#Ignore that I forgot to do the ice colors on the last three rip
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The Last Chthonian
Bucky x Reader, Sam x Reader, Zemo x Reader
Part 15
A/N: Phew this was a long ass chapter to write! Feedback is greatly appreciated lovelies! That way I know I’m doing this right. 😂 I hope you all have a lovely day! Mwah!
Summary: Imagine being Hekate, the Greek goddess of magic and witchcraft, the night and the moon, doorways and crossroads, creatures of the night, and ghosts and necromancy. You stumbled upon Earth many centuries ago and since then have resided on the foreign planet. During the recent years you created an alias for yourself to hide your true identity, and after the war against Thanos you chose to live out your days in the Scottish countryside, until a certain trio appear at your doorstep one day.
Warnings: language, blood, scars, brief mention of past trauma and torture
The world seemed dimmer as you sat there on the ground with your back leaned against the metal container, your hand clutched to your aching side from where the bullet had managed to pierce your skin. The bottom of your shirt was soaked with your ichor as you groaned from the sharp pain, your breathing uneven as you looked up to the skies. This had never happened to you before, this wasn’t supposed to happen. With tear stained cheeks, your thoughts focused on your daughter Athena. You couldn’t die, not now. Not when you have your daughter waiting at home for you, no matter how much you wanted to see your family and your beloved violinist. After all the years of heartbreak and wishing to be just as mortal as everyone else, your daughter was the only thing that added color to your life, gave you hope and had you looking forward to the future. No, you were not going to die. You weren’t going to leave your daughter alone in this cold world the same way you were left alone. You were going to be there for her, raise her and watch her grow up. Watch her go to school and graduate, then live out her dreams and aspirations. You absolutely refused to die.
“Gods please.” You choked out, squeezing your eyes shut against the tears that flowed down your cheeks. “Mother, father, uncle, if you can hear me. Wherever you may be resting. Please, not now.” For the first time in many years, you felt like a child, scared and hurt, only this time you were alone, not a single member of your family left that you could turn to.
Lifting up your shirt with a hiss, you stared at the wound right below your rib cage off to the side of your stomach, blood pouring out of the bullet hole with each slight movement. “Fuckin shit. Fuck!” You knocked your head back against the metal container. Sooner or later the guys would be worried about your absence and would come looking for you, and you did not want them to find you like this. If only you could remember the damn healing spell or had any of your healing herbs with you. Ripping off the inner lining of your leather jacket, you tied the strip of fabric around your midsection, tightening it to stop the bleeding until you got somewhere where you could fully tend to the wound. With a deep breath you pushed yourself off the floor with a pained grunt, still leaning against the container for support as you zipped up your leather jacket to hide your soaked shirt. Your vision became blurry from the movement as you straightened up and cleaned your hands off, putting away your sword in your bag before starting to head off to find the guys, each step making you more exhausted than the last. But you kept your posture and pushed through, refusing to succumb to defeat. You turned the corner and a small load was taken off your shoulders, relieved to have found the group safe and without an injury. Thank the gods.
“Y/n!” Sam rushed towards you once he saw you heading in their direction. “Where were you? You nearly had us searching the whole damn place.”
“I was off fighting bad guys off course.” You rolled your eyes, trying your best to keep your composure despite your injury.
“You okay?” Sam stood in front of you with his hands on your shoulders as he searched your face. “You look sick.”
“I’m fine.” You faked a yawn. “I just could use a nap. And some food.”
“You sure?” Sam raised his brow, unsure of your answer.
“Of course Sam. I’m practically bulletproof remember?” You smiled at him before giving him a pat. You smiled at Sharon and went over to Bucky, giving him a pat on the back as well. “Good job guys.”
“Well I don’t know if I’d call that a good job.” Bucky retorted before looking at you once more and studying your face. “You sure you’re okay? You don’t look too good, and you’re sweating.”
“Yes, for the hundredth time yes. I’m fine. And gods can sweat too by the way, we’re not made of plastic.” You added with a quirked brow before looking around. “Where’s Zemo?”
Just as you finished your question you saw Zemo pull up in a classic convertible with a smirk on his face. “Supercharged.”
“Where the hell did you get a car?” You furrowed your brows at him. “You found it didn’t you.”
“You’re going back to jail.” Sam noted, obviously done with Zemo’s antics.
“Do you want to find Karli or not?” Zemo sighed at them before looking over at you, raising his brow as he noticed how your skin had slightly lost color and looked sickly, as if you had a fever, though you stood as if nothing was wrong with you.
“He's right. We need him. And there's two of us, and at least 20 of them. Come on.” Bucky added as he hopped in the front passenger seat.
“Fine.” Sam glared at Zemo as he got in the backseat. “But if you try that shit again...”
“I wouldn't dream of it.” Zemo replied as he watched you get in the back from the rear view mirror.
You hesitated, eyeing the pristine white seats with shifting eyes. Shit. You didn’t want to get them dirty and you definitely did not want them to notice you were bleeding. With a silent prayer that you didn’t mess up the seats with your blood, you slid in the backseat next to Sam right behind Zemo, trying not make a strained face from the movement. Zemo had noticed this, how you were extremely careful in getting in his car, and he wondered what went wrong with you to act this way. It looked as if you almost didn’t want to get in. Your behavior was strange.
“Well, that was one hell of a reunion.” Sharon commented as she stood by the car.
“Come back to the States with us.” Sam offered her.
“I told you I can't. Just get me that pardon you promised me.” Sharon mentioned before walking away.
“You're not gonna move your seat up, are you?” Sam glared at the back of Bucky’s head.
“No.”
“Can you kids chill out? Don’t make me put you on time-out.” You muttered, grabbing your sunglasses out of your jacket pocket and putting them on. You were starting to get a massive headache from your wound and the sunlight was not helping at all, only blinding you at the moment.
“Hey, don’t call us kids.” Sam glared at you.
“I’m 23,000 years old. I’ll call you kids whenever I goddamn want.” You leaned back in your seat, only to have Bucky and Sam look at you with an offended frown while Zemo smirked before driving away.
You had arrived at the landing strip where Zemo’s jet was. Being careful to get out of the car, you looked back at your seat in relief to see that it was still clean, not a drop of your blood on it. Oeznik greeted you all as you came in. And as you glanced at the seats of the jet, you rolled your eyes as you pushed your sunglasses up on your head. You forgot the seats of Zemo’s jet were also light colored. With a sigh you sat down, being careful not to move too much that would cause you to lose more blood. You don’t know how you had managed to last that long with a wound like that.
“Would you like anything to drink miss?” Oeznik approached you, asking you in Russian.
“Water is fine thank you.” You answered back in Russian as you smiled politely at him. You could really use a glass of cold water right now. Your wound was not only making you exhausted, it was also making you extremely dehydrated.
“I didn’t know you can speak Russian.” Zemo commented when he heard you speak.
“Perks of being a Greek god.” You turned to face Zemo in front of you. “We can speak all languages.”
Oeznik came back with your glass and you thanked him, downing the glass in one sitting. The cool water felt harsh against your dry throat that felt like the Sahara dessert, as if you were swallowing sharp shards of ice. The glass of water did nothing to quench what seemed to be a never ending thirst, you could have chugged down a 5 gallon jug of water but it still wouldn’t have provided you any relief. You wanted desperately to ask for another glass and another after that, but you couldn’t let the guys get suspicious. You didn’t want to delay their mission and have them be worried about you, there was already enough on their minds. So you slid your sunglasses back on, ignoring the anxiety, the pain, the weariness, and the uncontrollable thirst as you leaned back to get into as much of a comfortable position as you could get. “I’m going to take a quick nap. So if you three could not argue like a pack of chihuahuas, that would be great.” You noted before closing your eyes.
“We don’t-“
“Shhhhh Sam. Thank you.” You mumbled as you struggled to fall asleep, the symptoms you were feeling only getting more severe. The sooner you landed and found a place to rest, the sooner you could tend to your wound.
“Is she okay?” Bucky whispered to Sam.
“Yeah, she gets like that when she doesn’t get her nap.”
“I heard that.” You announced with your eyes still closed.
“I thought you were going to sleep.” Sam looked at you.
“I’m in the process.” You mumbled, crossing your arms over your chest as you shifted in your seat, soon drifting off to sleep.
When you woke back up, you noticed that the plane was already starting to land. “So where are we landing?” You grumbled as you sat up in the seat, feeling more drained than before despite the nap you took. You rubbed your eyes from under your sunglasses, adjusting your vision to look out the window and seeing the clouds pass as you declined towards the earth.
“Riga, Latvia.” Zemo answered your question.
“How are you feeling?” Sam asked you once he saw that you were awake.
“Almost there.” You lied. “Once I get some food in my stomach and a proper night’s sleep, not a nap, to recharge, I’ll be like brand new.”
Once the plane landed, you got up and checked the seat again with a quick glance, it seemed as if luck was on your side, in a strange and twisted away. The seat was clean. You thanked Oeznik on your way out of the plane and followed Zemo into the streets of Riga, glancing around at the European architecture. The four of you received a few stares as you went, making you lower your head and hide your face behind the strands of your hair.
“I heard what became of Sokovia.” Zemo spoke. “Cannibalized by its neighbors before the land was cleared of rubble, erased from the map. I don’t suppose any of you bothered visiting the memorial? Of course not. Why would you?”
You winced at the jab Zemo made towards Sam and Bucky. Something told you Zemo hadn’t meant it towards you. Did he know you were there? You had visited the memorial once before with Wanda. At the time, you couldn’t help but feel guilty, despite your efforts to stay back after the defeat of Ultron to help clean up and find any remaining survivors. You, a Greek goddess, couldn’t even save the country from collapsing or the man you once loved. Who’s to say you can save your daughter if anything were to happen to her?
“We are here.” Zemo announced as he stopped at a building.
“I’m gonna go on a walk.” Bucky mentioned.
“You good?” Sam asked him.
You looked towards Bucky, silently asking him if he needed anything.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’ll see you guys in a bit.” Bucky nodded before heading off.
You watched him walk away with a raised brow, something was bothering him. You heard the sound of keys and turned back to see Zemo unlocking the door to a building, revealing a small flight of stairs.
“This way.” Zemo gestured. “We should stay the night here before heading off to find Madani first thing tomorrow.”
Fuck. You weren’t sure if you had enough strength left. You stared at the steps as Sam and Zemo went up.
“Y/n. You coming?” Sam called out to you, making you look up at him.
“Uh yeah.”
“Hey, are you sure you’re good?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” You nodded with a feigned smile before heading up the stairs behind them, using everything in you to not collapse right then and there as your side burned with each step. Halfway up the stairs you were hit with vertigo, clutching your head as the world around seemed to sway along with you.
“Y/n?” You heard Sam’s voice, muffled by the throbbing that grew in your head.
Your body leaned backwards, just about to fall down the flight of stairs before a pair of arms grabbed you. You fell limp into Sam’s arms as he stared down at you with wide eyes, searching your clammy face for any signs of what could be wrong.
“Y/n? Y/n answer me!” Sam held you with panic in his voice, your body felt frail and cold in his warm arms, making his concern and worry only grow.
“Quick.” Zemo affirmed as he opened to door to his place. “We need to get her in.”
Sam picked you up, your head falling back limp as he carried you up the stairs.
“Quick. Set her down over there.” Zemo nodded towards the couch in the living room before closing the door behind him, watching Sam go over and lay you down as gently as he could. A sense of perturbation filled within Zemo as he saw you there. In the few days that he had known you, he had grown accustomed to seeing you always standing strong, your head held high and and a look on your face that meant you were ready for whatever troubles that may lay themselves on your path. He had gotten used to seeing you as the immortal daughter of Zeus himself, the princess of Olympus. Yet here you were, laid out on the couch in front of him, looking mortal and frail. It looked as if death itself was hovering just centimeters from your body, ready to snatch your soul and leave nothing but an empty vessel behind.
“What is wrong with her?” Zemo asked quietly as he moved over to where Sam was crouched by your side.
“I......I don’t know.” Sam shook his head as he tried to check your pulse before pausing, his eyes growing dark. “She’s.....dying.”
“What?” Zemo replied, his voice louder this time. This couldn’t be happening, Sam had to have made a mistake. You used to rule the Underworld alongside Hades. You were the one that guided the souls there. And after what happened, you were left to rule the dead on your own. How could you, goddess and ruler of the Underworld, die?
As you laid there, cold and sweating with what felt like your whole body was on fire, and your mind spinning from the vertigo, you felt Sam’s hands move towards the zipper of your jacket. You grabbed his wrist before he could touch you, pulling his hand away from your body.
“Don’t.” You breathed out, straining to open your eyes as you looked at him, only to see a blur of his figure.
“Y/n. What the hell is going on?”
“Don’t touch me.” You rasped out, licking your lips from how dry they felt.
“Y/n.”
“Don’t make me force you Sam. I’m fine. I just need some sleep.”
“That’s bullshit and you know it.” Sam glared at you, wishing you weren’t so stubborn even in a state like this. “I’m going to remove your jacket to try and see what is wrong.”
“Don’t.” You squeezed your eyes shut as you groaned from the pain in your side.
“Y/n.” Sam’s voice was stern. “I checked your pulse. Don’t give me that shit. What the hell is going on?”
You sighed, not wanting to look at Sam in the eyes. You heard the door click open and saw Bucky walking in, his eyes trained on you. “Y/n? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” You whispered.
“No she’s not fine.” Sam sighed as he turned towards Bucky, trying his best to stay calm in a situation like this. “Her pulse is weak.” Sam couldn’t help but feel that he was to blame for this. He let you go on this mission with him, and now you were injured, on the brink of death with your daughter still at home expecting your return. He promised Athena he would bring you home safe.
“Her pulse is weak? What do you mean?” Bucky furrowed his brows as he rushed over to where you were.
“It means what it means.” Sam looked away, his heart wrenching form the thought of what might become of you.
“Sam said she might be dying.” Zemo uttered, his eyes trained on the floor at his feet, he still didn’t want to believe what Sam had said. He wanted to be by your side, to hold your hand. But how could he with Sam and James there? A part of him wanted to do it anyways, despite what the two thought, but he couldn’t. He knew you wouldn’t allow him.
“Dying?” Bucky looked at him in anger from the words that came from him, grabbing Zemo by the collar of his coat. “The hell are you talking about? How can she be dying?”
“Can you guys cut it out?” You said louder this time, making the men turn to you, they couldn’t exactly tell what you were going through. But to you it felt as if your head would split open in any moment. “Y’all talk too damn much.” There was no point in trying to hide your situation now. With a groan and using every last bit of strength you had left, you pulled yourself up to a seating position, struggling in taking your jacket off before tossing it down on the floor.
“What the hell is on your shirt?” Sam knitted his brows together as he reached over to touch the golden liquid that stained your shirt, unsure of what the strange substance was.
“I said don’t touch me!” You shouted as you swatted Sam’s hand away.
“Wha-y/n what the hell is on your shirt?”
“..............It’s my blood, or ichor. It’s......extremely toxic to mortals, which is why I specifically said to not touch me.” You spoke with labored breaths as you leaned back on the couch.
“Your blood?” Bucky’s eyes widened. “Why are you bleeding? And why is it gold?”
“Not everyone bleeds red James.” You rolled your eyes.
“...........lift your shirt.” Sam ordered you.
“Sam-“
“I’m not gonna ask again y/n. I know you don’t want us to go near you. But I at least need to see what the hell is going on in the first place.”
You hesitated, your lips firm as you stared down at the ground. Not only were they going to see your wound, they were going to see the scars on your back as well, and there was nothing you could do about it. With a sigh, you grabbed the bottom of your shirt, peeling it off your skin since some of your blood had dried and stuck to your torso. Wincing as you did so, you lifted your shirt up to the bottom of your sports bra and untied the strip of fabric around your stomach, revealing the bullet wound underneath.
“You’ve been shot? But how?” Sam knitted his brows together. “I thought you were bulletproof.”
Once Zemo received a view of your wound, the blood within his veins burned with rage. He tried his hardest not to go out there right now and kill whoever had managed to put you in such a condition. You had a bullet imbedded in you this whole time, suffering, nearly bleeding to death and he hadn’t noticed. Why did you keep this from them?
“I’m supposed to be bulletproof Sam. I did not expect to be taken down by some bootleg Duane Chapman. But don’t worry, he’s dead.”
“But how?” Bucky asked you, your reaction to being shot was not what he had in mind. “Are you...are you going to die?”
“Look, I’m just as clueless as you are.” You grunted, wincing from the pain. “All I know is that I have to take out this bullet and stitch up the wound as soon as possible. I don’t want to find out what will happen if I don’t.”
“Christ.” Bucky ran his hand threw his hair, thinking of any way he can help you, but you refused to let them near. They couldn’t even come in contact with your blood because of how you treated it as if it were acid to them. “So what now?”
“I’m going to have to do this myself.”
“No way.” Sam shook his head. “That’s dangerous.”
“I’ve patched up Spartans, gladiators and knights before Sam, and many others after that. After centuries of doing it, I think I know what I’m doing.”
“Well have you ever done this on yourself?” Bucky asked you.
“..........no. But I can manage. As long as you guys don’t freak out, I won’t freak out.” You blinked before gesturing to your jacket. “Inside my right pocket there’s a tiny duffel bag, can one of you grab it please.”
“Tiny duffel bag?” Sam raised his brow.
“Yes, that’s what I said. Now can one of you please get it?”
Sam went over to where your jacket was on the ground, pulling out a miniature duffel bag from the pocket.
“Good. Now set it down on the floor.” You watched as Sam set the small bag on the floor with confusion. He thought it looked like it belonged to a Barbie doll. What the hell were you doing with it? “Okay good. Now step away.” With a flick of your wrist, the men watched you with curiosity as you used your magic to turn the duffel bag into it’s normal size.
“Well that’s totally normal.” Bucky commented.
“Okay. Now open up my bag, I want you to pull out my bottle of wine.”
Sam looked at you quizzically before zipping open your bag and rummaging through it, finding your glass bottle of wine and handing it to you. “I thought you don’t drink.”
“Never said I didn’t drink, I just don’t drink your mortal shit.” You grumbled, popping open the cork with your teeth and keeping the cork in place to prevent you from biting your tongue. Slowly, you poured some of the wine on your wound, grunting from the stinging sensation that made you bite down on the cork. After a few seconds, you set the cork and bottle down beside you. “Now, would any of you happen to have a needle and thread? And some gauze? Or even some clean strips of fabric?”
“I can check.” Zemo offered before heading off. Shortly after, he came back with gauze that he managed to find, along with a sewing needle that already had a string of thread looped through.
“Thank you.” You grabbed the things from Zemo, setting them aside on the table that was within arm’s reach before hovering your hand above your wound.
“Y/n....” Sam’s voice was unsure, laced with concern once he figured out what you were going to do.
Zemo turned away. He had seen many injured Sokovian soldiers before, but this was different, he couldn’t stand to see you like this. To see you in pain hurt him in a way he never thought he’d feel when he met you.
A violet mist appeared around your fingertips as you attempted to regain your breathing, trying your best to keep your hand steady despite how nervous you were. Yes, you had patched up many people in the past, but you never once had to do it on yourself, and you were terrified. What if it went wrong? But you couldn’t have someone else do it, Olympian blood was considered toxic to mortals, killing anyone who came in contact with it. No, it had to be you. With a single deep breath, you used your powers to extract the bullet from the wound, clenching your jaw as you hissed from the pain. Tossing the bullet aside, you added pressure to the wound to prevent any more loss of blood before cleaning it out.
Holding the needle in one hand and holding out your open palm in the other, you muttered a few words in Ancient Greek, using a pyromancy spell to light your free hand up in a violet flame.
“What are you doing?” You heard Sam ask.
