#Even if he can visit his parents in the Realms he has seen others too
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I currently have two timelines for my New Ancient of Darkness Au
Timeline 1: Bruce is one of the Justice League founders, continues to do his best to hide his increasingly ghostliness with every year and avoiding Justice League Dark because he has heard stories about Constantine. It doesn't matter if Danny finds him hilarious.
He's the Justice League's cryptid where his friends just think he's a little shy and Gotham is just like that.
Timeline 2: Bruce lets his anxiety and paranoia get ahold of him, especially with how he's just taken in Dick and Jason, and doesn't join the League. And straight up becomes a cryptid as Batman. Where his children become liminal far faster and the still human part of him feels so guilty while the ghostly part is giddy to have little ghostlings.
There are now rumors about some sort of shadow child of Gotham, some sort of clan of creatures that the League will eventually investigate.
#batman au#dcxdp#dpxdc#new ancient of darkness au#battinson#cryptid batman#cryptid batfam#liminal batfamily#Bruce didn't ask for deityhood he just woke up with a green stickynote on his dresser#Then he gets a kid too#It's a long second year as Batman#In the first Timeline he started being Batman a couple years before Superman debuted#Mans went to his first Meeting of the Ancients and came back to there apparently being an alien#At least the ghosts did good in keeping watch#In the second timeline it's about the same but even with the encouragement of the ghosts he's just Not Ready to reveal himself#His kids could be in danger and he just Can't lose someone again#Even if he can visit his parents in the Realms he has seen others too#Has seen the effect death has on a person and their family and he Can't do that to his kids#He's a little feral in the second timeline because he's closer to ghost than human in habits when being Batman#Danny is the new Ancient of Space and has gleefully declared this skrunkly goth man as his little brother#Danny is also in college back in his home dimension but visits every once in a while#Probably gonna write both
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Danny is a normal fourteen year old boy in a household in a normal family.
His parents are doctor and engineers and has a smart older sister who likes psychology. He has a goth and a technerd as bestfriends in a normal highschool.
Then all of a sudden he's been kidnapped to be used as a sacrificed to a Eldritch Death God from beyond by some cult that literally came out of nowhere—
---
Danny is a normal kid.
Well, as normal as a kid of a couple with triple doctorates in Chemistry, Engineering and Demonology as well as black belt in multiple martial arts could be anyway .
He has a older sister that is interested in Psychology and proficient with Matial arts.
He's friends with a rich rebellious goth girl who likes plants and a tech genius boy who could probably hack pentagon if wanted that likes meat.
Life is fine.
Then he got interested in demonology and started reading his parents books.
(Maddie and Jack is so proud, their boy is following their footsteps!)
He then read something about a High Ghost King of The Infinite Realm from one of their ancestral books from his dads side. Way back when the Fentons was still called Fentonightingale's and still worked as the greatest and most infamous supernatural hunters around in the olden days.
He got hooked very quickly.
He studied and research more and more about the Ghost King, learning that its existence could be seen through out multiple civilization and mythology all across the globe and has been around way, way back to ancient greece, china, japan, egypt and so on.
He learned that it was considered as a Death God, Eldritch in nature in some cases. That its also represent life and death, balance, Stars, Planets, space and the entire cosmos itself as well as the sea of possibilities, that is simply known as the multiverse in modern culture.
It was known through various titles such as The Balance between Realms, The Absence of Heat, The Protector, The Great One, Halfa and many more with the title High Ghost King of the Infinite Realms being his most notable one.
Danny loves learning about the ghost king and the infinite realms.
On how it was the afterlife, and how it hold all other afterlife with itself. Its pantheon, its customs and its king.
Life is fine.
He graduate highschool with honors and recently got accepted in college, aiming for Engineering.
(He may love studying the supernatural but he still loves space and still defenitely aim to be an astronaut.)
Life is fine.
Then it reality came crashing down all in a blink of an eye.
His family got caught in a rouge accident while visiting gotham, only danny survived.
People who wants his parents tech and research are all hounding danny for their patents, for their tech, their researchs.
And they never stop.
Time passess and Danny is just tired of everything.
He dropped college.
He's pennyless.
Jobless.
His friends are out of reach.
(He heard rumors about the government and high standing people hounding them as well due to their connection with him)
And pretty much after that, he loss just about everything he has.
All except his fenton family heirloom books and his parents researchs.
So he lays on the floor of his crappy rundown apartment, disheveled, thick dark lines under his eyes, and unshaven face. His books, his parents research scattered and discarded around him on the floor along with numerous empty bottles and cans of beer and alcohol. Some bottles were even broken.
Danny is drowning and life is not fine.
Despair clawed deep in his chest as he continue to drowned in just about everything.
Despair
Sadness
Anger
Hate
Loneliness.
So on, so forth.
It was too much. Too much for a simple man like him too bear alone.
Until one day, he just can't anymore.
Broken shard from empty bottle of beer fall on his hand and his mind swirls. Every emotions, every suffering and all of his despair cultivating in to a potent, potent poison like poisonous critters fighting inside a poison jar.
He raised the broken shard in his hand before his bloodshot eyes fell on a discarded open book on the floor.
The Fenton family heirloom.
One that mentions the King of the Infinite Realms.
Then all of a sudden, memories rush back to Danny like water from a broken dam.
His childhood.
His parents.
His sister.
His friends.
His dreams of flying out of the planet.
His obsession with the ghostking and the ghost zone as his family labeled it.
His happy memories.
The accident that take everything away from him.
On how he loss everything.
On how… he doesn't have anything else to lose.
The fact that he doesn't have anything else to lose.
Tired, resigned and resolved, danny made his decision and blood fell to the floor.
--
Danny is an engineer.
A very smart one infact that he was often compared to the likes of Tony Stark and Reed Richards.
CEO of Fenton Works and formerly, Dalv co. (His Godfather insisted of making Danny inherit everything and Danny doesn't have the heart to refuse a dying man) , which he merged with his parents small company with the same name Fenton Works.
They are advance compared to other tech companies and could keep up to Stark's tech (probably one of the very very few that could keep them on their toes) that continue to ridiculously advance at a terrifying pace due to continuous study of alien tech that Stark manage to observe and get his hands on due to his superhero stint.
(No. Danny isn't jealous. Not by the fact that Stark could go in and out of space at his leasure. Not by the fact that he could go to other planets or the fact that he could meet real life aliens. No, shut up Tuck. Seriously dude, stop laughing–!)
Life is fine, he's engage and happy with his life and his family.
Then he got on a accident.
Sam is in coma, with no concrete time on when she'll wake up.
Her parents were angry of course but relented when they saw that state danny was in.
His arms were crushed and he cant feel anything from them.
The vary same hands that he use to craft. The very same hands that sam compliments whenever he made a new invention that made that hammer dude green with envy and made stark speechless.
Fenton work is declining. It wasn't obvious yet but they are slowly losing footing in the industry. All because he couldn't make anything new.
His parents helped, and the only reason that the company isn't crashing and burning to the ground yet. But even they could not totally prevent the company's slow and steady decline.
They then tried to find a way restore his hands.
They tried a lot of things, cybernetics to medical operations and medication, so on, so forth. They worked. But only by little as everything felt horryfyingly wrong whenever he tried any of his options, but for the sake of the fenton works, danny endured. Everything to ensure sam that everthing is alright the moment she woke up from her com.
It's been half a year since then.
Danny was in his office, typing on his computer with the Fenton Ghost Gloves on his hands that let him do work despite the condition of his hands when Wes suddenly barged to his office holding a flyer, yelling something about a way to permanently heal his hands and a possible way to wake up Sam from her coma.
That immediately got Danny's attention.
With hope in his eye and determination burning in his chest, Danny take the flyer and went to the place right of the bat. Lets just say that it wasn't what he was expecting at all.
Danny new of the supernatural. Kind of hard not to when your family have a been written in history books a the worlds greatest and infamous Supernatural Hunter bearing the Fentonightingale name and with Gods and all the magical shenanigans that keeps happening left and right that the Avengers have to deal with.
Which means that he shouldn't have been surprised that magic is involved with the flyer promising miraculous healing.
It's also strange (hah) to meet Stephen Strange again.
He knew the man, a little arrogant but definitely have the skills and talent to back it up. He also heared that he had an accident similar to his that led him to give up his medical career entirely unlike danny who make do with his fenton gloves.
Now he's a sorcerer, not just any sorcerer but The Supreme Sorcerer and may have been a Avenger now for all he knew. Doctor Strange, then gave him the option to either help him heal his hands or learn magic.
Danny chose magic of course.
(Sam would be so mad the he went on and learn magic on his own without her and Tucker)
Now, he just need to learn the magic to wake her up safely.
A year pass and Danny is a full bown sorcerer.
It baffled everyone how fast he learned that he's already nearing the Supreme Sorcerers level with only just a year. Definitely faster than the progress that Doctor Strange himself shown.
They all shuddered in horror once they heared his family name though, and Danny understand their reaction. A descendant of Fentonightingale himself, the greatest Witch Hunter, having magic is a image that they never would have imagine.
That said, it's also been a month since Sam woke up ( there was so much crying involve) and has been in rehab ever since.
She's mad that he learned magic own his own as expected and demanded that she and tucker learn it as well.
(He couldn't say no to her)
It also a shock to learn about Tuckers potential with magic, something about having Egyptian roots. Sam is jealous. Well, that was until she obtain some form of plant magic and make herself a walking terror to everyone.
(The illegal loggers and companies were not ready)
Meanwhile, Danny's specialty is tapping and looking through diferent dimentions, secretly of course, and space magic as well as exorcism related magic in honor of the Fentonnightingale name.
Life is well.
Until one day when he was scrying through other dimension, he encounter a very very large, endless dimension consisted of green skies. It's a dimension that Danny doesn't recognise so he got intrigue and he knew he should have told Doctor Strange immediately but well… his curiosity get the better of him and he take a peak. Just a little wee bit of peek and—
A massive Eldritch Eye looms and stare back at him.
"Uhhhhh—GAAAAAAAAAAHHHH—!"
-
It's been Eons and Danny has been The High Ghost King for quite a time.
Probably more considering that time in the Realms never really flows in a linear Fashion.
(He could tell, with all the time he spent at Clockwork's Lair, his position as the High King, dominion over Space and the fact that Time and Space are always intertwined and are lowkey perpendicular to one another so it's nly natural for him to do so)
Danny just got back from his vacation to another universe and may or may not have traumatize a lot of people (Arceus still won't remove the barricade he put at the Hall of Origins, Giratina may be traumatize as well but enjoys watching Arceus suffer so its worth it. Revenge for being lock away in his own lair. Hah!) And is feeling great! Sure Tuck and Sam were mad that he leave them with his own paperworks but can you say no to this adorable face? (Sam and Tuck grumbled as Danny make the Ookemon team he got from vacation to do puppy eyes with him and aim it to Sam and Tucker, like seriously, its not fair! Hes thousand years old how can he stay adorable after all that years!)
They forgave him but demand that they be included along when Danny decide to have another vacation. Though not before stealing his Pokemons and dumping athe backlogged paperworks on his desk.
Great…
So there he is, doing work like he hadn't taken a vacation and a Mt. Everest worth of paperworks.
(Danny doesn't know what he'll do with out his duplicates)
He's done about half of them (what can he say, hes fast and just want to go to bed) when he felt something.
He could feel it. The ripples from countless universes hapening everywhere all at once, they touched the surface of the Infinite Realms and made themselves known. Normally, ripples isn't something to be worried about. There will be people, gods, cosmic beings and such that will always deal with them one way or another so beings from the realms rarely bothered. This one though is different. Because it messes with the realms, something that almost never happened before.
Further more, he could feel something tugging at his core, which only happens when he was being summoned most of the time.
Putting his paperwork aside (oh yes, finally a valid excuse), Danny take a look to the one he could feel is scrying throigh the realms with magic.
He tuen Eldritch and peak back to the rude person peaking without permission.
Danny wasn't expecting to see a version of him scrying through the realms with sorcery of all things.
He shut his Sorcerer version's spell as he heard the man scream in terror.
(Danny snorted, for some reason, he found it hilarious)
Welp, I guess it's about time to visit Clockwork.
#danny phantom#dpxdc#dp x marvel#dp x pokemon#ghost king danny#tw: implied death#summoning#angst#eldritch danny#something is happening#it's Danny's fault somehow one way or another#well#the other version of him at least#clockwork has things to answer#clockwork can't wait to tell him that hes the problem#danny calls bullshit#danny is destined to be connected to the ghost zone one way or another#if he wasn't#the Universe Destiny and Fateand the other forces of the universe he exist in make sure of it
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★ || All The Stars Aligned
Pairing | Aemond Targaryen x Fem!Reader
Summary | You always have a way of getting what you want and if you want to marry the prince, you will ๋࣭ ⭑ Inspired by “Mastermind - Taylor Swift”
Warnings & Suggestions | Fluff, low-key Soft Dark Reader, Reader being a literal mastermind, No Physical Description of Reader
Red Keep is a place full of power-hungry men and determined women. To survive in a place like this, you need to outsmart the fools, yet you can't outdo the wise, you can't be too bright or too dull either. Everyone has their parts to play as each other's pawn. You do too, but the difference is you knew your pawn and the game you play.
Your parents have told you before that your purpose here is to marry a man from a noble house, gain an alliance and live a life raising heirs. But those words didn't please your ears, you won't wait for them to sell you off to a drunkard who would father dozens of bastards. For the least, you would like to wed someone you want and you knew you have a choice the night you saw him for the first time, you knew he was meant to be yours and nothing was gonna stop you.
A Targaryen man from the blood of the dragon, the son of the King, the prince of the realm. The Targaryens often marry within their own family, although his mother is a Hightower. His brother and sister were already married with a set of twin. While he is still a man free of betrothal, soon enough, his queen mother and grandfather would find him a match, a match that would only end with you and him.
After countless nights, you have come up with a plan. You begin with weeks of observing him and caught up to his routine. He wakes up early, practices swordplay every morning and noon. In the evening, he can be found in the library reading a book about the olden days or morals of life. Often times, you saw him on Vhagar as they flew around, breathing dragonfire. You looked up to the wide sky and the mighty beast. Sooner or later, you will be mounting that dragon. On a day where he was not seen in a training yard, he would accompanied his queen mother and sister, those who he seems to be close with the most. After writing down all this information, you try to figure out all about him and every possibility. Now, you know what you must do to ensure a seat beside him.
You started with appearing everywhere he was. He visited the Sept? You were also there praying to the maiden. He read in the library? You were already there, picking one of his favorite book. He goes to spend time with his sister? There you are linked in arms with Helaena as you two walk through the garden. And to lit the fuse, your hand suddenly brushed his as you walked pass him every single time, as if it's all accidental, you didn't even pay a mind to look back, only walk away. After multiple times, brief glances started to exchange, polite smiles spread across your face when you catch his gaze, yet no conversation was ever occurred, not until-
“My Lady” he called out. Finally, you think to yourself with a sly smile before turning to him with a naively confused face. “My Prince” You stood calm and flashed him a smile. All the groundwork you have laid leads you here, to this moment, just as you have planned.
Ever since then, you two have been seen together more than often. A walk through the garden side by side, a match of cyvasse in the library that somehow ends with your victory, and a quiet evening as you two paced on a beach. “I am thankful that the gods have brought us together, My Lady” he said. You're welcome. “Same as I, my prince, fate is truly a mysterious work of art.” You smirk before switching back to a naive one. You cannot be too obvious. He can't know but only if he did. Fate really is a powerful thing, but it is useless without the work of one or another. You wouldn't be standing here with him if all you did was pray and hope for the best. You have to plan and take actions. With that, you get closer to him inch by inch every day. It takes time and you are more than welcome to provide. He grew to trust you, softened only for you, and a bond of a lifetime was formed.
Now, the two of you are holding each other's arms at a grand wedding decorated in shade of white and silver, flowers and silks laid down to perfection, standing in front of the Septon as you exchange your vows to your other half in front of your gods and your kins.
“With this kiss I pledge my love”
“And I, take you for my lord and husband"
"And I, take you for my lady and wife"
The Septon pronounces you as one flesh, one heart, one soul, now and forever. A husband and a wife, a long lifetime of love and devotion.
After the wedding, you couldn't help but feel a little guilty. You have always been this way since your childhood. You like having a little fun with your head and finding ways to get what you want while also being entertained in a way. You like to be loved but don't like to show others of how much you've done to get them. So is it wrong to trick him into loving you? You were not quite sure. To be fair, you didn't force him! You just set everything up from meeting him, talking to him and then it just presents its way, right? You didn't poison or bewitch him into loving you, didn't even harm anyone through your plan of becoming his wife, so why is it that you feel responsible for it all? You think about it for a while and decide that it must be said.
On a peaceful night when you and your husband lay on your shared bed. You confessed your “little schemes” to him, expecting a confusing reaction or shocking response, but instead, he simply smirks, the very same way you did when he first talked to you, “I knew”. Oh, “You knew!? You never- You never showed me that you did!”. After all these times, he has always knew. A wide smile spread across your face, he knew and he let you do it all. Why wouldn't he? It led him to you and now he's yours.
masterlist for more
images' credits ๋࣭ ⭑
Catching Butterflies - Emile Eisman Semenowsky
Astrology Signs Mosaic - Museum of Islamic Civilization, UAE
Maria Cristina of Bourbon - Vicente López
#house of the dragon aemond#hotd aemond#aemond x reader#aemond targaryen x reader#aemond targaryen#aemond fanfiction#aemond fic#aemond targaryen x female reader#aemond targaryen x you
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The Binding of Icarus
Prompt response to "[WP] as the hero you’re supposed to kill the demon lord. But how can you kill kid who doesn’t even know he’s demon lord and only killed humans who were going to kill his family and friends."
When the King was anointed, they said it was fate.
Sure, it was an inherited position, partly. Third son of a brother of the first King's wife, after everyone else got wiped out. But the point was, he was a survivor. And the realm needed survivors.
They said he was gifted. The child had the ears of all the courtiers and maestros, all the visiting diplomats. They said he had the utter loyalty of the servants and the peasantry who came to pay their respects. They whispered behind closed doors, in the dark of night, that the boy had made deals. That he, not yet a man grown, had favours owed him by those we dared not speak the names of.
There has been a maestro in the village once. He had been said to survive on rum and stories, and the few coins he got on the rare occasions the battered lute was actually brought out. That maestro had told the children of the village time and time again that each of them held a gift inside. That man had a power within that only a child knew how to operate; that if they could learn of it and from it, then they would control armies. Could gain empires.
The children, entertained by a man their parents spoke of as a doddering old drunk, didn't pay much attention to that particular story. The maestro was never very clear on how they were to learn of and understand this power, or what exactly it was. The only real thing anyone could get a clear line on was that man generated a power that the other races fed on. The darklings in the mountains, the night hunters, the names of the old ones; they all would one day bow to man for the great gift man had granted them.
Then the war had come. The Citadel had burned, along with half the members of the royal family. A new order was instituted, a new king crowned. The new king's men had come through the towns and villages and banned the old stories. The maestro was strongly encouraged to leave, for his words would poison the minds of the young. The old drunk left with the soldiers and was never seen or heard from again.
But the children didn't forget. And as the boy King grew, so did the girl who had listened to and remembered the stories.
Sara was an orphan who had a particular talent for being invisible, and for remembering things adults would rather children forget. Nobody paid much attention to scrappy orphans of no family name, unless they looked like they were in a thieving way. Sara was a sponge of information in her own way, and as a result had more than a few friends who had benefited from her uncanny fountain of knowledge. But her friends moved on from the tales and stories of their younger years, and thought nothing more of it.
Sara kept hold of the flame inside. Held it close as the knowledge grew, as she slowly made friends with travelling maestros on their way to the city, with sailors who had wandered too far from the port in the town over. She had found a position sweeping in the mayor's kitchen, and talked the cook into reading lessons in exchange for odd jobs around the house and village. That had turned into errand runner for the village council. Which had turned into access to more books, stories and secrets.
It might take her years, but she would make her way out of the village and travel the realm to learn everything she can. Maybe someone would teach her to fight so she could visit the darklings in the mountains and trade her skills for their knowledge. No matter what it took - no matter how many roles she had to play, favours she had to barter, names she would assume - Sara knew the power the King held was worth it. If she could get her hands on the truth of the power that the maestro had told her of so long ago, then she would get revenge for her parents. Better yet, if she could take out the King it would wipe out what remained of the royal line in one swoop.
She would change the world.
Burn it to ashes with all she had learned if she had to. And start again anew.
.....
#creative writing#fantasy#writing#writblr#writers on Tumblr#writing prompt#writing practice#short story#the binding of Icarus#part 1
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Hello, may i request a drabble about Nezha x Afab Reader / Medium Angst - Fluff / Hospital visit, if its fine with you?
The readers father has died. She's lost and gets sickened from all the grief, it causes her to stay in the hospital. Nezha visits her one morning and she's glad to see him but doesn't talk much, she just smiles and listens to him talk while holding his hand.
🎎
CW: Angst, death, parental loss, hospitalization
Of the many inconveniences of the modern realm, hospital visiting hours were one Nezha was glad to duck. It was irritating going through all the hospital floors trying to find the right room, trying to asks nurses which staircase to take, and having them stare at you oddly. The humor was out of place for this particular visit, however. Sitting at the bedside of Y/N, Nezha looked sadly at her ill form. She appeared to be wasting away, the disease of grief stealing her vitality and heart until she appeared almost a shadow of her former self. He understood this grief, he had seen it before, but it always saddened him to see those crushed under mourning’s enormous weight. Without the need for words, Nezha resorted to the universal sign of care: holding out his hand for Y/N to take.
When her weak hand held his own, the lotus prince took from the bag he had brought with him a gift: a small sheep plushie with soft wool. He placed the animal beside Y/N and tucked it in as if it were real, saying, “I find sheep to be adorable, faithful animals. Despite facing so many dangers in the wild, they remain able to find serenity. My hope is that this little one can offer you a measure of peace as well.”
Y/N hugged the small animal, kissing its fluffy head and smiling up at the prince. Softly smiling in return, Nezha reached back into the bag and pulled out a book. It didn’t seem to be more than two-hundred pages or so. Holding the book open with one hand, allowing his other to be held by Y/N, he began to read out loud to her a simple story about farm animals going through a silly adventure. About halfway through Y/N had fallen asleep, a smile on her face for the first time in many months. Seeing this, Nezha paused his reading and slipped his hand from hers long enough to make sure Y/N was properly tucked in. After making sure she was comfortable, the prince placed his hand on Y/N’s forehead and closed his eyes, willing through his immortal powers that no nightmares would torment Y/N this night. He pledged to himself to visit every night until she was discharged, and even then he would find her and ensure her safety and continued healing from the devastating wound loss had torn in her heart.
When sorrow cannot properly be expressed and condolences seem too meager, kindness speaks thousands of words and warms the heart from anguish and its frigid touch.
#lmk x reader#lmk x reader angst#lmk x reader medium angst#lmk x reader comfort#lmk reader x nezha#angst#parental loss#hospitalization#lmk nezha
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Obey me OC
𝐓𝐢𝐬𝐡
A/N - I wanted to create an obey me character who did not run the government or belonged to the aristocracy. Just to represent the masses Tada-!
Pronouns - They/Them
Species - Demon
Family - They have two younger siblings, a brother and a sister, who they are responsible for. Their parents are dead, with some distant cousins in the family tree they are not familiar with.
Born around the time of the Celestial War
Birthday - 18 May
Job description - Full time student at RAD! You can hire this demon to do any chore around the house for the right price!
Likes - To keep busy even in mundane way, say throwing rocks at ponds, just walking around etc, travelling, earning money mostly to support their family and fund their future travelling around the Devildom.
Dislikes - Technology because their siblings seem to be addicted to their 'DDD', jobs where the work to pay ratio is abysmal, rude demons, abstract art because they don't get it, politics since it's too complicated.
Relationship with the brothers
Lucifer - Employer/Employee relationship. Lucifer often hires Tish to do odd jobs around the House of Lamentation, like cleaning the mess after one of his brothers decided to cause an explosion, mend walls, or to babysit Mammon, or to clean Levi's and Satan's rooms. Both of them are competent so they have mutual respect for each other. They think he is perfect to be the future king's right hand man.
Mammon - He reminds them of their little brother so they spoil him a little while babysitting him. He listens to them because they are sweet to him but he would never accept that! Nuh-uh, not this tsundere man-child. Spoiler alert - they know. They can recognise the rebellious phase. Lucifer has absolute faith in Tish' abilities to handle Mammon.
Leviathan - They don't like that he spends all his time in front of the screen. It's just not good for his health! Last time they cleaned his room, as a job from Lucifer, they were scandalized to find unopened energy drinks way past the expiry date. How is that demon even alive? They think of him as a kid despite being younger than him. They don't interfere in his life because it's none of their business. It's professional.
Satan - They respect his knowledge and often talk to him about travelling. He has read so many books that they are in awe of him. The way their eyes light up in excitement at his words make him eager to speak and share so he enjoys their company too. However, they get concerned about the state of his room, and no matter how often it is organised, it only lasts that way for a few days. They have a weekly appointment from him to come clean his room. The two are almost friends, Tish being one of the few demons who's not afraid of Satan and the Avatar being cordial to them.
Asmodeus - He thinks they are cute and flirts with them every now and then at HOL when they are running an errand. They are so detached from social media that they don't know about his modelling career, and only respects him as an Avatar, someone who runs the government. It irks him that they don't know exactly what a big name he is in the industry, so he makes it his life's mission to make them care. They often hang out after classes, where Asmo talks about fashion and his recent photo shoots. Tish politely listens.
Beelzebub - Tish' younger sister likes fangol and is a fan of Beel. So, they have often seen him play. Other than that, they are sometimes called to reconstruct a wall that he broke in one of his fits. They feel touched to see him look so apologetic afterwards. Poor boy couldn't control his hunger. Tish knows what hunger feels like... They can't blame him. They feel pity for him.
Player/ MC - They haven't met a human before! It's so exciting! They bombard you with questions about the human world and asks you to show them pictures. Oh, now they want to visit your realm! Promise that you will take them there! They will help you get accustomed to the Devildom and take you to picturesque places here in exchange.
Belphegor - They disapprove a little of Belphegor. As one of the seven rulers of Hell, he should set an example for the demons. But he is always tired, so they do not understand him and he complains about them ‘working all the time’ and doesn't understand them. How can someone be so hardworking? Of course, they stay neutral to each other.
#obey me oc#obey me#obey me lucifer#obey me mammon#obey me satan#obey me leviathan#obey me asmodeus#obey me beelzebub#obey me belphegor#obey me tish#oc introduction
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Spoilers for GOW: RAGNAROK - Ursa’s Quest
There is one big headcanon idea I have which heavily focuses on Ursa coming into her powers as a Goddess of Death. And that is through a quest to restore a certain someone’s soul which eventually leads to her realising her destiny as the future Queen of Helheim.
Here’s my take - Ursa is around the same age that Atreus was during GOW 2018, and her father is visiting Kratos, so she’s just hanging out in the forest, playing with the wolves and having some good old fun when she suddenly feels something, something she’s only felt in the presence of souls. But this one feels incomplete, like it’s missing it’s other parts. She summons it, but doesn’t hear much as it’s a little worn and weak. Just that the spirit is "missing his ‘soul bits’” and that his name is Brok. Ursa stores his first soul part, his mind, in her marble and tells her parents about it, who is shocked to hear that their daughter found a piece of Brok’s soul. Realising how much this means to them, Ursa sneaks out and decides to look for Brok’s other soul pieces herself, eventually gaining the help of Sleipnir along the way as they go on their quest to find Brok’s two other soul pieces, luck and form and bring them to the Lake of Souls to complete him.
And along the way, Sindri shows up, not sure what Atreus’ daughter is doing out here all alone with Odin’s old war horse, until she speaks honestly about her quest. Sindri is stunned, but readily decides to help the little girl in anyway he can if it meant that his brother can finally have an afterlife, even gifting her a dagger embedded with the famine of Fimbulwinter itself. And at some point, and very sleepy Ursa will say "thanks Sin." Leaving Sindri feeling both touched and sad, as he truly does miss having Atreus as a friend but still isn't ready to talk to him. And maybe through his journey to save Brok’s soul with Ursa, he will be.
It’s essentially like Kratos and Atreus’ quest to spread Faye’s ashes, but instead, their trying to find the soul-bits of a dwarven friend, the child’s taking the lead, her main protector is an eight-legged horse, and instead of a talking head, she has a dwarf that is technically her great-uncle to offer advice. They bond over stories and old wounds that Ursa is just hoping to fix, although Sindri tells her that some holes are too big to fill. But that doesn’t mean she can’t fill it up halfway. They open up to each other, become protective and caring towards each other as they help not only overcome their trauma but also help Ursa realise her new powers and accept them (after all, summoning Hel-Walker and becoming a half-dead skeleton can be terrifying for an eleven year old.)
And throughout the WHOLE quest for Brok’s souls, she is eating up Brok’s vulgar mannerisms and loving it! It’s just a riot to her and is spitting swears and insults at all of her enemies like Perrito from Puss in Boots: The Last Wish; making Brok proud as peach of his great-niece, whilst absolutely shocking Sleipnir and appalling Sindri, who is low-key (hehe Loki) worried about what Atreus will say about all this when he finds out.
