“Yeah, my mom took my phone away. Turns out she doesn’t like it when her daughter gets arrested.” You tried to joke. “Why were you worried?”
JJ finally looked at you again. “What happened to your lip?”
You coughed from the unexpected question. You reactively bit your bottom lip and looked away. “I uh, fell on Sarah’s boat the other day.”
“Y/N...” JJ said softly and touched your elbow to make you look at him. 
“What, JJ?” You snapped, turning to look at him with a glare. He probably put two and two together the second you mentioned your dad yesterday in front of him. Just like you did when you met Luke Maybank. You hated that you had this in common with the blonde Pogue, but you also knew he could be someone you could confide in, which is something you never had. “Why do you care? Just because you know about my dad now doesn’t make us friends.”
“I was wrong, okay? I was wrong about you, Y/N.”
You scoffed, “I have an asshole for a dad, JJ. Nothing else has changed.”
“I was the biggest dick to you. You tried every day to be my friend and I pushed you away. And I’m sorry. The truth is, I don’t like change and I don’t trust people because my dad -” JJ paused and looked away towards the road, unable to meet your eyes. 
“Because your dad’s just like my dad,” You said, making his head snap back to you. “I met your dad the other. It turns out they have the same drug dealer.”
“You met my dad?” JJ’s eyes went wide.
“Yeah.”
“Did you...”
“I didn’t say anything other than how we use to be friends. But trust me, there was a hell of a lot more I wanted to say.”
JJ nodded and rubbed the back of his neck. “Listen, you were right. I didn’t take the chance to get to know you because I was afraid that I would like you a lot more than I wanted to, and then you would realize you were too good for us...for me. So I pushed you away. I tried hating you so you would hate me too. But truth is, I never hated you. I could never hate you. You’re smart, funny, kind, beautiful...” Your eyes flickered up to meet his and you noticed a pink hue running up his neck, which probably matched the one on your cheeks. “I’ve always thought that. And I don’t care about where you came from. You could have been born and raised a Kook or you could have been homeless your entire life. Nothing could ever change my opinion of you. I like you, Y/N. And I miss you. The Pogues miss you and they hate me and I hate me too because I drove you away. And I’m so sorry.”
You couldn’t tell if this was a dream or not, but you weren’t going to mess this up, even if it was a dream. Because JJ was standing in front of you, telling you he missed you and that he wanted you back with him and his friends, and you’d be a fool not to take him up on that because you missed them too and you were miserable without them.
“I miss you too, JJ.”
JJ smile grew wide at your words and for a second, you thought he was going to jump up and down and cheer. “Really? You don’t hate me?”
You shook your head. “I never hated you, JJ. I never could.”
“You should.”
“No. I shouldn’t. I get why you didn’t want me around. I’m a Kook now and I was being shady when I tried hiding my dad from the rest of you. You were just protecting your friends.”
“Turned out they weren’t the ones who needed protecting,” JJ said softly.
You shook your head. “I don’t need protecting.”
“Why do you still see him if you live here now?”
“It’s complicated.”
JJ reluctantly nodded. He hated that this was a part of your life he couldn't exert himself into just yet. He had to earn that. He needed you to trust him first before you let him into such a vulnerable part of your life. But he understood that. He understood that more than anybody. 
But he was going to make sure John B kept his eyes on you. JJ knew you two were close.
“I won’t push you to tell me. But you can talk to me about it. I won’t judge you.”
“Thanks, JJ,” You said graciously. People say that all the time. You can talk to me. For the most part you never believe them. You think its just something people say to make them sound sincere. But with JJ it was different. You believed every word.
“Just promise me if you see him again to take someone with you. Like John B or something.”
“Okay,” You said. You didn’t know if you meant it because all you could think about was that JJ cared enough about you to be worried. 
“Okay...” JJ said awkwardly. “So we’re good? Friends?”
Your heart cracked at the ‘F’ word but you knew you were crazy to hope for anything else. You were lucky enough to even get called a friend. You bit down on your bottom lip as your grinned and nodded. “Friends.”
“Good,” JJ nodded. “So, I’ll see you soon?”
“Yeah, I’ll see you soon.”
“Okay...” JJ clapped his hands in front of him nervously. “Good. Then I’m just gonna...”
“Yeah, I should probably get back to...” You pointed back to the mulch.
“Bye, Sassy.”
You turned back to the mulch in your wheelbarrow and bit back the urge to squeal in delight, at least until the van pulled out of your driveway again. 
“Actually you know what?” JJ said, making you turn around. He was walking back over to you with a determined look on his face. “Screw friends.” 
“What -”
Before you could process what was happening, JJ cupped your cheeks and smashed his lips against yours. You instantly kissed him back and pulled him closer to you by fisting your hands into his shirt. The butterflies in your body transformed into a stampeded and your heart was hammering against your rib cage. 
You’ve kissed so many other guys before, but this one felt different. There was a passion behind this one - a meaning that felt so deep it could only be explained through actions. Kissing JJ felt right, like you had done this hundreds of times before. 
JJ pulled away first and rested his forehead against yours, his eyes trained on your swollen lips. His breath hit your face and your legs went weak in the knees. 
“I’ve wanted to do that for about two years.” He said.
“What took you so long?” You said, your eye lashes fluttered up to look at him.
“I didn’t know what I had until it was gone,” JJ said, looking up at you. He pulled away to look you in the eyes. “I love you, Y/N. And I understand if you don’t feel the same way but - “
You pulled him in for another kiss as fireworks exploded in your head. You didn’t want to let go of this moment. You couldn't believe that everything you wanted was happening.
“I love you too.”
JJ’s eyes lit up like lights on a Christmas tree as did his smile that widened with each second. He picked you up by your waist and spun you around. You giggled above him and beamed down at him. You’ve never felt this happy in your entire life.
When he set you down, he kissed you again. “Say it again.”
You pulled him in close enough for your faces to be nose to nose. “I. Love. You. JJ Maybank.”
JJ shook his head and chuckled. “Unbelievable.”
He kissed you again, and you didn’t care if you didn’t get the yard work done in time because you fulfilled your duty as a Kook. You officially have everything you could ever want. 
And you wouldn’t have it any other way.