“I have to sterilize the needle of course.” You answered before holding the needle up to the flame to heat it up, waiting for the metal to turn red before extinguishing the flame. You grabbed your wine bottle again, taking a few swigs out of it before setting it back down. With a huff of your jagged breath, you started on stitching it closed, hissing each time the needle pierced your skin.
The three felt guilty for having stood there, not being able to do anything to aid you while you stitched yourself up. But what could they do? If your blood was as toxic as you said, there was nothing they could do.
Once you were done stitching up your wound after what felt like hours, you had Sam help you with the gauze since you weren’t able to move much. You were practically waiting for him to see the scars on your back and ask about it. What would you even tell them? How would they react? You had managed to hide those scars for many many years until now, it was a memory you did not wish to relive. Logan, Charles, and Erik were the only souls who knew about them. One thing was for sure, you did not have the strength to explain to them the story behind them.
“Y/n.” You heard Sam’s worried tone of voice. You didn’t even have to look at his face to know where his eyes had landed. You could practically feel the gaze of the three of them, staring at your back with what you could only imagine as horror.
Though Zemo had caught a glimpse of them in the dark when he was in your room, the shadows that were cast against them from the moonlight failed to show just how deep and jagged they were, as if the skin on your back wasn’t even yours.
“Y/n.” Sam spoke softly after seeing the troubled look on your face and how silent you had become. “Y/n.............what is this? What happened to your back?” Sam had seen these kind of scars before, but only in photographs in history books, never in person, and he was afraid to hear what your answer would be.
There was only one thought that came to Bucky’s mind when he saw your back. He had been in a similar territory. Those scars that lined your back were almost too familiar to him and he didn’t need to have the same ones to know there was only one possible way you could have gotten them.
“I know you guys are concerned, about my scars.” You muttered, your back still facing them as you were left in your sports bra while you changed into a clean shirt, hiding the skin on your back. “But I’d rather not talk about it right now. And if you don’t mind, I’d like to get some proper rest.”
The men nodded their heads, accepting your request before heading off in their own directions. They understood your decision and weren’t going to question it.
“Sam wait.” You stopped him, seeing him stop in his tracks to face you. “Please stay.”
Sam looked at you with a raised brow, wondering why you wanted him to stay before sitting down on the sofa beside you. “How you feeling?”
“I feel like shit, but less shittier than before.” You chuckled softly before wincing from the action. “But don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine. Listen Sam, about my injury, please don’t blame yourself for what happened to me.”
“I’m not-“
“I can tell Sam.” You sighed. “I just want to let you know that none of it was your fault. I chose to go on this mission.”
“I let you come along and you got hurt.” Sam looked at you. “This wasn’t part of the plan.”
“Hey, not everything works out perfect. Trust me, I thought I would be fine because only a god can kill a god..........but I obviously got shot. But the thing that matters is I’m fine. Sure, I thought I was going to die. Hell, you all thought I was going to die. But I’m still here.”
“Do you know why that happened?” Sam asked you.
“To be honest? I still don’t know the true answer to that. Part of me thinks that it has to do with the loss of my planet. Maybe my time away from my planet has left me weak.”
“Hey.” Sam spoke up. “You are not weak. You are the strongest woman I know.”
“Right after your sister.” You quirked.
“Right after Sarah.” Sam chuckled softly. “Look, what I’m trying to say is, and I’ve seen you do it, you need to stop thinking that you’re weak, and less important than everyone else. You have gone through so much, and seen so many things. I can’t tell you how to feel about the things you have gone through because I don’t know what that’s like. I didn’t grow up on another planet, I’m not a Greek god and I’m definitely not thousands of years old, so I don’t know what that must have been like for you. But what I can say is that you’re not alone, you have a daughter who you raised all by yourself with zero experience of being a parent, and you raised her well. And you have us, so don’t feel like you need to hide every single thing from us. We’re here to help. I get that there are some things better left unsaid, but please don’t feel like you have to suffer through everything alone. If you keep eating at yourself like you do, and bottle up all your thoughts and feelings, it’s only going to do you more harm than good.”
“Y’know.” You looked at him, staring into those beautiful brown eyes of his that you always loved, the ones that reminded you of a safe place that you could seek shelter in no matter when. “I was supposed to give you a pep talk, but you have beat me to it.”
“Hey, if it works.” Sam smiled at you.
“Thanks Sam.” You smiled back.
“Come here.” Sam opened his arms out for you. “You need to rest.”
A sheepish grin appeared on your face as you scooted over to him, letting yourself relax in his warm embrace. Sam always gave the best hugs. Back when you worked with the avengers, Steve, Clint, and Sam were the three you would go to whenever you wanted a hug or just someone to hold you to wash all your worries away. Before them it was always Thor, and your brothers before him. But Sam’s hugs always felt as if you were hugging a big soft teddy bear, and gods you could stay in his arms forever. You two had stayed like that for a while, Sam with his back against the couch, and you cuddled up against his chest, wrapped in his arms. Right before you fell asleep, you thought about what Sam had told you. You knew he was right. But your thoughts couldn’t help but drift over to the recent events, how you were slowly starting to fall apart to your titaness form, the dream you had of Athena, and how you had been shot. After thousands of years, your skin had been pierced by a mortal for the first time. You thought about the prophecy you had heard a long time ago, the one your father had warned you about. Did this have anything to do with that? Were you in fact becoming mortal, or was this just paving a path to something much darker, and far more sinister.
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#bucky fluff#bucky fic#bucky x you#bucky x reader#bucky x female reader#bucky fanfic#bucky x y/n#bucky imagine#bucky x f!reader#bucky x original female character#sam wilson x reader#sam wilson x y/n#sam wilson fanfiction#sam wilson imagine#sam wilson x you#sam wilson x oc#zemo imagine#zemo fanfic#zemo x reader#zemo x y/n#zemo x oc#zemo fluff#zemo x you#zemo x ofc
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Aru'e
Rating: 18+ (minors take a hike)
Warnings: mentions of death and the Empire
Word count: ~1K
Pairing: (eventually) Din Djarin x reader
Summary: A Mandalorian is searching for others.
A/N: Hey babes! This is number three of the #mandomay2021 prompt list. I promise they'll be getting longer! Enjoy 💕
I'm going to be doing the #mandomay2021 from instagram, because I want to get back to writing about Mr. Din "I don't want to be the ruler of Mandalore" Djarin. I'm presenting these as one shots, but there's an order to the chaos. I may assemble these into a proper fic someday. I'm also wading into some new territory, and I'm fleshing out a whole ass mandalorian, which is really intimidating. This is set after S2, so no baby Grogurt.
Masterlist | Strill | Jate'kara
The din of the cantina stuttered to silence when you walked in. Every eye was on you. Your black armor creating a shield between you and their gaping mouths. You ignored them, but could feel the hole burning in the back of your helmet as you crossed to the bar. The barkeep was an older Falleen, and you knew he could smell the credits in your pouch.
You lifted a finger, the universal signal for a drink, and he obliged. Without hesitation you lifted the helmet off and felt the united sigh of relief from the patrons. You downed your glass, and turned your full attention to the barkeep.
"Seen any others?" You asked simply, the gravity firmly residing in the short question. He nodded, tightly.
"Not like you. Gold, one was. A few others were green. All kept their helmets on. None come to drink, only business." You followed his short, clipped answers easily.
“Do you know their covert?” You held your breath while you waited. You were playing a dangerous game, and the Falleen knew it. His eyes darted from you to the back of the cantina, and you nodded. The interaction was almost imperceptible, but you threw down some credits--for the drink and the information. You followed his gaze, not slipping back under the comfort of the helmet. Let them see your face, let them know who was coming.
As if on cue, a young Twi’lek started to dart out the back. You wasted no time gaining on them, and caught up easily. It was a young male, and you held him tightly by the arm.
“Where.” You locked your jaw, expecting a fight. It never came.
“I’ll show you.” You released his arm and fell in step with him. The freezing air made you pull your helmet back on.
Probably for the best, the nasty voice reminded you, it could get ugly.
The walk from the cantina was silent and tense, but the Twi’lek dropped you in front of the covert without hesitation. If he knew that his life was now forfeit, he didn’t show it. He simply scrambled away when you nodded at him. While you watched his retreating figure, you whistled low and long. You didn’t know what you were in for, and Echi was why you were here in the first place. The bounding creature was why you had stopped on this planet, following a holo and a whisper.
That was enough, you’d see your striile beside you soon enough. You pulled the curtain aside, and walked down the stone steps dusted with snow. These hideouts were always the same. You had grown up in one yourself, a child of Mandalore, awaiting the day a Mand’alor revealed themselves. Your buir had told you of Clan Kryze, and the legacy of Bo-Katan. That’s why you were shocked when a new mandalorian took the title.
As you descended, your boots scuffing loudly into the depths below, you wondered again about this mandalorian who refused to retake Mandalore, or even Concordia. You knew it didn’t matter to you. You had no plans of being alive that long, but it was still a worthy thought exercise.
When you reached the landing, you were surrounded. Mandalorians of every color surrounded you, and for a moment, a fleeting moment, you felt at home. Ice clutched your heart, and you were reminded that you had no home. It was ripped from you. This was a poor substitute.
“Speak your clan.” A larger, green suit demanded. You nodded.
“Clan Vorn. I am the last of my clan.” You worked to keep your voice steady.
“Clan Vorn, you are accepted here. This is the way.”
“This is the way.” You echoed. You did it without hesitation, a mantra instilled from a young age. Your buir had scolded you when you forgot, and now it felt false on your lips. The other mandalorians surrounding you lowered their various weapons, and went back to their tasks. That left you and the one who had addressed you.
“I am Zek, of Clan Behl. Most here belong to this clan. What is your business?” You followed Zek as he led you further down the hall. It led to a massive living space, helmeted children ran amongst the fully dressed adults.
“I am looking for a new home for my striile.” Zek turned abruptly and faced you. You nearly collided with his broad chest at the sudden change.
“A striile? It is a great honor to have one. They are found only on Mandalore. No more will be found for some time. Why do you look to find your striile a new home?”
“I am looking for my aru’e.” Zek considered this for a moment, then nodded.
“Your enemy will likely best you in battle?” You almost laughed at his words. Almost.
“My enemy is not one man, nor is it a clan. It is the entire Empire.” Zek’s helmet tilted slightly, and he was silent for some time.
“The Empire is dead, Clan Vorn. Perhaps it is time to join a covert, and help the foundlings. This is the way.”
“This is not my way.” You told him, trying to keep the venom from your words. “I have a new way. A way that allows me to seek justice for my family.”
“Ah, you are confused. You do not seek justice. You seek revenge.” You rolled your eyes, knowing he could not see under your helmet.
“Revenge or justice, what difference does it make? They’ll soon meet their end.”
“So will you, vod.” You scoffed, and rested your hand on your hip.
“I ask you again, what difference does it make? Will I not be following the way of the Mandalore if I do not seek vengeance for my family? Will I not be a hu’tuun to turn away in fear of death?” Zek remained silent. You had given up any hope. This covert was a bust. They would not keep Echi. You nodded tightly at Zek, and turned to leave.
“We will keep your striile.”
“Vor entye.” Zek laughed then, the air lighter.
“You must live first.”
**translations for Mando’a
Aru’e: Enemy/Rival
Buir: Parent
Striile: Strill (hunting animal)
Vod: Brother, Sister, Comrade
Hu’tuun: Coward
Vor entye: “Thank you”, literally “I accept a debt”
#mandomay2021#the mandalorian#bo katan#bo katan kryze#mandalorians#star wars#may the fourth be with you#this is the way#aru'e
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Altruistic Endeavors | Inktober 2020 - Day 22: Chef
“Artemis.”
“I’m ok,” he assured Dlmor. “Just...worried.”
Dlmor chuckled. “Aren’t we all?”
A sharp turn and suddenly they were in the midst of whatever was happening. Trevak was massive, hissing and snapping as it used its tail to throw people and creatures back. Elias was nowhere to be seen, not that the chaos of bodies made finding anyone easy.
He gained the urge to go fight, to join in, but he gripped at Dlmor’s fur, urging, “No. We have to find the Olnvorox.” Dlmor sidestepped an incoming body. “If we don’t, then fighting will be useless.”
“Then where to?” Dlmor growled.
“Find the starting point. We’ll go from there.”
Dlmor took off through the chaos, weaving this way and that as Artemis’s head whipped around this way and that frantically searching for any sign of the things that were causing all of this.
But trying to traverse quickly through a space that was not meant to be fought in rapidly turned into a nearly impossible task. Several times Dlmor was forced to stop because someone got in the way or something attacked them. After the second attempted attack, Artemis asked sharply, “Aren’t I supposed to be able to pull a weapon or something from you like I had back at the cabin?”
He blinked as the information was shoved on him. With it came Dlmor’s own frustration with the situation - and the underlying fear that was growing despite Dlmor’s attempts to ignore it. But now he could do something. Now he could actually help with the innumerable obstacles that kept getting in their way. He pressed his open palm to Dlmor’s shoulder and utilized the information he now had. He focused on the silver strands, focused his intent for something to fight with - something he could throw or batter people back with, be it spear or staff - and watched as the silver strands seemed to light up with a white light. He pulled his hand back slowly, watching as a spear with a brilliantly silver point materialized against his palm. It behaved oddly fluid until it was fully removed. He shook it and it snapped straight. The pole was a dark wood, almost black. He felt clumsy with it in hand but Dlmor pushed more information at him and his hand settled more surely around the pole.
A headache started to form. Beyond a brief awareness of it, he ignored and forgot about it as Dlmor whipped around anticipating another attack. He brought the spear around, catching a creature he had never seen before in the chest and throwing it back. The silver point sliced across the creature’s chest. The creature screamed but no blood fell.
“They’re oddly similar to the Olnvorox,” he commented, flabbergasted. He held on tight as Dlmor lurched forward and took the opportunity to bury the spearhead into one of the creatures trying to rip at a human. The creature screeched as its form disintegrated into smoke.
“They might, but they’re not,” Dlmor ground out. “These little shits are Ilnu. Intelligent enough to get into trouble, dumb enough to follow whoever pulls their strings without a care of what they are asked to do.”
He smacked two such creatures back. “They shadows or something? They don’t seem to have a core.”
“Oh, they have one but they also have this nasty habit of teleporting away as soon as they’re injured and it makes it really difficult to tell if you killed it or not without seeing the core.”
He blocked one that jumped at his head with both hands on his spear. Dlmor stopped under him, jerking back in an attempt to give him some support. It worked in the sense that it set him up to absorb the second impact on the spear. He threw the things to the side before burying the point of the spear in one of the creatures. It gave a screech and still disintegrated into smoke but there was something different about it this time.
It looked like a pearl was pinned by the point of the spear from where he sat. Dlmor turned abruptly and the motion forced the spearhead from the odd pearl. Dlmor snatched it up and crunched it, sounding oddly like Dlmor was chewing on an ice cube.
It drew the attention of every single Ilnu he could see. Rage filled those small faces and they moved to swarm.
“Dlmor!” was the only thing he managed as a warning. He brought the spear up as Dlmor reared back.
A massive blur of color shot past them barely a breath away from Dlmor’s raised claws. He caught sight of the rainbow wings as he heard more crunching. The cluster of creatures screamed, as did more that had heard the crunching, and he felt Dlmor’s front paws hit the ground again. “Krevak!” he called out in a panic. “Dlmor!”
“Already on it!”
The creatures were faster than Dlmor, or maybe it was simply the Ilnu happened to be closer, and desperation shot through him as he realized they weren’t going to make it in time.
Elias’s scream cut through the noise of the room. It was full of some fear that Artemis didn’t know, some desperation he only had a glimpse of. That scream - Trevak’s name flying off the man’s tongue full of emotion - cut through him as if it was an attack from an Olnvorox. Thought stopped. The desperation slipped away. It was like someone had removed a veil from his mind and he could not only think clearly, he was able to see what was going on, how it would happen, and strategize.
The spear splintered in his hand, shattered in a way that gave him many sharp, small projectiles to work with. They floated in the air at his command, the line stretching out and around behind his back, all the points aimed at the Ilnu looking to attack Trevak.
For a split second, he feared he didn’t make enough or that he had made too many and he would end up killing someone by accident.
He threw the hand that had been holding the spear at his side forward.
The many projectiles shot off ahead like thin, elongated bullets with precise accuracy. It turned into a wave of Ilnu bursting into smoke, cores punctured through the middle where the projectiles had gone cleanly through.
He didn’t hear the soft clinking of the cores hitting the floor sounding and behaving like glass marbles. He didn’t register Dlmor’s abrupt change in direction, didn’t register how Dlmor, Trevak, and numerous other companions made quick work of shattering the cores completely with their teeth to make sure the Ilnu weren’t coming back.
What he did register was the shape at the edge of the chaos, the one lone shadow that grinned at him when it met his eyes. What he did hear was its voice in his head as he held its gaze, felt its claws on his brain despite the distance between them, and understood just how dangerous the Olnvorox truly were when several people moved through it like it didn’t exist. They barely blinked an eye at it and even those he somehow knew were like him, were Ylmra, didn’t even see it.
Dlmor shifted under him and he blinked, finding himself staring at empty space a good hundred feet away. He pulled a sharp breath through clenched teeth when pain shot through his head too strongly for him to ignore. There may have been a call of his name but he could have been hearing things. The only thing he knew was the pain splitting his head in two.
Someone was trying to get his attention. How, why, and who he didn’t know. The only reason why he knew there was even an attempt was because the headache flared and hands were on him. Something warm and soft pressed into his chest, his face, and he wrapped his arms around it, burying his face into what had to be fur.
The darkness helped and he sagged into the warm, fluffy thing. It took a minute for his brain to start processing words right.
“-there. Not even chef.” There was a noise that cut in just right to muddle the last of the sentence.
“If it means we get everyone to some semblance of safety, I don’t care.” Not chef. Chief. “The hierarchy of rank can kiss my ass for all I care at this point.”
“Only if I go with you.” Three people, then? “I’m not risking you and Trevan facing those things on your own again.” Tolnoran. Which meant-
“It’s not like I can stop you,” the second voice countered. Elias. There was movement before Elias spoke again, his voice farther away. “Cass?”
The first voice spoke up. “I’ll see what I can do but I still say you should take him with.”
“Not when he’s injured again,” Elais countered sharply. “He’ll be of no use if we run into trouble rounding everyone up.”
“You’re not wrong,” Cass ceded, “but he’ll be safer with you two and out here. If nothing else, Torra can tote him around till his Dlmor is able to take him.”
“Come on, Eli,” Tolnoran gently coaxed. “Bethany isn’t able to do anything for him and neither are those friends of theirs. You went up against the Walker yourself.”
“Taking him with will only put the rest of the compound in danger,” Elias shot back. “We can’t.”
“Elias,” Tolnoran tried again.
Artemis didn’t realize he even had the ability to talk until the words were beyond his lips. “You can leave my dead weight here, ya know,” he pointed out, the words slightly slurred together due to his fat tongue. Or maybe it only felt fat. “I can go back to sleep right here.”
A hand carded through his hair. It was unfamiliar and by the proximity of Cass’s voice, he assumed it was her touching his head. “Hey, none of that. If you’re awake, you have to stay awake. A healer hasn’t gotten the chance to make sure you’re safe to sleep more.”
He tried for a lopsided grin; it felt more like a grimace. “Pity. Could really use some more sleep.”
He moved to sit up as he finally opened his eyes. Both tasks were made arduous from the lack of strength to move the lead limbs he now had. Still, he managed to get himself sitting mostly upright. It took longer for his eyes to focus. “Where’s Dlmor?”
“Here,” Tolnoran spoke up, moving somewhere behind him. There was some sounds but Artemis couldn’t get his head to turn enough to see. Tolnoran made it so he didn’t have to by stepping around him and gently laying Dlmor’s body next to him. The creature’s form was back to the smaller form but it was more bipedal than the quad Dlmor had been in moments ago. He frowned, running his hand through the fur. The silver strands he touched seemed to sparkle more but that was probably a trick of his pained head. “How long was I out?”
