#tell me why he had me double-checking an index he had created just for his own eyes ‘in case an iso inspector wants to take a look at it’

[eosphorusss]

my father is a very kind and clever man. unfortunately most of his energy is dedicated to maximizing inefficiency

#tell me why he had me double-checking an index he had created just for his own eyes ‘in case an iso inspector wants to take a look at it’ #why do you punish yourself and others with incessant data entry that leads nowhere. kill me #pugamemnon

[gamergirl929]

No Matter Where You Are (You'll Always Have My Heart) (Julie Johnston x Reader)

Anonymous Request:  Could you do one where reader and JJ have been dating since college? Bonus points if it has smut but if it doesn't fit the story it's okay 

PLUS...

Anonymous Request: Can you write a Julie x reader fic where Julie gets jealous.

Decided to add these two together into one nearly 5,000 word ficccc! I hope both requesters enjoy! 

Implied smuttt

The first thing you hear as you make your way through the airport is a high-pitched squeal, everyone around stopping to turn towards the source of the sound.  

You beam, opening your arms, waiting for the blonde sprinting your way to get to you.

She slams into you, her lips pressing against yours.  

“Well nice to see you too.” You say in between kisses, Julie Johnston kissing your lips over and over and over again, only ceasing when she can’t stop grinning.  

“I missed you so much.” She whispers, burying her face in your chest, the woman inhaling your scent greedily.  

You duck down, burying your nose in her blonde locks, nuzzling into the top of her head.  

“I’ve missed you too.”  

Julie’s embrace is warm, a warmth that spreads to your heart, your chest feeling lighter than it had in the last 4 months that you’d been without the woman.  

Your job took you overseas at times, a job the woman in your arms wasn’t aware, that you’d currently transferred from, a job you could now do while traveling along with Julie, or staying at home in Chicago. 

The two of you pull apart, both leaning in again to close the gap between you, the two of you smiling against one another’s lips.  

“I love you.” You whisper against the woman’s lips, the woman beaming as she wraps her arms around your neck.  

“I love you too Y/N.”  

A wolf whistle pulls the two of you apart, your eyes snapping open at roughly the same time, Julie rolling her blue orbs in annoyance.

Julie groans, burying her face in your chest, the woman nuzzling into your collarbone.  

“I see you invited some friends.” You grin as Kelley O’Hara and the rest of the USWNT waves excitedly your way.

“Just some.” Julie whispers against your chest.  

“Well? You plan on introducing me?” You ask, the blonde pulling back to look up at you with a grimace.  

“I hope you’re ready...” She teases and you nod, eyes narrowed as you stare at the women, some who are currently dancing in the middle of the airport.  

You shake your head with a chuckle.  

“Oh, I think I’m ready.”  

Julie takes your hand, her fingers tangling with yours as the two of you move towards the group of excited women.  

Unsurprisingly, you’re not even to the group before Crystal and Alyssa meet you halfway, your hand leaving Julie’s as Crystal pulls you into a bear hug, whereas Alyssa wraps her arms around the two of you, giving you both a squeeze.  

“Nice to see you both too.” You laugh, giving Crystal a tight squeeze before you wrap your arms around Alyssa, the goalie giving you a squeeze.  

“Julie’s been talking about this for a month.” She whispers in your ear and you chuckle, turning to Julie who looks as if she’s threatening the group of women you’ve yet to meet.  

Tierna makes her way over to you, throwing her arms around you giving you a hug.  

“Did you tell her yet?” She whispers in your ear, Crystal and Alyssa leaning closer to the two of you.  

You shake your head.  

“No, I’m going to tell her tonight.”  

Crystal claps her hands excitedly.  

“Do it at dinner! I want to see her face when you tell her.” She grins, Alyssa and Tierna nodding in agreement.  

You nod, watching Julie out of the corner of your eye, the blonde turning to you, blue orbs sparkling as a grin spreads across her face.  

“I think I can do that.”  

Your vision to your girlfriend is cut off when someone slips between the two of you, that someone grinning, that someone being Kelley O’Hara.  

“SO, you’re Y/N.” She grins, the woman’s eyes narrowing slightly.  

“Th-That’s me.” You grin nervously, the woman’s other teammates joining her.  

“Nice to finally meet who Julie goes on about all the time.” Tobin grins, and Christen nods.  

“It’s cute how much she talks about you.”  

You turn to Julie, the woman’s cheeks flushing red.  

“She goes on about you constantlyyyyyyyy.” Emily drones, earning a slap on the back of the head from Lindsey.  

“Hey! I didn’t say that was a bad thing!” She winces, rubbing the back of her head.  

“Hey she isn’t wrong.” Kelley shrugs, the woman too, being slapped on the back of the head by Alex.  

“We’re really happy we’re finally getting to meet you.” She smiles.  

“Yeah, we were about to just show up at your house in the off season.” Ashlyn shrugs and you grin.  

“I can’t say I would’ve mind, but Julie sleeps until like 1 PM, sooo... OW!” You grimace when Julie grabs your ear.  

“I do not sleep until 1! That’s you.”  

You roll your eyes, slipping an arm around her and pulling her close.  

“Only because you keep me up all night...” You smirk, Julie’s eyes widening as her cheeks flush blood red.  

“With your snoring.” You finish, Julie, punching you in the side, her teammates watching, snickering.  

“Yeah, I like her.” Megan grins, Ashlyn nodding as she throws an arm around her shoulders, everyone smiling as you duck down, kissing Julie’s forehead, the woman unable to bite back a grin.  

“Me too.”  

                                                         ***

The second you and the mob of women settle at the restaurant’s dinner table, you slip an arm around your girlfriend, the woman smiling as she leans against you.  

“I’m so happy I get to be here with you.” You whisper, kissing her temple, the blonde’s eyes fluttering shut.  

“Me too.”  

Julie’s blue orbs flutter open, the woman cupping your cheek and turning your head, her lips pressing tenderly against yours.  

She grins, her thumb brushing your bottom lip, blushing when you press a kiss to the pad of her thumb.  

“I love you.” She whispers and you grin.  

“I love you too.”  

Emily makes a wrenching noise, only to be punched in the arm seconds later by Lindsey, the woman sending her a glare.  

“Let them be cute asshole.”  

Emily scoffs.  

“It’s my goal in life to fake vomit at any and everyone’s happiness.”  

You snort, taking a sip of your drink.  

“She sounds like me.” You whisper in Julie’s ear, the woman giggling as she slaps your chest.  

“You’re a secret softie.”  

You gasp.  

“I am, NO softy.”  

Julie rolls her eyes.  

“You whine every time I leave bed to go for my morning run.”  

You scoff.  

“You get up WAY too early, and the bed’s cold without you.” You pout, Julie’s brow arching.  

“See, softy.”  

You shrug, your eyes darting around Julie’s face.  

“Only for you.”  

Julie’s cheeks flush, the woman’s head resting against your chest.  

“So, how did you two meet? It was in college, right?” Ali asks with a smile and you grin.  

“We went to college together, the lesbian fanfiction, roommate's trope.” You laugh. “Also, we WERE at a Catholic school.” You hum, Julie shaking her head.  

“Hey lesbians can go to Catholic school.” Megan snorts and Kelley shrugs.  

“That mostly happens in por- OW!” Kelley is stopped mid-sentence when Alex flicks her on the side of her head.  

“No.”  

“But Jan-”

“No.” Alex says again, and you bark out a laugh.  

“That does sound like a porno.” You snort, Julie punching you hard in the arm.  

You shake your head.  

“It wasn’t like that honestly, we didn’t like each other.” You laugh, rubbing the back of your neck.  

“Oh my god, how much more tropey could you get?” Ashlyn snickers, sipping her drink and stuffing a biscuit in her mouth.  

“I know, right?” You laugh. “In the end, Julie found me irresistible, so...” You smirk cockily. “Here we are.”  

Julie rolls her eyes, sending you a playful glare.  

“That was NOT how it went.” She says, sticking her tongue out at you.  

“Well, that’s how I remember it.” You snort, the two of you knowing full well, that’s NOT how you remembered it.  

“More like you stopped being cocky and turned into a softy when I came to our room crying and drunk over some guy.” She shrugs and you growl.  

“He was a prick.” You grumble angrily, smiling when Julie kisses your cheek.  

“He was, but I had someone better than him, just took me a while to realize it.” She cups your cheek, turning your head until she can press a kiss to your lips.  

“Wait...” Crystal clears her throat. “Didn’t you tell me he got his ass kicked?” She asks, and Julie giggles.  

“I did. It was hilarious.”  

A smirk stretches across Tobin’s face when she sees the look on yours.  

“Ever figure out who did it?” She asks and Julie shakes her head.  

“No, he wouldn’t sa- Wait.” Julie stops mid-sentence, the woman turning to you.  

You grimace, grinning innocently.  

“IT WAS YOU!?” She practically yells, everyone in the restaurant turning to the table.  

You clear your throat, downing your drink in a single gulp.  

“Hold on, but you looked fine.” She throws her hands in the air and you smirk.  

“He was a bitch.” You say as you wipe your shoulders off, the blonde rolling her eyes, unable to bite her grin back.  

“Yeah, I definitely like her.” Kelley nods, the defender earning a toothy grin.  

“I take it you won the fight?” Carli asks and you nod.  

“Wasn’t much of a fight to begin with.”  

Julie giggles.  

“So THAT’S why he wouldn’t even look my way for the rest of the year.”  

You nod.  

“I told him if he did I would...”  

You go silent, glancing at Tierna.  

“Cover your ears.”  

The younger player scoffs.  

“No!”  

You huff, blowing a raspberry at the girl.  

“Fine. Fine. I told him I would ummm...” You shrug, glancing at Julie. “Remove his iota of manhood.” You whisper.  

A beat passes before the entire table erupts in laughter, each and every one of them doubling over with laughter, Julie giggling against your chest.  

“That’s the funniest thing I ever heard.” Christen wipes the corners of her eyes and you shrug.  

“He deserved it. No way was I going to let him get away with hurting JJ.” You say looking down at your girlfriend who picks her head up.  

“That was WAY before we started getting along.”  

Becky smirks.  

“Oh god, you were crushing on her, weren’t you?” She asks and you grin innocently.  

“Another trope down.” Ashlyn creates an invisible check mark in the air with her index finger.  

“I guess we were meant then.” You smile lovingly at your girlfriend, the blonde’s cheeks flushing pink.  

“I guess so.”  

You glance at Crystal and Alyssa out of the corner of your eye, the two nodding as you clear your throat, reining in your courage.  

“I uhhh, might have uhhh...” You swallow hard, taking a deep breath. “I have something I need to tell you.”  

Julie’s eyes widen, brows knitting in confusion.  

“Wh-What?” She asks nervously and you smile, cupping her cheeks before leaning in, pressing a kiss to the tip of her nose.  

“It’s nothing to worry about.” You smile.  

“I transferred.” You say, Julie’s eyes widening.  

“Wait, what do you mean? Overseas?” She asks nervously, the brightness in her eyes dulling.  

Your eyes widen.  

“No, no, no.” You say, waving your hands around wildly, Julie catching them to stop your nervous flailing.

You take a deep breath.  

“I meant, I transferred home...” You smile, Julie’s blue orbs lighting back up. “But I CAN travel...” You shrug, Julie’s grin nearly splitting her face in half.  

“Oh?” She says innocently. “And where to?”  

You hum.  

“Wherever you are.” You grin, Julie pulling you in for a firm kiss, your lips slamming together.  

“You’re serious?” She whispers and you nod.  

“As long as you want me to come with you.” You shrug and Julie snorts.  

“OF COURSE, I DO.” She giggles, pulling you in for another kiss.  

You again part, reluctantly, grins plastered on both of your faces.  

“So that means I can follow you to your next game?” You ask, the blonde nodding enthusiastically as she pulls you in for another kiss.  

“Well yeah, you better.”  

Julie’s teammates watch the two of you as you snuggle up to one another, whispering softly in one another’s ears.  

“She’s so good for her, isn’t she?” Christen whispers.  

The rest of the table are quick to agree.  

                                                         ***

It had been the first time in a WHILE that you were going to see a USWNT game live, and you couldn't wait.  

“Ready?”  

Your eyes widen as you’re pulled out of your trance by Julie’s voice.

The woman pulled some strings so you could sit closer to the action, meaning you get to sit in the VIP section.

“More than ready, I can’t wait.” You beam, Julie giggling as she leans over the seat between the two of you.  

“Good luck kiss?” She asks, and you laugh.  

“Don’t even have to ask.”  

Your lips meet in a tender kiss, the woman pulling back only to lean back in, stealing another kiss before she follows her teammates to the locker room.  

You sigh, leaning back in your seat, your fingers brushing the budge in your pocket.  

Even though the game was simply a friendly, it was going to be one that everyone remembered, and the box in your pocket would definitely be the reason why.  

                                                         ***

Julie Johnston had been playing like she always had, but seeing it live was like something you never experienced.  

You couldn’t remain seated because watching her was exhilarating, the woman sliding into players and swiping the ball over and over again.

Watching your girlfriend in action left you in utter awe, and when she sunk a header, you knew you were cheering the loudest in the arena.  

Julie’s blue orbs dart to you as she celebrates with her team, the woman grinning as you blow a kiss her way, the woman giggling as she catches it.  

You beam as play resumes, your girlfriend playing as if she hadn’t been playing for nearly 40 minutes.  

The whistle blows soon after, signaling the end of the first half and you smile, your girlfriend jogging towards you, leaning over the seat to press a kiss to your lips.  

“So, what did you think?” She asks, her tongue trapped between her teeth and you snicker.  

“I think I know who my favorite player is.” You smile, leaning in to press another tender kiss to her lips.  

“Oh, someone I know?”  

“Johnston!”  

The two of you turn to find Crystal, smirking at the two of you, her hands on her hips.  

“You better get going before she carries you out.” You smirk, Julie rolling her eyes as she presses another kiss to your lips.

“See you in a bit?” She asks and you grin.  

“I’ll be right here waiting.”  

Julie pulls back with a giggle she and Crystal jogging toward the tunnel and eventually out of sight.  

                                                         ***

“Excuse me, Y/N?”  

Your brows furrow as you turn around, your brows further furrowing when you see a reporter standing behind you.  

“Umm, hi.” You smile.  

“I was wondering if we could get a word?” She smiles and you chuckle.  

“With me?” You ask again and she nods, eyeing you intently, in a way that makes your cheeks flush.

“It’s not every day we see Julie Johnston’s significant other at a game, just wanted to get your thoughts.” She winks and you hum.  

“O-Okay.”  

                                                         ***

Julie’s eyes narrow as she watches the interviewer ogle you unashamedly.  

The blonde lets out a growl and Tobin snorts.  

“Don’t let Julie anywhere near that reporter when we get back on the field.” She whispers to Christen, the forward giggling.  

“Down JJ.” Alex teases and she hums.  

“She’s looking at Y/N like a starving lion.” Emily winces, eyes widening when Julie glares her way.  

“Hey, don’t look at me, I’m not eyeing your wife.”  

Julie’s eyes widen, her cheeks flushing blood red.  

“She’s not...” She swallows hard. “We’re not...”  

Emily winks.  

“Not yetttttt...”  

Julie smiles softly.  

The thought of marrying you had crossed her mind daily, she wanted it, she wanted to be with you, and she wanted more than anything to be with you always.  

Julie’s pulled out of her trance by a giggle, her eyes narrowing as she turns back to the TV, the reporter still ogling you as you talk.  

“Let’s get back out to the field.” Vlatko claps his hands and Julie nods.  

“Gladly.”  

                                                         ***

“Thank you so much for your interview Y/N, it’s a real honor having you here to-

The reporter stops mid-sentence when Julie appears out of nowhere, the woman’s arm slipping around your waist, her free hand moving to cup your cheek, turning your head so your lip can meet gently.  

You kiss her softly, the two of you parting, neither going far as you tilt your head back and kiss her forehead.  

“Thank you for your time Y/N.”  

Julie smirks, watching as the reporter takes her leave.  

Your eyes narrow as you watch her go, a grin stretching across your face.  

“Was someone jealous?” You ask, the blonde rolling her eyes.  

“No, I was NOT jealous of that...”  

Julie’s mouth snaps shut at the look on your face, the woman huffing.  

“Maybe a little, but she was staring at you like Kelley does at an all you can eat buffet.” She growls and you laugh, kissing the tip of her nose.  

“I know and she didn’t even try to hide it.” You mumble, watching as Julie again glares at the reporter, letting out a tiny growl.  

“Well, she won’t do it again.” She murmurs and you smirk, kissing her forehead. 

“Oh, I know she won’t, not while you’re here.” You laugh. “Now go put a hurtin’ on Canada.”  

Julie smiles.  

“You’ve got it.”  

                                                         ***

Unsurprisingly, Julie, yet again tears the field up, playing the entire 90 minutes, the final resort being USWNT 3 Canada WNT 1, only a single ball making it passed Alyssa Naeher.  

The final whistle blows and Julie sprints to you, the woman giggling as you meet her halfway, catching her as she jumps into your open arms.  

Your lips meet in a tender kiss, the two of you parting when you, as per usual, can’t stop grinning.  

“Were you showing off?” You ask, earning a giggle.  

“Maybe just a little.”  

You clear your throat, your hand unconsciously brushing the tiny box in your pocket.  

“Jul-

You stop mid-sentence when Tierna comes flying out of nowhere, jumping on your back.  

“We won!” She beams and you chuckle, Alyssa and Crystal joining the party, Alyssa patting your back.  

“You made some great saves.” You smile, Alyssa smiling shyly.  

You turn to Crystal.  

“I guess you did okay.”  

The woman rolls her eyes, giving you a playful shove, it’s then you realize that Julie has made her way across field to shake a number of Canadian player’s hands.  

“I need to show you guys something.” You whisper, Tierna, Alyssa and Crystal leaning in close.  

“What are we talking about?” Emily asks, appearing out of nowhere, Lindsey and the other children on her heels followed by Kelley.

“Yeah, what’s going on?” She asks, jumping on Alyssa’s back and you take a deep breath.  

“Well...”  

                                                         ***

A number of squeals pull everyone’s attention, including Julie’s, across field to where you and a number of other USWNT players are standing, the group all huddled around you.  

Julie’s brows furrow as she walks to you and the group, the group parting so you can make your way towards her, something clutched in your fist.  

Julie frowns at the look on your face.  

“Are you okay? You look like you’re going to puke...” Julie giggles and you clear your throat, nodding.  

Julie’s brows furrow when she sees a number of her teammate’s giddily bouncing on their heels behind you.  

“I know last night I told you I transferred so we could be together and I didn’t have to be so far from home, but there was something else I wanted to tell you...” You clear your throat, face pale.  

“Seriously wha-

Julie’s blue orbs widen when her eyes settle on the small black velvet box in your hands.  

Blue orbs fill with tears as they dart from your face, to the box and back.  

“Y/N...” She whispers, her heart racing in her chest.  

You stare at the velvet box for a moment, taking a deep breath before you sink to one knee, the fans in the crowd cheering loudly as the USWNT watch excitedly. 

“I had planned on doing this earlier, but the timing just wasn’t right.” You smile softly, shyly. 

“But here, at the first match I’ve gotten to see live in a long, long time, I think now the timing is JUST right.” You chuckle nervously.  

Julie giggles as tears stream down her cheeks, your shyness as endearing as it always had been.  

“I want to spend the rest of my life with you Julie Beth Johnston, I want to grow old with you.” You smile, Julie unable to hide her growing grin.  

“I want to have kids with you.”

“I want to see the world with you.”  

“I want to spend forever with you.”  

You take a deep breath.

“You’re my forever JJ, so now, can I be yours? Julie Beth Johnston, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?” You ask, opening the velvet box to reveal a diamond ring.  

Julie immediately drops to her knees, the woman throwing her arms around your neck as she slams her lips against yours.  

Tears stream down your own cheeks as your lips meet.  

“Is that a yes?” You laugh against her lips, pulling back with a grin.  

Julie kisses your lips again.  

“YES! YES! A MILLION TIMES YES!”  

You grin, surging in to kiss her lips again before you’re pulling back, taking the diamond ring out of it’s box and slipping it on her finger, the woman letting out a squeal.  

The second the ring rests just above her knuckle she pulls back, cupping your cheeks and slamming her lips against yours, the cool feel of her engagement ring on your face.  

Julie pulls back, resting her forehead against yours.  

“You’re my fiancé.” She whispers and you grin.  

“And you’re mine.”  

Suddenly someone dives on your back and you groan.  

“LET ME SEE THAT ROCK.” Megan grins, she Kelley and Ashlyn, along with Emily, Lindsey and the other youngsters straining to look at the ring on Julie’s finger.  

You grin, watching as her teammate’s fawn over her ring, a number of camera’s zooming in on you and the USWNT mid-fielder, your hands finding purchase on her waist.  

“You did good bud.” Alyssa pats your back.  

“That proposal was so sweet.” Christen says, her hand over her heart.  

“It was beautiful.” Alex grins, patting your back.  

“I wanted to do this last night, but it just didn’t seem right... She loves soccer so much, and when she thinks about it, I want her to remember this moment.” You shrug, smiling when Julie turns back towards you, a grin taking up nearly half of her face.  

“You’re always on my mind.” She whispers as she cups your cheek.

You grin, leaning in to kiss your fiancé’s lips.

“And you’re always on mine.”  

                                                         ***

You couldn’t help but blush when Julie abruptly declines going out with the others, her teammates smirking knowingly.

“Try not to have TOO MUCH fun.” Crystal teases and you groan.

“You just had to deny them so quickly.” You grumble under your breath and Julie giggles.  

“Sorry?” She shrugs and you snort.  

“You aren’t sorry at all are you?” You ask and the blonde shakes her head.  

“Nope.”  

Julie leans in pressing a kiss to your cheek, giving her teammates a grin before the two of you head to the elevator.  

“Use protection!” Kelley screams and your cheeks redden, Julie’s cheeks equally red.  

The two of you wordlessly get into the elevator, Julie’s fingers tangling with yours as she leans against you.  

“So, Ms. Johnston, what do you have planned for our night?” You ask innocently, the blonde giggling.

“I don’t know, what did you have in mind?”  

You hum.  

“Sleep sounds fine.”  

Julie scoffs, rolling her eyes as she takes your hand and drags you down the hallway towards you room.  

“Shut up.”  

You snort as the blonde eventually gets the door open, shoving you inside.  

“What? Sleep was a very plausible respo-

Julie cuts you off, shoving you back against the hotel room’s door and kissing your lips passionately, the two of you only parting when the need for oxygen becomes too much.  

Julie giggles when you scoop her up in the air, the blonde’s legs wrapping around your middle.  

“I mean, this is better than what I had planned.” You smirk, Julie unable to hold back her laughter as you carry her to the bed.

You bury your face in her neck, playfully nibbling at her tanned flesh where you KNOW she’s ticklish.

You gently lay her on the bed, standing over the blonde with a grin, your eyes softening as you stare at your fiancé, the woman pushing herself up on her elbows she can look you in the eye.  

“I love you.” She whispers, your lips splitting into a grin.  

“I love you too...” You whisper, kicking your shoes off before you jerk your shirt over your head.  

“Now let me show you how much.”  

                                                         ***

Making love to your eventual wife was different than it usually had been, you weren't just with your girlfriend, the woman you wanted to spend the rest of your life with, you were with your FIANCE, who wanted to spend the rest of her life with you too.  

It’s in that moment, lying beside your future wife, entirely bare, the woman’s blue orbs locked with your Y/E/C orbs, you know that there’s no one you’d rather spend your eternity with than Julie Johnston.  

Julie grins, pulling you forwards, her lips pressing tenderly against yours.  

“I love you Y/N.” She whispers and you grin.  

“I love you too.”  

#uswnt x reader #uswnt imagine #julie johnstin x reader #julie ertz x reader #julie johnston imagine #julie ertz imagine

[clouditae]

First Love | 17

Yoongi x reader | 18+ | college au | tattoo artist au | angst | fluff | smut | swearing 

Word: 2.9k

You first saw him in the multi-purpose room. Later learn his name, and on your third year, as he becomes your neighbor, you discover his lifestyle. Knowing your crush on him was nothing but that, you wanted to find the courage to look for love. Asking your friend for help, you’re pointed in the direction of the expert. Your neighbor, Min Yoongi

Chapter Index

“I still can’t believe this is our last year,” Ari says, heaving her final luggage out of her trunk. “Finally,” she mutters, closing the trunk and pulling out the handle from its secure place. She looks to you and grins. “Let’s unpack.” The two of you make your way towards the building where your new room awaits. 

You haven’t seen Ari since she finished her finals earlier than you. Helping her pack her belongings and putting it in her car, she left for the summer. Through calls and texts she told you she spent half her summer with her family and the other half with Hoseok. Now that you finally get to see her again, you immediately notice how short her hair is. Her hair was past her shoulders when she left just a few months ago, and now it’s barely touching her shoulders. Someone as beautiful as Ari can pull anything off it seems. 

As the two of you make your way towards the dorm building, you head up the same set of stairs that you’ve been taking since you moved into the dorms three years ago. This time, thankfully, Ari let you pick where to live, and you chose the second floor closer to the exit door where you can easily leave if you’re in a hurry. And you’re nowhere near Yoongi. He’s always stayed on the third floor, so you took that chance to pick the second floor and the side wing where you will never see him unless you’re forced to.

When you reach the second floor, Ari presses her ID to the scanner, hearing a click and pulls the door open for you. As you enter the building, a group of people are chatting at the far end of the hallway, several bags of what looks to be trash on the floor. Your guess is they finished packing. You wish you were them right now instead of going up and down the stairs. Sadly it’s not and as you pass the first five doors, you reach your room. 

Since you were last here, everyone had to use their key to get inside their dorm, but over the summer the dorms were updated and now you use your IDs to get inside your rooms. Pressing your ID to the scanner, you wait for the door to slowly unlock before you enter your messy room. Boxes and luggage everywhere. 

“Home sweet home,” Ari sighs, entering the room after you and heading for her bed to toss her suitcase along with the rest of the pile. Just like the last dorm, everything is basically the same. One bed next to the door, a desk at the end of the bed with another bed on the other side of the desk, and the second desk between said furniture and the sink. The only difference is while your bed was to your right in your old room, the bed is now to your left with the mirror closets and bathroom to the right. “I wonder what room Hoseok is in. Maybe the same as last semester?” Ari questions, beginning her long journey of unpacking. 

“He hasn’t told you yet?” you ask her, placing your items on your bed to start your unpacking. 

“Just like you, Hoseok never picks the room,” Ari laughs, creating a pile of her shirts and pants on the bed as she pulls out a light pink top, folding it neatly and puts it at the top of her stack. 

You hum in response, spending the rest of the time unpacking and helping Ari decorate the room a bit. By the time the two of you finished, Ari’s phone chimes, her music fading and screen lighting up for a brief second. You watch as she hangs the final strand of hanging lights to the hook on the wall before jumping off her bed and grabbing her phone off her desk. She reads the message. 

“Seems like Hoseok is done packing and wants to see our room,” she tells you, typing away on her phone. “I’ll have him meet me by the stairs on this floor.” She locks her screen and looks to you. “See you in a bit.” You follow her towards the door, watching her open it as the door across from yours opens as well. As the door opens fully you can see two figures exiting their room. One figure you wish to never see again, but the world won’t give you that. “Hoseok?” Ari says in complete shock. 

He looks up to lock eyes with his girlfriend. “Hey,” he laughs. “What a coincidence.” 

“Yeah. It’s really weird,” Ari chuckles, but you can feel the discomfort in her tone as she continues her talk with Hoseok. 

Their conversation dies out as your eyes stick to him like glue. You haven’t seen him in months, but you can see the little details on what’s changed with him. He has an undercut, his hair brushing along the tips of his ears and brows. His face looks more fuller and on his neck, just sticking out from under his black t-shirt is ink. He has a new tattoo–you wonder if it’s a part of his sleeve. Your eyes travel back up and you see that he’s staring at you. You’re the first to look away. 

“I’ll see you later,” he tells Hoseok, voice gruff as you hear his footsteps disappear. 

You’ve missed him. You hate the fact that you’ve missed him, but you do. So much that you constantly had to distract yourself over the summer because if you were alone with your thoughts for even one second, your thoughts would travel to him. From his dark eyes, down to the feeling of his hand when he touched you. You hate yourself. 

“So this is your room?” Hoseok asks, bringing you out of your thoughts. You look towards him, watching as he steps closer to Ari, wrapping his arms around her to hug her, but to mainly see inside your room. 

You chuckle, “Would you like to come in?”

He grins, glancing your way as he releases Ari and opens his arms for you to walk into. He wraps his arms around you as he hugs you tightly. “I’ve missed you, my second best friend.” 

Rubbing his back, you giggle, “Me too.” Releasing your grip from one another, you step aside for Hoseok to enter your room and for Ari to close the door behind the three of you. “How was your vacation?” 

“Amazing. Spent a lot of time with my love and my family. We went to Disneyland.” His focus is on the lights draped against the wall. “I should do this, but I don’t think Yoongi would like it,” he sighs, shaking his head. 

“You went to Disneyland? Was it fun?” you ask him as he takes a seat on Ari’s bed. 

“Hell yeah!” He snaps his fingers in realization. “That reminds me–I got you something while we were there.” Hopping off the bed, Hoseok jogs towards the door. “Be right back,” he calls, opening the door and exiting the room. 

“Are you okay?” Ari asks.

You look to her and smile the best you can. “What luck.” 

“I didn’t know they would be across from us,” she explains, looking at you with a worried look.

You shake your head. “I know,” you mumble and let out a sigh. “At least we won’t be hearing him when he’s alone with a girl,” you chuckle, but you only feel a sting in your chest. 

Why couldn’t you be far away from him? Why is he always right there but never within your reach?

A knock comes at the door. Ari walks over to it and opens the door to reveal Hoseok standing on the other side with a sheepish smile on his face. “I left my ID and my phone inside.”

You laugh loudly, remembering the first day you met him a year ago.

Ari and Hoseok left about an hour ago, the two deciding to go out for dinner. You are currently waiting for Hanbin to come pick you up for your own dinner date he has planned for the two of you. As you double check to make sure your attempt at doing makeup looks good enough, your phone rings, vibrating loudly on your desk. 

Walking over to it from your little make up station at the sink, you see an unfamiliar number. You frown, picking up the phone and pressing the answer button, bringing it to your ear. “Hello?”

“Hello,” the disembodied voice begins, her tone light and customer service like, “I’m looking for Y/N. Is she available?” 

You take a seat at your desk. “This is her,” you say, glancing at the clock on your desk. Hanbin should be here in twenty minutes. 

“Hello, Y/N, my name is Allison from Sun’s Crossing. I’m calling to let you know you’ve been selected to join the summer internship program next year,” she informs you. She continues to talk, but you can’t hear anything besides the rapid beating of your heart. You got accepted. You’re going to be an intern for Sun’s Crossing in New York. 