Tags: @allycat449-blog @zarahsloves
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bonny-kookoo · 3 years
Text
Ready Player 01 | JJK x Reader | 🔞❤️☁️
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Pairing: Jeon Jungkook x Reader
Genre: dystopia!AU, former Game developer!Jk, former pro gamer!JK, former IT specialist!Reader, former programmer!Reader, romance, Smut, slight cyberpunk elements
Warnings/tags: injustice, forcefully controlled public, violence (police/government officials against citizens), unfair powerplay, interrogation, tech talk, Jungkook be antisocial as FUCK but so is the reader lmao wbk, fear of physical contact (Haphephobia), past trauma and mentions of a bad childhood, insomnia, crime, smut because yes it’s me hello my content isn't kiddy-proof in the first place what yall want from me I'm not sure, but that’s waaY at the end ya know, friends to lovers, a slightly sassy AI but we love her, reader struggles with emotions, I mean same tbh, they're both so sweet tho I cant, not proofread because let me live
Summary: there’s a war going on; silent, but it’s there. Media has been strictly become controlled and regulated- to the point of making it illegal to own a TV or phone with internet access without a valid license. But there’s always some people that will try to break free from the controlling force.
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"-a new age. This is a new year. And remember; we're doing this for the greater good. Until tomorrow." The news reporter stops talking after she somberly looks somewhere behind the camera that is pointed at her.
Your room is dark- the TV brightness on it's lowest setting so you can see what's going on- but outside, no one can see the light shining in your tiny apartment. Investing in blackout curtains had really paid off at the end of the day.
You don't want to get caught.
There's an announcement van driving past your window; the tiny slits in your curtains where the light from outside can creep its way inside brightening a bit as the headlights pass your windows. Something is spoken, and by now everyone knows the routine speech.
"Electricity will be shut down in five minutes. We advice to save all progress immediately- and we wish a good nights rest. Electricity will be shut down in five minutes..-" It repeats, over and over, counting down the minutes. You slowly move into your kitchen, opening one of the loose floor tiles to turn on your own emergency electricity system. With well practiced movements you close the tile again, moving the rug over it as you walk back into your living room, swiftly sliding the TV behind your wardrobe to make it disappear. As if on cue; there's a knock at your door.
The same as always. Routine. Two times, loud and clear. You don't even have to look through the peephole to know what awaits behind it.
"Yes?" You ask, rubbing your eyes as if you had been already asleep. The officer behind the door nods at you shortly, a mild smile on his face as he looks down at you.
"We didn't mean to wake you miss. Just routine, as usual." He says, peeking into your apartment to look for any electronics still running. It's pitch black however- so he simply nods, as his colleague notes something into his tablet. "We wish a good nights rest miss. Again, sorry for intruding." He apologizes, and you nod, closing the door.
Only when the street lights turn dark, do you move from your bed.
"Creator." The AI voice chimes up, her voice greeting you as as you lift the tile on the floor again- your phone connecting to the AI to show information you instantly decode and note down inside your head. "Player01 has just connected." The voice states, and you sit down on your cold kitchen flooring, smiling a little. "He has sent a message. Would you like me to play it?" The voice asks, and you take a deep breath.
"Yes." You say, and there's a small sound indicating the start of the voice message. A male voice is head.
"Hey, whats up?" He asks, and you can hear something in the background- maybe an empty can or something similar. "I uh.. I'm on my way. Should I bring anything? Ah wait, I know the answer to that.." He says, chuckling at the end of his sentence, and you can hear him zip up his jacket as he moves around. "Yeah uh.. just text or something, I'll bring stuff over. Can't have you starve." He ends, and the AI speaks up again.
"Would you like to repeat the message?" She asks, and you shake your head at her; a signal the artificial intelligence has come to detect quite well. "Should I archive it?" She questions again, and this time, you nod- something your invisible assistant can pick up due to motion sensoring.
"Send him a message." You say. "Tell him: I only need you. Get yourself here in one piece and I'm happy. And I'm very capable of taking care of myself." You state, and your phone shows a small loading message- indicating that the voice is doing as you said. It chimes up after a moment. "Thanks Kana." You say.
"No problem creator. Would you like for me to run through the databases now?" She asks, and you nod, a smile on your face. "Database search in progress. Estimated time: sixteen minutes and eighteen seconds." You huff out a breath as you look at the tiny display on your arm; tiny, yet powerful as it's your way of keeping Kana- your AI assistent- close at all times. Tonight, there would seem to be a lot to dig through.
They really added a lot of content these days.
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It's not the door that makes you notice that there's a visitor after a while- He never uses it anyways for some reason. You're sitting on your kitchen floor with a small cup of tea in your hands- kept hot inside a slightly beaten-looking thermos can since you can't use to water boiler at night. Using anything other than Kana would cause a spike the police would be sure to notice; and you're not ready to get caught yet.
Not tonight.
It's a boy who, after a moment, opens the unclosed kitchen window to climb in; his combat boots getting a little snow and dirt from the outside into your apartment as his 80's looking jacket makes distinctive noises as it brushes against the sides of your window. His blonde hair has grown out a bit these days you notice- the roots clearly showing. It's a little wet and slightly curly from the moisture. It must be snowing outside- or maybe it had. You couldn't know for sure.
You never left your apartment.
He closes the window after slipping on the tiles inside a little, the plastic bags noisy as he almost drops them- sheepishly taking off his boots as he smiles at you. His socks are different from one another- but that's another thing so distinctive and just so.. him. He's his own person, always has been; it's what brought you two together, after all. You both stood out against the 'regular public' these days; with his brightly almost white-bleached hair he was like an albino in a sea of crows.
But you knew he didn't need that to stand out to you.
You can still remember the first few times the boy in front of you has visited you; the times where he had just dyed his hair to rebel out, or when he pierced your ears in exchange for you to do it to him as well. It was like you had made a blood pact in your kitchen that night- you had somehow gotten closer, formed a little more than just a simple companionship in order to riot against the law. He began growing close. Gave you a nickname. Began calling you his player 2. Began calling you his 'ace'. He had explained that he thought of it from memories of his gaming days; the two fighting teams always called red and blue, and one of his favorite weapons having that nickname- simply because it always 'saved his ass last minute'. He had rambled on about his last tournament after that, eyes sparkling and cheeks round from cold noodles.
You had become friends.
"hey." He says after sitting close across from you on the cold floor; the opened tile and Kana's core exposed to you two, the only source of light apart from your bracelet. The colorful LED's paint marks on his face and illuminate his features to you; but it does the same to you from his point of view. It's a familiar sight. "How are you?" He asks, almost shyly, but you know that's not what's bothering him.
