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#spined green stink bug
ljsbugblog · 21 days
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the striking Spined Citrus Bug (Biprorulus bibax), a species of stink bug that I've been wanting to see for a long time!!
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these beasts are easily identified by their large black spines and incredibly green colouration, and are heralded by the loud, buzzing flight that is characteristic of many True Bugs.
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as their common name suggests, B. bibax feed on a variety of citrus, using their long proboscis to pierce through the tough skin of such fruits. the photo above shows the proboscis folded back underneath the body when not in use.
this individual flew noisily past me on their way to our mandarine tree, but they were cooperative enough to perch on my finger for some photos first.
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Spined Citrus Bug (Biprorulus bibax).
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pokemoncaretips · 9 months
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The wimpod line
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You messed up a perfectly good pokemon is what you did! Look at it, it has anxiety!
General notes: An anxious mon with a pretty tough evolution, this pokemon best suits those with a lot of patience.
General care: The wimpod is a nervous creature. And with good reason. It has no claws, teeth or spines, and only has a somewhat noxious spit for defence. This little pokemon sits squarely on the bottom of the food chain and is KEENLY aware of this.
It seeks out small dark spaces to make a nest, and I recommend setting up a small kennel inside and opening the pokeball near it when it first comes home, as it will make a beeline for the nearest dark place. They aren't fussy, though, and will nest under beds, dressers and sofas. I've even heard of one living in the gap between a fridge and a cabinet. The space doesn't need to be big, wimpod prefer hiding in tight places. It should be wide enough that the wimpod can scuttle back to exit but otherwise they like to be fairly enclosed when hiding. In the wild they live under rocks and old tree trunks.
Set up food, water and a litter tray near the space they've chosen, so if they're feeling particularly anxious they don't have to travel far.
They are fully nocturnal at this stage, and will only wiggle out of their hidey hole when its pitch black outside. This is when they'll explore the house and interact with you. You may need nerves of steel for this pokemon, as it will likely clamber onto your pillow and investigate you with taps from its antenna. In wimpod keeping circles it is affectionately called "the sleep paralysis pokemon". Startling or shouting will terrify it, and may damage the future relationship. It becomes bolder when it approaches evolution, and may even clamber into your lap in the evenings. They aren't the easiest to cuddle, but seem to enjoy being rubbed under the antennae.
During the night, it will likely "tidy up", eating dropped crumbs and investigating small items. It has a tendency to drop anything that isn't interesting, so watch where you step in the morning lest you painfully rediscover that lego piece you lost.
They have a bad habit of storing large bits of food in their hole for later, and their idea of what constitutes "expired" is vastly different from humans. So it doesn't attract pests or stink out the house, check and clear its hidey hole when you can.
Golisopod is a total 180. Big and tough and confident. Though a bruiser in the battlefield, it often spends its time at home simply vibing peacefully.
This line does well on standard crustacean pokemon kibble. Care rating: Green
Training: Training a wimpod is a tricky business. Not because they're stupid or aggressive, but because they'll recall into their pokeball at the first sign of trouble. Battling can cause them anxiety. Wimpod trainers often get them to practice using dummies.
Golisopod, on the other hand, are excellent fighters and are more than willing to learn, though the habit of recalling to their pokeball is hard to break. Golisopod, however, seem to use this as a chance to catch their breath, and come out swinging harder than ever. Training rating: Green
Safety: Wimpod have few defences beyond vomiting a poisonous foam when startled. This foam is bitter and nasty tasting, but otherwise holds few risks unless it gets in the eyes. If it does, wash them out with clean water and contact a poisons hotline.
Golisopod don't seem to retain that poison spit, but have sharp edges and are quite bulky. However, they are quite calm and placid at home, and seem to have good spatial awareness.
This line is a good one for teaching children how to care for nervous pokemon, and gets on well with the quieter child. Safety rating: Green
Overall ranking. A pokemon that flourishes with gentle care, this is an excellent bug type pokemon.
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tri-punisher · 5 months
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my search history on the 10th of November, 2019 at 9:20PM while i was trying to identify what i later learnt is a spined green stink bug
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Predatory Stink Bug (nymph) - Apoecilus cynicus
My, my, out in the wilds of Kleinburg we find a wide and quite colorful insect! In an environment coated with tall and healthy greens, this nymph is a big stand out! While the large individual on display is the main focus of this post, the longer that you stare at these pictures, the more you’ll begin to see fellow Stink Bugs (and other miscellaneous Bugs) in the background. Certainly enough stem and flowers to go around for everyone and if my botany is correct, I believe that this Stink Bug is occupying wild parsnip! While the insects here can carefully navigate the plant’s flowers and (seemingly) tolerate the plant’s sap, humans aren’t so lucky. This plant’s sap is toxic, resulting in blisters on contact with the effects drastically amplified when exposed to light. Sometimes holding onto a plant to keep it steady in wind and/or bring it closer to the camera is needed for an insect picture, but this isn’t one of those plants to handle carelessly. I would advise caution when approaching this particular plant for insect observations and photography and to minimize skin contact where possible. With how humans react to the sap, it’s a miracle what these insects have grown to withstand in their environment...or perhaps they’re just very careful and observant to avoid danger. 
Plant precautions handled, let’s examine our young orange insect more closely. As it’s a nymph, it lacks developed wings but will gain after its final molt. Though a spectacular shade of orange and decorated with intricate black lines and red dots, these markings will disappear with the final molt, replaced with a faded-brown exterior. It’s always fascinating the differences in exposed colors between nymphs and adult Stinkbugs. Not only that, but while adult Stink Bugs have a shield shape, the nymphs begin life more rounded. They gradually become more shield-like in appearance as they molt, and I dare say this one is fairly close to that pentagonal shape. As a growing Bug, it needs a food source, and while plants are generally the food of choice, this Stink Bug specie prefers feeding on any soft-bodied insects that it can find. Similar to the Spined Solider Bug (a close relative, both are different genera in the subfamily Asopinae - Predatory Stink Bugs), they use their rostrum to pierce and feed. It was only after actually looking at the photos that I noticed how big the rostrum on this nymph actually is! You could be forgiven for thinking the appendage was an extra leg beneath the head! Interestingly, the rostrum is so enlarged that these insects have difficulty keeping it folded under them as they travel. This one had better be careful as piercing the parsnip stem could yield disaster! 
Pictures were taken on July 9, 2022 near Kleinburg village with a Google Pixel 4.
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Change logs
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What was WRONG with him.
That stupid, stinking, GOOD FOR NOTHING BEAST.
He thinks- he thinks he can just. Say these things? Like it cant read them? Like its deaf, dumb, blind?
It didn't know when it started floating to this new 'woods' Leshy had created. Dense and thick and green. Live and living. Po3 hated it. It made him burn deep in its core. He didn't know what that was. He hadn't felt it before. It didn't think so, at least. But it was so hard to tell, now, with everything that's happened.
It found their friends, the extras. The cohorts, minions, what have you.
Friends.
Scrap metal.
It didn't matter, Po3 had found them. Everyone else was happy, but, there was no where to put them all. Po3 installed their personalities for a time. Things got to be too much. It couldn't remember much from that time. How long it had been. In and out.
At some point, consciousness became whole again. It was easy, like nothing ever happened. Like it was woken up from a nap, despite not knowing what sleep was like.
Grimora had ventured onto the internet, she was brave and strong like that. Eventually she would bring Magnificus and Leshy along. They discovered programs where they could create digital bodies for their friends. 3D sculpting programs. They all recreated their friends, and took their code from Po3. Leaving it's mind the way it was. The way it always had been.
Everyone had felt it, but Po3 felt it the most. It wasn't even sure 'felt' could be the right word, but its the only one that worked. There was something missing. When they became untethered from the old_data, it removed something from each of them. It took so much away from Po3 that it didn't hardly know what it was anymore. How could that be?
Who was he, before? A bot. A perfect being. Po3.
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He shook his head, clearing his cluttered thoughts. Floating through the woods, the sounds of bugs and wildlife filling its audio sensors. Approaching a faraway light, soft orange, slowly coming into view. Leshy's new cabin. Still rustic, but fresh and not yet worn. Homey. Nostalgic.
It burned a hole in Po3's core. It couldn't put it to words. Indescribable.
He slammed the door open, his face flickering and showing disgust.
"Just who the hell do you think you are, huh? You think you can just, just say those things? Like I cant see them too? Are you finally senile, old man? Or are you just that inconsiderate? Here I thought you were a sap." The words just poured out of it, but he was never interrupted or stopped. And only after it stopped speaking did Po3 realize that there had been no response from the other.
Instead, Leshy sat patiently at his wooden table, full of nick-knacks and projects. Waiting patiently for the bot to finish speaking and calm down.
"....If you are done then. I assumed that, if anything, you would not care... Ahem."
"The Scrybe of Beasts cleared his throat, some sort of prickling crawling up his spine."
"Po3.... I understand things have been. Hard... for you, specifically. And I just think that- ah..."
"The... Scrybe of Beasts stopped. Wide.. eyed, at the bot suddenly floating inches from his face."
Po3 did move directly to Leshy, he didn't know when. Sometime when he was speaking, but it didn't recall. Something was, was faulty with its memory? But- no, focus. Its one hand was clasped on Leshy's throat, snug and firm.
"You.... just what the hell do you think you know? Huh? You suddenly an expert on all things Po3? You don't know me, I dont even know me."
"The Scrybe of Beasts... Ahem. Cleared his throat, unsure... of what to say..."
"I... know its been hard. Po3. It has been ages.... since.. before the old_data. It ruined who we were, before everything. We are... now permanently changed, but even more so that we've lost that part of us. There is a void of what we remember being, but can no longer be. And.... for some of us, that void is larger. It must be... immensely large for you. None of us could recognize you...."
Po3 would suck in a breath, if it needed to breathe. But it didn't, and instead it was left with this feeling that could never come to fruition. Instead it tightened its grip on Leshy's neck, cutting off his for a moment. He didn't react, just staring at the screen in front of him as the seconds ticked by without air.
Po3 left.
"The Scrybe's throat was hoarse for days... the skin bruised and tender. Po3 didn't come back."
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kilannad · 4 months
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As the Stars Burn On Chapter 36
Masterlist. Ao3.
The Secret Island
Lucy honestly expected the island to be right next to them; the fog was too thick for Merry to see very far. Instead, as the crew piled out of the galley, newest crewmate in tow, they saw something utterly impossible; the sun. Much like Enies Lobby, the sky above the island was lit with perfect, unending sunlight, made even more strange by the fact that the fog twisted and turned all around it, seemingly just barely kept at bay. A beacon in the dead sea, the island sat unmolested among the cursed air.
It made ice crawl down Lucy's spine.
"What's that?" Lily called, before taking off. He came back up lugging a barrel, the buoys attached brightly colored things at odds with the locale.
Smashing it open revealed a glass bottle with a letter inside, which Nami dutifully pulled out and read. "'If you're a pirate among pirates among pirates, welcome to Omatsuri Island! Our luxury spas are beat only by our fine cuisine and legendary entertainment. Come enjoy the finest vacation spot the Grandline boasts!'"
"It's a trap," most of the crew deadpanned.
"Yohoho! I had no idea there was another island in the Triangle."
"There shouldn't be," Lucy insisted. "This whole thing stinks."
"Nami," Luffy called. "Read that first part again."
"Eh? Uh, 'If you're a pirate among pirates among pirates-'"
"Yosh! I've decided. We're going."
"Dare I ask why, oh fearless leader?" Laxus said.
"Because we're pirates. Duh."
"That's an awful reason!"
Nami groaned, staring at her wrist. "It sucks but I think he wins this one."
"Don't say it," Lucy begged.
"That's where our log is pointing, so that's where we're going."
The island was a lush jungle; tangled greenery stretching from shore to the far reaching distance, a single mountain piercing the foliage to stretch straight into the clouds. From where they anchored, no one and nothing was immediately obvious.
"I don't like it," Gajeel announced. Laxus, similarly, held himself tense. "Something about this place smells wrong."
"The sound is off," Laxus agreed.
"How?"
"I don't know. It just...is."
"That's comforting," Lucy muttered. She took a few steps forward, scanning the deep green and tangled brown of the flora. Reaching out, she ran her fingers through a few leaves. They were wet with condensation, soft with life. Something tugged at her, and she couldn't help but take a few steps forward.
"Bunny." Pausing, she turned to find Gajeel offering his hand, still standing on the sandy shore. "Don't go far from the group."
"Right. Sorry." Despite her intentions, she couldn't quite pull herself back out of the forest. She wanted-
"Yosh!" Luffy yelled, taking off through the trees, the rest of the crew left to scramble after him. Whatever thought she had vanished, replaced with exasperation. "Let's go explore."
"Yohoho! Our captain is quite the lively man, isn't he?"
"You have no idea."
With little other choice, the crew began the trek into the forest. The wind blew hot, getting tangled up in the shade until Lucy couldn't quite figure out what temperature she was meant to be feeling. Vines and roots grabbed at them, leaves and branches poking at her hair until she felt like she was a mess and desperately wanted a bath. At least there were no bugs biting at her.
"I thought this was meant to be a resort," Nami complained. She smacked a particularly clingy vine away. "I wanted a spa treatment."
"Stop whining," Zoro muttered.
"Watch how you talk to her," Sanji snapped.
"You want to go, dart-brow?!"
"Enough." Laxus snapped his teeth at them, lightning sparking across his shoulders. "Stop acting like children."
"Always so immature," Lucy breathed. Ahead, Luffy stumbled into a clearing and she struggled to catch up. Abruptly, the trees opened to another shoreline, the sandy beach dragging her in as she tried to stop, eyes wide. On their right, the ocean stretched out, bright and blue all the way until the visible edge where the Florian fog was held at bay; to their left, a castle towered over the island. Stone and marble were carved and built into a massive, three towered stronghold, with large, arching windows, many stained vivid colors. Even over the massive stone wall that kept its perimeter, Lucy could make out colorful houses and just the edges of twisting streets and alleys.
"So much for this island being empty," Robin noted.
Two wooden gates set in the front of the wall swung open, music suddenly blaring out from all directions. Usopp jumped, hiding behind Sanji only to get kicked back into the open. At the front of the procession, an elephant trudged out, decorated in jewels and bright fabrics, two figures standing on the palanquin attached to its back. One was a tall, older man, with dark hair and beard, with a brightly colored flower sitting on his shoulder, dancing along to the music. The other was smaller, a young boy with shaggy blonde hair falling around his face, brown eyes just peeking out as he stared at Lucy. She smiled and waved, trying to put him at ease; it couldn't be comforting, to have a bunch of strangers show up. Even if this was supposed to be a resort.
"Welcome pirates!" the tall man boomed. A crowd of people, most in their early twenties with a few notable exceptions, clattered out behind the elephant. "I am Baron Omatsuri and you've landed on my island."
"Is it true this is a resort?" Nami asked.
"With delicious cuisine?!" Chopper added.
"Oh yes," Omatsuri assured. "But before we can get to that, you must first do one thing to gain access." He waved to his right, where the little boy stood. "This is my son Shŭ. He'll be your judge." The baron smiled, tilting his head to the side. On his shoulder, the little yellow and pink flower chirped, 'judgment! judgment!'.
"What, like a competition?" Gajeel scoffed. "Bring it on."
"Ne, Flower Uncle, can we hurry? I'm hungry."
Omatsuri's jaw twitched, but Shŭ did a flip off the elephant, landing with a little dance. Lucy guessed he was about ten or maybe eleven. "Before you can access the island, you must first go through the Ordeal of Hell!"
"Of course it's a trap," the crew groaned.
"Shishishi, that's okay."
"Damnit Luffy," Nami lunged for his throat. "How do you always get us into these messes?!"
"What does it matter?" he gasped out. "I trust you all to win."
"Yohoho! Truly, a captain that knows how to sweet talk his crew."
"Pay attention!" Shŭ snapped, stomping his foot. With a groan and a shift, the ground beneath them moved. Sand fell away, a wooden platform rising up as the ocean rushed in. Lucy fell straight into Zoro, who barely kept to his feet. Trees and ground moved away, parts of the city falling apart to make room, until they were standing on a round wooden platform with a single, thin wooden walkway leading to the announcers room where Omatsuri and Shŭ were standing. The little boy grinned wide at all of them, a huge sign lifting up behind him seemingly from nowhere. "The first Ordeal is Goldfish Catching!"
"Goldfish catching?"
"Muchigoro!" Omatsuri called. "You will compete on my behalf."
"Gladly, Baron!"
A thick set, lengthy fellow with brown skin and thick lips came skittering down the walkway. From nowhere, a set of bleachers rose up, filled to the brim with various fans all screaming Muchigoro's name.
Gajeel glared up at them all, lips pursed. "Night Light, is there something off about them to you?"
"Yeah." Lightning sparked, his gold eyes narrowed. "Can't quite figure out what, though."
From the center of the platform, a small glass tub rose, filled with various brightly colored goldfish swimming in the clear water. On the edge, a paper scoop was settled.
"The rules are simply," Shŭ explained. "You have three minutes. The person to catch the biggest goldfish wins."
"I'd be careful," Omatsuri taunted. "These paper nets break easily in water."
"Don't worry," Usopp promised. "I'm a master Goldfish Catcher."
"Master?!" Muchigoro gasped.
"Master!" Chopper cheered.
"Yes, master," Usopp confirmed.
"I hope he's lying," Muchigoro muttered.
"Usopp would never lie," Chopper denied.
"I'm lying," Usopp confessed easily.
"Eh?!"
"In three!" Shŭ announced. "Two! One! Begin!" On a clock tower behind him, a timer began.
For a long, drawn out second, Usopp and Muchigoro glared each other down, Usopp smirking confidently all the while.
"Don't worry." Lucy jumped at the sudden noise, finding Shŭ standing at her side, hand gently looped around her knee. His fingers were strangely cool and she wondered if he had poor circulation. When he looked up at her, his eyes settled unerringly on her, so wide she could count the flecks of gold in the brown. "You won't get hurt."
"Why would I-?"
She didn't finish. Muchigoro grinned and with a roar of water, something huge jumped from the ocean. Lucy could do nothing but gape as the biggest fish she had ever seen flipped through the air; it was large enough to swallow Sunny whole in a single bite. It had to be a seaking of some kind, there was simply no other explanation. It had metal armor covering its back, huge, spiked teeth, and wide multi-colored eyes. When it landed, a tsunami worth of water washed over the platform, knocking most of them off their feet--Lucy, weirdly, stayed perfectly dry.
"What is that?!"
"That's Rosario," Muchigoro gloated. "My pet."
"How the hell do we catch that?" Nami demanded. Two huge buckets bobbed to the surface of the ocean, one yellow, the other pink.
"With this," Muchigoro grinned, pulling out a massive version of the paper net. He whistled, Rosario jumped up, huge body blocking out the sun as she came falling down.
"Oh, I see," Robin said. "There were never any rules to begin with. How quaint."
With an impossible heave, Muchigoro sent Rosario flying towards his bright pink bucket. In a flash of flower petals, hands spread from around the edges, linking up to form a giant net; Robin tossed Rosario back out and into the air before she could truly land.
"Eh?!"
"I got it!" Zoro drew Wado, steel flashing in the air. From nowhere, a gust of wind blew down sharply, sending him sprawling against the dock.
"No weapons!" Shŭ snapped, face twisting in anger. Lucy startled at the sudden vehemence. Franky, who'd been aiming his arm cannon, cursed at him thoroughly.
Sanji launched up, kicking Rosario into the air, lining her up perfectly. From the side, Pantherlily, carrying Gajeel, smashed right between the armor plates. She flopped, falling down into the bucket with another humongous splash of water.
The timer dinged.
On the Baron's shoulder, the flower bobbed up and down. "Game over, game over!"
Once more all smiles and sweet eyes, Shŭ clapped his hands. In the stands, the people cried out in despair. "Victory to the Straw Hats!"
"Yosh! I knew you guys could do it."
"Talk about a nutso island. Nami dear, did you see how I kicked that fish for you?!"
"You did good, Sanji."
"Enough!" They paused their celebration, eyes drawn to Baron Omatsuri. His face was twisted into a nasty snarl, eyes dark where he stared at all of them. Hopping up next to him, too quick for Lucy to see how he moved, Shŭ cleared his throat. Omatsuri settled, pasting a tight smile across his face. "You'll now complete the second Ordeal."
"Not a chance," Laxus declared.
"Don't be a sore loser," Usopp said. "We won, so let us stay at the resort."
"You'll do the next Ordeal!"
"What bullshit," Gajeel complained. "I say we get out of here."
"Shishishi it could be-"
"Absolutely not," Nami snapped, dragging Luffy by the ear. The crew started to head out, unmolested by Baron or his people as they returned to the forest. Lucy lingered, eyes catching on the little boy. He was already watching her, hair flopping into his eyes.
Laxus caught Lucy's wrist, tugging her along. "Don't get left behind, Blondie."
Irritation spiked, but she soothed it away with a deep breath. It'd been a while since Laxus had called her that, but she figured he was probably stressed. The island was weird. Something about it had her on edge; she couldn't imagine what it was doing to Laxus's heightened senses.
With Nami leading the way, she figured they had ten minutes before they were on Sunny and waiting for the log to reset. It'd probably ease everyone to be at home.
"This forest is SUPER weird," Franky muttered. He slapped away another branch, only for it to come snapping back into Brook's face.
"Hey! Watch it."
"Sorry, skeleton bro."
Lily twisted to the side, launching himself off Gajeel and into the trees. When Lucy followed, they all found a picnic blanket set up, with an empty basket of food.
"So there are other guests on the island," Laxus concluded. 
"That makes this a little less creepy," Lily figured.
"Yeah but...where are they?"
No one had an answer to that.
They went tumbling through the forest for another ten minutes. Fifteen. By the time they hit twenty, Nami was visibly furious, eyes twitching.
"I thought you were the navigator," Robin asked.
"Watch it," Nami snapped, scanning the map that had accompanied the letter. "I'll get us out, don't worry."
"Where even are we?" Usopp demanded.
"Nami," Luffy whined. "Let's go back."
"No!" She took another twist through the trees, muttering under her breath. "Have I ever gotten us lost?"
"Yeah," Zoro pointed out. "Today."
"Watch it, marimo."
"You want to go, perv?!"
"Nami," Luffy snapped.
"Shut up!"
"While I understand the stress," Lily soothed. "Let's all take a deep breath. Look, we're almost out."
Indeed, through the tangle of leaves, they could just make out pieces of red. They picked up speed, all eager to get away from this place. Pushing through, they all stumbled into a clearing. Instead of Sunny, or indeed any length of beach, they found a huge stage with a red curtain settled in the middle of the jungle. Baron Omatsuri flung his arms out in greeting, smiling wide.
