#“a blank check is a dangerous thing to offer” | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

cerise-on-top · 5 months

Note

Hello! I hope your requests are still open because your writing makes me go 😙🥹❤️💞✨

So, can I request 141 men + Nikolai + König when reader needs CPR?

Hello! My requests are always open, unless I explicitly state somewhere that they aren't! I'm glad to hear that my writing is enjoyable to you! This request was fairly difficult to write since I've never performed CPR before, I've never been in a dangerous situation like that either, so I hope I was able to do it justice! Thank you for requesting!

TF141, Nikolai and König Performing CPR on Reader

Price: In his case, you were probably just putting away some Christmas decorations, offering to go upstairs and stash away the box. It seemed simple enough, what could go wrong? Eventually, he heard something large and heavy falling down, a loud thump sounding throughout his home. Did you drop the box? How lovely. With a chuckle, he walked up the stairs himself, calling out your name. The door to the room was open, a few Christmas ornaments rolled on the floor. Did you trip? Once again, he called out your name as he opened the door, his chest tightening with worry. When he saw you lying on the ground, absolutely motionless, seemingly not even breathing, he panicked a bit.

It wasn’t the first time he had seen something like this happen, nor was it likely going to be the last, but it was you. Lovely you, who really shouldn’t be dying in a place like this. Rushing to your side, he instinctively checked for a pulse. The room seemed so cold, with his blood to match, as he couldn’t feel one, and thus he rolled you onto your back, putting his ear to your chest. Nothing. Fuck, you really shouldn’t, you couldn’t, die in a place like this, not to something like a heart attack. It hadn’t been long just yet, he convinced himself, there was still time to save you. Why didn’t you say anything?

Price was never one to physically freeze up, it could mean his own death if he was paralyzed, after all, but he had never been closer to being unable to move. Checking your mouth first, it seemed empty, he quickly put his hands over your chest, pumping away. His rhythm was steady, his pumps powerful, Even when he heard the cracking of bones, he didn’t cease. Losing you was the worst thing that could have happened to him. Mind blank, forcing any and all thoughts that weren’t him counting to thirty, he took a quick, somewhat deep breath, gently exhaling into your mouth. If this didn’t work he was fucked, he didn’t have the time to dial 112 either, after all. This could have been such a nice evening, but the worst took place… Suppressing anything and everything that wasn’t his physical activity, repeating it time and time again, he was just about ready to give up. Putting pressure on your chest again, he talked to you, maybe out of fear of never seeing you again, maybe to calm himself. Whichever it was, he spoke clearly, if just a bit rushed. “You can’t leave me alone here, please.”

Eternal moments that seemed to never pass, but eventually, your heart started beating again. It’s in that short moment of respite that Price called 112, immediately stating his location and what happened. But until that help arrived, he never left your side, always checking for your pulse, always checking if you’re breathing. To hell with everything else, once the medics had arrived he went with them, making sure you were alright. There was no way he’d leave you alone for a while after something like this.

Gaz: Good food was always among the most important things to you and him, and thus you spend the day before New Year’s Eve with him, enjoying his culinary expertise. Regardless of how spicy it was, you always kept going, even with tears in your eyes. Gaz could appreciate that, someone with a big stomach willing to eat the food he makes. Taking another bite of his spicy spaghetti, you listened intently as he cracked another joke, accidentally inhaling some of the noodles in your mouth, with them going down your windpipe. You started coughing violently immediately, hitting your chest to get those damned noodles out of your throat. But to no avail.

Gaz immediately tried the Heimlich manouver on you. It seemed to work after a few times, even if you had gone unconscious by then. Yes, he knew you were not supposed to use it on unconscious people but he genuinely did not know what else to do. Slowly lowering you to the ground, he, too, would check for a pulse. Normally you’d find one, but not in your case, with your breathing having ceased as well. Unlike Price, he’d call 112 immediately. While he did know even before the call that he’d need to perform CPR on you, it was for the best he’d help stabilize you until help would arrive. Listening to their instructions, he’d immediately told them you weren’t breathing and asked them to come to his address, he put his hands on your chest as well.

It would take a bit for him to find a steady and good rhythm. He was a soldier, yes, he’d been through even more stressful situations than one could imagine, but this was something else. While you wouldn’t be the first loved one he had lost, he’d be damned if he didn’t try to resuscitate you. He wouldn’t always reach exactly thirty, no matter how calm he thought he was, being off roughly one or two pumps from time to time. Him trying to breathe life into you again would also be extremely gentle, almost more so than Price. Your lungs could rupture, leaving you lost forever. He couldn’t afford a single mistake. No matter how hazy his mind may have been in that moment, he was going to save you. You were going to be alright, help would be here soon.

And that it was in the following moment, with him leading them to you as quickly as possible. Like Price, he’ll simply lock his home and go along with you, if they let him. And if they don’t then he’ll demand to be informed at once when he can visit you. He knows an ambulance isn’t the biggest car, not too many people can fit inside it, but he wants to see you again, alive, if possible. Too many people die per day, you don't need to be one of them. However, as soon as he’s allowed to, he’ll visit you, regardless of whether one hour or one day has passed. In his haste, he might not have brought you a gift, and for that he’ll try to calmly apologize, but he was just that worried about you.

Ghost: It was a lovely winter evening with the both of you just being out for a ride, with you driving. Ghost sat in the passenger seat, making conversation with you as you talked about anything and everything. The road was a bit slippery, England was known for its rain, after all. It wasn’t that cold, it could have been colder, but the wet road posed a danger in and of itself. He had been looking forward to something like this, just spending time with you on the road, listening to some blasted pop songs that were overplayed on the radio and chatting about how your lives were going. Everything seemed peaceful enough, everything seemed good so far.

The songs were sometimes interrupted by warnings of a ghost driver on the road where the two of you had been. It was worrisome, but you insisted that you weren’t going to encounter them. It seemed so unlikely, it might as well not happen. But somehow, Ghost couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen. And later on, after the fourth warning, a car came down the road you were driving. Usually so quick with your reactions, you were too slow this time, with both cars crashing into each other. Yours, being the smaller one, rolled over too. It was a horrid sight for anyone involved, but Ghost was somehow able to drag himself out of the wreckage that was your car. People had started stopping and gathering already. But, despite being bloody and in pain, he searched for you, hoping he could find you alive and somewhat well. Finding you wasn’t the problem, dragging you away from the car was. Ghost ordered someone to call an ambulance as he checked for your pulse. None. No breathing either.

The people around him tried to tell him what to do, giving pointers that he barely even heard. He immediately started performing CPR on you, pumping away on your heart to get the leftover oxygen circulating through your body. He was relatively calm about all of this, his mind hardened enough to not jump to the worst conclusions. By no means was he ready to let go of you and lose you, but panicking wasn’t going to solve anything either. Thirty times he pumped, twice he tried to bring you back to life with more oxygen. The lights around him blurred together, the chatter of the people didn’t reach him, all that mattered was you, all that mattered was that you’d survive. Although it tried to get foggy, he kept his mind crystal clear, knowing that once you were going to wake up, you’d want someone with you who was calm and collected, ready to calm you down and give you a rundown of what happened. He needed to be that person for you.

The ambulance arrived soon enough and, as he had no one to ride with in the middle of the road, they took him with them to the hospital. He was quiet the entire ride, but never let his eyes leave your unconscious body for even a second. It was selfish of him, but Ghost wanted you alive and for himself. Hell, if he had to shoot the ghost driver himself to accomplish such a thing, he would.

Soap: What better thing was there to do during summer than going for a swim with your loved ones? It wasn’t exactly uncommon for you and Soap to meet up just to play around a bit in the water. Although you would have loved to go to one of the beautiful beaches the country has to offer, you opted for going to one of the public pools as those were closer. There were plenty of people there anyway, but at the very least you wouldn’t have to drive for a few hours just to be able to play in the water. It was far too hot for that, after all, and the both of you just wanted to dunk each other underneath that blue gold.

It was around midday when the two of you were eating some fries, with you joking about needing a nap afterwards despite you not nearly having eaten as many as Soap had. But they were relatively cheap and filling enough, they were a good source of food when it came to just spending a day at the pool. You may have been far from full, but it was still nice to be able to take a nap, even if it was far too loud and the stench of chlorine wafted through the air as well. However, Soap decided he’d try to convince you to go swimming with him anyway, and how could you say no when he can be one of the most annoying people on god’s green earth. So, you agreed, willing to swim around the perimeter of the pool to please him.

However, soon enough, you felt a cramp coming along. It was slowly sneaking up on you, making sure you’d feel your doom coming along slowly. You panicked, trying to get out of the water so you wouldn’t drown, but it was too late by then. Instinctively, you curled up, sinking like a stone eventually. Soap noticed immediately, swimming up to you as quickly as he could and dragging you out of the water. But he was too late. By the time you were out, you stopped breathing. Soap panicked a bit, hoping this was all just destiny playing a cruel trick on you, but he wasn’t out of his mind for long, taking a quick breath before pointing at someone nearby and ordering them to call an ambulance. He’d hesitate a bit, not wanting to disrespect your boundaries, but he’d get to work quickly enough, knowing fully well that you weren’t going to leave him over him performing CPR on you when you could have died.

Like Gaz, he wouldn’t have the rhythm down immediately, he had never done this before on a proper human, only the dummies. When he isn’t trying to breathe into you, he might ask someone to play some music with the proper rhythm, it would help him tremendously. Him actually hearing the music is another thing after a while. Because his mind would go foggy, he would go wild with worry, but he won’t stop trying to reanimate you until the medics would take over. Or until you’re spitting out the water in your lungs, whichever comes first. There’s a chance they likely won’t take him with them since he was only wearing his swimming gear and someone needed to pick up your things as well, but you can count on him doing so immediately. You are near and dear to him, he can and will break the traffic laws if only to get to you a bit more quickly.

Nikolai: You were likely in his workshop, helping him out here and there by handing him some things. Such a thing had become routine for the two of you as well, with you being his beloved little helper. He was working on his helicopter again, making repairs, performing general maintenance on it, that sort of thing. Despite him being quite the handyman, capable of doing just about anything with his hands, he doesn’t always have the time to do so, leaving some things unfinished, almost dangerous, in his own four walls. Although he’d love to fix the electrical wiring in his workshop so it would work properly again, he was always busy as of late, with Chimera taking up most of his time.

You chatted with him for the time being, making it a game of what he could be needing next. Which screws was he going to replace this time to make the helicopter more safe? You’d find out soon enough. However, he was asking for a tool, a specific wrench, which you didn’t have on hand right now. No matter how much you looked nearby, it wasn’t there. However, you did spot it on the workbench in front of you, and thus you went to pick it up. However, something unfortunate must have happened as it was near an open electrical wire. You didn’t feel like grabbing rubber gloves just for that, though, so you went to pick it up regardless.

Nikolai hit his head on the helo as he heard you scream, perking up immediately to see what was wrong. Soon enough, however, you went completely quiet, completely still as you didn’t move a single inch anymore. Something was up, something more important than the helicopter. Immediately, he rushed to your side, throwing aside the screwdriver in his hand. You really shouldn’t have touched that, but that wasn’t what was important in the moment. Grabbing your hand, he tried to feel a pulse. In this case too, there was none. He couldn’t feel your chest rise and fall, he couldn’t feel your heartbeat. He wasn’t panicking, Nikolai barely ever did, but he did feel a certain sense of dread as he called 112 as well. The call was short enough, but too long for his liking either way, since any second could decide whether you live or die.

In all fairness, Nikolai has performed CPR plenty of times throughout his life, so he knows what he’s doing. His rhythm is never off, his pressure is good and he won’t break any ribs of yours either. He breathes into you fairly gently as well, but quickly enough for him to get back to doing chest compression. He’s completely calm, his mind doesn’t wander. Maybe once, he’ll think about not wanting to have you die just yet, but he’s not too worried. Whatever it is life throws at him, it won’t be the worst thing he’s gone through, but if he can extend your life just a bit longer, he will. Watches you very closely for any signs of you being alive again, sometimes checking for a pulse before going back, repeating the same steps over and over again.

When the ambulance arrives, he’ll ask if he can come along, but won’t make a fuss if they won’t let him. While it won’t leave his mind, he won’t freak out over it, he knows you’ll be in good hands now. A few hours later he’ll visit you. Unlike Gaz, he gives himself enough time to get you some chocolate or something. Anything to try and comfort you, dying isn’t fun, after all.

König: A habit the two of you had developed was just spending time with each other in silence. You were drawing in your sketchbook while König was watching a video on his phone. Everything was good, nothing was off. Sometimes you’d make small talk, ask him about what exactly he was watching when you heard him chortle at some angry German speaking bus driver yelling. He was nice enough to try and translate the jokes into English, but that didn’t mean everything carried over well. You couldn’t understand why he was laughing at some man screaming while getting out of a bus in a video game, but oh well. As long as he was having fun, everything was good.

Sometime later, you noticed that it was getting harder to breathe. It wasn’t impossible, just difficult. You could still get enough oxygen as it was, but you felt a bit light headed. Eventually, you did have to use the bathroom and you excused yourself for a moment. König didn’t mind, it was nice to have you be this comfortable in his home. He, too, would hear a thump and call for you, asking you what was wrong. When there was no response, he’d knock on the door. Listening intently to what might have been the matter, he heard you gasping for air until that stopped too. The door was locked, making it hard for him to get to you, but he was worried. No matter how much he tried to get you to respond, you didn’t.

Eventually, he just ripped the door off its hinges to get to you. In the end, he was glad he did since you had collapsed onto his bathroom floor. Shaking you while calling your name did nothing, so he, too, opted for feeling a pulse. Nothing on your wrist, nothing on your chest, no breathing either. Naturally, he called 144 and followed the instructions perfectly. There was no time to be wasted, he knew that, but he couldn’t help but feel that twinge of fear in his heart either way. König was only a worried man when it came to some social situations, but this time he could feel the fear arising in him just a bit. It wasn’t enough for him to actually deter him, but he was afraid of messing up. You were important to him, he couldn’t make a single mistake.