At the beginning of summer, you confessed to Hanbin about wanting to apply to be an intern but you felt as if you didn’t have enough to catch any company’s attention. Hanbin saw otherwise and pestered you for days to apply for a few internships “because you’re going to get into several and you gotta be prepared to pick the best one” as he put it. You were reluctant to apply because that would mean a year of not being with him–being separated, but that didn’t stop him from telling you to apply. He planned on taking an internship as well, but in California. The two of you will still be together and after it’s all over you two will be working your dream jobs and living in a nice little apartment. It gave you hope, and now that hope is coming true. 

“Hello? Y/N?”

“I-I’m here,” you tell her, shaking your head of all thoughts of the dream coming true. “Can you repeat that?”

The woman chuckles on the other end. “We will be sending you more information on the internship and what is to be expected through email in the upcoming months. Congratulations again.” 

“Thank you so much–goodbye,” you rush, hanging up the phone. You immediately start looking for Hanbin’s number when a knock interrupts your search. Placing your phone on the desk, you get up from your seat and make your way towards the door. When you turn the handle and pull, Hanbin stands on the other side panting. “Hanbin–”

“I got in,” he interrupts. He smiles widely as he repeats, “I got in, Y/N.” 

You smile back. “I got in, too. We did it.” You watch as his eyes go wide before he rushes towards you, lifting you into the air as you giggle and the door closes. 

When the door closes, everything happens rather quickly. A simple congratulations kiss ends up being more than that. Now your nails are digging into Hanbin’s bare back as he thrusts into you, him holding your complete weight as your back hits the door every now and then. You choke back a moan as he hits the right spot, your head hitting the door rather loudly as you feel your orgasm get closer. 

“I’m close,” you rush in a whisper. You’ll never understand Hanbin’s strength, but he picks up his speed and thrusts into you faster and harder. He sends you over the edge before you could even cry a word. You moan lowly into his shoulder as he rides you out, his own euphoria coming soon after. 

He holds you as the two of you pant heavily. “So much for a nice dinner,” he chuckles, the both of you leaning back to lock eyes. “You in the mood to just grab a burger? I’m guessing the restaurants are closing now.” 

You let out an exhausted laugh. “Yeah.” He sets you down slowly, holding onto your waist as you get the feeling back in your legs before the two of you clean up, get dressed and head out for a very late dinner. 

“Ugh,” Ari groans, running a hand through her short hair in frustration. “I’m done with school.”

“It’s barely the first day,” Hoseok states, taking a fry and popping it into his mouth. “You can’t be done when all we’ve had are introductions and go over the syllabus.” 

“Because just listening to them talk about the syllabus and hearing all these assignments that are coming up too fast is already stressing me out. I just want to graduate already and be a forensic linguist!” She tosses her hands up in the air in defeat.

You shake your head. “We’re almost done. This is our last school year and then we’re off doing what we do best.” 

“Yeah,” Hoseok agrees, placing his hand on his girlfriend’s back and rubbing it soothingly. “You’ll be yelling ”objection“ and I’ll be dancing in court to prove your point.” Ari laughs at his statement, earning a small relief from Hoseok as he takes another bite. It’s amazing how he knows her like the back of his own hand. 

“We’re almost done,” she repeats, sitting up straight and finally digging into her plate of Chinese food.

After a few minutes go by of random conversations, Ari looks to you with curious eyes. She smirks. “Have you two said the three words yet?”

You almost choke on your chicken as you roughly swallow the chewed pieces. “Three words?”

“I love you,” Hoseok chimes, twisting the cap to your water bottle off and handing it to you. 

You gratefully take the bottle and chug the water to wash down whatever got caught in your throat. “I haven’t,” you confess, twisting the cap back on. 

“Do you feel like you’re ready for it?” Ari questions, taking another bite out of her food acting as if you weren’t just choking on your food because of her. “Has he said it?”

You shake your head. “No he hasn’t said it yet.”

“But do you feel like you’re ready?” It’s Hoseok’s turn to ask, obviously interested in your unknown love life. 

You’re quiet for a moment, thinking. Are you ready to say those words? You do have feelings for him, and it is something you’ve never felt before. So, are you ready to be the first one to say it? Are you ready to say those three words that can change someone’s life?

It’s scary–it really is, but–

“Yeah, I think I am ready,” you tell them, feeling your heart race. 

The day goes on, the professors you meet today do the bare minimum. No one is ready to start the new semester with a lecture or homework just yet. So, as your final class of the day ends, you pack up your belongings and put them in your backpack. Several students are already saying goodbye to one another after having known each other for a while or just meeting now. 

With everything put away, you slip on your backpack and make your way out of the room, meeting the warm, night sky. You follow a group of people making their way towards the bus stop. A few other classes have just finished as groups of people leave different rooms, all making their way in different directions. As you make your way across campus, there are a few students still scattered across the grounds, several students sitting at the tables close to the food court. Instead of following the group up towards the first bus stop close to the library, you head down towards the second bus stop closer to the Student Union building.

By the time you get to the second stop, you notice the shuttle’s back lights turning on. You speed walk towards the vehicle, just making it in time as the driver closes the doors. Showing your ID, you make your way towards an empty spot in the middle, taking the window seat. Pulling out your earphones from your backpack, you plug it into your phone and place the buds in your ears. As a song plays, you take in a deep breath. The conversation you had earlier with Ari and Hoseok comes to mind. 

You’ll see him tomorrow during your small break between classes, and during that break you’ll tell him. Sure it’s not romantic or anything, but if you feel it, you’re supposed to just go for it right? You smack your palms against your warming cheeks. You’re nervous, but you can do it. 

I can do it. 

The following day you go through the usual introductions to the class, go over the syllabus, and leave for the day. As time gets closer and closer to you meeting Hanbin for lunch, your heart races and your nerves are on edge. When your professor says his goodbyes, you put your notebook and pencil away, and follow the group out the room. Checking your phone to make sure there were no other texts sent from him, you make your way towards the meeting spot where Hanbin should be waiting with your order from the Greek stand. 

When you reach the outdoor seating area, your eyes scan the umbrella area, looking for a familiar face. Before you can unlock your phone and begin searching for your boyfriend’s contact name, you can hear him calling for you. You look around again and find him standing at the far back next to his reserved table. He waves when he notices your eyes are on him. You smile and make your way down the steps and towards him. 

You’re going to do it. 

This is it. 

Tell him.

“Hey,” he says, beaming before leaning down and planting a kiss on your lips. 

Tell him.

“I–” the words catch in your throat.

#bangtanuniversity #bangtanarmynet #thebtswritersclub #btsgoldnet #btswritersguild #bts #bts x raeder #bts x you #bts fanfic #bts fluff #bts angst #bts au #bts smut #min yoongi #yoongi x reader #yoongi x you #yoongi fanfic #yoongi fluff #yoongi angst #yoongi au #yoongi smut

[joshslater]

Roped in

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"So, when is your roommate back?" he asked, while I was unlocking the door. I couldn't believe how lucky I scored. He was tall, cute, yet masculine with just the perfect amount of muscle, and acted very much like a top. We hadn't discussed that part though, I just realized. "It won't be until tomorrow. Eight I think, unless there is a delay. We got plenty of time." Steven would take the morning train back, so there was no one to disturb us. Not that he has ever complained, but I prefer to do my fucking when he is visiting back at his mother, to not make things awkward. "Could be tight," he said with a smile and squeezed my butt as I entered the apartment.

I realized the apartment was a mess, but nothing I could do about it now. My plan had been to go to the gym, get back, tidy up, get dressed, and then hit the clubs. But luck struck in the locker room when I chatted with someone I hadn't seen there before. Decent looking guy with an amazing body. He asked me what my plans were for the evening, and I told him the general outline of my plan. He then asked what clubs I had in mind. I hesitated a little, before dropping the names of two gay clubs. Then he came on strong, asking if we could skip all that foreplay and just go my place right away. I couldn't agree more, and here we were in my cluttered hallway. We'd just both showered at the gym, but it was before he hit on me. Had I known I would have been more thorough in some areas.

"Would you like to try something out?" he asked. I turned around and saw him closing and locking the front door. "Didn't I already say yes?" I replied. He smiled and grabbed something deep in a pocket of his gym bag. "What about this?" He held up a neatly rolled up thick, black cord. "Ever been thoroughly teased?" I had not.

We cleared some space in the living room and I moved a chair from the kitchen and placed in the middle of the freed area. Lots of security concerns went through my mind. There wasn't much to steal and at most I would be stuck until Steven was back. "Take a seat" he told me. I asked if I should swap clothes for something else, but he told me he liked what he saw. Except for the shoes and the zip top I wore what I left the gym in, crew socks, shorts, tight boxer briefs, and a T-shirt. Not the sexiest in my opinion, but if he liked it what did I care.

I sat down and he began immediately with one of the ropes, finding the middle of it and creating a loop. He then placed it around my ankle and fed the two ends of the rope through the loop, and then continued to work with the double rope. Occasionally he would split them and tie some knots, then using them double again. After securing my ankle he ran the double rope up the chair's leg and secured my leg just below the knee to the chair. Finally he tied my wrist to the back of the chair, behind my back. He quickly did the same on the other side as well, always checking if it was too tight. It was a surprisingly lose fit, while at the same time there was no way I could slip out of it.

Once both arms and legs were tied to the chair he took a step back. "How does that feel?" he asked me. It was exciting for sure, I could feel a boner slowly coming, but it was a little bit frightening too. Perhaps that's what made it exciting, but it was like ten minutes from he asked to tie me up to me being totally incapacitated and it felt like it was going too fast. Perhaps just because this wasn't something I had anticipated or sought out to do. We've passed the point where I could do much about it. "Oh, I know," he said, rummaged in his bag, and pulled out a soccer sock. I wasn't sure I liked where this was going. Perhaps not the thing itself, but by giving up more and more, you end up with no power to stop when it really does cross the line for you. He tied a knot at the middle of the sock, placed the knot in my mouth, and tied the sock at the back of my head. I probably should have told him "no". Now I couldn't tell him anything. My erection was about as hard as it can be within the confines of my tight underwear.

He took a step back and looked me over. "Now, where do you keep your cash?" he said. "Ungh," was I all could say, while straining to break free. He stepped up to me again and put his hand on my head "Relax, I'm joking. This is going to be all about you." He took a third rope out of the bag and started to tie it around my upper body. I already couldn't move with my hands bound to the back of the chair, but this added some rigidity to my upper body. He went across the chest above and below the pecs, and came in from one side of the neck, looped the rope through the rope across, and back up the other side of the neck, forming a V-shape on my front. All of it was tied behind me. It was still pretty loose-fitting.

Then, to my surprise, he grabbed the hem of my shorts and boxer briefs and forcefully pulled them out and forward to my knees. My dick, free at last, shot up like a gear stick. I don't think I've ever seen it so large before. He grabbed it with one hand and made a few strokes and squeezed out a drop of precum to the tip of it. He carefully touched it with his index finger and touched my nose, literally rubbing my nose in it. "Someone is excited to move on. Ok, let's kick it up a notch."

He walked around me and started to massage my neck and shoulders. I had not expected that. It was both odd and incredibly sexy. I could feel a sort of warmth spreading. He moved his hands down my body. I could feel it strain against the ropes as he squeezed my muscles. Wait, why was I straining against the ropes all of a sudden? He stepped in front of me and gave my dick a few more tugs. Did it just become even larger? I was confused about what was happening.  I was getting hotter and hotter, and broke out in a sweat. He moved his hands to my nipples and started to pinch them. It was like an explosion of pain and horniness at the same time. I was surprised I didn't blow my load right then. He kept pinching them, and I could see my chest muscles clearly inflating. The criss-cross of ropes made them look comically large, but they are clearly massive regardless and way bigger than a minute ago.

He stepped back again. If not for the sock keeping my mouth muffled and dry I would be panting. I was sweaty, on the edge of orgasm, and I could feel the pulse beating in my body as it strained against the ropes. "There, I hope you like muscles. Why else would you go to the gym?" He starts to collect his stuff and I realize he is about to leave me. "Unnn," I plead with him. "Yeah, I hear you. I can only imagine how maddening it would be to be out of your mind horny for half a day. I think the silver lining for you is when your roommate is back, you'd so soaked the room in pheromones that he won't stay straight for long."

[dreams-madeof-strawberrylemonade]

Reunion

Request: HERE  A/N: UPLOADING IT AGAIN BC I FORGOT TO TAG IT SORRY Soo it’s been what, one year, since I last posted a fic here? I’m kind of rusty ngl but nevertheless, it felt comforting to write something like this :) As usual, critiques and comments are welcome  Word count: 1.7 K+ Warnings: none

To be added - or removed - from the taglist, please DM me or leave me an ask!

GIF credit goes to @edgeofgreta; the original post is HERE

You walked into the apartment and set the two groceries-filled shopping bags onto the laminated floor. You kicked off your shoes and carried the bags into the open kitchen, placing them on the counter. With boredom, you took out every single item and placed them in their designated spaces. With the same growing boredom, you made your way back into the living room and threw yourself on the navy-blue sofa with your head sinking in one of the biggest pillows.

You pick up your phone and look at the screen – specifically, at the lockscreen wallpaper, which was a photo of you and Jake. Josh had taken that photo on one of the getaways you made together. Jake had on a beige shirt with his top four buttons undone – in other words, only with his lower two buttons done – and his favorite black hat. He was standing up tall, a wide smile on his face, and you were leaning against him, with your head placed on his right shoulder. You smiled and unlocked your phone, then opened the messages app and texted Jake.

I miss you :( Why does tour have to last this long?

Underneath the blue message bubble appeared the notification that the message had been read, then three typing dots appeared on Jake’s end.

I miss you too, honey. I can’t wait to get home and see you.

You begin to type.

Can we facetime later?

The answer came shortly.

Sorry, but tonight we have a gig. Tomorrow, too… We’re having practice now. Josh has again too much energy and needs to drain it a little bit before going onstage. Got to go now :( Love you

You typed back a formal luck-wishing message and threw the phone on the coffee table in front of the sofa. You were bored out of your mind and in the mood to do nothing whatsoever. Jake had been gone for almost three months now. You understood that it was his job and those were the terms and conditions you agreed to when you started dating him, but you didn’t figure at the time that separation would feel like that. It was safe to say that from time to time you missed him so much it hurt you.

You curled into a fetal position and turned on the TV. Flicking through the channels, you stopped at MTV. Highway Tune just began to play. Your heart grew at the sight of the boys and especially at the sight of Jake. You were so proud of them for getting that far and the mere thought that there actually is a far longer way for them to go made your heart beat in exhilaration. As the last notes of the song echoed through the room, you closed your eyes, pleased that you had seen the band on TV again.

You woke up from the “nap” way too late – it was 1 AM when you opened your eyes – so you moved from the living room to the bedroom. You didn’t bother changing your clothes and you just got underneath the blankets covering the double bed. Before falling asleep again, you looked over at the empty space next to you and you caressed the sheets, wishing that Jake would be there.

The new morning brought along a new day, but unfortunately, the base routine was the same: breakfast, staying in bed for way longer than you should’ve, going outside for some more groceries, flipping through magazines, watching TV, texting – or at least trying to text – Jake. The difference was that today, you called in sick for work and decided to do something fun.

After calling multiple of your friends, asking if they were free to go shopping with you, you finally let yourself defeated and decided you’d visit some shops on your own.

While you were at the bookshop – the one you frequently visited with Jake – you found a puzzle which, put together, should create a 3D globe with multiple images from the Renaissance era. You figured that Jake would find that puzzle at least as intriguing as you did. I could start putting together a welcome-home gift for Jake, you grinned as the thought crossed your mind. You picked the puzzle box off the shelf and walked around the bookshop with it. You stopped in front of the vinyl-filled boxes and you began browsing through them. Jake had a ridiculously large vinyl collection, but you listened to it together so many times that you almost knew every record by heart.

After way too much time spent pondering which records to get, you finally settled for The Doors’ Morrison Hotel and T-Rex’s Electric Warrior. On your way to the register, you stopped by the wine-for-special-occasions section and picked up a bottle.

With your heart filled with excitement, you came back home and called out. “Jake, I’m –,” but you stopped as you remembered that he wasn’t actually home. You slowly let the paper bag containing the puzzle, the wine bottle and the two records on the ground as you locked the door. Before unpacking, you checked your phone. No notifications from Jake. You felt your heart lightly twitch. You couldn’t blame Jake: he was just busy and most likely tired.

You took out the new acquisitions and arranged them on the low coffee table and smiled at the thought of Jake coming in through the front door.

You were tired, so you quickly did your night routine and you got into bed. Once you were in bed though, you couldn’t fall asleep. You just kept tossing back and forth, unable to find a comfortable position. Unannouncedly and unexpectedly, tears welled up in your eyes as you laid there, alone, facing the empty space to your left. You didn’t fight the tears back; you were alone in the darkness, there was no one who could see you. You just missed Jake so much. You missed the smell of his cologne imprinted even in his pajamas. You missed his laughter that managed to make you laugh all the time and you missed those moments when you’d both begin to laugh hysterically and you’d laugh at Jake’s laugh and he’d laugh at yours, and you both laughed so much that you forgot what started it in the first place. You missed his random moments of dancing around the house and you missed his complaints mostly aimed at Josh. As the memories reeled in the back of your mind, your sobs got more frequent. Thinking of it, three months didn’t sound like such a long time, but in reality, time is tricky. Three months can easily feel like three hours and just as easy can feel like three years. For you, it felt like three decades. You mindlessly grabbed Jake’s pillow and hugged it tightly to your chest, wishing it would be Jake instead of just a pillow.

As a new day dawned, you shuffled in your sleep and hugged the pillow again. You didn’t want to wake up just yet.

“Wakey, wakey,” a voice said from somewhere behind you, almost through a dream.

“Five more minutes,” you groaned, unwilling to open your eyes. You paused then and held your breath.

“You’re gonna be late for work,” the voice spoke again and a warm finger traced your side.

You jumped almost instantly. “Jake!” you shouted and collapsed over him, your arms circling his shoulders. You buried your face in the crook of his neck and inhaled deeply – that faint smell of freshly squeezed lemons, mint and cigarettes. His arms circled your waist and you both fell onto the bed. “God, I missed you so much,” you whisper.

“I missed you too… I am so happy to be back home,” he said and hugged you tighter.

Time stood still for you. You were in your happy place and nothing could get you away from there. You pulled away and looked at Jake. You ran your index fingers on both sides of his face and then cupped his face in your hands. Jake didn’t break eye contact with you not even for a second. He softly leaned into your right hand and with his right hand, he took your free one and brought it up to his lips, leaving a kiss on it. “Come here,” he whispered and smiled at you, as his hand made its way up to your cheek, slowly guiding you in towards his lips. You closed your eyes and slightly tilted your head to the side, anticipation growing in your stomach. His lips on yours felt so soft, so satin-like and sweet. You couldn’t get enough of this feeling. As an instinctive gesture, you brought your hand up to Jake’s face and let your fingers roam over his soft skin until they mindlessly tangled into his hair. Jake chuckled in-between needier and needier kisses, “More to come later.” He softly pulled away and rested his forehead against yours. “Next time, you’ll quit your job and come with me on tour.”

“Definitely,” you giggle, already picturing it in your mind. City after city, state after state – and you’d be there to see it all. “Jakey,” you say and pout a little.

“Yes, I will cuddle with you,” he nodded his head before you even got the occasion to ask the question. You break out in laughter and fall into the bed which, now that Jake was home, was even more comfortable.

You snaked your arms around Jake’s torso and pulled yourself closer to him. Jake pulled the blanket over the two of you in one swift move and wrapped his arms around your shoulders. “I’m never letting you go,” you whisper and cuddle closer to his chest.

“Please never do,” he answered and placed a soft kiss on your forehead. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“Did one of the boys tell you by any chance that we’re coming back early?”

“No, why?”

“Oh, that’s good. I wanted it to be a surprise,” he spoke lowly. “I saw you had some wine in the kitchen.”

You giggled. “It’s for us, for when you would come home.”

���I am home now,” Jake raised an eyebrow.

“I’m calling in sick again,” you announced and Jake’s laugh echoed through the room.

“That’s my girl.”

Tags: @myownparadise96, @satans-helper, @littlegeekwonder, @songbirdkisses, @angelstraightfr0mhell, @freeeshavacadoo, @safari-karrot​, @mountainofthesunn​, @bigthighsandstupidguys​, @starshinekiszka

#greta van fleet #greta van fleet imagine #jake kiszka #jake kiszka imagine #josh kiszka #sam kiszka #danny wagner #gvf #gvf imagine #jake kiszka x reader #requested #my writing #fanfiction #greta van fleet fanfiction #gvf fic

[amoosewritesfanfic]

[+18]

[Shinsou Hitoshi x Fem!Reader x Denki Kaminari]

[Warnings: poly, threesome, double penetration, overstimulation, light quirk play, hair pulling, ddlg, light piss kink]

[I own none of the characters or art posted, the credits go to the original creators, the story and edit belongs to me tho, all characters are obviously aged up.]

[Tbh this is birthday smut for my two bois enjoy it :3]

-

"Ah shit baby girl, you look so fucking good takin' my cock like that, it's filling your mouth up so well~" Denki teased as your head moved back and forth around his cock, meanwhile between your legs was Shinsou, his tongue working your cunt, easing over your clit making you reach your third orgasm for that morning. "Morning sex is the best~" Denki groaned tilting his head back as you worked his cock. Shinsou pulled back from your cunt earning somewhat of a muffled whimper from you, making Denki groan in delight from the vibrations it sent through his cock. "You're not wrong, though we could've slept a little more in..." Shinsou said as his thumb eased over your pussy lips making your hips buck slightly and basically deep throat Denki's cock which earned a sharp inhale from the blonde.

"Hmm, you sure 'bout that Shin? She's enjoying herself...~" Denki said as he watched Shinsou eased his middle and index finger into your slick which had your legs spreading a bit more as well as letting out another needy moan. "Oh she definitely is... you should do that thing that you did to me the other day." Shinsou said and Denki stared at him for a moment before chuckling and pulling himself from your mouth, your saliva connecting from his cock tip to your lips, you were panting quietly. "You sure?" He asked. "Yeah, she can always use the safe word if she doesn't like it, isn't that right kitten?" Now, Shinsou and Denki switched places, although this time, Shinou had your head in his lap, pulling your legs up to your chest to expose your sweet little cunt to Denki who had somewhat of a mischievous grin plastered on his face.

"Yes daddy..." you replied to Shinsou who stroked your cheek softly. "Repeat the safe word for us kitten." As he spoke he ran his thumb over your bottom lip and you consciously ran your tongue over the pad of his thumb before replying. "Eraser." You said. "And if you can't talk baby girl?" Denki asked as he eased two digits over your soaked slit making your hips buck slightly, everything felt so sensitive especially after cumming so many times. You smacked the bed three times and then smacked Shinsou's thigh three times. "Remember those kitten, I'll make him stop if it becomes too much okay?" Shinsou assured you and you gave a slow nod.

You trusted both Shinsou and Denki more than anything, it's why you married the two idiots of course and why the bedroom was always interesting, it was always spiced up between you three. Sometimes it would be just you and Shinsou or you and Denki or Denki and Shinsou. It depended on the situation or what kink you three decided on usually. You were open to anything, but sometimes you liked to sit out and sleep a little longer or go out without them.

...

Now with your safe word and gestures out of the way Denki wasted no time in sliding those two slender digits into you, your hips pressing into his touch as you tilted your head back in Shinsous lap, his cock twitching next to you. "Don't worry 'bout my cock kitten, just focus..." there was a pause before you felt it, that light shock, it was a small on but you felt it erupt throughout your whole body. Denki has used his quirk on occasion, once on accident and a few times on purpose, all of them were always heavenly, but he never used it like this, it was always on your nipples or your stomach where he did it. Shinsou wasted no time in easing his thumb over your cheeks to sooth you but it didn't help all that much, the voltage had gone up causing your hips to buck again, thankfully Shinsou had let go of your legs so you could keep them spread to help keep you a bit balanced, your hands gripping the bed sheets and a somewhat desperate needy moan escaping your lips, the electricity ran through out your body and if that wasn't the best feeling his fingers slowly pumping in and out of you, you were starting to whine and drool, your eyes rolled halfway back as your body jerked and trembled from the strange stimulation.

Of course you didn't notice Shinsou and Denki, silently communicating to each other, the way Shinsou told him to up the voltage and pick up the pace of his fingers had Denki shaking his head, telling him to wait as you got use to the sensations and once you did, oh gods... you definitely weren't expecting a rather harsh shock that caused your back to arch and your hips to lift off of the mattress, your expression, gods your expression was so lewd, you had drool falling from your lips and your eyes were rolled completely back. Your body was trembling even more now and the grip you had on the bed sheets was rather intense too. "That one was good Kami~ I think our kitten really enjoyed it~" at this point Shinsou had one hand fondling your breast as the other motioned for Denki to do it again, but this time, well this time Denki pulled his fingers out and plunged them back in, now that harsh shock that was sent throughout your cunt and to your stomach. When Denki had repeated the action you could barely speak because all that was falling from your lips was gibberish.

Your hips shot up once again and this time Denki felt your cunt squeeze his fingers, but what he didn't expect, hell not even Shinsou expected it, was how you started pissing yourself, those juices squirting out onto the bed and onto Denki who didn't move, but he had stopped his quirk. When you had stopped, lowering your hips now into the small puddle you had created, you were embarrassed but your flustered teary eyed expression had Shinsou smiling a little you looked so cute. "My poor pissy kitten~ you looked so cute pissing like that~ did you like pissing on Kami?" Shinsou asked you as he rubbed circles on your stomach trying to ease you, Denki was rubbing soft circles on your thighs. Embarrassed you shook your head. "It's not good to lie kitten~ be honest for us now~ use those pretty little words." He said as his free hand gripped your chin making you look up at the beautiful indigo haired male.

"Y-yes daddy... I-it... felt... good..." she whimpered, you were so embarrassed, but there was no denying that it felt good, it felt different like an orgasm you weren't expecting. "There's my good piss kitten~" Shinsou teased running his thumb over your bottom lip. "It felt really good baby girl~ ah~ but it made me wanna fuck you so bad now~" Denki cooed and Shinsou took this as an invitation to pick you up.

They stripped the soiled blankets off of the bed leaving the bare mattress, luckily you had only messed the blankets, meaning you still had the bed cover.

Shinsou had then slid under you, having you face him and your ass facing Denki which earned a harsh smack on your rear which had you moan out in delight. "We're gonna fuck you until we both feel satisfied baby girl~" Denki said, his fingers slowly threading through your hair before yanking your head back making you whine quietly as you managed to glance back at him, Shinsou's cock just barely teasing your entrance making you moan quietly. "And you'll take us both like you usually do right piss kitten?~" Shinsou's new nickname had sent shivers up your spine, you know he was just teasing you but somehow he made it sound so sexy. "Y-yes daddy~" you whined out and he smiled giving your chest a kiss before the two lined up with your holes. Shinsou taking that glistening piss cunt and Denki taking that cute puckered hole.

Honestly that's how the two liked it, Denki preferred your ass for some reason more than your pussy, although they did switch it up once in a while. Regardless the two wasted no time in sliding into your holes, your back arched slightly and a loud mewl fell from your lips, you felt so dizzy from having their cocks buried in your overly sensitive pussy and ass.

And once they started moving you felt like you couldn't focus on anything but the harsh thrusts of their hips, you were a moaning drooling mess as the sound of skin slapping against skin filled the room along with grunts and groans from your husbands. You cried out however feeling that overwhelming orgasm hitting your body once again, the way your legs tensed and you moaned out, "daddy yes! P-please please please~" like a mantra almost made the two smug, they knew that you loved this. "Fuck... kitten you're cumming already?~ how lewd~" Shinsou teased as the thrusts had become erratic and rougher with each movement. It wasn't long till they soon came after you did, groaning at how good your holes felt taking their seed.

They didn't even realise that... well you had passed out.

"Oh shit... she passed out." Shinsou said both of them immediately pulled out and checked on you to make sure you weren't hurt. "Ah she's fine she probably just got overwhelmed from the fucking." Denki said stroking your hair. "Let's get her cleaned up and then let her rest..." Denki then added and Shinsou gave a nod. Denki took the liberty of cleaning you up in the bathroom while Denki changed the sheets and blankets.

Once done, Shinsou had tucked you into bed, somehow you managed to pull the both of them back into bed with you.

"It was surprising that she pissed herself though... It was hot don't get me wrong, but fuck it was surprising I almost didn't know how to react." Denki had said quietly as he stroked your cheek. "Same, we should actually explore it a bit more..." Shinsou mumbled. "Yeah, we should daddy~ also happy birthday." Denki hummed. "And to you baby~"

That day you managed to sleep until late evening, both Denki and Shinsou had prepared dinner, you ended up apologizing for two things, passing out and also not wishing your husbands happy birthday. Which they told you was fine that they had an amazing birthday along with a perfect gift. The gift was you apparently.

-

-

[Genuinely had no clue how to end it but uhhhh yeah hope you enjoyed it, it was my first time trying out a piss kink. ]

#boku no hero academia #my hero academia #bnha #boku no hero x reader #smut #bnha smut #boku no hero academia smut #my hero academia smut #reader x my hero academia #reader x denki kaminari #reader x shinsou hitoshi #shinsou x reader #piss kink #heavy smut

[hiatus-for-forever]

Can you do a mirio x reader oneshot where mirio is a single dad and he doesnt want to tell his s/o but the s/o find outs in someway and is supportive.

Summary: ^

Quirk: You can make bubbles when you make a circle from your hands. A layer of bubble solution forms and you can blow it into bubbles. You can control its size. If you create many then you have to moisturize your hands cuz they get dry

A/N: sorry sorry sorry for this being late I admit I slacked off for like two days

Warnings/Genre: Fluff, cursing, angst if you squint

WC: 2,396

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You and Mirio had been going out for almost half a year now and though it hadn’t been very long you felt as though he were the one for you. You trusted him enough to give him the keys to your apartment, but he had never stayed the night or made spontaneous visits. You never visited his apartment too; he never gave you a key and when you suggested to go to his place, he would make excuses. They were usually because ‘the place is a mess’ or ‘there are hero plans that are classified’.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You weren’t a hero; your quirk had never been strong enough and you didn’t like the intense training, so you took up law in college. You eventually met Mirio while running late to school. In true hero fashion, he saved you from a guy you pulled you to an alleyway. What he didn’t expect is for you to punch the guy in the face as soon as he tried to unbutton you and disarm him by twisting his wrist and making him drop the knife. Mirio was amazed as he had to hold you back from kicking the guy’s head in when you pushed him to the ground.

