#yellow rambled about how they wanted to stop having a cringe physical body and then they just did it and everyone followed. absolute legend

[red-dia]

Can we appreciate the other gems hopping in the air in the background of the last panel

very much hoping yellow is having the time of their life now that they can jump around with no consequences

#yellow rambled about how they wanted to stop having a cringe physical body and then they just did it and everyone followed. absolute legend #asks #hnk spoilers

[artisqueer]

RetroBangBoy AU - My Time, Finale (ao3)

Word Count: 6.8k

Pairings: Jungkook x reader, OT7 x reader, ft namkook, namjin, taekook.

Warnings: Language, brief mentions of violence, death and alcohol.

“…oh yes, so pretty, Dear. Whoever receives this must be very special,” the old woman says as she wraps a small item for one of your classmates.

You peer over their shoulder to get a look. It’s a marbly bracelet. Each glass bead resembles a colorful beach stone, with one long pendant carved in the shape of a crescent moon. It's very pretty and must hold great significance. The classmate bows to the woman and turns around to leave.

Your eyes meet.

“Jungkook??”

His widened eyes match yours twice over.

Jungkook is on this trip too? But he’s a greaser…How did I not see this one coming!

  Field Observation #6: You are not doing a good job avoiding boy drama, Bighead.

 “Hi, big—I mean, Y/N…” Jungkook stammers. A camellia-hue blushes at his round cheeks as he moves aside for you to set your items on the counter. He drops his gaze down to his shoes and his long hair falls over his face.

The tone of surprise in your voice echoes in your ears. You cringe at yourself, hoping Jungkook didn’t notice and take offense. It just never occurred to you that Jungkook is the academic type. You round off the reasons in your head. He’s a greaser and rides in Joon’s motorcycle gang, you’ve never shared a class or seen him study, he’s always dressed like a punk and has skipped every school event ever, and, and… when you went on that date to the drive-in movie he never mentioned school. You get a flashback of him making out with the french fries and drinking two chocolate milkshakes. He had no interest in you at all.

Did he really keep this persona from you? That he’s so… cool?

The lady looks from you to Jungkook and back to you, very clearly enticed by the tension. You scramble out of the awkwardness, trying to make light talk. Jin made it so easy.

“How have you been? I didn’t see you on the bus earlier or else I would have—" you ramble on, quickly paying for your items.

“It’s OK. I tend to lay low. I was in the back…on the bus, I mean. Rode here with Tae, actually.” He rubs the back of his neck nervously.

The old woman slides a small card across the counter. “For the ring, Dear,” she gestures to the small ring in your hand and smiles at you both tenderly. “It’s from the future, so use it well.” She gives you a wink. (mood rings first appeared in 1970)

You tuck the small card into your jacket pocket along with your tangerines and slide the ring onto your middle finger. You both bow to the old woman and walk out of Yeongjusan House with your souvenirs in tow. Once outside, the ring changes color from amber to yellow.

“Oh, you rode with Tae? Is that…OK?” you pose curiously.

“What, because we’re into different subcultures?” he chuckles from behind his messy long hair. His voice is always so quiet speaking to you like if he used his full volume he could break something, or someone. “Pfft, Bighead really,” he continues, “I wonder how you even got nominated for this retreat.” He laughs as he runs away. You make to playfully hit his arm but miss as he pulls away with excellent reflexes, giggling behind his tiny travel bag while you gawk at the size of his arms. There’s no way. What do greasers, eat??? It’s like their muscles just pop out at the most inconvenient times, like right now.  

“I thought greasers and jocks hate each other. It’s kind of the point. Having different class backgrounds and all…” You kick some tall grass.

“That’s a stereotype, Bighead. Just because an ideology is popular in a group doesn’t mean we all believe it. Tae isn’t like most jocks, he’s…different.” Jungkook’s smile seems to be the only thing visible behind his shaggy rockabilly.

“So you guys are…friends?” You ask hesitantly.

“I guess,” he plays with his tattooed fingers. “He’s been helping me with a project, so we’ve been hanging out a lot lately. But,” he pouts, “my gang doesn’t really know.”

“About the project or Taehyung?”

“Well, both,” he laughs nervously, “it’s a bit complicated.” He rubs the back of his neck again, and you notice the pulsing veinery dancing from his knuckles up to his forearms. Damn.

He doesn’t seem ready to talk about it. You clear your throat and change the subject. “Well, we have half an hour before the next group activity. Want a tangerine? It’s grown locally! ” You chuck one to him and he catches it with both hands.

You settle on the hillside, a shady patch of grass overlooking the northern face of the island.

“So,” you say between peels of the tiny fruit, “what subject were you nominated for?”

“Physics. I don’t usually participate in school stuff,” he stares down his tangerine, “but I really want to see the caves.” He reaches in his pocket and pulls out a ribbon. You stop peeling to watch him gather his hair and tie it up. When did it get so long? Now you can finally see his big eyes.

“Huh? Caves?” you weren’t listening because you were distracted by his beautiful side profile. What is it with these nerds and their caves?

Jungkook returns your gaze. “Have you heard of the Bermuda Triangle?” he says with big round eyes sparkling. He gets up and approaches the flat rock next to you. With one swift motion, he jumps and lands on top of it, no hands. Core strength. He stretches his arms above his head and his shirt rides up a bit. From your position on the ground, a glimpse of the unobtrusive trail below his navel invites your mind to fantasies of a very different kind of field trip. He looks down at you sweetly, waiting for your reply.

You shake your head, “I’m more of a biologist. Educate me?”

He gestures for you to join him up on the rock. Though Jungkook made it look easy, the climb for you is much more grueling. He lifts you up with the strength of one arm until you’re shoulder to shoulder. You try to get breath into your lungs without seeming too obvious. Struggling, your nostrils flare and the wind picks up. It carries hints of his musk and sweat. You can’t help but inhale deeply until his fragrance fills you with assurance. Glancing down at your hand, you notice the ring is bluish-green but you can’t recall what the card said.

The bluish-green ocean on the horizon looks like the perfect backdrop for Jungkook’s physics lesson. He starts, “Eight years ago, ships started disappearing out in the western sea. First a small fishing boat, then a big cargo ship, it didn’t matter how big or how many people. They just, vanished. No bodies, no debris, no trace. No one could explain the missing wreckage, so the papers wrote about violent storms to give the families of the lost some closure, something to blame. Only, it would happen again, within the exact same coordinates…The Bermuda Triangle. I think I have a theory. It can be explained with physics, the magnetic field, more specifically. Some physicists believe there’s something special about the Bermuda Triangle’s location in the magnetic field. There are believed to be other places like Bermuda,” Jungkook looks from you to the coast, “and one of them is here.”

“You mean, the legend of the caves? Where the pirates disappeared? I thought it’s just a local myth…"

“There’s more to it than the legend.” He leans in and whispers, “The government’s studying it closely too.”

“What,” you chortle loudly, “the government is funding myth-busters?”

Jungkook’s face is serious af. “It’s not a myth, Bighead. The Republic of Korea started building a naval base here in 1933.” He points to the east. The tall glass building of the research facility can be seen from here, shimmering in unnatural contrast to everything else on the island. You squint.

  Field Observation #7: You definitely need specs..and to read more news.

 Jungkook continues, “They started planning a naval base on the island some years ago. Construction started in Gangjeong village right over there,” he points west to the ferry docks where you first arrived. “The base was designed to be a mixed military-commercial port so that it could handle ferries, cruise ships, and…warships and submarines.” 

“Why would they want a naval base here? It’s just a quiet little sanctuary…” you say as you both sit down on the rock.

He rests his arms over his knees. “That’s exactly what the local villagers said. They were strongly opposed to it. Many worried that the private lab was doing experiments hazardous to the environment. They organized many protests, but in the end, they could only slow down the process. The military moved in with force and built the complex anyway.”

“But that’s like, totally against everything this retreat is about. What about all these scientists working at the conservatory, aren’t they here to study wildlife and protect it?”

“Where do you think their funds come from, Y/N? The lab is backed by the military, which means everything they do is government research.”

“How do you know all this?”

“It’s the subject of my research.” He looks around again, the bun atop his head bobbing side to side. “That’s what Tae has been helping me with.”

“Jungkook, I don’t understand. What’s Tae helping you expose the lab for? What do you think they are hiding?” You stare down his side profile. He bites his bottom lip with his bunny teeth.

“It’d become very dangerous for you if you knew,” he reaches to fix your wind-tousled hair. “Trust me.”

  Field Observation #8: Don’t trust men, unless they are Jungkook.

 He gives you a warm, reassuring smile. “Let’s get going now, we don’t wanna miss the next activity.”

 ***

 The chaperones lead everyone down the hill for the next activity on schedule. The Butterfly House.

Jin has not returned yet, you’re starting to miss his chaotic antics. At the front of the crowd, Professor Choi is desperately trying to get the class’s attention. Several stern scientists are hovering on the side, waiting for silence so they can deliver the welcome introduction. Once it quiets down, two of the scientists give a run-through on the Butterfly House rules. Among them, it is expected that all students keep their touching to a minimum and especially, keep out of the restricted areas marked by red fence. Hunger strikes your tummy, and you wish Jin were here to cure it with his magic snack bag. A nudge to your rib sends you out of your daydream. You turn to your side. Jungkook has a giant butterfly resting on the tip of his nose. Its shimmery blue wings gently tilting up and down. Jungkook is still, afraid it will fly away. You giggle at the sight of him holding the breath in his cheeks.  

The class breaks off into groups to tour the facility.

“Good Afternoon, students. Welcome to our 30-by-15-meter glass atrium.” Your group leader reads off a script as student’s heads tilt back to observe the magnificent architecture above. “We are proud to receive you as guests of the first walk-through butterfly habitat in the eastern hemisphere. It first opened in 1957, so you are the first scholars to visit. Inside these walls, you will find some 500 free-flying butterflies of up to 25 different species. There are about 15,000 to 20,000 known species of butterflies found worldwide and many yet to be discovered. You may find swallowtails and birdwings, brightly colored, or camouflaged among the plants.  Some might be difficult to spot, as butterflies can be as small as 3 mm, but can also be as large as 304 mm….”

A small butterfly floats past the guide’s shoulder and rests on it. “Ah, a Sasakia charonda, the great purple emperor. Native to the Korean Peninsula, Japan, China, and northern Taiwan, and Vietnam. As we see, butterflies can be orange, white, black, and even purple. However, they cannot see how beautiful they look because butterflies can only see red, green, and yellow. The journey to becoming a butterfly is always an inspiring tale.” The guide struggles to find their place on the script.

You tilt your head back and stare in awe, the scale of technology here is incredible. Your biologist brain buzzes with millions of questions. How did they replicate a tropical rainforest like this in 1958? Are there places like this in Japan too, or perhaps the United States? The facility is lush with amazon trees and exotic plants. It’s so dense. Thousands of vines cover the floors and wrap around the trees. Layers of moss and countless species of flora and fauna lie in the shaded canopies. Vines dominating the taller trees cross overhead, reaching over through air to dominate the other side. Some climb so high they span the atrium’s glass ceiling, where the sunlight pours in strongest. An astonishing vision of Darwin’s theory of natural selection.

The guide has found their place in the script and begins reading. “There are, um, four cycles of the butterfly’s life. A butterfly starts out as an egg. Then it hatches into a caterpillar, called the larva. The larva goes into a cocoon called the pupa stage, and finally, emerges as an adult butterfly free to spread their wings and fly. We have a display with pupa ready to hatch, please follow me…” The students clamor excitedly after the guide, who disappears down the pathway in the thick greenery.

Yelps can be heard in the distance as students and chaperones alike encounter all sorts of buzzing insects. You duck below the low-hanging vines. One thing they forgot to mention is the climate control in here. Somehow, the air in the atrium is kept very humid to mimic that of the Amazon rainforest. After a while, the moisture in the air becomes nearly suffocating. Jungkook, however, seems to be doing just fine. Suddenly, he reaches for your hand and clasps it in his, clammy.

“Look, there’s Jin!” you almost yell. Your hands are torn apart as you run over to the fence. Jin is working on the other side in a glass office. His face is buried in an apparatus that looks something like an advanced microscope. Dozens of flasks, books, and petri dishes are strewn across the bench before him. He looks like he’s busy.

“This area’s off-limits. I don’t think we can interrupt him.” Jungkook tugs at your sleeve. You expel air and look back at Jungkook to find that the blue butterfly has returned. Right atop his head, it sits, flitting its wings as Jungkook scrunches his nose. The butterfly doesn’t budge.

“Looks like Morpho adonis.” The angelic voice comes from behind you.

Jungkook rolls his eyes with the butterfly still on his head.

“Jin! You looked really preoccupied. What are you working on over there?” you indicate the room guarded by the fence.

“Oh, just some plant cell assays. They think they discovered a new species of moss in a cavern, so I’m helping look at samples. It’s promising. I’m running the RNA against the ones from my own research. If it matches, the cave is likely the one they’ve been looking for, a habitable location for—well, uh it’s confidential. Sorry, you understand.” His smile is still so genuine even when he’s withholding secret government information.

Jungkook tenses at the mention of “caves”.

“Have you seen it?” he asks.

“Seen what?” Jin returns.

“The cave. Have you been there?” Jungkook’s hands are shaking a little, so you move closer by his side and take his hand.

Jin’s eyes follow the movements of your hands. Just like they did back at the library the first time you met.

“I haven’t, no.” He lies.

“Sorry Choco, I’ll have to join you again tomorrow. Professor Moon asked for my help and it seems like it's going to take the rest of the evening. I’m sure Jungkook will keep you company for dinner in my place?” He gives you another sweet smile, but it has a bitter undertone. Much like Namjoon, when he had seen you with Yoongi’s jacket on that weird day.

  Field Observation #9: Stop reading between the lines, they don’t like you like that.

 “Before you both go—Jungkook, I have something for you,” Jin rolls up the sleeves of his lab coat and steps back into the room before returning.

He holds his hands out and you both peer down at the delicate thing sitting in his palms.

“What is it?” Jungkook nudges.

“Juniperus shimpaku,” Jin beams, “a bonsai.”

You watch Jin place the small tree in Jungkook’s outstretched hands.

“Give it to Namjoon, as my peace offering. Tell him it grows near the sea, so it will prefer regular misting. The foliage is needle-like now because it’s young, but as it grows older it will get scalier. One of the best things about Shimpaku is its hard resinous wood…ideal for advanced sculptural techniques such as jin, shari and sabamiki.” Jin bursts into his signature windshield laugh.

This time you roll your eyes, but Jungkook giggles along.

“Uh, thanks I guess,” Jungkook accepts the gift. “But I don’t know why you don't give it to him yourself. Knowing Joon, he’s pretty old-fashioned. If you've pissed him off, he can be really petty and hold a grudge. He holds things in until it gets really heavy—”

At that moment, a loud engine bang is heard from outside the atrium. The glass walls shake and the birds in the trees fly away in droves of panic.

“What the hell was that?” you say, but nothing else happens. The disturbance was momentary. 

"Nothing to fear folks," one of the chaperones calls from a distance. "A small aircraft had to make an emergency landing nearby. Idiots over-estimated their weight capacity and ran out of gas. Carry on."

“Anyway,” Jin continues, “take good care of it until you can give it to him. Oh, and if you’re prone to Drosophila melanogaster with your regular houseplants, you might want to lay off drowning the soil...”

“Droso-whatagaster?” you both say.

“Fruit. Flies.” Jin sighs. “Now please, go before someone sees you here. I am restricted material!” He grins at you and waves you off.

On your way out, your hand finds Jungkook’s again. Less clammy than before.

“Thank you for visiting the Butterfly Habitat, we hope you’ll gain a greater appreciation for butterflies and their place in the world’s ecosystems. Before you leave though, remember to check your clothing for any hitchhikers and pose by the Heaven Lotus for a memorable photo!” the chaperones guide you out toward the Heaven Lotus, where Taehyung is snapping photos.

“Jungkook, are we still on for tomorrow?” Tae heavily eyes your locked hands before Jungkook lets it go. Jungkook nods. You both smile, ready for the flash. Click.

 ***

 Jungkook eats dinner with you at a Haenyeo House. Four bowls of jeonbokjuk (abalone porridge) to be exact. Afterward, you browse the framed black and white photos on the wall. They tell the story of the haenyeo (sea women), the island’s legendary sea divers. Since the 18th century, deep-sea diving for fish became the work of women until their workforce outnumbered the men. So much so, the island has become a semi-matriarchal society, where the head of the heterosexual household is the woman, not the man. You and Jungkook remark if that is possible here in 1958, then why not on the mainland? The villages here seems to be ahead of their time. Patriarchy and heteronormative standards are still dominant in most places and probably will be for many years to come. After digesting your abalone with more discourse about dismantling the patriarchy and capitalism, you and Jungkook go out on the beach.

The sun has already gone down, marking the first day of the retreat over. The only light source radiating from the campfires along the beach and the star-lit sky. The campfire nearest your sleeping tent is vacant. The question of sharing a tent crosses your mind.

“Arent you going to tent up with your assigned travel buddy?” you ask Jungkook.

“My what?” he sips from his flask then stares expectantly at you.

“Your travel…buddy??” It’s not a weird question, right?

“Where did you hear that? I can guarantee there's no travel buddy list,” he giggles into his flask.

“But, Jin said…” You reflect on the words as you stare into the fire.

Water shoots from Jungkook’s nose as he tumbles forward. “He said he was your assigned travel buddy?! Ahahaha—”

Apparently, there was no such thing. Jin made it up just to have a reason to be with you during the trip. What are you supposed to think now?

You’ve had a long first day, to say the least. Jungkook helps you relax. The night passes too quickly as you exchange stories under the stars. At some point, you pass out asleep and feel Jungkook place his jacket over your chest. He carries you into the tent. You roll over onto your stomach and splay like a starfish. Jungkook struggles to remove your shoes and get you into the sleeping bag. Then the darkness swallows you and you drift into a deep sleep. Whatever comes tomorrow can’t possibly top the day you’ve had.

 ***

 You wake the next morning to an empty tent and two layers of sleeping bag. The extra is not yours. Your back is stiff and you feel like your whole body has sunk two feet in the sand. After a little morning spruce, you find Jungkook having breakfast by the campfire. The bonsai tree sits on a rock in front of him and the souvenir bracelet rolls between his fingers.

“That’s a really nice souvenir!” you sit beside him.

“Thanks. It’s for, um, Namjoon actually. Ha ha. You think he’ll like it? Joon loves the sea but, he works so much. He’s studying part-time and can’t take advanced classes.” He scratches the back of his round head again.

“That’s lovely, Jungkook. I think he will definitely love it.” Jungkook is so sweet, you can’t help feel a little jealous after how aloof he was with you on your first date. “Oh, this is totally random but speaking of Namjoon, you haven’t heard anything from him, have you? Last time we spoke was kinda weird…I thought maybe he said someth—"

“Y/N. I have to tell you something,” he hesitates, lingering for permission.

“What is it?” you say. The morning wind on the beach is a little chilly. You fold your arms across your chest for some warmth.

“Do you remember that day? The day I was supposed to pick you up after work?” he fiddles with the bracelet.

Now it’s your turn to choke on your flask. Your stomach feels like it’s going to sink with all the emotions of that day returning. Jin completely avoided this conversation, but here goes Jungkook getting right into it.

“Yes, I remember it all too clearly,” you sigh. “I was on my way to the parking lot where I thought you were picking me up. I was walking by the court while the jocks were playing a game. Then the ball went out of bounds and hit me. I passed out and woke up after Yoongi, uh, resuscitated me. His hand was injured and he looked really mad. He still took me to Namjoon’s. Namjoon was acting all weird about it, but I still don't know why.”

“Well, that’s one version of it. But that’s not our version.” Jungkook explains.

“You see, I have um, I have a secret. The project I mentioned that Tae is helping me with, it’s a dangerous project. A few months ago, I discovered something while experimenting. I may have sort of opened a dimensional rift.” He waits anxiously for your response.

“What does that mean, Jungkook. You farted?”

“No! Haha. In quantum physics, there’s a theorem called the Casimir effect, it essentially says that if you conduct the right amount of energy through the right materials at the right time, you can open a door through space-time.”

“Time travel?” you question.

“Yes!!! Time travel.” He whispers. “I messed with it and got it right. That day you got hit with a basketball, it wasn’t the players' fault, it was me! Haha—.” He says it too happily for your taste.

“Hey!… I thought the jocks might have done it on purpose,” you pout.

“It was an accident, I swear to Namjoon! I haven't completely mastered control over this thing yet. That day I was running a bit late, so I thought, "why not?" . It worked obviously, but there was some, uh, glitching. It was not a clean jump. I injured some people when I jumped back, especially you. I'm really sorry. Only Yoongi and Namjoon knew about my jumping experiments then. Yoongi rushed there to stop me. It could have been a disaster, Y/N. But I figured out that I can do a cleaner jump if I have a stronger source of energy. The vacuum isn't it. ” his eyes are sparkly again.

You are quiet, thinking.

“So, let me see. You can travel through time using science, but you don’t have a good grip on the specifics yet. Yoongi, Jin, and basically everyone else knows about it now. You all got together while I was passed out and schemed a lie so I wouldn’t find out I got knocked by an experimental poltergeist. Am I understanding it correctly?”

He blinks. “That was easier than I thought.”

“Jungkook. You are so cool…”

He blushes, “I’d rather be dead than cool…”

“Since I’ve already been a victim of your jumping experiments. Can I know about the cave?”

Jungkook sighs. “I told you yesterday that the cave is like the Bermuda Triangle. Under ideal conditions, the cave can be a portal for time travel. The lab doesn’t know what conditions exactly, but I do. They aren’t up to anything good with it. If the lab got its hands on time portal capability, it would have the power to manipulate the past and future. Taehyung did some journalistic investigating on the lab. It's called Heaven, Inc. Before it got the military permission to colonize the island, they were just another underfunded private lab, doing shady work for shady leaders. Corrupt stuff. Tae discovered that the lab has already found the cave and they've closed it off. It’s not much time before they get the conditions right. Do you see why we have to intervene? Only we know about it. The cave would be weaponized. A weapon of dimensional shifting.”

“Jin can't know what he’s part of, right? I mean, he would never volunteer for something like that. He’s good…”

“I dunno, he definitely knows where the cave is. Tae and I have a plan. We’ll follow him to the cave and film it all. The video will be released to the papers and the government will have to shut down the complex.”

“That’s doesn’t sound like a good plan, Jungkook. It’s dangerous. They have the strictest enforcement here. What if they stop you?”

“Trust me, Y/N. They need a really big source of energy to open the portal. After my experiments, I think I figured out how it works, but I’ll need your help..." He looks at you with the same expression he’s had the whole time, “Can I kiss you?” Endearing and determined.

You are completely startled at the turn of confessions.“It's for science, right?” 

“For science,” he grins.

“Ok, I trust you.”

He lunges forward and kisses you passionately on the lips. Your eyes shut tight and butterflies erupt in your atrium. Not counting Yoongi’s resuscitation technique, this is your first real kiss. Jungkook’s hand comes up to hold your face. He brushes your cheek and lingers, savoring you as long as he can.

At last, you break. “Wow,” he pants, “thank you.”

“Hey?” you pant back, “this better earn us the Nobel Prize.”

 ***

 Taehyung joins you and Jungkook at 7 o’clock sharp, carrying several duffle bags. He sets them down and slicks back his hair. “The name’s Bond, James Bond,” he says with a deep voice. Jungkook ignores him, too deep in thought focusing on the surroundings. Tae turns to you for approval and flashes his adorable boxy smile. You are really about to embark on a covert operation with Taekook.

You squat behind the dense thicket, waiting. Jin passes by with a group of serious scientists. As usual, Jin looks too chippy first thing in the morning. He stands out like a sore thumb. The youngest in the group and the most enthusiastic. Still, he remains well-mannered and eagerly follows orders as they prep for their second day excavating the hidden site.

The three of you follow the group down to the north-facing coastline, staying out of view. The group you’re tailing disappears into a tunnel behind a glistening waterfall. You wait behind some big rocks. A branch cracks behind you and you spin around. Funny. You could swear you saw a glimpse of the big-breasted mathematician's ass hanging out of a tree. No way. You're probably still dazed from locking lips with Jungkook. There's no way Namjoon would ever be here. Then, Jin’s laughter emerges from the cave as he leads the group back out. He saunters past, delightedly chatting up the eldest scientist. You sigh. Poor Jin, he really believes this about some moss.

“Well, we found it.” Taehyung whispers. “That was easy.”

Too easy. An uneasy feeling settles in your stomach. Like right before you are about to lose something. You glance over to Jungkook who is contemplating the next move. Your lips are still tingling from his kiss. Was it real? During your first date, he seemed so aloof. Sure, he was always sweet and protective, but it didn’t mean anything. That’s just how Jungkook is.

 Yoongi’s old words ring in your ears,

“Listen, Dove, it’s just a random coincidence. It could have been anybody…”

Yoongi really meant it. He knew. They all knew.

 Taehyung holds the fence open for you and Jungkook to climb through. He leaves the duffle bags by the waterfall and only grabs the camera. He takes photos of the chain-link fence protecting the cave entrance. A sign reads “RESTRICTED ACCESS”. Inside, the cave is more like a tunnel. It's cold, dark, rocky, and slippery. Jungkook lights a match and asks you to stay while he explores the interior.

You stick with Taehyung as he takes more photos. “You knew about Jungkook’s experiments?” you probe.

“Sweetcheeks, I’ve always told you, haven’t I? I appreciate art.”

Jungkook runs back from the tunnel, excited. “Hey guys, come check this out!”

You both chase after him.

“Careful, it’s slippery in here!” he yells back through the darkness.

You reach a clearing lit by torches. There's a lot of industrial equipment. Looks like the scientists have come this far. Jungkook examines the mysterious gadgets laying around, one by one. Everything has the same logo, Heaven, Inc.

“Extensional tectonics,” Jungkook mumbles. He walks to the center of the clearing and looks at the wet floor. A man-made “X” marks the spot. “It’s here, inside the Manjjanggul Lava tube. This is the dimensional rift..."

In geology, a rift is a linear zone where the lithosphere is being pulled apart. They form over thousands of years, often at the central axis of most mid-ocean ridges. The new oceanic crust and lithosphere form at a divergent boundary between two tectonic plates. The Manjjanggul Lava tube tunnel is said to be one of the longest, measuring around 7.5 kilometers deep.

Extensional tectonics, as Jungkook said. The Manjjanggul Lava tube is the second Bermuda Triangle. Conditions just right for space-time travel, if supported with a powerful catalyst.

The kiss. The kiss was the energy. Jungkook is trying to manifest the kiss into the big energy he needs to open the portal. You must be…his catalyst.

A purple light begins forming in front of Jungkook as he stands still.

“Wait don't start yet, I need to get the video camera!” 

"Well Taehyung, I don't know how it starts only when it starts...and it's starting now!"

Tae runs to retrieve the equipment from outside.

You flinch as water drips on your head from lava rock on the ceiling. The walls of the cavern start vibrating on rhythms, like the pace of a butterfly’s wings or a human heartbeat. The ring on your finger blackens as a void opens within you, a creeping bad feeling. You push it down.

“What’s happening?” you move to the edge of the wall.

“It’s stopped. I felt stronger energy a few minutes ago. It’s gotten weaker for some reason…” he concentrates hard. “I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.”

“Jungkook—” you start to say. But Taehyung runs back.

“Has it worked yet? Did I miss anything?” he tosses the bags down and starts to assemble the video camera as quickly as he can.

“Wait, I feel something…” Jungkook plants his feet on the marking and holds his arms out in front of him like there’s an invisible wall there. An obscure purple cloud glows before him and the tunnel vibrates with more strength.

