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#murder hole beach
stairnaheireann · 12 days
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Boyeeghter Bay | Murder Hole Beach
One of Ireland’s most beautiful and pristine bays is on the Rosguill Peninsula – Boyeeghter Bay. At high tide you will find two sandy beaches, which grow together to one big beach when the tide is out. The roaring Atlantic Ocean has gnawed bizarre cuts and a cave into the cliff faces along the bay. The wild waters may also be responsible for the bay’s nickname – ‘The Murder Hole’. The beach may…
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the4chambersofmystery · 8 months
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Gareth Wray
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travelella · 10 months
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Murder Hole Beach, Rough Island, County Donegal, Ireland.
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dukedebut · 1 year
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new album every day [26.01.23]
Murder Hole Beach - Confectionary Thoughts
a two-song EP by Dublin band Murder Hole Beach, Confectionary Thoughts really embodies punk energy to a T. while i don't personally listen to a lot of punk music, i really enjoyed this play! to me, it feels like a perfect encapsulation of what punk music is - it's edgy, with lyrics that bite and call out the sins of the system, and it's super cathartic! fantastic songs to include on any punk playlist. as the play contains only two tracks, i'll devote a bit of attention to the both.
Fargo Wells
Fargo Wells has starts off with this almost echoey guitar picking, with a gradual introduction of drums and additional layers of guitars to swell into what very quickly becomes an instant-classic punk sound. as the song progresses, repetition of lyrics create give the feeling that this song would be SO cathartic to scream the lyrics of at a concert. in a way, i feel like this is a picture-perfect punk song, embodying the fuck-the-system attitude of the genre perfectly, and thusly being a perfect feature on this play!
Symbol of Influence
like Fargo Wells, Symbol of Influence starts a little more gently, but swells a LOT more gradually, with a rising tension created by the vocalist decrying the idea of being shoe-horned into being something others demand of us. in a way, this song is a little more mellow for a lot longer - the swells are gentler, the lyrics biting, but subdued. a moment of laughter and shouting towards the end of the song gives the track this moment of catharsis that i think really gives the song the release it needs. of the two tracks, probably my favourite!
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as i mentioned in my previous review, i love discovering artists who are local to me - the AMOUNT of talent Ireland has to offer is phenomenal, and i am so thankful i got to encounter Murder Hole Beach's music as it's such a breath of fresh air for me and my often-bubbly, upbeat pop listening. i have a feeling i'll be coming back to this play for more, and i thoroughly recommend giving it a listen!
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bunjywunjy · 1 year
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I saw you reblogged a moon sail, have you ever posted about their egg cases? I visited the beach one time in Washington during a super low ride and saw a lot of them and even a whole moon snail!! We didn't touch it but it was so darn cool.
no, but I HAVE talked about their murderous tendencies!
so if you live on the cascadian coast, you may have found shells with weirdly precise holes in them that look like they were bored by a rogue etsy seller with a dremmel:
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well tldr, moon snail done it.
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see, moon snails are predatory! they feed entirely on other snails and bivalves like clams, which they kill by rasping a hole through their shell with an extendible mouthpart called a radula that resembles an extendible chainsaw, then injecting it with a digestive enzyme and slurping up the resulting ex-animal soup.
the entire process takes about five days! talk about a way to go.
not bad for an animal that looks like a deflated bike tire under a croissant!
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(maybe don't pick them up though)
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abookloverlmao · 4 months
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THE GIRL IN THE SOCKS ON THE ROOF - JJ Maybank
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Summary: save my life and i'll save yours, pretty boy. In the coastal paradise of Outer Banks, Y/N teeters on the edge of the rooftop in socks, drowning in despair, and there's Papa JJ appearing in her life like an angel.
"'Cause it's too cold for you here and now, so let me hold both your hands in the holes of my sweater."
Warning: female!reader, triggering themes (mental health struggles, including references to self-harm, depression, or suicidal thoughts and acts), alcohol, drug, weed, swearing, etc., this will angsty as shit and fluffy, do not read if you don't want to! you have been warned, let me know what you think!
JJ has no idea that he had saved a life.
well, he never believed such a thing, never believed that he was this special to think twice that the person he saved will do anything to pay him back.
And that person was Y/N, the girl in socks on the roof of a building, a tall one.
It was a summer night, the night of the Fourth of July, an hour away from the fireworks starting and here was the handsome blond walking out of the store with few beers and snacks with Sarah Cameron by his side.
Yelling echoed around the neighborhood, and the two blondes turned towards the sound, a man running after a very gorgeous girl in shorts, a top and some socks.
No flipflops, or sandals, just black socks, running down the streets and busy looking behind to notice JJ and Sarah standing there watching in pure confusion until she bumped at him.
"YOU DIRTY LITTLE BITCH COME BACK HERE!" The man yelled and Y/N picked up the bags of snacks he held, apologizing and handing them to him in panic.
Eyes wide with tears covering them, wild hair like she was electrocuted, chest going up and down rapidly, she met Sarah's eyes and shot her the most heartbreaking smile.
"I am so sorry," she turned to JJ, meeting his pretty eyes that watched hers in concern, god she was beautiful, he has never seen someone this gorgeous even in the state of panic.
Before he could even open his mouth to respond, she continued running, she was very fast, legs moving in a speed of light, everytime her feet landed on the ground, pain rushed through her veins.
Adrenaline pumping, the summer night breeze slapping her cheeks left and right, she could feel Sarah Cameron's eyes on hers and the handsome boy whom she bumped into.
As they climbed the Twinkie, JJ's mind not once left the girl who disappeared five minutes ago, he knew who she was, well... he saw her in a few parties, standing there with a drink in hand talking to one pogue mostly.
"I feel like I saw her before," he whispered turning to Sarah who watched in slight worry as the man ran past them with so much hatred in his eyes, a murderous look that scared her.
"That's Y/N, sweetest Kook with apparently a rough life," she replied wincing as another curse left Mister L/N's lips, a frown on her face, JJ's hand was on the steering wheel, feeling a sudden protectiveness towards the girl who bumped into him.
It looked like she had a rough life, especially when she was running in only socks with a man chasing behind her, his eyebrows almost touched and he watched the man in disgust.
He reminded him of his dad... but oh he didn't know that he was basically his dad's twin brother.
"God I hope she doesn't get caught by Mister L/N," she whispered in worry, guilt eating her alive and once JJ started to drive, he looked around in hope to find her.
Nothing.
"It's the fourth of July..." spoke Sarah again, and his mind went back  to Y/N's eyes... brimmed with tears reminded him so much of his, he really wanted to know the reason why she was in that state.
And the second time he saw her was on the roof of a building, John B has sent him again to buy fireworks to light on the beach, but then something caught his eyes.
Someone.
The moonlight shone down on her, black shorts, white top, hair flying everywhere thanks to the wind, black socks, she stood on the edge of the roof staring ahead, the moonlight kissing her skin and making hear tear glisten like diamonds, what the fuck.
Without thinking twice, he sprinted up the stairs, ignoring that it was a building with people living in it, rich people that would knsult him idf they saw him in, he raced up the stairs, boots clapping against the ground as he grabbed the railing for support trying not to trip
He never ran so fast, worry ate him alive as he ran in the speed of light.
Opening the door to the roof with all his force he rushed to the girl just as her feet lifted and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her back to his chest.
She gasped in surprise, her tear-streaked face turning towards him. For a moment, time stood still as their eyes locked. JJ could feel the rapid thumping of her heart against his chest, matching the adrenaline rushing through his own veins.
"Hey, hey, it's okay," he whispered, his voice filled with a mixture of concern and relief, he turned her around and watched as she looked into his eyes, body shaking with a combination of fear and exhaustion.
"You don't have to do this. You're not alone."
She studier him with glossy eyes, watched as he pushed away her hair from her wet cheeks and cupped her cheeks as if he knew her for years.
At his words she collapsed in his arms, clinging to him tightly, as if holding on for dear life, he wrapped his arms around her as tightly and ran his hand down her hair.
He wasn't used to giving hugs, felt awkward when someone gave him one ir he did, but he hugged her, the weight of her struggles and pain was palpable, and in that moment, JJ understood that there was so much more to her story than what he had glimpsed before.
"Grab my hand," she did as told, hand trembling as he gently guided her away from the edge, leading her to a safer spot on the rooftop.
She slipped down the wall, wrapping her arms around herself tightly ss the breeze got rough, then JJ sat beside her, forgetting his task and what he was supposed to buy.
They sat down together, the distant sounds of fireworks starting to fill the night sky, but not the Outer Banks yet, in 10 minutes, JJ's heart raced as he tried to find the right words to say, wanting to offer comfort and support to this girl he barely knew.
He turned to her, taking off his red hat and ruffling his blond hair, "sup, I'm JJ," he finally said, his voice soft but steady and she chuckled at his words, "And you...you don't have to face this alone. Whatever it is, I'm here for you."
Y/N looked up at him, her eyes filled with a mix of gratitude, she sniffled, wiping away the tears that continued to stream down her cheeks.
"Sup, I'm Y/N..." she whispered, her voice barely audible as she pulled her knees closer to her body, staying silent for a minute gnawing at her lower lip, she spoke again, "Thank you, for saving my life and...being there when no one else was."
JJ's heart ached at her words. He couldn't fathom how someone as beautiful and kind-hearted as Y/N could feel so alone and unloved.
He pulled out the lighter and played with it for a few seconds, "I don't know what you've been through, but I want you to know that Papa J, is here for you, no matter what. You deserve to be surrounded by people who care about you."
Y/N's eyes welled up with tears once again, but this time they were tears of relief mixed with a glimmer of hope. She had never expected a chance encounter with JJ to lead to this moment of genuine connection and understanding.
But she blinked away the tears and smiled at him brightly, sitting by his side, her shoulder pressed to his as they stared ahead, "I'll make sure to keep that in mind, Thank you, Papa J," a smile that showed his dimples appeared and she felt herself go warm.
"You know what will make you feel better?" He suddenly spoke standing up and slapping his butt to get rid of the dirt, she looked up at him in confusion, wondering what will make her feel better.
"What?"
JJ smiled down at her brightly like a Cheshire cat, "light some fireworks on the beach, smoke weed, drink beers," he suggested putting his hand in front if her to take.
She stared at his hands for a hot second, glancing at the edge of the roof that she almost fell from and then back at him, she never drank alcohol or even had a puff of smoke, breaking the rules sounded like a good idea at the moment.
"why not." She put her hand on top of his watching him hold it carefully, gently, his rings cold and sending a shiver down her spine.
He lifted her and glanced down at the socks, "damn don't your feet hurt?" She laughed softly and followed his eyes down, "they are hurting now, like a bitch." He nodded in response and they walked towards the stairs, hand still in hers.
Her eyes went back to the edge of the roof again, but JJ blocked her path and pushed the door for her, "after you, be careful not to slip, I almost did with my damn boots." She rolled her eyes but grinned at him.
"You're the clumsy one."  She replied making him roll his eyes and gasp dramatically, pretending to faint while doing so, it made her laugh.
She had a gorgeous laugh, contagious that it made him laugh as well, he wondered why a girl like her would even think of trying to leave this world.
He wanted to ask, but no. This wasn't the right moment.
☆☆☆
He handed her his scandals (which led to her saying that his feet were bigger than her face) and called John B to apologize and explain what happened while she was looking for slushy flavors.
Then they went to the beach, watched the fireworks, drank beers, and shared weed, one after the other, placing her lips right where his were, he taught her basic surf tricks, and he did everything to make her forget about the troubles filling her mind.
And it worked.
They laughed, and they talked for hours, sharing stories, dreams, and even their deepest fears, water was reaching her thighs as she watched the colorful explosions in the night sky.
She was high and watching the sky have multicolor stars with so much awe, her eyes glossy and her hand waving underwater, and JJ admired.
Every single feature, the way she watched the fireworks and stood by his side, hair wild and crazy, speaking her mind in a way he never thought anyone would do so, wearing only her bikini top and shorts.
How can a person high till cloud 9 speak like that? He thought, "I mean, that's the thing, Lana Del Rey once said..." She put her finger up, swallowing, "Live fast, die young, be wild, and have fun. That’s my motto, but my dad did everything to not give me my freedom, everything, and believe it or not this is the first time I felt happy."
JJ knew what it was like, it was the same for him, his dad was a fucking asshole and everyone knew it, they all blamed that man's crime on him, and he hated that she had the same problems.
"I think we need to get out, you're way too high baby," he spoke with a laugh grabbing her waist and starting to make his way out of the water.
"oh come on I'm trying to be emotional here! Wait- did you just call me baby?" she asked grabbing his wrist, slurring over her words.
JJ chuckled, his heart warming at Y/N's playful reaction. He had been so caught up in the moment that he had let slip a term of endearment without even realizing it.
But now, with her intoxicated state bringing out her candidness, he found himself unable to hide his smile.
"Yeah, I did call you baby," he replied, his voice teasing, "It just slipped out. But you know what? I think it suits you."
Y/N's eyes widened, a mix of surprise and amusement crossing her face. "Oh really? And why is that?" he couldn't respond instead raised his eyebrow at her, showing his cute dimples that made her smile even more brightly.
"I will not tell you." and next thing he knew she pulled him deeper in the water and pulled him along, pushing him with her in, his hand wrapped around her waist to not lose her and water surrounded them.
them swimming around one another, the light coming from the moon and fireworks the only thing brightening their surroundings, all euphoric. As their eyes locked underwater, JJ felt a surge of anticipation, the world around them seemed to fade away, leaving only the two of them suspended in the watery depths.
They swam closer and closer, her hair moving around her like a mermaid, he watched as the multicolor lights flashing kissed her skin, eyes twinkling like pearls.
As they swam closer, their bodies gracefully gliding through the liquid medium, time seemed to slow down. Every movement, every touch, was heightened by the magical atmosphere surrounding them. The water embraced them, caressing their skin and amplifying the intensity of their connection.
Y/N has never seen such a beautiful person like JJ, his blonde hair shimmered like strands of liquid gold, framing his face in a way that accentuated his angelic features, ocean eyes watching her in a way no one did, it made her blood run hot even underwater, his muscles twitching as he moved.
God, he was beautiful....
He was angel. That's it, he was an angel sent from heaven to save her from the roof and make her life worth living for.
Their faces drew closer, the space between them narrowing with each passing second, but just as her lips were about to brush against his, doubt crept into JJ's mind. 
He hesitated, like he always did, his thoughts momentarily overpowering the weird feelings he felt in that moment. He withdrew slightly, his hand releasing its grip on her waist.
His wide eyes met hers, and for a moment, the silence between them was deafening, she hesitated as well, confused as to why he did in the first place, but never going to question it.
Maybe he didn't feel comfortable, she thought, JJ's mind raced, questioning the wisdom of his decision, too risky, she's high and probably won't remember by tomorrow- JJ calm the fuck down.
He hated himself for hesitating but he had no choice, she grabbed his shirt and swam back up with him to the surface, JJ followed, cursing himself for letting his doubts cloud the moment, for allowing fear to guide his actions. 
But deep down, he knew he couldn't ignore the nagging thoughts that had caused him to retreat.
Y/N, for her part, seemed to accept the situation without questioning it. Her silence spoke volumes, leaving JJ with a mix of relief and regret, as they resurfaced, the world above the water greeted them with its own set of distractions. 
The sounds of laughter and music filled the air, the festivities of the night continuing as if nothing had happened below the surface. Y/N's wide eyes met his again, searching for answers that he couldn't provide.
JJ gave her a weak smile and her, perceptive as ever, returned his smile with a gentle nod, and just before she started to swim back to land, he spoke with a high pitched voice to not make her go.
"me and my friend want to become Kooks, looking for gold, anything that will make us rich, when this world will become gentle with us, I'm gonna get a new board. I'm gonna deck it out, and I'm gonna go on a surf trip. Ride, whatever the waves take you, you know?" he said watching her stop and turn back around.
A smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she listened to his plans, his determination shining through despite the uncertainties of their current moment.
Dreams do save lives after all.
"Do you have your passport, pretty boy?" she asked with a laugh at his determination, it made his hammering heart slow down, and relief wash over him as he thought she was mad at him at first.
"Hell no, I don't got a passport, Kookiest thing ever." he replied making her laugh even harder, throwing her head back and staring at the sky, her laughter echoing through the water and bringing a sense of lightheartedness to their conversation.
“You definitely should do that, that’s a real dream, surf trip, I believe in you,” she said with a chuckle, starting to swim towards the rock where they kept their stuff hidden just in case someone might steal them, gesturing him to come along.
“you’re saying that like I will do it alone,” he said lifting himself up and out of the water, wrapping the towel he had in the Twinkie around her and grabbing his stuff, “well you will do it with your friends, not alone,” she replied wrapping the towel tighter around her, putting on her sandals.
JJ grabbed their stuff and walked out of the rock, offering his hand so she wouldn’t slip, “and you,” he replied making her smile and glance back at him, "me? So I'm a Pogue now?" she asked teasingly ruffling her hair with the towel.
"Well, I am your friend, you like adventure, saving animals and the sea, you don't hate us, I think you are born a Pogue, besides we could really use your help to become rich," he said shrugging while opening the door to the van.
washing her feet to get rid of the sand she climbed in the passenger seat, towel still tight around her, a mischievous glint in her eyes, "Well, if being a Pogue means embarking on thrilling escapades with you and running from cops, count me in," she said, her voice filled with excitement.
"deal."
and she did become one, helped them find the gold by stealing maps from her father's office, and became a sister to almost everyone, Kiara didn't trust her which was fine, but she didn't hate her either.
Besides she understood what it was like, JJ had stayed by her side for the rest of the time, she was on his, she saved him in many ways, the jacuzzi night, she held him, they ran from cops, she stole for him, for them, got in trouble as well and she was loyal.
That way she cried with him that night when she found out what Luke did to him was the same thing her father did to her, cried with him, and held him at the same time, they were both broken after all.
The night she tried to end her life was the night she met JJ Maybank and he saved her in every way a person can be saved, she stayed the night in John B's house, on the couch, her head to JJ's.
everyone was already asleep, both of them damp after their night swim.
"I see you," he suddenly whispered, the light buzzing from god knows where filling the silence along with the crickets, for a second he thought she had fallen asleep since no answer came from her, "and?" she asked a hot minute, tilting her to the side.
His scent filled her nostrils and made her tensed shoulders relax instantly, "you wouldn't have jumped." he replied staring at the ceiling, his blonde hair falling over his eyes.
JJ's whispered words hung in the air, the weight of their meaning sinking in. Y/N's heart skipped a beat as she processed his statement, his words cut through the darkness, reaching deep into her soul, and touching upon a truth that she had kept hidden for so long.
"God knows what would've happened if you weren't there," she whispered staring at the ceiling with tears blurring her vision, she played with the shell charm of his bracelet.
"but I'm glad it was you," her voice was barely above a whisper, but he heard it, and when he spoke his voice was as soft as a feather, "I'm glad too," he had said and then she felt her blood run hot, cheeks turning rosy.
and with that, they both fell asleep, her finger hooked around his bracelet and his finger drew patterns, their faces so close at the edge of the couch, her head to the right and his to the left, noses almost bumping.
Their breaths synchronized, her scent mixing with his creating the most intoxicating perfume that ever existed, peace washing over them as they slept close to one another, safe from any trouble.