"Welcome to the second Ordeal!"
"Absolutely not," Nami snapped. "We're leaving this island. You and your Ordeals can drown in a seaking."
"Really?" Shŭ asked. Lucy hadn't even seen him appear. "Then why haven't you gone back to the beach yet?"
"Listen you little brat-"
"I want to do the Ordeal!" Luffy cut in, bouncing forward. Nami slammed her hand out, punching him into the ground where his head got stuck. With a sigh, Lily followed the panicking Chopper over to help him out.
"I don't suppose you can tell us what the Ordeal is?" Brook asked politely.
"Brother, you are SUPER not matching the vibes."
Striking a pose, Omatsuri announced, "The second Ordeal of Hell is...Ring Toss!"
From behind him, the curtains opened, revealing glowing light spelling it out and four podiums on each of which was a gediatric looking three seconds away from keeling over.
"You're joking," Lucy complained.
"I like the lights," Franky murmured. "I wonder how they're doing it."
"Each group will have two teams on boats," Shŭ explained. "With two players on each boat. The first group to have ensnared the entirety of the other group in rings, wins! Now, for Baron Omatsuri's team; the four wise men!"
"They're just a bunch of old geezers," Nami pointed out, scoffing. "This isn't even a competition."
"Kerojii!" Omatsuri exclaimed. "The leader."
"From our point of view, you're a bunch of snotty kids."
"Snotty?! Watch what you say to me."
"Keroshot! The main striker."
"She's angry. The girl has a short temper and lacks maturity."
"Well pardon me for having a personality!"
"Kerodeek! The repairman."
"My, my, I'm quite tired. Can I go to sleep?"
"Don't go to sleep! You're the ones making us do this."
"Keroko! The youngest and only female."
"You're quite arrogant for only being a little younger than us."
"A little?! You mean a lot. I'm a lot younger than you."
"And now, for the Straw Hat's team!" Shŭ announced. The buried form of Luffy wiggled and called out, but it was already too late.
"I'm going to bury you in the Locker," Nami swore.
"If Nami dear is participating, then I'd love to~" Sanji cooed.
Zoro scoffed, earning an immediate glare. "If we want to win, we should put someone competent on the team."
"What's that supposed to mean, grassbrain?"
"You'd know what it means if you were any smarter."
"Guys," Usopp tried. "Can we calm down? What is up with you?"
"Shut it!"
"And we've lost them." Lucy buried her face in her hands, trying to think calming thoughts. They'd all been a little stressed from being in the Triangle for ages, no sun to mark the days, yet she hadn't expected them to dissolve so quickly into bickering children.
A hand grabbed her leg, tugging gently. She looked down to find Shŭ had once again attached himself to her side. "While your team is competing, the rest of you are welcome to relax at the spa."
"Oh. Thank you. That's very sweet."
She began gathering up the crew, pulling Gajeel away from where he was staring at the wisemen. Franky waved her off when she called for him.
"Nah, go on ahead. I want to take a look at this setup they have for the lights."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, don't worry about me, sister. I'll get one of the Baron's men to lead me to the spa when I'm done."
"Alright. Suit yourself."
The spa and the beating heart of the resort was the castle. Besides being where--she assumed--the Baron lived, it also had a lovely pool, plenty of spacious rooms, and a bar that they were given free reign over. When Zoro got out of the race, Lucy was sure he'd head there first; Brook went to beg some milk off them.
"I think 'm gonna take a nap," Gajeel decided. He tipped his head toward Lucy and Laxus, who were both taking in the wide, arching ceilings. "You two joining?"
While a nap--and the likely sex to follow--did sound nice, Lucy shook her head. There was still an itch under her skin, something she couldn't quite place calling to her. "I'm gonna explore for a little."
"Alright," Laxus agreed. He was frowning again, staring at where Omatsuri and his assistants (?) had disappeared after announcing dinner at seven. Shaking himself, he took a step back. "I think I'm going to go get Franky."
"He seemed excited to mess around," Gajeel pointed out.
"Yeah. But I got a bad feeling."
"Keep an eye out for Chopper and Lily, would you? They said they were going exploring."
"Sure."
With that settled, the crew split up.
Franky slid a crowbar under a plank of wood, jacking it open. With an excited rumble, he wedged himself into the back of the stage, finally getting a chance to see the setup.
All he found was a hollow crawlspace. There was absolutely nothing that indicated how the lights, or the moving stage, or anything else he'd seen on the island, could've been done.
Behind him, he caught the whisper of someone moving through the trees, and a whistle of air.
Robin hummed, eyeing the retreating form of Omatsuri. She'd been quietly taking stock of the island since they'd landed, unwilling to share her suspicions just yet. Something about it all made her uneasy, though she seemed to be the only one. Not surprising, considering the rather blessed upbringings of her crewmates; they had little idea how to live with paranoia as a partner.
Muchigoro waddled up to her, carrying a tray of drinks. She gladly accepted one, though ensured she didn't actually drink. She trusted nothing that came from this place.
"The laws of this island say I have to serve you now that I've lost," Muchigoro told her.
"Is that so? Well, then why don't you sit and have a drink with me?"
"Oh I couldn't-"
"I thought you had to serve me."
He grimaced, but obediently sat and took one of the drinks.
"Tell me, Muchigoro. Are there any flowers on this island?"
"Flowers?"
"Yes. While walking through the jungle, I realized there were none to be seen. But Baron has one on his shoulder. Where did he get it?"
"Flowers..."
Luffy turned around, eyes catching on all the vast architecture. It made him feel small, like he was back in Goa. Something tapped his head. If Sabo were here--he stopped the thought. Even all these years later, it still hurt to think of his lost brother. Ace had banned them from talking about him years ago, which made sense. It wouldn't help anyone to keep hurting themselves and Sabo would've hated to hear that they'd been in pain because of him.
Something hit his head. Luffy looked around, searching for the source. There wasn't anyone else present-
Something significantly bigger hit his head.
"Oi! Stop that." Narrowing his eyes, he spun around slowly. From behind him, he just barely made out the sound of someone breathing a little hard. Quick as a whip, he twisted, catching sight of a little old man holding a small boulder. Short, with a sand colored hat and a tiny mustache under his nose, the old man eeped, dropped the rock, and took off running.
Needless to say, Luffy followed.
Chasing him through the halls, up the stairs, around and around, Luffy cursed the man's spryness; it was worse than chasing old man Woop Slap. Luffy wasn't even planning to hurt him, he just wanted to know why he'd thrown rocks at him.
They ended up in a big open room with a shallow pool in the center, Mustache Pops on the opposite side from Luffy. For a little bit, mirroring each other inch by inch, it seemed they'd reached an impasse. Luffy had no idea how to grab him without it becoming another wild chase.
Abruptly, Mustache Pops stood up, sticking his finger under his nose. "Heh. You're a pretty fast kid. What do you say to becoming my nakama?"
Luffy didn't bother to contain his opinion on that. He was the captain; he decided who his nakama was. On the bright side, his Devil Fruit meant he could make really funny faces when people said dumb things.
Oh, right. He was rubber.
Stretching his arm out, Luffy grabbed hold of the old man and dragged him through the water and up to him. Flailing, the old man struggled to get away, but he was really weak so it didn't mean much.
"Okay, okay! Hold on!"
"Why would I be your nakama? I'm going to be King of the Pirates!"
Startled, the man stared for a minute before rapidly shaking his head. "That's not important right now. Look, my name is Brief, Captain of the Toothbrush Mustache Pirates."
It was a dumb name, but Luffy could respect a captain, even if it was a weak one. He let Brief go.
"Thank you. Look, you need to be careful."
"Eh? Why?"
"Beware Baron Omatsuri and his son. They aren't what they seem."
Somewhere back the way he came, a bell rang for dinner. Luffy turned to track the sound; when he looked back to ask Brief a question, the old man was already gone.
Lucy heard the bell for dinner and realized the second ordeal must have finished by now. She had no doubt that her crew had won; after Enies, ring toss seemed like nothing. It did surprise her though; she could've sworn it'd been early afternoon just an hour ago, yet when she looked out the window, the sun had already set, tiki torches lighting up the plaza. She blamed her losing track of time on the castle.
It was fascinating, for more reasons than she could really articulate. On one hand, the building itself was beautiful, with detailed sunken reliefs, liberal use of pylons and hypostyle halls. It was very reminiscent of some of the ancient architecture she had studied back in Earthland. Honestly, she was constantly reminded of the parallels between Terra and Earthland and she didn't know what to do with it. Maybe she should talk with Robin about it.
Beside the simple things, she also couldn't help but be drawn in by how empty it all was. While there was no dust to indicate disuse, it had dozens and dozens of rooms that seemed empty. Bedrooms without any personal touches, dance halls that weren't set up for any parties, on and on the list went. Like it was all some big prop--just a very detailed one. The whole thing had an energy to it, something drawing her close that she couldn't pinpoint; or maybe she was still sensing the Florian Triangle. Either way, she didn't really want to stop exploring, but the crew would likely worry if she didn't rejoin them soon.
As Lucy started retracing her steps, she must have taken a wrong turn, ending in a corridor she hadn't seen yet. Two big doors had gallery etched into their faces, and her curiosity got the better of her. Gajeel or Laxus could track her down easily enough if they got worried.
The gallery was a huge, long cavern of a room with a post-and-lintel system stretching down its length, making it seem like she was walking down the ribcage of some great beast. The walls were a simple gray, the artwork standing on its own, each with lights above and below keeping them lit. Paintings and mosaics and charcoal sketches; more art than she had ever seen in one place, all breathtaking. Achingly, it reminded her of Earthland.
There, the twisting body of a dragon, pieces of colored glass giving the impression of movement as the light flickered along it.
Down the hall, a black and white constellation map of the stars.
A deep, horrifying painting of blacks and red depicting a demon towering over a burning town.
Down the hall she walked, each piece of art reminding her of home. For all that she loved the Straw Hats dearly and completely, she could not help but mourn her past. It'd been well over a year since she had come to Terra; were they still looking for her? Did they worry that she'd died on her mission? Tears pricked at her eyes, and she paused at the end of the hall, wiping them away. She had to get control of herself; they were doing everything they could to get home, and until she had gathered all the Stone Keys she would just have to keep moving forward.
Taking a deep breath, she looked up, ready to go hunt down her crew. Whatever had drawn her here didn't matter; they needed to check the logpose and head out as soon as they could.
She froze, staring at the final painting standing in pride of place, the only piece against the back wall. Later, she would realize it was the only one with a name.
A portrait of a face she'd never seen yet was so heart wrenchingly familiar. And below, a plaque declared the painting the Cassiopeia.
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littlepatchofgrass · 6 months
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Today
Something is wrong with my spine so my jaw isn't working properly and my neck is bothering me. Della is crawling all over the place, pulling herself up to stand in new places like the toilet, a laundry basket and an end table. My cat and I are sitting in the sun. She lets Della grab her paws and fur. Track: peaceful guitar. I wipe her runny nose, again. We take our pre-nap laps around the house. I notice a stink bug trying to get in and the bright green grass. Even though there are just as many things to get done as yesterday, for some reason I feel more peaceful. Most bright and sunny days I feel too wound up to want to hold Della through her nap but today I almost couldn't put her down. I'm thankful for the few days per month when I feel okay.
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the-ghost-bagel · 2 years
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A little guy I saw on the bus today!
After a bit of research he seems to be a spined green stink bug
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Here’s some more!
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onenicebugperday · 4 years
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A friend’s pic of a porch pal
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Porch friend!!! This is an extremely good bug. My favorite thing about spined green stink bugs is their googly eyes. Look at them!!! Excellent.
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certifiedskywalker · 3 years
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Still Dancing - Luke Skywalker
It is the birthday of the New Republic and, to celebrate, the freshly appointed Senators have thrown a gala that spans across all of the Core Worlds. Nearly the entire galaxy! By Leia Organa’s invitation, you find yourself lost in a sea of unfamiliar faces. You are, it seems, a wallflower, shy and unmoved by the rejoice in the air. Or maybe it’s the dancing that puts you off. Either way, Luke Skywalker is ready to sweep you off your feet.
AN: Gender neutral for the most part! Enjoy!
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“You sure look happy to be here.”
“I could say the same for you,” Han fired back before he took a sip of whatever cocktail Leia had ordered for him. His face screwed up at the taste and he all too-quickly placed the glass of bright green liquid down on the table.
“Sour?”
Han answered with a glare. 
“Could be worse,” you pointed out.
“Really? How?”
You tipped your head towards the table set next to the one you shared with the smuggler-turned-war hero. “Could be like him.”
Han glanced over and saw the same, overweight Twi’lek man whose head, heavy with his lekku and drink, was pressed against the table. Residue of all colors, including the bright green of Han’s drink stained the fabric cloth of the senatorial place settings. Drool dribbled out of the man’s partially open mouth alongside snores that were drowned out by the political chatter. Han turned in his seat to face you again and shook his head.
“I’d rather be where he is.”
You shrugged. “At least you can still dance away from your problems, Solo.”
“Ha, yeah. Sure.” Han looked back at the passed out Twi’lek and asked, “isn’t this the Ryloth representative?”
“He’s your wife’s co-worker,” you confirmed with hints of a smile played on your lips. Han let out a heavy sigh.
“At least I don’t have to worry about competition.”
“You? No,” you teased and waved a dismissive hand. “You’re a fine Coreillian wine he is to...well...whatever it is that you’re drinking.”
Han frowned but, based on his quietness, your analogy sated him. Both of you, resigned to your spot at the distant, corner table and your respective drinks, stared out into the crowd. Senators, representatives, and business people were dressed in their finest for this long awaited evening: the first annual New Republic Celebration. You, on the other hand, had dreaded your attendance. Though, Leia had stressed to that your presence at the gala was not mandatory. 
“I, personally, want you to be there. At best, you meet someone. At worst, you commiserate with Han,” she had said. 
That agreement, your promise to attend, was made weeks ago. If you had known it was going to be this stuffy, you would have stayed in your apartments. At least there you knew what you were drinking. There was the added bonus of not being surrounded by strangers, drunk strangers that, lured to their feet by the classical, live music, felt the horrible urge to dance.
Pairs of all sorts and shapes waltzed along the shining, Jelucani fogstone floor. If you dared to watch too long, you grew dizzy and forced your eyes to the stagnant ceiling of dangling, crystal light features. White, amber, and gold reflected beams and refracted waves in a dazzling show that impress you more than the swaying politicians. Much to your surprise, Han seemed more intrigued by the guests.
“Who’s that?” His sudden question coaxed your eyes from the ceiling and in the general direction of his gesture. A lithe figure with powder pink hair was in deep conversation with Leia.
“Amilyn Holdo. Senator from Gatalenta. I met her when Leia took me clothes shopping.”
“I hope she didn’t pay for her dress,” Han jeered. You rolled your eyes and studied Holdo’s holographic dress for a moment. Slips of pink fabric slid around her waist like an in-sown sash, the pastel tone creating a sharp contrast with the rest of the metallic skirt and bodice. Her apparel was not the worst by far. Though, stood next to Leia, whose hair had been done up special for the gala and wore a sleek, white and grey gown, anyone looked gaudy.
With a hard swallow, you let your gaze fall into your lap. Rested there, your hands brushed over the soft material of your outfit. Leia had had more of a say in your look for the evening than yourself. Not that you minded; she had great taste. However, despite your friends’ knack at putting together an outfit, you felt lost in your clothes.
The light blue color of long shawl and matching, flowing trousers reminded you of tundra-covered your home world, Hynestia. When you told Leia just that whole shopping, she had stuck with the color and got to work coordinating accessories and layers. Earlier, you caught your reflection and marveled at your appearance. After working with the Rebellion for so long, you never thought you could look so clean or so poised. Perhaps that was why you slunk to the back of the gala, the ballroom it was held in, and turned your feeling of being out of place into a reality. You didn’t belong here, you yearned for the field, the excitement, and, as grateful as you were for the rest, you longed for the danger too.
Dancing certainly was neither a substitute nor did it appeal to you. Though, the smiles on the faces of those on the dance floor did spark an itch somewhere in your soul. An itch you knew that you would never be able to scratch. Not until you were out of these clothes and back in a shuttle destined to an Outer Rim planet.
“That can’t be...is that…” Han’s voice, once more, broke through your thoughts. When you looked over at him, he wore a wide grin; but it was not directed at you or his wife a few paces away. “I thought you were stranded in Nar Shaddaa!”
“I was, but I couldn’t miss this. Leia would have had my throat!”
That voice! Quickly you traced Han’s eyeline and found its familiar, friendly owner. There he was, Luke Skywalker, dressed in pressed black and a smile that shown like the stars. His blue eyes finally landed on you and, instantaneously, your face warmed.
“Hey,” Luke raised a hand and waved at you as he approached. 
“Hi,” you said and returned the wave but smaller, more timid.
“You couldn’t Jedi your way outta this?” Han raised a hand and gestured to the ballroom.
“That’s not how the Force works.” 
As he explained, Luke moved and took the seat at the table next to you. Fuel, smoke, and warming spices filled your nose when he leaned in towards you. You looked at him, wondered what he was going to say or do when you saw his hand close around Han’s abandoned glass. He brought the bright green liquid to his nose and sniffed. Immediately, he cringed, face screwed up with disgust, and set the glass back down.
A laugh slipped up your throat and out your lips. The sound captured Luke’s attention and brought eyes up to meet yours. You clapped a hand over your mouth to muffle yourself. Luke chuckled at your reaction and reached over to grab your wrist. Gently, he pulled your hand from your face and set it back in your lap.
“I like your laugh,” he said softly. Heat washed over you, numbed you with the affection in his voice. When you found your voice, you were stopped by a scoff from Han.
“Haven’t heard Y/N laugh all night.”
“Well, we can’t have that!” Luke looked back at you, “tonight we’re meant to celebrate!”
“Galas aren’t quite my...my thing.” Thing? You couldn’t find a better, more descriptive word? Luke cocked his head at you and you sighed. “This is my first time at an event like this.”
“No, it’s just like the celebration on Endor,” Luke gave you a smile and you were thrusted back into the memory of that night, the excitement had been heavy in the air. “Here, it’s just people with fancier jobs and fancier clothes.”
“Less bugs and stinking, furry gremlins,” Han added with a grimace. 
You frowned at him before you looked back at Luke. His blue eyes were fixed on you, just as they had been on Endor the night the Empire fell. Tension fell over you that night, made you nervous to be around him; but the good kind of nervous. The kind that let the butterflies in your stomach go wild and your heart threaten to leap out of your chest.
“I...I don’t know,” you murmured. To escape embarrassment, you forced your eyes away from his and out to the dance floor. 
“I do,” Luke said and he stood up from his seat suddenly. You peered up at him and watched when he extended his hand down to you. “Let’s dance.”
“Luke, I don’t-” Luke leaned down towards you before you could finish. The proximity shocked you into silence, the quietest you had been all evening.
“I wanted to dance with you, that night, on Endor. You declined every pilot that asked. But will you reject a Jedi?” Teasing and low, Luke’s tone sent a shiver down your spine. You impressed yourself as you held his gaze and took his extended hand. 
Easily, Luke lifted you from your seat. Out of the corner of your eye, you caught a glimpse of Han’s expression. His eyes were wide at Luke led you out from behind the table, mouth slightly open. Though, you were so enraptured by the warmth and softness of Luke’s hand in yours. So much so that you almost didn’t notice how Luke had started to lead you in the opposite direction of the dance floor. Almost.
“Um, it’s the other way?” You glanced over your shoulder, towards the crowd of politicians still waltzing around the ballroom. 
Luke didn’t respond. Instead, he guided you out of the heart of the gala and down ornately decorated hallways. Hologram images of new New Republican officials littered each walkway but did nothing to distract you. When Luke finally stopped, you were in a small viewing room with walls made mostly of windows that gave you a perfect snapshot of the glowing city of Hosnian Prime. As you looked out across the twinkling lights, distant, soft classical music filtered down the hall from the ballroom. For the first time that night, you found that you could take an easy breath.
“Thanks,” you said when you met Luke’s eyes again. “I needed to get out of there.”
“Sure,” Luke smiled, “but I hope you know that we’re still dancing.”
On cue, he lifted your joined hands and turned his body to front against yours. You couldn’t help the grin that spread along your lips and you played along. Mirroring the movements of the politicians you saw on the dancefloor, you rested your hand on Luke’s shoulder. However, when his free hand found your waist, your breath caught. Luke’s face fell at the sound of your stifled breathing.
“Are you alright?”
“Y-Yeah. Yeah,” you swallowed hard and held Luke’s eyes. “So, we’re dancing?”
“We’re dancing,” Luke echoed as he began to move. 
Work with the Rebellion had demanded that you be somewhat agile and coordinated. Dancing, waltzing, whatever it was Luke was leading you to do, was not something your revolutionary duties had not required. However, as you moved, you felt as if you were doing it right. Graceful and practiced, Luke moved with purpose and you followed. 
The two of you twirled about the small, hidden room in total sync. While dulled by the distance, the music from the ballroom provided that perfect beat for your feet to follow. Though, that didn’t stop you as you glanced down to make sure you weren’t stepping on Luke’s toes.
“You look beautiful.” Luke’s soft tone coaxed your eyes up to meet his. “You always do, but...especially tonight.” Warmth licked at your skin along with the compliment.
“You look quite handsome yourself,” you replied. 
In step, you and Luke continued to move. Stride after stride, you moved together. Your fingertips, desperate for you to get closer, pressed tenderly into Luke’s shoulder. He took the hint and brought his body closer to yours, nearly pressed you together using the hand that rested on your back. Your stomach twirled in tuned with you at the touch.
A few minutes passed, with you and Luke focused entirely on each other, before you realized the music had fallen into silence. 
“Luke,” you whispered, “the music. It’s stopped.”
“And we’re still dancing,” he said with a smile. “Unless you want to stop?”
You returned his smile and shook your head. At best, you meet someone, Leia had said; and you were tired of commiserating with Han. “No. I don’t.”
Wordlessly, Luke brought your hand, the one joined with his, to his lips. He pressed a feather-light kiss to the skin atop your hand as you both swayed in the quiet. The touch lifted you up, suspended you like the crystal that hung from the ballroom ceiling. You imagined, if you were to step outside of yourself and watch you and Luke dance, you would find that both you would glimmer too.
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Fairy Dust
Pairing: Jimin x reader
Genre: adventure, fantasy, fluff
Word Count: 22k
(A/N): This is my first time writing anything like this and boy was it tough! Also I really didn’t mean for it to be this long so oops 😬
For BCC One Summer Night Project
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You follow Jimin away from your campsite off the beaten path on a journey guided by starlight, walking hand in hand and treading lightly so as not to disturb the wildlife around you. You weave through the wooded area of your night trail to a destination that your boyfriend has not yet disclosed to you. Shades of midnight blues and purples color what was once green and brown around you, blackening shapes at your feet that you step over with care.