Tae starts filming. You flatten your bodies against the wall as more water drips from the shaking ceiling.

“I feel it.” Jungkook closes his eyes, eyebrows furrowed. He extends his arms farther out, pushing against the translucid wall. “It’s….happening…” he grunts as he puts all his might into the force. Blue and white hues emerge from the vortex developing at his hands. The walls of the cavern pulse even harder. You cling to the wall as you brace for the unknown.

Then, an echo of running footsteps down the tunnel gets louder. Indiscernible yelling and swearing as the heavy steps approach.

One deep voice penetrates the cave and spikes the walls harder than the supernatural force at Jungkook’s fingertips can.

“Stop!” Namjoon shouts.

“Choco! Get away from him!” Jin appears behind Joon. Your eyes nearly pop out of your head. Jungkook is not listening anymore. The force in his hands surges and cave walls begin to give way. Tae fumbles with the camera, desperately trying to capture the phenomenon as the tunnel shakes more violently.

Jimin approaches calmly, “I think we would all like to live, so let’s all hold hands and walk out of here in one piece…”

“I can’t leave,” Jungkook replies through the translucent shimmer. "We have to destroy this place."

Namjoon steps closer, cautious of the rocks beginning to crumble overhead.

“Jungkook, please. You are putting yourself in danger…” he pleads. The leader’s fear growing with each passing second until Namjoon breaks down and tears flow from his eyes. With that, the portal opens, rendering Jungkook helpless to its mystical aura.

Everyone is puzzled. Yoongi’s level voice is heard over the rumbling, “What just happened, why is it getting worse?” Jungkook doesn’t know, but his mesmerization with the portal overtakes him and he can’t hear the others anymore. A deep part of his conscious is already elsewhere, they’re losing him.

 Jungkook’s peaceful face shimmers with waves of violet and pink. His eyes wide open, soul entering into a new dimension while his body still hangs back. Grounded in something. Or someone.

Seokjin pulls you away, trying to get you out of the tunnel. Before he can get you very far, Namjoon grabs hold of your free arm. A massive pulse sends a long fissure across the floor, dividing the space in two. You’re being pulled in two directions, Jin on one side and Joon on the other. The tunnel begins to collapse. Hoseok yells for everyone to get out. You must pick a side or you'll die. 

A segment of lava rock falls, nearly crushing Taehyung who has dropped the camera. He runs to Jungkook but more rock falls, blocking him. You’re held on both sides. You look up from Namjoon’s chest. His cheeks are soaked in tears.

“You put everyone at risk,” he glares at Jin.

“Me?” Jin argues back, tugging you to himself. “Your greasers are to blame! You let Jungkook and Taehyung do something dangerous. They even brought Y/N to the cave. I made you all swear, did I not, to keep Y/N out of this! What Jungkook was doing was never safe! We had a choice to stop the lab from finding the portal key. I mocked up the plant samples to destroy the evidence and convince them this is not the place. No one was going to get hurt! But Jungkook, he made his choice. He chose to destroy the site altogether. He chose violence!”

You’re suddenly thrust away from the pair as Namjoon lunges toward Jin. He throws the first punch. Jin collides with the wall behind them. Joon makes for another hit but Jin headbutts him first, tackling the six-foot-tall man to the ground, which is now being pelted with falling lava rocks. You lose balance on the shaky floor and start to fall backward. Yoongi catches you in time and shields you from the debris, looking for a way out.

Was that true? Was Taekook’s plan all along to destroy the cave? Who is right? Who is trusted? You remember Jungkook's words. Trust me.

NamJin curse at one another as they wrestle to the ground. The leader of the greasers and the leader of the jocks. Peace was never an option, was it.

Suddenly, the pulsing hum stops and there is silence. From Yoongi’s embrace, you can still see Jungkook. One moment he is there, standing on the X mark. Namjoon reaches for him but in a moment that feels frozen, lasting longer than a moment should, a whirring noise slices through the cold air, then…Jungkook vanishes. ZAP.

All that’s left in Namjoon’s large hand, the moon bracelet. Only the sounds of heavy breathing and dripping water fill the void. Jin rises from the ground and catches his breath. He looks up at Namjoon in confusion. Still silence.

Namjoon is about to say something. Then ZAP… he vanishes through thin air. The bracelet drops to the wet ground and rolls toward you. What the fuck! Everyone looks at each other. What is happening?! A moment later, Yoongi follows. ZAP. Jimin. Taehyung. Hoseok. ZAP ZAP ZAP.

Only you and Jin are left.

 ***

 The following morning, your school formally announces the reported disappearance of six of its students, four of whom were not attending the retreat. Their names are printed in the paper, along with their photos.

Kim Namjoon. Min Yoongi. Jung Hoseok. Park Jimin. Kim Taehyung. Jeon Jungkook.

 All Heaven, Inc. facilities are shut down for further investigation. The remaining students are sent home early in the morning. Police recover the Heaven, Inc. lab equipment from the Manjjanggul Lava tube, but can't find a single trace of the missing students. Seokjin's father gets a lawyer for the other families and files a civil suit.

The long bus ride home is melancholic. You were up all night being questioned by the police, nothing you said was written down. The reporters will dismiss the truth and release their own narrative in a few months. 

The students had a secret party on a sailboat, they got drunk, had a dispute, forgot to tie it to the dock and drifted out in the middle of the night. No bodies were found. It was an accident. A simple mistake of rambunctious youth.

You and Seokjin remain quiet. Neither of you feel like talking. Six of your friends have just vanished. You fear the worst. You have endless questions. Where are they? Why did everyone but Jin jump? Did they make it through safe? Will they ever come back? What will their families do? The void inside only grows. Your racing mind exhausts and you lean your head on Jin’s shoulder. It’s big and sturdy and safe. Whatever happens from now on, at least you will have Jin by your side. You fall asleep.

 ***

 The sound of Professor Choi quietly nudging you awake causes you to jump, “Wake up, Dear. You are home.”

“Huh, what year is it?” You rub the sleep from your eyes and feel a cramp in your neck. There’s no other student left on the bus but you. The spot next to you empty, with all but a snack left on the seat. You pick up the wrapped choco pie and stare at it. No way. Did Jin get time warped? He couldn’t have he was with me…

“It’s 1958, Dear,” Choi laughs. “Don’t forget your belongings. I’ll leave you to it.” The professor walks off the bus.

 Jin got time-warped with the rest. This is not a dream. You are not dreaming.

 All seven of them...left you.

  Field Observation #10: It was a f*ckboy au after all. What did you expect, Bighead? 

 See you in 1985 :)

#retrobangboy #bts au #RETRO BTS #retro AU #jungkook #greaser jungkook #jeon jungkook #jeon jungguk #bts #bts fanart #bts art #bts jungkook #bts jk #jk fanfic #bts fanfic #bts fic #jungkook x reader #bts x reader #bts x you #jungkook x you #jungkook fanart

[velmalav]

sister: part two {r.t.}

warnings: angst

synopsis: continuation of part one. reader is brian may’s sister and roger is secretly in love with her.

word count: 2.8k+

***

  Tomorrow arrives in the blink of an eye. You stand outside of Roger’s flat with your hands in the pockets of your denim jacket, tapping a boot against the sidewalk. The sun is just rising – sky a pastel yellow and blue, the dreary morning air dewy and cold. You bask in the emerging sunlight until Brian’s car rounds the corner, instantly instilling a slight panic in the pit of your stomach. The feeling only worsens as he pulls up to the curb and steps from the vehicle, his body language less than welcoming.

 “Bit early for this,” he complains, but holds his arms out to hug you anyway. You fall into him immediately, nose buried into his chest. His heart is beating equally as fast as yours, giving you a little peace of mind.

 “I’m so sorry I let you down, Bri,” you spout immediately, unable to hold back the word vomit. You spent the whole night thinking of what you would say to him, yet you threw all those plans out the window the second your mouth opened. “I should’ve told you as soon as I’d made up my mind about school. There’s just been so much happening and I didn’t want to disappoint you. And telling Roger before you, God that was so stupid and I didn’t even mean to, but he knew something was up and I couldn’t-”

 “Y/N, take a breath, would you?” Brian murmurs, a slight chuckle leaving his lips at your rambling. He curls his hands around your arms and pulls you from him, his features gentle now. “As upset as I was and still am, I was too harsh on you yesterday. I’m sorry for some of the things I said, for making you stay with Rog. I needed time to cool off.”

 “I know,” you sigh, cheeks flushing in exasperation. “But you were right to be angry. I fucked up.”

 Brian cringes at your swearing, but doesn’t vocalize his distaste. “I hope this means you’ve thought about going back next term. I’d still like you to go back to school. It’s what’s best for you right now.”

 Your face drops at his assumption, eyes darting to the pavement. Always the observant one, your brother picks up on your body language - and he definitely knows that your minds are in entirely different places, yet he patiently waits for you to admit it. 

  “Actually, I don’t think it is. I’m going in blind, Bri, and everything just feels like a waste. What’s the point of going to school if I’m going to hate whatever it is I end up doing?” 

 “Then what are your plans, your highness? I hate to be the one to remind you how impractical this all is, what truly, what do you expect? The world to just stop and wait for you?” Brian questions, the same tone he used yesterday slowly resurfacing.

 This time; however, you understand where he’s coming from. You know he only wants the best for you, and you know that your situation is undeniably impractical. Besides, you can only imagine how frustrating it must be for your sibling to tell you they’ve given up on their seemingly bright future for one completely unknown.

 “I was hoping you’d have me on tour for now,” you begin, earning a double eyebrow raise and quiet scoff from Brian. It’s a lot to ask, especially the morning of, so the lingering acidity radiating off him now is far from surprising.

  “I don’t know what you want me to say, Y/N,” Brian exhales. And although his aura screams, ‘you’re utterly demented,’ you can feel the gears turning in his head. He’s actually considering it. 

  “Think about it, Bri. Our family is all about music. Dad worked for a record company, Grandma competed in all of those singing competitions, hell, even mum played the guitar for her girl band back in the day. Maybe that’s why nothing’s speaking to me! I could just watch behind the scenes and figure everything out and see what appeals to me the most.”

 Brian grunts in frustration, hands traveling to rest on his hips and his head lowers to face the ground. When he looks back to you, his eyes are austere. “And what if you’re still unsure even after tour? What will you do then?”

  Now the gears are turning in your own head, but the solution is clear. “I’ll go back to school. Just like you want me to,” Brian’s demeanor perks up.

  “You’re serious about this,” he says it merely to convince himself, though you confirm it with a nod. 

“As long as you’ll have me along. Just one chance is all I’m asking for.” In an act of compromise, you hold out your hand as if you’re in the midst of closing an important business deal.

  Brian rolls his eyes and takes your hand in his, giving it a good shake. “Alright, you’ve got yourself a deal,” he concedes, a knowing smirk tugging at his lips. “But you’re going to be the one to tell mum. Even if you somehow find your true calling and become a bloody billionaire in the next seven months, she’s still going to murder both of us.”

 You draw in a sharp breath at the mere thought of ringing her. “Yeah, that’s a conversation I can’t wait to have.”

 Brian shrugs, a mockingly casualness washing over him. “Might want to wait until we’re a safe distance away before you make that call, sis.”

.

 You decide to ride back to Brian’s with him after your chat, not so much as a word to Roger before you go. You know he’s still asleep, but the thought of him waking up alone ignites a sinking feeling in your chest. The feeling only perpetuates as you remember the other thing you need to disclose with your brother.

 “Hey, Bri,” you murmur, head lolling against your seat. Brian’s eyes flicker over to you and then return to the road, humming in acknowledgement. “You’re not still angry at Rog, are you?”

 Brian sighs as he turns right at a red light. “No, no. I mean it’s still a bit frustrating that he never told me, but I guess I understand. Probably should apologize to him, too, shouldn’t I?”

 “Yeah, maybe,” you reply, hands a bit sweaty as you take a deep breath. Now or never. “There’s something I wanted to talk to you about actually. About him,” you continue, watching his reaction closely.

 “If it’s about what I said about you two getting too close, I’m sorry if that was awkward for you,” Brian apologizes again, teeth nipping at his bottom lip. You can tell he’s still milling over everything that happened yesterday. 

  Your mouth opens to diffuse his words, but he’s not finished. “Rog is family. I want you to feel comfortable telling him things, too. I know he’s like a second brother to you.”

 You deflate, the sudden rush of confidence crushing under the weight of one single sentence. “Wouldn’t call him that, but yeah, I guess we’re close,” you whisper, scared that if you speak any louder Brian will hear the disappointment in your voice.

  “Close is an understatement. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you guys were attached at the hip since birth,” Brian’s chuckling now, and you know he means it to be sweet, but you can’t help the intense tremble that runs down your back at his words. Somehow you manage to change the subject physically, even if your head is still mentally repeating the words “brother” and “attached since birth” over and over again. 

 The remainder of the car ride is tense, or at least to you it is. Brian doesn’t even notice and fills you in on the first show tonight in Manchester, but you’re hardly listening. 

  Your head is swimming in the memories of the previous night. Roger’s forbearing touch as he held you to him, fingertips running along your clothed stomach, eyes boring into yours as he told you all of the things he looked forward to for tour, one of them being having you along. His glowing smile as he did so. The way he would dip his head down to pepper heavy kisses on you, especially on the places where your skin tinted red.

  It all felt so right last night, so why did all of it suddenly feel so wrong?

.

  The tour bus is massive compared to the little cars passing it on the street, all black save for a splash of grey across the side. You, Brian, and Freddie are standing just outside of it waiting for Roger to show up. John’s already inside chatting with the driver. 

  “I’m absolutely delighted you decided to come along with us!” Freddie exclaims, pulling you in for a hug. You laugh against his shoulder as he pinches your ass, and with a wet peck on your cheek, releases you. 

  You turn to see Brian cocking a warning eyebrow at his band mate, to which Freddie responds with a wink. “Too bad I’ve got Mary with such a pretty little thing in my orbit,” he teases further, a hand slipping around your shoulder. 

 “Hands to yourself, Fred,” Brian forewarns, but he’s smiling to signal that he’s caught on to the joke.

  “I don’t know if I can help myself, Bri,” Freddie dramatically gushes, his hand snaking into your braid. You roll your eyes with a fleeting laugh, wrapping an arm around his waist to further the teasing.

 In a cruel twist of fate, Roger approaches from behind Brian, a giddy expression already on his face at the sight of you. He unfurls his arms like he’s about to request a hug when Brian cuts him off with a, “My sister’s off limits to everyone, if I have to remind you lot,” mainly at Fred, unknowingly informing the man behind him as well.

 Roger’s face falls, arms descending to his sides. You simply stare down at the concrete to avoid his disheartening gaze. Your mind is racing. You are the one that initiated this, you think, and now you are the one ending it just as quickly. Your eyes are still fixated on your shoes when Roger finally speaks, voice a lot more chipper than expected. “Y/N’s joining us?” as if he didn’t know.

 Brian nods, leaning against the tour bus. You glance up with a fake smile, one only Roger sees past as he practically drags you into a hug. His lips touch your ear, tone low, “Off limits to everyone?” he mutters, and as to not draw suspicion, forces an eager smile to his face when you break away.

 You sadly stare at him, swallowing hard. When you’re sure the other boys aren’t looking, you mouth a quick apology, one he furrows his eyebrows at. John clambers down the steps of the bus and waves you all in, and as you file up and inside, you feel the familiar touch of Roger’s hand on your lower back. There’s an unspoken rigidity between you two – which is not surprising – as the bus rolls down the street, and you know you’re in for a stressful night.

.

 You don’t realize just how chaotic things can be before a show until you are tossed into the middle of it. People run past you left and right, speaking orders to one another and dragging equipment from backstage to onstage, while others are double checking the lighting and sound. Everyone is so enveloped in their work that they don’t even notice you observing it all, peering over shoulders and even asking the less busy workers quick questions. It’s a madhouse, but it has certainly sparked your interest. The only thing uncertain is where to start.

  When you run out of employees to annoy, you back yourself into a corner near the lighting deck. Your eyes follow the operator’s fingers as he memorizes his cues, his eyes stuttering on certain pages as his motions ghost over the controls. You stand on your tiptoes to get a better look at the page layout, to see if you could possibly understand the directions, but it’s too far out of reach.

 You huff a bit and lean back against the wall, eyes drifting around the backstage area. Speakers are being rolled on carts, pieces of Roger’s drum kit also being moved to the stage. Your focus follows it, imagining it all set up, drumsticks pounding down on the cylinders, beer flying up. You remember seeing Roger doing that years before, at the only gig you ever witnessed Smile play. At first, you deemed it gross (mainly because Roger would jump off the stage and try to hug you while he was all sticky), but the more you thought about it, the more it intrigued you. 

 You’re so far in your thoughts that you almost don’t hear Roger approach. “Anything catching your eye?” 

 His features are impossibly still as he stares over at you, arms folded across his chest. You look to him wearily, a nervous pounding erupting in your stomach. There’s a moment of unexpressed tension that you swallow down swiftly; you hate confrontation, and you really don’t know what to expect from him right now.

 You shrug. “Not yet. It’s pretty crazy right now.”

 “Always is,” Roger says as he steps closer. He takes a quick look around, presumably to check if any of the boys are around, and then turns his complete attention to you. “Maybe next show we can get here earlier before all of the madness, so you can check everything out.”

 “I’d like that,” a smile wanes at the ends of your lips, but deep down, you’re confused. 

  Why was he being so normal? After all, you did spend a four hour bus ride acting like he wasn’t sitting five feet away from you, like he hadn’t had you in his arms ten hours before, like everything was exactly how it had been the morning before.

 Roger’s eyes flicker from yours down to your lips, and just like you’d expected from the beginning of this exchange, his expression falters. “I’m guessing your conversation with Brian didn’t go exactly as planned.”

 You sigh, shaking your head. “No, not really. I went to tell him, and he said something about you being like my brother, and I just kind of panicked,” you explain, gulping. 

  Roger grimaces at the word just as you had earlier, eyes suddenly interested in everything but you. “So what’s the plan here?” he murmurs, meeting your eyes with a look of contrition. “Are you-are you going to tell him?”

 Your mouth opens and closes repeatedly, mind messily searching for the right thing to say. But the truth is, there simply isn’t. “I don’t know how to do this,” you bite the inside of your cheek as you await his reaction.

 “Do what?” Roger asks, eyes saddening even more. The question is pointless, because just like Brian said earlier, you two knew each other all too well. “Tell him about us or tell me that there isn’t an us?”

 You run a hand through your hair and then down your face. It’s so frustrating, being in this position. You want to try things with Roger more than anything, but the idea of it ruining him and Brian’s friendship is incorrigible. You had been so willfully ignorant last night when you kissed Roger and convinced him to try things out, and now that conversation feels so far from reality that you can’t even believe it happened. You settle with a, “I don’t know, Rog. I don’t know what to do.”

  There’s a stiff pause. “You never do,” he mutters under his breath, a thought he surely meant to keep to himself, but you hear it loud and clear.

 “What’s that supposed to mean?” you’re already detaching yourself from his gaze as the words soak in. Roger already knows he’s made a mistake by the hurt etched onto your face and tries to grab your hand, but you step back.

 “Y/N, that didn’t come out the way I wanted it to. Please—“

 You feel pathetic when tears brim your eyes. It’s not just what Roger said, or the way he said it, it’s that he said it. The one person you thought would always have your back, even if he himself didn’t agree. The one person who would go against the opinion of his best friend to make you feel better.

 “If that’s how you feel about me, fine. But please don’t try and spare my feelings and just be honest next time, okay, Rog?” you muster out, successfully holding back all of the emotion that so desperately wanted to claw its way out.

 “No, no, no,” Roger sputters out as you begin to walk away.

  You turn down an empty hallway, Roger hot on your trail. You decide that if you are going to cry, it will surely not be around heaps of people. He takes your hands in his before you can rip yourself away, his look pleading. “That’s not how I feel, love. I’ve told you how I feel about you, about your decision to come with us. I want you here. I want you to find what makes you happy.”

 The tears finally fall. They’re not out of anger, though; they’re out of frustration. You want so badly for there to be an easy solution to your problem, for your mother to just get it, for your brother to not be so overprotective, for Roger to be able to kiss you without the fear of repercussions. You want so many things that you can’t have, and it’s slowly ripping you apart.

 “Don’t cry, please,” Roger takes you in his arms, palm rubbing warm circles on your back. You can feel his eyelashes flutter against your forehead, lips doting on the space in front of your ear. “I know it’s all frustrating. I’m frustrated, too, but everything’s going to be okay.”

 You pull back a bit so you can look at him. He wipes some of your tears away, a crooked, sympathetic smile playing at his lips. “Rog, I’m really sorry, ‘cause I’m the reason for all of this. I asked too much of you. I was stupid to think--”

  Roger shakes his head, thumb rubbing under your eye. “You’re not stupid. A bit unrealistic, but definitely not stupid.”

  You instinctively lean into his hand, but quickly catch yourself. “Why couldn’t we have just run into each other at a supermarket or something? Things would be much easier that way,” you ponder out loud. “Wouldn’t be so difficult.”

  “Wouldn’t be the same, love. I’m still glad to have met you, even if it means keeping my distance,” Roger replies, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “Let’s just...let’s just take it back to how it was. We’ll just know a little bit more about each other, s’all.”

  “You’d be able to do that?” you furrow your eyebrows, bottom lip grinding between your teeth. “You don’t think Brian will notice that things are...different?”

 “Wouldn’t worry about that, love. I’ve had a thing for you for years and Brian hasn’t a clue,” Roger admits with a chuckle, though it’s full of discontent. He brushes some hair from your face, slanting to press a chaste kiss to the corner of your mouth. “I can pretend as long as you promise to keep making fun of me. I live off of that shit. And...”

  “And?”

  “You’ll let me hold your hand sometimes,” Roger’s cheeks now a light pink hue.

 He finally gets you to laugh at that. “That’s a bit extreme, don’t you think? Hand holding?”

 “Those are my conditions. Take them or leave them,” Roger beams down at you, and for a moment, it really does feel like normal. How could you possibly say no to that? But at the same time, how could you pretend not to long for it, knowing that you he wants it just as bad as you? 

  “So what do you say, Miss May?”

 “That I’m not particularly fond of rhyming,” you quip, earning yourself a laugh from him as well. “But yeah, deal’s a deal,” your eyes travel down to where your bodies meet, Roger’s arms still securely around you. “Maybe we should…”

 “Yeah,” Roger agrees, but is slow to peel himself from you. You both sigh at the loss of contact, but are both smiling sheepishly at one another. Because even though your little love affair only lasted less than twenty-four hours, it was a damn good one.

***

part 3 // part 4 // masterlist

permanent taglist: @im-a-sheerheartattack, @queenbbarnes, @dreamerofzaldrizes, @idontbelievethiss, @sheridans-dynamos, @perriwiinkle, @culturefiendtrashqueen, @fangirlcore, @fatbottomedboi, @b-hardys, @alessandra-elle, @vee-ndetta, @getagriponmyboyracerrollbar, @anaaronescu-blog

sister taglist: @virtualsheepeat, @ohmygoditsanthonyedwardstark, @everybodyplaythegame, @jennyggggrrr, @obsessedwithrogertaylor, @captain--americanna

#roger taylor x reader #roger taylor imagine #roger taylor blurb #roger taylor fic #roger taylor fluff #ben hardy!roger x reader #ben hardy fluff #ben hardy x reader #ben hardy #roger taylor #roger taylor angst #ben hardy angst #brian may #queen fics #borhap #sister #requests #apseventy