“Actually unconscious or memory loss?” Elias put in. The man had yet to step into his line of sight.
“Both.”
“The last thing you remember.”
A silence stretched over them as he got his brain to start working. It was slow going and even just taking in a slow deep breath seemed to make his head pound worse. “Mostly vague things. The sound of ice being crunched. White…marble beads will holes through the center hitting the floor. A…” he frowned, “a confusion just before my head felt like it was being ripped in two.”
“No memory loss, then,” Elias assured him in rigid voice. “You passed out shortly after the cluster of Ilnu going after Trevak were dealt with. A good twenty minutes has probably passed if we’re lucky.”
He frowned at that. It was nice that the only thing that protested at him looking to Elias was the headache. It hopped right to the edge of being unbearable but he ignored it. “Lucky,” he parroted. The pain was making it hard for him to put his question to words.
Elias gave him a flat look. Oddly enough he could make out the exhausted relief and pained concern at the edge of the man’s expression. “You are in more need than a simple power nap. Should a healer get their hands on you, you would be bedridden and asleep by the time Tolnoran and I even started on the task before us.”
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this is how the story ends.
Sometimes, she can barely remember the way he looked.
She can still hear his voice—breath curling around her name and low baritones tickling her ears. Sometimes, if she closes her eyes and tries hard enough, she can trace his features with the tips of her memories—grasping at his eyes, the curve of his lips, the slopes of his cheeks—only for them to slip away like smoke.
He returns to her only as she drifts aimlessly between wake and sleep, teetering dangerously along the border as her eyes focus hazily on his smile. He fades in and out of her mind, and she thinks she can still feel the warmth his fingertips left around her wrist, on the curve of her waist, against the tips of her ears as he softly brushed back her hair.
As life shuttles her from one end of the hemisphere to the other, she wonders whether he had really existed. Whether they had really existed. But, even time and an aging mind can’t erase the scalding fingertips he had haphazardly left on her life.
.
.
[m a d r i d, s p a i n]
On the Amtrak from San Francisco to Los Angeles, she finds herself in Madrid, summer. He is next to her, an ice cream cone held loosely in one hand as he points with the other. They are laughing, her head thrown back as she lets the warm, slightly humid wind caress her cheeks. He pauses in the middle of suggesting Let’s sit at a café—the heat’s killing me to take in the way her eyes crescent and shine, like the blinking fairy lights drawing waves along their bedroom wall back home. She averts her attention from the scene around them—a street performer jubilantly strumming the strings of her guitar, a six or seven year old shrieking with laughter as his parents chase after him—and looks at him, head cocked to the side. He smiles and leans in.
.
.
[t o k y o, j a p a n]
She drags her suitcase through her apartment door in Los Angeles and ends up at the top of the Tokyo Tower, nighttime. The sweet scent of cherry blossoms wafts even to the height of over three hundred meters. The night chill is a sliver harsher up here than the central streets of Shibuya. She’s anxious, sweat pooling at her palms as she looks down at the twinkling city lights below. Her fingers inadvertently twist themselves into the hem of his loose, white t-shirt. He glances at her and wraps an arm around her waist, pulling her close. I won’t let you fall, he whispers against her ear as he lightly brushes her hair with his lips. She smiles and huddles closer to him, feeling the warmth of his chest radiating against her side.
The scene is picturesque—the hum of the city dimmed as the two of them lean against the floor-length glass separating them from the hurtling descent back to the winding streets of Tokyo. They watch the lights slowly blink off one by one as the city settles into its pseudo-slumber. Staticky music plays in the background. Her eyes drink in the miniature metropolis, and she feels “acrophobia” become just another foreign word she can’t understand in this foreign country.
She wonders if this is what forever feels like. She wonders if this can last into eternity—her steadfastly leaning into him, stealing his presence and the scent of his Calvin Klein cologne, watching time pass them by.
What are you thinking about? He asks, nudging her slightly. She cranes her head back to tell him, eyes crinkling as a chuckle bubbles in her throat, and falls.
.
.
[l o s a n g e l e s, u s a]
She lands in a building on the edge of the LA financial district. She brushes through the office, balancing a thick stack of papers and a Starbucks coffee. Recently, her sweet tooth has abandoned her, and she finds the words an iced Americano, no cream or sugar please tumbling from her tongue.
She reaches her cubicle and drops the papers onto her desk. Absently, she drags a finger across the thin layer of dust that has gathered at corners of her unusually neat, organized working area. It looks exactly like how she left it, one Thursday afternoon after mechanically organizing and re-organizing the objects on her desk. The uncanny feeling that someone has broken into the office and replaced every single one of her items with an exact duplicate settles uneasily in her gut.
It feels foreign. The sticky notes lining the plastic divider, the handful of her favorite pens gathered in a metallic mug, the photo frame placed face down, the PC monitor with the light blinking orange. It’s as if she is here to replace the girl who had previously occupied this space, a shadow of who she had once been.
She turns around, and he is behind her, grinning as he offers her a cup of coffee from the office Keurig. He’s wearing a light blue button down, the first two buttons undone because she always claimed, You look too stuffy with it buttoned to the top. His sleeves are rolled to his elbows because he never liked the way it interfered when he typed. She can smell the rich warmth of the coffee tempting her to reach out and grab it from him.
His eyes twinkle as he edges even closer, the coffee mug the only thing separating them. Her heart races, and she swears the vibrations are transmitted through the cup and into his fingers and up his arms until they are in sync with his own heart beat. Three creams and one sugar on Mondays, right? There’s a bit of a giggle in his voice, connotations of an inside joke, warm and familiar, lightly dusting his words. She doesn’t reply and stands on her tiptoes and kisses him.
“How was the business trip?”
The question registers too loudly, too jarring to her ears—like the lights of a surgery room switching on and glaring down at her. She reflexively lifts the corners of her lips, but the smile reaches her eyes a half-second too late. She watches her co-worker’s eyebrows furrow, her mouth pursing like it’s about to open and say something, so she beats her to it.
“It went smoothly,” she says. “A bit tiring, but fine.”
She tries for a small grin.
It must be lopsided, because her co-worker stretches out a hand and places it on her arm. She tries her best not to flinch and widens her smile despite the strain in her cheeks. One last sympathetic pat, and the hand is gone. There’s the sound of a chair wheeling away, the delayed “click-clack” of a keyboard, and she finally sinks into her own chair.
She feels strange. Like she has unzipped her skin, stepped out of it, and donned a replica that is slowly shrinking and suffocating her—figuratively-literally squeezing the life out of her.
Her computer shudders to life, the bright blue Windows screen doing nothing to startle her from her reverie. Her arms unconsciously wrap themselves around her torso, and she digs her nails into her side as if about to rip off this flesh-colored cloak she has sewn on.
The sight of her wallpaper forcibly drags her out of her mind. She scrambles for the mouse, fingers slipping—right click, personalize, change wallpaper, default. Her cursor hovers above save, entertaining a brief, wrenching moment of hesitation before she presses down on her mouse. The resulting click is dull with weariness.
The steadfast pain pounding away in the hollow area in her chest intensifies.
She ignores it.
They have lunch in a café a couple of blocks down from the office building. A chicken salad for me and a breakfast panini for the lady please. He orders without looking at the menu. He knows too well her idiosyncratic love for breakfast foods, no matter the time of the day. Why? He had asked once, as he amusedly watched her wolf down a McDonald’s hash brown at dinner. Because, she had replied with a cheeky wink, I don’t like endings. He hadn’t asked further—maybe he understood, maybe he didn’t—but he never forgot. Good thing this café serves breakfast 24/7. For weirdos just like you. He stresses the last word, eyebrows raised and lips parted in the faint beginnings of a laugh, and leans back in his chair. She looks at the way he lounges comfortably in the wicker-woven chair, the midday sunshine dancing across the dark crown of his hair and highlighting the warm browns and reds, and thinks she might be in love.
She reaches across the table to take his hand, but the scene fades to black and white, and her fingers close over thin wisps of smoke ghosting across her palm.
.
.
[n e w y o r k, u s a]
Her fingers ache as she presses them against her iced smoothie. The sun is partially hidden behind the clouds, its rays fighting futilely against the stubborn, autumnal, and distinctly New York-ian chill. She’s sitting on a park bench, staring straight ahead with contemplative eyes, as if she is trying very hard to recall a memory long buried in the abyss of her mind. She mindlessly rubs at the condensation dripping on her plastic to-go cup before placing it down on the bench, next to the sandwich wrap she’d nibbled around.
The white noise of the New York office rumbles at a higher decibel than the LA one, humming a constant reminder that the day is fading. She had arrived early this morning to a nearly empty floor, but the space quickly filled up with the sound of office workers going about their routine—sharp peaks of laughter, chairs screeching as they drag against the linoleum, heels echoing as their wearers rush from one end of the building to the other. The sounds crescendoed as they bounced off the walls of her mind, and suddenly, the world was thrown into a sharper contrast and everything was a little more saturated than before. She took a deep breath she couldn’t let out, and then someone made eye contact and was walking towards her and speeding up and opening their mouth and she turned and walked down eight flights of stairs to the front door.
She takes another sip of her smoothie and feels someone settle their weight next to her. Why did you leave LA? he asks, reaching for the sandwich sitting in between them. He pauses, seems to think better of it, and rests his hand back onto his lap. He looks at her expectantly, but she continues to squint at the skyline.
He waits patiently and counts the number of bikers and joggers he can see. The wind crinkles the edges of the sandwich wrap, and he shivers.
An eternity or two passes them. Time expands and crashes, the momentum shocking the core of the Earth and rolling off in waves of tremors imperceptible to everyone but her. She blinks rapidly.
“So I can stop seeing you.”
She gets up, tosses the sandwich and smoothie away, and makes her way back to the office.
.
.
[I N T E R L U D E]
She sits at her makeshift desk, bedroom lit only by the singular lamp standing in the corner. Her hand is sore from gripping the pen and pressing the nib heavily into the ream of paper in front of her. Ink splashes lightly from the tip, and she drags it angrily across the sheet.
I thought You promised
We were supposed to go to Taiwan this year
Your mom called the other day
I can’t go anywhere without
I think I’m cracking from the inside out
Why
You lied.
YOU LIED.
YOU LIED YOU LIED YOU LIED YOU LIED YOU LIED YOU LIED YOU LIED YOU LIED YOU LEFT YOU LEFT YOU LEFT YOU LEFT YOU LEFT YOU LEFT WHY DID YOU LEAVE WHY DID YOU LEAVE WHY DID YOU LIE WHY DID YOU DIE
The sun had long set. She remembers watching the sky bleed splashes of fiery orange and navy from the living room floor, arms wrapped around her bent knees. She had sat with her head against the window for an immeasurable period of time, listening to the hushed echoes of off-tune carols and the sounds of her neighbor’s children welcoming their father home. The digital clock on her nightstand is blinking, red numbers flashing warningly.
She takes a deep breath and loosens her fingers. Her knuckles creak as she stretches them. She wipes at her cheeks and starts over.
It’s Christmas Eve tomorrow.
Your mom called the other day to wish me a Merry Christmas and ask if I was going to return home for the holidays. She said she wanted to make me dinner. She said I should visit home often, and visit her, and visit you.
I think she’s lonely.
On March 21st, I cancelled our plane tickets to Taiwan. They wouldn’t refund the ticket price because it was too close to the departure date.
You know, I think I was waiting. I think I thought you would come back, and in April, we would be driving from Taipei to Kaohsiung. You always said you wanted to visit the motherland. December’s almost over.
It’s really cold in New York. I don’t think you would like it. The snow isn’t the soft, fluffy kind you see in Michigan. Do you remember when we went to visit Jackelyn? It was the first time I had seen snowfall. I ran outside at 8PM and you had to chase after me with a jacket and a scarf. It didn’t matter though, because you ended up stuffing a snowball down my sweater.
The snow in New York is grey. It turns into wet, slippery slush as soon as it touches the pavement, and by the time it accumulates into a pile, it becomes dirty ice.
The other day, I slipped on a patch right in front of my apartment and cut my palm against the jagged pavement when I tried to break my fall. When I got home, I realized I didn’t have any Band-aids, so I had to go back outside to buy some. You were always the one with the first aid kits and disaster kits. If an apocalypse hit now, I don’t think I would last very long.
Like right now, the world is ending. The world is falling apart, crashing down around me, and I’m sitting at this desk. I’m writing these words on this sheet of paper, and when I’m done, I’ll stick it in an envelope and scrawl your name on the front, and then I’ll drop it in the mailbox and pray that God will take pity on me and it will get to you. But I know it goes nowhere. It goes in the shredder, and then the trash can, and then the landfill, and then maybe it’ll become one with the earth, and I guess in one way or another it reaches you. The paper, I mean. I don’t know if the words do.
I hope—
I’ve been having a recurring dream. I’m in our apartment in LA again. It’s morning, maybe a Sunday because the sun is already filtering through our blinds. I feel it warm my cheek. I can hear the sound of the water boiler in the kitchen. I roll over to feel your side of the bed, but it’s cold. Something in me jolts, like my body is trying to remind me of something I have forgotten. I panic, but then I remember. You’re probably buying breakfast.
I like eating ham, egg, and cheese bagels for Sunday morning breakfast.
The doorbell rings, and I get out of bed blearily, grumbling under my breath about how you forgot to bring the keys with you. A small voice in my head asks how you got into the building in the first place, but my brain is still sleepy and slow so the thought filters away. The doorbell sounds insistently, and it feels like I’m dragging myself through sludge. When I finally yank the door open, the shrill ringing doesn’t cease. You’re not there.
Instead, it’s me. I’m pressing the doorbell again and again. There’s a desperate look on my face as I increase the frequency of the rings. Finally, it’s just one long, sustained pitch.
Then, it hits me.
I realize it’s always going to be me ringing the doorbell. It’s always going to be me opening the door.
Suddenly, the me outside the door stops the noise. She places her cold palms against my cheeks and says something I can’t hear.
This is usually when I wake up, sometime between late night and early morning.
It’s during these hours that I miss you the most.
Lately, I’ve been seeing you less and less.
When I see your face, it’s blurry, smudged around the edges. When I hear your voice, it’s a wavering pitch, like it’s trying to find the key of a melody it hasn’t sung in a very long time. When I feel your touch, it’s the ghost of a breeze the wind leaves behind.
She stops writing and takes a shuddering breath. Her hand is trembling.
I’m afraid I’m going to forget you.
The pen falls from her grasp. The clatter interrupts the dark silence but is quickly swallowed by the night. Ink smears where her tears splatter across the page.
.
.
k a o h s i u n g, t a i w a n
The camera clicks, and she pulls it away to inspect the photo. There’s a streak of blue across the bottom, and then it’s the green of Cijin island and the striking white of the Cihou Lighthouse. She looks back up at the structure on the other side of the water and sees a movie play on the television.
She’s in LA, sprawled across the couch with her legs over his lap. He grabs the bag of popcorn she’s hugging in her arms and stuffs a handful in his mouth. We should do that some time, he says. Don’t speak with your mouth full, she admonishes, kicking her heels lightly against his thigh. Do what? He gestures at the screen. Drive around Japan and explore every lighthouse.
She takes the popcorn back. You do realize she’s just finding the lighthouses in the Setouchi region, right? Not all of Japan? He shrugs. Well, we can do all of Japan. Or find a list of the coolest lighthouses in Japan and go to all of them. She laughs. But the coolest lighthouses are probably the hidden ones that aren’t on any tourist itineraries.
He ponders that for a moment, watching the screen intently as the female protagonist smokes a cigarette. They sit in silence for a moment, letting the sounds of the movie filter into the space between them. Then, he wraps his arms over her legs and pulls them close to his chest.
You’re right. I guess we have to find them on our own then. It’ll take a while, wouldn’t it? We can take a week off every year and just drive up and down the coasts of Japan. I feel like by the time we’re 80, we would’ve covered all of them.
Okay.
Really?
Yeah. But, why?
Because lighthouses are great. She learns the contours of his history through the landscape of the lighthouses. Even in a coma, he is helping her unravel the pain and fear and confusion, guiding her forward with each unexplored lighthouse on the map.
The horn of the ferry sounds. She hands her ticket to the attendant and boards the boat. She leans against the railing of the top deck, watching as the lighthouse looms closer. The spring, April air smells sweet and young. Soft sunlight glistens off the crests of the rocking waves and throws patches of brilliant blue and green into sharp relief.
As the ferry draws her nearer to Cijin island and the lighthouse, the wind caresses the side of her face and whispers a question in her ear.
Are you still afraid?
She smiles and closes her eyes. Her reply is lost in the sounds of waves lapping against the edge of the boat.
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NYCTOPHILIA | k.th.
(n.) A preference or love for darkness or night, finding relaxation and comfort in darkness.
Genre: Zombie apocalypse! au, angst, fluff, smut
Word count: 16k
Pairing: Taehyung x Reader
Summary: Surviving in an apocalypse is hard, but what's harder is surviving it together with a person that you care about and that you could lose in the blink of an eye. That's what you and Taehyung thought when you decided to try and survive together, keeping the distance between each other.
However, things don’t just work out the way you expect them to.
Tw: Swearing, thigh riding, dirty talk, oral, praise kink, Dom!Tae
a/n: Heyy guyss!! I know it’s been a while but I passed like the whole week writing this story and it’s honestly one of my favorite that I’ve ever written. I did it together with my friend @aralty, she’s super talented and will start writing here on Tumblr soon so please check her out, follow her and read the works that she’ll post! Hope you like it!
When the zombie outbreak first made its way through the small borders of your hometown, chaos prevailed on every thing that surrounded you.
Screams filled the air as people ran on the street with the only intention of escaping – evading from those horrifying monsters with dry, peeled skin and torn clothes stained with dark blood.
The thought of living that nightmare never crossed your mind until you found yourself face to face with an infected man – your lovely neighbor that now had nothing alive in his gaze, only a bright white color that suggested the idea of death.
You had waited patiently for your father to come home after the news of the deadly virus came out, only to find yourself alone without anyone that could tell you how things were going to get better.
Lights were cut off along with the system from around and the only person who could still be contacted was your boyfriend of 3 months, Jaesung, that luckily for you lived right around the corner.
At first, when you told him that you were by yourself asking him to meet up, he sounded doubtful – too afraid to step out of his own house, but he eventually put on a brave face.
When you saw him coming inside your house with a huge black gun you couldn’t help but freeze, widening your eyes.
“Why the hell do you have that with you?!” You panicked, receiving a bored, yet scared, gaze from him.
“People are dying outside. We’re in the middle of a fucking zombie apocalypse. I won’t walk with empty hands.” He explained with a shaky voice.
“Do you even know how to use that?” You asked, hugging yourself to stop your body from shivering.
He huffed, crossing his arms before opening his mouth to talk.
“Of course I do! Do you think I’m an idiot?” He asked, furrowing his brows.
Of course he didn’t. Why would he know how to use a gun if he never had the need to before?
“Whatever-“ Your conversation was interrupted by a loud noise coming from the kitchen, not too far from you.
“What the f-“
“Shut up!” You whispered to him in attempt of not getting caught.
Your boyfriend tightened his hold on the gun while you, as silently as you could, started to walk towards the source of the sound. You could only hear your shaky breaths and low grunts that seemed to get louder the more you got closer to the room.
As soon as you entered the kitchen, something that you wish you hadn’t saw came to your sight.
Those things were trying to break through the glass of the door and windows.
“I need to get out of here.” You murmured with wide eyes before running towards your room to grab a backpack yelling.
“Fucking move Jaesung, We need to go! WE NEED TO GO!”
Your boyfriend didn’t waste time as soon as he heard your order and got out of the house without waiting for you to catch up.
“How many bullets does that thing have?” You asked loudly with heavy breath as you ran out of your home behind Jaesung, who was already quite far from where you both were before.