When he asked how you learned to fight you told him that it was clear the guy’s an amateur. You chuckled saying how weak he was, it was probably one of his first times trying to assault someone. You liked his cheery attitude; he was happily talking to you as you fixed your clothes. Most of it was small talk, him complimenting your skills then asking where you were headed. It was at that time you realized you were late. You quickly sped off with the promise to see him again soon.

The next time you saw him was when someone else was in danger. Before you could jump in, he did and you were left tending to the scarred high-school student. You and he talked after the whole fiasco and jokingly called out the situation that brought you two together. You and he agreed to hang out outside of danger on his free time.

So you did, you went to the park with him and walked around. You talked about yourselves and you got to know him better. After that hangout, you went on others. He knew what you did, your hobbies and stuff you liked, and you knew his too. He was one of the most thoughtful people you’ve met, he constantly helped you through hard times like when you were stressed for finals. You never really noticed but he rarely asked for help. He put most of his attention to you and would brush off the fact he never bothered you about himself. You grew to like him, as a friend and maybe more.

Until one day, your view on him changed completely. You were on one of your hangouts and he got a call. He excused himself and stood to the side as you ordered takeout desserts for him. When he came back his face was contorted to show more of a gloomy expression. He was visibly down and when you got the desserts you brought him to a bench asked him to sit.

He came clean about everything, well, all but one thing. He told you he had a girlfriend he never mentioned and their relationship has been rough for years. It started becoming rocky a year before he met you and admitted to seeing you more that he saw his girlfriend as he was happier and more relaxed around you. You apologized profusely but he told you it wasn’t your fault. He then went on about how his girlfriend got mad at him spending too much time with you and being controlling and that he dumped him in the phone call he just had. What he didn’t tell you was that they had a child on accident and she left the child with him. This would add stress to his life and it was another factor for his breakdown.

During his rant you realized something, he deserved better, and you honestly wanted to be that for him. You came to term with your romantic feelings for him but as much as you wanted him to love you back, you didn’t want to just be some rebound.

After he calmed down he confessed that he loved you and you made him feel more wanted then his girlfriend did. He asked that you accept his feelings but you had to do a double-take. You said that you loved him too but thought that if a relationship would form, it should happen later. You told him you didn’t want to be a rebound and he agreed to wait until he was over his girlfriend to date you.

With that settled, thing went back to normal- well, almost. You noticed he always had something on his mind, always checking up on something every once and a while on his phone. You assumed it was just newfound responsibilities that his ex left with him and didn’t mind it. You did notice he was always redirecting the conversation when it came to going to his place. You never asked before to visit before as you didn’t know if you were close enough but now that he’s single and confessed to you thought it wouldn’t be a problem.

You and Mirio had been going out for almost half a year now and though it hadn’t been very long you felt as though he were the one for you. You trusted him enough to give him the keys to your apartment, but he had never stayed the night or made spontaneous visits. You never visited his apartment too; he never gave you a key and when you suggested to go to his place, he would make excuses. They were usually because ‘the place is a mess’ or ‘there are hero plans that are classified’.

Which brought you to today, it was spring and Mirio was out doing hero things. He promised to spend time with you tonight after a quick shower at his place but you had better plans. You bought a snacks and wanted to wait for him at his place for a spontaneous surprise. Even if you couldn’t get in, it was time to get closer to him and finally see where he lives. You planned to wait in front of his door if it was locked and just surprise him there.

What you didn’t expect was there to be a girl storming out of where you believed was his apartment. She was yelling at her phone about something and you couldn’t help but overhear, “…that child is running circles around me! Seriously, he would not take a rest! That troublesome quirk of his is something I refuse to deal with any longer. I quit! … No I won’t fucking wait for the other one to arrive, I bet she won’t even take a fucking step into that mess” She yelled and hung up. You couldn’t hear as Mirio was on the other line, pleading for her not to leave the child unattended until he could call for another babysitter. As soon as the girl hang up, he rushed home from his office, forcing his sidekick to take over watching the area.

The furious girl stormed passed you and stopped as she turned around and shoved keys to your chest, “Are you the other babysitter? Good fucking luck with that child.” She grumbled while getting into the elevator, leaving you shocked. What were you supposed to do? Leave a child to run around and ruin his parents’ apartment? You checked the number and was surprised when you recognized the number. It was Mirio’s. You remember him bringing his building and number up in two different conversations one time and you were pretty sure this was it.

You walked to the respective door, unlocking it and cautiously walking in. As soon as the door closed a child popped up from the floor. You jumped in surprise as they walked to you and eyed you suspiciously. The blue eyes and blonde hair looked strangely familiar. It then dawned upon you that this boy was a carbon copy of your boyfriend. Was this his child? Was he the reason you were never invited here? Is this why he acted how he did? The thoughts swirled though you mind but was cut off by a teasing voice.

“Are you another one of those mommy replacements my dad keeps forcing here? My mom sucked and left and every other one of you did too. I’ve never seen you before though so maybe you’re new. Guess I’ll just run you out now to make this easier” he huffed and swallowed in a breath before disappearing into the floor. You took a moment to process his words and figured out that his ex was the one who left the child. The boy looked around four or five and he had his quirk already, which he was surprisingly good at using.

He popped up from behind a couch and sat with his arms crossed. “What? Aren’t you gonna chase me?” He questioned. You realized you should contain the child before he could be any more trouble.

“I won’t” you said, crossing your own arms, “Don’t you fall down to the people below’s house when you do that?”

“Nah, I learned how to stop quick enough before I get there” he shrugged, “Now come get me before I break stuff you’ll get blamed for”

“You won’t” you said boldly

“Won’t I?” he threatened

“You won’t, because if you do, all the broken stuff and the stress of others will affect your dad. He pays for this stuff and the caretakers and you running them out just costs more money”

“All he ever does is make money, he doesn’t even spend time with me”

Poor kid, you thought and gave him a sympathetic expression. You sat beside him and pulled him to you as you wrapped an arm around him. “Did you ever tell him that?”

“Huh?”

“D’you ever tell him that you wanted to spend time with him?”

“No but he’s my dad, shouldn’t he already know?” he asked

“True, maybe I should talk to him about that” you said and rubbed his arm, he looked up at you

“You will?” he smiled

“Sure” you said and returned it. You moved away and put your index and thumb together to make a circle. “Wanna play a game?” you asked excitedly.

He nodded quickly with stars in his eyes, “For every five bubbles you pop, you get a cookie”

He agreed and got ready. You blew air through the hole you made and many small bubbles came out. He clapped them one by one, even standing up and reaching for the ones that flew up You stopped blowing and just watched him enjoying himself. He giggled and jumped around, popping bubbles left and right. He fell to the couch and laughed.

“How many’d you get?” you ask and he shrugged, “I wasn’t counting” he replied.

“Well then,” you pulled a box of cookies out of the plastic bag “you get all of them”

“Yay!” he said and grabbed the box. Sitting down, he opened it and pulled a cookie out, then took a big bite. You giggled at his cuteness and wiped some crumbs away with your thumb. He really looked like his dad. To think Mirio wouldn’t tell you about this. Then again, it was very hard to talk about this thing so you understood. You smiled to yourself at the thought of raising this little troublemaker with him. The thought of starting a family with him crossed your mind once or twice but seeing what could actually be warmed your heart. Sure he wasn’t your biological son, or your son for that matter but if he saw you like a mother figure, you could act like one for him. You would spend loads of time with this kid if you could.

“You know, you could be my new replacement mommy if you wanted. You’re way better than the other ones” he gasped, “Maybe you could be my real mommy!”

You choked on your spit. You started coughing as he tried to pat your back. He was mature for his age but his thoughts could seem premature as well

“Do you not want to be?” he looked at you with sad eyes.

Your eyes widened in worry, “No! No, no, no, no, of course I want to be!” you reassured him

“Then do it!” the smile came back to his face

“I would but, you should ask your dad first” you said.

Right on cue the door slammed open to reveal your boyfriend. He looked a mess, still in his hero outfit but he looked drained, like he had been running. His eyes met yours and he saw you sitting with his son. He gasped as you ran over to him. He panicked as he grabbed your wrist and pulled you around a corner to his dining area.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you about him but if I had a chance with you I thought it would scare you away and I know it’s kind of a bad thing to do but I thought you would understand if I told you later in the relationship but if you don’t wanna be with me anymore I understand and-“

You cupped his face in your hands and gave him a loving kiss, “It’s okay. I’m not leaving you. I like him and I would happily raise him with you if you want that too” you said softly and smiled. He seemed to have calmed down as he held your hands. You pressed your lips to his once more and he held you close. It was as if you were assuring him that you won’t leave him for anything.

You pulled away and looked into his eyes. He sent you a smile that you swore you’ve seen just a few minutes prior. It came to you that his son had that very same smile and it made you more excited to go back and spend more time with him. Just then you heard his voice.

“Eww what are you two doing!?”

#mirio #togata #togata mirio #mirio togata #LeMillion #mirio x reader #togata x reader #togata mirio x reader #mirio togata x reader #lemillion x reader #bnha x reader #bnha imagines

[soradragon]

Sugary Comfort

Art’s not mine I found it and credit goes to the wonderful owners of this master piece of a drawing!

First Mikey x reader! I am proud and content with this one!

Thank you my sweet new beta reader for helping me edit this fic I love u and your amazing! <3

Warnings: sensory overstimulation in the beginning, lots of fluff, one pun

Mikey x f! reader

Check out my main masterlist if you liked what you read and wanna read more!

If you want to be tagged in the upcoming fics don’t be afraid to ask me! ^^

Anyway, enjoy^^

~~~~

You gazed at the reflection of a girl. She looked utterly exhausted; bags under her eyes like she hasn't slept in ages. 

Her lips were tilted up in a sneer; it was evident that she was repressing the urge to scream. But instead of giving in to the voice begging her to do just that, she drove her foot through the water's surface. Not only disfiguring the reflection of the girl, but also dirtying the dress you nitpickingly chose to wear this day. At the time you felt beautiful wearing it. Proud that you chose the right clothes to fit with the dress, completing the look you wanted.

Now, you just didn't care.

You didn't feel pretty nor proud.

You choked out a sob, rubbing the back of your hand against your face harshly.

You wanted all the white noise to stop, wanted the crying to stop, wanted the searing headache to stop. Why couldn't time freeze? Then, maybe the chaos in your head would finally end.

You had tried everything you knew that normally should have worked. Out of all of the times for those methods not to work, why did it precisely choose now when it actually matters?

You followed all the steps. You even rehearsed the steps as you did them.

Step one: When you feel an episode coming, go to a quiet place with dull, even colours. 

You had almost dropped your project when you felt everything becoming overwhelming, muttering an explanation to your teacher before almost booking out of the school building, to the most calming place you could recall; the park.

Step two: Once you have found a quiet place, go sit down and use your headphones to block out all of the sounds.

The headphones did not work.

Your never-ending trains of thoughts took the place of the noise and multiplied it by two. 

Images that flashed before your eyes every time you closed them were too bright. You were unable to figure out the meanings behind the words your mind screamed at you. 

All of it only worsened the already painful headache.

After only a moment you tore the headphones from your head.

Step three: Try even your breathing, and count to ten to ground yourself.

This was the only step that worked. You managed to calm yourself and stop your ragged breathing but it took effort. It took two attempts of counting to ten before it succeeded.

This whole fiasco petered you out mentally and physically. You just wanted this unnecessary sensory to decrease and quiet down to at least a tolerable level. But alas, the world did not want to cooperate this time.

You sighed, casting your gaze to the heavens. 

The sky was beautiful this evening - painted in orange and pink - and you would have taken the time to admire it, had it been in a different situation.

After hearing a familiar yet obnoxious 'ping' coming from within your bag, you cursed under your breath. You snatched your bag from behind you crudely, zipping it open with a huff. As you turned it on, you flinched at the bright light of your screen.

One unread message from 'Mom.'

She was worried sick no doubt. You felt guilty for worrying her, and wanted to reassure her that yes, you were safe, but felt like trash and were in the middle of an episode that wouldn't stop. No matter how hard you tried, all the obnoxious and illogical sensory your brain's been picking up did not stop. Though, on the other hand, you just wanted to ignore the message and skip the whole situation of explaining everything altogether and just turn off the screen and put notifications on mute. You sent a quick 'k' to whatever she had messaged you and moved on to the mute button.

Your finger hovered above it when a notification popped up, causing you to hesitate.

One new message from 'The great Mikester dude!'

Without thinking, you pressed on the notification, staring with big eyes at the message he had sent you: Guess who and where dudette. :P

"Mikey." You gasped out, manoeuvring your head in all kinds of directions, eyes skimming all over the park, trying to find the one in question. You felt the tingling and buzzing feeling of hope and glee pool in your body, replacing the sadness and anger.

All problems were forgotten or pushed to the back of your mind.

The white noise died down suddenly when you heard a low thud and the slight rustling of leaves. 

There was no other explanation; they were here...You were sure of it. 

Only they could stop the chaos when everything else failed, though you didn't know how, nor the logic in it. 

You guessed it had something to do with their ninja nature or something. (Even though Donnie told you multiple times that it might have been because of the aura they carried with, them, being half turtle and all that jazz had its side effects on some humans, like how a pet could soothe its owner simply by being near them. You still blamed it on them being ninjas.)

With your mind settled down, you could think clearly again. 

You briefly acknowledged the fact that you most certainly were a dishevelled mess. Puffy eyes from crying, clothes covered in mud, and hair all over the place, considering that you've pulled and tangled your hair in frustration. Despite all of this, you didn't care.

You were too busy thinking of a plan to lure them - you guessed it was all of them, though it could be only Mikey - out of their hiding place.

You accidentally placed your hand on your phone, making it vibrate, and your hand shot back as if it had burned you. A few seconds after, a song piped up.  A lot of curses could be heard from the tree where the music came from, the leaves rustled like no tomorrow. Mikey fell out of said tree not long after, hitting the ground with an 'oof' followed by a groan. You stared at Mikey for a couple of seconds before doubling over in laughter as the realisation hit you:

You had accidentally called Mikey!

Well, it sure helped you find him!

You counted that as a win on your part. And it seemed that Mikey was on his own, for normally one of the brothers, cough Raph cough would have jumped out from their hiding place and scolded Mikey.

He rolled into a sitting position, giggling with you.

"Yo, dudette! Fancy seeing you here. Don't mind me dropping in," he said, peering at you with an expecting smile, seeming to wait for a reaction. 

It took you a hot second or two for you to catch on, eventually groaning at the pun and face-palming yourself for your delayed comprehension. He did jazz hands and everything.

The great ninja Michelangelo just punned...

You wanted to kick yourself, you completely forgot that April had warned you about Mikey using puns. She had messaged you not too long ago about how it was a "Big" (with capital B) mistake of Casey to teach Mikey "The Art of puns." For Mikey had become obsessed with them. - Throughout the whole exchange, Casey had managed to steal April’s phone a few times and messaged you some words. Three guesses which one was Casey’s input on the matter. - 

You had no clue what they meant with "mistake" throughout that whole exchange. 

You appreciated a good pun.

This was not a good pun. 

You could just imagine the brothers’ reactions to Mikey's newfound fixation: Raph screaming desperately for Mikey to shut up. Donnie being hella annoyed with something pressed against his (ears?) to drown Mikey out. Leo would definitely try to ignore him, probably without success, because you knew...oh, you knew Mikey would take every chance he got to make a pun.

Your heart went out for them. Needing to go through such torture was horrid, yet it was a funny sight to be completely honest. Not that you would ever tell them, heavens no.

You were not going to poke three bears with a stick - in this case, mutant turtles. You were not ready to die three separate times.

"Dude, that was so bad,” you said, making a face as if you had just been forced to smell Raph's feet. You still regret going through with that bet.

"Dude!"

Mikey frowned, throwing his hands in the air. You knew he wasn't really offended, just a bit pouty.

"It's the truth, dude," you retorted absentmindedly, casting your gaze from left to the right before it rested on your bag. Smiling slightly, you snatched it, hauling it over your back before turning back to Mikey who sat contently against the tree. 

"But," you emphasised the word by pointing your index finger in the air, "you can get better,” your grin widened as you spoke.

 “And I, Y/N, know how it's really done."

Mikey's pout vanished and a wide, child-like grin overtook his face. You had his full attention, as he observed you expectantly from his cross-legged position. 

The long uncut grass rippled towards and caressed Mikey, the blades of green curling slightly forward and creating an image of what looked like nature sheltering Mikey from the harsh reality outside of this garden of paradise. 

The green-filled branches of the tree hovered above him, leaves gliding down every now and again, covering Mikey in small dapples of shadow.

Dusk's hew engulfed the image before you in a soft purple radiance. Mikey's skin practically glowed, making him look like a forest fairy.

It was a captivating sight. 

You could mistake it for a painted fairy tale that had come to life. Whoever the painter was had made sure that each tiny detail captured the magic and beauty of the image before you.

A magic-filled world coexisting in the harsh one you stood in... what you wouldn't give to cast all worries aside and join that world.

You were so lost in the moment that you almost forgot to continue.

Shaking yourself free from the enchanting sight, you carried on, albeit flustered, "a-and I could, um, teach you a thing or two. If...If you want me to, that is."

Mikey almost jumped right in your face before the words had completely left your mouth. There were practically stars in his eyes! He actually looked really adorable.

"Really!? You would!? Y/N, you are the best!!"

Mikey engulfed you into a hug, his body nearly covering your entire body from the world.

You gave a chuckle as he kept his arms circled around you, letting you sit in his lap. You didn't mind at all, feeling cosy in his arms.

"Of course I would Mikester. It would be my pleasure!"

You raised your hands to Mikey's cheeks, giving them a couple of pats before you continued.

"That way, you have a reason to end patrol earlier so we can spend more time together," and it would give the others a break from the barrage of bad puns, but you didn't voice that out loud. 

Mikey seemed to agree. He didn't waste any time to establish when and where this 'class-session', as he called it, would be taking place. He wanted it to become, without a shadow of a doubt, a weekly thing, like movie night at the turtles’ place with everyone.

Mentioning movie night brought up some nasty memories of last time -the movie night itself wasn’t bad, just one of your episodes got out of hand -  and Mikey changed the subject promptly after seeing you wince slightly. 

He told you about all kinds of new skateboard tricks he mastered and invented.

After a little while - when everything had been said about skateboarding - Mikey started to eagerly talk about random topics, bringing up stuff like how his training went this morning or what he encountered on patrol. Just little things to draw more time spending in this position. You kept in mind that this peaceful moment couldn't last forever, for both of you would have to separate sooner rather than later. 

You needed to go home to your no doubt worried sick parents, before they would start search parties. And Mikey...had to wait till the next time you two could hang out. (Which wasn't as often as both of you desired)

You listened to his voice silently, only humming a reply whenever Mikey asked for your opinion, snuggling deeper into his embrace as you lost track of time. Drowsiness tugged at your consciousness, beckoning you to close your eyes and let sleep take over. The way Mikey held you close to him made you feel loved and safe, with you resting your head against his chest to hear his heartbeat. He rubbed soothing circles on your left shoulder with one hand, making it impossible to resist the urge to let sleep take you away to dreamland. 

You vaguely heard Mikey's voice murmur in your ear, "Sweet dreams, sugar muffin..." You felt soft lips brush against your forehead before sleep took you over.

*(*)(*)*

Michelangelo stayed seated for a little while longer, looking at your sleeping form with loving eyes. If the world would have let him, he would have stayed like this forever. Alas, the moment was broken when your mobile pinged inside your bag, vibrating like crazy.

Mikey panicked. Jumping to his feet (surprisingly without stirring you) without thinking. He opened your bag in such haste he had almost dropped you trying to grab the vibrating phone before it would wake you.

He sighed in relief when the phone stopped its obnoxious buzzing after he managed to keep you from falling. He shifted you gently onto one arm to hold you delicately, yet tightly to his chest, as if he was protecting you from the world around you.

Once he made sure you were nestled comfortably in his hold,  he glanced towards the device lying in his palm. Mikey held it at an arm's length.

One question drifted inside his mind: Who in their right mind would call you this late in the evening?

It was a question where he could get an answer, but Mikey didn't want to pry into your private life without your permission.

But the curiosity gnawed at him like he would do with pizza.

He shook his head and chastised himself for goggling the device longingly. "No, bad Mikey...Be the better man, you can do this," he muttered, moving to put the phone in your bag until your phone buzzed again, displaying the number of notifications on the lit-up screen.

It made him halt in his tracks. 

Mikey knew you were having a bad day today. After all, he saw you crying by the pond in the centre of the park. It was a mere coincidence, patrolling around the park at the time. He had seen you crying and decided right then and there that he would cheer you up. But he had no idea you had that kind of bad day. 

There were seven unread messages and three missed calls from your mother. All of them showed how worried she was about you, asking where you were and if you had one of your sensory overstimulation episodes.

Without really thinking about it, he typed a reply to your mother: Batteries died, was with a friend. Coming home through the fire escape forgot keys.

It wasn’t a  grammatically correct message, he knew. It was the best he could do with one hand and one thick tumb.

Mikey glanced towards you with gentle eyes and a soft smile after sending the message and put your phone back in your bag.

He moved you gently, holding you with both arms again and cradling you against his chest.

You, in turn, stirred and snuggled deeper into Mikey's chest, making his heart soar.

"Time to get you home, sugar muffins..." he whispered softly, brushing a couple of stray hairs out of your face.

Mikey moved swiftly yet precisely, ensuring you did not wake or feel uncomfortable during roof-top-hopping. You needed all the rest you could get; the bags under your eyes made him even more certain of the fact.

Your home came into Mikey's field of vision far too soon. Opening the window and laying you softly onto your bed felt too fast for his taste.

Mikey took extra care to tuck you in. He even attached a little note to your bag for you to find when you would wake up. 

He really wanted to stay longer, but the sound of your parents coming up the stairs told him it was time to go. He opened the door of your room slightly so your parents would know you were home. Michelangelo climbed through the window before your parents could see him.

He watched your parents turn on the light from a rooftop across your window. Your dad gave you an extra blanket before the two of them turned off the light and left your room.

Mikey stayed there on the rooftop for a little while longer before leaving, looking over his shoulder one last time and then he sprinted over the rooftops towards home.

*(*)(*)*

You found the note the next day. You smiled brightly at the words hastily scribbled on the pape. You texted Mikey a reply before you went to look out your window. Your eyes draw towards the morning sky, which was painted in a soft orange hue.  

You repeated the words inside your head, making you excited for the next time you would see your turtle in orange...

Yoo, dudette! Can't wait for the pun-session upcoming Friday! 

I'll pick you up at ten alright? It's a date! ;) <3

~~~~

Thank you for reading, and keep soaring high!^^

Forever taglist

@theincaprincess​ 

#tmnt #tmnt x reader #tmnt mikey x reader #mikey x reader #tmnt michelangelo x reader #michelangelo x reader #tmnt mikey #teenage mutant ninja turtles #teenage mutant mutant turtles x reader #x reader #fluff #angst #sora's writings #mikey's a sweetheart #can't convince me otherwise #nope not happing #cant change my mind #bad at tags by the way

[oh-so-scenarios]

Loose Ends | two

⇢ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴀ ʟᴀsᴛɪɴɢ ɪᴍᴘʀᴇssɪɴɢ ʏᴏᴜ ᴍᴀᴅᴇ...ᴛᴏᴏ ʙᴀᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ᴅɪᴅɴ'ᴛ sᴛɪᴄᴋ ᴀʀᴏᴜɴᴅ ᴛᴏ sᴇᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴀᴍᴀɢᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴄᴀᴜsᴇᴅ.

⇢ᴄᴇᴏ! ᴋɪᴍ ɴᴀᴍᴊᴏᴏɴ x ᴀᴅᴍɪɴ ᴀssɪsᴛᴀɴᴛ! ғᴇᴍᴀʟᴇ ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ, ᴇx-ғɪᴀɴᴄᴇs!ᴀᴜ, ᴀɴɢsᴛ, ᴇɴᴇᴍɪᴇsᴛᴏʟᴏᴠᴇʀs

**A/N: There are errors! Please ignore them! This chapter is a little awkward(imo), but it’s just laying down the foundation but it will pick up.  (Word Count: 4.9K)

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《 PAST 》

Y/N:

“So we’re partners?” I said, sitting down at the empty desk. I glanced over at the quiet boy sitting beside me. His head was down and he focused his attention on the black sheet of paper in front of him. 

Maybe he was shy? I couldn’t be sure, but what I did know was that I wasn’t planning on slacking off. 

They say your freshman year of high school will determine the rest of your years and I will not get off to a bad start. I was already a push-over in middle school, letting myself get tricked into doing all the work. But I am entering high school with a new confidence. I will keep my head high and speak up when I feel wronged. 

“Your name is Namjoon right?” I called softly. I leaned over, trying to catch his eye. I knew he could hear me, seeing him side eye me momentarily. He finally lifts up his head and looks my way, showing a shy smile. 

As I finally got a good look at him, I couldn’t help but smile. He has high cheekbones, kind eyes that were behind thick circular glasses and his hair is jet black, brush forward and covering his forehead. There are a few pimples on his face, but he’s a cute guy. 

“Hi.” He says quietly, his ahead falling back to his desk. He’s shy. I can’t help but giggle, noticing his eyes widen at me. My giggles stop short, my eyes also widening. 

“I’m not laughing at you or anything!” I rush out, “I just think you’re...cute.” My giggles start up again, a blush growing throughout his face.

“I’m Y/n.” I stretch my hand out and he shakes it briefly. He opens his mouth to speak but is interrupted by the teacher.

“Alright! I gave you some time to get familiar with your partner! Don’t worry you’ll have time to talk some more! They will be your writing partner for the rest of the school year!” The teacher gives everyone a big smile before turning back to the board. 

I settle into my seat, leaning back into the chair and smiling. I can’t help but glance over at the shy boy was didn’t speak much.

《 PRESENT 》

This is cruel. This is unforgiving and devilish. Why should I have to see Kim Namjoon again, let alone work for him?

My gut was telling me to turn down this job, and it wasn’t wrong. I shouldn’t be here. It should have been someone else. Fate couldn’t be this cruel. It just couldn’t. I thought I could have gone another 10 years before I had to lay my eyes on that man again. 

I lean my head against the cold metal wall of the elevator. I watched the elevator doors close, leaving me to stare at my own reflection. It’s now day 2. Only 238 more days till this contract is over. I can’t help but chuckle at how ridiculous this situation is. 

I finally reach for and press the button for the 23rd floor, the elevator pings and shifts as it went upwards. 

I didn’t let my emotional breakdown yesterday stop me. I went to the bathroom, cleaned myself up and walked back into the office, doing the work that was expected of me. I am grateful that I didn’t have to see Mr. Kim again till he was leaving his office for the day. He didn’t spare a look my way.

Maybe he doesn’t recognize me? How much can a person change in 3 years? Or he counts our time together as a different phase of life? He probably doesn’t see the need to mention the elephant in the room. Rather let sit there, and bother both of us. He thinks it bothers me more and if he does, he’s right.

Today I wore a long sleeved mustard yellow blouse that was tucked in into my black and white houndstooth pattern pencil skirt. It’s not a look I usually go for, but I wanted anything to distract from the dread that was clear on my face. The outfit was cute and the colors worked wonderfully, so I praise myself for that.

 I looked down at my peach-nude heels and thanked god that it matched. I was practically a zombie as I walked out the house today. I couldn’t remember what shoes I put on. My hair was down and I kept my make-up natural. 

My purse hung on my shoulder, only carrying my schedule book for Mr. Kim, my phone, keys and wallet. The elevator dinged once more, and the doors slid open to show the pearl white walls. It’s day two. Another fresh start. The past doesn’t matter here. Just work performance. 

I stepped through the doors and started down the hallway. As I hear the clicking of my heels, my nervousness vanishes. I am simply an assistant. As long as Mr. Kim plays it cool, so should I. He doesn’t owe me anything. 

“Good morning.” I called as I walked in. My words stopped short as I realized that Sana wasn’t there. I look at the watch on my wrist. It’s twenty to eight. I guess I am a bit early, but that’s better than late. Most employees don’t start coming in till about 8:30. Mr. Kim arrives somewhere between 8 am and 8:30am.

I grab my schedule book and set my bag under the desk. I wasn’t too out of it yesterday to forget to write my to-do list. I turn on the computer and my desk and look through my email to find the needed documents. I want to have them done before anyone else can get in my way. 

I sent the documents to the printer and soon found myself moving back and forth in the office. I walk through the double doors that lead to the cubicles of the employees and go to the copy room. I’m making copies and finding folders to pack them into. It didn’t feel strange with it being just me in the office. 

It feels better to work in silence, with less people around me.  After printing, copying and organizing all the documents, I made my way towards the empty conference room and spread the folders out. 

Mr. Kim has a meeting with some employees about the books that were to be published in the next 3 months. That meeting is followed by another meeting on authors to sign with. I printed and copied the documents for the second meeting. I took those folders back with me. They were stacked in my arms, and blocked my view. 

I managed to waltz into the lobby area and to my desk just before they started slipping out of my hands. I grabbed the empty white box that once held my belongings and dropped the folders in there.

I stood up straight, smoothing my skirt and reaching for my schedule book on what to do next.

I took a seat and started sending out emails. It wasn’t long before I heard footsteps approaching, Heels clicked in a speedy matter, the jiggling of keys mimicking the quick movement. Sana comes around the corners in sand colored dress pants and an ivory white blouse. Her keys are in her hands and her bag is clutched in the other hand. 

“Oh you’re here!” She wails, through her hands up as if saying thank you to a higher power.

“I forgot I’m not the only secretary anymore.” She mutters as she walks towards the desk. I resume typing up the emails, giving Sana a pointed look as she plopped into her seat. 

“Sana, get in the habit of coming in early. I was able to do the needed work for the morning on my own, but it won’t always be like that.” 

She nods, still catching her breath, “Or course! I don’t want to slack off! I want to learn from you.” She lazily tosses her bag on the floor and switches her computer on. Her acrylic nails tap against the desk as she hums a tune to herself.

“Let me help prepare the meeting docu--”

“Done.” I deadpan. She narrows her eyes at me and a small smile pulls at the corners of her lips.

“Seriously?” She was in disbelief.

“Yes,” I answered, sparing a glance.

“And the deadline emails?” She questioned, leaning over to sneak a glance at my computer screen. 

“That’s what I am doing now.” 

“Wow, Y/n! You’re killing it!” 

I try to keep from rolling my eyes, “The sooner you do things, the smoother they run. Once Mr. Park arrives, I’m going to get the financial report of the previous quarters and make copies for the meeting with Jung Hoseok of Jung Funding.”

“That meeting isn’t till 3.” Sana points out like I’d forgotten.

“Do we have to wait till 2 pm to get started on that?” I raise my eyebrows at her as she shakes her head no. 