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

Caramel Skin Under A Vanilla Sky - part 7

The Telula Day was not what Keith expected. Lance had been out cold when the massive ship suddenly appeared, seemingly shaking the Earth around them and sending Keith into panic mode as he had no idea that they weren't hostile due to Lance being conveniently unconscious when he needed him. Needless to say, his first impressions of Lance's new team wasn't exactly great. They thought he'd caused the damage to Lance's ship, while Keith thought they'd down the same and come to finished the job. Kosmo proved himself smarter than all of them, as they continued to bicker over how they were both there for Lance's sake while not listening to each other, by teleporting outside the door of Keith's ship with a barely conscious Lance leaning against him. Waving at his team, the strangers joyously cried out for "Leandro", leaving Keith to be pushed to the background. He'd barely done anything other than save Lance's life, then cared for him while he'd been come down sick with fever that morning... no big deal or anything at all. Lance, who couldn't even be bothered to cooperate when Keith had wiped his sweat soaked body down, was acting like he hadn't thrown his guts up and spent most of the day rambling to himself in broken Spanish. Having left his crush to cool down the previous night, after the small incident in the cockpit of his ship, Keith changed his tactics, pulling out an assortment of rations Hunk had bestowed upon him. Lance was ending his call to his team, plastering a smile on his face as he apologised for his moodiness. The conversation following had been awkward and slow, Lance not his usual self as barely three words came out at a time before all chance of actually talking was interrupted by Krolia demanding to know why his tracker signal had suddenly gone offline. Explaining it was his mother, Lance had waved him out the room to continue the conversation in private. Not that it was a real conversation. It was his mother insisting on knowing how his tracking system could suddenly go offline and not buying his lie that he'd been distracted by an over enthusiastic Kosmo. Swearing black and blue that he was perfectly fine, not in trouble, and not courting danger in any form, half a vargas had still passed by the time he was finally freed from the call. Lance had drifted off by the time he got off the call, not surprising given he was probably coming down off his painkiller induced high. Clearing away Lance's barely picked at meal, Keith went about pulling up the blankets, shifting Lance into a more comfortable position as he did. The way Lance mumbled in his sleep as he sought his hand felt oddly domestic in a way that made him smile. Things might be shaky between them. Lance might be hiding a hundred and one things, but when he slept he looked so peaceful that none of that seemed to matter anymore. Furthermore, he'd reached for him. He couldn't leave him when he was being that vulnerable. Throwing caution to the wind, and leaving Kosmo to finish Lance's dinner, Keith slid under the covers with Lance. Pulling the gorgeous Cuban closer, he rested Lance's head on his chest. Knowing he was flirting with fire, Keith couldn't help himself as he breathed in Lance's soft sea salt scent, face buried in his short chocolate locks as his own body relaxed beneath the comforting weight. It wasn't like they'd never shared a bed before, yet this felt different. Lance curled into him, hand clutching Keith's loosely as he mumbled softly. That was the Lance he knew. Lance who didn't know how to shut up. Mumbling slightly louder in his sleep, Keith's heart broke a little more as his ears caught what he wasn't supposed to hear "I'll be good. No more... I'll be good...". Whatever had happened to Lance they'd get through together. Provided Lance finally let him in. Maybe when his "team" arrived, Lance would be willing talk more, or come morning they'd be so close that Lance wouldn't be able to run from him anymore. The following morning was a tangle of limbs and flurry of action as Lance half vaulted over him before throwing up spectacularly over the bedroom floor as he tripped on his own feet. The sound of Lance's knees smacking against the ship floor was loud enough for Keith to cringe. Climbing from the bed up at a much lower speed, Keith caught Lance as he slumped sideways his whole body burning in the half-Galra's hold. Groaning in pain, Lance's blue eyes fluttered open as his Altean marks pulsed for in and out of view. For some reason the smell of juniper berries seemed to swirl around them as their eyes met "Another bonding moment?" Keith nodded forcing a slight smile for Lance's sake as his palm went to sweaty forehead. Vomiting and fever could both be signs of internal bleeding, or an infection... but Lance seemed too far out of it for Keith to ask how pained he was or where. He'd cleaned and dressed all of Lance's wounds that he could see... but with no way of knowing how long Lance had been trapped infection could have set in before he got to his friend "I thought you didn't remember the first one?" Slurring his words, Lance shot him an opened mouth grin of sorts "I don't... and I don't think I'm going to remember this one either... I think I'm sick" Stroking Lance's hair back from his forehead, Lance sighed into his touch as he sought out the coolness of Keith's large hand "Yeah buddy, I think you might be too. You've got a pretty bad fever here, and your marks are showing" With a trembling hand Lance moved to trace his mark on the left side, his already ragged breathing turning into a soft sob "Don't... don't look... don't look at them" "Why not?" "A-Allura..." Allura? Did he think Keith was Allura? Or did Lance not want him to think of Allura when he saw his marks? "She's not here. It's you, me, Kosmo. How about we get you back into bed?" "... don't look at me... Don't... wrong... I'm wrong... Allura... Allura... don't... touch me..." Slurring out the end of his rambling, Lance turned to mumbling random words that made no sense. Too far out of it to take care of himself, Keith tilted him up to wipe a thin trail of drooley vomit from his chin before pressing a kiss to Lance's forehead. Everything Lance did was far too extreme for his heart to keep up, yet he wouldn't have him any other way. Lifting his friend from the floor, he laid him back down on the bed pausing to watch those stupid flickering blue marks. The interval of the pulsing of Lance's marks slowly growing slower until they remained upon his cheeks. It was like a constant reminder that Lance had loved and lost. Those stupid marks were nothing but a cruel burden she'd saddled Lance with for life. * When Lance had said he had a team, Keith had thought maybe two people... three on the very outer, and a ship the size of Black lion. He was very much wrong on all accounts. The Telula Day was easily the size of Voltron when formed, probably twice over when width was included, and it seemed to be Lance's pride and joy once everyone had settled down enough to make it inside the larger ship. Teleporting Lance to his side, the former Red Paladin's team seemed shocked as Keith lifted Lance into his hold. Keith not really thinking anything of it until after Lance was laying in the Telula Day's med bay with a drip in his arm. Each of Lance's team members had seemed ready to rush to the man to hug him at their reunion, yet none of them had moved to touch him. Like it was some kind of unwritten rule. Even the alien woman who'd inserted the drip into Lance's arm had done the absolute bare minimum when it came to touching. She seemed genuinely confused, and maybe a little hurt, that Lance had reached for Keith's hand after he'd laid him on the examination table, despite not being conscious. Keith still holding his hand as a warm yellow light bathed his unconscious friend while said woman looked on. It may have only been doboshes, but it didn't make it feel any less than an eternity as he prayed to whoever was out there that Lance would wake up soon. The few extremely long moments of peace between the four them, Kosmo included, was shattered by a man rushing into the medbay, his eyes widening at the sight of Keith holding Lance's hand as he stumbled to a stop "Who the Quiznak is this?!" Despite the question being directed at Keith, Keith ignored it for the time being. His mind recalling that it was the same strange alien who'd been at Lance's side after he'd sedated the two Galra and had them removed from his room on Erathus "This is Keith. The former Black Paladin of Voltron" So she knew who he was. And the stranger should too given they'd briefly met... but was anyone going to clue him in? "I know that. I mean, what is he doing, Daehra?" The woman must be named Daehra, as she sighed at the man like she was far too familiar with his shit. His tone alone was enough to set Keith on edge to the point he felt the weird sensation to bare his teeth as he growled softly "Leandro reached for his hand. He was the one who carried him into the ship when he collapsed" "For all we know, he's the reason Leandro was hurt" "Lucteal. Leandro contacted us. He told us to rendezvous with him here. It was you who perceived Keith's ship as a threat and caused that scene. Think of how Leandro will feel knowing what nearly happened" Lucteal could Quiznak the hell off. Keith wasn't sure why, but he was certain that the stranger was far too close to Lance for his heart's liking. And there was that name "Leandro" again. Now that this whole team dynamic was in the picture, Keith could only assume it was his code name... but why did Lance need a code name? All their faces had been splashed across the universe. Everyone knew them by name... So having a code name for Lance seemed kind of... pointless? "I was thinking of him. You know as well as I that he doesn't care for physical contact. Yet he sits there holding his hand!" "Lucteal, it was Leandro's choice. Please. They're old friends from long before we met him" "You both realise I am right here?" Jealousy drove the words from Keith's mouth as Lucteal moved to the other side of the examination table. The strangers hand hovering as if he wished to take Lance's other hand in his, before awkwardly moving to rest on the thin blanket beneath Lance instead "I am sorry former Black Paladin. And I am sorry you were met with hostility. I don't know whether or not you know but there have recently been incidents that have lead to... unfavourable conditions for the team. As such, we are operating on heightened security. For Leandro to first leave Erathus, then to have been in a crash is an issue that troubles all of us. I am Daehra, this is my brother Lucteal. He is the closest to Leandro and cares very deeply for him. All those upon the Telula care deeply for Leandro. He brought us all together, and now leads our team" It wasn't surprising for Lance to be in a leadership role. Before Allura had died, Lance had seemed to shed his past worries of worthlessness. Proving himself invaluable again and again. Looking back to Lance's flushed face, Keith squeezed his hand in silent support "We didn't have a chance to talk after the crash. Not about everything happening, or what led to it..." "You led to it. Your interference on Erathus meant he had to leave. He took the punishment for your actions and it nearly led to his death but you wouldn't care about such a thing would you? You would simply use him up and throw him away. I've heard about you Black Paladin. I've heard what you've done. I won't let you come here and force him back into a situation like..." "Lucteal! That's enough. He cared for Leandro after the crash..." "A crash that wouldn't have happened if he didn't decide he needed to hack the clubs security! What happened to Lance is on his shoulders!" "Leandro wouldn't like you using that name. You know that he likes to keep his work life and personal life seperate" "Daehra! You know what they did to him! How can you..." "Will you both stop fighting?" Groaning as he shielded his eyes from the light above the table, Lance brought the argument to an end before Keith could learn anything further. Ignoring the way Lucteal glared daggers at him, Keith rose to his feet in order to cover more of the light blinding Lance "Hey, Sleeping Beauty. It's about time you woke up" Giving a dopey smile, Keith's heart skipped a beat at Lance's genuine affection "You know me... gotta get my beauty sleep" Lucteal let out a huff as he crossed his arms, Keith smug in the knowledge he'd cut off whatever the man was mentally planning upon Lance's waking "I do. I remember quite a few late mornings because of it. How do you feel?" "Like I got hit by a lion" "Daehra here, has only just started her scans. Do you remember them landing?" "I remember yelling... and you yelling. There was a lot of yelling... Aunty Em" "Then you remember everything" Letting his hand drop away, Lance's eyes were glassy as they sought out Keith's "Great. Guys, this is Keith. Keith... these are the guys. Keith's a friend. Keith, these guys are friends..." "We did the introductions while you sleep. How do you feel?" "I'm fine. Daehra rivals Coran on weird medical knowledge. I bet she could even cure his slipperies" Coran with the slipperies was not something he ever wanted to experience again... once had just... no "That's good. You still need to rest. You could have internal bleeding" "Awww. You worried, Mullet?" "Yes" Lance's cheeks reddened slightly further with a blush meant only for him "You're making it all sappy. Aren't you supposed to play it cool?" "I seem to lose all my cool when it comes to you" Lance rolled his eyes at him. Quiznak. He'd missed all this... "Cough. Cough. Gay" "You know it" Groaning at him, Keith was enjoying riling Lance up. He definitely preferred Lance awake and confined to bed, when compared to continually attempting to do things while drifting in and out "God. Remind me why I'm doing you a favour again?" "Because Guile is missing? And you missed me?" "Maybe... Lucteal. We're headed to sector 15. We need to bypass 31 and 47. 19 is kind of dicey, but if we don't fire first we should be fine" Lucteal lit up as he leaned down to invade Keith's space. He was clearly smitten by Lance, leaving Keith wondering where the nearest airlock was. It wouldn't be that hard to make it look like an accident. No, he shouldn't make assumptions until it was confirmed "You were scheduled to pass through 19, instead you went and got yourself in a damn fight again in 22. You know you're not supposed to take on trade ships without support" "I didn't mean to. They recognised my pod from that job we did on Baihzyl. I'm lucky Keith was at the meet early" Ending his sentence with a cough, Lance spluttered hard enough to choke on his own spit "Sit him up" Keith didn't need Daehra to tell him what he already knew. Lance's wet coughs sent a shiver of fear down his spine in fear the infection could have spread to his lungs. Lance waved both he and Lucteal off as he pushed himself up "He has cracked ribs, but the scanner isn't picking up internal bleeding. Despite the impact taken across the lower abdomen. The infection is radiating from his left leg laceration. Severe spraining of the right ankle, no dislocation shown. The medication is stimulating..." "Daehra. I get it" Coughing out the words, Lance winced as he did. Keith tempted to smack him for being so stubborn over it all, and then smack him again for hiding his symptoms with his own personal drug supply "Good. You will be free to move once the drip line has finished. That means no sneaking out of my medway in the mean time" Laughing and coughing, Lance wound up groaning miserably as Daehra left her scanner to move to the end of the examination bed "It's medbay. You're gonna make Keith think I've been teaching you all the wrong words. Why don't you show him around? Or at least to somewhere he can shower and call his mother" "Leandro..." "I'm ok, Dae. Take Luc too. Also assign Keith to BBK on the board and scramble the comms. We can't sit here and we're not fit for a fight. The grav hooks should have connected with Keith's ship by now? If not see to it. My pod's wrecked. Have Zak burn it. Anything that survived was collected by Keith" Daehra didn't argue. Keith wanted too, but was torn. A tour of the ship might lead to an explanation of what was going on, but leaving a vulnerable Lance alone was fucking with everything that made him him. Especially when Lance was still coughing up a storm "I know that look. Leandro often wears the same one. No harm will come to him. Your wolf may stay if that will help ease your worries" "Daehra, we can't just show the prince of Daibazaal our ship. What's to stop him from..." "Lucteal, Leandro trusts him. We owe him a debt we can never hope to repay. So please, brother, let us listen to his wishes. Keith, would you please join us?" "Are you sure you're going to be ok?" Rolling his eyes at him, Lance seemed annoyed. Whatever Lance was up to was most definitely not a bodyguard or security guard kind of job... if anything, he was starting to sound more like some kind of space pirate which was almost laughable if he hadn't seen with his own eyes that Lance was a chronic drug user and most certainly not the friend he'd left on Earth "I'll be fine. I've survived this long without Voltron and Shiro swooping in to magically clean up my mess. Call Krolia and let her know you'll be out of contact for the next movement. We can't make or receive calls where we're going. Magnetic fields fuck with the comms" His mother wouldn't like it. She'd probably already called Shiro to enquire about his every move on the Atlas. He really wouldn't be surprised if Axca showed up with Ezor and Zethrid in tow to bring him back home right about now, or if they were placing the pieces of everything together on their own... "Alright. Thank you. Kosmo, you stay with Lance. You heard Daehra. No letting Lance boss you around because you love him too much" Kosmo looked insulted, though they both knew he was a giant push over. He was supposed to have supervised Lance back on their ship, yet Kosmo had let him do whatever he'd wanted because he'd missed Lance "It's for his own good. If he tries to leave, come get me" Ruffling between Kosmo's ears, his wolf yipped. The traitor was probably already forgetting everything Keith had said in favour for pats from Lance. The pair of them were loveable idiots that drove him crazy, yet he couldn't do without. The fact Lance had been hiding cracked ribs weighed heavily on Keith as he hesitantly followed Daehra from the med bay, Lucteal following after the pair then taking off immediately. Shaking her head at her brother's retreating figure, Daehra sighed softly "I'm sorry. He... takes time to trust. Our species is... a little different. We tend to smell, sense, and feel things people may wish we don't. That's tethered him to Leandro's side, and blinds him to his own foolishness. Let me officially welcome you to the "Telula Day". Leandro named her after we captured her in a skirmish out of sector 6. Normally no one would risk the asteroid belt there, but Leandro..." That sounded just like Lance. Lance "The Tailor" who could thread any needle... Quiznak... that took him back... "He isn't exactly "normal", but that's what makes him special" Daehra smiled prettily, her demeanour picking up as she seem d to realise he wasn't about to bite her head off for making a joke "Yes. But he brought us together. Here, I will show you to your quarters first. The only spare rooms we have are on the same floor as Leandro's. Normally they're used for storage as he likes his space... but you are his personal guest..." Pausing in his stride, Keith was starting to believe this was some kind of alternate reality. Lance didn't like being touched. He didn't like people around him or in his space. He wasn't acting like the loveable goof he was... "Can I ask you a question...?" "You want to know what's going on? Leandro has not explained anything to you, has he? Not about his job or what we do?" Scratching the back of his head, Keith wondered if mind reading was part of Daehra's racial skills "Exactly" "We will walk and talk. You see, Leandro came into our lives around 3 phoebs ago. The daughter of the ruling family of our home planet had been taken. Lucteal and I had devised a plan to retrieve her, but Leandro was already mid mission to free her and the others. He saved her by taking her place, allowing us to take her safety. We couldn't leave him. So when it was over, we took him from that place. Since then, we've followed him. He... cares far more than others than himself" And now there were more questions... That... sounded ominous "He took her place?" "That's not my story to tell. Leandro's job is tough, but necessary. He had been hurt so badly before, but he has never looked as happy as he does when he looks at you" Daehra had said she'd give him answers, Keith wasn't sure he had answers to anything. Lance has traded himself to save another princess? He was drugging himself up like crazy. Not wanting to be touched. Insisting on keeping his personal life personal... And was happy to see him? He'd been a horrible friend who'd neglected him "What is that he does?" "He's what you would call a Bounty Hunter? That's the term he used? Your language was hard to learn. We intercept supplies and appropriate them? I'm sorry. We don't generally explain our jobs. We have 3 Bounty Hunters, and try to facilitate all hunts from here. Leandro wished to bring everyone together to make missions easier, and to prevent us killing each other trying to take down the same bounty. Not everyone agreed, we... had a few close calls. With those he's black listed? You humans have so many words" Keith was momentarily floored. Yes, the Atlas did what they could to keep the peace. Yes, the Blades did to... but there was always rules to this sort of thing. A facade they had to show the public. By being a "Bounty Hunter" Lance was walking a line neither faction could. He could help those smaller people who had worries that others would overstep, and it explained the drugging of both Galra in his room then handing them over to the police... It explained a lot of things... but not the most important thing of all, who'd hurt Lance? He wanted to smile out of pride over his friends life choice to help those he could, yet wanted to scream blue murder and demand to know every moment of Lance being hurt in order to slaughter them. Taking a breath, he calmed himself back down. His rage wasn't with Daehra, but himself for not being by Lance's side for all of this. He should have made the time. He should have pushed harder. Made his feelings known... then maybe... "I... didn't know" Daehra nodded, placing her hand on Keith's arm "That much was obvious. He will be fine. You aren't responsible for the infection forming. The wound care you applied to his scalp should result in minimal scarring. Once the drip has run clean he'll be back on his feet" "So soon?" "Leandro heals fast... Is that not common with your species?" Right. He didn't need to frown for her to know he mentally was, Daehra echoing the internal response on her face "No. Not usually. His injuries would keep him on very light duty and bed rest for the next movement or so. Without the use of an Altean Healing Pod" "A movement? Leandro has never been down for a moment before..." Everyone needs rest. It was something that Lance had drummed into him... All of this was wrong... "No. There was once. He was down for his cycle, but we sorted that out with some fine tuning. He knows he must take his medication and monitor his body carefully" "You drugged him?!" Keith's anger caused Daehra to reel back, her hands up as if surrendering "No! Not like that! Please. He asked for something to help remove his marks!" "His marks?" "Yes. You saw them, those blue marks. He hates those more than anything on his body. Maybe more than himself..." Lance had struggled with his marks at first, but he'd thought he'd made peace with them and what they meant "Did he say why?" "Only that it was a reminder he came back wrong and would never be the person he once was. Lucteal would know more. He's been there for him at his lows. He wouldn't be happy to know that I you, but he's fighting something alone that none of us have been allowed to see. He really looks up to you. Your who he talks of most when asked over Voltron. You're really quite popular with some planets in our routes" "I am?" "Yes. The "Handsome Black Paladin"" "Are you sure they don't mean Shiro?" "Shiro? Oh. Your white haired commander. No. Not him. Leandro designated him "Silver Fox", though I don't know what that means" Keith let out an overly loud snort. Shiro wouldn't be happy to be accepting the title "Silver Fox" so young. Daehra stopped walking in order to stare at him. For an alien who'd only been learning their language an assumedly short time, she was really quite fluid. Though he didn't know if she really needed to know what "Silver Fox" meant "It's an Earth term for someone older than you" "So you would be a "Silver Fox"? As you're older than Leandro" Damned if he hadn't walked into that one. It sobered him up in a heartbeat "Not quite. Anyway, how much further until we reach the guest quarters?" Daehra didn't look pleased that she didn't get the answer she wanted, yet started walking again "They are at the back of the ship. Near the rear thrusters. He says he likes the noise" "The noise?" "Yes. You will see" * Keith had had his fair share of trips on noisy ships, but as to why Lance would choose to sleep so close the rear thrusters had no logical explanation. The sound wasn't harsh as such, just a constant kind of dull buzzing that seemed inclined to be headache inducing when exposed to prolonged exposure, and counter intuitive to sleep. The only time the noise was interrupted when was when a loud rattling thud from the pipes in the walls surrounding the small rooms that could barely be called guest quarters as if trying to burst through the walls to be fed. The cherry on top of the lacklustre quarters was the fact they were only reachable by a rather shaky gangway that swayed alarmingly under each step. Lance clearly didn't want any visitors near his end of the ship. Not at all like the Paladin who couldn't sleep in his own room when no one was close. Though that may have been because the castle could feel like a graveyard in the lonely morning hours. Or at least it'd felt that way to Keith during the nights that his insomnia had decided he didn't need to function the following morning. Still, that loneliness could be remedied by sleeping closer to the team quarters. From the quarters they moved back towards the medbay, taking a set of stairs up that were only accessible once activated by a positive reading on a the palm scanner, rather continuing straight forward to the medbay. Otherwise they moulded into the wall so seamlessly that Keith was impressed. The Telula was past her prime days, but he could see why Lance was so fond of her. She was still running despite her age, and short comings. Others may have scrapped her, yet Lance would have seen the beauty in her. He was always like that, looking past what everyone else could see. Following Daehra up to the bridge of the Telula, Keith found himself very nearly gaping. Across the back "wall" of the area was large older styled map. Various coloured dots flashing seemed to align with a handwritten table pinned to the right of the map. The Atlas. Keith's ship. Krolia and Kolivan. They topped the table list as "Allies not to be approached". Under came a series of abbreviations that could only be Lance's code names for everyone "It's impressive, isn't it? Leandro likes everything organised. You are going up there too while you are travelling with us. BBK" "I'm on the board?" "We all are. If there is a crash or an incident we need to know who is here. Lea is obviously him. Lucteal is under "Electric", as your Earth has something called an "Electric Eel". I'm under "Star", as..." "The sun is a star, and the sun is out during the day?" The words came out in a mumble, Keith impressed that everything was so very Lance. His friend was right there on the board... meaning Lance was still in there somewhere "Yes! He said you were incredibly intelligent, even when you didn't give yourself enough credit. But I must admit, I am not too sure on "BBK"" "I'm not too sure either. "K" for Keith... "BP" would be "Black Paladin", not "BB"" Daehra deflated, Keith sure she was going to continue nutting this out "Ah, well. Perhaps he will inform us. You'll have a code name on here, but then be referred to something different in the field. Leandro... There was an incident. You have bad timing in that respect. None the less, "BBK". I'll list you under an agent. You'll be travelling with us for the next few movements" Right. Wait. Movements? Lance said movement...? He'd barely had Lance back in his life for two and that had been murder on his poor heart. How was he supposed to survive movements on a ship with all of these questions and unspoken whatever it was between them? "Travelling where? He said we need his clearance or something?" "It's an outer prison satellite. It's where the police from Erathus have their criminals transferred to..." Keith and satellites didn't get along together too well. No wonder Lance hadn't told him. He probably thought Keith was run for the hills if he knew "... the prisoners are held in status until their trial dates, unless their clear involvement has been proven. After that, they are either sentenced to hard labour on mining planets, or ethically euthanised. The later has been slowly phased out in favour for simply leaving them in status. Yet to access the facility you need someone affiliated with the police system. Still. It is going to be quite a trip out there. Lucteal will more than likely attempt to drive you from Leandro's side. Since... well..." Keith's heart began to race again, needing confirmation that it'd all amount to personal jealousy and nothing racial "Since he's in love with him?" "Ahh. Yes. You could say that. No. I was going to say we recently had an incident where one of comrades attempted to double cross us. I believe you were actually on a call to him at the time. Leandro was shot, Lucteal took it hard. He blamed himself, and hasn't settled since" "He was shot?!" Why was he only now hearing about this?! His angry growl brought the bridge to silence. The conversation between the 5 team members there had already dipped since they entered "Keith. Please. He is healed. Leandro knows what he's doing" "He was shot! I'm going to strangle him" Daehra grabbed his arm, looking alarmed "It's a joke. An Earth joke. He would laugh if I said such in front of him" Replaying his words in his mind, Keith sighed to himself. Daehra was wearing off on him, as was the adrenaline that came with being "attacked" by these strangers. He wanted to grab Lance by the hand, drag him down to his quarters and curl up with him where they wouldn't be bothered by anyone "You Earth creatures are rather strange. We are all prepared to do everything we can to protect him. Such jokes are best left between you and him" Alright then. Message received. No jokes over Lance's health and wellbeing, no matter what... "Understood. How long before he's up and moving around?" "Within the next varga to two. I can sense you are anxious to return to him, but before you do we need to add you into our system, or you will not be able to access most of the ship" "Thank you. After that, I need to contact my mother" "Yes. No offence to your ruling mother and your Kolivan, but Galra ships still make a lot of us nervous. Lance assures us that she and Kolivan are not likely to attack..." "Not on purpose. We all know the Galra empire has been cruel for thousands of years and that those scars won't fade so easily" "Thank you for understanding. Leandro said you would. But words are just words. It is actions that count. Let us get you set up. I'll allow Leandro to give the rest of the tour. It is not much, but you are welcome to what we have" "Thank you, Daehra. I have some food provisions on my ship that were given to my by the former Yellow Paladin. I can have Kosmo go collect them if you're running low?" "I shall keep that in mind. Leandro is the only one here with any culinary skills, but it is hard to flavour ration packs. Some variety may be nice" "I'll send Kosmo once I've checked back in with Lance. Hunk tends to over cater for everything, so there'll be plenty for everyone" Daehra's cheeks dusted pink, before she coughed to clear her throat "Yes. Well. Yes. Let's get you onto our system" Keith was no expert in women or love, but the look Daehra gave him as they moved over to where a team member was typing away left him wondering if the strange alien women had developed the slightest of a crush on him... He couldn't help it if she had good taste, but she knew damn well he was in love with Lance, so how the quiznak was he supposed to handle whatever this was. He needed Lance. He needed him up and moving so he could fall behind and let Lance lead him wherever they were going, even if it turned out to be the very pits of hell.

[gemvictorfromtheponyverse]

Love at First Lizard Chapter 2

Finally! Chapter 2 of mine and wonderful @green-love-paternoster gay masterpiece!

Chapter 1 of this Vastra/Jenny Vet AU can be found here: https://gemvictorfromtheponyverse.tumblr.com/post/159010298794/love-at-first-lizard-chapter-one

Credit goes to always lovely @kelticscribe for helping with the Scottish translations in this chapter! ❤

And as promised, here is Chapter 2:

The clock on the kitchen wall indicated that it was currently 8:30 in the morning. Vastra stood there leaning forward on the kitchen counter, already dressed in her regular casual weekend attire, consisting of a simple short-sleeved white button-up shirt, faded gray skinny jeans that accentuated the fine shapely curves of her legs, and black calf-length leather boots. Her favorite studded black leather jacket and plaid scarf were both hung on the back of a nearby chair.

A cold, half-empty cup of green tea was laid on the table beside Vastra’s green, purple, and yellow motorcycle helmet, adorned with three large reptilian-like crests that protruded from the surface. The cup was labeled with the words, “Looney Lizard Lady”, written in a swirly childish font; It had been a gift from her friend and fellow veterinarian, John Smith, at a company Christmas party two years ago. While Vastra had outwardly rolled her eyes at his constant teasing about her so-called affinity with reptiles, she was nonetheless genuinely grateful for his friendship.

It was an extremely rare phenomenon to see the anti-morning Scottish woman awake so early on a Sunday morning when she had no work, yet here she was anyway, nervously fumbling with her phone as she stared at a certain number glowing on her contact list. Strangely enough, she hasn’t been able to sleep properly within the past five days and deep down inside her mind, she knew that it had something to do with a particular young girl whose pet lizard she helped to treat several days prior that week. Watching the girl–Jenny–leave the clinic, Vastra felt as if the whole weight of the world had come crashing down upon her, and she had to resist the urge to go running out after her. Ever since that fateful Wednesday, Vastra has found it to be utterly impossible to focus on anything else because of this accursed beautiful girl, who seemed to haunt her mind without any rest during her every waking hour. The powerful tingling sensation she had felt that day still lingered on her hand where Jenny touched it, an enduring reminder of the profound connection they had shared together. Vastra would mentally replay the episode of Jenny’s visit over and over again, allowing her to fully memorize all of Jenny’s physical details including her enchanting brown eyes, her blindingly bright smile, the little beauty mark located near her left upper lip, the lovely roundness of her face, and the way the light reflected brilliantly off of her dark brown hair. Never in her life did she thought that a creature so divinely magnificent and perfect could even exist on earth.To make matters worse, her infatuation with Jenny was actually the worst kept secret among her other co-workers at the clinic, who would often catch her daydreaming in her office with a spaced-out expression on her face. Whenever she heard someone come in through the front door, Vastra would immediately rush into the reception room with the hope that it was Jenny, only to be severely disappointed each time. It was as if the girl had somehow cast a spell on her, effectively captivating her entire body, heart, and soul, from which Vastra struggled strenuously to break free.Vastra tried her damn hardest to hide her feelings and act like everything was normal by being her usual condescendingly grumpy self, but she knew that it was a completely futile effort on her part. Nothing she do or say could stop John and Clara from continuing their bets and whispering gossips behind her back; For once, however, John and Clara also expressed a benign sense of pity towards Vastra, because they could clearly see just how much Jenny means to her. Although the two of them might be total assholes and drive Vastra crazy sometimes, they were still able to rally at their friend’s side whenever she needed some extra support.

The only small consolation was that Vastra had fortunately managed to get Jenny’s phone number before she left. She honestly had no idea what to do next with that information, which now led her to this present situation of contemplating the pros and cons of calling Jenny that Sunday. A flurry of doubts and contradictions swirled around in her mind: What if she’s busy? What if she doesn’t pick up? What if she thinks I’m a stalker? What if she secretly hates my guts? What if she changed her identity and fled the country???

Suddenly overwhelmed by all the negatively discouraging voices in her head, Vastra angrily shoved her phone away across the table before hiding her face behind her hands in utter exasperation. Vastra felt like a coward and a fool to think that she could just talk to Jenny when even the mere sound of her name was enough to give her a goddamn heart attack. The chances that Jenny would view Vastra as anything more than “the looney veterinarian lady who looked at my lizard”, nevermind sharing the same romantic feelings for her, was far less than one in a billion. Bloody hell, she doesn’t even know if Jenny swings that way for God’s sake! Therefore, it soon dawned on Vastra that perhaps she had made a terribly grave mistake in regards to this whole Jenny debacle.