“One.” He answered without looking back, dodging every person that came in his way as he escaped from the fuss that the city was becoming.
People were screaming and you tried not to look at the bloody bodies that were laying on the cold ground, right below groups of zombies that fed themselves with their flesh.
Windows were broken and desperate crowds were trying to steal as many items as they could – whatever could be useful to survive this imminent apocalypse.
Some shops were on fire and the shine that it caused was your only source of light, helping you as you ran without stumbling on anything.
“Wait for me!” You yelled out of breath, watching the figure of your boyfriend before slamming hard on someone that cut you off.
You turned around, ready to apologize for your clumsiness only to let out a loud scream at the sight of the zombie in front of you.
It looked even more disgusting from up-close and the rotten smell of his skin was almost making you puke.
You started to ran as fast as you could, feeling the grunts of that creature closely behind you and it didn’t take you long to understand that he was chasing you.
At one of his steps, the leg of the zombie broke away – causing him to fell to the ground and hold onto one of your ankles.
His fingers were cold and tough, strong enough to almost making you fall along with him as well.
“JAESUNG! Help me!” You yelled out and your boyfriend turned around at the sound of your desperate voice, widening his eyes at your sight.
“Shot him!” You ordered him as you tried to move out of his clutch without touching him.
He looked at you hesitatingly before responding with a pitiful look.
“I’m sorry babe. I only have one bullet left, I can’t use it now.” You felt tears come up to your eyes, looking at him as he turned around – mouthing “I’m sorry” one last time.
You kept on screaming, trying to get Jaesung’s attention but the zombie was now almost pulling you to the cold street with him. He couldn’t just leave you to die like this.
You had to survive – to get out of there.
Looking up at him one last time, you noticed something making his way to your boyfriend.
At first you thought it was a zombie, but to your surprise a tall, skinny boy with blonde hair revealed himself.
For a moment you forgot about the creature that was trying to kill you: you couldn’t help but watch what was happening in front of you. The mysterious boy grabbed angrily the gun from Jaesung’s hand ignoring his cusses and started to walk towards you.
You tried to get away, afraid that he would shoot you but you froze on the spot at the loud sound of the gunshot – and the movement of the zombie falling emotionless behind you.
You looked wide-eyed the boy that you had never seen before, his looks were stern and dark – the gun still in his hand as he walked closer to you.
He offered you a hand, helping you getting up from the floor and for a moment you got lost looking at his handsome features. A small mark of blood covered his puffy cheek and his skin glowed from the light caused by the fire. His eyes were dark but, for some type of reason, you felt intrigued by them. After giving you a small smile, he turned around, facing once again your boyfriend that was now looking at the scene with shock plastered on his face.
The boy’s big hand was still holding tightly onto yours and his stance covered you completely from Jaesung.
“If you don’t get out of your sight in three seconds, I will pull out my gun and shot you in the face, I have one bullet left and I won’t hesitate to use it on garbage like you. Did you understand?” He spoke up – a low voice came out of his throat and you looked at his back surprised. You didn’t expect it to sound like that.
Your boyfriend became paler at the sudden threat, but he tried to act tough – speaking in response.
“Whatever. Y/N come here. Let’s go away.” Jaesung talked, walking towards you to take you back but at his action the guy’s grip tightened.
“Don’t fucking touch her.”
“Dude, who do you think you ar-“
“A better person than you, not that it would be difficult to be one. Do you think is fucking okay to leave a girl like that? And then once you see that she’s alright, take her back?” The stranger stared at Jaesung with ice cold eyes.
“Leave us alone, she won’t need you anymore from now on. And if you just try to lay a finger on her again, I will rip your fucking face off.”
.
.
Your memory was interrupted by loud bangs of a gunshot.
You opened your eyes as soon as the sound came to your ears – surprised to see that the car had stopped.
“Were you dreaming about helping me with those zombies that almost ate my face, sleeping beauty?” The male teased, putting the weapon that he used to shot a couple of infects down – that now were laying motionless on the sidewalk. The contrast between the pale flesh and the dark, almost back, blood was making you feel nauseous. For a moment you thanked God that you couldn’t see their eyes – those were the worst part of it all.
“Oh fuck off Taehyung. It seems like you handled them pretty well even without me.” You responded with an annoyed tone, starting shifting in your seat. Your neck hurt from the uncomfortable position you had slept in until then.
The boy besides you scoffed at your remark. “Remind me again why I brought you with me.” He muttered to himself sitting back on the driver seat.
His hair was blonde and long, too long in your opinion. He definitely needed to cut them. On his dark skin there were some traces of dirt – on the cheeks and some on his forehead.
His piercing brown eyes were focused on your sleepy figure as you talked.
“Because apparently you have such a good heart that you couldn’t help but save a lady that was being abandoned by her douchebag of a boyfriend.” You answered, yawning and stretching your arms.
“I’m starting to regret that…” He said quietly, following his words with a warm chuckle – earning a glare from you.
Taehyung started the pick up, meanwhile you staed at your surroundings.
The road was covered with red, orange and yellow leaves.
“It must be autumn” You thought by yourself looking outside the window.
You’ve been traveling around the country with Taehyung for almost two months now, trying to survive day by day.
After he had taken you with him, the boy didn’t show any sign of interest towards you or your story.
Sometimes you wondered if he really did regret taking you with him.
Sometimes you thought that he hated you.
You sighed, shifting again until you were seated normally on the car seat.
Most car rides were silent, you never really talked about anything, if not about what supplies you needed, where to sleep or where to go. You were together only to survive. Nothing more, even if sometimes you wish there was something more between the two of you.
“We’re almost there.” Taehyung stopped your flow of thoughts.
“Almost there where?”
“There’s a supermarket near, it’s pretty much in the middle of nowhere so there is barely any chance that it’s gonna be empty. We need food, clothes and as much medicines as we can find. Got it?” He kept his attention on the road.
“Yeah sure.” You replied weakly. The boy spared a quick glance in your direction, thinking you weren’t feeling well.
He didn’t question anything though, He just kept on driving.
When you finally arrived at your destination, Taehyung let out a deep breath of relief.
“Do I bring the backpacks inside? Or do we put everything in the back of the pick up?” you asked him. He didn’t answer immediately – too busy inspecting the area around you the supermarket, guns in both hands.
“Search for a cart, we’ll put everything there and then we’ll transfer it to the pick up. In your backpack put only the medicines.” After he said that, he got out of the car and entered the supermarket.
The power was out and Taehyung seemed to be struggling a lot to fix the problem.
“Need any help?” You questioned teasily.
“No, I’m goo-“ You didn’t know what he had touched – and it was better not to know – because a second later the boy was jumping up and down cursing. He had just been shocked.
You couldn’t help but laugh out loud.
Taehyung turned around, looking at you with a mad expression. “I guess you can do better, am I right, little electrician?” He hissed with a pain stamped on his face.
You didn’t answer – all you did was fiddling for a bit with the meter and the power was back.
“Are you fucking kidding me right now…” He whispered to himself, looking at the sudden light.
“Asking for help doesn’t hurt, you know?” You said while walking through the aisles of the shop. Taehyung shook his head.
The blonde boy was right: the supermarket was almost full.
Almost.
There still were food and clothes, but the pharmacy section was almost empty.
You started looking for hoodies and sweaters in the clothes aisle, for the both of you. Touching a soft hoodie with black cloth, you decided to put in on, replacing your ripped and dirty shirt – feeling the comfortable warmth over your cold and frozen skin. You took it off, remaining with only your bra on before covering up with the sweater that you had just found before picking everything up to put it on the cart.
Looking up, you noticed Taehyung’s eyes on you as you changed and a small smirk appeared on your face.
“Am I so beautiful that you can’t take your eyes off me?” You teased and he rolled his eyes before turning around.
“Don’t flatter yourself, I was just checking that you wouldn’t stuff yourself with food.” He said laughing – however you caught glimpse of a light blush that colored his cheeks.
.
.
Less then an hour later you were both out of the supermarket with carts full of supplies.
“Water, chips, bread, beer…wait, beer? Why the fuck would you need beer? It’s the apocalypse Y/N not a frat party!”
“Ughh come on, we have free alcohol and you don’t want to take advantage of it?” You asked at a really grumpy Taehyung that wore a frown on his face. He ignored what you had said and kept on checking what through what you had found.
“Wait…” A realisation suddenly came to your mind. “You don’t like alcohol, do you?” You asked him quietly and he looked at you with an upset expression.
“Not even a bit. Now can we quit talking about this and move on, please?” He let out with an annoyed tone.
You were taken aback by his exaggerated reaction, but you kept your mouth shut, looking to the carts without saying anything.
Taehyung was a strange type of person. You could argue with him over ridiculous things and he would seem like he has forgotten about it ten minutes later. For that reason, he started chuckling by himself a bit later and you looked at him with an amused yet confused expression.
“I didn’t think that you would be a waffle-type.” You narrowed your eyes.
“Sorry? What’s wrong with liking waffles?” You asked and he shook his head bringing the carts closer to the pick up.
“Oh nothing. It’s just…when I was younger between me and my friend there were always debates about stupid things like what is better between waffle and pancakes. Seeing this reminded me of him.” He explained, pointing out the sweets. The chuckle soon became cold and emotionless before disappearing – dying in the boy’s throat.
You opened your mouth to say something, but a voice interrupted you and it didn’t belong to neither of you.
“Is someone there?”
For a moment you froze on the spot, feeling a rush of adrenaline at the sudden noise. The person had a clear voice and it sounded perfectly normal. Maybe it was another survivor.
Taehyung on the other hand was throwing everything inside the pick up.
You walked slowly towards the source of the noise, curious to see if someone else was there with the two of you but, as soon as Taehyung noticed what you were trying to do, you felt a violent tug on your wrist.
“Y/N we need to leave!” Taehyung’s voice was stern and shaking.
“No! Wait it might be-“
“Get in the fucking car!” He was almost shouting, panicked by the situation.
You didn’t have any chances and in a matter of ten minutes, you were back on the road.
“What the fuck is wrong with you Taehyung?! They were humans! They could have helped us! Maybe they were in danger! What if they need-“
“What if they needed help? Are you serious? Let me tell you something, what if they had an infected with them? Mh? What would you do?” He was fuming as he scolded you – but so were you.
“We could have tried to help them! How can you be so selfish and not care about the others?” You hissed.
“Oh right, because having you here with me is selfish! You need to think more about yourself Y/N. You can’t save everyone here. Get that in your brain!” He spitted, breathing heavily – thinking that the argument was over. You, on the other hand, had no intention of giving up.
“We can try Taehyung! Maybe in case of danger they could have helped us! What if there were childr-“
“Stop being a fucking bitch Y/N! God, now I understand why your boyfriend left you there!” As soon as those words came out of his mouth and through your ears, realization finally played its role inside your mind and you felt completely empty inside. Taehyung looked at you shocked himself – regret evident in his face but in that moment, you didn’t care.
“Stop the car.” You whispered, feeling hot tears rolling down your cheeks.
He had never loved you. Everyone around you was dead and the only person who managed to stay by your side hated you. What was the point in staying there?
“What? Y/N I’m sorry I didn’t mean to-“
“Stop the fucking car!” You let out a yell and the boy braked – causing you to immediately open the car door. Ignoring his shouts, you went out running in the middle of the street.
Everything that was happening around you had finally hit you and you weren’t capable of dealing with it. Tears were staining your face and you were shaking.
“Y/N! No, please. Come back Y/N!” He got out of the car as well, running desperately after you.
He gasped at your sight, watching as you fell down the ground on your knees, shaking your whole body. You hugged your legs, bringing them against your chest and you started sobbing harder than before.
Suddenly, you felt a pair of strong arms embracing your shaking figure.
“I’m so sorry…I didn’t want to say those things. Please forgive me.” He whispered against your hair as he hugged you but you didn’t hear him.
“He didn’t care about me. He just wanted to live, even if I was the price to pay. I’m so useless. Stupid. So fucking stupid and weak.” You cried, mumbling your words through the sobs.
“Shh no, no you aren’t Y/N. He left you because he was an asshole and too stupid to realize how much you actually are worth. Whatever he did to you doesn’t define you in any way, okay? You’re not useless. Okay princess?” You had never heard him speak with such a soft and sweet tone coming out of his lips.
You raised your head to look at him with puffy, watery eyes and a red nose.
“You understand?” He asked, smiling lightly at your cute sight and you nodded in response.
He took your hand, guiding you back to the car and you got inside.
“Try to sleep okay? This time we’ll have to drive a lot longer.” You felt your eyelids closing as soon as he finished the sentence.
“Where are we going this time?” You asked trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in the car seat while letting out a quiet yawn and closing your eyes.
“In a safe place.” He whispered, looking at you with soft eyes.
You feel asleep hearing him humming a song as he drove.
.
.
You couldn’t say for how much you slept, but you assumed for a long time, because when you turned your head to face Taehyung, you felt a piercing pain on your lower back.
Only then you realized how dark it was outside and that the pick-up wasn’t moving – Taehyung was no where to be seen and that caused you to start panicking. You opened the car door and, feeling sleepy and unstable, you ran to the back of the car – relieved to see the boy sleeping there, with nothing but a thin cover to warm him up. His head was resting on a backpack, he was quietly sleeping with a gun near him and you could see the small with clouds and swirls of air coming out of his rosy lips as he breathed the cold hair in and out. You hoped that he wasn’t freezing, but after giving him one last look you sat back on the car seat, letting him sleep peacefully. After a bit you fell asleep once again, glad that he was okay.
.
.
You woke up once again because you felt a light touch on your shoulder.
“We’re here.” Taehyung said quietly, almost afraid of disturbing you.
You let out a loud yawn, to which he replied with a loud laugh.
“Did you rest well? You’ve been asleep since I started driving.” He asked, keeping his eyes on the road.
“I woke up in the middle of the night.” You said, trying, with all your energy you didn’t seem to find, to sound awake.
“Really?” He sounded surprised.
Taehyung was driving in a really narrow dirt road that didn’t seem to lead anywhere.
“Yeah, you were sleeping in the back and I thought you were frozen for a minute.” You said chuckling sleepily.
The boy smiled lightly, taking a turn with the car and it was at this moment that a little farm came to your sight.
As soon as Taehyung saw it, he stopped the car roughly, getting out without waiting for you.
“What the...What’s wrong?” You asked him with a loud tone as you struggled to get out as well, catching him up in front of the farm.
He had reached the entry of the house but he had stopped there, not walking inside in front of the open door.
You looked around, noticing the landscape of dirt, dried grass and wood that surrounded the farm.
As you slowly walked towards Taehyung, you saw the inside of the house and you felt bad for whoever had lived there. It was a complete mess and everything was thrown on the ground.
Moving your head to look at the boy that was standing in front of you, you saw tears in his eyes, but he immediately dried the with his shirt’s sleeve before taking your wrist and pulling you away from it.
“Let’s get out of here.” He said sniffling lightly, walking away quickly towards the car.
“Wait why?” You asked confused, noticing how upset that sight had made him.
“I’m sorry, I thought this place was safe but I was wrong. I remembered it differently.” He said, opening the car door but you refused to go in.
“You knew this place?” You asked and he nodded.
“It’s my grandparent’s farm. I grew up here but we can’t stay.” He confessed, not looking at you in the eyes. His words shocked you and you understood why he was feeling so emotional because of the huge mess.
You thought about what to say, looking back at the house and suddenly an idea came to your mind.
“We can stay here for a couple of days don’t you think? We can fix it a bit so that it gets habitable.” You proposed, expecting a mean comment or a sarcastic laugh to come out of his mouth, but he surprised you with a hopeful look.
“Are you serious?” he asked and you nodded, giving him a small smile before picking up the bags from the truck.
“C’mon let’s go. You can park in front of the house.” You said, turning around to place everything inside – failing to notice the smile that Taehyung had on his face as he looked at you.
As soon as you stepped into the farm, a strong smell of dirt covered your nostrils – making you cough a couple of times.
“There’s a lot to do.” Taehyung said from behind you, kicking the rotten and broken furniture out of the way.
The walls of the house, once colored with a clean white paint, were now gray and filled with holes all over them. The view that you had from the entrance was of the whole living room and a door, that now was laying on the floor because it probably came lose, connected the room with the kitchen.
“Where do we start?” You asked him and he looked around for a couple of seconds before talking.
“I think that we should split. You can clean outside and I’ll clean inside.” You nodded at his proposal, walking out of the door to see what you could do in order to make that place less messy.
As soon as you walked out of the door, Taehyung sighed loudly, letting out a breath that he didn’t know he was holding. Memories of his childhood came back to his mind while he looked at the broken photos on the floor. How his grandfather would always bring him with him whenever he went out with his tractor in the morning, teaching him how to fish and how to swim in the lake behind the farm; how his grandmother would prepare him whatever he wanted at lunch because she believed that he looked better when he was chubbier, letting him smell the flowers that she planted in the garden; how the two of them helped him become the man that he now was, caring for him like how two parents would.
Catching a tear slip along his cheek, Taehyung wiped it off with his sleeve, starting to search around the house for whatever could be useful for the two of you around, but nothing seemed to be of help.
He walked inside the kitchen, opening the small cabinet - finding a broom that his grandmother had placed there. With it, Taehyung cleaned the floor of the living room, throwing away the broken glass and the pieced of iron that could hurt either you or him.
The only furniture that could still be used, was the bright green couch that only showed a couple of marks made by dirt. He tried to sit on it and, luckily for him, it seemed to be completely fine.
He went besides it and he pushed it in front of the fireplace – creating a small comfortable corner where you could chill with him when the night would arrive.
The kitchen was in a better state and the cabinets where aliments were put didn’t show any type of crack. Taehyung opened them, hoping to find something useful and almost screamed with joy when he found the drawer full of medicines.
He looked at you with a bright smile from the window of the kitchen, opening it to tell you about his discover.
“Y/N!” He screamed, laughing at the little jump scare that made at the sound of his voice. You brought a hand to your chest.
“Jesus Christ. Don’t scare me like that you asshole! What?!” You screamed In reply, pouting at his teasing expression.
“I found a drawer full of medicines! We don’t have to worry about them now.” You smiled at his news, rubbing your hands under your armpits to get warmer as you listened to him.
Noticing your action, the small smile on his face became a frown.
“Are you cold? Do you want me to do that? You can clean the house instead.” He proposed but you shook your head, already full of dirt.
“I’m already dirty, don’t worry about it. Let’s just go on until we get too tired.” You said and he nodded unsure, feeling like he should be outside.
“Don’t throw away the wood. We’ll need it later.” He said before closing the window and going back to work.
You spent the rest of the day tidying up the remaining parts of land that were ruined by dirt and trash. When you finally had done it, you felt the tiredness in your body. As you walked inside to approach Taehyung, you saw him busy near the fireplace.
“What are you up to?” You asked and he scoffed.
“What do you think I’m doing?” He asked and you rolled your eyes at his remark.
“Need help?” You teased him, remembering what had happened in the supermarket but he seemed like he could do it perfectly by himself.
Sitting down on the couch with your legs crossed, you looked at the small flame that got created inside the stack, and soon a small fire started to burn the wood inside the fire place.
Taehyung sat on the other hand of the couch, leaving a bit of space between you and him. As soon as the fire started to spread, you felt more relaxed and warm. Fire always fascinated you. You stared at the source of light in silence, while the boy with a smirk on his lips watched you, amused by the fascinated look you had.
“What are you thinking about?” He suddenly asked you; you stayed quiet a moment, looking at the the swirls of fire for a couple of seconds before talking again, avoiding the question.
“How were your grandparents?” You asked, catching him off guard. He looked at you with wide-eyes, unsure on what to say but you tried to get him more at ease.
“You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.” You assured him but he shook his head.
“No no, I don’t have a problem talking about them.” He said as he breathed shaky, and for a moment you felt your heart beat faster than before. He was finally opening up to you.