They use Ursa’s Marble containing Brok’s soul as a sort of compass or tracker, but because the souls have no direction, they are always moving across the realms, and because it’s God of War, there’s always some sort of obstacle trying to hold them back at the last minute. I’m thinking Baldur returns as the most powerful and coherent Hel-Walker anyone’s ever seen and tries to kill Ursa as revenge against Kratos and Atreus, who denied him his own revenge. This could also imply that Hræsvelgr is slowly loosing her influence in Helheim (the only reason Hel-Walkers even show up outside of Helheim anymore is because Ursa summons them) further tying in that she is in need of a replacement. Maybe that opens up a power vacuum that Baldur wants to take advantage of: become the knew Hel so that he can bring forth a new Fimbulwinter, ultimately decimating the Eight Realms that the Fate Breakers sacrificed so much to save. So it is ultimately up to Ursa to claim her rightful throne as Queen of Helheim in order to prevent those like Baldur to abuse that power.
Then, as they finally find the last soul, finally able to see Brok’s spirit, Atreus, Angrboda and Kratos show up, and they are all just happy Ursa’s okay, are scolding her for running off without telling them, before tearfully saying hello to an old friend and returning to the Lake of Souls together to see him off for the last time. And as Brok leaves, he tells Sindri to look after himself and tells Atreus that he has one tough kid and that he should be proud.
And he certainly is.
That’s what I got! I hope that you guys like it! Let me know what you think!
#god of war ragnarök#god of war#ursa lokisdottir#brok#sleipnir#sindri#a quest#gow baldur#my headcanon#ursa's coming to power story
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Oops I missed that the ask game was for oc 😳
Also 5 and 19 for Sola, Mikhail, and Ian please 😁
you're all good. I mean I am sort of my own OC. So it's valid lol. If anyone else wants to ask me or my oc things, I may not be as honest as the OCs but i'll answer
Ask Game
5. Do you have any role models? Tell us a little bit about them.
Goddess Sola: Makes a face trying to remember what that means. Gets excited once the memory comes back.
"The little cloud and Alessia are my role models. They both know so much about mortals! They also do a lot of good things. Alessia protects people and the little cloud is always using her powers for others. I want to do that stuff too! Although I usually scare mortals badly, Delphia said I should only meet them if she's around after the last time..."
Human Sola: Looks around so no one is nearby.
"I want to be like my mom! She's so pretty and strong. Also takes care of everyone even if they're bigger or smaller than her. I'll be just like her when I grow up! I'll wear pretty long dresses too!"
Every Ian: Fidgets with his hands nervous to be answering anything about himself. Thinks about the question and the people he's met in his life.
"...Mik. He stands up for his beliefs and doesn't care if people hate him for it. Even if he couldn't be huge he'd face down anything. I want to be confident and strong like that. Have something I believe in enough to chase after it like he does too."
Streamer AU Ian: Hugs himself as he thinks a little harder. Mik is one, but he does have another role model too.
"Mira too. She's been trying really hard to move forward after what she went through. Hearing how bad it was gave me nightmares and she still tries so hard. I want that strength to move forward like her."
Shifter/Giant/human Mikhail: Folds his arms across his chest eventually rubbing his chin. He lets out a sigh before settling on an answer.
"I'd suppose my aunt if I have to pick one. The woman can be ferocious and doesn't let anyone abuse their size or power. Although she can be a bit too intense at times. That part I definitely don't envy. She doesn't hesitate to stand up for what's right, doesn't let her thoughts stop her. I need to be more like that."
Alien Mikhail: Has had Ian explain what that terminology means and still barely gets it. Thinks hard about it for long enough it seems like he won't answer.
"It would be my teacher that aided me in becoming one of the planet seekers. They had been one for many years and brought many species into our group. I hope to leave a record like them after me."
19. Describe an average day in your life.
Goddess Sola: Excitedly bouncing on her feet and desperately wanting to take the chance to drag you along with her.
"I usually go watch the clouds and draw pictures in them! Sometimes I grab one of the others to come with me. Then I go to the mortal realm and make sure the light isn't overwhelming and the clouds have become fun shapes when they aren't bringing a storm. Ash says I hurt storms when I shape those clouds so I had to stop. Sometimes I stop and watch mortals too, they do so many interesting things."
She starts to ramble about games she's seen mortal children play. Describing things like tag and hide and seek. The point of the question was lost on her as she just excitedly talks about the things she sees.
Human Sola (Snake in the shed): Frowns as she thinks about it.
"Mom and dad say I have to go to school even though the borrowers don't so I do that. Then I come home and play with Luna until mom finds out I didn't do my homework. Luna helps me with it and then we watch the movies he likes until bed time. Sometimes it's too hard for Luna so Ash or Rhys help me too. Oh and the days Felix or Ryder visit are the best! They play fun games and give me new toys.
Borrower Sola (Vamp Del AU): She smiles excited to tell someone all the things she does. Her parents and Delphia would yell at her if they knew.
"I sneak around Del's room when she's sleeping during the day. I want to see if I can find anymore hidden things from the past us. Sometimes Vincent finds me and he makes me go back to bed. He's too quiet for being so big. Rhys reads me stories when Vincent finds me though, so I let him find me sometimes. At night the others make me and Luna practice borrowing. Just in case we have to leave here, but I don't wanna leave. I love Delphia and she lives forever so we're safe. I'm a better climber, but Luna is better at getting supplies. After that we play games with Delphia and sometimes she reads us books. They have a lot of weird sounding words, she says it's old English whatever that means. Then I fall asleep and Delphia or the others help me get to our bed."
Human Sola (mafia au): She's excited to meet someone new who wants to hear about her. She thinks hard, but her answer is pretty simple.
"I have a human tutor that teaches me what I'd learn at school. Mom and Dad say school isn't safe for me, but that's fine. Then I spend time with Luna in Dad's office. Sometimes I go find my brothers or sister, but everyone else is always so busy. I hope one day I can be busy like them too. At night everyone comes to say hi, but it's too late for us to do much with them. The days they're home are the best. Those days are rare."
Borrower Ian: Sits near his house ready to bolt just in case. Stays incredibly nervous despite the promises he's safe. Giving up his routine is risky, but Mik said it was ok and to be honest and he trusts Mik.
"I... I usually start by checking the entrances like Mik taught me. That they're still sealed properly and for any other borrowers who might need help. Then I try to get food, sometimes Mik left some out other times he hasn't woken up yet so I get it myself. The rest of the day I usually spend with Mik doing whatever he does. Sometimes I try to get better at making clothes with the fabric Mik gives me. Or watch the shows on the big screen that make me laugh. I-it's pretty normal for me, but other borrowers would think I'm crazy. I just like not being trapped somewhere all day anymore."
Human Ian (streamer au): Shrugs his shoulders, it's not exciting. He's kind of shocked someone wants to know.
"I just play some games for my streams then usually hang out with Mik. Sometimes I sit in while he does his podcast recordings, help out with timings and sound board stuff. Then I teach him about some of the games I streamed. We just hang out, there's been a few times I just send him memes from my phone while sitting in his chest pocket. On some rarer occasions I go play games with Mira, Corus is there too. The guy is insanely good for someone so sleep deprived."
Human Ian (alien au): Hugs himself still trying to figure out what is even safe for him to do each day.
"I wake up... eat the food I'm given. Then I just hang out unless Mik needs me. It's still pretty hard to be out around the alien, even worse when the guy walks around as a giant so much." Ian shudders. "Still better than being homeless in the woods. The alien tries too, I'll get used to him eventually... probably."
Shifter Mikhail: Frowns a bit since this is disrupting his average day. It's the middle of a semester and he has work to be doing.
"I teach my classes at the university. Stay late for office hours in case a student needs me. Grade papers while there. Come home and often times become Ian's size to spend time with him. When I'm worn out he doesn't mind that I stay a human size and he sits on my chest while I read to unwind. I make a simple dinner that's easy for a borrower to eat without making a mess of themself and then go to sleep." Mikhail has made the active choice to avoid mentioning how annoyed the other professors make him. The times he shifts just enough his chair creaks from someone's annoying conversation topics. The aloof professor never gets to be left alone in peace and quiet while at the school.
Giant Mikhail (streamer au): Nods understanding the curiosity. He'd be curious too. Takes a few minutes to come up with an answer he hopes is good enough. His life is fairly boring outside of the time he helped Corus.
"I work on the story of my horror podcast most mornings. Do research when it's time for the news episode. In the afternoon Ian comes by and usually causes some trouble until I put him in my pocket. Sometimes he actually helps. The entire time he's in my pocket he's sending memes to my phone making it vibrate and distract me." Mikhail has a soft smile on his face as he talks about the 'annoying' things Ian does. "Then we just hang out. I read books he plays games. Sometimes he shows me how to play one of his games. Some days I go see Delphia we usually get lunch or dinner. Now and then Corus joins us too."
Alien Mikhail: Thinks about how his routine would best be explained to humans. Frowns as he considers it might sound problematic, but has nothing better to explain himself.
"A day for my kind is a bit longer. I usually spend it researching humans through the media I can now understand. I haven't been able to find a good explanation for some things. Like 'yeet' or why people miss vines. From my research nature still has plenty of them. I make meals for Ian and leave them for him to eat as he feels ready too. I try to mimic the lifestyle the humans in the media I've found use to make Ian feel comfortable. I'm not sure it has worked, but trial and error is my only option. I also spend a lot of time making things in the ship easier for him. I have been working on a surprise for a while, I found many humans do things like this and I hope it helps assuage his nerves. I'm sorry I've gotten off topic. Other than research, I write reports on my progress. Currently it's known I've met a human who has agreed to help me. After what I sent back so far many others are excited to learn more about humans, they are quite strange creatures. The blankets were something a lot of people have started to use on my planet."
Mikhail seems to stare off, it's a little hard to tell with his eyes a solid color. It's clear he thinks he answered the question sufficiently, even with his bit of off topic additions.
#awkwardanswers#i have so many solas#also really what am i if not my first oc?#so you're totally fine#i might have gone overboard as usual lol#ty ty so much for the ask#oc: ian#oc:mik/mikhail#oc:sola
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i would love to hear ur thoughts on maximus and ahura's relationship, if u don't mind!! ive been reading through a bit of ff, and i love that ahura refers to him as "uncle max", but im struggling to find many other interactions/fandom posts between the two. i feel like they have a lot of opportunity to be a really interesting dynamic!!
Thanks for the ask!
They are criminally underrated! Unfortunately they don’t have a lot of scenes together but there’s so much potential.
I think Maximus sees himself in Ahura at times, and that he is a sort of father figure to Ahura during a time of his childhood, or as much as he can be but since Ahura’s experience with his own biological parents is so messed up, it means a lot.
When the Genetic Council forbid Black Bolt from having children, one of the reasons was that they could inherit Maximus’ “madness”. At some point when the writers remembered he existed, Ahura is diagnosed with the “madness” and taken to prison. On Black Bolt’s orders, everyone is forbidden from mentioning him, and he is placed under the Pacifiers, who suppress his powers and keep him sedated.
Maximus himself was imprisoned at that time, and also under the Pacifiers so he couldn’t use his mind control powers to escape.
I don’t remember if their cells are connected or anything, but Maximus knows of Ahura’s situation, because when he manipulates Luna to give him his powers back, he also asks her to free Ahura.
(He is talking about Black Bolt)
This all happens in Silent War. And yeah, Maximus is using his powers on basically all of Attilan to get the throne, and he has the whole “wanting everything that Black Bolt has” thing, but also. Ahura didn’t offer him much in his scheme. And they were literally put in the same situation, so I can’t not think that a part of Maximus just didn’t want him to suffer in there anymore.
But no matter what his reasons were, for Ahura that was world changing. Black Bolt imprisoned him. Maximus freed him. From this point on, Ahura doesn’t get sent to prison again, and while it’s unclear why he’s not seen as a threat anymore (as it’s unclear what made him be considered one in the first place), earlier in the story Medusa believed that Luna could use her gift to “cure” Ahura, and Maximus does ask Luna to cure him!
And they certainly formed a real bond during this time, because after that they are shown to be on good terms with each other, even after Black Bolt comes back and become co-ruler with Maximus, and then gets the throne for himself again.
This is from Realm of Kings: Inhumans #1, and the context is what made up my mind about Maximus seeing himself in Ahura. Black Bolt had died, and Medusa was ruler alone. Karnak was telling her that the Kree (which were ruled by the inhumans then) would likely want Gorgon as Black Bolt’s sucessor, and Medusa replies that she’s keeping the throne so that her son will one day inherit. Maximus wanders off and find the children playing. I think in his mind he could relate to Ahura, because they both were being denied their right to the throne.
And then there’s FF
Which shows that Ahura is fully aware that Maximus is a bad guy and has killed people, but is still on good terms with him, and doesn’t think it’s dangerous to take other kids to visit him.
Interesting enough, Silent War is the last time in which Maximus tries to take the throne. He succeeds, but doesn’t seem very happy about it when Black Bolt comes back later and kinda lets him have the throne back. I think that during that time he learned that the throne was too much responsibility and that he preferred just being an annoyance. He does later say that he could get the throne easily, been there done that, and it isn’t fun.
And I think Ahura wouldn’t remember much of what happened before that, as he was too young, and then he was sedated before Maximus freed him. So while he probably has heard of what Maximus has done before, his own memories of him are of the time he was trying to be his father figure, then the time he was working with the good guys. Maximus has committed crimes later, of course, but not the sell-half-of-Attilan-to-the-Kree type of crime of his early days. Not stuff that would hit so personally.
And Maximus probably has a soft spot for him too. I like to think of him telling stories to his nephew and being surprised now and then at how he just believes it all, unlike their adult relatives. Also with Max becoming a good guy again during/after Royals, they can meet and catch up in peace. Max would be proud to learn of how he managed to become CEO of a company/nation that he wasn’t even part of. Maybe he would even see in Ahura what he could have been?
Also, not completely related, but I think that adult!Ahura looks kinda like Maximus and it’s so cute. Of course, they are related, and Black Bolt probably looks like them both but he is rarely drawn without his mask.
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A Bird of Praise
Act II
Chapter VIII: The Makeover
Previous Chapter
youtube
Word Count: 5,203
Chapter Summary: Tara learns that the party is not only privy to the supernatural shenanigans of the mirror realm, but has thwarted them multiple times, realising that they may be essential in connecting the dots in her chequered past. Later, she finds herself dragged into the popular girl’s circle. An impromptu visit from Tara’s little cousin prompt Billy to ask where he and Tara stand relationship wise.
Chapter Warnings: USE OF THE R SLUR (Nancy, you’re out of pocket for that), half-hearted smut, controlling behaviour, allusions to controlling parents
Tara’s sleep was plagued by screams and a burning sensation, neither of which she could even vaguely identify. She couldn’t make out any of it, but it horrified her.
“Breathe. Sunflower. Three to the right. Four to the left. Rainbow. 450.”
Suddenly she was jolted awake and felt herself exude a very forceful push.
When she came to her senses, she saw Max rubbing the back of her head, muttering curses under her breath.
“Max? What are you doing here?”
“Well, I WAS going to see if Billy could spend the night here so I wouldn’t have to explain what happened to Neil, but do you maybe wanna tell me what the hell that was?”
“Explain what to Neil? What happened? How did you even get in here?”
“I used Billy’s key.”
“Which, incidentally, he won’t be getting back,” interjected a voice.
“Steve? Why are you in my house? And what happened to your face?”
“Don’t worry about me. You should’ve seen the other guy.”
“That’s not funny!” Tara chided. “Do you need ice? I’m pretty sure I have ice,” she offered.
“I’m fine. Don’t worry.”
He wasn’t the only uninvited guest. Dustin, Mike and Lucas were there, too.
“Dustin!” Tara scolded. “I have a few choice words for you,” she said, hopping out of bed, forgetting the injury that his shenanigans ironically led her to have. She hissed in pain as her foot hit the floor. “Son of a biscuits…” she cursed through gritted teeth.
“Are you okay? What happened to your leg?” Dustin asked.
“YOU happened to my leg, Dustin Henderson! What is wrong with you? Why on earth would you keep a troll in your room?”
“A what?”
“Don’t play dumb! I saw it for myself! What on earth were you doing in the Mirror Realm? Do you have ANY IDEA how dangerous that place is?”
“The mirror realm? Wait, what were you doing in my room?”
“Returning the library books that you stole so that you wouldn’t get your library card revoked!”
“Can we maybe get back to why and how you flung Max 10 feet away from you?” Lucas asked.
“I don’t know! I was sleeping soundly at first and then I heard screams, I felt REALLY hot and then I felt something grab me and OH GOSH MY POWERS ARE BACK!”
“Powers??” everyone except Steve collectively asked in shock.
“Wait, you guys didn’t know about this?” Steve asked.
“No!” the party collectively responded.
“I assumed you guys already knew. I only knew because I saw her kick the crap out of the first demogorgon with them. That was pretty bad-ass by the way.”
“What’s a demogorgon?” Tara asked, confused.
“Well, I presume, by the context of this conversation, what you refer to as a ‘troll’, we refer to as a ‘demogorgon’ and by the ‘Mirror Realm’ I presume you’re referring to the upside down,” Dustin explained.
“The troll…” Tara recalled, only marginally less confused. “Oh! That! I just didn’t want it to hurt Nancy or Jonathan. Or any of my other friends.”
“So what do you mean your powers are back? What happened?” Steve asked.
“Well, Jason drugged me at Tina’s party and since then I haven’t been able to really use them until just now.”
“He DRUGGED you?”
“Look, can we talk about this when it’s not 3:26 in the morning and we have school in less than 5 hours? Just leave Billy on the couch. I’ll explain everything tomorrow after school. Meet me in the dance studio.”
“I’m gonna go ahead and assume this involves sensitive information?” Dustin asked.
“Well, yes.”
“Then we’ll meet in the AV room. After school. 3:30 sharp. Don’t be late.”
“Deal! Now go home and sleep so you’ll get to school on time tomorrow!”
“So out of curiosity, where’s the other Newman?” Steve asked.
“He and the other members of his club are spending the night at Gareth’s house. There was an incident and they’re all still kinda shaken up. Nothing to do with the mirror realm, though. Just a spurned lover. That’s all.”
“Seems like you’d know all about that,” Steve remarked.
“Funny,” Tara replied sarcastically. “Out.”
The morning proper came and Tara was immediately woken up with “That little bitch! She can skate to school!”
Tara took her clothes off and was about to step into the shower when she heard Billy stomp upstairs to her room, clearly very agitated.
The anger completely left his body when he saw Tara naked standing in the bathroom doorway. “You were saying?”
“I didn’t say anything,” he said, flashing a grin.
“So you’re not gonna make Max skate to school?”
“Oh come on. I’m only a monster in the best possible way.”
Unfortunately, his words and his actions didn’t match. Whatever happened the previous night, it left him struggling to stay hard.
“Come on, babe,” he panted, thrusting into her. “Do something sexy. Soap your tits or something.”
A few frustrated thrusts later led him to a mediocre dry orgasm with a half-hard dick.
“I swear to Christ, when I work this out of my system, I am going to fucking ruin you.”
When Tara got to ballet class, auditions for “The Nutcracker” were being held. Tara was going to grit her teeth through her injuries and give it one thousand percent. This was her year. She just knew she could see herself as Clara.
Thankfully, the gas leak had FINALLY been resolved, so auditions were actually in the studio.
During her audition, Chrissy and Kenzie were looking at her intently for some odd reason, though she decided to pay it no mind.
During the lunch break, during which Tara was forced to sit with Billy and the popular crowd, Chrissy spoke.
“So, Tara, the other girls and I were talking and we think that you should have the open spot on our cheer squad.”
“Oh, no, I’m not meant to be a cheerleader.”
“Come on, babe,” Billy said, putting a hand on her back. “You know you want to.”
“You get a sweater with your name on it,” Chrissy enticed in a sing-song voice.
“Well, I guess I could give it a shot and see how it goes.”
“That’s the spirit doll!” Billy clapped.
Tara waited outside of the AV room anxiously with Steve.
“Jesus, they said 3:30 on the dot. It’s 3:45 and they’re nowhere in sight. What’s taking those little shits so long?” Steve asked.
“Hey!” Tara chided. “They are not little s-words! They’re great kids! Maybe they’re just running behind.”
“‘Scuse us! Coming through!” Dustin called.
“Make way! Make way!” Lucas added.
“Oh god what are they doing?” Steve asked, noticing a giant bin being pulled by a wagon.
“Top secret AV equipment! No touching!” Mike shouted.
“Weirdos,” a middle schooler remarked.
“Hey! Those are MY weirdos!” Tara retorted.
“Confidential gathering, people! Nothing to see here! Go about your business, people!” Dustin shouted.
“God, these kids,” Steve said, facepalming.
“Hey, are you deaf? We said beat it!” Max barked.
The other kids scattered while the party took the bin into the AV room.
“What the hell is that anyway?” Steve asked.
Mike closed and locked the door behind him once everyone was inside.
“It’s okay! You can come out now,” Dustin said.
The lid to the bin popped off, and out came the little brunette girl that Tara had bumped into the other day.
“Tara,” Dustin began, “This is El. She has psychic powers just like you. El, this is Tara Newman. She’s basically the designated substitute big sister of the party.”
“Wait,” Max interjected. “So Tara is in the party, but I can’t be?”
“She’s not IN the party,” Mike interjected. “She’s more like… an NPC.”
“An NPC?” Max asked.
“It means that she’s there when we need her help and out of the way when we don’t.”
“I remember you! Sorry about the other day! I’m such a klutz,” Tara said apologetically.
“It’s fine,” El said.
“So is there any particular reason why you’re hiding in a bin?” Tara asked.
“We will be more than happy to explain everything,” Dustin said.
That’s how Tara found out about Hawkins Lab and the truth behind Will’s disappearance. And that’s how the party found out about about the New Belgium Lab. Or what little of it Tara could remember anyway.
El told Tara all about Hawkins Lab and the horrors she faced there.
“So wait, your father was the head doctor at the lab?” Tara asked, seeking clarification.
“No,” El shook her head. “He made us all call him Papa.”
“Do you know who your real father is?”
El shook her head.
“That’s okay,” Tara said, truthfully not knowing how to respond to that.
“These people,” Tara started again. “They hurt your mom?”
“Bad,” El confirmed.
“So she was part of some experiment, Project MK Ultra, and she didn’t know she was pregnant with you yet, and they took you from her and when she fought to bring you back home… they…” Tara‘s stomach began to churn. “Ay dios mio, that’s a lot.”
“Yeah, no kidding,” Steve said, taking a deep exhale.
“Ask,” El said, nudging Steve. “You promised.”
“Right,” Steve said, pulling out a piece of newspaper from his pocket. “Does this face look familiar to you at all?”
There it was. A clip out of Dr. Martin Brenner. Tara couldn’t identify why, but seeing this man’s face gave her crippling anxiety. Her breath hitched in her throat and she frantically flipped the paper over before catching her breath in relief.
“Jesus. I’ll take that as a yes,” Steve said.
“I have no idea why, though,” Tara retorted. “I have no idea who this man is, but seeing him makes me feel paralysed with fear, so I had to have met him before.”
“Well, that’s a good start. We know that whatever happened while you were there involved him in some way.”
“Psychological memory repression!” Dustin blurted out eliciting quizzical stares from the room.
“When a psychological trauma is caused, the person who’s been traumatised often represses the memory as a defence mechanism! It’s especially common during trauma that occurs in formative years!”
“English, Henderson,” Steve interjected.
“Whatever happened at the facility, Tara remembers all of it!”
“Um, no I don’t. That’s literally the whole problem.”
“Yes! You do! Your memories are just…” Dustin paused, looking for an appropriate phrase. “…behind a wall, so to speak.”
“So we just need to break down that wall?” Steve asked.
“Exactly!”
Steve was the first to notice Tara zone out.
“Hey, you still with us?” He asked, waving a hand in her face.
“Breathe. Sunflower. Three to the right. Four to the left. Rainbow. 450.”
That immediately caught El’s attention.
“Breathe. Sunflower. Three to the right. Four to the left. Rainbow. 450.”
Steve waved his hand, snapping his fingers in her face to try to get her attention. “Hey! Hello?”
The other kids began to freak out. Steve turned to Max.
“What’s wrong with her?” He asked.
“How the hell should I know?”
“Mama?” El asked, taking Tara’s hand.
Tara turned to El. “Jane,” was all she said before snapping out of it.
Blood ran down Tara’s nostril as she came to her senses.
“Mama?”
“Uhhhhh?”
“Mama! Mama, no! Mama!” El pleaded, desperately shaking Tara as if it would bring back the person previously occupying her body.
“MAMA! MAMA!” El cried as she shook Tara violently.
“What is your problem?” Max asked, trying to get between them.
SMACK!
“Hey! Hey! Whoah! Let’s just calm down!” Steve said, literally prying El off of Tara.
“No!” El protested.
Steve literally grabbed El who was now hysterical and tried to soothe her, earning several punches in spots that were still very sore from his run-in with Tara’s Neanderthal of a boyfriend.
“She was there!” El cried hysterically. “Mama was there!”
Tara was only increasingly confused.
Eventually, El broke down and just sobbed.
“It’s okay, kid. It’s okay,” Steve said soothingly.
After El calmed down, Dustin was the first to speak.
“So we’re gonna figure out what the hell that was, right?”
“Jesus Christ, this just gets weirder and weirder,” Steve said.
“I’ll tell Dr. Owens what happened and see if he can help,” Tara started.
“That might be a problem,” Dustin interjected. “Nobody’s been able to get a hold of him since the incident at the lab.”
“We have to tell Hopper,” Mike said. “This could be serious. We could be dealing with another Mindflayer.”
“Mindflayer?” Tara asked curiously.
“It’s the reason Will isn’t at school today,” Mike clarified.
“Huh?”
“Look, Tara, there are certain things that we can’t tell you about,” Lucas interjected.
“Really? After everything I just told you?”
“This thing begins and ends with El, so the less you know, the better!” Dustin declared.
“You sure about that? Because it honestly sounds like you just very recently found out about this ’mindflayer’ and don’t really know what you’re dealing with just yet.”
“Jesus Christ, she’s good,” Dustin mumbled.
“Yeah, well, come on, Henderson. She has psychic powers. I think it’s pretty safe to say she’s in it,” Steve said. “Whatever this is, anyway.”
Tara winced in pain as she felt the sting from the troll’s bite.
“Your leg gonna be okay?” Steve asked.
“I’ll be fine. The pain comes and goes. I can take a Tylenol when I get home.”
“All the more reason we have to tell Hopper!” Mike insisted.
Tara winced in pain, unable to even argue with the children.
“Come on,” Steve offered. “I’ll take you home so you can rest.”
“I say we go straight to the station and tell Hopper now,” Lucas said.
“Good idea. I get the feeling this isn’t something we should be putting off,” Dustin agreed.
“Really, Dustin? You’re gonna leave without our secret handshake?” Tara chided, crossing her arms.
“Oh! Pfft! Of course! Where are my manners?” Dustin asked, bending his arm behind his back and to the front in a way that should not have been anatomically possible.
Tara followed suit with her arm, earning collective winces from the room.
The two shook their hands from impossible positions.
“How come we don’t have a secret handshake?” Mike asked as soon as he thought it was safe to look.
“We can come up with one!” Tara offered.
“Later!” Lucas interjected. “We need to find Hopper first!”
After the group dispersed from the AV Room, Tara followed Steve to his BMW. “So what’s up with you and Henderson?” he finally asked.
“What do you mean?” Tara asked, confused.
“You got the same condition or what’s with the arms?”
“Oh no! Dustin has Cleidocranial Dysplasia. I have Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. Those are two totally different things that just both happen to be hallmarked by hyper mobility.”
“Riiiight,” Steve said, struggling to follow along.
“You know,” he said after a long pause. “I feel like we’ve met before.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I know. Crazy, right?”
“Would it happen to be in 2nd grade, during the production of Cinderella Jr? Perhaps we were ballet dance partners?” Tara asked, raising a brow.
“I had forgotten about that!” Steve blurted out, as though he had just sprung back to life. “You look so different now!”
“Well, I DID lose a bunch of weight in 8th grade and when I first started high school, I got my eyes checked and to absolutely nobody’s surprise, I needed glasses.”
“I can’t believe all this time, I didn’t recognise you.”
“Well, to be fair, you also look pretty different when you’re being a jerk.”
“Yeah,” Steve said, rubbing the back of his head, embarrassed. “I ditched ballet in middle school. Became King Steve instead.”
“You were one of the few people in class who was nice to me. I was heartbroken to see you become a bully.”
“Yeah, well, popularity isn’t everything. I had to learn that one the hard way.”
Just then, a red 1980 Mercedes convertible pulled up with a gaggle of cheerleaders in tow and Kenzie behind the wheel.
“Get in, four eyes. It’s time for your makeover.”
Tara took a cursory glance into the car. Besides Kenzie, there was Chrissy in the passenger’s seat and two girls who Tara immediately recognised as the two whom Billy cheated on her with at Tina’s Halloween party. Lest she forget that Patti, was it? That she came back to her house looking for him.
“As tempting as that sounds,” Tara started. “I was actually going—“
“Home with Steve Harrington? Yeah right,” Patti snarked, standing up in the vehicle. “Hey, Nancy!” she called.
And people say Tara is obnoxious. If Nancy heard her, that would mean her voice went clear across the whole parking lot.
It worked though. Nancy approached them with the most obviously annoyed look on her face. “What do you want?” she asked.
“Were you aware that your boyfriend was going home with another girl?”
“Steve? What the hell?”
“Look, Nance. It’s not what it looks like.”
“So you weren’t going home with Tara?”
“Well, yes, but that’s all that’s all. I wasn’t gonna sleep with her or anything.”
“That’s not the point, Steve!” Nancy turned to Tara. “Look I don’t know what retarded bullshit you’re trying to rope people into this time, but eventually, you’re gonna have to grow up!”