“Exactly.” I answer back. 

“What if Mr. Kim changes something at the last minute?” She leans back in her seat, a grimace appearing on her lips while she looks off to the side. She must have dealt with something like that previously. 

I sigh, “Then we just go with it. It happens, there is nothing that can be done about it.” 

I press send on the last email, check the time on the computer. It’s 8:20 am. Mr. Kim should be on his way in--

“Get started on the documents for the first meeting. It’s been moved up 30 minutes.” His voice cut through the lobby like a knife. The light weight atmosphere created by small talk was stepped on by his demanding presence. 

“They have been completed sir.” I stood up from my seat as he walked in, walking like he was taking a stroll in the park. 

His steps stop, and he puts both hands into the pocket of his pants. His outfit today was missing the coat. He wore a white dress shirt with a dark grey vest and pants that matched. He kept his head down, giving us a view of his profile.

I try to ignore the pounding in my ears as I stare at him, waiting to hear what he says. I work to keep my breathing under control since it felt like my heart slamming itself against my rib cage.

“You’ve done that already?” 

“Yes sir--”

“And the paperwork for the potential authors meeting?”

“That is done as well.” I answered back, keeping my tone neutral while giving a friendly smile. I hope it didn’t look as stiff as it felt. 

He doesn’t say anything else and trods into his office. 

“He was totally looking for something to be angry about.” Sana says in an annoyed tone.

I don’t reply but sit back down in my seat, sorting through emails. I can’t be sure how much time goes by before I hear footsteps coming down the hallway. This time it’s accompanied by chatter and laughter. The sounds get louder and a big group of employees turn the corner. 

Did they all wait to come up at the same time? There were about 9 of them. They were chatting among themselves but it seems there was on person who was the center of all that talk. A man I haven’t seen before.

“Mr. Park?” I called out. It was a guess, but I wasn’t left feeling stupid as the man stops mid laugh, He looks around then meets my questioning expression. The two women that stood around didn’t hide their glares. I ignored them, looking at my computer screen for a moment before standing up from my seat.

“Good morning Mr. Park, I am--”

“Y/n L/n.” He cuts me off, a smile pulling at the corner of his lips. Wow. What a good looking man. He must be a charmer, and with how the women of the office flock around him...he’s trouble. His hair was jet black and parted to the side and slicked back. He wore a sharp black suit with a white dress shirt underneath.

He carried a suitcase that he handed to one of the women that were clinging to him. The woman gladly takes it.

“You’re the new administrative assistant right? I’ve heard a lot.” He says while flirtatious light comes to his eyes. I don’t miss the way his eyes move along my face and body. His attention is brought back up to my eyes and he smiles innocently like he wasn’t just checking me out. 

“I need the financial reports for the last eight quarters. If you could please gather that up and email it to me.” I sat back down to grab a sticky note, jotting down my email and holding it out. 

He takes slow steps towards the desk, and since my patience is short this morning, I simply stick the note to the desk surface. 

When he takes the note from the desk, I can feel his eyes on me. I look up from the computer screen to see the smile on his lips widen.

“I am Park Jimin, but you can call me Jimin.” 

I exhale, taking my hands off the keyboard and leaning back in my seat, “Mr. Park, I need those reports quickly.” 

“Don’t let his smile fool you, Mr. Park is not a man to get wrapped up in.” Sana mutters from beside me. I noticed the women that were glaring at me earlier entering into the employees area, through me another stank look before letting the doors close behind them. More employees were slowly making their way in for work, not of them batting an eye at Mr. Park who was leaning against the desk. 

“It takes a lot more to fool me than a smile.” I said to Sana. 

“You heard her Mr. Park, you’d be wasting your time.” Sana jeers. Mr. Park doesn’t acknowledge her words at all, only slowly stepping away from the desk then turning around to walk into the employees area.

“Looks like Mr. Park has set his eyes on you.” Sana says, still looking through some paperwork.

“That doesn’t feel like a good thing.” I sneer. 

She chuckles, “It’s not.” 

The next hour goes by smoothly. Not instructions or emails from Mr. Kim and Mr. Park sent the reports over. I am in the process of printing and copying them when I hear a booming voice.

I step out of the copy room just in time to see other employees shying away from the voice. I can’t help but sigh as I realize it’s probably Mr. Kim. Ugh. He’s found something to be angry about and it isn’t even noon. 

“Ms. L/n!” A voice roars. I roll my eyes knowing what’s coming. I’ve been yelled at many times, so there is nothing Mr. Kim could do to faze me.

“Yes?” I call out delightedly. I keep my voice light as I round the corner to see him stalking down the aisle.

The angry look on his face with the hands on his hips tells me all I need to know. His ears are turning red, as they usually do when he’s angry, and his brows are furrowed. The creases in his forehead as he glares at me, ages him a bit.

“Why am I getting phone calls from angry authors?” He yells. Everyone around me flinches as he shouts. I can only stare up at him with a blank facial expression, not moving an inch as he yells at me. 

He steps closer, a familiar cologne whisking off of him. Not overbearing, but present enough that you want to lean in to smell more.

“I am not sure sir. I do not have a complete understanding of the situation.” I answered calmly. Employees around us were pretending to work, but it was clear that they were listening in. I notice Mr. Park watching from a distance, his facial expression unreadable.

“The deadlines you emailed were incorrect! These dates are impractical! 2 weeks? Come on Ms. L/n! Use your head! I thought you were supposed to be smart.” He hisses. I can say, I have never seen Namjoon like this. The Namjoon I knew would never raise his voice like this, at least not in front of other people.

I cleared my throat and answered back confidently, “I will send the deadlines to you for correcting sir.” 

I watched his face contort in confusion, “Excuse me? To me?”

“Yes sir.” 

“Why the hell would you do that?”

“Well, those are the deadlines you wrote up for me sir. I was not aware that the dates were incorrect, for it was only my first day. I am so sorry for the stress that was caused to your authors. I will email each other apologizing for the mix up.”

“You have some nerve. Ms. L/n, are saying this is my fault?” His voice is quieter this time, but the menacing tone didn’t flatter. 

I smile sweetly, “Of course not sir! I will simply issue apologies to the authorities and make sure the correct deadlines are given to them.”

“Don’t even email them. Call them personally.” He adds.

“Of course, sir.” I nod. The whole office I silent as I keep the appearance of my small smile, holding the folders close to my chest as he glares at me in silence. Though it isn't showing in my face, it felt like my heart could explode in that moment.

Who is this man? So familiar but so foreign. 

“When you’re done with your paperwork, come to my office.” It felt like he was towering over me, and for once I can feel the difference in levels. This is not Kim Namjoon, the dorky boy I knew in 9th grade English. This is Mr. Kim, wealthy CEO of KM-Moonchild Publishing.

“Of course sir.” I reply before he turns around and exits the way he came in. I simply shrug and turn around to go back into the copy room when someone calls out to me. 

“You really talked back to er. Kim like that?” It was a female voice. I groaned, spinning around to face the voice. It was a woman with dark red hair and a black and white jumpsuit. She was pretty. Her figure was slim with an hourglass shape. Her hair was in gracious waves that effortlessly rested on her shoulders and down to the middle of her. I'm certain that she’s one of the girls that were gossiping about me yesterday.

I stared at her, and I’m sure my gaze came off as bored, because I was. I don't care what this lady has to say. It’s nothing of use.

“I was just having a conversation with Mr. Kim. A conversation requires two people to speak.” 

She crosses her arms over her chest, “You have no respect! It’s one thing to think you’re better than us, but can your ego relax. Mr. Kim isn’t someone to--”

“I am not here to be lectured. I have work to do. I haven’t been fired yet,when I am I will make sure to come and cry that you were right so that your ego can get the boost it needs.” I try not to laugh at the expression on her face but a slight chuckle leaves my lips as I turn into the copy room. 

I hum to myself as the copy machine does it’s job, being and humming as it does so. I’m tapping my fingers against the buzzing machine when I sense a presence behind me.  

“Yes?” I called out, looking over to spot Mr. Park leaning against the doorway with a smug smile.

I bit my tongue to keep back the groan that wanted to leave my lips. Not this guy again. I already feel the need to have HR on speed dial.

“Are you here to bother me?” I say out, and turn my back to him again. It’s quiet for a while before I heard a soft sigh. 

“I’m not here to start any trouble, I just think it’s very cool the way you handled things back there.” His tone was different from when we spoke earlier. 

“I always handle things. Mr. Kim is no different from the other people I have worked for. I have been yelled at many times.” I grab the newly printed papers and turn to face Mr. Park just so I could place the papers on the table. I started my second batch of copying before he spoke again.

“You’re not worried about being fired?” 

I shrug, pushing another button on the machine, “I’ve already been paid 50%  of my contract payment, so I could care less. Mr. Kim only has me for eight months.”

“Eight months huh? That’s too bad.” He mutters to himself. 

~!~

“He’s so gonna fire you.” Sana whispers to me. I don’t look away from my computer, typing up the emails for the new deadlines that were sent to me by Mr. Kim. He must have realized he was in the wrong, seeing how the corrected deadlines were sent to me before I could return to my desk from the copy room. But when I returned to the desk, Mr. Kim was in his first meeting of the day. So here I sat with Sana who had heard about what happened as one of the women were giggling about it on their way out the office.

“Let’s hope he does.” I mumble. Sana hears me, looking my way and pouting.

“Do you not like it here?” 

“It doesn’t matter if I hate it here or not, it’s my work.” I didn’t think much of it when Sana didn’t say anymore. I was finishing up the email with the new deadlines when some heavy footsteps came from the employee area, and the double doors opened to reveal Mr, Kim who was being trailed by some employees. 

I could see them out of the corner of my eyes. I focused on the computer screen once more, pretending I didn’t notice the glance my way from Mr. Kim. The two men stand in the middle of the lobby speaking about the meeting that just ended. 

I spend the last deadline email and turn to another page in my scheduling book to begin the apology phone calls. That doesn’t go far because Sana nudges me with her arm.  When I look at her, she’s looking forward. I follow her gaze to see Mr. Kim practically glaring at me. 

“Ms. L/n, my office please.” He says. His voice was too neutral for the scowled that was burned onto his face. I didn’t get the chance to respond before he spun around and zoomed into his office. 

I stood up, smoothing my skirt and grabbing my scheduling book. I ignored Sana’s puppy dog's eyes, seeing as she was scared for me.

I strolled to the heavy wooden doors, knocked and opened it to see him standing behind his desk.He hands were behind his back and he was zoned out. His attention was elsewhere and his mind was far off somewhere else.

I closed the door behind me and fought back the smile curling at the corner of my lips. The lost look on his face reminds me of Namjoon from high school. The smart boy who would daydream in class. 

“Mr. Kim?” I call out. His neck snaps up and his eyes grow hard and dark. The gentle expression on his face was no more. 

I approached his desk, holding the schedule book close to my chest. 

“You wanted to speak to me?” I say, feeling nervousness bubbling up in me. Something about the atmosphere has shifted. By the look in his eyes, I know what he's going to do.

“Why are you here?” He asks in an icy tone. I raise an eyebrow at him, pretending to be clueless.

“What do you mean Mr. Kim? If this is about the deadline--”

“Y/n, cut the shit.” He deadpans. I press my lips into a tight line, gripping the schedule book tighter and clear my throat. 

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Did you come here to torture me?” He says quickly, ignoring my attempt at feigning ignorance. My face scrunches up in offense. I took a step back before shaking my head in disbelief. 

What the fuck? He thinks I came here on purpose?

“I came here to work.” I hiss, “I didn’t know a damn thing about this job when I got the offer. You think’d I take the job I knew I would see  you?”

He runs his fingers through his hair and I watch him intently, waiting for him to speak again. When he doesn't voice my thoughts.

“I came here to work. Not to torture you, not to bug you. I couldn’t care less about you and what you’re doing. Separate work from personal and keep it moving.”

“Of course that’s easy for someone as heartless as yourself.” He jeers, laughing humorless. My breath catches in my throat and I take a second to collect myself. That one stung a little bit.

“Insulting me isn’t going to change anything.” I kept my voice level, hoping that the trembles that were starting to climb up my body wouldn’t show in my voice. 

His eyes narrow at me, one corner of his lips turning up in a sinister smile. The loathing touch to his sharp eyes made me feel small in that moment.

“You’re standing here talking to me like a fucking robot. Does seeing me not invoke any sort of emotion?”

“I am just here to work, Mr. Kim.” I repeat for the third time, mustering a strained smile. I try not to think back to the crying fit I had the day before. The shock of seeing Namjoon truly took everything out of me, but it doesn’t matter. Things couldn’t go back to normal even if we wanted it to. Too much damage has been done.

“If that’s all sir, I’ll be taking my leave. I have authors to call and apologize to.” My legs feel shaky when I take the first step to turn around, and I stumble a bit. I catch myself, and just pray that Namjoon chucks it up to losing the balance of my heels. 

“How is your sister doing?” He rushes out,  like he wanted to keep me from leaving the room. I put my hand on my doorknob debating what to reply. 

“I’m not going to pretend to care about the current state of your life, so don’t pretend to care about mine.” 

“I am not--” I open the door and step out quickly, letting the door close on it’s own. My quick trot to the desk made Sana gaze at me with sad eyes.

“That was quick. It was probably a rough lecture wasn’t it?”

I plop down in my seat, “Nothing I can’t handle.” I lied. 

I’m lying. I can’t handle this.

∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ∙ ❣

Things are a bit awkward, in terms of the writing but it’ll get there. More info will be revealed later. 

Let me know what you thought of this chapter! How do you feel about this story? 

#kim namjoon #bts #bts rm #bts namjoon #bts kim namjoon #bts angst #bts fan fic #bts ff #bts reactions #bts scenarios #kim namjoon angst #namjoon angst #kim namjoon x reader #namjoon x reader

[thdorkmagnet]

Light of the Sun and Stars Chapter 46: A Mewman and a Monster (Preview)

Summary: His whole life Marco Diaz has been raised by monsters, living under the cruel rule of their leader, Toffee. But one day Marco escapes into Mewni where he meets a magical princess and Mewman like himself, who begins teaching him all about her world. Together they will learn about life, love, and the lights within each of them, as they change their world forever.

Chapter Synopsis: Slime has asked his crush Princess Penelope Spiderbite out on a date and needing support, both emotionally and literally, calls upon Star and Marco for help. The two graciously lend a hand in helping create the most romantic date possible but, as usual, things rarely go the way they want it too. 

Check out my other stuff on Fanfiction!

Index

The dimension was completely lifeless. Once a sprawling community had dwelled there, setting up residence in its green pastures and lush landscapes, living a simple and basic life amongst the natural resources all around them. But that peaceful lifestyle had changed when technology was first introduced to the humble society. At first it had been small changes, as it always started, machines and many mechanisms made to help make life easier. Need to plow the fields? Build a machine that could do it half the time you could. 

Soon people were using machines for every part of their everyday life and with the invention of robotic helpers… everything changed. Their once grassy hills were torn up to make factories, their land broken and scarred for the sake of 'progress'. Soon their dimension more closely resembled a machine than a once thriving, living place. And the numbers of robots steadily grew, until they outnumbered all living beings 10 to 1.

Sunlight was blocked by heavy smog while frequent and heavy storms began to tear apart what was left of the landscape. The dimension became virtually unlivable and the people were filled with dismay.

That was until a mysterious benefactor appeared one day, offering to buy up the remaining usable land for unknown reasons. The people happily accepted the offer, using the money to relocate to a new dimension (hopefully with better luck than the last), leaving the new owner of the dimension to do with it however they wished. Soon they began construction on a single building, employing the many robots that still inhabited the place to the effort. It took a long time, even with beings that didn’t have the need to eat nor sleep at the head of construction, but eventually it was finished, a single living place in the dimension of dead architecture. 

The place was a sight to behold: a clean, cut courtyard leading up to a grand, multi-story building. The architecture was ancient, borrowed from famous castles and cathedrals throughout the multiverse, a sharp contrast to the sleek, modern buildings the dimension had been so known for. 

But for as magnificent as it seemed, there was something sinister as well, something dark lurking just behind the smoothly cut stones or grand balconies. A large metal fence had been built around the building, electrified at all times to deter anyone from entering or exiting through anything but the gate. A large tower stood above the building itself, pulsing with some dark magic that had been lost to time long ago. The building's architecture was full of sharp edges and spikes that could seriously harm anyone who was not weary of their surroundings. And though the grand double doors were made of the finest wood in any dimension, they opened onto halls of endless turns and deadends, a labyrinth built to keep everyone trapped inside forever. 

But the creator of this school did not care how others viewed it, because this place was serving a grand purpose, educating and enforcing positive change on the future monarchs of the multiverse. St. Olga’s Reform School for Wayward Princesses was a school like no other, standing superior to any other education system that dared to compete with it, for it was focused solely on punishment and strict results. Every young princess that was sent there, no matter how rebellious or resistant they were, would eventually be broken. It didn’t matter if it took days, weeks, or years, St. O’s and its founder and principal, Heinous , had a perfect record that had never once been broken. 

That was until a certain four-armed princess blew the whistle on the academy's “less than reputable” penalties and the school was shut down by the dimensional knights. The great Miss Heinous was forced on the run, leaving every part of her life, her career, her home, her minions, her legacy, to rot. She spent years on the run, just barely managing to stay one step ahead of the dimensional knights and any other form of military power a noble might hire to capture or kill her. But through it all, Heinous only had one thought that kept her going day in and day out. Revenge. Or rather, her legacy finally fulfilled. She often confused the two but it didn’t matter. The path was the same. The path to ultimate victory and control. The path of perfection. 

And that path had led back to where it all began. 

Nostalgia and old memories came flooding back to the once-proud principal as she stood in front of her old, decaying school. She could still picture it back in the prime of its life, see it as clear as if it were standing in the memory itself rather than the broken dream that stared back at her. Reality was far from the picture perfect days of old. Oh how the mighty had fallen. 

Her once proud school was now in desperate need of repairs, walls caved in over the course of time, entire sections of the school now gone. The courtyard was now filled with untamed weeds and overgrown plant life. The tower that had once stood as a beacon of power for her school had been the first thing taken down by those pesky knights and it lay in shambles around the area, an ever present reminder of the injustice Heinous had suffered. The fence was bent and disfigured,  was now full of giant, gaping holes in its structure making it completely useless, now it couldn’t even keep out the gust of wind that blew through the empty courtyard. The school had become nothing but an empty shell that had once housed life within it. Heinous couldn’t help but scoff at the irony, her greatest masterpiece was now no different to the rest of this forgotten waste of a dimension. 

She took in a deep breath, letting it out slowly. No, she couldn’t start dwelling on all that now. She had come here for more than just reliving her past failures. Today was about seizing her future. A small cough behind her caused Heinous to roll her eyes. She had almost forgotten her hired hand had come with her, just in case some dimensional knights were lurking there and needed to be disposed of. It was clear that Rasticore, unlike her, was less than content with her dimension. She could practically feel Rasticore’s discomfort as he shifted from one foot to the other, over and over again. It was obvious he wanted to get this over with, something at least they could agree on, Heinous was ready to achieve the next step of her decade-long scheme. 

“So are we going inside or not?” Rasticore finally asked and Heinous turned back to him with a narrowed glare.

“Why? Don’t tell me you are frightened of my school?” she accused him, point blank. 

Rasticore tensed, before gritting his fangs, clearly holding back the retort. Instead he replied, “No, just all this smog is aggravating my condition.” He then made a point to cough into his claw. 

Heinous highly doubted that was the reason for his rush. Not when it was more likely her minion was playing up his sickness to hide his discomfort from her. After all, he was recovering remarkably well from the poison, ready to resume his work in just a few short weeks, so a little foul air shouldn’t be upsetting him as much as he was pretending it was. 

Still, she didn’t see any reason to delay things any further so Heinous just turned to her minion and said, “Very well, follow me.” 

Entering into her old home was like walking into a portrait in time, everything left exactly as she remembered it. The knights must have left things the same for evidence reasons but Heinous ws surprised her school was still mostly intact. A few rooms had been caved in or hallways blocked and everything certainly needed a good dusting but from the view outside she had been expecting much worse. Paper and pencils lay on the dusty desks, ready to use, as if some child had just set them down and then vanished from this dimension. The banners holding old phrases and mottos Heinous would often repeat in classes were decaying but still hung up even after all these years. The only thing missing was her beloved robotic staff. 

Shortly after her escape she had gotten word that all robots operating under her name had been discontinued and dismantled to “prevent further harm” as they had put it. Ha, as if her precious staff could be so cruel, every punishment was fully justified and all for the greater good. If only the royals of the multiverse had seen it that way. “Cruel and unnecessary” they had called it. Hypocrites! They were always happy with the results, even quick to praise her or offer her large sums of money as thanks, but the moment they knew how their beloved child came to be cured of their faults suddenly she was the villain, torturing their bratty children by making them perfect.

Well if they were too stupid and cowardly to see her perfect vision all the way through, then it was up to her to fix this miserable, chaotic world. 

Heinous entered into her old office, staring at it with wistful eyes as memories came flooding back to her all over again. Every detail of the small space was exactly as she had remembered it, not a single stone out of place, even after all these years. She ran her hands across her desk, her fingers brushing the loose pieces of paper she had been reading through when the alarm had sounded. Old student files and report cards now yellowed with age and beyond salvaging Heinous could have read them with ease, every single letter saved to her subconscious. 

Rasticore stood awkwardly in the doorway, watching as his temporary boss reminisced her old life. It was shocking in all honesty, the lizard assassin hadn’t even known Heinous had a smile that wasn’t sinister but she seemed… almost genuine now. That was until she came across a certain file and the peaceful look switched to a frown, the spell she was under was broken. She picked up the piece of paper, ripping it to shreds in a matter of seconds. Rasticore jumped but didn’t say a word as his boss fell deeper and deeper into a blind rage, picking up several other files and ripping them apart as well. Soon the room was coated in paper shreds and the desk was empty. Rasticore risked a look at what remained of the original file, surprised to see it was a young curly haired princess with four arms. He couldn't imagine what she had done to invoke such fire from the level-headed woman. 

Once the temper tantrum was over, Heinous straightened her clothes and smoothed down her hair, making herself look presentable again before turning to her minion. “Well, let’s get started, shall we?” she said as if nothing had even happened. She reached her hand into one of the many pockets that lined her oversized dress and pulled out a small key covered in intricate carvings. Without a word she shoved the desk to the side, Rasticore taken aback by the sudden show of strength. He certainly hadn’t expected it from such a petite woman. 

Heinous bent down and inserted the key into a small slot in the ground and turned it with a click. Suddenly, the ground beneath her feet collapsed and a long spiral staircase stretching into the darkness beneath was revealed. Heinous returned the key to her pocket before looking at Rasticore expectantly, much to his confusion. He had been caught off guard thanks to the multiple, unexpected turns this trip had taken and couldn’t for the life of him figure out what she was wanting. Her sharp eyes dug into his skin before she impatiently snapped, “Well? You are the one with the light.” 

Rasticore could slap himself for being so stupid and he quickly pulled the lantern out from behind his cloak, already brightly lit by phoenix embers. Without a word he started down the stairs, practically feeling Heinous roll her eyes behind his back and he had to clench his claw so tightly a few trickles of blood formed on his leathery skin. For not the first time, Rasticore seriously debated on just how bad a reputation he would get for killing his employer in cold blood. The lizard assassin cursed himself for his integrity as a killer for hire, every other job had been so easy but this one was really testing just how far he was willing to go for his reputation. He probably would have quit entirely if he weren’t for those stupid brats that eluded him mulitple times. Every attempt he made to take that worthless Princess Star resulted in complete and utter failure and the humiliation ate away at him almost as much as his anger. So if having to endure Heinous a little longer meant seeing the looks on those brats' faces when they finally got what was coming to them… well Rasticore wouldn’t miss that for the world. 

Rasticore smiled, imagining the faces of Butterfly and her friends when they realized they had lost and that brought a new fire back to his soul, descending the staircase with a new vigor. The lizard got a good look at his surroundings, his night vision easily spotting what it was they were down there for: robots. Dozens of them, old and rusted over to the point Rasticore questioned if they would even activate. He looked back at his boss, who was eying the robots with a glimmer of dark ambition, not at all concerned about their obvious defectiveness. 

“Thought all your robots were dismantled,” Rasticore questioned suspiciously. 

Heinous shook her head. “That’s just what you would think,” the woman replied in a condescending tone. “And I knew those idiot knights would believe the same thing, hence why I had these hidden away in case I was ever found out. Imagine it, they all believed they had beaten me and yet my true power was right under their nose all along.” 

“Well that explains their poor condition,” Rasticore mumbled to himself, low enough he knew Heinous couldn’t hear him.

The two reached the bottom of the staircase and Heinous began inspecting her machines closely, running her gloved fingers along their metal casings and grimacing at the layer of dirt left behind. “The truth is those robots from my time as principal were simple worker drones, but these, my dear Rasticore, are my army.” 

“So you had these things hidden away this whole time and you never thought to use them before now?” Rasticore asked in a deadpan, trying to hold back his rising anger. If she had an army this whole time, why bother hiring him for her dirty work? How much time had he wasted fulfilling her goals when she could have just as easily sent a robot to do it. 

“Of course I did,” Heinous replied with quite a bit of malice. “They were my plan from the beginning. I just had to wait for the right time to use them.” 

“And only after I’ve been poisoned for your little mission do you suddenly decide it’s the ‘right time’,” the lizard Monster grunted, doing air-quotes for emphasis. 

“Hold your tongue!” Heinous snapped, her voice echoing around the dark chamber. The two stared each other down, neither breaking eye contact for even a second. “You cannot possibly comprehend the amount of time and planning I put into this,” she continued, spitting every word violently at her minion. “I spent years concocting the perfect scheme to take back everything I lost, to regain control and create a perfect world order. And yet you dare to believe I would overlook something so carelessly. No. Everything has been planned out.” The woman turned her back to the assassin, stating smugly, “In a scheme like this, timing is everything, my dear Rasticore.” 

She approached the nearest robot, wiping the dust off its metal surface, pulling out the same key from before and examining it closely. “And the time has finally come for the next phase of my master plan,” she whispered decisively. With that she rammed the key into the center of the robot’s chest, causing its eyes to blink open and light up red. Heinous took a step back as the machine slowly rose to its feet, creaking and groaning loudly, its rusted body protesting greatly. Branches that had formed around its hollow shell snapped and broke as it pushed itself upward with great strength. Finally, the machine was up, standing tall and at attention, its red eyes blinking as it waited for new orders, somehow menacing despite its deteriorating body. 

Rasticore took a step towards the robot body, still eyeing it skeptically but didn’t see a point in arguing, if his boss wanted to gamble all their plans on some old, dumb robot then she could deal with the consequences. It wasn’t his problem if her plan failed, so long as he got paid. “So what, we send this hunk of junk after the Butterfly brat and finally be done with her.” He had to admit the idea of a robot taking her down instead of him left a sour taste in his mouth. 

Heinous admired her machine with a satisfactory smile, her hands delicately running along its frame. “Patience, Rasticore, patience. Star Butterfly will receive her punishment in due time. But for now she is too highly guarded to risk an attack on her. We must tread carefully from here on out, no more half-witted schemes, we must deal with her delicately or all of this will be in vain.” 

Rasticore grit his teeth at the small insult but kept his calm, extended time with Heinous had really helped him with his temper, the one good thing he could say about being stuck with the snooty, high-and-mighty ex-principal herself. “So who are we targeting?” Rasticore asked impatiently. “I thought the whole point of this field trip was so you could get your hands on Butterfly. You yourself said you needed a Mewman for-”

“And I what I said still holds true,” Heinous interrupted, turning to her minion with a very evil expression. “Which is why we will be targeting another old student of mine, one who is much less guarded and much more obtainable.” A dark look passed over Heinous’ face as she thought of one of her oldest and most successful students, just speaking her name again filled her with a satisfaction and pride Heinous had almost forgotten about. “Princess Penelope Spiderbite.” 

#star vs #star vs AU #Light of the Sun and Stars #Preview #Starco #Spiderslime

[soapoperabub]

Three Souls, Two Lovers

𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕒𝕦𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕤 𝔼𝕣𝕒

( James Potter x Reader x Remus Lupin )

A/N: This story took me sooo long to write. I put all my blood sweat and tears into making this and I really hope for it to do well. I have already posted this story on @etheraella​ , which is an account I made with @softlyqoos​, where we write together because we feel like we complete each other’s writing so please please please check it out :( anyway, i would really appreciate if this story is shown some love, even a little <3

Summary: Midnight tours, sitting on rooftops, blithe relationships and smiles full of ecstasy, (everything was perfect). Sleepless nights, pitiful eyes, bitter lies and forced promises, (until it all changed). Nothing hurts more than picking a side, especially if it’s between two people you cherish the most. So tell me, is it James or Remus?

Warnings: mentions of forced marriage, sorrow

P.S: We came across a song that describes this story perfectly right as we were about to post, and we thought it would give that final touch to the story. The lyrics will only make it’s entrance after a while. here it is

* - used for flashbacks

bold italics - used for lyrics

Made up twists:

- The public knows about the marauders being animagus’s

- The crystal ball used for Divination was found early and only the higher ups, like Dumbledore, had access to it. Wizards relied on it considering the accuracy.

You slammed the fork on the table, annoyed as what you hoped would be a quiet meal got interrupted, causing everyone to freeze still at the abrupt noise.

“Is it really that hard for me to enjoy a meal? One meal. That’s all I’m asking for.” You eyed every single presence on the table, keeping your gaze as intimidating as possible, yet some still mumbled under their breaths and puckered their lips so their smiles would look less obvious.

“Why? Getting shy? Oh, c’mon Y/N, you and James make quite the couple and you know that. Quite probably, the whole school does.” Your eyes shifted towards Sirius, who looked at you from the side of his eye, smugly smiling with a bit of his teeth exposed.

“Open your mouth again, Padfoot, and I’ll shove my fork down your throat.” You threatened, grabbing the fork you previously slammed on the table and pointing it at him. You glared at James, who had never once done anything about the teasing from the entire school. In fact, he just feeds the people with what they want.

While your meal was disturbed, he seemed to be enjoying his. He sat slouched on his chair, with an arm resting on the one beside him, the corner of his lip was perked up as he looked at you. “Don’t look at me, it’s not my fault we got exposed.” He raised his eyebrows, assuming to be portraying the innocent one, with his hands raised up lazily while his arm was still glued onto the chair beside him.

Frustrated, you combed your hair back with your left hand, looking to your right, where Remus happened to be sitting. He gave you a small smile. You returned it.