“They were great. Like parents to me.” Taehyung started to talk, keeping his gaze of the fireplace.You gave him your complete attention turning so that you could face him directly.
In between the pauses, when he stopped talking, crickets could be heard from the outside and you truly felt like the outbreak never happened.
You wished you two could stay like this forever, isolated, peaceful, free.
“They took great care of me when I was a child, always acting more like parents than grandparents. I ate, slept and played in the farm. This is truly what I will always call home.” He confessed while looking around him with a nostalgic gaze. You furrowed your brows.
“What about your parents?” You asked and he just shrugged.
“They worked.” He easily explained but you were still confused.
“So you never saw them?” You asked and he nodded.
“They preferred to work overseas and I preferred to stay in the farm with my grandparents, so we split ways.” You nodded in understanding as you heard about his story.
“This place is probably really important to you.” You added and he looked around.
“I mean, yeah. It’s my home. That's why I don't think I could ever thank you enough for making it feel like home again" he smiled at you and you smiled back.
"I don’t know what happened in here for this place to become this shithole but I don’t really want to know. We’ll stay in here for short anyways so…”
“And your friends?” As those words came out of your mouth, Taehyung physically froze. If your past questions didn't touch him enough, at this one the boy could feel his heart break in pieces.
“Oh...Sorry I don’t think I should’ve ask that…”
He closed his eyes, shaking his head and trying to hold back the tears that were desperately trying to escape from his eyes. For a moment you thought that you had fucked up the trust that you somehow had managed to establish between you two.
“It’s okay...I…” With a hand he scratched his eye.
“My best friend died. The night of the outbreak.” You widened your eyes at his confession, but you weren’t completely surprise but this news. Terrible things happened since the outbreak. And Taehyung suffered a lot from it, too. Just as you did.
“What was his name?”
“Jimin.” Taehyung answered, and for some reason you found yourself scooting closer to him as the conversation grew.
You could see that he had never talked about what had happened to him before, so getting him to open up was something that would probably help him. But it wasn't that easy for Taehyung. He was basically telling you all the darkest secrets and memories he had to keep hidden in his heart for a very long time. Maybe for too much time.
“How was he?” You asked and he smiled to himself.
“The cutest little shit I’ve ever seen.” You both chuckled at his words.
“He was shorter than me and skinnier, but for some type of reason he thought that he needed to work out more. I always hung out with him, almost everyday. Even my grandmother loved him.” You smiled sadly at him, listening attentively.
“He loved dancing and he always showed me the dances that he created during his free time. He was the sweetest soul, way too kind. We thought that we would survive this together.” You felt the pain in his words. Something you knew too much about. And you knew that his words hid something bigger than what he was trying to say.
“How…How did he die?” You reluctantly asked him. You hoped he wouldn't have gotten mad at your curiosity. But, to your surprise, he looked at you directly in the eyes instead.
“He tried to help a man, but he was already infected. He got attacked and I didn’t have a gun with me to defend him.” You gasped, thinking about the night of the outbreak and about what Taehyung had done for you when you first met.
“Is it...Is that why you took the gun from Jaesung?” You asked and he hesitated. He didn't know what to say at first.
“If only I had a gun... a gun with only one bullet, just one, with me... I could’ve saved him. Who is Jaesung to decide who dies and who doesn't? Someone lost his life because of me but another one is living for the same reason, so I don’t hate myself that much.” He muttered between cold chuckles and sniffles. You felt your heart ache at his words.
“It’s not your fault.” You said, bringing one hand to his shoulder, he stayed in place without moving it away. you stayed this way for a bit. it was comfortable. Even if you weren't hugging him, Taehyung still felt the warmth and the feeling of protectiveness coming from you. He enjoyed it.
“Can I ask you something?” He suddenly asked, looking at you in the eyes and you quickly answered, feeling like it was the least you could do.
“Why were you with him?” You widened your eyes at his unusual question, expecting something else.
“Oh…With Jaesung?” You asked and he nodded, serious expression stamped on his face.
“We met last year, but we had been together for like 3 months when...it happened. I truly loved him but he wasn’t exactly the best person for me at that time. He was a drug addict.” You confessed and he looked at you shocked, not expecting it. “I guess I stayed with him because I was alone. I fell in love with him and I had no one else to tell me that I shouldn’t have. I only had my father with me because my mom died when she gave birth, but he was always working so Jaesung stayed with me.” You added, Taehyung nodded lightly before you started to speak again.
“He went around with bad people and did bad things, but for him I was ready to change everything in my life. I promised him that I would be there for him whenever he needed help and he eventually stopped using drugs.” You said but Taehyung understood from your expression that there was more.
“He…wasn’t exactly calm. Whenever we fought he could be…turbulent.” You explain and a little frown made his appearance on Taehyung’s face. He began to shift on the couch, trying to get closer to you.
“Y/N what are you trying to say?” he asked, his voice slightly deeper than before.
You looked at the fire and then back at him, sighing deeply before speaking up.
“He drank. Quite a lot. He couldn’t take no as an answer and sometimes he let it all out on me I guess.” As you looked away from his face, a light touch gained your attention and you blushed at the feeling of Taehyung’s hand moving your hair out of your face – behind your ear.
“What did he do to you, princess?” His answer came out as a whisper and you felt chills roll down your spine. You could feel the tension, and suddenly the weight of your secrets seemed heavier than ever.
“I went back home to him one night and he was completely wasted. He had this bottle of beer in his hand...and I-I tried to get it away from him.” His hand was still touching your own hand. You were shaking.
“He didn’t mean it. He was so sorry when it happened.” You murmured feeling the tears building in your eyes, trying to convince yourself more than Taehyung.
“He just threw it on the wall but he missed it and..he hit me instead. He gave me a huge scar on the thigh with the glass of that fucking bottle.” You confessed. Taehyung was trying his best not to burst.
“I should’ve killed him when I had the chance.”
.
.
You spent the next days serenely. Nothing and no one disturbed the little shelter you two had built. Your days consisted of waking up on the back of the pick up, where Taehyung had placed a double sized mattress he had found in the bedroom. You had offered to sleep there together, but Taehyung refused and insisted you had your own space; he would have been fine on the couch.
After waking up and eating something, most of the times you went by the small lake in the back of the farm. There were no fishes, nor animals. It seemed like everything was frozen in time.
But it was okay. You truly felt like nothing happened before you got there. You've never felt so peaceful and happy, now that Taehyung and you had your safe place.
Sometimes he would join you by the lake, and you two spent hours laying on the grass near the water, just listening to each other breathing, the wind, and the occasional sound of birds in the trees.
You grew fond of the way the red leaves filtered the sunlight, the way the water reflected the moon at night, the way the breeze brushed your hair, making them feel like waves.
It felt like home.
And Taehyung felt the same way.
Especially when he accidentally brushed your hand with his fingers, or leaned to you so much that you could feel his breath on your lips.
You also caught him many times with his eyes on you. You could feel those deep, dark pearls on your skin. You wondered why.
What you didn't know was that the boy could have spent hours watching you, doing the simplest things or even doing nothing at all. And he caught himself blushing and smiling most of the times. He couldn't take his eyes off of you. You were captivating in a way he couldn't explain: he couldn't find words to.
Something in the way you moved, in the way you enjoyed that place, in the way you smiled, made him feel strangely inside. Something he hadn't felt in a very long time was booming in him: maybe he was falling for you.
You thought many times about staying there, forever.
But you knew you couldn't. You hadn't enough supplies to live there forever.
And when Taehyung, on the 6th day, told you "In two days we're packing" you could feel your heart shrinking a bit.
You would have missed this place.
On the morning of the 7th day, you began looking around the farm to pack all the things you would need in your imminent journey.
Taehyung did the same, and started to look around every single corner of the kitchen, hoping to find some hidden treasure that he would eventually need in the future.
He opened the drawer of the kitchen near the stove and, to his surprise, he found something that he didn’t expect. An old piece of paper wrapped in what seemed like a torn piece of flannel was placed untouched in there.
Taehyung opened it carefully, as if the was afraid the paper was going to crumble if he hadn't treated it gently enough and he tried to stop his heart from beating out of his chest.
As soon as he took off the cloth from the letter with shaking hands, a small ring came to his view – intertwined around the cloth that Taehyung was now squeezing in his hand.
Tears suddenly came to his eyes at the sight of his grandmother’s handwriting and, with a shaky breath, he worked up the courage to read it.
Dear Taehyung,
I don’t know if you’re going to read what I’m writing but I’m sure that you will eventually find your way back home to check on this place when you’ll have the possibility. I know that it’s different from what you remembered but this old house couldn’t survive the outbreak and – for our displeasure – neither did your old grandparents. We thought that they couldn’t touch us in our little farm, because we’re distant from the city, but we were wrong and the apocalypse made it’s way everywhere. Me and your grandfather are okay and on our way to the forest when we’ll peacefully stay forever next to each other. We’re on our fifth day after we’ve been bitten and, for what it has been said, tomorrow morning we’ll turn. I’m not sad nor desperate in this moment, because I’ve lived a great life so far and I knew that my time would eventually come, however the reason for my passing is way different from what I thought it will be – way more unexpected. I pray to god everyday that you’re okay and Jimin too, I was so worried when you decided to go in the city, but I know that you’re independent and strong enough to deal with this on your own. You’ll eventually fall in love and It’s a pity that I won’t be there to treat her like a daughter – but I’m sure that the love you’ll provide her will be enough. The ring that your grandfather gifted me is in here and it’s my will that you give it to her. In this environment, I know that falling in love is not something that you would accept because you always wanted to play safe, even when you were just a child. But remember that you can’t push away your feelings. Even in this disaster, I’m happy because I’m staying with your grandfather by my side and I need nothing more to be satisfied. I hope you’ll open up your heart as well. I love you very very much and so does your grandfather. Never change who you really are because of the matters that are coming up, live your life without regrets and always be nice.
With all the love, Grandma
Taehyung felt something dying and growing at the same time in his chest.
The letter that he was still holding in his hands was so bittersweet.
He could hear his grandmother reading it, her sweet tone saying that she was alright and that she was going to be alright forever, even if that wasn’t the truth – and Taehyung knew that. He knew that they weren’t alright, and that Jimin wasn’t alright, he felt so guilty.
He disappointed everyone. His grandparents, Jimin, his grandparents.
But he was not going to disappoint you.
Taehyung could see you from that spot in the kitchen through the window, while you were planting flowers in the garden, directly in front of the entrance of the house. Looking at that sight, he couldn’t help but smile.
“Care to tell me why you’re planting flowers?” He teased, talking loudly enough for you to hear.
Tears were still in his eyes but you didn’t see them when you looked up to meet his gaze. You only saw that sweet smile on him and you couldn’t help but to grin as well.
“Because maybe who will come here after us will feel a it more at home if this place looks lovelier.” You responded, giving him a genuine and sweet smile. You reminded him so much of his grandmother. Always caring for others, always trying to see the better in the terrible world you were forced to live in.
The smile was still on his lips when he realized he still had the ring in his hand.
He was planning on keeping it and treating it like a diamond, he wanted to have a memory of his past always with him.
But then he thought about you, and maybe what he should have done was caring about the future, still remembering the past.
That was what grandma wanted.
Taehyung smiled sadly, putting the rung and the letter in the pocket of his jeans and made his way towards you.
Your clothes were covered of dirt and you looked like a child – having fun playing in the playground.
“Are you going to plant flowers all day?” He asked you, stopping in front of you, looking at you kneeled with an amazed look on his face.
“I just planted the last one, I think I should take a bath to get refreshed.” You said and he furrowed his brows at your statement.
“We don’t have water in our house.” He responded and you got up, smiling at him before walking away.
“There’s a lake for a reason.” You said and he followed you unsure.
“Aren’t you going to freeze?” Taehyung asked again and you scoffed, taking off your hoodie in front of the water.
He felt his breath stuck in his throat at your bold action.
“C’mon, I’m covered in dirt and I don’t even remember the last time I washed myself. The only thing that we have to remember civilization is hygiene.” You responded, taking off your pants as well and he stayed still, looking at you naked in front of him. He gulped, looking at your naked back before feeling a smirk coming up in his face.
You were only wearing your bra and your panties, but Taehyung was still a man and the outbreak couldn’t stop his personal needs.
“Are you flirting with me Y/N? Because getting naked in front of me is a pretty bold move.” He teased, crossing his arms in front of his chest – smirking when you turned around shocked to face him. You tried to cover up your surprise look with a more confident one before starting to speak.
“I don’t know…” You muttered, acting as if you were thinking – the water already up to your hips.
“Why don’t you follow me to find out?” You yelled before throwing yourself in the water, leaving a grinning Taehyung behind.
The water was cold, but it was refreshing to wash out of your body the dirt that you had on your skin since you arrived at the farm.
When you got out of the water, you opened your eyes only to find Taehyung busy taking unbuckling his belt and taking off his pants. His sweater was already on the ground and for the first time you had a perfect view of his toned body.
His tan skin shined with the reflection of the water and he had a small smirk stamped on his face as he walked in the lake towards you.
“So how is it? Cold?” You asked him, and he shook his head – bluffing.
“I fight with zombies every day, princess. I’m not going to make a fuss for some water.” He said cockily, still grinning while looking at your direction.
You rolled your eyes, splashing the water on his naked torso and he let out a loud scream.
“Fucking shit!” He jumped at the feeling of the coldness against his skin and you couldn’t help but to burst out laughing at his cusses.
Taehyung smiled at the sound of your laugh, feeling like he should’ve taken revenge and soon ran towards you.
“You like playing dirty uh? I’ll show you how to play dirty.” He muttered loudly enough for you to hear before picking you up and throwing you on his shoulder – ignoring your little cries and insults.
“What are you doing?! Tae the water is too shallow!” You screamed, trying to get out of his grip as he walked – chuckling. His hands gripped tightly your thighs and for a moment you felt a light blush appear to your cheeks, because you two had never been so close before. His torso moved up and down as he let out low chuckles that made your heart beat faster than before, but in a matter of a couple of seconds, his touch left your skin and you found yourself thrown in the water again – without warning.
Taehyung laughed, looking around the lake expecting you to come out ready to yell at him – but his heart became to beat faster when he was met with complete silence.
“Y/N?!” He yelled out, feeling completely shocked and afraid as he looked for you under the water – finally noticing you three feet away from him.
“Oh my fucking god!” He yelled, jumping in to take you out and afraid that he had hurt you by accident.
His arms wrapped around you as he brought you up to the surface, hugging you with all the power that he had in his body.
Your eyes were closed and he looked around your face, trying to see if you were hurt anywhere.
“Please tell me you’re okay.” He muttered shakily caressing your face before jumping at the sight of you opening your eyes.
“Dude do you like me that much?” You asked before cracking up for the prank that you had successfully pulled on him. Taehyung let you go, touching his heart with a hand before looking back at you.
“I didn’t think that you would fall for it.” You said in between the laughs, looking at his pale expression.
In that moment - looking at you with wet and shiny skin, a bright smile on your face and the sound of your clear laugh echoing in the air – he finally realized.
Yes, he did like you that much.
.
.
"Where will we go tomorrow?" your words broke the comfortable silence in which you were absorbed, still enjoying the freshness of the water.
"I guess I'll just follow the road. We need to find supplies, and places that have them are big cities, most of the time. We're not that far from one, if I'm not wrong. And we need to find a safe place.".
You listened quietly before you asked "Will you miss this place?".
Taehyung looked at you deeply "Of course I will. But we'll be alright anywhere safe".
As long as you are with me.
"I guess I'm gonna go back in, it's getting colder. You coming?" He asked you but you shook your head.
You wanted to enjoy all of it one last time
"Yeah, just in a bit." you smiled.
He smiled back before turning and reaching the shore.
.
.
He was right, it was getting colder - the landscape around you was beginning to turn golden as the sun went down and his body too: you could see his dark skin turning gold, illuminated by rays of light.
You had never seen someone so majestic.
He didn't look majestic in the typical prince way, neither he looked like a Greek god.
He looked so captivating and surreal because he was real. You could see little scars on his body, and those little imperfections that to your eyes seemed even more beautiful.
In that bright landscape he seemed even more bright to you.
You then turned around as well and gave a fond look to everything that surrounded you falling in love with that place once again.
And maybe it was because of the magic you two were living there, because you were well aware it wasn't just the landscape you were in love with.
.
.
Not many minutes later you decided to get out of the water, realizing that the clothes who you had used that they, were the only ones who were still more or less cleaned.
You felt the chilly air hitting your wet body, softly but piercingly and you hugged your chest, trying to cover up your naked skin.
“Fuck.” You muttered, beginning to walk towards the farm.
You stood in front of the car thinking about what could you do, when Taehyung brought you to reality.
"Jesus Christ, Y/N, you're gonna freeze!" he was looking at you from the back of the pick up – worry stamped on his face - and immediately started looking in your bag for clothes.
"I-I don't have anymore clothes" You answered stuttering, cussing in your mind at the sound of your voice, full of embarrassment.
As soon as he heard you, he immediately pulled out a t-shirt and a sweatshirt, running towards you.
He helped you wearing them, even though you insisted that you could do it by yourself, and he gave you quick rubs against your shoulders before walking inside the living room.
Taehyung had lit up the fireplace and ordered you to sit in front of it for a while – relaxing at the warmth of the fire. His shirt almost reached half of your thighs, and the sleeves of the sweatshirt were definitely too long for your relatively short arms.
I must look ridiculous. You thought, pouting every now and then while looking at the clothes.
The boy, on the other hand, didn't think you looked one bit ridiculous. You looked beautiful. And he felt something in his chest when he looked at you, curled in a ball in front of the fireplace, trying to warm up with his clothes on.
It felt right, seeing you with something that belonged to him. You felt his. Not in a possessive way – Taehyung felt like only he had the right and the duty to protect you, and to make you feel at ease.
He would have fought everyone to let you be safe.
.
.
You two sat on the couch for a while in silence without talking much, but Taehyung’s thoughts were interrupted by your sudden movement and your sweet voice, that asked him to join you on the back of the pick up for a while.
“It’s a great night, maybe we could even see the stars.” You told him, trying to convince him because you didn’t want to be alone – not when you knew that he could keep you company.
He looked at you, trying to mask his happiness at your request with a fake, annoyed tone.
“Ughh…Fine, princess.” He said getting up, making you blush once again with the pet name that he had decided to use for you.
You had already heard it before, but it always made your heart beat faster.
Not much after, you were both sitting on the mattress in the car, hearing the sounds of the night and looking at the small dots of lights in the sky.
“What is your biggest concern?” He suddenly asked, breaking the silence with his rough and low toned voice.
“Mh?” You turned your face towards him, distracted by the stars.
“Your concern. Do you have one now?” He asked you again repeating the question and you looked back at the sky, thinking deeply about the answer.
“Is ‘trying not to get killed’ too lame?” You said, making him chuckle lightly.
“I guess that everyone’s concern is related to surviving now. I would like to be safe…feel like I don’t need to worry about walking around without a gun or a knife, or whatever.” You continued and he nodded – understanding perfectly what you were trying to say.
“It would be nice.” He muttered, resting his head to the iron behind him while looking up.
“For how long do you think that this will go on?” This time around, you were the one that asked the question and Taehyung sighed before starting to speak.
“I think that it will go on for a long time. We should try to find a safe place and after everything will come to an end, we’ll just relax and maybe come back here to live at the farm.” He said, making you widen your eyes at his words. You didn’t think he would want to stay by your side even without survival purpose, but that affirmation made you feel happy inside.
“It would be nice.” You muttered, copying the tone that he had previously used and causing a small laugh to get out of his pink lips.
“You know what I’m afraid of?” He asked once again – a tint of sadness in his eyes in contrast with the curiosity that filled yours.
It was the first time for you to hear him speak this much.
“What?”