☆☆☆
They fell in love, and they hesitated to tell one another, like the night they hesitated to kiss, there was a palpable tension that's for sure, even the blind could sense it.
But the day she realized that one day she will stop hesitating was in the boat when he fell off it.
"Clear." 
He whispered and Y/N walked away with JJ following behind her, a man suddenly appeared in front of her making her call out for the pretty blonde, "JJ..." "of course, there's more of you..." he said pulling out a machete, "get down on your knees," he ordered and JJ grabbed the girl by the waist pulling her back as soon as the man stepped towards her. "Yeah, that's not gonna happen." with that, he charged at the girl who ducked immediately, JJ punched the man and pinned his arm, and Y/N kicked him right in the crotch before with the door to the emergency power locker supply.
Y/N ran towards the railing calling out for the Routledge boy, "JOHN B!" she yelled not even noticing the man approaching her from behind, JJ's eyes widened in horror as he called out for the girl.
"Y/N!" she turned around, eyes on the weapon that went flying towards her, she moved away but it sliced her arm making her wince in pain, "Y/N!" he called again in worry.
Eberhimi lifted his machete and JJ caught his wrist, grabbing him from behind, and elbowing the younger boy in the stomach, he swung at Y/N who caught his wrist and grabbed her collar, her head went to the side and the end of the weapon went right to JJ.
Her eyes widened in terror as JJ fell off the boat into the water, she bit Eberhimi's wrist before grabbing the hand that held the machete, twisting it, and she slammed his head against the glass before the wall.
And with that, he fell to the ground unconscious, Y/N ran towards the edge and called out for JJ whose face was on the water, "JJ!" she called loud enough for Outer Banks to hear.
Y/N's heart pounded in her chest as she watched the boy, she climbed the edge and her demons immediately consumed her, panic gripped her as memories of her own pain and struggles flooded her mind, the night she was standing on the edge.
the same feeling she felt during the fourth of July threatening to overwhelm her, she didn't do it, yet here she is standing on the edge once again.
But she knew she couldn't let fear paralyze her. She had to act. She will step off the edge, god she hoped the water wouldn't turn to solid rocks and kill her immediately, as a payback for not doing it that night
Either you face it or JJ dies. she thought.
With her heart pounding and her mind filled with a mixture of terror and determination, Y/N took a deep breath and closed her eyes tightly before stepping off the edge. 
The air rushed past her, and for a split second, she felt weightless, suspended between the fear of the unknown and the hope for a different outcome.
As she descended towards the water, her mind raced with thoughts of what awaited her below. Would the water be a lifeline, cradling her safely in its embrace? Or would it become a cruel reminder, punishing her for the choice she didn't make before?
It was too deep, way too deep, she wasn't that good at swimming either, her feet touched the sand for fuck's sake that night because she was scared!
"JJ!" she screamed swimming towards him, turning the boy around she wrapped her arm around his waist, trying to keep them both afloat. 
Her heart was racing as she struggled to keep her head above water, tried to fight her own demons that gripped her hair, feet, and everywhere and pulled her, "Please wake up JJ," she pleaded, her voice choked with tears and water that started filling her lungs, "I need you." she begged.
"JJ, stay with me." she called pushing his pretty blonde hair out of his face as she slapped his cheek gently, "J, please. Please!" she exclaimed louder this time.
Y/N's arms were growing tired, and she was struggling to keep JJ's head above water, his entire body leaned against hers desperately.
She could feel herself slowly drowning, but she refused to let go of him. Kicking and trashing around, moving her legs in fast motions, looked nothing like swimming, but kept her head a little above. She moved her legs around at a rapid speed to keep them both afloat, her heart was pounding in her chest, and she was gasping for air, her eyes burning from the salty water.
"Hang on, JJ," she said, her voice shaking. "We'll make it through this together." Despite her fear and exhaustion, Y/N continued to fight, determined not to let JJ go.
she leaned her head against his, his entire head leaning on her shoulder, "John B's coming, John B's coming." she whispered hoping he could hear her, mostly to herself, so she doesn't give up and let her demons take her.
The world really was against her huh?
Y/N was growing weaker by the second, her arms and legs were aching, and she could feel her muscles going numb. 
She slowly leaned back, her eyes growing heavy as she struggled to stay conscious, "JJ," she called his name a thousand times, her voice barely above a whisper, "Stay with me, please." 
Y/N knew she was fighting a losing battle, she did everything she could to stay awake and not let the water take her. 
She squeezed him tightly, feeling his body grow heavier in her arms, despite the pain and exhaustion trying to take over, and dominate, she stayed awake until help arrived.
until John B. arrived.
"JOHN B! HELP!" 
Y/N's lungs were burning, and she could feel the water going into her mouth as she called out for help.
"Help!" she shouted, her voice hoarse, "Please, John B help us!" she could feel herself slipping away, her body growing numb as the water enveloped her. 
She coughed and sputtered, the taste of salt water filling her mouth, but even as she struggled to breathe, she refused to let go of JJ.
She held him tightly, her arm wrapped around him so tightly, doing everything she could to keep him above water, even pushing him slightly above her even if it resulted in her being underwater.
"Hang on, JJ," she said, her voice shaking, "Just a little longer. John B is coming." Despite the overwhelming odds against her, Y/N continued to fight, her legs moving rapidly as if she never swam in her entire life, determined to stay alive for JJ's sake.
Y/N sobbed against JJ's neck, her tears mixing with the salt water, "I'm sorry," she said, her voice trembling from the cold and fear, "I'm sorry. I should've been hit." 
She felt guilty and responsible for JJ's injuries, and the weight of it was unbearable. 
The water felt like it had hands, pulling her down and dragging her away from JJ. But she clung to him, her grip growing tighter as she fought against the current. 
Soon enough, John B appeared and the pogues called out for their friend, "NO! No! No!" exclaimed John B stopping the boat and reaching for his best friend, his brother, and his family.
Y/N couldn't hear her friends calling out for her. She was lost in her own world, struggling to keep her head above water.
As soon as she felt JJ's weight slip away from her, safe and in the arms of her best friend, she let the water take her. 
She felt herself sinking deeper and deeper, the darkness closing in all around her.
It wasn't until she felt the strong hands of Sarah, John B, Pope, and Kiara grabbing her and lifting her from under the water that she opened her eyes, gasping for air. 
She clung to them tightly, using their strength to lift herself up and out of the water. She was shaking and disoriented, but she was alive.
 "Thank you," she said, her voice barely above a whisper, "Thank you for saving me." with that, she looked around for JJ, and her heart sank to her stomach when she saw him lying motionless in the lifeboat.
She crawled towards him, her hands shaking as she reached out to slap his cheek, "Wake up, JJ," she pleaded, her voice choked with emotion.
"Please, wake up!" But JJ remained still, and Y/N felt a sense of panic rising in her chest, no, he can't die. 
she knew that she had to do something to help him, so she began slapping his chest, trying to get the water out of his lungs, her friends surrounded her with worry and fear rushing through their veins.
Only Y/N calling and begging him to wake up boomed around them. "Come on, JJ, you can do this. Get up!" she said, her voice quivering badly, she was always a tough person with no fear in her eyes, and now they could see the pure anger and worry in them.
"Don't leave me like this." Y/N continued to work on JJ, refusing to give up even as her arms were limp and her eyes were blurry.
JJ suddenly sat up, coughing and spluttering, water coming out of his mouth.
He looked around, disoriented, and saw John B smiling down at him, "Welcome to the land of the living, dude," John B said, his voice filled with relief. "No CPR needed, huh?"
He didn't respond, instead, his eyes landed on Y/N's hand on his chest, and then on her tear-streaked face.
 He sat up, feeling the weight of what had just happened hit him, his tensed muscles dropped at the sight of her like this, "Hi," she greeted, her voice hoarse and filled with relief.
"'sup?" he added teasingly, trying to lighten the mood.
Everyone laughed, and Y/N smacked him before pulling his head towards her chest and hugging him tightly. 
She cried silently and kissed his forehead repeatedly, whispering, "Oh, darling, oh JJ, I thought I lost you."
JJ hugged her back, burying his head in the crook of her neck, "I'm here," he said, his voice shaking with emotion. "I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere." He held her tightly, feeling her warmth and her love envelop him.
For a moment, everything else faded away, and all that mattered was Y/N and JJ, together and alive, that was also the day they both realized they were really in love.
"What the hell happened?" JJ asked, reaching to touch his wound, but Y/N slapped his hand away, replacing it with a piece of fabric.
"The blunt end of a machete," replied Cleo, her voice filled with concern, "Machete?" JJ asked a hint of pride in his voice, "The blunt end. Next time, duck," Y/N said, nodding at Cleo before turning to glare at JJ.
JJ chuckled, wincing slightly at the pain in his side. "I'll try to remember that next time," he said, his voice laced with humor, "Thanks for the save, Y/N."
Y/N shook her head, a small smile playing on her lips. "You saved me, I save you," she said, her eyes softening as she looked at JJ, "I couldn't let anything happen to your dumbass."
JJ smirked, but then he suddenly fainted dramatically, his body falling back onto the boat.
Y/N gasped and rushed to his side, checking his wounds, "JJ, JJ, are you okay?" she asked, her voice full of worry, suddenly, JJ's eyes snapped open, and he grinned up at her. "Gotcha," he said, laughing.
Y/N rolled her eyes in vexation, but she couldn't help but smile, "You're such a drama queen," she said, shaking her head in amusement.
JJ sat up, wincing slightly at the pain in his side, "What can I say?" he said, his voice filled with humor. "I like to keep you on your toes." she looked at JJ in pure annoyance, raising an eyebrow, "I can throw you back, you know," she said, her voice laced with sarcasm.
JJ grinned, knowing full well that she would never actually do it. "You won't," he said, his voice teasing.
But then Y/N gave him a glare that made him wince. "You won't, right?" he asked, suddenly unsure, "if you annoy me, then I will." 
☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆
A/N: this might be one of the most beautiful things I've written along with Fairytale, my Kaz Brekker book which you can check out on Wattpad, my account is: KazBrekker090!
I am in love with JJ, that is it, took a while for me to finish this so please do comment what you think and whether I should write a Part 2 where they kiss? Request anything you wish by the way! and thank you!
Like and comment pls!
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lisired · 1 month
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yani, 22, she/they
⤷ 18+ blog primarily for long nct fics. masterlist below. no requests.
⤷ revehae is my side blog where i write evil little stories that normal people will find off-putting.
KEEP ON
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WAITING GAME
⤷ JOHNNY SUH, 9.1k, 1/4 of the Temptation series.
Your best friend’s dad is a smoking hot dilf seeking vengeance after you’ve spent the past couple of years teasing him, but it seems that you can’t handle a taste of your own medicine.
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DRESS CODE
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WHISPER
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DIE IN YOUR ARMS
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HONEYMOON AVENUE
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Three years ago, you had a summer fling with Jung Jaehyun, and what was simply sex turned into more after you caught feelings for him. Then, you find out he has a girlfriend, and decide to call it quits. Three years later, he's back in town, trying to come back in your life, and most importantly trying to come back into your heart, but you're a little hesitant to let him.
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Your brother, Johnny, hates Jaehyun and has never told you why. Although you intend on leaving it alone, unforeseen events thrust you into a forbidden love affair with Jaehyun. In between hookups and stolen kisses, you have to bury your feelings for Jaehyun around your overprotective older brother.
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⤷ MARK LEE, 19.9k
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PRETTY LITTLE WEAPON
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A lifetime worth of adversity had brought you to Bloodlust. You joined them to escape your history, but with Mark Lee - an undercover narcotics agent with a secret to keep - comes the threat of being forced to confront your past. Old wounds are opened, but scars heal.
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After breaking off your engagement to your fiance, you move to Los Angeles to pursue a modeling career. There in the fairytale land where stars go to shine you meet Haechan, an aspiring photographer with a penchant for mischief and flirtation.
SMILE FOR THE CAMERA
⤷ LEE HAECHAN, PARK JISUNG, 19.8k
upon accidentally finding a video of you and your boyfriend haechan doing some very sexual things, jisung knows that he shouldn’t watch it. he knows that it would be an extreme invasion of privacy, but he’s unable to control himself when he sees the thumbnail. so he settles for only watching 30 seconds. except, 30 seconds turns into 30 minutes, and by then he’s buried himself too deep into a life-changing situation—or in which jisung’s terrible at keeping secrets.
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Five years ago, you left your hometown and ex to recreate your identity in California. Now, you're a staple of the fashion industry and on the front cover of magazines everywhere. Your hard work has paid off, but when you realize that you might be pregnant, you have to decide whether you want to be a full-time model or a full-time mother.
THE DEVIL’S CUP
⤷ LEE HAECHAN, 6.8k
In a world where humans and demons are separated by earth and the unknown, you’re curious about the creatures that most mortal beings are too frightened to investigate. More specifically if they can please you sexually. As they say, curiosity killed the cat.
WHO NEEDS CUPID’S BOW?
⤷ LEE HAECHAN, 11.1k
Cupid is not on your side, it seems. He’s made you fall in love with the worst possible person ever, AKA your best friend, AKA the man who still eats tootsie-pops—willingly. And frankly, it feels like the damn candy has a better chance of dating him than you ever will.
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ilguna · 7 months
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☼ perfectly timed pt2 (Finnick Odair) ☼
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summary; when you figure out that the arena's a clock, Finnick promises that he'll be your bodyguard from then on, and he doesn't take that responsibility lightly.
warnings; swearing, death, death mention, murder, gore, blood.
wc; 11k
part one.
“I’m not going to tell you right now, though.” You warn Finnick, he doesn’t seem to care. “You can’t say anything just yet.”
“I won’t.” He tells you.
“I’m just going to work out the details.” You say.
The two of you walk a couple of steps, before he realizes that he still has his arm around your shoulder. He removes it, offering you an apologetic smile, before joining Katniss, Peeta and Johanna in the treeline. 
“Well, it must be monkey hour. And I don’t see any of them in there." Peeta says. “I’m going to try to tap a tree.”
“No, it’s my turn,” Finnick says.
“You’re going to put (Y/n) in danger?” Peeta asks. 
Finnick looks at you for a second, “She’ll stick close.”
“I’ll at least watch your back.” Peeta says.
“Katniss can do that.” Johanna says. “We need you to make another map. The other washed away.” She reaches up and yanks a large leaf off of a tree to hand to him.
You shake your head. “I’ll stay here, too, then.”
“No, you’re not leaving my sight, remember?” Finnick motions for you to come.
“Johanna can—”
“Come on, (Y/n). I won’t let anything touch you here.” Finnick takes a step toward you, grabbing your wrist. He begins to pull you into the jungle, you struggle to keep up with his steps.
You travel about fifteen yards into the jungle, when Finnick finds a good tree to tap into. He takes the knife from your hand to stab into the bark of the tree to make a hole with the knife to stick the metal object into. You stick close to Finnick’s side, eyes sweeping the jungle.
Katniss is on guard, too, but she doesn’t appear to be as concerned as you feel. She’s lost in thought, eyebrows twitching in. You look back at the beach, wondering if Finnick will get mad if you go back there, anyway. None of you have any idea what time it is right now, making the jungle dangerous. Katniss said it was going on four, meaning four is beginning…
“Finnick, I don’t think the monkeys are out anymore.”
“We’re fine, (Y/n).” He brushes you off.
“If it’s going on four, then that means we’re in the next hour. We have no idea what we’re facing.”
“The jungle’s fine, see?” Finnick says, straightening briefly to motion to the greenery. “I’ve got you.” He then looks at Katniss, “Katniss, got that spile?”
She blinks, cutting the vines that were holding the metal tube to her belt. She holds it out to him from between her fingers. Finnick’s just reaching to grab it, when a scream breaks the silence. It belongs to a young girl, one that must be terrified.
Katniss drops the spile, whipping around and running straight to where the scream had come from, barely dodging vines and branches as she travels further into the jungle. You shake your head, going to plead with Finnick, but he’s sweeping the spile into one hand, grabbing you with the other, dragging you after Katniss.
“Prim!” Katniss’ shrill scream sounds close, “Prim!” Another agonized scream comes from further in the jungle. “Prim!”
“Finnick, we’re in the next hour!” You tell him, looking behind you to the beach, wondering if Johanna and Peeta can hear Katniss. “We’ve got to get out, not go further!”
“Katniss is our priority.” Finnick tells you firmly. 
You block branches with your forearm to keep them from leaving cuts on your face. The pace Finnick sets is difficult to keep up with, you’re not used to running this far for this long. He doesn’t care, pulling you along, forcing you to keep moving whether you like it or not. You think about stopping, but he’d just pick you up to keep going. 
Sweat begins to run down the side of your face in the same way that the blood rain did, past your ears and to your chin, where it drips on the front of your jumpsuit. You suck in deep breaths of air, but they provide no help, with how humid it is in here. You need cold air, the type that was coming off of the seawater.
“Prim!” Katniss screams. She rips through a wall of green, stumbling into a clearing ahead. The screaming continues, Katniss is looking up, into the trees. “Prim?”
“What is it?” You gasp.
“I don’t know.”
The two of you make it to the clearing, where you struggle to suck in the air that your lungs are demanding. Katniss seems calmer, at least. She’s wiping one of her arrows clean of blood with moss.
“Katniss?” Finnick says.
“It’s okay. I’m okay.” She says. “I thought they had my sister but—”
The hair on the back of your neck rises when another scream fills the air, this time it’s not a girl. It’s his. You turn, lips parting as you search the jungle. How can he be here? How did they get him here? He’s supposed to be safe at home, untouchable.
“Zero?” You call.
“(Y/n)!” Zero screams back.
“Zero!” You take off in the direction it’s coming from.
“(Y/n), wait!” Katniss shouts behind you.
You don’t stop, running up the incline, heading for the sound of his voice. You manage to keep an eye on the ground, avoiding the roots and snarls that stick up, waiting to trap your feet in its grasp. 
“(Y/n), please!”
“I’m coming!” You shout, gasping for air, “Zero, I’m coming!”
You duck beneath a branch, not bothering to stop for it. You can hear Finnick and Katniss behind you, struggling to keep on your heels. The further you travel, the faster you go, getting a hang of the incline.
You fly through a group of bushes, tripping over a branch when it catches on your clothes. You fall to your knees, eyes searching the sky above. You can hear him screaming for you, up in the tree.
“Zero.” Your lips are trembling as you get to your feet. “Zero!”
“Help!” He screams.
Katniss and Finnick come through the bushes, panting. You move around the tree, tears in your eyes that you wipe away.
“I’ve got it.” Katniss tells you, “I’ll get him.”
“Zero.” You murmur. “My brother, they have my brother? How is that possible?”
Katniss sticks her fingers in the bark in places you couldn’t have begun to imagine. She scales the tree, the branches and foliage concealing her. She doesn’t say a word, but the screaming stops. And something falls from the tree, landing in the grass at your feet.
Finnick picks it up, turning it over in his hand. 
Your face smooths. “It’s a jabberjay.”
Katniss slides down the tree, coming to join you two. “It’s all right, (Y/n). It’s just a jabberjay. They’re playing a trick on us.” She says. “It’s not real. It’s not your… Zero.”
“No, it’s not Zero, but the voice was his.”
“Jabberjays mimic what they hear. Where did they get those screams, Katniss?” Finnick says.