He knew that there are some songs that are ideal for CPR, but he won’t play any of them on his phone. In his mind, he’ll try to remember them, their rhythm. If it’s a song he especially likes, then it’ll help him calm down a bit as well. He isn’t panicked per se, but his mind will wander just a bit. Like Price, he’ll push the bad thoughts aside. He’s all for realism, but if he can, he will be in denial about your death for as long as he can be. While König has been in situations where someone needed CPR, he was never the one to perform it, so he hasn’t mastered it. He only had to take the course several times. Even so, he performs well enough, keeping you alive long enough for the medics to arrive and take you away. He’s aware he’s a big guy and thus likely won’t fit inside the ambulance, but he will come visit you as well. Might yell at you a bit as he was quite worried, but don’t take it to heart, he needs to relieve some stress after this as well.

327 notes · View notes

adamsrcnan · 2 months

Text

“Will you help me?” he asked.

“Anything you need.”

“A blank check is a dangerous thing to offer.”

“Try me,” Jeremy said. “I can afford it.”

#a page spread for my boys <3 #this came out better than i expected and intended lmao #please excuse the pen smudges #haha anywayss 😅#jean moreau #jeremy knox #jerejean #the sunshine court spoilers #tsc spoilers #the sunshine court #tsc #all for the game #aftg

185 notes · View notes

serxinns · 3 months

Note

uhhhhh i have an idea!!!

imagine class 1a (platonic or romantic, u can choose) with a darling who acts like a thembo (i mean ABSOLUTELY STUPID) and then it starts to affect their training and stuff, so they suddenly do better and the class finds out that their darling was actually really smart this whole time, they just act dumb because people liked them like that :3

Your classmates knew you were a nimbo always wondering out the world without a care and it gives them gray hairs but they still love you

Whenever Bakugo is sarcastic with you or someone else says a joke to you, your brain goes into a loading screen and when you FINALLY get it it's already too late 😭 and he either pinch your ears or pinches your stupid adorable face telling you to stop being so stupid and you're just looking at him with either a blank face or just smiling "innocently"

You have this habit of cooking your head to the side like a dog curious about noise and they just head over heels Ochako squealed to herself blushing Kirishima covered his hold head with his arms making small mutters about how cute you are along with Midoriya

Even Iida couldn't stay strong to cute little you he couldn't even finish his lecture without trying to form a smile or covering his face with his mouth cause he wanted you to take him seriously whenever you left your notes he gave you his or offers you to study with the two of you alone together and if anyone of your classmates wanted to join he use excuse like "they need it more" or "I can only tutor one person"

Denki is always teasing and flirting with you he sees you as a flame twin the two of you would always do chaotic stupid stuff that would result in destroy the room or would get the two of you hurt and despise that the two of you would laugh it off, the class FORBIDS the two of you to be lab partners cause denki told you to put in the yellow chemical when it's suppose to be the pink one sero had to rush In and grab the bottle and throw it out the window where it exploded safe to say denki got scolded while you were babied

Momo is like a mama bear whenever she sees you do something stupid she'll quickly rush over there to the rescue and fight off or remove whatever is about to Harm you and hugs and nuzzles you against her to check and see if you are OK, she always packs a med kit whenever it's hero training or anywhere dangerous to patch up mostly you and your classmates up but mostly you buys you the most amazing and expensive gifts and always gushes and cherish over any gift you send her even if it's some crappy glittery macaroni with a glittery heart and an M in the middle she would put that up on her wall like its a trophy

Tsuyu is so sweet and patient with you whenever it's something you don't get she explains it the best way she can for you, she's obsessed with every little thing you do every time she's watching you do something or minding her business (like drawing, making origami, etc) she sighs dreamily observing and studying you like one of their study books whenever your near harm or in hair she wraps her tongue around you and quickly takes you to a safe place

One day in the common room bakugo and his gang were playing video games bakugo and Sero were yelling at each other to shoot at the zombies while Bakugo was on the edge of breaking the controller and killing Denki and Kiri, Sero wanted to tease you a bit "Hey y/n! What's the database that only pro heroes can assess?" Mina smacked his head while he laughed like a hyena "Stop teasing them it's not very nice! y/n bestie you don't have to" "It's the hero network!"

Everyone paused and silently looked at you with a blank stare even Sero shut his mouth while you were casually eating your snack you looked at them confused "Isn't that the right answer...?" "HOW DID YOUR DUMBASS KNOW THIS" "BAKUGO! be nice!" Before they could ask you any more questions you left with your snack in your right hand and your device in the other, ever since then your classmates started bombarding you with questions and you would answer them correctly without even thinking about it while your classmates were impressed they were also worried do you not need them were you smarter than they thought? Were you offended by them babying you?

So one day Ochako came up to your desk playing with her fingers and looking away "y/n how are you so smart all of a sudden?" You turned to her and smiled "I acted like this because everyone liked me being like this! People started bullying me for being smart so I acted a bit dumb then people would like me" The class heard about this and all hugged you (expect Bakugo) telling you that they like you the way you are smart or dumb

And now the class was more obsessed with you than before always asking you questions Denki and Mina begging you to be their study partner or to do their homework and they'll reward you with sweets but Iida would scold them for it the class would still love you even if you were a little dumb or smart it doesn't matter but you'll always be naive to their dark obsession with you

#yandere bnha #yandere ua #tw yandere #yandere x reader #tw obsessive behavior #yandere class 1a #yandere mha #bnha fluff

89 notes · View notes

thesunshinecourts · 2 months

Text

i trust you. a blank check is a dangerous thing to offer. try me, i can afford it.

#tsc spoilers #jerejean #jean moreau #jeremy knox #tsc #the sunshine court

74 notes · View notes

calixcem · 2 months

Text

Some post Tsc thoughts! spoilers under the cut :)

I have so many annotations in this book. (668 to be exact), so im just grazing the surface of everything with this one sooo part 1 perhaps?

-Kevin and jean. Jeans unrequited crush on kevin. I need to know more about this and I hope Nora delves into the semantics in the next book.

-Also how this relates to Kevin day famously saying it was easier to be straight. I figured this was a common thought among the ravens or at least Riko’s court,but Jean doesn't mention it once throughout the entire book. He brings up his attraction towards men multiple times ,and there was never any denying it. It was just something he accepted, so how did Kevin get the idea that it was easier to be straight and Jean didn't? Did Jean ever think this way and eventually changed it down the line or what?

-Im a sucker for found family and Nora really delivered with this one. Laila,Cat, and Jeremy are making it known to Jean that they’ll always be there and genuinely want to help him. The dynamic between all of them is so tender and I think it’ll be so healing for Jean.

-Also I hope we see more of the floozy squad in the next book!

-I need them to convince Jean to try boba at some point, and i really hope his relationship with food gets better. I really love that he’s cooking with cat and I really hope it develops into one of his hobbies outside of Exy. Let this boy live a little!

-speaking of hobbies: Cat teaching Jean how to ride a motorcycle?? I just feel like it would be beneficial(not to Jeremy’s heart but thats ok)

-This specific moment with cat and jean

she ran down to the tide to rinse it off with childish glee. Jean obediently inspected it when she brought it back, and she tucked it into his breast pocket with a cheerful “For you!”

Small things like this just really show how much they care about him.

- What’s up with Jeremy's family?? I really want to know what happened to where Jeremy “tore them apart” like what was the scandal his freshman year??? It was mentioned briefly but then Jeremy just decided it wasn't worth mentioning again considering all that was going on? The biggest “im fine” in history fr. Also when Cat is telling Jean about everyone’s siblings she mentions how when you go over 4 kids there's bound to be one asshole, but she only listed 4. So did one of his siblings die?? I might be reading too far into this but! Or it could be that one of them cut off all ties to the family after something happened? I don't know but I’m excited to read more about it in the next book!

Jeremy has—three. One sister, two brothers. The older brother’s an absolute tool, but there’s bound to be a jerk or two once you pass four kids.” Jean idly wondered what she’d changed at the last minute and why,

- The constant touches everyone gives Jean to ground him and make him feel loved just makes me so happy.

- also jean constantly touching jeremy’s chin to get his attention??? Hello?

A hand on his chin startled him into looking up. When he met Jean’s eyes, Jean only said, “Focus on what’s important.” “I am,” Jeremy said. Jean opened his mouth, closed it again, and let go of Jeremy without a word. Jeremy snagged his arm when he started to turn away. “Who did this to you?”

This line in particular really hit me.

-just jerejean in general honestly. The way Jeremy genuinely cares about him and wanting to help him heal

You are going to be my success story: Jean Moreau the person, not Jean Moreau of the perfect Court.

“Will you help me?” he asked. “Anything you need.” “A blank check is a dangerous thing to offer.” “Try me,” Jeremy said. “I can afford it.”

-neil. Bro was just being a menace and seeing him from an outsiders pov makes me realize just how unhinged he seems to everyone. But him ordering that hit on Grayson without a second thought? Iconic. As everyone else is saying he dropped by to serve cunt and then left.

-Jean dropping the most poetic line about Neil and Andrew’s relationship and then just not thinking about it ever again is so wild lmao.

Jean noticed how Andrew and Neil moved like they were caught in each other’s gravity, in each other’s space more than they were out of it, cigarette smoke and matching armbands and lingering looks when one fell out of orbit for too long.

-The parallels between Jean and Neil and how they dealt with things. I don't know if you can really call some of them parallels but they are connected in my head bro.

-JEANS SISTER. Oh this shit hurts from the faint memory we get to the end when we find out that she's dead??? Nora you're paying for my therapy oh my god. And when Jean is mourning her the snippet of the memory of stitching up her dress that she’d get caught in the blackberry bushes???? He genuinely loved her and just when he’d be getting to a point to where he’d feel safe enough to try to get in contact with her again to find out his parents sold her off and she died because of it???? Yeah bitch burn your family to the ground. I hope we get more memories with her in them.

#the sunshine court spoilers #the sunshine court #tsc spoilers #tsc #aftg #jeremy knox #jean moreau #neil josten #andrew minyard #laila dermott #cat alvarez #all for the game

50 notes · View notes

icebergscrashingtogeather-10 · 9 days

Text

Things in The Sunshine court that brought ligit tears to my eyes

- “Wymack fell into his role like he’d done this song and dance so many times he’d forgot to watch for the curtain to fall”

- Wymack and Jean’s whole relationship

- “I am a Raven. If I am not a Raven then who am I”

- “‘Evermore was a grave, and the only other color was blood. I’d forgotten that anything could be….’ beautiful.”

- “he was furious at Abby for implying. He never tried to fight, and more furious at the foxes for keeping it together when he’s broken. they hadn’t been up against Rico except for two of them had and both Nathaniel and Kevin had walked away. coward washout trader sell out reject whore.”

- “he he still tapped his thumb to his index finger and thought the cool evening breeze he felt foolish as he did it, but he felt alive, somehow grounded, something other than his teams vitriol”

- “He was… King now he’s a martyr… Pop and he was gone it’s impressive. Isn’t it how easily these monsters die in the end.”

- When Jean starts calling Neil Neil and not Nathaniel

- The conversation with Renee, right people wrong time

- When Jean picks out his first USC shirt of his own choice

- “I didn’t ask”

-Jean’s panic attack at the pool and his response being that it wouldn’t be a problem

- “Jean couldn’t remember the last time someone allowed him boundaries and the feeling was as novel as it was addicting”

- “it’s all I am coach”

- When They found Jean’s notebooks and the call to Kevin (ie “They don’t know”

- When Jeremy hugged him and told him he was sorry and that he couldn’t be sorry that Riko was gone and the subsequent “Neither can I”

- When Jean and Cat went on a ride together and ate dinner

- When Jean gave his racket to Rhemann because he wasn’t progressing

- “I will not look away”

- Neil ordering a hit through his uncle on Grayson

- Elodie, yellow ducks, blackberries

- “Exercise a little freedom once in a while you might like how it feels.”

- “‘I am just Moreau… I am not—‘ ‘… so was Elodie remember that next time you think you aren’t worth saving?”’

The shift that happens here. the exact moment when Jean Moreau decided to live!

- “Will you help me” “Anything you need” “A blank check is a dangerous thing to offer” “Try me…I can afford it”

Literally these two!!! I can’t with them they are so cute.

- “A cool evening breeze, Rainbows, open roads. Teammates…. [he] thought and tried again. Friends?”

#AAHAAAAAHAHAAAAA #!!!#tsc #jean moreau #jeremy knox #neil josten #cat alvarez #laila dermott #coach wymack #like are you fucking kidding me I am screaming this is so good #and so sad #this an attempt to not read it all the way through again

34 notes · View notes

multifandomqueen01 · 2 years

Text

I Just Wanna Feel Again

Vamp!Eddie×Fem!Reader

Summary: After watching your boyfriend die, you're surprised when he returns, but he's no longer the man that you once knew. Can you help him feel again or is it too late?

Warnings (There's two separate sex scenes so there's alot): Dark!Eddie. (but not all the way through, we do get our sweet boy back at the end) Death. Grief. Violence. Angst. Rough Sex. Blood. Pain. Biting. Crying. Cock Warming. Not knife play, but a knife is involved for a moment. Very fluffy and cheesy at the end.

A/N: I was planning on posting a softer/sweeter fix it fic before this, but I'm currently obsessed with the Kas theory and the idea of Vamp!Eddie. This is pretty dark compared to anything else I've written and could be triggering. Please excuse any mistakes you find as there was little to no proof reading done.

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

You rested your ear against Eddie's chest, as you had so many times before, only to be met with silence. The absence of his heart beat, sent reality crashing down on top of you. Eddie was dead. He had sacrificed himself and there was nothing you could do to save him.

"No! Wait! We can't leave him here!" , you screamed hysterically as the others lifted you to your feet and began dragging you away from Eddie's lifeless body. "Stop! Please!"

"I'm sorry. He's gone.", Steve apologized, refusing to loosen his hold on you, no matter how much you struggled. Eventually, you stop fighting, your mind going blank, as the love of your life disappeared from view.