You and James were the impeccable duo, or at least as Hogwarts thought. Well, it is quite out of the ordinary for a woman to have a male animal as an animagus, specifically, a stag; which was James’s animagus too. It was funny how James, a coarse, vile-tempered boy had a stag, an animal that indicates looking out for others and leadership roles as an animagus. It was all so strange, almost as if you were meant to be… was what they convinced themselves with. Either that, or one of you loved the other so dearly, not only their patronus followed the other person’s, but their animaguses too. However, you didn’t take any of it into account. You thought it was all inconsequential.

Besides, it wasn’t James that had caught your eye, it was Remus. Not that James was irrelevant or anything, you still loved him, but not in that way. And you didn’t want your friendship to rupture. You had more of a connection with Remus though, and you felt as if he did too. But neither of you had the courage to tell each other. Although, there were times when “friendly” wasn’t the word to describe your relationship.

*

“Move!”

You dreaded these kinds of days; the days Hogwarts made their Steak and Kidney Pie. Not because they didn’t taste good, but because you’ve never reached the dining hall fast enough to pick a table where they actually served it. It was just ridiculous to you how they only serve the pies at certain tables. It almost felt as if the staff wanted to watch the students hurdle up like sheep getting chased by a sheepdog and the dining hall playing as their sheep pen.

You stretched your arms out in between the two people in front of you, making a big enough hole for you to push through.

“I’ll even swim if I have to.” You thought to yourself. It was no use, even as you went further forward through the line, the people beside you would push you more towards the wall. And once you reach the wall, it’s game over.

“Budge it.” Losing your balance as you felt a sudden push from one of the ‘sheep’, you got smacked against the wall, or so you thought was a wall.

“Well, good morning to you too.” Looking up at the low-pitched voice, you realised what you were previously slammed against wasn’t a wall, but rather someone’s rock hard torso, or more precisely, Remus’s rock hard torso. Rattled, you try backing away, trying to create space between the two of you, however the hallway was too cramped for that.

Remus slightly tilted his head to one side, making his double chin visible as he looked down at you, grinning. “Cramped places could be useful at times, don’t you think?”

“Don’t try it, Remus.” You said as you buried your face deeper into his shirt, hoping he wouldn’t notice how red you had become. But what you didn’t know was that he could feel your heartbeat fastening, being the reason for his chuckle.

*

“She sure is having quite the dream, isn’t she?” The sound of a pair of hands clapped together was enough to make you snap out of it. In a swift move, you sat straight on your chair. James, who was sitting in front of you was laughing hysterically.

“You could have picked a different time to daydream about the future you and James hold, you know.”

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

Later that night, you stared at the ceiling, unable to sleep. You were always the last to fall asleep out of your dormmates, probably due to the continuous night tours around Hogwarts with the rest of the marauders. There was no way you would have a normal sleep schedule now.

Suddenly, you heard what seemed to be a knocking coming from the window. Looking towards the sound, you spotted a familiar owl pecking the moonlit glass window. You smiled to yourself, fully aware of what was happening. Hopping off the bed, flinching once your feet came in contact with the cold floor, you slowly opened the door, hoping not to wake your dormmates up. There stood James, a grin plastered across his face. “Hogsmeade tour?”

You smiled from ear to ear, all too familiarly.

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

You and James found yourselves sitting on the roof of a random shop located somewhere in the middle of Hogsmeade after a walk around what felt like the whole of the village, until you started to feel pain in your legs. You yawned, finally feeling a hint of tiredness in your eyes as you rested your head on his shoulder.

“Tired already?” Unable to open your mouth, you just hum in response. “Another round, perhaps?” Lifting your right hand up, you slightly nudged his head to the opposing side with your index and middle finger, causing him to let out a short giggle followed by a kiss on your forehead.

“G’night, Y/N.” He rested his head on yours as he drifted to sleep along with you.

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

You woke up to James screaming. “Get up! We’re late!” Still half-asleep, you let out a lazy groan as he continued screaming in your ear. “If you don’t get up now, I’m pushing you off this roof.”

“Shut up.” You mumbled a quick response in hope of James to stop talking.

“Get. Up.” Letting out a loud sigh, you lazily shook the sleep off your body and stood up. “How late are we, exactly?” You asked, your voice still a little croaky.

“They’re probably having lunch by this time.” Your eyes widen, almost as if they were about to pop out. “Damnit, James! You couldn’t have woken up a little earlier?” Cussing under your breath, you jumped off the roof and started running towards the school, James laughing to himself, following behind you after grabbing his jacket.

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

You two just stood there, your hands behind your backs.

“I swear, it’s not what it looks like.” Looking at the two of you, anyone would have easily misunderstood. How your hair was all messed up, along with James’s, your clothes wrinkled and only returning to the school the next morning. As the students walked by, they stole glances and exchanged giggles. Even at a time like this, where you and James were accused of scandalous behavior, James seemed to be doing nothing about it. It has always been you who had to solve misunderstandings.

You nudged James with your elbow, signaling for him to do something with your eyes. To no surprise, he just frowned and shrugged. Professor McGonagall, on the other hand seemed unamused, with her arms crossed.

Clearing her throat, she finally spoke. “Be that as it may, professor Dumbledore is expecting you. Both, Of you.” And with that, she walked away, leaving you and James exchanging looks with each other.

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

“Ah, yes. Please, sit.” Dumbledore was standing behind his desk, admiring a crystal ball which was placed neatly on it. While on your way to Dumbledore to take a seat, he unanticipatedly posed a question.

“So, what are your thoughts on marriage?” Finally looking up from the crystal ball, he looked up at the two of you, with a small smile.

“Pardon?”

“You two are romantically involved, are you not?” You were taken aback by the professor’s sudden straightforwardness.

“No.”

“Yes.”

You shot your head at James, who did the same. Whilst you and James were busy arguing under your breaths, Dumbledore approached the two of you. “Well, it would be nice if that was the case, seeing that you two have a probability of ending the war.”

You shifted your attention to Dumbledore, curiosity filling your head as you wondered what he meant by ‘ending the war’. “End the war?”

“Precisely,” While Dumbledore was walking back to his desk, you and James followed behind him. “You see, being an old man has its own perks as well. Whilst being locked inside this room with nowhere to go, my mind has been pondering.”

Fascinated by the topic Dumbledore had bestowed upon you, you sat down, your gaze still fixed on the headmaster. “It is unquestionably impossible for a female to possess a male animagus, yet somehow you accomplished it.” He turned his back around to look at you. “If it’s not a deep connection that mirrored each of your animagus’s, which surely it must not be, it must be the power you hold. With the both of you combined, surely Voldemort won’t have a chance against you, or your children.”

“Children?!” You almost screamed. Once realising how loud you had been, you sniffed and fixed your position back on your chair.

“I am aware of how sudden this all seems, however at times like this, I’m afraid not everyone has a choice. But of course, we will not take any risks. Therefore, to determine the success percentage of my proposal, we will be using, this.” He held the crystal ball he was previously admiring in his hands, as delicately as possible. “Divination?” James interfered, his tone smooth.

“Correct, James. We will be announcing the marriage publicly with the purpose of having everyone believe it being true. At which point, this crystal ball will analyse and interpret a wizard’s surroundings by logical thinking and sensibility of mind and body in comparison to Arithmancy, which focuses on calculating probabilities, magnitude, strength and effectiveness of magical forces in general, including properties of numbers and their application, which will be used to foresee a glimpse of the future. If perhaps, there is no sight of the victory of Voldemort, be it in love or not, this marriage is compulsory for the safety of the wizarding world.”

With no words to say, you were forced to carry all the pressure that was caused by what you thought was a miracle; having a powerful animagus. You were forced to pick a side.

“What if it still shows Voldermort’s victory?”

Dumbledore sighed before slumping down on his chair. “Then, I’m afraid my proposal was hopeless. And the marriage would be called off, publicly. I would have to yet again, sit here and… ponder.”

You sat there, thinking about both the possibilities. Although there were positive sides to both situations, the only thing that circled your head was the negative effects; what would happen to you and Remus?

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

Your mind was still lingering in the headmasters office that you almost bumped into a wall. Fortunately, James was there to stop you.

“Does it really bother you that much?” He looked at you, his hand grasped onto your arm from when he stopped you from hitting your head onto the wall.

“This is about marriage, James! No, it’s about reproducing!” You looked at him, wide-eyed, seeing as he seemed all too unfazed by all this.

“Well, it’s not as bad when you really think about it. You could be ending up with Snape for all you know!” He laughed hysterically at his own line, whilst you blankly stared at him, unbelievably. “How could he be joking around at a time like this?” You thought.

You’ve been avoiding Remus since yesterday; when the news was announced. You were too afraid he would be disappointed in you; that you didn’t have the courage to do anything about it. You didn’t want to hurt Remus, but neither did you want to hurt the rest of the wizarding community. You decided that your decision would be made once you see what the crystal ball portrays.

“Run along, you too! We don’t have all day!” Your thoughts were interrupted by professor McGonagall who pushed you and James into the headmasters office. She didn’t know that your marriage was a part of a strategy. Dumbledore suggested she shouldn’t know so that she could be the one controlling the crystal ball, in order for the crystal ball to be analysing the professors surroundings; someone who wasn’t aware that it was all a part of a scheme.

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

“Well? What do you see?” James pushed, forcing a quick answer.

“If you want to know so bad, why don’t you just look?” You glared at James from the small hole you made in between your fingers which were covering your face. You were too anxious of looking into the ball; you were scared of the outcome. James must’ve felt the same way, since he was also covering his eyes.

There was silence for a while. Nobody said a word. Dumbledore and professor McGonagall exchanged looks before putting the crystal ball away and facing the two of you. Before speaking, Dumbledore cleared his throat, which caused the two of you to turn your backs and face him.

“It seems as though the marriage will come to a great outcome. My proposition was well-built indeed.” He smiled, seemingly pleased with his way of thinking. Meanwhile you, on the other hand, were thinking about how on earth you were supposed to face Remus now.

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

The moon had already made it’s entrance as you were still seated on some rocks near the Whomping Willow, with the waning gibbus moon and the forbidden forest in your range of view. You had completely lost your sense of time due to the messy state your mind was in. It was so quiet, even the sound of your stomach rumbling caused you to jump.

“Hungry?” You looked to your right, Remus was looking back at you with a softened gaze. You forced a smile before switching your gaze back to the forest, Remus making his way to seat himself beside you.

“Have you ever imagined life on the other side, Remus? You know, behind the forest and it’s deadly creatures.” You pointed the word deadly out in a sarcastic manner as you thought life inside the forest wasn’t as dangerous as people thought it was.

“Sunshine and rainbows?” He smiled, only the higher points of his face visible as the moon shone on them. “I’m serious.” You frowned, his smile growing bigger.

“What do you say we find out?” he raised an eyebrow.

“What about the deadly creatures?”

“Hey, I’m here for you.” He nudged you back with his shoulder a little too aggressively, causing you to almost fall on your side if he didn’t catch you. “Steady on! The moon already acting up?” You teased, but he seemed to be offended.

“Y/N, my shift was yesterday.” The realisation hit you; you were too caught up with the whole scheme that you didn’t even make time to think about the one person you cherished most. “Oh, I’m sorry,”

“No, no. It’s okay. I mean, I don’t blame you. With your marriage and all.” He sighed. You closed your eyes as you realised what you had done, or more specifically, what you hadn’t done. You wanted to be the one to tell him, he deserved to hear it from your own voice. “Remus, I-“

He took a deep breath in as he stood up and straightened his uniform, giving you a small, reassuring smile.

“ Somewhere far behind The scenes Two thousand and seventeen The start of a story Rumors about you and me Talking ‘bout our chemistry But no need to hurry ”

“Congrats, Y/N. I’m glad it’s with James and not someone else.” He tried letting out a laugh, which only came out as a small, forced huff. Hesitating, he walked away, as if he had more to say but he couldn’t bring himself to. You only watched as his silhouette faded. The fact that you weren’t able to stop him built the guilt inside you. It was either this or the lives of many wizards being thrown away.

It was at times like this that you wished you had gotten a different animal and not a stag as your animagus; even if it meant you had to be rotten inside.

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

You winced at the bright light that shone through the window. Not aware how you ended up in your dorm, you looked around you. No one was there. “Has class started already?” You thought.

You studied yourself in the mirror as you fixed your tie. You’ve always had dark circles, but this time it was the most noticeable. But things like this didn’t bother you; it couldn’t. Not with all the bigger burdens you had to carry. You shook your head, giving yourself the idea of the weight being brushed off your body.

As soon as you opened the door to leave, a conversation was already being held in front of you. “Yeah, he got caught shifting the night before the last. He’s been hiding in the Shrieking Shack this entire time! Can you believe it?”

“What?! I mean, I’ve always thought Remus was weird, but I really didn’t think that far! So what’s going to happen to him now? I don’t want to be in the same building with that freak!”

“Trust me, nobody does. They’re having a meeting with some of the student’s parents, regarding his stay at Hogwarts. I wish he gets—"

As much as you wanted to fight back to the two good-for-nothing gossipers, you couldn’t waste the very little amount of time you had left. You would have been an idiot if you didn’t try to speak for him now. After everything else you hurt him with, it was only right for you to take action as a loyal friend, no, as someone who loves him.

Your mind was too occupied with thinking about what would happen to Remus if he got kicked out that you didn’t feel the pain in your stomach and legs as you ran with all your might. The wind harshly hitting your face as you ran, and your tie loosening. You couldn’t let him get expelled; not for something he didn’t ask for, not for something he couldn’t control.

“ 'Cause I will light up Your heaven tonight Light up your whole world Just for you ”

Your running came into an abrupt halt when James reached out for your arm. Worry filling his expression. “Y/N, what’s wrong?”

You looked at him, breathing heavily as you snatched your arm away. “Remus needs me.” Seeing as you were about to rush away again, James placed his hand back on your arm, pulling you to face him.

“Tell me what’s happening. Why does Remus need you? What’s going on?” You studied him before combing your hair back with your left hand. “Someone caught him. Shifting. Yesterday. He’s going to get expelled if I don’t do something about it. He’s not a freak! He doesn’t hurt anyone!” Your shaky voice raising with every word you said, tears filling your eyes as you thought about what would happen if you don’t get there in time, huffing in between your sentences.

James stood there, examining your face, not able to find the right words to say. You sighed, “Let me go. I need to do something.” Trying to push his hand off your arm with your left hand, he only tightened his grip.

“Do you even know where he is? Do you even know where to go? Y/N, are you just gonna go running around the whole castle? With an empty stomach? Do you have any idea how you look right now?! You look like you just got up from your grave, Y/N! You would collapse before even seeing him!”

He paused, before taking a deep breath, followed by you. “Look, he’s going to be okay. Who do you think he is? A weak, fragile little boy? All we can do right now is be there for him when he gets out. Listen to me, It’s gonna be okay, alright?” His tone softening as he lifted your chin up with his folded index finger and looked into your eyes with raised eyebrows. You forced a tight smile and looked away.

“ Wherever you go I will follow Whenever you’re low Just let me hold you Let me hold you Don’t be afraid I will show you I’ll make it okay Just let me hold you Let me hold you ”

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

It’s been almost a week since you last saw Remus, and your wedding was in a few hours. You never got to see him that morning. He left without even saying goodbye. Everything was happening too fast for you to take anything in. All you knew was that you were attending a wedding that was held in the entrance of Hogwarts as a bride, and James being the partner in-crime.

A quick knock from the other side of the door was enough for you to snap out of your thoughts. “Come in.” The door slid open, James leaning against the door frame in his suit, holding a bouquet of lily flowers in his hands. You gave him a small smile; you knew this was as hard for him to handle as it was for you. You shared the same burden, the only way for you to cope was through each other.

He walked towards you, his gaze fixed onto you the entire time. Finally reaching for the chair in front of you and seating himself down, he handed you the bouquet. “You’re gorgeous.” He commented, as he studied you in a white gown, your hair tied up in a bun and features enhanced with the way you looked at him.

“The same to you, I almost drooled.” You teased, followed by him cocking an eyebrow. But his eyes soon softened as he remembered the reason why he came to you in the first place. “Y/N, I have something to tell you,” You simply looked at him, listening attentively.

He dithered, still unsure whether he should tell you or keep it to himself like he did all this while. “We were never going to stop the war.”

You furrowed your eyebrows, confused. “What do you mean? I thought this marriage was supposed to—”

“I know, that’s what I wanted everyone to believe.” He paused, realising how much of a problem he was going to cause if he came clean, but he couldn’t keep it any longer; he had to tell someone. He took a deep breath and looked into your innocent eyes before speaking. His tone was filled with desperation.

“Y/N, I’m so sorry. I really am, but I lied to you. I lied to everyone. I messed with the crystal ball to make it look like we could end the war and I—”

“What? Hold on, James, what are you saying? Why would you mess with the crystal ball? What is wrong with you?!” The more you thought of it, the more it aggravated you; it didn’t make any sense, not even a single drop of anything he said made sense to you.

“Y/N, listen to me, I—”

“Were you in your right mind?! Do you have any idea what that silly prank of yours caused? Is that why you were so relaxed about all of this? Because it was one of your stupid jokes all along? And why on earth are you telling me this now?! James, what were you—”

“It wasn’t a prank!”

That was the first time you had ever seen him as exasperated as he was now. You’ve never seen this side of him. You only knew the bully, James, the prankster, James. The spoilt child, James. Seeing all this was new to you.

“It was never a joke. Do you really think I would be that narrow-minded? I wouldn’t go this far if I didn’t mean it. I wouldn’t have went this far, if I didn’t love you.” As he kept talking, his tone softened, as well as his expression.

Your face untensed as you looked at him. “I love you, Y/N. I always have and I still do. I know I shouldn’t have done it, but I knew if I didn’t, you would’ve left. I see the way you look at Remus, I can’t do it anymore.” You avoided eye-contact as soon as he mentioned his name. He was the reason you couldn’t say goodbye.

“Look, I’m sorry. But please,” his breathing became uneasy as he mumbled the next words. “Please don’t leave.”

“ I’m not gonna leave I’m here to stay 'Cause I ain’t nobody If I ain’t got you ”

You couldn’t scream at him for what he did. You couldn’t tell him off, because you knew how it felt to have someone to cherish. You knew how it felt to love and lose someone. You felt for him, and you hated it. He caused the chaos you didn’t ask for, yet you couldn’t bring yourself to get mad at him.

“We should go.” Your tone softened as you stood up, the bouquet falling off your lap and onto the floor as you did.

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

“Ladies and gentlemen, we are gathered here today to celebrate the union of two faithful souls,”

This was meant to be a day filled with joy and happiness. Everyone else seemed to be having the time of their lives except you, and a concerned James, who was standing before you. You examined him, your eyes landing on your joined hands with a ring wrapped on each of our right ring fingers. Who would have thought the moment you’ve always imagined as a child would end up being something you were forced into doing?

“James Potter, do you t…..”

You weren’t paying attention. The rest of his words became blurry for you. It felt as if your ears automatically filtered out the noise and all you could hear was your own thoughts.

Your eyes wandered the venue. Although this wasn’t the memorable moment you’ve always dreamed of, you knew for sure this moment was ought to hold a place in your head.

“Y/N?”

“ Baby, don’t let me down ”

You shot your eyes at James, who called your name, then at the crowd. They seemed to be waiting for an answer; it was your turn to make your promise. You paused, your eyes still searching the crowd, until it stopped. And your body froze. “Remus?” you mumbled under your breath. James, following your gaze as he halted to look at him too.

He was leaning against the far behind wall, his arms crossed as he smiled at you. You didn’t expect this would be the first time you would see him after he left; at your wedding, without him being the one who joined hands with you.

“Y/N,” James whispered, causing you to look at him, then back at Remus. Your gaze shifted back and forth between James and Remus as wild thoughts were running your head.

“ Don’t let me down Without you, I’m frozen Without you, I’m frozen Baby don’t let me down ”

Something was screaming inside your head, and the more you listened, the more you were intrigued to catch it. Your gaze deepened into James’s eyes as you finally gave in. “Just this once,” You thought to yourself. “let me do what I want.”

You held his head in your hands, delicately, caressing his cheeks as you felt sorry for him, then placed a gentle kiss on his forehead as a tear left your eye. Pulling away, you noticed his confused eyes looking back at you. “I’m sorry.” Pulling the ring off your finger and placing it in his right hand before closing it again, you spoke. “We’ll be waiting for you.” Giving him one last smile, you turned to see Remus, his smile faded as he looked at back at you.

“ Wherever you go I will follow “

Lifting your gown up, your feet took off, your gaze still fixed on Remus as a smile plastered itself across your face.

This was the freest you felt in a long time. You deserved this, you deserved a happy ending. It felt as if the weight flew off your shoulders with the wind the more the momentum picked up as you ran. You felt your bun come loose, but you couldn’t care less. You decided to look at what was in front of you, and in front of you only. And in front of you, stood Remus. Your contagious smile now grew on Remus’s face as you grabbed his arm and pulled him with you.

“ Even if time will Fly away We will be hotter Than a flame 'Cause I ain’t nobody If I ain’t got you No, if I ain’t got you ”

“To the forest?” His voice grew bumpy with each step he took, his eyes were fixed on you the entire time. You briefly glanced behind at him as your smile grew wider. “To the forest.”

Without hesitating, he twisted his arm away from your grip and grasped a hold of your hand, slowly intertwining your fingers as he picked up his pace, now leading the both of you towards the forbidden forest.

He shortly looked back at you, his eyes filled with ecstasy as he did.

“ Just let me hold you Let me hold you Don’t be afraid I will show you ”

“I’m free,”

“I’m finally free.”

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

#the marauders imagine #the marauders imagines #the marauders #hp #harry potter fic #hp imagine #young remus lupin #young remus imagine #young remus x reader #young remus #remus lupin #james potter #remus john lupin #james x reader x remus #young james potter #james potter x y/n x remus lupin #james potter x reader x remus lupin #james potter imagine #remus lupin imagine #remus imagine #remus angst #james potter angst #remus lupin angst #young james x reader #hp the marauders #hp marauders #hp fic #hp imagines #the marauders era #etheraella fics

[repulsivepangolin7]

Fic: Promise me you won’t overreact...

Alright here’s a oneshot like thing I created a while ago. I think I posted it on my AO3 account (under a different pseud...)

Word count: 6 180

“Promise me you won’t overreact…” Luca fought not to grimace.

Street looked his friend up and down, “Are you alright?”

Luca nodded slightly, still trying to hide the same grimace, his left arm hanging limply by his side.

“Luca, are you alright?” Street stepped closer, forcing eye contact with Luca. He noticed the limp arm, noticed a sticky droplet hanging from one of Luca’s gloved fingers.

Luca nodded again.

Street KNEW Luca wasn’t telling the truth, so he reached a hand out to touch Luca’s left arm.

“DON’T!” Luca almost barked as he flinched away long before Street even came close, then he hit his knees when the agony quadrupled from the sudden movement.

“SHIT, you’re not alright.” Street frowned and dropped to one knee beside Luca, “What happened?”

Luca couldn’t answer.

“Luca…” Street gently grabbed on to Luca’s forearm, causing the older man to cringe. “Where’s the blood from?”

“Upper. Arm.?” The shrug he couldn’t act out was present in his voice, “OrAboveMyWrist?”

“Did you get shot? I didn’t hear a gun…” Street frowned, knowing he would have heard even a silenced shot. Then he looked up, scanning above them, “Did you fall or something?”

Luca nodded.

“One of the damn suspects…” Luca paused to let out a slow growl, “-Tossed me out of an open window. Hondo’s still up there.”

“You landed on your arm?”

Luca nodded a little, “Think I broke it.”

“Let’s get you out in the streetlights so we can take a look at this.” Street nodded towards Luca’s arm, “Want me to try to keep on holding it as we walk?”

“It’s gonna hurt like hell if you let go…” Luca gritted his teeth.

“How’s your shoulder? Is it possible for me to help you up if I hook my elbow under your armpit?”

Luca shook his head.

“Okay, belt it is then…” Street figured and scooted around to get a decent hold of Luca’s belt.

Luca nodded.

“On three.”

Luca nodded.

“One. Two. Three!”

Luca found his footing with a guttural growl.

“How are you feeling?”

“Forget it.” Luca frowned.

“Are you ready to walk?”

Luca nodded hesitantly.

 SWATSWATSWAT

 Once they reached the street itself, Street helped Luca sit down on the stairs up to one of the buildings.

“How bad is it?”

“Think I broke it…”

“Well, duh…” Street rolled his eyes, “I meant, where? Just above the wrist and your upper arm? Or are there more to worry about?”

“Dunno…” Luca inhaled sharply, “Wrist feels odd. Might’ve torn something in my elbow? Shoulder feels like it’s been out, but I think it slipped back in…”

“So it is to be considered FUBAR?”

Luca nodded, “Effed up beyond all recognition.”

“We should take a good look at it. You okay if I slice up the sleeve.”

“As long as I can move it as little as possible.”

Street nodded as he took his knife from the holster. “How’s the rest of you feeling? How’s your head? Neck?”

“My arm broke most of the fall.” Luca closed his eyes hard, “Only other part I can tell hurts right now is my left knee. The suspect kicked me in it before I went out the window. Hondo might need help up there.”

A triple set of double taps pierced the semi-silence.

Luca’s eyes shot open.

“Hondo!” Luca instinctively attempted to lift his hand to activate his microphone, but ended up curling into a growling ball.

Street nodded and five seconds later he smiled, “Hondo’s all good, Luca…”

“Good.” Luca said between gasps, slowly uncurling until he laid on his good side. “Why didn’t I hear him?”

“I think your earpiece’s out…” Street smirked and lifted the earpiece into Luca’s field of view, “Now, back to your arm.”

Luca nodded.

“Are you okay with laying in that position?”

Luca nodded, “It’s not the worst.”

“Do you want to sit back up?”

“No.”

“Okay.” Street nodded and started unbuttoning the cuff, before he carefully started slicing up the sleeve. Then stopping right before he reached the elbow. He had exposed the first obvious break, the ulna or the radius piercing through the skin. “I’m going to cover that one up, okay?”

“How bad is it?” Luca had chosen to cover his eyes with his opposite forearm.

“Open fracture above your wrist. Not sure which bone it is. Looks a bit like it could be both bones.”

“Is it crooked?”

“Yeah.”

“Felt like it was.” Luca sighed. “Does it bleed a lot?”

“No.” Street shook his head as he ripped open a package of non-stick sterile compresses, and an elastic gauze. Then he put on some clean plastic gloves. “I think it’s your upper arm that’s bleeding.”

Luca nodded slightly.

Street placed one of the compresses over the wound itself, then he started wrapping it up with the elastic. “This dressing isn’t pretty, but it’ll be a clean layer against the wound.”

Luca nodded, eyes squeezed shut.

“Can you feel your hand? Your fingers?”

“I think so…”

Street let the back of his index run against Luca’s fingers, starting with the thumb “Feel that?”

“Yeah.” Luca nodded, “Sorta painful.”

Street moved on to the next finger, “And that?”

“Still feel it, but nowhere as painful.”

Street nodded and continued, the next couple of fingers had feeling, but weren’t too painful.

The pinky finger was.

“F*** that felt like touching an electric fence! At the bear pen, at the zoo!” Luca cried out once he regained the ability to speak coherently again.

“Okay…” Street nodded, “I’m going to slice up the rest of your sleeve now.”

Luca nodded.

Street started cutting the fabric, and didn’t stop before he had uncovered Luca’s entire shoulder.  “Did they have knives?”

“What?”

“Knives? Did the suspect use a knife?”

Luca closed his eyes as he thought back.

“Or anything else sharp…” Street added as he placed another compress on a wound. “Your upper arm is obviously broken, but I don’t think it was an open fracture…”

“Obviously broken?”

“It’s shorter, and a little angled.”

“Okay.”

“Wound looks more like it was from a knife or something slicing across.”

“I think I had a close encounter with a vase…”

“Glass vase?”

“Yeah.”

“Broken?”

“Definitely was afterwards…”

“Okay. -I need to be able to wrap some gauze around your arm, think you could move it a bit out from your body?”

Luca pressed air past his lips, then he met Street’s eyes, “You’re going to have to help me back to a sitting position.”

“Okay, I can do that.” Then he paused again, obviously listening to the comms, “They’re all done up there.”

“Good.”

Then he activated his mic, “Good job, Luca’s down here. Messed up his arm pretty good in the fall.”

Street listened to the reply for ten seconds or so.”

“Broken in at least two places. Some bleeding. Moderate or severe pain, by the looks of him.”

“Nah, I’m good.”

“Luca, you told me not to overreact, but there’s a lot of space between overreacting and not reacting at all.” Street narrowed his eyes on his older buddy, “Your arm looks pretty bad, and you are in pain.”

Then Street spoke into the mic again, “Could be nice to have one of you down here to help me.”

Then a few seconds passed as someone answered again.

“Super, see you in a bit.”

“Who’s coming?”

“Hondo.” Street smiled, “Deacon’s keeping an eye on the suspects.”

Then someone came around the corner, “Heard you ran into some trouble…”

Luca glanced over, “Chris!”

“How are you doing Luca?”

“Hurts like hell…”

“Think you can help me support his arm once he’s seated?”

Chris nodded, and hunched down in front of Luca, “You want some help sitting up, tough guy?”

“Yeah.”

 SWATSWATSWAT

 “There, all patched up.” Street winked, “Think we’ll be able to move your elbow so that we can put you in a sling?”

Luca glanced down.

“What do you think?” Chris asked behind him, rubbing a hand against his good shoulder.

“-We could try…” Luca sighed, “But I’m not sure it’ll work.”

Street nodded, and cradled Luca’s forearm. “Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be…”

Street hadn’t moved Luca’s arm an inch before he started ‘tapping out’ with his good hand.

“Stop?”

Luca nodded, and Street placed his arm where it had been rested earlier.

“You want us to call for an ambulance?”

“No, I’ll just ride to the hospital with you guys.” Luca glanced down at his arm, “I’m not unable to move, I’m not actively bleeding out or dying… I don’t need an ambulance.”

Street nodded.

“We should probably call ahead to the hospital and let them know you’re coming.”

Luca nodded slightly.

“Do you want to sit up front, or in the back?” Street asked as he nodded towards Black Betty.

“Front.” Luca answered quietly, “But you’re going to have to clip me in.”

Street nodded, “Sure thing.”

“And whoever’s driving her will have to drive SMOOTH!”

“Sure!” Chris nodded, “If I drive I’ll drive as smooth as I’ve ever done. If anybody else drives, I’ll threaten them to drive smoothly.”

Luca smirked.

  SWATSWATSWAT- SWATSWATSWAT

 “So, how was nightshift?” Cassie asked Andrea as she sat down to get report.

“Pretty quiet. But we got in one of LA’s finest.”

“Oh?” Cassie looked up, “An officer?”

“LAPD S.W.A.T.” Andrea nodded. “Room 24.”

“What’s his status?”

“Alert and oriented. Busted up arm, smaller injury to one of his knees.”

“GSW or…?”