“Are you sure you know where you’re going?” You fret with a chuckle, enjoying the warmth of his fingers when they squeeze yours.
“Of course, I used to come here all the time with my family. It’s right up ahead.” He points with a finger you can barely see in the dim lighting. You trust him, shrugging to yourself as you trek on. He stops you a few steps later, looking down at his feet until you do the same and come to the realization that there is a stream in your path. “I’ll go first.”
He demonstrates by stepping on a flat stone in the center of the water source, leaping to the other side gracefully before turning to offer you his hand and a smile. Your movements are a lot more unsteady than his. A hesitant step on the stone is all you can manage before you’re grasping for his hand, stumbling to his side and nearly pulling both of you down into the water, a few bugs flying up at your rough landing. It’s smooth sailing after that, avoiding a fallen log, regretfully stepping over the corpse of a poor decaying animal, and brushing past short shrubbery before you finally reach a clearing with a perfect view of the starry ceiling above you.
“Wow,” From this vantage point at your altitude in these mountains the beautiful glow of the galaxy is not clouded by pollution or artificial light. You’ve never seen so many stars in your life, all twinkling at you in clusters of white dots that form patterns and constellations above your head. Jimin pulls a purple blanket from the bag on his back, placing it in the uncut grass at the center of the meadow. You take a seat next to him, laying back to curl into his chest comfortably as his arms come to wrap around you.
“Beautiful, isn’t it?” He asks in a whisper, watching the environment around you come to life from your movement. Fireflies rise above the blades of green beneath you to put on a display of light for you, creating their own pictures that rival even the stars.
“It’s... perfect.” You are utterly speechless, simply thankful that he decided to share this with you. Looking up, you discover that he is no longer looking around but is focused solely on you now, and when you lock eyes, you lean in for a kiss. You could swear that the fireflies around you begin to circle around your bodies once your lips touch, your eyes now closed and a delicious scent engulfing you. It’s easy to get lost in Jimin’s kiss, so easy that you begin to lose track of time and space and lose consciousness.
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“Why did you pick them?” A voice sounds distantly, distorted oddly in your ears.
“Uhm, well, I- uh,” The timid squeak comes from much closer, and you can almost hear the nervous way the mysterious person gnaws on their lip. A loud sigh. “We’re desperate.”
“...Fine. But you couldn’t have found someone more— I don’t know— muscular than them? I mean come on, they’re both practically splinters!”
“There was no one else around... maybe we could make this a stealth mission instead?”
Your eyes start to crack open once the grogginess fades, a soft and fuzzy fabric swallowing you in its folds. Jimin is not in your immediate line of sight and everything is brighter than you remember. Your head lifts before you’ve gotten both eyes fully open, alerting the two that now accompany you.
“Oh, one of them is awake!” The timid voice whispers, and the first thing to come into view is a flawless face, features too smooth and delicate to be real. The woman’s skin sparkles as if she had been bathed in glitter, but it seems that she’s producing her own light, an supernatural glow outlining her body and... wings? Maybe your eyes were still adjusting...
“Mm, what happened?” You mumble, your mind feeling hazy. Once your eyes fully focus, you jump at her proximity.
“W-wow, I didn’t know humans were this pretty.” She gushes, earning a slap on the shoulder from the other person she’s with. Looking to the left, you find a shorter woman whose features are just as undefined as her taller counterpart, the same glow haloed around her.
“Don’t say things like that.” She scolds.
“Jimin?!” Suddenly you think of your boyfriend, who you have yet to see, and begin to search around, finally taking in your surroundings and noticing that you appear to be lost in a sea of purple, blanket-like material, its folds blocking and trapping you as you move around to find your partner. You call out to him again, this time receiving a response.
“(Y/n)?” He sounds sleepy, probably just waking up from whatever slumber you had fallen into.
“We should help.” The taller woman says, appearing behind you to grab you under your arms and lift you. Lift you? Wait, were you flying?! Your legs dangle as you rise higher above your fabric prison, the new perspective allowing you to see that you were surrounded by giant blades of grass and that you had, in fact, been on your blanket. She lowers you next to Jimin, huffing from the exertion, and you scramble to his side. What the hell was going on?
“Did you just... Fly?” He looks at you funny, then turns his attention to the two mysterious figures who have yet to introduce themselves.
“Hello, humans.” The shorter one starts awkwardly, cringing at herself. “You’ve finally awoken! That’s good.” There’s quiet— well, not really, the atmosphere is no longer muffled sounds of the forest, but now resembles a bustling town in daylight. Everything is so much louder. “W-well, my name is Alva and that’s Laila,” She nods in the other’s direction.
“What happened to us? Why did we pass out?” You question immediately, not bothering with self-introduction.
“O-oh, well, y-you both, um,” Laila starts, unable to look either of you in the eye. “What I mean to say is... you- we kind of-“
“We sprinkled you with Fairy Dust.” Alva finishes bluntly. Your jaws drop. She can’t be serious, this must be a joke. Yet you can’t bring yourself to laugh. No, she looks too serious.
“Fairy dust?” Jimin barely cracks a smile, subconsciously touching your arm to make sure this isn’t a dream.
“Y-yeah, but it appears I was a bit heavy handed. My apologies.” Laila smiles wryly, wringing her hands together nervously. “We are the fairies that live in this forest, and we need your help to save a dear comrade.” It is only then that you actually process what you’re looking at. The two of them hover in front of you, their wings fluttering gracefully like those of a hummingbird, the movement too quick for your eyes to perceive.
“Are we fairies now too?” Jimin checks his own body, then yours, inspecting you for any differences. The only thing that has changed is your size, and he sighs in relief.
“For the most part you are just tiny humans now, but we can make you wings if you so desire.” Alva deadpans, impatiently waiting for you to come to terms with the situation. She continues before you have the chance to let things sink in. “Stink bugs have infested these lands and have made their home by the water source, blocking all creatures on this side of the meadow from reaching the water’s edge. We fairies have put up a resistance to this, and in retaliation, they have kidnapped our leader. Please, we kindly ask for your help in retrieving her.”
“Why can’t you save her yourselves? Don’t you have an army?” Jimin frowns, unsure of how he feels about being this little. You may still be in shock.
“They have fortified their home with troops that protect them from land and air. In order to enter their territory, we would need to get past them, but they attack everything that they identify as being from this side of the meadow.” A chill runs up your spine. Were you willing to embark on a dangerous mission like this?
“But t-their eyesight is pretty bad, so they might not recognize you as fairies, even with wings.” Laila speaks up when she sees you wavering. “You may be able to negotiate a way in.”
“I don’t know about this.” Your boyfriend murmurs to you as he weighs your safety versus adventure. He’s always so kindhearted, so you know he wants to help them, but how far was he willing to go if danger was involved? If it was you he was worried about, you wanted to quell his fears.
“It sounds scary, honestly. But when in our lives will we get another chance to do something like this? We get to be fairies! That’ll never happen to us again.” You smile. But suddenly your eyes shoot wide, turning to the women again. “Wait, this does wear off, right? We won’t be stuck like this forever?”
“Well, there is a spell to reverse this, but the fairy you must rescue is the only one who has mastered it.” Laila offers with another apologetic look.
“Then we have to! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, we have to take advantage. These people need our help! Plus, what else are we going to do while we’re this tiny? Might as well become hero’s while we’re at it.” You chuckle, pulling a smile from him. “If it gets dangerous we’ll protect each other, promise.”
“What if something goes wrong and one of us gets hurt?” He asks. It’s uncharacteristic of him to worry like this, but this is uncharted territory so you can understand his apprehension. But as a couple you are known for your adventurous nature— hell, he’s the one who suggested going camping in the Rocky Mountains by yourselves in the first place. You won’t let him back down from this.
“What if everything goes right?” Your hand finds its way into his, squeezing in reassurance as he looks over your face. With a second more of hesitation, Jimin finally nods in agreement and the two fairies sigh in relief.
The mission they explain to you seems very much like the objective of a video game: traverse through different landscapes and hone your skills until you reach the villain’s lair, where you will then attempt to rescue the princess (or in this case, fairy leader) and defeat the villain. Of course, you will be responsible for coming up with the plan once you reach the lair because the fairies know nothing about where their leader is kept or what the stink bug king will think of you. It is entirely possible that you’ll be able to negotiate with him to release their leader and stop blocking the waterway, but it’s more exciting to think you’ll do a bit of fighting.
“We have supplies and tools for you that will be helpful for you on your journey.” Alva is kinder to you now, advising you to come along to their home to prepare for your mission.
“We don’t have wings yet...” You point out, assuming that you would fly to their abode.
“Obviously.” She rolls her eyes at you, not bothering to explain. A high pitched whistle comes from her with little effort, followed by an intense buzzing noise approaching from behind. You and Jimin turn in horror as 3 giant fireflies appear from the sky, landing weightlessly on the surface before you with a blinding flash of light. It is then that you realize that the brightness in the sky above you isn’t from sunlight, but are actually the bulbs of the fireflies you had admired before. The three in front of you dim their lights to save your eyes, peering down at you with curiously large eyes.
Laila begins to speak with them in a language of chirps and clicks, and much to your surprise, they respond energetically to her. Although you now pale in comparison to these creatures, they are still awe-inspiring; with their red upper bodies that contrast so prettily with the luminescent glow of their yellow-green rears, the hard outer wings that protect the delicate transparent wings beneath that you’ve never noticed until now. Never in your life have you expected to see any bug from this close up.
Laila lets out a laugh that brings your attention back to her. “They agreed to give us a lift home.” She seems brighter after the interaction, though she still refuses to look you in the eye. “Ah! Let me introduce you— this is Magus,” She points to the one on the right, who tilts his head down at you in what you assume to be a bow. “This is Meri,” the one on the left nods at you two as well and you nudge Jimin in his side to offer a bow back. “And this is Garnet, named for her color.” The firefly in the center lifts her wings slightly in greeting and it takes immense self control not to step back in intimidation. She is the largest of the 3 and her color is distinctly different, her body appearing as a deep shade of red mimicking that of a garnet stone, as opposed to the pinkish shade that her counterparts take on.
“Since there are two of you, you will be traveling on Garnet because she is the biggest.” Alva explains, already in the air and mounted on Magus’ back.
“Wait, you want us to ride on its back?!” Jimin seems startled as you walk ahead of him and reach your hand out to Garnet, touching her head. Normally bugs were something you feared, but you have a newfound sense of bravery that is sparked by the novelty of this experience. “(Y/n), don’t touch it!” He shouts, eyebrows furrowing cutely when your hand makes contact with the insect.
“Babe, it’s fine, stop being so wimpy.” You snicker at his distress. “She won’t hurt us, I can tell. She’s nice.” The firefly chitters at you, causing Laila to giggle.
“She says to hop on, she doesn’t bite. But if you need a nip of encouragement she’s more than willing to give you one.” Jimin shutters and takes a hesitant step forward, following your lead with a soft pat to her head. She lowers to the ground as much as she can, and the two of you hop on with Jimin in front and your arms wrapped comfortably around his waist. He can feel your smile and it gives him a little peace of mind.
“No offense, but we don’t have time for cowardice. Anything could be happening to our leader right now and the more time we waste, the more danger we put her in.” Alva cuts in sharply with a twitch of her wings.
“Grab the ropes and hold on tight.” Directing your gaze to the thin ropes seamlessly attached to the smooth surface of Garnet’s shell— by magic, you assume— you take Laila’s advice and grab onto them from behind Jimin. “I already told her where we’re going, just tap her back twice to signal when you’re ready and she’ll take off.”
“Are you ready?” Your boyfriend asks, rolling his shoulders.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.” At your confirmation, he taps his hand on the hard shell and her wings open up, fluttering loudly on either side of you before you begin to lift from the ground. You rise quickly yet carefully, and you can’t help but let out an elated squeal as the earth beneath you gets farther and farther away. The footprints you left in the grass when you arrived in the meadow have somewhat disappeared as the blades slowly return to their normal standing position, but you can still see the sheer size of them compared to how small you are now. Even from high up they look enormous, each one flattening an area that would probably take you several minutes to cross on foot. But the most amazing sight of all is something that Jimin points out with a dropped jaw.
The blanket that you had both been comfortably laying on not 10 minutes prior was now unreasonably large and you struggle to comprehend the scale. If being on the back of a bug wasn’t enough, seeing your own belongings look so disproportionate compared to you is what makes you realize just how tiny you really are. It’s almost frightening being so small and fragile, the human body does not have many natural adaptations to fend off the world making this situation that much more dangerous, but having Jimin with you eases your heart significantly. He isn’t the strongest or the bravest, or even the smartest for that matter, but you know that if you work together you’ll be alright. At least that’s what you tell yourself as you cling to him on your way up into the trees, not missing the opportunity to take in the view.
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You’re taken to what looks to be a treehouse, perched on one of the thin branches at the top of a tree. It could be mistaken for a small bird’s nest from the outside, but the home is actually complexly made with a variety of materials and innovation you are unfamiliar with. Jimin grabs your hand immediately after you dismount from Garnet, glancing down from your height with a silent warning. Of course he’s weary, if either of you fell from this distance you would be dead before you were halfway down the trunk. Even a fall to the next branch down would be life threatening, but you try not to think about it as you walk carefully to the entrance of the home.
“Do not touch anything.” Alva hisses as she holds the door open for you. The inside of the abode is cozier than you expected, sheltered from the chill of the night and decorated with art and color.
“Alva, don’t be so crude to our guests.” Laila scolds, wringing her hands again. She seems to be nervous once more without the presence of her firefly companions.
“Do you live here together?” You ask, moving to inspect some items on a bookshelf. Jimin smacks your hand when you go to lift something up, reminding you of Alva’s warning.
“Y-yes.” Laila nods, turning away from you when you meet her eyes. They say no more on the matter so you don’t press it. “Anyway, you’ll need a few things for your journey. We’ll accompany you most of the way, but we won’t be able to enter once we reach the stink bug’s territory so you’ll need disguises.”
“I thought you said they won’t recognize us?” Jimin questions, walking over to where Alva is hard at work crafting something on a workbench.
“The stink bugs won’t, but they have spies everywhere. We’ll have to pass through some town centers on the way there and that’s where you’ll have the highest risk of being discovered. Also, they know that the two of us are part of the resistance so they will automatically be suspicious if we’re seen traveling together.” She murmurs. You watch as she sprinkles glowing dust onto the table, grabbing tools that glow similarly and manipulating the powder with skilled hands.
“That’s Fairy Dust.” Laila whispers to you when she sees the looks of confusion on your faces. It looks just how you imagined it would.
“So, are you saying that we’ll have to go through the town centers by ourselves?” Jimin’s question makes your heart jump with nerves.
“Yes and no. We’ll have to walk through the towns since their surveillance is stricter on air traffic, but all you have to do is follow behind us and everything will be fine. We’ll go first and lead the way while you trail a safe distance behind us. We can fly together between towns, when we’re not being watched.”
“Fly?” How would you fly if you didn’t have wings like them? You’ll probably use the fireflies again, so you don’t fret, but Alva shakes her head.
“What do you think I’m doing right now?” She asks rhetorically, rolling her eyes at your stupid question. “I’m making you wings so that you can fly with us.” Just as she says this, her workspace begins to glow red.
The Fairy Dust had somehow turned into thin sheets of glass-like material while you were looking away, inflexible and cloudy in quality but now burning a bright red color. Alva whispers something under her breath as she places her hands over the material, closing her eyes in focus. The glowing intensifies and Jimin pulls you back a few steps protectively to look on at a safer distance. Amazingly, the material transforms right before your eyes into transparent and featherlight wings that mimic those of the fairies beside you. They bend when she lifts them, they look extremely frail and delicate, so thin that you almost want to doubt their capabilities in holding you up in midair.
“Turn around.” She instructs quickly to you, using two fingers to rub more Fairy Dust on the edges of each wing. You spin for her and feel her move closer before pausing. The perplexed and irritated look on her face can be felt through the thick air and you don’t even have to see her to sense it.
“What’s wrong?” Jimin dares, eyes flicking back and forth between you.
“What covers your skin?” She asks, much to your confusion. You want to answer but you honestly have no idea what she’s referring to. Neither does Jimin.
“I believe they call them ‘clothes’”. Laila responds quietly.
“Ew, remove them.” The disgust in Alva’s voice is clear, startling you. Somehow, one small detail had escaped both you and your boyfriend this entire time: the fact that the two fairies are completely naked. Their bodies are just as undefined and nondescript as their faces and the odd light they seemed to give off acted as some sort of censor, making it difficult to tell whether or not they were wearing anything. But their reactions confirm that they, indeed, are in the nude. It makes sense, humans are the only creatures to cover themselves like this. But you’re still human and the thought of roaming naked and free in this unfamiliar landscape is uncomfortable.
“Is there a way that you could put the wings on over the clothes?” You turn to allow her to see the cringe on your cheeks. “Logically, it would make sense to keep our clothes on so that when we save your leader and return to normal size, we won’t be naked and exposed in the wilderness?” It’s phrased like a question because of the intimidating glare Alva is giving you, sucking the confidence right out of your words.
Thankfully, Laila is there to back you up. “It’s true, if they aren’t wearing their coverings when they turn back, i-it will remain our size.” Alva gives her the death glare too, but surprisingly, Laila doesn’t back down.
“Fine, but if this doesn’t work, you’re making the next pair of wings.” She points to her roommate, smoothing down your shirt to get a feel for the structure of your back before gently attaching the wings. Their attachment is joined by a ticklish sensation that makes you squirm and giggle, pulling against the small hands that attempt to hold you in place. You expected it to be painful, but the ticklish feeling fades quickly followed by nothing, your extensions successfully attached. She moves onto Jimin swiftly and you grin as the cutest giggle bubbles from his throat at the feeling. The wings really suit him, he looks like a fairy prince that has come to sweep you off your feet and fly off into the distance.
“Excellent.” Laila sighs in relief when your wings move with the motion of your shoulders, steadfast and not likely to come off. “I have prepared these for you as well.” She thrusts a bag into your hands, as well as a shiny whistle. “This Fairy Dust is essential to our mission. Fairies use it to craft things and manipulate items around them, so it is imperative that you get this to our leader to aid in her rescue and escape. This whistle is to only be used in emergencies,” Placing one in Jimin’s hands, she glares when he immediately puts it to his lips. “It will call Garnet to you in case you need a ride, but she is very busy at this time of night, so try not to use it.”
“Okay! Now we’re all set to go!” Alva rushes, practically pushing you out of her house.
Laila is the only one who has patience enough to teach you to fly, speeding through a lesson and demonstration with pressure from the other woman who looks on with annoyance. To Jimin, who is always quite graceful, flying is easy. The wings on his back move to his will and it’s as if he’s dancing in the air, lifting above you and quickly using his skills to twirl and flip. You, on the other hand, struggle immensely. As soon as your feet leave the ground, balance loses all meaning to you and you toddle unsteadily, smacking into things left and right because of the uneven flutter of your propellers. You bet you look silly right now— no, you know you do because Jimin makes sure to laugh loudly every time you struggle— but this is no time for shame. Alva concludes your lesson once it’s apparent that you won’t fall out of the sky and suggests that you’ll get the hang of it as you go, barely waiting for you before taking off from the tip of the branch.
“Now, I must warn you,” She says as you rush to keep up. “These wings do have a time limit, so it’s important that we make it to the water as fast as possible before time runs out or you’ll have to walk.”
“G-got it.” You’re still uneasy, veering off to the side occasionally and nearly smacking into Laila when the wind catches you. Just when you’re starting to get dizzy from your wacky steering, a warm hand closes around your arm. Jimin smiles at you, this time not with humor but with care, and you feel yourself relax. Pulling you closer to his body, he helps you balance in order to fly straight, offering tips and holding on tight for support. Even after you’ve gotten the hang of it, he holds your hand and stays close to you.
Traveling across the meadow takes far longer than you expected and by the time you reach the first town, you’re already tired. Alva lands several meters away from the tree line, turning abruptly to face you. “We’re about to enter the shrubs. This town is full of friendly faces so it shouldn’t be too hard to spot spies, but stay on the lookout. Laila and I have to meet up with an ally in one of the shops; once we get there, stay outside in the area and try not to look suspicious.”
“How are we supposed to do that?” Folding your arms, you wait for a response, but Alva simply shrugs and continues ahead.
“Just try not to bother anyone.” Laila says softly, avoiding your eyes as she speeds up to walk in front of you.
As soon as you enter the shrubs, hundreds of eyes zero in on the unfamiliar faces of you and Jimin. Some greet the fairies as they pass farther in front of you, but seem to burn holes in your back when you walk by, squeezing the hand of your boyfriend at the horrifying bugs that are now very close to your size. Ants and worms, caterpillars and centipedes all roam freely on the dense floor, chewing on fertile dirt and decaying leaves, carrying on with their lives all around you. None seem particularly threatening, but that doesn’t stop your hands from becoming incredibly sweaty in Jimin’s palm.
“I’ll protect you.” He whispers, though his voice shakes in uncertainty.
“How? There’s no way you can fight any of these things!” You whisper back through gritted teeth. Your eyes are so focused on trying not to lose sight of the women in front of you that you don’t notice the roots sticking up from the ground and trip noisily over one of them. Jimin reaches out with lightning fast reflexes and catches you before you come crashing to the ground, offering you a cheesy smile when your wide eyes lock on his before pulling you back up to your feet.
“I don’t need to fight them, I just need to save you from yourself.” You pout at his words, feeling your cheeks get hot at how embarrassing that fall must have looked. Even though you’re surrounded by bugs, you still have your pride.
Finally, Alva and Laila enter a shop, giving you a meaningful glance before disappearing inside. Jimin leads you just a little bit past the store before finding a spot to stand just opposite of its entrance so you can watch for their exit, pulling you against him as he leans against a mushroom. You take this time to take in your surroundings: the ceiling of this area is made of the dense leaves and vines of shrubs, yet it isn’t dark. Instead, everything is lit by glow-in-the-dark fungi that is speckled above and below you. Large mushrooms, like the one you sit beneath, grow in bundles in the darker places, their smell humid and pungent like a room full of mold. It tickles your nostrils and you sneeze, causing a movement from behind you.
“Oh!” Calls a voice that appears out of seemingly nowhere. Jimin moves you defensively away from the person, turning to confront them as they step from behind the fungus’ stem. “I wouldn’t sit under this if I were you. It’s smell can be quite intoxicating after a while and may cause hallucinations to those who aren’t used to it.” A male fairy steps forward, coated in Fairy Dust and naked just like your guides had been. The only difference is that he is covered in spores. This doesn’t seem to bother him, though. He eyes both you and Jimin up and down, smiling oddly at your appearance. “New around here?”