*********************************************

The days that followed were a blur, one bleeding into the next. While Hawkins fell apart, you remained unphased, your capacity for giving a shit having died along with Eddie. The truth was that you welcomed the end of the world, if it meant that you'd be reunited.

The others would take turns checking on you, but the visits never lasted long and always ended in a fight. Dustin seemed to be the only one grieving, and who agreed that you should go back to retrieve Eddie's body, while everyone else insisted that it was too dangerous.

After having lost yet another argument with Steve, you stormed into your bedroom and slammed the door, falling down onto what had once been Eddie's side of the bed. The pillow still smelled of his shampoo, as you buried your face into the fabric, soaking it with your tears.

"Rough day, Sweetheart?", the sound of a familiar voice carried from the far side of the room, making your blood run cold. Cautiously, you lifted yourself up and turned your head to find a tall figure standing in the shadows.

"Oh my god! How is this possible? I watched you...die.", your words came out jumbled as Eddie stepped into the light, his brown eyes appearing almost black in color and his skin pale. "Are you really here?", you asked, attempting to stand, despite both your legs threatening to buckle.

"Mhm. No thanks to you.", he spit out, his cold and unforgiving tone catching you off guard.

"You're angry.", you realized, swallowing hard as he moved towards you, his eyes locked on yours. He had always towered over you, but somehow this was different. You suddenly felt small and insignificant, like he could swallow you whole.

"Angry? No, Y/N. I'm fucking dead!", Eddie snapped, causing you to fall back onto the bed. "Or undead? I'm not really sure how this whole resurrection thing works, all I know is I'm far from alive.", he added, coming to stand in front of you.

"Are you in any pain?", your gaze wandered over his body, noticing that he was no longer wearing the clothes that he had died in. His new outfit offered full coverage, making it impossible to see the extent of his wounds, or if they still existed for that matter.

"I can't feel a damn thing."

"I'm so sorry.", you sobbed, leaning into Eddie's touch as he wiped away your tears with his thumb.

"Why? Because you let me go up against those bats by myself, or because you left me in that hell hole to rot?", his entire demeanor shifted as he grabbed you by the face, his fingers digging into the hollows of your cheeks.

"I didn't have a choice."

"There's always a choice. For example, I could've kept rotting, but instead I let Henry bring me back and all I had to do was join him."

"Vecna? Eddie, you can't-", you refused to accept what he was saying.

"I already have, otherwise I wouldn't be here, would I?", he scoffed, belittling you with a condescending laugh.

"And why are you here?"

"To pass on a message.", Eddie answered calmly, sitting next to you on the bed. "And to take something for myself while I'm at it.", he added, placing his hand on your upper thigh.

Your lips parted in protest, but he quickly placed his index finger against them. The menacing look on his face, warned you to keep quiet, and you gave a small nod of understanding. Without warning, he moved his finger aside and slammed his mouth into yours.

You and Eddie had shared hundreds of kisses before, but this was different. There was no sharing. No give or take. It was just him, taking what he wanted and leaving you with nothing. In an attempt to match his intensity, you pushed back against him, breathing heavily.

"Ow! What the hell?", you pulled away, following a sharp and sudden pain. "Did you just bite me?", you brought your hand up to your bottom lip, your eyes widening at the red on your finger tips.

Eddie remained unphased by what he had done, aside from the insatiable hunger in his eyes. His gaze wandered down to the side of your neck and he licked his lips in anticipation, the predatory nature of his behavior filling you with dread.

Your body went rigid as he grabbed you by the arms and began placing sloppy, wet kisses along your jaw, quickly moving downward. His mouth came to rest at your throat, a low growl rising from somewhere deep inside him.

A silent scream left your lips, as two sharp teeth punctured the skin. Your head titled back and you stared up at the ceiling in disbelief, feeling the warmth of your own blood running down your neck. Eddie was quick to lap it up, making sure that none of it went to waste.

"Eddie!", you screamed his name, struggling to break free from the hold that he had on you. Ignoring your pleas, he grabbed the front of your shirt with both hands and tore through the fabric with minimal effort. "You don't have to do this."

"I know.", Eddie whispered in your ear, before shoving you back onto the bed. "But maybe I want to.", he added, kissing and nibbling his way down your body.

His full lips left a trail of warm blood in their wake, moving along your collarbone, between your breasts, and onto your stomach. He snaked his fingers under the waistband of your pants and pulled them down around your ankles, followed by your panties.

Eddie forced your legs apart and plunged his tongue in between your folds, flicking the small bundle of nerves until your back began to arch. All of the fear and pain faded away as he picked up the pace, prompting you to grab a fistful of his hair.

"Oh, Eddie.", you moaned, grinding against his face. "Don't stop!", you begged, reaching out for him as he began to pull away.

"Don't get me wrong, I've always loved the taste of your pussy, but I think I've found something I like even better.", he sneered, pining down one of your legs.

"Wait...no...no!",you panicked, bracing yourself for the inevitable. A blood curdling scream pierced the air as Eddie's razor sharp teeth ripped into the sensitive flesh of your inner thigh. "Stop! Please!"

"I hate to break it to you, but this is who I am now. So either take it or leave it!", he snapped, hastily climbing to his feet, his mouth coated in fresh blood.

"I'll take it!", you cried, terrified of losing him again. Your vision blurred with tears, making it impossible to see, as you listened to the sound of his pants unzipping.

"Good choice.", Eddie sneered, drawing his partial erection out into the open. He stroked his cock a couple of times and crawled back onto the bed, positioning himself above you, with his hands pressed firmly against the mattress.

His gaze locked onto yours and he buried himself inside of you, coaxing a high pitched squeal from your lips as he slammed up against your cervix. Eddie's mouth dropped open and he furrowed his brow, overcome with a sense of familiarity that only you could give him.

Your warmth surrounded every inch of his cock, and he was reminded of how perfectly your bodies fit together. It was as if you had been made just for him, which is why he needed to come back. He couldn't stay dead, knowing that a long line of douche bags were waiting to have a turn with what was his.

"Is everything okay?", you inquired softly, noticing the subtle expression change.

Instead of answering your question, he withdrew slightly from inside you, before slamming back into your heat with as much force as he could muster. Despite your cries of pain, he continued to pound into you mercilessly, using your aching cunt to work out his frustrations.

"Aw, poor baby. Is this cock too much for you?", Eddie's condescending tone only made you cry harder. You squirmed as he dragged his tongue up the side of your face, licking away your tears. "Oh, fuck.", he cursed under his breath, his shaft twitching inside you.

"Oh? You like that don't you?", you whispered shakily, watching his face contort into a look of pleasure with a slight hint of alarm, as if he hadn't been expecting to feel anything.

"Shut up."

"Come on, Baby. I know that you feel something."

"I said, shut up!", Eddie growled, slapping his hand over your mouth as he slammed his hips down into your pelvic bone.

Your gentle, attentive boyfriend was nowhere to be seen as the creature inhabiting his body paid no regard to your needs and desires. His cock ripped its way through you. Filling you. Stretching you. The pain becoming almost unbearable, until a warmth began to pool in your lower abdomen.

Eddie removed his hand from your mouth, relishing in the sounds that you made. Small frightened whimpers, slowly drowned out by satisfied moans. Afraid of what he might do if you touched him, you placed your hands on either side of you, grabbing fistfuls of the comforter.

"You're so fucking tight.", Eddie huffed as your walls began to contract around him. He watched you bite down hard on your bottom lip as he pushed you over the edge. "Look at you. You're such a mess. What would you do without me?", his taunts went unnoticed as you rode out your high, quickly drawing him closer to his own. "Holy shit.", suddenly the patronizing tone was gone, replaced with one of surprise.

He began to pulse within you and you forced your eyes open, watching the expression on his face transform into one of pure, unbridled pleasure. Eddie's movements became sloppy as he shot his seed deep inside your pussy, grunting with each thrust, until he stilled, looking down at you, his face hovering inches above yours.

"Eddie?", you panted, caressing the side of his face as you caught a glimpse of the man you once knew. He squeezed his eyes shut, but not before a single tear could escape, and roll down his cheek. "Eddie, I love you-"

With a loud huff, he withdrew from inside you and leapt to his feet, facing the other direction as he did up his pants. Feeling exposed and vulnerable you pulled the blankets up around you, watching his shoulders rise and fall with each breath. He seemed angry, and you didn't know what you had done wrong.

"You're not leaving already, are you?", you cringed, hating how weak and desperate you sounded.

"I've gotten what I came here for, so I have no reason to stay.", Eddie's words stung, but you refused to give him the satisfaction of your tears. "I'm gonna need you to tell the others that Henry is done playing games, and it'll be better for everyone if you stay out of the way this time.",he warned, reaching for the doorknob. "Oh, and one more thing! Tell Henderson I say, hi.", he added with a smirk, flashing you his fangs before disapearing down the hall.

**********************************************

Several days had passed since the encounter with Eddie, and you found yourself standing in the empty kitchen, chopping up ingredients for a meal that you'd inevitably eat all alone. The sun was low in the sky, and you wondered if the undead version of your boyfriend was somewhere out there, prowling for a meal of his own.

Then right on cue, a sudden chill filled the room, despite all of the windows and doors being previously closed. The hairs on the back of your neck stood up, as you felt a pair of eyes burning into you from behind. You immediately knew that it was Eddie by the smell of his cologne and the sound of his footsteps.

"What do you want now?", your voice was thick with annoyance as you continued with the task at hand, never once turning to look at him.

"Does your boyfriend need a reason to visit?", he inquired with a laugh.

"You aren't my boyfriend! My Eddie died in that place, and I don't know who or what you are, but you aren't him! Now cut the crap, and tell me why you're really here!", you demanded, spinning on your heel to hold the blade of the knife against his throat.

"Vecna sent me to kill you. He wants me to prove my loyalty.", he answered, hiding the pain that your words had caused. In one fluid motion, he grabbed the knife and turned it on you, pressing you back against the counter.

"Then what are you waiting for?", you croaked, daring him to continue.

"I don't want to hurt you.", he released his grip on the knife, allowing it to clatter to the floor.

"Oh, really? Then explain this!", you screamed, pulling aside the collar of your shirt to show him the bite mark on your neck. "Or this!", you pulled your pants down and kicked them aside, exposing the deep purple wound on your inner thigh.

Eddie averted his gaze, repulsed by what he had done. He could feel your gaze burning into him and his hands clenched into fists, his finger nails digging into his palms. As you demanded that he look at you, he slowly turned his head, his bottom lip quivering slightly.

"What's the matter? You can't stand the sight of your own handy work?", you hissed, refusing to show him an ounce of fear.

"I...I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm sorry.", he stammered out an apology, the sincerity of his words pulling at your heartstrings. "The only way I can feel is when I'm with you, and I don't wanna lose that."

Perhaps it was the heartfelt confession or the pitiful look in his big brown, doe eyes, but you found yourself holding out your arms, inviting him into your embrace. After a moments hesitation he accepted your offer, his large frame melting into yours.

"Would you like me to help you feel something again?",you whispered, pulling back until his gaze met yours. Unsure of what you meant, he nodded slowly, hoping that you would elaborate. "You'll have to earn it-"

"I'll be good. I promise.", he whined, his sudden desperation causing a dull ache to form between your legs.

"I'd better not regret this. Take a seat.", you instructed, gesturing to one of the chairs tucked in underneath the kitchen table.

Without tearing his eyes away, Eddie walked over to grab the chair, dragging it into the middle of the floor and turning it towards you. He sat down, his legs spread wide open as you approached, positioning yourself between them. As you caressed the side of his face, he looked up at you through his lashes.

He let out an audible gulp as you lowered yourself down to straddle his lap, leaning in to place a gentle, forgiving kiss on his lips. You palmed him through the fabric of his jeans, feeling him grow hard beneath your hand, practically begging to be released from its confines.

Feeling generous you undid the button of his pants and reached inside his underwear, wrapping your hand around the shaft of his needy cock. You carefully pulled it out into the open, revealing the red and swollen tip, glistening with precum under the bright kitchen lights.

Giving Eddie what he craved, you lifted yourself up on your knees and pulled aside the fabric of your panties. He groaned as you lined him up with your enterance, sinking down on top of him. You winced at the sudden fullness, the inside of your pussy still sore from the beating it had taken several days prior.

"I'm sorry.", he apologized, knowing that he was to blame.

"You'll just have to make it up to me...", you trailed off, reaching for the bottom of his shirt.

"Don't!", he snapped, grabbing you firmly by the wrist, before you could lift it more than an inch. "You don't wanna see what's under there."

"I think I'll be the judge of that. Now let go of me.", your demands were quickly met as he released his hold on your wrist.

Eddie slowly raised his arms into the air, allowing you to pull his shirt up over his head. You tossed it aside and he averted his gaze, fearing your reaction to the fatal wounds covering the majority of his torso. He tensed up as you glided your hands over the purple scar tissue, tears welling in your eyes.

"You're perfect.", you whispered, your heart breaking as he shot you a strong look of skepticism.

"I don't need your goddamn pity and I definitely don't need your lies!", Eddie growled, his eyes growing dark. "There's no way that you're attracted to all of this-", he fell silent as you began to roll your hips, hoping that your actions would prove what words couldn't.

You placed a hand on his shoulder to give yourself leverage, allowing his length to slip in and out of you with ease. His head tilted slightly to the side as he watched you, the slow steadiness of your movements driving him mad. It took every ounce of self control to not take over and pound the hell out of you again.

"What's wrong, baby? You want me to go faster?", you cooed, receiving a small nod in response. "Then you'll have to earn it."

"Fuck sakes. And how the hell am I suppose to do that?", he huffed, becoming impatient.

"Tell me exactly how I make you feel."

"Well, you know, really good.", he shrugged, grabbing hold of your hips.

"You can do better than that.", you insisted stubbornly, threatening to come to a stop as you folded your arms over your chest.

"Fine! When I'm with you, it feels like it might be enough to bring me back to life, and I'm not sure that I deserve it.", he confessed abruptly, tears pooling in his eyes. "I mean, you said it yourself, right? Your Eddie died in that place, and I came back as something else."