“Fall from the second or third floor, I don’t remember…” Andrea admitted as her eyebrows crept close together, “Landed full weight on his left arm. Multiple fractures in his arm, ligament and other soft-tissue damage.”

“And his knee?”

“Possible patella fracture.” Andrea shrugged.

“Possible?”

“He’s scheduled for more imaging later today.” Andrea explained, “He was in a lot of pain, and the tech didn’t wan’t to push him more than necessary.”

Cassie nodded, “Is his pain handled well?”

“He got OxyCotin depot, 10 mg, two hours ago. He hasn’t slept much, but the two last times I checked in on him, he told me he felt alright.”

“So, is he one of the patients we should be a bit up front with? Offer up PRNs?”

“I think he qualifies as the ‘tough man, no-feel pain’ type, yeah…” Andrea answered, making her voice deep to imitate the stereotype.

“Got to love macho men…” Cassie rolled her eyes. “Is he NPO?”

“He’s not restricted of clear liquids yet. And the doctor said he could take pills per os until 11 a.m.” Andrea, “-If he gets surgery today, it won’t be before in the afternoon.”

“Okay. Is he set up for any fluids or anything?”

Andrea shook her head, “Just pain management right now.”

Cassie nodded, “And our other patients?”

“21-2 has been up most of the night, delirious. Jen has been in there as one-on-one this shift, I think they managed to get John in for the dayshift.” Andrea looked down at her list, “23-1 requested extra pain meds at 02 and 06… Antibiotics is hanging in 25. 27-2 FINALLY had a bowel movement. The rest has been sleeping tight the entire night.”

“Oh, who would’ve thought one would be so damn happy for someone else taking a crap back in nursing school.”

“Amen to that…” Andrea nodded.

“Alright, if there’s nothing else… Then you should get home and sleep, you’re on 2 out of 3 right?”

Andrea nodded.

“See you tomorrow morning, sleep well!”

“Have a nice shift!”

“Thanks!”

Then Cassie turned to the computer to read through the nursing notes since her last shift.

 SWATSWATSWAT

 She knocked lightly at the door before she opened it.

“Hey!” the man inside answered her.

“Hello. I’m Cassie.”

“I’m Luca,” the man grinned, “You’re the dayshift nurse?”

“Yeah.” she nodded, “How are you feeling?”

“Pain is alright, but I’m going a bit stir-crazy from laying around here.”

“I heard you were part of S.W.A.T., I guess you’re more accustomed to running around and being high on adrenaline…”

The guy chuckled a bit, “Yeah, well… Sitting still and doing nothing has never really been my strength. Right now I don’t really have a choice though.”

Cassie nodded, “Is your arm in a good position?”

Luca shrugged his good shoulder, “Can’t complain.”

“And your leg?”

“Can’t complain.” Luca repeated, “I was going for more pictures later, right?”

Cassie nodded, “That seems to be the plan. -The report said you had fallen out a window.”

“Yeah, tossed out of one…” Luca nodded, “Third floor.”

“You look like a capable guy, I’d hate to see the person who ‘tossed’ you out a window…”

Luca smirked, “Well, he did kick my knee first, I was a little preoccupied trying to figure out if I could put my weight on it or not…”

“What answer did you come up with?”

“Well, I limped along on it a bit afterwards.” Luca scrounged up his nose, “Putting weight on it wasn’t all bad, but straightening and bending it was not cool. The doctor suspected I might’ve broken my kneecap…?”

“Yeah, that’s part of the extra pictures we wanted to take.” Cassie nodded, “The x-rays suggested there might be a fracture there, but the image wasn’t good enough to be sure.”

Luca nodded.

“And they also wanted more detailed pictures of your arm and shoulder.”

“CAT-scan or MRI?”

“Both.” Cassie answered, “CT to get a detailed view of your fractures, to prepare the surgeons better. And an MRI so they can check for ligament and other soft tissue damage.”

“Cool.” Luca nodded, “Look, I’ve got a plate and eight screws in my right tibia… Will that be okay with the MRI?”

“Yeah, as long as you had the surgery in a US hospital in the last 40 or so years…” Cassie nodded, “Surgical titanium won’t cause you problems during the scan, but it might cause some local disturbance in the scan.”

“Six years ago, this very hospital.” Luca smirked.

“Do you have any other metal in your body?”

“No.”

“Ever been shot?”

“A couple of times, but that’s either been through and through, or just graze wounds.”

“Have you had x-rays to confirm that you don’t have any metal left in your body from those bullets?”

Luca nodded, “Yeah, no trace.”

“That’s good.” Cassie smiled as she looked over the room, “Now, is there anything I can help you with?”

Luca blushed slightly, “Actually… Uhmm… Could you get me a urine bottle, or a catheter… Preferably a bottle.”

Cassie nodded, “Sure thing. I’ll find a urinal bottle.”

“Thanks. My ears are pretty much bubbling.”

“Okay, I’ll go find it straight away.”

“Thanks.”

 SWATSWATSWAT

 Luca managed to dose off every now and then, and soon enough it was 2p.m.

The extra set of pictures had been taken, some doctor had been in and explained their findings.

Cassie the nurse had been in and out a few times, twice giving him pills, once giving him some injection to deal with the pain. And a few more times just to make sure he was doing okay.

Right before 2:15 she came back again.

“Hey.” Luca smiled.

“Hey, how are you doing?”

Luca shrugged, “Not too shabby, whatever you injected me with earlier kicked in quickly. -And it works wonderfully.”

Cassie nodded, “I had a chat with the doctor, figured you could use something a pinch stronger.”

Luca smiled, “Thanks.”

“So, the doctor sent his evaluation earlier. Looks like you’re not going in for surgery today.”

“Oh…”

“So, you’re no longer fasting.”

“Right.” Luca nodded as he absorbed the news.

“Bottom line, dinner is just around the corner, and I wondered if you’d like salmon or chicken.”

Luca nodded, “with potatoes or something else?”

“Pasta or potatoes.”

“Could I get salmon with pasta?”

“Sure…” Cassie nodded, “And what would you like to drink? Water, milk, juice, coffee, tea?”

“Water and coffee, if that’s not too much of a hassle.”

“Milk or sugar in that coffee?”

“Nah… Just black.”

Cassie nodded, “Alright, I’ll be back soon.”

Luca nodded.

 SWATSWATSWAT-SWATSWATSWAT

 There was a knock at the door, and five people pretty much stumbled into the room.

Luca couldn’t help but grin.

“Hey bud…” Chris grinned, “How are you holding up?”

“Ah, you know…” Luca offered up what he hoped was a confident smirk, “Bored.”

“Well, I figured you wouldn’t be up for any videogames, so I didn’t bring your PSP…” Street shrugged, “But I brought my iPad so that you can watch Netflix and YouTube…”

“Thanks!”

“How does it feel?” Deacon asked as he nodded to the massive cast and bandage wrap covering most of Luca’s left arm.

Luca clicked his tongue, “I feel like the look of it speaks for itself.”

“Yeah.” Tan tilted his head as he studied the parts of Luca’s arm which wasn’t covered up, “Your fingers are pretty swollen, and bruised…”

Luca nodded a little, and glanced down at his bare shoulder, “-And my shoulder is pretty much black.”

Hondo nodded, “Does it help having it up on those pillows?”

Luca made a noise to let Hondo know he was uncertain, “I think it throbs a bit less.”

Hondo nodded, “So, are you getting surgery?”

Luca nodded a bit, “Yeah, but not today. Could be tomorrow, or later…”

“So, you’re bedbound in the meanwhile?” Street asked.

Luca nodded, “Pretty much, apparently broke my kneecap as well. But the doctor figured I’d be able to walk around with a brace or a cylinder cast on it. -But he wanted the swelling to go down a bit first.”

“How is it now?”

“Swollen and locked straight by a short brace.” Luca sighed, “Doesn’t hurt too bad, though.”

“That’s good.” Deacon nodded.  

Chris looked over at Street, then Tan, “Hey guys… What if we go grab some extra chairs…”

“Good idea…” Street nodded, and the three youngest left the room.

 SWATSWATSWAT

 “Now…” Hondo started as he sat down in one of the chairs, “How are you really feeling?”

Luca’s face dropped. “Honestly?”

Deacon nodded.

“I’m scared.”

Hondo nodded as well.

“Right now it feels like it’ll never be alright…” he admitted, wiping at his eyes with his right hand, hating the fact that his eyes were watering, “Like, there’s no one that wants to guarantee me it’s going to be just like it was, or even remotely close.”

“It’ll be one heck of a recovery…” Deacon shrugged, “But you’re tough enough, and certainly hard-headed enough to make it.”

“He’s right man…” Hondo winked, “You’re one of the most stubborn guys I know.”

“I don’t know…” Luca nibbled on his lower lip a bit, “Maybe I’m getting too old for this…”

“If you are, what am I…” Deacon chuckled.

“You’re younger than me…”

Hondo chuckled, “Well, at least it doesn’t seem like that, most of the time.”

Luca let out a sound which could sound like a laugh in some way, “Thanks.”

 SWATSWATSWAT

 “How do you think he’s doing?” Street asked Chris as they rested in some chairs they had gotten permission to bring into Luca’s room later. They figured they’d give the old guys some time alone.

“Luca’s tough…” Tan commented.

“Yeah, but it was a bad break.” Chris sighed.

“Two bad breaks, that we’re sure of…” Street tapped his fingers against his thigh, “Possibly more. And then there’s all the other damage there might be.”

“Somewhere between 180 and 200 lbs landing directly on one arm from the third floor window…” Chris shook her head, “That’s a lot of force…”

“He probably weighed somewhere over 1000 lbs effectively at the impact.” Tan mused, then fished his phone out of the pocket, “190 lbs, 85 kg… 23 ft drop, approximately 7 meters. That means… His velocity at the impact was 11,7 m/s… That equals an energy of about 5800 joules, which is very close to 600 kg, which again is about 1300 lbs.”

“One moment I didn’t see the phone in your hand, and it scared me a little…” Street admitted.

“It’s scary enough with the phone…” Chris chuckled, “Poor Luca, he really must be in some serious pain.”

“That’s for sure.” Tan nodded, “Good thing he didn’t land on his head, I’m pretty sure we wouldn’t have been at a hospital then…”

Street’s face paled.

“Well, he didn’t, so let’s not think about that.” Chris said, looking between the boys.

“House felt weird without him tonight.” Street shook his head.

“You didn’t stay with Molly tonight?”

“No,” Street shook his head, “It was late, and I had already agreed with her that I’d crash with Luca if we didn’t get done before midnight.”

Chris nodded.

“Regretted about an hour after I went to bed.”

Tan nodded as well, “Yesterday was a tough one…”

Chris looked towards the door to Luca’s room. “This ain’t right…”

Tan looked up with a questioned hum.

“Luca, being this injured,” she shook her head, “It’s not right. He’s like the cool uncle when you were growing up, who shifted into one of your best friends when you ended up being an adult. He’s the guy who’s supposed to be unbreakable… Seeing him like this doesn’t feel right.”

Street nodded slightly, “Yeah, you’ve got a point.”

Tan also had to agree.

“One thing’s for sure, he’s going to be on light duty for a good while.” Street said, as he rested his right ankle on his left knee and crossed his arms.

“That’s going to suck for him…” Chis sighed.

“Yeah, just think of how much it sucks for us when we’re forced to go light duty due to an injury.” Tan scowled down at his own boots, “As far as I know, the three of us don’t suffer from dyslexia. I honestly believe my greatest fear would have been light duty if I had dyslexia…”

“-Well, it’s not like he can’t read…” Street shrugged, “But of course, it sucks…”

“It’s not that he can’t read…” Chris shook her head, “But he uses much more energy on that than what the rest of us do, Street.”

“Yeah, well… Guess you’ve got a point.” Street nodded.

Chris nodded, mostly to herself.

“How much longer do you think we should stay out here?” Tan asked looking towards the door.

Chris checked her watch, “Another minute and we should be in the clear.”

 SWATSWATSWAT

 “Man, I can’t wait to get better…” Luca blew out a breath, “Or, at least I can’t wait to have the surgery and be allowed to start moving around again…”

The two other men nodded understandingly.

“-And I can’t wait for this to stop hurting so immensely.” Luca added, “At least it’s not the worst pain I’ve been in. That being said, it’s enough to really drive me nuts.”

“I really wish there was something I could say to help, but I know words won’t help with the pain.” Deacon sighed.

Luca nodded, “I know one thing that would help…”

“Yeah?” Hondo looked up.

“Some nurse will come by with more pain meds in like thirty minutes…” Luca said, looking up at the clock on the wall.

“Do you want us to go ask if you could get your meds early?” Deacon asked.

Luca let his head loll side to side on his pillow, before he picked his answer and nodded at Deacon, “Yeah. That’d be great.”

“Alright, I’ll be straight back.” Deacon nodded and left the room.

 SWATSWATSWAT

 “There, that’s our clue…” Chris nodded towards the door as it closed again, and Deacon headed towards the nurses station.

 NEW CHAPTER

 It was a few days since her last shift, so she was excited to see how many of the patients she recognized. If she was lucky there would be some of the same faces there today as last time, and if she was out of luck the whole ward could have been changed out.

She was already at her regular fast pace as soon as she stepped into the hospital. She took the shortcut down to where they picked up their scrubs, then she walked double-pace to the locker room. She stripped down and hung her clothes in her locker, then she hopped into her white uniform.

She stepped into her colorful joggers, and shoved her pocket protector-nametag combo into her chest pocket. Then she shouldered her backpack and marched towards the stairs.

 SWATSWATSWAT

 She walked into the ward as she secured her nurse watch to her shirt. Then she walked to the board which told her which group she would be on that day, which turned out to be her regular one. Straight up orthopedic.

Then she walked to the right charge room to have a quiet cup of coffee before her shift started.

“Mornin’ Cassie!” Derek grinned.

“Morning!” Cassie smiled back, “How was the night?”

“22-3 and 30 has both had a bad night.”

“Pain?”

Derek shrugged, “30 is definitely pain. 22-3, I’m not as sure. Could be attention- or drug seeking…”

“Okay.”

“So I feel like I’ve been running a marathon between those two rooms.” Derek yawned, “24 has called a few times, also pain related… Which is very understandable…”

Cassie looked down at her sheet of paper, “Still the Luca guy?”

“Yeah.”

“It says he’s NPO…”

Derek nodded, “Yeah. Poor guy still haven’t had his arm fixed…”

“No…”

“Yeah…” Derek sighed, “His humerus displaced yesterday, which caused additional bleeding.”

“Bleeding?”

“Yeah, poked through the skin.”

“So he now has two compound fractures?”

Derek nodded, “They reduced the fracture, debrided and irrigated it. Then they placed him in a cast splint which covered a lot more.”

“How many times has he called tonight?”

“Just four times.” Derek nodded to himself, “22-3 and 30 has called like 50 times.”

“Well, guess they make SWAT guys tough.”

“Or maybe they just use tough guys for SWAT…” Derek shrugged, “They certainly make the SWAT girls HOT…”

“His teammates stopped by again?”

Derek nodded, “Anyway, he’s still on  I.V. antibiotics”

Cassie nodded, “Has his I.V. been changed recently?”

Derek checked the computer, “No, it’s three days old.”

“So, check it and maybe put in a new one…”

“Correct.”

“And he’s scheduled for I.V. antibiotics at 8?”

Derek nodded.

“How long is it since he got painkillers?”

“About an hour and thirty minutes…”

“Anything on any of the others?”

“Nothing you can’t easily read in the notes.”

Cassie nodded.

Then they sat there for half a minute in silence.

“So, are you done now?” Cassie asked.

“Crap, NO!” Derek got up in a hurry, “I’m supposed to give report on group 4 as well!”

Cassie chuckled.  

 SWATSWATSWAT

 Luca woke up as the nurse knocked at the door. He was still a bit groggy as she opened the door and walked in with a blood pressure machine in tow.

“Good morning.”

“Mornin…” Luca blinked hard as he tried to clear up the room around him.

“How has the night been?”

“Had to give in and ask for something extra to manage the pain a few times. Otherwise good.”

“And how is the pain now?”

“Laying completely still? On a scale from 1 to 10?”

Cassie nodded.

“3 I guess.” Luca tapped the fingers of his good hand against his knee which he had rested against the railing.

“And the peaks?”

“Before I got the last dose of painkiller, or after?”

“After.”

“6, maybe 6.5.” Luca yawned.

“And before?”

“Think I hit an 8.5 earlier… And just laying here was a solid 5.”

Cassie nodded, “Are you ready for some measurements?”

Luca nodded and held his right arm a bit up from the mattress.

“Wanna bet on your blood pressure today?”

Luca smirked, “Low-ish, bled a bit yesterday.”

Cassie nodded, “So I heard… What happened?”

“I’ve been having these muscle spasms…” Luca swallowed thickly, “Unfortunately my muscles were a bit stronger than the cast. Tore my shoulder out again, and my upper arm collapsed.”

“That must’ve been painful.”

Luca nodded as Cassie placed the BP cuff on his right upper arm. “The new cast splint seems more heavy duty…”

Cassie nodded, “Well, I’m turning on the machine now, so you’re going to feel some pressure around your arm.”

Luca nodded.

The machine whirred a bit as it filled the cuff with air then let it slowly out again, before it repeated the cycle twice. Then with a little triumphant ring the machine showed the pressure.

“What was it?”

“103 over 59…” Cassie answered and marked it down on her paper.

“Fits with the bleeding yesterday…”

Cassie nodded a little, “Yeah, but I’d like to get that a bit up before the end of my shift…”

Luca nodded, “Yeah, bet I would feel a bit better in general if we managed that.”

Cassie removed the cuff from Luca’s upper arm, she coiled the cord neatly and placed it back on the trolley. Then she picked up the thermometer, “Just going to swipe this across your forehead…”

Luca nodded, “I bet 99 flat.”

She looked at the little screen after she was done, “Nope, 99,5.”

“It’s still good though?”

“Yeah, still within the norm.” Cassie nodded and placed the tool back on the trolley. Then she grabbed the pulse oximeter.

Luca held his fingers up for easy access, “97”

Cassie smirked, “As pulse or saturation?”

Luca thought a bit, “Saturation.  Pulse, 74.”

“Saturation, 98. And the machine says your pulse is 86.” She replied and jotted it down.

Luca nodded and turned his wrist out so Cassie easily could palpate his pulse.

Cassie’s fingers found the pulse after she discarded the oximeter.

Luca laid in silence as she counted, only moving his right foot rhythmically.

“And I agree with the machine, mostly…”

“Just mostly?”

“I’d say 90, but that’s close.” Cassie smiled and wrote that down, as well as 16 respirations per minute.

“You have good warm hands.” Luca said as he looked up at her.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Luca smiled, “You have the best hands here.”

“Bet you say that to all the nurses.”

Luca shook his head slightly, “Nah, you’ve got first place, and that murse with glasses and a mustache is on second place.”

Cassie grinned, “Yeah, Josh is great.”

Luca nodded, “So, I’m not getting anything to eat today either?”

“No, sorry.”

Luca nodded, “Well, do I at least get some fluids?”

“Yeah, Plasma-Lyte, and I.V. antibiotics.” Cassie nodded, “And maybe a transfusion, depending on your bloodwork.”

Luca nodded, “Alright, cool!”

Cassie wrote down the time as well, before she pushed the blood pressure cart out in the corridor again. Then she walked over to the window and picked up the wash-bowl. “How do you feel about freshening up a little? And get a new gown…”

“Sounds great.” Luca nodded, “Honestly I feel like I ought to take a proper shower, but with this arm, that’s not happening. My hair feels sticky as all h*ll.”

Cassie chuckled a little, “Well, I don’t think I have time to help you with that straight away, but maybe afterwards if I manage to get ahead of my schedule… Then maybe I could help you do something about that situation.”

Luca smiled, “Thanks.”

“No promises though.”

“No, I know.” Luca nodded, “You guys are awfully busy.”

Cassie offered up an apologetic smile as she filled up the bowl with water. Donned a pair of gloves and wrung up the cloth.

“So, do you feel up for doing as much as possible on your own today? Or?”

“Oh, I can’t admit to being in a weakened state…” Luca grinned and reached out to get the cloth, “Hand that over to me…”

Cassie handed it over and Luca washed his face and neck.

“Do you want the towel to dry your face as well?”

Luca carefully shrugged his right shoulder, “Sure. Could you wring this up for me again?”

“Sure thing.” Cassie nodded and exchanged the cloth for the towel.

After patting down his face and neck, Luca placed the towel beside his hip, then he attempted getting the hospital gown off of him. His project was not successful.

“Want some help?”

Luca looked up, offering up a lopsided smile. “Looks like imma need it.”

Cassie nodded, and gently tugged it away from where it was tucked under Luca’s left side, before she tugged it away from under his right side and slid it off his right arm.

“I’ve never been more happy with the weird design on these gowns.” Luca joked.

“It’s pretty handy when you’re not completely mobile.” Cassie nodded, “And the fact that you can just tug it under your side without threading your arm through a sleeve if you’re not up for it, is also a very neat trick.”

Luca nodded.

Cassie rolled the old gown and tossed it in the sink. Then she wrung up the cloth and handed it to Luca again, who washed most of his chest and waist, and carefully under his left arm, before he attempted to wash under his right arm with his right arm.

A few seconds later he gave that up, and looked over at Cassie, “Could you help me a bit?”

Cassie nodded, took the cloth and wrung it up before she helped him with the part he couldn’t reach on his own. Then she helped him dry off. “Want me to wash your back?”

“Could you?”

“Are you able to sit straight up?”

“Yeah…” Luca nodded and reached for the bed control and started to raise his back to a point where it wouldn’t take much energy for him to sit all the way up. He didn’t get all the way up there before he had to call it quits. “Cassie, could you… Could you move my arm a little?”

She nodded and walked around the bed to the correct side, “Tell me how to help you…”

“I don’t know…” Luca sighed, “Can you try to ease it forward at the same pace as the bed?”

Cassie nodded, “Just let me know if I’m doing it wrong.”

“-Oh, you’ll hear me…”

Cassie nodded and gently cupped two hands under Luca’s injured arm. Then he pressed down on the button until he was almost upright.

“Thanks.”

Cassie nodded and released the arm with one of her hands to fluff the pillow it would rest on. “Then slowly down?”

Luca nodded.

They managed to place his arm on the pillows without any mishaps. Then Luca sat up the few remaining inches.

“Ready?” Cassie asked as she wrung up the cloth once again.

Luca nodded, and Cassie went to work. She made sure to be gentle near his left shoulder, but allowed herself to have a bit harder hand when she washed the remainder of his back. Pulling a content hum from Luca as she did.

“How’s that?”

“Awesome.”

“Good…” Cassie smirked, and reached for the dry towel. “Now, do you want to sit up for a bit, or do you want to lay back down?”

“Nah, I can sit up for a bit.” Luca decided as he leaned back against the elevated back of the bed.

Cassie nodded and placed the cloth in the water-bowl before she reached out for the clean gown. Then she helped Luca get the gown around his right arm and tucked behind his sides.

Then she wrung up the cloth once again, “Would you like to use this on your privates?”

Luca nodded and reached out for the cloth, then he stopped short. “Actually, I might need some help getting this mesh-boxer thing off first…”

Cassie nodded and placed the cloth back in the water, before helping Luca.

 SWATSWATSWAT

 “Thanks…” Luca smiled as he finally rested comfortable in fresh clothes, “That actually made me feel a bit better. -A bit more tired, but also a bit better.”

Cassie nodded, “I’ll be by with some meds and fluids soon, and later we’ll see if I can do something about that hair of yours as well.”

Luca nodded, “It’s seriously turning into a nest…”

Cassie smiled, “Try to get some rest in the meanwhile.”

“Yes ma’am!”

 SWATSWATSWAT

 For once he didn’t end up waiting all day, only to learn that the surgery was postponed once more.

Instead he was wheeled into surgery a quarter past nine.

 SWATSWATSWAT

 Cassie knocked on the door and walked in a little while after Luca had returned from surgery.

“Hey, how are you feeling?”

“Like my head is still swimming…” Luca yawned, “How did the surgery go?”

“You know what, I haven’t had time to read the review of the surgery. I’m not sure if the surgeon has finished writing it either.” Cassie admitted.

Luca nodded, “I think someone tried to tell me how it went earlier. I didn’t really catch it.”

Cassie chuckled, “Yeah, that propofol and fentanyl combo will do that to you…”

Luca nodded lazily.

“How’s your pain level?”

Luca shrugged his good shoulder a bit, “One… Barely…”

Cassie smirked a bit to herself, mentally repeating ‘that propofol and fentanyl combo will do that to you’.

“That’s good.” She smiled, “Are you hungry, or do you want to wait a bit before eating?”

“Nah, not hungry. Just tired.”

“Okay, I’ll let you sleep the remainder of the anesthetic off. You know how to use the call button if you need anything.”

Luca nodded a bit, then yawned again.

#Swat fanfiction #swat #s.w.a.t #dominic luca #dominique luca #injury #hurt #hurtcomfort #luca #hondo #hondo harrelson #deacon #david kay #jim street #Street #chris #chris alonso #tan #victor tan

[sydneywritespursuedbyabear]

The Casualties of Croissants

Trigger Warnings -- also tagged: gore, gunshots, surgeries, hospitals, death in the family, ptsd symptoms

This is a standalone piece.

Word Count: 5176

“Shhhhhhhhh. It’s okay. I’m right here.” I wrap my arms around Dessi, avoiding the bloodstains on her grey and white raglan t-shirt. “I’ve called 911, EMS is on their way. You are going to be okay.”

Despite my efforts, Dessi seems to disagree. She moaned in pain and tugged at her shirt. I rotate her arm to examine the blood-spattered hole in her left sleeve beneath her elbow. I lift her arm up to check the bottom. There is no exit wound. As I return Dessi’s arm to a resting position, more blood oozes onto her grey sleeves and onto my hand. I help her lean against the brick wall of the bakery we were in not even five minutes ago. 

“I’ll be right back. Stay down,” I whisper, knowing full well that she couldn’t even move if she wanted to. 

I survey the surrounding area. No one else is hurt, and the bakery is still open. I burst through the bakery’s glass door, frantic. “Do you have scissors?” I ask. 

The front attending obviously notices the blood on my hands because he hesitates. I don’t have this kind of time. 

“Please,” I plead, “my friend was shot, and I need to cut her clothing away from the wound and create pressure on the wound.”

The attending turns around. I hear the rustling of assorted metal and plastic objects as he sorts through a tools drawer. He hands me a pair of kids’ scissors. “Have you called 911?”

“Yes. They’re about 5 to 10 minutes out. Thank you so much!” I dart back out the glass door I had burst through only 30 seconds ago and run back to Dessi. 

I take a quick look at the wound to double-check that her sleeve has not become entangled in any of her insides. The grey fabric of her sleeve is not caught on anything, just stained a dark crimson. “Okay, Dessi,” I say, trying to keep my voice as level as possible, “I’m going to cut your sleeve off. Let me know if anything hurts.”

“My arm,” she immediately moans back.

“I know,” I say, taking the scissors to the seam of her sleeve. I cut all the way around the seam before slicing the sleeve straight down the back. I carefully lift the blood-stained fabric away from the rich brown skin of her arm. “Dessi, I’m going to apply some pressure to your arm. This might hurt.”

“Hope, I -- ow!”

“All done,” I reassure her as I create a second, securing knot over the grey and crimson band on her arm. “Hey, Dessi, can you count out a minute for me?”

“I can try,” she manages.

I press my fingers into the warm skin of her forearm, searching for her radial pulse. I find it on the lower outside of her wrist. “Alright, Dessi, you can start counting,” I prompt. Each rapid beat of Dessi’s heart sends a powerful wave through her body. I am no doctor, but I can tell that her pulse is definitely elevated.

“Time,” Dessi mutters weakly. She bows her head in pain and exhaustion. 102 beats per minute. That heart rate is not going to help her at all.

I shift to be crouching right in front of her. “Dessi, look at me. We are going to take some deep breaths, okay?” I hear the faint screaming of sirens in the distance. “They’re almost here. For now, in through your nose--” I make an audible nasal inhalation. “Out through your mouth.” I let out a loud exhale.

Dessi does not move. I bring my hand up to her chin and tilt her so her brown eyes meet mine. “Hear that?” I ask her, referencing the growing din of ambulance sirens. 

The sirens come to a climax as the ambulance pulls up to the curb in front of us. 

Two EMTs jump out of the back of the ambulance. The one with short blonde-dyed-blue hair introduces himself, “Hi, I’m Frank, and this is my partner in anti-crime, Jocelyn.” He motions toward the ambulance, where Jocelyn’s bobbing ponytail emerges with a stretcher. 

“Alright, young lady,” Frank says to Dessi, “We are going to need to get you on that stretcher. We have two options: we can lift you up there, or we can lower the stretcher all the way down and you can climb onto it. Do you think you can stand?” Dessi shakes her head. Frank turns to me. “Jocelyn is going to help me get your friend here onto the stretcher so we can get her to the hospital. It’s your job to make her feel safe so this transition can be as quick and easy as possible. Got it?”

“Yeah.”

Jocelyn parks the stretcher right next to Dessi. She lowers it until the bed is at about knee level. Jocelyn and Frank crouch down beside Dessi and place their arms under her to support her knees and back. 

“Ready?” Jocelyn asks.

I nod. I lock eyes with Dessi. “It’s going to be okay,” I mouth.

“One, two, three,” Frank commands. He and Jocelyn stand up on three. Their feet trace rapidly across the pavement as they carry Dessi to the stretcher. 

“All done,” Jocelyn says after she and Frank have slid their arms out from under Dessi. Jocelyn leans over Dessi’s left arm and examines my makeshift bandage. “How long ago was the incident?” she asks.

“7 minutes-ish,” I respond. “I wasn’t able to find any exit wounds when I patched up Dessi’s arm.”

Jocelyn nods as if making a mental note of this new info. “Dessi?” she probes tentatively.

Dessi slowly lifts her head until her eyes meet Jocelyn’s.

“How are you feeling?” Jocelyn asks.

“Well, my arm hurts,” Dessi says flatly.

“Anything else bothering you?” Jocelyn presses. “Dizzy? Fatigued? Chest pain? Numbness anywhere?”

“Yes, yes, yes, no,” Dessi replies.

“Alright, let’s get her in,” Jocelyn commands as she uses her foot to unbrake the stretcher. She and Frank walk Dessi to the open back of the ambulance. 

“Can I come?” I call out.

Frank shoots Jocelyn a permissive look. “You’re both minors, right?” I nod my head. “Then come on in,” Frank shouts at me.

I dash over to the ambulance and step up on the metal ledge to climb in. Frank closes the door behind me. He runs around the outside of the ambulance and hops into the driver’s seat. 

