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sheisjoeschateau · 3 months

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"Oh, so we DO love Steve..." | PART II

ALRIGHT, SECOND PART IS OUT. NOT WAITING. hope u like :)

⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ SERIES MASTERLIST ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆

Steve Harrington x Bauman!fem!reader || enemies to lovers trope.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT GIVE PERMISSION FOR MY WORK TO BE COPIED AND/OR REPOSTED ON HERE OR ANY OTHER PLATFORM, OR PUT INTO ANY AI PROGRAMS. THIS IS AN 18+ BLOG, MDNI.

An original fanfiction series, written by Misha St. James.

This isn't your first time meeting Steve Harrington.

You know him. And he knows you. Well, maybe. Who knows. You both run in completely different circles in high school.

While there's some very obvious tension amongst the love triangle (Nancy-Steve-Jonathan) you take a second to look over at the group of kids behind King Steve. There's a curly-haired kid wearing a cap, another kid sporting a bandana, and a redheaded girl. They give you sort of awkward waves, which you return with a tight-lipped grin.

"Sorry," Jonathan's suddenly saying. "Uh, you guys, this is umm -"

"Bauman," you interject. "Just...call me Bauman."

Steve is now looking at you, realizing. Recognizing. "Hey," he says. "Wait, aren't you in Click's class?"

You press your lips into a thin line, trying not to be totally off-put by him. And in truth, you weren't really. Steve had seemed less... douchey, since he started dating Nancy. You were grateful for that. No matter how doomed their relationship was, it seemed to help him get rid of his trash friends. God, Tommy H. and Carol and that Nicole girl were just toxic.

"Yeah," you said, reaching out a hand. "Nice to officially meet you."

Steve shook your hand, a bit sheepish. And still distracted with the fact that his girlfriend had shown up with Byers. Why was she with Byers? You felt yourself internally cringing, seeing how oblivious yet aware he was. It actually made you feel bad.

"I'm Dustin!"

You suddenly looked in the direction of a toothy-grinned kid smiling at you, and you couldn't help but grin back. "Hey, Dustin."

Lucas and Max introduced themselves, too. But then, you all heard sound coming from off in the distance. The lab.

So yeah, things took a pretty sharp turn from there. It's all kind of a blur, if you're being honest. Everyone began talking over each other, eventually gathering info as to exactly who you are and why you were here (at least the general just of it). They learned about Murray Bauman, and Steve's face just became more perplexed, the more that Nancy and Jonathan revealed what they had learned...together.

...yikes.

But the kids were also asking you a million questions, very curious about you. Max found you funny, finding you to have more cool-girl energy than Nancy, who just seemed too polished for her to know how to communicate with her.

Eventually, Nancy noticed the power back on at the lab and you all took off in that direction. Steve was arguing a lot with the kid named Dustin. Very brotherly. Low-key motherly. The toll gate wouldn't open, then suddenly it did open, and then next thing you know a car is racing towards you from the lab and it's got Jim Hopper at the steering wheel? He's throwing the door open, demanding all of you to get in.

As you all drive, you end up near the front of the car, squished between Steve and Dustin.

"Bauman."

You look over at Jim, surprised. But he's looking at you in the rearview with all-knowing eyes. "You're Murray's niece."

You nod. "Yeah. Jim Hopper, right?"

Jim reaches back to pat your knee, eyes on the road and still shaken up from whatever the hell they just escaped. "M'sorry, kid. Your uncle's been getting shit from me. I know he sent you. M'really sorry. I'll make it right with him after all this, alright? Promise."

You just nod, knowing there's really no time for any of that right now. Since you got in the car, you haven't even had time to notice how there is a woman (clearly Joyce Byers) in pure distress, along with another kid in tow and the limp body of another child that she's holding. Jonathan is reaching for him, riddled with worry. Is that Will?

Once you all make it back to the Byers residence, it's tense. Really fucking tense. Jonathan is knelt in front of the couch, voicing his regrets out loud as he stares at his brother's limp form. Nancy stands behind him, placing a hand on his shoulder. You're on the opposite side of the room, leaned against the wall.

Which is why you notice that behind Hopper, who's yelling into the wall phone, Steve. He looks...devastated. Hurt. Heartbroken.

...fuck, he looks heartbroken.

He walks past you, pinching his nose and sniffing once. He looks like he's really fighting off some emotion, escaping to another room. It makes you think about everything that went down at your uncle's bunker, and how maybe it was funny there...but it isn't here. Not now, seeing that this guy actually has some intense feeling for Nancy Wheeler. Intense love for her. Real love.

...but Nancy doesn't feel that same intense love for him.

...oh god, that's messy.

But all hell is breaking loose before you can linger on that for much longer. Suddenly, you're all devising a plan. It has something to do with dungeons and dragons, and Will being possessed, and getting him in a room that whatever monster is inside of him won't recognize. The you're all deciphering Morse Code, and it's a whirlwind from there.

And then you're all holding weapons, bracing fore an attack...when some young girl walks in. Who you come to learn is the infamous Eleven. Her hair grew back, and she looks ready to join a punk band.

Pretty bitchin' look, you gotta admit.

The kids introduce her to you, and she gives you a shy smile. Then you're all splitting up into groups, and you catch a brief exchange between Nancy and Steve. He's saying something to her about going with Jonathan, and it makes you tense for Nancy. You can't even imagine how she must feel, knowing that he sees it.

And honestly, the way that Steve talks is...so not King Steve. It's uncharacteristically mature. Secure, and assuring. Not that of the teen heartthrob and bad boy you've been going to school with. And when Nancy does go off with Jonathan, you see Harrington's heart shatter into a million pieces with just the look in his eyes.

You feel bad. You suddenly feel really bad.

But also, he had to have seen this coming. Right? Jonathan Byers was a good, decent guy, who'd been there for Nancy all throughout the hell of last year. Steve had come around, finally. But by then, the trauma bond between Byers and Wheeler was irreversible. There's no changing that.

But damn, unrequited love sucks.

You knew was rejection felt like, and you wouldn't wish it on anyone. Not even your worst enemy.

Out of guilt, you make some conversation with Steve. Given it's just the two of you with the kids left at the house, needing to wait things out, you both easily make conversation. It's a bit awkward at first, but oddly it finds flow pretty easily. Steve's still got his charm, although it's a little more grounded than before. It isn't forced, or laced with popular-kid attitude. That's refreshing.

As you both end up listening to the kids like the only two parental figures around, then end up having to fight off that psycho new kid at school named Billy Hargrove (who's actually Max's stepbrother?!) and patch up Steve's very beaten and battered face which somehow still looks pretty, annnnd wind up in a tunnel full of creatures (demo dogs? is that what Dustin called them?), then somehow survive all of that shit... you and Steve become pretty bonded, pretty quickly.

And when the worst of it is seemingly over, you end up helping Eleven get ready for the Snowball -- dropping her off with Hopper. He's grateful for your help, and after making amends with your uncle you two have gotten to know each other well, too. He likes you, appreciating your mature sense of self.

Joyce adores you already, being the kind-natured and loving mama-bear that she is.

And El? Well, she loves you. You're like a cool older sister figure of sorts.

You and Steve run into each other when dropping off the kiddos at the Snowball, making conversation about how crazy everything was. You talk about other things, too. Just mundane things, bouncing off each other well. But when Steve notices Nancy inside, he gets that sad puppy-dog look in his eyes again. Then, Jonathan's coming out of the dance with a camera. He clearly was the designated photographer for the night.

And he clearly has captured Nancy Wheeler's heart.

One night, after Jonathan and Nancy have started going steady and you're all on summer break, you're all over at the Henderson's house watching the kids. The adults are there, too, since Mrs. Henderson is out working overnight. Murray is pouring up drinks for the adults and teens, much to Joyce's disapproval. But he just goes about his business, clinking glasses. Hopper honestly looks like he could really use a fucking drink. Or 5.

You, Steve, Nancy and Jonathan all toast, happily. Chatting. Laughing. Making light of things.

...but that ends up being pretty short-lived.

Before you know it, you're in the kitchen helping clean up while Joyce gets the kids in bed and Hopper is on the couch slurring with your uncle. Steve had offered to help you, but Dustin insisted that he come see something in his room before they all went to bed. Nancy has left with Mike and Max, while Lucas is staying the night.

Welp. Jonathan walks in, drunk, telling you thank you.

It's sloppy, and it would be funny except for the fact that he is talking so fucking loud. He's just thanking you, and then Murray, over and over -- "...for meddling with'm love life because now, I'm dating th'most beautifurrrl girl in Hawkins. N'if'it weren't for y'two...I'd still'b pining o'r h-her."

...annnnd then he’s blabbering on about how you let him and Nancy take the bed. “Well’lmost… ha, w-we ended urp…takin’th…couch. Whischhh…you tol’us you’w’d…toHaLLy tAkE’stead.” Then he’s snickering, drunkenly. “Cuz’you toooootally wanted us to doooo itttt. Schhhhhhayin that — m’not the safe one. That’m — I’m the one’th Nannnncy l-loves. Not…S-Steve…”

You just chuckle nervously, giving him a pat on the shoulder. And you just keep washing the dishes when he gives you a tight hug from behind, stumbling a bit and making you almost drop and break one of Mrs. Henderson's very cute plates.

Right on cue, Steve rounds the corner, having heard it.

All of it.

And now that Steve has gotten wind of the fact you played a huge role — along with Murray — on why Nancy left him, he is totally pissed.

In fact, he’s livid.

"Steve," you try, but he just holds up a hand, staring daggers at you.

"Save it, Bauman," he grits. "Save. It."

It causes him to have the utmost disdain towards you, border lining hate. It just festers over time, getting worse.

Something about that makes your stomach flip inside out with a horrible, upset feeling. Your guts feel knotted up, and if the reality of things weren't so bleak, you would laugh at the fact that losing Steve Harrington's friendship (let alone trust) would upset you one day, let alone even happen. You feel bad. You really do. But God, as time goes on... his entire attitude about it is insufferable. He isn't letting up any time soon. Not when you both meet up with the kids (because regardless of the strain between you two, you're both the parents now). It feels like two divorced parents, meeting up to share custody of the chitlins.

The only relationship to which Steve is committed, is the one that he shares with Miss Hatred. And you're her bitch.

...guess there's still some King Steve in him after all.

You knew King Steve. He was an ass. So you know what? Suck it, Harrington. Karma’s a bitch.

As time passes, you begin firing back at him - tired of trying to explain yourself, apologize or play nice. Steve wants to fucking play? Alright then. Game on, Harrington.

There's a whole upside down universe threatening to take over still? All good. Let's still brawl, Harrington.

The kids keep bringing you both around each other, and you're also working at a place inside of the same damn mall as Steve is for the summer? AWESOME.

LET'S GET READY TO FUCKIN RUMBLE.

So yeah, you’re totally involved in the whole mall ordeal with the Russians, bonding you to Steve and Robin, along with Dustin and Erica.

But despite that, Steve still resents you. So there is still rivalry between the two of you. Hot and bothered.

That said, despite his pure disdain towards you...it doesn't change the fact that you actually do begin to see him for the much better human that he is becoming. King Steve has fallen. No doubt. You see that. The way that he loves and cares the kids, especially Dustin. And the way that Steve reacts whenever Robin comes out to you both? He's an angel. Hell, he even fought the soldiers off of you whenever they decided to make you their torture-chamber play-thing. He definitely got mad at them for that one, but he also got mad at you for not going with Dustin and Erica before all of that went down. You both nearly strangled each other when attempting to hold the door shut, yelling at each other to run. Robin had finally joined you both, but still - neither of you budged.

Steve was a good guy. A nice guy, even. Just not to you, unless the moment called for him to be. Which was fine.

…but he’s still annoying. And apparently, he can hold a fucking grudge like no other. He’s a world class champ at that, come to find out. Gold star.

You're onboarded to help Hopper, Murray and Joyce with shutting the gate. It's a no-brainer. Steve looks a little miffed, seeing how the adults trust you like one of them rather than him. Even the way that Jonathan is so cool around you, and Nancy seems shy around you, it just...irks him.

When you manage to help Joyce close the gate, you witness the death of Hopper. And it kills you, along with your uncle. You ache for Joyce, unable to fathom how you'll have to bring it up to El.

But hey, you all manage to destroy the Mind Flayer. And when Billy is killed in the process, you tend to Max like a true older sister. She and Eleven have both come to look up to you as such, and Steve won't deny the fact that you're a saint with these kids. A real fucking saint. And if he's being honest...he's relieved to have a co-parenting partner.

But that is the extent of his gratitude towards you, which is strictly circumstantial. You make things convenient sometimes.

Hopper dying hits all of you hard. And you do everything that you can to help your uncle not drink himself to death. It's the only reason that you don't regularly visit the Wheelers in California. Your uncle is a wreck. Hopper was the only man who truly felt like a friend to your very lonely (by choice) Uncle Murray.

Steve does single you out to ask how you're doing, knowing that witnessing Hopper's death was tragic. But you just tell him that the real concern is your uncle and Joyce, insisting that you will get by. Steve seems hesitant at first, knowing that you're not fine. He might hate you, but he still cares about a party member who got put through hell.

"I'm alive, Steve. So I need to carry on. For everyone's sakes. I'll be alright."

As time goes on...

You and Steve give Robin very conflicting love advice, when it comes to her crush on Vikki.

"VIKKI LIKES BOOBIES."

"Christ, Steve," you're groaning in the backseat. "Stop being such a damn teenage boy."

"I'm almost 20, Bauman," he scowls at you in the rearview mirror.

You make a face, exaggerating feigned apology. "'Scuuuuuse me."

Man, he could not hate you more. Steve is sure of that. You are the worst. Why are you here. You are just the worst. Every time he looks at you, all he sees is Murray Bauman but as a much hotter 19-year-old girl with way more better comebacks and select timing.

AND NO, THAT IS NOT A COMPLIMENT.

!!!!!!!!

Next thing you know, Chrissy Cunningham has been found dead in a trailer that belongs to Eddie ‘The Freak’ Munson. Who, according to Dustin, is not only still in high school — he’s also friends with them? Yikes. But Dustin swears that he’s not a murderer.

You choose to believe Dustin. Much to Steve’s chagrin. In his mind, any chance that you get to disagree with him, you will gladly fucking take it. He is really committed to you being his enemy.

And you know what? Fine. You can play. You've been playing.

Eventually, Nancy comes back into the picture.

And honestly? Watching her be all into Steve again? As if she isn't in a relationship with Jonathan still? That pisses you off.

Not because you’re jealous. No, no. Not that.

…yeah no, it’s not that.

Nah, it’s the way this girl just cannot for the life of her figure out what she is feeling. Dear lord, woman. Pick.

Eventually, you comment on this. But not until Eddie Munson is suddenly roped into y’all’s crew and you both strangely hit it off. You share the same taste in music. You both compare concert history, listing off you're favorites and randomly bursting into song. Very scream-o, metal music. Eddie thinks you're the shit, and you make him laugh a lot. He also makes you laugh a lot.

Steve hates that. He really, really hates that.

But not because he is jealous. No, no. It’s not that.

…yeah, it’s definitely not that.

Nah, it’s the way you make friends with someone he isn't a fan of just to spite him. You know he doesn’t like Eddie. You know he feels replaced by Dustin for him. You’re doing this shit on purpose. He knows it. He just knows it.

Regardless, you both stand by each other throughout the whole Vecna ordeal. And Max? She loves you. Trusts you. A lot. You also tell her not to give Steve so much shit. So he’ll give you that.

But that’s all he’s gonna give you. And even that has its limits.

Whenever you all find out that Max is cursed, the first person that Steve finds himself looking at is you. Because you're the co-parent. You've gotta help him know what to do. You feel the exact same way.

You both witness her possession in he graveyard. You both help calm the kids down, and each other. Whenever Max writes letters to each of you, she looks at both you and Steve for a long time. A really long time. It's very uncomfortable.

...then she's finally handing you both a letter, and the look she shoots you both afterwards in really unsettling. Like she knows something.

But what the hell is there to know? That you both can't stand each other? NEWSFLASH: EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT. So joke's on them.

...not Max though. She's in trouble. So she's allowed to know whatever the hell...that she...knows...?

You and Steve both profusely disagree with everyone about the idea of Max becoming the bait. In fact, it's the first time that you both are defending each other to everyone else. Whenever Max argues Steve, you tell her to listen.

"Steve has every right to be worried right now. We all do, Max."

She sighs, knowing that you're right.

And whenever Dustin tries to get quippy with you about stuff, Steve shuts him down real fast.

"Hey. Not cool. Bauman's in the right, check yourself."

Dustin also sighs, knowing that he's right.

Because you both know these kids better than anyone. You helped Mike ease up on Hopper, becoming that one older-sister figure he can actually go to and be normal around. Hell, he even hugs you. Mike never hugs anyone, except El. And Lucas? You and Steve are at every single one of his games, like proud parents. Will calls you whenever he wants to paint, knowing that you enjoy art. You've spent many nights painting with him, and even Steve will join with the other kids. They mostly just finger paint and bicker, but it's still lovely in its own sort of way. And then there's Dustin. The golden child, who both of you wanna hug and strangle at the same time. He is forever putting the two of you in close proximity, secretly loving the tension between the two of you. He figures that it's just because you both wanna be the favorite parent, and Dustin is too fixated on why Steve hasn't started dating Robin to even remotely suspect that you two could be an item.

There's a plan in motion now. It's in full swing, all groups peeling off. There's a new species added to the fucked up realm (the newly coined named for them is demo-bats) and you've somehow saved Steve's ass for the 3rd time. This guy seriously cannot catch a break.

But now, Eddie’s suddenly encouraging Steve to go after Nancy again. And damn, that bugs you. It really motherfuckin’ gets under your skin. Because Eddie doesn’t know the full story about what went down between them. Not even close.

You can't help yourself. You tell Steve this, once Eddie walks up ahead. But of course, Steve is rebuking everything that you are saying.

And then he's telling you that Nancy is different, and -- “actually, things are better.”

But you scoff at that, incredulously. And you're telling him to "wake up and realize that 1) she’s still with lover-boy Byers, and 2) you shouldn’t pine after someone who chose someone else over you."

You mean to say it kindly. Honestly, you try to.

But Steve doesn’t think so. And he’s faster. He’s also cruel.

“Maybe that’s why you broke us up, huh?" Steve is firing back at you with all that he's got now. "Because you’re used to that. Being the second choice. Weren’t you Clark’s best friend? Didn’t he drag you along until he ended up picking Becky? Yeah. Thought I didn’t know that, right? Or how you hung out with some of the basketball guys and never once got asked out by any of them? God, it’s so obvious. Also, it’s pathetic. You clearly hate seeing anyone happy. So hey, guess what? You got your wish: successfully ruining someone else’s happiness. Bingo! Congratulations, you won.”

It hurts. It really does. It fucking hurts.

Still, you do try to reason with him. It’s a little harsh, you’ll admit it. You’re not exactly speaking to him sweetly. But you try.

“All my personal love life issues aside —" you start, bringing your voice down and speaking as level as possible. "...which honestly, I’ve never even had something worth labeling as love — Steve, YOU still deserve to —”

“To suffer,” he cuts you off. “Yeah. I know. And the fact you’ve not had love? That just further proves my point. You admit it and yet you’re still out to get me. Because you’re fucking miserable.”

Alright, you’ve had it.

“I’m miserable?” you ask, ready to fire back. “Steve. You’re the one letting your ex-girlfriend — who didn’t even properly dump you — toy with your brain again into actually thinking she’s gonna pick you this time. She doesn’t deserve that. And you certainly don’t deserve —”

“You deserve nothing.” Steve is seething. Then hissing at you, “You’re bullshit, Bauman. You and your whack job Uncle. You’re both bullshit.”

So you stop. You let it go.

You let Steve Harrington hate you and suffer his own misfortunes. And you pretend that what he said didn’t just shatter your soul into a million tiny pieces. You nod at him, swallowing hard.

“My uncle is twice the man you’ll ever be. King Steve.”

It’s a pathetic last attempt. And your voice feels small, tight. But standing up for your uncle is better than yourself at this point. You walk off, away from him.

And Steve doesn’t tell you to stop. He doesn’t tell you not to walk away. He lets you.

So he doesn’t see you cry alone inside of the upside down version of the Wheelers’ bathroom. He doesn’t see your heart break in two, and he doesn’t see you bite back the sobs sinking your teeth into your palms.

#steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington angst #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington x you #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington stranger things #stranger things fanfiction #dustin henderson

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andkisses · 10 months

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♡ it's a promise | sunghoon ♡

sunghoon has been your friend for the longest time, and he gets you–which is why you fell in love. and you’ve been sending out feelers to see if he, well, feels the same. and now it’s time you found out.

♡ sunghoon x gn!reader | wc. 1.2k ♡ genres/tropes: banter, confessions (?), fluff, friends to lovers ♡ mentions of/warnings: pet names (u call him pretty boy) ♡ a/n: this was originally something i wrote for hyunjae from the boyz but i for the life of me cannot remember if i posted it or not </3 this is also a revamp rather than a repost because ended up writing some more for it ^^ ♡ masterlist ♡

The moon hangs high against a curtain of glassy stars, casting soft electric light through the small kitchen window. It’s hard to play without any light, but he refuses to turn on the overhead. You watch as he deliberately stares at the other side of the board, deep in thought. With a heavy, exaggerated sigh, Sunghoon leans back, eyeing you over top of the Battleship board. “E4.”

You fake a giant frown. Then, you offer a small tut-tut, shaking your head as you pick up a white piece to taunt him. “Miss.”

Sunghoon sighs again dramatically, rolling his eyes and slouching in his chair. “Why do I invite you over if all you ever do is make me lose?”

“I’m sorry?” you laugh, relishing in how well you’re playing and how bad he’s doing. “You lose all on your own, pretty boy.”

There’s a slip in his façade as he offers you a small laugh before going back to staring at the board. “Go on.”

Sunghoon’s apartment is small—a kitchen, a bedroom, a bath, and a room that’s somehow meant for dining and living but is not large enough to fit the appropriate furniture for both uses. It’s crowded and cramped, but feels so much like Sunghoon you can’t imagine him living anywhere else. There are his favorite albums on the wall, a stand of plants in the corner. Elements of brushed gold whenever they can be—pots, trays, the hooks on the wall for his keys. It’s cozy, even if you’re just sitting at his tiny two-person kitchen table playing what appears to be an ancient copy of Battleship.

“C8,” you say, and laugh when Sunghoon smiles again, waving around a white piece of his own in similar fashion. You take it from him, fingertips brushing his own. A spark, surely. “See, if I was the one making you lose, I would have hit that time.”

“Y/N, you’ve already sunk three of my battleships,” he says.

He’s good at hiding, but you’ve known Sunghoon long enough, been his friend, to see when his armor cracks. When your compliments affect him more than they should, more than just friends. When the names you choose to call him sink into his skin and stay there. Ever since you realized your feelings, you’d been testing to see if he felt the same way back. You like to believe you’re reading the signs and reactions correctly, but then again, there’s no better way than asking. Being upfront, being honest.

But could you really ask?

As brave as you feel, as confident as you are, it’s your best friend you’re talking about. Wouldn’t asking if he likes you—like-likes you? Like, for real—make things between the two of you weird if he didn’t feel the same way?

But there’s no way he doesn’t feel the same way. Surely friends don’t always invite the other over, pay for their food, help them cope when work is stressful. Sure, maybe friends do that, but a single friend? Doing everything? All the time?

Lost in your thoughts, you’re oblivious to the boy across from you, even if he is the subject of your worry, Sunghoon has slowly leaned forward, just enough to see around the board and locate your ships. “Hey, not fair!” you say, reaching forward to bat him away with your hands. “That’s cheating!”

“No, it’s not! You were thinking so hard you were on another planet, what else was I to do?” he argues, reaching to hold your hands in his to stop you.

You stand up, trying to see Sunghoon’s side of the board, trying to see if you’ve done more damage to him and can still win, even if he knows exactly where your boats are. Sunghoon stands too, lacing his fingers between yours, pushing back against you, laughter on his lips. As soon as you clear the table, he’s pulling you close.

You're trapped in his arms, but you can’t help but laugh too as you curl into his touch, his warmth, and smile as you feel Sunghoon do the same. You’re still shuffling, fighting for purchase, but in the small space, you end up tumbling over the back of the couch, Sunghoon now inches away above you. Your laughter dies down, the smiles still present, stuck in this haze around you.

You see the stars from before in his eyes, a happiness you’ve only ever noticed when he’s with you, just you. He smiles wider somehow, as if he can’t believe what’s happened to him. “I have a question,” he asks.

“What?” you whisper, even though there’s no one else.

Sunghoon’s smile fades slightly, his eyes darting back and forth between yours, before returning. It’s like he’s already confident in your answer. “If I kissed you, what would happen?”

Your own smile grows, your hands anxious to pull him closer. To finish this. It would be so easy—him only just propped up by his hands on either side of your shoulders. All you would have to do is wrap your hands into the front of his shirt and pull. Your words are ones you’ve imagined saying for a while. “I think I would fall in love with you.”

He leans in, and you desperately want to touch his face, run your hands through his hair, but you feel stuck in the moment, denial small but loud enough in your head. “Is that a threat?” he asks, in a whisper so low it feels almost like a hiss, like a dare.

It breaks you from your stupor. You reach up to thread your fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck and pull him closer. “It’s a promise.”

He tastes like coffee and chocolate, and his warmth is more than you could have ever imagined. His hair is soft beneath your fingers as you dig into his scalp. It feels like time has stopped and restarted all at once. You gasp when you feel Sunghoon’s arms scoop beneath you, pulling you close to him and upright. Your legs are a tangled mess, half in his lap half off the couch. Sunghoon moves away first, and if you weren’t so damn content you’d frown at the absence of him.

His hands come up to cup your face, bringing warmth up your neck. He stares at you, eyes wide in the moonlight. Like you’re a dream come true. And maybe you are, because you’re certain you’ve dreamt this exact moment yourself, so what’s to say he hasn’t either?

“Does this mean you’re my boyfriend now?” you ask, leaning forward to chase after his lips. And he lets you, pulling you closer. Your nose bumps into his and your teeth clack against his but you don’t care. One hand leaves the side of your head to roam down your back, splay large against your ribs. His warmth is everywhere, intoxicating. Your hands, which had found purchase gripping the front of his shirt, are back in his hair, nape of his neck. You savor how he shivers beneath your touch.

But then, his lps leave yours and start a trail down your jaw, making you shiver and laugh all at once. What a unique feeling–warm and ticklish and absolutely divine. Sunghoon stops himself when he gets to the corner of your jaw, just below your ear, and places one more kiss on your lips. You get everything you ever read about being breathless after kisses. When he pulls back, he rests his forehead on yours, eyes shut, with the happiest smile.

His hands flutter down to lace themselves in yours. “I would do everything for you,” he whispers. He opens his eyes and looks at you, and you feel it in your core that he’s telling the truth. “Anything. Everything.”

#kdiarynet #kwritersworld #kflixnet #k-labels #sunghoon fluff #enhypen fluff #enhypen #sunghoon #prose #fluff #all

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sleepdeprivedheretic · 3 years

Text

Heart of the Wild (Ch.1)

Notes: Here I am, with my favorite tropes and high-key copying the plot to my other fic, Wild Heart. Oh well, I had fun chilling and plotting it with my friend, @mha-girl674 while listening to Celtic Woodland music :3 This story is basically a little self-indulgent “re-write”, but Wild Heart is still up and it’s own fic <3

Pairings: Taishiro x reader, a little bit of Kirideku, and Miro x Tamaki next chapter

Setting: Hybrid Au in medieval times? Ig? Like they have villages and stuff. Idk, imagination :3

Warnings: Self Indulgent Spicy Plot with consensual and self smut thrown in around here and there. Characters are over the age of twenty.

Trigger Warnings: Heats, terrible parents (of the reader), and fear of non-consent, but there is no no-consensual touching, just chasing from an unknown character.

Hot breaths panted into the chilly air from within your chest. You couldn’t feel anything, other than the white heat burn within your feet and legs from the blistering cold. You’ve been running for who knows how long, heart screaming within your chest at the thrill of finally being free, and what a stupid decision that this was.

It was in the middle of winter, and you’ve chosen now to escape. It was smart as well as stupid, for your parents, thinking that they had you metaphorically tied to a tight leash, would have never expect you to rush out into the cold dead of the winter night.

They were wrong, but you were suffering. There was no food, lest hardly any shelter or warmth. Your scrap of a tattered cloak, barely weathered the unforgiving wind and snow. Yet, trudging on was the best bet, it was the only bet.

At least the cool weather flushed down your heat, but not the scent. Being within a tundra had scared you; not only that there were more ferocious, bigger hybrids that could smell you out, but as well as it was so open. Nowhere to hide, plenty to run, and you’ve practically already exhausted yourself, your natural cycle to breed didn’t help matters, either, for it drained energy, as well.

Was this better than having your parents keep a constant watch over you? Planning to hand over you to who knows who, in exchange for some pretty fabrics and seeds? Granted that you’ve thought this through in what seemed to be a million times, but you didn’t know what laid outside of your little nomadic tribe.

Gritting teeth, leaning against a boulder, you gasped as pain shot through your leg. You were use to traveling with your tribe, carrying things for miles, but not running in constant fear into the vast unknown, perhaps miles away from any place that was safe.

A low whine had cut you out of your thoughts, your head swerving around as a musky scent had now reached you. A fox was staring at you intently, licking his bottom lip as his hands clenched the boulder just ten feet away. Your own rabbit ears folded back in fear, yet his scent had sent yours screaming. Of course, your stupid inner omega was processing the idea of settling down in the tundra raising fox kits, but you weren’t having it.

It was tempting to just lay down and rest, but not get bent over by the first stranger that you saw, especially one so wild looking and probably was more feral than your clansmen. You bolted. He gave a short yip of frustrated shock, and he chased.

This is what you had been fearing for your whole life. If it wasn’t in the back burner of your mind, it was the hungry looks that your clansmen shot your way, the way your parents were only interested in you as a future bargaining chip, and of course, the prospect of getting used by a stranger, and bearing unwanted kits.

It upset you, and undoubtedly made your resolve to choose your own mate, even greater, if you wanted one, at this point. You didn’t know where you were going, all you knew was that in your fear, the scent had gotten closer, giving the fact that the arctic fox was practically nipping at your heels. You yipped in surprise as pain shot through your foot, after suddenly tripping over a branch, the ground closed in as you squeezed your eyes shut, feeling the impact of the fall hit your arms and side as you tumbled a little ways.

It didn’t take you long to recuperate, as you scrambled backwards, fearing for the worst yet to come as your back had hit a solid trunk of a tree. Surprise had hit you, for the fox stopped dead in his tracks. Once a musky scent, was now flooded with dread as he stared onward behind you, and then back at you. As if making up his mind after a mental process, he growled in frustration as he let out one last angry yip, before running off.

Relief had wafted to you, slightly, but you were left with more questions than answers. The tree of all things against your back, and the way the fox had fled in fear, motivated you to turn around. It was a forest, to your utter surprise and shock. Running in a blind panic, you weren’t aware of your surroundings, just the pure fear mixed in with your inner omegas snapping demands to breed, had made you rushed and unfocused.

By the way the stretch of lush pines and firs, had the forest itself look so dark and intimidating. You had an inkling that the snow and cold, and possibly even sunlight, hadn’t reached within it’s mysterious depths, and it looked oddly inviting. You knew that the fox had fled for a reason, and that it was a stupid idea to even think of venturing inside, but you were out of options.

You didn’t want to freeze to death in the snow, after all. Steadying yourself up against the bare cedar you’ve bumped into, you took a step forward, wincing at the pain from your hurt ankle and sore legs. However, the lure of the possibility of safety, was more strong than your will to just lay down. Inching forward into the darkness, you let the trees within guide you. It was dark, at first, but of course, trees could only give only so much shade. Dim, was the more correct use of the word as you inched closer and deeper within the forest’s heart. Despite the atmosphere, the birds were singing to their heart’s content, as you could hear the sound of rushing water in the background somewhere.

You jumped a little as your foot brushed up against something soft. Green, you couldn’t help but stare in awe at the little patches of grass and clovers littered across it’s floor. It was cold, yes, but not as cold as it was outside the fortress of trees. In what had seemed eerie and intimidating at first, now had filled you with an odd sense of serenity and calmness. The area around it had an odd, yet highly welcomed earthy smell with a splash of something sweet in which had you relaxed and sated the crawling of your heat.

Why did the fox fear this place? It had seemed so safe. The hairs of the back of your neck had stood up as you stilled. It had took you longer to realize, that the forest’s unique scent, didn’t belong to the forest at all. Eyes widening in realization, your hands gripped the tree that you were leaning up against. Fate, so far, was kind to you, and although you didn’t want to push your luck, you were hopeless and out of options. Was it a bear? Even then, they usually didn’t let their scents be covered in trees like this. It was baffling, as well as a mystery to you, and you wanted to find out.

Yet, exhaustion had finally taken it’s toll onto your weary body as you could feel your remaining strength just physically drain from you. Tired, hungry, scared, and hurt through the array of emotions, your body had decided that you were going to rest, whether you liked it or not. As you collapsed onto the forest floor, a shout of surprise echoed as your world turned into black.

…………………

“-tch. Annoyin’ bunnies an’ their heats.” A huff of annoyance broke out into the silence. Once dark, life had filtered through your senses once again as the scent earlier, was the strongest here. Crackling of fire, warmth, and the scent had awakened you as you cracked open your eyelids.

A house, you couldn’t help but wonder in awe. The fireplace had created a warm atmosphere against the darkened room, lighting up a place of comfort and furs from non-hybrids. You yourself, were in a bed, bandages were wrapped around your hurt ankle and arms as warm blankets had covered you. What had caught your attention most in the lit room, was the tall figure of a man stirring something within a kettle, back turned against you. What had surprised you most definitely, were the orange and black appendages that were his ears and long, swishing tail.

A tiger? You had wondered. They were rare, here, and more rare if they were orange, those being in the east, not the north. Oddly enough, fear didn’t prickle you, but your heat, just stirring awake with you, had. If he wanted to hurt you, he would have, already, not literally save you from the cold and bandaged your wounds.

Not wanting to startle him, you rustled a bit, letting the bed creak a little to get his attention. An ear of his flicked as he then turned around, giving you the full view of your mysterious stranger. Curious amber eyes, soft blonde hair, he wasn’t big, but he wasn’t slim, having a hefty amount of a belly fat on him, due to the winter. Years of work had shown on his shoulders, creating muscle mass as well as around his arms and upper chest. Only what has been covering him, was a loose pair of pants. You had to furiously mentally beat your heat and thoughts down with a stick as he then spoke.

“Ya look like a mess.”

And there it was, the trickle of slick leaked out of you as your face burned with embarrassment and shame and you then covered your face with a downy pillow. A huff of surprised laughter at your expense made you peep out and give the best glare that you could manage, yet the stranger just gave you a grin.

“I must say, yer lil’ reaction’s a bit different from a lotta other beings bein’ near a tiger. Name’s Taishiro.” To your utmost surprise, he let out a please little purr as he then turned back to the kettle. You gave him your name.

“So, why is a lil’ thing like yerself doin’ out in the middle of here?” He pondered, as if he already knew the answer, but for conversation’s sake, you enlightened him, watching his tail swish with annoyance at your parents, and ears flickering with interest as you explored the forest.

“What about you?” You turned to ask. His back stiffened a little, as if caught with surprise at the notion.

“Came from the east, lookin’ for a new start in life away from my parents. I knew that a lotta others would fear me, but I didn’t know that they’d avoid a whole forest ‘cause of me,” He then took a wooden bowl and ladle, dipping the curved spoon into the bubbling stew as he continued.

“-granted, I made some friends, even adopted some younglin’s. Strangers just usually don’t come ‘round here.” He finished, pouring the delicious smelling broth into the bowl, tucking a wooden spoon in it as he turned around.

It was an odd atmosphere, and you were pretty sure that you weren’t dreaming, but for your sake, you went along with it.

“Are you lonely?” You asked bluntly. He froze, and then gave an indigenous huff as he set the bowl down at the table closest to you. Ears flattened and tail swishing, at first you thought that you made him angry, but he avoided your curious stare as he looked rather nervous.

“Ye’re pretty wordy for somebody who jus’ woke up. Ya must be starvin’, here. T’s not much, but I figured that ya might be hungry.” He changed the subject as he gestured towards the bowl. Telling him your gratitude, you gripped it, lifted a spoonful of the soup, and took a sip. To your surprise, the sweet taste of carrots had mixed in heavenly with the starchy potatoes, crisp lettuce, and the slight bitter bite of spinach.

“It’s delicious.” You admitted truthfully, not missing the way his ears picked up at the compliment.

“Thanks to the trees blockin’ the cold, ‘s not hard to grow yer own food. I might be a predator, but I can live without meat.” He rambled, There was so much to say, and many questions left unanswered, but you knew that you were on borrowed time, until your natural cycle would bite back with a vengeance, later. He must have known it, too.

“The worried look on yer face is a dead giveaway, Hon. I never housed somebody in heat, before, but don’tcha worry ‘bout it. Ya can stay here fer a while, seein’ that a hurt ankle might take longer to heal. I ‘ave some friends that I can stay with.” He rambled, but you looked at him with pure confusion.

“You’re giving up your home temporarily? For a stranger?” You asked, baffled. At this, his tail swished, as if a little shy.

“Temporarily. I don’t know what yer plans are in the future, but the forest doesn’t belong to me, ya can hang around an’ have yer own place, within the depths. I couldn’t just leave somebody there, sufferin’ and the brink of death, anyways.” He murmured lowly, but you could hear it clearly. Warmth that wasn’t heat, clouded into your chest at such kindness from the stranger. He was a stranger, yes, but you felt as if you could trust him fully, giving that his actions of helping you and not asking for anything in return, had screamed volumes.

“Thank you, for everything.” You blurted out, and the corner of his lip twitched upward at your honest gratitude.

“Not a problem, Sweetheart.”

…………………….

He knew the dangers of housing a slick, hot-blooded omega rabbit, of all beings, had included. What he didn’t expect, was the general bluntness and forwardness of the little thing. Not as timid or shy, but generally open and forward with emotions. Being in the early stages of heat, right now the bunny was coherent, but he knew that it would only last for so long before the true, ugly nature of one’s natural heat cycle, took over.

“So, here’s what’s gonna happen, Hon. I’m going to stay far away. It’s fer your safety. I might prowl around my area and scent everything, keepin’ unwanted guests, away, but I’m not gonna barge in on yer privacy or be too close to the house.” He told you, laying out a plan. You nodded, setting the empty bowl aside as you listened closely.

“-believe it or not, I know somebody who could bring ya rations an’ talk with ya after yer heat spells. He’s a dwarf rabbit, an’ already mated to somebody who I see as a son of mine. Since he’s an omega, like yerself, he should be more immune to yer smell. Green hair an’ freckles, can’t miss’im.” Taishiro explained, and you listened with interest, seeing that you weren’t truly alone in your being as well as dynamic.

“Sorry that we won’t talk, much, but I thought that I’d best introduce myself ‘fore ya wake up alone and scared.”

“I’m not scared.” You admitted, and he huffed.

“Now, ye’re not, but if ya woke up alone an’ in a stranger’s house, ya would be.” He argued, and you let him win, seeing that you were too caught up in emotions, and just wanted to process everything. Noticing your state, he gave out a chuckle.

“Alright, I’ll see ya later, when yer heat’s over. Ya kinda intrigue me, a lil’ bit, so I’m hopin’ that ya might stay, a lil’ while longer after yer heat.” As soon as he admitted it, his ears flattened with embarrassment as he huffed out a sigh, the apples of his cheeks reddening as he swiftly turned around, opening the door, closing it swiftly behind him.

You bit your bottom lip. For an apex predator who was lethal as well as dangerous, he was almost as soft as a kitten, and you hoped that, at the very least, the two of you could be friends.

………………

You were weak, you huffed, panting out hot air as one of your hands gripped the pillow, harshly. Usually, you didn’t have a face, or a body in your images as you tried your best to sate the flash of hot emptiness. It has always been nothing but hot and drowsy images of the blurred shapes of your pillow and furs in the past, leaving you unsatisfied and on the brink of frustrated tears.

This time, you had kindle to feed that ever demanding fire of yours, licking sharply at the heels of your feet as you were on the brink of the edge. Smooth muscle, soft fat, warm amber irises, and that twinge of a smile, had pinned your focus. You felt guilty, but you couldn’t help it, nor could you think clearly of anything nor anybody else.