"Maybe I was wrong! Maybe I was hurting, and I said things that I didn't mean!", you cried out, your breath hitching as he grabbed the back of your head and pulled you down into a deep kiss. "Eddie...",you moaned into his mouth, quickening the pace of your hips.

"I didn't mean to hurt you. That's the last thing I wanted- oh fuck. Sweetheart, you feel unreal.", he breathed, his hands wandering aimlessly along your body. "It's just ever since I woke up in that place, I find myself craving everything about you, and it's driving me crazy."

His eyes widened as you calmly brushed your hair aside and titled your head, putting the untouched side of your neck on display. He could see your pulse beating beneath the skin and he felt a indescribable thirst radiating from the back of his throat, one that only your blood would be able to quench.

"Stop.", he croaked, turning his face away, his hands gripping the edge of the chair until his knuckles turned white.

"Why? This is what you want, isn't it?", you whispered, taking his chin between your thumb and forefinger to turn him back towards you.

"You don't get it. It's not a want. It's a need. Like I'll die without it. And I'm trying so fucking hard.", he whined, licking his lips as the hunger took over.

"Then stop fighting it.", you insisted, dragging your finger nail along the side of your neck, causing the blood to rush to the surface. "It's okay, I trust you.", you assured him, leaning in closer.

He brought one hand up to support your head, while he softly kissed his way along the side of your neck. You froze for a moment as his teeth grazed the skin, puncturing it delicately, only going deep enough to draw blood. The sharp pain soon disapated and transformed into a warm tingling sensation.

Without disturbing Eddie, you began to move up and down on his cock, isolating all of your movement to below the waist. You couldn't remember if he had ever been as hard as he was in that moment, but it left you in awe, feeling every ridge and vein, rubbing against your inner walls.

His tip was swollen from the way you squeezed around him, making it sensitive to any kind of stimulation. As you began to move faster, he struggled to stay latched to your throat, breaking it to catch his breath. You looked down at him through heavy lids, feeling lightly buzzed.

"You okay?", Eddie checked in, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Mhm...feels good...keep going.", you slurred your words, quickly approaching your high. Wanting to give you everything that you wanted, his mouth returned to the side of your neck, gently lapping at the wounds he had made.

"Oh, Baby! I'm so close!", you screamed, digging your nails into his shoulder as you began to bounce up and down on his cock, the wooden chair creaking loudly in protest.

"Me too, Sweetheart. Don't you dare fucking stop!", Eddie growled, grabbing onto your ass with both hands. "Good girl, come nice and hard for me.", the sound of his voice, combined with his hot breath against your neck, caused the knot inside you to snap.

"Eddie! I'm...oh!", you tried to speak, but the fire within you was all consuming, stealing the breath from your lungs.

"Fuck, just like that. Jesus Christ!", he exclaimed, as he thrusted upwards, filling you with thick ropes of cum. "Take it all, baby. It's yours...I'm yours. I love you so fucking much!" he rambled incoherently, drunk on your pussy and how it eagerly took everything that he had to offer.

Spent, you collapsed against Eddie, gasping for air, while he whimpered into the crook of your neck. Not wanting the moment to be over, you clung to eachother, allowing the rush of endorphins to work their way through your bodies. Eddie was the first to speak, his voice thick with emotion.

"Y/N, you need to get out of Hawkins."

"Are you crazy? I can't just leave the others to go up against Vecna alone-", you began to protest, only to be interrupted by an insistent Eddie.

"I'll deal with him! Just promise me that you'll go somewhere safe. Somewhere far away from here.", he pleaded, knowing that he couldn't force you to do anything that you didn't want to do.

"Only if you promise to come find me when it's all over.", you whispered, fighting back tears.

"Sweetheart, even death couldn't keep me from you. We'll be together again.", Eddie promised, cupping your face between his hands, his brown eyes locked on yours. Your heart fluttered wildly as he drew you in for a kiss, sealing the vow between you.

#eddie munson #stranger things #stranger things 4 #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson smut #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson vampire #vampire eddie x reader

739 notes · View notes

roseverdict · 1 year

Text

By Any Other Name

"What makes you so special, hm?" The stranger's voice was low and dangerous now, and they circled slowly around Orange's cage with the sharp gaze of a predator. "What about you was so perfect that He let Himself be swayed in your favor when no one else was ever able to manage it?"

(Or, "what exactly happens to Orange after their capture?")

(Or, "Vic has sauntered into my brain with a solid characterization and refused to leave.")

〜

HOLY SHIT

AVA 6 YALL-!

i don't think i'll be able to be normal about this Ever.

Macaroni and Sti-fi AUs are still chugging along, never fear, but here's a one-shot that grabbed me by the throat yesterday until i banged it all out in one go lmao. no beta we die like. wait. oh gosh oh fuck we need a new "no beta we die like"

〜

Orange watched as the gray sticks meandered purposefully through the warehouse. There were no clocks anywhere in Orange's line of sight, but they'd been watching long enough that they'd noticed a distinct change in the flow of the grays- there had been significantly fewer for a time, then they came back in mildly better spirits before dropping to an all-time low. If Orange had to guess, they'd just had dinner before switching to the night shift.

Orange's stomach rumbled at the thought, and they grimaced as their hand lifted up by it unconsciously.

Still frozen in their blank prison, the Chosen One didn't respond.

Orange scowled in their direction. "This is your fault, y'know."

Nothing.

"You come in ranting and raving about needing help from the one stick more powerful than you, then expect me to pick up the slack?!" Orange snapped. "You're just lucky I pocketed the pencil before you ducking kidnapped me, and even then-!"

Still nothing.

"Where'd you even get that idea, huh?!" Orange smacked the bars of their cell angrily, the noise ringing in their ears long after going quiet. "I'm not some kind of all-powerful stick figure! That honor goes to you! You and the Dark Lord both, if they're even still alive! I don't know what you did to make them disappear all those years ago, but it must've worked!"

The voice that spoke was almost unassuming, aside from the fact that Orange didn't recognize it. "That's just it. The Chosen One didn't put a stop to the Dark Lord."

Orange stiffened, then rattled the bars of their cell. "What the-? COME OUT WHERE I CAN PUMMEL YOU!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that, Second," the soft-spoken voice said. "I suppose it couldn't hurt to let you see me, though."

And from the shadows walked an unfamiliar stick figure. Their hex code was gray, dark enough that they almost looked like the Chosen One's twin, but their animation was…janky, Orange supposed. Each of their frames was drawn as if it were a keyframe in and of itself, and their head seemed to change shape multiple times a second.

Squashing down the instinctive urge to offer to clean up their animation like one of Alan's creations, Orange scowled. "That's not my name."

"Hm," said the stranger with a noncommittal shrug.

"It's not!" Orange insisted.

The stranger chuckled. "Whatever you say."

Realizing they weren't gonna get anywhere with the whole 'name' thing, Orange shook their head. "Who even are you, and what are you talking about? Putting aside the whole 'you claim to know about the last time I saw the Chosen One' thing, who else could it have been? Last I checked, the internet wasn't exactly bursting at the seams with superpowered sticks."

"Oh, it's not," said the stranger mildly. "Think about it, Second. Who was there that day at the bay? Who could have been the one to ensure the Dark Lord could never go after you again? It wasn't the Chosen One, I can guarantee you that."

Orange felt a dawning horror rise up inside. "No…are you saying…?"

"That's it, think about it…" coaxed the stranger.

"…it was you?!"

The stranger froze for a moment, then burst out laughing.

Orange blinked. That didn't sound like the maniacal laughter of someone who'd led their prisoner to the right conclusion. That sounded like the full-bodied laughter of someone who-

"I can't believe this!" the stranger crowed. They laughed for a moment more, then quieted down to a few stray chuckles, wiping at their eyes as they calmed back down. "The information is all laid out in front of you, Second! For somebody usually so quick on their feet when the situation calls for it, you're being so slow today!"

Orange really didn't like the implication that this stranger had been watching them for who-knew-how-long.

"Think, Second, think! It was just you, the Chosen One, and the Dark Lord that day, and it wasn't the Chosen One who blasted the Dark Lord to kingdom come," the stranger pressed, their voice losing some of their nonchalance in favor of a hard edge.

If Orange had thought the idea of the stranger having that kind of power was horrifying, then what the stranger was proposing was…

"…insane. Y-you're insane," breathed Orange, stepping back from the bars.

"Please, don't insult both of our intelligence," the stranger drawled, taking a step closer. "Besides, wouldn't that make the Chosen One insane for going to you for aid? If anybody saw the Dark Lord's defeat in person and knew who was responsible, it would be them, after all."

Orange hated that they couldn't argue that point, and their gaze drifted to the side to look at the Chosen One again.

Still no visible response.

Orange really hoped they were at least unconscious, instead of awake and aware and unable to move. If they knew about whatever the stranger was talking about, but were forced to listen silently, it would probably be torture.

Orange had been lucky enough to be unaware when they'd been paused, but maybe it was different for the Chosen One.

"Wha-? What are you talking about now?!" Orange demanded, desperately trying to keep the shakiness out of their voice as they turned to keep the stranger in their sights.

"I couldn't manage it," said the stranger instead of answering. "The Chosen One certainly couldn't, with or without the Dark Lord's assistance. And yet here you stand, you naive, idealistic child!"

Orange stumbled back as the stranger stormed up to the bars, glaring them down. "You have no idea the cruelty He's truly capable of, and yet you trust Him implicitly because…why? Because He plays with you?! Because He claims to enjoy your company?!"

"Who are you even talking about?!" shouted Orange, clenching their fists and taking a step forward.

"Oh, I think you know," hissed the stranger. "You remember those first few moments of sentience, don't you? You met your first four friends, and then you watched them die in front of you. I think you know exactly who I'm talking about."

Orange snarled as realization struck, and they rushed the bars with a bang. "DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT ALAN LIKE THAT!"

"There we go," said the stranger with a smirk. "I knew you had to have a rational thought or two bouncing around in that hollow head of yours."

"It was just a misunderstanding!" Orange insisted, gripping the bars and glaring down the stranger with every ounce of venom in their body. "And he brought them back right after!"

"Oh, you innocent little kid," the stranger cooed poisonously. They leaned in close enough to take up most of Orange's vision.

Orange kept themself from shaking, but it was a near thing.

The stranger tilted their head.

"Did you really think that was the first time He'd ever tried to kill a stick figure?"

Time seemed to freeze.

Orange couldn't stop it as their eyes went wide.

"He didn't bring them back out of the goodness of His heart," said the stranger in a voice so quiet it made Orange's ears ring. "He brought them back because He knew you could make His life a living hell if He didn't. You hold the power within you to destroy His PC in a blink, and you're only kept in check by the continued existence of your friends. The decision to bring back your friends wasn't an ethical decision. It was pure and simple logic, fueled by His past experiences with superpowered sticks, a group which you certainly belong to."

"That's…that's wrong. You're lying!" Orange breathed. "He wouldn't, he couldn't-!"

"Am I?" asked the stranger coldly. "Because last I checked, Second, He did, and for no other reason than the fact that He could."

"…shut up."

"Hm?"

"I SAID SHUT UP!" Orange slammed an arm against the bars, making them rattle and creak. "ALAN'S NOT LIKE THAT, YOU'RE LYING YOUR LINEART OFF TO GET IN MY HEAD, AND MY NAME ISN'T SECOND! I'M ORANGE! ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE!"

The stranger seemed taken aback, then they smiled with all edges and no sincerity. "Of course you are, little Second Coming. You're Orange, and I'm the Vengeful One, and neither of those are actually our names, simply accurate descriptors for who we want to be."

Orange took a shaky breath, but before they could gather their thoughts and try to process all of THAT-

"Pause them," ordered the Vengeful One into a walkie-talkie they pulled from their hammerspace. "Talking is going nowhere. I think we should take our guest to the Viewing Room."

Orange only had a fraction of a second to worry about what they would be 'viewing' before the world went dark.

#rosie writes #animator vs animation #ava shorts #ava 6 spoilers #ava spoilers #ava s2 #ava s2 spoilers #ava orange #ava the second coming #ava second coming #ava victim #ava chosen one #(<- they're there but like. if you've watched the video you can guess what they're doing/not doing)#i think i am going to go insane <3 #alan becker #sticks #baon

107 notes · View notes

morganofthewildfire · 1 year

Text

--------------------------------------------------------------

What the Truth Is

--------------------------------------------------------------

~1.5k words

CW: implications of an eating disorder, brief depictions of sexual abuse

just a quick thing I wrote last night in an hour! Hopefully it's coherent!

--------------------------------------------------------------

Celaena walked into the office that morning feeling like she did every day - nauseous and fucking empty.

It was an effort not to hurl up the meager breakfast she’d eaten this morning; in fact, it took everything in her not to stop in the bathroom and stick a finger down her throat to do just that. But, no, she was trying to stop that. She needed to stop that.

He’d made a comment the other day about how skinny she was getting, how she had no meat on her bones anymore. Nothing for him to grab, were his words. And that was dangerous, because he could be starting to not want her. And she needed him to want her, no matter how much he disgusted her.

Because he knew everything. And he wouldn’t hesitate to use that information if she stopped giving him what he wanted. And what he wanted was her.

Celaena knew she had dark circles under her eyes as she made her way to the receptionist's desk on the executive level of the extravagant office building, dropping her bag on the floor and plopping into her chair with a resigned sigh.

Like every day, she wiggled the mouse to wake her computer up before typing in her password and opening her email. Nothing there of course, she’d already checked it early this morning when she realized sleep was futile.

Why not get some work done instead of staring at the wall?

She didn’t have many responsibilities anyway, so all she had left to do today was sit there and answer calls, maybe schedule some meetings if she was feeling fancy.

The receptionist downstairs fielded most of the incoming calls, she was simply the extra line of defense before anyone could reach one of the big guys at Hamel Enterprises.

She could fiddle with her list of job postings, maybe browse the internet for more to add, even if it was futile. She would never leave.

A shiver raced through her and she let her tired eyes fall shut. When was this going to end?

“Good morning, Miss Sardothien,” a familiar voice rang out politely through the quiet space. She wasn’t the first one here, but she hadn’t been bothered yet, probably wouldn’t be for at least a few more hours.