"Hey Jungkook." You simply say with the hint of a smile, as you answer him. "Haven't slept well these days but, what's new I guess." You chuckle, and Jungkook smiles too- though a glimpse of concern is still shown your way. He knows however that forcing you to sleep won't do much good- your insomnia was too bad to really conquer it in a day or two just by taking naps.
And also; who was he to talk about solving personal issues.
"Have you seen the most recent reports?" You ask him, and the boy somberly shakes his head.
"I was unable to." He states. "They were patrolling close to my apartment complex because there had been someone reporting a Glitcher today." A 'glitcher'- a slang word now commonly used for people like Jungkook and you. People who went against the nightly routines, people who tried to trick the system by using electricity at night, owning media, consuming it, or dealing with it. It somehow became worse than underground drugs. "They pulled him out at around twelve or so- but they seemed too on edge the entire day, so I didn't risk it." He says, and you nod. Jungkook had always been a very good person when it came to calculating risk versus reward. He was good at reading people too- even though he didn't interact much, he got out of his apartment a lot more than you did. "Anything important?" He asks, and you shrug.
"There was a report that China and Japan were still on edge- with the chinese government arguing that they would soon start with 'more drastic measures to get things under proper control', whatever that means." You say, and Jungkooks brows furrow as he starts to pick on the skin of his jaw. "Let's just hope the flood doesn't throw us under the sea as well if it escalates I guess.." You say, and the boy across from you nods.
"Creator." Kana's voice chimes up, making Jungkook look up before remembering that the only source would be your bracelet, which you look at as well. "My scan of your body shows that you have not consumed a sufficient amount of calories today. I recommend a meal in the next five to eight minutes to avoid malnutrition." She says, and you groan. "I take this as a form of verbal communication. Running data search..." She says, as Jungkook looks at you; thoroughly amused by the teasing banter between the AI and his friend. "My data search concludes that you are annoyed, creator. I have only stated a fact however-" She continues, and Jungkook steps in.
"I've brought some leftovers from my dinner today we can eat." He says, pulling out some plastic containers as he moves to get proper cutlery out of your drawers. He makes sure to push them towards you, making sure to nod with a smile as you nod and thank him a little embarrassed. "It's nothing. You know I love you too much to let you starve!" He states with a grin, bunny teeth on full display as bitterness creeps up your throat- something you make sure to swallow down before beginning to eat.
Because the kind of love he's talking about right now, is not the kind of love you want him to feel for you.
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"You forgot to give it a proper validation there-" He points out as you type away. "Otherwise it will just run instantly, and everything at once. That could crash older systems, and we know that V95 uses an older laptop, so we should take that into account." He says, and you nod, clicking back to the spot Jungkook is talking about.
This is what you're both good for.
Writing code for you had always been something you did with a passion- simply because you were good at it. Numbers and short phrases were something you could remember with ease; but you never had to think much about the visual aspect of programs in your department back when you were able to work for a simple programming company. You had simply always been tasked to program security systems and automatically updating firmware, or simple AI's for factory robots. Jungkook however had been all about the visuals; he had been programming games after all. That's why you two fit so well together in this scene. Whenever he would be in complete awe of the broad knowledge you had about official guidelines and security breaches, of staying undetected and unseen while still gaining as much as possible from every single line of code, he could always throw in his input to make sure the program you were both writing and updating for the glitch community was easy to use and simple enough so it could run smoothly on as many systems as possible. Be it phone, laptops, PC's- you two made it possible.
This program was connecting Glitchers all over the globe- and with yours and Jungkooks knowledge, you made it almost invisible. And even if it was somehow detected; there was no possible way to track down any of it's users.
The fact that you had to hide a simple program from the government made you sigh.
"Okay. Yeah I think that fixed the bug." He says, and looks at your arm- at Kana. "Oh, by the way, Kana?" he asks, and the chime gives him the cue to talk. "I heard you had a bug-fix too recently." He says, and the AI chimes again.
"I did, Player01." The AI answers. "The addition of code to my current program has proven to significantly increase my ability to observe and save more data." The female voice answers, and Jungkook grins. "You are happy, Player01." She states, and he nods.
"I am." He says.
"Why is that?" The AI asks, and Jungkook shrugs.
"I'm just happy you're doing well. Someone has to take care of ace when I'm not close by, yeah?" He states, and you try not to react to it. Jungkook is by now used to your more stoic expression; you're not too emotional and barely let things get under your skin. You've been hurt before, he knows this even if you never told him- he can see it in the way you hide inside the safety of your home, how you're so cold on the outside but still clinging onto him. Sometimes he wishes he could touch you; run his hand over your head to ruffle your hair like in those cheesy movies, hold your hand, or simply give you some reassurance in the form of a gentle hand on your back whenever you struggle.
But he's got his own demons, and they love clinging onto him just as much.
"V95 has connected to voice chat. Would you like to talk to him?" Kana states, ripping him out of his thoughts as he watches you nod.
"JK? Y/N?" A deep voice asks.
"We're here. Heard there was a raid close to you?" Jungkook asks, and he can see you grow a bit more serious at that. "Are you okay?" He adds, and V answers, although quite.. tired?
"I'm good. They got Jimin though." He states, and you sigh, running a hand through your hair as you stand up, frustrated. Jungkook knows you're trying to calm down by pacing. He doesn't mind. "They didn't officially arrest him, took him for 'questioning' though. We know what that's about." He states somberly, and Jungkook takes a deep breath.
"Jimin is a master manipulator V. He'll get himself out of it, I'm sure." Jungkook tries to reassure, but it doesn't gain him much than a hum from Taehyung on the other end of the line. "What about Sleeper?" He asks, and a chuckle is heard.
"He's been checking the videofeed from inside the past few nights. He said he's send some of the big bites to Ace though?" He says, and Jungkook looks over at your form.
"Yeah I've seen it." You simply say, though Jungkook grows uncomfortable with the way you're suddenly standing there. You're a little hunched, biting the skin on your thumb as you look at the tiles as if they suddenly began to move. He knows himself that things inside the 'rehabilitation centers' weren't all that nice to see- but you rarely ever displayed so much distress over it. "Let's just hope Jimin get's his ass out of this situation. We can't afford to loose him." You say, and V stays silent before he sighs.