He was so friendly and helpful to you, and here you were, ruining his bedding and furs with your slick, fingers deep within you, wrist hurting from the desperate climb, but no full relief avail. Your body couldn’t had waited, as soon as he left with that calming scent, a spike had hit you in where it had hurt, the empty ache shooting up in full demand.

Where was this man? Your inner omega screamed, but you harshly shushed it, focusing on the edge, and how to clean the sheets, afterwords. In your blurred state, you knew that you had hardly knew him, but already, he was so far the perfect embodiment of what most beings had wanted in a partner. You admitted freely, that you were no different.

Letting out a small squeak within the bitten pillow, harsh relief shot through you, as you clenched on your fingers desperately, your body trembling and tears pooling from the corners of your eyes at finally, finding a sudden rush of relief.

You huffed, calming down from your euphoric high as you palmed your face against the pillow in which smelled exactly like him. You were in too deep, you couldn’t help but think, a little guilty for desecrating the hospitality by literally cumming onto his blankets with him in your mind.

……………………….

#Taishiro Toyomitsu #Fatgum #Fatgum x reader #Abo #Hybrid beings #Bunny reader #Tiger Tai #High-key copying my other works but hey I love this trope #I put up warnings #Celtic music does wonders to the imagination #They're like in a frozen medieval land idk #Smut #More details in next chapter

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itslunarwritesstuff · 4 years

Text

More than this

Word Count: 10, 000 (grab some popcorn this is gonna take a while)

Summary: Colson and Y/N have been friends since high school and for the past few years he has seen her get her heartbroken and hurt by guys who are not worth it. Well after a date gone wrong he picks her up and things in their friendship take a drastic turn.

Contains: Friends to lovers trope, Fluff, a teeny bit of angst, Cuddling.

Warnings: Language, Unconsenual touching (from a date, not Colson)

Y/N/N: Your Nickname

________________________________________________________________

You’re spread out upright on a patio chair relaxing for what seems like the first time in forever, the sun warming your cheeks in a soothing gesture.

Your eyes shoot open at an abrupt yell, “ROOK” you knew that voice all too well.

“Jesus Colson you practically scared me into the next life!” you said startling him as well.

“Sorry Y/N didn’t realize you were here” Colson walked over to you taking a seat on the chair next to yours.

Nodding as to acknowledge his apology you say “I used my key, hope that’s okay.” swinging your legs over to the side to face him.

“Well yeah that’s the whole reason you have a key, well that and when the rest of us are too messed up to unlock the door” You both laughed at the memories of how many times you had to come over at the ass crack of dawn because no one had their keys on them or miraculously lost all their copies.

“Y/N/N I don’t see why you don’t just take the extra room we have here, You’re practically here all the time anyway. Could save money on rent.”

You shot him a look as if you were saying ‘Yeah Right’.

“What? Is it cause the room is a bit small, cause if that’s it then I’m sure ROOK wouldn’t mind trading with you” Colson smiles kindly but saying the last part louder to ensure Rook heard him.

“Suck my dick” Rook came out on the patio with his middle fingers up and a smirk plastered on his face. You knew what was about to happen and so you got up and started to walk to the other side of the yard as to try and avoid the tornado that is Colson and Rook when they tussle; “Ooo bad move Rook” you jokingly seethed with laughter.

Colson was bolting towards Rook catching him off guard and the two men were trying to pin each other but instead twisted together still barreling around.

Not looking where they were going and you not fully paying attention, the two grown men’s bodies hit you full force causing you to fall into the pool.

The men unraveled from each other when they heard the splash, knowing they were in deep shit now.

When you emerge from the water, head just above the surface you look at the men who caused this chain of events and say “I am so getting you guys back for this…” Rook and Colson gave each other a look that was their way of planning their escape but you finished “...at some point. Just not now.”

You could see them both relax instantly, it wasn’t because they were afraid of you but it was because they knew what you were capable of doing when provoked that was also one of the reasons they loved you as well.

Colson bent down and helped you out of the pool pulling you upwards by your slippery hands, you fell against him but quickly recovered standing back up on your own two feet.

Soaking wet, your once dry and slightly oversized t-shirt now clung to your body in the most uncomfortable way possible, being more comfortable here even than you do at your own home you pull the shirt over your head and hang it over the chair from earlier so it can dry in the sun.

Left in your bra and spandex shorts you looked at Colson and Rook they seemed to have snapped themselves out of some kind of a trance as they made eye contact with you as you turned around. “You guys have any clothes I can borrow,” you ask the dumbfounded duo a few feet in front of you.

Rook is the first to answer his eyes looking everywhere but your face “Uh yeah…” Colson shoots him a glare that you didn’t catch, your focus only on Rook as he spoke.

“Remember you have your section in my closet” Colson interrupts.

You nod “Oh yeah I forgot about that, thanks guys”.

Being a bit confused by the energy in the air you led the way into the house waiting for at least one of them to follow but they just stood there heads and eyes following your movements.

Cause to you, you were just taking off a wet shirt; but to them, it was like a slow-motion beach scene in a movie. Sexy background music and all.

Shaking your head in confusion you continue your way into the house and up the stairs to Colson’s room.

Usually, he freaked about having people in here without him but with you it was different; you and Colson had been friends since high school you being a few years younger than him. And even if you guys lived in different states or how drastic your lifestyles were, the two of you have always been close over the years no matter what. And you would be lying if you said you didn’t enjoy living closer now than in

years past.

Going straight to his closet you find your drawer the one he gave to you in case you spent the night or for emergencies such as this one. Pulling out some underwear you strip right there feeling relieved to get the wet clothes off your shivering body. Pulling on the underwear you grab a pair of joggers that are from his merch site from a while back and finally instead of grabbing one of your t-shirts from the drawer you sift through the hangers until you find a shirt of his that is thick and long perfect for being cozy. Before slipping the shirt on you mentally thank yourself for the dry sports bra in the drawer and swap that with the bra currently dripping down your back.

Downstairs Colson, Rook, Baze, and Slim have all congregated to the living room.

Rook had told the guys about what happened at the pool not even twenty minutes ago.

Slim just looked at Colson then Rook and shook his head cause he knew how oblivious you were about things sometimes. Hearing your footsteps approaching, the group stopped talking and tried to find a different conversation topic. Redirecting the topic Colson asks “Hey Y/N/N what are you doing tonight? Do you want to hang here and we can do something?”

You plop down on the arm of the chair next to him even though there are plenty of empty seats and answer “Well usually I would but I’ve got plans for once. How are you guys going to survive without me” playful sarcasm coming from the second half of your sentence.

Colson looked up at you for the first time since you came into the room and sees you wearing his shirt and everyone else notices it too. He goes to reach for the fabric currently pooling around your hips while sitting but mentally stops himself, Colson backtracks and says “Yeah right, plans. Plans to steal more of my shirts is it.” he lets out a forced laugh but even though you buy it the rest of the group can see the internal battle going on inside his head.

The rest of the guys just watch your banter and you reply with “Ha Ha. But I’m serious I do have plans tonight with a guy named David.” Rook blurts out “So a date.”

You nod “Yeah like a date.”

Slim let out a playful “Ooo” and you chuck one of the nearby pillows at him.

“Oh grow up guys. Besides maybe this time it will work out” You say with hope lining your words.

The guys all stare at you with sorry in their eyes knowing how unlucky your past relationships and dates have gone. Been cheated on or left for pretty much no reason many times and the amount of times guys have canceled last minute or not followed up for a second date was way past counting at this point,

“But anyway I should get going here in a minute.” Just as you’re about to stand up and make your way to grab your things and leave, Colson surprises both of you when he grabs your hand his eyes painted with panic. You look at him with expecting eyes and he chokes out “Uh...Um...Be careful tonight ‘kay. And if you need me just call…” his eyes connect with yours, a strange warm feeling crawling up to your chest “...I’m here for you always Y/N.”

Your stomach does an unexpected flip but you pass it off as just a friendly reaction to his kind and meaningful words. “I will, I Love you, Colson” you bend down slightly and leave a soft kiss on his cheek while the rest of the group just watches the interaction unfold in front of their eyes, knowing something that neither of you can see or admit to yourselves.

Pulling your hand from Colson’s you smile to everyone and say goodbye before leaving.

Colson still sat there, lost in his own head it seemed. After a while, Colson’s hand had slowly made its way to his cheek, tracing the spot where you had kissed him.

The guys still sat silent as they continued to watch their friend fall into his own little world.

Then Colson snapped back to reality and his face went hard turning to Slim.

Slim knew his best friend enough to know he was angry and had a plan brewing in his head.

“Alright what is it?” Slim asked.

“What do you mean” Colson gets defensive.

“How are you going to stop this guy from going out with Y/N” Slim sighed knowing that’s what this has led to. “It’s not like you know who the guy is this time ‘round” Rook says.

“And you really shouldn’t just show up there” Slim bounced back.

Colson’s eyebrows are furrowed as he thought and then Baze jumps in and says “I think you guys should just let her be and let her enjoy her night. I mean sabotaging her dates isn’t going to work forever you know. One day she is going to catch on and it’s going to suck for all of us.”

Slim counters by saying “But you know why we can’t just stop.” Slim points to Colson’s direction with his head trying his best to be secretive while Colson is in the room.

Baze nods and Colson says “No, Baze is right. This is wrong, she can handle herself.”

Surprised looks cross Baze, Slim, and Rook; that was definitely not what they were expecting.

But they agreed with him nonetheless, knowing that meddling in your love life wasn’t right no matter what the circumstances were and are.

“Alright, Imma go clean my room,” Colson said, his features were gloomy and withdrawn.

After Colson is upstairs the remaining three discuss the situation at hand.

“What are we going to do if she ends up liking this random guy?” Slim asks rhetorically.

“I know I won’t like him if Y/N ends up bringing him around here,” Rook says crossing his arms.

Everyone in that house is your family and by the few times, you have brought a guy around they were as nice as they could be but it was as if they knew the man’s true intentions before you did.

“Guys, We have all seen the way those two look at each other. That doesn’t just go away, whether they notice it or not Y/N and Colson are tied to each other. But we may have to push them a bit for them to see that they fucking like each other, or I might go crazy.”

When Colson got upset he would usually do one or all of the following; party and get trashed, make music, or would clean his room. For this current situation, he figured cleaning his space would hopefully put him in a better mood. He didn’t understand what bothered him so much about Y/N going out on a date or even dates in general. He just figured he was a good friend and was protecting her from getting heartbroken, this was not the case though.

Hanging shirts up in his closet wasn’t clearing his mind as he hoped but thankfully his phone dinged from the bed. Picking it up and unlocking it he sees it is a message from you; it is a picture of you dressed up, your eyebrows furrowed and tongue stuck out in a goofy way. The message said ‘Wish me luck’, he couldn’t think of what to say that wasn’t way out of line so he just sent a few thumbs up and hearts hoping that was enough.

In your apartment you put on some chapstick before going out the door but your phone buzzes in your hand, unlocking it is a response from Colson of three emojis a thumbs up and two hearts.

You smile at your phone and leave.

Getting to the bar you’re supposed to meet David at you thank your driver in the hopes that if things go well he could drive you home.

Taking a seat at the bar you text him telling him you’re there he responds right away with a short ‘Almost there’.

You set your phone down and order a drink before he arrives.

After about another five minutes David arrives and you stand up from your stool and greet with him with a friendly hug.

“Y/N you are looking great,” David says his hands lingering on your hips.

This was the first date after all and you barley knew this guy beside that he worked with a friend of yours so you pushed his hands off of you in a sly manner and took a seat back at your stool.

Trying to make sure things get off on the right foot you say thank you to his compliment and ask some basic questions. “So David, What are some of your hobbies” you bring your drink to your lips.

David has got on a blazer with an undershirt and a tie with the pants to match, conventionally he is pretty attractive but typically not the type of guy you would go for at all. Laidback and down for anything was definitely more your type which this guy definitely not; but you were more than willing to give him a chance considering the current lack of romantic companionship in your life.

David went on about how he was really into art collecting and you were relieved that you guys had something somewhat in common. He shows you a few of his favorite pieces on his phone and you say “Oh that’s really cool. I actually paint in my free time.” That was a bit of an understatement for sure but he was intrigued so it worked.

“Oh really? Let me see, maybe they’re good enough for my collection.” you try your best to not let your face go sour at the tone of his comment as if his opinion made you or your art worth something.

But you take out your phone unlocking it, then taking a moment to appreciate and remember the memory attached to your wallpaper. Its a picture of you and Colson at EST fest the past summer, you were covered in paint cause you thought it was a great idea to let the others paint on you for fun. After Colson painted a penis on your arm you took some of the pink paint and smeared it across his face and some of it in his hair; he picked you up and threw you over his shoulder the both of you laughing and the smiles that were smeared on your faces just like the paint was captured in the photo. And it never failed to make you smile and invite a warm feeling into your chest.

I guess you were looking at the photo for a bit too long cause David was snapping his fingers in your face and said “Come on your attention is supposed to be on me” oh god this was not going well.

After showing him a few of your paintings and him giving you backhanded compliments like “I mean its no Banksy but I guess for a hobby painter for yourself its okay.”

You are well into your third drink waiting for this date to be over when David grabs you by the wrist and all but basically drags you to the dance floor; the only reason you don’t move or protest is because of how shocked you are that he would grab you like that without your permission.

“Come on let’s dance,” he says way too close for comfort.

“Um I am good, I should get going anyways I’ve got something to do in the morning.” You say trying to find the easiest way to get out of the situation.

But he wasn’t having any of it, pulling you unwantedly closer to his body he says “But we wouldn’t want that sweet little outfit to go to waste now would we…” he sickly hisses into your ear and his hands grope you, that’s it.

“No!” you yell and you somehow manage to create some space between you and David pushing him away from you and even though he tries to bring you back in with protest, you turn and start to walk away.

He makes another attempt to grab at you, you turn around swiftly and punch him in the nose; falling over blood everywhere. “Oh, that is definitely broken,” you think to yourself.

Sprinting to the nearest exit you also thank yourself for wearing sensible shoes, not quite knowing when to stop you keep running until you’re back to a familiar street and there is no impending doom.

Taking your phone from your pocket you go to open the taxi app but hesitate and after some internal contemplating you decide it is best to call someone you know would make you feel safe.

Colson picks up after only a few rings, answering with a “Y/N what’s up. You okay?”.

You weren’t feeling teary-eyed before but after hearing Colson’s voice all of your emotions pour out and you choke out a sob. Colson’s tone goes from casual to worried real quick and quickly asks “Where are you? I’m coming to get you, are you safe until I get there?”

Somehow you manage to tell him where you were and that yes you were safe for the time being.

“I’ll be there soon okay baby girl. And I’m bringing the bike.” even just his voice soothed you.

He hangs up once you confirm again that you’re in fact safe. You put your hair into a quick braid so when you’re on the bike your hair doesn’t rat and matt together.

Not too long after the call you hear the roar of Colson’s motorcycle coming round the corner. You wave your hand above your head to make sure he sees you and he does.

Pulling over to the curb you wait for him to shut everything off, but once he is off of his seat you’re melting into his embrace not caring about the eyes that stare nearby.

“Shh its okay, I got you. I got you.” Colson whispers into your hair his hands rubbing your back.

His chest muffled the sounds of your sobs as he let you cry it out, not prying you to tell him what happened just yet.

Once you feel like you have gotten it all out of your system you tilt your head up towards his and say “Can we go now please.” your voice comes out hoarse and unrecognizable.

Colson can’t stand seeing you like this and not knowing what happened to make you a mess like this either. But he will wait for you to tell him, for now at least.

His hands smoothed over your hair with his chin resting against your forehead. This was going to be all over the internet tomorrow but surprisingly he wasn’t thinking about any of that.

"Where do you want to go sweetheart?" Colson asked while his fingers rubbed circles into your back.

You always loved it when he would sprinkle casual pet names like that into a conversation, it always made you feel some type of way.

"Can we not go home yet. Just anywhere but home right now. I don't want the guys to see me like this" Colson’s heart leaps at the fact that you consider the house home.

His hands smooth over your shoulders one last time.

"I think I know the perfect place. Come on."

You nod and grab the helmet and clip it under your chin. Colson nods to you to ask if you’re ready you nod back.

Revving the engine Colson gives you one last look and you wrap your arms around his back.

At first, you guys go slow because of the bustling streets of the city but the further out you get the faster he goes.

The wind doesn’t quite hit your face, it’s more like the breeze is giving you a hug cause it envelopes your entire body and the features of your face.

You guys go over a small hill and your stomach does a fun little flip, your arms tighten as a reaction and you can hear Colson let out a hearty laugh. Everything about this moment was exhilerating; the speed and the warmth radiating off of Colson’s body gave you butterflies, a whole swarm of them.

Leaning into him more, you realize just how grateful you’re to have someone as kind and caring as him in your life and remind yourself to thank him for everything.

After riding for about forty-five minutes Colson turns into this gravel area and stops the bike.

There is a bench that is softly lit by the nearby street light and you can faintly make out some stars in the sky, the ones you rarely saw because of the amount of light pollution that is everywhere in Los Angeles.

The both of you stand up and you wait for Colson to get off of the bike to swing your leg over and set your already unclipped helmet aside.

Your attention shifts up to Colson who’s hair is messed up more than usual because of the cool night breeze that touseled it on the way there, you smiled and reached up on your tiptoes to try and smooth down the blond mop on his head.

“What are you doing to my head?” Colson chuckles.

“Trying to fix it” you are in his personal space and he only realizes how close you’re when you bring your hand back down and stand normally.

“So what is this place?” you asked the question on your mind.

Colson scratched the back of his neck and ran his hand through his hair mussing it yet again.

“I uh found this place one night while trying to clear my head. It’s far enough out that you can see some of the stars clearly on nights like this. And I remember you saying how much you like just looking at the stars back at the fest last year. And well... here we are.” he explains.

Honestly, you’re surprised that Colson remembers that, I mean after being friends for all these years you shouldn’t be surprised but yet here he is hands stuffed in his pockets with one of those barely-there smiles plastered on his face. And just something about the entire situation made you smile as well.

Grabbing Colson’s wrist you drag him to the edge of this hill right where the slight drop off is that leads to this open field filled with flowers and grass.

You look at him with eyes full of spirit and say “We are going down there to properly stargaze”.

“Like in some cheesy coming of age teen movie,” Colson asks humor filling his tone.

You nod fast and boop his nose, excited ignoring his attempt to poke fun at your idea “Exactly.”

Without another word, you let go of him and slide down the side of the hill then letting your legs go and run the rest of the way, leaving Colson behind laughing too hard.

When you reach the spot you had chosen to stargaze you stare up to the top of the hill and yell “Come on big bird!”

Colson gets this rush at you calling him by the nickname you haven’t used in years.

He does the same as you but his long legs get caught up in the momentum and he legit cannot stop but luckily you chose a spot far enough out that the least he does is fall beside you on the grassy knoll.

You’re laughing so hard your hands grip your stomach for some sort of relief but to no avail, you just laugh harder when Colson uses a playfully serious voice and face then says “What are you laughing about missy”. Laughter overcame both of you, you fall over from the intensity of it and your head hits Colson’s chest and a couple of snorts escaped you making the whole thing more comedic.

Looking up to the sky you start noticing some of the constellations and your laughter slowly fades as your astonishment increases.

Colson throws his arm over your collarbones, his laughing had stopped with yours a few moments ago and a soft silence rested between the two of you.

“Y/N?” Colson questioned. You hum in response.

“I haven’t heard you call me that nickname in years what was it that caused the comeback” he was referring to when you called up to him a few minutes ago.

You rest your arm on top of his and lightly draw with your fingers onto his skin.

“I don’t really know, it was kind of just the first thing that came to my head. Why, does it bother you?”.

He softly says “No.” and you leave it at that.

Colson feels short of breath from the way you’re softly circling his inked skin, but he convinces himself it is from the running.

Colson knows deep down that isn’t the real answer but feels somewhat guilty because of yours and his history as friends and doesn’t want that dynamic between you two to change. But it is getting harder and harder to ignore the bursts of feelings he gets around you.

Your voice snaps him out of his debating thoughts “Thank you” you say, eyes still glued on the sky above you.

“For what?” Colson sits up on one of his elbows and you follow suit, pulling your hand off of his arm and into your own lap.

“Well besides being my best friend, Thank you for coming and getting me. I really didn’t want to be alone and you always make me feel safe no matter what.” you avoid Colson’s gaze for a moment but give in after a second looking back up at him.