Celaena whipped her eyes open, forcing a pleasant smile to her face as she looked up to meet the gaze of Rowan Whitethorn, Chief Operating Officer of Hamel Enterprises. He was young to be in a position so high up, only a few years older than herself, but she knew he was incredibly qualified and capable for the job.

And he was nice, to her at least. She heard rumors he was a hard ass when it came to business, but he was always pleasant when he spoke to her. Did he know what kind of man he worked for?

“Good morning,” she croaked back in response, sitting up and trying not to let her eyes wander too much. It wasn’t fair that he looked so delicious in that suit he wore every day, but she didn’t want to give him the wrong impression.

She could never be available, no matter how much interest she tried to pretend away.

Rowan didn’t offer the same back, perusing her with his green gaze, his silvery brows pinched in concern. Celaena fidgeted.

“Are you okay?” He asked, tilting his head as his eyes examined her face. She shrugged dismissively, looking down at her computer.

“Just tired,” she said with a grimace, “didn’t sleep well last night.”

“Ah, I've been there,” he said, smiling a bit in his attempt at comradery that Celaena unfortunately couldn’t return. “Do you want me to get you some coffee?”

She smiled wryly, glancing up at him before looking back down at the blank screen.

“Isn’t that my job?” She asked, raising a brow, and she smiled genuinely at the chuckle her quip earned. But it faded as other words came to her mind - your job is to do whatever the fuck I want you to do, with a pretty little smile on that worthless face.

She cleared her throat, fighting the nausea again. “Well,” she rasped, “I’m sure you have work to do. Me. Moonbeam called yesterday to confirm your meeting this afternoon, just a reminder.”

Rowan seemed to get the dismissal, stepping back from the desk with a nod and a strained smile. Celaena tried to ignore the pang in her own heart.

“Of course,” he said, “thank you.”

And then he was gone, heading down the hallway to his office and leaving her alone again in the unbearable silence.

Until the desk phone rang, startling her out of her solitude.

She rubbed her eyes as she answered it, holding the phone up to her ear.

“This is Hamel Enterprises, Celaena speaking,” she said, trying not to sound too monotonous.

“My office, now,” a sickeningly familiar voice demanded before hanging up, and all she could do was set down the phone and try to take in a deep breath. All she could end up getting was a tiny puff of air, but she still stood up, smoothing down the skirt he’d demanded she wear and heading out from behind the desk.

She could do this, she could do this, she could do this.

She’d already done it so many times, what was really the harm in it happening again? Everything.

Her lips were trembling but she lifted her chin high as she walked down the hallway in her heels, knocking primly on the door at the end of it. He was early today, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be ready. In his eyes, she needed to be available to him whenever he wanted.

“Come in,” his smooth voice purred, and Celaena didn’t give herself a chance to hesitate as she pushed it open and entered the devil’s den.

And when he instructed her to lock the door and close the blinds and get on her knees, she knew that yet again it was too late to escape.

———

The bile burned as she retched into the toilet in front of her, a sob escaping her as she fought for air. Messy tears had streamed down her cheeks, her ruined hair getting stuck in them and the vomit as she tried to expel it all straight into the plumbing.

The moment she’d left his office she’d beelined in here, collapsing on the hard tile and shoving a finger down her throat to just try and get rid of it all. Get rid of the taste of him. She didn’t care that she’d promised herself she’d stop; she needed it out.

He’d been brutal this morning, grabbing her harshly by the hair and pinching her nose so she couldn’t breathe. And she couldn’t do a damn thing about it.

He’d come with a harsh whisper of her name, her real name, careful to keep down but still fucking with her mind and taunting her with the fact that he knew her secrets, that he knew exactly what she’d been running from so desperately.

So desperately that this was a better alternative.

Celaena vomited again before settling back against the wall, taking deep breaths. When she was sure the attack was done, she flushed the toilet and forced herself to stand, her whole body aching with hurt.

One glance in the mirror showed her that she looked like a godsdamned mess, but there was only so much she could do to straighten herself up. Her lipstick was out in her purse at her desk.

So she just smoothed her hair back behind her ears and wiped away the ruined makeup, trying to look dignified as she exited the bathroom and headed back toward her desk to continue the hours long routine of nothingness.

But what she saw made her pause.

There, on top of her desk, was a pink mug she didn’t recognize from the kitchen, with steaming hot coffee tempting her from across the room. Celaena slowly walked toward it, sliding down into her seat before picking it up.

When she knew it wasn’t too hot anymore, she took a careful sip, letting the warm liquid soothe her aching throat. It was exactly how she made it for herself, the right amount of sugar and everything.

That was when she saw the note left on the desk too, sharp penmanship scrawled on a yellow sticky note. Celaena picked it up carefully, a small smile managing to sneak out across her face as she read the sweet words, so different from what she’d just encountered.

I hope you feel better soon, let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.

-- Rowan

-----

taglist:

@wordsafterhours

@romancinghollywood

@superspiritfestival

@wishfulimaginings

@larisssss

@punkassbookjockey26

@shyvioletcat

@aelinchocolatelover

@s-uppertime

@leiawritesstories

@elentiyawhitethorn

@backtobl4ck

@goddess-aelin

@fromthelibraryofemilyj

@justreadertings

@rowaelinismyotp

@live-the-fangirl-life

@swankii-art-teacher

@tomtenadia

@highqueenofelfhame

@firestarsandseneschals

@thegreyj

@mariamuses

@house-of-galathynius

@rowanaelinn

@llyncooljones

@story-scribbler

@charlizeed

@bookcide

@elizarikaallen

@slytherhys

@booknerdproblems

@earthtolinds

@rowaelinrambling

@courtofjurdan

@peppermint-fae

#rowaelin #rowaelin au #rowaelin fanfiction #throne of glass #throne of glass au #throne of glass fanfiction #what the truth is

103 notes · View notes

memovia · 10 months

Text

RANDOM DAN HENG HEADCANON, CHECK !

TOPIC: STATE OF BEING― COURAGE.

There are many things I want to highlight in this post that mostly concerns my portrayal of Dan Heng.

The similarities in between Dan Heng and Dan Feng are undeniable. From his looks, his weapon to his powers― everything is reminiscent of the previous him, Imbibitor Lunae.

For example, in this previous post here:

Cloud Piercer is his weapon but how much of it IS his weapon? The hesitance to pick it up again after a dream of visions about his past, the slight flinch in his fingers when it rests on the neck of his spear.

He would wonder what are the remaining things that truly defy him. Cloud Piercer is a thing that Ying Xing made for Dan Feng, a thing that was not made for the current him, a thing of the past.

However, his characteristics, his speech and his attitude offers a stark contrast to Dan Feng. Dan Heng can be more abrasive than usual, he is very sharp in terms of his speech and his decisions are much more impulsive. ( But I will talk about this in another post and another time LOL )

What I want to talk about is MOLTING.

Molting is not the same as reincarnation. When you come out from an egg, you are born anew. You get to experience many aspects in life for the first time again. It is clean slate, a blank canvas.

When someone molts, they shed their old skin, their old exterior. But guess what happens next? You grow the skin again, the same pattern and on the same person. The core does not change, the person does not change. If a lizard sheds its skin, does it become a totally different lizard? No. Everything that Dan Feng experiences, his past and his sedition, it is all still in Dan Heng.

A term that I like to use for this sometimes is: Dan Heng has a danger of growing into Dan Feng again. And all of this is also further supported by how many dreams and visions he has had of his past self.

That aspect is very important, but what is the most important thing that I wish to highlight here is this:

At the very core, Dan Heng still holds an aspect of Dan Feng that he will never get rid of. But the most important thing here is the courage that he has to muster. The courage that will allow him to look Dan Feng in the eye, accept it for what it is and continue soldiering on. Yes, the journey will be hard. Yes, there are times where he will struggle to figure out whether it is him or Dan Feng having those thoughts or making those decisions.

But ultimately, what I would find the most fufiling here, is the bravery needed to take the first step. He says he is not Dan Feng. He is not and will never be, but words alone cannot convince himself otherwise. He needs to go on this journey, and the people he holds close in this current life will help him in doing so as well.

So basically, sorry Grandpa Dan Feng let us escort you to your bed. It is Dan Heng time now.

#✧ dan heng. | headcanons.#yeah ok so i properly wrote it after like 3 days #LOOOOL #thanks autumn for letting me word barf onto ur ass #u are sleeping now but i will love u forever

23 notes · View notes

strangelittlestories · 1 year

Text

When Alex realised their home was not a place they could go back to, they offered up a silent prayer to whatever gods were listening.

They knew, deep down, that prayers like this could be dangerous. There were so many gods out there listening, both old and new, big and small, benevolent and wicked. If a god with a twist of mischief in their smile answered your prayer, there would be a sting in the tail that could make your life a misery.

Or worse: it could make your life a *story*.

But Alex was tired. Exhausted. They were the kind of weary that turns your thoughts to stones sinking in deep and murky water, and turns feelings into the distant sound of rushing waves.

So, when the thought that warned them about inviting such ‘interesting times’ entered their brain, they simply noticed it but let it sink unheard into the depths of Not Right Now. And they prayed their prayer.

A short while later, they were walking through the streets of the city when the street lamps flickered. No … it was too regular and defined to be called a flicker, this felt more like the city had *winked* at them.

Their phone vibrated in their pocket. This was odd, as they were sure the battery had died. They checked it and found it resurrected, at 3% power. The vibration was a text from a friend, offering them a sofa to sleep on - it included a link to a mapping app called Mercury. Alex didn’t recognise the app, but their phone seemed to already have it installed. They opened it and a glowing thread unfolded on their phone.

The UI was elegant and gorgeous, made up of simple silver lines that spread out like paint brush strokes over the night grey of the cityscape.

They followed the quicksilver path it laid out and as they walked the city sang them a comforting wordless song of distant trains and electric hums.

When they arrived at their friend’s flat, Alex took a bottle of water and a granola bar from their bag. Without really thinking about why, they poured a mouthful of water out on the porch. They then broke off a small chunk of granola and laid it carefully down too.

Alex knocked on the door. Their friend was surprised to see them and didn’t recall sending Alex any texts that evening, but did still offer Alex a couch to sleep on. The friend asked no questions, but offered many hugs, and Alex even accepted one (they felt like more than a single gentle embrace might break their paper-thin bones).

That night, Alex went to the bathroom to wash before bed and was surprised to find a new toothbrush waiting for them on the sink. It was one of those cheap plastic ones you might find in a hostel - barely better than scrubbing your teeth with your finger. But, for a moment, Alex was sure that the bristles glowed a soft gold.

There was the gentle sound of a throat clearing. Alex’s eyes whipped up, scanning for danger, to find a warm and friendly face staring back at them from the mirror with a lopsided smile.

He was not one of Alex’s gods, but Alex still knew him.

“Hey kid.” Said Hephaestus. “I know it’s not much, but I made it for you.”

Alex picked up the toothbrush and smiled cautiously back.

“Thanks. I, uh, don’t mean to sound ungrateful…but I didn’t think looking after waifs and strays was your jam.”

“Oh, it’s not what I’m best known for.” He spoke with the steady cadence of a hammer ringing out on hot metal. “But I have a fondness for those who find themselves lost. If you have no hearth to call your own, sometimes a forge will do the job for a while.”

“Um. Thanks.” Alex felt something catch in their throat. “For this. The directions, the words, and the … the toothbrush.”

“Well, thank *you* for the drink and the snack. Such a kind offering definitely buys you clean teeth, at least.” He winked and, as he did, the light in the bathroom flickered. “And besides, creating things that are dearly needed … that *is* what I’m known for. You take care now.”

With that, the face in the mirror dissolved into a shower of fiery sparks.

Alex paused for a while - brain blank, tears beginning to well in their eyes.

Then, remembering the toothbrush was still in their hand, they began to clean their teeth. And for the first time that night, Alex began to feel human again.

#mythology #modern gods #greek myth #hephaestus #because the best gift you'll ever get is the one you get when you REALLY need it #writing #microfiction #flash fiction

69 notes · View notes

josnhoes · 2 years

Note

The child-but not child au think kinda have me thinking about the time how when I was a kid and have a bad dream I just head to my see sister room and just look at her sleeping till she wakes up and she usually have that face of terror because she told me ( years later, now we are adults ) that I have a bad habit of not blinking and have that strangely blank face before telling her that I have a bad dream and if I could sleep next to her

I kinda seeing them doing that to someone just to see a reaction and also they don't want to sleep alone

Oh absolutely, also I feel you on nightmares. I have chronic nightly night terrors even as a child.

Content warning mentions of nightmares.

Nightmares are to be expected especially in someone so little after experience so many overbolts. Sure you had the mind of someone older but your body reacted to trauma like you weren't at times, and the overbolts had you helpless. You loathe to admit it, but if you had had to deal with them alone you couldn't have won even the first. That fact was always in the back of your mind haunting you.

Luckily you had people here who cared, a nearly whole school of them. Sure a few nameless students found you annoying but they were a very small number. So you had a pick of who you reached out to for comfort.

In heartslabyul the best to go to are Trey, Riddle, and Deuce. Sometime Cater as well since he had sisters but it was always a 50/50 chance he'd wake up. Trey makes you warm milk, and hugs you telling you it will all be okay. Riddle wakes up annoyed until he sees its you and the state your in, he listens to your nightmares when you wish to talk of them and as he does so holds your hands reminding you you aren't alone. Deuce in a groggy state always assumes someone hurt you and goes in to delinquent mode until you tell him it was a nightmare, then before you can ask pulls you into bed with a "I'll protect you."

In savanaclaw all three main characters are good to go to. Each has a different style of comfort. Jack swaddles you offering protection, depending how bad of shape you are he'll transform and curl around you allowing you to stroke his fur. Ruggie is used to caring for people, he knows all the tricks to help you fall asleep again and lets you stay with him in bed, even cracks some jokes to get you laughing again before going to sleep. Leona is weird he acts a bit grumpy until he sees your face and then he's pulling you to him protectively purring loudly. He also is smug the next day because you came to *him*.