Then unexpectedly, there was another voice that called out to Vastra from the very deep recesses of her subconsciousness. It sounded rather familiar, and as Vastra continued to concentrate on the voice, she eventually recognized it to be her father’s voice! Her father’s voice was trying to remind her of an important piece of advice that he once gave her long ago, when she was just a wee lass back in Scotland: Love works in mysterious ways, my darling daughter. The best thing to do is simply follow your heart and seize the opportunity right in front of you, lest you miss out on something that can grant you a lifetime of happiness.

Vastra couldn’t help the small, bittersweet smile that crept upon her lips; Good old Papa was still looking out for her even after all these years, she mused. Vastra’s father had always been an incredibly wise man, and she really didn’t want to disappoint him by letting this golden opportunity slip away so easily. Fueled by a newfound surge of fearlessness, Vastra quickly retrieved her phone and proceeded to hit the call button on her phone.This was it, there was no going back from here. The shallow rhythm of her breathing and incessant pounding of her heart filled Vastra’s ears, as she anxiously waited for Jenny to answer at any second. Her foot tapped vigorously along to the ringing tune playing on the other side of the line.

“Hello? Who am I talking to? Hold on” After a few moments, a tired sounding voice spoke up on the other side, falling quiet for a little while before picking up once more. “Sorry Miss McIntosh. Had to check the caller ID. So, how can I help you?” Vastra could almost hear Jenny smiling on the other line, waiting for an answer.

Vastra really hoped that the heavy, relieved sigh that escaped from between her lips wasn’t noticeable to Jenny on the other end of the line. Step one accomplished! God, how absolutely wonderful did it felt to finally hear the sweetly angelic music that was Jenny’s voice again.

The sheer fact that Jenny even picked up momentarily stunned Vastra, who started to speak but hesitated. Vastra had to rack her brain to find a valid response, and uncharacteristically stammered when she said, “Uhh…err…um….H-Hello, Miss Flint, yes it is I, Miss McIntosh, the vet from the clinic in case you don’t remember me. I was just calling you to ask if um….if you’re having a good morning today?”

Vastra’s entire face cringed as soon as she uttered those words. Ugh, you stupid, stupid idiot! Are you trying to make it sound so bloody fucking obvious?!

“Oh. Yes I am having a good morning. I’m sorry I was a little slow earlier, I’m normally an earlier riser. Unfortunately I have not been sleeping very well lately, so I’ve been trying to catch up on lost sleep when I’m not working weekends.” There was a short pause, and then Jenny spoke once more. “And you ? Are you having a good morning?”

“Splendid!” Replied Vastra, sounding a little too enthusiastic than she intended, causing her to wince yet again. Bloody hell, woman, pull yourself together already! “Errr, what I mean,um, is that it’s truly splendid to hear you are doing well this morning. Despite the fact that you’ve been unable to sleep much lately, of course, which I am sincerely sorry about. Although, I do appreciate your kindness in asking me how I am….my morning is also good, thank you. Dare I say, maybe even better now that I’ve finally managed to make your acquaintance.” Vastra unconsciously bit her lip, though she was barely able to prevent a silly, indulgent schoolgirl smile from breaking out across her face. She then realized that she had been rambling unnecessarily, and decided to quickly get on with business by saying, “Well then, Miss Flint, perhaps it would be best if I get straight to the point with you. It was my intention to call you this weekend to ask about Greeny, and I just wanted to be sure that I got the right number. So, how is Greeny faring since your visit to the clinic?”

“Oh, Greeny. Yes…my pet lizard…” Once more Jenny trailed off, before quickly picking up again. “Yes. Sorry, tired. Me brain is being stupid. Greeny is doing better than ever. Your tips about the heat lamp was just what Greeny needed, it seems. I haven’t had time to pick up any more plants for him but it’s definitely on my to-do list. If you want to….and only if you want to….then maybe you could come over and see for yourself?”

Vastra very nearly dropped her phone when Jenny said that, and her hand instinctively tightened its grip on the phone with enough force to break it in half.

“P-Pardon?” Gasped a highly bewildered Vastra, who felt her pulse rate increased dramatically due to the shock caused by Jenny’s words. “Can you repeat that, please?”

Vastra was entirely convinced that her ears must be deceiving her, as she believed that there was no possible way Jenny could have mean what she thought she meant.

“Uh…I just…maybe it was stupid. I understand if you’re too busy and everything, but I just thought maybe you’d like to come over and see how Greeny is doing?” Jenny stumbled over her words and Vastra couldn’t help but think she sounded almost hopeful.

It took a while for Jenny’s words to sink into Vastra’s brain, leading her to reply with,“Oh….Oh! Please forgive my uh confusion, Miss Flint, it’s just that no client has ever invited me to their home like that before. Though if you insist, I suppose that I can make time in my schedule to come over and check on Greeny. You’re lucky that I don’t have to work on Sundays.” Vastra silently pumped her fist in the air at how well she handled that response. Her glee was short lived, nonetheless, for she then realized that she have absolutely no knowledge about Jenny’s place of residence. “Err….however, I’m afraid that I don’t have a single idea as to where you live. An address would be most helpful, if you are willing to provide me with one.”

“Oh…uh…yes I’m sorry if it’s a bother. I normally work on Sundays, but today I don’t, so I thought it’d be a good idea. Greeny could benefit from it, and I’d know that he really is doing better.” She paused to catch her breath.. “Oh! And my address, it’s 222 Great Portland Street, the Armitage Apartment buildings. It’s close to Hyde Park near the River Thames.”

Meanwhile, Vastra had ran to her bedroom drawer and frantically searched around for a notepad and pen. She carefully wrote down the address as Jenny spoke before reassuring her,“Trust me, Miss Flint, this is honestly no trouble to me at all whatsoever. In fact…,”Vastra paused to consult the watch on her wrist, “…would it be okay with you if I come over now, since I am free this morning?”

“Oh yes…absolutely.” Jenny sounded just the tiniest bit hesitant as she spoke. “I’m just fixing some things in my apartment, but you can come over whenever.”

“Excellent! I shall indeed be there shortly, Miss Flint. It’s been a real pleasure talking to you again….goodbye for now!” Thus, with that final farewell, Vastra abruptly hung up the call.

Vastra tucked her phone away into her jean pocket and leaned heavily against the drawer at her back as she tried to regain her breath after talking with Jenny. That phone call could have been a huge utter disaster, but miraculously she was somehow able to pull it off…..albeit barely. God knows that every inch of her body was on fire the entire time, and she felt as though her heart was going to burst out of her chest just from that one simple interaction. Never in her wildest dreams did she ever expected Jenny to suggest that she make a personal visit to her actual home . Damn it, if she can’t even handle a little phone call with Jenny, then how the hell will she be capable of physically seeing the girl face-to-face at her home without totally self destructing on the spot! She was going to fuck up so badly in front of Jenny for sure, and the thought of that really frightened her more than anything. Vastra was beginning to consider potential excuses that she can use in order to not go, but all of them instantly disappeared when she caught sight of Jenny’s address that she had written on a notepad. Her eyebrows became scrunched upon her forehead and she bit her lip, a wave of guilt washing over her as she knew that Jenny was looking forward to their meeting later. Vastra soon found herself painfully torn between growing a spine and going to Jenny’s home anyways despite the risks, or breaking her promise to Jenny like a lily-livered chicken; She wanted to cry out in frustration due to the raging internal conflict that was threatening to effectively tear her apart. Why must this godforsaken girl suddenly walk into her life and completely complicate everything! It was during this dark hour, that salvation then came to Vastra in the form of her father’s disembodied voice once again.

…..Follow your heart and seize the opportunity right in front of you…..

Those words ignited a fiery spark of courage within Vastra’s heart, as she became firmly determined to seize the opportunity right in front of her, just like her father had taught her. Life was too short to waste on worrying over frivolous doubts, and this could be her only chance of at least starting something deeper with Jenny. She would never be able to forgive herself if she had simply let her fears scare her out of pursuing a relationship that could change her life forever. Deciding that there was no time to lose, Vastra immediately went to grab her leather jacket, scarf, motorcycle helmet, and keys, before exiting her house to approach the motorcycle parked beside the sidewalk. Her resolve was strong as steel and absolutely nothing could break it now. The Scottish woman could soon be seen zooming down the street, as she was embarked on a personally sacred mission to heal a lizard and get the girl.

—-

Hanging up the phone, Jenny felt as though she could hardly breath. She couldn’t believe that she just had invited her pet lizard’s extremely hot veterinarian to come into her home and take a look at said lizard. In her home , where she could observe all of her attractive Scottish glory. Even though she hoped she had sounded collected on the phone, calm and collected was the last thing she was feeling, and she was quite sure that she would explode from pure, untempered desire lest she moved right that minute. She had to get her apartment ready and properly presentable for Vastra, because a good first impression was extremely crucial in this situation.

Quickly, she got up on her feet, trying to gather everything that was out of place and putting them back as sufficiently as she could while still keeping some efficiency. She had been meaning to spend the day cleaning up the apartment anyway, because she hated when it got too dirty, but now she only had an hour, two at most, to do a day’s worth of work. Fortunately, if there was anything Jenny could do adequately, it was cleaning. Her first priority were the tea cups;She searched out all the abandoned tea cups in the house, picking them up from bookshelves and the coffee table and the floor, everywhere she’d abandoned them, before carrying them to the dishwasher, and putting them in there until it was filled.

When she was done with the cups, the books came next. As much as Jenny liked to drink tea, she also enjoyed reading, and therefor, there were books laying everywhere as well. With the speed of a seasoned professional, she picked up one paperback after another, gathering them in her arms and lining them back in the bookshelves. She made sure they were put back in a correctly organized order, and once she was done, she smiled at her handiwork.

Cleaning her apartment always felt great, and it was even better now that she’d done it in record time, too. More importantly, it felt reassuring to know that Vastra would be coming into a clean, neatly organised apartment. Standing there, looking at her beautifully spotless apartment, she suddenly wondered what she should do next. Lifting her arm a little, she caught onto how much her armpit smelled, and decided that she definitely need to take a shower next. Just like her apartment couldn’t be dirty, she herself couldn’t be smelling like a trash can.

Swiftly, she made a beeline for the bathroom, plucking some new clothes out of the drawer with care as she once more thought about Vastra, the gorgeous veterinarian visiting her apartment later. Still completely immersed in her romantic daydreaming, she retrieved a short black skirt and cute white top that might be slightly too tight, before popping into the shower to make herself as clean and sweet smelling as possible.Ten minutes later, Jenny came out of the shower, a towel wrapped tightly around her freshly moist body as she made her way over to her bedroom to get dressed.

Passing by the window, she suddenly caught sight of someone coming down the road on a motorbike. The person driving the vehicle was wearing a frankly ridiculous looking helmet with some kind of lizard-like crests on the top in the most obtrusive colours. Jenny was absolutely positive that such a helmet could even be seen from all the way up in outer space!

Jenny was still laughing about the truly quite flamboyant headgear, when the mysterious rider, to Jenny’s great surprise, stopped outside her apartment. More interested than before, Jenny kept looking as the rider jumped off the motorcycle and removed the helmet and goggles, and….Jenny almost fainted dead in her towel as she then saw that it was Vastra who was the unknown rider. For God’s sake, why can’t this woman just give her a fucking break for once already!

Feeling suddenly panicked, heart caught in her throat as she tried to process the fact that Vastra had a motorcycle and a leather jacket, and was on her way up to her apartment, Jenny rushed to find her clothes and put them on. After blindly fumbling around, entirely unfocused, for at least five minutesl she finally got hold of the skirt and top and put them on, getting dressed just in time to hear the doorbell ringing out in the hallway. Not thinking about anything else but Vastra standing in a leather jacket outside her door, Jenny hurriedly ran across the apartment, almost ripping the door off its hinges in her rush to open it, just a little too excited finally see Vastra again.

Vastra stood in the hallway, hand raised as if she was about to knock on the door, and carrying a small plastic bag in her other hand. All of her earlier bravado seemingly vanished into thin air when she caught sight of Jenny after she had opened the door. She suddenly couldn’t breath as her eyes tried to refocus themselves on the mind-boggling vision that was Jenny, dressed in a form-fitting white tank top that revealed just the right amount of cleavage, a black mini skirt, and thick strands of dripping wet hair hanging down her head. Vastra could feel the lingering steam of the shower practically radiating off of Jenny’s body, which now floated towards her face, hitting her head-on like a sensually humid tropical breeze. Her lips were impossibly dry, prompting her to quickly lavish them with her tongue. Even though the temperature outside had been rather chilly, Vastra found herself getting increasingly hotter with every passing second that she remained staring at Jenny, and she was certain that she was going to end up spontaneously combusting anytime soon. Vastra also noticed the innocently welcoming smile that appeared on Jenny’s face, causing her to wonder if Jenny was somehow aware of the bewitching effects she had on her by wearing such an outfit. Her hair, her cleavage, her curves, her legs…..Jenny was clearly a walking embodiment of lustful temptation and poor, gay Vastra didn’t stood a chance against her. Goddamn it, just when she thought that she had everything under control, Jenny had to come along and throw one hell of a curveball at her! So utterly dumbstruck was Vastra, that she even forgot the words to speak and the ability to move her body. The only thing that her brain could think about was Jenny, who definitely was going to be the death of her as she knew it. Oh, what a strangely idyllic way to die that would be.

Jenny watched as Vastra stood before her, a tingling sensation gathering in her stomach as she admired the smooth, shiny leather encasing Vastra’s upper body. It was so different from what she had worn at the clinic, and Jenny found herself to be intrigued by this new side of Vastra that she wasn’t previously familiar with. She also had never seen anyone who looked that ravishing in a leather jacket, making the normal appeal of leather clothing even stronger. Still, she couldn’t help but let her mind wander a bit trying to imagine what she would look like underneath the smooth, shiny leather. She imagined hard muscles first, then she imagined spider thin, delicate limbs, and lastly she imagined what it might feel like to cup her hands around Vastra’s full round breasts, carefully squeezing the smooth flesh in her hands and enjoying Vastra’s reaction. Quickly dragging herself out of her fantasy, she realised that Vastra was still waiting for her to say something.

“Miss McIntosh!” She smiled, stepping out of the way so that Vastra could come inside. “Come in. It’s good to see that you could come so soon. I do hope it’s not a bother.”

There was no response from Vastra, who merely continued to stand there with a faraway expression fixed on her face.

“Uh, Miss McIntosh? Ma’am?” Carefully, Jenny prodded a finger into Vastra’s side, in an attempt to get her attention. “Are you alright?”

Her prodding seemed to work a little too well, as it startled Vastra and she began to blurt out, “I LOVE YO….oouuuuur wallpaper….that you have here, in your home!” Very narrowly dodging a bullet there, Vastra finally managed to reboot her legs and swiftly stepped into Jenny’s main living room.

Giving Vastra a slightly odd look, Jenny allowed herself to look at her dark blue wallpapers, too. She’d never given them much thought, but she supposed they could be worse. “Thanks. Though honestly, they’ve looked like that since I moved in. I meant to maybe change them someday, but they don’t really bother me and…well, I haven’t had enough time, I suppose.” She shrugged. She really did not care much about her wallpapers.

“They look perfectly fine to me, and this particular shade of blue does seem to bring everything together….,” remarked Vastra, observing the wallpaper for a while longer before ultimately forcing herself to turn back towards Jenny. Trying to ignore the deafening sound of her inner terrified screaming, Vastra flashed Jenny her most genial smile and said, “Well then, aren’t you looking rather properly rested this morning, Miss Flint. I can clearly see that you have quite an attractive, sunny complexion about you.”

Hearing the compliment, Jenny’s entire being lit up like a christmas tree, a big smile on her face as she followed Vastra inside, closing the door behind her. “Thank you! It is very nice of you to say that. Really, I’m glad you think I look better than I actually feel. So…um, what should we do now? Want some tea or coffee? You can put away your jacket if you want to.” She continued to smile, still entirely smittened by Vastra complimenting her complexion and feeling extremely happy as she gestured to the coat rack.

Suddenly feeling self-conscious about her appearance, Vastra nervously tugged at the collar of her leather jacket while switching her gaze in between Jenny and the coat rack. Although she was genuinely flattered by Jenny’s warm hospitality, Vastra couldn’t help but be afraid of what she might think about the tattoos on her arms. Vastra knew that tattoos were a huge turn off for some people, and she wasn’t willing to take that risk just yet, in case Jenny was one of them.

Vastra mentally concluded that the only logical thing for her to do in this situation, was to remain calm, check on Greeny, and leave as quickly as possible to help minimize the probability of her potentially embarrassing herself in front of Jenny. “Err, no thank you, Miss Flint, I’m actually not that thirsty at the moment,”declined Vastra graciously, despite her mouth being noticeably parched as a sun baked dessert in the middle of summer whenever she looked at Jenny. “I assume that you have many plans that you’d want to fulfill this Sunday, yes? Therefore, would you be so kind as to show me where Greeny is? I certainly do not wish to take up too much of your time with this visit today.”

Jenny tried not to show how disappointed she felt as Vastra brushed aside her suggestions, before affirmatively nodding. “Of course. I…ah, yes,Greeny is over here.” Deliberately, she crossed the living room until she was standing by the wall, bending down to retrieve greeny’s cage from the floor. “Where do you want me to put him? Somewhere here or in the kitchen?”

Vastra then peered into Jenny’s kitchen through the entrance located on the left side of the room, and was able to catch a glimpse of a pristine marble countertop. That instantly triggered a series of remarkably vivid images to flick across Vastra’s eyes; Coincidentally, all of them appeared to feature the same marble countertop upon which Jenny was sitting, still wearing her tank top and skirt, her legs wrapped tightly around Vastra’s waist as the two of them ravished each other’s mouths in a sexually passionate embrace. Witnessing those explicitly carnal visual representations of her own deepest, secretive, forbidden desires towards a particular female client was a profoundly alarming experience for Vastra, who felt as though her whole body was being consumed by a ruthless whirlwind of pure hellfire. This was definitely not the appropriate time, or place to be fantasizing about jumping your client’s bones, especially if said client is standing directly in front of you, which only makes it a thousand times worse! Vastra was at least fortunate that Jenny wasn’t a professional psychic mind reader or anything, because she would totally die from mortification if she could somehow see the things that are happening inside her head. Vastra was desperate to find some kind of cerebral off switch that could stop these unwanted thoughts from invading her psyche, but there seemed to be absolutely no end in sight to this annoyingly persistent problem. She remained determined anyways, however, and continued to push herself until she was finally able to break free of that accursed illusion using sheer willpower.

Praying fervently that her inner shame wasn’t too visible, Vastra returned her full attention back onto Jenny and answered with, “The living room is fine, we don’t have to go anywhere else. There is already a table in here and that’s all I really need to be able to work with Greeny.”

Vastra had, indeed, made it a main priority to stay far away from the kitchen as possible, in order to prevent herself from getting entangled among such troublesome hallucinations like that ever again.

“Oh, good. Yes, that sounds good indeed.” Smiling, Jenny quickly put the cage down on the table, opening the door. “And again, thank you for taking time to come by and check on Greeny, Miss McIntosh. It really is awfully nice of you.”

“Really, Miss Flint, you don’t have to keep thanking me for simply doing my job. I am merely following the ancient sacred Veterinarian’s Code of Honor to always help an animal in pain, wherever they may be,” Vastra joked lightheartedly as she approached the coffee table, carefully making sure that there was an ample amount of space in between Jenny and herself. “Additionally, I must also admit that have been missing yo…. Greeny an awful lot lately. I’m truly delighted to be here in your humble abode, so that I can see how my special little green boy is recovering.” She abruptly diverted her gaze towards Greeny’s cage, utterly relieved to have something else to look at instead of Jenny.

“Great! I’m sure Greeny missed you too…Uh…” Jenny’s eyes moved around the room, searching for something to focus on that was not Vastra’s stunningly attractive face and lethal smile. “What’s in the plastic bag?” She gestured to the generic plastic bag she just noticed that Vastra was carrying.

Vastra merely blinked and tilted her head to the side.“What plastic bag?” She asked, momentarily confused before remembering the thing she was holding in her hand, “Oh….yes, of course, it’s uhh….just a little gift that I picked up on my way here.” Vastra was smiling rather bashfully as she proceeded to reveal the content of her bag with great flourish. “It’s a traditional mini Japanese bonsai tree, for Greeny. I have one of my own at home, and thought that maybe you’d like to put it in his cage as decoration.” Even then, Vastra still kept her eyes on the tree and nervously bit her lip while she anticipated Jenny’s reaction.

Jenny nodded slowly, smiling. “Oh. Yes, uh….thanks! I had meant to buy some new plants but I haven’t really had any time…or money…to do it yet. Thanks.” She blushed, ducking her head and looking away.

Glancing at Jenny, Vastra was able to catch a brief glimpse of Jenny’s pretty, cute blushing face, which was more than enough to make her heart stop altogether for several dreamlike seconds. At this particular point, Vastra was almost entirely convinced that Jenny was no ordinary human girl, but must really be a divine angel who had somehow fallen down to earth. There was simply no other explanation as to how someone could ever be so beautiful, pure, and marvelous as Jenny is in her eyes.

“You’re, uhh, very welcome, Miss Flint. Do you want to take the tree yourself, or should I put it down somewhere?” Questioned Vastra, sounding slightly uncertain with the bonsai tree still in her hands.

Smiling and feeling acutely embarrassed, Jenny immediately reached out for the plant. “I suppose I don’t mind taking it off your hands for you. I’ll just…” Carefully, she went in to grab it, but at the same time Vastra suddenly moved slightly to the side and instead of taking the tree, she hit Vastra squarely in the face with her hand, barely catching the tree as Vastra dropped it before stumbling backwards, clutching her face with her hands while her glasses were sent flying to the floor by the accidental punch.

“Oh my god! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I just…oh my god!” Jenny couldn’t even process what she’d done, backing away slowly with the tree clutched in her hands, eyes wide in horror. She could barely believe that her chronically clumsy tendencies had caused her to K.O. the most sexy person in existence by mistake.

The Scottish woman kept reeling backwards until she hit a wall, causing several of the hung paintings to rattle a bit. Vastra released a rather snake-like hiss as she felt the stinging pain spreading across her face from where Jenny had smacked her. Though as tremendously embarrassing as that may be, Vastra still couldn’t bear to hear Jenny blaming herself for something that was truly an accident.

Putting on a brave front, Vastra gradually lowered her hands away from her face and tried to re-establish a stable, composed demeanor. “Oh dear….hehe, that’s quite a strong right hook you got there, Miss Flint,” Spoke Vastra with a humorous tone in an attempt to make light of the situation, while completely disregarding the blood that is oozing out of her nose. “I think I understand why Scotland Yard hired you now…..such bountiful raw power, contained within such a small person. It’s fine, Miss Flint, I’m OK, really, I forgive you.” Vastra gave Jenny her best and most reassuring smile to show her that everything was alright.

Looking doubtfully at Vastra, Jenny said nothing but quickly pulled out a tissue from the box she kept on the coffee table and gave it to Vastra. As soon as Vastra accepted the offered tissue, Jenny then went for the glasses next. She had noticed them falling off Vastra’s face, and now she went to retrieve them, bending over to pick them off the floor.

Having a perfectly good view from where she stood, Vastra’s eyes practically popped of their sockets and her jaw very nearly dropped to the floor at the sight of Jenny’s skirt riding up her rear to reveal a rather provocative glimpse of her silk panties underneath.

As Jenny stretched out to grab them, she noticed to her amusement that there were tiny lizards printed on the glasses. Smiling to herself, she quickly picked them up and stood upright again. “Right. I got your glasses, and I really am so sorry . I can’t even hit that hard!”

“Well considering that my nose is now bleeding, I’d beg to differ on that” replied Vastra without the slightest hint of anger, as she tore off the tissue into smaller pieces and stuffed them up into her nostrils. She was absolutely certain that she was going to die of blood loss by the end of that visit.

“Right. Again, I’m very sorry.” Stepping forward, Jenny carefully tried to put the glasses back on Vastra’s face, her breath catching as she saw the brilliant blue eyes looking directly back at her. They were incredibly beautiful, deep puddles of glittering oceans bringing to life an equally brilliant mind. God, she could easily get lost in them forever and never come back, thought Jenny. As she finished putting the glasses in place, Jenny put her arms back at her sides, carefully taking a step back and suddenly realising how extremely close she had been - and still were - to Vastra.That the Scottish woman had even let her in that close surprised her, and she couldn’t help the blush tinging her cheeks as she realised that she had in fact, invaded the woman’s personal space without even asking for permission.

Taking another step back, her blush deepened, and so did the embarrassment. “I’m sorry. Again. I….you…your eyes are…blue. I like blue. Not blue like my walls but, better blue. Perfect blue . Amazing ocean blue. Really, really blue of the prettiest blue kind.”

Vastra swore that the entire world had stopped spinning in that moment, freezing time in place as Jenny slid her glasses back onto her face with such genuine care and tenderness. Her eyes briefly fluttered shut and she allowed herself to inhale a whiff of Jenny’s sweet smelling peach shampoo that sent all of her senses into overdrive with euphoria. A very small, inappropriate part of her even wondered whether or not Jenny would taste as delicious as she smells. Alas, Vastra had to keep her utter disappointment hidden when Jenny abruptly moved away from her area of range, appearing immensely apologetic for some reason which she couldn’t figure out. Vastra missed being so close in proximity with Jenny, but her dismay was instantly replaced by surprise when Jenny complimented her eyes, albeit in a fairly awkward and drawn out way.

Now it was Vastra’s turn to blush as she nervously adjusted her glasses, scrunched her nose, and bowed her head to avoid the other woman’s gaze. “I….uhh…thank you, how very kind of you to say that,” said a highly flustered Vastra, a shy elated smile forming upon her lips. “Yes, my eyes are indeed blue. I’ve had them since I was born….but nobody has ever seemed to appreciate them like you do.”

“Nobody has ever appreciated me like you do.” Jenny replied, the words tumbling out of her mouth before she could stop them, regardlessly not being able to hold back her smile.

“Excuse my forwardness, but I do find that hard to believe,” Vastra responded softly, lifting her head up to lock shining blue eyes with Jenny’s chocolate brown ones. There was a period of inaction where the two of them merely smiled at each other in a sort of intimate silence, before Vastra decided to break it by saying, “Well then, let not this minor setback prevent us from getting on with the task at hand, shall we?”

Thus pushing aside that trivial incident of unintentional violence, Vastra promptly approached the front of Greeny’s cage and proceeded to gently coax him out of his home. As soon as Vastra first saw that little scaly lizard’s head peeking out from the cage, she could already tell that Greeny had been recovering far better than when she examined him at the clinic. His scales appeared to be more colorful, his movements more fluid, his eyes wide open, and there was even a tiny contented smile on his face. Vastra’s smile grew wider when she heard Greeny emit a high-pitched crooning noise as a way of greeting her. Apparently, there wasn’t going to be much that Vastra will have to check on Greeny and she was glad for it.

Jenny watched Vastra tending to Greeny intently, praying that her little lizard was doing alright. Careful not to come too close, she approached the both of them slowly. “I do think he should be doing quite fine now, seeing as I took your advise. He’s seemed to be more energetic lately, but I don’t really know. What do you think? Is there something else I should do?” She bit her lip a little, trying not to sound all worried, thought to be honest, she feared what Vastra might say.

Several long, agonizing minutes passed before Vastra turned to look at Jenny and said,”Congratulations, Miss Flint, your pet lizard here does appear to be in excellent shape from what I can see. I hope that my diagnostic will help to put your mind at ease about Greeny’s wellbeing. Trust me, he is perfectly healthy and lizardy as ever, so I wouldn’t worry too much if I were you.” With that final verdict, Vastra then returned Greeny back into the safe, warm, cozy vicinity of his cage and recast her gaze over to Jenny. “Any more questions that you want to ask me?”