“Retarded?” Tara asked, dejected.
“Nobody wants to constantly put up with that crap from you!” Nancy added on.
“You think I’m retarded?” Tara asked, a quiver in her voice.
“Tara, what on earth could Billy Hargrove possibly want with you? You dress like an overgrown toddler, you cry over everything and you expect everyone else to fix your problems! Being friends with you is an endurance test and suddenly the cheer squad of all people want to be best buddies with you? Use your head!”
Nancy’s words stung. Tears pricked the corners of Tara’s eyes as she took a shaky breath.
“Well, if that’s how you feel,” her voice cracked and she took a solid breath. “Then I guess we aren’t friends after all!” she finished firmly, getting into the back of the convertible.
The whole car ride was interesting to say the least.
“Tara, I swear you are one lucky bitch!” the girl on Patti’s opposite side declared. “If I had a boyfriend like Billy—“
“Debbie, come on!” Chrissy interjected.
“I mean it’s kinda true,” Patti added. “I mean have you seen that ass? I would be glued to his crotch if I were his girlfriend!”
“Gross!” Chrissy declared.
“Oh come on, Chrissy! Like you and Jason don’t go at it like rabbits!” Kenzie snarked.
Patti, Kenzie and Debbie proceeded to mock Chrissy.
“Oh Jason! Oh Jason! Right there! Don’t stop! Oh Jason!”
There weren’t a whole lot of things that could make Tara rethink her decisions, but hearing about the sex life of someone who raped her was definitely on that short list.
However, before she could ask to be let out, the car stopped in the town square.
“Hey, Debbie Harry, Linda Lovelace! We’re here!” Kenzie called.
“Here” was a beauty salon owned by Debbie’s family.
Once they got in, they were greeted by a stylist.
“Ah jeez. Looks like I’ve got my work cut out for me. Tara, I presume?”
What was THAT supposed to mean?
“Yup!” Debbie said before Tara could even open her mouth.
The first thing the stylist did was yank off her glasses.
“Hey!” Tara cried indignantly, “I need those to see!”
“Contacts are a thing, honey. Come into the 20th century,” the stylist dismissed.
The way Tara was yoinked, poked and prodded made her feel more like a Barbie doll than a person. After changing into her cheer outfit that was given to her, she was practically dragged in front of a mirror. To say she didn’t look like herself anymore was one hell of an understatement.
As if this wasn’t already jarring enough, she heard a wolf whistle from behind and turned around to see no other than her cursed boyfriend.
“Look at you,” he cat called.
Of course he was behind this.
“It’s just missing one thing,” he said, reaching into his pocket.
What he pulled out was a small jewellery pouch.
“Your birthday present. Close your eyes, beautiful.”
Tara closed her eyes, caught off guard in disbelief. He actually got her a birthday present?
Once she felt him secure the clasp in the back, she felt giddy. He got her a necklace.
“Okay, open them, doll.”
As soon as Tara opened her eyes, she was immediately disappointed. The necklace was rose gold and had 2 tiers. The upper tier had a little heart. The lower tier had his name.
“Do you like it, babe?”
Tara was doing her best to mask her disappointment, less so because she didn’t want to seem ungrateful that he got her a gift (all though that was definitely a part of it), and more so because she knew that if she made Billy angry, she was going to be the one with hell to pay.
“It’s beautiful,” she gritted. “A necklace with YOUR name on it. That’s not something you see everyday. Definitely unique!”
Billy grabbed her waist and pulled her back against his chest.
“This way, everyone will know that you’re my girl,” he said, making his reasoning for his gift quite clear. “And you‘ll know that I will always choose you.”
Tara wasn’t expecting that part.
Once Tara got back home, courtesy of Billy’s Camaro, she saw her front door was cracked open.
“Stay in the car,” Billy said, going to investigate.
Tara waited in the passenger seat when she heard arguing, punches being thrown and a child’s scream that sounded VERY familiar.
When she got out of the car to investigate, she crossed the threshold of the doorway when she heard Billy.
“You thought you and your little hombres were gonna rob my girlfriend’s house?” he asked.
When she got into the dining room where Billy accosted the supposed intruder, she was immediately shocked.
“Billy, that’s my little cousin!” she chided, breaking his hand off of her blouse collar.
“I told you to wait in the car,” he reminded her flatly.
“What is wrong with you? Dory doesn’t even jaywalk and you’re treating her like she’s some criminal!”
The 13 year old girl was clearly terrified when Tara sat her down on the couch.
“How did you get here?” Tara asked.
“I used the key in the decoy rock. My mom has the same one.”
“Well, yeah I figured that out. I mean how did you get here all the way from Rutherford?”
“I took the bus.”
“I see,” Tara said, trying to gauge the situation. “And do Uncle Chris and Aunt Julia know you’re here?”
“Can I live with you?”
Whatever was going on, Tara could tell she was going to need to give it her full attention and since Daniel was likely still at Gareth’s place with the other members of Hellfire Club after yesterday’s incident, she was the only one who could help right now.
“Billy, do you mind?”
“Yeah screw this,” he scoffed. “I’m getting a beer.”
“That’s fine. Just give us a minute.”
Billy rolled his eyes and made his way upstairs towards Tara’s room.
“You’re not supposed to have beer,” Dory said matter-of-factly.
“And you’re not supposed to run away from home,” Tara retorted playfully. “What brought this on anyway?”
“Mayte’s mom died, so dad says she has to live with us now.”
“And you didn’t want her to come live with you, so you decided to run away?”
“She’s such a bitch!”
“Dory, language.”
“Well it’s true! You can’t even deny it!”
“Well, be that as it may, you can’t just run away from home. Aunt Julia and Uncle Chris are probably worried sick about you!”
Dory’s protests rang through the house as Tara picked up the phone.
“Maldonado residence,” a woman answered very anxiously.
“Aunt Julia, it’s Tara. Dory is safe. She’s at my house.”
“Oh thank god!” Julia responded, audibly relieved.
“I’ll bring her back over—“
“No no no!” Julia tutted. “You’re not making a 3 hour drive one way when you have school tomorrow! I’ll come get her.”
“I hate you!” Dory yelled as soon as Tara hung up the phone.
“I know you’re upset, but Aunt Julia and Uncle Chris were probably terrified that something happened to you!”
“But I don’t wanna go back home!” Dory protested tearfully.
“That’s too bad, you little brat!” Billy called from the top of the stairs, beer in hand.
“Billy!” Tara yelled sternly.
Billy only sipped his beer in response, amused by the bickering between Tara and Dory.
“Look, I know Mayte is a jerk, but you can’t just run away from home,” Tara said, running out of things to say.
She took a breath and continued.
“Do you remember my friend, Barb?”
“The one who always hangs out with you and Nancy?” Dory asked.
“Yeah. Well, she supposedly ran away from home and now nobody can find her. Not even the people closest to her.”
“Well, I hate to break it to you, doll face, but that kinda defeats the purpose of running away, doesn’t it?” Billy asked, chugging his beer.
Tara only shot Billy a glare, the message behind it being very clear.
“You remember what happened to Will?” She asked Dory.
“You mean how he went missing and everyone thought he was dead?”
“Exactly. What if something like that happened to you?”
“Mom and dad would be scared to death,” Dory relented.
“Exactly. Aunt Julia would lose her mind!”
“I wish Mayte would disappear…”
“Dory!”
“You do, too! Nobody likes her!”
“Hey! Don’t speak for me, okay?” Tara warned sternly.
Dory only blew a raspberry in response, eliciting an eye roll from Tara.
“Look, why don’t you go in the den and watch television while you wait. Just don’t tell Aunt Julia, okay?”
“Yipee!”
When Julia finally pulled up to the house, Tara want to answer the door.
“No funny business,” she warned Billy.
“Hmm?”
“Billy, I’m dead serious. If you say or do anything even vaguely disrespectful to my aunt, I’ll…” Tara trailed off.
Billy narrowed his eyes. “Finish that sentence, I dare you.”
“Look, just… can you please just do me a favour and just at least pretend to be nice?”
“That’s what I thought, princess.”
Tara sighed and opened the door. “Aunt Julia! Dory is just in the kitchen reading a book!”
On cue, Dory shut off the television and ran into the kitchen with the first book she could pull out of her backpack.
“Dory, you gave me a heart attack! What were you thinking? Running away?”
“I’m sorry, mom—“
“Well, ‘sorry’ doesn’t cut it this time! You snuck out of class and hitchhiked your way to a different state! Are you out of your mind? What on God’s Green Earth possessed you to do that?”
“Mayte did! I don’t wanna live with her, okay?”
“No, not okay! She’s your sister!”
“No, she’s not! Just because dad slept with another woman doesn’t make her family!”
“Dory, I don’t know what in the world has gotten into you, but you need to change your attitude!”
“How about you stop being a bitch for five seconds?” Billy asked out of left field.
“Billy!” Tara hissed.
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me,” Billy said flatly, lighting a smoke.
“Well, Mr…”
“Billy.”
“Right. Billy. When you have your own kids and understand for yourself just how dangerous the world is and how many people out there want to hurt them, you’ll be doing this exact same thing. I promise you.”
“Well, here’s the part you don’t get. I ain’t having any kids. Not now. Not ever.”
Tara felt a pang in her chest. That hurt. She really wanted children and thought she and Billy would have cute babies together.
“Oh you’re still in that phase, huh? You still think girls have cooties, too?”
“Some of these nasty bitches do. That’s what rubbers are for.”
“Who are you? What are you even doing in my niece’s house?”
“I would say the better question to ask would be WHO I’m doing, but then you’ve answered your own question, haven’t you?”
“Dory, get your stuff and get in the car.”
Dory was gathering her belongings in the kitchen when Billy walked in.
“Hey.”
“What do you want, you jerk?”
“Lose the attitude, brat. I came to talk.”
“About what? I don’t even know you.”
“Look, don’t take your mom’s shit, okay?”
“What?”
“What she said about whatever bitch she’s making you call your sister? Screw that. If you say she’s not your sister, then she’s not your sister.”
“Why are you being nice to me?”
“I’m not. But I know a shitty situation when I see one.”
Dory simply pushed past him to her mother.
Once they left, Billy prepared himself for the tongue lashing Tara was inevitably going to give him. What he actually got, however, was very different.
“You don’t want children?” Tara asked, dejected.
“Hell fucking no! It’s bad enough I’m always stuck babysitting that little shit!”
Right on cue, the sound of rolling along the concrete came drifting closer.
“Speak of the damn devil,” he added, taking a drag of his cigarette.
Tara looked outside to see a very exhausted Max skating to her front door.
“You made Max skate home?” Tara asked angrily.
“Yeah? What of it?”
“Are you out of your mind? Do you have any idea how dangerous that is? You know Hawkins used to be a Sundown Town, right?”
Tara’s lecture was cut short by the phone ringing. She gave a heavy sigh and answered.
“Newman residence.”
There was faint conversation and Tara let out another heavy sigh.
“Yeah, okay I’ll be right there. Just give me like 15 minutes to change clothes and—“
Whoever was on the other end sounded pissed.
“Yes, I know how serious this is! I just—“
Tara let out another sigh.
“Okay, forget the clothing change. I’ll be right there.”
Tara hung up the phone and turned to Billy.
“I have to go. You should head back home, too.”
“Really? You’re gonna send me away again.”
“Yeah. I have to.”
Tara made her way to the door when Billy blocked her way.
“Billy, let me through!”
“Why should I?”
“Because I have to go! I don’t understand what—“
“No, I don’t understand! One second, you want me around and then the next, you’re telling me to get lost! I’m supposed to be your boyfriend! All I want from you is a little bit of affection and closeness!”
“Closeness requires trust… and trust requires loyalty…”
“For fuck’s sake, Tara! I have needs! I’ve said it a million times! It’s not personal! I’m a man!”
Tara let out a heavy sigh.
“I have to go. Get home before Neil shoots you.”
With that, Tara grabbed her car keys and pushed past him.
It was bad enough that it was getting dark, but the tears prickling Tara’s eyes were making it even more difficult to see the road.
Thankfully, before she knew it, the Byers house was just up ahead.
When she pulled up, she saw Hopper standing in the doorway with his arms crossed.
“Nice of you to finally join us.”
#stranger things#stranger things oc#hawkinsona#hawkins#stranger things fanfic#tara newman#daniel newman#hawkins high#stranger things 2#steve harrington#nancy wheeler#Youtube
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Cursed Hands
Nanami Kento stops by the bakery he frequents only to meet an adoptive sister of his cashier. There is an aura of foreboding around her. He doesn’t know why, but he feels a strong pull to work with her.
Pairing: nanami Kento x reader
Warnings: self defense fighting, reader can’t see curses, kissing in an alley, allusions to shibuya b e f o r e tragedy
Judging by the way an old acquaintance cuts off the arm of a curse you cou;ld not really see, but sense, you realize you might have entered a realm you didn’t even know existed. And perhaps, maybe, just maybe, having you reach out to feel the curse now seen by your own eyes only to grab it by the ends of its ankles, it begins to catch fire and disintegreate. There is screaming and mayhem afoot by the side of the road when you are helped to your feet and the blonde salaryman who isn’t just a salary man holds your hand to guide you through the crowded streets of Tokyo.
Over your shoulder, you observe your surroundings, the halo in your eyes are eclipsed now back to their original shade. You are panting alongside him, his glasses a bit bloodied by the cut on his brow. His adrenaline is high when he gives you a little smirk. Nanami Kento really hates overtime work, you think. You know this because he makes various complaints when he stops by your sister’s bakery everyday at lunch. You’re there this week after she had to go visit your aging father in the hospital. Being a bit closer to this cafe regular in age had nothing to do with the fact he too was a sorcerer. Your sister and parents weren’t really related by blood–you just were legally adopted when you were caught stealing bread from their trash behind their business. You were fifteen and with no money to continue your education, you mostly hung out with old stiffs at the monasteries around your decrepit neighborhood. He pulls your arm into an alleyway, hiding from the other curses subordinate to the one you just exterminated.
“Nanamin,” you said his name in hopes he would glance down at you. Icey cobalt eyes narrow and relax as he pushes you against the wall of a building. He really is breathtaking up close; square shoulders, strong arms, even stronger defined thighs, the suit is nearly bursting at the seams of the buttons. Your sister would have killed to be in your position: your nose was pressed gently into the apex of his pectorals, when he hurried a quaint, “shh, will you be quiet for me?” reaches your ears. You feel yourself nod and though your hands are still connected, you let his other one cradle the back of your head. Your free hand grips the back of the fabric gently. You hear the beating of wings not too far away from where you hide for now, so you panic. With one deep breath shared in time with the other, you make a proposition without asking. All you can think of saying is a demure, “Excuse me,” before you tiptoe to slide your lips against his. Sure, he is taken aback at such a subtle display of affection, yet when he hears the same set of wings hover past, he is grateful you came up with a diversion. Especially now since he finds himself kissing you back. You break the kiss a few moments later, becoming used to his tongue halfway down your own oral cavity, you press your forehead against his for a second.
“We should go before they find us,” you tap his shoulder. “I know a place.”
You brush past the man before you who has this ghost of a smile upturning on his lips. An hour goes by as you two are now sitting at your old place; squatting at an abandoned unit not too far from sacred ground. Your previous caretakers, the monks who inhabit this side of the city, greet you, signing their thanks you are safe from the things that do inherently go bump in the night. You’re given some monastery clothes as is Nanami, who steps into the room first. He is leaning over the provided bathroom mirror, wincing as he undoes his shirt. You mention you were stepping out to find some needle, thread, and ultimately liquid bandaids. Neither you nor him bring up the kiss as a coverup while in the city. Currently, blue eyes snap up when you call his name followed by an honoriific he wishes you’d drop by now. Truthfully, he has questions, but when he notices the tattoos of prayer beads on either side of your wrists, his answers are there. The self-harm scars had healed over time, but knowing the official line of work, Nanami says nothing as he continues to clean and wrap a bandage on his ribs. His weapons lay atop the end table and the bed, though it is meant for one person, can actually be for two. Now is not the time to think about that, Nanami’s subconscious yells. He notices you in the reflection of the bathroom light, you’re checking him out and though you didn’t want him to catch on, you mention if he needed your help, you were going to be reading on the bed. The thread, hot water bowl, and needle are placed by you on the opposite night stand. Nanami turns off the light as the blood from the cut clots, his glasses are safely tucked in the neckline of the monastery tunic. Yours is unlaced while your bold red tanktop is seen poking through, much to his pleasure.
“Oh, were you done?” you asked. You place the book down after he asked you if you could stitch him up.
“Y-yeah I can,” you said, patting the side of the bed where he would eventually take up the most space. When he sits, he places his hands neatly on his lap like he’s about to conduct a business meeting. However, with nimble fingers and lithe movements, you guide him to look at you–his gaze is just as intense and though you are closing his wound, he winces a bit after the first official stitch is complete.
“I know,” you whisper to him. “I know you see them.”
He nods, blonde hair falling in front of his eyes. You brush them away as you continue quickly.
“The souls of the damned are always welcomed here,” you explain. “I know because I can’t see curses, but I acknowledge their existence…”
You’re impossibly close now, making soothing tongue-clicking sounds. There has to be a reason why Nanami ran into you tonight; there has to be another explanation why the pesky Gojo Satoru had mentioned your name before. Was this why? A warm, rough palm keeps your wrist steady when you snip the last long piece of string with your teeth. He feels the keloid scarred skin underneath the pads of the fingers. The souls who were devoured by curses haunt his line of sight, so you tell him to close his eyes. Surprisingly, he obeys, which was for you, kind of nice. You wave the lost souls away until a small inkling of a flash blinds the room.
“You can exorcize the room?” his voice is low, too low bordering on dangerous. He opens his eyes wide, staring at you in disbelief and not horror.
“Yes,” you continue on your story when he asks more pressing questions. For example, when did you start seeing or being sensitive to curses present? You answered openly. The scars are not from suicide attempts, they are from days when you were defending yourself against the monastery’s brutal cleansing ritual or trials by combat. You’ve since moved in with a woman and her child who, for lack of better understanding, come to adopt you so you may attend school and university. It’s why you’re back here now, the brother monks here at this monastery temple are the kinder of the many factions of strict curse seers. You find Nanami listening and humming along when appropriate and is quite a charming fellow. From what you gather from your sister, he has lately been seen with two friends of his: one a pink-haired boy no younger than you were when you first defeated your first curse and the second, his teacher, who seemed to play around a lot, only to be serious when the battles called for it.
“A sorcerer and a shaman’s apprentice,” you chuckle as you decide it is time to formally introduce yourself. “YLN, YN.”
“Nanmai Kento,” he replies. Then he traces his lips with one of your hands after the supplies are put away. “Although I think we are past the point of introductions…”
Your face is on fire right now, but the gesture makes you curious.
“Come the morning, we shall discuss whether or not you take me with you to see this council of sorcerers,” you say, stifling a yawn.
Nanami Kento agrees soon thereafter, placing your hands down, but never letting them go.
“And if I were to thank an acquaintance for stitching me up?”
His breath smells of winter fresh mint which flusters you so when you realize he is far too close. Your eyes close slowly, experience dictates how you are to lean in too. Just like before in the alley, you give in to selfish desires. This time, neither of you apologize. Not when your hands grip his tunic when he guides you to lay down atop him, carrying on from the alley earlier.
“When these bruised ribs heal, I need you to come over,” he chuckles in between breaths. You hum from where your lips kiss his pulsepoint. Your hands keep his chest steady while he rubs your knuckles back and forth. All this sweetness he had had was reserved for you. Perhaps that’s why now a few months later, when you face an ominous curse, your hands make a sigil–one your lover hasn’t seen. The sigil burns brightly as your beads are all aglow, the trap is set when your palms press against the asphalt and a throne atop a pile of bones is transported into reality. The throne is familiar to every curse who bows to you. Sakuna may have been the king of curses, but you, dear one, have more pull than a measly king. Itadori Yuuji and Nanami Kento watch as curses close to a god are obliterated on the spot.
“God of the damned,” a curse screeches as it combusts into flames. Your smile is a tainted one. A shadow of the real you comes through warning the two men whom have become close to you as both student and lover adhere to your warnings to run.
“You have a war to win tonight, so go,” your voice is laced with a sudden sadness as your beads began to fade. “Don’t worry, I’ll find you again in the next life, Nanami.”
Nanami has a stone cold expression on his face. Itadori, who has lost so much thus far in Shibuya, has an important battle to win, seems frozen in place, terrified of what is happening. You give the teenager parting words of wisdom: “Young Itadori, everything will be ok. Protect each other. Now, go.”
The problem with sorcerers falling for walking embodiments of curse users and or dead gods is when the seals are broken, havoc lives in their blood. Like how a certain baker’s daughter and sister was doomed from the start the moment her hands could destroy the dark matter no one else could see. Sacrificing oneself for the greater good isn’t an issue for you, hell it isn’t one for Nanami either come the end of his battle. Itadori Yuuji eventually loses two people who have guided him to be a better person. He had only hope.
#🌻— flying around collecting pollen—queue#sora after hours#sora scribbles: jjk related#sora’s 🚧 wips🚧#🎋jjk.shorts🎋
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More undateables with a demigod hades mc???
By request, have yourself a part two!!
Demigod MC Series: Hades Pt. 2 (Un)Dateables Edition!
I will ask that y’all please don't ask for continuations of other gods unless I say it’s okay to do again. This series already fills my inbox something fierce and this is a one-off that I allowed for during the request window. If I have to make ideas for new gods while continuing a bunch of old MCs, it'll burn me out fast...
Demigod MC Series: Intro, Aphrodite, Hermes, Hades, Dionysus, Demeter, Athena, Hades Pt. 2
Diavolo
Oh, he has no problem at all hosting a child of the Underworld, hell he even throws them a welcome banquet when he finds out! Hades is a dear friend - and practically a parental figure to him growing up - so he's more than happy to take in one of his children for a year.
Diavolo is actually one of the few people that the MC can talk to about their home with any kind of fondness. Usually when they bring up things like the comforting wailing of the River Coctyus, the brothers will give them weird looks... but Diavolo knows where they're coming from!
He spent numerous summers in the Underworld growing up doing things like pestering Charon on the River Styx or playing games with Cerberus (the other one) in the Asphodel Meadows... His beach house is actually modeled after his childhood summer home in the Isles of Paradise! Really, it can be a lovely place if the gloom doesn't bother you!
So in the spirit of his fond memories, Diavolo really tried to make their time in the Devildom a fun one!... in his maybe trying a little too hard way…
Poor MC found themselves offered pretty much everything under the moon… Tickets or exclusive passes to different cultural events/festivals, invitations to gala events, and tours of nearly every inch of Hell by the Prince himself - it was… it was a lot for the poor introverted thing…
It didn’t help that Diavolo would have a hard time gauging if they were having any fun due to their naturally melancholic nature, which only pushed him to try harder… He means well, he does. He’s just not the most in touch with what would make an anti-social doom child happy...
It took Barbatos and Lucifer stepping in for the mortal to actually start getting some much needed space and that improved their experience significantly. Sometimes less is more, Dia… Less is more. But they appreciate his efforts anyway.
Barbatos
Also has a pretty amicable relationship with the Ruler of the Underworld, though his is much more professional compared to Diavolo’s. He actually has a good deal of appreciation for the man for taking good care of the Prince during his visits, so he sees this as an opportunity to return the favor.
Like Diavolo, he’s rather focused on making sure the MC is having a good stay in the Devildom, but he’s much more subtle about it. He’ll come by the House often to check up on them and make sure everything is to their liking...
Even the brothers notice that he treats them like anothering visiting Lord/Lady in that way, which he would argue they very much are and should be respected as one. It’s the least the Devildom can offer their father at this point.
His visits may also be an excuse for keeping an eye on the brothers to make sure they don’t do anything to inconvenience their “young guest…” To be honest, the entire House is a little paranoid about that… Nobody wants to know the punishment for hurting MC if Barbs is the one dishing it out...
Apart from watching out for them, Barbatos tries to encourage the MC to accept the Young Lord’s gifts (while also actively advising Diavolo to go easier on them at the same time). It would be so disheartening to him if his Prince feels like he hasn’t offered them the best experience that he could… He’s sure they understand.
Any time that he invites the MC to tea, they usually end up talking about their father in some way. Barbs knows a surprising amount about the god… He’s been around about as long as Chronos - preceding the birth of Aether and Chaos themselves - so he has some stories to tell.
The MC did once ask him why he doesn’t just run everything if he’s really been around for so long... his answer was: “Kings and their kingdoms will rise and fall… Worlds upon worlds are born, then cease to be. But time is what brings about all changes… So, I think I’m perfectly content with the power I possess. Wouldn’t you be?”
Annnd they never asked Barbs another question like that again… and people think death is scary…
Simeon
He was honestly a little worried for their new companion for quite a while… It’s not like there’s never any sadness in the Celestial Realm or anything, but they seem to have something else entirely…
He’s heard stories about the Underworld. He’s never been himself, that’s usually a job for the Seraphim due to the… dreary nature of the place - but he’s heard it would make the Devildom look downright festive…
If he were being honest, he had half expected the MC to be obsessed with skeletons, ghosts, and other elements of darkness but that wasn’t the case. They certainly knew a lot about those things, but they appeared to have a healthy interest in the afterlife in general, so they asked him a lot of questions about the Celestial Realm, angels, and how the souls of the blessed are treated up there… It was surprising to say the least.
Of course he did the same and, frankly, Simeon found it incredibly wasteful that so many Greek followers find themselves just wasting away in a field of nothing for so long… but that’s neither here nor there.
He was also surprised by how gentle of an influence the MC ended up being on Luke as well. He had always suspected that the little angel just needed a bridge between him and Devildom to start finding appreciation for it, and the MC fit that bill perfectly - nothing he was used to, but still approachable enough to make everything less frightening. He thanks them a great deal for that… but...
It’s just that… Well they’re just so… depressing sometimes…! He doesn’t want to blame them because it hardly seems like their fault! They’re a very kind person, it’s just an atmosphere around them… It brings him to tears if he isn’t careful…
He’s invited the MC to Purgatory Hall on multiple occasions to chat and try to make them smile… When they do, the gloom is dispelled - even just a little - and they’re a truly beautiful creature regardless. It’s just so unfortunate that their life brings so much sadness...
Even so, he actually likes the MC enough to consider basing a character on them if he ever wrote another book. Something about a gloomy but sweet protagonist at home in a world of darkness sounds appealing… doesn’t it?
Luke
He didn’t know how to feel about the MC when they met. At first, he actually thought they were just as unhappy as he was to be there due to how depressed they looked but when they told him that wasn't true, he was really confused...
The Devildom is a dark, brutish, and dangerous place. Why would anyone feel at home down here??
But… well… He would spend time with them at RAD between breaks (partially to help scare off their many, many demonic suitors) and it might be weird to say, but they really made the Devildom look beautiful… literally.
The world just looks better when they’re around! It’s really hard to describe because it’s not something you notice much until they leave, but when the MC is around everything looks more vibrant and inviting! The grass gets greener, flowers grow bigger, and butterflies/birds hover around wherever they are like they have their own gravity - the realm loves them!
It started getting hard for Luke to hang onto his disdain for the place when they made it look so appealing… And then they started talking to him about the Underworld and the creatures they’d befriended there… creatures a lot worse than any demons he’d seen there...
Like. If the MC can be good friends with a bunch of rude walking corpses, then he could probably make friends with a demon right? There’s nice ones… kind of…
Beel. He can make friends with Beel.
Like Simeon, he does feel bad that they seem so sad all the time… but unlike the older angel, he’s a bit more understanding that this is just how they are and enjoys his time with them regardless. (It helps a lot that just being around this little bean of a boy can lift their spirits anyway).
And you know what’s even better for him? When Lord Diavolo gives the MC tickets to things that they don’t want to go to, sometimes they’ll invite him along or give them to him instead!
He’s gone to the Devil’s Coast with MC and Simeon sooo many times by now and he loves it!! Maybe the Devildom isn’t so bad after all, I mean, it can be a lot of fun when you go to the right places, anyway.
Solomon
Oh, he finds them both deeply fascinating and utterly terrifying - so just his sort of test sub-er, person!
He kids (somewhat), Solomon isn’t that dumb/lacking in self-preservation instinct. Experimenting on a child of death in a land of the dead (even if it’s not their “home turf”) would be asking for trouble. They’d have more than enough ammunition to fight him off and if their father found out? Immortality wouldn’t even begin to save him...
That being said, questions aren’t necessarily experiments… and oh boy, does he have a lot of them.
If the MC isn’t being pestered by Diavolo or the brothers, then they’re probably having to put up with Solomon nipping at their heels trying to get them to use their powers or answer all sorts of “innocent” scientific questions…
“MC, reanimation of Greek dead requires a blood offering, correct? Do you have to sacrifice animals for that process or do you allow them to feast on your own?”
“MC, when you’re controlling a skeleton do you move the body as a whole or do you have to animate each individual bone due to their lack of ligaments?”
“Think fast!! Oh look, you just caught the skull of my good friend, Richard! Could you bring him back from that, or should I fetch the rest of him?” 🙂
They put up with it because, believe it or not, he’s not nearly the weirdest person they’ve ever met (a lot of crazy people drift in and out of the land of the dead…) and well… they’re a pretty lonely person too so it’s not like they have a lot of standards when it comes to friendships anyway.
But the second they breathe a word of this to Barbs or Diavolo, this boy is on his way to a royal restraining order… Where does he even get those skulls…?