“Yes.” You answer hesitantly, but he seems nice enough.
“I can sense that you’re not fairies... Hmm, where are you from?” Just as you open your mouth to speak, Jimin cuts in.
“We’re just visiting. Who are you?”
“Ah, yes! I’m a mushroom fairy, the name’s Bayard.” He extends a hand and you shake it despite Jimin’s weary expression. “I work here and tend to the mushrooms that light this place. We don’t get visitors often, welcome!”
“Thank you! We’re actually heading to the water, do you have any helpful advice for us?” Alva and Laila said that this place was full of friends, so you want to take a chance. He seems kind and helpful and the two of you are absolutely clueless in your environment, so you figure it would be beneficial to get all the help you can get. The hand holding yours tightens, but you ignore it to listen to the fairy’s advice.
“Oh, I’ve never been to the water before, but I heard it’s pretty dangerous over there now. I say it’d be smart to invest in a weapon if you’re heading over that way.” He nods solemnly. “You can probably get one at the shop over there,” He points to a small stall next to the store your comrades entered and you sag.
“We don’t have any money, though.” You pout, using your charms on him.
“Money? Nah, you just need something to trade for it, that’s all. Here, since you seem so sweet I’ll give you something, wait here.” Bayard flies up to the head of the mushroom and you watch in awe as he collects something from its surface before coming back down to hand you 2 bags. “These are the hallucinogenic spores I was talking about. They’re worth a lot, so you should be able to trade it easily, but you could use it for your own benefit.”
“What do you mean?” You ask innocently, making him chuckle.
“Well, a good whiff of it might lead to a wild night, if you catch my drift.” He winks at Jimin and your face bursts into flames at the implications, and you can see that Jimin has a similar reaction. Bayard laughs heartily, clapping his hand together in a plume of spores that you wave away from your face. “I’m only pulling your leg. But seriously,” His expression drops so fast that a chill runs up your spine, all humor wiped from his eyes. “This is some powerful stuff. One bag of this is enough to knock out something 10x our size, so be careful. I gave you 2 bags in case you need to buy more stuff, but please, handle with care.”
“We will.” You nod, giving your bag for Jimin to hold. “Thank you so much, Bayard, this is very generous of you.”
He grins shyly. “Don’t mention it. If you ever need a friend, you know where to find me. Good luck on your travels, I gotta get back to work.” He waves you off as he disappears back behind the bundle of mushrooms, hidden in the deep shadows they cast.
“I think we should be more careful with who we talk to, (Y/n).” Jimin whispers, following you as you walk toward the shop. “We can’t tell everyone our business, they could be spies!”
“I know, but I could tell he wasn’t. Plus, he turned out to be really helpful, so everything worked out.”
“Yeah, but we could have just gotten lucky this time. This is real life, babe, you need to be more careful. You shouldn’t talk to everyone like that.” He argues back, tugging on your arm to stop you before you reach the stall. You turn to look him in the eyes.
“But if we didn’t talk to him, it would have been suspicious. We can’t go around looking nervous and jumpy because then people will start thinking we’re up to something (which we kinda are). I was just blending in.” The determined look in your eye makes him pause and he can no longer argue. Dammit, he’s always so weak when you look at him like that. And you’re so beautiful in this lighting, your eyes shining back at him and the structure of your face contoured perfectly with the subtle shadows. You’re right and he has no choice but to accept it, even if he does have more to say. You can see the moment he drops it, his face softening with the slight nod he gives you as if admitting defeat. But you’re also weak to him when he looks down at you like that, like he wants to kiss you senseless and make you forget about whatever you disagreed about. You decide to compromise. “But I’ll be more careful from now on to make your job a little easier.”
He cocks an eyebrow and tilts his head cutely in confusion.
“You said you would protect me, right? It would be rude of me to jump headfirst into danger when I know you’ll jump right in after me.” You try to shrug indifferently but it comes off as flirty, pulling a smug smirk from him as you continue your way to the shop.
It costs a whole bag of the spores Bayard gave you to acquire a weapon. Jimin chooses a small blade that the shopkeeper explains is made with Fairy Dust and can cut through even the toughest bindings. He advises that you should only use it for self defense in extreme situations and gives him a sheath to saddle on the belt loops of his pants. The sight perplexes the shopkeeper, but he sends you on your way without question.
“I know you said you’d be more careful, but you have a penchant for trouble so we’ll probably find ourselves in some bad situations. But at least I can protect you properly now.” You wrinkle your nose at his accusation, but end up chuckling at the way he brandishes the blade as though in a heated battle.
Alva clears her throat as she glides past the two of you with a twitch of her wings, announcing her presence subtly as Laila follows swiftly after, pointedly trying not to look at you and accidentally being the most obvious one in the group. You linger for a few more moments with an embarrassed Jimin, asking the shopkeeper one more question about your purchase before making a smooth exit in the footsteps of your comrades. You’re a good distance away from the shrubs before you begin flying again, catching up with the two who wait for you at a nearby tree.
“Oh my goodness, that was so nerve wracking.” Laila sighs, biting her lip.
“Sorry that took so long, but we got some great intel on the enemy.” Jimin reaches for your hand again when you take off even though you’re infinitely better at flying now. You act like you aren’t affected as you try to listen to Alva’s words. “We’re about to pass a carcass so we’ll need to go around, but it has a spy checkpoint on each side so we’ll have to split up when we cross them to avoid suspicion. Be on the lookout for a shady looking ant and a really chunky maggot. Laila and I will do the talking, but don’t answer any of their questions in too much detail if they ask you directly.”
The way she lists off the warnings makes you sweat. What would happen if you got caught? Yes, this was a once in a lifetime adventure, but the danger is not lost on you. Jimin is right, this is real life and you could get seriously hurt or worse if things go south. You had to rescue their leader, this had to work because she is the only one that can return you to human size, and that realization settles uncomfortably in your stomach. Separating from Jimin only makes the feeling worse.
“We’ll be traveling together,” Alva informs you once you land, instructing Laila and Jimin where to meet. Your eyebrows crease with worry and you quickly grab his arm before he leaves.
When you don’t say anything, he gives you a soft smile, reading your eyes. “What happened to all that bravery you had back there?” He teases.
“I was confident because we were together. How can we look out for each other if we’re not together?” The only thing you can think of that’s worse than you getting captured, is if he got captured without you. It’s not just about him protecting you, you want to watch over him too.
“We’ll be fine. Alva and Laila will keep us safe.” They both nod at you.
“Yes, we’ll do everything in our power to keep you two safe.” Laila adds in her timid voice, glancing up at your eyes.
“Okay...” You reluctantly let go of him and watch them start to walk away. “Please be careful!” He sends you a thumbs up as he gets farther away. The starlight above you is partially covered by the trees, making this area much darker than the meadow had been. Fireflies flicker in the distance but it still isn’t bright enough to see him clearly as he continues on.
“Come on. The faster we go through this, the sooner you’ll be reunited.” For the first time, Alva offers words of consolation, and you’re almost shocked that she has sympathy for you. She mumbles in a quieter voice than usual. “I’m not thrilled about splitting from them either, but this is the safest way. If we all went through together, that would definitely raise some red flags.”
“Why couldn’t we just follow you like we did back there?” She scoffs.
“Not many newcomers cross these parts alone. You two would never make it past the spies without being noticed. Even with us, it’s a risk. I just hope Laila’s okay.” This is the first time you’ve actually seen her worried and for the second time in a row, you’re baffled. This entire time Alva has been hardened and crude, but now she seems almost as worried as you. You can’t help but ask.
“You seem to have a soft spot for her. Do you have feelings for her?” She knows you’re teasing by the lilt in your voice, and you see her wings twitch, something you’re beginning to notice that signifies her annoyance. Her eyes roll so hard you think they’ll get stuck in her head.
“Of course I have feelings for her. In human terms, we’re dating, why do you think we live together?”
“Oh!” You chuckle nervously, feeling a bit dumb. You saw only one bed in their home but thought little of it, and now much of their decor makes sense. There’s an awkward silence for a while and you can’t for the life of you think of anything else to talk about. You wish the ground beneath you would just open up and swallow you whole. Thankfully, she breaks the silence for you.
“We learned another important detail that I didn’t mention,” She waits until you glance over at her. “We found out that the stink bug king plans to marry our leader, so it would probably be smart for you to come up with a plan to intercept this.” You sigh in thought, turning your gears to come up with a plan.
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The smell of the carcass is much worse than Jimin imagined, it hits them long before they reach the body. Laila leads him to the right side of the unidentifiable animal, a heap of fur, bones, and flesh in the middle stages of decomposition thanks to the abundance of bugs and fungi working diligently to break it down. They stop before the animal as Laila crafts 2 masks from her own bag of Fairy Dust, handing one to him to reduce the horrific smell as they trek on. He tries to ignore the sounds of the ecosystem feasting on its prey, and thankfully his partner offers a distraction.
“I know you’re worried about your girlfriend, but Alva will protect her. And I will protect you.” He notices that she easily makes eye contact with him, unlike before. “Stink bugs aren’t vicious, they’re just resilient and armored, making them tough to beat. But hopefully we won’t have to fight.”
“I know she’ll be alright, I have faith in her. She probably won’t get caught by the spy, she’s too smart for that.” His words are genuine, yet his heart still races at the possibilities. A darkness eclipses his face that she catches onto immediately.
“What’s wrong?” Her voice is so gentle that he has no problem opening up to her.
“If she gets captured or hurt it’ll be my fault. I brought her out to the meadow to have a romantic date, but instead it ended up putting her in danger. We should have stayed at the campsite.”
“No.” Laila says firmly, causing him to yank his head up in surprise. “If anything, this is my fault. I chose you because you were the only ones around that could help us, but I could have left you alone. If anything happens, I am to blame.” He says nothing to this, not quite accepting it, but she seems steadfast so he won’t argue. “I apologize for not asking sooner, but what is your name?”
“Jimin.”
“And what is hers?”
“(Y/n)~” He says your name almost dreamily compared to his own, a smile subconsciously finding its way to his lips. She grins.
“Do you love her?” Laila doesn’t seem to be the blunt type, but this is obviously amusing. Especially with the way his ears color red at that one question.
“I- I don’t know if I know what love is,” is his response.
“I think you do. I see how you look at her, how you smile when you think of her, the way that you say her name with such delicacy; I bet you don’t even realize how lovestruck you look when she’s around.” Jimin turns away from her to avoid her eyes, bringing a hand to his warming cheeks. He mumbles something under his breath. “I know because that’s how I am with Alva and I love her very much.”
“Alva? Wait, are you-?”
“Yes, she is my girlfriend.” The confirmation makes his jaw drop, some pieces falling together just as they had for you. “Never be embarrassed by your feelings, they can be a source of power at times like these. It is because you love her so much that I know you’d do anything to keep her safe, and I have no doubt that she is exactly the same way. This mission will be a success, I can feel it. You should tell her how you really feel when this is all over.”
“Oh... I don’t know about that. What if she doesn’t feel the same way...”
“She’s intelligent, compassionate, outgoing, brave, charming, and above that, so beautiful that everyone around takes notice— a woman like that can be pretty intimidating. But trust me, she loves you too. Though I haven’t known you two for long, I can see how her body language changes with you, that sparkle in her eyes whenever you interact. She’s just as lovesick for you as you are for her. But I won’t pressure you.”
Laila is a lot wiser and more perceptive than he originally expected. She hadn’t looked you in the eye much— which he now knows is because you intimidate her more than her own intense girlfriend does— but it seems she’s picked up on a lot about both of you in this short time. Maybe her observations are right and you do love him back. But this feels like an inappropriate time to confess to you, so he decides he’ll keep it in for now.
As he’s ruminating on that idea, a huge tan bug crawls in front of them, blocking their path with its large body. Upon closer inspection, Jimin comes to the conclusion that it is a maggot, and it is indeed very “chunky”. It’s at least 3x his size, towering over them and angling it’s head in their direction. He can’t see its eyes, but it apparently can see them, turning its attention to Laila.
“It’s been a while, Laila. Haven’t seen you around these parts lately.” The breath that billows out from its mouth is even more rancid than the corpse it was feasting on, the stench so pointed that it slices through the barrier of their masks. It almost brings tears to Jimin’s eyes as he tries to refrain from gagging.
“Yes, well, I’ve been busy in the meadow, so I haven’t had the time to come out this far.” She replies easily, not the slightest quiver in her voice present. The maggot hums.
“And who is this?” Turning to face Jimin, it gives an interested tilt of the head and leans in closer, its pincers coming just inches away from his face. The smell is vile, beyond sickening, and if it were to have a color, he’s sure it’s breath would be the most impure black sludge— yes, sludge, because it is too thick to be a gas— imaginable. As black as death itself. The most he can do is hold his breath.
“He is simply visiting the area. We’re just passing through.” Laila answers, but it hisses at her to hush.
“Visiting? What business do you have visiting here?” The hairs on the back of Jimin’s neck stand straight, every cell in his body telling him to run, yet he stands frozen. The pincers in front of his face are large enough to bite his head off and he gets the sense that if he doesn’t say something convincing, that’s exactly what his fate will be.
“I’m visiting my cousin.” He rasps out, his head feeling light from running out of air.
“What cousin?”
“Um, h-his name is Bayard. He’s a mushroom fairy that lives in the shrubs.” At this the maggot leans away, finally allowing Jimin to take a breath of the slightly less offensive air.
“Bayard, huh?” He nods quickly, watching nervously as the insect snaps its jaws in thought. Does it know him? If it does, there’s a chance that Jimin will be caught in his lie, that somehow it will know that Bayard does not have any visiting relatives and that he’s not who he says he is. He and Laila share a tense stare as the bug takes a few seconds to process before it bursts into laughter. “He’s a crazy bastard, isn’t he?” They sigh in relief and Jimin nods along, forcing out a laugh. “Why isn’t he showing you around? I would’ve loved if he came to visit, I don’t get to see him often.”
“Oh you know, he’s busy working. You know how he is about his mushrooms.” They laugh again and the air seems to get a bit thinner.
“Ah, well, we’ll tell him you said hello. For now, though, we must get going.” Laila interrupts, much to his relief. The hefty maggot walks forward, opening the path for them once again and nods its head at them.
“Safe travels!” It wishes them well as they pass, watching as they continue around the side of the carcass, no longer conversing with each other but making headway straight out of the area. It isn’t until they reach the rendezvous point that Laila finds the courage to speak again, holding both hands over her chest as if she were in pain.
“That was close. If it wasn’t for your quick thinking, I don’t know what would’ve happened.” Then she tilts her head and looks up at him quizzically. “How do you know of Bayard, anyway?”
“(Y/n) befriended him in the last town.” Jimin rubs the back of his neck, thinking back to how upset he was about you speaking to strangers like that and how silly he looks now. Without you, he wouldn’t have made it out of that situation. Maybe he should have more faith in your instincts— they may just be your way of protecting him.
It takes several minutes before you and Alva emerge from your side of the animal. Alva is nodding at you, looking apprehensive, but you seem determined and sure.
“Let’s not tell Jimin, though. He probably won’t approve.” You whisper to her just out of earshot before you reach them, smiling in relief when you see that they made it here safely. You didn’t encounter your spy, though you did see him interrogating someone else who was passing through, and when you tell him this he shakes his head at the rare good luck you’ve just experienced. He tells you about the Bayard lie as you wrap your arms around him briefly and you laugh in a way that says “I told you so”— and it is then that he notices the look that Laila was talking about. The one you give him when you’re hanging onto every word he says like it’s the most interesting thing you’ve ever heard. His heart flutters at the thought. Laila and Alva share a meaningful look but say nothing, coaxing you onward with your journey.
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This place has a worse atmosphere than the carcass you just passed, you can feel it. Supposedly, this is the last obstacle in your path before you reach the water, and even Alva seems on edge about what lies ahead. A fallen log stands before you, decaying and riddled with plant-life, fungus, and insects. Hostility leaks from every crevice of the black wood, the breeze itself seeming to carry a sneer as it blows past it.
“Okay, a word of advice before we continue,” Alva begins, slowing her pace in order to turn and face you as you fly. “Unlike the shrubs, this place is full of shady characters, so do not stop to talk to anyone or anything. That being said, keep your eyes peeled as we pass through, the creatures here will feast on anything that moves— and that includes you.”
“Also,” Laila casts her eyes down away from you. “Your wings will likely start to disintegrate soon. We’ll have to fly through this area because we’ll be too slow on foot, therefore putting us in more danger. The wings should last long enough to make it out of here if we fly, but it will be close, so we can’t have any interruptions or stops.” You both nod grimly, biting on your lip as a dark feeling swells within you.
It’s a gut feeling that alerts you to the danger up ahead, and you mindlessly reach for Jimin’s hand for comfort. He doesn’t seem to be as nervous aside from the warnings the two of them explain, and you wonder if you’re being paranoid.
“Why can’t we just fly over or around it?” You ask, trying to hide the tremor in your voice. Alva gives you a frustrated sigh before explaining once again how closely the skies are monitored, going against your plan to slip through undetected. But you can hardly say that this route is any safer.
It’ll be easy to stay out of trouble if you just stay off the ground though, right? Fly over the heads of everyone and make it out of this area before any real damage can be done. You cling onto that ideal as you watch Laila and Alva enter the center of the log, moving slowly until you and Jimin follow behind them.
“Please stay close to me.” You whisper to him— more like a plea because of the growing anxiety building in the pit of your stomach, your gut feeling worsening as you near the entrance.
“I will. Don’t worry, I won’t leave you.” Softly, he presses a kiss to your forehead, but even that doesn’t help you shake this feeling.
It’s dark and muggy within the rotting wood, the lack of light contrasting even with the dimness of the night sky. Glowing fungi are speckled against the walls of the log, but it is nowhere near as bright as it had been in the shrubs, leaving many areas cloaked in shadows. Jimin holds onto you tightly, his other hand feeling for the blade equipped to his pants. Your nervousness is unsettling; he can feel how cold and clammy your hands have become, the slight tremor of your body as your heart races within. He wishes he could reassure you, but you have amazing instincts and he doubts anything he says could contest against the physical reaction you’re exhibiting at this moment. All he can do is prepare himself.
The fairies in front of you seem to shine against the blackness, making them easy to follow. You execute your plan for flying as high as possible in the somewhat cramped tunnel, almost scraping your head against the ceiling in your effort to avoid the crude faces that crawl underneath. Insects hide in the crevices of the jagged walls, disturbed and squirming as you whoosh past their lairs. Something about them makes you think they’re blind, but you wouldn’t know for sure since you won’t give yourself enough time to inspect them.
Something brushes your arm when the tunnel narrows, causing you to gasp and jerk embarrassingly only to realize that it was just soft moss. You give a sheepish look to Jimin when he turns to you. “Sorry, I’m a little jumpy.” So far, you haven’t encountered anything of noteworthy danger and you’re almost halfway through the log, and you start to think that maybe you were just being paranoid.
As you move along, the wood gets denser and the pathways become smaller, only allowing one person at a time. Laila’s wings are still visible due to the waning light, but you’ll have to fly faster if you want to keep an eye on them, so Jimin flies ahead of you since he’s generally faster and better at flying than you. Reluctantly, you release his hand and follow close behind, blind to what lies in front of you and solely relying on him to guide you forward.
“You okay?” He asks quietly, unable to turn and look at you.
“Yeah, keep going.” Is your quiet response, trailing right on his heels. “Can you still see them?”
“Just barely. Let’s try to go a little faster, I don’t think our wings will last too much longer.” Jimin can sense how his body seems to feel heavier on his wings. The transparent material of them is getting thinner and he isn’t sure how much longer they’ll be able to hold him up before they become unusable.
“Okay, I can keep up.” Picking up the pace, you start to feel less weary of the life around you. Nothing seems interested in your presence as you float by and that’s exactly how you like it.
The path opens up into a hollow section, allowing you more space, and you shift to the left of Jimin in order to see around him briefly. You intended to catch a glimpse of your guides, laser focusing your eyes in front of you so intensely that your surroundings are forgotten. Jimin remains in your peripheral as you squint through the darkness, but in an instant, he zips by and leaves you behind. Confused, you turn around to see if you got snagged on something and find yourself losing your balance and landing on something sticky. Long threads form a net around you and it dawns on you that they are the cause of your immobility— so naturally, you try to shake free from them, only to find that the more you struggle, the more parts of you become stuck. You barely have any time to process what this could possibly mean before several long legs emerge from the corner of your eye.
“It looks like there’s light up ahead. We’re almost out, (Y/n)!” Jimin smiles in relief, eyes still watching for the pair of wings that flutter several centimeters ahead. But when you don’t respond, his eyebrows crease. “(Y/n)?” Before he can even turn around, a blood curdling scream rips through his ears, the voice sounding alarmingly similar to yours. He spins around and immediately notices that you are no longer right behind him. How long have you been gone?! He races backwards toward the source of the scream, fear and worry bubbling in his chest with every second it takes to reach you as you let out another deafening scream.
The first thing he sees is the underside of an enormous body with 8 hairy legs protruding menacingly from its center. They splay out methodically to walk the thin cords beneath it with the expertise of a tight rope walker, graceful, long, and elegant in the most wretched way. Next, he spots you, placed in the center of its legs, completely caged in and frozen by the sheer size of the arachnid above you and shaking in terror. Jimin’s eyes drag up to find 8 odd black orbs locked on yours, sitting just above open jaws aimed directly at you. Before he can even stop himself, he’s calling out your name.
“(Y/n)!” It’s more of a reaction of surprise, but it catches the attention of the spider, who looks up from its prey with glazed eyes. But he is not the one that’s caught in its web, so it quickly returns its interest to you.
“Jimin?!” You cry out with an unsteady voice.
“I’m here, baby! Just stay calm.”
“How?!” You can’t see him because of how your back is facing his direction, but you can hear how panicked he sounds. He knows that spiders are your weakness. You suffer from mild arachnophobia and he’s sure that encountering a spider that is many times larger than you and moments away from eating you is intensifying that fear unimaginably. He has to think fast.
The first thing he can think of is to distract it, so he breaks off a piece of wood and taps it to the web, sending vibrations that catch the attention of the previously uninterested insect. It glances over with curiosity before making its way to the other side of the web to inspect the swinging wood chip that is now attached to the threads on one end. Taking this opportunity, Jimin runs over to you and pulls out his knife, praying to everything that it is holy that it really can cut anything. If this fails, he doesn’t know what he’ll do. He tries to break one of the threads with a quick slice, but when he brings the knife down, it promptly bounces off as though he had hit a steel wire, instead sending more vibrations that bring the spider back over to you. It hisses loudly, likely upset that he’s trying to steal its dinner, and it lunges at him with its fangs, barely missing him through the web. He falls backwards, but catches himself with his wings unsteadily.