Upon hearing Vastra’s question, Jenny had to bite her lip hard to not let something lewd, or incredibly inappropriate, out of her mouth. Finally, after standing around and chewing her lip longer than she ought to, she then asked, “Can you stay for some coffee, or tea if you prefer, and pastries? I’ve got some cookies I baked just the other week in the kitchen. It could be my way of thanking you for coming here and looking at Greeny.” She smiled, and before Vastra could protest, she added. “Please? I would feel so much better if I gave something in return.” She made puppy dog eyes, and hoped so badly that Vastra would not go. She was not ready to let this goddess of a woman walk out of her apartment just yet.

Those accursed puppy dog eyes seemed to have put a dent in Vastra’s initial plan for a hasty escape out of the apartment. Any argument against Jenny’s invitation to stay that Vastra possessed instantly melted away into those enticingly warm brown eyes that look as though they could pierce right through her very soul. Secretly, though, Vastra’s heart was deeply touched by the fact that Jenny actually desired her company, and was fighting so hard for the chance to show Vastra her gratitude. It was exactly this type of caring nature and moxy that kept pulling Vastra further and further in love towards this utterly majestic young woman. How could she possibly bring herself to deny Jenny this one innocent request, when she knew that it would certainly break the poor girl’s heart if she said no? What’s the harm in hanging around for a little bit of complimentary coffee and cookies? Just play it cool and everything will be fine, right?

Feeling all of her resolve rapidly slipping from her grasp, Vastra finally managed to crack open a slight friendly smile and nodded in agreement. “Fine, you win! But only because I’m feeling rather famished, and your offer of cookies does sound simply too good to refuse,”spoke Vastra cheerfully, even topping it off with a fairly flirtatious wink to boot.

Vastra then walked around the coffee table in order to reach the sofa, where she began to remove her leather jacket and scarf. Vastra didn’t really thought much about what she was doing, until she heard an audibly shocked gasp coming from Jenny. That alone was enough to make Vastra stop, her entire body becoming tense, as she squeezed her eyes shut and mentally reprimanded herself for acting so carelessly in Jenny’s home.

As Vastra sat down on the couch, she finally pulled off her scarf and that incredible, sexy leather jacket that she had arrived in. Taking almost too much pleasure in watching her pull off the smooth leather from her shoulders and sliding her well-toned arms out of the sleeves, Jenny simply couldn’t withhold her gasp as she saw what Vastra was hiding underneath. The entire length of Vastra’s gorgeous , breathtakingly lean and slender arms were covered in stylistic black and green snake tattoos. Jenny followed them with her eyes, greedily taking in every little detail of the extensive, beautifully designed snake tattoo. It went all the way up to Vastra’s firm shoulders, some of her brown hair just barely reaching down long enough to lay across the very top of it, before mysteriously disappearing into her shirt and perhaps continuing underneath. While Jenny did not envision Vastra to be the kind of person to be covered in tattoos, she could not say that she disliked what she was seeing, and she kept smiling as Vastra made herself comfortable on the couch.

This woman was not only hot, she was on goddamn scorching fire!

Suddenly feeling terribly naked without her jacket and with her ink clad arms now on full display for Jenny to see, Vastra blushed bright tomato red as she shifted quite uneasily in her seat. Not wanting Jenny to think that there was anything wrong, however, Vastra then implemented a deliberate demonstration of swagger by stretching her muscular arms high above her head, before bringing them down to rest upon her neatly crossed legs. Hands clasped deftly against her knee, Vastra couldn’t resist leaning slightly forward so that she could hungrily devour Jenny’s most peculiarly risque attire with her keen eyes once again.

“Well then….is the lovely hostess not going to provide the promised coffee and cookies for her guest?” Inquired Vastra with a thickly alluring Scottish accent seeping through her tone, and one dark eyebrow raised elegantly on her forehead.

Jenny truly thought that she would faint on the spot. For a moment, she felt everything swim before her eyes and it felt as though all the air had left her lungs, but thankfully she soon managed to collect herself. It would have been terribly embarrassing if she did pass out, just because this goddess of a woman removed her jacket. Nodding, she quickly set off towards the kitchen, disappearing through the doorway before Vastra could say anything.

“Coming right up! Do you want sugar or cream?” She called out once she’d reached the kitchen, thankful to be out of sight as her cheeks kept heating up like two buns fresh out of the oven. “Also, are you allergic to nuts?” The last thing was an afterthought, because as she reached for the cookie jar she realised, she didn’t know and she always used nuts in her cookies, because she liked it that way herself. Almost frantically, she tried to look for something else to server her guest as she waited for the answer, preparing for the worst.

“Just a dash of sugar and cream is how I usually prefer my coffee,” responded Vastra, who could hear Jenny moving around inside the kitchen due to her rather abnormally sharp sense of hearing. “I am not allergic to any nuts, but my body is badly affected by chocolate!”

Vastra truly didn’t mind waiting for Jenny, and she was able to occupy herself with observing the surrounding area that was Jenny’s living room. The room was considerably smaller than your average house, yet still relatively comfortable, noted Vastra as her eyes swept across the modest sized television set, framed paintings, bookshelves ladened with an impressive quantity of reading material, and a few colorful priceless vases among other things. What really struck Vastra the most was how impeccably clean and well-kept everything was, as far as she could see at least; It was such a stark contrast when compared to Vastra’s own junkyard of a house, which made it nearly impossible to tell where clutter ends and civilization begins. As domestically challenged as Vastra was, she would always attribute it to her busy working schedule at the clinic which left her with very little time to get her home in order. The best that she could do was a little dusting here, a bit of sweeping there, and a whole lot of shoving things into a closet to be forgotten about forever. Though to be honest, it never actually bothered Vastra as much as it would other people knowing that her house will never be as neat as Jenny’s, mainly because she’s already gotten so used to its constantly chaotic state by now.

“Coffee’s here!” Jenny announced cheerfully as she came out the kitchen with the tray, coffee, cookies, sugar and cream loaded onto it, as well as a cup of tea for herself. “I hope they will be satisfactory.” She bit her lip, hoping Vastra would be satisfied by the coffee and cookies. She could already feel her cheeks heating from the disappointment and embarrassment if Vastra were to dislike any of the food or beverages.

Little did Jenny know, however, that the tray of freshly baked treats and coffee weren’t the only things that Vastra was drooling over.

Vastra watched with substantial interest as Jenny placed the tray of refreshments down on the table in front of her, and uplifted her face to smile graciously at her generous hostess. The Scottish woman had always possessed an uncanny ability to accurately detect even the slightest quirk in someone’s body language, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that she was able to pick up on Jenny’s nervously restless aura. Vastra was intensely curious as to the reason for Jenny’s apparent anxiousness, but figured that would be best if she didn’t say anything about it.

Instead, Vastra simply went ahead and picked up a delectable looking cookie from the tray, before taking a tentative bite off of it. “Mmmm…..how exquisitely scrumptious, and I especially liked the delightful crunch of the nuts you added,”commented Vastra, seemingly pleased, whose tongue then briefly flicked out to wipe some crumbs off her lip. “You really ought to consider becoming a baker, because I can happily eat these for the rest of my life.”

That was soon followed by Vastra picking up the cup of coffee, it’s powerfully rich aroma filling her nostrils despite being clogged with blood, and bringing it towards her mouth for a sip, which also elicited the same positive reaction from Vastra.

Jenny watched attentively as Vastra tried the cookies and coffee. To her utter delight, the woman seemed to enjoy both of them, even going as far as to compliment her cookies. Once she felt safe that everything was satisfactory, she carefully sat down on the other end of the sofa, grabbing her cup of tea in both hands and trying to think up something to say. Her eyes scanned Vastra’s body, her gaze continuously being drawn to the green and black tattoos on her arms, still as fascinating as the first time she saw them. “So…” She said tentatively, pausing to sip on her tea. “It is some very nice tattoos you got on your arms. I like the design.”

Vastra abruptly stopped and instantly swiveled her head to look at Jenny, being utterly astonished that Jenny just actually complimented her tattoos.

Gradually, her face then lit up with a brilliantly bright smile, as she could hardly contain her excitement, and said, “Oh thank you, Miss Flint, how very kind of you to say so! I chose this particular design, because I wanted something to help me remember my ancestral Celtic roots while I’m down here in London.” Vastra’s smile continued to broaden even more when a most splendid idea struck her mind. “Also, if you like what you’re seeing on my arms, I have another tattoo on my back which I am especially proud of. Here…I‘ll show you!”

Without giving Jenny a chance to reply, Vastra eagerly pulled out her phone from her pocket and found a picture of herself flexing shirtless while facing away from the camera to showcase the large, intricately detailed tattoo that occupied nearly her entire backside.

The tattoo was absolutely stunning, as it depicts two swords crossing a shield bearing the noble McIntosh clan name, and strewn with vines of wildflowers.

Jenny started at the photo, politely trying to focus on the beautiful, intricate tattoo rather than the amount of bare skin Vastra was revealing in the photo and her strong, flexing arms. “That’s an absolutely amazing tattoo.” Jenny said softly. She didn’t know much about tattooing, but with a highly detailed and creative design being worn by such a gorgeous Scottish woman, Jenny truly felt like she’d fallen in love with the tattoo.

Now suddenly aware of the fact that she has just showed Jenny a very personal and half naked picture out of sheer impulsiveness, Vastra could feel her face blushing a fiery crimson for what would be the billionth time in that day alone. “Err…thank you, I’m really glad that you think so,”replied Vastra, who couldn’t help sounding somewhat bashful. “Yes, my tattoos are amazing indeed, because they hold such a great amount of personal significance to me. They’re a permanently important part of who I am, and I wouldn’t trade them for the world.”

Jenny merely nodded and smiled understandably at Vastra, trying to absorb every single one of Vastra’s words as the Scottish woman was practically baring her soul to her.

It was in that moment that Vastra’s phone suddenly started ringing, which caused the both of them to jump a little in surprise.

“Oh God, it’s my sister calling me,” muttered Vastra as she checked the caller ID before returning her attention back to Jenny. “I’m so sorry if this might be an inconvenience, but um….would you mind if I answer this call real quick?”

Jenny smiled reassuringly, nodding. “If you need to, then sure go ahead.” She thought of her own family, and how she’d never in a million years would have answered a single call from any of them. Ever. But, she guessed not everyone’s situation looked like hers.

Giving Jenny one quick grateful glance, Vastra then pressed the button to answer the call and brought her phone up against her ear. “Hello, Lanah? What are you calling me for this time? Is it your dog, did he eat one of your earrings again?” It was hard for Vastra to keep her tone free of any annoyance that she felt at being interrupted in the middle of her meeting with Jenny.

“Hello to you too, dear sister. How nice to hear you think I only call if something has happened, it does make me feel so very appreciated.” Lanah mocked, her voice overly happy as she spoke.

The Scottish woman groaned internally, but was also secretly excited to talk to her beloved sister again. Resuming with their naturally well rehearsed banter, Vastra said, “So I’m assuming that your dog is OK then? I still remember how poor Capaldi couldn’t eat for a month because of that stupid diamond earing tearing through his digestive intestines. I swear, your insatiable appetite for fine precious jewelry is going to be the death of him!”

“Yes, he is perfectly diamond-free, for your your information. Jesus Christ, that was ONE time! Besides, I do recall you letting your friend feed Billy chocolate last time I let you babysit him!”

“Well, do you think that I don’t regret making that mistake,” snapped Vastra in response, before speaking more collectedly, “ Ahem, anyway…..the past is in the past, so I suggest that you just get straight to the point already.”

“Fine. I can tell you what I want, and I assure you, I will be much straighter than you.” She paused, letting Vastra realise what she just said, before continuing. “Billy wanted to talk to his favourite aunt, who ironically nearly killed him.”

From the sidelines, Jenny watched anxiously as Vastra spoke to her sister on the phone, always ready to come to her help if she looked as though she needed support. At one point, Vastra snapped, the conversation seemingly having turned south, and Jenny was very close to asking if she wanted her to give her an excuse to hang up, but the situation calmed down and Jenny stepped back. Still, as she saw Vastra glance in her direction, she couldn’t help but whisper, ‘Is everything okay?’, worried that Vastra might be caught up in a situation she found uncomfortable.

Vastra could only smile lightly at Jenny to indicate that there was nothing to worry about, and proceeded to reply with, “I can’t say that I’m the least bit surprised, since it’s a scientifically proven fact that every family should have a cool lesbian aunt to keep things interesting.”

At hearing Vastra openly admit that she was a lesbian, Jenny almost couldn’t hold back a gasp that threatened to escape her lips. Of course, she did have her ideas and suspicions, and she had been desperately hoping that it would be the case, but to actually hear it being confirmed took her completely by surprise.

“As long as ‘interesting’ doesn’t mean deadly, I can possibly agree.” Lanah said fondly. “Either way, I’m putting on Billy now. He’s been tugging at my dress for the past half-hour and it’s getting a bit annoying.”

Immediately after she said that, the line went momentarily silent as Lanah passed on the phone to Billy, and before Vastra could even prepare herself, her ears were suddenly bombarded by the voice of a highly overenthusiastic four year old boy.

“Aunty Vasha! Aunty Vasha! It’s me, Billy!” Shouted Billy from the other side of the line without any repercussions whatsoever. “I wanted Mommy to call you because I love the toy racecar you sent me for my birthday! I like to play with it because it’s super fast and it goes zoom zoom and sometimes Capaldi will chase it! When I grow up I will have a real racecar and we will go on awesome adventures together! Maybe I’ll have a flying car that can take us up to the moon!”

There was a broad doting smile spread across Vastra’s face as she happily listened to her adorable nephew’s passionate gushing about his new toy racecar. It was then that she fully realized just how much she missed her family back home in Scotland, who she would see only a few times each year for holidays and whatnot. Since she clearly lacked any children of her own, Vastra was able to compensate for it by loving all of her sibling’s children and spoiling them rotten, including Billy. Billy’s rapidly spoken words helped to draw out old distant memories from the very deep recesses of Vastra’s mind, allowing her to relive all those wonderful times that they had together. Vastra was immensely thankful to at least have this one little connection with her family, and she hoped that it would never end.

When Billy finally paused to take a breath, Vastra promptly took advantage of it to say, “Ah, yes hello there, Silly Billy, nothing ever makes me happier than getting a call from my most favorite nephew! I’m so glad to hear that your crazy wild imagination still hasn’t changed. It sure seems like you were able to put it to good use while playing with your race car.”

“Thank you a lot, Aunty Vasha! I don’t care what Mommy says, you are the greatest, awesomest aunty ever!” Proclaimed Billy zealously, which touched Vastra’s heart in a profoundly meaningful way.

From the couch, Jenny kept observing Vastra in curious silence. She’d said she was fine, but it didn’t help Jenny’s worries much. What did, however, was when she saw Vastra breaking into a huge grin, her whole face practically glowing as she listened to someone chatting energetically on the other end. Seeing Vastra so happy and at ease made Jenny happy, too, and she couldn’t help the small smile resting upon her lips. It was wonderful and amazing to see someone so joyful and content and absolutely at ease in a conversation with family. For Vastra, family was clearly people she cared for and loved, and somehow that made Jenny feel both glad and also sad, because while it felt blissful watching someone else experiencing it this way, it was not something she would ever have.

As soon as Billy was done talking, the line went quiet for a moment, and then the voice of Vastra’s sister picked up once more. “That’s enough Billy, time for us grown-ups to talk again. Thanks for listening to him, Vastra. He’s been going on and on about how he wanted to talk to you all morning, and you know he gets cranky when he wants something.”

“Hmmm….well, I do certainly wonder who he got that from,” Vastra mockingly questioned while stroking her chin, a massive smile still plastered onto her face. “It’s really no problem, Lanah, because I find it quite sweet that Billy wanted to call and thank me for his present. Honestly, I was beginning to worry that he had forgotten all about me. So just out of curiosity….how is the rest of the family doing,” Vastra asked carefully as she bit her lip, craving for more information regarding her the status of her family.

Most importantly, she needed to know if they had been able to recover from her father’s tragic death due to cancer five years ago, because God knows she definitely hasn’t.

After Vastra’s question, there was a short pause on the other end, and she could hear her sister saying something to her son, before she began to reply with, “Well…I guess it’s okay overall. Most of us are doing pretty well, some are in a bit of a low period at the moment but hopefully they’ll be feeling better soon. We miss you, though. Honestly, it would be so nice if we could see you a little more often.”

A biting sensation of guilt stung within Vastra’s heart upon hearing her sister’s downhearted statement, and she shakily spoke, “You know very well I that want that more than anything…. and I would do so, in a heartbeat, if only my schedule would allow it. It’s just that….it’s hard, you know, going back there….and remembering all those things.” Vastra’s voice was barely above a whisper by the time she finished speaking, a tell-tale sign that her emotions were threatening to overwhelm her.

The day that Vastra’s father died was not something she liked to think about often, even going so far as to block it out of her mind completely. His untimely death dealt an enormously heavy blow on everyone in the family, and each of them had their own ways of coping with the aftermath of that terrible event. Immediately after graduating from vet school, Vastra moved down to London because she simply couldn’t bear to stay in Scotland any longer. Really, she was trying to run away from the past where her father still dwelled while his spirit continued to haunt her in the present. A small part of Vastra always knew that it was selfish and cowardly of her to leave her grieving family behind instead of remaining with them during their darkest hour. She never had much trouble suppressing those echoing doubts in the back of her head until now, as talking to Lanah for the last thirty minutes was causing all of her old, painstakingly hidden grief and regret to resurface again. Vastra’s entire body was trembling at this point, and she could feel herself being dangerously close to bursting out in tears, though Jenny’s presence was the only thing that encouraged Vastra to maintain her composure, because it would be most utterly lame if she randomly started crying in front of her crush. No, there will be enough time to have an emotional breakdown later, but in this current moment she must put on a brave face for Jenny.

On the other end of the phone, a deep sigh could be heard, and then Vastra’s sister said,. “I know, Vastra. I’m not accusing you of anything, Little Extra. I’m just saying we miss you, that’s all.”

Still sitting and waiting for the call to end, Jenny could tell that things were getting tense as Vastra suddenly started shuddering, and she decided that perhaps it would be best if she gave her some time alone.

With the efficiency of someone who had their fair share of working in coffee shops, Jenny quickly started gathering the cups and half empty plate of biscuits, piling them up atop each other on the tray that she’d brought with her to the living room.Once she was done, she stood up, taking the tray in her arms and began setting off towards the kitchen. However, as she left, she took one last glance over her shoulder at Vastra, thus neglecting to see where she was going, and tripped on the threshold.Feet hitting against solid wood, Jenny’s entire body was sent crashing to the floor, the tray flying out of her hands, porcelain breaking into a million pieces as they landed upon the floor along with Jenny.

“Fucking bloody hell!” The swear words slipped past her lips as she tried desperately to readjust her bruised and aching body, swearing even more as she realised how much ruined china there was spread out everywhere. “Fucking shit!”

The collective commotion of shattering china and an angrily cursing Cockney woman instantly pulled Vastra away from the phone call, her eyes growing wide with shocked concern at the sight of Jenny’s disastrous wipeout. “Oh dear Lord….are you alright, Jenny?” Blurted Vastra, momentarily forgetting that her sister was also listening on the line.

“ Jenny ? Who are you calling Jenny ?!” Lanah hadn’t been aware that someone else was in the room with Vastra, but then something clicked in her mind and she sang, “Vaaaastra, are you at your girlfriend’s house? Someone named Jenny? Why didn’t you tell me! Finally, someone to take care of your sorry, egotistical arse!” Her voice was gleeful and humorous, and Vastra could imagine her smug smile as she spoke.

Vastra hissed sharply into the phone in retaliation before abandoning her phone altogether on the sofa as she quickly ran to Jenny’s side. “Jenny, oh my God, are you hurt anywhere? Bloody Christ, there’s a lot of broken china over here! Let me uhh help you uhh…..”

It was then that Vastra’s eyes made the mistake of landing on Jenny’s enticing cleavage visibly peeking through her shirt, with only a few inches in between the two of them, and that caused her to swallow hard as her entire bodily system effectively malfunctioned.

“Excuse me.” Jenny said, slightly embarrassed as she caught on to Vastra’s sideway glance down at her cleavage. “Can you please help me up a little? I’d really like to get away from this spot without cutting my hands and feet on all this china.”

“Huh? Oh, yes….the china, of course….sorry,” Vastra rapidly blinked, summoning all of her willpower in order to tear her gaze away from Jenny’s bosom, and generously stretched out her hand for Jenny to take. There was no way to prevent the deep embarrassment that she felt at being caught ogling by the other woman from exploding into varying shades of red across her face. “Pray tell, how in the world did this happen anyway?”

At this, Jenny blushed and immediately became red in the face, awkwardly trying to form a coherent reply that wouldn’t directly reveal she’d been listening in on the phone call. “I…well, you seemed a little upset so I thought I’d….I’d take out the dishes and give you some time to yourself. But then I just…..I looked back at you as I left and hit the threshold.” Finishing her explanation, Jenny held tightly onto Vastra’s offered hand as she ungracefully jumped over the broken porcelain, landing on the floor next to Vastra.

As soon as she did that, Vastra instinctively scooted a few inches away from Jenny, in an attempt to prevent herself from getting too lightheaded while in Jenny’s intoxicating presence. She could have sworn that that she felt an invisible electricity crackling in the air between their hands as she hastily retracted her own, just like when they first met at the clinic. A faint, yet hopeful voice in the back of Vastra’s mind told her that it might be a sign from the universe, that perhaps she might actually have a chance with Jenny who was totally far out of her league. Sobering up again, Vastra immediately dismissed those thoughts as mere wishful thinking, and tilted her head slightly aside while her eyes fixed themselves upon Jenny with the suspicion that she had been eavesdropping on her private conversation. Not that Vastra could hardly hold her at fault, of course.

So without any hint of accusation in her tone, and a gentle smile forming on her lips, Vastra responded with, “You really ought to be more careful, Miss Flint. Although, I can honestly say that this isn’t the very first time somebody had an accident due to my rather distracting tattoos.” Her gaze then flicked over to all the fractured pieces of china, causing her expression to grimace as she spoke, “I’m awfully sorry about your china….I truly am. Will you allow me to assist you in cleaning up this mess? It’s the least I can do, after you’ve shown me such a generous amount to hospitality.”

Upon hearing her first remark, Jenny blushed even more, the redness on her cheeks deepening. As she came to the second part of the sentence, Jenny felt so embarrassed and uncomfortable that she wanted nothing more than for Vastra to leave, to take her things and walk away and never come back so that maybe Jenny could just forget her and move on. Her heart obviously disagreed, however and instead of telling her to go, she found herself nodding in acceptance to her offer. “Yes, please, hat would be very welcomed.” She said, biting her lip hard at how much of an idiot she must look like, and quickly started gathering shards, just to have something - anything - to do.

Vastra’s brows furrowed in confusion, as something about what Jenny said felt kind of…. forced to her, but it wasn’t long before she, too, dropped down onto her knees and began to carefully collect the sharp fragments into her hand. There was only a cold and empty silence as the two of them continued to clear the floor of broken china for what seemed like an entire eternity, each trying desperately to avoid looking at the other. Then by accident, while they were both too deeply caught up within their own contemplation, their hands touched yet again on the last piece of china. That simple incident served as a catalyst that sent powerful trails of sparks burning up the length of their arms until they ultimately reached their hearts and set them aflame with the intensity of a thousand blazing suns. Neither Jenny nor Vastra could comprehend why it must always happen this way, but at the same time it was also getting increasingly more difficult for them to ignore their passionate mutual attraction to each other. Completely aware of all the risks that came with it, both Jenny and Vastra simultaneously lifted their heads so that their eyes became firmly locked, bright blue staring into rich brown. Every single trace of the outside world gradually faded away until nothing else remained except for the two of them, utterly alone with the deafening sound of their seismic heartbeats. Vastra subconsciously licked her lips and stole a tentatively quick glimpse of Jenny’s perfectly kissable mouth, a sudden erotic shiver shooting up her spine when she noticed Jenny mirroring her actions as well. There was a distinctly apparent change among the atmosphere that surrounded them, filling it to the very brim with a heavy and undeniable sexual tension which radiated off of Jenny and Vastra themselves. Slowly, their faces started moving forward inch by inch in order to close the gap between them, though neither was fully capable of registering it, as if there was some unseen mystical power that was pulling them together, whether they knew it or not.

Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, Vastra’s ears perked up to an all too familiar voice that started shouting from the sofa. “Vastra? Extra, where the hell did you go?! Don’t tell me you seriously dropped the phone without hanging up to go get some from that girl of yours!” Lanah called out from the phone speaker, utter amusement and irritation mixing within her tone.

Thus, the mysterious trance that was holding Vastra and Jenny captive had been broken. They blinked rather absentmindedly, as if just waking up from a long slumber, both entirely unsure about what was happening in that particular moment. Then witnessing that their hands were still in the same position, they immediately separated them with impossibly lightning quick reflexes, the final china piece being claimed by Vastra. Nonetheless, the overwhelming heat of the carnal fire that had consumed them earlier refused to go away, but continued to rage within them ever so strongly. Their eyes strictly fixated onto the floor, neither of them could find any words to say, for fear of escalating the already stressful situation even more. Therefore, they decided to simply keep their mouths shut, and wordlessly rose up from the floor before walking over to the trashcan in Jenny’s kitchen where they cautiously disposed all of the damaged china fragments.

Once that was taken care of, Vastra immediately sprinted back into the living room to pick up her phone, and resumed the call saying, “ Ha ha ha ….very funny, Lanah. If you really must know, I’m with a client right now, another lizard case as you can probably guess. So I would highly appreciate it if you can kindly stop spouting shit out of your ass hole, and let me do my job.” Vastra was definitely in no mood to tolerate her older sister’s inappropriate remarks, but she also knew that Lanah was fully capable of enduring her verbal abuses after all those years.

“Well, excuse me! You’re not exactly notoriously known for going out of your way to visit patients in their homes, especially not on weekends! On the other hand, what you are notoriously known for is being insanely, ridiculously, EXTRA gay ! But whatever, blame a woman for trying to make some logical conclusions, it’s fine I don’t care. Either way, I don’t have time to stay talking to you much longer so I’m hanging up now. Goodbye, Vastra!” Immediately, the line went dead as Lanah hung up.

Inwardly relieved that the call was finally over with, Vastra sighed deeply as she placed her phone back into her pocket.

“Hey, Vastra. Are you…are you okay?” Carefully, Jenny approached Vastra, putting a hand on her arm. It was quite obvious that the lengthy phone call had drained Vastra, and she wanted to make sure that she was okay. “I’m here for you if…if you need to talk.”

It required every bit of Vastra’s willpower not to jump off the sofa when she felt Jenny’s delicate hand on her arm. Eventually turning around to face Jenny directly, Vastra tried to act like nothing was wrong as she said, “Thank you, Je–Miss Flint– but I assure you, everything is perfectly well with me. It’s just that, my sister….she enjoys pushing my buttons way too much sometimes.” Vastra chuckled nervously, a wry smile gracing her countenance. “Yes, she can often be a royal pain in the neck, but I still love her anyway.”

Vastra had intentionally stopped herself from addressing Jenny by her first name, because the phone call with Lanah made her self-conscious of the fact that she was getting a little too friendly with Jenny, and that she needed to reestablish some kind of professional formality asap.

While Jenny felt a bit hurt that Vastra refused to use her first name, she kept smiling peacefully, squeezing Vastras arm. “I understand. You are very lucky to have people who do care for you, even if they sometimes drive you crazy. They still love you.” Her smile felt less real with every passing second because seeing the way Vastra and her family worked, made Jenny’s heart ache. She badly longed to have a life and a family like that herself, too, but it was and always will be an unreachable dream, and she knew that. It had never been a possibility. “A lot of people have it much worse.”