His eyes were radiant even in the dark speckled sky and sometimes you would let yourself get lost in them but rarely had the chance because of conflicting emotions inside you.

“There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for you Y/N. Hell, I would even help you hide a body need be” Colson chuckled and you right with him.

A cool breeze came by and you shivered from the goosebumps forming on your skin, remembering you left your coat at the bar in the rush to get out of there, but at least your pockets were big enough to hold your important belongings.

Colson notices your lack of outerwear and asks “Where is your jacket? You must be cold.”

You know it is time to tell him what happened and you also knew how furious he was going to be.

“Y/N here” Colson takes off his hoodie and even though you try to protest you know you’re too cold to argue. Letting him slip the fabric over your head, the hoodie so oversized that you’re practically swimming in it. “Are you going to tell me what happened?” Colson asked his voiced teetering on the edge of being gentle but forward and to the point. He rests his hand on your shoulder hopefully bringing you some ease.

You look down at the grass and run your fingers through the long strands poking up from the earth.

It was a short story really but it was enough for Colson to understand “He grabbed me without my permission”.

You could see the fury boiling behind Colson’s eyes and in your way to diffuse the situation you tell him the aftermath “Then I broke his nose”.

This worked in the way you hoped it would Colson lunged at you and engulfed you in a hug saying with laughter bubbling in his words “That’s my girl”.

Much like Colson’s, your heart lunged in your chest at his words.

After releasing from the hug you pull the too-long sleeves up to your face to rub the soft fabric against your face; while doing so you get a smell of him in the fabric.

“What are you doing” Colson laughed lightly at your action.

Without thinking you blurt out “You smell nice”. You realize almost immediately realize what you said and try to cover your face that is filled with embarrassment.

Pulling your hands from your face with no words Colson holds your hands in his.

And in a moment of weakness, he lets himself stare at you totally ignoring the war he was having with himself just for a moment and tried his best to remember every detail of your face.

You weren’t sure what he was looking at so you pulled one of your hands away from him and touched your face trying to feel for something out of the ordinary.

“Is there something on my face” you lock eyes with Colson.

Resting your hand on your cheek he says “Uh yeah c’mere” his hand rests on top of yours rubbing the soft skin of your face. Without holding yourself back your eyes flicker to his lips, ‘so soft’ you thought to yourself. “Did you get it” you whisper not trusting your voice to come out clear and steady.

“Not quite” he whispered back, moving his hand from your cheek to your lips and softly brushes his thumb over your bottom lip.

“...there” Colson inched closer to your face agonizingly slow trying to give you plenty of time to back out if you wanted.

But that was the last thing you wanted to do, and you had no idea until now that this was something you wanted.

Here you were sitting in the grass not completely sure of your emotions at this moment but you knew that when he was touching you like this it was like electricity was bursting and flowing through every part of your body and that you didn’t want it to stop.

He was halfway to your lips in the space between you and kind of stuck there, so taking a leap of faith you lean into where your faces were only inches apart.

His breathing hitched in his throat not expecting you to be so...willing.

You rested your forehead against Colson’s before flushing all of the boundaries of friendship down the drain.

Hearing an obnoxious ring you and Colson simultaneously scoff, you’re the first one to pull away and the reality of everything that just happened to hit you all at once.

Moving away you create space between you and Colson lightheaded from the entire situation that had your head spinning with a whirlwind of thoughts.

Pulling your phone from your pocket you answer it so fast you forget to check the caller I.D.

Greeting the person on the other end you say “Hello” rather sharply.

“Y/N” the person said in a low voice and the back of your neck gets goosebumps because of the stark fear you feel from knowing who it is.

“What the fuck do you want David” you surprise yourself with how strong your voice comes out and the fact that you didn’t just hang up.

“Well fuck, you left your jacket behind and gee I figured being the nice guy I am I would return it to you, even though you broke my fucking nose. Which you’re paying for by the way”.

Now you were just fuming, the guy touches you inappropriately and you are supposed to pay for his rightfully broken nose, hell to the no.

You start yelling into the phone about how much of a douchebag he is but Colson carefully rips the phone from your hands and says in a serious but fear striking tone; “I don’t know who the fuck you think you are David…” Colson says his name mockingly.

“...But you will not speak or try to see Y/N ever again.”

“And who the fuck are you to tell me what to do. You should have seen the little broad tonight, a sexy girl ain’t she.” David said sickly.

Colson had him on speaker as he took the information about this guy from your phone to his own and you visibly shook yourself to try and shake the comment off.

“Stay the fuck away from her or else that broken nose will be the least of your worries. I am not forgiving or keen towards little boys who think they’re men and that gives them the right to touch a woman without her permission. Now I know I have made myself clear, keep the jacket you jackass.” and with that Colson hung the phone up.

You stare at him in awe at how he handled the situation and managed to make you feel safe and secure yet again.

Finishing up transferring the info to his phone when he hands you back your cell he scrolls on his phone and says “I blocked his number for you and all of his other info but if he gives you a problem you let me know okay.” he looks up at you for an answer and you nod still in shock from the control Colson has.

“And um… could you stay at the house for at least tonight and tomorrow, I wouldn’t put it past this guy to go to your apartment and I want you to be safe.” Colson says sheepishly.

You set your hand on his knee and give it a gentle squeeze saying “Of course I will, thank you”.

You also assume you both are ignoring the almost kiss that just happened minutes before, or what if that’s not even what he was trying to do in the first place, there must have actually been something on your face that’s why he was so close and holding your head in his hand that way. Pushing the feelings of doubt down you decide to make the atmosphere between the two of you back to normal as you could.

“Guys can be such asshole sometimes,” you admit.

Something about you saying this makes the anger bubble inside Colson.

The contrast between his tone a moment ago to now was alarming “The guys you like are assholes, that’s all” Colson says coldly.

You take his words to heart and snap back at him “What is your problem?”

“It’s just you have got this weird affinity for guys who treat you like shit, I don’t fucking understand it.”

His words hit you hard because he was pretty spot on and that is what hurts the most.

You looked him in the eyes and said with no emotion in your face or voice “You’re right”.

It is only then that Colson realizes his words and how much they hurt you, he was speaking off off pure jealousy and we all know that never ends well. He tries to choke out an apology but you turn away and say flatly “Let’s just go home.”

You start making the hike up the hill towards the bike without turning back, which made Colson’s heart come to a realization he should have known so much sooner.

It all made sense that his subconscious seemed to know it before he fully did. Sabotaging dates was so much more than them not being good for you, he just couldn’t stand seeing or knowing you were with someone else. That your heart had the capability of having room for someone else other than him.

Seeing you walk away from him made him realize just how much he loved you and how long he has as well. But even though he now knew how he felt there was still no way he had any clue that you felt the same exact way.

The ride home was silent between you and Colson. You didn’t squeeze onto him tighter when an unexpected turn or bump came by, or just because you felt like it.

When the two of you got home you muttered a soft thank you not bothering to stick around to see if he had heard it or not.

You went straight to his room and grabbed your pajamas from your spot in his closet then went to the spare bedroom and changed into the comfy clothes. You didn’t have any of your products there so you just washed your face with one of the guy’s face wash and hoped it would do the job. After finishing up you headed to the kitchen to find at the very least a small snack to fill the void in your stomach but instead found Rook in there making a wrap and then starting a second one.

“You want one?” he questioned and as if on cue your stomach growled audibly and you both laugh.

“I’ll take that as a yes” Rook chuckles.

You stay silent as Rook finishes wrapping the ingredients up into the tortilla then handing the plate to you like it is his greatest creation.

Waiting till you take a bite of the food Rook asks “ Are you and Kells alright, something seemed off when you two came in.” Rook said with concern lacing his voice.

“...We had a fight is all. Things between us are a bit complicated at the moment. He has a right to be upset about tonight though” You have a hard time finding the words but you tell him the truth nonetheless.

His eyes flicker up to yours sliding the wrap over towards you.

“You guys will be good though,” Rook says.

You nodded cause you know deep down he was right, but you were still upset and hurt by Colson’s words, and both parties both had the right to feel that way.

After finishing your wrap you were on your way to the spare room to hopefully sleep off the tiring day and the feelings that lingered. But of course, the guys had other plans, guiding you towards the pool table they sat you down in a chair. “Guys what is going on,” you ask genuinely confused.

“You’re going to tell us what happened,” Slim says with his arms crossed.

“Yeah um no.” trying to stand up but being sat back down on the seat, okay now you knew they weren’t playing around.

Rook and Baze started playing while listening closely.

“Okay, whatever” you say defeated.

You explained everything from the backhanded compliments and even the broken nose, which they laughed at just as Colson did but somehow it felt...different.

And then just as you expected all three of them wanted to find this guy and as the cliches, they’re said they wanted to “teach him a lesson”.

Letting them blow off some steam by going back and forth talking about and going into great detail of how they would make him fear for his life, you only mention after you assume they have gotten most of it out of their systems that Colson already took care of it and that you could handle yourself.

That seemed to calm them down enough because they knew it was handled and that you were tough enough most of the time to defend yourself when need be as well.

You stand up and start walking in the direction of the spare room but Rook catches your attention as you turn the corner.

“What’s going on?” You ask as his hand resting on your shoulder.

“Um, I just want you to know that if it were me instead of that guy tonight, I would have made it a great time.” You were shocked, to say the least, he was so forward which you weren’t expecting and you didn’t expect for him to basically insinuate that he would like to ask you out.

Your mouth must have been hanging open cause Rook continues and says “What I am saying is, will you go out with me sometime Y/N?”

Still confused but kind of curious you say something you had no idea would come out of your mouth either, you said yes.

Then that was that and he went back to playing pool and you went to the spare room. The only thing he had mentioned was it would be tomorrow night. But you honestly weren’t sure if you saw Rook that way I mean I guess you wouldn’t know until you tried but you were ninety-nine percent sure until a mere minutes ago that you and Rook’s relationship was purely platonic.

You get to the spare bedroom and fall onto the bed back first.

Staring at the ceiling you try to unravel and solve how so much happened that night and how ready you were to go to sleep.

Plugging in your phone for the rest of the night you tuck yourself in and pick a playlist to sleep to, falling out of consciousness.

Tap, Tap, Tap.

Rolling over to the nightstand you go to pause what you thought was the sound of your music but instead you hear the door creak open. Still half asleep you aren’t as worried as you should be about the figure standing in the door frame.

“Who’s there” Your words slur together in a mumbled voice.

“Jus- me” another tired voice groggily says.

It takes you a moment to figure out who ‘Me’ exactly is but once you do you ask just to confirm.

“Colson?” you roll around towards where he is standing on the opposite side of the bed.

“Yeah” is all he says still standing there.

You pull yourself even further from sleep when you ask “Why are you here” remembering that you’re still upset with him.

He doesn’t say anything for a while and you start to think he woke you up just to be mean but then he takes a sharp intake of breath and that’s when you know he is sorry before he even actually says it.

“I couldn’t sleep knowing you were mad at me…” he barely whispers.

“I forgive you,” You say knowing that was his best version of an apology.

“No, I’m sorry Y/N I had no right.” you were shocked yet again and his actual apology warmed your heart, like the spark that ignited the fire.

“Again I forgive you, Besides I don’t like it when we fight either.” You’re now sat upon the backs of your elbows.

Now Colson just stood there silent and it kind of freaked you out because when he was quiet no good could come from it.

“What’s wrong,” you ask softly and with a caring tone.

Even in the dark, you can feel Colson’s eyes bore into your figure.

“I just don’t want to be alone...maybe we could sit on the couch or..” Colson being vulnerable in front of you was a rare occurrence so you cut him off.

“Just get in here you dumbass” Your laughter assures him that it is okay.

Sliding under the covers next to you, your pulse quickens unexpectedly.

This wouldn’t be the first time you and Colson had shared a bed, but with these new feelings that you tried so desperately to ignore were growing and multiplying as fast as gremlins who were fed after midnight.

Even with the amount of extra space on the bed that Colson could be, he chose to be face to face with you. So close in fact that you can feel his breath tickle the peach fuzz on your face and now you were suddenly self-conscious about your breath fanning his face as well.

For the second time, tonight Colson’s forehead rests against yours and you internally convince yourself that whatever happens, you will not do a thing to stop it, cause just what if he felt even a sliver of how you did.

You close your eyes relaxing in the presence of your best friend.

Whispering again Colson’s breath wafted of mint and just a hint of weed lingering; “Can I hold you?”

You reply with an even quieter “yes” afraid that if your volume rose it would somehow ruin the entire atmosphere that shrouded the two of you at this moment.

“Being with you always helps me fall asleep” Colson’s arm outstretched giving you the time to curl into his chest.

You do exactly that, tucking the top of your head under his chin and letting your hands gently caress his bare chest that still even with the lack of clothing remained cozy.

Both of his arms wrap around your waistline, holding you just tight enough which made the safety he always made you feel just multiply.

Without even a second thought you wrap your legs with his own and neither of you complains in the slightest at the affection you both desperately needed from each other.

“You’re ridiculously comfortable” you mumble and Colson just barely giggles.

Even though this wasn’t the first time you and Colson have layed with each other, somehow he always had this way to make you feel protected and loved at all times and whether that was intentional or not you had no clue but appreciated it nonetheless; and it made you think back to the first time you and Colson cuddled and how no matter how many times you guys end up in this position how nervous you’re at first but then slowly calm like the wind from day to day.

Colson’s hand brushed up your spine and let out a soft chuckle as to not displace your frame on top of him. “Are you still wearing my hoodie?” he asked.

“Mhmm, it smells like you.” you prop your head up with your hand to try and look at him clearly in the dark.

Colson was at a loss for words, he rested his palm on your cheek as best as he could in the darkened room.

And to his surprise, you leaned into his touch causing a flurry of emotions to stir up inside of him.

Brushing his thumb against your skin he whispers softly making a confession just as you did;

“You always make my clothes look better on you.” you can’t help but blush at his words.

Sheepishly you say “My bad?” you joke with him.

“No, I mean I love it.” the softness of his voice, the way his hands are holding your face and waist like your something so precious, and his eyes are looking straight into your own.

It was like you could tell just by looking into his eyes there were no walls up between the two of you.

Reaching out your hand you touch the outline of Colson’s jaw as if it was the most natural thing in the world. You and Colson had never been ones to shy away from casual affection but this is different not quite sure how but its as if you both feel it.

You move your hand to trace the inked skin near his neck, it was such an intimate gesture but you continued anyway.

Colson’s hand was still against your face softly spinning circles with his thumb every once in a while.

You feel him take in a large breath different from the rhythm he previously was following.

Ripping your gaze from his chest you look him right in the eyes, the curtains let in just a tiny bit of moonlight but it was enough the see his eyes sparkle back towards you.

It took you at least a minute to remember what your words were, lost in his gaze it made your head spin and your heart drop down to the floor, and metaphorically you were struggling to pick it up and put it back into your chest.

Then you asked the question that deep down you were scared to hear the answer too but you stayed true to the promise you made to yourself once he held you against him minutes ago, or it could possibly be longer, time didn’t exist at the moment.

“What’s on your mind? Bringing your hand up to play with a piece of hair that hung in front of his eye.

Again he takes in a big breath and you feel him sit up slightly, misplacing you a bit from the comfortable position you were in.

Before he answers Colson adjusts your body on top of his again, your legs curled up on either side of his own as he withstood your body weight on top of him.

Sitting up a little as well you look at him with a worried expression which gives him the cue to just spill the truth that was running rampant in his head.

“We’re not just friends, right?” his hands never leave your waist as he says those words that could make it or break it for both of them.

You take a second the think of what you are going to say, and where you want this conversation to go.

But throwing all caution into the wind you know that this is one of those times where only the truth was the best answer.

“I don’t think so. Not anymore anyways.” you gulped at your words, leaving the next move up to Colson.

You see his eyes go wide in the unlit room and you don’t know how to take his expression.

Was he scared, angry, or surprised? Any of those emotions could fit right now and that worried you.

“Do you... Think we are more?” he says hesitantly absent-mindedly moving his hand up and down your back as a way to distract and soothe himself.

“That all depends on your next choice of words.” you weren’t bearing your entire soul out to him until he gave you the reassurance that you needed.

He just looked at you, like one of those looks that someone gives when they are trying to figure out what the other is thinking and or feeling.

One of Colson’s hands leaves their spot from your midsection and he pulls you closer to him from underneath your legs; before knitting his fingers into your hair smoothing the strands to calm himself.

He knew that the universe has somehow set this moment up, to give him probably the one and only chance to admit his feelings.

Softly gripping your face with his hands you give him your full attention.

“I love you…” he declares and you go to open your mouth to say something along the lines of ‘I knew that’ trying to convince yourself that he meant it like you guys always have but Colson cuts you off before you can even try,

Dipping his head down to catch your wandering and panicked gaze he says “And I don’t mean that in a brotherly way or any other possible way than me admitting that Y/N I am in love with you. So hopelessly in love with you. And even though it scares the hell out of me I know it is true.”

His gaze bore into you and without a second thought you admitted as well “I love you too Colson.”

Your voice was quiet and shaky but it was true and that’s all that mattered.

Eyes flickering to Colson’s lips, you lean towards him slowly without realizing it.

Colson’s hand moves to your back pressing you as close as he can while the other cups your face just underneath your jaw.

Colson felt every emotion at that moment; joy, fear, and exhilaration.

Your foreheads bump against each other and you both chuckle with embarrassment at the lack of coordination.

Resting there for a second forehead against forehead, practically tasting each other’s breath you are sure that the anticipation is gone and that you let yourself get your hopes up.

But Colson whispers and it almost makes you giggle because of his breath fanning on your skin.

“Y/N can I kiss you?” his thumb circles the apple of your cheek waiting for your permission.

And you answer him, just not with words.

Taking charge you pull Colsons face towards yours, trying so desperately to fill the gap between you both.

You let your entire body curve into him, your noses bumping in anticipation.

Softly you let your lips feather over his for a moment, but then your eyes flutter shut when Colson fully presses his lips onto yours, taking your actions as your answer.

His hands cupped your face as to not let you fall away or into pieces, which at this moment you were pretty sure was possible.

Every and all thoughts escaped your mind leaving everything blank inside of your head.

It wasn’t just that you were kissing Colson and the fact that he was kissing you right back; it was the way he held your face in his hands like you were something too special to let go of.

After a few seconds, you both have to break apart in order to breathe.

Foreheads resting on each other your lips don’t stray too far from one another so when you speak you are murmuring the words against his mouth.

Eyes still closed with your mouth agape, you feel the same as times in the past when you would drink on an empty stomach.

Lightheaded and wispy.

Speaking without filtering anything you say “Woah” as soft as can be; you weren’t sure if Colson had heard you but when he exhales with a breathy laugh you knew for sure that he did.

“Woah, is right” Colson replies rubbing the side of his nose to yours in an innocent gesture.

Then it felt like everything caved in on you at once, you had just kissed your best friend.

And even though you should be panicking about what all of this means you smile instead when Colson pulls you back in for another kiss, this time he tilts your head back deepening the action of the kiss.

Taken back a little you hum as a response to his actions.

Almost all doubt flew away from your mind when he pulled you back in because you knew he wanted this, he wanted you just as much as you have wanted him even if it wasn’t so long ago that your feelings for him blossomed.

After many hushed kisses and repetition of ‘I love you’s’, the two of you melt into the mattress and one another drifting off to sleep.

The next morning, well afternoon; you woke up tangled up in Colson content as can be.

Even though you knew you and Colson had to talk about all of this at some point, you were no longer worried about the drastic dynamic change between you both.

Colson’s arms were fully wrapped around your waist, his face nuzzled into the crook of your neck.

One of your hands that was stuck underneath his tall frame grazed his back, and not being able to resist the urge to touch him in the mid day glow peeking through the curtains your freehand brushes his unruly hair from his still shut eyes.

Arms tightening around your body, Colson groans; signaling to you that he is waking up.

Pecking him on the lips in hopes he will open his eyes he groans again.

“What?” you giggle when you speak for the first time that day.

Colson pulls one of his arms from around you and points to his lips “Another” he says his voice all raspy.

You go in to give him another quick peck but he uses his free hand to hold you there, giving you a real kiss that leaves you breathless.

When you break apart your eyes are now closed, not being able to come back down to earth.

“You’re the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.” Colson tucks a messy thing of hair behind your ear.

Forcing your eyes open you look at Colson with this gleam in his own eyes.

“You really think so?” you question him for reassurance.

“Inside and out baby” he kisses your forehead.