Octavinelle the only one who gives good comfort is Azul, the twins aren't great with dealing with nightmares and Floyd can be dangerous when he tries to squeeze the nightmares out of you. He things hugs help and they do but he can hug too hard. Azul makes a gentle tea and allows you to cry with out judgement. He knows what it's like to be filled with fear.

Pomefiore you can go to any of them but none of them are super good at comfort. Vil just agrees and allows you to get in bed before going back to sleep. Rook asks too many questions. Epel panics because he doesn't know what to do he was the baby of the family.

Ignihyde isn't a good one to go to either but good at the same time. Idia is always up late so you can trust him to 'keep watch' and since he is gaming you'll hear plenty of sounds but that could keep you up. Ortho treats it like a medical event checking you over and using the twist version of Google to find solutions. But both can have their hair used as nightlights.

Diasomnia the two best to go to are Malleus and Lilia. Both are up not requiring much if any sleep being full fae. Malleus is content to keep watch over you and stroke your hair as you sleep, simply pleased that his little child of man came to him for comfort. Lilia has raised at least one kid, and is well known for his lullaby prowess. He'll lull you back to bed in no time and with a sense of safety.

#twisted wonderland #twst #twst x reader #knak au

141 notes · View notes

kiwiraccoon · 8 months

Text

What Happens In Vegas Pt.1

Yeosang x fem!reader

Description: By complete chance two people from two different worlds meet in a place where the phrase “What Happens In Vegas Stays In Vegas” was born. They spend their time getting to know each other and building a bond that might lead to one of them uprooting their life at the end of the trip.

Word Count: 2454

Notes: first person POV, drinking, gambling

This vacation is more needed than I initially realized, the tension in my shoulders finally releasing enough to let my mind not focus on how this dress sits against my skin. Dressing up while traveling solo seems dangerous, but my job has me doing it in places that aren’t in my home country. The only difference is this time I’m dressing up for myself only, my job doesn’t allow me to build relationships outside of acquaintances since I’m constantly moving from country to country to find the best stories. Freelance writing always made sense to me, and now as a traveling blogger, my only real focus is finding where I truly belong.

I’m celebrating myself and my accomplishments on this trip, finally embracing the freedom I have from no longer working for anyone but myself. I plan to do that the only way I know how by experiencing the places I travel to and what they have to offer. Las Vegas has so many experiences under its glamorous look, from hidden places in casinos to well-known celebrity’s history. Of course, the only place to start is a casino, specifically the one I’m staying in.

Walking out of the elevators I can feel eyes on me, either out of curiosity, envy, or lust. I don’t blame them, I know my worth and I have the right amount of confidence that shows in my walk. My dress screams confidence too, with the black color and form-fitting design, I even stared at myself in the mirror.

Without thinking I make my way to the counter to get my casino card and put my information in the system so I can get my earnings, hopefully. The nice woman at the counter asks me, “Are you here by yourself?”

Without missing a beat I smile and answer with a small laugh, “I’m crazy aren’t I?” We both laugh together before I make my way over to the one table I know I can win at, roulette. It seems funny to have a card when I make it to the table and see they are still using chips at the table, but I know at one point I will make my way over to the computerized game so I can use my logic while being able to see the last winning hits.

The one good thing about my previous job was that I could make a lot of money and never have to use it. America feeds off of money, and that’s why I left. I would have never had any money to spare if I stayed here, and now I can have fun without worrying about how much I can and cannot spend.

Instantly I hand over a $100 bill to receive my chips and wait for the table worker to tell me when I can bet. It doesn’t take long for the table to fill up after I sit down, and my first bets use all of my money. 25 on black, 25, on even, 25 on the 2nd 12, and 25 on the 3rd column. I always start with these bets, never changing my strategy, it’s more likely to have a hit with these bets than not. I watch with a blank face as the ball spins, zero worries if I have one hit, all hits, or no hits.

Before I know it I’m being pat on the back and a smile makes its way onto my face, 24 was hit and it checked off every one of my bets. I make my next bets and continue to bump my winnings with either one hit or a few, by the time I decide to leave the table there is a crowd of people watching, wondering how a woman by herself in Vegas was winning roulette like it was a simple mobile game.

“Excuse me,” I repeat many times to make my way out of the crowd holding my shoulder purse close to me as it was full of my winnings. I try to make my way back to my hotel room to drop off most of the money as I know having a lot of money on you in Vegas is probably the dumbest thing you could do. I had a few drinks by now and the buzz was working its way through my system.

Pressing the button to go up on the elevator I wait patiently, ignoring all the prying eyes of those within the casino. Checking the time on my watch I see that it’s around 2 a.m. and mentally make a note of how long I was at the table, 2 hours. The elevator doors open and I instantly walk on thinking no one would be coming down at this hour, but I was so wrong.

My smaller frame makes contact with someone leaving the elevator and I stumble out of shock that someone would be coming down, their hands instantly grab onto my shoulders to balance my stance. “Oh god, I’m so sorry,” I say instantly and move one of my hands to push some curled hair from my face to look at the person who is still holding me steady. When my eyes meet his I realize how much this might seem like a cliche, but I can’t really care much as I do deserve to have one cute moment in my life, even if this will be the last time.

Instead of saying the simple ‘it’s okay,’ he simply chuckles at my apology and moves us to the side out of the way of the elevator as there are people behind me wanting to get to their rooms as well. The confusion builds in my mind when I realize instead of walking away he kept me at arm's length and moved us out of people's way. “I-”

“I’m not mad, I just have to talk to you more.” He admits, his hands slightly squeezing my upper arms that he still has within his grasp.

“Oh,” I pause thinking of my next words while getting lost in his eyes that draw me in. “Why is that?”

“I’m not sure, but I plan on figuring it out. I’m Yeosang by the way.” He steps back slightly dropping his hands from my arms and stretching one out in what seems like an awkward handshake. I can hear the slight foreign accent in his speech and realize he isn’t American and English definitely isn’t his first language. Although, I must admit he is pretty good at it.

I shake his hand softly, reigning in my need to show that I’m an independent woman through the interaction. “I’m y/n. You’re not from here, don’t make yourself uncomfortable on my account I hardly live in America myself.”

“Oh, good.” There is a building awkward silence and I notice he might be slightly uncomfortable in an open setting.

“Yeosang,” I say his name as a way to test my pronunciation and he seems pleased by the way I said it. “I was heading to my room to drop off something, if you want to come with you can, or we can meet up. How long are you here for?”

“You don’t mind?” I nod at his words seeing a relief flash in his eyes that makes him look adorable in contrast to his strictly handsome features. “I’ll be here for one more day.” He makes the move to push the ‘up’ button on the elevator, showing he really does want to spend more time together.

“So you leave tomorrow or the following day?” I ask to fill the empty space hoping to limit the awkward tense.

“Tomorrow,” he says, there is slight sadness in his voice that makes me look up into his eyes only to look right back at the elevators as I hear the doors ding. We both step onto the elevator leaving some space between us but more space between the other strangers who joined the ride. “What floor?” He asks looking at me as he is closer to the buttons.

“Oh, um, the top floor.” I avoid his eyes as I say that, realizing that I’m exposing how much I splurged on this solo trip. He lets out a small chuckle at my avoidance yet hits the button anyway and shuffles slightly closer to me. Onlookers would think we have known each other for years with how close we stand, but in reality, it's a shared comfort we have around each other that was instant and I only now realize it. I never felt a sense of anxiety when he touched me, only feeling apologetic for running into him, and I never felt unsafe in his presence which should be wrong, but it feels more than right.

Slowly people exit onto their floors eventually leaving us alone in the small space but neither of us moves to create space between us, we both enjoy it. When the elevator stops he lets me leave the space first, either out of chivalry or just so I can lead the way. We remain in silence on the short walk to my suite, embracing the comfortable silence that has built between us. It should be scandalous to bring a man to your room during the first time meeting, but nothing about this interaction feels that way. I open the door with my key card and hold it open behind me for him to enter, I quickly make my way to the living space to hurriedly put away the excess amount of money I have on me, hoping he doesn’t see. I never liked flaunting what I have, but I can’t lie, the independence of it all makes me feel confident in myself. I was able to afford this space and risk losing money all on my own, it feels nice.

“Funny, your room is the mirror image of mine.” He says, his confidence rising in the private space. It takes a moment for his words to register in my mind.

“You also have a suite?” I ask now turning to face his as my task is complete and standing up straight to watch as he works out the difference in the rooms.

He chuckles again and I can’t lie and say the sound isn’t attractive. “Yeah, my bedroom is actually on that side,” he points to the opposite side of the living space of my room, “and the couch is on that wall.”

“Guess you should know your way around then,” I let out my own laugh. “Do you mind if I change into something more comfortable? This dress is starting to feel constricting.”

I watch as his eyes trail over my body, taking in the details to remember before responding, “go ahead.”

I scamper over to the bedroom and rush to grab an oversized t-shirt and comfortable shorts, knowing I want nothing more than to just relax and I just hope he is okay with that after all I did today. As I go to leave the room after changing I notice the door was left slightly open in my rush and I only hope the mirror in the room did not let him see, but I can’t fight the excitement in me that slightly hopes he could see. Walking out into the living area I see he has made himself comfortable on the couch and is scrolling through his phone, but the second he sees my figure through his peripheral vision he puts the phone away and gives me his undivided attention. My heart speeds up at this.

“You don’t mind just hanging out here, do you? I know you leave tomorrow, so I hope you didn’t have any plans for the night, and if you did, you can totally go do them, I’ll just hopefully get your number an-”

“Y/n.” He cuts me off.

“I was rambling. Sorry.” We both chuckle and he pats the spot next to him on the couch silently asking me to sit near him which I don’t hesitate missing that comfortable feeling between us.

He smiles when I sit near him, “It was cute. I have no plans, I was just going to walk around because I was bored.”

“So you don’t mind hanging out here with me tonight?” I ask to settle my nerves that have finally been set free from the intoxication that is leaving my body.

“I want to be here, I told you I want to figure out why I stopped you.” He reminds me, and it makes a smile return to my face and slight embarrassment for how we met.

Without second guessing I open my phone and go to create a new contact to hand to him, I don’t want to risk him leaving and us never speaking again. It shocks me, and him. Usually, I wouldn’t mind letting someone I meet become someone I met in passing, but for some reason, the thought of him becoming that sends anxiety running through my veins. He puts his number in my phone then texts himself, and when he hands me back my phone I can’t help but smile at the name he chose. It's just his name but the emojis that follow remind me of his cute laugh, the simple blushing face, and a white heart.

“How long until you leave?” I ask.

“About 4 hours.”

I look at him with a shocked expression, “why are you awake?” He laughs, genuinely laughs at my expression while covering his mouth in the process, a little action I can already feel myself adorning.

“The travel time is more than enough time for me to sleep and readjust to the time change.” His explanation makes a lot of sense, and I understand it completely from my own travels.

“Where are you from?” The question had been bubbling in the back of my mind since I picked up on his accent, but there was just never the right time to ask.

“South Korea, have you been?” My heart stops at the revelation.

“Oh my god, it makes sense!” The way my voice picks up intensity makes him now look at me in shock but also silently asking me to explain. “Oh, sorry,” I chuckle, “I have been to South Korea many times and fell in love with the country. I was actually going back after this trip.” He makes a noise of understanding and turns to face me more on the couch placing his arm against the back, and I don’t miss the way his fingers begin to play with the curled hair that I left down.

“You fell in love with South Korea, but do you think you could fall in love in South Korea?”

#ateez #ateez x reader #yeosang #yeosang x reader #yeosang imagines #ateez fanfic

17 notes · View notes

lizisshortforlizard · 3 days

Text

Living Dangerously - Chapter 33

Jurassic Park’s animal handlers: none of them ever mentioned by name in Michael Crichton’s original novel. Who were they? What were their lives like on Isla Nublar? Did any of them survive the disaster? A year in the life of those responsible for the care of the dinosaurs. Many people would kill to have their jobs. But would they die for it?

Jurassc Park novel/Jurassic Park film (1993)

Viewpoint: 3rd person female oc

Warnings: some swears, nothing explicit in this chapter, though heavily implied in the first half

Tagging: @heresthefanfiction @ocappreciation @wordspin-shares @howlingmadlady @arrthurpendragon @themaradwrites @starryeyes2000 @kmc1989 (please lmk if you would like informed of my sporadic updates. Thanks for bearing with me on this one folks, the first half of this year has not been a good one mentally)

Read on Ao3

Chapter 32 | Chapter 34

Magic Man - Heart

Daylight streamed brazenly into the room the next morning, the clear blue sky holding no memory of the previous night’s storm.

Lizzy awoke abruptly. As the solar rays blasted her directly in the retinas, she dimly registered it was coming from a different angle than usual.

Odd.

She quickly sat up - ouch!

No, she didn’t.

With a soft groan, she sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes. Christ, her head was thumping.

The fuzzy outline of her glasses, folded on the bedside table next to what was presumably a glass of water, and two aspirin.

Very odd. Not something even sober Lizzy would do.

Her surroundings came into focus, including a digital clock that definitely wasn’t hers, and with it, a jumble of untidy memories. She squinted to read the first set of numbers on the LCD display.

One-zero.

Ten.

As in ten in the morning? That ten?!

Motherfu-

“Oh no, oh nonono-“ she quietly panicked, scrabbling around at her own body under the covers, checking. Still dressed, barely.

Well, that was something.

But she wasn’t alone in the bed. Lizzy already knew whose presence was beside her, she’d know him anywhere. In the depths of the jungle with not even a sliver of moonlight, she’d know him. She’d always known him.

Robert Muldoon.

I’m in Muldoon’s bed.

She couldn’t remember falling asleep. She couldn’t even remember how she got there. Nothing. Shitting nothing!

Lizzy quickly tried to work out how she felt about the situation, and how she was going to get out of it.

Was she embarrassed? Ashamed?

No, surprisingly neither of those.

Maybe a little disappointed that she still had her underwear on…?

Stop that, right now.