Katniss pales. “Oh, Finnick, you don’t think they…?”
“Yes I do. That’s exactly what I think.” Finnick says.
You struggle to get your hands to stop shaking, palms flat against your thighs. You and Finnick share a long look, as Katniss sinks into the ground, fingers grabbing at the grass.
Zero’s supposed to be safe at home. You promised him that he’d be okay without you, he’d be protected by the neighboring victors. If anything happened, he would be the first person they retrieved so he could be protected if a war broke out. You didn’t think that they’d just collect him to torture him for samples…
“We have to go.” Finnick says, “This must be the hour.”
“That’s what I was trying to tell you.” You look at him.
“I know, I should’ve listened.” He turns his attention to Katniss. “You have to get up, we need to get back to the others.”
She doesn’t respond, doesn’t so much as glance in your direction to confirm that she’s heard what he said. You wipe the sweat from your forehead, pulling at your fingers. You don’t like being here, in the middle of the jungle. You’re so exposed.
A bird starts to scream off to your right, this causes Katniss to leap to her feet, jerking in the direction. Finnick catches her arm before she can run. “No. It’s not him.” He starts pulling her downhill, you stick close to them. “We’re getting out of here!” Katniss doesn’t care, struggling to get free. “It’s not him, Katniss! It’s a mutt!”
Zero’s screams overlap, your feet freeze in place for a second, you stiffly get them to work again. Finnick glances at you, you press your lips together, sliding your arm beneath his to keep together. 
As you go further away from the screams, Katniss is less combative. In fact, she becomes eager to get out of the jungle, pulling you and Finnick behind her. It takes only a few minutes for you to reach the treeline, where Johanna and Peeta are standing there, unmoving.
Finnick lets go of Katniss, but you keep your hold on him.
Peeta’s got his hands raised, palms facing towards you. His lips are moving, but there’s no sound behind it. It isn’t until Katniss and Finnick run smack into the transparent wall, do you know that it’s there. The two of them fall back on the jungle floor, Finnick pulling you down with him.
Katniss grips at her shoulder, but when you look at Finnick, you see that his nose is gushing blood. He must’ve hit it face-first. You search the area nearby, and find some of the moss that Katniss had been using earlier to help clean up Beetee’s back. You pull it from the rock, handing it to Finnick.
“Thanks.” He squishes his nose. “So much for going to the beach.”
Johanna and Peeta shake their heads, and even demonstrate that the wall is unbreakable, by swinging their weapons at it. None of you even bother to try to check any of the other walls, all that’ll happen is you’ll be met with disappointment when you can’t make it through there, either.
For the next minute, you think that this will be manageable. You can sit through and listen to your brother screaming for help. Then the birds arrive, one by one, perching in the surrounding branches. An orchestrated chorus of screams and pleas begin to spill out of their beaks.
You slam the heels of your hands over your ears, pressing tightly. “No, no, no!”
Finnick comes over, guiding you to the wall, helping you to the ground. He doesn’t seem affected by the screams, he even pries your hands from your ears, only then to immediately replace them with his. He blocks them out entirely, but you still reach up to hold them there, afraid of the sounds that are happening out there.
You watch for a while as Katniss empties her quiver of arrows into the birds. She’ll take one down, and it’ll be replaced by two more. When she realizes this, she stops, coming to sit beside you and Finnick, clenching her own hands over her ears to keep out the wretched noise.
You keep your eyes closed for the remainder of the hour, distracting yourself by thinking about the plan to kill off the Two tributes. You come to the conclusion that it’ll work best if you hide in the trees, let the tidal wave come at ten, hike up to the lightning tree to somehow connect the wire to the tree, and then bring the spool back down to the beach before the lightning hits. By then, Enobaria and Brutus will want to be out of the jungle, and they’ll get electrocuted to death.
That is, unless the rebel plan takes over first. As far as you know, the mentors haven’t sent any hints as to what day and what hour you’ll be executing everything. Haymitch worked out a plan, hopefully fool proof. You’ll use the type of district bread for day, and the amount of bread for the hour. 
He’s supposed to send multiple rounds of the bread to confirm that it’s still happening at the same time. You haven’t thought to ask about it until now. Before, your mind was occupied with the jungle, then a plan to kill the careers. With that almost done, you need to look at the final and bigger picture.
Finnick’s hands loosen from your ears, you’re left with an ache in the area from how hard he was pushing. The hour must be done, because Peeta is now sitting with Katniss, and you can’t hear anymore screaming.
Your head falls into your hands as you rub beneath your eyes, sighing. Finnick gets to his feet, when you look up, you can see he has his hand out for you. You take it, letting him pull you to your feet.
“Thank you, Finnick. You didn’t have to do that.” You place your hand on his shoulder.
“They have no one to use against me, (Y/n).” Finnick says, “And I didn’t want to watch you being tortured.”
Your eyebrows twitch, “Right.”
“I’m going to go find a tree to tap.” Finnick tells you.
“Do you want me to go with?” 
“No, stay here with them. I’ll be back in a minute.” He says, picking up his trident. He strides off, presumably toward the original tree that he had carved out before the birds attacked.
“It’s all right, Katniss.” Peeta whispers.
“You didn’t hear them.”
“I heard Prim. Right in the beginning. But it wasn’t her,” He says. “It was a jabberjay.”
“It was her. Somewhere. The jabberjay just recorded it.” Katniss says, not budging.
“No, that’s what they want you to think. The same way I wondered if Glimmer’s eyes were in that mutt last year. But those weren’t Glimmer’s eyes. And that wasn’t Prim’s voice. Or if it was, they took it from an interview or something and distorted the sound. Made it say whatever she was saying.” He says.
What Peeta says gets you thinking. He’s right. You thought the same thing she and Finnick did, until Peeta mentioned the distorted sound a second ago. At home, you learned how to do that in school. It’s basic technology manipulation. You’re not sure why you didn’t think of that before.
Maybe it’s because you wouldn’t put it past the Capitol to kidnap and torture innocents. Zero has never been directly in contact with the capitol, unless it’s through you. Even then, they don’t focus on him for very long.
“No, they were torturing her.” Katniss says. “She’s probably dead.”
“Katniss, Prim isn’t dead. How could they kill Prim? We’re almost down to the final eight of us. And what happens then?” Peeta asks.
“Seven more of us die.” Katniss mutters morbidly. It’s almost comical.
“No, back home. WHat happens when they reach the final eight tributes in the Games?” He lifts her chin. “What happens? At the final eight?”
Katniss doesn’t respond right away. “At the final eight?” She repeats. “They interview your family and friends back home.”
“That’s right.” Peeta says. “They interview your family and friends. And can they do that if they’ve killed them all?”
“No?” Katniss asks.
“No. That’s how we know Prim’s alive. She’ll be the first one they interview, won’t she?” He asks, Katniss is apprehensive still. “First Prim. Then your mother. Your cousin, Gale. Madge,” he lists. “It was a trick, Katniss. A horrible one. But we’re the only ones who can be hurt by it. We're the ones in the Games. Not them.”
Finnick is coming back through the trees, a woven bowl in his hands. They hardly pay any attention to him. He hands you the water first, you take a few sips out of it, giving it back to him.
“You really believe that?” Katniss asks.
“I really do.” Peeta says.
Katniss looks at Finnick, who’s handing her the bowl of water. “Did you hear any of that, Finnick> Do you believe it?”
“It could be true. I don’t know.” His eyes land on you. “Could they do that, (Y/n)? Take someone’s regular voice and make it…”
“Yes, I completely forgot it was possible at first.” You let out a sigh. “It’s not even that difficult. Our children learn a similar technique in school.”
“Of course Peeta’s right. The whole country adores Katniss’s little sister. If they really killed her like this, they’d probably have an uprising on their hands.” Johanna says flatly. “Don’t want that, do they?” She throws her head back to shout, “Whole country in rebellion? Wouldn’t want anything like that!”
You look at Finnick, and then out at the beach. “We should move.”
“Good idea.” Peeta agrees, sweeping Katniss into his arms. 
Finnick grabs the bowl of water that was left behind, offering it to Johanna. She holds her hand out, “I’m going to pee.”
“No, don’t.” Katniss calls. “The birds—”
“They can’t hurt me. I’m not like the rest of you. There’s no one left I love,” Johanna says, walking away.
You and Finnick make your way to the beach to join Katniss and Peeta, who are now sitting in the sand. You find the wire sitting by a tree, reflecting the sunlight. Finnick places the bowl of water on top of it to keep sand from getting inside. He doesn’t stop to sit down, wandering to go be in the water.
You sit in the shade, knees against your chest as you stare at Finnick’s back. You knew he was going to keep you safe, but you didn’t realize that he was going to take every measure necessary. He pulled you away from the careers when you went to grab Beetee, took Enobaria’s knife in his thigh for you, and then dived in the water to grab the wire so you wouldn’t.
And now he’s keeping you close. 
“Who did they use against Finnick?” Peeta asks.
“No one.” Katniss murmurs. “It was (Y/n) and I.” She glances at you, “Her brother.”
Peeta looks over too, curious now. “I think I remember. (Y/n), there was a tragedy, wasn’t there?”
You nod, not speaking right away. You’re surprised he even remembers, your Games took place almost eight years ago. It wasn’t a very popular one because of how boring you’d been the entire time. The only notable event was the fire that took place, eating up the entire forest that you’d been using as your shelter. It’s how the Two girl was able to find you, because you had to adventure out and pick new spots to rotate between, places she’d frequented and knew like the back of her hand. 
What Peeta’s asking about isn’t about the arena and that fire. It was what happened a couple months later after you’d arrived home. You used to be bothered by people asking what happened exactly, but a few years ago, you realized that it was going to haunt you if you didn’t let it go.
You started out as a miracle, the first Three victor in a good number of years. When you didn’t follow the ideas that the people had around you, it sparked controversy. Where Beetee helped the Capitol with projects, you refused to even step foot on a train to go back if it wasn’t for mentoring. 
Your parents wanted you to pursue the Capitol, in hopes that it would make a better future for generations. You didn’t listen, so they decided they were going to stay in the childhood home. Your brother was supposed to, too, except he frequently slept over at your victor house, because it was bigger and warmer. 
One night, the home was set aflame. By the time you got the news, there was nothing left to salvage, whoever had done it did a thorough job. The peacekeepers investigated it for a couple months, but they stopped when they couldn’t find any more information.
It killed your parents, and your brother would be dead too, if he hadn’t stayed at your house that night, like he wasn’t supposed to.
“My childhood home burned down, killing my parents.” You tell them. “I only have my brother.”
Peeta nods, stroking Katniss’s hair. “I’m surprised they didn’t use Annie Cresta against Finnick.”
“Who?” Katniss asks.
“Annie Cresta. She was the girl Mags volunteered for. She won about five years ago.”
You raise your eyebrows, and then allow your face to relax. You don’t think about Annie much, she was one of those victors that got covered up quickly. Kinda like Johanna, except she refuses to let the light go out on her. The Capitol can’t either, because she’s the only female victor in Seven. She has to mentor tributes.
“I don’t remember those Games much.” Katniss says. “Was that the earthquake year?”
“Yeah. Annie’s the one who went mad when her district partner got beheaded. Ran off by herself and hid. But an earthquake broke a dam and most of the arena got flooded. She won because she was the best swimmer.”
“Did she get better after?” Katniss asks. “I mean, her mind?”
“I don’t know. I don’t remember ever seeing her at the Games again. But she didn’t look too stable during reaping this year.” Peeta says.
“From what I heard, Finnick and Annie broke up two years ago.” You draw a figure eight in the sand. “She’s not doing well.”
That’s all hearsay, though. Information that you’d gathered over time while you mentored. Annie won, the following year, Finnick was still by himself mentoring. The year after, he was the happiest you’ve seen him in the Capitol. Then last year, he was back to who he was before.
Johanna comes out of the trees a few minutes later, arrows in hand. She drops them in a pile next to Katniss and Peeta, who murmur out a thanks. A cannon blasts, Finnick rises to come join the rest of you in watching the hovercraft. It appears over the six-to-seven zone, and dips down five different times to retrieve the pieces of one body. There’s no telling who it was.
Once again, Peeta gets a leaf to draw a new map, adding JJ for the jabberjays in the four-to-five area. He writes beast in the area the tribute was collected in pieces. With the map, you’re able to see where you sit on the clock face again.
Finnick makes a net for fishing, going out into the water to throw it. Katniss joins him to take a quick swim, and then sits at the edge of the water to clean the fish that Finnick catches. The sun sets fairly quickly in this time, the moon rising on the other side.
You’re all beginning to settle down to eat when the anthem begins, followed by the faces of the dead. Cashmere, Gloss, Beetee, Mags. The five of you sit in solemn silence, trying to be respectful for one another. The women from Five and Six, with Blight and the man from Ten pulling up the rear.
Another eight dead.
“They’re really burning through us.” Johanna says.
“Who’s left? Besides us five and District Two?” Finnick asks.
“Chaff.” Peeta says, not missing a beat.
You continue to draw in the sand, watching as a parachute comes down from behind the trees, teetering from side to side. “We’ve got a sponsor gift.”
Peeta gets to his feet, letting the parachute land in his palm. He sets it down in the middle with the rest of the food, pulling back the square of fabric, allowing you to see its bread.
That’s right.
There’s a pile of small square shaped rolls. “These are from your district, right, (Y/n)?”
“Yes, from District Three.” You lean forward. “How many are there?”
Finnick gets to counting them, being thorough by turning each one over in his hands before he sets them into a neat pile. “Twenty-four.”
“An even two dozen, then?” You ask.
“Twenty-four on the nose.” Finnick meets your eyes. “How should we divide them?”
“Let’s each have three, and whoever is still alive at breakfast can take a vote on the rest.” Johanna says, Katniss lets out a laugh. 
The five of you eat the food that’s presented in front of you, passing around the water bowl to whoever asks for it. They try to keep up conversation, but you’ve already sunk back into your mind. 
District Three means day three. Twenty-four rolls of bread means midnight. They want you to be at the lightning tree, don’t they? It’s perfect for the plan you went through this afternoon. Your idea to kill the careers will act as a cover for the real rebel plan that’s taking place.
When you’re done eating, the bread rolls are placed into a dry bowl to keep them safe. You retreat into the woods when the wave comes, wait for the water to recede, and then head to that part of the beach to make camp. If everything goes according to plan, there should be a full twelve hours before you have to move again.
There’s a chorus of clicking coming from the eleven-to-twelve wedge. You all agree to keep away from that area and the beach, in case the insects are waiting for misstep in that area.
Katniss and Peeta volunteer to take watch, because they’ve had the most sleep out of all of you. Johanna goes down without a fight, she’s only had an hour all day. Finnick finds a space between you and Johanna. You’re a little different, though. While they fall asleep almost instantly, you can’t find the same peace.
You get to your feet, this causes Peeta to sit up.
“Is there something wrong?” He asks.
“No, I’m just going to take a walk. I’ll stay in sight.” You tell him.
You pull off your shoes, dropping them where you’d been sitting. You then wander down the beach, even going a few steps into the water. When you’re sure that you’re far enough away from them, and they won’t be able to hear you, you stop.
A shaky breath escapes your lips as you lean over your knees. You breathe deeply in through your nose, trying to calm the aching feeling that’s growing in your throat. You sniff, closing your eyes, shaking your head.
Beetee was more than your mentor. He turned into your second parent after yours died. He made sure that you settled into your house, that you were sound enough to take care of your brother on your own. He even got Wiress to offer to volunteer for you, if you weren’t up for this. 
And now he’s gone.
You can’t help the tears that escape, placing a hand over your mouth as you sob into your fingers. You knew that there were going to be sacrifices made, he even warned you that there was a good possibility that you could die, too. You just never thought it would be him.
You get tired of standing, opting to sit in the water. It’s warm, not at all refreshing. You don’t care, you don’t want to go back over there. It’s clear Katniss and Peeta needed time by themselves. You don’t want to see the looks on their faces either, when they realize you’ve been crying.
You just hope Zero is being good for Wiress. The victors are all supposed to watch over him together, but she said that she’d keep a close eye. Zero told you he wouldn’t get into any trouble, it’s hard to believe him. He’s got the whole house to himself and no older sister to limit him. He has to have some idea of what kind of danger he’s in though, right?
A crack of lightning hits the tree, altering you that it’s now midnight, officially bringing you into the third day. You hear a shout coming from camp, and when you turn to look, you see that Finnick is sitting up in the sand. He looks to where your shoes are, and then his head whips in your direction.
You sigh, getting to your feet. Either you go back, or he’s going to come over here. You walk through the water most of the way, enjoying the way the water laps over your feet. When you get there, Katniss is just laying down, Finnick is taking her spot.
“Why aren’t you sleeping?” Finnick asks.
“I’m not tired.” You tell him, which is part of the truth. You did sleep most of the night last night, but if you were to lie down again, you’d be left to your thoughts. Same if you stayed away. “I’ll stay with Finnick, Peeta. Go ahead and be with Katniss.”
“Are you sure?” Peeta asks, he’s getting to his feet.
“Yeah.”
Katniss looks over her shoulder, watching as Peeta goes to join her. You sit where Peeta had been, which faces the jungle. You cross your legs, stabbing the knife Finnick gave you into the sand, and leaving it there.
Neither of you speak for a long while. Katniss and Peeta must fall asleep fairly quickly, wrapped around each other. You brush the sand from your legs once it’s dried.
“I’m sorry about Mags, I know how close you two were.” You murmur.
“Thank you, (Y/n).” He says. It’s quiet between you two for a moment. “You were wrong, you know.”
Your eyebrows twitch. You turn your head far enough to see the back of his shoulder. “About what?”
“Annie.”
You press your lips together, he must’ve heard you talking earlier to Katniss and Peeta. “I’m sorry, Finnick. I didn’t mean for it to be malicious.”
“We never dated.” He says. “She was my best friend before she went into the Games. Recently, we haven’t been as close.” He shakes his head, you can feel his hair brush the back of yours. “I was surprised they didn’t use her against me during the jabberjays, and then I realized that it must be because we’re not even friends anymore.”
“What happened between the two of you?” You ask, “If you want to talk about it.”
“It’s a short story.” He pauses. “She started getting better after her Games, so I started to visit her more. And when I thought that she could handle it, I asked her if she’d take over mentoring temporarily.”
You hum. “She wasn’t ready?”
“She called me selfish, we stopped speaking altogether.” He sighs. “I guess the Capitol has eyes everywhere.”
“Of course they do. You really thought they didn’t?” You laugh slightly.
“I had hope.” He chuckles, letting out a breath. “Did you work out the details to your plan, yet?”
“Yes, actually. And I think it’ll be a perfect addition to the plan.” You elbow him, as a way to nudge him into your line of process.
“Really? Let’s hear it.” He says.
“We should wait for the others.” You tell him.
“What, are you afraid that I’m going to claim the idea belongs to me?”
You laugh, “No, I guess I could tell you.” You clear your throat, “I was thinking, if we want to take out the careers, we should do it tomorrow night. The wire isn’t completely useless. See, the wave happens at ten, which makes the sand damp, and with the lightning at midnight, it could work as a conductor. We could electrocute the shit out of them when they come down to the beach, thinking it's safe.
“Or… for something else, if we find it.”
Finnick laughs, “That’s a great idea, (Y/n). This is with all the kinks worked out?”