Your cheeks flush at this new normal between you two, moving so you can rest your head on his chest.

Then you suddenly remember the yes you told a certain someone the night before.

“Ah, Shit” you curse.

Worried Colson questions quickly “What’s wrong?”

After last night there was no way you were going to lie to him, so you tell him the truth.

“I totally forgot I told Rook that I would go out with him tonight…” before you can even explain to him that you were going to tell Rook about what happened with you and Colson and hoped he understood;

Colson was ripping the covers off and barging to the door saying “I’m gonna kill him.”

Even though you knew he wasn’t going to actually kill him you ran after him to find him trying to corner Rook in the kitchen.

Rook had his hands up in surrender and was trying to explain himself, but you couldn’t hear him over the sound of Colson spewing profanities at Rook.

Coming up behind him you put your hand on Colson’s back and he calms instantly.

“Colson let him speak” you demand.

Letting his arms fall to his sides in defeat he gestures to Rook to speak.

“We knew you guys liked each other and as a push, I asked Y/N out to try and get at least one of you to spill your feelings beforehand. It wasn’t going to go any further than a ruse I swear.” Rook kept his arms up awaiting the worst.

Now a normal person would be angry at this, but no one in this house was normal so you and Colson busted up laughing leaving Rook standing there confused.

The rest of the group made their way into the kitchen sharing the same expression Rook did.

Walking up to Rook you laughed in between your words placing a hand on his shoulder“You guys tried to play us is it ?” you say with humor filling your voice.

“Wait I am so confused. What is so funny?” Rook says his eyes flickering between the two of you trying to connect the dots but failing to do so before you and Colson spill the beans.

You and Colson glance at each other and just smile.

“Y/N Bring your pretty little butt over here.” his arms are wide open and you oblige, speed walking back over to him. He pulls you into his embrace and spins you above the ground slightly.

Looking at the group Colson speaks saying “We have got it handled” rubbing his hands up and down your back.

The guys looked at each other finally understanding what has occurred.

“All I have to say is it is about fucking time.” Baze unleashes.

Everyone laughs together and you have this content feeling in your soul that even though you don’t know what the future holds for you and Colson; you do know that everything is going to be okay and you were happy with that. Reaching up on your tippy-toes you connect your kips with Colson’s with hopefully many more to come.

#machine gun kelly #machine gun kelly fanfiction #machine gun kelly fanfic #machine gun kelly imagine #machine gun kelly x reader #mgk #mgk fanfic #mgk imagine #mgk x reader #est19xx #19xx #colson baker #colson x reader #friends to lovers #writing #writer #imagine #imagines #fanfiction

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keiziahknight1886 · 4 years

Text

Change

[Change (A Connor x Reader story based on Detroit: Become Human)]

MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHOR Hey, it's Kei! I'm so excited to start and write this story since I had the idea! First off, shout out to my good sis @findart.me (https://www.instagram.com/findart.me/?hl=en) for going through this adventure with me and for making these covers!! Omg it was so hard to choose but I chose the one I liked the most HAHAHA.

I'm in love with Detroit: Become Human and so I became DBH trash lol. I had been looking for fanfics about DBH, specifically Connor since I'm in love with the smol bean. There are a lot of stories about Connor and I love each and every one of them and I've seen the trope of being Hank's daughter and the more I read I wanted something more that I don't think I've seen yet. I mean I have seen something similar but not completely the plot that I was looking for so I decided to write my own.

Keep in mind, I have no idea about some of the details in the story like how police work actually work so I just trusted google with the research lol so please don't pay attention to the wrong things since it is just a fanfiction and I'm not the best at writing.

I'll be pushing to write all of this in the same canon of the game but with the inclusion of reader since there are more paths and whatnot and just- basically I'm adding canon and non canon stuff together so-

SPOILER ALERT!!! I want to make it as real game as possible so that we can have that feeling that it's not too far from the game and it could actually exist, I don't know if you guys get me but I want this to be as close to game reality as possible so that we could really feel close to Connor and the other characters. Now keep in mind that I just went through the game like only a few times (I have yet to complete it a hundred percent because God knows that take HOURS like omg one chapter is like 4-7 hours of replay) so as detailed of this as I want I may get some things wrong. Anyway that's enough about me, feel free to comment as much as you like if there are mistakes and hope you guys enjoy the Detroit: Change experience! Note: *The reader will be female *Mostly on 2nd person, rotating between Connor and reader *I copied some of the texts from the original game's script to make it more immersive, please don't clock me on that lol *I already finished the story but I'll be posting them daily for pacing and checking purposes. *Major credits to the original creators, I can only take credit for the plot and story itself but as for the characters that will be use on this story they solely belong to their owners.

Prologue

xX0Xx

Y/n Anderson is her name.

She grew up in a loving environment and she loved her family more than anything. She grew up with a lot of love from her parents but she was particularly a daddy's girl, holding him high up on a pedestal and hoping to one day achieve as many great things as him.

She looked up to her father who was top of his class and was also a valedictorian, he was a very intelligent and talented man and so she wanted to follow in his footsteps. That, and he constantly spoiled her and showered her with love and gifts that sometimes her mother says it's too much.

Because of her desire to make her father proud she studied and worked hard to pass every exam she could and when the time came for her to take the exam for Criminology she passed with flying colors, both parents couldn't be prouder.

It was one of the happiest moments in Y/n's 18 years of life and she had another reason to celebrate because her parents had just announced that her mother was yet again pregnant and that she was going to finally have a little sibling.

She believed she had it all and couldn't have been more content with her life. Her years had been filled with love and laughter and when her younger brother came into their world their family became even better. Their family even got bigger when they got Sumo, the fluffy giant Saint Bernard, for one of her brother's birthdays.

Y/n's life was good, she was a great student and also graduated a valedictorian like her father and when she started working with him at the same precinct in the Detroit Police Department, she felt pride in herself and of course, her father was proud of her as well.

He made it known to just about everyone there what his daughter achieved and although it was embarrassing she was still happy. She loved her job of fighting crime, helping people, and saving lives.

But all that happiness ended when a series of unfortunate events took her brother's life, the one life that mattered to her the most, the one life she couldn't save.

An accident cost the life of her brother, this changed her life and perfect family into a living disaster.

Her father, whom she looked up to, decided to turn to alcohol to remedy the pain. Her mother had had enough of her father's drinking problem and his sometimes downright horrible attitude on top of the tragedy and it ultimately broke them apart.

When the divorce happened it left her in the middle, broken and lost.

Years passed by and her relationship with her parents deteriorated, still, she continued working at the same precinct as her father and stayed with him in fear that if he was truly left alone something bad would happen. Early on, her father showed signs of depression and her mother couldn't seem to handle it so she took it upon herself as the eldest daughter to look after him. She went with him when her parents decided to sell their house after the divorce and although the house he got wasn't the best she stayed with him.

When he would drink himself to the brink of alcohol poisoning she was there in the hospital waiting for him to get better, she had been nothing but patient when he would lash out at her and yell out hurtful words and she would be the one to apologize to whoever it was that his father pissed off.

What really drove her to yell at him was when she found out one night that he had been playing Russian roulette. She screamed and cried and he screamed in turn, not caring that his only daughter was crying over his actions. This went on to the early morning until Y/n finally had enough. She locked herself in her room silently crying while her father slammed the front door shut to get drunk somewhere other than home.

This was when their relationship finally broke.

Y/n still stayed at their home but would go out early and return when she knew her father wouldn't be home, she avoided him at all cost but would also watch over him when he was passed out drunk or just too tired to even get to bed.

Even at the precinct, she would make sure to avoid him by taking more assignments and never being in the same area for more than a few minutes at a time.

Her father didn't seem to mind, in fact, he didn't even show a smidge of regret or sadness and that hurt her even more. She had hoped that after a few days of it being like that he would come up to her and apologize but days turned into weeks and then into months.

It had been three years since her brother passed, three years since her parents seemed to have lost care for her, three long years of her father forgetting that he had another child that had done nothing but love and care for him. Y/n's life changed and even though she was trying to pull her life together nothing seemed to be changing for the better.

-------

AUG 15TH, 2038 PM 08:45:29

"Ma'am it's okay, I've just heard that the situation is under control." The soothing voice of a woman spoke as the sounds of sirens, helicopters, and yelling echoed around the area.

Lights of red and blue shone as the woman with a soothing voice slowly pats the back of another woman who looked ragged and is having a panic attack.

The woman had h/l h/c hair and was wearing a black bomber jacket, tight dark blue pants, and combat boots. Her badge was attached to her hip and it signified her position as a police detective.

"It's not okay! They sent an android to save my daughter!"

"Detective Anderson, we've got a new report." an officer spoke up and Y/n sighed.

"Lay it on me."

"The negotiator was successful, the girl's safe."

Y/n smiled and looked at the woman who was now looking at them and crying in relief.

"I'll go check on your daughter, please stay here and I'll make sure to bring her to you."

"Please... Please make sure my baby is safe." she sobbed and Y/n gave her another pat.

Detective Y/n Anderson, age 27, was one of the people who responded to the hostage situation since she was around the area patrolling with officers Deckart and Wilson, they were just having a chat when it happened. At that time, the three of them rushed into the scene after Y/n called for backup and there they met the android who shot

its owner and was taking a little girl hostage.

They had a standoff and Deckart was shot dead in the living room. She tried to negotiate with it with Wilson but the mother of the girl was screaming which had added stress to the situation. When it went to the outside, Wilson followed while Y/n tried to stop the mother from going further.

She continued to stop the mother from moving and potentially endangering herself, she heard another gunshot from outside along with a yell of pain and when she looked, the android was now on the edge while Wilson's body laid on the ground.

When the SWAT team finally arrived, Y/n had briefed the captain, Allen, about the situation and she was given the task to help secure the area downstairs.

After hearing that the situation had finally been defused, Y/n made her way up but not before noticing a taxi leaving the area. She looked at it in confusion for a bit since taxis shouldn't have been allowed in the area but disregarded it.

When she was upstairs, the SWAT team was clearing up and she went straight to the crying girl being treated by one of the medics. Y/n kneeled down in front of the girl and gave her a reassuring smile.

"Hey, there little one, my name's Detective Y/n Anderson and your mom sent me. You're going to be okay now, I'll take you down when you're done getting patched up, okay?" she smiled softly at the girl who sniffled and nodded.

"How's downstairs, Anderson?"

She turned to look at Captain Allen who looked less tense than when she first saw him tonight, she gave him a soft smile and a salute.

"Captain, all's well and handled downstairs. Great work up here."

"Yeah well, that piece of plastic gave us more trouble than its worth." Allen frowned and glanced at the little girl.

"You managed to convince it though, that's less innocent lives tonight."

"Yeah, well... We didn't do the convincing. Cyberlife sent this detective android in."

"A detective android?" Y/n raised an eyebrow and slightly tilted her head, she's never heard of a detective android before.

"Yeah, the thing managed to do the job but if they make more of that thing it'll be trouble for us."

"Well, let's hope it's a one-time thing then. Cyberlife probably just wanted to remedy their own problem."

"Yeah, well here's to hoping I don't see it again."

"She's done." the medic spoke up which got both of their attentions.

"You taking her?" Allen asked and Y/n nodded.

"Yep, told her mother I'd make sure she was safe."

"I'll leave her to you before we process things then."

"You got it."

Y/n gave a small salute to Allen who just gave a tiny chuckle and patted her shoulder in return. It wasn't a secret that Y/n was a talented detective, she was talented in many areas and, in turn. she's made friends and connections within the force. Most people liked her and those who really knew about her situation pitted her and hopes that she had a better life than she did now.

"Come on, sweetheart. Let's get you to momma."

Y/n extended her hand towards the girl and she took her hand, the little girl was still shaking but she seemed to have relaxed a little after Y/n squeezed her hand.

"What's your name?"

"Emma." the little girl answered quietly and she could understand why.

"Well, Emma, I'm going to make sure you and you're mom are taken care of."

-------

After the exhausting day she had, Y/n finally got home. She was dead tired and she could feel her eyes closing as she entered the house. A loud bark was heard as she entered and she couldn't help but giggle and pet the big fluffy dog that walked towards her.

"Hey there, Sumo. Sorry but Y/n's a little tired right now." she spoke softly as she patted the dog's head.

Sumo walked over to the couch and when she followed her eyes landed on her father who was passed out on the couch, again.

Y/n sighed before removing her jacket and putting it on the table where she saw the picture frame of her brother facing down, she frowned and shook her head and went to pick her father up. As she moved, she accidentally kicked a bottle on the floor and she looked at it in disgust.

"Be quiet while I move him okay, bud?"

Sumo whimpered softly before going to his own little doggie space and laying down. Y/n, who was already used to this, grabbed her father and slung his arm around her shoulder.

"Move." she groaned.

It felt like it took forever to move her father but when she finally placed him on the bed she took off his shoes and socks and covered him with a blanket. She looked at him one last time before leaving for her own bed.

When she finally laid down she felt almost everything shut down, she didn't even care if she hasn't changed, all she wanted now was to sleep.

As Y/n's eyes fluttered close to accept the sweet release of slumber, a loud alarm sounded and she jumped off of the bed. She looked around with adrenaline coursing through her and when she looked at her alarm clock it was already time for work again.

"Agh!" she let out a scream of frustration before throwing herself to the bed again.

Y/n laid down on her bed before ultimately decided to get up again for a shower and fresh change of clothes, begrudgingly getting ready for another workday ahead.

xX0Xx Chapter One

#detroit become human #detroit become human x reader #detroit become human connor x reader #connor #rk800 #x reader #reader insert #connor x reader #dbh connor #reader is an anderson #hank anderson #rk800 connor

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kariachi · 6 years

Text

Another commission! This time over 11k of Martin Mystery/Ben 10 crossover for @thenixkat.

A young man walks calmly through the forest. It’s been a nice afternoon, so far- hot and muggy with little cloud cover to prevent the summer sun from streaming through the trees. There’s a notable lack of birdsong, and just a quarter mile down the path he’d found a crow lying on the concrete, but he’s not worried. It’d winged off as soon as he nudged it with his shoe. Anyway, birds were supposed to call when predators were around, and if something was wrong in the park surely an alert would’ve been put out by now. It’s too nice of a day to waste time worrying over nothing.

Something glints in the sunlight, off to the side of a curve in the path near a large outcropping of rock and the man’s curiosity gets the better of him. A glass bottle maybe? Some loser littering out here, ruining things for the wildlife and the guests? He comes closer, hand resting on the stone, focused on the shining object. Yes, definitely a loser, but not as much a loser as him. After all, anyone littering here probably has a job, an education, a lover, isn’t living in their parents’ basement like he is. They’ve never ruined everything for everybody, but he has, hasn’t he? Just one failure after another starting with being born at all, such a waste….

He’s so caught in his own head, he doesn’t even see the teeth.

“-but of course the police don’t believe them, because what civilian cop is going to believe the person in the house you were breaking into was murdered by donuts-”

“Hey guys!”

“Oh thank God.” Diana just about collapsed with relief right on the moving walkway at their alien friend’s timely arrival. Martin had been talking about this movie for two days and now that he’d realized she wasn’t going to watch it with him he’d decided to just recap the entire fucking thing. “Hi Billy.”

“Hi Billy.”

“Hey Billy!” The grin on Martin’s face could not be removed, only turned to new victims. “I was just telling Diana about this new movie that came out- Attack of the Killer Donuts.”

“Ooo,” Billy grinned back, “sounds interesting.”

“It is! It’s got almost all the classic B-horror tropes! I’ll stream it for you after we get back from this mission.”

“Speaking of which,” Diana interrupted before her only shot at a moment without breakfast foods as a main topic vanished into the ether (Java wasn’t helping, he’d given up and watched the film within the first two hours and was now on Martin’s side, the traitor), “any idea what we’re getting into?”

“MOM’s got the details,” the alien said, “but I do know Osmosians are involved, so I printed off these pamphlets.” As he spoke he distributed the pieces of paper. The whole team’s brows raised as one at the first item listed. ‘Bring food.’ “Security Chief Jones was involved in their original production, so you can trust the information to be accurate.”

“Uh, thanks, Billy.” They were all still focused on the pamphlets, reading through the surprisingly short list of safety tips. They mostly seemed to boil down to ‘don’t let them get hungry’ and ‘don’t piss them off’.

“Don’t worry, Eva says they’re really nice people.”

For once MOM didn’t appear to have some experiment going, no guests hanging around, and Martin was visibly thrown off by it. Instead she was checking three backpacks stuffed to the brim with gear, from water canteens hanging off the sides to what were probably area maps and what looked like way too much food.

“Jones not kidding,” Java said as they watched her shift things in one of the packs so another Ziploc of trail mix could be fit inside.

“Hi MOM,” Martin then said, coming forward with a grin and snatching up one of the packs, hefting it over his shoulder. “What sort’ve mission have we got today? Saharan zombies? Jungle werewolves?” MOM just raised a brow, zipping the pack she’d been fiddling with shut and circling her desk to take a seat.

“Not quite, Martin.” She picked a folder up off the desk and handed it to Diana as she and Java joined them. “You’ll be investigating a series of missing persons cases at Star Ridge State Park in the eastern United States.” The boys peered over Diana’s shoulders as she flipped through the folder, grabbing packs for herself and Java with her tail. Inside were numerous police reports describing the disappearances of nine people, including photos of the missing. A pair of girls no older than her and Martin. A man in his mid-twenties. Middle-aged, elderly, children, there didn’t seem to be any pattern to the missing.

Only one particularly stood out, and the team all glanced at each other when they got to them. The photo showed an adult, they supposed, with short antlers, a muzzle, and tufted tail. Their skin was thick and tawny brown, covered in scutes, and they had teeth like something out of the Ice Age. One eye, the left, was marred with scarring and left a milky pink.

“I take it this is why Billy was talking about Osmosians?” Diana asked, and MOM nodded.

“The park contains a large pack,” she said, “and a good portion of it is their territory. You’ll have to be careful and respectful when inside, Martin.”

“Hey!”

“Osmosians do not suffer disrespect well, especially not established packs. They and the local tribe have happily agreed to work with us, so don’t make either one regret it.” Her tone turned sharp on the last portion, eyes narrowing slightly.

“Of course,” Diana said, and Java nodded beside her. MOM just hummed back at them.

“The pack has called in a team themselves,” she continued, “you’ll be meeting them at the Greenwich Entrance.”

“Wait,” Martin said as she opened the door out, “why would they call in someone else if we’re already coming?”

“It’s an Ossy thing.”

“Is even in pamphlet,” Java said, holding his own copy up, and he was right.

#9. It’s an Ossy thing, roll with it.

The trip in was uneventful, and mostly consisted of Martin trying to work out what sort’ve paranormal mess they were walking into and Diana- who at this point wasn’t even going to argue about the paranormal with him, he was right over half the time and she just ended up listening to him gloat about it- trying to make him drive like a person who knew how. Meanwhile Java appeared to have tuned them both out about an hour ago, pulling out a novel and burying himself in that for most of the drive.

Entering the park revealed a lovely sight. Everything was in full bloom- green vines with trumpet-shaped pink-orange flowers creeping high on the red brick archway that marked the entrance, native flowers a mass of color beneath the entrance sign. Trees all various shades of rich greens. Bees buzzed, butterflies fluttered, and in pride of place sat a large fountain topped with a sculpture of a doe and fawns.

Two people who were probably human stood at the base of the fountain, a distinction made because most of the people they were watching off to the side very much weren’t. One was, an elderly man with dark skin, but out of the other three one was clearly an Osmosian, like the victim they had the photo of, while another’s blue fur blatantly marked him as alien, and the last had teeth they could see flash when they talked even as they came to a stop several yards away. At their feet was a large blue, dog? thing? maybe? There wasn’t that much time to dwell on it, because one of the humans was a girl their age and so as soon as the keys were out of the ignition Martin practically teleported to her side. The redhead looked both surprised and unimpressed by his sudden appearance.

“Hey there, I don’t think we’ve been introduced. My name’s Martin-” True to form he didn’t seem to notice how the girl and the brunet beside her were side eyeing him. He also didn’t notice his sister storming over until she had him by the ear and was yanking him away from them.

“I’m sorry about him, he’s a moron,” she said, holding out her free hand to shake. “I take it you’re the other team that got called in?”

“More like Kevin got called in and we came along for the ride, but yeah,” the girl replied with a firm handshake. “Gwen Tennyson, this is my cousin Ben- also a moron-”

“Hey!”