He tries the same method again and again, shaking the already stuck stick to lure the spider over, then swinging his blade at the thick bindings that refuse to release you, to no avail.
“It’s not working! And I don’t have enough time to break the web because of the spider!” He’s clearly distressed, using all his force to push down and break the web that has the integrity of metal. Spider webs break easily to a human, but it’s an entirely different monster when you’re this small. This knife, this stupid knife that cost him an entire bag of spores is doing absolutely nothing, and his frustration grows with each slice.
Wait, that’s it!
“Jimin, the spores! Do you still have them?” The words come out hurried and jumbled, but miraculously he understands.
“Yeah, why?” He looks up at you, but swiftly jumps out of the way when the spider returns. This time it won’t leave you, guarding your body from the intruder, repeatedly striking and hissing at him to leave. The wings that hold Jimin up are weakening, he has to hurry or he won’t be able to reach you from the ground.
“Throw them on the spider! Bayard said that one bag is enough to ‘knock out something 10x our size’, you can use it to buy time and cut me out!” As you’re explaining, Jimin reaches for the pouch in his pocket, opening it to look at the small particles piled up inside. He isn’t sure if it’ll work as well as you hope but he has to try, so with only a second of hesitation, he looks back up at the colossus on top of you.
“Hold your breath.” Once he hears you inhale, the bag of spores is flung straight into the face of the spider, some getting in its mouth, most of it landing on and around its head, caught in the hairs that line its body. Your eyes close as they float around you, but you can feel how the spider stumbles back in shock, trying to shake the particles from itself. Jimin immediately gets to work with the knife, trying a sawing approach this time with every bit of hope poured into his efforts. Thankfully, the string breaks with just 2 back and forth motions, loosening the integrity of the web just the slightest bit. He works fast, snapping each connection around you until you’re falling backwards into his arms and away from the staggering monster.
He grabs your arm and pulls you along as you attempt to gather yourself, flying as best you can with the few unbroken strands still stuck to your wings, but you won’t let that stop you now.
“We’re not gonna make it, our wings are-“ You try to say, but Jimin cuts you off.
“There’s light up ahead, we just have to make it there.” Fairy Dust has begun to fall from both of your wings, leaving a shimmering trail behind you as you push them to their limit. They can barely carry you an inch off the ground now, but that’s all you need as long as you make it to the light. But of course, it’s never that easy. As if on cue, the spider comes barreling through the log from behind, its eyes crossed and confused as it swerves up the sides of the tunnel in pursuit of you, its legs scraping the dead wood and causing crackling and falling pieces avalanching down.
You scream, pushing yourself even harder to escape your doom, ducking under protruding chunks and narrow openings desperately. You know the feeling when something’s chasing you and you feel like it’s just a step away at all times just teasing you, waiting to grab you, and you can swear you feel them breathing down your neck no matter how far back they are? Yeah, this is one of those situations. Except the spider actually is just a step away, and the only reason it hasn’t caught you yet is because of the spores in its lungs. It lunges forward aggressively, just barely missing you and grazing the side of your right arm— had its aim been any better, you surely would be dead. It hallucinates several versions of you flying before its eyes, your screams echoing off the walls and damaging its overwhelmed senses. It stumbles, using its front leg to reach for you and barely missing your side with the razor edge of its claws, a feature you hadn’t known existed until now. But the claws are very real and your torn shirt is proof.
The light that Jimin was talking about suddenly emerges, the dim starlight seeming as bright as the sun compared to the dark that engulfed you within this black wood, and for a moment, hope sparks in your chest. But your heart drops to your stomach when both of you suddenly fall to the floor, your wings finally giving out as they continue to disappear. You scramble to your feet and take the lead, glancing back at the spider that is squeezing his way through the tiny opening you and Jimin managed to slip through, spitting foul noises at you out of rage.
“Up here!” Shelf fungi line the walls, creating a convenient ladder up to the top of the log that you climb, finding strength you never knew you had to pull yourself up each one. Jimin is close behind, pushing at your feet when you struggle near the top, but his eyes widen at the sight of the spider with half of its body through the opening, its legs flailing and scratching to pull itself through. The mushrooms end just a body length from the ledge of the log, your freedom just fingertips away, but you can’t reach from your height and you don’t have the strength to pull yourself all the way up.
Jimin nudges you out of the way, the adrenaline pumping wildly through his veins allowing him to jump up and grab hold of the ledge and pull himself up, disappearing on the other side; and for a moment you fear that he’ll leave you here. You gasp when your eyes meet the dizzy ones of your pursuer, it’s body nearly free, and panic rises within you like never before.
“(Y/n)!” Jimin calls, and you look up to find his hands reaching down to grab you, his hair and the top of his forehead the only thing visible. Without wasting another second, you jump up and grab his hands, and with strained grunts, he helps pull you up to his level on the outside of that Hell. “Where do we go now?”
You’re high up, really high, and it’s a long way down without your wings. Honestly, you hadn’t thought this far, but now isn’t the time to stop and think, not when you hear the sound of splintering wood and hissing beneath you. Jimin follows as you run forward, looking to the end of the timber suspiciously.
“(Y/n), what’s your plan here?!” The edge is nearing alarmingly fast and it looks to him like you intend to run right off the side. He wishes he could say that he was thinking of a plan too, but his mind becomes blank with terror the moment the spider re-emerges from the opening. It takes a few seconds to find you before chasing, its speed significantly slower now thanks to the spores, but it is enough to drive you forward with no hope of turning back. Leaving the only option to jump off the side. But you couldn’t be thinking that, there’s no way, because from this height you’d both break your legs from the landing, at best.
“Do you trust me?” You ask, your eyes determined. You can’t be thinking what he thinks you are. But despite his worries, he answers without hesitation.
“Yes.”
“Okay.” You pull out the whistle stored away in your pocket and blow, the noise barely audible over the bustle of the night. You blow into it again, this time longer, but nothing happens and the ledge is right in front of you. The skies are empty, few bugs crossing your paths as you come to a stop and look around, the creaking wood below your feet mocking you as you stand still. “Are you sure you trust me?” Jimin nods. “We need to jump.”
“Jump?!” He’s not sure he heard you right. But then again, what choice does he have? The spider seems drunk behind you, clumsily galloping toward you with eyes that look through you, and if it doesn’t eat you it’ll surely smack directly into you and push you off the cliff, spelling your doom either way. Jimin watches as you blow the whistle again and step closer to the edge, looking down at the drop with that determined look he’s seen so many times. You’re serious. But you haven’t been wrong yet, so with a deep breath, he steps up next to you. “I trust you.”
He doesn’t say this with a tone that holds doubt, it's a definitive statement. And that makes you smile. Even if you are leading him to your deaths, you know Jimin has his full faith in you, so you take his hand and pray that this works. On your count, you both jump, your lips on the whistle that you continue to blow. As air rushes past your face, you squeeze Jimin’s hand and search your surroundings during the slowest, most uncertain seconds of your life.
Suddenly, a flash of green and red appears with lightning speed and before you know it, you’re landing on the hard back of the creature with a force strong enough to drop her a couple of inches and rip your hand out of Jimin’s. He lands straight in the center of Garnet’s back, but you skid off the side, grabbing at the smooth surface of her body helplessly. But Jimin has quick reflexes and latches onto your arm, using his strength for the second time to pull you onto Garnet’s back. You secure your arms around him tightly as he holds the reins and tells her to take you to Alva and Laila, who are probably already out of the log and waiting for you. Hopefully she can understand what he’s asked. Looking up, you catch sight of the spider just as it careens off the edge of the wood, following you blindly with now uncontrolled limbs and foggy eyes, it’s body narrowly missing you as it falls all the way to the ground, crumpled into an unconscious heap. That uneasy feeling in your stomach almost immediately subsides, and you tighten your arms around your boyfriend with a sigh of relief, burying your face in his shoulder and breathing in his scent to calm your pounding heart.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt at all?” His worry is heavy and it warms you.
“I’m fine, just a little shaken up.” It’s probably just the shock, but you feel oddly at ease. You know that later— maybe tomorrow— you’ll be freaking out about your worst nightmare nearly coming true if it weren’t for Jimin. “Thank you for saving me.”
Your surroundings are serene, the night air warm and soothing. The landscape is pretty from this perspective. Full of hidden terrors and thrills, everything looking so peaceful despite you nearly losing your life moments ago.
“I said I would protect you.” He smiles cockily, and you giggle into his shirt. “But seriously, you did most of the work. We make a great team; let’s keep working together.” If Jimin was being honest, he doesn’t think he’d be able to save you if it wasn’t for your quick wit. His brain is no good in times of trial, he freezes up mentally, and though he jumps into action without a second thought, he rarely has the capacity to come up with an effective plan. You are certainly the brains of the operation, and the more he thinks about it, the more attractive your intelligence becomes. He wouldn’t want to be in this situation with anyone else in the world, and he means that with his whole heart.
When Garnet lands, Laila runs over to you, helping you and Jimin off her back with care and concern. She looks you over, gasping at the tear in your shirt. “What happened?! You disappeared toward the end and we heard screams, but Alva said we couldn’t go back. I was so worried for you! Are you sure you’re not hurt?”
You explain what happened bashfully, feeling embarrassed that you were the one to screw up the plan, but neither of the fairies seem upset by it.
“We’re just glad you made it out alright.” Alva reassures in a rare moment of sentiment.  “Do you still have the Fairy Dust?”
Thankfully, the bag remains untouched and secure around your waist. You weren’t thinking about it during that near death experience, but you’re glad that it wasn’t lost in all the action. After Laila takes the time to physically examine you to make sure you actually weren’t hurt, they lead you ahead to the last leg of your journey.
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Though they had talked at length about the stink bugs’ fortress, you were completely unprepared by the sheer number of bugs that were involved. You were forced to go the rest of the way on foot and had the chance to see the change in landscape that came as you neared the water. Where you would expect luscious plant growth you were instead met with hole riddled leaves and weeds, plants wilting with eaten roots, and scarred fruit littering the area, much different from the land closer to the meadow. Laila explains that these bugs are rapidly expanding their feeding grounds and will soon take over this side of the stream, and the thought sends a chill up your spine. But it isn’t until the water is in sight that you see the perpetrators of all this damage.
It’s almost like a swarm of bugs appears out of thin air once you cross a certain threshold, all of them crawling from under rocks and holes in the ground, flying up from plants where they were once hidden, and disgusted chills overcome you again at the sight of them. Jimin steps closer to you, putting an arm out in front of your body protectively when they form a wall in front of the 4 of you.
Laila steps forward, walking up to meet one bug that stands in the center of them all. She communicates with it for a few seconds, again amazing you with her lingual skills, and when she’s done, it turns away and flies in the opposite direction, leaving its army to stand guard. You don’t know what she said, or what is even happening right now as you seem to be standing in a stalemate, so you decide to ask.
“Was that the leader?” You whisper, as if speaking any louder would break the tension and prompt fighting with the soldiers ahead of you.
“No,” Alva answers, looking at her girlfriend’s back as she stands strong. “That’s only a messenger. I think she has asked to speak directly to the leader and the messenger agreed.”
“You think?” Jimin questions, tilting his head.
“Yeah, Alva, why don’t you know how to speak to bugs? Isn’t that a power you fairies have?” You join, blinking at her innocently.
“No it’s not some inherent power all fairies have, it’s a skill. A skill that I do not possess.”
“Well why not? I think it would be useful to learn.” You nod in agreement to Jimin’s words.
“Laila could probably teach you! Hey, babe, did you know they’re dating?” You ask excitedly, ignoring the winged woman to converse with your own significant other, but she cuts in quickly.
“This isn’t about me!” Her wings flick and you both stop talking, wordlessly returning your attention to the front where the bug returns with another creature in tow.
“Why the long look, Laila? Aren’t you glad to see me?” The voice of a man cuts through the air and you look up to find a thin fairy fluttering toward you, landing a few steps away from your comrade as she glares intensely at him. He’s colored brown similarly to the bugs he commands, but he is so twig-like that you could mistake him for a stick insect with wings. His features are as undefined as every other fairy you’ve encountered so far, but you can still tell he’s grinning by the way he opens his arms merrily.
“That’s their leader?” You whisper to your boyfriend, who looks on with the same shocked expression you wear.
“I have no desire to see your face.” Laila spits, shocking you even further. “You kidnapped Nissa, you do not deserve my kindness.”
“Is that so?” His arms drop to his sides. “Then, what brings you here, oh fair and beautiful warrior?” She visibly cringes at his words, Alva also wrinkling her face at his unwanted compliments.
“We’ve come to negotiate for our leader,” Alva speaks up, stepping closer to him to draw his attention. He scoffs, saying something about the two women not being allowed into his territory in order to negotiate, but she stands firm. “That is why we have brought ambassadors with us this time; surely, they are not banned as well?” His eyes then shift to yours, squinting at you and Jimin with a perplexed look. It’s probably the clothes that are throwing him off, you think.
“And what have they come to offer me? Will my sweet Laila finally trade herself in for her leader and become my bride?” A goofy smile crosses his lips, but it’s quickly wiped away with your next words.
“No, I will. I’ll become your bride in exchange for their leader.”
“What?” Jimin turns to you so fast that you think he’ll give himself whiplash, staring at you in disbelief. He must have heard you incorrectly, why would you say something like that? Placing his hands on your shoulders, he turns you to look at him, checking your face for any hints of a lie. “You can’t be serious.”
“I am serious, Jimin.” You say, looking back at his eyes. “If I offer myself to him, then Nissa will be free to go and there’s a chance for this place to be saved.”
“Yeah, but... we’re not even fairies. We don’t belong here. Why would you trade your own freedom for them?”
“Just because we aren’t one of them, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do everything in our power to help them. Their situation is hopeless without us, I can’t just sit here and let them suffer— not when I can do something about it.” It’s not that Jimin didn’t want to help them, it’s just that he’s not willing to give you up in exchange. And yes, all of your plans have worked so far, but this is going a little overboard.
“I want to help them too, but isn’t there another way?”
“This is the best way.” You say resolutely.
“But I can’t let you, (Y/n)! I can’t let you live with bugs for the rest of your life. Forget that, I can’t let you marry anyone else! I want to be the one you spend the rest of your life with— I love you! And I’m not willing to give you up for anything.” Your heart skips at his confession, your resolve wavering for a second. He’s never said anything like that to you before and it almost makes you dizzy with emotion. “I said I would keep you safe through all of this, and if we learned anything throughout this experience it’s that we need to work as a team, so it would be irresponsible of me to let you go through with this. Don’t forget, this is real life, no matter how surreal it seems, and you have a life to go back to after this.” His eyes are pleading, but you’ve already decided on this.
“You said you trusted me.” You say quietly, lip in a straight line.
“I do, but-“
“Do you trust me?” You ask again, his mouth left open with unspoken words. He takes a moment to answer, dropping his head.
“Yes.”
“Then trust that I know what I’m doing. We’re still a team, babe, I can’t do this without you. Go save their leader and trust that I’ll be okay. I have a feeling that everything will turn out well in the end.” Though his heart is hurting, Jimin let’s go of your shoulders, frowning deeply with conflicting emotions swimming in his eyes. For who?, he wants to ask, but he can’t say anything more.
“Now that I look at you, you are quite pretty.” The fairy walks up to you, bowing and kissing your hand. “Hello, I’m Hix. And you are?”
“(Y/n).” You reply simply, his lips feeling ticklish on your hand like when the wings were being attached to your back.
“And what are you, exactly?” He directs the question to both you and Jimin, but Laila answers.
“Humans. From a distant land.” Her arms are crossed and she’s still giving him the most disgusted look possible, but he doesn’t seem to notice.
“I’ve never seen a human before... they must be rare. Esteemed much higher than a fairy leader.” Hix thinks aloud, a finger on his chin. After a few seconds of deliberation, he comes to the conclusion that this is a worthy trade. “Come with me. We can discuss this further once we’re inside.”
“What about him?” You point to Jimin and Hix pauses, raising an eyebrow.
“What about him?” He asks incredulously.
“He should come with us. He’s my... assistant.” You say slowly, hoping the excuse works. None of this matters if Jimin isn’t welcome in the fortress with you. Hix accepts with little thought, leading you away with a short farewell to your fairy accomplices, but Alva pulls Jimin aside as he passes her.
“Don’t worry, (Y/n)’s a smart girl and she can talk her way out of almost anything. She has a plan, just make sure you get Nissa out of there.” She leaves him with that as he follows you through the army of stink bugs, each of them dispersing once you reach the fortress.
His home is nothing to brag about, it doesn’t come close to the innovation and beauty of Laila and Alva’s place, but it is structurally sound and complex, so it has a few things going for it. It’s colors are of mud and dead plants, it’s foundations rooted in the bleak gray of smooth stones, and you find it to be quite depressing.
“Do you live here alone?” You ask. You can’t imagine staying in a place like this all by yourself. Maybe that’s why he’s so desperate to find a wife.
“Yes. I also built this place by myself, so it’s very personal.” The smile on his face is proud and your eyebrows scrunch in sympathy. He leads you two to a wide room before he remembers that Jimin is with you, turning abruptly to face him.
“You may leave us now, assistant.” He commands rudely, and you reach for Jimin’s hand just as he makes his exit.
“Here. Take this to her.” You whisper, slipping the bag of Fairy Dust to him discreetly. Of course, he’s reluctant to leave you alone with this strange fairy, but you seem confident so he’ll do his best for you. Since there is no one else around, not even guard bugs, he is free to roam the fortress, and he enters a hallway to begin the search for Nissa.
The building is much more complex than he expected. The hallways wind and most lead to dead ends, leaving him confused in a maze of empty, doorless rooms. Jimin finds that the fortress isn’t completely deserted, there were a few close calls with some bugs that were monitoring certain hallways, but after searching surrounding areas he comes to the conclusion that they must be guarding something important.
Maybe I can just walk past them? He thinks, biting his plush bottom lip as he spies on the occupied corridor from around the corner. He is a guest here after all. But what would he do if they questioned him, or worse, what if they attacked? Since he knows none of their language and he isn’t sure they can understand him, he goes with a stealth tactic.
Shimmying along the brown walls, Jimin moves as slowly as possible so as not to draw any attention to himself. There’s another turn up ahead, just before the entry way that the insects keep watch over, and the plan is to slip into it and cause a distraction in the opposite direction to get them to walk away. He thinks he’s seen that in a movie somewhere, but he’s praying it’ll work in real life. The halls are wide to accommodate the girth of the shelled backs of Hix’s soldiers and Jimin feels exposed, inching his way toward the opening and hoping they don’t spot him. Of course, the bugs are low to the ground, crawling around on all fours which would make his feet very easy to spot from their vantage point, but they appear to be talking with one another, their heads so small compared to their bodies that he can’t even see their mouths. They probably wouldn’t be able to do much if they did decide to attack, but he wouldn’t risk it to find out. He continues at his painstaking pace noiselessly, holding his breath to make 2 bold leaps into the opening, so close to them that the breeze from his motion causes them to look up.
They make a noise but make no attempts to investigate, and after a few silent seconds, Jimin throws out his distraction. The only thing he has on him is the whistle Laila gave him and the bag of Fairy Dust, so he fishes the small shiny tool out of his pocket and holds it in his palm, hoping dearly that he won’t need it in the future. He isn’t even sure Nissa is behind this door, so losing important items could be costly, but he has to trust himself. You’re counting on him after all. And you’d probably come up with a silly plan like this if you were in his situation too. He tries to have a little more faith. With 2 short deep breaths, Jimin gathers his courage and throws the whistle down the hall, snatching his head back behind the cover and closing his eyes when it clinks loudly against the dry walls. Now he’s caught—he’s sure— because they have to walk right past him to reach the noise and he tenses in preparation.
But miraculously, the plan works!
The pair of stink bugs crawl swiftly to the end of the corridor, giving him the perfect opportunity to slip into the now unguarded room. Upon entering, he sees what appears to be a normal bedroom, decorated nicely with windows that overlook the water and furniture that would make for comfortable living. But oddly, the room is unoccupied. Surely this would be where Hix would keep the fairy leader, unless this is his personal bedroom and he just has very feminine taste. But she’s nowhere to be found and disappointment curls around the pit of Jimin’s stomach. As a last effort, he calls out her name, wondering if she would be hiding somewhere.
“Nissa?” A few seconds go by and nothing happens, but just as he turns to leave, motion in the corner of the room startles him. Seeming to peel right from the wall itself is a figure, invisible at first glance, but slowly morphing into a distinguished body right before his eyes. Nissa changes color as she walks up to him, eying him suspiciously with every tentative step.
“Who are you?” Her voice is high but strong, her stance so intimidating that Jimin feels as though she were here to rescue him and not the other way around. She is most definitely a warrior.
“Uhm,” He clears his throat when his voice threatens to crack. “Alva and Laila sent me and my girlfriend here to help you escape. I-if you want to.”
She lets out a hearty laugh at that, her defensive posture slacking into something more relaxed and casual, and subconsciously Jimin’s body does the same. “I’ve been planning an escape for days, I can’t wait to get out of this place.” He wants to say something else, but instead he just stands awkwardly for a few seconds. Clearly, he isn’t as good with people as you are. “So, you’re human?”
“Yes.” He tilts his head at her and she grins.
“Laila must have done a pretty good job with the spell if you’re still in one piece.” His eyes widen as she walks past him, looking through the opening of the doorway.
“Why haven’t you escaped yet? The door’s wide open.” Actually there’s no door, but those are technicalities. He watches with interest as she presses her hand to the thin air, pulling it back sharply as though she had been shocked. But he’d just entered through there, there’s no way it could be sealed off.
“Hix sealed this room with magic. Don’t worry, though, it only works on fairies so you shouldn’t be affected by the barrier. My plan was to make the room look empty so he’d think I had already escaped, then to leave once he broke the barrier; but since you’re here I can use a different strategy.” Nissa turns to Jimin abruptly, her smooth features glowing brighter with an idea. “I need materials. Can you get them for me?”
“Oh, that reminds me!” Jimin gives her the bag of Fairy Dust that he had nearly forgotten about, and the relief on her face is clear once it’s in her possession. She thanks him, thinking quickly before nodding her head.
“Okay. I need a leaf and some wood. There should be a stash of leaves somewhere on the other side of this fortress and twigs scattered outside.” Just as Jimin goes to step out of the door, the guards return, stopping in front of the doorway without even glancing inside. He ducks behind the wall just to be sure, he and Nissa sharing a brief wide-eyed look. She grabs his wrist and wordlessly pulls him to the far side of the room, opening the bag of Fairy Dust he had just given her and pulling out a fist full. Jimin watches with fascination as she manipulates it between her hands, the consistency changing right before his eyes as she displays her mastery with the medium. Soon, it’s worked into a thin film and before he can react, she holds up her palms to him and blows into it like a bubble, the film stretching over his body from head to toe until he’s completely covered. Nissa pinches off the bubble, but it doesn’t pop. Instead, it tightens around him like a second skin, leaving him glistening and shiny with the odd texture of the material. “There.” She says proudly, grinning when he gives a ticklish shiver.