#obey me#obey me shall we date#shall-we-date-obey-me#obey me undateables#obey me datables#obey me diavolo#obey me barbatos#obey me simeon#obey me luke#obey me solomon#obey me demigods#obey me requests
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Angel Sent From Up Above
Anniversary Request Special
Synopsis: Hyunjin, a new guardian angel, has fallen in love with a human. His human’s girlfriend, to be precise. Angel AU, background college AU and skater AU.
Warning: violence
Word Count: 8.3k
Pairing: fem!reader x guardian angel!Hyunjin; fem!reader x human!Jeongin
“Is she healed now?” Hyunjin asks the moment Jisung flies in. He knows Jisung is probably exhausted from keeping maladies away from you, but he needs the answer now. “Is her flu gone?”
“Yeah.” Jisung’s wings are tinged gray with ruin, but he keeps them on display for all the other guardian angels to see as he walks past them. They are proof that he has been doing his duty. They’ll return to white soon enough anyway. “Your human’s her boyfriend. Why didn’t you try to check through him? He visited a few times even though she told him not to.” Jisung sighs and shakes his head. “What an idiot. He’s going to get sick himself.”
“He hasn't visited recently, so I haven’t been able to check through him. The Archangel’s forbade me going to Earth unless it was something serious. I think he’s worried I'm spending too much time with humans.”
Jisung shakes his head. “I think he’s worried that he’s going to have to Seungmin you.”
“I'm not going to get expelled.”
Jisung shrugs, and ruin falls from his wings like ash. “You better watch out. You checked up on her too much last time she got sick, so he's probably trying to make sure you won't abandon your human. He's banished people for less. Case in point: Seungmin.”
“She's important to Jeongin, so she's important to me."
Jisung sighs. “Sometimes I think you’re more protective of her than I am.”
He says it as a joke, but Hyunjin knows it’s the truth. He cares deeply about you, maybe even more than his own human, but he will never say that last part aloud.
Hyunjin used to believe that becoming a guardian angel was the best thing that ever happened to him. All of his afterlife, he had wanted to be promoted, to be granted the pure white wings and the crown of sun rays. Regular angels had wings and halos but never white wings and golden halos; silver and silver was the “regular” combination.
Watching over a human was considered the highest honor an angel could receive, and everyone clamored to gain the attention of the Archangel. Hyunjin was not immune. He worked as a messenger for years, delivering even the most inane notes between the higher ups. He endured the attacks, verbal and sometimes physical, and kept his mouth shut. Eventually, the Archangel recognized his efforts, and before dawn broke on Earth, Hyunjin was named the new guardian angel of a baby boy, Yang Jeongin.
“You will protect him. You will guide him,” the Archangel said. “He is your responsibility now and yours alone. Do you understand?”
From Heaven, Hyunjin could only look at the wet, wrinkled face of his human. His human. “I understand.”
Then the Archangel flew off, and Hyunjin flew to Earth for the first time to meet the baby. No one noticed him as he phased through the hospital walls nor as his giant wings folded back. Only Jeongin would be able to see his guardian angel.
“Hello there, little one,” he whispered to the swaddled baby. The boy was fast asleep, and Hyunjin gently stroked his face. “I just wanted to introduce myself. I’m Hyunjin, your official guardian angel. I’ll always be nearby now, and I’ll always make sure you’re safe. Sometimes you won’t be able to see me, but I’ll always be watching over you. I promise.”
Jeongin stirred awake and stared back at Hyunjin. Two sets of eyes blinked at each other, one full of curiosity and one full of tenderness.
“Go back to sleep,” Hyunjin said. He drew his hand over the baby’s face, and Jeongin’s eyes fluttered shut. “Sweet dreams, little one.”
Guardian angels talked about their humans like parents, bragging about how gifted they were and sharing complaints about what unbelievable thing they did the other day. Hyunjin mostly did the latter. Jeongin was an adventurous child, which was just a nice way of saying that he liked to play with danger. Hyunjin often had to fly in to save him or to redirect the threat somewhere else. The other angels joked that Hyunjin stayed on Earth more than Heaven sometimes. He didn’t mind though. Even with his human’s shortcomings, Hyunjin adored him. He watched from above as Jeongin said his first words, attended his first day of kindergarten, and got into his first fight.
“He’s a troublemaker,” Minho observed.
Minho was a guardian angel as well, but he tended to lurk on the outer edges of the realm as the other angels avoided him for a reason Hyunjin hadn’t figured out yet. Hyunjin liked him well enough and treated him like a mentor, sometimes a friend.
“Hey, you’re not one to talk. Your human started a black market of candy at school.”
Minho shrugged. “I didn’t say it was a bad thing.”
Jeongin didn’t end up growing up into a troublemaker, to Hyunjin’s relief. The impulsive streak was still there, but he utilized his judgement more now. There were no car crashes or cases of alcohol poisoning, and when Jeongin asked out girls, it was with daisy bouquets and a suggestion to get lunch. Hyunjin slowly stopped making routine trips to Earth and chose to view Jeongin from the comfort of Heaven. It was there that Hyunjin noticed you.
“I think she’s upset with him,” Jisung abruptly says. “She cried after a video call with him, so if your human starts acting strangely, that’s why.”
The news makes Hyunjin stop mid-step, and he turns to his friend. “She cried? What? What did she cry about?”
“I don’t know. I was too busy trying to lower her temperature. Can you believe that she almost hit—”
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
“I just got back! There is no ‘earlier!’ Besides, we aren't allowed to interfere in anything that isn't dangerous. Heartbreak, if this is even what this is, is temporary."
“Humans do drastic things for love.” The movies has seen while watching Jeongin have told him that much.
“Which we will attend to when it happens. You’re a new guardian; you’ll understand them better over time. Not everything is life-threatening, fragile as they are.”
Hyunjin turns away from Jisung and glances down at Earth. The clouds part, and all of the brick buildings of the university rush towards his eyes as he focuses on Jeongin. He’s asleep at his desk, his lamp still burning bright above him. How long has it been since the video call? Or perhaps he’s just tired from the events of his day. But he looks so small and vulnerable in his chair. Jeongin isn’t fragile — the amount of situations he has gotten out of covered in bruises and blood is astronomical — but he is mortal.
“But she loves him,” Hyunjin softly says, “and he loves her.”
“Exactly. Humans fight over small things all the time, and this is one of those times.” Jisung places a hand on Hyunjin’s shoulder to placate him. “Trust me.”
“... I trust you.”
“Good. I need to rest, but we can catch up and see what stupid things they do after.”
The moment Jisung flies off to the rest area, Hyunjin goes against the Archangel’s orders and flies to your apartment. When he peers inside your bedroom window, he spots you sitting in bed in the dark, your phone screen illuminating your face. He phases inside and sits at your desk chair, resting his forearms at the top rail. You can’t see him, but he wishes that you could.
You mindlessly scroll through messages, sniffling every few seconds. Whether it’s from your crying or your illness, he doesn’t know. He can’t hand you a tissue or tell you comforting things or hug you like Jeongin can. When you wrap your blanket tighter around your shoulders, he wraps his wings around himself as well.
Suddenly you throw your phone beside you and let out a heavy sigh. “It can’t get any worse than this,” you say to yourself.
Hyunjin waits for you to say more, but you only stare at the ceiling with blank eyes. He can’t compel you to talk; only Jisung can, but he’s not here. So instead, Hyunjin knocks over the glass of water on your bed when you shift into a more comfortable position.
“Of course it can,” you sigh again and blot as much water as you can with your tissues. You pull another one out of the box with more force than necessary and furiously dab your sheets. “First I get sick, then I miss a homework deadline that I can’t make up because my professor lost his heart thirty years ago along with his hair, then my boyfriend breaks up with me for like no reason, apparently I have an exam tomorrow, and now I’ve spilled water all over my bed, so I can’t even sleep. Thank you, universe. I really needed this.”
He immediately regrets his decision.
“Worst freaking week of my life,” you mumble as you throw away the wet tissues. Hyunjin almost reaches out for your arm when you pass by, but he retracts it just in time.
When you climb back into bed, you draw your blanket up to your chin and begin murmuring numbers. They come out calm and even at first, but they become more tense as time passes. Hyunjin half-listens as he scans the contents of your desk. A laptop, a shopping bag, an open notebook with doodles on the margins, an uncapped black pen, and a pack of gum. He presses his forefinger to the point of the pen, drawing a tiny heart by touch. Then he stamps the heart among all your misshapen stars and imaginary flowers. You might just think it’s an ink smear, but he hopes you look at it and smile.
You hit three hundred and forty-seven before you begin to sound drowsy. Hyunjin stands at the foot of your bed, watching as you finally drift off in the middle of three hundred and ninety-three. Serenity settles across your features.
“I’m sorry for what I did earlier. Good night and sweet dreams,” he whispers. He pats the corner of your bed before flying off into the night.
He needs to see Jeongin.
It was hard not to notice you when you were on a collision course with Jeongin. You were going too fast, and Hyunjin’s wings couldn’t carry him to Earth in milliseconds. With horror, he watched as you sharply turned the building corner on your skateboard and just barely jumped off in time when you saw Jeongin about to make the same turn.
“You okay?” Jeongin asked as he hurried to stop your runaway board.
“I should be asking you that!” you exclaimed as you followed him. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have veered that close to the wall. You’re not hurt or anything, right?”
“I’m fine, don’t worry.”
“Good. I can’t risk getting sued again.” Unsure of how to respond, Jeongin nudged back your board to you. You neatly stopped it mid-roll with your foot. “Thanks, by the way. See you around.”
“Yeah, see you.”
You kicked off, but before you left the area, you turned around and gave him a wave. Jeongin waved back, albeit more shyly than you. After a moment’s hesitation, he yelled out, “Be careful!”
“I’ll try!”
Jeongin laughed and turned the corner, looking at the brick wall with more wistfulness than most people usually did. Before he entered the building, he peeked around the next corner, as if he expected you to come speeding by again. You didn’t.
After that, he noticed you more often, usually swerving around strangers as you cut through campus. Whenever he had the opportunity to say hello, he did so with a smile, and you returned it with a waggle of your fingers before disappearing into the crowd. Once, you nearly crashed into a railing. You laughed it off and gave him another wave along with a funny face. Hyunjin felt something inside him melt. Jeongin must have too since he headed to his next class with the most lovestruck expression Hyunjin had ever seen on him.
It was then that Jeongin began forming a plan.
Two weeks after the first meeting, Jeongin waited in the quad for you to show up. Just as he hoped, you came walking down the steps fifteen minutes later, skateboard tucked underneath your arm. It was supposed to seem like a coincidence, but Hyunjin had followed Jeongin as he scoured nearby skate spots, asking around about you. Yesterday, he had learned where you liked to practice tricks. He got up from his bench, hands hidden behind his back, and approached you with the same moves and confidence he had rehearsed in the bathroom mirror.
“Hey! How have you been?” he called up from the very bottom.
Meanwhile, Hyunjin groaned. Jisung, who Hyunjin had tracked down two days prior to this, also did so.
“You said he was a charmer,” Jisung complained. “Look at him. He can’t even charm dogs with a treat.”
“For your sake, I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that. Just wait though. It’s going to get better.”
Jisung huffed. “It better. She deserves the best.”
Fortunately, you took it all in stride and waved hello at Jeongin. When you were finally beside him, you answered, “I’ve been good, thanks. You’re not here to sue me, right?”
“No! I was actually wondering if you could teach me how to skateboard. If you have time, that is.”
“Really? But I almost killed you that one time. I mean, I’d be happy to, but it’s kind of weird after what happened.”
“I’d rather skateboard than walk, and you seem pretty good at it.”
You shifted your weight to one foot, and Hyunjin chuckled when he saw Jeongin’s eyes wander to your jutted-out hip. Jisung made a noise of disapproval.
“Okay, what is this really about?”
“Skateboarding,” Jeongin said. Then he took a step closer and held out a bundle of daisies towards you. “And lunch, if you want.”
You broke out into a grin. “I am a little hungry right now. L/N Y/N, skateboarding extraordinaire and ramen enthusiast, at your service.”
“Yang Jeongin, also a ramen enthusiast. Nice to officially meet you.”
Jeongin is still sleeping at his desk when Hyunjin arrives. He shifts and exhales when the wind from Hyunjin’s wings create a small breeze but does not wake.
“How could you break up with her?” Hyunjin says. “She’s amazing and wonderful, and you decide that you don't want to be with her? Sometimes I wonder what’s going on in your head.”
Silence.
“If I were human, I would have never done that, but…”
Jeongin shifts again, burying himself deeper into the crumpled hoodie he’s using as a pillow. The table squeaks, and a mechanical pencil rolls off the desk. Hyunjin quietly places the pencil back to its initial place and shuts off the lamp.
“Take care of yourself, and make good choices, okay? I can’t do that for you.”
Instead of flying back to Heaven, he perches on the roof of the building across from Jeongin’s. Jeongin finally wakes up and notices that his light is off. He glances at it confusedly for a few seconds, wondering if he misremembered leaving it on. In the end, he decides it’s not worth the effort and falls into his bed. He didn’t even spare you a thought, a crime in Hyunjin’s eyes.
Then he realizes he may have a bigger problem on his hands.
Jisung.
Jisung is going to be very upset when he finds out about this.
Over the weekend, you brought Jeongin to the quad to learn the basics.
“Put both feet on the board now,” you said as you walked alongside a skateboarding Jeongin. He was borrowing yours to practice, so he treated it with more reverence than a well-used board would need. Even though he was pushing with his back foot, he was going at a snail’s pace.
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“I’m going to lose my balance and fall.”
Perhaps it wasn’t reverence after all.
You shook your head. “No, you won’t. You’re not going that fast anyway. You can just step off if you really feel like you are. Give it a shot.”
To his credit, Jeongin lifted his foot a few centimeters off the ground before planting it back. “I’m going to lose control.”
While you did your best to persuade Jeongin to give it another try, Jisung gave Hyunjin a dissatisfied look. “I remember you telling me he was a daredevil. What is happening?”
He didn’t exactly know either. “He’s in front of his crush; give him a break.”
“These two better not end up dating. She deserves so much better than him.”
Hyunjin gave him a dirty look, Jisung gave him a “What? It’s true” type of a shrug.
You step in front of the board. “How about this?” you said. “You stand on the board with both feet, and I’ll pull you along so you can get used to the feeling and be less of a scaredy cat.”
“Okay.”
You took both of his hands and slowly guided him backwards. At the same time, you instructed him to put more weight on one side to change directions. Jeongin was surprisingly stable, and Hyunjin watched proudly as his human suggested that you increase your speed a little.
“See? It’s not bad?” you said. “Keeping balance isn’t that hard, right?”
“Yeah. Also,” he grinned, his meek demeanor completely gone, “we’re holding hands now.”
Your eyes widened as you glanced down at your joined hands, and you let out a delighted gasp. “You sneaky little—” Much to Jeongin’s alarm, you let go and smirked. “If you go past the bench without constantly pushing, I’ll let you hold my hand when you walk me home.”
“Kind of presumptuous of you to assume that I would offer to walk you home,” he teased, resting one foot on the floor. “Or is that what you want me to do?”
“You asked me to lunch with flowers. You were going to.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” Then he kicked off, skating past the bench with ease. Still going, he looked over his shoulder and shouted, “Do you want to grab doughnuts before you head home?”
“Watch the lamp!” you yelled as you ran towards him. “Jeongin, stop looking at me and turn around!”
The collision with the lamppost was unavoidable, so Hyunjin simply watched as Jeongin took a flying leap off your board and took a tumble on the concrete. While you fumbled for band aids — Jeongin’s knee was scraped and bloody — Jeongin patted his pockets to check that his phone had not fallen out.
“So doughnuts?” he sheepishly asked.
“Sure. I’ll buy.” You finally found one hidden in the bottom of your backpack along with an alcohol wipe. “Guess you get to hold my hand after all.”
“How are you so prepared?” he asked, nodding to the contents you had unceremoniously dumped out whilst rummaging. “You have tweezers and gauze?”
“My mom made me carry a first-aid kit with me when she found out that I skate to class. It comes in handy.” You ripped open the package. “This might hurt.”
“You can kiss it to feel better.”
You laughed and pressed the alcohol wipe to his knee. “You’re such a flirt, I love it. Does it hurt?”
“Yeah, hurts a lot.”
You opted to kiss the band aid instead, causing Jeongin to pout and Jisung to sigh in relief. When you stuck it onto his skin, Jeongin made a big production of being relieved from pain, which made you laugh and shove him.
“No! She’s in love with him,” Jisung groaned. His wings drooped, and Hyunjin swore his halo actually dimmed when you kept your hands in Jeongin’s after you pulled him up. “Well, Hyunjin, looks like you and I are going to be best friends.”
Hyunjin personally saw no issue with that. Like Jeongin, he had been charmed by your antics and your easygoing nature. Protecting his human’s friends, family, or lovers wasn’t part of Hyunjin’s duty, but he felt compelled to watch over you too.
Because if he were human, he would have fallen in love with you too.
In the midst of his lamenting, Jisung flies down and sits beside him on the roof. His wings are still slightly gray, and Hyunjin strangely begins to feel self-conscious of his pure white ones.
“Didn’t the Archangel forbid you from doing frivolous things?” Jisung says in lieu of a greeting. “I saw you at her apartment earlier.”
“I just wanted to check up on her. Not that I thought you lied,” he hastily adds. “I wanted to see for myself. She’s a little… distraught.”
“She got into a fight with her boyfriend. It’s normal.” When Hyunjin doesn’t reply or even make a sound, he grows concerned. “Is it something else? She’s getting sued, isn’t she? I knew it was going to happen someday. When I find that smug richie-rich, I’m going to—”
“Jeongin broke up with her.”
“What.”
Hyunjin repeats his sentence, trying to block the view of Jeongin’s bedroom with his body. Jisung looks like he’s ready to rain judgement onto him, and while Hyunjin is rather good at his job, he’s not sure if he can hold back an enraged guardian angel. Jisung takes several deep breaths before regaining the little composure he can muster.
“I knew I hated him for a reason. I knew he didn’t deserve her,” he spits out, though the venom in his voice wavers. “Why would he even break up with her? She loved him so much.”
Hyunjin shrugs. “That’s what I want to find out.”
“When you find out, let me know. I’m going to see her now.”
Hyunjin stays on the roof until sunrise. Jeongin sleeps without any trouble, and when he wakes up, he looks fresh-faced, no guilt hanging over his head. Hyunjin feels something inside him cracking apart.
You truly don’t deserve this.
“Do you think they’re going to crash and burn?” Jisung asked as he studied you and Jeongin walking through the park, practically glued to each other’s sides. “I think they’re moving too fast. It’s only been a month.”
Hyunjin really didn’t care about that. As long as you and Jeongin were happy, he was happy. “A month is a pretty long time for them. Mortal lives are short.”
“Exactly. They should be more selective about their life choices.”
Hyunjin only rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to you. You were pointing at the tiny carousel in the middle and tugging at Jeongin’s sleeve. You dragged him over and pushed a coin into the slot for the ride. The lights lit up and a carnival theme played while you struggled to wedge yourself between the saddle of an elephant and the roof of the carousel. Jeongin sat on the edge, beside the tiger, and chuckled at your flailing limbs.
Hyunjin suppressed his own laugh. You were something special. Just last week, the two of you had made it official and started dating. You had done it in the sweetest possible way.
You had taken him to a local skateboarding shop to help him pick out his first board. Once he had chosen one — the ‘one’ being a light blue deck patterned with multicolored doughnuts — the staff at the shop sent him to the back to try it out. Meanwhile, you made the age-old excuse of needing to use the restroom when you were actually getting the flowers you had hidden in the back.
Hyunjin had turned into a pile of fluff when you gave Jeongin the daisy bouquet and asked if he wanted to officially be your boyfriend. You were so earnest. Jeongin playfully pretended to think it over, a feat Hyunjin knew he wouldn’t have been able to do if he were in his position. There were no fireworks or confetti when Jeongin finally said yes, but the staff did clap and cheer. Jisung looked on with contempt. Hyunjin looked on with envy.
“You know,” Jisung abruptly said, snapping Hyunjin back to the present, “when her last boyfriend broke up with her, she had ice cream for dinner for a week.”
“Oh.”
“You see why I’m being wary of him now?”
Hyunjin did, but Jeongin was different. His previous relationships always ended well, and on one occasion, he remained friends with his ex. He sighed and decided that a change of topic was necessary so he wouldn’t have to potentially endure a tirade. “Did you hear about Minho’s human? The bank he worked at got robbed, and he got held at gunpoint.”
That caught the overprotective Jisung’s ear. “What? Is he okay?”
During Hyunjin’s recountment of Minho’s recountment, the carousel ride ended. You squeezed out of your spot, hitting your head on the roof, and Jeongin pulled you in for a forehead kiss. The world grew brighter when you smiled, he realized.
Hyunjin shadows Jeongin around all day, hoping to learn the reason for the breakup. Unfortunately, Jeongin doesn’t say anything. He does show some regret though, as he scrolls through past messages and old pictures. When he heads to classes, he opts to walk instead of skateboarding like usual and avoids the quad whenever possible.
In the evening, while Jeongin is chewing on his salad like a cow to cud, Hyunjin pays you a visit. He finds in the freezer section of the grocery store with three pints of ice cream in your basket. From the looks of it, you’re about to add another three to your haul. Peanut butter pretzel sounds equal parts delicious and confusing.
Hyunjin studies your expression, frowning at the same time you do. Your eyes are ringed with red, your jaw tight, and your eyebrows seem permanently furrowed. When he follows you back home, he half expects you to start crying on the way, but you hold fast and manage to open a pint of the salted caramel flavor before the tears finally come. There’s no wailing, just sniffling and the sound of you furiously wiping at your face with the sleeve of your hoodie. In the midst of it all, you find the strength to reorganize the freezer to make space for the other pints. Something about that makes Hyunjin’s heart drop.
By the time your roommate discovers you in the kitchen, the entire refrigerator has been reorganized and the ice cream finished. You sit in a dark room, your finger hovering above the ‘SEND’ button of a message to Jeongin. Hyunjin can see it if he flies above you: “Can you please just tell me why? You keep saying you did something wrong, but I don’t even know what it is. Please let me decide if it’s worth breaking up over.”
“Rough day?” she gently asks as she flips on the switch.
“Yeah.”
“Do you wanna talk about it?”
“Maybe tomorrow. I just wanna process it right now,” you hollowly say. You grab your skateboard — the same black, paint-splattered one you had last year — and unlock the front door. “I’m going out for a ride, but I’ll be back in an hour or so.”
“Stay safe.”
After you leave, Jisung phases through the kitchen walls and hisses at Hyunjin, “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be with Jeongin?”
He nearly forgot about him. Eating dinner isn’t a dangerous task anyway though. Besides, if Jeongin does get physically harmed somehow, Hyunjin will feel an echo of the pain. Hyunjin glances at the door, and Jisung shakes his head.
“I’ll take care of her. Go back to Jeongin, and make sure he’s okay. You can’t keep leaving him all the time.”
“Fine, I’ll go.”
“Good.”
Hyunjin reluctantly goes back to Jeongin, who is still eating his salad. His resolve from last night is clearly gone as evidenced by his melancholy expression as he scrolls through even more photos. The one of you in mid-air makes him clutch his phone.
“Let me get one of you when you’re really high up,” Jeongin suggested. He was comfortable gliding around on a skateboard now, but nowhere comfortable enough to try any tricks. Nevertheless, that didn’t stop you from trying to get him to learn. The “pop shove it” was your favorite, solely for the amount of height you could get.
“Okay.”
As you did over and over again for your enthusiastic boyfriend who was unfortunately not that great of a photographer, Hyunjin observed from a rooftop behind Jeongin. Sometimes you looked like you were flying. He could imagine wings protruding from your back, and if the sun hit you just right, there appeared to be a halo as well.
“I got one!” Jeongin exclaimed as he held up his device to you. “Look.”
Hyunjin couldn’t see for himself, but your mouth dropped into an ‘o’ once you took a first glance. A flustered smile made its way onto your face, and everything about you turned soft.
“This looks amazing,” you said. You sidled up to him and rested your cheek against his shoulder, turning your head towards him. “I love you.”
The words hung in the air for a few seconds as both Hyunjin and Jeongin tried to process them. This was the first time you had ever said them, and it came seemingly out of nowhere. Hyunjin recovered first.
“Say ‘I love you’ back, you moron,” Hyunjin whispered, like Jeongin would be able to hear him from this distance. “‘I love you too.’”
“I wanted to say it first,” Jeongin finally said. “Ugh, I had it all planned out too. We were supposed to get doughnuts after this, and I was going to buy you one of those heart-shaped ones.”
You kissed him on the cheek and intertwined your fingers with his. “We can still do that.”
At the doughnut shop, he said the words second, and you kissed him again, leaving a crystal of glaze on the corner of his mouth. Hyunjin licked his lips as if you had left it on him instead.
“Did you find out?” Jisung asks when Hyunjin leaves Jeongin to check up on you. You’re skating around the city, making sharp swerves and weaving in-between lampposts. Jisung is trailing behind you in the sky, but he slows when he sees Hyunjin approaching.
“No, but—”
“Then go back to him. Hyunjin,” Jisung sighs, “I know you care about her, but she’s not your human. Jeongin’s your responsibility.”
“I know but—”
“Go back. And I’m telling you this not as your friend but as your senior. You’re a guardian angel, and you need to take your responsibilities seriously. I’ll get the Archangel involved if I have to. Do you want to get Seungminned?”
The threat of the Archangel strangely doesn’t scare him anymore, however. In fact, the Archangel being involved may solve many of his current issues.
“I’ll find you again when I find out,” Hyunjin slowly says.
Jisung nods in approval before racing after you again. Hyunjin heads to Heaven, not to keep an eye over his human but to become human.
Ten months into Jeongin’s relationship with you, Hyunjin asked Minho, “Is it possible to give up your divinity?”
Minho gave Hyunjin a curious look. “Is being a guardian angel that taxing for you? You haven’t even experienced a full lifespan yet. I know, twenty year-olds are annoying, but it’s not nearly as bad as forty year-olds and their mid-life crisis.”
“I’m just curious. Or, as a last resort,” he added, hoping that Minho would stop being suspicious if he joked about it. “My human’s been making some dumb choices.”
A lie, but Minho fell for it.
“I told you he was going to be a troublemaker!” he cackled. He sympathetically patted Hyunjin’s back. “If I’m being honest, I thought about it a few times. I always get assigned to the troublemakers. Probably because the higher-ups hate me for not tolerating their BS. They’re always playing favorites. Anyway, the easiest way is to get expelled by the Archangel. It’s happened a few times before.”
“Can’t you just ask him?”
Minho smirked. “You don’t think other angels have tried that? He only expels the ones who don’t want to be. It’s supposed to be a punishment.”
“What’s the hard way then?”
“Same thing minus the Archangel getting involved: your wings getting cut off,” he matter-of-factly answered. “The halo will break once your wings are detached. It’s only been done once, by the way.”
Hyunjin absentmindedly rubbed the area where the bones of his wings met with his shoulder blades. All he needed were two clean cuts across his practically impenetrable back.
“How do you do that?”
“With the Archangel’s sword. Another angel has to cut it though; you can’t do it yourself.”
The Archangel would likely banish him to Hell for even asking about his weapon. If Hyunjin ever did manage to steal the sword away, Jisung would never agree to it. He couldn’t just ask any angel to help him.
“How do you know about all this?” Hyunjin asked.
Minho hesitated, something he rarely did. He quickly recovered, hiding his sudden apprehension with his usual devil-may-care nonchalance. “I can’t give away all of my secrets.”
“We’re friends, aren’t we?”
Friends. The word hung in the air like the sun, and Hyunjin knew that Minho would tell him because underneath all of his bluster was loneliness. Because no one liked Minho, or if they did, they still avoided him anyway.
“Yeah, we are,” Minho answered, smiling for a second before a strange expression crossed over his face, pride mixed with a touch of sadness. “Do you really think the Archangel would have expelled one of his favorite guardian angels that easily?”
“Who are you talking about?”
“Seungmin. He asked me to cut his wings for him.”
“I need you to cut my wings,” are Hyunjin’s first words to Minho after not speaking to him for days.
To his credit, Minho is only speechless for a few seconds. The dove in his hand pecks at him for more headpats before he recovers. “Well, do you have the sword?”
“No, but I think I can get it. When I do though, would you do it? You’re the only one I trust.”
Minho sighs and tosses the bird out of Heaven, grimacing a bit when he hears it squawk. When he faces Hyunjin, he smiles the same smile he did when he talked about Seungmin. “It’s always me, huh? I’ll do you one better. I’ll steal the sword for you. The Archangel’s been pissing me off anyway.”
For once, Hyunjin’s thoughts are not on you but his friend. He imagined that Minho would be willing, but perhaps he’s too willing. “Are you trying to get expelled as well? We can go together.”
“No, I like being immortal. I hate all of the BS I get put through sometimes, but the Archangel can’t kick me out. He swore an oath to me a long time ago before he got promoted, and it’s pretty much unbreakable. Besides, even Heaven needs a scapegoat.”
That explains why virtually no angels interact with Minho, Hyunjin being the exception. He has never heard of the Archangel being oathsworn, though it seems likely that the Archangel wants to keep that a secret.
“How are you going to get it?” Hyunjin asks. “How did Seungmin even get it? The Archangel always has it with him.”
“Seungmin was one of his favorites,” Minho reminds him. “He had easy access to him, and the Archangel trusted him enough to let him borrow it for ‘a study.’ Don’t worry about me though. Just wait for me on Earth. Somewhere where no one goes. I’ll find you, slice off your wings, and the Archangel won’t even know what happened to you.”