Lizzy certainly wasn’t pleased either. The blanks in her memory were worrying. She didn’t do that sort of thing anymore. And she certainly never slept past ten in the morning.

Enough stewing, she had to leave. She had to leave immediately.

She put her glasses on, downed the water and aspirin, and made to scramble off for a hasty exit.

“And just where do you think you’re going?” That very familiar deep voice with the East African twang confronted her.

She didn’t dare turn around to face him, who knew what kind of trouble she was in?

“Hello!” Lizzy hated how frantic she sounded. “What do you mean, going? I just got here! Haha, ha…haaaa-“

She could feel the intense stare on the back of her head.

A beat pause.

“Want to try that again?” Dry as ever.

Lizzy finally looked over her shoulder, offering a far less panicky “Morning.”

“That’ll do.” He grumbled. “Just got here…unbelievable.”

And then he appeared to fall right back to sleep.

Lizzy blinked in disbelief. That didn’t feel like a goodbye. Was she supposed to leave? Not leave? Had she done something? Were there expectations now?

Kathy would have a field day dissecting this one.

“Just a sec, er…what happened last night?” She ventured nervously. “What exactly did I do?”

“Hmm.” He languidly opened one eye to regard the worried set of her mouth. “What do you think you did?”

“No, don’t do that!” She moaned, rubbing her forehead. “I have concerns.”

“Concerns, eh? Oh, dear.” If she didn’t know any better, he was toying with her. And enjoying it far too much. “You really don’t remember?”

She shook her head, wincing, expecting the worst.

“You got extremely plastered and passed out on my bed.” He finally put her out of her misery. “The absolute state of you.”

“Is that all I did?” She asked warily with heavily implied meaning.

“That’s all.” He answered after drawing out the suspense a few moments longer. “ You have my word.”

“Oh, thank God.” Hand on her chest, her heart was pounding. Disaster averted. “Sorry.”

Not relieved that she hadn’t. But because that was something she’d definitely want to remember doing.

“S’fine. We both needed the rest.”

Something about his tone made Lizzy freeze. Now she recalled. She had intervened. Offered a distraction.

Oh, Christ…

She might not have done anything…indecent, but she couldn’t have been far off.

“Eh-heh…you sleep okay?” Lizzy enquired nervously, covering for her awkwardness. “I’m sorry if I snored.”

“…if?”

“My bad.” She scooted to the edge of the bed and started to scan the room for her clothes. “Simon needed earplugs. Sorry, again. That you saw me at my worst.”

”That wasn’t your worst.” Fire-breathing and sloshed wasn’t her worst by a long shot. He would take that any day, that he could handle. The mention of her ex-fiancé reminded Muldoon what her worst could be. How the New York lawyer had made her voice sound after their fraught phone calls. Meek, bargaining, unassertive. Thanks very much, but no.

Lizzy didn’t hear, too busy scouring the room for the rest of her clothes. She registered with dismay that her shorts were hanging off the door handle, where they’d landed when she kicked them off. She’d have to stand up to get them.

“Where are you going?” Distaste in his voice, no doubt at the mention of my almost-husband, Lizzy thought.

“Uh, where do you think?” She wasn’t in the mood anymore. Just let me leave. “Back to my room to unmake my bed so I can pretend I’ve been in it all night.”

“As if you ever make your bed.” When she started finger-combing her hair out instead of getting back under the covers, Muldoon figured he was being too subtle. “You…hm-…don’t have to go…just yet.”

“Come again?”

I don’t want you to leave.

“You could stay. For a bit longer. If you liked.” Too many words. He was nervous. That the answer would be a Hell no.

Lizzy was silent, mulling the idea over.

“If you’re not too angry at me.” He added.

”Nah.” She waved a hand. Not quite at peace with what he’d done, but close enough. Her primary emotion was still plain mortified at her own actions. “Think I made my point. It’s just-“

“There’s no rush.” He reassured her. “You’re- we’re already very late. I’m not even expecting anyone to turn up today. You’re off the hook.”

“So sleeping with the boss does pay off?” Lizzy wondered aloud. “Does last night count as overtime?”

“Careful.”

She gave him a lopsided smile.

“Actually…I do want to stay.” I never want to leave. “Rather a lot.”

“Then stay.”

Lizzy pointed at her shorts, festooning the doorhandle, like an extremely inappropriate Christmas garland. “Let me just-“

”You don’t need to do that, either. Fine as you are.”

Fine as you are.

“Outstanding-“ As she was swinging her legs up from the floor, Lizzy’s gaze fell on the near-empty bottle on the table and her smart comment died on her lips.

Everything came screaming back, the snub from Hammond, the strange man groping her, her screaming match with Ed Regis, the raptor attack on Rico-

Rico…

Oh my God, Rico.

Lizzy felt her breath catching in her throat, forcing air in, in, in, into her lungs in short gasps until she was certain her chest would burst.

Muldoon frowned, stopping mid-sentence. “Remember to breathe, Armstrong.”

She glanced at him, wide-eyed, hand outstretched, searching for something to lean on. She was losing control, failing to do as he instructed.

”You aren’t listening to me, woman. Breathe.”

“Trying-“ She managed to choke out. “Can’t.”

“Right-“ Muldoon wasted no more time. “Come on. You’ve been doing it since the day you were born, one should hope you’d be reasonably good at it by now.”

She didn’t know how or what he had done to move her, because she wasn’t in the room anymore, and her feet no longer felt stuck solidly to the floor as if she was ankle-deep in quicksand.

She was gone, somewhere else; out in the park, and back in time.

Lizzy had a brief flashback to the stinging burn of leather on the back of her knees as she was pulled across the front seats of a Jeep while the door crumpled inwards and the windscreen frosted, the heat and dust in her nostrils and throat, the faint bellow of a charging Triceratops, recalled and forgotten again in an instant.

It only added to her fear, the feeling the world was crashing down, imploding around them.

“Now-“ Muldoon clasped both her icy, clammy hands in his. “Breathe.”

I. Can’t.

“In through your nose when I squeeze, out through your mouth when I let go.” He directed. “You’ve got to slow down, Lizzy.”

Mercifully from Muldoon’s point of view, she wasn’t compos mentis enough to ask how, why, he had known exactly what to do to stop her hurting herself further. It wasn’t a happy tale, one he didn’t have the energy to recount there and then.

Eventually, each breath slower than the last, Lizzy returned, shaky and pale.

She realised she was once again horizontal in his bed, only this time propped up against him.

Safest place on the island! Her brain offered unprompted, wildly cheerful.

Jeez, I really am losing it.

It pained Muldoon terribly to see her gasping for air like that, clutching at her heart. His stoicism paused, he knew normally she found it reassuring, but right then she needed a lot more from him.

He rested his chin against the top of her still-damp hair and murmured “You’re not alright, are you, love?”

Her sharp inhale nearly triggered a second panic attack. The second word he’d said that had made her gasp, for completely different reasons.

Any other time, Lizzy would have melted. But she didn’t have the energy to feel, to do anything other than lean back, still holding hands, and try and match her too-quick breathing to his. Though her heart was thrumming twice as fast, as if she were a prey animal, caught.

Lizzy was trying her hardest to keep the tears in. Fearful that if she started, she wouldn’t stop. Just sob endlessly until she was too exhausted to continue. She’d held it together long enough for Rico’s sake, and now she was falling apart.

“No, I’m not.” She gulped. To admit it, to be vulnerable, to ask for help, was always difficult for her. Lizzy Armstrong was indestructible, indomitable, independent. Or perhaps she’d only managed to pretend she was for an awfully long time. “What gave it away?”

“Not so sure I am, either.” Muldoon confessed quietly. “But we have to carry on, for the rest of them. You and I are the ones they look for to lead.”

He was right. This was the life they’d willingly chosen. They were no strangers to animal attacks. They could both handle it.

In a lapse in judgement, Muldoon added. “Besides, we don’t know for sure that the worst has happened.”

Blast, why’d I have to go and say that?! I know, she knows, he couldn’t have survived the night. If he has it won’t be long…

He cursed himself. It was damn hard to concentrate properly with the object of his desire curled up in bed with him.

“Hang on-“ Lizzy had hissed in pain when he absent-mindedly shifted his hold further down her wrist. “What happened to your arm?”

“Oh-“ She hurriedly tried to hide under the covers, too late. She’d bruised vicious purple. Adrenaline pumping, she hadn’t realised at the time how intent the rich businessman had been on acquiring her. “It’s nothing.”

“That’s not nothing.” Finger marks. “Who do I need to have words with?” The rush of anger, blinding rage was quite something. Whoever has done this had better start running.

Lizzy didn’t mind the distraction, at least her thoughts had stopped racing and she was feeling something other than anguish. Neither did she mind the excuse for him to hold her hands a little longer.

She explained. “Tom dealt with it. Quite diplomatically.”

“Maybe I’m too hard on the lad. I wouldn’t have been so tactful.”

”Didn’t have you down as the jealous type…” she muttered.

Not jealous. Not like when Armstrong’s face had turned terribly pink as she insisted fiercely she wasn’t jealous of other woman he’d been seeing.

He didn’t feel threatened of losing Lizzy to someone else.

What Muldoon felt was envy. That someone who didn’t deserve her, who hadn’t appreciated how good he’d had it, how lucky that New York lawyer was that he had met her first-

But they weren’t talking about him. The Ex. Only a stranger. An entitled businessman who had gotten too handsy and who was already, if he knew what was good for him, far away on the mainland, for daring to touch her.

No, not jealousy.

Envy.

And that manifested as-

”I’m not. Just protective-“ He continued. “-of what’s mine.”

“Yours?” She became incredulous. “After falling off the wagon last night, you’re under some sort of impression I belong to you?”

She’d really better be going.

“I meant more in the sense of-“ Lizzy stood up and his jaw dropped. “Christ, Armstrong!”

“What?” She twisted back to face him, panicking, that there was a gruesome injury on her body from scrambling around in the undergrowth she must have missed the night before.

“You know fine bloody well!” Eye contact was a lost concept. “Turn back around…”

Oh, she knew that tone.

”No!” Not normally self-conscious Lizzy felt very exposed. “Stop that!”

”Stop what?” She saw a flicker of what he must have been like as a young man in Kenya. Before life had happened to him. The side that only she knew existed, and was incredibly elusive.

It only made her fall a little harder.

“Looking at me like that!” Lizzy wondered if she could make it out of the door in time, before she was pushed up against it. “That look’s going to get us in a lot of trouble.”

Why, how hadn’t he noticed last night? He couldn’t have been hammered enough not to notice that. Could he? Unacceptable.

”Hear me out- I’ve suddenly found the willpower to never drink again.” He looked up at her accusingly, as if it was her fault for not thinking of it sooner. “Maybe if you’d started with this angle-“

“I…now who’s unbelievable?!”

“That particular…angle…” With an effort, he met her gaze. “Yes, maybe you’d better leave now, or you won’t be leaving at all.”

Lizzy’s eyes widened.

That nearly did it for Muldoon. “Go, please.”

Lizzy had an epiphany as she carefully backed away, reaching out blindly for her sleep shorts.

Avoiding him because of her own demons when he needed her most wasn’t going to work long-term. She had to stop selfishly disappearing because it was easier. She had to choose to be brave. They were going to get through this together.

“If you’re…struggling, with…wanting a drink-“ Lizzy huffed as she hoiked her shorts up over her hips “-promise you’ll come and find me first. Please.”

“For what?”

“To be a distraction.” She smirked wickedly. “I seem to have an effect on you.”

“…already very distracting...” He managed drag his gaze up to meet her eyes. “What’s that smile for?”

Now dressed, with her hand on the door handle, Lizzy felt safer. He was fast, but not that fast.

“Because I’m not even trying-“ Still, she didn’t feel brave enough to test that theory. “-yet.”

A parting shot as she quickly slipped away.

“You’re going to be the death of me, Armstrong-“ Muldoon groaned and lay back, speaking to the now empty-room. ”But I think I’m alright with that.”

***

Lizzy emerged corridor-side as Tom rounded the corner in just his boxer shorts, almost flattening her. He clumsily halted before the collision, took in the sight of her bare legs with sleepy eyes, nodded appreciatively, then did a double-take as he noticed which room she was escaping from.

The door swung shut with a click as the realisation dawned on both their faces.

Dammit.

Caught.

“Haha ha, ha-“ Tom broke into an enormous foamy grin around the toothbrush sticking out of his mouth. “Hey, alright, alright, alright! Was it like a sneeze, but better?”

“Jesus, keep it down.” Lizzy complained. “Nothing happened.”

“Boring!” He smirked. ”I guess I believe you. Your hair doesn’t look any worse than usual.”

“Well, if you’re feeling brave-“ She jerked her head back at the door. “-ask the man himself.”

”I could...” His face fell. “But then again, I value my life.”

“Seriously.” Her headache had tripled its efforts, the aspirin wasn’t doing its job. “Please don’t tell anyone. I have enough to worry about.”

Tom basked in her imploring expression, making an Oscar-worthy show of weighing up his options, before nodding.

“Obviously I won’t tell.” He reassured. “My snitching days are over, since I actually kind of like you and that Baker chick. You can relax.”

“With you around?” Lizzy tutted. “Never fully relaxed. But thanks.”

“Pretty mega though.” He could still tease her as much as he liked. Not a thing she could do. “Awfully tempting.”

”You want my dinner money? Fine.” Lizzy groaned. “Just keep your trap shut.”

Tom pondered for a moment. Not her money. Perhaps something far more valuable. Maybe a favour involving the ethologist’s Minnesotan best friend.

“I might want something.” He mused aloud, waggling his toothbrush at her for emphasis. “But it can wait. All in good time.”

“I’m far too tired to even attempt to figure out what that means.” She sighed, holding up her hand to silence the inevitable because you weren’t doing much sleeping? comment. “Have you heard anything from the mainland?”

“About Rico?” Tom turned sombre in an instant. “Not yet. But the chopper came in to land hours ago.”

“Huh.” Lizzy ran a hand through her hair, deep in thought.

“I assume, one way or another, you didn’t hear it.”

She narrowed her eyes. “I did not. Heavy rain and all.”