“More or less.”
“I’m glad you’re here, I don’t know what we’d do without you.”
“You’d survive, figure it out on your own but a little slower.” You look down at the beach. “You don’t need me here.”
Finnick moves behind you, you look over your shoulder to see that he’s turned to face you. “That’s not true, you need to give yourself more credit.”
“Fine, you’d be lost without me.”
“I mean it, (Y/n). We need you here. You’re just as important.”
You give him a smile. “Thanks.”
As much as you wanted to be the one to keep Finnick company for the night, Johanna woke up a couple hours later and insisted that she swap with you. You didn’t feel tired, but laid down anyway. Sure enough, you went out like a light once your eyes were closed.
You didn’t sleep for long, the arena is unusually hot today. The sand is burning your sensitive skin, which you’ve opted to occasionally splash water onto in order to keep cool. It works, partially. The water is warm, but if you time it right, it’s perfectly paired with a breeze.
You kick water in Finnick’s direction, he looks up from his trident, giving you a challenging head tilt. A warning that if you continue, he’ll come over here and teach you a lesson. You give him an innocent look, and then go back to standing knee-deep in the water.
Katniss stirs on the beach, rolling over to squint at the sun angrily. She’s going to have to get in line if she wants to explode the damn thing. None of you are happy with the Gamemakers right now.
You turn to look at the jungle, and find another parachute coming down from the sky. “Sponsor gift.”
Peeta and Johanna look up from the leaf map that he made last night. Finnick gets to his feet, taking a few steps and catching the gift before it hits the sand. You get out of the water, joining them in what little shade is covering the beach. When he sets it down, you’re able to see that it’s more bread, twenty-four rolls, all coming from District Three again.
It’s divided so that everyone gets five, leaving eight left over. You eat in silence, listening to the waves eat up the sand, and then retreat again. You play with the end of the wire, twisting it into a spiral, before pulling it straight. You need to tell them about the plan you’ve made, it just has to be done at the right time.
Katniss gets up, grabbing Peeta’s hand, pulling him in the direction of the water, “Come on. I’ll teach you how to swim.”
He doesn’t fight her. The three of you watch as they go about waist-deep into the water, then she begins to teach him basic strokes. Finnick gets up to collect vines, strategically weaving them into a net. While Johanna refuses to take her eyes off of the teenagers for longer than ten seconds at a time.
She must be worried that they’re going to run off, but if that were the case, Katniss wouldn’t have left her bow here. The only thing they can do now is talk to one another, which is what they did last night, too. If they try to leave, they’re not going to make it very far. They’ll be hunted down within the hour.
Johanna yawns, “I’m going to nap, wake me if anything interesting happens.”
She scoots back so that her upper body is protected from the sun. She uses her arm as a pillow, and bends her other arm over her eyes to make it easier to sleep.
“You can sleep, too. You don’t have to sit with me.” Finnick says.
“I’m fine.” You shrug. 
Finnick works quickly, creating the net in a circular shape. He explains to you that if it’s bunched up, he can throw it a certain way and it’ll expand and cover more water. You stare at him for a few long seconds, wondering if he thinks you’re stupid or if it’s the other way around.
“You mean… a casting net?” You ask slowly.
Finnick blinks, “You know what a casting net is?”
“Finnick, I know what a lot of things are.” You breathe a laugh. “A casting net is one of them.”
He smiles, shaking his head. “Right.”
“Hey, Finnick, come on in! We figured out how to make you pretty again!” Katniss waves her hand.
He looks up from the sand, eyebrows drawing in. She’s talking about the scabs that they’re completely covered in, which was a result of the ointment they used because of the poisonous fog. Finnick gets to his feet, leaving the net next to you as he goes over to join them.
You watch as the three of them use handfuls of sand to rub off the scabs gently. They take turns helping each other get the ones on their back. When they’re done, they come out of the water to apply another round of the medicine because their skin isn’t taking well to the sun.
“I think it’s time we talk about the careers,” You tell them. “I doubt they’ll attack us openly again, now that they’re outnumbered. We could track them down, but it’s dangerous to pursue them.”
“Do you think they’ve figured out about the clock?” Katniss asks.
“If they haven’t, they’ll figure it out soon, just not as specifically as we have. They must know that at least some of the zones are wired for attacks and that they’re recurring. And the fact that our last fight was cut off by Gamemaker intervention will not pass over their heads, as much as we’d like to think it will.
“We know it was an attempt to disorient us, but they’re going to be asking why it happened, and that might lead them to the clock idea, as well.”
“Wait, let me get Johanna up.” FInnick says. “She’ll be rabid if she thinks she missed something this important.”
“Or not.” Katniss mutters, you tilt your head, agreeing with her. 
Still, he gets Johanna awake and up to speed. She crosses her arms, staring at you intensely. You squint at her briefly, before making Katniss and Peeta scoot back.
You draw a circle in the sand, dividing it into twelve wedges. “If you were Brutus and Enobaria, knowing what you do now about the jungle, where would you feel safest?” You ask, looking between them.
“Where we are now. On the beach.” Peeta says. “It’s the safest place.”
“So why aren’t they on the beach?” 
“Because we’re here.” Johanna sighs impatiently. “Is there a point to this?”
You ignore her. “Exactly, we’re here, claiming the beach. Now where would you go?”
No one speaks for a second, until Katniss does, “I’d hide just at the edge of the jungle. So I could escape if an attack came. And so I could spy on us.”
“Also to eat,” Finnicks ays. “The jungle’s full of strange creatures and plants. But by watching us, I’d know the seafood’s safe.”
You smile, “Of course, now that we’re all on the same page, here’s what I propose: a twelve o’clock strike. What happens at noon and at midnight?”
“The lightning bolt hits the tree.” Katniss says.
“Yes, so what I’m going to suggest is that after the bolt hits at noon, but before it hits at midnight, we run Beetee’s wire from that tree all the way down into the saltwater, which is, of course, highly conductive. When the bolt strikes, the electricity will travel down the wire and into not only the water but also the surrounding beach, which will still be damp from the wave at ten. Anyone in contact with those surfaces at that time will be electrocuted.”
Silence takes over as the words sink in, you let them think it over. You’ve had more time to work out the finer details of the plan between telling Finnick last night and this morning. You’ve found every issue, and carefully ironed it out. If it works the way you want it to, you’ll be all set for Haymitch’s plan.
The looks on their faces are giving you different ideas on what they want to say. Peeta starts first. “Will that wire really be able to conduct that much power, (Y/n)? It looks so fragile, like it would just burn up.”
“Oh, it will, but not until the current has passed through it. It will act something like a fuse. Except the electricity will travel along it.” You play with the wire.
“How do you know?” Johanna asks.
You take in a breath, “I have come to realize that Beetee invented it.” You look at her. “I’ve worked with wire, and this isn’t any wire, it’s the one he created. It’s not wire in the usual sense, just like how the lightning natural lighting or that tree a real tree. You know trees better than any of us, Johanna. It would be destroyed by now, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes.” She nods.
“There’s no need to worry about the wire. It’ll do its job.”
“And where will we be when this happens?” Finnick asks.
“Far enough up in the jungle to be safe.” You tell him.
“The careers will be safe, too, then, unless they’re in the vicinity of the water.” Katniss says.
“That’s right.” You agree.
“But all the seafood will be cooked.” Peeta objects.
“A lot more than cooked.” You laugh. “We will be eliminating that as a food source entirely this way, but Katniss found other edible things in the jungle, right?”
“Yes. Nuts and rats.” She says. “And we have sponsors.”
“I don’t see it as a problem, then.” You smile. “This isn’t something I can do on my own. I say we go for it, but it can’t get done without you four. The decision on whether or not we do it is up to you.”
Katniss looks between them. “Why not? If it fails, there’s no harm done. If it works, there’s a decent chance we’ll kill them. And even if we don’t and just kill the seafood, Brutus and Enobaria lose it as a food source, too.”
“I say we try it. Katniss is right.” Peeta nods.
Finnick looks at Johanna. They share a long look while she decides. “All right.” She finally says. “It’s better than hunting them down in the jungle, anyway. And I doubt they’ll figure out our plan, since we can barely understand it ourselves.”
Finnick then looks to you, “What’s next, (Y/n)?”
You smile. “I need to take a look at the tree.”
The five of you get to pack up your belongings, with Katniss telling you that she believes it has to be somewhere around nine in the morning. You have to leave the beach soon, anyway. When everyone is ready, you head to the beach that bordered the lightning section, and Johanna takes lead into the jungle.
Finnick follows after her, then you, and Peeta and Katniss take up the rear. It’s a straight shot up to the tree, there’s no need for directions. The further you travel, the harder it is to convince yourself it was a good idea to hike. You hated it during the first day, too, but you didn’t complain nearly as much as Beetee did. To be fair, though, he did have a nasty gash on his back.
You hum a short tune, which earns you a glare from Johanna. You pretend you don’t see it, because the silence is killing you. The birds aren’t nearly as vocal here, they were much louder in the blood rain wedge. Then again, after yesterday, you’re not sure if you want to see a bird for the next year.
When you begin to near the top, Finnick makes a suggestion that Katniss should take the lead.
“Why is that?” You ask, beating Johanna to the question.
“Katniss can hear the force field.” He says.
Your face twists, and so does your body as you go to take a look at Katniss. You and Beetee were the ones that showed her in the first place, in the gymnasium. You were sitting together at the fire station, fixated on how the Gamemakers decided they needed the protection. That’s when Katniss came along and enlightened you; she’d shot an arrow at them last year. 
However, the force field doesn’t have a noise to it. It didn’t in the gymnasium, and it didn’t when you got close to Blight’s body. What Finnick is saying right now isn’t possible, otherwise there’d be a constant hum in the arena depending on how close you were to the force field.
“Only with the ear the Captiol reconstructed.” Katniss tells you.
That’s bullshit, and she knows it too. Maybe this has something to do with Peeta running into the force field on the first day. She chose not to tell them what she knew, possibly afraid of what the Gamemakers would do with it.
“Interesting.” Is all you say, moving out of the way to let her pass.
The lightning tree is unmistakable. It towers high above the trees that surround it. Katniss takes a handful of nuts, slowly moving toward the top. You peer around her, and when you see a square ripple, you know that you have plenty of room to work with.
Katniss throws a nut, which hits the wall and sizzles. “Just stay below the lightning tree.”
With that, everyone divides up different jobs while you take a closer look at the tree. Finnick follows you, continuing his guarding duty. Johanna decides to tap a tree for water, while Peeta gathers nuts and Katniss wanders away briefly to hunt for the tree rats.
You stare at the tree, arms crossed over your chest as you think. Finnick stands beside you, trident in his hand, occasionally glancing at you to see if your face has changed. You can’t imagine how boring this must be to him, especially when he has no clue what you’re looking for.
You take the spool of wire, find it between your fingers to see how thick it is. With how tightly its wound, there’s got to be miles of the wire. You won’t have to worry about running out of it between wrapping it around the tree and bringing it back down to the beach.
Speaking of the tree, it doesn’t look right now that you’re standing in front of it. You knew that it wasn’t a real tree, but you thought the inside of it would be the artificial stuff, not the outside. You run your fingers over the bark, and find that it’s weirdly patterned.
When you look at the trees behind you, the appearance of those are completely different. It’s almost like the Gamemakers made half an effort at trying to hide that it’s not real. Or maybe, making the bark anything other than fake could increase the potential of setting the entire jungle on fire.
You wander around the tree, and Finnick follows for a while, but when he sees that you’re making rounds in circles, he steps back and watches you. You measure the tree, thinking about how much wire it’s going to take to make the plan actually work. The base is thicker than you thought it would be.
You stop at the sound of the wave, which causes the others to pause, too. A few minutes later, Katniss comes out of the trees, bearing three tree rats. She draws a line in the dirt to remind everyone how far away they must stay from the force field, and then proceeds to sit with Peeta to roast nuts and sear cubes of meat.
Johanna joins them after she’s had enough of making fun of you to Finnick, who seems less than interested by the names she’s calling you. You stop between the force field and the tree, looking at the malfunctioning square, then back at the bark. You wonder…
You break off a piece of the bark, which doesn’t come easily. Katniss tells you and Finnick that the food is ready when you are, so as you go over, you toss the bark against the force field. It bounces off, landing on the ground, glowing a bright orange color. It takes about a minute for it to return back to the original bark color.
“Huh,” You let out, “Well, that explains a lot.”
The bark and the force field are made of the same material. You should’ve guessed.
You take a seat next to Finnick, picking at the nuts and meat chunks. 
“I have a question.” Your attention turns to Katniss, Peeta and Finnick. “Regarding Peeta and the force field situation. What happened, exactly?”
“Peeta was clearing a way with his machete and he hit the force field.” Finnick tells you.
“With the machete?” You ask, “And what happened to the force field?”
Finnick shakes his head, and Peeta looks lost too. Katniss, however, sighs, “It disappeared, and then it came back.”
You hum. Whatever you do around the lightning tree must be with precaution from now on. You’re not an expert on the force field subject—Beetee would’ve known more—but weapons cannot come into contact with it. You think that’s where the problems will arise, since you were able to touch it with your hands.
The sound of clicking nearby causes the rest of you to glance in the direction. It’s eleven, only an hour left until twelve. The noise is far louder here than it was on the beach last night. You quiet to listen.
“It’s not mechanical.” You tell them after a minute.
“It has to be insects.” Katniss says. “Maybe beetles.”
“Something with pincers.” Finnick adds.
The sound increases, as if the insects are dying to get to you.
“We should get out of here, anyway.” Johanna says. “There’s less than an hour before the lightning starts.”
Katniss brings you to the next section over, which happens to be the blood rain area, stopping next to the identical tree here. With food being interrupted before, you resume here, finishing what’s left in the bowls. You wait until Katniss is done eating and the insects fade out, before you ask her to climb the tree to get a better look for you when the lightning strikes.
It shakes the ground, you and Johanna share a look. You might not like each other, but the uneasiness begins to stir in your stomach. The idea of being here, only an hour before the rain, makes you feel sick. You don’t want to be covered again, not if you can help it.
Katniss comes down from the tree a few minutes later. She goes on to tell you that the lightning takes the entire tree, which makes it glow a hot blue-white. The air up there was crackling with electricity.
“Perfect.” You murmur.
With that, you feel satisfied enough to go back down to the beach. The sand is damp, clear of any footprints until the five of you begin to step on it, leaving a clear trail wherever you walk. There’s nothing to do beyond this point but wait, you fiddle with the wire, wrapping it around a large stick to see how much it would take to make a dent, since it’s so thin.
Katniss, Peeta and Johanna lay down to sleep. Finnick watches you curiously, occasionally asking questions that you’re more than happy to answer for him. By the time the lightning has stopped and the rain has begun, you’ve decided that you’ll have to work quickly tonight, and might even need help.
You yawn, Finnick’s eyes snap to you. “Sleep.”
“Finnick.” You warn, “I’m fine.”
“We need you at your best. If anything happens, I’ll wake you.”
You sigh, not really wanting to argue with him. You make him promise to keep an eye on the wire, before joining the others in the shadows to nap. 
A hand roughly grabbing your bare calf jolts you awake. You sweep the knife out of the sand, swinging it to stab while you open your eyes to see who it is. Another hand grabs your wrist, and you’re met with Finnick’s cheeky face.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you like that.” Finnick lets go of you. “Johanna pushed me over.” Johanna’s standing behind him, her arms crossed, staring down at you. She laughs, and then turns away. “We’ve got more food, if you’re hungry.”
You shake your head, “No, but I’ll sit with you.”
The others are only a few feet away, shifted to let you sleep but also to chase the shade, since it’s growing slimmer. Finnick must’ve woven more bowls, because the amount has multiplied. Finnick reaches to help Katniss and Peeta clean out the seafood, while Johanna wanders around in the treeline to keep an eye out for the careers.
Peeta pops open an oyster, laughing. “Hey, look at this!” He holds up a glistening pearl. “You know, if you put enough pressure on coal it turns to pearls.” He says to Finnick.
“No, it doesn’t.” Finnick says, cleaning a fish. Katniss laughs, you give a smile.
Peeta rinses it off in a bowl that holds unopened oysters, handing it to Katniss. “For you.”
She lets him set it in her palm. “Thanks.”
Peeta’s smile fades. “The locket didn’t work, did it?” He asks, you avert your eyes. “Katniss?”
“It worked.” She says.
“But not in the way I wanted it to.”
Silence, as they shuck open shellfish and oysters. You watch as Finnick easily cuts away scales, making squares beneath, and shaking them free into a bowl. He works quickly, he must’ve been doing this whole life. He even feels comfortable enough to look away for several seconds, into your eyes.
“You’re going to cut your hand.” You tell him.
“I won’t.” He says, tossing the fish scrap into the trees. “Do you want to try?”
“No, I’d rather watch.”
He smirks, getting to work on another fish. In the time it takes them to finish what they’re doing, you’re a little hungry. Johanna’s just coming to sit down with you four, when she stops at the sight of another sponsor gift. She catches it, and when she sets it down, you’re able to see that it’s a red sauce for the seafood, and another pile of bread.
Finnick counts them, “Twenty-four again.”
So it’s settled, the plan is happening at midnight, tonight. 
With there being thirty-two rolls in total—eight being leftover from this morning—it’s divided so that everyone gets five again, leaving seven. You dip a chunk of fish into the red sauce, and the moment it touches your tongue, you close your eyes, letting out a hum.
“It’s good?” Finnick asks, reaching to do the same.
“It’s spicy.” You tell him. “So much better.”
It improves the flavor, making you hungrier. While they gorge themselves on everything in front of them, you take your time, not wanting to be so full that you feel like throwing up. You still have to hike up the hill, and it’ll be more difficult than this morning after a meal.
The red sauce is completely gone by the time they’re done, and there’s still food left over. They make sure that you’re full, and then they toss the leftovers into the sea because it won’t be good in a couple of hours. And no one wants to give the careers an opportunity to eat.
Katniss and Peeta go to sit on the edge of the water. Johanna goes back to patrolling, and you and Finnick sit and do nothing. That is, until he gets up to talk to Johanna away from you. You pull your knees to your chest, leaning forward into them, staring absently into the jungle.
The anthem plays a couple of hours later, but there are no faces in the sky tonight. The only people left in the arena are your group, the careers, and your missing member of the bigger alliance. There will be no more deaths until the careers.
When Finnick and Katniss believe nine o’clock has rolled around, you leave the shell infested camp to go to the twelve wedge. No one speaks as the hike begins, but it’s clear in the first ten minutes that they’ve eaten too much, because they’re walking at a slower pace. Miraculously, you feel just fine.
At the tree, Finnick takes point being your help, while the other three stand guard nearby. You pick up a branch, wrapping it in wire, and then make Finnick stand on the other side of the tree, as you pass it back and forth. You’re not sure if he notices, but you have him help you do it in a pattern, slowly drifting downward, and then back up, and then down again, covering as much of the bark as you can.
Your fingers brush his each time you hand it off, and you have to hold your breath to kill the butterflies that swarm.
You’re done with the wire around the time the wave begins. You gather together, holding the wire out for Johanna. You take your time explaining to them that this part is crucial. They need to carefully unwind the wire as they go down through the jungle, lay it across the beach, and throw it as deep into the water as they possibly can.