"Yeah. I tell sleeper you've seen the stuff. Oh, and our prince charming has asked for a date with Ace. Again." Taehyung chuckles, and you groan- while Jungkook can't help but clench his jaw. Kim Seokjin was a very good asset to the team; with connections reaching deep inside the government and his position as a former lawyer- but he still hated his guts.
You didn't need to waste your time dating. You were totally capable of taking care of yourself, you had even said it personally! And for anything else Jungkook would provide for you. You didn't need anyone else than him.
He was totally not jealous of him.
"Can he not use our underground connections for that circus?" You say. "I don't even go grocery shopping, why would I want to go on a fucking date?" You mumble, sitting down next to Jungkook as you take a spoonful of rice. Jungkook feels a weird sense of satisfaction about the situation.
"Who knows." Taehyung says. "Alright, 10 Minute mark- I'll hear from you two soon. Take care." He says, and you both say your goodbyes before the line goes silent.
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Although Jungkook hates physical contact, he likes keeping you close.
His heart is melting like chocolate as he notes the way your hand grips his jacket tightly as the two of you walk through town to get your license renewed- a way of holding onto him, and he somehow wishes it could be his hand. He knows yours would fit so perfectly in his, and yet he can't bring himself to do it.
His body is not cooperating.
He remembers vividly how his fear had developed; with his father and mother both being dramatically overworked and overwhelmed with having a kid at a young age, they had no idea how to make a child behave. Every second touch would bruise, every time he had been held would be force.
And at some point, he started to dislike physical touch completely.
It had just been like his growing interest in freelance climbing- the way he would walk and jump high over the heads of unsuspecting people, away from all judgemental gazes they'd throw his way for behaving the way he did. Only when the wind could hit him freely, only when he couldn't make out faces of anyone down below, only when he was high up- that was when he felt safe. The ground below had nothing of interest for him, no point in going down, as his apartment was located on the top floor of the complex. Jungkook never took the elevator, always the stairs.
He liked being reminded how high he lived.
And yet, there's one thing that pulls him down, brings his feet to the earth below, calls him like a siren song. It's you, hidden away from everyone's sight inside your tiny home, just as troubled and judged as himself.
He'd fallen in love with you the second you told him his name.
It had been a rainy night, his clothes drying on your heater as he was wrapped in two of your blankets; the smell of your fabric softener and something so typically you surrounding him like a mother's hug would a child. It had given him a feeling of comfort he had never quite experienced before, and it had also been the first time he had imagined what it would be like to hug you.
To have you close.
He had explained to you why he had freaked out when you reached for his arm to steady him when he almost fell inside your apartment through your window; had apologized and bowed his head in shame until you had simply shrugged.
"You don't have to justify yourself to anyone, Jungkookie." You had said. Jungkookie. "You're you. And I like you." You had said, not looking at him as you typed in some code to Kana's internal system.
His heart had warmed up at that.
And while you had accepted him, he had accepted you just as much. While at first caught off guard by your quiet and sometimes harsh way of treating him, he had also gotten to know just how gentle and delicately you treated the ones you loved. You were a loyal person, always going out of your way to be helpful, and silently basking in praise any time it was directed at you.
He loved that view. The way your cheeks would grow warm, how your eyes would sparkle; and he loved most of all, that he had been, according to Taehyung who was the second closest to you, the only one to see you smile.
You even laughed with him.
It filled him with pride to know that you were able to let go around him, even if it was just a little. It made him feel like he did something huge. It helped him sleep at night knowing that you were trusting him enough to let down your guard a little.
And it hurt him even worse knowing that he couldn't do the same thing for you.
He was a coward-
and you deserved a hero.
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"Ace?" He asked, slipping through your window as he noticed the apartment silent and dark. Nothing greeted him. "..Ace?" He tried again, maybe you were asleep? But your apartment was quiet, empty, nothing spoke of your presence. Dishes were in the sink, a cup of water left untouched on the counter, and something inside of him churned painfully at the way this looked. He checked the kitchen tile, sliding it to the side like he's seen you do it countless of times.
It was dark.
Instead, he was greeted by a post it note. "Underneath the bed. Take care." Was all it read. He stood up, pushing your bed away from the wall noticing how your carpet had been torn a little. And as he lifted the cut flap of carpet, there was an envelope.
Your watch. A small in-ear piece, and your old IT-identification, folded.
A noise outside your hallway made his head snap up as he pushed the bed back into place, making an escape for it as he climbed outside the window, watch safely inside his jacket as he climbed back up on top of a building, before he examined it further, turning it on, after putting the earpiece in.
"Hello, Jungkook." Kana greeted him, and it felt weird to hear the AI say his name like that. "Creator has advised me to answer all questions you might have, and assist you from here on." She said, and Jungkook simply put the watch on, making his way to his own apartment.
"What happened?" He asked, his face serious as he walked.
"At around 6:12 O'clock, creator was taken into further questioning regarding illegal possession and knowledge of classified information and technological equipment. She had shown no resistance and complied with authorities. My observations however showed that she was taken with more force than necessary." Kana explained. Jungkook shook his head. "She had prepared for this instance during the night, approximately twenty-six minutes after you had left."
"She knew?!" He suddenly said, shutting his apartment door violently as he started to pace around, throwing his jacket on the couch. "Why didn't she contact me?"
"Analysis; your body shows signs of-" Kana started, but Jungkook interrupted.
"Shut up. Why didn't she tell me?" He asks again, and Kana seems to hesitate for a moment.
"Considering her close relationship to you, she probably wanted to not get you involved." She stated, and Jungkook sighed, sitting down on his couch as he gripped his hair. He should've stayed. Hell, it wasn't the first time he wanted to stay. He had dreamed of staying over, of fucking living with you for months to no end by now, but he was a coward. And this was his paycheck.
"Kana." He said lowly, and the small tune gave him the cue to talk. "Contact V95. Tell him it's urgent. We got an emergency." He says.
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"I can't watch this." He says, jumping up and holding onto his head as to not punch his wall, unable to go through the videofeed of your interrogation room.
There's not much to see, but Jungkook knows that's simply because they haven't had the time to see to you yet. You and him knew best what really happened in these rooms, and he hated knowing that deep down they wouldn't go easy on you simply because you were a young woman. It didn't matter to them.
He'd seen teenagers way younger than you and him getting the rough treatment before- and elderly didn't get spared either.