”Doncha mean, ‘we did not’?” The infuriating grin returned. “What base you get to?”

Lizzy just stared.

“Jesus.” Tom was disappointed at her refusal to take the bait this time. “Loud and clear. No bases. Not even a game.”

”Speaking of which..” Lizzy tailed off as she spotted a familiar red-haired head bobbing past the window at the end of the corridor, a freckled face belonging to the island’s resident baseball fan.

”Oh, hey.” Tom pointed. “Ed’s back.”

”Wait right here.” Lizzy told him vacantly. “There’s something I need to do.”

***

2 weeks later

Ray Arnold was dying. Or, at least, he felt like he wasn’t far off. Kathy Baker had dragged him out of his inner sanctum to march across the island on a hike; which, in this humidity, was going to kill him a lot faster than his smoking habit.

“How ‘bout that game, huh?” He wheezed.

“It was fine.” Kathy answered tersely.

Sure enough, the Cowboys had won the Superbowl. And the die-hard Minnesota Vikings fan had lost herself a bet from siding with the Bills. Tom had been insufferable.

”Oh, shit, sorry.” Ray cursed himself. “Yeesh.”

“Just over this next rise…” Kathy promised as the path rose upwards out of the treeline. In the next few seconds they’d have a fantastic view of- ”Oh.”

Nothing.

Dense fog in every single direction.

”Now, how about that-“ Arnold mustered the last of his energy to swagger up behind her.

”Shut up.” Kathy grumbled.

“Look, I know you mean well, honey-“ He couldn’t have cared less about the vistas. He could see them in HD, from any angle, at any time, with a lot less effort. “-but you’re killing me over here!”

“Ray Arnold. You have got to get out of that room.” She insisted. “Get some damn Vitamin D. Enjoy the tropical paradise.”

”I enjoy it just fine from behind a monitor. Anyway, it looks like goddamn Alcatraz from above.” He wiped his brow. “This goddamn never-ending fog.”

“Mia’s gonna whoop both our butts if we don’t start getting into shape…” Kathy dangled a threat in front of him.

The engineer paled at the mention of his wife.

“That’s what I thought.” She nodded, satisfied, and inhaled deeply. “Smell that?”

“Smell what?”

”Fresh. Air.” Her enthusiasm wasn’t catching. “I’m not surprised your senses are dulled. And your lungs must be, like, ninety-per-cent ash at this point.”

“I prefer the term well-done. Lightly cremated. Cajun.” Arnold’s eyes darted anxiously around. “Wasn’t it around here that Rico kid got, er…”

“Might be, I dunno…” Kathy quickly brushed it off, but she knew exactly where they were, and what had happened in the bushes thirty feet downhill to the right of the path. She could still remember the smell of the blood, and the raptor saliva, mixed with sodden earth and moss-covered branches. The whir of the helicopter blades. Rico’s awful rattling and groaning as he fought for his life.

She tried to think of something else. Dwelling on that rainy winter night for too long felt like tempting the fates. Bad luck.

Improving Arnold’s life expectancy wasn’t the sole purpose of the hike, but it was a good enough distraction from other problems.

Earlier, Lizzy and Muldoon had vanished, yet again. The pair giving the same, vacant, I’m a bit busy, over replies to radio messages. Liz, girl, puh-lease. I can hear you in the background when he answers! They were clearly on another super-important, totally-work-related task, no doubt. Those seemed to be increasing in frequency of late.

Even when they were around the rest of the team, the silent communication thing was getting real old. How with a glance Muldoon could make Lizzy beam at some inside joke only they shared, seeing nothing but each other in a room full of people.

Ugh, sickening.

Kathy had given up asking what’s so funny. All Lizzy would do was grin even wider and shake her head. You wouldn’t get it. Kathy was lonely. At least Ray was consistent, his sarcasm predictable and comforting.

Smithsonian job offer aside, it filled her with dread to think she might actually be losing Lizzy ahead of time. Who promised her otherwise, that ‘us girls’ would still hang together whenever possible, but since New Years kept on ditching her for a certain park warden at every opportunity.

Maybe that was why she’d agreed to Tom’s high-risk low-reward Halftime Show bet.

“Hey man, can I ask you something?” Kathy piped up.

The engineer gave an affirmative wheeze.

“Tom said if the Bills lost I had to go on a date with him-“

“Oh, shit!” Arnold yelled, sounding horrified, shocked, scared?

Kathy bristled. ”Jeez, it’s not that big of a-“

”No, girl!” He was by her side in a flash, future emphysema be damned. “Dino just ran across the path behind us! It’s outside the fences!”

“Why were you-“ She turned, about to finish with looking behind us? only to see a sheepish Arnold, with a fresh cigarette poking from his mouth. “Darn it, Ray!”

“Sorry, honey.” Arnold paused, his lighter already on its way upwards from his pocket. “It’s on account of my nerves.”

”Yeah, well…” She gestured at him in exasperation. “What’d it look like? The dino?”

“I dunno.” The engineer spoke around his cigarette. “Kinda…pointy?”

Kathy raised an eyebrow. ”Pointy? That the best you can do?”

“Give me a break! Like…if a greyhound were a reptile, I guess?”

“O-kay…” She muttered. “Narrows it down, I guess…”

Not a herbivore.

“‘bout yea big?” Arnold held his hands apart, measuring.

”Probably just a compy.” Kathy deduced, her alarm ebbing. “They’re everywhere. Can’t keep ‘em in.”

“Dangerous?” Arnold looked edgy.

Kinda big for a compy though…

”Not when you’re with me.” Kathy patted his arm reassuringly. “Scavengers. You’ll be fine, just don’t keel over right here from sucking on those cancer sticks.”

“Can’t promise anything, sweetie.”

Kit was the expert after all. Probably just a compy or whatever, like she said. For watching them all day long, Arnold only knew them as names on a graph, numbered dots on the tracking system. He couldn’t actually pick species out of a line-up.

Now his girl was looking at him expectantly.

”What now?”

”Ya gonna put that out?” She suggested dryly. “Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires!”

”Nuh-uh. Need my fix. If we’re doing this, we’re doing it my way.��

Kathy heaved an incredibly loud drawn-out sigh and about-turned to lead the way back to base.

Arnold cheerfully exhaled a cloud of smoke, visibly more relaxed as they moved off. “Now, spill. About this date-“

***

“Teething problems, dear boy!” Hammond spun his cane hypnotically as he sat in the living room of his bungalow. “Every zoo in the world has had teething problems at some point in its development.”

”Is Gennaro-?” Ed Regis pointed his thumb back towards the door.

He reflected that he felt not unlike the prehistoric insect frozen in time atop the old man’s walking stick. Encased in amber. Trapped. Doomed.

He’d never been in Hammond’s abode before. The only place on the island not covered by a single security camera or monitoring device.

”Donald couldn’t make it.” The creator of InGen sharply cut him off. “We don’t need him today. What was I saying...”

Thank you Regis muttered as María placed a laden tea tray in front of him.

”-Ah, yes! And besides, it isn’t a mere zoo!” Hammond continued pontificating. “Jurassic Park is an experience.”

“I understand that-“

”And they will experience it. The children will experience it.” Hammond seemed almost giddy that his creation had indeed proved to be lethal. “I’m not at all concerned.”

“Mr Muldoon wants to put it down.” Ed offered. “The raptor. Has for a while. He’s been quite vocal about it.”

“That man? Vocal? About anything?” Hammond raised both eyebrows, his already furrowed brow wrinkling deeper. “No. You’re mistaken.”

“And he seems to have quit drinking recently…”

“Has he now? Hm. We’ll see.” Now that actually seemed to concern the older man. “It’s a very stressful job he has.”

“He’s sweet on Mis-…uh, Dr Armstrong.” Regis added. “Who is vocally against euthanasia of the raptor.”

Ed wasn’t quite sure why. That animal was vicious. And the raptor too he internally chuckled to himself.

“Then maybe everything will work out by itself.” Hammond nodded. “But it wouldn’t do any harm to fan the flames of that particular domestic, if you can.”

“You don’t think maybe its the, er-…” Ed gulped before proceeding. “-right thing to do?”

To say the young sports fan was having a crisis of faith after the accident was putting it mildly.

”Euthanasia? Out of the question.” Hammond turned stony-faced and Regis immediately regretted speaking out of turn. “You do realise, that animal, once fully-grown, is of greater monetary value than a court settlement for wrongful death?”

”I, uh-“

”More valuable than a dozen court settlements?”

Regis nodded his head mutely.

“No. I simply won’t have it!” Hammond continued, tapping his cane sharply on the tiled floor to drive his words home. “The boy was just a construction worker.”

Just?

Regis scratched his head, terribly hot under the rim of his hat. ”Mr Hammond, sir, it was actually one of the animal handlers.”

He had left out the part where it had been his idea in the first place, to put the raptor out on display. How Liz Armstrong had goddamn barked at him from the doorway of the staff lodge, the first time she’d laid eyes on him the morning after the accident, standing there with her arms crossed, in her PJs.

Hell, that would probably come back to bite him, calling her a dog. She might eventually forgive him, but she sure as Hell wouldn’t forget it.

But that was a problem for another day. As far as Armstrong was concerned, Esteves was still in a critical condition, deep in the clutches of a coma, lying prone in a San José hospital bed.

She didn’t yet know the boy was dead. None of them did. The other animal handlers were starting to ask when they could visit Rico on the mainland, if he was well enough to come home yet, and Ed was fast running out of excuses.

”You’re misremembering, son. It was only a construction worker.” Hammond’s voice turned appeasing, child-like, terribly persuasive. It wasn’t me, I didn’t do it. “And it was a construction accident. These things happen. With a, er…backhoe, I believe? An awful tragedy.”

Regis’ shoulders drooped. “Yes, sir.”

“It’s quite alright, my boy. The local families never push for lawsuits, they can’t afford it.” He tittered. “And if they did, they certainly wouldn’t win.”

“He was-“ Ed Regis stopped and tried to remember. Esteves was-, had been Spanish, or was it Portuguese? He couldn’t recall. In any case, not local.

“Yes?”

Regis saw then that he couldn’t win either. Like the bereaved family with their compensation money, he’d have to take his helping of guilt and run, since he wasn’t getting any sympathy from his employer.

Don’t bite the hand that feeds.

He sighed in resignation. “Careless, sir. He was careless.”

Hammond looked at him reproachfully. “How many times, dear boy?”

Ed Regis adjusted his baseball cap again with a strained smile. “Sorry, John. You’re right, of course. The boy was careless. And look where it got him.”

***

“Not that this isn’t, y’know, stunningly beautiful-…“ Lizzy pointed oceanward, to the all-consuming fog wrapped around the shore. “But why are we here?”

Muldoon took his time answering her. ”So you didn’t want me to take you to the beach today?”

The ethologist cast her arm around at the waterfront. What beach? No sand, just boulders, as far as the eye could see. Which currently, was only a few metres. Cracking.

A boat horn sounded in the distance.

“We’re here, because as much as I care for you, Armstrong-“

Lizzy feigned an itchy nose to cover her smile.

“-we need to have a chat about your animal.”

“Which animal?” She stopped itching. Her heart sank.

“I’ve given you long enough. The way that raptor acts with you now-“ He shook his head.

The ethologist had been trying her hardest to regain the raptor’s trust after the cage break, but she now clearly associated Lizzy with danger, fear and pain. The dinosaur snarled every time she made eye contact. Lizzy was afraid there was no return, and each failed training session made her heart ache a little more. Their bond was ruined.

I’m trying to help you, clever girl. Why can’t you figure that one out?

”Mm-hmm.” She answered unhappily, staring out into the pale void. The worst part was, as much as she hated to admit it, now she was attached to the damn animal.

You have to let me help, or bad things are going to happen to you.

“We’re at an impasse.” Muldoon was ever-practical. “You know it.”

“Is that why we’re here? If I continue to disagree with you then you’ll…maroon me?” Lizzy was still searching for the reason why Muldoon had driven her to the East dock that afternoon, of all places. “Send me out to sea on a raft with a single bullet?”

“It’s occurred to me I’m not longer capable of looking at this objectively, since your safety, or lack of, is all I can think about.” Muldoon checked his watch. “And I would quite like to keep you alive and in one piece, mostly for my own selfish reasons.”

“It’s a wonder you get anything else done.” She couldn’t resist a dig of her own. You’re not the only one who survived Africa. “What with worrying about me taking up so much of your day.”

“It’s exhausting.” The park warden agreed, deadpan. “Look here, I made a call to Sorna. To someone who knows that animal nearly as well as you do. I thought you should meet her. Maybe then you’ll see sense.”

Now that pissed her off. Nobody knows that animal anywhere near like I do.

The rumble of a small boat engine rounding into the dock echoed through the fog.

Lizzy ignored it.

”Her? You’re speaking to other women on the phone without telling me now?” She was making a poor attempt at hiding her discomfort with humour. She felt blindsided.

“I really don’t want to fall out with you over this, Lizzy.” Muldoon reached out to put a hand on her shoulder. Her bad shoulder.

“Me neither.” She moved away from him and stared at the ground. “But I’m afraid that’s inevitable now.”

”I’ll do what I have to.” He answered firmly. “Even if this doesn’t go your way, we need to make the decision.”

“Then stop talking like you’ve already made it for me!” Lizzy hissed, beginning to lose her temper.

The boat engine suddenly cut out.

“Doctor Armstrong, I presume?” A female voice called from beyond view.

The wind picked up, clearing the shoreline, and Lizzy’s stomach turned over when she saw that the woman stepping gingerly onto the dock was missing exactly one-and-a-half fingers from her right hand as she raised it to the both of them in greeting.

Lori Ruso gave a tight-lipped smile and cast a critical eye over the skyline of Isla Nublar as she shielded her face from the weak glare of a sun determined to burn its way through the low clouds.

“So, tell me-“ She asked coolly. “What’s become of my raptor?”

***

Thanks for reading!

As mentioned, a tough time mentally recently where I have doubted myself and my writing ability A LOT. Lots of oh God I’m Shit moments. Normal service resuming.

2 notes · View notes