“-and over there are Rook, Kevin, and the dog is Zed.” Diana nodded, gesturing to her own team.

“I’m Diana Lombard, this is my brother, Martin Mystery, and that’s Java.” Java waved with a smile and Ben waved back.

“Wait, ‘Martin Mystery’?” Kevin and Rook were returning to the group, a map clenched in Rook’s hands and Zed at their heels. There was a toothy and slightly sinister grin on Kevin’s face. “The Martin Mystery and company?” Java and Diana shared a wary look as Martin puffed up like a rooster and held out a hand, gaze lingering briefly on the tight shirt and monstrous teeth.

“The one and only.” Kevin’s toothy grin only got more worrying, even as he accepted the handshake.

“I’m Eva Jones’s son.” And Martin deflated like a popped balloon, which was always amusing for the others. There was no way the Chief of Security’s son was going to be in awe. Something that was all but confirmed when he continued talking. “Mom has told me so many stories about you.”

“What kind of stories?” Martin asked, eyes narrowing slightly, and Kevin shrugged.

“Varies. Sometimes I stop by for dinner and get to hear about ‘Agent Lombard beat a slug-fucker with brains and a saltwater fish tank’, others I get a text in the middle of the night thanking me for having enough sense to not let a werewolf wound go untreated.” And there it was, Martin was on the edge of pouting. Fortunately- or unfortunately, if you were Diana and loved watching your brother wallow in his own dangerous stupid- Gwen was merciful.

“So, what have we got to go on?” Rook seemed as happy to get to work as Martin and smiled at all of them, immediately going and laying the map he held out on the fountain wall.

“Aaron and John were good enough to provide us a map showing the general area of each disappearance,” he said, pointing out a series of red spots on the map. They were all clustered over a large area with no discernible pattern. “If we make our way onto the Aspen Trail, then cut onto the Blackcap Trail, we should be able to do a partial circuit of the area.” Stepping back, Martin stretched and grinned.

“Sounds like a plan.”

They’d been walking an hour and Diana was in hell.

“I wouldn’t call Attack of the Killer Donuts the best B-horror of our time, I mean have you seen Ice Spiders?”

“Really, Benji? If you’re going with Syfy-style you could at least go for Attack of the Killer Lampreys or something.”

“Ooo, that one was awesome! I’ve watched it four times!”

“Java big fan of Lake Placid sequels.”

“Hold up- Two? Or three and four?”

“Three and four.”

“Good man.”

It was a nightmare.

“I was really hoping Martin would leave this discussion behind.” Gwen patted Diana on the shoulder, joining her in sighing.

“Men, can’t live with them and if you kill them you have to deal with their mothers.” Diana almost joked about having a shot then, then remembered that much like she was, despite all attempts, clearly their father’s favorite, Martin and their mother had bonded like no other, and it was entirely likely that if she killed him Mom would disown her and start again with new children.

She sighed once more.

“So,” she said, pulling her eyes off the boys walking ahead of them to look at Gwen, “the pack brought you guys in?” Gwen nodded.

“Kevin’s Top Ossy on the planet right now, and the missing Ossy is his brother-in-law’s cousin, so when the pack couldn’t figure out what was happening he’s where they turned. The rest of us didn’t want him running into who knows what kind of trouble without back-up.” She could understand that. Apparently, nobody knew what they were dealing with, other than that it probably wasn’t a natural phenomenon (score- one Martin, yay). There weren’t any sinkholes found or anything, and Diana couldn’t imagine large predators had much space to come in with a whole pack of them already living there. But then, why was it…

“Does it seem eerily quiet to you?” Diana asked after a moment. There was still the boys’ conversation, but under it was, nothing.

“Oh thank god, it’s not just me. Shouldn’t there be birds or bugs or something?”

“Yeah…”

Up ahead, Zed sudden froze and began to growl.

Nothing appeared off about the area they were heading into, but still the group stopped where they were and carefully took stock of what was ahead. It was a small valley, not particularly deep but still notable. The path went in, followed the edge of the river, heavily laden with plant-life, then went back up the cliffside a few acres along. At first look, purely innocuous, but as they closed in on each other protectively experience told them they weren’t so lucky.

“Prime ambush territory,” Ben said, and the others all nodded.

“I say we risk it,” Martin added, and Diana sighed.

“Of course you do.”

“What are we going to learn if we don’t go in? Nothing, so we go.”

“It makes sense.”

“If we die, the Center’s paying for the funerals.”

“Deal.”

Which was about the point where a massive head came out of the undergrowth, straight at them, at speed.

“Shit!” Nearly as one mind they scattered, Gwen instinctively hurling a mass of pink energy at the creature as they dodged its fangs. The damn things were easily the length of Diana’s arm! The girls, Kevin, and Rook scrambled away from the creature as more of it emerged, Kevin’s hand tight on Zed’s collar.

It was a massive serpent, with a head easily as wide as Java. The scales along it’s body were a deep, deep black with dark blue banding and shone with a rainbow of iridescence, its head crested with a rack of long, tined antlers. High on the head, between its eyes- one a deep brown and the other a milky beige- sat a diamond crystal that blazed in the mid-afternoon sun. It was beautiful, so beautiful. Surely this would be the best way to die, here to something lovely, rather than later to some slime creature, or ghost, or whatever horrible thing she would be made to face next. A miracle, the fact she’d survived this long, how much longer could luck last before something else ate her, possessed her, best for them not to have the chance-

A flash of pain as she hit concrete and Diana was knocked from her daze, looking up to see Rook laid overtop of her on the trail as the serpent surged forward above them. It turned on itself, clearly drawing back for another attempt and giving Kevin and Gwen just enough of an opening to rush back in and haul them to their feet. The two bolted back up the path, Zed just ahead of them and Kevin behind, as Gwen blasted the beast again, sending it reeling long enough for Martin and Java to come running back out from where they’d tumbled into the valley, Ben over the caveman’s shoulder.

“There’s two of them,” Martin yelled as they ran passed, grabbing Gwen by the arm and shoving her ahead of them. “Two!”

True to word another of the beasts slithered behind them, whole and hearty and quickly joining with the first in chasing them down. All they could do was keep running, running despite the realization these things were fast, and large enough that they all knew any distance they might gain would be lost if they tried to head into the trees. These things could probably eat the trees. Relief only came when Ben finally came back to himself, vanishing in a flash of green light that had Java dropping him in the path, only to appear again as a plantperson.

“Time to bring the heat,” he said, shooting seeds from his hands into the earth along the path. Almost instantly they sprouted, bursting forth as thick vines that joined together to form a wall blocking the way. He then lit the vines on fire, just in case. “Hah! Let’s see ya get through that!”

“Don’t tempt the dragons!” Swampfire squeaked as Kevin got him by the back of the neck, having doubled back once he realized what was happening, and dragged him along with the others.

They may or may not have been being chased anymore, but they sure as fuck weren’t stopping.

“I can’t believe we almost got eaten by an Uktena!”

“Two Uktena.”

“Even better!”

For the most part they were all collapsed at one of the outlook spots on the trail. Martin, though, was pacing back and forth with a grin because who else did Diana know who would think nearly dying via giant snake monster was cool?

“Okay, Martin,” Gwen said, “glad you’re happy, but if you could fill the rest of us in.” He stopped and turned his grin on the group.

“Uktena are horned serpents from Cherokee myth, formed out of people unhappy with their lives,” he said. “The crystal on the head? It’s called an Ulun'suti- I probably butchered that… Anyway, it’s mildly hypnotic and eventually creatures who stare into it just give themselves up to be eaten!” A look of mild confusion came over his face. “They don’t normally hunt humans though, that’s weird…” Off the side, where he was lying in the grass, Kevin shook his head.

“A dragon made out of people, with a blind left eye, that’s just suddenly showed up?” He lifted his head enough to look at the others. “That was Dalen.” His head thudded back down. “Also explains why she’s hunting humans, we aren’t picky eaters.”

“Alright,” Diana said, “that explains the one then. What about the other?” Everybody shrugged.

“Who knows,” Martin said, “could be another one of the missing people, could be one that just showed up around now. Maybe having the other one here attracted it.”

“Knowing our luck it heard we were coming and decided to join in.” Ben heaved a sigh. “Why is it always things with scales? We have not met anyone decent with scales!”

Diana was happy to see everyone except Ben sit up and give him the stink eye. Kevin doubly so.

“Excepting present company.” She continued to glare, tail twitching in aggravation. Was it cool to smack one of somebody else’s boys?

“Uh-huh, yeah..”

“And all of my siblings? Just not a thing now?” Kevin asked with a sneer, before falling back to the ground. Zed whined and curled up against his side. “Just, will somebody kill him and save me the trouble?”

“No killing my cousin,” Gwen said, flopping back down herself.

“And you all see why we broke up.” While Kevin huffed, Ben turned a pleading gaze on Martin, in clear hopes of back-up. Instead Martin gave him a sharp look and went to collapse beside his sister and Gwen.

“Not cool, man.”

They decided, in the end, to turn in for the night and pick the mission back up in the morning. The reasoning being that it was getting late and since so far all known attacks and attempted attacks had happened during the day odds were good the Uktena were at least primarily diurnal. An unoccupied cabin was found along the trail, outside of what Martin and Kevin had deemed the ‘Dinner Zone’ as well as the pack territories. That second bit was important because once everyone was inside Kevin had gone out and rubbed his scent all over the trees surrounding the building, just in case that helped.

It was an Ossy thing. They rolled with it.

Dinner options were slim. The Center had provided trail food- mixes, jerky, dried fruit- and a few tins of canned meat and fish for each agent. The Tennyson team turned out to be at least a little more prepared, mostly because Kevin had managed to fit a corned beef into his pack (“We just don’t ask anymore, last time it ended with a two-hour explanation of space-time and dimensional rigging that went over everybody’s head”) and Rook had brought a collapsible pot and portable range (“You would think the park would stock these, but apparently no”). Most of the corned beef went to Kevin and Zed, something the Tennysons and Rook didn’t begrudge them and Martin, Diana, and Java- keeping in mind the pamphlets- decided to follow their lead on. They weren’t certain what happened if an Osmosian got hungry, but they didn’t want to find out.

Eventually, the group split into two, with Java, Rook, and Kevin taking over the kitchen while the others hung out the whole ten feet away in the living room. If nothing else the cooks seemed to be enjoying themselves, laughing and chatting and exchanging tips and tricks and recipes. And at some point Kevin’d put his hair up, the end result of which was Martin watching them over the back of one of the couches, eyes narrowed, mouth open, and head tilted to one side as Ben patted him consolingly on the shoulder.

“I swear,” Diana said quietly as she watched this, leaning in close to Gwen, “I can feel his heterosexuality combusting from here.” Gwen nodded.

“Yeah, that happens sometimes.”

“You know, I never thought I’d enjoy canned sardines.”

“It is amazing what you can make work by cannibalizing the right packs.”

“And working with a guy who’s used to making a single ingredient into a million distinct recipes.”

“You are welcome.”

“Ooo, spellbook!” It was a testament to the sort’ve thing she was used to that Gwen didn’t jump when Martin unceremoniously dumped himself into the seat beside her. She’d figured getting some studying done couldn’t hurt, not when they were trying to deal with a pair of giant, magical snakes, but as soon as she’d pulled out the book and cracked it open there he’d been.

“Into magic?” she asked, looking at him critically, eyes narrowed. Martin puffed up proudly.

“Runs in the family,” he said, “I can’t even remember when my Gran and aunts started teaching me spellwork.” Gwen snorted a quick laugh.

“Lucky. I had to teach myself. It’s only in the last few years I’ve gotten any actual teaching, or access to new books.” She raised the one in her lap slightly for emphasis and watched Martin light right up.

“Wait here! Java!” Leaping to his feet he crossed the space between himself and the caveman, immediately digging into the front of his shirt and pulling out a large book before practically diving back for the couch. “Check this out.”

The book wasn’t as grand as the one Gwen held, and it was certainly in worse shape. There was water damage, scorch marks, and places where dirt had clearly been ground into the parchment. As Martin flipped through it Gwen was fairly certain she saw evidence that it had been rebound at least once. But it was stuffed to the brim with spells and notes in what she had to assume was his own handwriting. Half of the spells weren’t even in the same languages, she counted at least six. Three of which she didn’t recognize.

“Okay,” she said after about the third spell in what she would later learn was Etruscan, leaning over to dig through her pack for some pens and paper, “you can copy from mine if I can copy from yours. Deal?”

“Deal.”

“Okay,” Rook said the next morning while they all gathered over a breakfast of cereal bars, jerky, and dried apples, plus plenty of instant coffee for Martin and Gwen (“It’s your own fault for staying up till four am”), “let us review- what do we know?”

“That we’re dealing with two Uktena,” Diana said, “one of whom used to be an Osmosian.”

“Because of course Ossys aren’t scary enough,” Ben added and got swatted for it because she and Kevin were both too tired for him to start.

“Hunting here,” Java said, pointing at the map laid on the table between them, “in valleys.”

“They’re ambush predators,” Martin said around a bite of cheerio bar. “Plus, their breath is poisonous.”

“Oh joy.” Sarcasm was just dripping from Kevin’s voice. “Hypnotic and poisonous.” He sighed, snatching up a handful of jerky and chewing it with open aggravation. “Roy can never hear about that, for his own sake.” Gwen patted his shoulder and passed an apple ring to Zed before leaning forward to inspect the map.

“So, what do we do then? Are we catching them or-?”

“The Center can move them somewhere they won’t be a threat to any people,” Diana said. “They’ve done it before with larger creatures. We just have to subdue them first so they can come in and get them.”

“It’s safer than trying to kill them anyway,” Martin added. “They’ve only got one vulnerable spot, on the seventh stripe, and it’s tough to hit without being in eating range.”

“Okay,” Ben said, “so all we have to do is catch them.”

“Easier said than done,” Diana replied, leaning back against the couch. “How do we catch them?”

“If you guys can get them to stay still,” Gwen said, “Martin and I both have sleep spells we can cast on them. I don’t know for sure if they’d work on these things, but it’s worth a shot.”

“I don’t know, Gwen,” Martin said, rubbing the back of his head. “Supposedly seeing these things asleep causes your family to die.”

“At this point,” Kevin tossed in, “I would be impressed if something managed to kill the family I’ve still got.” The table went quiet, everyone rolling the risk around in their heads, blindly watching Zed sneak food.

“Alright,” Rook eventually said, “how about this- Ben, do you think you could use Diamondhead or Swampfire to subdue them?” Ben hummed, leaning back in his seat as he considered the idea.

“Diamondhead, Swampfire, Wildvine, all could lock them in place from a distance. Maybe Gravattack? And if need be I could always possess them one at a time with Ghostfreak…”

“How about we avoid possession?” Diana asked, shivering. She’d seen and experienced enough possessions in her life, thank you, she didn’t want to play witness to any more than she had to. Java laid a supportive hand on her shoulder. The Tennyson team gave her a questioning look, but Kevin soon nodded, and the rest followed suit.

“Yeah, that’s a trauma I think we can all forgo reliving if we have the chance.”

“So,” Rook continued, “we draw them out into the open and Ben subdues them. If that does not work, then Martin and Gwen put them to sleep. Agreed?” Everyone looked at each other, then slowly began to shrug.

“It’s the best plan we’ve got so far,” Ben said. “So, Martin, you’re our expert, where should we look for these things?”

“Well…” Martin leaned forward, looking over the map. “They’re ambush predators, so they should probably hang out in places where they can jump out at people… Caves, valleys, deep water, dense foliage, large rocks…” Again, the table went silent as everyone considered the information.

“So,” Kevin finally said, “the entire Dinner Zone, basically?”

“I wish you guys wouldn’t call it that…”

“Pretty much,” Martin answered. He hummed contemplatively, tapping his fingers on the table as he considered the map and their options. “They are snakes though, maybe we can catch them sunning. Then they’d already be out in the open.”

“Good idea,” Java said, and the others nodded.

“We’d still have to find out where they sun,” Rook noted, but Kevin was already on his feet.

“Leave that to me,” he said, pulling out his phone and stepping off to the side, “the local pack should know every decent sunning spot in the park.”

“Okay then. Everyone,” Ben said with a grin, also rising to his feet, “get your shit together, we’ve got some snakes to catch.”

The cabin became a buzz of activity, as everyone scrambled to get their things back in order and clean up after themselves. Trash was shoveled into bins, counters were given a final wipe down, books and writing supplies were carefully tucked away into packs. Dinner and breakfast had cleared enough room for extra things to be stowed inside them, such as Martin’s spellbook and some of the canteens, which the group took the time to refill at the sink. It was the height of summer, even in a temperate region you didn’t want to run out of water if you didn’t have to. At some point Kevin returned to the couch, snatching a pencil from Martin so he could mark various areas on the map, chattering away with who they had to assume was Aaron in languages nobody understood. Occasionally the Omnitrix would pick up something in Imperial Osmosian, but other than that…

“We have sunning spots!” he finally called out, as everyone was finishing up packing, snatching up the map triumphantly and rocketing to his feet. “The hunt is on!”

The journey wasn’t exactly arduous, but it sure wasn’t easy. For one thing they had to move at a steady clip, as fast as they possibly could. Nobody knew how long it took for reptiles that size to get up to temperature, but they didn’t want to miss them and have to search the entire area. Even still, that wouldn’t have been so much to ask if there hadn’t been five different sunning spots recommended in and around the Dinner Zone, each of which was only accessible by narrow paths through the trees, half of which were overgrown with foliage. These were places the pack occasionally used, but which were far enough out of the way so as to not see regular visitors. Perfect places for monster serpents to catch the morning sun.

“I have a question,” Ben asked as they made their way down from a tall outcropping. It had been the third stop, to no avail, and while all of them were athletic and well hydrated they also were soaked with sweat. “How does someone even become a snake monster?” All eyes turned to Martin who was, as usual, glad to share his obscure knowledge.

“Well, according to Cherokee myth a guy turned himself into one while spending the night alone in an asi with a pair of deer antlers, but I’ve never seen anything detailing exactly how that worked. She probably didn’t need the antlers though, having her own.”

“Honestly I’d be pissed to have lost a pair,” Kevin said, grasping onto trees to slow his descent down a particularly steep area. “A lot of packs are really tied closely to neighboring communities, especially ones native to the particular region. Tribal land’s close enough, if there’s a trick to the transformation Dalen probably learned it from a Cherokee parent or cousin.”

“Or grandparent.”

“Same diff.” The group went quiet again, mostly to focus on not slipping and falling, something only Diana was immune to. Turned out the tail was useful for balance and for catching herself on branches and the blackcap bushes that had clearly given the trail its name, the scales even protecting her from the thorns. She kept throwing Ben smug looks over it, and Rook, Kevin, and Martin kept giving her thumbs up when the hero wasn’t looking. None of them had forgotten or forgiven his ‘no decent people with scales’ comment yet.

It wasn’t until they found the path again that they returned to talking.

“So, she probably did it to herself,” Gwen said. “That’s sad, and worrying.”

“In her defense,” Rook replied, “I am sure she did not expect to start eating passersby. Right?” Eyes went to Kevin, who shrugged.

“Don’t look at me, I met Dalen once and we didn’t exactly get close. If she was anything like Roy probably not?”

“Still not know about other snake,” Java pointed out. He was right too, they had no clue what was going on with that one. The best case scenario was that it was another of the missing people, bringing the Presumed Dead count down to seven, but they just couldn’t know. For all the information they had it could be a male attracted by Dalen’s presence, or a newcomer that prompted her own transformation. The worst possibility was that somebody had made them against their wills, but since so far Martin had said nothing about that being an option everyone was setting it aside. He and Gwen were the magic users around, after all, and surely they would’ve let the others know if that was something that might have happened.

“Hopefully,” Diana said, “the Center can figure out who they are.” If they could give some sort’ve closure to the families, tell even one mother that their child was alive even if they’d never come home, then that would make the effort of learning, of catching them alive, worth it. Idly she wondered if the pack had already been told of Dalen’s fate.

“Sure they can.” Martin’s grin was bright, though behind it was dead seriousness. He may have been a goofball, but his job was important and he treated it as such when the chips came down. “With all the stuff we’ve got access to? There’s no way they can’t.” Up ahead on the path, Rook nodded.

“Or at least no reason we cannot find somebody who can.”