“That’s not possible. He always keeps it on him.”
Minho shrugs, a gleam in his eyes. “I’ve done it before. Why do you think I’m the scapegoat?”
Seungmin. For Minho and now Hyunjin, being Seungminned didn’t mean being expelled for being frivolous anymore; it meant leaving of your own accord.
“What happened to him?” Hyunjin asked. “Why didn’t the Archangel grant his divinity back? Someone should have spotted him on Earth.”
Minho’s wry grin was back. “You think the Archangel wanted everyone to find out the golden boy of Heaven no longer wanted to be an angel? Plenty of angels already saw him roaming Earth. It was easier to let everyone think that Seungmin was banished. So when they saw him on Earth, he was just a fallen angel, nothing important.” He nudged Hyunjin’s arm, and the solemn atmosphere vanished. “A troublemaking human isn’t all that bad. Like I said, the twenties are annoying, but they’re manageable. Is he one of those partying types?”
“He goes out sometimes,” Hyunjin carefully replied. Jeongin liked hanging out with his friends and you — mostly you, now that Hyunjin thought about it — but he wasn’t getting blackout drunk every night. At least, Hyunjin hoped he wasn’t. He usually watched over you if you were ever in the vicinity. “Speaking of which, I should check up on him.”
Minho said his goodbyes, and Hyunjin flew back to Earth once he saw that you weren’t with Jeongin. You were studying at your desk, rolling a pen between your fingers, reading through a document on your laptop. The desk light casted a warm glow on your face. You frowned, and your lower lip swelled outwards.
He wished he were human.
Just as Minho said, Hyunjin waits for him to arrive in a secluded part of the university campus. The building rooftop is devoid of anyone, and the area surrounding it is empty as well. The evening turns into night, then night into the early morning when the sky begins lightening. Still, Minho has not come.
He distantly wonders how Jeongin is faring and his promise to Jisung. When he’s human, he’ll ask Jeongin directly, maybe in disguise of a survey: “Why did you break up with your last partner?” Even to him, it sounds stupid. However, that’s not the real reason why he’s giving up his divinity, so it hardly matters to him. Jisung is resourceful; he’ll find out eventually.
Finally, when the sun peeks over the horizon, Minho descends from Heaven, a familiar silver sword in his hand. He lands beside Hyunjin, a triumphant smile on his face. But his usual humor has been replaced with solemnity.
“You’re sure about this?” he asks as he rests the blade on the top of Hyunjin’s wings.
He has never felt so sure of anything in his life. “Yes.”
“It’s going to hurt.”
“Then make it quick.”
Searing pain shoots through his body as the sword pierces through the thin skin and into the bone. The process is not as nearly as seamless as Hyunjin hoped it would be, and Minho breathes heavily as he pushes the blade down. Bones snap, feathers drift to the floor, and blood trickles down his back. The pain only grows greater near the end, but Hyunjin grits his teeth and keeps quiet. Dawn breaks when his wings finally fall to the floor, no longer white but splattered with red. Soon they fade into dust, and the remnants scatter into the wind. His golden halo shatters into sunlight. The world dulls as the last of his powers disappear, but everything feels much better than when he was an angel.
“Thank you,” he whispers to Minho, who he cannot even look at anymore. His eyes would be burned.
“You’re fallen, not quite mortal and not quite divine. You won’t be affected by all of an angel’s power.”
When Hyunjin cautiously glances at him, Minho waves the bloody sword at him. “See?”
“Yeah.” He wanted humanity, but this is good enough for him. He just needs you to be able to see him, hear him, touch him.
“I need to go back before Heaven becomes Hell, but find Seungmin if you can. He can help you figure things out. Last I heard, he’s living somewhere in the mountains.”
“Thank you,” he repeats. “Minho, I can’t even put it into words about how much this means to me. Thank you for everything you’ve done.”
Minho pats his shoulder before stripping off his clean shirt. “Clean yourself before you leave. No one wants to witness a walking crime scene this early in the morning.”
When he flies back to Heaven, the last thing Hyunjin sees are his wings, still pure white.
“Hey,” you said as you laced your fingers with Jeongin’s. He had just finished class, and you had waited for him outside the building. Hyunjin had sat on the other end of the bench, savoring the proximity. That was the closest he would ever get to you. “Are you busy tonight? The skate shop just announced — literally an hour ago, those jerks — that they were doing a midnight drop, and I kind of want a new deck.”
“Ugh, I’ve been meaning to buy new trucks, but I have to meet up with my group tonight. Send me pictures though.”
Disappointment only momentarily flooded through Hyunjin. If it was anything like the last two meetups, it would be at the library, and the library was a safe place. Jeongin would be fine there. Hyunjin would be free to shadow you as you went to the skate shop.
“I can get it for you,” you offered.
He shook his head. “It’s fine. Maybe I’ll just wait for a sale.”
“Don’t be surprised if I do get you new trucks,” you warned. You let go of his hand and held his arm. “I still owe you for last month’s dinner.”
Jeongin shook his head again, a smile making its way onto his face. “You don’t owe me anything but a kiss.”
“Flirt,” you laughed as you pressed your lips to his cheek. “Never change, Yang Jeongin.”
That night at the skate shop, Hyunjin hovered above you as you stood in line, chatting with others. There were no unscrupulous characters around, but he stayed with you, only going back to Jeongin when Jisung insisted. However, by then, Hyunjin had already seen you eyeing the shiny teal trucks through the window. Hyunjin knew nothing about skateboards even after all those months, but you seemed pleased by them.
“You’re only getting trucks for sure?” your brand new acquaintance asked. “This is, like, the biggest drop they’ve ever done.”
You shrugged. “I’m kind of on the fence about the decks I saw on the email. I don’t know. Maybe wheels too?”
Meanwhile, Jisung hissed, “Hyunjin, go before something happens. What if a fight breaks out?”
Hyunjin sincerely doubted that one would happen at the library. He lingered around, taking his time unfolding his wings and stretching them.
“Your boyfriend’s lucky,” your acquaintance sighed.
“Nah, I’m the lucky one.”
Daisies, that’s what he needs right now. Choosing the rooftop of a building was not a smart decision, but the access door is thankfully unlocked, and Hyunjin races down all of the emergency stairs. However, with no form of currency on him, Hyunjin heads to the quad, hoping that he can pull up some dandelions for you. You need to be supported, and bright yellow flowers are just the thing.
What he doesn’t expect though, is to find you doing pop shove its at your usual spot. It’s so early in the day; did you even go back to your apartment to sleep?
“Good morning,” he calls as he walks closer. He waves at you, and you can see him! You tentatively wave back and give him a halfhearted smile. “How are you today? You look beautiful.”
“Thanks, and I’m fine,” you politely reply as you take a step back away from him. “What about you?”
Hyunjin curses in his head and takes another step towards you. “I’m good. Really good, actually. I was wondering if you could teach me how to skateboard. I’m new here, and skateboarding seems like an efficient way to get around.”
You flinch at his words, and he desperately wants to take them back. How did Jeongin do it? Why do his statements come out so stiff? “You seem pretty good at it.”
“Are you not cold?” you blurt out. Hyunjin curses again as he realizes that he’s shirtless. His old one was stained, and Minho’s was as well as the result of his cleanup. This isn’t how it’s supposed to go. “You know, I have to get going, but it was nice meeting you.”
“Hyunjin. My name’s Hyunjin.”
“Nice meeting you, Hyunjin.”
You grab your board and immediately head off to the direction of your apartment. Hyunjin is tempted to follow, but he stays where he is. A bad first impression isn’t the end of the world. The only thing holding him back is his lack of a shirt.
He wanders through the quad, scanning the grass for some flowers. Most of them are the white, fluffy dandelions, but he needs the bright yellow version. However, he takes the white ones anyway in case he can’t find any. The wind scatters the seeds, and he—
“Hyunjin, I told you not to come back.”
Jisung.
Hyunjin turns around, dropping his bouquet onto the ground. To his horror, not only is Jisung present but also the Archangel. His sword is strapped to his side like usual, not a blood splatter tainting it. Minho did an excellent job of cleaning up the crime scene.
“Jisung, Archangel,” Hyunjin nervously greets. The Archangel frightens him now. “How can I help you?”
“Jisung, why did you bring me here?” the Archangel asks. “I have other things to attend to.”
“He’s abandoned his human too many times, and I don’t think he’s fit to be a guardian angel anymore.”
The Archangel grasps the hilt of his sword and studies Hyunjin, up and down, back and forth. He circles him, and Hyunjin can almost feel his mortality-divinity shining through his body. Jisung hasn’t noticed yet, but there is no doubt the Archangel hasn’t.
“Normally,” the Archangel begins, “the punishment for not fulfilling your duties as a guardian angel is being expelled from Heaven. But you have already fallen.”
“What?” comes Jisung’s shocked voice.
“It was a mistake,” Hyunjin tries. Minho’s words ring in his ear: He only expels the ones who don’t want to be. “I thought I wanted humanity, but I’ve realized that being a guardian angel is the best thing that has ever happened to me. Please. Grant me my divinity back. I will never abandon my human again. I will swear an oath if I have to.”
The Archangel smiles with no teeth, and a chill runs down Hyunjin’s spine. “I’m in a forgiving mood today, so I will do just as you ask. Your divinity will be granted back, but you will no longer be a guardian angel. I’m stripping you of those powers and those duties. You will be replaced immediately. It was my mistake for tasking you with such a large responsibility when you weren’t ready yet.”
With just a snap of the Archangel’s fingers, Hyunjin’s senses sharpen, and the world comes hurtling at him. Nothing is dull anymore, but everything feels so dark and wrong. You will never be able to see him, hear him, or talk to him again. And he will never be able to either. Power surges inside of him, and new wings burst through his shoulder blades, fanning out once they reappear. A silver halo hangs over his head. There is no physical pain into becoming immortal again, yet he wishes there was something. Everything he and Minho did was erased with ease.
Hyunjin swallows the lump in his throat. “Thank you,” he chokes out.
“You’re very welcome. Come along now. Only guardian angels are allowed to be on Earth.”
Hyunjin follows the Archangel back to Heaven while Jisung goes after you. The Archangel loudly deliberates on who he should be replaced with, and Hyunjin knows that his request was not granted with kindness. The Archangel informs that he will be a messenger again. Hyunjin barely hears him as he takes one last look at Earth. Jeongin is there. Jisung is there. You are there.
Hyunjin avoids Minho’s eyes as he flies inside the realm behind the Archangel and hides among the rest of the regular angels until he is called to send a message. The higher-ups recognize him, make snide remarks about his demotion, and make pitiful faces at him. He barely registers them. There is a hollowness in him, and no matter how many memories he recalls, it isn’t enough to fill the void.
A few weeks later, Jisung approaches him, but even he stays a healthy distance away. “Hyunjin.” The disdain is clear.
“Jisung.”
“You knew about the reason all along, didn’t you? You were there when it happened.”
“When what happened?”
Realization dawns upon Jisung, and he shakes his head in disgust. “I should have known. You weren’t with him that night because you left him like you always did! You could have done something. Make him fall off his chair or something. Make the girl lose her balance. Instead, both of our humans suffered because you weren’t there.”
“What happened?”
“A girl from his group project randomly kissed him, and he thought he had been leading her on and cheating on his own girlfriend, so he broke up with her because he thought that would be the right thing to do instead of just telling her what actually happened. They’re back together now because he finally got the nerve to give her closure. It took nearly a month. They were miserable for a month. All because of you.”
It stings. “They’re okay now, right?”
“They’re fine, no thanks to you.” Just when Hyunjin thinks he’s going to leave, he takes a step forward, lips curled into sneer. “You know, angels and humans aren’t allowed to be with each other. It’s been forbidden for millenia.”
“I know,” he whispers. “But I loved her, and I had to try.”
“She would have never chosen you anyway.”
He never had a chance, did he?
~ ad.gray
Yes, you did! I remembered it and wondered if you were going to come back! Hope you enjoyed this! <3
#stray kids#skz#hwang hyunjin#hyunjin#stray kids angst#skz angst#hyunjin angst#stray kids imagines#stray kids fanfiction#stray kids scenarios#skz imagines#skz fanfic#skz scenarios#hyunjin imagines#hyunjin scenarios#hyunjin x reader#guardian angel au#anniversary special#20210816
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Of Fire and Love (Pt. 7)
(Dragon! Yoongi x Reader) (Fantasy au!) (Coe-parenting au)
Summary: You dream, nightmares and sweet memories- Yoongi just tries to hold onto you as best he can but he’s never felt so lonely.
Genre: Fantasy! au, gender exploration, Coe parenting au, Dragon! Yoongi x Reader, Dragon! Hoseok x Sorcerer! jungkook, Minjoon, Taejin
W/c: 20.0k
Tags: Angst, loss of hold on reality, violence, non-explicit sexual content (taejin), possessive behavior, genderfluid characters, gender non conforming characters, gender exploration, alcohol mention,
A/n: For those of you who've followed this story you’ll know that I’ve teased there being a hopekook relationship and this chapter touches on their relationship a lot. i dont think it will make anyone uncomfortable because its explicitly stated their love is not sexual- but just a heads up!
- Hoseok and Jungkook cling to the side of a building, their feet gripping the bare inch bricks just narrowly. This library is old, with drafty long hallways and a crumbling facade that doesn't help their predicament, every other brick crumbles when they step to it.
- Every few shimmies Jungkook’s feet slip a little and fear lurches in his gut. he uses every bit of his body to cling. Hoseok has no such misgivings about falling into open space- now the arrows- that might frighten him. Their backs are weighed down with books that make it hard to move, while arrows clang below them against the red stone.
- One almost hits Jungkook’s head and Hoseok shoves it closer to the wall. Panic keeping it laced in Jungkook’s hair, “Keep your head in you idiot!” he shouts over the din and clank of metal armor. The nights and soldiers below them that gather. Every metallic clink against the stone another person come to kill them. Jungkook only grins, but flinches when one strikes closer to Hoseok’s head.
- Searching for books in the human realm isn’t an easy task. Not when all too often they face opposition like this. The humans might be semi-hostile to Jungkook but everyone is out for dragon blood. Enough of the men from this area have already been sent west to the war, but the sheer number of arrows shows that there are still soldiers here guarding this stronghold.
- They hadn’t been here until Jungkook and Hoseok had been spotted. It had been Jungkook’s fault. Dropping a book that echoed loudly- then someone had seen Hoseok’s horns when his hood had fallen and it was all over from there- they’d been made.
- One arrow pins Hoseok’s shirt to the brick as they shimmy along and he rips it loose without a second thought. He can’t shift when it’s like this- it’s too dangerous. Too likely that one of those arrows would hit him and hurt him- unless- “Kookie? any day now!?” Jungkook’s wide eyes are a balm against Hoseok’s frustration, lighting up with blue magic when he puts two and two together. “Oh! Sorry- I’ve got it!”
- The push-pull tide of magic fills the air, trembling with it as Jungkook’s arm glows bright blue along with the whites of his eyes. Every time Jungkook uses his magic Hoseok feels a protective pride flare. Especially when he hears and sees the arrows fall to the ground with a few dozen thuds. Another soldier tries to loose one and it falls like it’s made of lead. Maybe it actually is- maybe that’s the avenue the magic has chosen to take to stop the arrows.
- The soldiers below them stop their flurry brought to awe as the magic makes everything still (even them). The rust crusts in the joints of the armor bringing it to a squeaky halt. The break in the fighting finally gives him an opening to shift. And soon Hoseok is clinging to the side of the tower with claws instead of hands, wings stretching and fluttering. Jungkook gets on his back, a difficult maneuver with the precious books held close.
- One of them slips out and falls onto the stone, and Hoseok swings back around so that Jungkook can lean from his back, hooking his foot around one of Hoseok’s spines and reaching to scoop it up before he rights himself- abdominal muscles straining As he leans over and snatches it from the rooftop.
- Hoseok makes a noise and Jungkook interprets it. “Who you calling a showoff?“ he grins then settles in for a long flight back into dragon territory. A simple strap around Hoseok’s waist keeps Jungkook pinned to his back. It helps to at least elevate some of the strain.
- The first time they’d ever flown 12 hours straight, Jungkook had slid off of his back with a thunk. Looking up surprised at Hobi who’d sniffed through his hair worriedly, wondering why he’d fallen. “I don’t think I can move my legs” his muscles too sore to even clench.
- Hoseok had been laughing when he’d shifted. Helping pull Jungkook up- only to have him fall back down again. “You look like a baby deer Koo, come on- help me unpack at least.” They’d spent the rest of the night huddled around the fire, and not once had Hoseok complained about having to get up to fix dinner or stoke the fire.
- Hoseok and Jungkook have been hunting books on and off for the last ten years, it’s not like they’re unused to unprovoked aggression from the humans. Their two sides are at war- and it’s a wonder the humans aren’t more curious about the ragtag pair of book thieves that have been periodically dipping over the battle lines and raiding their libraries.
- Jungkook wonders what rumors if any, are lingering in the human lands. Jungkook would give anything to keep the smile Hoseok shoots him when he asks one night, “What you think they’ll make urban legends about us in 100 years? Keep your books close and your enemies closer?”
- Whatever the rumors, the pair can only hope that none of them make it back to their father and their uncle. If yoongi got wind of what Hoseok and Jungkook were doing without permission- then he might be tempted to end the war just to make sure they stayed safe. But What Yoongi doesn’t know won’t hurt him. If Hoseok and Jungkook were flitting in between the human lands and the dragon lands on occasion just to see if the nearest city even had a library- well then that’s just that.
- Hoseok and Jungkook never spend more than a month or two away from Yoongi and you. The timing of their homestays Often hinging on how successful their search is going and how many books they’ve collected. Hoseok can only carry so much on his back. They don’t mind coming back periodically to visit and drop off another load. If anything- it gives Seokjin and Yoongi an excuse to take a break or two and the young ones an excuse to enjoy a little coddling.
- Yoongi’s doing better, recently he’s started taking more flights like he used to when Jungkook was a kid. The air does him good and he no longer looks like guilt and sadness and longing are eating away at his soul- like he only comes alive when you wake.
- Over the years, Yoongi has read himself into a tizzy more than once. Always to be brought back by Seokjin encouraging him to rest his eyes and put the books down for a day or two. “This just doesn’t make any fucking sense- first the fairy anatomy and then this- if we could only get our hands on- ugh!“
- Yoongi is about to throw the book and would have if Jin hadn’t caught his wrist. snatching it out of the younger mans hand. Before he can- sparks light up the spine. Yoongi’s anger and fire meeting in the middle- the heat dosent hurt Seokjin’s hand as he extinguishes it with a brush of his palm. Cooling yoongi’s frustration with a knowing look.
- “Yoongi, you need to sleep.” Yoongi doesn’t fight him on it though both of them know he could if he wanted to. He’s been up for days and the bags under his eyes look dangerously like bruises. “Rest is an investment into future productivity Yoongi- you can’t read forever like this without resting your eyes every now and then.”
- Yoongi has always found it hard to sleep with you gone, why waste the hours when every second spent brings them closer to a cure for mortality. Yoongi hopes it’s only a matter of time and not a matter of ‘if’ they’ll be successful. that question keeps him awake no matter how many days it’s been since he slept.
- The next time the boys come home carrying a pile of books for Seokjin and Yoongi to go through Seokjin gives them a look, fingering the spine of one. He corners both of them later- when Yoongi’s away in the kitchens putting a meal together. Happy to have them all home the nesting instinct itching under his skin.
- He fingers the edge of Hoseok’s shirt, his fingers hooking through an edge and tearing it further with a rip. His magic flares just as quickly to fix it and the tear is gone before the shock has left Hoseok’s face. Seokjin raises an eyebrow at Hoseok’s surprise. Seokjin is dressed in a flowy deep plum shirt- parted to show his chest, the rock at the hollow of his throat pulsing with life but swimming with something darker.
- He’s rightfully angry, “I know an arrow hole when I see one, where have you both been where you’ve been being shot at? Hopefully not in the human world” He taps the side of the book in his hands, “And I distinctly remember losing this book over a night of cards with a wizard 300 years ago- so there’s that too.”
- “It was only once-“ Seokjin gives them a withering look and they both melt “okay- maybe more than a few times, but you know how frustrating it was? For us to stay behind and-”
- Seokjin knows why they had to but still can’t reconcile that with his protective instincts. Before they can go any farther Yoongi comes back with a plate full of sliced meats. The fireplace crackles happily in response to him and Hoseok helps Yoongi set up a grate to fry it. The same recipe for marinated meat that you used to make them when they were children. A celebratory meal steeped in tradition and familiarity to welcome Hoseok and Jungkook home.
- Hoseok starts the discussion when Seokjin asks- pointedly if finding libraries and old dragon castles in the countryside and in the mountains had been any harder than usual. It has been- they ran out of places to search for books in the dragon lands years ago. Though they still occasionally spot a new one when they go over the mountains again. A hidden hovel or a falling down castle that’s abandoned or inhabited.
- “You’ve said it yourself Seokjin; a good portion of our family's records are on the other side of the world. I don’t understand why it’s such a big deal, Hoseok and I are more than capable of looking after ourselves.”
- Seokjin sighs, running his hands through his hair. Whatever spell he uses to keep it dark must be wearing off, the tips are looking a little silvery these days, it’s Probably stress. The pile of books in the study that they’ve gone through is becoming cumbersome as well they can barely walk around it. There are probably more than 30,000 that Hoseok and Jungkook have collected in the last 10 years.
- What Jungkook’s saying about their family isn’t wrong; Seokjin’s family did settle on the human side of the mountains first. They were responsible for enlightening humanity to the finer parts of magic. Without Seokjin’s family- the humans would probably still be waving sticks around and hoping for gold on the other end. The books they hunt for are the first records and spell books of witches and wizards that were taught by Seokjin’s father or books from the man himself.
- Not that their paltry party tricks could ever compare to the kind of magic that Seokjin and Jungkook were capable of. But the witches and wizards guilds do have strength in numbers. One which might have a droplet compared to the ocean of a sorcerer’s power, but 100? 1,000? That might be enough to match some spells.
- If the struggle at the border was enough to judge the powers of the guild, then they certainly were a formidable force to deal with. Their spells enchanting the humans swords and armor, making them resistant if not impervious to most fire. That was the only reason why the dragons hadn’t been able to immediately decimate the human army. They had to fight the harder way- with tooth and claw and brute force.
- The dragons would always have strength on their side and the humans would always have the numbers and carelessness with their lives. So short- you’d think they’d be more careful with their lives- but no. Over the years the death tolls have risen on both sides. It helps the human’s odds that they outnumber the dragons five to one.
- It’s been years since they left home- though it still feels weird to think of them ‘leaving’ in any capacity since they still come back almost as much as they leave. In the past few years, Hoseok and Jungkook have often flown across the battle lines or near them. But never close enough to see the battle or the carnage.
- Most of the time they divert their course north and fly over the tall mountains through brisk winds that would have Jungkook's muscles chilled for hours. a predicament usually only fixed by Hoseok curling up with his warm throat and chest cuddled around his too cold soulmate. quieting the protective urge in his stomach that said to breathe fire over the sorcerer- some sort of instinct, probably something instinctively dragon that he barely manages to repress.
- They’ve hunted books through the crags of long empty castles, through cities forgotten and new. They spend a good two months last year in the smaller dragon city to the south. Yoongi sniveled his nose up at them when they told him that’s where they wanted to go next. It felt a lot different than the northern city, the buildings rough made from wood and easily burnt and rebuilt. Definitely wilder and less aristocratic than the north.
- It’d burned down in the last war- so it’s no wonder the dragons there seem less attached to the buildings. some dragon had lit their board house on fire the first night they’d been there, roused from smoke and a shout. hoseok had shifted and carried jungkook out with his teeth hooked into jungkook’s shirt- lifting the younger like a cat would a kitten.
- Seokjin had gifted a map to Hoseok for his last birthday. It’s a delicate bit of magic, spelled to be paper-thin and bendable but the ink never fading or flaking off. Unable to be ripped or stained. The little red dot that shows Hoseok’s location and a black dot for Jungkook's. It changes each time they move- so that they know exactly where they are. Hoseok’s dot even gets a little more feathery when he shifts. The ink feeling fuzzy to the touch.
- The battle lines to the south also change too, rusty orange ink rough to the touch- with every league that the dragons push into the human lands ticking a lines with on the map. all So that hoseok knows how far he has to fly out of the way to avoid it if he wants too.
- Jungkook is just a little bit curious to see what dragons look like in battle, but a cautionary look from Jin and his father was enough to extinguish that possibility. “Trust me- it’s not a thing you should want to see” their father had said cryptically. “You never talk about the last war dad- what was it like?”
- “Bloody and long” was all Yoongi had answered. Because in truth- he’d given as much as he could give to that war. The end had left him broken and with the taste of blood in his mouth that just wouldn’t leave. He’d spent months looking for something in the mountains- an itch under his skin that wasn’t for more hoard.
- The wanting hadn’t abated until he met you and known deep in his bones that he’d never fight for another thing in his life. he’d found what his dragon soul hungered for more than gold or diamonds or anything that glitterd. a family- his hatchlings and his mate.
- But Hoseok and Jungkook are fully grown now and Yoongi still finds himself begging them not to go close to that battle- to stay out of it. Feeling like control and safety is slipping through his claws. The thought of both of them- of gentle Hobi and curious Jungkook getting a taste for carnage like that- Yoongi doesn’t ever want it to happen.
- Even though they already did that day in the manor house all those years ago. Still- a father can’t help but want to protect his hatchlings. Even if they’re both taller than him now they’re still his hatchlings. Jungkook especially likes to playfully lean his arm on his shoulders And Yoongi can’t ever correct him. He would let the youngster do anything without little more than an annoyed sigh, just as he had let him swing from his horns when he was a baby.
- When Seokjin had gifted the map, Hoseok had asked why they’re where two dots and not just one. “In case you get separated” the older sorcerer had said, a faint flush on his cheeks as he let Jungkook manhandle him into position on the couch perfect for snuggling. Sending smoke-filled bubbles to smart Jungkook’s nose when he keeps touching his thighs and rolling his eyes at his nephew’s endless touchy feely-ness. But even Hoseok can see the way that Seokjin relaxes with both of them around. Their presence a welcome reprieve from-
- “Yoongi- would you mind not breathing your lizard breath all over your sons?” Seokjin says haughty. Yoongi raises his massive head from where the coffee table should be (moved to make room for yoongi in his dragon form). blinking at Seokjin before his tongue darts out to lick at Hoseok’s hands- ignoring the older sorcerer.
- Hoseok can feel his happiness rippling out from his father at having his hatchlings back in his nest. He flicks his tongue out to hit Seokjin’s palm too and the elder recoils with a disgusted noise that makes Hoseok and Jungkook laugh.
- As if on queue, a book on the shelf falls, interrupting the moment.
- Every head flicks in the direction of the movement, the flecks of dust in the room pause, hanging in its shafts of light. the air too still to be from anything other than Seokjin’s magic or Jungkook’s- it doesn’t discriminate. After another moment. Hoseok gets up and puts the book back. the spine feels warm to the touch and for a moment- Hoseok holds onto it- savoring the warmth before he puts the book back on the shelf.
- There have been more moments like that than they’re all willing to admit, and despite their conversations- no one wants to admit what it is. The things that move on their own or flowers that Seokjin’s watched be plucked and fall to the ground in neat concentric circles. He’d gone out into the garden and found a whole pile of blooms- piles around a suspiciously shaped lump. It’s always the multi colored ones. Those moments are as startling as they are special.
- Everytime you wake Seokjin scolds you for it.
- “You realize the more you try to act outside of the dream world the more likely it is that you won’t be able to return back to your body?” Seokjin had snapped. Tae a happy puddle in his arms. You’re tearing into the food on the table while Tae just nibbles. He’s never hungry in the mornings really. Hadn’t been even when he’d been awake.
- Yoongi wonders if it has anything to do with the little field trips your soul takes outside of your body. The breaks you take from dreaming when you travel as a ghost in their world. Moving books and picking flowers and the countless other little moments.
- “It’s not like I’m trying to control it Seokjin, it just kind of happens. when I watch you guys- when I feel closer to you- it's easier” you definitely do not mention you’re only ever knocked out of your body after you’ve had a nightmare, but Taehyung knows. He looks up at your words, an egg yolk sliding out of his spoon and onto his plate bursting golden.
- Taehyung meets your eyes and you shake your head imperceptibly, and he keeps eating, declining to offer up the information that would surely make Seokjin and Yoongi more concerned. But the clock is ticking- and they only have 18 hours with you this year. No one wants to waste it arguing even if it does scare Yoongi.
- Every time when you wake and it takes a little longer for you to stir, Taehyung always awake and upright before you. Yoongi stroking your back in small circles- calling your name as you furrow your eyebrows and blink awake. kissing your face a few dozen times before you’re truly back. It only took 3 kisses the first year- and now it takes at least 8. Yoongi’s the kind of dragon that keeps track of that sort of thing.
- Later in their own private time together- Tae asks Seokjin with a pout “Why can’t I come out of the dream world to see you guys like she can Jinnie?” Seokjin washes his back in the bath, his hand warm and soapy. Jin exults in washing his love with long strokes, a little scratchy just the way that Tae likes it. just gentle enough to make his love squirm and make the water slosh against the sides of the silver tub. “It's not a thing you should want Tae, none of us know the long-term effects.”
- “But still,” Taehyung’s eyes are like warm honey over peaches, “it would be nice to see you more often.” Seokjin hums a gorgeous sound and Tae relaxes further into his lover's hold. Seokjin’s hands thumbing along his sternum counting his ribs and indulging in the touch. Tae shivers, shifting uneasily in the water, neediness sinking into his core like hot fire. Seokjin’s hand slips below the water and the layer of bubbles.