The government bragged about having everything in order; yet they couldn't even control their own law enforcement it seemed. When he really thought back on his history lessons in school, not much had changed at all.
The world was still in utter chaos.
His palm shuts his laptop harshly- earning a tiny chime from the AI he’s already forgotten shares his home with him now. “I suggest that you practice care in treating your electronics to-“ he groans, successfully shutting it off at that. “Why are you frustrated?” It- she? Asks, and he sits down.
“I don’t know how to help her.” He admits in shame, thinking back to the footage of your hidden camera; the way they had pushed you to the ground, before grabbing you, leading you out of your apartment a few minutes away from him. “I don’t know what I should do.” He says.
There’s a bit of silence, until the AI speaks up again. “Do you have a romantic interest in my creator?” She asks, and his head snaps up at that.
“What the fuck? Why would you ask me this?!” He barks, unsure where to look since he can only hear the voice.
“I have observed both my creator and your behaviors; you seem to have a very deep rooted interest in each others well-being and opinions. This is commonly found in partnerships. I was only asking you to confirm if my assumption is correct.”
He’s silent for a moment, until he speaks again, watching the announcement van pass his window; voices dull and unintelligible though the walls and windows. “It’s no use anyways. Who wants someone they can’t even shake hands with?” He sighs, looking into his lap again. He hates that he’s like this; that even though he very much loves and adores you, there’s no magic moment that makes him forget- even though he craves the contact, he can’t do it. Every time he’s close to you, he knows that he could simply hug you; or let you rest your head on his shoulder, like in romantic movies. He wants to hold your hand, wipe your tears- but his body won’t cooperate. He can’t do it.
Not even with you.
“Creator seems very comfortable with you.” The AI states. “I have been asked to archive all text messages and phone calls of you two recently. When I asked for a reason, she claimed she would need it someday- I was unsure what she meant.” Jungkook furrows his brow, raising his head again. “Sometimes, when creator is deeply upset, she has the habit of playing some of the recordings of you singing, or reminding her to take care. My research has shown that it slows down her heartbeat to a more normal level and also improves her insomnia.” Jungkooks eyes widen at that.
Does that mean.. that you like him back?
"Kana, fuck- cut the feed." He says, agitated.
"Are you sure?" She asks, and he sighs, before yelling his frustration out, sitting down to take a deep breath. He slowly shook his head no. He couldn't let all your hard work go to waste like this.
He couldn't stay a coward.
"Jungkook, it appears to be that the creator is being let go." Kana suddenly chimes up, and Jungkook rushes to his pc setup to see for himself. And she's right- your arm is being held tightly, and something is being said to you, but your hands are no longer chained to the chair- you're free.
What just happened?
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Jungkook sometimes really hates himself for being the way he is.
There's no sugarcoating it that you need comfort now more than ever, even though you don't openly show it to him. He can see it in the way you're still biting your nails, he can see it in your eyes which never stay on one point for too long. And he can definitely see it in the bruises on your upper arm, and the cut on your lower lip where you had bitten in anger and frustration. He wants to comfort you, he knows you'd let him- and yet he can't move any closer than where he is right now; only the length of his palm of space between you two. And yet it's like his joints are locked into place. He can't touch you.
What if he hurts you?
And it dawns on him right then and there while he watches you drink your can of overly sweet soda while typing your code like second nature, that he's not scared of you hurting him. He's scared of doing to you, what's been done to him. Because deep down he is aware that his parents never had bad intentions, never hated him or wanted him to suffer; they were simply unsure and not at all confident in how to really care for a child. They had been caught off guard and gotten overwhelmed by the sudden shift in their situation that they never truly knew what to do. And nowadays he felt like he was simply heading down the same road.
He was starting to feel like he was becoming just like them.
"Hm?" You ask him, ripping him out of his thoughts as he looks at you, your eyes wide and worried as you put down your almost empty can of soda. "What is it?" You ask him, and he wants to scream. He wants to throw a fit like a child at the way you seem to worry for him every time you should worry for yourself. He's a coward, he's useless, he's everything you don't need nor deserve in his eyes, and yet you always look at him like he's the main character of your favorite movie.
If he was, he was sure he'd be merely a sidekick- because you deserved to be the focus of every story told in his eyes. And if you weren't included in the tale, he knew he didn't want to ever know about it.
He swallows, before he manages to make his hand move, finger pointing at your arm where a green-ish bruise already formed. "Does it hurt?" He asks, and he's not even sure if he's asking you about the bruise, of if he's asking something else. He doesn't know what he's saying, doesn't even know if he's asking you or himself.
"No." You answer, and he looks at you, searching for any hint of a lie in your eyes. But he only sees that slight smile, lips turned a little, almost unnoticeable. But its there, he can see it, and he wants to print it into his mind to never forget it. You were so observant, knew him so well, that he was almost certain you knew of his inner fight and what he really meant with his blurted out question. "Are you okay?" You ask him, and he swallows again, eyes stinging with unshed tears as his body grows rigid like an unoiled machine, only moving with as much force as he can manage to come up with. His breathing is heavy as his eyes can't leave the spot on your arm, and your watch him with wide eyes as his shaking hand slowly reaches out.
He doesn't know what he expects to really happen.
Maybe like those electric shocks you get when someone had rubbed their socks on a carpet before touching someone else. Maybe he had expected to recoil instantly. Maybe he had expected nothing- but he was suddenly in a rush the moment his fingertip touched your warm skin, delicate, soft, everything his rough hands weren't.
And you were still as prey in front of a wolf.
But the wolf in this scenario was holding his breath while his tears finally fell. He wants to speak, but he can't, he doesn't know how to ask for something when he doesn't even know if he wants it.
But suddenly he moves again, his palm now resting fully against your upper arm, shaking, as it moves over the length of it, softly, as he imprints the way your soft skin feels. "Jungkook.." You whisper out, and he suddenly snaps, leans forward, his legs on either side of your body as he snakes his arms around you from behind, pulling you close to his chest. You can feel him shake as he holds you, his cheek resting against your back and you don't care about his tears staining your shirt as he suddenly cries openly and possibly for the first time since he was a mere child.
He's unsure, overwhelmed, because you're so warm, you smell so nice, you're so soft, and he can't let go, doesn't want to let go. He whines out as you turn a bit as he thinks you're moving away but you're simply placing your legs over his as you sit in his lap, hugging him back as you make sure to give him a gentle squeeze.