Four turned out to be their lucky number. Both the Uktena were there, their bulk coating the surface of a massive stone jutting out over one of the area’s many streams. Their scales shone in the sunlight, dark and rainbowed and beautiful, while their Ulun'suti glinted and seemed to almost glow in the light. Under better circumstances it would have been a wonderful sight, two great dragons warming themselves. A sight for life long memories. One for photos.

Thankfully they didn’t seem to hear the click of a phone.

“Kevin!” Half the group hissed as one, careful to keep their voices down. They were gathered in the shrubbery near the bottom of the stone, just far enough away to avoid being immediately noticed.

“What?” he whispered, replacing the phone in his pack, “Her mom will want this.” With a round of sighs the others shook their heads, turning their attention back to the Uktena pair.

“Is this normal?”

“Maybe? Who knows, I’ve only read about these things and one of them is an Ossy.”

“Okay, do we all remember the plan?” Rook looked around at the group as best he could- Java had been forced to hide further back due to his size, and Kevin would’ve been too if he and the girls hadn’t been first to the spot, which meant he had to somehow check around that bulk on top of all the foliage everywhere- and was glad to see nodding and thumbs up all around. “Alright. Spread out, make sure they cannot slip away if they get loose. And be careful.”

They all were as quiet as they could be as they acted, avoiding loose stones and twigs, taking their time now that they could confirm that the snakes weren’t going anywhere anytime soon. Gwen and Ben headed one direction, while Martin, Diana, and Rook headed in the other. Kevin and Java stayed more central, a solid foundation behind the targets. As soon as everyone appeared to be in position, Ben dialed the Omnitrix and slammed down his selection, erupting again in a blaze of bright green light that faded away to reveal Wildvine already digging his roots into the stony shores.

At the sudden flash the Uktena both leapt into action, rearing straight up as their heads swung to see the source. A hiss left the one that was Dalen, body tensing as her companion tilted their head. The action caused the gem between their eyes to glint and gleam, and the group all were careful to avoid looking at it, keeping their eyes on the antlers, the jaws, anywhere else on them. Except for Wildvine, who simply laughed at the attempt as the reflection off the crystal played across his face.

“Got you there,” he said with a wide grin, “Wildvine can’t be hypnotized!”

The pair seemed to be surprised by the new development, though with snake faces who could tell. Still, they didn’t surge forward in vicious strikes like before, but instead stayed in place, eyeing the young hero with caution. Wildvine took the opening. He reached over his shoulders, tearing seed pods from his back and hurling them towards the snakes. As soon as the first few hit the serpents took action, moving to put distance between themselves and this strange foe they couldn’t bring to heel, but it was too late. The moment they began to move the seedpods sprouted, issuing forth thick, knobby green vines that wove themselves around Uktena and rock both.

“See? Easy!” The rest of the group crept out of hiding carefully, eyes locked on the captured serpents.

“I’d feel a lot better if that hold was tighter…” The grip didn’t look secure. Dalen was held mostly to the stone as she struggled, but the other one, not so much. It strained upward, and though it didn’t get far one could imagine the sound of vines creaking and straining against its strength.

When they finally failed it was one after the other down the creature’s back, like watching a zipper come undone.

“Shit!” Everyone scrambled back again as the vines on the Uktena fell away and it surprised them all by turning not towards its attackers but towards Dalen. In two massive bites it tore through the vines holding her head and neck, leaving her free to repeat its earlier vine bursting maneuver. That job done, it finally tuned back to Wildvine, lunging forward in an attack he was just barely able to dodge, and twisting back on itself to trap the Tennysons in the coil of its body. Dalen, meanwhile, surged in the opposite direction, throwing herself among the rest of the team with a loud hiss and a brandishing of fangs and antlers. Everyone who could scattered, trying to avoid being victim to either the weapons or bulk of the beast.

She lashed out with tail and fang, swung her antlers in wide arcs when too close to lunge, thrashing like she wanted to get at all of them at once. Probably she did. It was impossible to get a bead on her, not when she was moving about so wildly, not when she was staying in such close proximity to them, not when they were trying so hard not to be caught in the shine of the Ulun'suti in the sun. Java caught Martin as a swinging tail launched him into the air. Rook’s call to fall back was almost lost in the sound of heavy scales on stone and the splashing of all these creatures in the water.

“A little help here?!”

“We’ve kinda got our own problems!” Zed at least was able to come to the Tennyson’s aid, charging forward to drive her teeth into the tail of the other Uktena while the others were too caught up in not being eaten by Dalen, and keeping a tight grip even as it tried to fling her off and into the woods. If nothing else, it gave the cousins an opening- for Gwen to distract it with blasts to the face and belly and for Ben to dial up an option that would hopefully have an easier time subduing the creature. In another flash the roots and greenery of Wildvine disappeared and were replaced with the shining form of Diamondhead.

“If somebody could get them on the ground, this time it should work!”

“It better!” Martin dodged another swing of Dalen’s antlers as he and Rook bolted for the other serpent’s tail, leaping up to try to drag it down with sheer weight. Diana and Kevin ran to try to do the same with the head, the hybrid reaching out to get a thick coating of the stone as they cut under it on their way to where Gwen was using her magic to drag the thing into their range. Java, meanwhile, was taking on the dangerous job of trying to keep Dalen from going after the rest of them.

It wasn’t working.

As soon as she realized her companion was being dogpiled she surged back over the top of the stone, mouth gaping wide to snap up somebody, anybody, in front of her. Java clung to her middle, digging in his heels as best he could, Gwen throwing up a quick shield to prevent her from managing the foot of distance more she needed to reach the rest of the team. Quickly she was in on the battle between caveman and serpent, Java doing his best to slowly drag Dalen backwards away from the group while Gwen used her magic to keep her from doubling back and tearing into Java like a ripe fruit. It was a vicious game of tug-of-war, where a slip by either of the heroes could easily get all of them killed.

On the other side of things, Operation Dogpile was working. Kevin and Diana had distracted the snake long enough for Martin, Rook, and Zed to get his tail to the ground, and together their own weight was enough to keep its head on the ground as well. Diamondhead, through this, solidified each little victory with a barrage of crystal, a preliminary cage as the massive shards briefly cut off movement away from him. This wasn’t a solid solution though. The crystals were stronger than vines, yes, but here and now was not the place to take half-measures. Once the snake was under some degree of control he began phase two, calling up huge, thick sheets of crystal from the ground. Five locking the head in place, with one before the snout, while hordes of others ran down the serpent’s length, with gaps between them only large enough for those clinging to it to slip free.

At which point Dalen went ‘fuck this’. Where before she had been struggling to pull herself free of Gwen’s magic long enough to tear Java off her midsection, now she instead suddenly surged forward towards the girl, shocking her into breaking her hold and Java into loosening his grip. She almost soared over Diamondhead’s head, curling herself around her companion’s and trying to bite through the crystal holding them. Inside the crystal cage, Kevin and Diana were beginning to lose the breath they’d been holding in an attempt to not be poisoned and Diana, much like Dalen, immediately decided to take action.

That action was punching the Uktena in her dead eye.

With a violent hiss the beast pulled back, giving her head a brief shake and what could only be a glare to those assembled before disappearing into the forest as suddenly as she had first appeared the day before.

They were alone again. Sort’ve.

“Everyone in one piece?” Ben asked in unison with Java’s “Martin and Diana alright?”

“Fine over here,” Martin said as he, Rook, and the dog all slid free of the cage. “Sis?”

“We’re okay,” Diana responded.

“Nice jab.” Kevin gave her a grin as she helped him squeeze free of the crystal and she gladly returned it.

“Thanks, my mom taught me.”

“Awesome.”

“So,” Gwen said, heaving a sigh as everyone gathered on and around the rock to check their injuries- only scrapes and bruises, thank god, though Kevin and Diana worried everyone with some coughing they insisted was nothing major- and look out over their catch, “what do we do now?”

“We call the Center,” Diana said, she, Martin, and Java lumping together protectively as the Tennyson team did the same, “then we go find the other one.” As one the group looked at the Uktena they’d already caught. It wasn’t struggling anymore, having seemingly accepted that there was no escape from it’s current predicament, and instead was staring them down with it’s dark, dark eyes. Ben took a deep breath as, in a flash of green, he turned back into himself, and fixed the team with a self-assured smile.

“We’ve totally got this.”

The team split up. Not for long, just so somebody was there to wait for the Center’s monster transport squad to show up while the others made sure they had a trail they could follow. In theory it wasn’t difficult, she was a sixty-foot snake for fuck’s sake, but she was a sixty-foot snake that had been an Osmosian, which was the universe’s way of challenging a hunter.

“How did she make the trees here hold her?”

“I don’t know. I saw Kay do that sort’ve thing once, but he’s never taught me.” Humming under his breath, Java stepped away from Kevin and Rook and began scaling one of the trees that appeared to have greatly suffered under the weight of what they were assuming was Dalen. At least, the damage appeared fresh enough for that. He was careful with his steps, even as the other boys gathered at the base of the trunk to break his fall should he do so, and stayed mindful of the damage already done. When he reached as far as he felt he safely could, the caveman cast his gaze at the trees around them.

“Trail go,” he said slowly, pointing, “that way.”

“Alright.” Rook nodded, gesturing Kevin forward. They had Zed with them, and hopefully soon they would find a spot where Dalen had returned to the ground and the Baskurr could pick her scent back up. “Are you staying in the trees, or rejoining us down here?” Java took a moment to think about it, looking over the path through the trees. It seemed solid enough. Hopefully.

“Java stay in trees, keep others on track.” Another nod from the alien and a smile.

“Lead the way then.”

Everyone was back on the ground when the others found them again, having tracked them with Gwen’s magic, as planned, and made a beeline rather than following the Uktena’s path. Zed was back on the scent and tense at Kevin’s side as they all reconnected.

“The other one taken care of?” he asked, trying to keep the dog calm with long strokes down her neck. Gwen nodded.

“They’re going to find a space for them in the jungle,” she said, “and for Dalen once we get her.”

“Good.”

“Okay everybody,” Martin said, smiling and stretching, “get ready for Round Two.”

“Electric Boogaloo.”

“Rook, please don’t.”

The moment Zed started growling was déjà vu all over again. It wasn’t the same little valley, not the same river, and there was no concrete path leading ominously down into the shade, but it certainly felt the same. There were no trees down there, only dense underbrush. Thick masses of green bushes, grasses, vines, waist high and more, coated the bank on both sides. The river itself was deep, dark, and fast moving. No birds or insects sang.

In the center of the water, one could just make out the tips of antlers sticking out into the open air.

“So, Diamondhead again?” Ben asked, careful to keep his voice down. They were all fairly certain they were out of striking range, but that didn’t mean they wanted for her to notice them before she absolutely had to. Gwen shook her head.

“I’m not sure that would work,” she said. “I mean, they’ve already proved they’re smarter than your average snakes.”

“Or at least more social,” Martin added.

“It might be easier this time,” Rook said, “with only one for us to dogpile on.”

“And then we can worry about getting poisoned and maybe drowning,” Diana pointed out. “The last plan worked, but if we can avoid anyone having to lie over this thing’s nose I think we should go for it.”

“I’m with Diana,” Kevin chimed in, “holding the head down by hand is too risky.” Martin was the first to nod, followed by the rest.

“You’ve got a point,” he said, then held up the U-Watch. “U-Watch has a grappling hook, I might be able to hold her in place so Gwen can put her to sleep.”

“My proto-tool also has one,” Rook added, “we can each go for an antler.”

“Okay,” Ben said, “but can you two hold her on your own?”

“Java help,” the caveman said, and Kevin piped up along with him.

“With the four of us, it’d be, well not easy but not impossible. Then you and Diana can hold the back end while Gwen works her magic.” Nobody looked entirely comfortable with the idea, but then that wasn’t something that had ever stopped any of them from doing their jobs before. Ben gave a short, empty laugh.

“Probably be easier to just kill her.” Kevin huffed.

“As long you’re the one to tell her mother.” The team went quiet for a beat, two beats.

“Let’s go with the grappling hook plan.”

“Good idea.”

Zed was sent down into the valley first, as bait, despite Kevin’s vehement protests. The thinking here was that 1) she was small and fast and more likely to outspeed Dalen than any of the rest of them were, and 2) out of them she had the most experience with this sort’ve thing thanks to her old owner. They hoped she would lure the serpent out of the river and into the open, so they could have an easier time getting hold of her without running such a high risk of getting pulled under and drowned.

The plan worked. Dalen surged out of the river as soon as Zed was in range, just barely missing the Baskurr on the first strike (and the clenching of Kevin’s jaw was nearly audible at that). In an instant Zed was twisting on her heels and charging back up the snake-made trail towards Gwen with what felt in the moment an endless mass of magical serpent close behind. As soon as the alien dog had reached Gwen’s side Phase Two of Operation: Rescue Dalen From Herself went into action. In a flash of light Ben was replaced with Four Arms and he leapt down from where he and Diana had lain in wait at the top of the near cliff acting as the valley wall, landing heavily by the tail of the beast and grabbing hold. Dalen, of course, couldn’t be having with that and began to turn on herself to strike at him, only for the rest of the boys to jump into action.

From their positions hidden in the brush on either side of the trail Martin and Rook sprang forward, each taking quick aim and launching their grappling hooks at the nearest antlers to themselves. The response was vicious, with Dalen immediately trying to rear back and take them off their feet, only to be stopped by Kevin and Java’s intervention, grabbing hold of the other boys and the lines tethering her and digging in their considerably heftier and stronger heels. Between the pairs- Martin and Kevin on her right, Rook and Java on her left- she soon found herself struggling to move her head more than a half-foot in any direction, each attempt causing the opposing pair to yank back as hard as they could to keep her in place.

That was Diana’s cue. It had been decided, just before the plan went into action, that using Four Arms meant Ben wouldn’t need the help keeping Dalen’s back end under control, which freed her to help in other ways. Such as making sure nobody was sunken into despair by the gem on the Uktena’s head. Leaping down from the top of the cliff, she landed squarely on the serpent’s back, using the extra balance her tail gave her to scramble up to her head. Once there, she wrapped legs and tail around Dalen’s throat as well as she could before hefting Gwen’s now empty pack across her face, quickly stretching to catch the second strap and hold it tight so the Ulun'suti was suitably covered. Now, truly, the creature was as subdued as the non-magic-users could safely get her, and it was up to the only magic-user let unoccupied to finish the job.

Backing up to get a better view, Gwen opened her spellbook to the appropriate page. Thankfully it was a simple one, requiring her to trace what to a novice would’ve seemed an intricate pattern in front of her, one that rested in the air in a series of glowing pink lines, and pushing it gently towards the serpent alongside a single word incantation.

“Quiescis.”

It was like the entire valley went still, silent seconds stretching into something that felt like hours. The others kept their tight holds as the Uktena just, sat there, unmoving. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, she slowly began to lower her head to the ground. They let her, each carefully releasing the breathes they’d held in anticipation as they loosened their grips and she curled in around herself, settling into a quietly coiled form in the brush. Nobody said a word for several moments. Diana slid from her back. Everyone watched the creature as if she may leap back up at any moment.

She didn’t.

“Yes!” With a series of whoops the whole team burst into massive grins. Java lifted Rook straight off his feet in a hug. Gwen burst into laughter, doubly so as Zed jumped up to lick at her face. A flash of light turned Ben back to himself in time to share a high five with Diana. Kevin threw an arm around Martin’s shoulder in a tight side-hug, a gesture Martin returned for about five seconds before realizing ‘proximity’ and ‘Kevin’ and trying to carefully edge away (it didn’t work) (“Have your crises on your own time, Mystery”). The relief that flooded the small valley was palpable as they crowed their victory, relishing in their safety, the Uktenas’ safety, and the public’s safety.

Everything was going to be fine.

“Good job, everyone,” MOM said as behind her Center employees carefully moved Dalen into a transport container, “thanks to you both Uktena will be moved to a reserve in South America where they won’t be any further threat to the public.”

“I’m sure Dalen’s family will be happy to know she’ll be safe, at least,” Diana said. Ben then chimed in.

“And, the other one, you’re going to find out who they are, right?”

“We’re going to try,” MOM said. “We can’t promise we’ll succeed, but we’re going to try.” The Tennysons didn’t look convinced, but before they could say anything Kevin tossed in a quick

“It’s better than the Plumbers have ever managed.” -and there really wasn’t a way for them to counter that.

“You should all be very proud of yourselves.” And with that MOM simply turned away, a final compliment before she gave her attention back to the people doing the transporting, leaving the team to their own selves once again.

“About that,” Martin said, grinning and holding out a hand for a professional shake, “great spellwork, Gwen. A resting spell rather than a sleeping spell, nice last-minute switch.” She laughed and accepted the shake.

“Thanks,” she said. “Kevin’s family may be tough enough for him not to worry about, but I really didn’t want to risk mine. And since you were so happy to see it in the book last night it was pretty close to the front of my mind.” Somehow Martin’s grin got wider.

“Awesome!”

“You guys all were great,” Ben said, stepping forward with Rook right behind him in action and word.

“We would love working with you again.”

“Hopefully with something involving less hypnotic snakes,” Gwen made sure to add. With a grin of her own Diana laughed.

“Tell me about it,” she said, “if I never see another one in my life it’ll be too soon.”

“And what about Osmosians who aren’t snakes?” Kevin asked, “‘cause I still gotta go fill in Dalen’s family, if you all wanna join me?”

They kind of did.

Turned out to find the pack you had to go down a well-hidden back road into an area of the park you could hardly even see from the main roads. Eventually you came to a dirt parking lot, half full of pick-ups and SUVs, and from there followed a trail down into one of the park’s biggest valleys. There were plenty of impressed whistles as Kevin pointed out things like the likely primary sunning spots for the pack, or explained how this massive cliff was likely run through with miles of tunnels and dens given the size of it and the age of the pack who lived there. At the base of the cliff, at the end of the trail, they found a large clearing with buildings built against the stone and so, many, people.

It wasn’t the whole pack by any stretch of the imagination, but it was still more than most of the group had been expecting. They’d figured Aaron and John- who were there, so at least they had those familiar faces- maybe the poor woman’s parents, mates perhaps, but it seemed that whole family branch was waiting on them. Everyone, from fluff covered children to the elderly, and in a variety of combinations from ‘totally all Ossy’ to ‘what are humans doing here?’ Most of the latter turned out to be relatives from the tribe, joined with their family to catch the news about their missing cousin.

The mood hadn’t been good when they arrived, everyone already knowing the news wasn’t likely to be happy. In fact, it’d improved slightly when they’d explained that Dalen wasn’t dead or kidnapped, just, well, turned into a giant snake and gone to live in the wilds and eat people. This was, apparently, considered at least semi-reasonable by the Osmosian side of things, even if the humans involved were very concerned and needed to be reassured that she and the other Uktena were being moved somewhere they couldn’t cause any problems. At which point they’d then had to reassure everybody that the Center could be trusted to move an Ossy, giant horned serpent or no.

Half an hour they were, just on “no, really, it’s cool, she’s gonna be fine, and we’re keeping an eye on it just in case anyway”. Paranoia apparently didn’t just run through the blood, it galloped.

The group found themselves invited to an early dinner, which quickly proved itself to also be a sort’ve wake. It seemed everybody had a story to tell about Dalen as they clustered at the edge of the clearing, drinking homebrew and eating a meal featuring heavily salted meat. A good meal, to the point Java and Kevin were both clamoring for some of the recipes (Martin and Diana had resigned themselves to a lifetime with regular bean bread from the caveman’s first bite), though it would’ve been better if they hadn’t all been served enough bear to kill a man. Apparently, it was the highest calorie food there and they were ‘all still growing’.

By the end of things more of the pack had come out to join them and the stories stopped being just about Dalen. Everyone had some tale to tell, whether they were traditional stories, tales of strange happenings, or the group telling story after story of their adventures. About wars, about hauntings, about survival in desolate landscapes and mad science gone horribly wrong. And when the stories got too scary for the little ones there were Java and Rook, off to the side telling them Revonnahan fairy tales and reciting Shakespeare comedies.

Half of the kids refused to go to bed until Java promised to come back sometime with his sock puppets and tell the stories properly. Another quarter had to be reminded that no, they could not go to Canada or Revonnah immediately, their families would miss them.

Again, the group stayed the night in the park, this time set up in a guest house that pointedly did not open into any of the tunnels or dens. Nobody even considered being offended, not with the (apparently reasonable?) paranoia, and their hosts made sure they had plenty of good food and water to keep them into morning. Many thanks followed them when they left the next day- for their stories, for coming to help, for not turning immediately to killing one of their own like so many outsiders would’ve done. (“I’m still not sure about that, I mean an Uktena-” “Pack.” “…...why do I even try?”) It was a great service they’d done both pack and tribe and there was no way they could leave without their gratitude having been made blindingly clear.