- “there are any number of reasons why the magic doesn’t want to work on her. It’s been a while and she’s probably just getting used to it, I probably just have to tweak the spell a little bit for y/n” Taehyung sighs, Seokjin’s mouth swallowing a bitten-off moan, kissing down his lovers throat and forsaking his mouth. Tae’s hips rock up, knocking the warm water out of the tub and onto the slate floor with a slosh that neither of them pay much mind to. “I’m not sure I want to hear another name from your lips when you’ve got your hands on me.”
- Seokjin smirks against Tae’s neck, the movement of his hand keeping up its pace under the water. His actions and his sly smirk betraying his words “Why wouldn’t I? We’re having a conversation, aren’t we? Or is something distracting you my love? Would you rather have me chanting your name?” like an incantation- if love were a spell then tae and jin would have the strongest.
- It is nice to see your family even for a few seconds on the occasion that you leave your body. It makes you feel like you’re helping, even just a little bit to watch over them. You try to disrupt something just to let them know you’re there. The first few years- the only thing you can manage is blowing out candles. but it gets easier to move books or make pages flip over as time goes on. and you get to ruffle their hair or pet over it as they sleep Where you stand and watch. Making sure their dreams don’t turn into nightmares.
- You wish you could say the same for your own dreams, but those are far more difficult to control.
- Often Yoongi will look at whatever just moved, and speak into the open air, through the glass barrier of the dream you can barely hear him. But he’ll go to the couch and sit, hold out his hand palm up on the cushion and you’ll touch it. Knowing by the way he shivers- that he can just barely feel the shape of a hand touching his. Yoongi has always had a thing for hand holding. And it’s worth it- just from the way he smiles.
- But too Yoongi it just feels like you’re already a ghost. It just makes him yearn for a time when it wasn’t like this. How will it feel? When he’s been without you longer than he was ever with you? If they don’t find a cure for mortality soon- then he’ll find out. His boys too.
- It feels like he can almost taste you on the air when you come and visit them in-between your naps (its easier for Yoongi to say they’re just that- just really long naps- even if it makes him feel childish, the weight of ‘eternal sleep’ is just too heavy on his mind some days).
- For that reason, he favors his dragon from more than his human one these days. it’s not like he can see you at all in either, but he can tell when you’re there and almost smell you when he’s in dragon form. And that feels more real than curling up around your coffin upstairs (or when he starts to worry that you actually are dead- that you won’t be able to come back).
- It’s been a long time since they started searching but it barely feels like a second to them. Like hardly any time has passed at all. Such is the way of immortals- years pass like months, and days like hours. It’s been years since Hoseok and Jungkook truly stopped aging. They’re both frozen somewhere in their twenties, their hair keeps growing, but their faces never change, their bodies don’t change either accept to get stronger or weaker with the care they show them.
- Jungkook doesn’t like to think about his age when he can help it. He still feels like a little kid whenever Yoongi and Seokjin look at him, sharing a special secret adult look that he’s not sure he’ll ever be capable of giving. He’s very content to stay the baby of their little family.
- But being the baby also means that Jungkook gets treated like a child too.
- “We’ve been over this, it's too dangerous boys,” Yoongi says it like it will make his heart break to see them in danger. If Yoongi knew they’d been shot at- even by one arrow- he’d fly over to the human cities and start leveling them one by one.
- “Not anymore, we’re not kids dad” Hoseok looks fluffed up, his curly hair and wild, so long it almost brushes his shoulders like Jungkook’s. (More than once Seokjin has snipped his fingers threateningly at it, “you both look wilder than the wind I swear, one night I’m going to take a pair of scissors to you whether you like it or not.”)
- That is just another thing that makes Hoseok ache all through his chest, and he’s never been able to put a finger on why it makes him uncomfortable. The thought of needing to have short hair for whatever reason. The same feeling lights up in his chest when Jungkook continues- “ right! we’re not boys- we’re men!” Jungkook’s swinging feet under his chair beg to differ.
- Yoongi sucks on his lower lip, hands tightening over the back of Jin’s chair. They talked about this possibility while the boys were gone, after the last time when they had a similar argument. In the years since your departure, Jin’s taken on something of a parental role with the boys- and it’s nice to have a second set of ears again. Even if it would make both Yoongi and Jin shriek indignantly to be compared to anything like what you and yoongi had. “They’re not children anymore Yoongi, you’re going to have to start letting them take their own risks sooner rather than later”
- “But I already did,” I already let them not be here he wants to say. Every single parental instinct of his telling him to keep his hatchlings close. But it’s better than it was before; now he rarely feels the urge to fly on after them and drag them back by the scruff of their necks. Sometimes when he’s out flying he pretends he’s doing just that.
- Seokjin taps his fingers against the table, sparks dancing between his fingertips. “As much as your parental concern is sweet, you have to admit- nothing can hurt Jungkook or me in any meaningful way.” Seokjin is being as soft as he can be. “You know this, and it's not like Hoseok is unformidable either.”
- Hobi gives Jungkook a toothy grin at that. Seokjin lets Yoongi stew with it for a moment. And the feeling in Hoseok’s chest dissipates. Strange. Though he’s glad to have it gone. Though he knows it will probably have him up later, turning in bed while Jungkook sleeps beside him in the little mock nests they’ve made together since they were kids. Sure that something must be wrong with him- something other than the feeling poisoning the happiness in his chest.
- “If you don’t let them go they might choose to go all on their own. Would you rather find out after? Or before?” Hoseok and Jungkook barely manage to keep a straight face. Their father will put two and two together if they even so much as grin. Yoongi’s pout as he looks down at the table and weighs the options is cute. Under the table, Hoseok’s leg jumps with nervous energy.
- You certainly think letting them go is a better option- standing in the corner of the room, not that any of your family can see you when you’re like this. A specter and a ghost and just as lonely. How your hand itches to reach out and smooth out that pout on Yoongi’s face. But you can’t, not in this form. Upstairs in your glass coffin, your hand twitches. Reaching out to do the touching that your soul wants to do.
- Yoongi can’t argue with logic like that even if he wants to. Honesty and freedom are better than a protective cage and lies by omission on both sides- no matter how loving the cage is.
- “You can go-“ he starts, interrupted by Hoseok and Jungkook’s excited whoops, Jungkook tossing his chopsticks into the hair where they hover and spin like pinwheels, before he jumps to Hoseok’s side, grinning at him while Hoseok pumps a fist in the air. The fire in the hearth flares higher from Hoseok happiness Sending sparks onto the floor. “yahhhhhh you’re going to burn the meat, and this carpet is 500 years old!” Seokjin fans it with his hand as if to knock the sparks off of the carpet and back onto the slate.
- They pull themselves over to Yoongi’s side and drag him into a tight hug, Jungkook pressing his forehead against Yoongi’s cheek in thanks. Yoongi goes stiff at first and then melts as they squeeze him tight. Hoseok hooking his chin over Yoongi’s narrow shoulder. Pulling away only to immediately begin to lay out plans of where they want to go first. Jungkook jumps up to go get that map, already dreaming Cities and wizarding guilds that they only know from the maps and Seokjin’s stories.
- Not that they haven’t been to half of them already- but going there with Yoongi’s blessing is much more exciting than sneaking around behind their backs. There were a few places that they were too worried to brave alone and without backup should something bad happen. But Now they can ask questions and learn where more books might be hidden, what cities to avoid and the secrets Seokjin might know of each.
- “Maybe a little bit of a change of scenery will do you good” Seokjin comments, a small smile tugging at his lips at the boy's excitement. Hoseok almost asks if he wants to come too- just to get out for a little bit. But the moment passes when jungkook unfurls the map in front of the hearth. Seokjin never leaves Tae’s side unless he has to. “I’ll teach you some cloaking spells and the like to hide Hobi’s horns.” His hands hover on Yoongi’s shoulders, reassuring him that he’s made the right choice.
- Weeks later, on the other side of the mountains Hoseok and Jungkook cling to a rooftop again pressing their bodies close to the slate roofs. A few new books in their bag and a group of angry soldiers shouting at them from below the parapet, enchanted arrows seeking them out until Jungkook cuts them off with a wave of his hand, learning to do it first off rather than wait until they are shot at.
- “Was this what we bargained for Hobi?” Jungkook asks with a grin as he looks over at his soul bonded partner. Hobi answers his grin with one of his own. “Maybe more- but I think we’ll raise hell either way.” Jungkook laughs, “imagine dad’s face when we tell him about this.”
- There isn’t a place they’d both rather be.
- Hoseok and Jungkook don’t like to fly at night when they can avoid it. but they need to when they’re closer to the border- where traveling bands of warriors might have sneaked around the battlelines and sunk into dragon territory. It’s safer to sink into the humans lands under the cover of night and fly up ahead. They’ve flown too close to traveling bands of warriors during the day before and though their arrows had fallen short it was still frightening to fly over a hilltop and be suddenly shot at.
- After accumulating a fresh thrush of books in a rather small library from the southern human lands- They’ll head to the coast for a day or two and stay at Jimin’s and Namjoon’s seaside cottage castle crossing over the mountains just north of the battlefield. It would be shorter to just fly straight home. But they have a few more books than usual this time. And the sea air and updrafts will make the flight north easier on Hoseok.
- Too many times have they overshot their load. only realizing when Hoseok had landed to find his once broken shoulder mottled and strained, unable to fly or even move it in human form for several days after. Staying at Namjoon and Jimin’s cottage always brings back fond memories too, though their favorite fairy and uncle Joonie isn’t there of course still south in the thick of the war.
- They’d run into Jimin a few years back- though they still send regular letters north to stay in contact. Jimin had spotted them in the skies and fluttered in their direction. One minute the only thing they’d been able to see was puffy clouds and the next, Jimin falling out of the sky whooping in joy when they saw them. His wings moving so quickly that they where nearly invisible.
- He’d made camp with them and lingered for as long as he could. It was nice to have someone familiar with them on the road. A face that loves them. And Jimin is perfect at giving them the right amount of affection.
- Since the wars started Jimin has split his time between helping Namjoon at the battlefront and going back and forth to the fairy world in an attempt to negotiate an alliance between them and the dragons. he’s Constantly trying to convince the royal family to come to the dragon’s aid.
- It’s not something jimin likes to consider- but if the humans managed to push through dragon land. They’re no telling how far they’d try to go. and if the dragons side seemed bountiful to human kind- then the fairy world would be something out of heaven.
- But just like the last war the fey are refusing to get involved and Just because they won’t help doesn’t mean Jimin won’t. He’s been Namjoon’s right-hand man in the war, the hidden second general to the dragon army. He’d even convinced a few of his brothers and sisters to join in the battle.
- “How do you actually get to the fairy world? Isn’t it like- on the other side of the ocean? Can you fly that far?” they’re stretched out around a fire, the woods a dark and impenetrable barrier beyond their little hallow of sparks. There isn’t anything that the three of them fear in these woods. though they had heard the single howl of a wolf earlier- lonely and echoic in the tall hills that eventually melt into the eastern mountains.
- Jimin had split his affection equally- running his fingers through Hoseok’s hair and head rested on one thigh and then through Jungkook’s on the other. It’s been a while since they’ve seen each other. Even longer since they’ve been small like Jimin misses. It’s hard to reconcile these gangly twenty-somethings with the tiny dragon and human he used to baby.
- Jimin doesn't like to think of the children now, the ones at the capitol without families (orphaned or displaced by the war) or his own...forgotten hopes. War is not the time to want something so gentle. Not when jimin needs to be strong as much for his mates sake as for the world. Jimin needs to forget his own hopes now more than ever. Even if seeing Jungkook and Hoseok reminds him so much of those times when he’d felt like a parent- as close as he and namjoon had ever gotten to having kids of their own.
- Maybe as close as they ever would get.
- Jungkook and Hobi remember seeing the fey ships at the market. Their hulls like skeletons, made of silver and a strange clear material, not glass- but certainly not any kind of wood. Jimin shakes their head at hoseoks question- the fey world is not on the other side of the ocean. It’s an easy mistake to make. “ I don’t think I could fly there if I wanted to-it's more like stepping through a very cold doorway. You can come there with me one day if you want.”
- “Do you think they’d have anything that-“ “that would turn you immortal?” it goes without saying that Jimin knows why Hoseok asks. Sucks on their lower lip as their eyes turned shadowed with your ghost. God- Hoseok shivers, he hates thinking that you’re dead, hates when everyone acts like you are.
- “Probably not, fey have good memories and there isn’t much of a reason to write things down, but it’s still a beautiful city- makes home look like ruins,” Jimin says the words like he wishes he hadn’t already. Because all of them know how likely it is one day- that the dragon city might one day fall to ruins.
- There is more than one live ghost- that threatens to haunt them.
- Jungkook can’t help but remember that day as they get close to where they’d run into Jimin the first time. It’s been a long day of flying, and they crossed over the majority of the mountains in one good push. As the sun dips close to the horizon coloring the world in orange and gold, Hoseok and Jungkook spot a glittering speckle among the forested hills of the Southern part of dragon territory. A small waterfall that runs clear and strong.
- He leans over, gripping the band around hoseok’s waist with one hand and pointing in it’s direction with the other until he gets Hoseok’s attention and he spots it too, listing to the side and settling into a slow dive. Jungkook hooks his feet into the squishy side of Hoseok’s ribs to make sure he won’t fall off. His thighs protesting from the strain of gripping Hoseok’s back for many hours.
- He remembers when they’d been younger- Hoseok nearly flipping when they’d first flown together. Jungkook eager but still nervous on his back, hugging Hoseok’s neck so so tight. Jungkook remembers when his neck got thicker- and suddenly he couldn’t link his hands around it- how he’d clinged with every other muscle in his body- only airborne for a few minutes until they both plumited towards the ground in a way that made Jungkook’s stomach lurch. Tossed onto the soft grass in a flurry of feathers and dandelions puffing.
- They’d both tumbled, Hoseok shifting mid-roll spitting grass and dandelion fluff. “Stop putting your feet there! I’m ticklish!!” he’d laughed. That was a far cry from how he felt now, Hoseok was used enough to it that it didn’t bother him. Jungkook an extension of himself on his back, tucking close when they flew fast and leaning to help Hoseok make those tight turns easier.
- They’re not far enough away from the battlefront that they can entirely let down their guard. But they’re both tired enough to make the risk unavoidable. They’re Only a spare 50 miles away is where the fighting’s thickest. It’s probably okay, There probably isn’t any danger here. Maybe they shouldn’t light a fire- just in case.
- As Hoseok touches down into the pebbled bank of the waterfall his claws sink into the sand with his and Jungkook’s combined weight, buffering the trees with flaps of his wings. Keeping them tucked in tight so that they don’t hit any stray branches. Jungkook slides off his back- hitting the ground with a lurch, almost falling in his tiredness. Jungkook has always had that floppy puppy way about him when he gets sleepy- every bit of his body a little more limp and sweet than usual (if that’s even possible).
- The water runs clear and cold as Jungkook stoops to fill up their canteens, unlatching their packs from Hoseok’s back with a push of magic. The roaring from the falls nearly blocks out the sounds of Hoseok’s bones shifting. His hair windswept, fangs clicking against the ones on his lower mouth- what he needs to say doesn’t necessitate a full shift. “I’m going to circle overhead and find us a place to make camp okay?”
- It’s too dangerous to camp so close to a water source. They can hardly hear each other over shout over the thunder of the falls- let alone any intruders that might try and sneak upon them in the night. Jungkook makes a small noise in agreement, the hours of flying in silence lingering.
- Hoseok can tell his soul bonded partner is only a few minutes away from needing to sleep- probably even forgetting to eat, which is pretty typical as far as traveling goes. Jungkook will push himself to the brink before he drops, and it’s Hoseok’s job to make sure that doesn’t happen. He’d never say anything to Jungkook but it’s a little scary to see the magic sustain him even farther than Hoseok’s own stamina will take him.The magic will suppress his need to sleep and eat the more he uses his magic.
- When Jungkook stretches in the morning, arms above his head pulling his shirt up to show a few inches of skin, Hoseok takes each and every rib that shows as a reminder. As Hoseok circles overhead, he reminds himself that he has to make Jungkook eat something before he falls asleep.
- Hoseok usually does a good job of keeping Jungkook well taken care of and Jungkook takes care of him in turn. Many a night have they curled up together; Hobi in his feathers and Jungkook rubbing soft soothing motions over the sensitive’s scales of his face, they’re never more than a few feet apart these days.
- They go hours without talking during the day, but the silence never bothers either of them. Who else can you truly be silent with if not your soulmate? Sometimes- Jungkook looks at Hoseok and wonders ‘are you thinking what I’m thinking? Or are your thoughts and feelings just as much a mystery as my own are to me?’
- Is it a soulmate bond? Or just a soul bond? Sometimes, Jungkook isn’t sure- and finds himself questioning that which never should be questioned. he’d never asked Jin if his and Namjoon’s bond had drifted into more romantic territory- sensing there was a story there somehow that maybe the younger one shouldn’t pry into.
- Hoseok takes off, the wind from his wings buffering his clothes; the flowers that grow near the waterfall- red and bright, sway under the weight of their heavy nectar.
- Jungkook breathes in then out, settling himself into wait. It’s easier for Hobi to search while he’s not on his back; it’s a little harder for him to make his tight turns with all of that weight altering his center of gravity. No matter how hard he tries Jungkook doesn’t have the same sense of balance that Hoseok has. He’s been unseated by Hoseok landing in trees more than once.
- When Jungkook remembers enough to check back in with Seokjin, the elder is still very intent on teaching him how to alter that. Jungkook may have mastered a hundred or so spells, but he still doesn’t wield magic in the same easy way that Seokjin does. He hears his uncle’s voice now; ‘Breathe in Jungkook, feel the energy around you, the pulse of that which gives things their life- and you- your powers.’
- And ‘don’t get frustrated- you’ve got all the time in the world to learn magic. You can’t expect to be as good as me with only a few years under your belt... especially given the circumstances.’
- It's hard to find time to practice on the road, So Jungkook takes a second for this, closes his eyes, and reaches out, his mind like a bubble, the edges of it swirling and turning multicolored. He feels the offal energy in those red flowers. Poisonous his magic tells him, stay away- sweet but don’t eat. The water turns and curls and he feels the life of the little fish below in the deepest parts, the way the air moves as it falls with the water, and endless hello between the two.
- He’s so calm, so intent on being peaceful (breathing with the slowly moving things that are immortal like him) that he doesn’t hear the rustle of movement behind him. The sharp eyes that have caught his human scent and found it unwelcome here. The dragon in the woods. They eye the thin sword on the ground, the only one Jungkook still keeps for those just in case moments of misfortune.
- Jungkook hasn’t been a sorcerer long enough to smell like the magic, and this far into dragon territory; it’s no wonder why they consider him a threat. Though most dragons know there is another sorcerer alive by now or have heard of him. Yoongi is a historical figure after all, and their family does have proximity to Namjoon and the dragon council.
- Before they exhausted the dragon realms libraries they’d used that to their advantage often. There are many older dragons that own those old castles, charmed by his and Hoseok���s mere mention of the council. Many had asked how their father was doing.
- Hoseok was usually the one who talked with them and heard their grievances; (too many taxes, too few social programs- the usual), while Jungkook raids their libraries and fills out his little booklet so that he knows which books come from where. He and Hoseok aren’t intending to be thieves so hopefully they’ll be able to return them (Most of those books now sit in a pile in Seokjin’s library, pages unturned for years with no drive to give them back- but it’s the thought that counts right?)
- The dragons that hoard books are the worst ones to deal with- always-eyeing Hoseok like he’s here to steal their trove of musty moldy tombs. As if the golden bands that line his fingers and dot his ears now aren’t enough of an indication of where Hoseok’s proclivities lie.
- Hoseok’s hoarded object will be gold, not unlike his father. Though you’d once called Yoongi a crow- only interested in that which was pretty and shiny. Many a time when they were children, Hoseok had watched their father growl at you playfully and snag you close by your waist, snapping his teeth close to your neck and nuzzling there, “maybe that’s why I’ve kept you.”
- Most dragon folks are much more interested in Hoseok than they are in Jungkook. But the gossip mills and rumors haven’t touched the people here this far out into the countryside. No one knows who- or more importantly what Jungkook is.
- Least of all the dragon in the woods.
- The growl ripples and Jungkook straightens, searching in the cover of trees. The hair on the back of his neck standing on end. He instantly goes on the offensive, the waterfall behind him goes still in the magic as does the softly falling leaves, hovering in the air like baubles- like time has stopped.
- The magic reaches out at the threat with greedy hands, and the shadows part around it, letting in the hazy afternoon goldenness that glints off of sharp claws and even sharper teeth.
- Jungkook is used to dragons more so than he is to humans, but the sight of an aggressive one is still enough to have him nervous. He holds his hand out, showing that he’s unarmed. He sets a foot back- boot sloshing in the water, sending one of their packs tumbling in surprise. “I’m not- I’m not a threat- calm down- I’m no soldier.” his voice shakes.
- He’s never been one to attack first when it comes to dragons But this one stalks forward with Jungkook as it’s prey. Tail raised like its ready to attack. They’re about as old and as large as Hoseok if not a little larger and meatier. Their mouth sparking with bright yellow fire. Eyes angry and unchecked by restraint.
- And still- Jungkook isn’t afraid, and it takes him a moment to realize why, even when he sees the dragon preparing to spit jet of fire in his direction. It’s not that the magic has made him reckless; Jungkook just knows in his heart that nothing can hurt him.
- But if it tries- then the magic might act without Jungkook knowing. The magic will always protect its host and there’s no telling what damage it might do to his opponent. “Please- please don’t do that” why does is own voice sound tired to his ears? “I can’t be held responsible for what happens if you do.” If Jungkook weren’t scared for the dragon’s safety he’d release a tired sigh.
- Nothing is interesting anymore when nothing can hurt you.
- The dragon growls before spitting it’s fire- and Jungkook is just about to hold up his hands to throw the protective bubble around him when Hoseok falls out of the sky. Crashing down in front of him. Wings flaring to stop the fire from crashing into Jungkook. Dealing out a savage kick that sends the other dragon out of the shadows and into the light.
- Jungkook’s breath hitches.
- They’re the same species- or if not the same then similar. Their feathers mix in the fight- Ruddy red yanked out by Hoseok’s claws falling to the ground with Hoseok’s bright crimson coral. Rather spill feathers than spill blood.
- Hoseok doesn’t notice much about the other dragon beyond a particularly strong scent in his nose. When he spotted them overhead he acted without another thought. Air going out from under his wings and fiery anger filling his heart when he saw them. No one flashes their fire at Jungkook without him retaliating.
- He manages to pin the dragon for a moment before they turn, swiping out with their wing. Sending small stones scattering in Jungkook’s direction, One nearly hits his face before the magic hurls it in a different direction. Jungkook flinches regardless.
- For the first time- Jungkook can see the differences between Hoseok and his species. Where Hoseok has dark red feathers on his underbelly they have white golden ones, their secondary feathers are different too- striped with a slightly darker red like blue jays would be striped blue-black. Comparatively- Hoseok is more colorful but less ornate.
- Where Hoseok’s horns go in theirs point out, the other dragon tries to bash their head into Hoseok’s sideways. Hoseok flips them over with a push of his tail. Their wings tangle, flap against the ground in a thwack that leaves the poison flowers crumpled, but then Hoseok get his jaws around the other dragon's neck and the fight is as good as over.
- His growl ripples out along the forest floor making the leaves shake. He doesn’t mean to really hurt them but as the other dragon moves against his jaw and a little bit of blood splatters. A shallow cut on their neck. The dragon continuing to thrash even with Hoseok’s jaws around their throat until they yield. It's obvious that Hoseok is the only one out of the two of them that’s been trained to fight, those sparring sessions with their father and his schooling at the academy paying off.
- The dragon shifts below Hoseok. Red feathers melt away into red-brown hair. the girl that shifts below Hoseok is so much smaller and vulnerable compared to her dragon form. “You’re one of us! Sorry- just got startled by the human!” she’s not scared of having Hoseok’s teeth so close to her, still bent over her with his mouth parted, nearly as wide as she is tall. She pushes his snout away with one hand and Hoseok- blinking perplexed- lets her. She looks like the kind of woman that isn’t easily scared of anything.
- Her clothes are grubby and worn from weeks on the road, her skirt thick and woolen pulled over her legs. She’s doing a good job of concealing how scared she is but Jungkook sees her fear in the slight tremble of her shoulders as Hoseok stays shifted between her and Jungkook as if he doesn’t believe that she won't be a threat anymore. Hoseok’s tail flicks agitated, splashing into the water.
- Jungkook sees another flash of movement at the edge of his vision, brings up his hand in defense as he turns. But the smaller heads in the woods just look curious and frightened. Two other small dragons, a small one sandy with fluffy feathers, a hatchling whereas the other is shifted. Her horns are a deep bronze. They nearly get caught in the underbrush as she cocks her head like a bird.
- “He’s a city thing.” she comments at the smaller dragon, which sniffles and snorts around her waist. He curls around the shifted one with his head hidden behind their back. Shy- Just like Hobi was when he was younger.
- They’re others of his kind, the same species. Jungkook knew they had to exist but he doesn’t know why he’s so shocked.
- Hoseok finally shifts, obviously furious, a head taller than the woman and instantly combative. Her blood a harsh brand at his mouth, red and dripping around his chin. “Don’t you have a little more sense to wait and see if he was doing anything harmful? God-” freaking savages Hoseok curses internally- but then immediately berates himself for that choice of language.
- That kind of rhetoric was the words that dragons from the capital often used to refer to the dragons that wanted to exist out here where they were naturally more comfortable. Unburdened by the comforts and expectations of polite society. The girl tosses her long dark hair, matching his energy with her hands on her hips, “well he should know better than to come into dragon land unaccompanied-“
- “He wasn’t unaccompanied- he has me, I scent marked him this morning, and if you stopped to use your senses instead of just going fire first and thought second- You’d have realized he’s spoken for.” Jungkook remembers the scenting and barely suppresses a flush.
- Hoseok had extensively rubbed his chin all over Jungkook’s chest this morning. They’d been curled up in the dewdrops, staying cozy until the absolute last moment they had to leave the small clearing where they’d made camp, a hanging valley in the mountains. Secluded, safe, and quiet.
- It makes Jungkook shy to think everyone can smell that on him- that they’d been so close. and in the next second he’s questioning his own shyness- what was there to be shy about? Hoseok is his soul-bonded partner so it’s only natural…right?
- The girl sniffs the air, crossing her arms. The shallow gash under her jaw is already healing. Really- it wasn’t more than a scratch, and Hoseok won't feel guilty for that- not when it was her who tried to move when she obviously should have yielded the fight to him. “You’re right- he does smell like you” the way she says this- like she thinks it’s a bad thing but that’s rich when she stinks like something heavy and heady. A sweet scent that’s so strong it hurts Hoseok’s nose. No one else has ever smelled this way to him before.
- Another older dragon dashes through the forest, accompanied by a third- both of them are male and at least as old as Jungkook and Hobi. Hoseok steps a little more firmly in front of Jungkook. Hiding him from view.
- “What’s going on? We heard a roar?” the smaller one asks, though the larger of the two turns to the female dragon his eyes only for her. His thumb running against her blood-soaked throat, checking to make sure she’s not hurt. The second he verifies she’s not hurt he turns his attention to Hoseok, putting himself in front of her the same way Hobi had stepped in front of Jungkook. He even steps up- about to shove Hoseok but she catches him around the waist. Stopping him from hurting Hoseok.
- Jungkook takes a second to size the three of them up- he and hoseok could definitely take them in a fight, he shakes off his trepidation and steps up too- holding the glare of the smaller of the two men.
- More of that smell fills Hoseok’s nose and he wants to choke on it, or gag. Hoseok scoffs, arms rippling in his shirt. (Jungkook’s brain sure chooses the weirdest things to fixate on, but when did Hoseok gain so much muscle?) Jungkook reaches out to tug on Hoseok’s sleeve, “Hobi- it’s okay, let's just go,” Hoseok’s eyes lose their anger the second he looks back at Jungkook, hot fire melting to burning coals.
- Jungkook doesn’t like to be hated by dragons, even if he’s used to it by now and grew up with it. Hoseok’s priorities shift in a second; to getting Jungkook away and where they can be alone and safe unthreatened in their little bubble. He’d rather make sure Jungkook was safe and comfortable than devote any more energy to these people. “It doesn’t matter Hobi.”
- The woman that Hoseok’s fought goes white as a sheet, her knees going weak in a second. “What did you just say?” the beefier male dragon steps forward and Hoseok barely manages the impulse to cover his nose. The other one sends a nervous glance at the two of them, then back at the kids.
- A knowing look shared between all of them, and Jungkook is hit with the realization that something is about to change. And in the same second, it happens before Jungkook can tell what it is and protect Hoseok from it. The woman pushes the beefy man to the side, stepping up to Hoseok.
- “Did you just say Hobi? What’s your name?” the woman is still staring at Hoseok open-mouthed, and all at once- Jungkook sees it. The same way their hair falls, their face shape, their similar small noses, and their eyes. The kind of familiarity that only genetics can cause.
- “My name is Hoseok,” Hobi says, and she rushes forward, tears spilling over her cheeks, Hoseok flinches back from her hands, “I thought you were dead- I thought you were gone- Hoba- I’m so sorry- I-”
- Now it's Jungkook’s turn to put himself in-between her and Hobi. Catching her wrists in both of his. though the larger dragon’s nostrils flare at her being touched- he’s gentle when he takes her form Jungkook’s hold a second before her legs give out and she devolves into sobs. Holding her protectively against his chest as she cries, staring at Hoseok like she’s seeing a ghost.