He calms down after a long while of simply existing. Of breathing you in, of feeling you. "You're right." He whispers into your neck, and you can't help but shiver, leaning into his hug.
"It doesn't hurt at all."
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"You know, I get why you come up here." You comment, as Jungkook makes sure to hold your hand tightly in his, your feet dangling off the edge of the building you're sitting on top of. "It's nice." You say.
He's not listening that well though.
All he can really do is watch your face, illuminated by the neon lights of the city, hair swaying in the wind as you look down below. He doesn't quite know what you two really are, doesn't know how long it will take him to really come out of his shell and give you the love you deserve, but he's trying. He's fighting, he's left his cowardly self behind.
He want's to change.
And not just for you alone, because while he hates seeing you hurt, he knows what you two are doing- what all of you are doing- is for the greater good.
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Jungkook hates your ideas sometimes.
Simply because he knows they will work, but also end up with you getting into danger at the end of it. And just like now, all he can do really is hope that you make it out as he keeps a watchful eye on your movements from above, giving you directions via Kana as you sometimes trip and stumble a little.
You're not a very active person; running wasn't really your thing.
Fuck, you were basically a hermit, the most you walked around was from your bedroom into the kitchen!
But then again, sacrifices had to be made somewhere. And Jungkook really admired you; because every time he thought that you had reached your limit, you would face it head first and break through it.
"Ace, try and somehow get to higher ground. They're caging you in from all sides." He urgently tells you as he watches police chase you down the roads, pushing citizens aside to not loose sight of you.
The plan had been simple. Gain all the attention so Taehyung could infect one of the police station's servers with a new worm, giving you all a better and easier access to any data and communication of the area. Jungkook couldn't play the bate well enough; and you had been on their radar already, making you the best option to gain their interest quickly enough.
Although Jungkook hated that part.
"Come on, ah fuck it." He grits out, jumping down to grab a ladder, making his way to a nearby area he could pull you up. There was no way you could reach any of the fire ladders yourself, and by now, things were getting too hot for him to risk anything. "Here!" He barks out, not thinking twice about grabbing your hand and helping you upwards, trying not to worry too much about your heavy breathing. And then there's it.
A pop, loud, followed by another, and another, and another. You're suddenly falling, scraping your knees on the ground below as he can't catch you, too startled by the fact that they had actually decided to shoot to react quick enough. "Fuck!" He says, eyes wide and pupils blown as he looks at you.
"Jungkook, why the fuck aren't you running?!" You yell at him, a scratch on the top of your left cheek as you push his leg away from you- the only thing you can reach. "Go!" You bark again, and he growls out something, before he manages to pull you onto his back, adrenaline not letting his brain process what he's doing.
He can't just leave you.
"Taehyung, get out, Ace has been shot. Whatever was uploaded has to be enough." He says via the in-ear piece, doesn't wait for a response. He still gets it.
"Fuck, what?! Okay okay, I'm out" He says, and Jungkook can only catch a glimpse of the older man leaving the building via the backside entrance. He's only concerned with getting you somewhere safe.
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"Urgh." You groan, slowly sitting up on Jungkooks couch. "I mean, I know paintball hurts, but rubber bullets? Jesus.." You complain, while Jungkook looks at you with a dark expression. "What?" You ask him, and he huffs.
"You sound like you haven't almost been killed yesterday." He grimly says, and you shrug. "Stop. I'm serious." He tells you, and you let yourself fall back down onto his couch.
"Whatever. At least we killed their communication." You say, closing your eyes. "Must've at least pissed them off." You say.
"Kana." Jungkook suddenly says, waiting for the familiar sound to tell him she's active. "Shut down for now." He says, and you sit up, hissing instantly at the sudden movement.
"Hey- ah fuck!" You say, as you watch on your bracelet how Kana complies; shutting down. "Why would you do that?" You say in an offended matter, before you grow quiet, watching him go onto his knees in front of you, as he lets his head rest on top of your lap.
"I just want.. you to myself. Just.." He mumbles, and you slowly bring your hand to his hair. "Just for a moment." He says, and you sigh. Jungkook had been under a lot of stress recently, you no doubt being the main cause of most of it recently. So you simply let him be, as he closed his eyes. "Y/N?" He asks suddenly, and you answer him. "I love you." He says, and your body stops moving.
What?
"It's okay if you don't." He says, not moving from his spot, and neither opening his eyes. "I mean it. I only want you to know." He explains further. "Because I.. couldn't fucking live with myself if something happened to you, and I've never told you." He admits, and you can't help but stare at him. Jungkook looked down on himself so much that it was sometimes frustrating to see; simply because you saw him as such an amazing human being with countless talents and beautiful flaws.
You knew you couldn't muster up the strength to actually answer him; not so spontaneously. You weren't that expressive, you couldn't communicate as freely and colorful as he could. All your words seemed black and white to you, mixing into grey and mundane sentences while his words seemed to bloom into the most amazing paintings. He had a way of charming those around him- and he didn't even know.
You slowly leaned down instead, moving his hair to the side as you placed a feather-light kiss to the top of his cheek, close to his eye.
You hoped he would somehow understand you.
And as he moved again, looking at you with eyes that sparkled brighter than any city's skyline ever could, you knew he did.
He'd always understand you, no matter how you communicated with him.
You didn't need words to understand each other.
The shy kiss you two shared, bathed in the purple glow of the neon lights outside his window, spoke enough.
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"You should try and sleep." Jungkook tells you, taking away your can of soda as you whine at him. "No buts. Come on, I'll finish this for you." He says, and you let him take over the keyboard of your laptop. It's something you really only let him get away with- anyone else would've probably lost a finger or two trying to touch your work.
You don't trust anyone but him at this point.
"I know that Kana snitched." You comment, as you lean your back against his shoulder. He chuckles. "Can't believe my own creation goes behind my back like that." You mumble, and Jungkook has a light tune to his voice as he speaks.
"Well, it's a good thing though." He tells you. "I worry about you." He says.
"Ugh come on, you know that's not the part I meant." You laugh, and he grins.
"Oh, you mean the part where you listen to my crappy ass singing to help you sleep?" He tells you with a teasing undertone. "No wonder you got insomnia trying to find rest to that." He chuckles, and you playfully hit his thigh.
"Shut up, your voice is nice." You say, and he's glad your eyes are closed, and you can't see him blush.