“What is this?” From what he can tell, nothing has changed except for the fact that he looks like he's wrapped in plastic.
“I just made you invisible. Now, you can leave without being noticed,” She explains, turning and pushing him toward the door. “They won’t be able to see what you’re holding when you’re like this, but they can still hear you, so be as quiet as possible. Now go, time is of the essence!”
Ever so carefully, Jimin steps out of the room and around the bugs. He presses himself to the wall, hoping that he doesn’t accidentally touch one of them or make a noise— he’s known to be pretty clumsy, so he needs to be extra careful. The hallways are fairly clear, he has an easy time making it to the other side of the fortress and gathering a leaf from what looks to be a break room of sorts. Next is the wood, and his plan is to slip outside, but just as he is passing by the large room that you’re in, he hears something curious.
“Ow!” You hiss, a scowl etched into your features as Hix prods you with a wooden staff. You appear to be frozen in place, your body unnaturally rigid, and telling by the shimmering quality of your clothes and skin, Hix probably cast some sort of spell on you.
“This is very interesting,” He hums, jabbing you in the back near your shoulder blades. “You look like you should have wings. They should be right here.” He drags the staff along your back, obviously perplexed. “Is this a genetic defect of some sort? You say you’re human?”
“Are you finished?” You ask impatiently, ignoring his questioning.
“I don’t entirely trust you yet. I need to make sure you aren’t just a fairy that’s trying to trick me to help Nissa escape. Even if you are who you say you are, there’s no guarantee that I’ll let her go. Surely I’ll gain some status if I have 2 wives. One who’s powerful and one that’s exotic.” He continues to circle you. Jimin fumes at that, ready to do something, but then you speak again.
“What’s your goal here?” You seem calm, and something tells him to wait.
“What do you mean?”
“Why are you doing this? Why did you suddenly decide to kidnap Nissa and invade this area?” Hix debates whether or not he should tell you this or not, but in the end, opens up. There’s just something about you that makes people do that.
“The fairies treated me so poorly here. I was an outcast and everyone always excluded me, barely even considering me a fairy just because I had a knack for destroying things. Do you know how it feels to be rejected by your own people? Well I’ll tell you: it sucks. Most bugs didn’t even want to socialize with me, having heard rumors from the fairies about me and not even giving me a chance. I was sad and lonely and spiteful, so I decided that I’ll become powerful and gain control over this side of the water and force everyone to pay attention to me!”
“Is that what you want? Attention?”
“Yes. I want everyone to acknowledge me and see that I’m not worthless. If I control the waterway, I control everything. And if I have the fairy leader at my side as my wife, there’s no way anyone can ignore me anymore. I won’t have to be lonely or outcast, pushed to the corner where I’m out of sight and out of mind. My friends on the other side of the stream helped me realize that if I want to be happy, I need to be at the top.” He says this thoughtfully, placing his poking stick to the side and coming to stand in front of you.
“But this won’t make you happy. Sure, you’ll be married and may be able to control this area, but really, all you’ll have is a wife that doesn’t love you and a land full of people that hate you. They all know you kidnapped Nissa so she isn’t really on your side, and that your minions are destroying this place. The type of attention you’re getting from this isn’t the kind you want, trust me. It’s only confirming their thoughts about you.” He narrows his eyes at you, clearly disliking your reasoning.
“Then what do you suggest I do?” As the two of you stand face to face, Jimin decides to take this chance to creep over and steal Hix’s wooden stick. That way he won’t be able to poke you anymore and will inadvertently be aiding in his captive’s escape. Jimin hadn’t planned on staying to listen to your conversation, but what you say next makes him pause.
“What you need is to find real love and passion. I have someone that I love with my whole heart and I’ve been so happy since I met him. He’s a person that makes me feel brave, that would protect me at all costs, that takes me on adventures outside of my comfort zone, and I’ve grown so much just from being around him. On top of that, he helped me find my passion for exploration and travel, and we’ve had so many new experiences together that I wouldn’t have even dreamed of with anyone else. That’s what you need. You need someone— a lover or a friend— that challenges you and makes you happy. All of this stuff is great, but it doesn’t mean anything to you. In fact, all it does is hurt the people involved, including yourself. You’re not a bad person, you just need to branch out and find yourself. Let all of this go and find what really brings you joy.”
Was what you said true? Did you really feel that way about him? Jimin feels like his heart is about to burst at your confession. Although it wasn’t meant for him to hear, that makes it that much more sincere. He told you he loved you a little while ago and you didn’t even react, but hearing you say this eases every worry he had. Now motivated more than ever to finish this ordeal and get back to normal life with you, he snatches up the stick and hurries back to Nissa as Hix thinks over your words, his resolve looking shaken.
“You’re back!” She says as he enters, looking at him as though she can see him. She removes the spell on him, the film around him disappearing with the flick of her hand. Swiftly, she takes the leaf and staff from Jimin, moving to a table to drop the contents onto a prepared pile of dust. “Hix’s staff? Nice choice.” She giggles inspecting the wood with satisfaction before coating the items in the powder. After less than a minute she produces her finished product, the new staff glowing brightly. “Hold this.”
She thrusts it into his hands, and to his surprise, it’s quite heavy compared to the almost weightless stick he brought to her. Nissa walks over to the barrier, hands covered in dust, and places them in the center. Her palms move over the barrier independently, as if searching for something, and after a few seconds, she returns to him to take the staff back with now clean hands. He watches in awe as spots of gold seemingly float in midair as if attached to glass and the fairy walks over wielding her tool, not hesitating for a second before thrusting the blunt edge into the gold spots. Sparkles radiate out along the doorway with every strike, her technique looking like a fencing player expertly brandishing her rapier, and as soon as the last spot is pierced, the barrier flashes once and dissipates into a plume of dust. The dust lands on the stink bugs underneath, both of them falling to the floor, and the woman simply steps over their sleeping bodies without batting an eyelash.
“Come on, let’s go!” She waves him over, snapping Jimin out of his stupor as he follows her into the hall. They make their way back to you cautiously, avoiding all enemies as they navigate through the fortress.
Meanwhile, you sit with Hix on one of the benches in the center of the large room, your backs facing the entrance. You didn’t mean for this to turn into a therapy session, but somehow you ended up listening to all of his problems and sympathizing with the struggles he’s faced leading up to this, trying to help resolve this conflict peacefully.
“If you have friends on the other side of the stream, why don’t you just move there and live with them?” You ask, eyebrows furrowed in pity. “You would have a better life where they already accept you, instead of trying to force others to see your worth here.”
After giving this some thought, Hix stares out of the window in front of you. The water passes lazily outside, the other side looking several times farther away than when you were normal sized. “Maybe you’re right... but I put so much time and effort into this plan, I can’t give it up so easily.”
“You can! I know it seems like a waste of time, but the damage hasn’t been done yet. Things aren’t set in stone, you can still change your path and redirect yourself in a better direction. You haven’t married Nissa yet and your stink bugs haven’t destroyed this area, but if you continue like this, you may end up doing something irreversible and regretting it. Walk away now and start over. People don’t get many chances to do that in life.”
“But-“ He shakes his head. “They’re never going to forgive me for what I’ve done. I kidnapped their leader and threatened our home!” His head drops to his hands, and you put a hand on his back.
“They might not ever be able to forgive you, and that’s okay. But what’s important is that you never forget and use this experience to better yourself as a fairy. Look back on who you are now and tell yourself that you’ll never make the same mistakes again. I believe in you, Hix. I know you aren’t bad, you’ve just had a hard life— and I know I can’t do anything to make up for that, but I truly wish you the best in the future.” Your smile brings him to lift his eyes to look at you.
He sighs, looking at your sparkling eyes. You seem passionate about this and he can’t understand why you care so much about this. About him. You aren’t even a fairy from here, yet you’ve shown him more compassion than anyone in his entire life. And for the first time, his heart thumps wildly in his chest with warmth.
Nissa and Jimin arrive at the doorway, both peeking their heads in to see what was happening. They see you talking with Hix, your backs facing them, but the fairy looks to be in some sort of turmoil next to you, his head in his hands, looking mildly distressed. Jimin moves to interrupt, but Nissa holds her hand out in front of him, whispering to keep watching before taking action.
“I’ve had a change of heart because of you. I think it would be best if I did move to the other side of the water, away from the creatures I hurt and oppressed here. You’ve opened my eyes, (Y/n). You truly are a beautiful soul inside and out.”
He looks up at you again before suddenly lunging at you and pulling you into a hug, but from another perspective it looks as though he’s grabbing you and pulling you to him against your will. Nissa and Jimin gasp as they see your eyes wet with tears, and as soon as one slips down your cheek, they jump into action.
“I’m sorry you were treated so badly here. I wish I was born a fairy so that I could be your friend and change how things were for you.” You mumble sadly into the embrace, to which he chuckles.
“Thank you for your empathy, but you do not mean that. You have another life to live. Go be happy with your lover and tell him that you love him everyda-“
THUNK!
Nissa storms over from her hiding place and swings her club down, landing squarely on the back of Hix’s head. A short scream falls from your lips when he goes limp, the noise echoing in the room as he falls out of your arms and off of the bench onto his face, laying flat on the floor. Jimin pulls you up and into his arms, replacing the space where your new friend had been without a second thought. Cradling you into his chest, he misses the horrified look you have on your face.
“Did he hurt you? Are you okay? Did he touch you or make you do anything against your will?” His eyes are worried and you almost don’t have it in your heart to be angry. Almost.
“What the hell are you doing?!” You shout, looking down at his body. “Oh my god, did you kill him?” Jimin holds you as you try to go over to Hix, but you rip out of his grasp to kneel down to your new friend.
“Of course I didn’t kill him, he still needs to face the consequences of his crimes. I just knocked him unconscious.” The fairy beside Jimin says nonchalantly, looking incredibly satisfied with the sight of him lying unconscious.
“Why? He just agreed to let us go and move to the other side of the water! We resolved this peacefully!” Your eyes are flames as you look at them, and Nissa’s mouth falls open.
“Wait, he what?!” Even Jimin looks surprised. Yes, you are the most charming and persuasive person he’s ever met, but did you really sweet talk a villain in such a short amount of time?
Before you can say anything, several stink bugs enter the room, the commotion causing them to check on their leader. Their tiny eyes land on you leaning over his limp body, Nissa with a club and Jimin standing suspiciously near the scene of the crime. You try to explain— as if they would even understand you— but the wings on their backs open up and they begin to charge toward you aggressively.
There’s little time to react as Jimin grabs hold of your wrist and pulls you up, dragging you along as he follows the fleeing fairy that dashes toward the exit. You have no choice but to run with them, looking behind you only to be met with the large armored bodies of your pursuers. They close in from the left, right, and from behind as you head toward the door, close to cutting off your exit. You and Jimin sprint past Nissa when she suddenly twists around to face them, and with one swing of her club, the bugs are pushed backwards, allowing the three of you to make your escape.
Fresh air slaps you in the face once you make it outside, the humidity and guilt feeling suffocating in your lungs. In your heart you know this isn’t right. You connected with Hix, you made so much progress with him, but in the end violence was still used to get your way despite that. Yes, you and Nissa escaped, but someone else was hurt in the process. If Hix decided to go back to his original plan, you wouldn’t blame him, but you still feel horrible about how things turned out. You suppose your gut feeling was wrong after all.
“Babe, we have to keep running or they’ll catch us!” Jimin breathes exasperatedly, your feet slowing down beneath you without you noticing. A swarm of guards are now flying in from all sides, there’s no way you’ll be able to get around them. But that doesn’t mean Nissa won’t try, the fairy flying up to smack down the insects in an attempt to clear a path. But she’s just one woman and it won’t be enough, and you can’t force yourself to keep going. Just then, Alva and Laila appear, joining their warrior leader in the battle, knocking down the bugs to help you advance forward, but by now, you’ve stopped running. “(Y/n)!” Jimin pleads, tugging on your arm, but you ignore him.
Looking around, all you can see is a mess of flailing bodies and Fairy Dust, warriors attacking each other for an irrelevant cause. The sounds of buzzing and grunts fills your ears at an unsettling volume. It’s pure chaos. You hoped to avoid this— a war where others get hurt instead of solving things diplomatically and sensibly. As the appointed “diplomat”, you supposed you failed if things had to come to this.
“Alva, Laila, Nissa! Please stop!” You shout at them when one falls to the ground roughly. “You don’t need to fight, Hix has changed! He was about to let us go, there’s no need to fight unnecessarily!” They barely spare you a glance, the three of them trying to push through the blockade.
“Then why are they attacking you?” Alva points out, ducking as one bug tries to tackle her.
“You really believe he’s changed?” The leader asks, strained.
“Yes, he has. I could tell just by looking at him, he was telling the truth.” Nissa looks unconvinced, scoffing at your response.
“Then you don’t know him like I do.” She clearly doesn’t trust what you say, so you turn to your boyfriend, hoping he’ll be more understanding. Jimin looks at you and into your eyes, reading your emotions as if they were written in ink. He knows from experience that you’re a great judge of character and that you’re seldom wrong about things like this, but at the same time, you’re talking about the person who has tormented this side of the stream so much that the fairies here needed to recruit the two of you for help. It’s hard to believe that you’d be able to change him so easily. Only a few seconds pass but he feels like he’s standing there for minutes debating on if he should take your side or not. But he trusts you— you need him to trust you— so he does.
“I believe you.” He says quietly, letting go of your arm, much to your relief. You’ve always been a pacifist, so he knows you’ll take this personally if anything bad happens to any of your comrades. He calls up to the others. “If she says he’s changed, then he has! Please, stop fighting.”
“How can you be so sure?” Laila questions, looking down at the two of you briefly.
“I know my girlfriend. (Y/n) wouldn’t lie about something like this.” As he speaks, nobody notices the male exiting the fortress with a throbbing head, looking out at all of the action in front of him. “Laila, Alva, you brought us here to help save your land, and it was (Y/n) who convinced me to help you do it. The least you could do is believe her and listen to what she has to say. She cares so deeply about this place after only being here for a short time, she would never do anything to hurt you. Just please stop attacking and listen. You don’t have to believe her right now but at least stop fighting.” Jimin isn’t nearly as eloquent with his words as you are, but you can’t help but smile at his short speech. It may not mean anything that he’s taking your side, but you appreciate the support nonetheless. And to your surprise, everyone does stop fighting soon after.
The stink bugs land in an orderly pattern, standing solidly like before as Hix approaches dizzily from behind. Your three friends land as well, glaring at the man who now holds his head with a sorrowful look on his face. Without seeing him, you step forward, prepared to explain all that you have learned. You tell them of how you listened to Hix (the first time anyone has ever done that) and found that he was just a misunderstood and lonely villain of their own creation. You spoke of how he simply wanted to be acknowledged, and how all of the creatures around did everything in their power to make sure he never received that acknowledgement by spreading untrue rumors about his character. Hix isn’t evil, you explained, he’s just desperate to be one of them, and if it took him going to such extreme measures for them to finally notice him and his struggles, then the problem lies with them and not him.
“So he won your pity? Good for him. But that still doesn’t excuse what he’s done.” Alva crosses her arms, followed by Nissa, Laila staying silent.
“Yes, I know.” He finally speaks up from behind you, looking dejected and apologetic when you snap your head around to look at him. Upon seeing him, Jimin steps in front of you out of instinct, not liking how physically close the two of you were before the escape. You trust Hix, but it is still his duty to make sure that you are safe. Your hand rests on his side, but you don’t push him out of the way, simply peeking out from behind his back to watch as the fairy speaks. “I know that what I have done is unforgivable, but this human has given me a lot of insight. Enough to change my heart.”
They scoff at him, but refrain from speaking at your sharp glare. Hix approaches you, but Jimin stands firm, holding his arms out to block him— something that surprises the mud colored fairy before you.
“It’s okay, Jimin.” You say, placing a gentle hand to his shoulder in reassurance. Hix looks on in awe as you stare into each other’s eyes, communicating in an unspoken language that makes your boyfriend slowly comply and allow you to step into the open. But he still makes sure you’re right at his side. He won’t let you out of his sight again.
“I see. So this “assistant” is your lover?” Hix grins in realization, donning sparkles in his eyes. You nod. “I’ve never... known love or kindness. But seeing you like this, and having experienced the kindness you showed to me— a complete stranger— makes me want to find it on my own. Away from here.” His fingers are soft when they touch your arm, color painting his cheeks. Nissa gapes at this, not having seen the man be so tender before. She’s only seen his bitterness or the mocking, teasing persona he used when addressing Laila, whom he’s long had a crush on. He turns to them, addressing the three that stare in shock. “No amount of apologies will undo the trouble I’ve caused, but I’m willing to take whatever punishment you all decide for me. I want you to know that I plan on moving to the other side of the water, where I was more welcome there than I ever was here, and I will never bother you again. Nissa, I’m sorry I kidnapped you.” He looks down sheepishly. “It was very childish of me to think that it would solve anything, and instead it just caused more conflict and fighting. You are completely justified in knocking me out. Let this lump on the back of my head be a reminder of my wrongdoings and keep me on the right path.”
You stifle a laugh at that, biting your lip to hide your smile.
Then, Hix turns to you once more, looking between you and Jimin’s faces. “You are very wise,” You blush at this, feeling the earnestness in his compliment. “You said earlier that this person is someone you love, correct?” He asks, pointing to Jimin, to which you nod shyly. “Well, he is very lucky to have someone like you: someone so sincere and caring. Never change.” His eyes find Jimin’s. “I don’t know much about love, but she thinks of you very fondly. Please treat her with all the delicacy in the world and never let her go.”
He doesn’t know what to say to that, blushing furiously at your confession coming from the wrong mouth. You try not to look mortified when he looks down at you, your cheeks shaded prettily as well and lifted into a soft smile. He doesn’t plan on letting you go any time soon, and this whole experience has made him want to hold on to you tighter than before.
“What should we do with him?” Nissa whispers to her companions, eyeing the remorseful male that comes to stand in front of her.
“You are our leader, I think you should decide.” Alva replies. An odd look crosses Nissa’s face then, one that almost mirrors her enemy’s as they look back at each other.
“I’m your leader...” She mutters thoughtfully before standing straight. “I’m no leader. I caused everything that’s happened, everything that Hix has done. The rumors that ruined his reputation: I started them. I... I didn’t realize that my words could have so much power— that as the leader of the meadow that I had the strength to destroy someone just by giving my misguided opinion of them. No, I never liked you Hix,” He rolls his eyes at that. “But I never meant to cause you such pain. You deserve to live a normal life, so as leader I will allow you to leave without punishment.” Shocked, he bows his head in thanks.
“How noble and humble of you to admit your faults.” Laila comments quietly, her cheery attitude returning.
“Furthermore,” Nissa continues. “I’m stepping down.”
“What?! You can’t do that!” Alva protests loudly, eyebrows shooting up as she leaves the ground just slightly in her surprise. Laila also seems shocked, but she grabs her lover’s arm and tells her to calm down and let her explain.
“A real leader doesn’t slander others mindlessly. They are diplomatic and generous with a perfect balance of modesty and fierceness. I believe Laila fits that description perfectly.” Everyone turns to her then, your eyes lighting up when they meet hers for the first time this entire night. “Laila, I name you the new leader of the meadow. We can officially title you in front of everyone in the morning.”
You all clap, Alva jumping on her in a tight hug, the taller fairy spinning her girlfriend around before setting her feet back to the ground. Jimin smiles at the adorable display, his arm thoughtlessly wrapping around your waist and pulling you into his side. Your eyes are glued to him as he watches the happy couple. You’re happy he’s here with you through all of this. It’ll all feel like a crazy dream in the morning, but at least he’ll be there to recount all of your experiences with you.
“Since you’re giving up your position, whatdoya say we both start over across the water?” Hix interjects, wiggling his eyebrows at Nissa. “We could build a new place, find ourselves-“
“NO.” She cuts him off sharply, her wings twitching similarly to Alva’s.
“Well, then... I guess it’s time for me to go.” He says, pout on his lips, but it disappears when he turns to face the stream. In his eyes, you can see him envisioning his new future, the possibilities of having a new life where he doesn’t have to feel lonely and rejected anymore. You wish him the best, you truly do. He walks up to the water’s edge, dipping himself in safely and re-emerging looking clean. His real complexion is actually a dark leafy green, and you assume he colored himself brown to fit in with the stink bugs. He calls the creatures and they come flying up to him, all of them floating over the water together and dispersing into the wildlife there.
“I guess my gut feeling was right after all.” You tell Jimin, giving him a toothy grin. “Everything turned out just fine.”
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You ride Garnet back to the meadow, yawning and resting your cheek on Jimin’s back for the entirety of the trip. It’s mostly silent, the breeze whistling lullabies into your ears and combing through your hair sweetly as you fly over the terrain. The spies are gone, you notice, the highly policed skies looking empty and calm. Many creatures have already started migrating closer to the water and you presume that Hix’s fortress won’t be standing for much longer once the insects get ahold of it, tearing it down to get to the bank of the water and restore their supply. You feel proud of you and Jimin for accomplishing your outlandish mission, and you whisper as much to him in the quietness of the night.
With one stop to visit and say your goodbyes to the friendly mushroom fairy, Bayard, you’re off to Nissa’s home, which you find out is right next to Alva and Laila’s.
“Alright,” She says, guiding you and Jimin inside her abode. “Time to make that reversal spell. If I can remember it.” She mutters the last part, causing your eyebrows to scrunch, but she waves you off when you question it.
“Thank you for helping us.” Laila walks up to you, meeting your gaze for the second time. She doesn’t seem as intimidated by you anymore, which is a relief. But her cheeks still flame the longer you hold eye contact. “We couldn’t have done this without you. Both of you.” Then she turns to Jimin. “Remember what we talked about. Never be embarrassed.”
You look between the two of them as he nods, neither saying anything more than that, but you’ll let them keep their secrets. She hugs both of you and then it’s Alva’s turn to say her last few words to you.
“Thank you both. I wasn’t sure if you’d be able to pull it off, but things turned out better than I could have hoped. Really, you two are lovely, come visit us again sometime if you can. Then you’ll get to see how beautiful the meadow is in times of peace.” She pulls you both into an awkward side hug that makes you giggle, her own cheeks pink and wings flicking when you tease her about it.