Vastra was able to detect a trace of bitter melancholy in Jenny’s tone, which led her to gently lay her hand on Jenny’s knee and asked, “Pardon me if this sounds intrusive, but I’m under the impression that perhaps you don’t get along with your family?”

That was an extremely risky move on Vastra’s part and she mentally kicked herself for prying into the personal life of this woman who she barely even knows. On the other hand, however, Jenny seemed to be so sad and miserable that Vastra just couldn’t help giving her heart out to her in sympathy. There was really nothing that she could do except waiting anxiously with bated breath for Jenny’s response

Upon hearing Vastra’s inquiry, Jenny almost dissolved straight into tears. Her arms wrapped tightly around her own shivering body and she nodded. “My mom is dead. My siblings are God knows where, I haven’t heard from any of them in years, and my dad would probably try to kill me if I ever got close to him again.” At the end she was openly sobbing, unable to keep it all back as it came rushing out against her will, hot tears splattered on her cheeks. “There is not a single person who cares about me. I don’t have anyone who I can truly call ‘my family’ in this world” She knew it sounded pathetic and attention seeking from her side, but Jenny couldn’t help it. Once the dam had been breached, the flood of emotions could not be stopped no matter how hard she tried.

Oh dear….Oh God….Why is this happening….I shouldn’t have done that….Bloody hell I am such a fucking idiot!

Needless to say, Vastra was in full blown panic mode as she realized that she had unwittingly opened Pandora’s box. It’s rather obvious that she has brought this upon herself, because she just had to cross the line and make Jenny talk about a severely sensitive topic instead of minding her own damn business. So as a result of that, Vastra was now absolutely stuck in a most awkward situation with Jenny literally crying an entire river beside her, and there seemed to be nothing she could do to fix it. The real truth is that Vastra has always been the worst at trying to comfort people, especially when they are leaking an excessive amount of salty liquid out of their eyeballs, and would be more likely to distance herself away from them. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that her heart wasn’t actually breaking into a million pieces with every single choking sob that escaped from Jenny’s lips before falling on her ears. Vastra seriously hated seeing Jenny in so much pain and suffering, which she had ultimately concluded as somehow being caused by Jenny’s family. It was strikingly clear to Vastra that Jenny was carrying a lot of heavy, unresolved emotional baggage, and she very desperately wanted to help Jenny in any way she can, but her whole body was currently in a state of complete shock. Vastra was immensely determined to do at least something–anything–and began summoning all of her energy in order to regain her physical functionality.

Miraculously, Vastra’s efforts soon paid off as she was then able to slowly stretch her arm out towards Jenny and started to lightly pat her on the shoulder.

“Err there, there, Miss Flint….everything is going to be alright,”Vastra reassured fumblingly, wincing at how weak that sounded while trying to wrack her brain for more things to say. When she couldn’t find anything that she considered to be adequate enough, Vastra merely sighed and said, “Oh, who am I bloody kidding? Nothing is right about this whatsoever, and it’s all my damn fault! It was a stupid mistake on my part to just drop that question onto you out of nowhere. I really should have stayed in my lane. God, I’m such a fucking daft, insensitive fool!” There was a prolonged pause as Vastra suddenly fell silent, guilt and remorse weighing down heavily against her heart like lead. “I am so, so terribly sorry, Miss Flint….I now realize that it was inexcusable of me to overstepped my boundaries….and I completely understand if you want me to leave.”

Somehow, the thought of Vastra leaving, of Jenny having chased her away because she could not keep her damn mouth shut about things she knew no one cared about, felt even worse to Jenny than the agonizing torment of her mortal soul. Her stomach twisted,and even more tears came pouring down her face, and before she knew what she was doing, she wrapped her arms tightly around Vastra, hugging her and sobbing into her firmly solid chest. “No, please don’t go….I’m…I’m sorry. I…I know I shouldn’t….I’m sorry for being like this.” There was not much else that Jenny could say, still shamelessly clinging onto Vastra for dear life and crying her eyes out.

Vastra was caught completely by surprise when the woman of her dreams suddenly threw herself at her, for lack of a better term, and was refusing to let her go anytime soon. While Vastra was utterly afraid that she might mess things up even more if she made just one wrong move, she also felt a sort of newfound maternal instinct kicking into her system as she simply couldn’t bear to hear Jenny apologizing for something that wasn’t her fault. Eventually deciding to throw all caution into the wind, Vastra carefully encircled her own arms around Jenny’s small trembling frame, propriety be damned! She then proceeded to rub soothing circles upon Jenny’s back, while quietly whispering sweet words of comfort into her ear, because God knows the poor girl definitely deserved nothing less than to be treated with utmost compassion and kindness as she continued to thoroughly soak Vastra’s shirt with her tears of anguish. They remained together in that position for an indefinite amount of time, which didn’t really bother Vastra one bit because she was perfectly willing to wait for as long as Jenny needed.

Finally, Jenny’s tears started to abate after she had all but cried herself dry, embarrassment quickly claiming her and putting her cheeks on fire as she separated from Vastra, scooting to the other end of the sofa and giving her some extra space after having clung to her shamelessly for what felt like hours. Carefully, she dabbed the edge of her tank top against her cheeks, trying to remove the leftover tears and attempting a wobbly smile. “Sorry.” She said, her voice not quite as steady as she’d like it to be. “I don’t talk about my family often, for obvious reasons. I prefer to just bury it all in the back of my head and forget.” She gave a shallow laughter, but it was lifeless and not particularly funny and she decided to just shut up instead.

Vastra would have pouted in disappointment when Jenny abruptly broke their tight embrace, and hastily retreated back to the other side of the couch, but luckily she was able to school her features into appearing strictly normal. Already did she missed the warm weight of Jenny’s body pressed against her own and the special intimacy of having her arms wrapped around the petite woman; It was as if a large piece of her heart had been taken away along with Jenny, which left her feeling utterly hollow and incomplete.

Vastra’s eyes simply couldn’t resist dropping down to look at the exposed skin on Jenny’s stomach as she lifted up the fringe of her tank top, but she still made sure to instantly revert her gaze so that she wouldn’t be caught like last time.

“It would seem that is much easier said than done, I’m afraid,” replied Vastra wistfully, returning with a rather strained smile of her own. She could sense that the atmosphere of the room has changed drastically yet again, and she didn’t like the way it somehow made all of her hair stand up on end. There was a tense pause before she continued to speak, “That was quite an impressive emotional catharsis you had, Miss Flint. How are you feeling now?”

Wincing a little at the thought if what she had just done, Jenny nodded. “A bit better, thanks. Actually, a lot better. Don’t think I’ve told anyone that much about my family since I was a teenager. Hope it wasn’t too embarrassing for you.” She purposely looked away from Vastra as she said the last part, but she didn’t feel quite as ashamed as earlier.

A wave of regret washed over Vastra when she saw Jenny did that, as she had to fight the persistent urge to grab Jenny’s face and force her to look directly at her. “Believe me, Miss Flint, I did not find it to be the least bit embarrassing….as long as it doesn’t bother you to disclose the private details of your life to a foolish, meddlesome stranger, of course, “Vastra responded reassuringly, while also including a sharp jab at herself for starting this in the first place.

Jenny frowned a little at this, and quickly shook her head. “You’re not a meddlesome stranger. You’re someone I trust.” She said sincerely, looking up at Vastra, their eyes meeting. “Besides, maybe it isn’t so healthy to hide your problems and wish they’ll go away for most of your adult life. It certainly doesn’t seem to have done me any good.” She frowned again, uncertain. She thought of the phone call with Vastra and her sister she listened in on, and knew that Vastra was trying to forget things as well.

“Mmmm well, I actually have several people in mine who would love to disagree with you on that,” Vastra responded in a more lighthearted tone, desperately attempting to decrease the negative aura that was surrounding them. Then thoughtfully stroking her chin out of habit, she asked, “Have you ever considered keeping a diary or journal, Miss Flint? You are absolutely right about it not being healthy to permanently suppress your feelings, but perhaps it would be helpful for you to write them down somewhere? Get them off of your chest?”

Oh, there was actually so much more that Vastra wanted to get off Jenny’s chest.

Vastra could still remember all the diaries she had kept when she was younger, and the freedom that they gave her to express herself without any restrictions within those countless blank pages.

Jenny giggled. She didn’t quite know why, but she definitely giggled. “That might have been a good idea.” She admitted slowly, the ‘but’ resting at the tip of her tongue. “But I’m rather daft. Never really thought I was very good with words, and reading,and writing. I can, of course, especially if I take lots of time like I do at work, but it’s a slow process. I really don’t think it’d be helpful, in my case..” She gave Vastra a sheepish look, feeling a little mean for turning down her advice. She did like the idea, but it didn’t feel quite right for her.

Vastra only nodded understandably, an objectively cordial smile plastered on her face as she said, “Ah, yes, I should have known that it wouldn’t necessarily work for everybody. It was just a suggestion, however, and there’s nothing that says you have to abide by it.” Biting her lip, Vastra lowered her gaze down to the floor, as she was struggling to contain this one particular question that’s been bugging her brain during the past hour. That proved to be too difficult though, and Vastra couldn’t stop her mouth from suddenly uttering, “Why do you think that your father is going to kill you?”

Ughh, what is fucking wrong with you?! When will you ever learn from your mistakes, for God’s sake! Vastra was very angry at herself for lacking better self-control, and blurting out yet another absurdly intrusive question. Although she was genuinely concerned and intrigued when Jenny mentioned something about her father killing her, Vastra had vowed to try her damn hardest not to let it escape from the mental confines of her mind. Therefore, having totally failed in that, Vastra immediately braced herself in anticipation for what she thought would be a repeat of Jenny’s earlier reaction.

“Oh” It was the first thing that came to mind as Jenny heard Vastra’s question, a simple ‘oh’ of surprise. Surprise that Vastra had actually noticed her quite offhanded comment about her father, and surprise that Vastra cared to investigate it further. As the surprise passed, Jenny felt as though there was not much left to say at all. Had she been asked earlier she might have cried, or screamed or even run for it, but now, she felt as stoic and gray as a stone, entirely void of all emotional attachment to the question. “Well, my father, he’s…he doesn’t like people who don’t obey the Bible. Who, for example, are attracted to the same sex. It’s a sin and I…well…I’m a sinner. He caught me kissing a girl and after that I didn’t have much of a choice. If they’re sinners, killing one’s child is entirely justified.” It was honestly unbelieveable that , Vastra had managed squeezed out yet another thing Jenny never talked about. It wasn’t that she was ashamed that her family for being extremely conservative, but it felt wrong to mention it when she herself couldn’t fill their standards of decency.

At first, there appeared to be no hint of a visible reaction from Vastra, because she had been struck absolutely speechless after listening to Jenny’s heartbreaking testimony. It was the same old story that she had heard from many other people in the LGBT social circles that she usually hung around, but this time with Jenny it’s somehow different because within seconds, a mighty and overwhelming inferno of righteous fury was ignited in Vastra. While she herself was fortunate enough to come out to a remarkably supportive family, just the thought of there being parents who, for some bullshit reason or another, simply cannot accept the fact that their children love the same gender, and would even go so far as to kill them, never failed to make Vastra’s blood boil hotly with anger. The way Jenny had described her father, how he had abused her solely for her sexual orientation sounded utterly barbaric to Vastra, as she found herself becoming increasingly protective of Jenny. She also imagined what it would be like to run down that bloody homophobic bastard with her motorcycle as a rightful punishment for all the damage he had inflicted against Jenny. No doubt she would have derived a most immense amount of satisfaction from it.

Vastra soon pulled herself out of her revenge fantasies, and impulsively reached over to hold Jenny’s hand in hers, before speaking bluntly, “No, don’t you ever berate yourself as a sinner like that again! I won’t stand for it! Forget everything that your asshole father said because you are definitely not a sinner! You, Miss Flint, are such a kind, beautiful, intelligent, honest, diligent, strong, and overall extraordinary individual as I have come to known throughout the course of my visit here. Your sexual preference for the fairer sex should not negate all of these positive qualities, nor should you be ashamed of being the way you are. So if your despicable bigot of a father refuse to understand that, then you might as well consider him dead to you, because I would bury him twenty feet underground if given the chance.” Vastra paused to catch her breath, her serious demeanor melting away to offer Jenny a softly compassionate smile as she concluded with, “Please trust me when I say, that even though your family may have forsaken you, I myself will always believe in you no matter what. You are worth so much more than you realize, Jenny Flint.”

The doubtless sincerity of Vastra’s words seemed to drip thick from her lips like luscious honey, which Jenny desperately longed to taste.

Jenny was entirely floored.

The effort of Vastra to show her love and appreciation and try to make up for the heaviness of her past had her stunned, shocked and overwhelmed with pure joy at the tremendous amount of care that Vastra dedicated to her. Even when young and still with a family, she hadn’t been very noticeable. A middle child among eight - too many mouths to be fed and too many expenses to be payed in the eyes of her parents - Jenny had been used to nearly not existing in the eyes of most. She was just another one , another student at the same school as four siblings before her and another pair of shoes that needed replacing when her father hadn’t had a job for weeks. Another young woman with lacking education searching for any job she could get in an effort to survive. The kind of care and kindness and love Vastra offered was something totally new. With Vastra, Jenny felt like the star of a play standing on a stage, everyone’s eyes focused solely on her. It made her heart soar and she lit up like a christmas tree at the thought.

“Thank you. Really, thank you. I…there has never been anyone showing me this much attention before, if I am to be honest. As a middle kid among eight, I….I’ve always been used to being forgotten. Well, until I do something wrong, that is, but that’s not the kind of attention you want.” She smiled, her broadest and happiest. “Thanks for caring, Vastra. For making me feel so very appreciated. You are special, too, and I’m so happy that I met you.”

Vastra couldn’t bring herself to say anything, because there was no words that could adequately describe Jenny’s radiant beauty in that moment when she is smiling and gay. It was a thrilling sensation for Vastra to be the one who could turn Jenny’s entire perspective around and help her to see the light that shines within her. There was truly nothing that she desired more than for Jenny to find the courage to love herself as perfect as she already was. She didn’t care about Jenny’s shitty childhood or her terrible abusive father, because none of that mattered anymore as she was determined to guide Jenny in moving forward from her unhappy past. Vastra’s heart was practically overflowing with pure, unconditional love towards Jenny, and even though it seemed highly unlikely that she would ever share her same romantic feelings, Vastra will never stop wanting the best of everything for Jenny.

Once she was able to recover her tongue again, Vastra gently squeezed Jenny’s hand and began to say, “Well, who else is going to to care for you if I don’’t? Really, Jenny, I promise that you will have a family of your own someday, a new and even better one. You already have Greeny….and I….I lo-”

Just as vastra was about to utter some of the most important words in her entire life, the sound of police sirens interrupted her, the noise coming from the kitchen and making itself heard all the way to the living room.

As if on cue, Jenny jumped up from her seat and ran off to the kitchen. After a while, the noise died out and she came back into the living room, her phone pressed to her ear, urgently talking to someone.

Glancing at Vastra, she whispered. “It is from work.” Before going back to talking to the person on the other end. “You know I don’t have weekend shifts this month, Jack! And yes, I am in the middle of something, too! So I’m not going to just give it up unless…wait, seriously? Oh my god! Why didn’t you say so? I’ll be there soon, bye.” Jenny hung up the phone, stress and mild panic clear on her face.

Whatever that was said in the conversation between that person and Jenny made Vastra considerably concerned, but also slightly piqued her curiosity.

“Jenny, you don’t look so well….what’s wrong? Who was that calling you?” Inquired Vastra eagerly, as she began to stand up with the intention of walking over to Jenny.

Glancing over at Vastra, and almost looking as though she just noticed she was there, Jenny frowned. “That was Jack, from work. He’s in charge of arranging all of our schedules and…he needs me to come in and work extra today. A sort of… thing happened and they need everyone they can get as soon as possible.”

Vastra arched an inquisitive eyebrow at that and said, “ Oh ….yes, I figured that it must be something serious if Scotland Yard is calling you on your day off.” She awkwardly fidgeted in her seat, uncertain on what to do next. “Anyway….I would seem that I’ve overstayed my welcome in your home. Perhaps you’d like me to leave now, so that you can get ready for work?”

An unspoken question hung in the air as Vastra and Jenny merely gazed at each other from across the room. Vastra really didn’t want to leave Jenny, who she’d fallen so incredibly hard for, or the enchantingly serene paradise consisting of just the two of them inside her apartment together. Being with Jenny had made her forget that all good things must come to an end eventually, and that she was completely powerless to prevent it.

Jenny glanced between the phone still in her hand and Vastra, a slightly guilty look on her face. She didn’t want this to end, but she felt as though she didn’t have a choice. It was extremely urgent, and she had promised Jack to come as soon as possible. “Look, I’m really sorry to have to throw you out like this, but there’s sort of a crisis going on, and I really need to get changed and get there! But we can still see each other at another time, yes?” Jenny smiled, nearly bursting at the seams with hopefulness.

Afraid that her voice might crack if she gave a verbal response, Vastra simply opted for a wry, bittersweet smile and nodded in understanding. She wordlessly retrieved her leather jacket to put it back on, hiding away her glorious arm tattoos from the view of mortal eyes once again. She then stood up before proceeding to swiftly walk towards the door, and Jenny followed suit to see her out. Jenny reached the door first and politely held it open for Vastra to go through. The Scottish woman already had one foot out the doorway when she suddenly paused, standing there like a statue as she contemplated something.

Then catching Jenny off guard, Vastra turned around and used one hand to cradle Jenny’s chin as she leaned over to plant a softly chaste kiss atop her forehead. “ Ceòthach mhadainn dh'fhaodadh a bhith latha soilleir….that’s Scottish for, ‘a misty morning may become a clear day’,” whispered Vastra as she slowly pulled away, capturing Jenny’s eyes with her own, which were full of undisclosed desires and passion. “Farewell, dear Jenny Flint, and thank you for a most splendidly memorable afternoon.”

Vastra allowed her hand to linger underneath Jenny’s chin in a rather seductive manner for several more tantalizing moments, before she abruptly spun around on her heel and marched right out of the apartment without so much as a backwards glance.

Jenny stood where Vastra left her, frozen in place, her eyes fixed on the doorway through which the unbelievably remarkable woman had just departed. Slowly, her eyes closed, her hand travelling all the way to her forehead and touching the spot where Vastra’s lips had touched it. Before her mind’s eye, Jenny could see Vastra’s beautiful lips resting on her pale skin, cool and slightly moist against her heated skin. She imagined those sweet lips traveling down her body and touching all of her. She wished to have her own lips on Vastra’s body, too, and though she knew it would probably never come true she couldn’t help but let herself get caught up in that dream for a while. A pleasant tingly warmth spread throughout her body and she smiled.

When she opened her eyes again, Jenny realised that she had spent all too much time dreaming about the most lovely scenarios with Vastra’s beautiful lips grazing her skin and her own lips kissing Vastra’s perfect face, and she quickly decided that she needed to get moving. The smile, however stayed on her face, just as the warm feeling in her chest remained there, and she kept the fantasies of her and Vastra and all that she could be with that gorgeous woman in the back of her mind for her to continue enjoying while she got dressed for work.

A misty morning may indeed become a clear day.

The golden sun hung high in the sky when Vastra emerged from the apartment complex, casting its far reaching rays upon her entire body as a kind of purifying blessing. She took several steps outside until she was approximately three feet away from the building, and only then did she finally permit herself to look back up at Jenny’s window. Vastra couldn’t resist reminiscing about the countless blissful hours that she had spent with Jenny; What had originally started as a simple veterinarian house visit to examine a client’s pet lizard, somehow gradually turned into one hell of a roller coaster ride with its numerous dramatic up and down points. Indeed, it was quite a perplexing paradox, because while Vastra found it considerably difficult to be confined in the same general area as Jenny due to her severe infatuation with the girl, she was also able to genuinely enjoy Jenny’s hospitable company nonetheless. Vastra thanked God that she was fortunate enough to bask in the magnificent aura of Jenny’s divine presence, witness her uniquely striking beauty up close with her own eyes, and engage in sociable conversation with Jenny as if they were old friends, rather than formal strangers. By the end of her tenure in Jenny’s home, Vastra truly felt like the two of them have learned so much about each other after sharing very intimate things from the deepest bottom of their souls, which helped them to form an even stronger and more meaningful connection than ever before. Never in her life did Vastra predict that she would be able to fully open herself to someone, or that a single person could have such a profound impact on her heart. Out of all the people in the world, Jenny was like a precious diamond among the rough, a cool oasis in the middle of a desert, a miraculous breeze of fresh air flowing into her lungs. Nobody else was even remotely worthy of being compared to Jenny, whose extraordinary celestial status uplifted her high above the rest of mankind in Vastra’s eyes.Everything that happened in the apartment served to confirm Vastra’s underlying belief that the feelings she harbored for Jenny weren’t just a mere crush, but undeniably true and honest love that consumed her entire being. Whether Jenny would ever reciprocate her romantic inclinations was a whole different matter, however, and there seemed to be little that Vastra could do to soothe the unbearable pain of falling for a perfect girl who she can never have. At least she could still find slight comfort in the fact that she actually got to hold Jenny in her arms, and earned her invaluable trust as a friend, which she concluded was better than nothing. Vastra’s mind continued to wander further as she remembered how conflicted she had been at the beginning, trying to decide between bravery and cowardice when Jenny first asked her to come over. Ultimately, Vastra was glad that she chose to follow her heart, because it had led her to the possibility of obtaining something much greater with Jenny.

Finally pulling herself out of her inner musings, Vastra glanced down to look at her watch.

The time was just nearing 12 PM.

Therefore, the day was still young, leaving plenty of room for an impromptu Sunday adventure. A delighted smile unconsciously spread across Vastra’s face, as she stuffed her hands into her pockets and leisurely walked the rest of the way towards her motorcycle. Once clad in her protective helmet and goggles, Vastra didn’t hesitate to rev up the motorcycle before it launched itself roaring down the road at maximum hyperspeed.

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Tag/Update list (DM me to be added):

@kelticscribe @zaridaxe @antiveninn @dorvanie

#vastra and jenny #dw femslash #madame vastra #jenny flint #paternoster gang

[seekingseven]

Mephibosheth Ch.2

Chapter 2 of my Undertale fanfic! You can read the story here on AO3 as well :D

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Chara splashed the water onto his face, sighing as the icy liquid soothed his skin. The goat-kid, Asriel, had healed his shattered ribs, life-threatening concussions, snapped ligaments - but not his eczema. He cupped some of the stream water in his hands and tried to douse the dryness on his face again. The relief lasted only for a few seconds. One day, he mused, the two dry splotches on his cheeks would be rubbed raw and establish themselves as a permanent feature on his face.

Fantastic. As if he didn't already look ghoulish enough. Chara grimaced as the water trickled down his neck and into his sweater, dampening the cloth underneath. He sat on his knees and looked down at the lazy stream in front of him. His pale visage stared back quietly, flinching when Asriel's reflection crept in from the right.

Even though he knew the goat kid was now standing right behind him, hearing his sudden tidal wave of anxious bleats startled the human anyway.

"Golly, Mr. Chara! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to scare you! But I saw you drinking from the stream and remembered that I didn't even think to offer you a drink, or snack, or, or anything!" Asriel stuffed his paws into the tuft of hair sitting atop his head and screwed his eyes shut. "Boy, aha. You fell from angel knows where, probably haven't eaten or rested in ages, and I end up giving you a tour of the Ruins instead of watching out for you." The goat buried his face in his hands. "I suck at my job."

Chara leaned back on his hands and gave Asriel a half-lidded stare. An earlier bladder-related debacle had spared the goat-child from having to ask the awkward pronoun question (with the side-effect of embarrassing Asriel enough for the both of them). Frankly, the social faux-pas had hardly perturbed Chara - privacy was a luxury who's denial he was familiar with. For some reason, though, the prince's forced formalities and habitual self-shaming had settled on the wrong side of Chara's stomach.

"What do you mean, you suck at your job?" the human muttered.

The Ruins hummed with distant piano music; the room's twin streams gurgled happily. Chara cocked his head to the side, waiting for an answer.

"Well, I should be keeping you safe! I mean, I'm Asriel Dreemurr," he said with an exaggerated rumble and half-hearted paw flip, "I'm supposed to keep monsters safe! A-and humans! Anyone in the Underground that I can keep safe, I should. B-but, I mean, l-l-look at you! I tried to heal you, but your cheeks are all raw, and your hands are bleeding, and you're probably so hungry and thirsty that you'll dust before we get to the end of the ruins!" Asriel had been pacing over one of the little wooden bridges in the room and nearly slipped into the stream beneath trying to punctuate the last word with a stomp.

Something in Chara's heart burned. He pushed the feeling aside and got to his feet, intending to express in explicit detail how misplaced Asriel's concerns were.

Chara's weakened body had other plans, it seemed. A sudden feeling of lightheadedness exploded in his temples; he must have stood up too quickly. His legs swayed drunkenly.

"A-aw, jeez! Aw, man!" The goat boy bleated.

Asriel sprinted to his side, threw an arm over Chara's shoulder, and waited anxiously for the human to regain sovereignty over his own body.

"Gosh! That was scary! We really need to get some food in your stomach and sleep in your bones!"

"I'm alright, Asriel."

The goat child started to say something, searching his companion's face for emotional purchase, but the only sound that came out was a sigh. He gave Chara a timid, disbelieving smile.

Froggits croaked, leaves rustled, streams murmured. A Whimsun cried in the distance. Switches clicked and pressure plates hummed as Asriel led the way through the Ruins' puzzles. If the human was taking any interest in his surroundings, he wasn't showing it.

They walked on in silence.

Chara stifled the urge to shrug off the arm Asriel still had over his shoulder. Something deep within him recoiled at physical contact. He stared at the purple stone underneath him in hopes that it would give his mind something else to brood over.

It was too quiet.

Asriel was too quiet.

Why wasn't he saying anything?

His bangs slipped out from behind his ears and dangled in front of his eyes. The human didn't care enough to brush them away.

"Hmm. Mr. Chara?"

Dark, attentive eyes jerked upwards. Chara tucked his chin towards his neck and flicked his eyebrows into his forehead.

He was listening.

"You're new to the Underground, aren'tcha?"

A nod. Asriel tried not to cringe at his stupid question...what else would the answer have been?

"Aha. G-golly, you must be so confused."

Asriel didn't expect his reticent companion to giggle. He smiled involuntarily when Chara looked up at him and cocked an eyebrow.

"That's a bit of an understatement, Azzy."

Maybe it was the sudden use of a nickname or the unexpectedly positive response to his rambling, but Asriel instantaneously felt lighter on his feet. A stupid grin plastered itself on Asriel’s face. The Prince placed a paw on his chest and deepened his voice with grandiose confidence, insisting that someone ought to teach the poor human how things worked around here, and it looked like little ol' Azzy would have to do. Chara giggled louder. Asriel smiled wider.

»»-««

By the time the two stood outside the Ruin's doors, Chara's mind was swimming with stories of SOULS, monsters, humans, interspecies war, magical barriers, millennia-long imprisonments, and a royal family composed entirely of anthropomorphic goats. It all sounded like something out of some crazy video game.

His eyes flickered over his companion, who was scrutinizing the snowy wasteland with an unreadable expression.

Chara's mirth dissolved.

Why would Asriel, Prince Asriel, give a random human so much care and attention?

He must want something. That's it. But what was it? His SOUL? How would that benefit him? Asriel didn't look particularly strong, at least in terms of combat, but his healing powers were exceptional. Didn't look like he needed the power. Then again, Chara didn't really have any reference to compare him with. Dark, calculating eyes stared blankly at the snowy forest ahead. He pulled his arms around the dip in his chest where he suspected his SOUL was.