“Forgetting about what It was like before.” You furrowed your brows, not quite understanding where he was coming from.
“You won’t forget about anything.” You said firmly and this time, he looked at you in the eyes – waiting for a further explanation.
“You have your memories and that’s the only thing that matters. You have emotions still livid in your mind and everything related to them will stay for the rest of your life.” You continued, noticing a small smile on his face.
You two went quiet after that, mesmerized by the hundreds lights in front of your eyes and you both breathed calmly as the stars hung above you – as if strung in the air by invisible strings.
They were filling the darkness, transforming the jet black color of the sky into a beautiful blue haze that hid galaxies in it.
You could have stayed there for an eternity, as long as Taehyung stayed by your side.
“Y/N?” Your name came out like a soft breeze from his lips and you felt chills run down your spine at the sound.
“Mh?”
“What do you miss the most about the normality?” He asked without diverting his gaze from the little lights that made his skin shine as if it was porcelain.
You turned your head, looking at him and you felt frozen despite the, now warmer, weather.
You stopped your gaze to his features, admiring the beauty that he owned as soft bows of winds moved his long hair out of his eyes – thinking that a person like him was probably surreal.
From the moment you saw him for the first time as he saved your life – taking you under his wing to protect you from the nightmares that were becoming reality in the world – you knew that he was surreal and you could call yourself lucky, only because you had the chance to stay by his side.
“I wish I could love without being afraid.” You whispered without looking away from him, feeling your heart beat like drumrolls.
Taehyung moved as those words came to his hears, turning slowly his head to look at you in the eyes – losing himself inside them.
You stayed like this for a couple of seconds, just looking at each other eyes without making a sound and it seemed like an eternity before someone finally decided to do something.
Your breath got caught in your throat as Taehyung grabbed your face with his hands before smashing his lips on yours like he had tried to restrain himself from doing that for the longest time.
You melted as soon as his chapped, strong lips started moving roughly against yours. And when you started kissing him back, you immediately felt something passing in every single part of your body like a shock, in every vein, every nerve, every inch of flesh.
You didn't know what it was at first: fear, surprise, desire, arousal.
But as soon as he started nibbling at your lower lip you realized what kind of sensation was running through your bones. You parted your lips slightly to let his tongue in, but the boy kept on nibbling until he suddenly reclaimed your lips, brushing your tongue with his.
He kept on kissing you deeply until he moved his hands from your face and tightly gripped you hips, guiding them until you were positioned on his lap, your legs not covered anymore by this shirt –wrapped around his hips. You broke the kiss at the sudden motion, almost gasping for air and letting out shaky breaths.
"You have no idea...how much I wanted to do this..." he said against your throat with a very low tone, enough to send vibration directly to your lower body.
"No idea...how much I've wanted to touch you...". His warm hands started wandering on your naked thighs, under them, brushing your curves, while his lips were starting to suck and nibble on your collarbones.
Your lips opened lightly to let out a soft moan as he started, and you could feel him smirking against your skin "Are we sensitive already, princess? I just started." he whispered, lips now against your ear.
You wanted to feel him, you needed to feel him. You tugged at the hem of his shirt, and his lips left your soft skin so as he could pull the fabric off of him, immediately reattaching them to your neck.
His nibbles and sucks were getting rougher and stronger, causing you to let out louder moans and to lightly scratch his back, to which he responded with a low growl.
He stopped and let out a loud moan when he felt you grinding on his hard lap, desperate to find friction.
"Do it again, princess." he said, although he didn’t have the need - you were already grinding again and again, every time rougher than the previous.
"Fuck Y/N, since when you were- oh god- this needy, mm?". You smirked before starting to breathe against his ear, and every moan you let out went directly to his lap, sending shocks in his body. You tried to move your hips, but his hands kept them still against him. You couldn't move or find friction in any way while he kept on marking your skin.
"Tae, let me move...I need to move" you moaned out, but he seemed too busy to hear you, sucking harshly on your skin.
"I-It hurts, please". As you whined, he finally let your neck free and tapped his thigh.
"Sit here and start grinding. Let's see how much it will take you" he challenged you.
You immediately left his lap and positioned to hug his thigh with your legs, your hands on his strong, bare shoulders and started moving.
You weren't getting any friction, having still your panties on. Taehyung saw you struggling and started tugging at your panties, as a signal to take them off.
Once you removed the cloth, he groaned at the sight of you bare and harshly took your shirt off of you, leaving only your bra on.
As soon as your lips brushed his thigh, you rolled back your head. You hadn't any type of sexual activity since the outbreak and you had been feeling extremely sensitive for months now. Your loud moans were driving Taehyung insane and you didn't even notice how he started unbuckling his belt, taking out his member from his pants to arouse himself while looking at you riding his thigh. He started stroking himself as he kept his eyes on you, your movement were getting rougher at each grind as you watched him getting off.
"Holy shit princess, you look so good like that, getting off while thinking of me stroking against you, uh?".
"Oh my god.” You moaned - each grind sending you close to your orgasm.
“You like hearing me talking like this? I’ve been wanting to fuck you since I saw you changing for the first time thinking that I was sleeping next to you. Fuck, I just wanted to take you and bend you down on the car sit under me. Pumping my dick in you until you couldn’t walk anymore.” He moaned in your ear, taking off your bra to squeeze your breasts with his big hand. With a quick movement, he bounced his leg up – throwing you off the edge.
You came with a loud and long moan, slowing down the movement of your hips as you grabbed his hair, pulling it slightly and Taehyung growled at the sight, feeling close to his orgasm.
Looking down at the huge, wet spot that stained his pants under you, he reached his high as well, feeling so much relief at the release he had waited for so long.
You gave him small kisses along his jawline and he let out a satisfied moan, pulling you closer to his chest with his arms wrapped around your torso.
You did the same around his neck and Taehyung got up from his seated position – keeping you up with his hands on your thighs as he tried to place you lightly on your back, so that he could show you how much he was in love with you.
Unfortunately, because of the euphoria that he still had in his body – or because of the darkness of the night – he failed to measure well enough the size of the mattress, causing you to bang your head against the edge of the car.
As soon as Taehyung heard the loud sound, followed by a whine that came out of your mouth – the boy widened his eyes, distancing himself from your body to look at you better.
“Holy shit! Y/N are you okay?!” He panicked, looking guilty as you touched your head – already knowing that a bump would come out.
“Princess I’m so sorry! Did I hurt you that much?” He asked, looking at you with worry in his face – that soon dissolved when you started cracking up.
“We’re a mess.” You laughed, making him giggle at your words as he helped you out before placing a kiss on your forehead.
You looked up, letting a small kiss to his lips as he tried to lay you down again – this time keeping one hand under you head.
Taehyung started kissing the skin on your neck, where purple hickeys were already showing, and his hands caressed your body wandering around the naked skin. You could feel the heat that his body was realizing.
He touched your thigh, drawing small circles on the skin with his fingers and your breath got caught on your throat. You looked at him with an apologizing expression as he moved away to look at you in the eyes with furrowed brows, stopping all of his movements.
“Did I do something wrong?” He asked, searching for a source of unease on your face but you shook your head at his question.
“No, you did nothing wrong- It’s just that I’m a bit sensible there.” You said and he looked down on your thigh, widening his eyes at the sight of the huge scar drawn on the skin.
“Is it…?” You nodded, already knowing what the rest of his sentence was going to say and he hummed in understanding, tracing his fingers on the long scar with care and gentleness.
He moved away from you without listening to your small whine at the loss of his touch and he lightly opened your legs, placing himself between them.
You gasped at the sensation of his lips kissing the scar and your hand moved to grab his hair without you noticing.
He traced small kissed along the marked skin keeping eye contact with you as he touched around it with his lips.
“This doesn’t define who you are, it only shows that you’re strong and that you survived.” He whispered looking at you in the eyes, causing you to blush lightly before going on with his pecks, making you moan gently as he started kissing your groin – squeezing your legs with his hands.
When he realized that you felt at ease with the strange sensation that was flowing through your body, he started licking through your folds with his warm muscle. You felt every inch getting hotter and hotter as the licks became more rough, until he started teasing your clit with the tip of the tongue. Your breaths became whimpers and then loud moans as he alternated licks and sucks on the most sensitive part of your body: he was making you go crazy.
You tug on his hair almost seemed like you wanted him to stop, or at least that's what the boy thought. But your sounds of satisfaction were saying the complete opposite. And they got louder as soon as he inserted one of his long fingers to stretch you out.
"Do you enjoy it, princess? " he said against your clit, and you could feel every single vibration coming from his lips going straight inside of you.
Your response was a breathy and shaky "'Yes" followed by another moan, at the sudden sensation of having other two fingers inside of you. As soon as they started curling and moving, you didn't know how but you found the strength to grip his hair even tighter.
"God, Tae, don't stop please" you whimpered and you felt his lips detach from your clit a second, just to look at you with a smirk on his face. You could still feel his breath on your groin and you whined at the lost of touch.
"How could I not keep you satisfied, with those moans of appreciation that you let out of those delicious lips of yours." he whispered and breathed on your clit, reattaching to them immediately.
The pace of his fingers increased, and his mouth began to suck harder and harder.
It didn't take long for you to be so near to the edge, again.
''I-I'm close, oh fuck, so close" you let out pushing him even more towards your entrance.
He suddenly detached from you, taking his fingers out and you whined even louder, far too euphoric to complain. Feeling the urge to come, you touched your own clit and tried to come by yourself - but he grabbed your hands and put them above your head.
"Not like that, princess. I want to feel you coming around me, okay? Full of my cock." he whispered directly on your ear, and the need to come was stronger than ever as he got out of his pants and boxers. You could finally see him entirely for the first time: he didn't look real.
He was giving off an aura of desire, dominance: you couldn't help but stare at his features.
"Like what you see?" he smirked.
"You're stunning.” You muttered, causing him to blush at the sound of that compliment.
He didn't expect that. His smirk suddenly dropped, and he looked at you with wide eyes. He brought a hand to your cheek and kissed you deeply.
"You should see yourself, princess. You're the most beautiful thing I've ever laid eyes on.” He began leaving soft pecks around your mouth, down to your throat, then to your breasts as he spread your legs to place himself in between them with impatience. You knew that his touch would leave bruises on you but you were feeling too much pleasure to care.
He grabbed his hard cock, teasing your clit by brushing it against you for a moment – trailing it along your own intimacy until he heard a long moan get out of your lips – you were feeling something that no one had ever made you feel before, his touch was becoming like an addiction for you.
After he believed that he had teased you too long, he grabbed your hips roughly, pushing inside.
You wrapped your arms around his torso, scratching his back with your nails as you moaned in pleasure at the filling of his cock buried inside you. He groaned as well, moving slowly his hips – feeling how tight you were around him and how wet you were as he fucked you. As soon as both of you got used to the feeling of being wrapped around each others, Taehyung started to move more frantically, slamming his hips against yours and causing both of you to let out strangled moans and whimpers.
“You’re making me feel so good.” You groaned, receiving a moan from him in response.
He pulled you onto him with each thrust, fucking you roughly against the mattress without showing any sign of exhaustion.
“You feel so fucking good around me, so wet and tight for my cock.” He groaned, rolling his hips around you as he held onto your leg, pulling it against his chest so that he could bury his dick even more deep inside you – hitting your G-spot.
“Oh my fucking god.” You cried out, feeling a sense of pleasure that you had never experienced before. You pushed your hips against his, trying to get him to hit that spot again and he quickly understood what you were trying to do.
“Has no one ever fucked you this good? Mh? No one reached so deep inside you before?” He asked with a growl as he slammed his cock in your G-spot, causing you to gasp and moan louder then before while clenching the soft mattress with your hands.
“F-Fuck Tae, keep going.” You moaned, feeling his hands on your ass cheeks as he raised your hips, moving them up and down to rub yourself on him.
You were just about to have your orgasm and Taehyung’s shaky breaths were telling you that he was feeling the same way – you closed your eyes at the enormous pleasure but he grabbed your face harshly, causing you to open them instantly.
“Look at me.” He gasped, looking down at your sweaty and naked body.
Your breasts were moving as he slammed himself on you and your teary, tired eyes were looking at him with arousal and pleasure – cumming on his cock.
“Shit, you look so pretty like this.” He moaned, feeling himself on the edge at the feeling of your hot, wet liquid on him.
“Cum on me.” You whispered, looking at him with your doll-like eyes as he pulled out from you – pumping his hard and throbbing cock with his hand. He rolled his head back as he reached his orgasm – hot and wet drops of cum reaching your breasts as he came without looking away from your body.
You were both still trying to catch your breath as he suddenly got up, looking for something in his bag. You wanted to get up as well but you were feeling too weak to move. Wondering was he was trying to do, you waited for him to lie back down when you felt a hand brushing your hip and thigh, and then a soft cloth against your chest.
You saw Taehyung leaned above you, busy trying to clean you up as good as he could. His other hand was still massaging your side. You blushed slightly at the sight of his lovely expression - once he was done cleaning your chest, he pulled away to reach in between your legs, squeezing your side just to warn you, the sensation of the cloth was probably going to bother you. You still felt sensitive down there, and Taehyung was trying his best to clean you up without hurting you.
After making sure that you were clean, he laid beside you covering you and himself up with a blanket, and moved your back near him, against his chest as his arms sneaked around your hips.
You could feel his heartbeat on your back, his soft breath on your heart.
You felt so peaceful. His hand started wandering lightly on your sides, belly and thighs as he spoke softly.
"Are you okay? ". His voice felt like honey, warm and golden to your ear.
“Yeah." you responded with a small smile on your face, but he couldn't see you, so you turned so that you could face him.
As soon as he saw your beautiful eyes, your pink, warm lips, something lit up in his chest.
You were so beautiful.
"Y/N... " he started shakily.
He was anxious. It wasn't easy for him, to let out everything. To let you know what he had felt for you since the beginning. It wasn't easy to tell you he loved you. But he had do. He needed to.
You were looking at him with a curious and slightly concerned eyes.
He brought a hand to brush the hair off your face, and brushed your lips with his fingertips.
"Y/N...I... I know this might sound scary to you, and honestly it scares me too. But I've been feeling this way since the first time I saw you. And I'm not talking about when I first saw you during the outbreak. I'm talking about when I first saw you as yourself. That's when I fell for you. I fell for you when you started arguing back, when you started being more comfortable with what you had to deal with, when you began opening yourself with me. I fell for you when I saw your dreamy gaze on your face as you looked around here. I fell for you when I realized what a beautiful, stunning, unique creature you are, Y/N. And you have no idea of how happy I am when I see you smile, when I hear you laugh, when I realize you're not scared to deal with this world. You make me happy in a way that no one else has ever had.".
He could feel your breath against his fingers. He could see the tears in your eyes.
But you also saw his.
"I love you and even if we were trying to stay together without catching feelings, I couldn’t help but fell for you." he breathed out, and in that moment you've never felt so happy.
You felt at home right there, in his arms.
"I love you too Tae. So so much" you finally said. You had waited to much to tell him.
And when you did you felt light as air.
Taehyung caressed your face, brushing his thumb on your lips before kissing them deeply one last time.
You felt sparks in you. For the first time you could feel the pure form of love, affection, on his lips.
You could have stayed like this forever and that's how you fell asleep, that night: with the brightest smile on your face, his heartbeat and the sound of the wind to sink you to sleep. You've never been more grateful that you were alive. And even if you had to fight the world to survive, it was worth it as long as you had him by your side.
.
.
The next day you woke up to the sound of birds and to the feeling of a soft blanket on your naked body. He was beside you, looking at you with the softest eyes.
"Good morning" you mumbled softly, still a bit sleepy.
"Good morning princess." he said kissing your nose. He was already dressed, and, wrapping the blanket around your chest, you felt embarrassed at your state.
He saw your cheeks heating up and chuckled.
"It's not like I've not seen you naked already" he teased you while getting off the back of the pick up.
You let out a small chuckle that soon went away, replaced by a smile.
"We have to go, don't we?" you said with a frown on your face.
"We'll come back. I promise." he was looking at you directly in the eyes. He wasn't lying.
You nodded with a small smile. You trusted him.
After getting dressed, you two went around the farm one last time to make sure you had everything. Ten minutes later you were on your seat. Taehyung started the car, and as soon as the landscape around you started moving, you felt a bit of sadness making its way in your head.
You saw Taehyung giving you a soft smile, which you returned and you found yourself on the road again.
.
.
“What do we need to find?” You asked Taehyung as he parked the car at the side of the street, looking in the distance at an abandoned shopping mall.
“Food, if you want you can also see if they have clothes for you because you don’t have many.” He said taking two guns out of the car – handing one to you.
You took it, holding tightly on it before following his quick steps and reaching the entrance of the building.
It was pretty big, the walls were gray and many holes and cracked marked them all around, there weren’t many things inside, probably because a shop this big attracted the attention of many people and you weren’t the first one that came up with the idea of stealing sources.
“Let’s split, you’ll check there and I’ll check here.” You said, looking at the cupboards with various snacks and foods. Taehyung nodded, heading out to look at the other aisle of the building where hopefully there were more things to take.
You stuffed your backpack with everything that you could find, cussing out loud every time you realized that the food you had in your hand was expired.
“Do you have anything in there?” Taehyung yelled from the other room, frustration vivid in his voice.
“Not much, the majority is expired but I have a bunch of sweets in my backpack. Maybe its enough.” You yelled back, walking towards the the other aisle where he was. Every shelf was completely empty and only dust filled the air.
“I guess we need to find another place; this one has nothing.” Taehyung muttered with a pout on his face before turning around – ready to go back in the car and drive down the road.
You were just about to follow him, ready with your backpack on your shoulders when you heard someone call your name.
You stopped in your track, confusion stamped on your face as you looked at Taehyung’s back.
“Did you heard it?” You asked him and the boy turned around, looking more confused than you.
“Heard what?” He responded, staying silent for a couple of seconds to heard if anything made a noise.
A loud coughing resounded in the empty building and you felt chills roll down your spine.
Taehyung grabbed your hand, ready to pull you out and ran away from there but you pushed his hand away.
“He called my name.” You murmured and Taehyung looked at you as if he was about to kill you.
“We need to go away Y/N!” You walked around the hallway with your gun tight on your hand, looking for the source of the noise when you suddenly heard your name again.
“Y/N! I’m here!” It came out like a murmur but you understood it as soon as that voice came to your ears. Taehyung tried to follow you and pull you back outside but you ran in one of the rooms, freezing at the sight.
You didn’t recognized him at first, but after a couple of seconds you understood: there he was.
Barely standing on those skinny legs, the remaining parts of the blouse he used to always wear to work coated in blood. Your eyes started watering as soon as he looked at you with a smile on his face.
"...d-dad?" you sobbed, ignoring the yells of Taehyung behind you,
He looked at you with hopeful eyes, but you saw a trace of sadness.
"Oh god Y/N I'm so happy you're here!" he sounded normal. But you knew he wasn't. You couldn't take your eyes off the bite on the exposed skin of his shoulder. Tears were filling your eyes. Why was he acting like that?
"Dad what...what happened to you" you were shocked.
"Y/N! " you heard Taehyung’s voice closer to you, but he stopped yelling as soon as he saw what was happening in front of you.
"I... I don't know..." your father looked confused at his shoulder, almost scared.
"Oh my god" Taehyung had finally reached you and held your hand tightly.
"He's delirious... I...I don’t know what happened.” You cried, looking at him full of fear and he answered with a look full of pity.
“I think he couldn’t sustain the loss of who was around him.” Taehyung said grabbing you by your hand – so that you wouldn’t get close to him.
Your heart broke. You couldn't let him turn into a zombie.
"W-when did they bite you? " you asked with a fake smile on your face, maybe he wasn’t understanding the gravity of what was happening.
"I think five days ago... I don't remember exactly.” Now he was smiling. It seemed like he turned into a different person in a matter of seconds. He wasn’t your father. He was far gone. Maybe you should’ve stayed with him the night of the apocalypse – if you did, now he wouldn’t be traumatized.