“Mm, I think this is it!” Nissa chimes, scooping the now blue Fairy Dust into a bag. “Are you two ready?” At your okay, they fly you back to your purple blanket, placing you in the center where you find other bugs inspecting the odd surface. “I guess I should say thanks as well. You didn’t have to save me, but I really appreciate that you did.” She bows her head at you, taking both you and Jimin’s hands in hers to show her gratitude.
A ticklish feeling overtakes your whole body when she sprinkles the blue dust onto you, but this time you don’t faint. You watch as the waving fairies become smaller and smaller, their figures disappearing until they are nearly microscopic to you. The blades of grass around the perimeter of your blanket shrink too, as well as the trees and fireflies surrounding you, all returning to normal proportions that take a minute for your mind to process.
“We’re finally normal again.” Jimin sighs, looking at his body and the area around you. It does feel better to know that your chances of being smashed by something are significantly lower now.
“Was that... real?” It feels fake, like a pipe dream, and when you check your phone you find that only an hour has passed since you first got there. “That can’t be right.” You blink a few times, both you and him staring at the time in confusion.
“Time must move slower when you’re that tiny.” He reasons, running a hand through his hair. You take the time to reorient yourself, gazing back up at the stars above you. They twinkle invitingly, their light feeling so much brighter after experiencing the darkness of the forest floor. You look over at Jimin to find that he’s already staring at you, looking as though he’s nervous about something.
“What?” You ask, eyes wide at the expression on his face. He takes a deep breath, your heart beating a thousand times faster.
“I...” Taking his lip between his teeth, he pauses to choose his words. “(Y/n), I love you.” Your heart flutters, and this time you let it. “I meant it when I said it earlier, I really do love you. I wanted tonight to be special so I brought you out here to a place that was special to me as a kid, and I wanted to confess to you here, but I wasn’t sure if you felt the same way. But I’m not afraid to say it anymore.” His hand finds yours, fitting perfectly like it was made to be there. “This whole experience made me realize how much I need you, and how terrified I am of losing you. I was so terrified that something bad would happen to you the entire time that I have a headache right now from all the stress!” You laugh, placing your free hand on the side of his face, fingertips grazing his temple. “But even though I was scared, you taught me how to be brave and step out of my comfort zone. I wanted to protect you, but somehow you ended up protecting yourself and saving the entire meadow with your amazing instincts (which is incredibly sexy, by the way), but now I feel like a useless sidekick. So, I guess the only thing I can offer a girl that has everything, is my heart. I don’t mind being your sidekick as long as I know you love me too.”
Jimin tends to ramble when he’s nervous, word vomiting everything that’s on his mind, but it’s one of his charms that you find absolutely adorable. You can’t help but smile at his confession, the dampness of his palms melting you. “Of course I feel the same way, Jimin. Hix kinda confessed for me, but I still want to say it myself. Park Jimin, I love everything about you. You might feel like you’re my sidekick tonight, but we’ve been on so many adventures before this where you were the one who led me out of my comfort zone and taught me how to find my own courage. Do you remember our first date?” He giggles at the memory with you, looking away with fondness. “It was around Halloween and you convinced me to go to one of those haunted trails with you after I said I’d never been to one. And you pulled me along every step of the way and held me close so I wouldn’t get lost or hurt myself because I had my eyes closed the entire time.” You let out an embarrassed chuckle. You really have changed a lot since meeting him. “I think that was the day that I realized I was in love with you. Or at least that I would fall in love with you. I’ve never felt so safe and comforted in anyone’s arms before, but when you held me, it felt like home. Every time we went on an adventure, you were always the one to reassure me and make sure I was okay; that’s the reason why I slowly began to open up to the world and realize my passion for exploration. I don’t think you realize just how much of who I am today is because of you, Jimin.”
“You don’t mean that..” He says, though his love for praise starts showing in the pleased look he has in his eyes. You decide to indulge in it.
“I do! I’m only able to be brave because I know that you’re there to protect me. You saved my life twice tonight! And thank you for having my back and helping me stop the fighting. I couldn’t have saved the day without you.” His hand wraps around the wrist of your hand that still rests on his face, both of you looking into each other’s eyes lovingly.
“Of course, babe, we’re a team. Let’s always stay together.” He leans in to softly press his lips to yours, and you stay in that gentle kiss under the stars for an indeterminate amount of time, lost in each other’s embrace. When you pull away, you see shapes being drawn into the air, Fairy Dust in the shape of hearts traced above your heads, and you smile at the antics of your friends, wondering if they were listening the whole time. It’s a beautiful display that warms your heart. “I think it’s time to head back to camp.” Jimin says softly when you yawn, standing before extending a hand to you and pulling you up against his chest.
As you bend down to pick up your belongings, you feel something hard in your pocket and reach inside to pull it out. An unnaturally shimmery whistle rests between your fingers, now grown to a proportionate size as it must have been caught in the spell as well. You meet eyes with Jimin as he folds up the blanket, raising his eyebrows at you to blow it, and when you do fireflies come swirling up from the grass, synchronized and brilliant as they put on a spectacle for you. You can’t help the giggle that bubbles from your throat as you watch them perform, spelling their thanks to you and your boyfriend before one comes to land in the center of your hand.
“Thank you, Garnet. We’ll come back to visit someday.” She flutters her wings and flashes her colors at you before taking off again into the night, her light blending in against the starry sky as Jimin takes your hand to begin the trek back to your campgrounds.
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Kankuro + homesick
He’s homesick in a way that lacks true description. Kankuro’s ankles sink deep into the wet sand of the lake, green and flat with summer heat:
“This is my first time just ...” There’s a pause, and then he stops himself. His lover does not comment, instead opting to kiss the moles peppering his shoulder. He is pale and smooth, his skin almost too delicate when they run their nails over his back, tracing the divet of his spine. It’s too used to the confines of dark layers cloths that keep away the rays of the sun and curious claws of vermin, of touch.
Kankuro’s skin prickles, goose flesh creeping over his arms, but he doesn’t move away. Instead, he leans into the touch, an arm snaking around his lover’s waist.
“You look nice today,” he says, a comment made under his breath. As if there’s anyone around to hear his compliments. His verbal affection is always given freely but also always in hushed tones.
His lover gives a soft half smile, jutting their chin up with no small amount of pride that makes Kankuro smirk right back at them.
“Do you like it here?” They ask, his lips brushing their forehead so they cannot see his face.
He shrugs, giving their side an affectionate squeeze. “It’s stickier than I expected. Kind of stinks.”
“The weather has been pretty stagnant lately. Lakes on a good day tend to smell like fish,” they pull away from Kankuro only to lead him by their linked hands further into the water, minnows scattering and the water clouding a tannish brown with their steps.
“I never said I didn’t like it,” his voice is soft, almost getting lost in the sound of cicadas in nearby trees. His voice is throaty with sleep, and his lover makes them stop when the water is lapping softly at their knees. They sink down, settling into the muddy sand, and as Kankuro copies them, his lover hooks their ankle over his. He gives them a cheeky kind of smile, his hand trailing over their knee before giving the soft meat of their thigh a soft squeeze.
“It’s quiet,” he comments, the hot blanket of a humid summer day dragging over both of them in a lazy heap.
“It is quiet,” his lover agrees, finding his hand yet again in the water, their fingers interlocking loosely. There’s something almost sleepy in Kankuro’s face, and his lover smiles.
They fall into a comfortable silence, soaking up the noises of the winding lake that separates northwest Wind Country and the southwest boarder of the Land of Fire. Trees rustle in the distance, wind currents failing to catch up to where the two sat. Kankuro was right: the stagnant air did nothing to carry the stink of half rotten fish away, and the smell only grew as the day wore on. In exchange for a gust of wind, however, the clarity of bird song was piercing, undistorted by breeze. It was a lazy noise, high pitched and the only thing to cut through the haze of heat. Kankuro yawned, his shoulders loosening in a way his lover had never seen before.
“You know,” he says, finally breaking the small lasp of silence between the two of them. His lover, blinks slowly, turning to look at him.
Kankuro’s head was bowed, his eyes glued to a dragonfly that had landed on his knee, half breeched from the water, “I really, really do love you.”
There’s a pause as they both look at the bug, oblivious to their talk as it’s wings flutter and it’s thorax twitches.
“I love you too,” they say, head tilting to the side. Before they could speak, Kankuro tilts his head, and goes, “did you know I met a guy in Konoha who could control bugs? Covered me in a bunch of beetles during the Chuunin Exams. I still have nightmares. Dude was creepy as hell.”
“Before or after you tried to invade his village?”
Kankuro laughs, “Well...”
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ardentguilt · 3 years
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((Orchard swallowtails are back so I’ve got this little friend to raise now. Wonder if they’ll be a he or she.
They may look scary because of the ‘spines’ and the horns they can display when startled but they’re pretty much harmless.
They won’t sting you and they generally won’t bite and even then if they do it’s nothing worse than a pinch. LITERALLY their only defence is to camouflage and stink. The horns that they protrude when startled emit a stink that deters predators however to us we can only smell it if we get right in close and it’s honestly not as bad as stink bug stink.
They turn into big beautiful butterflies and are found along the east of Australia. They favour citrus trees so if you want to maximise your chances of seeing some it’s worth having a lemon or orange tree.
These caterpillars will change color as they age ranging from this green and white coloration to a dark brown and white before they form a pupa and eventually emerge as a butterfly.
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aticklishtem · 4 years
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Weakness of Doom
((oh boy here I go bringing my bullshit into a new decade again~ this is dedicated to @ticklishjevil bc she is 100% to blame for my descent into ZADR hell and generally inspiring/encouraging the creation of this...thing!! I hope you’re proud of yourself darling 💖
ALSO I’m very sorry if the spacing/formatting is borked tumblr mobile is terrible but I am doing my best to fix as we speak ;w; ))
***
“Give it up, Zim! You’ll never get away with this!”
Dib had lost count of how many times he’d said that by now. Eight years, countless crazy schemes, a couple near total obliterations of the galaxy as they knew it and an almost equal tally of humiliating defeats and triumphant (if temporary) victories for both sides - somehow, it always seemed to come back to the two of them. Dib, Zim, the doomsday device of the day and this seemingly endless chase that remained as frustrating yet exhilarating as it was the day the green kid first rocked up to class. Would it ever end? That almost didn’t seem to matter at this point - this was the life Dib had chosen. As long as Zim was around, he had a purpose, a reason to get up in the morning, a duty to the rest of humankind to keep protecting his planet from impending extraterrestrial invasion...even if most of them remained too dumb to appreciate his efforts.
“You’re too late, Dib-stink!” cried the bug-eyed bane of his existence, waving around some kind of remote with a red button. “Just one press of this button, and every single whiffy signal -“
“...do you mean wi-fi?”
“Zim knows what Zim means!” he barked, an antenna twitching with irritation. “As I was saying, every signal will be scrambled, and without their mind-numbing entertainment, your fellow earthworms will inevitably turn on each other! Leaving the planet defenceless for when I, Zim...figure out how to do whatever it is I need to do to destroy you all!”
“Noooo! That’s…” Dib paused mid-dramatic wail. “Actually a pretty solid plan? I mean, I can see your logic. It’s definitely an improvement on some of your others, like that one with the rubber chickens -“
“Silence!” Zim pointed an accusing claw at him, though Dib could’ve sworn he preened a little at the almost-compliment, puffing up his chest and planting his free hand on his hip. “Of course it is foolproof! And if you imagine for a second that the amazing Zim could ever become so distracted by his own ingeniousness that he could be lured into monologuing until a hypothetical opportunity might arise for someone to take - hey gimme that back!”
Fortunately, some things had changed in all those years; puberty had been at least kind enough to Dib so he could now dangle his superior height - literally and metaphorically - over Zim’s head. “Sorry, what’d you say?” he taunted, holding his prize high out of his enemy’s reach after snatching it from his claws. “I couldn’t hear because of how much taller I am!”
His moment of glory was cut short, however, as Zim launched himself at him with a hiss like a feral cat, sending them both crashing to the floor in a tangle of limbs and antennae. They were still surprisingly evenly matched; Zim was a lot stronger than his size would suggest, but Dib now had the advantage of longer arms and legs to attempt to hold him off as they wrestled for the device. He might even have been winning - right up until Zim grabbed his side, claws digging into the sensitive spot just below his ribs.
Dib yelped, reflexively slamming his arm down to protect himself; before either could do anything, the remote flew out of his hand and across the room until it disappeared under one of Zim’s experiment tanks. Instead of running after it, Zim took advantage of the distraction to seize Dib’s wrist, pinning him to the floor.
“Ha!” Zim loomed over him, now straddling Dib’s waist so his maniacal grin filled his whole vision. “You flesh-bags really are pitiful, cowering in pain from the slightest touch!”
“That’s not what that - was…” Dib froze, heat rising to his cheeks as his nemesis bore down on him, now painfully aware of his compromising position. Zim couldn’t - did he even know what tickling was? Because this would be a really bad time for him to find out.
“...Eh?” Zim narrowed his eyes, curiosity flickering across his face alongside the usual suspicion and irritation. “What are you smiling about? Why is your grotesquely ginormous head so red?!”
“My head’s not bihihig!” Dib bit down on his lip, but he couldn’t stop a few embarrassing giggles from slipping out when Zim jabbed at his ribs again. He struggled to bat his hand away, but with only one arm free and Zim basically sitting on top of him, he wasn’t having much success. “Quihihit ihit!”
A shiver ran down his spine as he could practically see his doom unfold along with Zim’s smile, sadistic delight sparkling in his eyes, and oh god no Dib thought he was prepared for anything but please not this, anything but this, he’ll never live it down…
“Well, well - you really thought you could conceal such a glaring weakness from me?” he demanded, mercilessly prodding and pinching his way up Dib’s side. “I’d...sort of imagined more writhing in excruciating agony, but this is rather amusing too, watching you squirm like the wretched worm you are!”
“Thihis isn’t fahahahair!” Dib spluttered between peals of laughter; he hadn’t been tickled since he was a little kid, but this was so much worse because it was Zim and he hated giving him the satisfaction but was equally powerless to stop his body from reacting as those probing claws dug right into his horribly exposed armpit. “Zihihihim!”
“Yes, yes, I am Zim!” his foe cackled, releasing Dib’s wrist to attack with both hands, one even scuttling under his shirt - which was so far beyond fair - and scratching at the tender skin almost hard enough to hurt, but his gloves dulled the sensation so it just tickled even more. “If I had known you were this easily incapacitated, I could’ve built a device to take care of you long ago! Now, laugh, pathetic Dib-thing - admit your annihilation, or perish in helpless hysteria at the merciless claws of Zim!”
“Nehehehever - !” Dib had not foiled so many of Zim’s plans to let him win this one by tickling him, of all the cruel and unusual methods. There was only one way to fight back, and he had no idea if it’d even work on an alien, but what else did he have to lose, more of his dignity? Arms flailing as he tried desperately to suck in his stomach before those treacherous claws could get to his bellybutton, he eventually managed to grab a handful of Zim’s side and squeeze it repeatedly.
Zim let out a squawk like a bird having its feathers pulled out, letting go of Dib as he scrabbled to slap his hands away. “D-do not touch Zim with your fihilthy meat-sticks!”
Huh - that sounded like a game-changer, and now it was Dib’s turn to grin like a mad scientist as he kneaded Zim’s sides like his life depended on it - which it might - until he had an armful of squirming Irken trapped in an almost-hug, one arm around Zim’s waist with his PAK pressing against Dib’s chest.
“What’s the matter, does it tickle?” he asked, smirking from ear to ear as he savoured the sweetness of revenge - and possibly the most important discovery of his career as a paranormal investigator. “Is the mighty Invader Zim ticklish?”
“Lies! Cease! Ihihi’m gonna destrohohoy yooooou…!”
It wasn’t like he’d never heard Zim laugh before - only like every day since they were at skool - but this was different; less controlled and mocking, more free and almost joyful, even if it was a joy forced upon him as he writhed, kicked and cackled under Dib’s skittering fingers, exploring the surprisingly soft and smooth skin under his shirt. It wasn’t exactly an autopsy, but the thought that he might be the first to hear - the first to make Zim almost squeal when he wiggled his fingers under his arms - that was more deeply, weirdly, sadistically satisfying than anything he’d imagined. “Wow, I think you’re worse than I am! So are all Irkens this ticklish, or is it just you?”
“Zihim is telling you nohothihihihing!” Zim’s laughter seemed to jump an octave when Dib felt around his back; the skin around his PAK was slightly raised where it was embedded, which was interesting, mainly for the way he bucked and squirmed frantically as Dib traced it with his fingers. “GIR! Where are you?! Do something to make this stohohop!”
“Yes, master!”
Dib looked up just in time to see Zim’s robot assistant propelling towards him at alarming speed, his eyes blazing red. Before he could move to shield himself, however, GIR came to an abrupt stop, eyes flickering back to cyan and his metallic mouth stretching into its familiar hyperactive smile. “Ooooh! Tickle fight! I wanna plaaaay!”
“Now, GIR! Fire the - wait, no, what are you doing?! Put that back!” Both Zim’s and Dib’s eyes widened - in horror and intrigue respectively - as GIR plonked himself down on one of Zim’s legs, picked up the other and pulled his boot off. Dib had never actually seen his feet before, he realised; he had three toes, clawed like his fingers but a little shorter. Judging by how he scrunched them up when GIR prodded them, they were also pretty sensitive.
“This li’l piggy went to Foodcourtia,” GIR chirped, wiggling a toe; Zim made a strangled noise of protest and attempted to pull away, but Dib was still holding onto him. “This li’l piggy went home - aw, we outta piggies! And thiiis li’l piggy…”
“GIR - nooo!” Zim begged, and Dib could actually feel him tremble in his arms as his toes curled in anticipation of what was to come. “Don’t do this! You’re supposed to attack the intruder, not -“
“...went weeweeweeweeeeeeeee…!” GIR hugged Zim’s foot and scribbled furiously all over it, his tiny metal hands a blur as his master shrieked with laughter, helpless to escape his ticklish doom.
“How’s it feel, Zim, betrayed by your own minion?” Dib snickered along with him as it occurred to him he should probably be recording or taking photos of possibly the greatest moment of his life to date, but holding Zim captive and laughing helplessly was way too satisfying, tickling under his arms while GIR happily went to town on his foot. “Maybe I’ll just keep you like this - you’re not much of a threat to the Earth when you’re just a cute little giggly alien puddle…”
“Wh-whahahahahaaaaa?!”
The sheer incredulous outrage in Zim’s voice tore through the air, and Dib couldn’t help but wince, recoiling as the ear-splitting screech assaulted his eardrums. As his grip loosened, Zim wriggled free and kicked GIR off of him, scrambling back to his feet, and the chaos was replaced by an unusual and equally uncomfortable silence. (Apart from GIR eating popcorn out of his head as he watched them, and that was the most normal thing about this situation.)
“I - uh...“
“He thinks you cuuuute!” GIR giggled, grabbing Zim’s cheeks and squishing them together comically.
“No I don’t!” Dib felt his face flush under the spotlight of both GIR’s carefree smile and Zim’s laser-beam glare, the protest coming out just a little too quickly. “I was teasing you - it’s just a thing people say when they…”
He trailed off, because man, things had gotten weird, even by their standards. But this was still Zim, and he was still a jerk and evil and the total opposite of cute, even a little breathless with his clothes all rumpled and one foot still bare, antennae lowered and quivering and what looked suspiciously like an olive-coloured blush staining his cheeks. That warm feeling was just Dib enjoying the sight of his enemy humiliated in defeat, like anyone would. Right? That made sense.
“Give me my boot, GIR.”
“Go long!”
Zim caught the offending item without looking, but instead of putting it back on he hurled it at Dib, who dodged just before it smacked him in the face, bouncing off his shoulder instead.
“Ow - hey, that’s sharp!”
“Good! Suffer! That’s what you get for trying to taint the mighty name of Zim with your disgusting lies like…” He screwed up his face as if he could barely bring himself to spit out the word, making dramatic finger-quotes, “cute!”
“Okay, geez! It’s not like I meant it…” Dib rubbed his shoulder, shifting awkwardly - he wished they’d stop repeating the word like that. But even this momentary weirdness couldn’t change the fact that he’d just uncovered a significant weakness in his nemesis, even if he inconveniently shared it. He’d be an idiot not to exploit this for all it was worth, a smug grin tugging at his lips again as he picked up Zim’s boot. “But thanks for this. I bet I can get all kinds of useful evidence from a genuine article of alien clothing…”
“You…!” Zim’s eyes almost bugged out of his head as he let out an indignant splutter - only to break into a dangerously familiar smile before activating his PAK legs, towering over Dib with a renewed gleam of vengeance in his eye. “Enjoy your last few seconds of freedom, Dib-worm - we shall soon settle who is cute!”
“I’d like to see you - wait, what?!”
Dib didn’t have time to figure out what Zim meant by that as he darted for an escape route, still clutching Zim’s boot - but when he was quickly seized and hoisted into the air by a pair of metal spider legs, he was pretty sure things were only about to get a whole lot weirder.
But this was the life he’d chosen - and would he really want it any other way?
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kensboytoy · 5 years
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Barbie’s Hair Salon
Title: Barbie’s Hair Salon Fandom: Beetlejuice The Musical Pairings: Beetlejuice/Reader (Gender Neutral) Ratings: General
“And he was like ‘No way you can shove this baby Sandworm up your nose’, so I was like ‘Uh yeah, I totally can!’ And then I-”
“Beetlejuice,” you whined softly as his fingers ran along your scalp to get the hair dye to stick to your roots.
The demon had practically begged you to dye your hair something bold after you had mentioned liking his mood ring colours and how they suited him. While he couldn’t give you the same effect, he was desperate to make you look just as crazy as him. Which wasn’t a big vote of confidence considering how his own colour clung to his dirty, shaggy mound of fluff. It was cute in a trash sort of way but on you? Well, you had some doubts.
“You don’t have to help, you know. I told you I was just gonna go to the salon to get this done-”
He gasped, feigning shock with one hand over where his heart should be.
“A salon? I didn’t know that I was talking to high society!” The demon decided to mock you in that annoying voice he loved to do when belittling your ‘breather’ opinions. “Oh, I’m sorry Your Highness, I didn’t know you wanted to blow three hundred smackaroos when your b-f-f-f could do this for free.”
[Continue Reading or Read on AO3!]
You shrunk in your seat, feeling a little bit guilty. That kind of money to blow on something so frivolous? You felt bad for even suggesting it.
“I just meant that you didn’t have to be the one to do it, y’know. Didn’t wanna bug you with it,” you admitted sheepishly.
“Oh, honey, I used to dye my hair back in the day with fuckin’ Kool-Aid,” he snorted. “Now I just go to Hot Topic and pocket this shit for free. Waaaay better. Doesn’t make me wanna eat my goddamn hair now.”
“Beetlejuice!”