"Boy, do you look cold! Here, Mr. Chara. Take my sweater, you'll need it more than me."

The humans' eyes flitted from a particularly suspicious-looking array of trees to Asriel's shirtless form. His train of thought was instantly derailed. What on earth was this goat doing? Taking off his sweater? In this weather? Did the biting wind and flurry of white slush around them not mean anything to him? Why didn't this guy at least have a shirt underneath? This was a sort of death wish, to be sure.

Chara recoiled and flicked his hand in refusal.

Asriel remained undaunted, holding out the striped green and yellow sweater with a determined air of insistence.

"Lookie here, Mr. Chara. I've got a literal coat of fur. I'm not cold at all!" A particularly bitter breeze weaved its way between the pair, and Asriel's muscles contracted sharply. Chara raised a singular eyebrow in silent protest. "Okay, alright. I'm a little cold, but I'll live. I mean, you're probably frozen half to death right now!"

Oh. That was actually true. Chara didn't notice how absolutely freezing he was until the fact was pointed out, and now it was unbearable. Taking the proffered sweater with an air of defeat, Chara tried desperately to remember what he was just thinking about. Something about Asriel…? He popped his head out the sweater's top and slid his hands carefully through the sleeves, absent-mindedly shuffling the two layers of cloth as he wracked his brain. Asriel looked on, a ditzy smile softening his fluffy features.

"Boy, you look comfy!"

Chara nodded in agreement. His skin was already starting to warm up.

"Well, come on, Mr. Chara! It's only a 20-minute walk or so to Snowdin Town, and from there, we can take the ferry home! The Riverkid's real nice, I think you'll like him. Anyway, though, Mom is probably whipping up some seriously mad soup as we speak, so you'll have something nice and warm in your stomach before you know it!"

Whatever Chara had been thinking about earlier, it couldn't have been as important as the prospect of 'seriously mad soup.' The human nodded to the goat, letting his hand dangle at his side in a silent invitation.

Asriel closed his paw around Chara's hand.

The pair shuffled onwards. A gust of wind whistled through the trees, an air of foreboding dripping from the ceiling. The starved, twisted corpses of trees long dead stared disapprovingly as the pair made their way to the town. It didn't take the human long to decide that he really, really didn't like this place.

"Ugh, I hate how the snow makes my fur so wet! " Asriel bleated. The human cast an anxious glance at his companion, noting the flattened, grey streaks of wet fur that crisscrossed his torso and face. Chara fingered the collar of the sweater uncomfortably. The goat boy shook his head. "You're keeping that. I'm not upset about my face or anything, and I'm seriously not that cold. It's my feet. The snow's got it all wet. I feel like I'm walking on, like, ugh," Asriel scrambled for the right words before slumping in defeat, "It feels like walking on something gross, I guess! Gosh. I suck with words!"

Chara giggled. He stopped walking, letting Asriel take a few steps ahead, and scooped an armful of snow into his arms. A fistful of the white fluff was crunched into something resembling a ball.

"Heads up seven up!" Chara shouted.

"Heads up seven wha-" Asriel shrieked as a crude snowball landed squarely between his shoulder blades. The prince squealed and twisted his hands behind his back, trying to brush off the snow before it could slip further. He turned around to come face to face with a smiling, no, beaming Chara.

Any anger he felt evaporated in an instant. Before he could put together a war cry or coherent battle plan, Asriel's paws were stuffed with snow.

"Try me, human!" the goat exclaimed, sending two irregularly shaped snowballs flying towards a fleeing Chara. A loud snort in the distance indicated that at least one of the snowhunks had found its target, and the prince grinned to himself. His victory didn't last long. A flurry of snowballs hit the goat child in the chest and stomach, one misfire whizzing above his head.

"Pride goes before the fall, Azzy!" A giggling voice asserted.

"CHARA! Get back here!" Formalities and hunger and cold forgotten, Asriel's entire mind was focused on the fight. He hastily constructed a snow fort (an expertly crafted structure consisting of a goat-made snowdrift and a shallow snowball pit) and dove inside. He peered above his safe haven for the elusive offender, absentmindedly crunching snow in his palms as he waited. A flash of yellow and green and brown flickered to his right, and Asriel launched half-a-dozen snowballs in that general direction. A grandiose squeal for mercy responded to his attack. The goat grinned, drew himself to his full height, and placed his hands on his hips. He tried not to flinch as the wind flopped his ears in his face. Chara resurfaced about thirty feet in front of Asriel's fort, hair, sweater, and skin darkened from the snow. Bangs fell over his face, sweeping over the flat bridge of his nose, and his face flushed red from laughter.

Something in Asriel's heart burned.

"Poor mortal! Clearly, you have no chance against me. For this reason, I, Prince Asriel Dreemurr, elect to grant you MERCY!" The Prince extended his hands out to the side in a caricature of a hug, tilting his chin backward to complete the flamboyant image. Chara shambled forward, muscles still quivering from his laughing fit, arms pressed to his chest.

"Oh, Azzy!" the human taunted, "doncha know that in this world, it's kill or be killed?"

Before Asriel could realize his mistake, a snowball splattered against his exposed stomach. He fell backward with a dramatic cry, pressing the back of his paw to his forehead.

"How could I have been so easily defeated?" he lamented when his body hit the white fluff underneath.

Chara exploded in laughter, clutching his sides as he ran to the fallen prince. The human crouched down next to Asriel - who was splayed out ridiculously in the remains of his ruined fort - and brushed the excess snow from his face.

"I got you pretty good, didn't I?" Chara boasted as he helped Asriel to his feet. The goat rolled his eyes and gave the traitor a casual grin.

"That was a real dirty trick you pulled there, Chara. I don't think I'll be able to forgive you." Asriel said, hands on hips, "if something like this happens again, I might be forced to banish you to the island of perpetual tickling!"

"Well, Your Majesty, I'll have you know tha-" a low rumble interrupted Chara's plea for mercy.

"Dude, what was that?"

"I think it was my stomach," Chara muttered, sending his midsection as pointed a glare one could give an internal organ. Asriel ran a paw down his face, smoothing out cowlicks and rouge clumps of wet fur. He looked incredibly guilty for someone who hadn't done anything wrong.

"Aw, man. Chara, I'm so sorry. Getting you all tangled up in a snowball fight when you don't have anything to run off of - I shouldn't have done that."

"Asriel, it's alright. I'm not really that hungry." Chara insisted.

Right on cue, his stomach let out another temperamental wail. The goat boy gave Chara a frustrated snort. The latter shrugged.

"T-there's a restaurant in Snowdin Town," Asriel began. "It's a pretty nice place. We can pick up cheese fries or onion rings o-or maybe milkshakes? If you want milkshakes, we'll get milkshakes, you know. It's, you know - whatever you want, Chara." The goat's chin was tucked against his neck, a familiar hangdog look already darkening his features. Why on earth did Asriel feel guilty because he was hungry? Chara wondered. Maybe he was hungry too? So many things about this kid didn't make sense. "It’ll just be something small to tide us over during the ferry ride," Asriel continued, "the ferry ride - it's about an hour, maybe? Yeah, you gotta eat something before then. But anyway it's pretty late, we might need to hustle if we want to get to Grillby's before closing time."

Chara tilted his head to the side. His bangs slipped across his forehead.

"Let's get going then, shall we?"

The human's hand dangled by his side, wet and puffy from the snow. As if it was some sort of age-old habit or natural instinct, Asriel slipped his paw into Chara's hand.

Something in their SOULs burned.

┕━━━━━━━★━━━━━━━┙

#undertale #chara #asriel #fanfiction #seeking7 #mystuff!

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

CSUAVS prt 7... still plodding

The Telula Day was not what Keith expected. Lance out cold when the massive ship suddenly appeared, seemingly shaking the Earth around them and sending him into panic mode as he had no idea that they weren't hostile. Needless to say, his first impressions of Lance's new team wasn't exactly great. They thought he'd caused the damage to Lance's ship, while Keith thought they'd down the same and come to finished the job. Kosmo proved himself smarter than all of them when he teleported outside the door of Keith's ship with a barely conscious Lance leaning against him. Waving at his team, the strangers joyously cried out for "Leandro", leaving Keith to be pushed to the background. He'd barely done anything other than save Lance's life, then cared for him while he'd been come down sick with fever that morning. Lance couldn't even be bothered to cooperate when Keith had wiped his sweat soaked body down, and now he was acting like he hadn't thrown his guts up and spent most of the day rambling to himself. Having left his crush to cool down the previous night, after the small incident in the cockpit of his ship, Keith changed his tactics, pulling out an assortment of rations Hunk had bestowed upon him. Lance was ending his call to his team, plastering a smile on his face as he apologised for his moodiness. The conversation following had been awkward and slow, Lance not his usual self as barely three words came out at a time before all chance of actually talking was interrupted by Krolia demanding to know why his tracker signal had suddenly gone offline. Explaining it was his mother, Lance had waved him out the room to continue the conversation in private. Not that it was a real conversation. It was his mother insisting on knowing how his tracking system could suddenly go offline and not buying his lie that he'd been distracted by an over enthusiastic Kosmo. Swearing black and blue that he was perfectly fine, not in trouble, and not courting danger in any form, half a vargas had still passed by the time he was finally freed from the call. Lance had drifted off by the time he got off the call, not surprising given he was probably coming down off his painkiller induced high. Clearing away Lance's barely picked at meal, Keith went about pulling up the blankets, shifting Lance into a more comfortable position as he did. The way Lance mumbled in his sleep as he sought his hand felt oddly domestic in a way that made him smile. Things might be shaky between them. Lance might be hiding a hundred and one things, but when he slept he looked so peaceful that none of that seemed to matter anymore. Furthermore, he'd reached for him. He couldn't leave him when he was being that vulnerable. Throwing caution to the wind, and leaving Kosmo to finish Lance's dinner, Keith slid under the covers with Lance. Pulling the gorgeous Cuban closer, he rested Lance's head on his chest. Knowing he was flirting with fire, Keith couldn't help himself as he breathed in Lance's soft sea salt scent, face buried in his short chocolate locks as his own body relaxed beneath the comforting weight. It wasn't like they'd never shared a bed before, yet this felt different. Lance curled into him, hand clutching Keith's loosely as he mumbled softly. That was the Lance he knew. Lance who didn't know how to shut up. Mumbling slightly louder in his sleep, Keith's heart broke a little more as his ears caught what he wasn't supposed to hear "I'll be good. No more... I'll be good...". Whatever had happened to Lance they'd get through together. Provided Lance finally let him in. Maybe when his "team" arrived, Lance would be willing talk more, or come morning they'd be so close that Lance wouldn't be able to run from him anymore. The following morning was a tangle of limbs and flurry of action as Lance half vaulted over him before throwing up spectacularly over the bedroom floor as he tripped on his own feet. The sound of Lance's knees smacking against the ship floor was loud enough for Keith to cringe. Climbing from the bed up at a much lower speed, Keith caught Lance as he slumped sideways his whole body burning in the half-Galra's hold. Groaning in pain, Lance's blue eyes fluttered open as his Altean marks pulsed for in and out of view. For some reason the smell of juniper berries seemed to swirl around them as their eyes met "Another bonding moment?" Keith nodded forcing a slight smile for Lance's sake as his palm went to sweaty forehead. Vomiting and fever could both be signs of internal bleeding, or an infection... but Lance seemed too far out of it for Keith to ask how pained he was or where. He'd cleaned and dressed all of Lance's wounds that he could see... but with no way of knowing how long Lance had been trapped infection could have set in before he got to his friend "I thought you didn't remember the first one?" Slurring his words, Lance shot him an opened mouth grin of sorts "I don't... and I don't think I'm going to remember this one either... I think I'm sick" Stroking Lance's hair back from his forehead, Lance sighed into his touch as he sought out the coolness of Keith's large hand "Yeah buddy, I think you might be too. You've got a pretty bad fever here, and your marks are showing" With a trembling hand Lance moved to trace his mark on the left side, his already ragged breathing turning into a soft sob "Don't... don't look... don't look at them" "Why not?" "A-Allura..." Allura? Did he think Keith was Allura? Or did Lance not want him to think of Allura when he saw his marks? "She's not here. It's you, me, Kosmo. How about we get you back into bed?" "... don't look at me... Don't... wrong... I'm wrong... Allura... Allura... don't... touch me..." Slurring out the end of his rambling, Lance turned to mumbling random words that made no sense. Too far out of it to take care of himself, Keith tilted him up to wipe a thin trail of drooley vomit from his chin before pressing a kiss to Lance's forehead. Everything Lance did was far too extreme for his heart to keep up, yet he wouldn't have him any other way. Lifting his friend from the floor, he laid him back down on the bed pausing to watch those stupid flickering blue marks. The interval of the pulsing of Lance's marks slowly growing slower until they remained upon his cheeks. It was like a constant reminder that Lance had loved and lost. Those stupid marks were nothing but a cruel burden she'd saddled Lance with for life. * When Lance had said he had a team, Keith had thought maybe two people... three on the very outer, and a ship the size of Black lion. He was very much wrong on all accounts. The Telula Day was easily the size of Voltron when formed, and it seemed to be Lance's pride and joy once everyone had settled down enough to make it inside the larger ship. Teleporting Lance to his side, the former Red Paladin's team seemed shocked as Keith lifted Lance into his hold. Keith not really thinking anything of it until after Lance was laying in the Telula Day's med bay with a drip in his arm. Each of Lance's team members had seemed ready to rush to the man to hug him at their reunion, yet none of them had moved to touch him. Like it was some kind of unwritten rule. Even the alien woman who'd inserted the drip into Lance's arm had done the absolute bare minimum when it came to touching. She seemed genuinely confused, and maybe a little hurt, that Lance had reached for Keith's hand after he'd laid him on the examination table. Keith still holding his hand as a warm yellow light bathed his unconscious friend while said woman looked on. The few moments of peace between the four them, Kosmo included, was shattered by a man rushing into the medbay, his eyes widening at the sight of Keith holding Lance's hand as he stumbled to a stop "Who the Quiznak is this?!" Despite the question being directed at Keith, Keith ignored it for the time being. His mind recalling that it was the same strange alien who'd been at Lance's side after he'd sedated the two Galra and had them removed from his room on Erathus "This is Keith. The former Black Paladin of Voltron" So she knew who he was. And the stranger should too given they'd briefly met "I know that. I mean, what is he doing, Daehra?" The woman must be named Daehra, as she sighed at the man like she was far too familiar with his shit. His tone alone was enough to set Keith on edge to the point he felt the weird sensation to bare his teeth as he growled softly "Leandro reached for his hand. He was the one who carried him into the ship when he collapsed" "For all we know, he's the reason Leandro was hurt" "Lucteal. Leandro contacted us. He told us to rendezvous with him here. It was you who perceived Keith's ship as a threat and caused that scene. Think of how Lance will feel knowing what nearly happened" Lucteal could Quiznak the hell off. Keith wasn't sure why, but he was certain that the stranger was far too close to Lance for his heart's liking. And there was that name "Leandro" again. Now that this whole team dynamic was in the picture, Keith could only assume it was his code name... but why did Lance need a code name? All their faces had been splashed across the universe. Everyone knew them by name... So having a code name for Lance seemed kind of... pointless? "I was thinking of him. You know as well as I that he doesn't care for physical contact. Yet he sits there holding his hand!" "Lucteal, it was Leandro's choice. Please. They're old friends from long before we met him" "You both realise I am right here?" Jealousy drove the words from Keith's mouth as Lucteal moved to the other side of the examination table. The strangers hand hovering as if he wished to take Lance's other hand in his, before awkwardly moving to rest on the thin blanket beneath Lance instead "I am sorry former Black Paladin. And I am sorry you were met with hostility. I don't know whether or not you know but there have recently been incidents that have lead to... unfavourable conditions for the team. As such, we are operating on heightened security. For Leandro to first leave Erathus, then to have been in a crash is an issue that troubles all of us. I am Daehra, this is my brother Lucteal. He is the closest to Leandro and cares very deeply for him. All those upon the Telula care deeply for Leandro. He brought us all together, and now leads our team" It wasn't surprising for Lance to be in a leadership role. Before Allura had died, Lance had seemed to shed his past worries of worthlessness. Proving himself invaluable again and again. Looking back to Lance's flushed face, Keith squeezed his hand in silent support "We didn't have a chance to talk after the crash. Not about everything happening, or what lead to it..." "You lead to it. Your interference on Erathus meant he had to leave. He took the punishment for your actions and it nearly lead to his death but you wouldn't care about such a thing would you? You would simply use him up and throw him away. I've heard about you Black Paladin. I've heard what you've done. I won't let you come here and force him back into a situation like..." "Lucteal! That's enough. He cared for Leandro after the crash..." "A crash that wouldn't have happened if he didn't decide he needed to hack the clubs security! What happened to Lance is on his shoulders!" "Leandro wouldn't like you using that name. You know that he likes to keep his work life and personal life seperate" "Daehra! You know what they did to him! How can you..." "Will you both stop fighting?" Groaning as he shielded his eyes from the light above the table, Lance brought the argument to an end before Keith could learn anything further. Ignoring the way Lucteal glared daggers at him, Keith rose to his feet in order to cover more of the light blinding Lance "Hey, Sleeping Beauty. It's about time you woke up" "You know me... gotta get my beauty sleep" Lucteal let out a huff as he crossed his arms, Keith smug in the knowledge he'd cut off whatever the man was mentally planning upon Lance's waking "I do. I remember quite a few late mornings because of it. How do you feel?" "Like I got hit by a lion" "Daehra here, has only just started her scans. Do you remember them landing?" "I remember yelling" "Then you remember everything" Letting his hand drop away, Lance's eyes were glassy as they sought out Keith's face "Great. Guys, this is Keith. Keith... these are the guys. Keith's a friend. Keith, these guys are friends..." "We did the introductions. How do you feel?" "I'm fine. Daehra rivals Coran on weird medical knowledge" "That's good. You still need to rest. You could have internal bleeding" "Awww. You worried, Mullet?" "Yes" Lance's cheeks reddened slightly further with a blush meant only for him "You're making it all sappy. Aren't you supposed to play it cool?" "I seem to loose all my cool when it comes to you" "Cough. Cough. Gay" "You know it" Groaning at him, Keith was enjoying riling Lance up. He definitely preferred Lance awake and confined to bed, when compared to continually attempting to do things while drifting in and out "God. Remind me why I'm doing you a favour again?" "Because Guile is missing? And you missed me?" "Maybe... Lucteal. We're headed to sector 15. We need to bypass 31 and 47. 19 is kind of dicey, but if we don't fire first we should be fine" Lucteal lit up as he leaned down to invade Keith's space. He was clearly smitten by Lance, leaving Keith wondering where the nearest airlock was. It wouldn't be that hard to make it look like an accident "You were scheduled to pass through 19, instead you went and got yourself in a damn fight again in 22. You know you're not supposed to take on trade ships without support" "I didn't mean to. They recognised my pod from that job we did on Baihzyl. I'm lucky Keith was at the meet early" Ending his sentence with a cough, Lance spluttered hard enough to choke on his own spit "Sit him up" Keith didn't need Daehra to tell him what he already knew. Lance's wet coughs sent a shiver of fear down his spine in fear the infection could have spread to his lungs. Lance waved both he and Lucteal off as he pushed himself up "He has cracked ribs, but the scanner isn't picking up internal bleeding. The infection is radiating from his left leg. The medication is stimulating..." "Daehra. I get it" Coughing out the words, Lance winced as he did. Keith tempted to smack him for being so stubborn over it all, and then smack him again for hiding his symptoms with his own personal drug supply "Good. You'll be free to move once the drip line has finished. That means no sneaking out of my medway in the mean time" Laughing and coughing, Lance wound up groaning miserably as Daehra left her scanner to move to the end of the examination bed "It's medbay. You're gonna make Keith think I've been teaching you all the wrong words. Why don't you show him around? Or at least to somewhere he can shower and call his mother" "Leandro..." "I'm ok, Dae. Take Luc too. Also assign Keith to BBK on the board and scramble the comms. We can't sit here and we're not fit for a fight. The grav hooks should have connected with Keith's ship by now? If not see to it. My pod's wrecked. Have Zak burn it" Daehra didn't argue. Keith wanted too, yet was torn. A tour of the ship might lead to an explanation of what was going on, but leaving a vulnerable Lance alone was fucking with everything that made him him. Especially when Lance was still coughing up a storm "I know that look. Leandro often wears the same one. No harm will come to him. Your wolf may stay if that will help ease your worries" "Daehra, we can't just show the prince of Daibazaal our ship. What's to stop him from..." "Lucteal, Leandro trusts him. We owe him a debt we can never hope to repay. So please, brother, let us listen to his wishes. Keith, would you please join us?" "Are you sure you're going to be ok?" Rolling his eyes at him, Lance seemed annoyed. Whatever Lance was up to was most definitely not a bodyguard or security guard kind of job... if anything, he was starting to sound more like some kind of space pirate which was almost laughable if he hadn't seen with his own eyes that Lance was a chronic drug user and most certainly not the friend he'd left on Earth "I'll be fine. I've survived this long without Voltron to magically clean up my mess. Call Krolia and let her know you'll be out of contact for the next movement. We can't make or receive calls where we're going. Magnetic fields fuck with the comms" His mother wouldn't like it. She'd probably already called Shiro to enquire about his every move on the Atlas. He really wouldn't be surprised if Axca showed up with Ezor and Zethrid in tow to bring him back home "Alright. Thank you. Kosmo, you stay with Lance. You heard Daehra. No letting Lance boss you around because you love him too much" Kosmo looked insulted, though they both knew he was a giant push over. He was supposed to have supervised Lance back on their ship, yet Kosmo had let him do whatever he'd wanted because he'd missed Lance "It's for his own good. If he tries to leave, come get me" Ruffling between Kosmo's ears, his wolf yipped. The traitor was probably already forgetting everything Keith had said in favour for pats from Lance. The pair of them were loveable idiots that drove him crazy, yet he couldn't do without. The fact Lance had been hiding cracked ribs weighed heavily on Keith as he hesitantly followed Daehra from the med bay, Lucteal following after the pair then taking off immediately. Shaking her head at her brother's retreating figure, Daehra sighed softly "I'm sorry. He... takes time to trust. Our species is... a little different. We tend to smell and feel things people may wish we don't. That's tethered him to Leandro's side, and blinds him to his own foolishness. Let me officially welcome you to the "Telula Day". Leandro named her after we captured her in a skirmish out of sector 6. Normally no one would risk the asteroid belt there, but Leandro..." That sounded just like Lance. Lance the Tailor who could thread any needle... Quiznak... that took him back... "He isn't exactly "normal", but that's what makes him special" Daehra smiled prettily, her demeanour picking up as she seem d to realise he wasn't about to bite her head off for making a joke "Yes. But he brought us together. Here, I'll show you to your quarters first. The only spare rooms we have are on the same floor as Leandro's. Normally they're used for storage as he likes his space... but you are his personal guest..." Pausing in his stride, Keith was starting to believe this was some kind of alternate reality. Lance didn't like being touched. He didn't like people around him or in his space. He wasn't acting like the loveable goof he was... "Can I ask you a question...?" "You want to know what's going on? Leandro hasn't explained anything to you, has he? Not about his job or what we do?" Scratching the back of his head, Keith wondered if mind reading was part of Daehra's racial skills "Exactly" "We'll walk and talk. You see, Leandro came into our lives around 3 phoebs ago. The daughter of the ruling family of our home planet had been taken. Lucteal and I had devised a plan to retrieve her, but Leandro was already mid mission to free her and the others. He saved her by taking her place. Since then, we've followed him. He... cares far more than others than himself" And now there were more questions "He took her place?" "That's not my story to tell. Leandro's job is tough, but necessary. He'd been hurt so badly before, but he's never looked as happy as he does when he looks at you" Daehra had said she'd give him answers, Keith wasn't sure he had answers to anything "But what is that he does?" "He's what you would call a Bounty Hunter? That's the term he used? Your language was hard to learn. We intercept supplies and appropriate them? I'm sorry. We don't generally explain our jobs. We have 3 Bounty Hunters, and try to facilitate all hunts from here. Leandro wished to bring everyone together to make missions easier, and to prevent us killing each other trying to take down the same bounty. Not everyone agreed, we... had a few close calls. With those he's black listed? You humans have so many words" Keith was momentarily floored. Yes, the Atlas did what they could to keep the peace. Yes, the Blades did to... but there was always rules to this sort of thing. A facade they had to show the public. By being a "Bounty Hunter" Lance was walking a line neither faction could. He could help those smaller people who had worries that others would overstep, and it explained the drugging of both Galra in his room then handing them over to the police... It explained a lot of things... but not the most important thing of all, who'd hurt Lance? "I... didn't know" Daehra nodded, placing her hand on Keith's arm "That much was obvious. He'll be fine. You aren't responsible for the infection forming. The wound care you applied to his scalp should result in minimal scarring. Once the drip has run clean he'll be back on his feet" "So soon?" "Leandro heals fast... Is that not common with your species?" Right he didn't need to frown for her to know he mentally was "No. Not usually. His injuries would keep him on very light duty and bed rest for the next movement or so" "A movement? Leandro has never been down for a moment before..." Everyone needs rest. It was something that Lance had drummed into him... All of this was wrong... "No. There was once. He was down for his cycle, but we sorted that out with some fine tuning. He knows he must take his medication and monitor his body carefully" "You drugged him?!" Keith's anger caused Daehra to real back, her hands up as if surrendering "No! Not like that! Please. He asked for something to help remove his marks!" "His marks?" "Yes. You saw them, those blue marks. He hates those more than anything on his body. Maybe more than himself..." Lance had struggled with his marks at first, but he'd thought he'd made peace with them and what they meant "Did he say why?" "Only that it was a reminder he came back wrong and would never be the person he once was. Lucteal would know more. He's been there for him at his lows. He wouldn't be happy to know that I you, but he's fighting something alone that none of us have been allowed to see. He really looks up to you. Your who he talks of most when asked over Voltron. You're really quite popular with some planets in our routes" "I am?" "Yes. The "Handsome Black Paladin"" "Are you sure they don't mean Shiro?" "Shiro? Oh. Your white haired commander. No. Not him. Leandro designated him "Silver Fox", though I don't know what that means" Keith let out an overly loud snort. Shiro wouldn't be happy to be accepting the title "Silver Fox" so young. Daehra stopped walking in order to stare at him. For an alien who'd only been learning their language an assumedly short time, she was really quite fluid. Though he didn't know if she really needed to know what "Silver Fox" meant "It's an Earth term for someone older than you" "So you would be a "Silver Fox"? As you're older than Leandro" Damned if he hadn't walked into that one "Not quite. Anyway, how much further until we reach the guest quarters?" Daehra didn't look pleased that she didn't get the answer she wanted, yet started walking again "They're at the back of the ship. Near the rear thrusters. He says he likes the noise" "The noise?" "You'll see"

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

CSUAVS 7 update. So basically we're gonna be Keith for like 3 more chaps maybe. Then we get Lance's side from leaving earth, then the two idiots together