“Johanna and Katniss should take it, because they’ll be quicker. I’ll stay up here to make sure nothing goes wrong on our end.”
“I want to go with them as a guard.” Peeta says, shaking his head.
“You’re too slow.” You tell him flatly. “We can all see it. Besides, I’ll need you on this end. Katniss will guard.” You look at Katniss. “There’s no time to debate this. I’m sorry. If they want to get out of there alive, they need to move now.”
“It’s okay.” Katniss says. “We’ll just drop the coil and come straight back up.”
“In the one-to-two sector, not in the lightning zone.” You tell her. “If you’re running out of time, move over one more. Don’t even think about going back on the beach, until I can take a look at it.”
Katniss cups Peeta’s face. “Don’t worry. I’ll see you at midnight.” She kisses him, turning to Johanna. “Ready?”
“Why not?” Johanna shrugs. “You guard, I’ll unwind. We can trade off later.”
The two of them begin to go down the slope, you barely look at Peeta, eyes landing on Finnick. He spins the trident in his hand, and then he moves away to watch the jungle. You cross your arms, standing close to the wire, watching as it goes rigid from them pulling it on the way down.
You pace, taking measured breaths to calm the anxiousness rising. It’s not the wire you’re worried about, it’s the rescue plan. You have less than two hours to pull this off and get lifted out of the arena. Hopefully you’ll be all together by then, making it an easy rescue.
You just hope they already have your brother somewhere safe. If you get out of here, and they don’t have Zero, you’re not sure if the rebels will bother keeping you around. You won’t help. You swear you don’t lift a finger to help them. It’s what you did after your Games, it’s what you’ll do now if they go back on their promise.
It’s almost twenty minutes later, right when the clicking has begun, the wire snaps, you turn to look at where the sound had come from. You watch as it bunches and curls, stopping at the tops of your shoes.
“Finnick.” You say, but he’s trying to make a swipe at Peeta.
He’s gone, running down the slope, leaving you and Finnick to stand there, dumbfounded. It has to be the careers, they’re not on the beach. They’ve been stalking you the entire time. And now that you’re split, it’s the perfect time to attack.
“Stay here.” Finnick orders, running after Peeta. “Stay!”
He disappears into the jungle, leaving you by the tree. A part of you wonders if you should go running after him, because he’s supposed to be guarding you. You know better than to move, your feet firmly planted in the grass and dirt. The careers won’t come here, they’re too busy.
Your hand reaches to grab onto the tree, needing something to lean onto, because the ache in your feet is beginning to become unbearable. Finnick told you to stay here, so that’s what you do. You won’t move a muscle, if it means that you make it out of this jungle tonight.
You don’t know how much time passes before a cannon goes, fifteen minutes, maybe? You hold your breath, waiting, straining to hear if there’s any yelling happening out there. Finnick calling for Katniss and Johanna, Peeta calling for Katniss, anything.
It’s too quiet.
Your eyes slide to see the stick that you’d set aside earlier, as well as yards of the wire that you’d unraveled to have on standby in the case of an emergency. If your plan didn’t work. While it was supposed to electrify and kill the careers, there was a good chance that it’d short-circuit the force field, too.
Now, with the wire here and nowhere near the water, you need another way to fry the field. No one is going to make it out of this arena alive if you don’t fix this. 
A new idea creeps into your mind, whispering in your ear, telling you that a sacrifice has to be made. Your eyes go from the stick, to the malfunctioned square on the force field that you’d spotted earlier, finding that it is, still, very much there. If you can’t do it through water, you can surely do it with the tree and the force field, you just need something to act in between…
The knife.
You move for the first time in thirty minutes, falling to your knees as you dig through the grass to find the knife that Finnick gave you in the Cornucopia. You find it only a few feet away, pulling it into your hands. You then remove the wire from the stick, wrapping it around the blade, instead.
You look at the force field, taking deep breaths to calm the beating in your chest. This could go two ways. The first way is that you drive this knife into the square, your fingers lock around the handle of the knife, and you die. Or, you get electrocuted, and by some miracle you walk out of this alive. 
That’s all you want. To get out of here, and have a chance at seeing your brother again. He can’t live in this world without you, he won’t do it. He’ll have no one if you die. But, if this means that he won’t have to live in fear of the Hunger Games, then you’ll do it.
You’ll do it a thousand times.
You get to your feet, gripping and fixing the knife in your hand. You approach the force field, swinging your arm back, aiming for the square. And the second it connects, there’s a loud zapping sound, and then you’re airborne.
You breathe in deeply through your nose, as if you haven’t in the past ten minutes. A tight and sharp pain hits the center of your chest, stopping you in the middle. Your eyes open, staring at the bright, silvery light overhead as you try to carefully let the air out.
Your eyebrows draw in, turning your head to the side, blinking away the blurry vision. There’s several beds to your right, and on one of them, it looks like Katniss Everdeen is hooked up to machines, tubes in her arms. They did it, they got you out. Where’s everyone else?
You can’t help the groan you let out as you sit up, wincing. You place a hand over your lower stomach, and you’re able to see that your skin is covered in soot and blood. You rub it away the bed you can, swinging your legs off the bed to get on your feet.
If it were the Capitol that got you out, they would’ve sedated you, and ensured that you wouldn’t wake up during the ride. This is the work of Haymitch, letting you wake up on your own to go to them. 
You drag your feet through the room, leaving Katniss as you pass through a doorway, entering a narrow hallway. With your free hand, you reach to hold onto the wall as you go. Your forearm is bandaged, they must’ve gotten the tracker out. It seems as if their stitching could use work, because there’s blood seeping through, more than there should be.
You don’t care.
The metal door at the end of the hall is open a quarter of the way. You push it open, and on the other side, you can see Haymitch, Finnick, and the Head Gamemaker, Plutarch Heavensbee.
Haymitch looks up first, letting out a noise, prompting the other two to look. “Back from the dead.”
“(Y/n).” Finnick breathes. He’s dressed in a grey robe, the same that you are. He shuffles around the table, opening his arms.
You let him hug you, pulling you into his body tightly. You squeeze your eyes, the pain being more than you were prepared for, but you laugh, hugging him back.
“It was a smart idea, trying the knife on the force field.” Plutarch tells you. “It’s what sparked Katniss to do the same. It caused some chaos, we weren’t able to get everyone out, but we didn’t expect to, anyway.”
You pull away from the hug, “Who did we leave?”
“Johanna and Peeta.” Haymitch says.
Your eyebrows twitch, “Who was the cannon?”
“Chaff,” Finnick says. “I don’t think you were awake when the other cannon went off. Peeta killed Brutus.”
“What about Enobaria?”
“Taken by the Capitol, as well.” Plutarch says.
“Oh.” You breathe, “Is there somewhere I can sit?” Finnick leads you to a chair, your whole body aches when you go to sit down. When the motion is done, the relief is immediate. “So, where to now?” 
“District Thirteen.”
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in your opinion, what was the most messed up moment in animorphs? either most shocking, weird, gross, horrific....however you want to answer
The scene I've always found most viscerally disturbing is Ax and Marco on the Normandy beach on D-Day (MM3). It's the soldiers rushing the beach in waves, "Like cattle going down the chute to the slaughtering floor. But, of course, cattle don't know what's corning. Humans do... And they still came." It's the way Marco sees every murdered soldier "Like Jake. Cassie and I had sworn to protect him. But there'd never even been a chance." It's Ax being awed by the simple act of the medic being killed "while trying to save a man he must have known was doomed."
The two coldest and most aloof Animorphs are reduced to "crying, sobbing" and "digging in the sand" at their inability to make sense of the battle. It's Ax desperately wanting this to be Visser Four's fault, because surely this can't be the way history is supposed to happen. By the time Rachel is dropping grenades, we understand her sheer desperation to make it stop, regardless of the cost.
That said, maybe I find that one so impactful because it's a real event. My grandfather fought in that war, my distant cousins died in that war. I don't have the same visceral fear of turning into a spider that I get from "Bullets entered organs by neat, round holes and came out in a shredded mess... One second they were scared and brave and alive. The next second they were dead."
Anyway, everyone's mileage may vary, and if someone else has a different contender then toss it out there.
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queer-irritator · 5 months
Text
Everything Has Changed | Kratos x reader
A/N: I was listening to music and Everything Has Changed by Taylor Swift came on and it made me think of how one look at Kratos and I was in love lmao. I think Kratos deserves a whirlwind, sudden teenage dream type romance. Pure fluff!
Fem reader, no use of pronouns, but feminine descriptions used.
CW: Adult language, mention of death, mention of mysophobia. 
Word Count: 4,535
---
You lived alone on a small island in Svartalfheim, near Dragon’s Beach. Since the towns nearby were built with dwarves in mind, you didn’t exactly find it the most comfortable to live in Nidavellir. So, you built your own little slice of paradise. You had a quaint home, not unlike those housed by dwarves. You also had your own garden to grow food, and a few pets to keep you company. You found your way into the tight-knit community created by, and for, dwarves after being taken in by the most unlikely candidate in all of Svartalfheim, Sindri.
Left an orphan after your parents were murdered under Odin’s orders, you were stuck wandering the town of Nidavellir at the age of 6. Your parents were adventurers; brave and curious truth-seekers. But when their curiosity brought them to Svartalfheim, dangerously close to what you can only assume was something very sacred to Odin, they were killed. Or, that’s what you think anyway. Odin and the aesir claim there was an “accident” when they were exploring. You didn’t know any better at the time, but Sindri did. Somehow he had convinced Odin not to take you away with him, gods know what he would have done to you if he hadn’t been successful. 
Since then, you’ve looked to Sindri, and the entire community of Nidavellir, as family. It had been almost two decades since then, and now you work hard helping out the dwarves any way you can. You perform chores that are made easy due to your height advantage over them, but most importantly you make yourself available to listen to the community, sort of like a self-appointed therapist. That’s where you were at this very moment, on a hill a few minutes walk outside of town, you call your “office”. You saw a few people each day, but today was slower than usual. On days like this you liked to practice magic and tend to your garden. You took an interest in nature, so Sindri taught you how to manipulate some natural elements, get food to grow quicker, some healing magic, stuff like that. You were planting some seeds for the upcoming harvest season. Your hands, covered in soft, cold dirt, carefully poked holes into the tender earth. You dropped a few seeds in each hole before gently covering them back up. 
The snap of a twig to your left tore your focus away from your current task. You turned your head to meet the sound and couldn’t help the smile that spread across your face. You saw Sindri stepping out from behind a tree, you hadn’t seen him in a few months, the both of you had been consumed in work as of late.
“Sindri!” you called to the dwarf as you dusted the dirt off your hands and stood up.
“Hey, it’s been a while. I-”
You cut off Sindri’s words by running over to him and embracing him in a bone-crunching hug. You were careful to keep your dirty hands away from him, but he hated being touched nonetheless. This was the longest you’ve ever gone without seeing each other, so he was just going to have to deal with your close proximity. You could feel his body tense up around your arms, signaling he had enough. 
“I’m sorry, I know you hate it, but I haven’t seen you in forever!!” You flashed him a sad smile, pleading him not to be upset with you. 
“No, it’s fine. I’ll just… take a bath in bleach.” He was standing so none of his limbs were touching each other, like an awkward sparring dummy. 
“Don’t be so dramatic.” You teased him as you knelt down to rinse your hands in a bucket of water nearby. 
“We breathed the same air for nearly 20 years, a hug is nothing.” you attempted to reason with his brain. You stood up once again and really took in the sight of Sindri standing in front of you. Despite his mysophobia that refused to waver, you really missed him. 
“So, what are you doing here? Just dropping by?”
“No, I… I actually need your help with something.” Sindri’s tone had shifted from annoyed to more serious. “Anything for you, Sin’.” you smiled at him, trying to keep the conversation light. You couldn’t imagine he would have anything horrific to ask of you. You turned to a small shelf and grabbed a clean rag and a bottle of cleaner and handed it to Sindri. 
“Here. I can’t take you seriously with you standing like that, man.” You chuckled. He mumbled out a ‘thanks’ and swiftly began to clean himself.
While Sindri was getting himself into a state of cleanliness that he deemed suitable, he told you of the favor he needed. He explained that the World Tree was dangerously close to becoming overgrown, and Ratatoskr had his hands busy trying to parent the lindwyrms, who were not ready to care for the world tree on their own quite yet.
“Ahh, so now my “dirty hobby” has come to be useful!” You crossed your arms smugly as Sindri rolled his eyes with a scoff. 
“If that’s how you want to look at it…” he murmured. “Just, come to my house when you’re ready. I have to take a bath now.” 
Before you could even agree, Sindri was gone. You chuckled to yourself and began to clean up and get ready to be away for awhile. You said a spell over your newly planted seeds to keep them healthy and watered for the time being. Next you collected some clothes and supplies into a small satchel and picked up your sword. Its hilt was crafted from dwarven steel and the blade was made out of wood from a poison tree and wrapped in thorny vines. You slid it into its sheath on your back and headed to the nearest mystic gateway. 
---
Kratos, Atreus, and Mimir had just returned from freeing the Hafgufa from Vanaheim. There was a trail of sand following behind them.
“I’m really glad we got to set the Hafgufas free, but I don’t think I wanna go to any realms with sand for a while…” Atreus stated as he brushed some sand from his hair
“Aye, I’ve got sand in me neck stump!” Mimir shared Atreus’ disdain for feeling sand in every crevice imaginable. The sound of the front doors opening pulled the men’s attention from their current discomfort.
You took a few steps through the front door before you stopped in your tracks as you locked eyes with perhaps the most invigorating man you’ve ever seen. You hadn’t expected to see anyone else at the house, let alone someone so tantalizing. It felt as if all the breath was stolen from your lungs as you looked deep into his amber eyes. The scowl the man had on his face only a second before had noticeably softened now. It was as if the two of you were the only people in all the nine realms at that moment. After what felt like years of staring into this man’s soul through his eyes, it was cut short as sound filled the air. 
“Y/n! About time I saw you again.” Brok greeted you as he walked out from behind the counter of the workshop. You held your gaze with the giant man for just one more second before reluctantly tearing your eyes away to greet Brok. 
This was no big deal, you just had to act like you hadn’t just seen the most attractive and magnetizing person in your entire life… If you didn’t believe in love at first sight before, you sure as Hel believed in it now.
“It’s really great to see you, Brok.” You smiled at the blue dwarf and bent down to engulf him in a hug. You could only hope that he couldn’t feel your heart pounding in your chest. 
Although your back was turned, you could feel the man's eyes on your body. You stood up straight and took a deep breath, readying yourself to speak to the handsome stranger. You turned towards him and held out your hand to greet him as you found yourself drawn to his eyes once again. 
“Hi, I’m (y/n).” You introduced yourself. The man glanced down at your hand and then back at you. He reached his hand out to grasp yours in a surprisingly gentle handshake. 
“Kratos.” is all he said. The sound of his voice was better than anything you imagined. You could have melted into a puddle of goo at that very moment. 
“Kratos.” You smiled as you repeated his name. “It’s very nice to meet you.” You said, letting go of his hand, missing the warmth of his body heat immediately. You looked to your right to see a teenage boy. You had almost missed him in all the feelings and thoughts swirling around in your head. 
Kratos placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, “This is my son, Atreus.” 
You reached your hand out to greet Atreus as well, “It’s very nice to meet you too!” you smiled at the boy. He returned your smile and shook your hand, with much more grip and enthusiasm than his father.
“Good to meet you as well! So, how do you know Sindri?” Atreus asked, assuming only people close to the dwarf would be allowed access into his home. You chuckled slightly, thinking he was joking around. When he glanced around awkwardly you realized how serious he was. 
“Oh…” you started, confusion showing on your face, but it soon turned to agitation. “Oh my gods.” You quickly turned your head to Brok. “He… He doesn’t talk about me?” You practically yelled in astonishment. 
“Hey, don’t take it out on me… But, uh, let me take a look at yer sword.” Brok knew just how to evade your annoyance. You took out your sword and set it down on the workshop table with a scoff as you repeated your words with disbelief, “He doesn’t talk about me…” 
Kratos and Atreus silently exchanged glances to each other as they were left guessing how you and Sindri were acquainted. One situation in particular was swirling around Kratos’ mind, that you were romantically involved with the dwarf. Disappointment had crept up onto him as he began to entertain this thought. 
“Uhm… Are you and Sindri, like… dating?” Atreus awkwardly asked you, staring at his own feet to avoid your gaze. 
“No! Oh, no, not at all! He raised me!” You had been so lost in your annoyance that you never answered the boy's question. 
Kratos felt relief wash over him. He wasn’t sure why he was relieved, or why he cared if you had been something more than a friend or family member to Sindri. He had just met you, he should not be having these types of thoughts or feelings about anyone, let alone a stranger.
“Ohhh!” Atreus chuckled a little, finally looking up at you again. “Wait- Sindri had a kid?” He glanced at his father and then back to you. “Are you-”
You cut Atreus off before things could get awkward again, “No, I’m like an adopted sibling he never wanted.” you cleared the air. 
Seemingly right on cue, Sindri entered the house.
“Oh! I didn’t realize you three would be back already...” Sindri shifted his weight from side to side, seemingly unprepared to introduce you to his guests. But his awkward demeanor soon switched to panic as he noticed the pool of sand in his house. 
“Really?!” Sindri sighed loudly as he fetched a broom from a nearby closet. “You two, get outside!” He commanded Kratos and Atreus, pushing the broom at their heels to rush them out of his previously pristine house. 
Once the duo had been escorted outside, Sindri shot them a warning, “And do NOT come back in until you are sand-free!”
Sindri propped the front doors open and began to sweep the sand out of the house. You were left watching the entire ordeal with a slightly amused look on your face. You figured you could give Sindri shit later for not telling his friends about you, he had enough on his plate for the time being. For now, your gaze drifted back towards Kratos.
“Uhm, I’m gonna go take a bath.” Atreus notified his father before turning his back to walk through a small wooden gate on the side of the house to clean up. 
Kratos grumbled slightly and unhooked Mimir from his belt, setting him down on the bottom step of the stairs leading into the house. He then proceeded to take off each piece of his armor and shake the sand out from them. You took your time to look over his upper body. Your eyes trailed the bright red tattoo, from the sharp edge on his face to the swirl on his bicep, and the curve on his abdomen. You couldn’t help admiring his muscular physique and taking note of the large scar on his stomach, and a smaller one over his eye. 
“Alright, quit yer drooling.” Brok’s voice snapped you back into reality. He set down your sword on the counter in between the two of you.
You whipped your head towards the dwarf, a soft pink blush falling over your cheeks. 
“Fuck off, I was not drooling…” You defended yourself, snatching your sword back. You took a moment to look over Brok’s upgrades before returning it to its sheath.
“Whatever you say, princess.” Brok teased you further. 
You rolled your eyes and started to walk down the steps outside. You were careful not to make any more of a mess for Sindri, but not careful enough to notice a severed head on the very last step. In your effort to avoid stepping on the head, you tripped over your own two feet. Instead of feeling the harsh impact of the ground, you felt a warm hand on your upper arm. You looked up to see Kratos holding onto you. His piercing brown eyes were staring right into your soul, again. You felt your heart rate pick up, you opened your mouth to speak but no words came out. His grip loosened on you and he returned his hand to his side. 