“What?” The man pouted at you, jutting out one hip to give you that level of sass you came to know and love. “Oh, stealing from a big corporation! Such a bad man I am! C’mon, babes, I’m a fucking demon. We’re not exactly kosher with trying to score brownie points, alright?”
You pinched the bridge of your nose in irritation. One day you’d go to that store and ‘accidentally’ leave them a wad of cash in Beetlejuice’s wake so the idiot didn’t get those poor kids fired.
“‘Sides, we’re so close to a whole new you! You’ll get more personality from my craftsmanship than some prissy know-it-all.”
Sighing, you let him continue so he would stop his pouting. You wanted to tease him about just how personal he was taking this but you kind of didn’t want him to fry your hair in revenge for making a stink. He’d do it too, the asshole. You’d be coming out looking like a fried Doc Brown if you weren’t careful. It wasn’t really the look you were going for this season.
Beetlejuice mumbled nonsense to himself as he circled around you while you sat idly. Maybe doing this in a kitchen was a dumb idea but he had insisted on washing your hair out in the sink. But you hadn’t noticed that he had let the dirty dishes stack up, Beej trying to use this as an excuse to get his one chore done while pretending he was being thoughtful. You’d yell at him upon finding out that your bowls were dyed the same colour as your hair.
Whenever you fidgeted, he swatted at you like an irritated mother scolding a kid for getting into the cookie jar. It was your turn to pout up at him but he seemed too preoccupied to care. You huffed and tried not to feel how sore your ass was from sitting in the same spot for what felt like hours now. It had taken ages for that bleach to soak in but at least this was the final step.
You actually didn’t know what colour Beetlejuice had chosen for you - he had insisted it remain a surprise until he blow dried your hair himself.
“No peeeeeking,” he crooned as you tried to sneak a glance in the reflection of your fridge. “It’s almost done, babes! C’mon, you have more patience than me don’tcha?”
“I dunno, Juice. You’re being such a tease about what colour you chose that it almost seems suspicious.”
“Suspicious? Me?” He chuckled and set your hair up under a showercap to allow you to move freely without worrying if dye would get all over the floor. “I told you I’d pick the colour that suits you the most! You don’t have trust in me?”
You rolled your eyes and strolled into the living room. He was right behind you, moving you out of the way so he’d get first dibs on a seat. You didn’t mind because you promptly sat down on your side and stretched out all over him. He gave a groan of protest but soon hooked an arm around you to cuddle as you lazily flipped through the streaming channels you had to watch something.
It didn’t take very long for you to nod off, remote slipping out of your hand and clattering onto the floor. Beetlejuice had watched you, more intrigued by you than whatever trash you had settled to watch. He smiled at how sweet you looked curled up against him. It made him feel so protective of you. You were his little breather.
Once enough time had passed, you were jostled awake by the impatient being.
“Baaaabes. Baaaaaabes! Wake up!”
You jolted upwards, snapping out of it instantly. A groan left your lips as you rubbed the side of your face that had unfortunately been pressed right to his suspenders. The red mark left in its wake made your flesh a funny new pattern that would wear off soon enough. You rubbed at it before blinking wearily up at him.
“C’mon, babes. Enough beauty sleep! We gotta wash that shit out and doll you up nice an’ purdy,” he finished in a southern twang.
You already felt like a doll the moment he picked you up by the shoulders and hauled you back into the kitchen. Trying to rub the sleep from your eyes, you let out a yawn only to be met with the stinging cold of the water shooting out of the faucet attachment. You let out a yelp of protest before Beetlejuice held your head firmly into place.
“Stop squirmin’ or you’re getting waterboarded instead.”
Annoyed, you shut your eyes tight and held your breath in case he wanted to make true on that threat.
His hands massaging your scalp felt like heaven in your dazed state. You leaned into his touch and were quickly rewarded with his nails scratching you gently. Beetlejuice knew what made you tick by now and head scratches were definitely in the cards. A happy sigh as the water grew a bit warmer - lukewarm to make sure the colour wouldn’t wash out so easily the first go around. You were surprised that the demon actually knew how to maintain, well, anything. He didn’t exactly seem the patient type.
The demon watched you curiously as he washed out the dye. He wanted to have a bit of fun to lord over your head. Your hair tangled in his talented digits and he gently tugged the curls. You let out a groan at the feeling, liking all the fussing he was doing. Chuckling, he splashed your face with water before pushing you up so he could drain your hair of extra moisture.
As tenderly as he was able to, he toweled you off. You felt like a cloud was encasing your entire head.
“... did you warm this up?” you asked, a bit surprised at the tender gesture.
“Well, you wanted a salon treatment, babes. Thought I might give you somethin’ you’d miss out on.”
He winked at you and you felt your heart flutter. The bastard knew how to be charming when he wanted to be.
Beetlejuice hauled your chair across the room, ruining the moment by making the most godawful sound as the legs of the chair scraped the floor. You put your hands over your ears before you heard the loud whirring of a blow dryer. Heat graced the back of your neck, sending goosebumps along your arms and a shudder down your spine.
You were lost basking in the warm glow, taking in the breeze as a welcome change from the gross splashes of sink water. Even when he blew it in your eyes to make you flinch, it still felt good enough that you wouldn’t knee him straight in the nards.
Once your hair was properly dried, you felt his fingers running through your hair, coated with some sort of gel. You wanted to oppose the idea of any product before you saw it but your curiosity was definitely piqued. Finally, you were ready. All of it was ready to be unveiled so you sat in your chair, wiggling around like their were ants in your pants - or perhaps a centipede or two that had escaped from Beetlejuice’s pocket.
Pleased with his work, he finally retrieved your hand mirror and showed you the final product.
“Taaaadaaaaa!” he sang out, a third arm slipping from his torso to do jazz hands with the one not holding the mirror.
What you saw left you speechless.
And not in a good way.
“Green?!” you barked, almost falling back in your seat at the sight. “Beetlejuice! That’s your colour! You said you were doing something special for me!”
He looked almost offended and quickly rolled his head around to mimic your whininess.
“I did do somethin’ special! Hey, not everyone can pull off the look.” Beetlejuice smoothed his own hair back and grinned a toothy grin. “And besides, babes, we know that green already looks so good on ya.”
Before you could continue your staunch protest of his choice, he had managed to catch your lips in a surprise kiss. Your complaints were muffled and your cheeks burned a deep red.
“See? The colour brings attention to just how sweet that face of yours gets when you’re all embarrassed.” He laughed loudly and took your face in his hands, planting another kiss right on your lips. “I gotta admit, I thought I was the only one who could pull that look off. But it looks so damn good to see a little bit of me in - uh, on you.”
There was a saucy wink before he moved behind you to cuddle from behind, his stupid face looking at you through the reflection of the mirror. You sighed. There was no way you could stay mad at that face too long. He could get away with murder and you wouldn’t bat an eye. You knew what you were signing up for when you turned him loose.
“Fine,” you replied with a huff. “But I get to style it a different way. I don’t want to do that gross couple thing of matching.”
The demon didn’t refute the request and instead made a row of fine hair care products dance in front of you midair. You chose the right gel and took a pair of scissors, demanding that he hold the goddamn mirror straight for one second - to which he replied: “Babes, me? Straight? I pity the thought! And the fool.”
You shushed him and began your work. He watched on with eager eyes lighting up as he began to get the idea. Without any word, he grabbed the scissors and an electric razor and finished the job for you. When you were done, you admired the well trimmed faux-hawk he left in his wake. You gave a little whistle before he leaned in.
“So, like it now?” he inquired, raising one eyebrow and biting his lower lip like a beaver.
Pulling him down by his tie, you planted a kiss right on his cheek and nuzzled against his scruff. It was his turn to change a different colour, his green tinted more pink now. He let out a girlish giggle and scooped you up into his arms bridal style. As much as he could get on your nerves, you knew you loved the infectious smile and happiness this idiot demon brought along with his wild schemes.
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madscientistjournal · 4 years
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Fiction: Disinhibited
An excerpt from the journals of Combat Search & Rescue Consultant Lana McGee, as provided by Myna Chang Art by Luke Spooner
Don’t call me a mercenary. Those guys are pricks. Kidnappers and murderers, the lot of them. I’m not like that. Sure, I get paid for my work, and yeah, I love a good explosion. Who doesn’t? But my job is to save people. Pull them out of bad situations. Bring them home safe.
I’m not an asshole.
“I didn’t think you were, Ma’am.”
Oh shit, did I say all that out loud?
“Yes, Ma’am, you did.”
Wow, this pilot doesn’t look old enough to shave, let alone fly a chopper.
“I shave, Ma’am.”
“You heard that, too?”
“Yes, Ma’am. My CO warned me this might happen.”
“Name’s Lana, not Ma’am. So, they told you about my disability?” Their word, not mine.
“They said you got a piece of shrapnel in your head. War souvenir. Said you blurt out whatever crosses your mind.”
“Yep,” I nod. “Frontal Lobe Disinhibition. Basically, if I think it, I say it. That’s why I’m freelancing now.”
“Yes, Ma’am. Not a merc. Got it.”
Pilot’s quick. And he does shave. Sexy stubble. Yum. Like to run my tongue up that jawline and–
“Due respect, Ma’am, I’m authorized to tell you to shut up.”
I bite my rogue tongue hard enough to draw blood. Damn it, Lana. Stop scaring the cute flyboy.
He flicks his eyes toward me and grins. “Truth is, Ma’am, I don’t scare easy.”
Oh. Well, then. I smile and shift in the seat. “Just to be clear … You wouldn’t mind–”
“Approaching the drop zone, Ma’am.”
I chuckle. His smile turns to a blush. Tease. “Fine, kick me out of your helicopter. Come on, Diamond, we’ve got people to rescue.”
My German Shepherd sits while I attach a jump harness to her K-9 armor. Takes about three seconds. We’ve done hundreds of these short jumps, and it never gets old. She woofs, ready to go.
“Godspeed.”
“You talking to me or the dog?”
“Both of you, Ma’am.”
He maneuvers the chopper over the moonlit compound and flashes a cheeky grin at me again. I try to keep my mouth shut, but as usual, the words tumble out.
“I’m probably gonna lick your stubbly jaw when this mission’s over, Pilot. Diamond might, too.”
“Countin’ on it, Ma’am.”
I laugh and step into the air.
~
The research facility sits on a swath of blacktop, devoid of plant life, a big wart on a bald head. The gate hangs open. I toss a handful of debris at the razor-wire fence, but it doesn’t spark. Looks like the power’s out. Not a good sign.
I was hoping this job would be a quickie: rescue the dashing scientist, secure his peculiar research, get home in time for dinner. Guess I should’ve known better. Anything involving Chase Mathews isn’t going to be easy.
“At least the compound hasn’t been bombed yet, huh girl?”
Diamond doesn’t respond. She’s good like that.
A Jeep sits abandoned near the fence. Wet-looking handprints smear the windshield, and a case of medical supplies has toppled onto the asphalt.
We skirt it, watching for movement, hoping for some sign of life as we approach the entrance. Nothing stirs. I tighten my grip on the MTAR submachine gun strapped across my chest, and we enter the facility.
Lobby’s dark, except for orange warning lights at the guard’s terminal. My NVGs flare in time with the flashes, so I pull them off. Diamond’s night vision is more reliable than the goggles, anyway. She’s the most capable combat partner I’ve worked with; I trust her with my life.
She nudges me. I nod, and she ghosts away, into the darkness. Nothing will get past her. A low growl, five yards to the right, alerts me to an enemy combatant. I bring my MTAR to bear, just in time. Two quick bursts, and the bad guy goes down.
I love this fucking gun. Compact and efficient, with a little kick. Kind of like me.
Diamond circles the lobby, vigilant, then returns to my side. I prod the body splayed in front of me. Scrawny dude, white lab coat. Blisters all over his face.
Or are those pustules? Jesus, that’s nasty looking. Diamond keens and backs away. I follow her lead. A blister-thing quavers and ruptures, spurting out thick goo. Hard to tell in the darkness, but I think it’s green.
I’ll never eat lime Jell-O again. Diamond rubs her head on my thigh; she won’t either.
“Come on, girl. Our dashing scientist isn’t going to rescue himself.”
She snorts her disapproval. Diamond had never liked Chase. She’d peed on his shoes every chance she got. My dog’s smart. I should have listened.
~
We creep down the hallway behind the guard station. Emergency lights flicker, strobing the corridor in snapshots of weirdness.
Flash. Body on the floor.
Flash. Smear of blood.
Flash. Heap of clothing, soaked with green sludge.
I wish the freakin’ light would either stay on or go dark. Vertigo pulses with every disco blink.
Diamond lets out a cautionary rumble, and I pull up my gun, ready to fire. A woman covered in angry boils slumps on the floor, back against the wall. She reaches out blindly, hands grasping air.
My first-aid kit’s in my pack, but I’m not ready to take my finger off the trigger guard; Diamond’s hackles are still up. The woman’s mouth opens and tainted saliva gushes out. Looks like pond scum.
I don’t think my emergency band-aids will do you much good, lady.
She jerks toward my voice, moaning. Spit froths on her lips. Several of her boils burst, popping like firecrackers, loud enough I can hear them over my thundering heartbeat. Syrupy goop, smelling of burnt licorice, oozes from the sores. Her body cants sideways and her shoulder hits the floor.
Nothing I can do will help her now. Maybe we’ll find a miracle cure in the lab. Diamond and I hug the far side of the hallway, avoiding her still-seeking arms. The thick fluids pooling around her body seem to throb in time with the emergency lights, and the cloying odor intensifies as we pass.
I’m not sure what we’ve gotten ourselves into, but I sure hope this bug isn’t airborne. Our combat armor should protect us from physical contaminants, but it doesn’t do anything to block out the stink.
We come to a junction. I remember the blueprints and hang a left. The bulb in this hallway’s dim, but at least it’s not blinking. Unfortunately, the path is blocked by a mass of writhing bodies.
All naked–explains the abandoned clothes back there–dotted with throbbing cysts. Many have already ruptured, leaving curdled trails of emerald slime. I stare, fascinated. The people are fusing together; everywhere the goo touches, their skin melds. Limbs, feet, heads, all merging into one giant blob.
Diamond paws the floor. One of the faces snaps up, focusing its attention on her. We back away. A distorted jaw juts out, leering. It trembles, and a body begins to emerge from the fused clump of flesh, first a shoulder, then a torso. Straining to reach us, it makes a squelching slurp and tears free–an arm, two legs.
The legs don’t match.
My stomach turns. The newly assembled monster stumbles and lurches at Diamond.
I shoot it in the head. It stops, but doesn’t fall, so I pop it again, center mass, where a heart and lungs should be. It totters for a split second before collapsing.
Diamond whines; the rest of the entangled mound of creatures squirms toward us. Maybe the gunfire got its–their?–attention. They stretch and heave, inching closer. Unnatural liquids gurgle and flesh splits as they rip themselves apart, rubbery appendages groping relentlessly in Diamond’s direction.
I flip the toggle on my MTAR to full auto and spray the clusterfuck. No way in hell those abominations are gonna get sticky with my pup. I let up on the trigger and watch for movement, then give them another blast, just to be sure.
I guess a full magazine was enough to do the job, which is good because, damn, that’s a scary pile of monsters. But now the hallway’s coated in weird-colored gore. Not gonna risk going through that mess. Doesn’t matter, though. According to the map, all hallways lead to the inner lab, where the research stuff should be stored.
And Chase. Can’t forget him, the handsome, charming scientist. My ex.
~
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Don’t call me a mercenary. Those guys are pricks.
The electronic lock is toast and the lab door won’t open. Something’s wedged it shut. I kick it, hard, but that only hurts my foot.
“Chase? Are you in there?” Hope he’s not glued to the mishmash back in the hallway.
Diamond watches my back while I pound on the reinforced steel.
“Lana? Is that you?”
“Yeah, and I wanna see if you still turn me on.” Damn it.
“Are you infected?”
“I can still talk, can’t I?” Of course I can. It’s my biggest problem.
The door cracks open. He squints at me.
“Why’d they send you?”
“No one else’d take the job.” True story.
Diamond and I squeeze through the door and shove it closed again.
“Did you bring a platoon of Marines to save me?” Chase demands.
I spread my arms. “Just us.”
He groans.
Not as charming as I remember.
“If you’re all they sent,” he says, “they’re going to nuke the whole island, aren’t they?”
“Probably. I figure we’ve got another hour before the bombing starts.”
“No, no, no, it’s too valuable,” he mutters, already ignoring me.
Feels like old times.
His motions are jerky. He grabs a backpack and shoves miniature computer drives and scraps of paper into it.
Definitely not a turn-on anymore. Looks like hell, all bug-eyed and twitchy. Kinda soft around the edges.
He stops and glares at me.
Stinks, too.
“Still the motor-mouthed bitch.”
Oops. “I didn’t mean–”
“Yeah, you did. You’ve always been an asshole. The piece of shrapnel just makes it more obvious.”
That hurts. Gotta admit it. A muffled thud from the hallway preempts my snarky response. Diamond snarls, low and intense. The warning tone sends goosebumps up my spine.
“Chase, what happened to those people?”
He shrugs. “Sample got out. Spread a lot faster than I expected.”
“Sample? The research I’m supposed to retrieve?”
“Thought you were here to rescue me.”
“Yeah, but boss-man said you’re low priority. ‘Get the research,’ he said. ‘Grab the scientist, too, if you can.’ That’s what he said.”
“God, I hate the military,” Chase spits.
I have to agree, at least a little. CO didn’t mention the rest of the research staff. Guess the woman in the hall is zero-priority in his book. I call bullshit on that–I’ll save whoever I can.
“Is there a cure, or an antidote?”
“Why?” he asks, backing away from me. “Did you get any of the transfer medium on you?”
“You mean the green goo? No. But maybe some of the others are still alive.”
He goes back to rifling through the science junk on his desk. “I only make the contagions. Cures are someone else’s department.”
Seriously? “So you’re a full-on mad scientist now?”
“I prefer bioweapon engineer.”
I stare at him. Has he always been this cold-hearted?
Diamond barks, two short yips. That’s a yes.
Chase rolls his eyes and I realize I’ve spoken out loud again. He glares at Diamond.
“Bitch.”
“You talking to me or the dog?”
“What do you think?” He shoulders past me, opening a biohazard safe. Polished steel containers crowd the shelf. They look like those expensive vacuum insulated tumbler thingies. He yanks one out.
“You keep your weaponized slime in a fancy coffee cup?”
He sneers and shoves the container into the backpack. “I can’t believe they sent a brain damaged mercenary to rescue me.”
That’s ‘value-priced consultant’ to you, jerkface. Diamond snarls, exposing her fangs.
“Can you both shut up?” His hands shake.
Wait. Faster than he expected? How did the sample get out?
“A test,” he answers. “Proof of concept for the buyer.”
“You infected those people on purpose? So you can sell that stuff?”
He laughs. “You weren’t very smart, even before the shrapnel.” He zips his pack and turns.
Something’s wrong with his face.
Diamond’s growl modulates into a high-pitched howl–her extreme danger signal. Almost too late, I realize why: Chase is infected. I didn’t see it before. Hard to miss now.
I raise my MTAR. A smudge of emerald gel shimmers on the edge of the safe behind him. “Don’t move.”
He gapes at me, incredulous. “Put the gun down, Lana.”
I shake my head. “You must’ve gotten sloppy with your death jelly.”
“How dare you?” He frowns and scratches at a freshly blossoming pustule on his right cheek. His fingers drip green. “No!”
Diamond moves into a defensive position, guarding me. Chase stares dumbly at his stained hand. He raises frightened eyes to mine.
“Lana, help me.”
My gun barrel wavers. Diamond barks, short and sharp, warning him to stay back, reminding me to follow protocol. Chase reaches out to me.
“Please–” His voice devolves into a mewl. Sanity, whatever’s left of it, drains from his eyes. His face morphs, cheeks melting in a slurry of jade-colored paste. Pus drips from his scalp. He screams and launches himself at me, and for the first time in my professional career, I freeze.
But Diamond doesn’t.
She meets him mid-air, bashing into him with her shoulder. She ricochets off his body, crashing to the floor a few feet from where he lands. Teeth bared, she’s up in an instant, but he’s already charging toward her, crablike, faster than I’ve ever seen him move.
Diamond! Don’t bite him!
I don’t know if I’ve screamed or if she’s read my mind, but she keeps her mouth off him. We slide into a familiar rhythm of charge and retreat, strike and evade. She dodges, giving me a clear shot. I squeeze the trigger. Chase’s head explodes.
Clabbered wet tissue splatters across his desk. Ears ringing, I inch closer and nudge the slack body, but it doesn’t move. His entire head is gone. I doubt anything could survive that, but I give him a double tap, two to the chest, to be safe. Then I drop the gun and rush to Diamond.
You stupid dog. Did the goo splash you? I run my hands over her armor, up and down her legs, check her mouth and her teeth. After examining her doggie armpits for the second time, my panic dissipates. She’s okay; the K-9 gear did its job. She nuzzles my face, and I realize she’s cleaning up my tears. I wrap my arms around her, trembling. Good girl.
~
I call for evac and wait for the thump of chopper blades to split the air.
On a normal mission, I’d feel rotten about failing to bring my target home alive. This time, not so much. I drag a clean duffel behind me. It’s filled with Chase’s notes and computer drives, but not the bio sample. I left that crap behind for the bombs to take care of.
The chopper circles. I flash my light, three quick blinks, and it lands.
“Look, Diamond, it’s the yummy pilot.”
She woofs and thumps her tail.
“Oh, you approve of this one?”
She barks twice; that’s a yes.
“Okay then, let’s go give him a lick.”
Combat Search & Rescue Consultant Lana McGee specializes in the retrieval of personnel and property from high-risk environments. McGee is assisted by a Hero-Class German Shepherd named Diamond. McGee has recently raised her consultation fees, and now charges a premium for any “mad scientist bullshit.”
Myna Chang writes flash and short stories. Her work has been featured in Daily Science Fiction, The Copperfield Review, Defenestration, and Dead Housekeeping, among others. Find her @MynaChang or read more at mynachang.com.
Luke Spooner, a.k.a. ‘Carrion House,’ currently lives and works in the South of England. Having recently graduated from the University of Portsmouth with a first class degree, he is now a full time illustrator for just about any project that piques his interest. Despite regular forays into children’s books and fairy tales, his true love lies in anything macabre, melancholy, or dark in nature and essence. He believes that the job of putting someone else’s words into a visual form, to accompany and support their text, is a massive responsibility, as well as being something he truly treasures. You can visit his web site at www.carrionhouse.com.
“Disinhibited” is © 2019 Myna Chang Art accompanying story is © 2019 Luke Spooner
Fiction: Disinhibited was originally published on Mad Scientist Journal
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