The Telula Day was not what Keith expected. Lance out cold when the massive ship suddenly appeared, seemingly shaking the Earth around them and sending him into panic mode as he had no idea that they weren't hostile. Needless to say, his first impressions of Lance's new team wasn't exactly great. They thought he'd caused the damage to Lance's ship, while Keith thought they'd down the same and come to finished the job. Kosmo proved himself smarter than all of them when he teleported outside the door of Keith's ship with a barely conscious Lance leaning against him. Waving at his team, the strangers joyously cried out for "Leandro", leaving Keith to be pushed to the background. He'd barely done anything other than save Lance's life, then cared for him while he'd been come down sick with fever that morning. Lance couldn't even be bothered to cooperate when Keith had wiped his sweat soaked body down, and now he was acting like he hadn't thrown his guts up and spent most of the day rambling to himself. Having left his crush to cool down the previous night, after the small incident in the cockpit of his ship, Keith changed his tactics, pulling out an assortment of rations Hunk had bestowed upon him. Lance was ending his call to his team, plastering a smile on his face as he apologised for his moodiness. The conversation following had been awkward and slow, Lance not his usual self as barely three words came out at a time before all chance of actually talking was interrupted by Krolia demanding to know why his tracker signal had suddenly gone offline. Explaining it was his mother, Lance had waved him out the room to continue the conversation in private. Not that it was a real conversation. It was his mother insisting on knowing how his tracking system could suddenly go offline and not buying his lie that he'd been distracted by an over enthusiastic Kosmo. Swearing black and blue that he was perfectly fine, not in trouble, and not courting danger in any form, half a vargas had still passed by the time he was finally freed from the call. Lance had drifted off by the time he got off the call, not surprising given he was probably coming down off his painkiller induced high. Clearing away Lance's barely picked at meal, Keith went about pulling up the blankets, shifting Lance into a more comfortable position as he did. The way Lance mumbled in his sleep as he sought his hand felt oddly domestic in a way that made him smile. Things might be shaky between them. Lance might be hiding a hundred and one things, but when he slept he looked so peaceful that none of that seemed to matter anymore. Furthermore, he'd reached for him. He couldn't leave him when he was being that vulnerable. Throwing caution to the wind, and leaving Kosmo to finish Lance's dinner, Keith slid under the covers with Lance. Pulling the gorgeous Cuban closer, he rested Lance's head on his chest. Knowing he was flirting with fire, Keith couldn't help himself as he breathed in Lance's soft sea salt scent, face buried in his short chocolate locks as his own body relaxed beneath the comforting weight. It wasn't like they'd never shared a bed before, yet this felt different. Lance curled into him, hand clutching Keith's loosely as he mumbled softly. That was the Lance he knew. Lance who didn't know how to shut up. Mumbling slightly louder in his sleep, Keith's heart broke a little more as his ears caught what he wasn't supposed to hear "I'll be good. No more... I'll be good...". Whatever had happened to Lance they'd get through together. Provided Lance finally let him in. Maybe when his "team" arrived, Lance would be willing talk more, or come morning they'd be so close that Lance wouldn't be able to run from him anymore. The following morning was a tangle of limbs and flurry of action as Lance half vaulted over him before throwing up spectacularly over the bedroom floor as he tripped on his own feet. The sound of Lance's knees smacking against the ship floor was loud enough for Keith to cringe. Climbing from the bed up at a much lower speed, Keith caught Lance as he slumped sideways his whole body burning in the half-Galra's hold. Groaning in pain, Lance's blue eyes fluttered open as his Altean marks pulsed for in and out of view. For some reason the smell of juniper berries seemed to swirl around them as their eyes met "Another bonding moment?" Keith nodded forcing a slight smile for Lance's sake as his palm went to sweaty forehead. Vomiting and fever could both be signs of internal bleeding, or an infection... but Lance seemed too far out of it for Keith to ask how pained he was or where. He'd cleaned and dressed all of Lance's wounds that he could see... but with no way of knowing how long Lance had been trapped infection could have set in before he got to his friend "I thought you didn't remember the first one?" Slurring his words, Lance shot him an opened mouth grin of sorts "I don't... and I don't think I'm going to remember this one either... I think I'm sick" Stroking Lance's hair back from his forehead, Lance sighed into his touch as he sought out the coolness of Keith's large hand "Yeah buddy, I think you might be too. You've got a pretty bad fever here, and your marks are showing" With a trembling hand Lance moved to trace his mark on the left side, his already ragged breathing turning into a soft sob "Don't... don't look... don't look at them" "Why not?" "A-Allura..." Allura? Did he think Keith was Allura? Or did Lance not want him to think of Allura when he saw his marks? "She's not here. It's you, me, Kosmo. How about we get you back into bed?" "... don't look at me... Don't... wrong... I'm wrong... Allura... Allura... don't... touch me..." Slurring out the end of his rambling, Lance turned to mumbling random words that made no sense. Too far out of it to take care of himself, Keith tilted him up to wipe a thin trail of drooley vomit from his chin before pressing a kiss to Lance's forehead. Everything Lance did was far too extreme for his heart to keep up, yet he wouldn't have him any other way. Lifting his friend from the floor, he laid him back down on the bed pausing to watch those stupid flickering blue marks. The interval of the pulsing of Lance's marks slowly growing slower until they remained upon his cheeks. It was like a constant reminder that Lance had loved and lost. Those stupid marks were nothing but a cruel burden she'd saddled Lance with for life. * When Lance had said he had a team, Keith had thought maybe two people... three on the very outer, and a ship the size of Black lion. He was very much wrong on all accounts. The Telula Day was easily the size of Voltron when formed, and it seemed to be Lance's pride and joy once everyone had settled down enough to make it inside the larger ship. Teleporting Lance to his side, the former Red Paladin's team seemed shocked as Keith lifted Lance into his hold. Keith not really thinking anything of it until after Lance was laying in the Telula Day's med bay with a drip in his arm. Each of Lance's team members had seemed ready to rush to the man to hug him at their reunion, yet none of them had moved to touch him. Like it was some kind of unwritten rule. Even the alien woman who'd inserted the drip into Lance's arm had done the absolute bare minimum when it came to touching. She seemed genuinely confused, and maybe a little hurt, that Lance had reached for Keith's hand after he'd laid him on the examination table. Keith still holding his hand as a warm yellow light bathed his unconscious friend while said woman looked on. The few moments of peace between the four them, Kosmo included, was shattered by a man rushing into the medbay, his eyes widening at the sight of Keith holding Lance's hand as he stumbled to a stop "Who the Quiznak is this?!" Despite the question being directed at Keith, Keith ignored it for the time being. His mind recalling that it was the same strange alien who'd been at Lance's side after he'd sedated the two Galra and had them removed from his room on Erathus "This is Keith. The former Black Paladin of Voltron" So she knew who he was. And the stranger should too given they'd briefly met "I know that. I mean, what is he doing, Daehra?" The woman must be named Daehra, as she sighed at the man like she was far too familiar with his shit. His tone alone was enough to set Keith on edge to the point he felt the weird sensation to bare his teeth as he growled softly "Leandro reached for his hand. He was the one who carried him into the ship when he collapsed" "For all we know, he's the reason Leandro was hurt" "Lucteal. Leandro contacted us. He told us to rendezvous with him here. It was you who perceived Keith's ship as a threat and caused that scene. Think of how Lance will feel knowing what nearly happened" Lucteal could Quiznak the hell off. Keith wasn't sure why, but he was certain that the stranger was far too close to Lance for his heart's liking. And there was that name "Leandro" again. Now that this whole team dynamic was in the picture, Keith could only assume it was his code name... but why did Lance need a code name? All their faces had been splashed across the universe. Everyone knew them by name... So having a code name for Lance seemed kind of... pointless? "I was thinking of him. You know as well as I that he doesn't care for physical contact. Yet he sits there holding his hand!" "Lucteal, it was Leandro's choice. Please. They're old friends from long before we met him" "You both realise I am right here?" Jealousy drove the words from Keith's mouth as Lucteal moved to the other side of the examination table. The strangers hand hovering as if he wished to take Lance's other hand in his, before awkwardly moving to rest on the thin blanket beneath Lance instead "I am sorry former Black Paladin. And I am sorry you were met with hostility. I don't know whether or not you know but there have recently been incidents that have lead to... unfavourable conditions for the team. As such, we are operating on heightened security. For Leandro to first leave Erathus, then to have been in a crash is an issue that troubles all of us. I am Daehra, this is my brother Lucteal. He is the closest to Leandro and cares very deeply for him. All those upon the Telula care deeply for Leandro. He brought us all together, and now leads our team" It wasn't surprising for Lance to be in a leadership role. Before Allura had died, Lance had seemed to shed his past worries of worthlessness. Proving himself invaluable again and again. Looking back to Lance's flushed face, Keith squeezed his hand in silent support "We didn't have a chance to talk after the crash. Not about everything happening, or what lead to it..." "You lead to it. Your interference on Erathus meant he had to leave. He took the punishment for your actions and it nearly lead to his death but you wouldn't care about such a thing would you? You would simply use him up and throw him away. I've heard about you Black Paladin. I've heard what you've done. I won't let you come here and force him back into a situation like..." "Lucteal! That's enough. He cared for Leandro after the crash..." "A crash that wouldn't have happened if he didn't decide he needed to hack the clubs security! What happened to Lance is on his shoulders!" "Leandro wouldn't like you using that name. You know that he likes to keep his work life and personal life seperate" "Daehra! You know what they did to him! How can you..." "Will you both stop fighting?" Groaning as he shielded his eyes from the light above the table, Lance brought the argument to an end before Keith could learn anything further. Ignoring the way Lucteal glared daggers at him, Keith rose to his feet in order to cover more of the light blinding Lance "Hey, Sleeping Beauty. It's about time you woke up" "You know me... gotta get my beauty sleep" Lucteal let out a huff as he crossed his arms, Keith smug in the knowledge he'd cut off whatever the man was mentally planning upon Lance's waking "I do. I remember quite a few late mornings because of it. How do you feel?" "Like I got hit by a lion" "Daehra here, has only just started her scans. Do you remember them landing?" "I remember yelling" "Then you remember everything" Letting his hand drop away, Lance's eyes were glassy as they sought out Keith's face "Great. Guys, this is Keith. Keith... these are the guys. Keith's a friend. Keith, these guys are friends..." "We did the introductions. How do you feel?" "I'm fine. Daehra rivals Coran on weird medical knowledge" "That's good. You still need to rest. You could have internal bleeding" "Awww. You worried, Mullet?" "Yes" Lance's cheeks reddened slightly further with a blush meant only for him "You're making it all sappy. Aren't you supposed to play it cool?" "I seem to loose all my cool when it comes to you" "Cough. Cough. Gay" "You know it" Groaning at him, Keith was enjoying riling Lance up. He definitely preferred Lance awake and confined to bed, when compared to continually attempting to do things while drifting in and out "God. Remind me why I'm doing you a favour again?" "Because Guile is missing? And you missed me?" "Maybe... Lucteal. We're headed to sector 15. We need to bypass 31 and 47. 19 is kind of dicey, but if we don't fire first we should be fine" Lucteal lit up as he leaned down to invade Keith's space. He was clearly smitten by Lance, leaving Keith wondering where the nearest airlock was. It wouldn't be that hard to make it look like an accident "You were scheduled to pass through 19, instead you went and got yourself in a damn fight again in 22. You know you're not supposed to take on trade ships without support" "I didn't mean to. They recognised my pod from that job we did on Baihzyl. I'm lucky Keith was at the meet early" Ending his sentence with a cough, Lance spluttered hard enough to choke on his own spit "Sit him up" Keith didn't need Daehra to tell him what he already knew. Lance's wet coughs sent a shiver of fear down his spine in fear the infection could have spread to his lungs. Lance waved both he and Lucteal off as he pushed himself up "He has cracked ribs, but the scanner isn't picking up internal bleeding. The infection is radiating from his left leg. The medication is stimulating..." "Daehra. I get it" Coughing out the words, Lance winced as he did. Keith tempted to smack him for being so stubborn over it all, and then smack him again for hiding his symptoms with his own personal drug supply "Good. You'll be free to move once the drip line has finished. That means no sneaking out of my medway in the mean time" Laughing and coughing, Lance wound up groaning miserably as Daehra left her scanner to move to the end of the examination bed "It's medbay. You're gonna make Keith think I've been teaching you all the wrong words. Why don't you show him around? Or at least to somewhere he can shower and call his mother" "Leandro..." "I'm ok, Dae. Take Luc too. Also assign Keith to BBK on the board and scramble the comms. We can't sit here and we're not fit for a fight. The grav hooks should have connected with Keith's ship by now? If not see to it. My pod's wrecked. Have Zak burn it" Daehra didn't argue. Keith wanted too, yet was torn. A tour of the ship might lead to an explanation of what was going on, but leaving a vulnerable Lance alone was fucking with everything that made him him. Especially when Lance was still coughing up a storm "I know that look. Leandro often wears the same one. No harm will come to him. Your wolf may stay if that will help ease your worries" "Daehra, we can't just show the prince of Daibazaal our ship. What's to stop him from..." "Lucteal, Leandro trusts him. We owe him a debt we can never hope to repay. So please, brother, let us listen to his wishes. Keith, would you please join us?" "Are you sure you're going to be ok?" Rolling his eyes at him, Lance seemed annoyed. Whatever Lance was up to was most definitely not a bodyguard or security guard kind of job... if anything, he was starting to sound more like some kind of space pirate which was almost laughable if he hadn't seen with his own eyes that Lance was a chronic drug user and most certainly not the friend he'd left on Earth "I'll be fine. I've survived this long without Voltron to magically clean up my mess. Call Krolia and let her know you'll be out of contact for the next movement. We can't make or receive calls where we're going. Magnetic fields fuck with the comms" His mother wouldn't like it. She'd probably already called Shiro to enquire about his every move on the Atlas. He really wouldn't be surprised if Axca showed up with Ezor and Zethrid in tow to bring him back home "Alright. Thank you. Kosmo, you stay with Lance. You heard Daehra. No letting Lance boss you around because you love him too much" Kosmo looked insulted, though they both knew he was a giant push over. He was supposed to have supervised Lance back on their ship, yet Kosmo had let him do whatever he'd wanted because he'd missed Lance "It's for his own good. If he tries to leave, come get me" Ruffling between Kosmo's ears, his wolf yipped. The traitor was probably already forgetting everything Keith had said in favour for pats from Lance. The pair of them were loveable idiots that drove him crazy, yet he couldn't do without. The fact Lance had been hiding cracked ribs weighed heavily on Keith as he hesitantly followed Daehra from the med bay, Lucteal following after the pair then taking off immediately. Shaking her head at her brother's retreating figure, Daehra sighed softly "I'm sorry. He... takes time to trust. Our species is... a little different. We tend to smell and feel things people may wish we don't. That's tethered him to Leandro's side, and blinds him to his own foolishness. Let me officially welcome you to the "Telula Day". Leandro named her after we captured her in a skirmish out of sector 6. Normally no one would risk the asteroid belt there, but Leandro..." That sounded just like Lance. Lance the Tailor who could thread any needle... Quiznak... that took him back... "He isn't exactly "normal", but that's what makes him special" Daehra smiled prettily, her demeanour picking up as she seem d to realise he wasn't about to bite her head off for making a joke "Yes. But he brought us together. Here, I'll show you to your quarters first. The only spare rooms we have are on the same floor as Leandro's. Normally they're used for storage as he likes his space... but you are his personal guest..." Pausing in his stride, Keith was starting to believe this was some kind of alternate reality. Lance didn't like being touched. He didn't like people around him or in his space. He wasn't acting like the loveable goof he was... "Can I ask you a question...?" "You want to know what's going on? Leandro hasn't explained anything to you, has he? Not about his job or what we do?" Scratching the back of his head, Keith wondered if mind reading was part of Daehra's racial skills "Exactly" "We'll walk and talk. You see, Leandro came into our lives around 3 phoebs ago. The daughter of the ruling family of our home planet had been taken. Lucteal and I had devised a plan to retrieve her, but Leandro was already mid mission to free her and the others. He saved her by taking her place. Since then, we've followed him. He... cares far more than others than himself" And now there were more questions "He took her place?" "That's not my story to tell. Leandro's job is tough, but necessary. He'd been hurt so badly before, but he's never looked as happy as he does when he looks at you" Daehra had said she'd give him answers, Keith wasn't sure he had answers to anything "But what is that he does?" "He's what you would call a Bounty Hunter? That's the term he used? Your language was hard to learn. We intercept supplies and appropriate them? I'm sorry. We don't generally explain our jobs. We have 3 Bounty Hunters, and try to facilitate all hunts from here. Leandro wished to bring everyone together to make missions easier, and to prevent us killing each other trying to take down the same bounty. Not everyone agreed, we... had a few close calls. And those he's black listed? You humans have so many words"

#Ashratherose writes

[dammitadolfnomorecake]

CSUAVS prt 7 update

The Telula Day was not what Keith expected. Lance out cold when the massive ship suddenly appeared, seemingly shaking the Earth around them and sending him into panic mode as he had no idea that they weren't hostile. Needless to say, his first impressions of Lance's new team wasn't exactly great. They thought he'd caused the damage to Lance's ship, while Keith thought they'd down the same and come to finished the job. Kosmo proved himself smarter than all of them when he teleported outside the door of Keith's ship with a barely conscious Lance leaning against him. Waving at his team, the strangers joyously cried out for "Leandro", leaving Keith to be pushed to the background. He'd barely done anything other than save Lance's life, then cared for him while he'd been come down sick with fever that morning. Lance couldn't even be bothered to cooperate when Keith had wiped his sweat soaked body down, and now he was acting like he hadn't thrown his guts up and spent most of the day rambling to himself. Having left his crush to cool down the previous night, after the small incident in the cockpit of his ship, Keith changed his tactics, pulling out an assortment of rations Hunk had bestowed upon him. Lance was ending his call to his team, plastering a smile on his face as he apologised for his moodiness. The conversation following had been awkward and slow, Lance not his usual self as barely three words came out at a time before all chance of actually talking was interrupted by Krolia demanding to know why his tracker signal had suddenly gone offline. Explaining it was his mother, Lance had waved him out the room to continue the conversation in private. Not that it was a real conversation. It was his mother insisting on knowing how his tracking system could suddenly go offline and not buying his lie that he'd been distracted by an over enthusiastic Kosmo. Swearing black and blue that he was perfectly fine, not in trouble, and not courting danger in any form, half a vargas had still passed by the time he was finally freed from the call. Lance had drifted off by the time he got off the call, not surprising given he was probably coming down off his painkiller induced high. Clearing away Lance's barely picked at meal, Keith went about pulling up the blankets, shifting Lance into a more comfortable position as he did. The way Lance mumbled in his sleep as he sought his hand felt oddly domestic in a way that made him smile. Things might be shaky between them. Lance might be hiding a hundred and one things, but when he slept he looked so peaceful that none of that seemed to matter anymore. Furthermore, he'd reached for him. He couldn't leave him when he was being that vulnerable. Throwing caution to the wind, and leaving Kosmo to finish Lance's dinner, Keith slid under the covers with Lance. Pulling the gorgeous Cuban closer, he rested Lance's head on his chest. Knowing he was flirting with fire, Keith couldn't help himself as he breathed in Lance's soft sea salt scent, face buried in his short chocolate locks as his own body relaxed beneath the comforting weight. It wasn't like they'd never shared a bed before, yet this felt different. Lance curled into him, hand clutching Keith's loosely as he mumbled softly. That was the Lance he knew. Lance who didn't know how to shut up. Mumbling slightly louder in his sleep, Keith's heart broke a little more as his ears caught what he wasn't supposed to hear "I'll be good. No more... I'll be good...". Whatever had happened to Lance they'd get through together. Provided Lance finally let him in. Maybe when his "team" arrived, Lance would be willing talk more, or come morning they'd be so close that Lance wouldn't be able to run from him anymore. The following morning was a tangle of limbs and flurry of action as Lance half vaulted over him before throwing up spectacularly over the bedroom floor as he tripped on his own feet. The sound of Lance's knees smacking against the ship floor was loud enough for Keith to cringe. Climbing from the bed up at a much lower speed, Keith caught Lance as he slumped sideways his whole body burning in the half-Galra's hold. Groaning in pain, Lance's blue eyes fluttered open as his Altean marks pulsed for in and out of view. For some reason the smell of juniper berries seemed to swirl around them as their eyes met "Another bonding moment?" Keith nodded forcing a slight smile for Lance's sake as his palm went to sweaty forehead. Vomiting and fever could both be signs of internal bleeding, or an infection... but Lance seemed too far out of it for Keith to ask how pained he was or where. He'd cleaned and dressed all of Lance's wounds that he could see... but with no way of knowing how long Lance had been trapped infection could have set in before he got to his friend "I thought you didn't remember the first one?" Slurring his words, Lance shot him an opened mouth grin of sorts "I don't... and I don't think I'm going to remember this one either... I think I'm sick" Stroking Lance's hair back from his forehead, Lance sighed into his touch as he sought out the coolness of Keith's large hand "Yeah buddy, I think you might be too. You've got a pretty bad fever here, and your marks are showing" With a trembling hand Lance moved to trace his mark on the left side, his already ragged breathing turning into a soft sob "Don't... don't look... don't look at them" "Why not?" "A-Allura..." Allura? Did he think Keith was Allura? Or did Lance not want him to think of Allura when he saw his marks? "She's not here. It's you, me, Kosmo. How about we get you back into bed?" "... don't look at me... Don't... wrong... I'm wrong... Allura... Allura... don't... touch me..." Slurring out the end of his rambling, Lance turned to mumbling random words that made no sense. Too far out of it to take care of himself, Keith tilted him up to wipe a thin trail of drooley vomit from his chin before pressing a kiss to Lance's forehead. Everything Lance did was far too extreme for his heart to keep up, yet he wouldn't have him any other way. Lifting his friend from the floor, he laid him back down on the bed pausing to watch those stupid flickering blue marks. The interval of the pulsing of Lance's marks slowly growing slower until they remained upon his cheeks. It was like a constant reminder that Lance had loved and lost. Those stupid marks were nothing but a cruel burden she'd saddled Lance with for life. * When Lance had said he had a team, Keith had thought maybe two people... three on the very outer, and a ship the size of Black lion. He was very much wrong on all accounts. The Telula Day was easily the size of Voltron when formed, and it seemed to be Lance's pride and joy once everyone had settled down enough to make it inside the larger ship. Teleporting Lance to his side, the former Red Paladin's team seemed shocked as Keith lifted Lance into his hold. Keith not really thinking anything of it until after Lance was laying in the Telula Day's med bay with a drip in his arm. Each of Lance's team members had seemed ready to rush to the man to hug him at their reunion, yet none of them had moved to touch him. Like it was some kind of unwritten rule. Even the alien woman who'd inserted the drip into Lance's arm had done the absolute bare minimum when it came to touching. She seemed genuinely confused, and maybe a little hurt, that Lance had reached for Keith's hand after he'd laid him on the examination table. Keith still holding his hand as a warm yellow light bathed his unconscious friend while said woman looked on. The few moments of peace between the four them, Kosmo included, was shattered by a man rushing into the medbay, his eyes widening at the sight of Keith holding Lance's hand as he stumbled to a stop "Who the Quiznak is this?!" Despite the question being directed at Keith, Keith ignored it for the time being. His mind recalling that it was the same strange alien who'd been at Lance's side after he'd sedated the two Galra and had them removed from his room on Erathus "This is Keith. The former Black Paladin of Voltron" So she knew who he was. And the stranger should too given they'd briefly met "I know that. I mean, what is he doing, Daehra?" The woman must be named Daehra, as she sighed at the man like she was far too familiar with his shit. His tone alone was enough to set Keith on edge to the point he felt the weird sensation to bare his teeth as he growled softly "Leandro reached for his hand. He was the one who carried him into the ship when he collapsed" "For all we know, he's the reason Leandro was hurt" "Lucteal. Leandro contacted us. He told us to rendezvous with him here. It was you who perceived Keith's ship as a threat and caused that scene. Think of how Lance will feel knowing what nearly happened" Lucteal could Quiznak the hell off. Keith wasn't sure why, but he was certain that the stranger was far too close to Lance for his heart's liking. And there was that name "Leandro" again. Now that this whole team dynamic was in the picture, Keith could only assume it was his code name... but why did Lance need a code name? All their faces had been splashed across the universe. Everyone knew them by name... So having a code name for Lance seemed kind of... pointless? "I was thinking of him. You know as well as I that he doesn't care for physical contact. Yet he sits there holding his hand!" "Lucteal, it was Leandro's choice. Please. They're old friends from long before we met him" "You both realise I am right here?" Jealousy drove the words from Keith's mouth as Lucteal moved to the other side of the examination table. The strangers hand hovering as if he wished to take Lance's other hand in his, before awkwardly moving to rest on the thin blanket beneath Lance instead "I am sorry former Black Paladin. And I am sorry you were met with hostility. I don't know whether or not you know but there have recently been incidents that have lead to... unfavourable conditions for the team. As such, we are operating on heightened security. For Leandro to first leave Erathus, then to have been in a crash is an issue that troubles all of us. I am Daehra, this is my brother Lucteal. He is the closest to Leandro and cares very deeply for him. All those upon the Telula care deeply for Leandro. He brought us all together, and now leads our team" It wasn't surprising for Lance to be in a leadership role. Before Allura had died, Lance had seemed to shed his past worries of worthlessness. Proving himself invaluable again and again. Looking back to Lance's flushed face, Keith squeezed his hand in silent support "We didn't have a chance to talk after the crash. Not about everything happening, or what lead to it..." "You lead to it. Your interference on Erathus meant he had to leave. He took the punishment for your actions and it nearly lead to his death but you wouldn't care about such a thing would you? You would simply use him up and throw him away. I've heard about you Black Paladin. I've heard what you've done. I won't let you come here and force him back into a situation like..." "Lucteal! That's enough. He cared for Leandro after the crash..." "A crash that wouldn't have happened if he didn't decide he needed to hack the clubs security! What happened to Lance is on his shoulders!" "Leandro wouldn't like you using that name. You know that he likes to keep his work life and personal life seperate" "Daehra! You know what they did to him! How can you..." "Will you both stop fighting?" Groaning as he shielded his eyes from the light above the table, Lance brought the argument to an end before Keith could learn anything further. Ignoring the way Lucteal glared daggers at him, Keith rose to his feet in order to cover more of the light blinding Lance "Hey, Sleeping Beauty. It's about time you woke up" "You know me... gotta get my beauty sleep" Lucteal let out a huff as he crossed his arms, Keith smug in the knowledge he'd cut off whatever the man was mentally planning upon Lance's waking "I do. I remember quite a few late mornings because of it. How do you feel?" "Like I got hit by a lion" "Daehra here, has only just started her scans. Do you remember them landing?" "I remember yelling" "Then you remember everything" Letting his hand drop away, Lance's eyes were glassy as they sought out Keith's face "Great. Guys, this is Keith. Keith... these are the guys. Keith's a friend. Keith, these guys are friends..." "We did the introductions. How do you feel?" "I'm fine. Daehra rivals Coran on weird medical knowledge" "That's good. You still need to rest. You could have internal bleeding" "Awww. You worried, Mullet?" "Yes" Lance's cheeks reddened slightly further with a blush meant only for him "You're making it all sappy. Aren't you supposed to play it cool?" "I seem to loose all my cool when it comes to you" "Cough. Cough. Gay" "You know it" Groaning at him, Keith was enjoying riling Lance up. He definitely preferred Lance awake and confined to bed, when compared to continually attempting to do things while drifting in and out "God. Remind me why I'm doing you a favour again?" "Because Guile is missing? And you missed me?" "Maybe... Lucteal. We're headed to sector 15. We need to bypass 31 and 47. 19 is kind of dicey, but if we don't fire first we should be fine" Lucteal lit up as he leaned down to invade Keith's space. He was clearly smitten by Lance, leaving Keith wondering where the nearest airlock was. It wouldn't be that hard to make it look like an accident "You were scheduled to pass through 19, instead you went and got yourself in a damn fight again. You know you're not supposed to take on trade ships without support" "I didn't mean to. They recognised my pod from that job we did on Baihzyl. I'm lucky Keith was at the meet early" Ending his sentence with a cough, Lance spluttered hard enough to choke on his own spit.