“You should be more careful.” Kratos advised you. 
“Yeah- uhm, I’m sorry about that.” You turned to the severed head on the steps, “I’m really sorry, I didn’t see you there.”
“Ah, don’t worry about it. It’s the big oaf’s fault for settin’ me down there.” The head was surprisingly forgiving of your clumsiness. A tinge of pink settled across your cheeks as you looked back to Kratos. The man just grunted in response to the head. 
“I’m Mimir, it’s nice to meet you.” The head introduced himself at last. You sat down on the steps next to Mimir. 
“Right back at’cha. I’m sorry I didn’t introduce myself earlier.” You felt guilt for over-looking him earlier. Although, you did overlook just about everyone except for Kratos… 
“Don’t even mention it. How could ya have seen me?” Mimir continued to joke at the expense of Kratos. A smile spread across your face. Before you could continue your conversation, a voice rang out.
“Master (y/n)!” A familiar voice entered your eardrums, Ratatoskr. A small sigh escaped your lips as you stood up. 
“Duty calls.” You announced. “I’ll see you two around.” You gave a smile to Mimir and a wave to Kratos before walking over to speak with the abnormally large squirrel. It was time to find out what exactly you’ll be helping him with. 
Kratos’ gaze followed you as you walked away from him. His eyes raked over your figure, memorizing the way you walked and how your hips moved with each step. 
“Father?” Atreus’ voice interrupted his thoughts.
“Hm?” Kratos turned his attention to his son and continued to shake the last of the sand out of his waist armor. 
“I was just saying that the bath is ready for you, and I can clean up out here.” Atreus shifted his gaze between Mimir and his father. Kratos simply nodded his head, dropping the armor he was holding and headed to get himself cleaned up. 
Atreus began to gather the armor from the ground. “Uhh, do you think he’s acting a little… weird today?” 
“I think he might be a wee bit tired from all the traveling, lad. Speaking of, would you mind helping me clean up a bit?” 
“Sure, no problem Mimir.” Atreus smiled and got to work. 
---
You spent the next few hours getting a tour of the World Tree and extremely detailed instructions from Ratatoskr on how to care for it. He explained how to prune the branches, what limbs held which realms, what you should never touch, the list went on and on. Your head was so filled with new information it felt like your brain was going to explode. You walked into the house just as it was getting dark outside after finally being relieved for the evening. Even though the realm between realms doesn’t have a sun and a moon, it was still nice to have it simulate days and nights, so as to not lose track of time. The scent of meat and spices filled your nostrils, Brok was in the kitchen stirring a large pot, of what you assume was dinner. 
“That smells amazing.” You said, walking towards Brok. You stopped in front of the giant pot and picked up a spoon to give the stew a taste test. “Tastes amazing too.” 
“It ain’t ready yet.” Brok snatched the spoon out of your hand. You put your hands up in defense.
“Sorry, I guess I’ll just wait then… and never compliment you again.” you turned your back and headed to where you used to sleep growing up.
“Wait, that’s-” Before Brok could finish his warning, you opened the door to be greeted by Kratos sitting on the side of a makeshift bed. The only item of clothing he had on was dark brown pants. He almost looked like a different person without all his armor on. There was even more scarring hiding under his wrist armor, it looked like chains had been branded onto his forearms.
“Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t realize you were staying in here.” You apologized for intruding. 
Kratos looked up to meet your gaze, “It is fine.”
You gave him a small smile and looked around the room, “This place hasn’t changed much. I used to stay in this room when I was younger.” You leaned against the wall as a flood of memories entered your mind. 
“You can have the room if you wish.” Kratos said as he stood up with a slight grunt. 
“No, I couldn’t kick you out of your room. You probably need it more than me. Plus, the chair out there is pretty comfy.” You assured him.
“Mh… Let me know if you change your mind.” He began to wrap some red cloth around his forearms. 
“So, how did you come to have a talking severed head as your companion?” You questioned him.
“I cut it off.” Kratos replied to you plainly. 
“Huh?” You had confusion written all over your face.
“He was trapped. Imprisoned in a tree and tortured everyday. He asked me to cut off his head to free him. So I did.” Kratos further explained. 
“Oh, that’s actually really kind of you.” You said, reflecting on the odd, but thoughtful, request.
Kratos grunted in response.
Just as you were about to ask him more about himself, you heard Brok announce that dinner was ready. You gave Kratos one more look over. His lack of clothing was incredibly inviting, but you were hungry and tired. 
“I’ll see you out there.” You excused yourself and walked out to the table to sit down and get some food. 
---
Dinner was nice and casual, there was no residual awkwardness from the days prior events. You got to know more about Atreus, that boy really likes to talk. He was going on about the different types of monsters he’s fought with his dad. He seemed the most proud of defeating a huge electric dragon a few years ago. The most surprising detail of the story was that Sindri utilized one of the dragon’s teeth to enhance Atreus’ bow. Swapping stories around the dinner table made the time go by far too fast for your liking. It felt like the six of you had been friends for a lifetime. When the conversation had died down, you stood up and collected the empty plates. You made your way to the kitchen to wash up while Kratos and Atreus went into their respective rooms.
“I can get that, you should get some rest.” Sindri’s voice came from behind you. You turned your head to look at him.
“No, I really don’t mind!” You insisted, turning on the water. 
“Okay… Well, to be honest I don’t trust anyone else washing the dishes but me.” Sindri admitted. 
“Mmmh, the truth comes out.” You chuckled and stepped away from the sink. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do.”
“You just rest. You’ve done a lot for me today… Thank you.” Sindri gave you a small smile and got started on cleaning up. 
You had an idea brewing in your mind. You couldn’t get your mind off of Kratos. You just wanted to know more about him, he was all you could think of. You found a spare piece of paper, scribbled down a note, slipped it under Kratos’ door and made yourself scarce. 
“Brother, someone’s slipped a note under your door.” Mimir alerted Kratos, who was laying down on his makeshift bed. He pulled the weight of himself up with a slight grunt and walked over to where the note was. He bent down and picked it up, unfolding it carefully. 
Meet me at the side of the house. 
Kratos furrowed his brows and let out a confused grumble. He set the note down on a crate near his bed and stepped out of his room. 
“Aye, what did it say??” Mimir questioned, but the only response he got was the sound of the door closing and heavy footsteps leading further and further away. 
You were sitting on a barrel, leaning your back against the side of the house and nervously tapping your fingertips on your thigh. You heard the front door open and close, causing you to spring to your feet and run a hand through your hair to tame any fly-aways. You watched as Kratos entered through the side gate, latching it behind him. Your heartbeat started to increase with each step he took toward you. He stopped a few feet away from you.
“You wanted to see me?” Kratos spoke with a hint of confusion laced in his words.
“Yeah, I did…” You took a step toward him, taking in a deep breath before looking up into his eyes. “I’ve really enjoyed talking to you, and I just wanna know you better.” You confessed your infatuation with the man.
“What would you wish to know?” Kratos asked you. 
“Everything?” You responded, taking another step closer to him, leaving only a few inches of space in between you.
“Mh… That may take awhile.” Kratos looked down at you, his chest steadily rising and falling with each breath he took. It was beyond your grasp how he could remain so calm and stoic, but it made you want him more than ever. 
“I have time.” You told him with a small smile. You lifted your hand from your side and carefully placed it on Kratos’ cheek, right where his beard began to sprout. You looked in his eyes for any signs of hesitation, but you found none. You leaned up on your tippy toes and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. 
You leaned back just a few centimeters from him and opened your eyes. He hadn’t moved a muscle, it was like you had kissed a statue. Kratos had a look of surprise and confusion sprawled across his face. His eyes were raking over your facial features, searching for any hint of disgust. He was waiting for you to shove him away, to start laughing at him. He was expecting to hear you question who would ever want to touch a monster like him. But you were just staring right back at him, looking increasingly worried by the second. 
“Are you okay?” You spoke, barely above a whisper. Had you broken him? Did he not like you? Was he trying to find a way to let you down without hurting your feelings? Your embarrassment started to manifest itself as redness across your cheeks, darkening with each moment of silence that passed. 
Kratos nodded ever so slightly and one of his hands ghosted just above your hip, barely making contact with your body. 
You placed your free hand on top of his, encouraging him to make full contact with you. You placed both of your hands on either side of his face and kissed him again. Only this time, you weren’t as gentle. You started with a firm kiss and then began to move your lips against his, trying to encourage him to kiss you back. You felt his hand on your hip pull you closer to his body and then you finally felt his lips start to move against yours. He dipped his head down so you didn’t have to strain to reach his lips. You couldn’t hold back a faint moan erupting from your throat as you wrapped your arms around his neck, trying to get even closer to Kratos. He now placed both his hands on your hips, tilting his head slightly to the side to deepen the kiss. After a few more moments, you weren’t sure if it was a lack of oxygen, or if you were getting drunk off of the feeling of Kratos on you, but you were getting dizzy. You stopped kissing him and placed a hand on his chest to steady yourself and took a moment to catch your breath. Kratos watched you cautiously, he gently brushed a strand of hair out of your face with the back of his hand. Your face was flushed pink and your lips were wet with the mix of both of your saliva. He hadn’t had any feelings like this in a long, long time. 
“Uhm…” You looked up at Kratos, pleasantly surprised to see he was watching you carefully, “Would you wanna get a drink with me sometime?” 
For the first time you saw the man’s cheeks firm up into a slight smile and heard the sweet sound of a chuckle escape his lips. 
“Why don’t we go now?” He proposed.
You nodded in response, “Yeah, that sounds great.” You smiled back at him, not caring if you looked like a complete idiot. 
“Let us go then.” He declared, walking towards the gate and holding it open for you.
“Okay, I know just the place.” You walked through the small wooden gate and excitedly waited for Kratos to catch up to you at the mystic gateway. 
---
A/N: Thank you for reading! I very well may do a part two to this story. Feedback and interaction helps me know if you want me to continue!
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loveshotzz · 1 year
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There’s a place for me
Eddie Munson x Fem!reader
Chapter 1/?
Summary: On the run for wrongful murder charges, Eddie finds himself stopping in a sleepy ocean side town far enough from Hawkins where he can lay low for awhile. Running from the people that want him dead, his only hope is that his past doesn’t catch up to him. Especially when he meets the pretty eye’d waitress up the street.
Word count: 5.7k
Warnings: slow burn, angst (Eddie hates himself for running) eventual smut, strangers to lovers. My blog is 18 plus.
A/N: this concept was sent as a request by my irl friend @elthreetimes and as soon as I read it, there was no way it could just be a one shot. It needed to be a series. I feel so lucky that you trust me to bring this story to life, and I hope you enjoy this. Also I couldn’t have done this without my hellfire crew @myobmaya @boomhauer @subparwritersuperbreblogger @sweetsweetjellybean for bouncing ideas and characterizations with me. I seriously couldn’t have written this with out you guys. This is the most ambitious story I’ve ever tried, so here goes nothing. Also bonus points for anyone who guess’s who which character Ron is based off of.
*comments, likes, and reblogs would mean so much if you enjoy my work 💘
For days it felt like all Eddie did was drive, the passage of state signs was his only measurement of time. The hours blending together like the lines on the highway, tangerine skies bleeding vermillion the colors remind him of Chrissy eyes after they exploded inside her head. The beauty of it all being taken away as the image of her crumpled body replays over and over in his mind. With no destination he was driving on auto pilot, only deciding where he was going the third night in.
Hair dripping from the storm outside, his fingers feel bruised from switching out his plates for the third time. Sitting in the back of his van tucked away on the side of a dirt road somewhere in West Virginia, it was the first time in his life he was thankful his dad had taught him a thing or two about evading the law. Stripping off his wet jacket he knew he needed to find somewhere to go. He couldn’t keep driving aimlessly, he didn’t have the money for that. The only cash he had was whatever he’d gotten from his deals earlier in the week, thankful he didn’t spend it on the re up that was suppose to happen the night before everything changed.
He’d never seen the ocean, an elusive place he could only visit in his dreams. Stopped on the boarder between West Virginia and Pennsylvania he wasn’t that far from the east coast. Using his lighter to illuminate the road map he’d found stashed in a messy wad in his glove box he guessed it was maybe a 10 hour drive from the coast. Throwing the idea of sleep out the window with wet clothes making it impossible for him to get comfortable he decided to do what he’s done this whole time, drive.
Watching the early morning sun slowly seep into through the storm clouds the grey sky fades to a more comforting cerulean. Eddie drove with the kind of determination that he wish he’d used to pass high school. Maybe he wouldn’t even be in this mess if he’d just graduated when he was suppose to. Convincing himself he would have been long gone playing guitar in any city that wasn’t Hawkins, he lets himself wallow in self pity till his tires bring him to the ocean.
——
Finding his way into a nameless town that wasn’t even listed on his map, it made Hawkins look like New York City. A small strip set on top a broken battered road - he swerves to miss the never ending onslaught of pot holes. The few shops they had were attached to a single grocery store, the sides of the buildings eroding away from the misted wind. Snorting to himself - of course this is where he ends up, a beach side ghost town. Eddie catches the Help Wanted sign hanging in the window of the diner that lay nestled at the end. Sticking out from the rest, the way it’s lit almost makes it look like it glowing against it’s drab surroundings. It was also the only place he’d seen with any sign of human life.
The lights of The Sleepy Hill motel greet him like the four seasons, when his tired van pulls into the mostly empty lot. The flashing vacancy sign is a promise of a bed, his bones worn down and sore the weight of everything finally kicking in. When his dirty white Reebok’s hit the ground his arms reach for the sky in a kitten stretch of his whole body, eyes closing he relishes in the pops he feels in his spine.
Inhaling a deep breath the salt in the air stings his nose, the mist off the shore making his bangs stick to his forehead. Pulling a runway strand of hair from his cheek he finally takes everything in. On one side of him there was nothing but an endless expanse of tumultuous waves raging against the shore line. The storm clouds he had out run were making their way back through, the lingering bitterness of winter still hanging thick in the March air. It wasn’t like the kind of warmness he’d seen on the postcards, or the in the stories that Rick told, this wasn’t Venice Beach. The sight of a light house in the distance brings a slight feeling of comfort when he watches the strobes of light break through the purple hues of the darkness starting to set in over the horizon. Eyes lingering he lets himself sit in it for awhile watching the waves crash into the broken brick holding it up from falling into whatever laid in the water beneath it. When he turns his attention back to the town that took him less then a minute to drive through, the red “EAT HERE” sign that spun on top of the diner mocks his stomach when he realizes it had been almost a whole day with out any real food.
Slamming his car door shut, he takes quick strides to the back making a mental note to drive to the next town over at some point tomorrow to switch out his plates again, it was too risky to try to do it with any car in a town like this. Eyes darting nervously he opens his back doors with shudder that rings out over the sound of the waves. Furrowing his brows in concentration he starts digging though the blankets in the back searching for the outfit he’d found balled up a few nights ago. Forgotten about after a sleep over at Gareth’s, the memory of a time where his life wasn’t like this hurts in a way that he can’t explain. Maybe he wasn’t as miserable as he thought he was — all the little things he took for granted now at the forefront of his mind.
He hadn’t let himself think about Wayne. Maybe it was the adrenaline that kept his mind from going there, or that thing he’d heard about when your own mind blacks things out to protect you, but he hadn’t thought about what that must’ve been like for him to come home to that.
A life less mangled girl he didn’t know and a nephew that no one was going to find. Eddie just ran without a single thought as to what that would mean for him. Scowling to himself he blames the Munson blood that runs through his veins. Images of his Uncle slumped over with tired shoulders, shuffling into the trailer in the early morning hours when the sun is just peaking through the trees. Boots heavy from another double at work, walking right into the nightmare that Eddie left him with.
Eye’s burning he holds back his tears grabbing the balled up shirt and jeans giving them a sniff. They didn’t smell clean but they smelt better then what he was wearing now and that was just going to have to do. Fingers crossed the motel clerk would let him rent a room with out an ID, he was desperate for a shower. Shoving the garments into his backpack he takes another deep breath ignoring the sting this time, closing his eyes he fights away all the emotions that are ready to spill out. Clearing his throat he cracks his neck before slamming the metal doors shut.
Half way across the pavement Eddie stops in his tracks when he see’s the guy behind the counter. Not much older then him there was something oddly familiar about him, when he glances up catching Eddie in his line of sight. Shaggy brown hair parted down the middle and big teeth protruding from below his upper lip, his beady eyes squint as he tries to figure out what Eddie was doing. The sound of a distant boat horn is what makes his feet finally move again, the boy behind the counter standing up as Eddie closes the distance.
There’s a small chime when the glass door swings open, the warmth of the lobby heats him in a way he hadn’t realized he missed until its hits his skin. There’s an awkwardness that hangs thick in the air when the door closes behind him. Eddie hadn’t talked to another living soul in days besides mumbling the amount of cash and on what pump at gas stations. The man behind the desk who’s name tag said ‘Ron’ was staring at him like he was trying to pin point something familiar about the metal head, and it was making Eddie’s palms sweat. The anxiety of being caught tightening in his chest. Scratching the back of his neck he clears his throat.
“Hi — hey, man I’m uhh- I’m looking to get a room?” He tries to hide how startled he is at his own voice having not heard it in hours.
Ron’s silence doesn’t break much to his dismay as he takes in Eddie’s appearance. Dark eyes trail over his disheveled form before flicking back towards his van in the parking lot. It wasn’t just his palms that were sweating now.
“What’s your deal? You some kinda rockstar or something?” Ron finally breaks his silence, stunned it takes Eddie a minute to comprehend what exactly he’s being asked. When he finally wraps his head around the question he has to actively stop the snort that threatens to come out.
Looking down at his wrinkled hellfire shirt, the cotton is stained with a mixture of dirt and grime from the nights in his van. The whites of his Reebok’s barely visible under the dried up mud from last nights storm. Having caught a glimpse of his reflection in the glass of the door on his way in, he knew his wild mane looked like a bird had laid nest in it.
“Excuse me, what?”
Ron sucks his teeth shrugging.
“You just look like that Van Halen guy, but there’s no way you’d be here if you were actually him I’d reckon.” He says matter of factly before sitting back down in his desk. “And he wouldn’t look like he just rolled around in a pigs play pin. Or maybe he would? I don’t know the life style of a celebrity.” He adds with a wave of his hand.
Stunned and completely unsure of how to respond to the man in front of him, the conversation was not going a direction Eddie had even seen coming. Opening and closing his mouth a few times, he finally finds his voice again.
“Yeah, not Eddie Van Halen. My name is Eddie though, Eddie umm Henderson.” He winces internally when Dustin’s last name leaves his mouth.
“Eddie Henderson? That’s not very rock and roll.” Ron tuts before looking up at Eddie from his computer.
Feeling his frustration start to reach it’s tipping point, his fists clench at his sides before they release. Running a hand over his face he exhales sharply through his nose mustering up enough self control to answer politely.
“Sorry to disappoint.” Eddie pointedly looks at his name tag before adding with a curt smile. “Ron.”
Arching a brow, the man at the front desk brings his attention back to the computer screen with a hum. The awkwardness from before becomes almost suffocating in the small room. The growing silence between them lasting long enough that Eddie starts to panic.
“Look man, I’m just trying to get a room for a few nights then I’ll be out of your hair okay? I’m not some rockstar who’s gonna trash the place. I’m a nobody.”