Your tears were painting your face as you thought about how he used to be, and what he had become.
"I can't let him go, Tae. I don’t want to. " you turned to him with imploring eyes and he looked at you with sadness.
"He's going to turn into one of them tomorrow, Y/N. We can't bring him with us. You turn after 5 days."
"He's the only member of my family I have left" you implored.
"I don't want him to suffer. Not again.". Your dad was walking around the room, like nothing was happening. It almost seemed like he didn't know he was going to turn into a monster.
"There's only one way...to not let him suffer anymore...and to not let him transform. " Taehyung looked at you deeply holding your hands.
You knew exactly what he was talking about. You panicked, shaking your head desperately.
" It can't be the only way. " you were crying even harder.
"I'm so sorry. " he looked at you, tears forming on his own eyes. He was devastated too.
It was the only thing to do. You knew it.
"O..Okay…Okay." You whispered heavily, closing your eyes to calm yourself down.
"Can you try to get him to lay down? That way it won't be that difficult...". Taehyung asked with a soft voice, petting your shoulder and you nodded sniffling before turning away.
You started walking towards your dad who was now looking at some broken glass on the floor.
"Dad...hey dad, can you please lay down a bit? You should rest" you said to him, coughing to get a steadier voice. You heart ached more at every word. Every lie. Every fake smile.
"Sure, I think I might take a nap. Are we going home after that?" he asked you hopeful.
"Of course we will, dad. We're going bring you with us." Lies.
“I missed you so much Y/N I almost died from how worried I was. Luckily I didn’t and now we can stay together.” He said with a smile as he laid down looking at you – you felt your heart break.
As soon as he closed his eyes, you turned towards Taehyung.
He had his hands around his gun.
"Come here. " he said softly, signing you to hug him – so that he could hide your face in his chest.
"I can't do it... I can't" You sobbed.
"You can, Y/N. You're doing what's best for him, okay? There’s no other way." he pecked the top of your head, placing the cold gun in your hands before bringing you arm up, pointing at your father.
"I'm going to aim for you, okay? "
You nodded without looking away from the cloth of his shirt.
"Close your eyes. ". You did. You could feel your hands around the gun, his around yours.
Your fingers on the trigger. His breath against your ear.
"Everything will be okay. " You nodded through the pain.
As soon as the bang of the gun echoed in the air, you felt empty.
The gun fell on the floor and so did you, covered with tears.
.
.
After an hour after what had happened, you were back in the car seat next to Taehyung, as he searched for a place that could contain something useful. You felt numb and tired, almost as if you were just living a dream – or a nightmare – and you couldn’t get up.
When Taehyung started the car you didn't even notice.
You were too overwhelmed and started feeling nauseous as he kept on driving, until you told him to stop the car and threw up on the sidewalk. For a moment you thought that you were sick, but you knew that it was only in your head.
"It's going to get better, I promise". He kept on reassuring you, while driving to another forgotten place to rob.
Since you hadn’t found anything at the mall, you needed to stop somewhere else.
You wanted to ask him where were you headed, but words couldn't seem to exit your mouth.
The next hours passed slowly and quietly.
None of you said a word. Your gun was still on the dashboard, where Taehyung put it, and you didn’t dare to look at it.
It was getting darker outside, and even though the windows were closed you started to feel the cold air in your bones.
"Princess" he called you softly.
You didn't face him. You kept on watching the landscape moving around you. A sigh escaped from his lips.
"Y/N....we’re stopping for a bit. We have to find something to eat, we're almost out of everything. Okay?" he was looking at you with sad eyes and a hand on your thigh.
You nodded after looking at him, but when you two arrived at the place, you wish you never did.
You were in a small abandoned city and the road was empty, like everything else.
The aura of that placed was too ghostly. It was scaring you to death.
He stopped the car in front of an abandoned building that seemed in pretty good conditions but something still didn't feel right.
Once you got out of the car, you started hearing sounds; Glass creaking, wind blowing, doors moving.
You were getting more anxious by every minute.
"Tae this doesn't feel right. Let's go something else." you said tugging his wrist and looking towards the car.
"We can't, Y/N. This might be a good place to find something. We have to try." he said firmly.
"Have you not heard all those noises? We can't be the only one here, Tae."
"Fine, I’ll stay out here so that nobody enters. And if I see anything I’ll search for you right away." he suggested. You were still unsure, but you needed to find things to eat – so you just nodded, going inside the dark and gloomy place.
When you entered the building, everything seemed normal. You couldn't tell what was his function, it was almost empty. Dust covered the walls and the rooms where lightened up by a couple of broken windows. The hallway didn’t have anything useful inside, so you decided to go up and see if on the first floor you could find some food.
You climbed the stairs as quietly as you could, still hearing some sounds now and then that made you freak out. You tried not to think too much about it, because you knew that your mind could play tricks – especially after what had happened with your father a couple of hours before.
The ends of the stairs led to what seemed like a kitchen full of cabinets, that you hoped contained something.
Walking slowly towards them, you started to open every pantry one by one, finding nothing eatable nor anything that could be useful for you or Taehyung.
When you reached to open the last cabinet, you heard a strange sound that made you froze on the spot. This time you were sure that it wasn’t anything made up by your mind, but you had actually heard that noise in real life.
Looking around anxiously, you tried to see what could have been and you took a knife out of your pocket to defend yourself from whoever could be there.
You stayed silent, looking at a cupboard that had the door ajar, but you decided not to walk towards it – feeling like it could be a bad idea.
You took one step back, trying to get out of the kitchen as quietly as possible, but something blocked your way and you ended up kicking a piece of wood that had probably fallen from the ceiling.
Letting out a small cuss, you backed away quickly, noticing something moving from inside the storage room and soon, a monster made his way out – looking directly at you.
The zombie had white eyes and blood all over himself, the skin was peeling off from his flesh and the clothes that he had on where almost all ripped off.
“Fuck!” You let out, looking at the zombie that was now chasing you, before running away – feeling adrenaline on your whole body as you tried to get away from him.
Your legs were working as fast as they could, but it wasn't enough, you almost slipped, trying to get out of the room - feeling the movements of the zombie getting closer and closer. He let out loud grunts and growls that made your chills roll down your spine.
You screamed as loud as you could, knowing that Taehyung wasn’t too far from you but as soon as you tried to look for him, the body of the zombie slammed into yours and you found yourself on the ground, crying and cussing in an attempt of getting it off of you.
Taehyung was keeping an eye on the entrance of the building when he heard something. Something similar to a muffled cry.
As he was tried to understand who might have let it out, he heard your voice and widened his eyes after he realized that you were screaming.
He started running as fast as he could inside, not caring about the broken glass under his feet - immediately getting up after he slipped on them. You kept on screaming and for a moment Taehyung thought that he was going insane, trying to understand where it was coming from. He began climbing sets of stairs as the screams grew louder.
He then saw you laying on the ground, trying to move away the zombie that was above you.
You were kicking, screaming, freaking out as you fought with all your strength the pale, bloody monster above you.
You started to feel excruciating pain as the monster grabbed you roughly trying to tear your flesh apart with his rotten teeth, but despite it you managed to kick him giving Taehyung the opportunity to shot him dead in the head.
The body of the zombie dropped down emotionless and Taehyung ran towards you, full of fear and regret as he helped you get up.
"Fuck, I shouldn't have let you come here alone, are you okay? Did he hurt you?" you were looking at him in the eye without talking - your eyes wide. He looked more frustrated than before after he got silence as an answer.
"Y/N, did you fucking hear me? Why the fuck are you looking at me like tha-".
As he put his hands on your hips, he froze and felt his heart stop and the touch of warm blood – spotting a huge stain that drenched your shirt. He looked down feeling tears form on his eyes at the sight of the bite.
"No..No…No." he tore your shirt and took a better look at the wound but all he saw was blood and teeth marks.
"No no, no this can’t be."He couldn't stop mumbling.
You felt your heart break at the sight of his body shaking, but you didn’t know what to do.
"M-Maybe you will not get infected, maybe you will heal. I-I'm sure we can do something to fix this." He quickly wiped away the tears from his eyes and he spoke with sore and broken voice.
"I-I'm okay Tae. It doesn't hurt.” You said with a trembling voice, taking his hands and he took you in his arms, knowing too well that all those words were only a lie.
.
.
SECOND AND LAST PART
#bts#bts bangtan boys#bangtan sonyeondan#scenaro#reaction#headcanon#au#zombie au#zombie apocalypse au#enemies to lovers au#bestfriend to lovers au#smut#fluff#angst#boyfriend au#kim namjoon#kim seokjin#min yoongi#jung hoseok#park jimin#kim taehyung#v#jeon jungkook#Kpop#korean pop#apocalypse au#supernatura au
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Meeting in the Clifflands
(Since there’s a lack of character interaction so far, I took it on myself to write some stuff.)
Borderfall’s inn was no stranger to travelers. Colorful merchants came and went, hoping to score a deal with the illustrious House Ravus. In addition to the merchants, thieves also frequented the inn, coming back from different heists in different places. That being said, Alfyn Greengrass drew some heads as he booked a room for the night, handing over the small fee. Not many people from the Riverlands came up this far, being several days’ worth of travel and all.
Therion watched the newcomer with detached interest. He smirked as he watched the kid get ripped off by a merchant. It seems his ears are as green as his clothing, he thought to himself. He then turned his attention back to the letter in his hand—his ticket into Ravus Manor. He stowed it away, smiling to himself. This was a challenge he’d surely overcome.
One week later
Therion glared with distaste at the band upon his arm. He sighed. He had been totally unprepared, after all. The nerve of that woman, he thought bitterly. He tightened his cloak around him before continuing on his way down the dusty canyon path.
“Hey!” a voice behind him gave him pause. The boy from the week before—Alfyn, he remembered—caught up to him, panting slightly. “You’re off on a journey too, ain’t ya? Where ya headed?”
“ . . . .” Therion ignored him, walking faster.
“Ah, right. Forgot m’manners there fer a sec.” He grinned. “M’name’s Alfyn. Alfyn Greengrass. Yours?”
The thief could tell that he wouldn’t soon be rid of his unwanted companion if he didn’t get answers. “ . . . Therion. I’m headed towards Noblecourt. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be on my way.” He picked up his pace, shifting his pack.
“Woah, Noblecourt? I’ve always wanted to see that place,” Alfyn said, effortlessly keeping up with Therion. “What’s your business there?”
“Personal,” he growled.
Alfyn nodded sagely. “I see, I see. Well, why don’t we go together? Two heads are better’n one, after all.”
Therion turned to him, an exasperated look in his eyes. “If I say yes, will you shut up?”
“Huh? Sure, I guess.”
“Then yes.”
True to his word, Alfyn was quiet from then on out—well, relatively. He hummed to himself as they hiked the canyon path, his off-key vocalizations driving Therion up a wall. At last, he had enough.
“Will you just keep quiet for three seconds?!” the normally taciturn thief shouted. Alfyn stopped, startled, as Therion continued. “I’ve had to put up with your incessant chatter and horribly out-of-tune humming for the past three hours! How can one person have this much energy?!”
Alfyn blinked, taken aback. “Well, shucks, if you felt that way, you should’ve said so!”
“I—argh!” Therion threw up his hands in exasperation. “I’m done! Quit following me!” With that, he stormed off.
“Wait--!” Alfyn called out, but Therion ignored him.
“Just what was up with him?” the thief muttered to himself when he was a sufficient distance away. “Hasn’t he heard of respecting people’s privacy? Stupid kids from the sticks.” He kicked a rock out of his path, the stone clattering down the cliffside. Suddenly, he heard a screech, and he froze, his hand immediately flying to the sword at his hip. From out of the sky flew a Birdian—a birdlike monster that often terrorized travelers. Therion smirked. He’d dealt with such monsters before—one all by itself wouldn’t pose much of a problem. The monster dove, attempting to slash Therion with its talons, but the thief dodged, cutting it with his sword as it fell. It tumbled into the dirt, bleeding out.
Therion wiped his sword on some ruffage before sheathing it. “Never stood a chance,” he said, turning away.
“Look out!”
He turned, eyes going wide as a sword sailed straight towards him. He pulled back just in time, the edge grazing his cheek. Apparently another Birdian had snuck up on him while he was distracted with the first. He reached for his sword, but there was a flash of blue light. He felt the temperature plummet, and when he recovered his vision, he saw the Birdian, unmoving in midair, frozen in a large pillar of ice. The ice shattered, revealing Alfyn, his hand still emanating azure wisps of magic. “You okay, there?”
“I’m fine,” he muttered, turning away. “I could’ve handled that myself.”
“I don’t doubt you,” Alfyn said. “Hey, let me take a look at that cut.”
“I said I’m fine,” he snapped.
“Alright, alright,” Alfyn said, holding up his hands. “Just make sure it doesn’t get infected, okay?”
Therion ignored him and continued to ignore him for the next little while as they travelled. The scenery slowly shifted from brown canyon to green forestland, and the sun dipped low in the sky. As they traveled Therion began to feel a tad unwell, but blamed it on stress from being forced to do House Ravus’ bidding and Alfyn’s constant annoyance. A part of him found it strange that he was sweating even when the cool night air had swept over them, but he ignored it.
“Let’s camp here for the night,” Alfyn suggested once they reached a decent clearing along the forest path. “We should be reaching Woodlands border tomorrow.”
Therion grunted, grimacing as he sat down. This did not escape Alfyn’s eye. “You’re hurt,” he noticed.
“No I’m not,” he muttered. “Just feeling a little tired, is all.”
“No, that ain’t it.” Alfyn squatted down next to him before reaching out to Therion’s cheek. Therion flinched, but Alfyn held up his hands. “I’m an apothecary. It’s my job to heal people. So let me take a look.”
Rationalizing that if he got his way he’d leave Therion alone, the thief relented. Alfyn cupped his cheek and gave the cut a critical eye. “Hmm. Looks like you were poisoned.”
“Probably that sword,” Therion muttered.
“Probably. Seems to me like a poison designed to wear out prey so the Birdians can snatch ‘em up after they’ve exhausted themselves,” Alfyn theorized. “Took this long to work on you since you’re not exactly the size of prey.”
“Great, you know what it is. It’ll go away on its own, so just leave me be.”
“Not necessarily. It’ll leave you weak and vulnerable to enemies—something you don’t want, I’d assume.” Alfyn reached into his satchel and brought out a vial. “Thankfully, I treated cases like yours back at Borderfall, so I already have a cure.” He handed it to him. “Drink this. You’ll feel better tomorrow morning.”
Therion eyed the vial with distaste. “You could be trying to poison me,” he pointed out.
Alfyn rolled his eyes. “If I wanted to, I’d have frozen you solid while you were ignoring me. Now drink up—doctor’s orders.”
Therion hesitantly drank the antidote, gagging at its foul taste. “Thanks, doc,” he said sarcastically.
“Don’t mention it,” Alfyn responded. “Now get some sleep. We’ve got more traveling to do tomorrow.”
Therion rolled his eyes, before turning over and getting out his bedroll. Alfyn watched him slowly fall asleep, a pained expression closing the thief’s face every now and then. Before long, however, Therion was fast asleep. Alfyn decided that he’d better tuck in, too, and was soon dreaming of running rivers and green forests.
Therion woke up feeling queasy. He jumped up and made it a few feet away from the campsite before hurling the contents of his stomach onto the ground.
“Morning,” Alfyn said, and Therion realized that the apothecary had woken up before him. I must have slept for quite some time, he realized. That poison must have done more of a number on me than I thought.
Out loud he said, “I thought this was supposed to make me feel better, not more sick.”
“But you feel better now, right?”
Therion paused and realized that he did in fact feel better. Alfyn’s medicine had worked. The light-haired thief simply spat the rest of the bile in his mouth off to the side, ignoring the pleased look on the apothecary’s face. He picked up his pack and bedroll, waiting for Alfyn to finish up stuffing herbs into his satchel.
“What happened to ‘quit following me’?” Alfyn asked cheekily as they hiked the forest trail.
“I have half a mind to abandon you in the middle of the woods right now,” Therion grumbled.
Alfyn grinned, and Therion allowed himself a small smile. He wouldn’t be his partner—but maybe a fellow traveler wouldn’t be so bad.
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Bet
Pairing: Isaac x Reader (thx for requesting love)
Warnings: none ;), just me crying in the club over how Isaac wasn’t in the last season
Summary: Isaac finally gets the nerves to ask Y/N out on a date, due to a bet.
Word Count: 1.3k
A/N: oml this has been in my drafts for ages so I’m sorry for you sweets (whoever requested this lol I'm too lazy to check) but here it is finally!! hope you semi-enjoy?? it kind of ends abruptly so dm me if you want me to finish it ;) also sorry loves for not posting an imagine for a while, so here’s one to hold you over until my next one which I’m v excited to post ;))))))
.
.
(this fic starts in Isaac’s p.o.v. and transfers to Y/N’s p.o.v.)
It feels as if the whole room goes silent as that melodic song passes her lips, the one that she calls her laugh; all other sounds in the room blurring except that damn laugh. That goddamn laugh. Even the obnoxious chatter from the cafeteria can’t pull me away from focusing on the happiest sound that exists, my eyes searching every inch of the room to find her angelic face.
It doesn’t take me very long before I see her bright eyes somehow finding my own for a slight second, causing me to look away embarassedly and quickly rush to my usual table with Scott and Stiles.
I plop down at the table, incoherent swears tumbling from my mouth, for the hundredth time, muttering how dumb I was for not pushing my nerves aside for once and just talk to her. I angrily stab my fork into the school’s spaghetti, shoving it into my mouth.
“Why don’t you just ask her out already?” Scott asks, bringing me out of my angered daze and sliding across the bench to situate himself in front of me, Stiles sitting next to him.
Stiles and I look at him with wide eyes, shocked expressions being an understatement.
“Isaac would never,” Stiles scoffs, ripping open the plastic bag of chips in his hands and eating a mouthful.
Something in me switches, maybe it was my wolf instincts or maybe my animosity towards Stiles, but I bitterly growl at him. “Bet.”
Scott looks at me, impressed, while Stiles sports an expression of disbelief. “You wouldn’t,” he laughs unsurely. “Would he?” He asks quietly to Scott.
“Watch me,” I say, confidence radiating off of me. I pull my shoulders back, getting up from the table and taking careful, long strides towards Y/N’s table.
As one of her friends talks about some date she went on over the weekend, Y/N's eyes drift to me, ignoring the conversation. A sort of mischievous glint sparkles in her eyes that watch every step I take carefully, a small smile spreading across her kissable lips.
"Lahey?" She questions, just as surprised as I was about by my sudden confidence to actually speak to her. Her friends subsequently look up from each other, smirking while they look back and forth between me and her, whispering things like “finally” and “thank god”.
They knew too? Was it really that obvious?
One of her friends laughs, the blonde with dark green irises, getting the attention of the other three girls sitting at the table and declaring that she needed to use the restroom. All the others proceed to say, "me too," giggling and giving Y/N and I some privacy.
I smile gratefully at one of the girls as she gives me a thumbs up, sliding into the seat in front of Y/N. I look down at my hands for a few moments, my confidence slowly starting to dwindle. I rub my sweaty palms against my jeans, then look back up to her.
Y/N looks back at me intently, urging me to speak, yet with a demureness about her that made me so much more attracted to her (if that was even possible). She shyly pushes some strands of her hair behind her shoulder, her soft smile still gracing her lips.
"So, erm, Y/N, I um..." I look off into the distance behind her, feeling the words I had planned to ask her fall into the void.
"Yes, Isaac?" She queries, a shift of impatience in her noticeable.
Did she actually want this too?
"Would you, wanna, like go on a date with me?" I ask, wetting my chapped lips with my tongue and biting on my bottom lip.