- Hoseok looks stricken for a moment before it hits him “Dawon- my sister's name was Dawon. Is that you?” she nods, eyes still shining as she drinks in Hoseok, wiping the tears away so she can see him more. The other smaller male dragon grimaces- looking about as uncomfortable as jungkook feels.
- “You have a sister” Jungkook breathes, a weird feeling of betrayal welling up in him. “You didn’t tell me.” Hoseok is scared- that’s the only emotion Jungkook can pin down when he turns, his hand closing around Jungkook’s shoulder, “I didn’t know- I always assumed she’d died. And I haven’t-“
- Jungkook sees something settle between Hoseok’s shoulders, the tension dissipating “I barely remember you. I’m sorry.” And he really is, her sadness doesn't well in him a protective urge- he feels nothing at all but discomfort as he watches a stranger cry over him. He wishes he remembered her like she remembers him.
- “If it helps,” the dragon holding dawon says, “she thought you were dead too” he holds out his hand, “I’m Jinseok and this is my brother Felix, what’s your name human?”
- The little ones seem to be the perfect distraction- the midsized one shifting- while the hatchling bounds forward in their direction. Felix is finally knocked out of his reverie to try and snag them by their feathers but missing at the last moment. They flutter around Jungkook’s and Hoseok’s feet- curious at the newcomers. It gives dawon the opportunity to wipe her eyes.
- The larger one of them barely braves enough to sniff at Jungkook's hand, recoiling when he smells the magic sparking at his nose. Shifting with a pop. Her hair is red-tipped like Dawon’s, but black at the roots. “You smell funny,” she says before she pops back into her dragon form The smaller hatchling brushes up against Hoseok’s legs as a cat would weaving between his ankles.
- Though he doesn���t say it aggressively, Jungkook still feels his annoyance prick at this and at the whole meeting. “i’m Not human- but my name’s Jungkook, I’m Hoseok’s brother,” the small one shifts back and forth with a crack, “how can you be his brother if you’re not a dragon?”
- “Areum!” Felix scolds. trying to grab at her again as she shifts and darts away. “It’s okay- we- we can talk about it,” Hoseok says, Hand smoothing over the head of the smaller one, the hatchling presses up into Hoseok’s hand.
- As Dawon gets her feet underneath her the other dragon- Jinseok- who hoseok gathers is her mate judging from the way he’s been trying to comfort her steadies her with a hand on her elbow. He’s significantly meatier than felix- who like Hoseok is lithe and delicate by comparison.
- And Jungkook knows without being able to smell him that maybe- this means he’s an alpha. Not all dragons split themselves up into designations of alpha, beta, and omega. When they were younger Jungkook pored over every book they could come by about dragons to learn about Hoseok’s type.
- “Why are you even reading about me- you know you can just ask Namjoon right?” Hoseok had teased in the old library of their manor house, a book from jimin’s library on the study table. “Cuz I wanna know everything about you- don’t you want to know too? Which one you are?”
- “Not really- it doesn’t matter to me” and maybe back then it didn’t. Neither Namjoon or Yoongi were the kind of dragon that split into designations and neither could tell. Jungkook wonders if that’s still true. If Hoseok still doesn’t know- it’s been so long and Jungkook’s never asked, he wonders if the others can tell.
- “Come this way- we’ve already set up camp and you both should join us,” the smaller one shifts finally, hair fluffy and red-blond just like their feathers, tugging on Dawon’s skirt. He’s a soft sweet thing, barely more than a toddler. “why is it all like that unnie?” pointing behind Jungkook and Hoseok.
- They all turn, and Jungkook isn’t at all surprised to see the waterfall still frozen in time, no sound of it tumbling, still the same way it was when Dawon first attacked. The other small dragon tries to touch the water's edge and finds it impenetrable. Like it’s glass.
- Jungkook leans down and runs his hand through it letting it ripple slowly- much to the excitement of the youngsters who stand on the surface. Pouncing and trying to break it. Neither of them can break through the surface like Jungkook. “Kookie,” Hoseok asks, “sorry- that’s my fault.” He holds up his hands and with a flash the water unfreezes and resumes its rushing and roaring. The older child falls ankle-deep into the water, squawking and splashing back to the shore- Shaking her feathers out.
- The dragons go white, Felix mutters a low curse. “We’d heard about another sorcerer- but we didn’t think” Jungkook rubs his hands on his thighs, picking up his pack, suddenly shy. Still Hoseok and Dawon stare at each other- this time not trying to get close.
- Jungkook sighs, the heaviness in his chest aching. “You said you had camp set up already?”
- Hours later after the fires been stoked and the foods been made and the sun has set, Jungkook tries not to let the food in his mouth taste like ash. Rolling it against his tongue, the meat-rich with spices as he watches Hoseok and Dawon from across the fire. Ignoring the clamor of Felix wrestling the hatchlings into a makeshift nest.
- at one point tonight Hoseok had mistakenly referred to the two hatchlings as his sister’s children and she’d laughed, her mate blushing and melting underneath her playful look. They’re not her kids, but that they’re all orphans from one of the last attacks at the border before the war began. In much the same boat as Dawon was when their nest was destroyed. The group of three are on their way north to drop the youngsters off in the capital before they head back to the battlefront.
- the two children seem terribly attached to the group of three- Hoseok comments on this. Felix looks down at the small one- the little boy curled up in his lap, cheek pillowed against Felix’s thigh. His voice hushed and pained “We want to fight. Even if it means we have to leave them, we can’t take care of them like they need to be taken care of.”
- Jungkook doesn’t say that you were younger than he was when you first started taking care of him and Hobi. But things are significantly faster passed for humans. And maybe parenthood has more to do with personality and attitude than age. If Jungkook had to judge it- he’d say that out of this group- Felix seems the fondest of the hatchlings.
- Jungkook doesn’t intrude much onto their conversation. For the most part he just sits across the fire with his empty bowl and listens. Nursing his skein of wine that they’ve so graciously gifted him and Hoseok. Marveling at the refilling spell that jungkook shows them half way through the night when it begins to run dry.
They don’t notice the difference- but to Jungkook the wine tastes flat and bitter the magic stealing away the joy of its taste. There are some things that the magic just can't recreate and maybe jungkook’s just sensitive to that.
- But it does enough to liberate his anxiety regardless; Jungkook’s head is spinning as he watches the dragons, feeling apart from them on the other side of the fire. The two youngsters sleep on soft packs a little bit away, packs piled up to keep the light of the fire out of their eyes.
- “How did you- how did you survive? Did you run away?” (The memories that Jungkook’s seen flicker back across his eyes, a tiny Hoseok sitting in a treehouse nest, hiding until his mother came. “Stay here- your sister will be back in a moment” and then Hoseok leaving, heading out into the fray of the battle. So small and so so brave.)
- Jungkook tightens his lips. Hoseok knows what he saw that day when he became a sorcerer and they don’t have many secrets between the two of them. But this feels too private for Jungkook to pipe up. The fact that he might be the only one of the three of them that has a clear picture of what happened that day lingers on his mind.
- Jungkook wonders, and has asked Seokjin about how, and why- the magic showed him what it did. ‘I think it probably wanted you to understand, wanted you to know what had happened and how it did. Every sorcerer has a different specialty, maybe yours is time.’
- “I almost didn’t, I went out to fight but our parents were already-“ Hoseok cuts himself off. Everyone knows what happened and he doesn’t need to say it in any detail. “I went back for you- but you weren’t there- and the others were leaving.“ she doesn’t need to say anymore. Takes a swig of her wineskin too, the words rolling off her tongue better with the alcohol lubricating them. “Two other hatchlings got killed because I went back to look for you.”
- Hoseok doesn’t have anything to say about that. He’d been as good as dead, and she must have been about 11 when the attack happened. Hoseok would tell her that he forgives her but really there’s nothing to forgive. “What have you been doing since then, where did you end up?” Hoseok needs to ask- needs to know. What could have been his life if Yoongi had never found him?
- It says something that this woman in front of him left him for dead, while their father didn’t. Now that her scent buffs over him from the hot wind he thinks he recognizes it. In the first few weeks he’d been with you he remembers missing her scent. Longing to curl up around it and the rest of his nest.
- Hoseok remembers smelling Jungkook His snout pressed to Jungkook’s black curls trying to recreate the same smell. It smells kind of like family- but not really. Jungkook would never smell the same way she did- and that was a good thing. Hoseok subtly leans away so that more of it doesn’t get in his nose. Craving Jungkook’s clean sweet scent across the fire.
- “I ended up getting adopted by their rookery” she gestures to both of the boys Felix leans back on his hand's feet playing with the soil while he gazes at her fondly. Felix is the only one of them who doesn’t have horns, instead- his dragon mark manifests itself in his clawed feet.
- That’s how I would look at her if we’d grown up together Hoseok thinks. It’s clear they’re close though he can already tell her bond with the alpha runs deeper than her bond with him. “Their parents died three years ago in one of the first battles, we were sent north to the city and the academy before we were approved by the council to head south when we found them.”
- “Hoseok studied at the academy too” jungkook supplies quiet, no one but hoseok acknowledges he spoke.
- In their little nest, the two hatchlings breathe on, “we were trying to make it to the battlefront to finally fight but now that we’ve got them- we’re on our way back to the city.” Hoseok sees the way that Jinseok touches her hand, soft and cradling. It’s strange to Hoseok, who doesn’t often pick up on the scents of other dragons that those of his own kind smell so strong.
- Dawon smells sweet and cloying, like a baked cake or like an overly ripe fruit. Nearly spoiled. Whereas Jinseok smells like incense and burning oranges (a smell that Hoseok finds it hard to like to be honest), and Felix smells like the edge of winter and fall, clear air, fresh in a way. Other dragon’s scents have never been so pungent to him- even his own. if they smell so bad he wonders what he must smell like.
- “How did you…” Hoseok’s eyes hover on the tender way they hold each other hand, Jinseok brushes over the scent gland on the inside of Dawson’s wrist something so intimate and gentle. He can see the way she viscerally shivers. “You’re both mated right?” he asks, wants to know, both of them blush but nod eagerly.
- Felix leans back further. “I told them to wait until after the war but-“ he lifts his shoulders, “when you know you know.” Dawon smiles brightly in his direction, knocking her forehead with Jinseok. “You’re not-” Dawon sends a glance in Jungkook’s direction as if shaking her head at the very thought. Jungkook bristles (and so does Hoseok) but as if sensing some sort of possible conflict, Felix pipes up. “It makes sense that you’re not since you're like me, we don’t often mate.”
- Confusion replaces the tension as everyone turns to Felix, Hoseok’s eyebrows furrow. Something’s not lining up “what do you mean?” Jungkook asks. Hoseok is wide-eyed “how am I like you?” Felix- seeming to realize that he’s overstepped or supplied information that he shouldn’t have, has the good sense to look a little bashful. “You didn’t know? You’re a beta-”
- Hoseok and jungkook share a startled glance, hoseok's hands shake a little- he tries to hide it- but Jungkook notices (Jungkook always notices). Hoseok had never thought it mattered- but now it feels like it does. the way that felix says it- like it’s something to be happy about. “You didn’t know? ah- I’m sorry I didn’t mean to”
- “It’s alright it's just-” Hoseok looks down his hands tightening into fists, a small smile pricking at the corner of his mouth. “I’m a beta?” Jungkook can’t help but feel like he’s slipping even further away his breath hitching. Felix relocates to Hoseok’s side, taking his shaking hand in one of his “yes, you’re a beta- like me. there aren’t many of us left- even fewer now, but you’re a beta Hoseok.”
- Jungkook can’t stop himself, physically can’t keep himself in his seat at the sight of Hoseok and the other beta sitting so close on the tree stump. The way his sister seems so close on the other side in Jungkook’s spot. Felix touches Hoseok’s neck- the spot where Jungkook knows his scent gland is even if he can’t smell Hoseok the way the dragons do. explaining to hoseok what he smells like- It makes Jungkook’s blood boil with an acrid something that feels like wanting and shame at being so impossibly jealous.
- So he gets up and walks to the edge of the makeshift camp trampling someone’s feathers as he goes. Hoseok starts after him and the alpha makes an unhappy grunt at Hoseok leaving. Almost reaching out.
- Logically Jungkook knows Jinseok is his sister’s mate- so of course, he’d be worried about her younger brother leaving- especially if it hurt the feelings of Dawon. But Jungkook can’t help but hate that they’re already trying to stake a claim over Hoseok. Typical alpha behavior already trying to exert his will over someone he barely knows.
- Jungkook doesn’t know if Hoseok had felt his displeasure down the threads of their bond, but he calls Jungkook’s name again as he stalks into the woods. Jungkook ignores it, stomping carefully through a grove of ankle-high toadstools that glow a faint pink. They’re enough like to see by, and they illuminate the forest in great swathes. A fairy lifts its head from the surface as he jostles one, hissing in Jungkook’s direction as he disturbs their sleep.
- “Kookie slowdown- just STOP” Hoseok has never shouted at Jungkook and sounded like that. Jungkook’s so surprised he stops in his tracks. He steps on a toadstool and it winks out- the rosy glow beneath them diminishing. A flurry of sprites are startled from their hallow by hoseok's shout, the cloud moving sleepily away from the clearing, wings whistling in the quiet. When he turns around, Hoseok’s stricken expression is lit from below, his lower lip glossy from the wine.
- One of the things about their bond is that Hoseok doesn’t have to wonder if Jungkook is upset. He can feel it echoing hot into his own body, jealousy and anger and deep underneath- fear. Fear that Hoseok had found something he’d been looking for that Jungkook couldn’t offer.
- Jungkook can’t get the happy expression out of his head- the way Hoseok had looked when they’d told him. “I’m a beta” the smile like an answer he’d been searching for but hadn’t found. Jungkook couldn’t fit into that system- couldn’t be an alpha or a beta or omega. He could just be Jungkook.
- And For the first time, being only that doesn’t feel like enough for Hoseok. Hoseok had never cared that Jungkook was a dragon or human but now it feels like it matters.
- “Do you- are you going to stay with them Hoseok?” Jungkook’s voice doesn’t sound like his own. Hoseok recoils at the mere suggestion of it like he’s just been slapped “what?! Of course not- we’re going to leave in the morning? And then they’ll head south. Dawon and I have already talked about it while you were getting firewood.” Hoseok reaches out to grab Jungkook’s wrist but Jungkook takes a step back- out of Hoseok's reach.
- “It didn’t look like you had any intention of leaving just then” Hoseok steps forward into Jungkook’s space. Between them, personal space rarely exists, but now, Jungkook feels like he he needs some. Jungkook never thought their bond might hurt- but now he’s worried it is.
- “You don’t need to be scared Kookie,” Hoseok says because he can feel his fear, “I don’t want you to feel scared.” one of the terrible things about their bond is that Hoseok can feel everything every emotion. Good and bad, secret and shared all wound in an anxious ball that only Hoseok can tease through.
- “Maybe it would help- if I knew what you were thinking” because thoughts and feelings aren’t the same things. hoseok knows jungkook is feeling this way- but can’t understand why more than a good guess.
- Jungkook sits on the edge of a stump, a fallen tree, and beside him, Hoseok stoops to sit too. Careful to rearrange their feet so that they don’t hurt any of the toadstools, through the underbrush they glimmer and bloom more brilliant than flowers.
- They remind Jungkook of the flowers that grow in aunty Jimin and uncle Namjoon’s house. Jungkook doesn’t watch them, leaning his head on Hoseok’s shoulder, looking up at him from his perch. After a second, Hoseok pulls him closer, pacifying him with the contact.
- Hoseok starts slow. “You know im different.” it seems silly to say- to voice this when jungkook can feel the otherness in his bones. “that I feel like I’ve always been in-between kind of in the same way that Jimin’s been in-between.” jungkook’s egear nodds encourage Hoseok on to talk more.
- “I’ve never been worried about it because I knew- I know whatever it is- that I feel loved- I know you love me.” Jungkook’s heart feels like it’s going to shake in his chest, lit from below. Hoseok reaches out, touches his cheek in just the right way that Jungkook knows it’s not- not that sort of love. The thing that’s built itself into something formidable in his chest.
- A love that is neither purely platonic nor brotherly or romantic- something different and new and definitely not sexual but still love. Hoseok is apart of Jungkook’s soul in a way that nothing else could be. There is no space left in his heart. Nothing left for anyone else. All of Jungkook belongs to this and their bond.
- Briefly, he wonders if maybe all this confusion is just Jungkook’s magical body getting re-used to the bond. Jis magical body can feel it so much more than his human body ever could.
- “I know” Jungkook feels breathless- but the whole in-between thing, he knew that too. For years Jungkook Has watched Hoseok battle with his hair enough times to know that the frustration was deeper than any superficial change. Jungkook has seen the looks- the longing when he sees something pretty and golden.
- When they were younger, Hoseok jokingly put on one of your corsets, almost too big for him. You’d loved it- thought it was just the cutest thing and hadn’t made him take it off until bedtime. “I promise you don’t want to sleep with it on Hoseok.”
- “This- all of them- Dawon” Hoseok takes Jungkook’s hand- more of a routine then any motion- and unlike before Jungkook lets him. “that just feels like a reason for all of that- that discomfort. If i’m a beta- then it all makes sense you know? but still I-”
- Hoseok steals himself to say the next words sighing them out “-I don’t think I could love anyone the way that mom loves dad you know” Jungkook thinks those words should hurt. But they don’t. He’s been thinking about the pain recently. How their father is their mother’s constant shadow, a ghost that cannot sleep, a love that haunts more than it loves.
- No question. Yoongi would tear apart himself for you if given the chance. But Hoseok- Hoseok doesn’t know if he’s ever felt something like that with such intensity. Sure he’d fight to the death for Jungkook and fight even harder if something was to separate them. But was that foundation built on the same kind of love? Could more love even fit in the space of his heart- with so much Jungkook already filling it up? Could this love change when it has no room to grow?
- It would be easier if they were bloodily related, jungkook realizes- then there would be no question. But the fact of the matter is that any romantic relationships that they might have with other people would feel like too much of a betrayal on both sides.
- Hoseok and Jungkook cannot love each other the way Yoongi loves you. and yet- Jungkook doesn’t want that with anyone else. Can’t even think about loving someone who isn’t Hoseok. Jungkook holds Hoseok’s hand to his face for one moment, then lets it go- lets the idea of this fall away, “I’m sorry for getting angry- let's go back”
- When they go back Hoseok sits next to Jungkook on the log. The others give them both a measured look- like theyre trying to find any remaining discord between their bond, leaning back satisfied when they find none.
- Jungkook doesn't need to know what they talked about while they were gone. Especially when hoseok immediately launches into another conversation with dawon- talking through their childhoods- and the parents that they’d both eventually found. “I think you’d really like my mom, she’s like a healer- a good one too” Hoseok can’t help but boast. “Healed my shoulder after-“ he trails off but tilts to show her how he can roll it.
- Jinseok comes over and inspects Hoseok’s shoulder, tilting it between his big hands and unlike before- it doesn’t make Jungkook jealous, (but that might have something to do with Hoseok’s hand on his thigh). Jinseok’s eyes are appraising when he lets it go “of course you healed! I’ve taken a few tumbles myself over the last few years. Almost thought my tail was gonna fall off that one time.” Felix laughs and Dawon rolls her eyes at it. “Yes we’re all aware of your stupidity that one time when-”
- “You’ll always be my person Kookie- I don’t need anyone else. I don’t want anyone else” Hoseok tells him when they’re pressed close underneath their bed things, set out underneath the stars. They’re both Significantly more full of wine than they’d been before and Hoseok’s words are nearly slurry.
- “I think…I think I might be a little broken.” Hoseok’s says like the words are a secret, eyes fluttering with tiredness. Jungkook presses closer in reply like Jungkook is making up for pieces Hoseok might be missing. He presses his forehead to Hoseok’s. Hoseok smells like home- Hoseok will always be home to Jungkook.
- “If you’re broken, I’m broken too” Jungkook’s words are cushioned against the skin of Hoseok’s shoulder. That night, Hoseok lies on his back and Jungkook slings a leg over his thighs. they revel in the closeness, loving every moment.
- Jungkook is already asleep- but Hoseok speaks anyway. “I don’t need anything else but you Kookie.”
- The next morning the two groups part ways. Dawon hugs Hoseok so tight that Jungkook feels his own spine ache a little. Hoseok must have explained to her last night about their goal of saving you. she seems like she understands why they need to leave. But Even so, she’s a little teary-eyed, reluctant to let him go. “Are you sure you don’t want to come with us?” Hoseok nods, his red curls bouncing, not a hit of hesitation.
- Hoseok hands her a little scroll. If they do make it to the Southern front where Namjoon is, the scroll will make sure that she and her flock are well taken care of by their uncles. Hoseok thinks that Jimin and Namjoon would like his older sister. That she’ll fit in well with the army.
- It isn’t until a few days later when they’re staying at uncle Namjoon and Jimin’s house that Jungkook and Hoseok have a chance to talk about any of it again. Jungkook could feel the flickers of uncertainty down their bond, judging that Hoseok needed to parse through his feeling and figure out what he needed to say.
- They only stay for the night, happy to have a familiar bed instead of curling up under the stars before they fly north. The house is empty besides them, though a housekeeper still comes by every day to water Jimin’s plants and make sure too much dust doesn’t settle.
- They ready for a long day of flying in one of the many guest rooms. Jungkook is just leaning down to tie his boots when he catches Hoseok looking at himself in the mirror. Running a brush through his curls. Hoseok thinks back through his memories of this house- and of the fairy and dragon that should be here with them. And particularly- words that Jimin said to Hoseok long ago when he’d asked about Himin’s gender.
- Hoseok can’t remember how old he was- but he remembers the fairy bending down to his level in the garden. “To tell you the truth, being a girl or a boy doesn’t matter much in our part of the world. What matters is that you’re good to the people who need you and kind to the people that don’t when you meet,”
- Its that memory that gives Hoseok the strength to finally meet Jungkook’s gaze in the mirror. “I think…I want to grow out my hair.”
-“Like aunt Jiminie?” Jungkook asks, standing and moving to stand behind him, Jungkook’s hands play in the small hairs at the back of Hoseok’s neck, and he leans forward to sniff, Hoseok already smells like the ocean. “Yeah” Hoseok looks worried- like it might not have Jungkook’s approval. the set of his shoulders tense like he’s readying jungkook to say something negative. But there isn’t a change he could make that would put Jungkook’s love and devotion in jeopardy. hoseok knows that but the worry still lingers.
- Jungkook tangles a hand in Hoseok’s hair, his reflection grinning back at Hoseok- Boyish and beautiful in a way that makes hoseok ache. “We’ll grow it out together” and they do, flying back and forth across the world. When Jungkook cuts his- Hoseok doesn’t. All until it’s down to his shoulders. The first time Yoongi sees he doesn’t even mention it- not even a little bit- too busy preening and what can only be called nesting.
- It’s something he’s started to do over the years to relieve his stress, piling up every single soft thing in the room around where your glass coffin is. No doubt preparing for you’re waking in a few days. A healthy flush in his cheeks that hadn’t been there last time they’d been home.
- Seokjin doesn’t say anything, but he does tug on the end of Hoseok’s hair, twining the long red strand around his fingers. He doesn’t say anything like he might have before, sensing Hoseok’s tenseness. He leaves a few spells tacked to his and Jungkook’s door spells for hair lengthening and to change the color should Hoseok desire it.
- Yoongi is so happy to have them home he doesn’t even notice anything’s different until the day Hoseok gets into your makeup collection. It’s only for them, just a tiny bit of rouge on his cheeks and to plump up his lips. Yoongi puts down his book when Hoseok walks in, eyes tracking him as he walks in. and Hoseok feels the worry sink underneath their skin before Seokjin taps Yoongi with his book, and they both go back to reading.
- But when Hoseok goes to his room later he finds a tiny pile of cosmetics on his bedside table. A delicate sea green brocade shirt that’s flowy- all but the sleeves opaque and embroidered with tiny flowers. It looks like something jimin would wear and Hoseok touches it with a reference he doesn’t quite know how to handle. A fondness growing in his heart.
- The next time they leave, Yoongi corners him, while not corners him- but sidles up to him while he’s on the back patio when the sun is just cresting over the trees just past sunrise. Hoseok might be an early riser but Seokjin and Jungkook still need a little while to sleep. “So, should I call you she now? Is that better for you?”
- Trust yoongi to go straight to the point. He’s so awkward, so cagey and quiet. So obviously wanting to offer comfort and understanding but unsure how to reach out. He’s used to using the rolling pronouns with jimin, but to use them for his son- his child- will take a second. It’s better to ask than wonder.
- “No, not yet- if ever.” and then in the quiet of the morning, a simple truth, “they is fine for me dad.”
- “When did you know?” Yoongi has to wonder, had you and him not being open enough? You’d both never talked to Jungkook and Hoseok about jimin, but you’d both believed you’d raised your children to come to you when they had a question or a concern. And Yoongi doesn’t like the idea that Hoseok could have been holding onto these feelings for some time. too afraid to be honest.
- Hoseok doesn’t answer right away, because there isn’t a good one. Was it the way he’d never played with strictly the girls or boys in grade school? The way he’d often found himself clinging to you and wanting to dress in your pretty fabrics than the drab black clothes his father favored?
- it was hard to tell what if anything had made Hoseok first question their gender. Did his betaness cause it? Or was the difference caused by not settling purely into one side? “I met my sister.” is all he can say, the only bit of information it makes sense to proffer up.
- That- out of everything they might have said does get a reaction out of Yoongi. his hands tightening on the edge of the stone wall. “I didn’t know she was still alive.”
- “Neither did I” Hoseok busies their hands with playing with the flowers that have gathered along the rock wall, small and pink. The ever spring around them so delicate and careful. The exact way that Hoseok feels today. “She told me I’m a beta, and after that- it all kind of makes sense?”
- Yoongi makes a noise in the back of his throat. Then suddenly, turns his golden eyes on his…child. (That train of thought will take some time getting used to) “Well if there’s anything I can be doing better- let me know okay?” he pulses Hoseok in for a quick scent mark, and the sudden affection nudges a purr from Hoseok’s throat. But overall the conversation just leaves them feeling soft and taken care of, understood and accepted in a way Hoseok had never realized they’d craved.
- By the time they leave, Yoongi is pushing a small velvet sack of coins in their directions. “You should get a few things that fit you better the next time you're in the city.”
- And they do, Hoseok and Jungkook work their way through the cloth market with a vigor they haven’t found in years, fine silks and velvets- perfect for the cold weather up north. Most in rich tones of gold, purple and red- red is Hoseok’s favorite color. Hoseok gets their ears pierced on a whim- fills his studs with little bits of gold that make them glow when they catch sight of themselves in a mirror.
- And when they come back after a day of shopping. It's Jungkook who pulls him close. Running a finger over the corner of their mouth to correct the placement of their lipstick. A fresh tube. Sometimes Hoseok doesn’t bother putting it on, or with the more cumbersome pretty clothes, but if they’re going to see anyone, even if that someone is just Jungkook- the red lip color stays.
- When you wake a few months later; you cup Hoseok’s cheek- hands still a little shaky and reluctant to move. “You look-” you search Hoseok’s eyes for something- anything that would show misgivings, “it looks so pretty Hobi” Hoseok plays with their fingers in their lap. It’s a cute behavior, one that Jungkook’s noticed appears more as time goes on and hoseok gets more comfortable with changing their body.
- “Don’t you mean handsome?” they say, swallowing back a lump in their throat. Their long hair is pulled back today, to give the same appearance of masculinity at least from the front. Jungkook braided it this morning, he’s been learning how to do it for hoseok- not quiet as nimble with their fingers yet like Jungkook is. The moments in the morning when Jungkook brushes their hair and winds it back- are some of his favorites- the soft moments he can spend with hoseok. Hoseok didn’t want to scare you too bad, from the front- they almost look the same. “Not if you don’t want me to mean it. You can be pretty too.”
-It’s not until the next time Hoseok and Jungkook set out that they actually quantify it in words. “I think I’m like Jimin- well not- like jimin. But I think I could be.” aunty and uncle Jimin, who’s just as comfortable in a skirt as they are in a pair of pants. Jungkook leans over, combing through Hoseok’s long hair. Reaching down to the sensitive spot between his- their shoulders. “Okay” is all he says, but his smile is sweet even in the light. “That’s okay with me Hobi.”
- And it is- it always will be, as long as Hoseok has people like this, the ones that have always made him feel like it was safe to be himself- no matter what form he wants to take. Hoseok will be okay. At night, their arms tighten around Jungkook. “I want you to be okay too Kookie” Jungkook sleeps on, oblivious to the turmoil-taking root in Hoseok’s heart.
- Yes, he loves Jungkook, but can Hoseok really love in the way that Jungkook needs? Are they just keeping each other from happiness or is this the only thing they’ll ever need?
- In his arms Jungkook dreams fitfully. But down to his core, he knows If there was ever a time when he felt like he needed more from Hoseok- if what they have ever felt like not enough, He’d never do anything about it. Never ask for more. Never. They don’t need anyone else- no lover, friends, or mates. Just each other. Their bond will always be enough.
- The days spent waiting pass like sluggish honey for Yoongi, sweet when they meet the tip of his tongue but only a hint of the sweet eternity he promises you. They blend together for you- more than the dizzying cacophony of dreams. Sometimes you forget where you belong, and forget that you have to wake up.