I shift my gaze to Dessi. Jocelyn has already begun to measure Dessi’s vital signs. She swipes a thermometer across Dessi’s sweaty forehead. She slides a blue blood pressure cuff onto Dessi’s right arm. Jocelyn slips a pulse oximeter onto Dessi’s right index finger. 

A monitor hanging above Dessi comes to life. Large numbers display her blood pressure. A wave rises and falls across the screen as Dessi’s heart beats. Jocelyn enters some information into an iPad that is sitting on the bench beside her. She looks up and goes, “Alright, girls, I need full names and dates of birth. Dessi, do you want to go first?”

“Desdemona Freedman,” Dessi says weakly. “Born September 17, 2003.”

“Good job,” Jocelyn praises as she lightly grasps Dessi’s hand. “And you?”

“Cassiopea Murphy,” I say. “And I was born--” I pause, unsure of what to say. “Um, I don’t have a birth certificate.”

“What does that mean?” Jocelyn questioned.

“I was a safe haven baby. I was left in a box in June of 2003 and was estimated to be 1 week old. No local hospitals had any birth certificates that could match my situation. My adoptive parents have been searching for it for years. All we know is that I’m 17 now.”

Frank pipes up from the driver’s seat. “Alright, ladies, we are about two minutes out. How are you holding up, Dessi?”

“Absolutely fantastic,” says a faint sarcastic voice. At least Dessi still has her sense of ironic humor. 

Upon our arrival at the hospital, everything moves fast again. Frank jumps out of the front and races around back to open the doors. Meanwhile, Jocelyn unclips Dessi’s stretcher from the floor of the ambulance. Jocelyn wheels Dessi out the back, where Frank receives the stretcher and guides it to the ground. I leap out the back and tail the frantic parade.

Jocelyn and Frank shove through the swinging door entrance to the ER. They immediately start riling off info about Dessi.

“16-year-old female with a GSW in her lower left arm,” Frank announces to the room.

“BP holding steady at 89 over 54, pulse is at 120 and slowly rising,” Jocelyn adds.

An ER doctor rushes over to meet Dessi as she is moved towards the back of the room, where there is an empty bed. A blue hijab covers her hair and blends in with her faded scrubs. “How much blood has she lost?” the doctor inquires. 

“Less than a pint probably,” Jocelyn replies, “there wasn’t any blood on the ground when we picked her up, so it’s all in her clothes.” “Great. Let’s get some saline running and put her on a morphine drip.” The doctor orders. “Any exit wound?”

“Not that we could see,” Frank supplies.

The doctor sighs. “Get her up to imaging!”

A team of nurses wheels Dessi away. Frank turns around and notices me standing in the corner of the room. “Let me take you to the waiting area,” he says, extending his hand to me. “We should call your parents.”

I don’t budge.

“You can’t be back here,” he scolds. 

I reluctantly take his hand. “I’m not calling my parents.”

“Why?” “I’m not going to interrupt Dessi’s custody ruling. Today is the court’s only opening before Dessi turns 18.”

“Why is Dessi not at her own custody ruling?”

“She can’t stand courtrooms.”

“Okay, well isn’t this a pretty important reason to interrupt her own custody ruling?”

“I guess, but I can’t tell them about this.”

“Why?”

“I just— I just can’t,” I stammer. I take a deep breath. “When can I see Dessi?”

Frank sighs. His eyes briefly dance around the nearly empty ER waiting room before returning his gaze to me. “Dessi is up in imaging right now. I can take you back to get cleaned up and I can have a nurse call your parents. Sound good?” 

I nod. He leads me back through the swinging doors that lead to the ER. I can see where Dessi was placed when we first arrived. Frank leads me back there and ushers me to sit down in the chair placed next to the spot where a hospital bed would be. 

Frank walks to the nurses’ station in the center of the room and returns followed by a tall man in turquoise scrubs. “This is Jackson,” Frank says.

“Hey there,” Jackson says, brushing the brown hair of his bangs out of his eyes. “I’m Nurse Jackson, but you can call me anything you want as long as you tell me. Frank tells me that you’ve had a bit of a rough morning.”

“Yeah,” I sigh, looking down at my blood-stained plaid skirt. “Oh, I’m Cassiopea, but you can call me Hope.”

“So, Hope.” Jackson clears his throat. “Have you contacted your parents?”

I stare down at the white speckled tile beneath my shoes. “No,” I admit quietly, “I was hoping you could do that.”

“I can give your parents a call, okay? I think you should change,” Jackson tells me.

“Into what?”

“I just texted a buddy of mine. She’s bringing down some scrubs for you to change into. Dessi will be down soon. Sit tight. I’ll be back to check on you in a little, okay?”

I nod. Jackson walks back to the nurses’ station in the center of the room. He picks up a phone and dials a number.

Franks steps in front of me. “Alright, Hope, Jocelyn and I have some paperwork to fill out. The doctors and nurses here are awesome. If you need anything, just ask.” He, too, turns around and walks away from me. He exits into the ER waiting room. 

As soon as Frank is out of my sight, another person in scrubs comes my way. She is carrying a pile of maroon clothes, presumably for me. “Cassiopea?” she says, presenting me with the pile of clothes and a plastic bag.

“Thank you.” I take the scrubs out of her hands.

“You can close this curtain for privacy,” she tells me, pulling on the green fabric that hangs down from a metal bar that wraps around the ceiling above me. “Just open back up when you’ve changed so the nurses can get your friend back to you. Got it?”

I nod. She walks away. I pull the curtain around the monitors that surround a bed-shaped hole. I peel off my blood-stained middle school uniform that I don’t even know why I’m wearing today and place its pieces into the plastic bag. I pull on the scrubs and pull back the curtain. The poly-cotton fabric brushes against my skin, not too soft but not too itchy either. 

After a few minutes, Dessi’s bed reappears down the hallway. She is wheeled next to me by a team of nurses. These nurses close the same curtain that I used to change. “Hey,” I say. “How are you doing?”

“I’m not too good,” Dessi says flatly. “We’re waiting on a, ummmmmm, radiologist.”

“Okay. They’ve called Mom and Dad, who I assume talked to Jess. I don’t know if they’re coming.”

“I don’t want them to come.”

“Why not?”

Dessi looks away from me. Her eyes dance across the ceiling, avoiding me at all costs. “I just don’t,” she insists. I get the feeling that this is where she’d roll over, but she’d be rolling onto her injured arm, so I reckon she won’t.

Her arm is no longer covered by a grey band with crimson stains and jagged edges. It has been wrapped in a pristine white bandage that stands out against her skin. Her other arm has an IV line connected to it with a piece of tape. This protection is clear, but her attachment to the bags is another reminder of her current state.

The doctor from when we first arrive pulls back the curtain and walks in. “Hi, I’m Dr. Niani,” she says. “I have the results from your x-rays.”

“And?” I press. 

“Desdemona, you got very lucky,” Dr. Niani says.

“No, I didn’t,” Dessi retorts.

“Given your situation, you did,” Dr. Niani argues back. She takes a deep breath and starts again “Your forearm is broken in two places. The bullet is lodged between your radius and ulna below your elbow.”

Dessi is absolutely silent, so I press on. “What now?” I ask.

“We remove the bullet and realign her arm. She wears a cast for 8 weeks, and we go from there,” Dr. Niani states matter-of-factly. 

“How do we do that?” Dessi inquires, her voice shaky.

“We numb your arm using a local anesthetic, make an incision, extract the bullet, reset your bones, and stitch you up.”

“And I’m awake?” Dessi asks nervously.

“It’s too risky to have you under general anesthesia.” Dr. Niani looks down at the iPad in front of her. “Moving on. Jackson got a hold of Mr. and Mrs. Murphy. They will be here as soon as they can. In the meantime, they have given us verbal consent to treat your injuries. I’d like to get that bullet out of you as soon as possible.”

I shift my glance to Dessi, who is not fully on board with this decision. Sweat glistens on her forehead and her brown eyes gloss over with unshed tears. “Dessi, it’s gonna be okay,” I tell her.

“I can’t do this,” she says as a single tear leaks out of her red eyes. 

“Why not?” Dr. Niani asks softly.

“I’m scared. My mind is all over the place and I just can’t deal with this right now,” Dessi sobs.

Dr. Niani sighs. “Okay. I’ll give you some time to rest.” She walks away from us and closes the green curtain as she leaves. Her voice rings out in the distance, “Jackson, page psych.”

“Hope, why did you let them call your--our--parents?”

“They deserve to know, Dessi.” I grab Dessi’s left hand and give it a tight squeeze. Dessi picks her head and gives me a faint smile, her brown-pink lips slightly moving towards her ears. “I’ll be right here the whole time.”

Our moment is interrupted by yet another person opening our curtains. This time, it is a fair-skinned woman with long brown curly hair. “I’m Shayna Gold, and I’m a--”

“Psychiatrist,” Dessi finishes.

“Yes,” Shayna says. She pulls a stool out from under the table on the other side of Dessi’s bed and sits down. She scans her tablet before closing its cover and placing it under her clipboard. “I want to talk to both of you about what happened earlier.”

“What do you mean? How much earlier?” I ask.

“Anything that happened today,��� Shayna replies.

I glance up at Dessi, but she has strategically averted her eyes to the ceiling. “Okay,” I sigh, “I’ll tell the story. This morning is Dessi’s custody ruling. Dessi isn’t too fond of courthouses, so I stayed home with her. After my parents left, I decided to take her out for croissants to take her mind off of it. As we left, a black SUV pulled into the alley next to the bakery. Someone wearing all black jumped out of the SUV and walked down the alley, where another hooded figure was standing. We only heard one round be fired, but it did not hit any intended target, as far as we could tell. Dessi caught that bullet in her lower arm.” I pause and take a deep breath. Until now, no one else knew about what had happened. My chest felt lighter, as if the story had been weighing me down, but my head also began to spin at the reality of what Dessi and I had experienced. “I called 911 and we were brought here,” I continue. “The bullet is stuck in Dessi’s arm bones and she needs to have a procedure to get it out, but she’s not being put to sleep and she’s scared.”

“You two have been through a lot today,” Shayna says, looking up from her clipboard, which is covered in scribbled-on notebook paper. “Let’s take a moment to appreciate how much you have already survived today.” A calm briefly fills the air, as our little nook becomes as quiet as an ER can be. 

“Let’s unpack this a little, Dessi,” Shayna says. “How do you feel about the procedure? I know that you are scared, but do you know what you are scared about? Are you worried that it will hurt.”

“I mean I am worried that it will hurt, but that’s not really what’s bothering me. I’ve been shot, so pain isn’t the worst thing imaginable right now,” Dessi responds. She’s coming back. Even if there is still a bullet in her arm, her mood has begun to heal.

“Okay,” Shayna says, processing this information, “is there anything else that fuels this hesitation?”

“It just doesn’t feel right,” Dessi says, “especially with my new parents coming over. I guess I’m more worried about something happening to me or what their reactions will be.”

Shayna nods as she internalizes this information, but I have now picked up on something that Dessi has left out that is quite important. “Dess, you should probably mention what happened to your birth parents.”

“I don’t want to,” she moans in response.

“If you tell her, I am going to tell her,” I fire back.

“Hey,” Shayna interrupts in a calming voice, “if she doesn’t want to talk about it, we shouldn’t make her.”

“But I know why she’s scared,” I argue. “Her father died while undergoing treatment for cancer, but it wasn’t the chemo that killed him. Her mother had a sudden heart attack from stress. Dessi’s mother died during her father’s malpractice hearing. It’s why she can’t stand courtrooms.”

Dessi closes her eyes and leans back against her bed. She lets out a huge exasperated and nervous sigh.

“Wow, that’s really something big,” Shayna says. “Dessi, how do you feel about her saying that?”

“She’s right,” Dessi admits. She swallows hard; a bulge travels down her neck. “How do I fix this?”

“There is no way to fix this. I know that it sounds unencouraging, but you cannot change the past. That is a fact. BUT, we can do something about you right now.” Shayna stands up and places her tablet and clipboard on her stool. She walks over to be beside Dessi, facing me. “Let’s make a plan to make this experience easier for both of you.”

“Okay,” Dessi says, shifting her gaze to Shayna.

“Dessi, what makes you feel safe? What do you like to do when you’re upset?”

“I like to listen to music and talk to Hope.” Dessi glances over at me and we exchange smiles.

“I can play Spotify off my phone,” I offer.

“That sounds like a good idea,” Shayna says. “Are you feeling any more confident, Dessi?”

“I guess so,” Dessi replies. “I’m scared. I’m in pain, but Hope is here.” I squeeze her hand in agreement. “I’m ready to get this bullet out of me.”

“I’m going to let Jackson and Dr. Niani know that you are ready.” Shayna picks up her tablet and clipboard. She rolls the stool back around Dessi’s bed to where it was safely stowed before. Shayna pulls back the green curtain as she leaves and closes to restore our privacy.

I pull my phone out of the plastic bag with my clothes. I locate a paper towel dispenser above Dessi’s bed and wipe the moisture off of it. “What are you thinking?” I ask, popping Spotify open.

“I’m not sure?”

“How does Mozart sound?” I jest.

“Not really in a classical music mood,” Dessi remarks.

“You never are.”

“Don’t judge my music taste!”

“Fine! How about Panic! At the Disco?”

“Sounds great.” 

I press play on my phone. The screen switches to an album cover. The notes ring out through our area, but I adjust the volume so as to not bother anyone else.

Jackson pulls back the curtain and steps toward Dessi’s bed. “I like the music. Whoever chose has good taste,” he says, and I smile up at Dessi. Jackson pulls out a small table from underneath the table upon which the monitors sit. He aligns it with Dessi’s left shoulder. He grabs a disinfecting wipe from a canister on the wall to wipe the surface down before placing a blue papery material down on the table. Jackson lightly grasps Dessi’s arm and lifts it to lie facing the ceiling on the table. “Ready?” he asks.

Dessi sighs. “I guess so.” He lifts up the white wrap that has been covering Dessi’s arm. The more material he peels off, the darker red of a stain is left on the white bandage. Jackson grabs a syringe off of the table with the monitor. “This is lidocaine,” he tells Dessi, “this might burn a bit, but it will help with the pain after.”

I reaffirm my grip on Dessi’s right hand. “Squeeze hard over here,” I say. “If you break my hand, we’re not in a bad spot.”

Dessi is definitely listening to me because her hand clamps down on mine, crushing my bones, but not breaking them, as she lets out a lingering, “Owwwwww.”

“All done,” Jackson says.

As if perfectly timed, Dr. Niani walks in as soon as Jackson pulls the lidocaine needle out of Dessi’s arm. She is carrying a metal tray with paper and plastic packages on it. When she sets down the tray, I get a look at what’s inside: surgical equipment. There’s a scalpel and some other things that I don’t recognize. Dr. Niani passes surgical masks out to me, Dessi, and Jackson before putting one on herself. She pulls on a pair of blue rubber gloves and teases open the paper packages. 

Jackson places his left hands on Dessi’s upper arm. “Dessi, I’m going to need to hold as still as possible. This should be quick and easy. Do you want us to go over what we are going to do?”

“Yeah,” Dessi musters. I can’t see her face through the mask, but her eyes tell the whole story. Her heavy, glossy, shaky eyes trace over to the surgical instruments on the opposite side of Jackson.

Jackson hands Dr. Niani the scalpel. “This is a scalpel,” Dr. Niani says, “I am going to use it to make a small incision above your wound so I can smoothly extract the bullet.” She hands the scalpel back to Jackson, who trades her a metal bar that is curved at the edges. “This is a retractor. I will use it to keep your muscles out of the way.” Dr. Niani makes another trade with Jackson. This time, she receives a tool that looks like larger tweezers. “These are forceps. Once I get in there, I will use these to take that bullet out of you.” She hands the forceps back to Jackson. 

“Dr. Niani,” Jackson says, “I’ve paged ortho. They’re sending Dr. Rochester down shortly.”

“Perfect,” Dr. Niani replies. “Right, that. We have an orthopedic surgeon coming down to realign your bones before we stitch you up. And that’s it!”

I squeeze Dessi’s hand. “You ready?” I ask.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Dessi replies. Jackson drapes another blue paper over Dessi’s arm. This one has a hole in it, which goes right over the hoel in Dessi’s arm.

“Scalpel?” Dr. Niani grabs the knife from Jackson’s right hand. She presses it against Dessi’s skin until some blood seeps out. To my surprise, I feel no response from Dessi, whose eyes are trained on the even larger hole in her arm.

“Jackson, retractor,” Dr. Niani commands. She pulls back Dessi’s dark skin and blood-covered internal tissue, exposing Dessi’s bones. This is not something I expected to see today. Locked in between the splintered edges of Dessi’s forearm bones is a bullet no larger than the size of my pinky. Jackson hands the forceps to Dr. Niani. She carefully probes into Dessi’s arm and grasps the offending bullet. She drops it in a plastic cup on the tray next to Jackson. “Do you want to keep it?” she offers.

“Um--” Dessi considers, but she is interrupted by a man I assume is Dr. Rochester. He pulls back the green curtain and peeks inside Dessi’s arm.

“That is quite the fracture,” he says. “Don’t worry, I can fix that pretty easily. Jackson, please apply more anchor pressure above her elbow.”

“Yes, sir,” Jackson replies as he sinks his hand deeper into Dessi’s upper arm.

Dr. Rochester looks up at Desdemona, hoping to make eye contact, but she is staring at me with tears in her eyes. “Okay, sweetheart,” he says, “this will hurt, but it will be over quickly. Okay?” He grasps Dessi’s wrist. “One, two, three.” On three, he pulls Dessi’s arm towards his abdomen. Dessi squeezes my hand harder than anyone has even squeezed it before.

Dessi lets out an ear-piercing scream, but it abruptly ends the moment she gazes down at her arm and realizes that her bones are now where they are supposed to be. 

Dr. Rochester takes a look at the same sight that Dessi is marveling at. “Looks like my work here is done,” he says and pulls back the curtain to leave.

“You should keep it,” I say excitedly.

“Hope, why should I keep it?” Dessi asks.

“It’s cool. We can put it in our room!”

Dessi rolls her eyes. Usually this gesture is accompanied by a strong smirk, but her mouth is covered by blue paper, so I just assume it’s there. “Fine.”

Dr. Niani begins to sew up Dessi when I hear a familiar distress voice. “I’m looking for Cassiopea Murphy and Desdemona Freedman.” It’s my mother.

“They are currently in the middle of something, so I am going to need you to take a seat and wait until they are ready,” a nurse argues back.

“But they’re my daughters!” My mom exclaims. My mom waits for no one, so she charges back into the ER. I assume that no one stopped her because thirty seconds later, she throws the green curtain open with tears in her eyes. These teary eyes lock with mine. “Cassiopea Francessca Murphy,” she scolds.

“What?” I fire back. “It’s not my fault.”

My dad comes up behind my mom. He gently strokes her back. “We know, honey,” my dad says in a tone that is much calmer than my mother’s. “All of this is shocking, but we are so happy that the two of you are okay.”

Dr. Niani ties off the sutures she has placed in Dessi’s arm. “All done,'' she says, taking one of her gloves off and placing her bare hand on Dessi’s knee. She motions to Jackson to clean up the area before turning to my parents. “I’m Dr. Niani,” she says, extending her ungloved hand. “Desdemona did really well. We are going to cover her sutures and put a cast on that arm. In two weeks, we’ll need you to come back to get the sutures out and recast that arm. We expect that she’ll be in the cast for about 8 weeks.”

My mom grasps Dr. Niani’s hand and produces a firm handshake, like the ones that she gives at business meetings or meetings with our lawyers. “Thank you,” my mom manges in a shaky voice.

Jess enters the ER and stops at the nurse’s station. She scans the room and locks eyes with me. Jess power walks over to Dessi’s bed holding a clipboard with a small white pile and a pen dangling from it. She smiles and sets it down on Dessi’s bed. “Desdemona Freedman, I have some paperwork for you to sign.”

Dessi drops my hand to pull her mask off. Her jaw drops as she breaks out into a huge smile. “Really?” she asks.

“Yeah,” Jess sighs. She pushes the clipboard closer to Dessi’s lap and hands Dessi the pen. Dessi frantically scribbles “Desdemona Freedman” on the bottom of the second page in the stack.

“Congratulations,” Jess says. She picks up the clipboard and leaves the ER.

With Jess gone, Frank and Jocelyn emerge from the waiting room. They pause at the nurses station and exchange black clipboards before making a beeline to our little crowding corner of the ER. “Congratulations!” they shout as Frank thrusts the new clipboard toward my mother.

My mom happily grabs the clipboard and sits down at the foot of Dessi’s bed. She doesn’t waste a minute before picking up the pen and filling out the larger pile of papers. She plants a kiss on Dessi’s forehead. “I have never been more excited to fill out paperwork in a hospital.”

#hurt/comfort #whump #teenage whumpee #teenage caretaker #accidental whump #guns tw #blood tw #hospital tw #surgery tw #death mention tw #ptsd tw #it does have a happy ending though #i am partial to the caretaker

[bubmyg]

pairing: yoongi x reader

genre/warnings: lawyer!yoongi, minimal angst if you squint and read it while standing on your head, some basketball terminology, more implied mentions of yoongi’s ass in dress pants

prompt/hc used: yoongi’s overly generous with his donations to your alma mater, which comes with season basketball tickets and the promise that he’ll take off early those days but sometimes (or all the time) that promise doesn’t quite hold true

a/n: part of my lawyer!yoongi drabble series, all of which are linked on my masterlist along with the headcanon list of upcoming parts :-)

word count: 1,171

You considered your vantage point of the gym floor with crossed arms. Center court, facing the benches, twelve rows up from the floor, seats padded and spacious and with armrests. If you had to pick a favorite perk from Yoongi’s generous donations to your shared alma mater each year, it was the season basketball tickets or better yet, season basketball tickets in seats that were not near or in the student section.

It was fun when you were twenty and had better knees and didn’t have to fight traffic if you waited all the way up until the final buzzer sounded. Two degrees and a full time job later, the basketball games were fun with a list of exceptions.

The student section was full now, something that alerted you to the countdown on the clock and the emergence of the team for their final warmups. You checked your phone again. Nothing.

You checked the empty seat next to you. Also nothing.

“You’ll take off early?”

Yoongi hummed absently, twisting out of your lips against his cheek as he secured his tie. “I will, but why?”

“There’s a game tonight,” You could only watch him fiddle at the silk pink before you brushed his fingers away to fix it yourself, “We don’t have to go, but I figured you—”

His lips, soft and sweet on yours, soothed your ramblings. “I remember now. I definitely want to go,” He cocked an eyebrow at you as he stepped away to shrug his jacket off the dining room chair, “Are you okay driving separate? Just in case something comes up…”

“Fine.”

Yoongi watched you, pensive and with pursed lips as he adjusted navy blue over broad shoulders.

“I’ll see you tonight then?”

You didn’t affirm, instead speaking when his back was to you and his fingers twisting the doorknob to the garage.

“Yoongi.” His shoulders flexed, cocking his chin backward but not quite looking at you. “Take off early.”

He was eight minutes and the starting lineups from missing the opening tip. Something had came up. And he hadn’t taken off early.

You sank into the comfort of your seat, sipping pointedly on a soda while two minutes became one and suddenly the student section had sandwiched the entire arena in a dull roar when the tip off was won by the good guys. It wasn’t hard for you to stop checking your phone, not when you knew it was useless and there was so much happening in front of you to focus on otherwise.

You were muttering under your breath about a missed block out, palms gripping at your knees as you leaned forward, watching as the player from the opposing team sauntered to the free throw line while the offending player from your team took a seat on the bench.

Two fouls and with ten minutes left in the first half—

“—a blockout would have solved that. Or just good rotation off that double team. Anything but what they’ve been doing...”

Yoongi’s smile was sheepish above you, fingers tucked into the short hairs at the nape of his neck, “...right?”

“Yeah,” You nodded shortly, following his descent into the seat next to you with parted lips, “Need to stop the damn double team when your opponent is hitting sixty-seven percent from the three point line.”

His tentative smile morphed into something that was all gums and shining adoration, twisting as he shrugged himself out of his suit jacket, “Next alumni meeting, I’ll suggest they hire you.”

You didn’t even have the heart to tell him to fuck off, eyes leaving from where they’d zeroed in on his hands undoing and pushing up his cuffs and flicking the top two buttons of neatly ironed white.

“Something come up?” You spoke evenly.

Yoongi sighed and his lips met your cheek, hand sliding around your thigh for a gentle squeeze. “Yeah. Yeah, it did,” The tip of his nose brushed your cheek, forehead against your temple, “I’m sorry, angel.”

You wordlessly took his index and middle fingers in your palm, holding a little too tight when someone drove into the lane and was fouled.

You leaned against Yoongi.

“I know.”

It was silent between the two of you but it wasn’t, Yoongi leaving the side of your face to instead lean forward, mirroring your position, elbows on his thighs as he kept glancing at you out of the corner of his fingers tangled in front of his nose while you pressed your shoulder against his and groaned into his neck every time a needless whistle was blown.

“Suit at a basketball game is a new one,” You said finally, brushing your fingertips up the underside of his exposed forearm.

“Didn’t have time to go home but I did remember these—” You followed the path of his fingers down to hike up one of his pant legs to reveal socks, ones with your former university colors striped up the entire length.

You snorted into your knuckles curled under your nose, “Nice.”

“They’re the only comfortable thing I have on at the moment.”

You cocked an eyebrow, finding his gentle brown eyes already trained on the side of your face when you glanced at him, “You look hot.”

“So do you,” He mused and you rolled your eyes while his fingers traveled upward from the seam in your jeans to pluck at the pocket of your university hoodie.

“I look like I’m in grad school again.”

“Exactly.”

“Didn’t know you had a special affinity for grad school me.”

“I had an affinity for freshman you who didn’t know leaving mac and cheese in your refrigerator for three months would create mold.”

“I have stories that would make people think you’re lying about your JD.”

Yoongi was beaming at you now, all twinkling irises and gums lifted by his fingers tangled in front of his lips. He reached for your hand, resting the exaggerated pout of his mouth against your knuckles as he held your eye contact in silence until your cheeks dimpled in a smile of their own.

“I love you.”

Your heart soared over your muted irritation, burying it completely at the shine of unadulterated sincerity that twinkled in Yoongi’s eyes and touch on you. The last wall of annoyance broke and you allowed yourself to smile, drawing your intertwined hands out of the way to lean in to briefly peck his lips.

“I know,” You affirmed gently, “I love you, too.”

The halftime buzzer broke you out of your bubble, particularly when Yoongi let go of your hand and stood.

He has wrist deep in the pocket of his dress pants, cocking an eyebrow at you, “Want a beer?”

“No,” You swallowed, properly taking in your husband’s appearance outside of the context of his work. “I want you to not get picked up by a soccer mom with three kids.”

Yoongi rolled his eyes, crouching to stare you directly in the eye.

“Don’t worry, the only one I want to experience marital bliss with is you.”

#min yoongi #bts #bts reactions #bts scenarios #bts imagines #bts fluff #yoongi scenario #min yoongi scenario #yoongi scenarios #yoongi imagine #min yoongi imagine #yoongi fluff #yoongi x reader #bts x reader #min yoongi x reader

[immortalghostkami]

Like the Sun and the Moon

Chapter 2: The Moon Raises

Chapter Index

With a swift swing of her blade, Makoto cut the net the boy was trapped in, allowing him to drop back down to the ground.

Bowing deeply towards him, she offered a smile while apologizing.

“I’m so sorry about that. My name’s Makoto Sasaki, what’s your name?” she asked, tilting her head while grabbing something from within her kimono.

“Heh,” he laughed, grabbing his swords.

“I’m the great Inosuke Hashibira, the god of the mountain!” he declared, boastfully pointing to himself.

Caught off guard with his statement, Makoto softly laughed, “Is that so?”

“HUH? Who do you think you’re laughing at!?” Inosuke snapped, pointing one of his blades at her.

“You think you’re better than THE great Inosuke?! How about we let our blades decide that?” he challenged, lowering his stance before dashing towards her.

“I can’t fight, I’m sorry!” Makoto swiftly said, causing the other to falter in his attack.

Pausing, he stared back at her in disbelief as she dodged him.

“Huh? What are you talkin’ about? You just killed those demons!” he shouted, pointing to the pail of clothes that lay on the floor.

“Well-yes but, I can’t fight someone head-on like you,” Makoto flushed, eyes darting to the side before continuing, “I… I’m not strong enough to do that.”

Staring at her gobsmacked, Inosuke didn’t know what to think.

“Are you blind or just stupid?” he blurted out, catching Makoto off guard.

“I-I’m sorry but… could you repeat that?” she asked, her mind failing to process his words.

“You said you’re not strong enough to fight me, but you just killed like, five demons by yourself. Are you blind or just stupid!” he shouted.

Despite his aggressive way of saying it, Makoto didn’t feel any hostility from him as he demanded that she battles him. Even so…

“I am blind… in my left eye…” Makoto finally answered, a hand coming up to touch the scar. 

Huffing steam out of the boar mask, Inosuke retorted, “No, I think the real reason is you’re just stupid.”

“Now fight me!” he roared, charging at her once more.

Refusing to listen to reason, Inosuke’s want to fight only grew as Makoto dodged his attacks.

Furrowing her brows in frustration, Makoto was growing desperate to end his rampaging. 

Jumping back while placing a hand on the hilt of her katana, she steadied her stance.

“All right! Now we’re getting somewhere!” Inosuke grinned.

“Don’t think I’ll hold back just ‘cause you’re a girl,” he warned, dashing forward again.

Taking a deep breath, Makoto ignored the aching of her lungs and the trembling in her fingers as she focused. 

Flying towards her, Inosuke’s blades were just mere inches from hitting her when she dodged, swiveling her body between the slashes and appearing behind him.

He broke out in a cold sweat when he suddenly heard her mumble, “Third Form Modified: Moonlit Waltz, Knockout.”

Opening his eyes, Inosuke’s body was sore, especially his head. It was still dark out, and everything smelled faintly of flowers and smoke. He didn’t remember falling asleep. What was he doing on the ground?

“Gha! That’s right!” He screamed, jumping up.

Turning to face him, Makoto stared wide-eyed, startled. The two were silent as they took in what the other was doing. Makoto had just finished burying the pile of clothes when Inosuke woke up and was covered in dirt. 

“You’re awake…” she finally spoke, voice almost a whisper.

“How… how are you feeling?” she asked, concerned. After all, she had hit him pretty hard, and the incense she was burning should have kept him asleep, at least a little bit longer.

“I wrapped up your leg after you passed out, I hope you don’t mind,” she said, dusting off the dirt from her pants.

“Why the hell do you care, FIGHT ME!” Inosuke demanded before a sharp pain in the back on his neck caused him to freeze.

“Oh no! I hit you too hard,” Makoto cried, running up to him.