Still, nearly all of them agreed that the whole smoked turkey each was given was maybe going a bit overboard.

According to Kevin it was another Ossy thing.

So, they rolled with it.

Everything always seemed boring after a mission. Didn’t matter if the team was settling back in at Torrington, or at home over the holidays, that juxtaposition between being off in amazing places experiencing new things and fighting monsters and magic and returning to normal life was always jarring. Like stepping off a boat only for your body to suddenly realize that the ground was stable. But if he had to come back to anywhere, he was always glad when it was home, where he could retreat into his own little haven of weirdness.

His room at the Lombard-Mystery house made the one at Torrington look like Diana’s.

Their parents had long given up on being able to see the floor and now just accepted that it would always be ankle deep in everything from dirty underwear to magical talismans to rogue Yu-Gi-Oh! cards. Though not food, not since the day their mom had actually brought out a flamethrower and brandished it in the direction of his door. Every square inch of wall space was covered in posters from various B-movies and sports events, and one massive mural of Hedorah he’d painted when he was twelve and was still way too proud of. The shelves strained under the weight of comic books, reference books, horror stories by everyone from Lovecraft to Ravenheart, and figurines of Digimon nobody would’ve ever expected to be able to find figurines for. Truly the only mostly-clear surfaces in the room were his bed, which was only half storage, and his desk, which held only a lamp flanked by figures of PlatinumNumemon and Raremon.

That gave him just enough space to continue his various studies into the weird and unusual and, most importantly, the magical, as he was doing at the moment. He’d come home, greeted his parents, regaled them with the story of he, Diana, and Java’s adventure (while Diana stood to the side, butting in every time he was explaining how awesome he was, the spoilsport), and ever since had been buried in his spellbook. There were so many new spells in it thanks to Gwen and he was absolutely enraptured. There was nothing quite the same as learning new magic and it would’ve taken a miracle to drag him away.

Or his phone going off, as the case may be.

Honestly even that didn’t really work. He didn’t even put down the turkey sandwich he’d made himself (they had too much turkey, somebody had to get rid of it), just pulled his phone out of his pocket blind, eyes still locked on the book.

“Hello, Martin Mystery speaking.”

“Hey Martin.” Finally, his attention was got. He didn’t look away from the book, but at least he stopped hunching over it.

“Tonio! Hey, how’s it going man?”

“Boring, for the most part. I might actually be starting to miss your antics.”

“Ouch. Terminal boring then.”

“Yep. If I don’t make it to the end of summer I’ve asked Mom to send you my comic collection.”

“Truly you’re the best friend.”

“I know.” There was a pause and Martin could’ve sworn he could hear the creak as Tonio leaned his chair back. He steeled himself, that always came with added teasing. “So, Diana said you guys went out of town.” Wait, since when did Diana have Tonio’s number? Since when did they talk? Exactly what sort’ve stories were they exchanging behind his back, and he knew if they were talking they were.

“Yeah,” Martin said, not letting on the sudden wariness he was feeling, “was pretty cool. Food was great, Java’s probably gonna be serving it in the cafeteria for half of next year.”

“Nice, nice,” he could almost see his friend nodding along in his mind’s eye, “she also said you met a cute guy.” No. Nope. Nada.

“I did not.” He was going to kill her.

“Really? She said you practically drooled.”

“That’s because she’s a liar. I know you don’t know this, but it’s a chronic thing with sisters.” She could forget college, she wasn’t even going to last to fall.

“It’s cool, man, there’s nothing wrong with you finding a guy you like. I was happy having a straight friend, but I can deal.” Scratch that, Martin was going to die, of embarrassment, right there at his desk. “Just don’t start flirting with me or anything.” He scoffed, huffed, and tore into his sandwich with feeling.

“Oh please, you couldn’t handle this much man.”

There was a loud thud on the other end of the line as Tonio fell to the ground laughing.

~*~

In the mid-afternoon a young Osmosian wanders the game trails that crisscross his pack’s territory. His dark and striped skin blends him in well with the mottled sunlight coming through the leaves and fragrant berries and flowers help to cover his scent from the prey he stalks. The goal is a deer, a plump young buck at best, to present as a gift to the object of his affections. A fresh kill, his own lone work, to show his attraction and dedication.

He can taste the remnants of one as easily as he can smell it. Somewhere in the area, he’s certain, is a spot where they sleep, and if he can find it and hide himself properly there then the kill will be easy.

What he doesn’t expect is to catch the scent of something else, something familiar yet unknown, running across the trail. Despite every warning his family has drilled into his head- about other packs, about poachers, about being seen without a disguise- curiosity wins out and pulls him off the trail and into the underbrush as surely as a hook through his nose. The tracks are old, the trail cold, but there’s still enough for a talented youth to follow. Enough to lead him onward, and onward, until nearly an hour has passed.

There’s a cave at the end of the trail. Not suitable for starting a new denning site, the roots of nearby trees are too thick and too close, there’s no room to expand. But still, inside he can taste life. Familiar life. Strange life. It’s with great caution he inches forward to see what there is to find.

The sight is one he knows well from checking on his relatives, on his sisters. A good dozen spheres of speckled grey rest in a depression in the dirt. Each is the size of a basketball, easily the largest he’s ever seen. There may even be more in the darkness, though he doubts it to look at them. Space there may be, but nothing else. Still, more or no, this is something for which he’ll need help, that the older members of the pack should know about, and so he turns and runs back down the faint trail with all the speed he can gather.

Several of the eggs are still glowing.

#fanfic #martin mystery #ben 10 #commissionwork #achi does commissionwork #like hell i'm tagging all the characters in this #i tried to be as respectful and accurate in my use of the uktena as i could so hopefully it came out right

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nothingneverforever · 4 years

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Never Have I Ever (2020)

Hey, I think this is my first TV series ‘review’ ever! Well I did do a basically empty post on Unforgotten (season 1) back in Feb 2017, promising to write properly my full feelings down, but that was something I never got back to. It’s still one of the best TV shows ever in the whole world, so hopefully I have time for it some day.

Anyway, meanwhile Never Have I Ever (NHIE), is… absolutely not good. At all….

I’d decided to watch it after seeing Mindy Kaling’s Late Night (2019), which was surprisingly enjoyable and moving even, and not just because Emma Thomson is one of my favourite celebrities in this world. It was a fun movie, and it felt different (from other similar films) ! I say it was surprising because I guess due to misogyny or something, I never thought I had reason to take Mindy Kaling seriously. And I am so sorry for it! There were parts of the script (Late Night) that worked out so, so well.

Back to NHIE! First, here are some synopses I’ve found online of the series:

- The complicated life of a modern-day first generation Indian American teenage girl, inspired by Mindy Kaling's own childhood.

- After a traumatic year, an Indian-American teen just wants to spruce up her social status - but friends, family and feelings won't make it easy on her

- Episode 1: After recent trauma, Devi starts her first day as a high school sophomore determined to shake off old labels and finally become cool.

So I guess my first complaint about NHIE is a bone I could pick with just about any American production from the last, idk, 8 years. You know how when (for whatever reason) every single character is ‘awkward’ or ‘weird’ or sooo idiosyncratic in general, they just end up all being… almost exactly the same? Where all the over-used tropes, every character’s too-loud too-colourful unique defining traits just end up reading the same way, to me at least.

Need all characters be so strong, really? Strong as in, overly sapid, full-bodied, clearly defined, distinct in a way that actually isn’t unique at all… I mean I’m not asking for more Jack Maliks (from Yesterday, as reviewed here by me) cos fuk dat guy omfg hate him and his dull ass lol but … do you know what I mean? When every character has traits that are so instantly recognizable, so clear to the plain eye without need for any nuanced observation or interpretation that you can almost like .. see the literal line of text in Courier font for the character description in the screenplay flashing before your eyes? Like of course as viewers we do want to feel like we have some grasp of the characters we’re investing in and relating to but I think if traits and personalities and mannerisms are so simplistic (even if they are diverse) that the characters themselves can ve perfectly summed up in a nutshell then that’s not a good thing at all.. I don’t know, it just seems a very American thing that I’m tired of, where there’s just a complete dearth of authenticity and complexity. Because no one in real life is ever sooooo distinctly themselves 100% of the time you know? Sure, I haven’t seen something specifically catered for teens in a while so maybe it’s just genre-specific thing but I do think there was so much more room for more realistic characters here.

Okay but still, 90% of all comments I have trawled through (facebook, Instagram, youtube) seem to be from American teens, talking about how relatable the show is so I guess high school teachers really be out there acting like caricatures of their TV trope selves and friends are all awkward af among each other and quirky at home and quirky on the streets walking home and quirky in the corridors of their school and exaggerate every reaction in every ordinary situation. But here’s the thing, I don’t think people are actually this way. I think many of them pretend that they are, act like they are. I think here lies the danger: where the more media we have portraying this kind of intensely saturated characters and personalities, the more young people will think that to be ‘themselves’, they have to raise the decibels of each and every trait of their own… I dunno if you understand me? I think it’s an insidious feedback cycle not dissimilar to the manic pixie dreamgirl effect, not in how women’s quirkiness serves to bring out dormant sides of men but just in how people (especially girls because due to society-enforced insecurities are more susceptible to taking influence from popular role models) have to BE SO *INSERT ANY ADJECTIVE HERE* … I don’t know… it’s just inauthentic and tiring. So NHIE is okay, as long as it is makes clear that it’s caricaturizing different examples of how some people may act in different circumstances… but it doesn’t do this. Aiyah I know I’m making a huge deal out of what some people will obviously just take as entertainment and gags for laughs etc but… it’s annoying to me…

Okay

So I’m not sure if you got this from the synopses I’d copied above, so, again: NHIE revolves around a nice girl, Devi (15), who lost her father (heart attack, in the middle of the school hall where he was watching Devi perform at her school orchestra concert) last year and is now starting a new year of school, coping with the incident by stifling every single traumatic memory. Also there are some random throwaways here and there about her having literally become physically disabled for 3 months after her father’s death where Devi lost the ability to use her legs (psychosomatic reaction to her loss) but it’s only ever joked at in insignificant ways so I guess… we shall never know that side of her grief? But all this (grieving over dead father, impersonal relationship with stern mother etc) is mere backdrop, joining other backdrop themes like being a shitty friend from start to end in unbelievably shitty ways etc – the main ‘plot’ instead is made up of Devi’s desperate quest to have sex with Paxton, a 16 year-old ‘hottie’ from school who she likes, erm, because, hot.

Yea that’s it…… that’s the critique. She’s a 15 year old girl whose everyday actions (for the most part) are calculated to lead up to her deflowering by her crush. Not to be a prude but… is this an okay storyline? Like are 15 year-olds legally allowed to have sex? Lol… Am I under any misconception about what teens all over the world get up to? No. Do I think that the law plays any useful role in preventing young girls and boys from sexualizing themselves and wasting their time on sexual pursuits when they can and should be developing literally any other interest and skill? No. Am I still unhappy that this was the main motivating factor for Devi to get up and out of her home each day, unhappy that for this reason (her goal of sleeping with Paxton), unhappy that because of this she morphed into the worst, most unreliable and unrelatable friend ever to her besties who needed her badly??? Yes!

Look, I’ve covered relevant topics in my 4 years of social work education to understand Devi’s actions as unhealthy, maladaptive coping behaviours – we see Devi exhibit behaviours / thoughts etc evocative of basically all 4 stages of the Kubler-Ross grief cycle, besides the final stage of acceptance: denial, anger, bargaining, depression. If we look at Virginia Satir’s coping stances instead, (different types of behaviours people exhibit when under stress), Devi again displays all 4 stances: super reasonable (i.e. over-rationalizing something so as to avoid confronting/acknowledging the emotional truth), irrelevant (distracting, changing the topic, inappropriate jokes), placating (self-explanatory) and blaming (again, obvious). So basically, Devi does, says and feels anything and everything besides maturely coping with the loss of her father. Is this realistic? Yes! Does everyone work within their own timelines before finally coming to that final Kubler-Ross stage of acceptance? Absolutely! And I am not at all rushing Devi to act ‘normal’ or to display healthier coping mechanisms. I just wish the grief was handled so so so much better by Mindy Kaling and whoever else was involved in developing this story - this story that is honestly full of promise. In other words, how Devi fails to handle her grief could have been written so much better, so much deeper instead of her failings itself being the central form of entertainment for much of the 10 episodes.

Anyway, also, besides it being morally not okay for a 15 year-old’s thirst for sex to be an accepted plot point (accepted on- and off-screen I mean), the actors playing Devi and Paxton are 10 years apart in age. Devi (reminder: age 15 on-screen) is played by a lovely actress who is currently 18, and Paxton is played by someone who is currently 29. So like….. she would likely have been 17 at the time of shooting? That’s just not okay and I don’t think I need say more lol. Shit like this, miscasting your key heartthrob, is just so… cheapo and so late 90s/early 2000s you know where the actors are so so clearly adults playing high schoolers, it’s just… cheapo af and absolutely inexcusable now.

Okay, everything up to this point in my ‘review’ has just been small here-and-there thoughts I had while watching it, and I’ve dedicated fluffy paragraph after paragraph on them so as to delay speaking about my main issue with the series: how the central trauma is dealt with... insomuch as it isn’t, at all.

And I’m not just saying this as someone who’s fresh off having just re-watched A Single Man, because they are obviously intended as very different works and intentionally made of (made with?) very different calibers but there are, surely, much much better ways to handle grief than what we are given with NHIE where Devi tries her darnest to have sex with her dreamboat bae. Okay so early in the series (second episode), Devi actually does get with Paxton in his garage after propositioning him (by ambushing him outside school after he finished swim practice or something), but when he takes off her shirt she’s like ok nvm I cant have sex now bye. So yea, it doesn’t happen. But it continues to be her main source of distraction from her grief, so it does remain a central plot point. Anyway the therapist character in NHIE is a joke, full of age-old TV-therapist lines like “So how do you feel about that?” etc, other platitudes and hollow-isms. She does try to tell Devi that it is not in her interest to be putting her sense of self worth on being “bangable” (I do believe this was the exact word used, cant be bothered to find the exact minute in the speicifc episode but yea trust that Devi and her therapist are candid with speaking about her plans for deflowering and Devi is never willing to talk about anything else but), but … I don’t know, Devi’s schtick gets tiresome, not because I’m neuronormative and want to see more normal behavior from the dear girl or because I’m annoyed with how badly she’s handling her grief, but more because of how badly they (writers, producers whoever etc) are handling it.

Like, up till the very end, we see her irrelevant stances or proof of her denial as fodder for lame jokes and utterly cliché dialogue, in what should be a genuine and ‘real’ scene. It’s annoying!! See below for screencaps from slightly over halfway through the FINAL episode of the series - in other words, way, way too late for a joke to be made out of how Devi resorts to the same poor coping mechanisms in distracting from her grief. I’ve screenshotted only parts of the convo, leaving out the parts where this serious convo turns into a joke about Eleanor, that itself pretends to be deep and serious but it isn’t at all...?

Devi’s friends confront her about the most serious thing in the entire series (her needing to go down to her beach to meet her mom to scatter her dad’s ashes, something she hitherto has rejected as she is unable to face this final step in accepting his death but masks with more irrelevant excuses), and she’s still coping poorly by ‘deflecting’, as her friend rightly says. I don’t know about you, but this was not a scene I needed jokes in at all.

But then, like… suddenly…. Immediately after this she starts crying and everything is good for the first time and there is acceptance within her and some semblances of healing of the fractures in her relationship with her mom etc… I dunno, it’s just not cathartic at all, because Devi hasn’t been given enough of a journey at all. The 0 to 100 thing doesn’t work here because it’s not satisfying (for us) or realistic (for Devi) at all.

Re: the grief, I dunno, if we look at another, equally popular Netflix production, The Haunting of Hill House comes to mind. Yes, obviously not at all a meaningful or fair comparison to make but again, if it’s about a family dealing with grief and loss, why can’t we expect that NHIE carry the same gravitas? In Hill House, we see our characters fumble and lash out and ‘pop off’ (a term used in NHIE which I found strangely out of place) at one another, often, but never are manifestations of their grief, never are clear mishandlings of their grief on display for our entertainment in the form of laughs or ‘cringe’ purposes. It’s just...not everything has to be funny you know? Even if it’s a teen show. I think there are ways, subtle ways, expert ways for something to be serious without at all needing to be heavy.

Again, like my gripe with the childish and/or cheap caricatures of human personalities which would be okay if this series was clearly presented as light entertainment to fill gaps in one’s day, not handling the trauma and grief could (perhaps) be overlooked if it didn’t pretend that it would in fact handle it. But everyone’s discussing the show as if it genuinely was an incredible take on dealing with loss and trauma, as if it’s contributed significantly to understandings of how a young, beautiful lovely ‘normal’ schoolgirl can live and learn through extreme trauma… BUT THE SHOW DOESN’T DO THIS LIKE IT LITERALLY DOESN’T AT ALL I FUCKING SWEAR…. Please watch all 10 episodes and show me even just ONE minute where we come full circle from anything, where Devi grows through her pain and where her journey is developed over more than just literally the last 7 minutes of screentime in the very last episode of the entire series. And I’m also seeing soooooo many comments from people who have enjoyed the series mention how fun and lighthearted it was, how comfortable they are to categorize the series as comedy and how great a time they had binge-watching it. But… it’s not funny? Like it’s really not lol… Devi is dealing with a most painful, urgent grief, having lost her father tragically a year before (and having to see him go before her very eyes). Her denial, her various-aforementioned-unhealthy-coping-mechanisms-and-maladaptive-behaviours made for painful watching for me. It shouldn’t be funny for us to see her abandon her friends when they most needed her; it shouldn’t be fun to see her lash out at her mom and dream of Paxton shirtless, these shouldn’t be comedic externalities of her situation at all. Does this mean I want an utterly dour, extremely humourless NHIE instead? Not at all! I just wish scenes / examples of her mishandling her grief were not the same ones that are supposed to make us laugh and think that everything is light and fun. Like, we can have other funny scenes featuring Devi instead you know? Things that aren’t actually incredibly harmful to her psyche.

ANYWAY

Some positives, cos I did enjoy this stupid series lollll and I did cry and I did laugh and I did look forward to watching it every evening while I exercised, okie? :)

There is one honestly genius thing that I like, where the genius lies in its utter randomness. The series (save for one episode which I will not talk about cos I don’t really give a shit about Andy Samberg and whoever his inclusion was pandering to) was narrated by John McEnroe, who, er, apparently is a well-known American tennis player. The only tennis player I know is Andre Agassi because for some reason in 2016 I borrowed from the library and read cover-to-cover his autobiography omg actually why on earth did I even do that lol I must have read somewhere that it was good perhaps? Anyway it is still recognized as one of the most ‘interesting’ or iconic sports autobiographies of all time so. But yea John McEnroe who?? He (John) is mentioned here and there as having been Devi’s late father’s favourite tennis player – which still does nothing to explain how and why he is narrating the whole series, which is great! I do enjoy the no-attempt-made to connect the fact of his narration to anything in the plot. But it’s not done in an annoyingly absurdist way either, you know? It just it what it is. I mean I guess if I’d written the screenplay which was in part autobiographical, I’d too love to have LeBron James or Megan Rapinoe narrating it, just because!

Ultimately, I think we must all acknowledge how fucking epic it is for Mindy Kaling to be where she is today. That Netflix approached her and asked for a story from her heart, drawing from her own life, and gave her the boundary-less freedom to write what she wanted is cool. She may not be the voice I think teens (or any audience really) may most need but they certainly do want this voice – NHIE is so so so loved and appreciate across the board – by adults, kids, diasporic Indian girls, normal non-minority-race girls etc, with everyone calling (begging) for another season, and anyway Mindy Kaling is probably about 1000000x better anyway than others who have been granted the same stage and presence as her before, like, I dunno, Michael fucking Bay or fucking James Cameron so yay her !!! For the sake of us all!

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update, a few hours later:

so since forcing Jade to read my post the second it went up, i have learnt that:

So there goes the one singular uniquely cute thing I did appreciate about NHIE then i guess, seeing as his random feature throughout the series isn’t unique at all... seeing as unexpectedness makes for a predictable part of his record, it is no longer charming to me. lol bye!

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