- When you can- you strong arm and squirm your way into wherever he is, curled up around you and set a hand on his scaly cheek, there is a limit to how far you can go from your body, and that seems to be a fair mile from where you sleep. So if you wake when Yoongi flies, it’s enough to be able to sit in the garden and enjoy the flowers and sunlight. Every time you manage to knock yourself out of a dream, you can go a little bit farther. Like your soul is getting used to how it feels outside your body.
- And when you do actually stay in the dream world- lucid dreaming becomes an avid habit of yours. Taehyung teaches you how to do it. As dangerous as it is lovely to feel real things when you can, you do often get lost in the way you can change the world you’re in. Are you a god? Or just a dreamer? Taehyung’s hand in yours keeps you tethered. You wonder how he managed to keep his sanity living alone like this for so many years. In the dream world- days are years and years are eons.
- And what makes it worse is that you know it won't feel like so long when you wake- the sluggish feeling that not so much time could have passed even though you know it has. The spell around you keeps you dreaming like it's been days, while your body lives those hours as a second. Your mind and your body age out of sync.
- Yoongi’s timed it before, every hour he sees your chest rise and fall. One breath for every hour
- You feel like you’ve spent years in the dreams at this point, recreating each of your wildest fantasies. Though some feel too real not to be born of your memories. You dream of The walls of your cavern home that you haven’t gone back to in years, feeling the cold stone with a warm body behind you- Yoongi. Or hours spent just outside the front doorsteps of your manor house, waiting for Yoongi to come home with Hoseok while Jungkook plays in the field.
- Flowers that flash like beacons out of the corner of your eye, and then it’s not only Jungkook but Hoseok playing in the field too. Both of them running through the field and casting the dandelions onto the floor that spark like embers. Yoongi chases after them- both of them barely come up to his waist. You watch it from the corner of your eye knowing it will feel less real if you turn your head and look at the memory directly.
- The smell of cooking peaches stings in your nose- sour- and you know if you went into your house you could probably find taehyung there- cooking a peach pie. Though it’s a toss up if it would actually be him- and now just a memory you don’t have confused in this.
- You Watch as Hoseok flashes red from human to dragon tackling Yoongi to the ground with a warped grumbly giggle. Jungkook is quick to flop on top with one hand fisted and knocking against Yoongi’s chest, the other buried in Hoseok’s feathery coat.
-It makes you smile- the dreams- these memories are the only thing that makes you remember you’re dreaming. Because you know Hobi and Jungkook haven’t been that small for years. Your children are fully grown now.
- You wish you could go back to those times when it was simpler. And the dreams let you do just that, again and again until the memory barely feels real.
- What surprises you the most are the nightmares. They always bleed into your dreams the moment you least expect them and when you truly let your guard down. Ink darkening the edges of this story before you realize the badness is bleeding through. Anger and a wordless hunger tainting the happy moments.
- You dont think the anger comes from you- maybe its anger from the dream- the world that has found you an unwelcome guest. People aren’t supposed to sleep for so long. And the dream world tries everything it can to get you to wake up.
- Maybe it’s worried you’ll learn how to dream when you’re awake.
- The worst part about the nightmares aren’t the fear- It’s not the falling through the sky, or faceless men chasing you, monsters, or tragedies that you can’t escape. It’s that the nightmares don’t feel the same as when you were awake, no blurry edges- everything too real. These nightmares are born of your memories only to be twisted by the dream world into something more sinister.
- Sometimes you feel like they’re showing you the future- or if not the future- then something that could have happened to your family.
- The nightmares show you realities where Jungkook still wants to be a warrior. Ones where Yoongi never found him and you all meet another way, Not as a family but as enemies on the battlefield.
- In the nightmare, the war has come earlier with Yoongi at the head of the council. And he’s become everything he always feared he could have been, those whispered confessions he’d uttered to you and you’d uttered back under only the cover of darkness. “I think I might be a bad person” “it doesn’t matter if you’re good- just that you’re good to us Yoongi, and for the record- I think it shows the content of your character that you care so much- even when caring hurts”
- In the nightmare world He’s everything he would have been without you. Easily tempted to war without knowing softness and love, without having something to protect. And he’d never chosen a mate either- Yoongi is as lonely and touch-starved as he is bloodthirsty and violent.
- In this nightmare Hoseok is just another dragon soldier who hates humans because of what they’ve done to him. Hoseok and Jungkook first meet each other on opposite sides of the war. Not as brothers but as enemies. Does Hoseok fall by Jungkook’s blade? Or will Jungkook burn without ever knowing about the magic that lurked in his veins? Or worse- would he have found out and used his powers to aid the only people he’d ever known.
- Would he and Seokjin fought in that reality? Two forces so destructive that they could only take out each other- flattening the mountains and ending thousands of lives when they clash. You hear them- from where you watch them fight. the dream war is just as bloody and terrible as the real one- and it's worse to see your family fight.
- Seokjin’s face is tense, eyes slowly dripping blood as he holds the magic in his hands. and jungkook- jungkook looks almost evil. Jungkook’s words don’t sound like your son- his voice deeper- like the dream just can’t get it right “this issue here uncle- is that you have something to fight for and I do not.”
- You beg the dream world to let you wake up but Seokjin’s spell holds you there with ironclad hands.
- You wonder what’s become of taehyung in this reality. Would he have woken from his coffin without Seokjin’s magic to keep him there- or would he have stayed asleep? Never to be woken again? would he sleep the same way Seokjin does, chest broken open on the battlefield, his heart removed clutched in Jungkook’s hand?
- In the dream where Jungkook doesn't know he’s magical, you’re a medic for the human army walking along with the isles of the wounded. Treading over piles of feathers and blood to check the faintly moving chest of a young man, so beautiful despite the fact he’s nearly dead. You don’t recognize Jungkook when you look at him- barely 19 and dying without the magic to protect him and keep him alive
- Maybe it’s some consolation that this other version of you gets to hold Jungkook as he dies. Gets to soothe him and say, “it’s alright, it won’t hurt in a second, you just have to stop breathing and you’ll be at peace.” As he sputters and tries to breathe through his torn lungs. You know what those claw marks mean on his chest- that they’re too deep to ever heal. Jungkook only has minutes left with his shredded lungs.
- You’re so focused on comforting the fallen soldier that you don’t notice the beast that lurks in the shadows. Yoongi might be large but he’s also near-silent and invisible in the darkness. Yoongi only feels hate and not love as he watches you, fire growing in his belly. You might be a medic but you’re still a human and every man you save is just another that will one day fall. The kiss of fire on the back of your neck burns hot and painful one moment, and then the touch of his lips soft the next as you breathe through the nightmare.
- Those are the worst sort of dream because part of you is convinced that’s what could have happened if Yoongi had never killed Jungkook’s blood family. As gruesome as it sounds, you think you’d rather have it this way than be doomed to that fate. At least now- you’re all loved, though you’ll have to see if one day, the one you love becomes the reason the other dies. For both you and Hoseok.
- Maybe soulmates hurt each other just as often as much as love each other.
- When you wake- you tell Yoongi about the dream and kiss his forehead where his head is pillowed against your thigh. Head tilted so his horns don’t knock into your hip. “Do they feel real? The dreams in which I kill you?” he asks you. He doesn’t want you to ever think of that, the improbability of him deciding to hurt you. that you could ever believe that his hands that love you could ever hurt you makes his stomach drop. Yoongi would let himself die, would turn his hands on himself- before he let himself hurt you.
- “Sometimes” you admit, as you kiss him more, deeper now that you can verify it's real. Kisses in the dream world always feel 2d, not like now- when you can taste him and feel his warmth. Kissing him is like hello and a new daydream all at once. Sweet and sweeter because you know it's real. Syrup and honey in equal measure. “But don’t worry, I never believe those dreams for long,”
- But Yoongi does worry, And the day comes that you do forget.
- It’s one of the rare times that Hoseok and Jungkook haven’t come home in time to see you wake. They’re kept south by a snowstorm wiping through the northern lands. But Yoongi’s glad they weren’t they're- glad they didn’t see it.
- It’s the first time that you wake and don’t remember them, your memories and your mind lost to the dream world. Screaming for Taehyung of all people as you fight Yoongi’s hands (only trying to hold you up seeing as you look about ready to pass out). You backpedal on shaky legs and hit the glass edge of your coffin with a violent thud. It shatters against the floor in a great cacophony of glass shards.
- Yoongi barely scoops you up in time so that you don’t fall against them and hurt yourself. Your hands weekly pushing at him to stay away, a monster that you never learned to love, a face you don’t know.
- Taehyung is crying in his coffin as he says your name. Hand weakly reaching out to Tae, Your panic stinks in Yoongi’s nose. Your body is afraid of him- that’s what breaks his heart the most- that he can smell the fear on you and he knows he’s caused it. it's all he can do to repeat in his mind that you’re just Sleepwalking, that’s what it is. You don’t actually hate him- you couldn’t.
- But you won’t wake up- no matter how much Yoongi calls your name. How is it so much harder for you than it is for Taehyung? Seokjin’s never said he did anything like this, Taehyung has never lost himself in the dream world like this.
- The second Tae feels like he has control of his legs he pushes Yoongi off of you. Cupping your cheeks and pulling you up and onto his glass coffin. “It’s not a dream- you’re not dreaming” but your eyes dart around the room like you’re not really seeing it. Yoongi sits there surrounded by glass watching as you don’t fight Tae.
- “Y/n you’re awake- this is your real life- this isn’t another nightmare” But his words fall on your unhearing ears. You stare at Taehyung like they’re something growing out of his head- and who knows- maybe there is. A piece of the dream world that you’ve carried into your waking hours. A hallucination. Yoongi doesn’t want to think about what you might have seen when you looked at his face.
- “Why are you calling me that? That’s not my name.” that’s the final straw, Seokjin knocked out of his reverie and Yoongi pining himself to the wall while Seokjin puts you back to sleep, a thumb pressed to your forehead until you slump in Tae’s arms. Tae holds you so delicately. And it takes seeing him cry for Yoongi to recognize the wetness on his own cheeks as tears too.
- He almost wants to reach out and keep you here. Because he knows- Yoongi knows- once you go into that coffin again they’re no getting you out. One more year to tick by without you. Two at once- They’ve never done this before and they can only hope it works- that you come back whole the next time.
- By the time Jungkook and Hoseok get home at noon, Hoseok’s wings are coated with a faint layer of frost. Yoongi is still sitting out on the edge of the property, watching the faintly raging snowstorm outside the barrier. Eyes wet and dark. His arms wrapped around himself like he’s trying to comfort himself. To alleviate the ache of being untouched. Maybe it’s dramatic- but Yoongi aches like he’s been shot down by an arrow. He never knew he could get so touch starved.
- His children watch him, mixed terror and discomfort at finding their father without their mother on the one day they should be seen together. “She’s not awake- you can get inside and see her though.” yoongi feels like he’ll never be warm again.
- The eternal spring of Seokjin’s home is more than enough to have the cold dissipate, but the cold at seeing you in Tae’s coffin stays. Yours shattered to the side (Seokjin will repair it for Tae later), is something that chills Jungkook to the bone. Jungkook doesn’t realize he’s using the magic in a panic until Hoseok touches his cheek and calls his name.
-All Jungkook knows is that your coffin magically replaced behind Tae’s and that the roses on the trellis outside are sneaking in through the open window. The warmth of Hoseok’s palm is welcomed comfort that Jungkook leans into. Trying not to cry.
- Jungkook and Hoseok get the story from Tae and Seokjin and then go back outside to sit next to their father. “Am I doing the right thing? Or should we just let her wake up and-“ Jungkook is the first to shake his head. “Mom doesn’t want to die dad- she’d say the same if she could” Hoseok’s hands tighten on their pants. Their whole body shaking at the thought of letting you- just letting you die.
- “Next year- it will be different.” No one says that they don’t know that for sure. That they’re just trying whatever they think will work without knowing if you’re right. If you even can come back. Jungkook and Hoseok stay for longer this time, to comfort their father. But then-one day weeks later, he stands up.
- They’re out of books. At least for now- until Hoseok and Jungkook can rocket across the world, every swipe of Hoseok’s wings faster- harder, pushing themselves to carry more. They feel like time is ticking down.
- The next year you wake without a fuss. And no one mentions the last year to you; you don’t remember what happened at all. You have no idea that it’s been two since they last saw you. And this time- Yoongi treasures it even more. For 18 hours- he doesn’t stop touching you. A hand on your lower back or your cheek. 18 hours of love after two years of nothing.
- Hoseok watches you carefully, looking for a hint that you know what happened, that you remember it in any way. But the day remains lost to the tangle of your memories and dreams. More than once- Hoseok catches you watching them, eyes furrowed like you’re having some sort of inner debate or trying to decide if what you’re seeing is real.
- Your brief wakefulness might be their favorite part- but it’s also the scariest.
- It gets a little better, the dreams can’t create new things for you- only things you’ve experienced before really. So when you see them in newer clothes, when they actively change things about your surroundings before you wake up it makes a difference.
- Seokjin changes the spell around his castle to fall just for you, and you spend ages in the garden, pressing sweet tomatoes to Yoongi’s mouth and cooking pumpkin seeds with Hoseok and Jungkook. Hoseok excitingly shows you their new trick- a little jet of fire that they can manage on their hands in their human form. It’s far from Yoongi’s near magic control of fire but it still makes you smile and shout and give Hoseok little scratches on the head a proud feeling in your chest.
- No matter that you need to reach up to do it now- they’ve been taller than you for so long it’s hard to remember they were ever so tiny. Hoseok’s change is also another thing that makes it easier. You dislike it- and you’d never treat your child any differently than how they wanted to treat them- but when you dream Hoseok- they’re still listless in their skin, a boy along with Jungkook.
- It’s reassuring when you wake and find them still the same as ever but so much more comfortable in their skin than they’d ever been before. As a child, Hoseok had been quiet and easily anxious (only soothed by Jungkook) now they’re louder and happier, a little bit of something shimmery gold on their eyelids, dancing around the kitchen and sending off little puffs of yellow fire (only to be contained by Jungkook’s magic).
- “Really Hobi- the kitchen is made of wood- you’ve got to be careful’). Their face stretching in a familiar heart-shaped smile that you all love. Hoseok is so so happy.
- You’ve never seen them this happy, and that makes the discontent rise in your chest because- how had you never realized they weren’t? How did you never see that Comfort was a fickle thing in Hoseok’s chest in a way it wasn’t for anyone but Jimin.
- You try to remember back to their meeting sometimes. Hoseok had looked at Jimin like he hung the stars and asked more questions than anyone else. You’d assumed it was just childlike curiosity- but maybe that had a deeper meaning than you’d initially thought.
- Before you sleep you unpack some of your old clothes and hand them down to Hoseok. Fine clothes and silks that Yoongi had made for you when you lived closer to the dragon city. Seeing as you have no use for them anymore, they’re a similar size- and Hoseok is only a little bit larger than you, maybe a tad bit broader but you liked your clothes flowy and loose anyway.
- You anchor yourself with their smile when you go into the dreams again. Excited to wake and help Hoseok explore their feminine side more.
- The nightmares are ever vibrant and feverish, with reality at a resolution just out of clarity. You dream of each of your family hurt beyond repair and you dream that they’re happy without you. Those hunters grabbing a tiny Hoseok by his feathers and tear them- his beautiful- delicate wings, and pluck him like a chicken.
- They do the same to Yoongi- albeit slower, removing every inch of his wing membrane until his bones clatter together like a wind chime. You have to watch, unable to move regardless of his roars that shake the earth. Maybe it says a lot about your love if the thing you’re scared of most is not being there to comfort Yoongi.
- Other nightmares of black fire that climbs the walls and sinks close to Jungkook in his baby basket. A calamity that you cannot end, like the trudge of time- the nightmares feel like they last forever. The wand in his arm burning too- unable to bond with him. His soul burned from the inside out. You scramble over his ashes, grasping at them like it will bring him back.
- You can’t help it, sobbing like your heart was ripped out. Hoseok falling too, crying in anguish as part of his soul dies. his wings fall limp- unable to fly without Jungkook. The saddest death is that of someone who can no longer do what they love, and the second saddest is a dragon without its wings.
- It’s so sad, It’s just like that time you woke up and saw only strangers in your bedroom, the nightmares always feel so real.
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Part 8: The Woman and The War *coming soon*
#min yoongi x reader#bts fanfic#bts#bts fluff#bts angst#bts fanfiction#bts fantasy au#bts au#min yoongi#yoongi x reader#bts hybrid au#bts shifter au#park jimin#kim taehyung#jung hoseok#kim seokjin#kim namjoon#jeon jungkook#hopekook#taejin#minjoon#bts hurt/comfort#bts gender#bts genderfluid#min yoongi fic#yoongi fluff#yoongi angst#bts x reader
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Xicheng fic recs
(figured i might make a list of my own)
(to be expanded as i dig out more treasure/remember stuff)
in no particular order:
Deep as the Yearning Night by FreckledStarKnight
“At first, it was pure chance. The second time was accidental. And the third time? Well, they say the third time’s the charm, after all. Lan Xichen discovers that Jiang Wanyin sings beautifully and is immediately enamored by it. His pursuit of Jiang Wanyin’s secret talent leads to a discovery and a series of events that he did not anticipate at all. Not that he’s complaining, of course. He got what he came for and more. Or, how two sect leaders get together through the song called love. CQL-verse.“
post-seclusion lxc
trying to get jc to sing
bonus lxc & jin ling feels i hadn’t considered before
cute
Always use protection by hesselives
“In which Lan Wangji attempts to hire a new bodyguard for his older brother, a well-known traveling exorcist. Jiang Wanyin doesn’t even make his carefully considered list of Top Ten Candidates, and yet here he is.
Lots of wandering in the countryside, distant yelling, and mildly inconvenient spirits.”
bodyguard au
honestly just really intersting worldbuilding
Rewrite the stars by Arashii
“Five great kingdoms have been fighting for years and when the kingdom of Yunmeng is destroyed, the Crown Prince Jiang Cheng vanishes.In Gusu, Lan Xichen makes an offer impossible for Jiang Cheng to refuse. His life or revenge? There’s only one option and Jiang Cheng swears loyalty to the man he hated the most his whole life, the Crown Prince of Gusu, Lan Xichen himself.Written for XiChengFest2020 - Day 4“
ROYALTY AU ROYALTY AU
enemies to lovers!
flashbacks! i love flashbacks so much ohmygod
No paths are bound by Arashii
“In seclusion, Lan Huan has the support of a ghost no one has seen since the massacre of Yunmeng Jiang. His feelings start changing with the often visits and conversations they share. Before Lan Huan can confess though, he ascends, leaving everything and everyone behind him.
Two hundred years later, back to the Human Realm and without powers, the Martial God Zewu-Jun has a mission to uphold. His Heavenly Calamity started. The clues are little and the support comes in the most unexpected form, the current Ghost King: Sandu Shengshou. Now they need to stick together to contain a menace that is slowly growing.“
TGCF AU TGCF AU
ghost king jiang cheng come on
doesn’t follow tgcf plot, just the setup so no spoilers
jiang cheng gets the dogs and the xichen he deserves
once upon a dream by cafedeolla
“Xicheng soulmate AU
An au where your dreams are small snippets of your soulmate’s day. They’d show small things like buying coffee, reading a book, or hanging out with people from their perspective.
The problem was that people always have expectations and Jiang Cheng knows he always falls short of them. Time and time again.“
soulmate au, but being soulmates is more a problem than a solution
misunderstandingssss all over the place
now with a squel (in progress?)
Lan Furen series by jagaimocchi
“Jiang Cheng leaves Lotus Pier before the Wen Internment Camp and before the destruction of his home. When he meets Lan Xichen on the run from the Wens after the burning of Cloud Recesses, his plan to live a peaceful life away from cultivation sects is quickly derailed. Now, free to make his own choices, he cannot find it in himself to leave the other man's side.
With love, patience and time, Jiang Cheng finds his own happiness and peace with his past.“
have you ever wanted a fic where jiang cheng peaces out from home in search for a better life, bc he’s Had Enough??? jags got you covered
adorable xicheng
good uncle-dad-figure Lan Qiren
ongoing <3
Just around the riverbend by JungleJelly
“One day.
Jiang Cheng just wanted one day of peace and quiet, away from home, away from his responsibilities, away from his idiot brother and his nutcases of a mother and father. Just a few hours alone — him and a boat and nothing else.
Clearly, that was too much to ask for.”
now with a new story in the series which is adorable too!!!
mermaid!lxc need i say more?
Bad ideas (where they lead) by JungleJelly
“Jiang Cheng is a busy man. Fortunately, he is also a huge pushover when it comes to his sister, so when she recommends that he start doing yoga, he agrees pretty easily.Featuring Lan Xichen in yoga pants, Jiang Cheng’s inability to handle a crush, and, perhaps most importantly, a big fluffy dog.“
done for 2020 MXTX MiniBang
yoga instructor Lan Xichen
Jiang Cheng is: struggling with a crush on the yoga guy from youtube & very angry about that
If there’s a price for rotten judgement by TheWanderingHeart
“All Jiang Cheng wants to do is, well... his job, really. Other than that? Keep the city safe, keep his nephew alive, keep his sanity intact (if possible).
So when his brother calls with unexpected news, he knows all of that is about to fly out of the window.
***
[Every instinct is telling him don’t ask, you don’t want to know. By this point, Nie HuaiSang has scooted closer to listen. Jiang Cheng takes a steadying breath and pulls out his antacids. “What did you do?”]”
superhero au, come on
jc just trying to do his job in peace
(he can’t)
i love it so much oh my god *sobs*
The Form of Boneless Ice by TheWanderingHeart
“Mythical beasts have long ago been driven to extinction by the gentry — hunted for sport, but more importantly for their magical cores. Since then, there remains only one creature that has never been caught. The Jiang’s retreated a long time ago. Abandoning land altogether, they sought safety where the humans could not reach.It all comes to a head though, purely by chance. (Or is it by fate that a spontaneous decision allows for them to meet? If fate were a rock!) Jiang Cheng suddenly finds his whole life balanced on the head of a pin — on the flimsy promise of a human boy. In his opinion, things cannot possibly get worse!(But then they do when the Wens decide it’s finally time to search for the elusive merpeople, and suddenly nowhere is safe.)“
there she goes again, with another beautiful xicheng story full of awwww and mythology
actually one of the first xicheng fics i read
i chose it because there were mermaids
painfully accurate takes on Jiang family dynamics
kids! lots of kids!
Let me Slytherin to Your Heart by TheWanderingHeart
“Jiang Cheng never thought he'd return to Hogwarts, but in hindsight, he probably should have known that someday he would.With his nephew about to start school, he reluctantly takes his good friend's bad parenting? career? advice and ends up tumbling head-first back into the madness that he hoped he'd left behind... and rediscovering some feelings he thought he'd left behind too.“
Harry Potter au!
just really fecking cute
lots of snakes
[I am not going to link all of Jo’s fics, though I probably could, just my 3 favourites. UOSB is there by default]
Talent Hunt Crew Finds Angry Guy Shouting On College Campus, Recruits Him For Vocal Projection Abilities by oh_fudgecakes
“Jiang Cheng, resident Angry Guy and heir to a conglomerate empire, has never been the apple of his father’s eye. Quashed under the shadow of his brilliant brother, the music prodigy Wei Wuxian, Jiang Cheng sees his chance to turn things around when he is recruited by the All-Stars Lan Talent Hunt. One problem: he can’t sing to save his goddamn life.As he struggles to develop his nascent singing abilities, Jiang Cheng finds himself sucked into the whirlwind drama of reality TV, helped along by his adoring siblings, his irritable vocal coach Wen Qing, and strangely enough, the unfairly attractive host of the All-Stars Lan Talent Hunt, Lan Xichen. Somewhere in the glare of the stage lights and an unexpected first love, Jiang Cheng stumbles upon the thing he was searching for all along: the courage to dream — and to attempt the impossible.“
done for 2019 MXTX Big Bang
uuuuuuuuuuh i might have cried maybe
heartwarming? painful at times? lots of family love?
slowburn xicheng being lovely
The Provenence of Hope series by velithya
“A chance meeting on a night hunt sets a course of events into motion that will change everything.
Featuring Xicheng getting together, recovery for Lan Xichen, healing for Jiang Cheng, and always, always, hope.“
got everything. feels. hope. love. ~~healing~~
A Small Measure of Peace by Sandstone112
“With his brother in seclusion, Lan Xichen finds himself in temporary custody of his nephew with little to no expertise in the child-raising department. Uncertain and alone, Zewu-Jun is willing to do everything to be the person Yuan needs—even if it means inviting Sandu Shengshou to a playdate.“
a loooot of adorable family times with jc and lxc taking care of their nephews
good grandpa lqr!
canon but fixed and less painful
🍋🍋🍋🍋🍋if you wish to avoid scurvy:🍋🍋🍋🍋🍋
Some day I’m gonna make you mine series by locketofyourhair
xicheng getting together through the years
friends with benefits but the real benefits are the friends we made along the way
Take me over (take me tonight) by velithya
jiang cheng has a tattoo and lan xichen doesn’t stand a chance
i'd be the sweet feeling of release (mankind now dreams of) by piyo13
two bros, chilling in a cave, no feet apart because they don’t want to lose their cultivation powers what are you gonna do
haven’t read yet and shame on me, but AM GONNA:
Upon Our Silver Bridge by TheWanderingHeart obviously
““When the path ignites a soul, there's no remaining in place. The foot touches ground, but not for long.”
― Hakim Sanai
**
Lan Xichen's sorrows have caught the attention of something. Unlike the adventures and foes they have faced before, there is no obvious enemy here to defeat. If this is the same thing they thought had taken Nie Mingjue's life, then he believes it is fated for him to die as well. Nothing can stop the black fire when it wants to burn.Jiang Cheng is sure his part in this is over. Wei Wuxian is back, his grand adventure concluded, and he'd never been at the centre of it anyway. So what does it matter what happens to him in the end? Slowly, he will come to realise that there will always be a battle to fight, a story to tell, a choice to make, and there is no such thing as an end to anything.“
it was difficult to do things in 2020 and few i regret not doing more than not reading uosb yet :’(
i will tho
Emergency Help Wanted by piyo13
“EMERGENCY HELP WANTED
I lied when I got my job. I told them I had a kid so I could leave early from work to pick him up from daycare, take him to doctor's appointments, and occasionally miss a day when he's sick. Long story short, I'm in too deep. I didn't think it through. Looking to rent a kid for bring your child to work day. Must be a boy ages four to six, longish dark hair, likes soccer. Must also be artistic as the macaroni noodle paintings I made seem a little advanced for his age. Also, I will pay extra for someone willing to play the role of husband when dropping him off. He's a prosecuting attorney who often brings his work home. Message me for further details. Serious inquiries only.“
Running Our Hands Through Embers by MarvelousMar
“If asked, Jiang Cheng would compare falling in love with Lan Xichen to a moth inevitably drawn to a flame.It burned.***In which Jiang Cheng discovers that even death can't help him escape from his trauma, so he embarks on a quest to save the people he loves, fix what he can, make the love of his life fall for him, and maybe, somewhere along the way, do a little bit of healing.”
The Beginner’s Guide to Moving On by InvincibleMel
gone from ao3, but i think there’s a link with a pdf going around
#xicheng#fic rec#Jiang Cheng#lan xichen#mdzs#the untamed#the grandmaster of demonic cultivation#mo dao zu shi
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All hail queen Yanli, president of the Elder Sibling club
Is it too much of a stretch to assume that Jiang Yanli, Lan Xichen and Nie Mingjue have at least a passing acquaintance with each other, if only through forced social interactions during diplomatic events? Their parents drag them along to discussion conferences when they're teenagers and obviously they get bored.
Imagine teen Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen excited to spend time with someone close to their age that they are not related to. It was meant to be the unofficial first meeting of the Older Siblings Club, and Jiang Yanli keeps ordering alcohol... (Someone once said that "achieve the impossible" is about drinking Yanli under the table). Lan Xichen hasn't quite perfected his technique for absorbing alcohol with his golden core yet, so Nie Mingjue and Jiang Yanli have to wrangle him back to their rooms in secret.
And while this is a transparent attempt on the author's part to give Yanli any amount of meaningful interactions with people outside her family, it has the added bonus of making the first meeting between Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji even funnier. Because you know their elder siblings have mentioned them to each other...
At some there has probably been a discussion about temporarily swapping little brothers. Do NOT imagine a pre-teen Wei Wuxian loose in the Unclean Realm. Or the structural damage that would result in. Right before the Cloud Recesses summer camp starts Lan Xichen gets letters from the other two basically saying "They're your problem now."
Jiang Yanli at the lady dormitories: "I'm officially on vacation"
Nie Mingjue, chilling in the Unclean Realm: "Ahh, peace and quiet!"
-2 days later-
"Too quiet..."
Meanwhile at Cloud Recesses Nie Huaisang has already set up a bootlegging network.
Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen probably do swap brothers every once in a while, when they visit each other because Nie Mingjue likes well-behaved!Lan Wangji (if only he knew) and Lan Xichen secretly misses having a clingy litlte brother.
On the other end of the triad, Jiang Yanli is taking advantage of the non-co-ed dormitories and making friends. Her, and Wen Qing and MianMian can occasionally be seen together, taking walks and talking. Every time is happens Jin Zixuan feels a shiver down his spine. And not just because MianMian won't tell him what they talk about....
As always, co-authored with/grossly enabled by @sswangxian
#the untamed#jiang yanli#nie mingjue#lan xichen#elder sibling club#be afraid#be very very afraid#we serve crack here sir#operation: give yanli some friends#the jiang alcohol tolerance TM
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