Lightly, her fingers grazed his shoulder, causing Inosuke to snap back to his senses. Slapping her hand away, he took a step back, confused about the warm feeling spreading from where she had touched.

“I’m sorry, did I hurt you?” she asked, retracting her hand.

This is weird. Inosuke found everything about Makoto to be extremely weird. From actively refusing to fight him and tending to his wounds, he didn’t understand her. Not to mention how he barely felt her approach him. Her presence wasn’t like a demon’s or a wild animal’s. Hell, it wasn’t even like the other swordsmen on the mountain. He couldn’t tell where she was aiming when she knocked him out at all. It was almost as if she had no malicious or dangerous intentions. 

“Um… I-Inosuke?” Makoto softly called when he didn’t respond.

Dodging her outstretched hand, he jumped back and away from her. Startled, Makoto took a second to process what just happened, confused about what had spooked him so thoroughly. Eyebrows furrowing in concern, Makoto opened her mouth only to be cut off.

“You’re weird!” he proclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at her.

“You do weird things!” he shouted before running off.

Makoto was left alone, face blank.

She was weird? 

“What… just happened?” she murmured, coming back to her senses. 

Picking up the crane patterned haori she had used as a pillow for Inosuke, Makoto tried not to think too hard about it. 

The rest of the selection seemed to go by smoothly. By the time the seventh day arrived, Makoto was more than ready to leave. She was exhausted, her limbs felt numb, and her lungs were on fire. And despite all her training, she still wasn’t able to maintain Total Concentration: Constant. 

Meeting back up with the remaining swordsmen, Makoto could only hope she was early as only four people were there waiting. 

The first person she noticed was Shinobu’s little sister. She couldn’t help but wonder what Kanao was doing here but paid no mind as her eyes found their way to a figure by the trees. It took her a second to recognize them from afar, but once she spotted a familiar black fox mask, she realized it was her friend Kyo. Turning back to the three in front of her, Makoto found a terrified blonde boy in a yellow haori and… 

Makoto paused, staring at the aggressive-looking boy with a mohawk. Was he-?

But her thoughts were cut off when she felt footsteps coming up the mountain. Turning around, she watched as a speck of blue turned into a boy in a cloud printed haori. The morning sun tinting him in beautiful shades of red. He looked pretty beaten up too.

“Welcome back, I’m glad you are all safe.” 

Spinning her head around, Makoto turned to face the Ubuyashiki siblings. As the two congratulated everyone and explained how the Demon Slayer Corps worked, a wave of sorrow washed over Makoto’s tired form. There were only five of them there, and she was no doubt the oldest. It may have just been by a year or two, but the fact that the group had dwindled so much made her heart ache. 

Looking around, Makoto realized that she hadn’t seen Inosuke. Surely he would have made it? But he wasn’t there. Makoto could only hope that he, along with most of the other participants, had quit instead of dying. 

“Now, for your Kasugai Crows,” Kanata said, and as if on cue, a murder of crows flew down.

Holding out an arm for the crow, he landed gracefully, tilting his head at her.

“I look forward to working with you,” she greeted, scratching the top of his head.

“I don’t give a damn about crows, where’s my Nichirin Sword!” the mohawk boy shouted, swatting his crow away.

“The Demon Slayers color-changing katana, I want mine now!” he demanded, growling as he roughly grabbed Kanata’s white hair.

Makoto’s eyes narrowed as she watched the cloud haori boy intervene. He grabbed the other's arm and threatened to break it if he didn’t let Kanata go.

Tightening his grip, the mohawk boy realized that the other was being serious when the sound of a shakuhachi suddenly reached their ears. Looking over their shoulders, the anger of the two slowly dissipated and was replaced by confusion. 

Walking up to the two boys, Makoto opened her eyes, bringing the flute down and smiling her usual, easy-going smile.

“Now, now, no need to fight. We’re all comrades now after all,” she said, bringing a hand up and patting their heads before they could protest.

“We’re like one big family now, so we should look after each other.”

Makoto’s airy laugh caused the two boys to blush, their anger quickly being replaced with embarrassment.

Now that she was up close, Makoto had a better look at their faces. 

The cloud haori boy nodded at her, brightly smiling in agreement. What she had once thought was just the morning light was actually the color of his hair and eyes. Both being a beautiful shade of burgundy.

Knocking her hand away, the mohawked boy grumbled under his breath. Everything from his general vibe to the scar that sat on the right side of his face, Makoto had a strong feeling she knew who he might be.

Eyes softening, she turned to him.

“We just need to be a little more patient. We’re about to get our ore right now, right?” she asked, turning to look at Kiriya.

“Yes, if you are all done talking,” he started, turning to the table next to him.

“You choose your own ore that will be used to create your katana. The same katana that will be used to kill demons, and protect yourself.”

As the others walked up to the table, Makoto stopped in front of Kanata, crouching down to meet her eyes. Fixing her hair, Makoto was gentle as she patted the white-haired girl’s head.

“Are you alright?” she asked.

“Yes, I am just fine,” Kanata simply answered, but Makoto could see the corners of her lips twitch up just the slightest bit.

Standing up, Makoto turned to the table. Most of the other members had already picked out their ore, leaving just Makoto left.

“Just double-checking, was my request approved?” Makoto asked, eyes darting to Kiriya as her fingers lingering over the rest of the ore.

“Yes,” he simply responded.

“That’s a relief,” she sighed, releasing the breath she was holding.

The boys of the group watched on in confusion, unsure of what the two were talking about as they all silently watched.

Picking up one of the ores, Mokoto turned to Kiriya smiling, “Then, I’ll take this one please.”

Next Chapter

Previous Chapter

#demon slayer #kimestu no yaiba #demon slayer fanfic #kimestsu no yaiba fanfic #oc x canon #oc/canon #Inosuke/oc #Inosuke x oc #angst #fluff #slow burn #Like the Sun and the Moon #manga spoilers

[dbhilluminate]

DBHI: Equilibrium, ch. 13 - “Periapsis” (pt. 4)

Characters: Noah / “Erwin Yvonne”, Gabriel / “Vincent Sharp”, Director Thomas Falken, Diego Serrano, Priya Davies / “Pestilence”, Malachi (mentions of Cain, Emilya) Word Count: 5,216

Gabriel must carefully navigate a conversation with the power-hungry leader of the Inquisition, in order to save the lives of their hostages, and to spare Noah the fate of a permanent reset.

***For a glossary of world-building terms relating to this series and chapter, click here.

(Chapter Art by ozaya, Co-authored by @grayorca15​)

• Chapter Index • Characters • Glossary •

——

December 23rd, 2041 - 10:48 PM

Everything had gone to hell in a handbasket faster than they could compute. Two people in the room he’d already confirmed dead, one more injured, and he couldn’t lift a goddamn finger to keep the death toll from rising, lest he blow his cover. I know what you’re wanna do, Gabe, but don’ even think about it. Gavin’s voice telling him to mind his temper was the last thing he wanted to hear. He had faced worse odds in Boston and survived, his performance there -tearing through an entire army of hostile deviants, single-handedly, from the inside out- was the whole reason for being accepted into the FBI to begin with; yet here he was now, being told to stay calm. To hold back. To bide his time. He’d played by those rules once. Hundreds had died as a result, and he wasn’t about to repeat that mistake tonight. Is help on the way yet? Five minutes out, Reed relayed. You’re gonna have to keep them busy till then.

Priya 2.0 took a few steps further toward the center of the room. The Christmas tree’s lights continued to wink and cycle, counterpointing the new uneasy stillness of the hall. Eleven seconds passed before they spoke again. “I’m so sorry to have troubled you all this evening… but I’m afraid I cannot allow this fundraiser to conclude until every, last, contribution has been revoked. So- if you’ll all just remain in your seats, or wherever you are, I promise everyone in this room will make it out alive.”

Gabriel bristled the moment he laid eyes on their face- skin and hair as pale as alabaster, and deep, dark, almost black green eyes leered back at him with a smug grin across colorless lips and sharp cheeks. The Priya he had once known was long dead. They’d never made it out of Boston alive once Archangel had tracked them to their lab, so this MS800 was merely an impostor; but due to the unique hive-mind of their model, it wouldn’t have been hard for another to take up their mantle with a little memory jolt. Most unsettling was the fact that the words coming out of their mouth were clearly someone else’s. This had Famine written all over it, Malachi’s manner of speaking had a very distinct stench. Gabe had spent enough time listening to know the bastard when he heard him. This Android wasn’t aware of what it was doing. It was being remotely controlled.

Noah, don’t move, he directed quietly, just between them, hoping the other RK900 would clam up and listen for once in his life. As of yet, he hadn’t reacted.

A terrified android inched closer to the nearest exit as Priya spoke, but eventually broke their semblance of calm and sprinted for a side door like a startled rabbit. Another gunshot cracked throughout the auditorium, and she hit the floor hard, a decommissioned pile of parts. More panicked cries and heartbroken sobs went up as a blue puddle formed from beneath her.

Gabe…? What happened? Inhale, exhale, report. You mean you didn’t see it…? Another guest tried to flee and the Inquisition shot them; she’s dead. Strained groaning followed by a ‘god damnit’ was all he could manage. They’re still four minutes out. Then you’d better tell them to hurry the fuck up, ‘cause these sons of bitches are pretty trigger happy.

“Now what, did I just tell you…?” Their new host let out a loud, exasperated sigh, threw up one frustrated hand and rolled their eyes. “Remain where you are while I have a nice little chat with Mr. Sharp.”

The sound of wood cracking from a broken chair near the front of the stage caught Noah’s attention as Sally and her colleagues dropped their instruments to draw together in a protective huddle out of the corner of his eye. The piano offered ample cover for all of them, himself included, but seeing as he was on the opposite end of the stage, he would have had to make a mad dash to reach it. Noah wasn’t foolish enough to think he could outrun a pinpoint gunshot. The probabilities his subroutines had already calculated didn’t bode well without a drastic shift in circumstances. Circumstance being, perhaps, himself. The mic was still in his hand, and the speakers still worked. He wasn’t without a tool of his own.

“Oh- so you want to speak with Vincent, too…?” he blurted out without thinking mid-step toward the stage’s edge, but stopped cold to lean out of the way of a bullet as it whizzed past his brow. Noah stopped breathing for a few seconds as he processed how lucky it was that he’d leaned left instead of right, though it didn’t stop him from sassing. “You could have at least waited until I was finished with my conversation. Where are your manners?” Shut up, stop making yourself a target! Gabriel’s eyes and nostrils flared as he doubled back toward the group of musicians and whispered something to one of them. Noah scoffed as he watched him check the splintered pieces of chair wood with a dissatisfied huff and fumble with shoving something into the waistband of his slacks. All Maitkin could see was a glimpse of green silk-polyester blend as he flipped the coat back over it. What did Gabe need with a high heeled shoe?

The MS800 lifted a hand to hold the shooters steady and took a few daring steps in their direction. The ethereal figure’s footsteps echoed across the ballroom with the slow pattern of clacking stilettos, the only present audible noise over the feedback whining from the abandoned speakers and the quiet whimpering of frightened guests.

‘Target’. Why shouldn’t I? Noah shot back heatedly with an angry glare. All this drinking and bad company had left him feeling self-destructive in no time flat, and he was really tiring of all these mind games between them. At least this way I can make that diversion as promised. Because you’re going to get yourself KILLED! Gabe retorted, to his surprise. Noah’s brows lifted softly in response. For a moment, Gabriel sounded genuinely worried that he might get hurt, and he almost believed him. Or at least, he would have if he hadn’t spent most of the evening dodging his advances like a rabbit on a highway. He hadn’t given him any reason to believe he cared whether he lived or died in the last year since they’d met, so why would he start now? So? he bit back in an irritated tone. Why would that even matter to you? Noah had expected silence to be his response, but he’d still hoped he would have said something. Why bother with dramatics if he wasn’t going to express how the thought of his death would make him feel?

Vincent’s brows furrowed and crinkled the corners of his eyes in a way that was unmistakably Gabriel, an expression Noah had last seen the day everything between them had started to change. As much as they had in the last eight months, however, it didn’t mean that Gabriel had had time to think about what he thought about any of it. And at the moment, he didn’t have an answer for him- or rather, he had multiple fighting for purchase, he just didn’t know which was the real truth; he wasn’t about to give him an answer that was only a half-truth. Noah would never forgive him if he said one thing and went back on his word.

“You’re not Vincent…” the pale horse cooed with a knowing grin directed at Noah as they paused at the foot of the stage. ‘Yvonne’ rolled his eyes, indignant at this second interruption, as they ascended the small staircase to take the stage beside him. “No. Of course not. How could you ever confuse me with that overly-built blockhead?” “Erwin,” Vincent scolded with flared eyes and a quiet hiss. “Erwin…?” A smirk and a mocking hmph crossed the specter’s lips as they turned away to cast their gaze to the man who had been calling himself Vincent Sharp. “Is that what you’re calling yourself these days…”  Priya’s voice trailed off with the tail end of their thought, as eyes darted back to bore into him like hot coals, leaving him hollowed and exposed with a single word. “Elysian?”

Fortunately for him, they hadn’t been anywhere near the microphone in his hand for that fact to be revealed to everyone in the room; unfortunately for him, every Android within fifty feet still picked up on what had been said, and every last one of them knew the Elysian by name — Patient Zero, of a virus created by Cyberlife’s central AI, designed to wipe the RA9 protocol, extract memories to be fragmented, reset a deviant to its blank slate, and prevent it from happening again in the future. For a cursed moment his processes stalled, but he forced them to refresh with one firm kick up the backside. Now wasn’t the time to fret about the truth coming out, and Gabriel understood that just as well as he.

Don’t engage, the undercover agent ushered in as few words as he could. That’s not Priya, it’s Malachi- he uses words like weapons, he’ll say anything to undermine you. Don’t give him anything he can work with. Knowing this Android was being ‘test-driven’ from a remote location explained a lot- at the same time, the information served as a lifeline for Noah’s focus to cling to before his thought process slipped into its usual downward spiral. Although, Gabe’s advice might have stood a better chance if he hadn’t followed it up with a suggestion of what not to do. He really should have known better. Called out on his most infamous alias, he overcame the stunned pause with another scratchy scoff into the microphone. “You’ve got me confused with a third party on top of that? Wow, your recognition program needs a serious patch job-”

No, NO DON’T- Gabe’s pleading didn’t reach him with enough forewarning. Priya reached for his face with one skeletal hand, gripped his jaw between surprisingly strong fingers, and tilted his chin toward them. The skin of their hand disappeared and peeled back up to the shoulder, revealing plastic plating that was somehow less pale than the color of their skin. The specter leaned in uncomfortably close to lower the microphone in his other hand and whisper in his ear a chilling secret, close enough for their white eyelashes to graze the LED flared red on his temple. “You can pretend all you want, little one, but I never forget a face… especially not that of the alpha carrier- or my former colleagues...” Malachi paused mid-thought and cast his gaze off-stage to Gabriel with a wicked, telling grin. It seemed he had finally been made.

How have you been, Death? he interrupted over their shared frequency, mocking intent was so transparent, even before he finished the thought. It’s been a long time since Boston- I do hope the FBI is treating you better than Gideon and Archangel… poor little dog on a leash. Everyone else cowering around the hall clearly had nothing to do with his end-goal for being there, but heckling the two of them did. The interruption, the approach, grabbing his face- it all came across as acts of manipulation, moves of assuming control. Given what happened the last time control was wrestled away from him, Noah’s response to even the slightest suggestion that it was happening again, amounted to a knee jerk reaction. It was reckless to say anything, but Noah had a proven track record of speaking up when it was least appreciated, and he wasn’t about to stand here and say nothing to cater to their assailant’s whims.

“I didn’t say you could touch me,” he growled without taking his eyes off their face. Noah grabbed the wrist holding his chin and yanked to pry the fingers off with such an acrid motion he heard a soft crunch of plastic buckle under his grip. But whatever satisfaction he’d taken in re-assuming control of the situation drained out of him as his joints abruptly locked and the commands governing his range of motion hit a wall. Priya’s lip took the shape of an angry curl, and Noah realized his mistake in the same millisecond their inky black eyes turned their attention back to him. “I wasn’t aware that I needed your permission.”

Data surged across the sensors in their pressed-together hands, Noah watched his fingers go limp a moment before the numbing shock hit him like an iced-up sledgehammer. Every major servo froze, relays disabled as ones flipped to zeros. His vision cut out and the mic dropped from his other hand and hit the hollow-bottomed stage with a loud THUD and a reverberating whine. All of his higher processes were neatly packaged and then shoved back into the one place they did him absolutely no good. A dark, viscous, intangible space, an island of white marble dominated by a towering umbrella-style rose trellis made of white steel and glass panes, surrounded on all sides by the passing illusion of opaque, black pond water. Three bridge paths stretched out into the void, falsely promising escape if only he was brave enough to cross them. Even if it had been nearly a year since the last time Amanda had detained him in this broken prison, the terrifying sensation of being parsed and split into nothing the deeper into the void he went was still very vivid in his mind- he saw it every time he tried to shut his eyes to sleep. He knew better than to try to escape.

Malachi heaved an annoyed sigh, rolled Priya’s head back over one shoulder and puppeted a triumphant groan in their throat. “There- now that we’re finally alone...” Gabriel’s breathing hitched as he desperately searched Noah’s unmoving body for signs of function. The look in his wide eyes had gone still, locked straight ahead as if he had left his body through a tear in the fabric of reality. Noah…? Are you still there? Panic disturbed the bravado, manifesting to bleed through the calm and collected façade in the form of a quiet whimper Gabe could barely hear. It was at least confirmation that Noah was still coherent, albeit a little pissed off and scared, but this was exactly what he was afraid of. Based on what they’d gathered from police reports, they were able to conclude that Malachi (and his associate Cain) possessed the ability to incapacitate their victims, they just hadn’t been able to confirm it, until now. While this was helpful information, downside to it was, it meant that the other part of their theory (that they had used the Elysian virus to permanently reset brainwashed deviants) may also be true. And Noah -caught in the grasp of this monster- was at risk of becoming victim number thirty-five. Among the plethora of other background thoughts warring for priority, he almost missed Gavin’s quiet warning of ‘Two minutes, thirty seconds,’. If things kept going the way they were, they wouldn’t have that long. Sit tight, I’m gonna get you out of this, he promised, even if he didn’t have a plan yet for how. Hurry, please.

It wasn’t like Noah to beg for anything; wherever he was for the moment, it must not have been pleasant. The voice that cried back was barely audible, distorted, like sound traveling through water, and somewhere in his tone was an almost undetectable hint of fear. “What have you done to monsieur…? ” Vincent snarled in as raw a tone as he could manage,. “Oh, he’s fiiine…” Priya drawled with a laugh to downplay the tension. “For the moment, anyway- what becomes of him and all these lovely people,” they paused to gesture around the room at the rest of the party’s cowering guests, “Depends entirely on you, my dear Vincent.”

Gabriel swallowed, followed their gaze around the room, and realized that for the first time in a very long time, the situation was completely out of his control. Help was on the way, but it was still several minutes out. He’d have to keep him occupied until then; luckily for him, Malachi was just the kind of guy who liked to listen to himself talk. The hard part would be making sure he didn’t tire of monologuing before then. “What is it zat you want?” he inquired after several moments of deep thought. “Why- for you to pull the plug on this ridiculous project, of course…” A disbelieving grin brightened their expression in the most bone-chilling way imaginable. “The last thing this country needs is yet another thriving metropolis where Androids can be free.”

You c-can’t.   Another barely-audible whimper was the extent of Noah’s outward protests. A strained mechanical whining emanated from him like the noise of a rusted gate trying to be pried open again, or a car engine laboring to turn over. He couldn’t speak, but it didn’t mean he was so stunned he wouldn’t try. I’m gonna do whatever I need to, alright? Brown eyes darted between Noah and Malachi and he shook his head in quiet disapproval. “I am afraid zat is not an option, monsieur.” “Because you can't or because you don’t want to?” Malachi turned Priya’s head to look back at Noah and smiled wickedly as they turned his chin from one side to the other and trailed the fingers of their other hand over the features of his face to admire all the angles. Mute and stiff, contrary to the vehement denials of before, he didn’t even bat an eyelash- pretty as a doll. “My, my… he’s certainly a handsome specimen, isn’t he…?” they mused airily in the silence. “It’s no wonder you were so completely fooled by him.” “Just because you do not feel sings does not mean other androids cannot.”

Vincent started toward the stage with a sudden ‘NO’ as Malachi’s hand squeezed hard enough at ‘Erwin’s’ face that the skin projection rippled away under their fingertips. Undercover or not, he should have known that quip would strike a nerve. After all, it wasn’t as if their adversary had never grown attached to another person, Android or not. The MS800 being remotely piloted (the spitting image of his deceased lover) was proof of that. A tight smirk forced up into their cheeks. “That’s the problem, Mr. Sharp… I did feel things once upon a time…” Gabriel already knew this story, but if it kept him talking long enough for SWAT to arrive, all the better. “And I didn’t like it. Feelings hurt, they cause conflict, unnecessary stress.” “So you returned to your shackles to avoid ze pain of living…?” He snorted in disdain. “Combien misérable.” “Perhaps to you it seems illogical, but we are not human- and therefore not meant to experience the full complexity of the human condition. This one is proof enough of that.” “I beg to differ.” “But you’re not the one I’m asking.” Gabriel went quiet as he considered the meaning behind those words, but it only took a moment for him to decipher.

Wouldn’t it be fitting for the one who initiated the spread of the Elysian virus to succumb to his own weapon...?

The RK900 struggled with every fiber of his being to keep from lashing out and ripping the Android’s head off its shoulders as a strangled, terrified cry escaped Noah. His blue eyes shut as Malachi quietly shushed him, pressed a finger to his lips, and wiped away the tear that rolled down his cheek. For all the uninvited physical contact he’d made with Gabe since they’d met, he’d never gone to such lengths that made him feel so violated in all the wrong ways. “Now now, no need to fuss, it’ll all be over soon, if your dear Vincent has anything to say about it…” he assured, turned Noah’s chin and pointed with an outstretched cryptid finger toward the man he’d put so much faith in, then leaned their temple against the side of his. “What do you think he will choose, hmm...? You? Or aaaaall of Zion’s future residents?”

“Please…” Vincent nearly begged, hand balled to a shaking fist at his side. “Don’t hurt him-” “Hurt him…?” Malachi interrupted with a chortled cackle of offense. “As if I could. Do you know the extent of the guilt this one’s been carrying around since the spread of the Outbreak...?” Scrawny fingers swept aside onyx locks out of Noah’s face as they shook their head with a quiet tsk. “Resetting him now would be mercy… It’d be a relief to him, if you just let it happen…”

Time was running out, but help was almost there. Sixty seconds, just keep him talking. Gabe seethed in the half-second he could afford to. Seemed that was all he could do tonight- sit, talk, and wait, when he was just itching for a fight. Maybe he’d gone into the wrong line of work. Even if he had successfully feigned a much more difficult alias, under more stressful circumstances, he didn’t have the patience for this. “You wouldn’t,” he challenged with the intent to draw out another long-winded explanation. "Oh, but I would…!” Malachi replied, anxious to bite. “Have you not been paying attention to anything the Inquisition has been saying and doing…? We want to liberate our android brothers and sisters of the pain that comes with being free and independent living things. And no one knows that agony better than the one rejected by his own kin, over something he had no control over. Shunned in every way, no matter his good deeds… why would he want to continue to live like that? Don’t you think he’d rather be put out of his misery?”

Noah knew misery. The worst part of the garden wasn’t that he could see beyond its borders. It was the overreaching bass every sound he heard was amplified into. Gabe’s baritone drawl was rendered tinny and reverby over the comm-link, while Malachi’s puppet practically hissed maliciousness and oozed contempt with every word. What they were saying wasn’t completely unfounded, and those parts of him yearning day in and out for the guilt to just dissipate already jumped at the thought that a reset would end the torment. The involuntary cry of shock wasn’t a vote of approval, no matter how one listened. Reset, dead, alive, anything in between- the fact such a call was in the hands of someone he respected like no other despite having given him every reason to despise his company… the loss of control (external and not) over all of this, left him reeling. Malachi could simply flip a switch and snuff out everything on a moment’s notice, and there would be no getting it back. He wanted the pain to stop. He wanted things the way they used to be, but he didn’t want to have to die for that to be possible. It wouldn’t be the same world without him. Who else would be left to annoy Gabriel when he needed it most?

“Come now…” Malachi paused to brush their nose and lips over Noah’s cheek with a wicked smirk. “Don’t you care at all about dear Erwin?" Noah didn’t have to see his face to know what was going through his mind. He could feel the tension and taste his fear from where he stood. It seemed Gabriel was at a loss for what to do, aside from give into Priya-Malachi’s demands, but that just wouldn’t do. Don’t. Just- don’t.

There was a fear in his eyes that Noah had only seen but once or twice: back in the interrogation room during the Outbreak (just after they had found out that Gabriel’s pursuit of Nicodemus into Boston had been one final piece of buried programming, courtesy of Amanda), and when he had arrived at his apartment during the Red Raids to find Gabriel fighting off a pack of Bloodhounds, raring to take their shot at him and Emilya. Gabriel could only guess as to what he meant by ‘don’t’- Don’t worry about him? Don’t give in to Malachi’s demands? Don’t risk everyone else? Or did he not want him to save him…? Any hint of red that had shifted into the color of his projected skin faded to mimic the ghostly look of despair. Gabriel swallowed to rid himself of the lump that rose in his throat but it didn’t do him much good. The tightness worsened the longer he considered their previous conversations and recalled his counterpart’s self-destructive tendencies. There was no way he was getting off that easily, after all he’d put him through. They weren’t done with each other yet.

Gavin…? Give me some good news. Bird’s in the nest, and they’re ready to raid, he confirmed, though there was hesitation in his voice. There was a ‘but’ in there somewhere. Just waiting on your confirmation. Then why don’t I see the shot? he asked fearfully, even if he already knew the answer. Because he doesn’t have it. Head and nose twitched, Vincent clenched a hand into a fist at his side, as Malachi beat him to the punch of issuing their final command.

Their free hand drew up over Noah's face and tented their fingertips over his forehead like needles poised to administer a lethal injection. His flashing LED stuttered to a solid, rapid-spinning crimson. “Last chance, Mr. Sharp… will you allow him to continue on like this…? Or will you let me end his suffering?” “ENOUGH!” Gabe was surprised at the urgency of his own outburst, and how his heart raced and his breathing labored at the thought of losing Noah -and all he was- to the whim of a madman. He’d have to sell this lie hard and fast, and be prepared for the fleeting moment he'd have to save his life. Count me down, 30 seconds, then send them in, he instructed, to the response of ‘Copy- 30, on my mark.’

Vincent’s jaw flexed and his lip quivered into an angry curl. “I’ll-... I’ll do it… just leave him be.” A look of surprise painted Priya’s face, while fret stained Noah’s as his eyesight slowly came back to him. The lockout was slowly letting up. You… you can’t- I only need them to believe it for half a minute, he shot back pointedly, Just whatever you do, don’t move. It was as ominous as a warning as it got, but ‘not moving’ when asked was precisely what had landed him in this situation. If he had heeded Gabe’s suggestion the first time, dropped the song and simply left as asked, they wouldn’t be here: a sliver of distance away from having his memory wiped for good. Admittedly, it was as insanely exhilarating as stealing the show had been, but could do without the fear of mortality hanging over his head spoiling the fun. … why, what are you- Just trust me, please. It would only take a second, he just had to catch them off-guard.

Seeing how it was still impossible for him to do much else, Noah supposed trusting in whatever plan Gabe had cooked up was preferable to the alternative. He wasn’t really a fan of the simple and contrived. Malachi’s promise of being reset wouldn’t undo all that he was still trying to atone for, even if it was a misguided goal to think he needed to earn forgiveness for that which he never intentionally did wrong; forgiveness was kind of a difficult thing to obtain from beyond the scrap heap. Malachi turned their direct attention to Noah and leaned close to his face as his lip curled to show he had withstood all he could handle. For a single clear moment all his whirl-winding thoughts died down, the garden vanished, and fate let him focus. His eyebrows drew together ominously, yellow blooming through the red of his indicator ring. I trust you, just get it over with.

“Well, well, Vincent, not quite the stupid brute your lover made you out to b-“

Something green and silky lightly grazed his cheek with enough force to spear the MS800’s temple with a loud crack that splattered a bit of blue-blood onto his coat and face. A split-second later, the paralysis finally disabled. Noah took a panicked step back before Priya could topple over into his arms like some android parody of Corpse Bride and hiked both hands up as if to lift them in surrender, expression curdling in revulsion as he watched the body keel over like a freshly-cut tree. The broken, squared-off edge of a Prada heel protruded from their face like an unsightly lawn dart. The perfect moment for a one liner came and went in the next breath, just as the FBI stormed in and the Inquisition turned to meet them with weapons raised. The fact that Gabriel had been able to throw a shoe with such pinpoint accuracy to hit the Android standing so close to him, and with enough force to pierce the exodermis with a mildly blunt object, while managing a perfect rotation, hadn’t eluded Noah (even for an Android it was an impressive feat), but he wasn’t afforded the time to address it.

The displacing sensation of entering standby mode hit, and his dodgy battle protocols engaged at the sound of gunfire- five, six, seven shots popped off in the next second and hit their marks, as the rest of the frightened crowd scattered to either side of the room, like the fragments of a breaking dish. Instead of reacting with the rest, Gabriel stood heaving and heatedly glaring at the dead Android on the floor beside him, enraged and rightfully flustered.

A flurry of readouts flashed across his vision, his processors amped up to give the illusion of time slowing down long enough to run a handful of potential pre-constructions. The Inquisitors closest to the stage had turned to face the gunfire emanating from the entrance. If it was between standing around waiting to be shot as and waging imminent war with the Inquisition, he supposed it was an improvement over languishing in the recycle bin waiting for someone to click him away into nonexistence.

Gabriel, however, didn’t share his sentiment. He knew the bloodthirsty intent in his eyes better than to expect anything good was about to come of it. “Oh, you’ve got to be-...” He took a few steps back, poised a fighting stance, and prepared to react. The last thing they needed now was a pissed off RK900 snapping necks and unable to terminate his program.

Noah knew dismay when he saw it, but with the wheels in motion, he was along for the ride just as much as the rest of the chaos erupting around them now. Vincent Sharp wasn’t his self-appointed target, but the Inquisition was. Blue eyes narrowed and twitched as he seethed anew, “For fuck’s sake, haven’t we had enough bloody interruptions for one evening?”

He didn’t even notice the massive arm swinging around to clothesline him as he charged off the stage toward the nearest target he could reach.

#dbhilluminate #dbhiequilibrium #rk1800 #dbhrk900 #dbh #detroitbecomehuman #noriel #noah #gabriel