Somehow, moments like these re-energized him again. Because it proved to him that there was still a piece of that innocent and untainted you inside that thick shell you had put up to protect yourself. And considering that you let him see you like that made his pride grow taller than any of the skyscrapers of his city.
Maybe one day the two of you will have a future together that won't be so difficult and unfair like your current one was. Maybe one day, you both will have changed enough to teach the next generation about what you've overcome.
But then again; living in the moment seemed to fit a lot better in his eyes, as he watched you sleep soundly against his shoulder.
Yeah, this moment was more than enough for now.
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The world won't change over night- you both know that. All of you know that. But small things were starting to make a difference here and there; for example, the letter you held towards Jungkook as his eyes widened.
"..and we have officially decided that we no longer want to participate in the case against the defendant. The result of this agreement is that all charges against Y/N L/N have been dismissed and are no longer being investigated." He reads out loud, almost whispering as if saying it too loud could make it a lie. "They let you go?" He asks, and you nod, the small bandaid on your cheek making you look even cuter in his eyes as you shrug.
"Jimin had reached out too. They've let him go home as well." You say. and Jungkook huffs out in disbelief.
After infecting the police station with the worm you had all worked on, you had scared the entire country enough to take a step back from the overall aggressive tone. It wasn't much- but it meant that they knew you were there. You existed, and you were not bowing down.
You were still untamed.
Jungkook smiled brightly as he put the letter down to the side, reaching out to you to pull you onto his lap. He simply holds you for a moment, his lips kissing the skin of your shoulder as if in a trance. "I love you." He tells you, and you smile, squeezing him a bit in your arms. "I really do." He assures you, and you nod.
You don't answer him, and he doesn't seem to mind as he leans back from you, his eyes crinkling at the edges as he grins, hands holding your face so delicately as he places a kiss onto your lips, making you close your eyes as he breaks away from you, letting you rest your head against his shoulder.
He's still not letting anyone very physically close other than you; he's still scared of going out and around like everyone else. You're still rather hiding inside his apartment- both of your apartment now- and you still have trouble sleeping.
But Jungkook keeps the nightmares away.
And you make him brave in exchange.
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It's really weird to hear the sound of a radio nowadays.
Things are still far from normal- but recently, citizens had been given radios to listen to public broadcast again. It only played crappy music with some rare good tracks here and there, but it was better than nothing.
Jungkook couldn't help but think that your breathless voice was far more entertaining than any music station he can remember from his youth.
While he hates touching other people, even friends and family, he can't help but feel a rush whenever he touches you.
His hands can't stop on one specific spot, can't seem to stay still even for a moment as his lips nip and suck at the flesh of your neck and shoulder, marking what's his, visualizing that you really belong to him. He bears the same mark on his collarbone from last night, and he should have been satisfied, but even an early morning couldn't keep him away from you.
The rain hit the window harshly, but he didn't notice at all. All his eyes could see was your form underneath him, skin glowing as he moves above you, euphoria filling his veins as he can't look away from where you're connected, where his cock disappears inside of you over and over and over again.
"I love you." He breathes out as he comes undone, holding you close, resting his head against your shoulder, as you hold onto his arms, a smile, a genuine and big smile thrown his way as he can't help but smile along.
"I love you too, Jungkook." You say, and he chuckles.
The radio in the background still playing, as you lay in each others' arms.
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(c)Bonny-Kookoo. Please stop reposting my content on AO3 thinking I won't find it. I'm literally everywhere you clowns.
To everyone else: Thank you for reading this mess- I really apologize for the messy storyline, but I just wanted to put this out before the entire thing escaped me again and I would end up struggling to find my way back into it (cough cough flashback to mean lmao). I promise to somewhat post more regularly. Thank you for your kind words and for sticking with me!
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Obey Me: The Brothers Accidentally Trigger an Abused MC (Beelzebub) (6/7)
Disclaimer: I’m not an expert on abuse or mental health. I’m not portraying how one should respond to these situations, only how I think the characters might. Abuse and trauma in particular are very complex topics, and people respond in all sorts of ways to them, and sometimes it gets really bad on all sides.
I can only draw from my personal experiences as well as those of people who have shared their stories or who I’m close with. There’s no one narrative of abuse and how it affects someone, so what I’m familiar with might not be what you’re familiar with. Let’s try and all be respectful of each other.
Content Warnings: Heated arguments, reference to past abuse, parental abuse, trauma response, breaking down in tears, this is quintessential hurt/comfort y’all, buckle up
Kinda cheating for the twins unfortunately! (In the sense that I’m gonna rely heavily on canon events) In Beel’s case it’s because we’ve only ever seen him lose his cool about either food or family, and for Belphie, well… you’ll see.
Gaaaah tumblr’s stupid new thing where if you resize the tab it wipes your post and switches between mobile and desktop versions made this SUCH a bitch to edit, but here it is! Once again, thank you all so much for your patience! I’ve learned not to make promises about when the next part will come out, but we’re almost done! It’s just Belphie left, then I get to the other requests!
To clarify, the initial dialogue in this scene is not mine, but comes from Lesson 4 of the game and is based on events from Lessons 4 and 5. 
Lucifer (X) Mammon (X), Leviathan (X), Satan (X), Asmodeus (X), Beelzebub (you are here), Belphegor (X)
“Now what do we have here?” Mammon soliloquises. “Looks like a custard.” 
MC has absolutely no idea what possessed them into letting him drag them to the kitchen. 
“Mammon, are you sure we should-”
“Here, eat this,” he cuts MC off, handing them a cup of custard. “I need an accomplice. I don’t wanna be the only one in trouble.”
“In trouble?!” They look down at the custard lid. A note is firmly taped to it.
Property of Beelzebub. You eat it, you die.
They gulp. They really shouldn’t be touching this, what if…
“You’ve gotta be seriously brave to eat this custard here.” Mammon snatches the dessert back and waves it around. “If you can do that, I’ll admit that you’ve got guts.” 
I won’t have any guts if Beelzebub finds out, MC thinks. They know the consequences for stealing food. I don’t care if you haven’t eaten all day, you DO NOT touch that fridge, understand?
“So you’re gonna do it, right? What am I sayin’? Do it. That’s an order.”
Then again, they don’t know what Mammon’s capable of either.
Go on, do it. You want to waste food so bad? Go in the trash and fish it out like the animal you are!
“...Okay, I’ll eat it...” 