Eyes never leaving the screen the sound of the mouse clicking is the only noise filling the space.
“Got an I.D. Eddie Henderson?” Ron’s tone is flat when finally looks up at eddie through the hood of his lashes, his own irritation clear on his blemished face.
The question he knew was coming still stiffens his body when it leaves his mouth, but the thought of another night sprawled out on the damp blankets on the metal floor of his van is enough for the burning sensation of tears to sting his tired eyes again. Shuffling on his feet, he readjusts his backpack.
“I’ve got cash, I can pay for at least two days up front.” Stepping closer to the desk his fingers drum against the counter top nervously, doe eyes pleading to show him a shred of mercy.
“No, I.D. No ro—“
Digging the 200 of the 250 he had left from his pocket, he slaps it on the desk in a crumpled lump. His survival instincts kicking in with a new level of stubbornness he didn’t know he had. He wasn’t leaving until he had keys to a bed and a shower.
“Please, man. I’m begging you.” The tears that had been threatening fall finally breach his strong hold, a single droplet landing onto his bottom lashes. He wipes it away quickly with the back of his hand, sniffing he closes his eyes collecting himself again. “I’ll keep to myself, you won’t even know I’m here.”
Ron’s eyes soften at the desperation is Eddie’s voice, despite policy there was something sincere about the mysterious stranger standing in front of him.
“200 will get you three nights.” Reaching over the counter he grabs the crumbled up bills before standing up, turning to the wall of keys behind him.
Relief floods his body as he watches Ron’s fingers skim over the glistening metal dangling from the dark blue wall. Blinking back tears the tense muscles in his shoulders release some of the stress they’d been carrying for the last 700 miles.
“Room 10, it’s at the very end. No parties rockstar.” Handing over the single key, it hung from a round burgundy keychain, a faded gold 10 stamped onto the plastic. Eddie can’t help but actually laugh this time, his mood lifted for a fleeting moment.
“Seriously, thank you. You won’t regret this I promise.” Snatching the key before he had a chance to change his mind, he clasps both hands together in front of his face bowing slightly in appreciation.
“There’s free coffee in here every morning. If you bring your key to the diner up the road you get a ten percent discount. We don’t have laundry but there’s a laundromat next to the grocery store, it’s open weird hours you’ll have to check the sign.” Ron prattles on, his voice becoming more professional now that Eddie was a paying guest.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you.” Walking backwards Eddie kicks the door open, the chill in the air sending a shiver down his spine.
“Nice to meet you Eddie Henderson.”
The walls of the motel room match the ones in the front office, the sapphire paint chipping at the edges of the ivory trim. The single bed in the middle was covered in a crimson duvet, two fluffed pillows propped against the black head board tempting him enough that he almost throws the idea of a shower and food out the window. Toeing off his shoes, the socks that should be a crisp white are the color of ash and it reminds him just how dirty he really is. Dropping his bag on the floor he starts peeling off his clothes making his way to wash off the last 72 hours.
A satisfied groan falls from between his chapped lips when the heat of the water hits his skin. Tilting his head back he lets it run through his thick tangled waves, pooling at his feet the water is tinged brown. Turning he faces the stream with closed eyes letting it wash over his face as he tries to find peace in his thoughts. The fear seeing Chrissy suspended in the air every time he closed his eyes was what prevented him from the sleep his strained body needed.
After spending longer then he should wrapped up in the warmth of the shower, he can’t ignore the growling in his stomach, remembering the discount at the diner he forces himself out.
The cheap blow dryer makes his hair frizz with more volume then he was used to, holding it down with both hands on either side of his head he sighs exasperated when he lets it go and it bounces back with more force.
Whatever, he didn’t know anyone here and he wasn’t going to be around long.
Changing into his cleaner clothes, he pats down his jeans feeling something in his back pocket. Reaching behind him his fingers come in contact with the thin plastic foiling of a crumpled half full pack of cigarettes he’d left in a drunk mess one night.
“Fuck. Yes.” He mutters to himself feeling a little more like a person rather then just a passenger in his own body for the first time in the last three days.
Grabbing his jacket off the bed nimble fingers search for his lighter once the leather is wrapped around his shoulders. Smirking when he finds it, he heads for the door grabbing his key off the off the dresser. Turning around before he leaves he takes one good look at his new home for the next few days. It wasn’t much but it was better then hiding off on the side roads begging to get caught.
——
The rocks crunch under his feet as he walks up the wounded asphalt towards the diner, the mist in the air taming the poof in his hair as he struggles to get the cigarette lit. The hint of tobacco on his tongue teasing him as the gust off the shore snuffs out the flame every single time.
“Jesus fucking Christ.” dangling in his lips he stops for a second to switch positions so his back was facing the direction of the wind. “You’ve got to be shitting me.” Grumbling he snatches it out of his mouth in a huff before shoving it back in his pocket. Keeping his hands dug in into his jacket his face is set in a hard glare as he hits the parking lot of the diner. The inside gleams brightly and it’s the stark contrast to the dark moody-ness of his thoughts and the outside.
There’s families gathered in the windows laughing in the warmth of the light and he does his best to ignore the pang in his chest. Shoving down the realization of just how alone he really is now, he wasn’t ready to mentally unpack that yet.
Opening the single glass door of the entrance, the sound of the oldies station plays under the low hum of everyone’s chatter. Red vinyl covering the seats, a row of booths line the outside, the white walls barely visible decorated, covering almost every inch in various collectibles. The long bar attached to the kitchen extends down the length of the restaurant lined with stools.
Unlike the booths, the bar was filled with truckers and waderers. Hunched over their food alone in their thoughts. Taking a seat where he belonged the chain of his wallet clinks loudly against the metal of the stool.
The menu was already laid out on the formica counter top, just a page long the corners of the lamination are creased after obvious years of use. His eyes strain to read the red words that pop out against the white of the paper, the sleepless nights slowly catching up to his body. He tries pulling it further from his face to get a better look completely unaware of the pair of eyes watching him.
“Need some help with the menu?” A melodious voice breaks his concentration. Looking for the owner he comes face to face with you.
Almost as if someone knocked the wind out of him the softness of your features stuns him enough that he can’t find his voice. The dress you wear as a uniform wraps tightly around your curves and he fights his eyes from wandering. Hand on the counter in front of him you lean into his space, the smell of maple syrup hits his nose — sickly sweet he wants nothing more then to close his eyes and bask in it. Your warm gaze lands on his face and it feels like he’s looking up at the bright sun on a summer day. You didn’t look like you belonged here.
Realizing he hadn’t answered you, he clears his throat trying to shake his nerves. He was never good at talking to girls, especially not girls that looked like you and definitely not under these circumstances.
“You’re new around here.” You grin eyeing the slightly disheveled boy in front of you.
“Do you have burgers?” Blurting out his question he closes his eyes embarrassed when he realizes he’s ignored your observation too caught up to think straight. “Sorry.”
Laughing sweetly you take the menu from his hands finger tips brushing against his, the connection making his cheeks blossom pink.
“Sure do, how do you want it?” Pulling out your pocket sized note book from your apron, his eyes catch the red of your nail polish and for some reason it makes his cheeks deepen to match.
“Medium is —uh, is fine.” Scratching the back of his neck he watches the way your pen swoops gracefully against the paper.
“Fries okay?” Looking up at him from under your lashes his breath hitches loud enough for you to hear, the reaction making you bite your lip in a smile.
“Yeah, fries are, fries are great.” Exhaling loudly he gives you a tight lipped smile wishing he could bury his head in the sand.
“Anything to drink?” Ripping the page you turn around slipping it through the small window of the kitchen behind you. The line cook grabs it with a curt nod before you bring the full force of your stare back to him.
“Water is fine.” The sentence is short but he gets it out with out a hitch at least. Rubbing his hands nervously on his thighs he catches the mischievous glint dance around your eyes.
A small knowing smirk plays on your lips before walking away to the drink station at the other end of the long bar.
“Real fucking smooth.” Eddie grumbles to himself catching the attention of the trucker seated next to him.
“If that makes you feel any better son, I think she thought it was cute.” The gruffness of his voice reminds him of his Uncle, the few moments with you had made him almost forget about why he was here in the first place. Guilt slowly starting to eat away at him as he tries to re focus his thoughts, the familiar sting coming back to his eyes.
Before Eddie has a chance to respond your sliding the glass in front of him, eyes never leaving his as you pull out a straw from your front pocket. This time he’s strong enough to hold your gaze even if the red on his cheeks spreads to his neck.
“It’ll be like 15 minutes, Freddy’s pretty quick.” Nodding back towards the kitchen, Eddie tries to listen to you but he’s too focused on the sheen of your lip gloss. A sharp elbow to his side snaps him out of his trance, his new friend trying to help him out.
“Oh— okay, thanks.” Dropping his eyes down he brings all of his attention to unwrapping his straw, silently scolding himself for being even less smooth then the first interaction. The only reason he knows you’ve walked away is the loss of sweetness that settles in the air in your presence.
Shoving the straw in his drink, the ice clinks loudly against the glass before taking a big gulp. When the water washes over his tongue in a wave of rejuvenation, he closes his eyes humming in satisfaction sucking more then half the glass down before pushing it away with a wipe of his mouth. He can feel what the needed hydration does for him in his finger tips, his brain function starting to sharpen.
Chocolate eyes finding you again, he watches the way you move around the restaurant with ease. Everything you were doing seemed second nature, bending down to meet the kids at eye level he watched the families stare up at you with the same adoration on their faces. It wasn’t just him you effected like that, it was every one.
Cleaning off one of the booths, he watches you bend over the table — selfishly letting his eyes wander your body in the way he’d fought off before. Expertly stacking the dirty plates in your arms, you shove the cash tip they’d left in your apron. Turning on your heel you catch his stare, stopping for a brief moment before your lips tug up in a way that makes him avert his gaze — but even he knew it was too late. He’d been caught.
Closing his eyes when you walk by he inhales deeply, chasing the comfort your scent brings. You smelt like Sunday mornings with his mom, the only childhood memories he was fond of. He watched as you disappeared through the double doors of the kitchen, loud voices greeting you once you were hidden in the back. It was obvious you’d been here for awhile. The urge to try and piece together your story is a welcoming distraction from his own.
You aren’t back there long before you push back through with a toothy grin, shaking your head in amusement. An irrational hint of jealousy settles deep in his gut at whoever was making you laugh like that. The high pitch ding of the kitchen bell brings his attention back to the small window, a burger and fries so warm he could see the steam coming off the bun sit waiting for you to collect. Brain going empty he can feel himself start to salivate, his hunger taking front and center in his mind now.
Too focused on his food he has better self control of his eyes when you go to grab it. Sliding the plate in front of him Eddie mumbles a thank you before snatching the burger, ignoring the way it heats under his finger tips.
Taking a giant bite he immediately opens his mouth at the shock of the burn, his initial reaction to spit it out is stopped when he looks up to see you watching him with crossed arms as you lean against the back counter.
“I would have told you to give it a minute, but I thought that was obvious.” Teasing him, Eddie fans his open mouth searching for reprieve only swallowing it when the pain subsides. Taste buds inflamed and seared he takes another gulp of water basking in the way it soothes his mouth.
“Sorry, I haven’t really eaten all day.” Grabbing a fry he dunks it into the small ceramic cup filled with ketchup before tossing it into his mouth. Curious eyes land on yours making him wonder what’s keeping your attention as he eats with out manners.
“So, what are you running from?” Choking on his food at your question his eyes go wide, maybe the news had made it’s way over here.
“W-what do you mean?” Swallowing loudly his appetite suddenly disappears.
“I mean, I’ve never seen you before. People either move here to run from something or they’re just passing through.” You shrug as if your question was nonchalant. “So are you a runner or a wanderer?”
“What are you?” Eddie counters back arching a brow before taking another sip of water.
The smirk you give him is almost devilish when you push yourself off the counter invading his space again. The smell he can’t get enough of swirling around him in a dizzying effect.
“I’m a runner.” There’s something hidden behind your eyes that he can’t decipher when you give him your answer unashamed. “I told you mine, it’s your turn now.”
Of course you weren’t from here, how could you be?
“Runner.” He says simply already nervous he shared too much. Averting his eyes he plops another fry in his mouth before he remembers that this 15 dollar meal was gonna put a significant hole in his remaining funds.
Looking back up from his food he sees you’re already half way down the bar walking he hasn’t even asked you about the Now Hiring sign dangling from the window.
“Hey! — I mean wait.” Eddie’s outburst catches you and half the diners attention and despite his embarrassment he doesn’t miss the way your lips curve up when you make your way back to him.
“Yes?” Raising your eyebrows in question you plant both hands on the counter top in front of him leaning forward a stance that keeps his Eddie swimming.
“I saw your help wanted sign in the window.” Clearing his throat for more confidence “How would a runner apply for said job?”
“You haven’t even told me your name, and you don’t even know what we’re hiring for.” All valid points leave your mouth and he nods with a scratch of his head.
“It’s Eddie, Eddie Henderson.” He said it once and now he just has to roll with it, he’ll apologize to Dustin if he ever sees him again. “I’m not picky, I’ll do anything. Just in desperate need for some cash.”
“Well Eddie Henderson, I guess that means you’re planning on staying here long enough to get work huh?” Tongue poking the side of your cheek he can tell there’s ideas bouncing around in your head.
“Yeah, for a little bit.” Eddie didn’t want to tell you that his time here was numbered in the single digits or that he needed the work so he wouldn’t become completely homeless in the next few days while he ran from the law.
Blowing out a loud breath, you drum your hands on the counter before turning around towards the white board behind you with various names and schedules scribbled on it. He wondered which was you. Grabbing an application from the stack that was pinned on the board you turn back around around pulling a pen from your pocket. Clicking it open you set it down for him to fill out.
Eddie wastes no time in scribbling out his fake information, chest swelling with excitement. He didn’t think it would be this easy and despite your stare making him nervous he could feel his own smile pull at his lips just for a moment.
“I’m just gonna need an ID to show my boss.”
The sentence leaves your mouth and Eddie wants to fucking scream, his grip on the pen becoming so hard he was close to snapping it in half. It was an issue at the motel why wouldn’t be an issue here? It’s not like he didn’t have one, it just had all of his real information on it. Information that had the potential to get him caught.
“I- I don’t have one.” It’s quiet when it leaves his mouth voice shaking and defeated. Meeting your eyes again he notices how they soften as if you could read his mind.
“You moved to a new town without any ID?” You question is gentle when it comes out watching the way his shoulders slump. The first smile you’d seen grace his handsome features slowly fading away.
“I’m afraid I can’t give this to him with out some kind of proof as to who you are.” It’s lame when it comes out of your mouth and you wish it could be different when you watch his big doe eyes glass over.
“It’s fine, I’ll figure something out. I appreciate the help none the less.” Eddie gives slight nod pushing the application away, his brain already starting to reel with no back up plan lined up. He feels fucking stupid.
Unsure how to comfort the cute mysterious stranger you shove your pen back in your pocket giving him your most apologetic look. The air shifting into something that felt like you should give him privacy— you walk away as he digs for his wallet.
Throwing a twenty on the table, he’s too embarrassed to even ask for the discount. He takes one last big bite of his burger before goes to stand up, the sudden urge to sleep becoming over powering with the hope a better idea would come to him tomorrow.
“Hey, actually.” Your honeyed voice drips through his very obvious despair.
Stopping him before he had a chance to leave, Eddie’s chestnut eyes meet yours in question.
Biting at your bottom lip, he can tell your nervous to ask him whatever was bouncing around in your head.
“Do you know anything about cars?” The thought of your late grandmothers car sitting motionless in your drive way comes to mind and how desperate you were for a pair of working wheels.
“I mean I’m no mechanic, but I can do the basics.” He offers back with a shrug.
“Good enough for me, I live by the beach not far from the motel down the road, it’s a shitty yellow house you can’t miss it. I’ve got a car you can come look at tomorrow, if you think you can fix it I’ll hire you myself.” Eddie doesn’t know why you’re being so nice to him but he’s not going to turn you down the offer. Even if he can’t fix it, he sure as shit was going to figure out how.
“Alright, sure yeah, I’ll come by.” Trying to contain his excitement the smile you’d already missed comes creeping back to his face.
“Perfect, I’ll see you around 10? I’ve gotta work at 4 so that should be plenty of time for you to come take a look yeah?” Not wanting to tease that six hours is plenty of time to do a normal check up on a car he just nods instead.
“I’ll be there at 10.” With a nod of his head and the first genuine smile on his face in days, he pushes back out into the developing storm.
——
Head swirling with the events of the day the cheap motel bed moans under his weight as he stares up at the water marks on the ceiling tile. The feathers of the pillows underneath him bring back the heaviness of his eyelids as all the muscles in his body finally relax. The fear of sleep slowly slipping to the back of his mind when the softness of your smile replays on a loop behind closed eyes.
——-
Taglist: @newlips @bimbobaggins69 @munsonology @triplethreat77 @edsforehead @manda-panda-monium @emotionaldreamer @eddiesprincess86 @micheledawn1975 @lil-graveling @b-irock @munsonmunster
If I missed anyone please let me know!
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stairnaheireann · 5 months
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Boyeeghter Bay | Murder Hole Beach
One of Ireland’s most beautiful and pristine bays is on the Rosguill Peninsula – Boyeeghter Bay. At high tide you will find two sandy beaches, which grow together to one big beach when the tide is out. The roaring Atlantic Ocean has gnawed bizarre cuts and a cave into the cliff faces along the bay. The wild waters may also be responsible for the bay’s nickname – ‘The Murder Hole’. The beach may…
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rottenpumpkin13 · 3 months
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AGSZC go camping at the beach! What happens?
Sending you good vibes!
Things That Happen At The Beach
• Genesis thinks it's funny to tie a piece of bread onto a string and annoy some seagulls. He ends up getting harassed by the seagulls.
• Angeal leaves Zack alone at the beach for five minutes, when he comes back Zack is instructing a Zumba class.
• Sephiroth and Genesis try surfing (competitively) but they both get wiped out by a dolphin.
• It's Cloud's first time at the beach and he's very excited. Oh, look! A beach iguana. Maybe he should feed it some snacks :)
• Cloud gets chased by the iguana.
• Angeal is building the bonfire, Genesis suggests he use materia but Angeal is adamant about "returning to nature" and doing things "the old school way." They're arguing over this, meanwhile Zack has grabbed the guitar and is doing a happy, upbeat cover of Mad World. Genesis and Angeal are screaming in the background.
• Meanwhile Sephiroth and Cloud are setting up the tents.
Cloud: Um, not that I'm complaining, but why can't we go to a hotel instead?
Sephiroth: Good question. *he turns around* Angeal, why can't we go to a hotel?
Angeal: N A T U R E *throws his flip flop at Sephiroth*
• Zack and Cloud build some sandcastles! But the group of little kids a few feet away from them are building a whole sand city and now Zack makes it his mission to out-do the children. It's all going great until a little girl shouts that their sand castle looks terrible and calls Zack an unkind word not meant for kids. Zack as to then explain to Cloud that he cannot fight a child.
• Genesis convinces Sephiroth to let him bury him in the sand. Genesis digs a hole, makes Sephiroth get inside, turns around to pick up his shovel, then when he turns around again Sephiroth is gone. He's convinced Sephiroth san into the sand, so he spends ten minutes frantically digging trying to save him. And then Sephiroth shows up again. He has a churro. A vendor walked by and Sephiroth had gone to buy a churro. Genesis harasses him with the shovel.