“There we go.” Mammon’s grin is wolfish as he holds out a spoon for them.
It tastes… oh wow. It’s very good custard. They almost want to go back for another-
“You did it!” Mammon shouts, and MC flinches so hard they nearly drop the container. “You totally ate Beel’s custard! I saw ya!”
Now you’ve done it, MC! You know how mad our parents are gonna be when they get back!
I… I had to… I didn’t want to… But it had been days...
“Shhh-!”
“Great, now I’ve got an accomplice. If you ate his stuff too, that means we’re in this boat together!” He returns his attention to the fridge. “So, my turn. Let’s see if I can find anything else good in here. I’ve got a feeling there’s probably something nice hiding back here in this corner-”
A shadow looms over the pair. MC’s blood goes cold. They’ve been caught again.
“D’AH! Beel!” Mammon squeaks. “Wh-What’s the big idea sneakin’ up on me like that? How long have you been there…?”
“Did you eat my custard?” Oh no no no no no. “Did you actually eat my CUSTARD?! Answer me, Mammon!”
Who ate it? Well? Answer me! Or none of you are eating tonight.
“N-Now wait a second, Beel! Lemme explain! There’s a good reason for-”
“You did, didn’t you…?”
Pink flames envelop the Avatar of Gluttony as part of his human illusion falls away. An intimidating pair of sharp horns curl around his head and massive fly’s wings buzz angrily on his back. 
“You… ate… my… CUSTARD!”
“Uh-oh!”
As Mammon attempts to escape Beelzebub’s wrath, all MC can do is remain perfectly still, the custard container clutched tightly to their chest. They’ve. Been. Caught.
It’s ridiculous. A small, hysterical part of MC laughs at the absurdity of being caught between two of the most powerful demons in Hell, squabbling over custard and chasing each other around the kitchen. A choked noise escapes them instead. The custard turns sickeningly sweet in their mouth.
The paralysis is broken when Mammon goes sailing through the kitchen wall. Is that-?
A hole in their wall, just above their head. Screaming voices, crying, begging, accusing. They’ve been caught, and now they will be punished.
Footsteps approach MC, and a figure stands towering over them, so much taller, he wouldn’t even have to lay a hand on them for them to be scared, but he will, he will, he’ll hit them again, again and again and again and-
“MC-”
“PLEASE DON’T HIT ME!” They hold up the custard towards Beelzebub, their limbs confused between the desire to return the offending dessert and protect their face. 
The Avatar of Gluttony is almost offended by the outburst, until he hears Mammon groan and attempt to get up, shifting some of the rubble before collapsing once again. Okay, maybe he doesn’t have room to be offended right now. 
He plucks the container from MC’s vice-like grip, the difference in strength between the two so great that he doesn’t feel their resistance. Oh, it’s almost completely untouched. Maybe he overreacted… Then again, it is Mammon. 
...It’s MC’s room that connects to that wall, isn’t it?
Beelzebub opens his mouth to apologize to MC about their wall, to assure them that they’ll figure out a place for them to sleep until it’s repaired, but they’re already gone, sprinting off further into the House of Lamentation.
Did he scare them that bad…?
~
After the three hours of lecturing that ensued, MC isn’t sure if notifying Lucifer was, in fact, the best idea. While Mammon and Beelzebub had seemed bored, annoyed even, they were barely able to stay on their feet by the end of it. Perhaps they’re still exhausted from their sprint to Lucifer’s study, as well as… other factors.
Lucifer calls their name sternly, as though he has done so several times already. They start and straighten up, but can’t bring themself to quite meet the demon’s eyes.
“I asked you a question.” 
“Oh…” they say. “...Sorry...I didn’t-”
“Are you sure you’re comfortable staying in Beelzebub’s room?” They don’t reply, and something in Lucifer’s expression softens. “You were quite distressed when you came to me. If my brothers have done something to upset you, I need to know. Your wellbeing is a crucial part of the exchange program.”
MC laughs humorlessly. “You mean other than destroying my room, I’m guessing.”
The Avatar of Pride falters almost imperceptibly, disguising his surprise with a cough. “Yes, other than… the collateral damage.”
“...Yeah,” they eventually say. “Uh, yes, I’ll stay with Beel until my room is fixed. It’s fine.”
“Wonderful. You’re free to go.” He promptly leaves, muttering about calling the construction worker so soon after the last time. 
While MC has a feeling that Beel would be completely fine not addressing the Custard Incident so long as they don’t treat him any differently, they feel the need to explain themself for both their sakes. They tell Beelzebub about their upbringing, about how controlling their parents were when it came to food, and how they’d have to sneak meals more often than not. The punishments they faced when caught doing this.
Beel is horrified and feels incredibly guilty upon finding out what he inadvertently forced MC to relive. He once again assures them that he knew it was Mammon who talked them into eating his custard and that he doesn’t really hold it against them. In fact, from then on, the Avatar of Gluttony invites them on his frequent “snack runs” (which, for Beel, consist of an amount of food MC would normally call a family meal) and personally makes sure they’re eating enough regularly. 
One day, MC comes back from a long afternoon studying at RAD and nearly panics all over again at the sight of the kitchen. Saucepans, bowls, half-empty containers, and all sorts of utensils litter the room, not to mention a healthy coating of sweet-smelling fluids. At the centre of this mess is none other than Beel, who smiles and waves upon noticing them, sending more flecks of custard to the floor.
He hands them a container of custard, complete with a lining of various fruits around the edges. On its lid is a note: Property of MC. 
It’s very good custard.
“...I…” They can’t. Not if that will happen again. They shake their head, the tears threatening to return.
Lucifer holds back a sigh and nods. “Very well. We’ll find other accommodations until your room is repaired. Perhaps Mammon will get his wish after all…”
Beel doesn’t understand why the human is avoiding him. At first he thought they were still mad about the whole going-on-a-rampage-and-destroying-their-room thing, but they’ve since forgiven Mammon for causing that, so that can’t be it. He keeps returning to the thought that it was something about him, that he scared them so bad they don’t feel safe being around him. Did they think he would try and eat them?
That’s not entirely unfair, he thinks. Especially considering they’re a human in a house with a bunch of demons.
But they aren’t scared around anyone else. Not Satan’s propensity for fatal grudges, not Mammon’s recklessness, not Lucifer’s intimidating presence, not Asmo or Levi’s volatile mood swings… It was just him.
Because he’s just a useless glutton.
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