• Angeal forces the four of them to go out fishing and "earn their dinner" while he sets up the rest of their camp. They set out on two jet skis. Four of them go, three come back.
Cloud: We caught the fish.
Angeal: Uh, where's Sephiroth?
Zack:
Genesis:
Cloud:
*They all scramble to get back on the jet skis because they forgot Sephiroth on a rock in the middle of the ocean*
• Zack and Cloud are hanging out under a big beach umbrella, watching Sephiroth, Angeal and Genesis in the water playing volleyball.
Zack: Man, aren't the guys so cool? How can they stay that deep in the ocean and still play?
Cloud: Oh, ouch! Genesis hit Sephiroth with the ball. I think his nose is bleeding!
Zack: I'm telling you, Spike, I wish I had their courage. I'd be so scared of a shark showing up.
Cloud: Yup! His nose is broken. Uh oh, he looks mad. Genesis isn't helping his case by laughing.
Zack: Do you like volleyball? I like volleyball, but I don't think I could play that well in the water.
Cloud: Sephiroth has produced Masamune out of nowhere.
Zack: To be honest, I'm not that great on land either.
Cloud: He's drowning Genesis.
Zack: You know what would be a cool sport to play in the water? Basketball!
Cloud: Zack I'm witnessing a murder.
Zack: Man, I wish water-basketball were possible!
Cloud: Where'd Genesis go? OH! Now Sephiroth is fighting Angeal.
Zack: Do you think it's possible, spike?
Cloud: That's it. I'm calling the police.
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cameronspecial · 6 months
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Before The Last Petal Falls (Part 3)
Pairing: Rafe Cameron x Reader
Warnings: Drinking and use of drugs.
Pronouns: She/Her
Word Count: 2.5K
Summary: Moving on is hard but it helps to have the input of the people you love and a new prospect on the horizon.
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Y/N would never pass up on an opportunity to babysit her two favourite cousins, so when Aunt Millie asked her to watch them, she was quick to say yes. She decided to take them to the one place that England could never really beat—the beach. Y/N is relaxing on her beach chair, while Bella and Franklin are building a sandcastle. The beach isn’t too busy with only a few parents taking the day off of work to take their young children out. She takes out her book to read while they aren’t in the water and she makes sure to check on them every few pages. Her escape into a fictional world is interrupted by the yells of the children. “Rafe!” They run over to the tall figure and jump to give him a hug. Even with their break up, Rafe didn’t stop being in her cousins' lives. How could he when he meant so much to them? “Can we please bury you in the sand?” Bella begs with puppy dog eyes. Frankie is already tugging Rafe towards their sand toys. Rafe wants to say no when he spots who is babysitting them, but the children aren’t really giving him a choice.
They mindlessly place him beside Y/N without another thought and get to work on the hole. It makes her heart flutter when Rafe tries to help them out with it to avoid having to be near Y/N alone, but he keeps getting shooed away. “You’re just going to ignore me,” she whispers to him, putting her book back in her bag. He looks at her with an annoyed look, “What do you want me to say? We stopped talking to each other a long time ago.” 
“I know. You could’ve just told them no, so we didn’t have to do this awkward thing.”
“Well, you didn’t need to start talking to me. We could’ve just sat in silence or you could’ve just kept reading. Plus, when has anyone ever been able to say no to them? They could ask you to murder someone and you’d help them.”
“We don’t have to be strangers anymore.” 
“That’s rich coming from the person who avoided the whole country for years just because it’s where I was.”
“Yeah. Well, it’s not like you made any effort to contact me.”
“Don’t try to bla-“
“Rafe, get in the hole, please,” Franklin orders. Rafe turns away from her and does as the boy instructs. She pretends not to watch as Rafe happily plays with her cousins. Even after their little argument, he wouldn’t dare to take it out on them. He brings some more sand onto his legs, “How about we make me into a mermaid? I think I’d make a beautiful mermaid.” Bella beams at that idea, pilling more sand onto him to make him a coconut bra while Franklin goes to make the tail. “That’s the best idea ever! You’ll be the prettiest mermaid ever!” Bella screams. 
Y/N gives Rafe a warm smile, discretely she believes, turning back to the book she is reading. Little does she know that he caught her looking and he can’t explain the little flip his heart does when he does. For a brief second, he let himself believe that this is what the future could hold for them. They could have beach days in the summer where Y/N reads while Rafe plays with their children. For that brief second, everything felt right for him. He quickly brings himself back down to reality and he remembers he is engaged to Blythe. His smile falls for a split second, but he puts it back on and goes back to playing with the kids. 
——
Lacey and Y/N sip some wine while they paint their nails. “So… you’ve been on the same island as Rafe for two weeks. How are we feeling?” Lacey checks in, not pausing to look up from her nails. Y/N pauses her movement for a second, “Honestly, I don’t know. One minute I’m adamant that I did the right thing with the break up and the next minute I’m literally crying on the floor.” 
“It makes sense. Y/N/N, he was a big part of your life and you just left him behind without giving yourself actual time to grieve your relationship. You kept forcing yourself to move on which made it so you didn’t get to process your emotions properly, so now your body is trying to catch up with feeling like you are moved on and actually moving on. It’s like cognitive dissonance. You believe you moved on but the action of your crying says otherwise.”
“Okay, Miss. Psychologist. I get what you are saying. Maybe, seeing him will actually help me move on. Who knows, maybe, I’ll even find someone to spend my life with.” 
“It would be good for you to go out with someone else. Not because you need a man in your life, but because it might help you move on. You’ll realize all of Rafe’s faults by being put in front of someone who could be a little more perfect.” 
“Yeah, yeah. How come we always talk about my relationships? What about you? The last time you dated anyone was Jordan in your first year of culinary school.” 
Now, it is Lacey’s turn to pause what she is doing and look up at Y/N. “I just don’t think a relationship is what I want for my life right now. Or ever. Sure, I’ve been on dates and had sex and that’s fun. But when I think about having to stay with someone for more than one night. I feel all cooped up. Right now, I’m fine with it just being me, you and our businesses.” Y/N nods at her friend’s statement and goes to hold her hand, “I know society makes it seem like you have to have a steady relationship to be happy in life, but don’t listen to it. I personally think you’d be an awesome wine aunt to my kids.” “Yes, I’d be such a cool wine aunt. I’m gonna spoil your children rotten,” Lacey exclaims with a laugh. Both girls giggle at the statement and continue to do their nails. 
——
It’s rare to find Y/N Y/L/N at the island club. She isn’t a fan of golf, she has her own pool and she much prefers eating at The Wreck. However, for some reason, the universe told her that she needed to be there. She sits at the poolside, listening to music and people-watching. She is deep in her own thoughts when a feminine voice pulls her out of it. “Y/N! It’s so good to see you. We didn’t get a chance to say goodbye at my engagement party.” Y/N looks up to see who it is, “Hi Blythe, it’s good to see you again too! I’m sorry about leaving in such a rush at the party. I wasn’t feeling well.” Blythe nods and takes a seat on the pool chair beside her. She sits up so the both of them are facing each other. 
“Yeah, I know. Rafe told me that he saw you talking with his dad. I’m sorry that that happened. If I had known that you and Ward had such a rocky relationship, then I wouldn’t have asked Mason to bring you. I was just hoping to help fix your and his relationship. I know how much you mean to him as an ex and a childhood friend.”
“Does he talk about me a lot?”
“Yes, well, actually no. Not as much as he used to before we started dating. Most of the time it was about how angry he was with you and how he thinks you were a coward, but I think he is getting over his anger about your break up.” 
“Oh, he’s really been so angry about it all this time?” Y/N asks with guilt in her voice. 
“Of course, he’s been. Based on how much it seems he loved you, he wouldn’t just be okay with a sudden break-up. I mean aren’t you still grieving your relationship a tiny bit?”
“I guess I have, but I think it’s only because I’m back home. And he must’ve moved on before you guys dated, you guys are getting married for heaven's sake.”
“I know. But I honestly think he needed me to help him move on. Before we started dating, it always felt like he was mad at the world for something and he would never let any girl in like he was scared. It took him a while to open up to me.”
“Not that long if you guys started dating five months into knowing each other.”
“Most people open up to me immediately. It’s my personality. You are literally doing it right now,” Blythe points out with a serious face. 
“Yeah, I guess. Still not very long for normal standards.”
“True, but enough about Rafe. How about you? You said it was hard to see Rafe since coming back. Are you okay?” 
From the look on Blythe’s face, the question is laced with genuine concern and not jealousy or anything else. “Yeah, I am. I’ve had my time to process everything. I think I finally am ready to go out on a date and try to move on,” she says with a hint of untruthfulness. Blythe smiles at her, “That’s great! I know a few great guys if you are ever looking for someone on this side of the pond.” At that moment, something unexpected happens. “I don’t believe my luck. Is that Miss. Y/N Y/L/N that I see?” The face of the towering figure is blocked by the shadows created because his back is facing the sun. The British accent clues Y/N in as to where she might have met this person. As if on cue, the person moves out of the way of the sun and she can finally see who it is. His medium-length curly brown hair and dark brown eyes start to become in focus. The only thing that has really changed since she last saw him is that his diamond face shape now has a little stubble on his jawline. 
Cole Weisner stands before her in all of his glory. “Cole, hi. What are you doing here?” she questions as she gets up to give him a hug. He returns the hug with a smile, “I was wondering if I might bump into you eventually but I didn’t think that you were here. I’m here for work. The company is looking into opening an office here.” 
“Really? Are you still working in publishing? Why would they want an office here?” 
“I am. And they seem to have noticed a pattern with popular authors cropping up in this area.”
Y/N’s cheeks heat up at his flirtatious words, “I wouldn’t consider myself popular per se.”
“Don’t sell yourself short, Y/N/N. You sold around a million copies of your debut book in the first year of its release. That is no small feat.”
“Okay, I believe you. So how are you enjoying the OBX experience?”
“It just got better, to be honest with you. It’s been great though. A little hot but from what you told me it is expected. Although, I can’t seem to find any good food places. Maybe you could show me some places.”
Y/N and Cole had done this dance before a long time ago. In her first year of university, she had gone out on a date with the boy and even though he said he felt sparks, he noticed she didn’t have her heart open yet to a new relationship. They had remained friends up until they graduated which is when they fell out of touch because of how busy they were with work. However, with her newfound belief that she is ready to move on with her life, she feels as though fate is trying to tell her something by bringing her here at the same time as Cole. “Yeah, I think I can do that. Are you free tomorrow night?”
——
Rafe is working on some files in the kitchen when Blythe gets back home from dinner with her friends. She gives him a kiss on the cheek before going to sit down, “Hey baby. Finishing up your work for the day.” “Yeah, Dad needed me to look over some paperwork before I went to bed. How was your day?” he asks, briefly looking up at the girl before going back to work. 
“It was good. You’ll never guess who I ran into at the country club this afternoon.”
“Really? Who, babe? 
“Y/N. We had such a nice talk. And she has a date tomorrow night with what sounds like an old flame? Isn’t that wonderful? Maybe when I get you guys talking again, we can go on a triple date with Mason and whoever I can find for him. He can’t live the bachelor life forever.”
The news just shared with Rafe causes him to stop working and look at Blythe completely. “She’s going on a date? What was his name? Wilson? Lewis?” Blythe shakes her head, “No, none of those. He said his name was Cole. I think maybe they know each other from publishing. At least, that’s where he says he works for anyways.” Rafe’s mind races at what she says and he starts to overthink everything. Without saying anything, he gets up from his chair and gets on his dirtbike. 
He, once again, makes the trip back to Barry’s house to help his brain turn off from the spiral he is about to experience. “Got through what you bought already, country club? That was fast,” Barry comments, walking out of his trailer. Rafe shakes his head and holds up his own baggie, “Nope, just need a place to do this shit.” He doesn’t say anything, walking into the house and getting his lines ready. If she didn’t meet Cole in high school, then she must have met him in university, which means she dated after they broke up. How could she do that to him? She broke his heart and was okay with moving on like it was nothing. Now, she’s trying again. To forget about them. To forget about the pain she caused. That’s all he wants to do too.
He forms the final line of powder and brings his nose down to snort each line he prepares. He slowly starts to feel himself forget about her. Just when he thought he was in the clear, a new image of her with his so-called Cole permeates his thoughts. Does she laugh at Cole’s jokes in the same way she did his? Does she let him pull her by the waist to place a kiss on her lips? Does she let him do all the things she used to let Rafe to her? His normal amount of cocaine doesn’t help him forget, so he needed more. “I want more,” Rafe orders to Barry. Barry shakes his head, “You know I love the business, man, but I don’t think you should be doing anymore. You did a lot already.” Rafe gets up and punches the wall near Barry’s head. “I said get me more. So do it. I don’t need your opinion,” Rafe growls close to Barry’s face. Barry has no other choice but to obey the intoxicated man. 
Taglist: @sublimepenguinpeach-blog @gillybear17 @f4ll-for-you @winterrrnight @maggiecc @magicwithaknife @loves0phelia @jiarapamuk
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gashotbox · 3 months
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(happy new year 🎊 here's a little story to start it off. though it's still winter, we're fast forwarding to a summer setting. also, i have a clear idea of where to take this next so if you're interested, i could write up a part 2?)
they had buried you neck-deep in a sand pit on the beach. one moment, you were chilling on a blanket with your earbuds in, oblivious to what your friends were up to. the next, they persuaded you to climb into a hole they had dug in the sand, saying that you were the only one small enough to fit and that they'd let you out soon enough. evidently, this did not end up happening.
as your head peeked out from the ground, you couldn't move or free yourself of your own accord. with you in this defenseless state, your friends decided it would be the perfect opportunity to pull some pranks on you. one of them stuffed your mouth full of a snorkel you had originally brought for diving. now unable to shout for help, and hidden away in a nook behind a sand dune that was surrounded by reeds and tall gras, you were invisible to the other beach goers.
"and here i thought you've learned from your mistakes the first time around", Jesse tutted mockingly.
"yeah, trusting us this easily after that teabagging prank my brother helped us pull at the last sleepover is crazy", quipped Alex. "well, you're gonna learn your lesson now! lemme see...what should we do with you...".
"y'know, the sun's beating down on them pretty hard. let me cover you up", Jesse said, moving to grab the blanket next to you. but instead of simply covering you up, Jesse sat down right in front of you, ass mere inches away from your face. afterwards, your friend pulled the blanket over you as well as their crotch.
"sorry, gotta change into my swimming trunks without flashing anybody. well, anybody except you." there was an obvious grin in Jesse's voice.
then, their private parts were revealed to you. you tried closing your eyes but as neither of you had taken a dip in the water yet, the reek of Jesse's unwashed junk and naked butt hit your nose regardless. even worse, Jesse didn't seem to be in a hurry to change into their bath suit. instead, you could hear both of your friends faintly chatting above you.
suddenly, noise errupted from the ass in front of you and on reflex, you breathed in the unmistakable stench of a fart. before you could react, another blast hit your face, whirling up grains of sand in the process. you tried breathing through the snorkel in your mouth when something blocked its tube.
"no way, did you just gas them out under there??", asked Alex, clearly amused.
"sure did", Jesse laughed. "even blocking off the vent here. otherwise it wouldn't be much of a prank, right?"
"fuck mate, they'll be planning our murder once they get out."
right on cue, a long, particularly nasty sound escaped from between Jesse's checks, making you open your eyes again in fear of what else might've left their colon. you were relieved to find nothing more than a sweaty but otherwise unmarred asshole spewing putrid gas at you-- and how screwed up was that thought.
"shit", Jesse cursed. "at this rate, my stomach's gonna be the likelier killer. gotta find a loo somewhere."
"or how about we go take a swim and you do your business there?", Alex proposed.
Jesse shook their head, chuckling. "you know, sometimes you can be even more fucked up than me. c'mon then."
finally pulling on their trunks, Jesse stood up while leaving you under the blanket. "don't worry, we won't be gone for too long", Alex reassured before both friends got on their way. after a short while of wildly tossing your head from side to side and having your screams muffled by the makeshift gag in your mouth, you accepted defeat. you slumped forward and waited for your friends' return.
-🔺
this story has me throbbingg.. gosh how humid and sticky it must be, what with the summers heat combined with the fact their hot, sweaty pucker is wagging inchess away from your face. trunks hanging just below their asscheeks so that every salty gust of wind sends the muggy stench of their junk headed your way. each fart ripping out their hole and sending a spray of sweat , sea water and sand particles flecking your cheeks .. fuckkk. only thing that cld make this better is if they bend over and spread their cheeks and slather sunscreen on your nose .“hey, champ, i missed a spot. mind rubbing it in for me?”
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captainlaurence · 5 months
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Okay, here is a complete list of all the injuries our beloved aviators and co. sustain throughout the series.
Throne of Jade:
William Laurence
Harness buckle cut deep into right thigh.
Knife wound to left shoulder just under collarbone.
Splinter across forehead and thigh.
John Granby:
Shot, left torso.
Temeraire:
Barbed ball to the chest.
Black Powder War:
Tenzing Tharkay:
Eagle talon marks on both hands.
Hot poker to right thigh.
Temeraire:
Bullet holes in wings.
Empire of Ivory:
William Laurence
Glass bottle to forehead.
Severe lashing across back and right arm where flogger missed.
Temeraire:
Claw marks from helping Messoria, Immortalis, and Co. to the shore from the Allegiance.
Victory of Eagles:
William Laurence
Splinters from the Goliath down both legs.
Tongues of Serpents:
William Laurence
Split lip.
Glass shard in cheek and small ones in his hands.
Splinters in his right side just above belt line.
Two cracked ribs.
(Let's take a moment to appreciate that Laurence's upper hook was powerful enough to lift a man off his feet.)
John Granby:
Not specified but presumably not much better off than Laurence.
Tenzing Tharkay:
Split knuckles, right hand.
Crucible of Gold:
William Laurence
Scratch marks on side of face from fight on the beach, superficial and may not scar?
John Granby:
Amputation - Left arm, above his elbow.
Emily Roland:
Booted in the face by a sailor - broken nose, badly reset, lip torn and cheek split open.
Temeraire:
Cannon ball under wing joint.
Blood of Tyrants:
William Laurence:
Various blade and pistol shot markings from his time serving in the Navy prior to 1805 (from Junichiro's observations.)
Rope Burns to feet and legs from keeping sandals tied on.
Sword cut to right shoulder from assassination attempt in the Chinese camp.
Deep sword wound to right bicep while rescuing Temeraire from rockslide.
Partially scalped across forehead and right side of his skull.
Another deep stab wound to left arm with a knife.
Tenzing Tharkay:
Lashes on back, more than once.
Burn marks from hot irons on limbs.
Broken hands, several fingers need splints.
Temeraire:
Hack marks from swords along spine from murder attempt.
League of Dragons:
William Laurence:
Gunshot to right side, entry and exit wounds.
Temeraire:
Burn marks through both wing membranes from barn fire.
Bullet wounds on belly from the charge against the French in Switzerland.
Jane Roland:
Worth noting there is a long scar between her middle and ring finger on her right hand acquired sometime in the years between Victory of Eagles and League of Dragons.
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