"Of course, I mean, yeah," she answers quickly, fidgeting with her fingers. "I'd love to, Lahey."
"Okay.” I reciprocate her anxious happiness. I pull out my phone from my back pocket, clicking onto my contacts and typing in her name, then sliding he device over to her.
Y/N looks at me questioningly, and I’m quick to explain. “To set up the details.”
She nods, smiling up at the ceiling. “I should’ve assumed that,” she laughs. “I’m so dumb.”
“No,” I intervene, disagreeing. “You’re not dumb. You’re at the top of our class, Y/N. There’s literally no possible way for you, out of all people, to be dumb.”
She looks at me stunned, but flattered, a hint of a red rosy color displaying on her supple cheeks. My eyes widen, realizing how I just exposed how much of a stalker I was.
“Thanks,” she laughs, her fingers reaching up to her earlobe and tugging on her gold hoop earring, a habit that I’ve observed she does when she’s nervous. A small sigh of relief slips past my lips and my tense shoulders relax.
I stand up, giving her one last charming grin and telling her that I’d text her later.
“Woah, he actually did it?” I can hear Stiles ask in the distance.
Hell yeah I did.
.
.
“Y/N, I can’t believe he actually asked you out,” my friend says, as I look at my outfit in the wall length mirror, twirling to see all the angles of the black dress.
I smile brightly, just the thought of Isaac could get me happy if I was being completely honest. “I know,” I say, looking into my box of jewelry for some type of necklace to compliment my outfit. “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for this day.”
“Oh trust me, I do honey.” I push her playfully, laughing.
“Do you think I’m trying too hard?” I ask, clasping the pretty silver chain around my neck.
“Not at all,” she assures, standing beside me in the mirror and smiling.
“Good, because this has to be perfect.”
“Speaking of perfect,” she looks down at my phone, the sound of an incoming call ringing. “Your soulmate is calling,” she teases, handing me my phone.
“Haha, I guess I’ll have to resend that offer of being my maid of honor, huh?” I play along.
“Nooooo, I’m being your maid of honor and I’m absolutely going to embarrass you with this exact conversation,” she promises, sticking her tongue out at me.
I roll my eyes, placing my finger up to my lips, motioning for her to be quiet as I pick up Isaac’s call.
“Hey, Y/N,” Isaac’s cheerful voice rings through the speaker. “I’m outside now, so whenever your ready.”
“Okay, I’ll see you in a minute,” I reply, gathering my bag and waving a goodbye to my friend, going outside.
Before the phone call ends, I hear a ‘damn’ uttered from Isaac’s end of the line that doesn’t fail to make me look down to my feet while walking to his car, doing my best to keep the blush on my face hidden.
Isaac jumps out of the car, rounding the vehicle to open the door for me chivalrously. I smile at him, taking in his outfit lacking his signature scarf; he was wearing a pair of dark wash jeans, a black sweatshirt, and black vans.
He runs back around the car, slipping and falling, but then jumping back up and acting like it never happened. Once he gets back in the car though, he starts bursting out laughing, breaking the ice. I join him, putting aside my original plan of ignoring it for his sake. We both laugh for a solid five minutes, the type of laugh ending in sore stomachs and watering eyes.
We smile at one another, then Isaac grabs the wheel, pulling his car out from the side of the curb, driving until he reaches a red light, then stopping and turning to me.
“I forgot to tell you...” he says, scratching he back of his neck endearingly. “You look really gorgeous right now, well I mean, you do all the time, but especially right now.”
A big smile adorns my face. “You look good too, Lahey.”
“Thanks, but I don’t think I’ll ever look as good as you.”
#teen wolf#teenwolf#teen wolf imagine#teen wolf blurb#teen wolf drabble#teen wolf fanfic#teen wolf fanfiction#teen wolf headcanon#teen wolf oneshot#teen wolf preferences#teen wolf writing#teen wolf fluff#teen wolf smut#teen wolf au#teen wolf prompt#isaac lahey#isaac lahey fanfiction#isaac lahey imagine#isaac lahey x reader#isaac x reader#isaac lahey fluff#isaac lahey smut#isaac lahey teen wolf#isaac teen wolf#actual puppy#i love him#tw fanfiction#isaac lahey fanfic#isaac lahey oneshot#isaac lahey one shot
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how did meri find out that humans drink alcohol as a social thing?? i imagine it was a teensy bit stressful
This.... got out of hand...
tw: alcohol use
Read on AO3
“You wanna go geta drink?”
Meri set down hertablet, on which she’d pulled up the Wikipedia article on educationin the United States and leaned back in her seat. “A drink?”
“Yeah.”Rosario’s voice pulled back from the phone as she told Lance to putsomething down. “A group of us are going out tonight, and I thoughtyou might like to come. Feel free to say no; I know it’s shortnotice.”
“No, no.” Meristood, spinning around in search of her jacket. “I’d love tocome.”
“Great!” Rosarattled off an address, and Meri scribbled it down as she fumbledwith her shoes. She’d been lagging for the last hour, almost readyto call it a night and start fresh in the morning, but the excitementin Rosa’s voice was contagious, and Meri hardly slowed to be sureshe had her bus pass in her wallet before charging out the door.
She told herselfthis was all part of the plan. Find her successor—check. Learn thelocal language—check. (The occasional stumble notwithstanding.)Immerse herself in local culture by renting an apartment—check. Itwas a little bit lonely living so far from the cave where Blue slept,but it gave her better access to resources she might need, mostnotably the internet and the site called Wikipedia, which had done agreat deal to fill in the gaps in her knowledge.
She had moreresearch to do tonight, but then, she always had more research to do,and she still had years before Lance was anywhere near ready to hearthe truth.
She could afford tolose one night—especially in the name of getting closer to Lance’sfamily.
(All part ofpreparing Lance to take up her mantle, yup. And not at all becauseMeri was painfully lonely and in the last three months Rosa had gonefrom a kind stranger to a good friend. Maybe as good a friend as anyshe’d ever had.)
In all honesty, Merididn’t know what to expect from Rosa’s offer to “get a drink.”It was a little late for coffee, but Meri was hardly an expert onhuman social customs. Maybe people liked to drink coffee after dark.
Rosario’sdirections brought Meri to a nondescript little building thatcouldn’t have been much bigger than Meri’s apartment. There was asign out front that read Bubba’s Placewith a list of words Meri didn’t recognize below it with pricesbeside them. There was a manat the door who asked to see her ID, and Meri wasn’t so far removedfrom the death of her people that her danger instincts didn’t flareup and tell her to walk away then and there.
Thenagain, Meri had no IDto surrender. Meri pulled out the ID she’d made under the name ofJessica Reid and handed it over. The man pulled out ablacklight to check the ID, and Meri made a mental note to thank Bluefor figuring that trick out, because ancients knew Meri wouldn’thave been able to fake it on her own.
Theman clicked off the light and passed the ID back to Meri, nodding herthrough. Inside was… anexperience. Loud and dark, TVs blaring sports from two corners and aradio on the bar trying to compete. There were a handful of tablesaround the small space, but most of the seats—lined the bar itself,several already taken by people nursing tall glasses of liquid, mostclear or amber, some with a thick layer of foam on top. Andthe stench! Meri’s eyes burned just walking in here, but shespotted Rosa at one of the tables with several other women and forceda smile as she joined them.
“Lena,hey!” Rosa stood to offer Meri a hug, then rattled off the names ofthe others at the table, most of which Meri immediately forgot. “I’mso glad you could make it!”
“Me,too.”
Meritook a few minutes to look over the menu—mostly drinks underheadings like “Beer,” “Wine,” and “Cocktails.” There wasa short list of appetizers—the group had already ordered fries andpretzels, which were apparently communal. Everyone else had a drinkin front of them, some more colorful than others, most in stemmedglasses. Meri, completely at a loss, ordered something called a BlueArrow in honor of her lion.
Itwas blue, she’d give it that, acool blue in a cone-shaped glass on a tall stem, a single cherrynestled at the base of the glass.One whiff of it nearly had Meri passing out, though. It smelled likecoolant or something, quiznak.But everyone else was drinking theirs just fine and Meri didn’twant to stand out so she steeled herself and raised the glass to herlips. It probably tasted way better than it smelled.
Shetook a sip.
Itburned. Oh, ancients.What was that? Meri hastily set the glass down as a coughing fitovertook her. Her eyes streamed, her nose and throat felt raw to thepoint that she fully expected to see blood in the palm of her handwhen she finally pulled it away from her mouth.
Slowly,she became aware of the restof the table. One of the other women was staring at the TV in thecorner; several others were laughing so hard they’d slumped forwardonto the table. Rosario had her hand on Meri’s back, patting hergently, and even she seemed to be fighting against a smile.
“Sorry,should have warned you. They make ‘em strong here.”
Merijust stared at her, gasping for air as dark spots danced across hervision. It dawned on her that everyone was laughing at her, and herface burned with shame. Had they been expecting a reaction like that?Were these drinks supposedto taste like death itself?
Apparentlyso. Looking around the place, Meri spotted a fair number of grimacesas people sipped their drinks. Maybe it was an acquired taste, and noone wanted to admit they hadn’t acquired it yet.
Whateverthe case, Meri steered clear of the rest of the drink. She tried tobrush it off, but the single mouthful she’d had sat in her stomach,and she couldn’t tolerate the smell of the food, much less forceherself to eat. The burning in her mouth never went away, either, andshe waited only long enough for the conversation to move on beforeshe excused herself to the bathroom.
Shehad her phone out the second she locked the door behind her, and shehastily Googled ‘blue arrow drink,’ which returned a recipeconsisting of ice, lime juice, and an awful lot of unfamiliar words.She searched them each in turn, starting with the one that made upthe largest portion of the drink, gin.
Afew minutes of searching revealed nothing except the fact that Merireally needed to look into human chemistry terminology.
Theystayed at Bubba’s Place for hours, the other women each goingthrough two or three drinks before the night was up. Rosa was thefirst to call it quits, standing on slightly unsteady legs after hersecond drink and asking the bartender to call her a cab.
“Youwanna stay a little?” she asked Meri, who shook her head, beyondgrateful for the out. Her head was pounding, the competing voicesfrom the other tables, the TVs, and the radio competing to give her aheadache.
“Ithink I’ll leave, too.”
“Perfecto.We can share a cab.”
Meriaccepted, because that seemed to be the way these things went, butinsisted on getting Rosario home first. Once she was inside, Meridirected the driver to a motel at the edge of Carlsbad. She had towalk an hour into the desert to reach the place where she’d hiddenher speeder—not easy to do at midnight—and from there it was arelatively short jaunt to Blue’s cave.
Notthat it felt short, when the motion of the speeder kept making hergag and the world around her continued to blur.
“Blue,I think I’m dying,” she said as soon as she reached the cave.
Blue’seyes burst alight, their glow driving spikes through Meri’s skull,and she hastily dimmed them, rumbling in concern.
“Universaltranslator,” she grunted. “I need to know what ethanol is.”
Therewasn’t an immediate answer, but once she’d fed Blue the Wikipediaarticle that included a chemical formula, Blue jerked upright,roaring.
Merimoaned, wrapping her arms around her head to keep her skull fromsplitting open. “Blue. Ow.”
Bluefell silent at once, and Meri forced herself to squint at the screenwhere Blue had the translation displayed. As soon as she read theword, she wished she’d just stayed ignorant.
“Poison?”she whined. “I drank quiznaking poison?”
Weak poison,Blue typed out on the screen. You’ll live.
Meriglared at the words. “Doesn’t feel like it.”
Bluepurred, dimming the cockpit lights to a more comfortable level. Sleepit off?
Thatwas just about the best option Meri could see, so she curled up inthe pilot’s seat, her whole body aching like she’d come down witha virus. “Damn humans,” she muttered. “They drink this crud somuch they’ve built up their tolerance or something. They think it’sfun.”
Therhythm of Blue’s purrs sounded suspiciously like laughter, but Meriwas in too much misery to care.
Shewoke late the next morning in abject torment to the sound of her phone ringing, and shebriefly debated blasting it to pieces with her bayard before sherecognized Rosa’s contact photo.
“Hello?”
Rosariocooed sympathetically. “You sound terrible. Hangover?”
“Sure,”Meri said, rolling onto her back and draping her free hand over hereyes. “Feels more like I’m being ripped atom from atom, but wecan go with that if you like.”
Rosalaughed, but it had a pitying quality to it. “I’m so sorry, Lena.How much did you have last night?”
Merialmost burst out laughing. Compared to the actual humans in the room?Hardly anything. “Not much,” she said.
“Well,hey. There’s nothing wrong with being a lightweight. Did you atleast have fun last night?”
Not even alittle. “Yeah. It was great.”
“I’mglad. We should do it again sometime. You can volunteer to be ourdesignated driver. Then no one will give you crap for not drinking.If you want to, of course.”
“Soundsperfect.”
Itwasn’t until Meri had hung up that she realized what she’d justagreed to, and she groaned to Blue as she let the phone slip throughher fingers.
“Godsdamnit, Blue!” she whined. “Now I have to teachmyself how to drive.”
Thistime, Blue was definitely laughing.
#voltron duality#dualityverse#meri#rosa#poor meri#she's trying#also i feel like there's a lot of potential for 'meri adjusts to life on earth' ficlets#so who knows#maybe more will happen at some point#space-mouse#answers
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Thicker Than the Water of the Womb
Write a self para about your character of at least 1800 {total is 2684} words about their love life and/or their wished for love life. {a day late but i’m not trying to qualify so eh}
Peaches irreparably reminded him of Ares—from that first day he spoke to him, the first time he dipped down to touch lips and tasted traces of homemade peach ice cream left from it, falling asleep during his lessons under the peach trees... There was a tendency for the three of them to compare Ares to an angel. In some ways it was a joke, because no people knew better than them what Ares could be like, but it was also hopelessly genuine. Peaches and angelic smiles. That full-body laughter that made Namjoon’s heart ache like it’s too small to hold so much warmth. Those looks Ares gave him sometimes, like he was the whole world in some ways, and Namjoon was sure, absolutely sure, that he would die for him. Maybe die because of him.
Jazz was a king, the gentlest man, the youngest, silently still, soft stars. He was more than skin and scars and tattoos could contain. Meeting him was a fluke, and inarguably a brilliant blip in time. Those deviations persisted until he could feel harmonies singing under his blood. Jazz was his strength in ways he could never imagine, given that he saw him a few days a week past midnight like the universe’s most beautiful, captured dream. He imagined his fingers interlocked with his when he hadn’t quite learned for himself what steady hands were, and Jazz’s were the steadiest. There were fences he didn’t realize he could climb until Jazz was on the other side, asking him whether he had the strength to come along. He did, he found out, and wanted that love that didn’t leave him gripping the edge of the sink and sobbing. That love that was tucked into the soft smile Jazz got, that forgave him for things Namjoon hadn’t even gotten to yet, that asked him questions and sought answers he hadn’t realized were worth giving. Where Ares was still yet an unreachable seraphim, Jazz was tangible and more than enough. More than enough to realize his perspective on support and smiles was completely wrong. Love wasn’t a fluke like first meetings could be, it wasn’t an act of providence, it wasn’t just in passerby or just the local angel. It was close by and steady as a rock, even when its cracks showed.
There were laws in order that suggested when paths intertwined too many times without meaning, the world would conspire to make them meet. Burned cheeks under layers and layers of sunscreen, hands awash in painted rainbows like a gay pride parade, and the distinct memory of laughter caught under his tongue and an earnestness to know. There was a humor to Hazel that was aglow in the boniness of his arms, defiance and strength met head-on that had seen things Namjoon simply hadn’t yet. In so many ways, Namjoon yearned to be loved. He asked it of Hazel, and somewhere, somehow, he’d given it over because he was gentler than Jazz and sweeter than Ares under his bruised, grumbling eyes. He could have met him amongst honey bees, or under Jongup’s steady hands and ink, but he met him alone, surrounded by sunlight and brick and an almost-toppled glass of water. For a time, he was most afraid of failing him, of being less than Hazel had imagined him to be—especially when he had a moat, a cave, a whole decrepit childhood castle of worthlessness and injury—but somewhere, somehow, he realized he’d failed to see Hazel as so, so, so human. And that’s when he fell in love, sitting at the apartment table across the room and doing nothing. Nothing of import.
They’d snuck into his heart like he’d never had walls there in the first place, and he was pretty sure he’d let them. If there had been a fight, they bore no bruises. No stretch marks (no, he’d been to slow for that). Just him trying to remember when, exactly, he’d given them the key to the front gate one by one, and how they managed to see him broken and bleeding and bruised and sobbing and still wanted him.
Calling it a miracle wouldn’t do them justice.
Eventually, they’d find and ask about the journal he’d forgotten about, with entries so old his handwriting was not only chicken scratch but almost completely illegible. But they wouldn’t know about its companion for some time, and Namjoon kind of preferred it that way. It wasn’t that it was filled with horrors and nightmares. It was, in fact, the first’s exact opposite. Writing out all the bad things to make sense of them was nice in theory, but once the pages started being filled deep into the latter half of a hundred, the negativity was overwhelming. So he’d been given a second journal where the first twenty-three pages were in smudged lilac pen and the rest would make do in varying shades of purple. Most of the lilac pages were crowded with Kijung, sometimes Kitae or Jiha, and he’d memorized the pages where his parents had made it in so he never had to read them until he was ready.
But around when the magenta fountain pen had started being used, and what was Korean turned into shaky English, there were mentions of Ares. Right when the violet pen started running out came Jazz, and with the pinky-lavender was Hazel. He had a vague idea of what he was doing when he wrote about them, harboring a suspicion that if he looked back on these things he’d want to hide this journal both from himself and somewhere deep where no else one could find it either.
So he usually wrote with as much maturity as he could muster for the sake of whatever future self decided to self-inflict embarrassment, but still things like, “He’s so cute I’m going to vomit” made it in there. Luckily, given most contexts, he couldn’t really blame himself. It was still relatable and applicable and probably always would be.
2011/8/8
Didn’t mean to not write for so long. Hyunja locked me out of our room. The roof is better than sleeping next to him, anyway. There are some really bright stars even with all the street lamps on. Maybe I can sneak out to visit the library? To look up constellation names or something. Kinda need sleep, though, and the shingles aren’t exactly God’s best mattress.
Work was gross today (temperature was in the high thirties and I wanted to peel my skin off), but the peaches are really pretty. They get this kinda reddish color. I expected them to be lighter for some reason. More pinkish.
I met Park Jimin yesterday. He’s younger than me, I think? I was really embarrassing, but he made me smile. Some guy was being dumb and Jimin-ah punched him. I’d let him punch me, too. If he wanted. Forcing me to take credit for the peaches he picked was as close as I’ll get, though, probably. Equally as humbling. I was kind of thinking of his ears the whole time because I said some stupid things (I didn’t really expect him to speak Korean, actually, which I guess was pretty stupid of me) but he also has nice ears. If he blushes they go more pink than the peaches. The whole of him is really nice though. And I mean whole. He punched someone but I would have, too, if I were him, and he’s really nice. About as nice as his parents, so I guess it runs in families, huh? Gotta wonder about me, then. But if Jimin-ah liked me okay, I must be nice enough, too. (Consensus: “nice” is the word of the day)
Remember when I said I thought maybe I could be gay? He was really cute. I wonder if he’s okay being called that? It’s probably not better to call him pretty, but. Yeah. It’ll be nice to have someone to talk to if I see him again.
2011/8/9
On a scale of petty, where would I lie for locking Hyunja out of our room? Just hypothetically, really. I don’t feel like getting scalped today. Or ever.
Update: Jimin-ah’s laugh just about killed me today. He still hasn’t punched me, but I’m waiting. It’s an open (unspoken) invitation. For the record, he did laugh that first day but I was kinda distracted by how embarrassed I was to be me. Existence is a real struggle.
I’m fully prepared for this crush. But he’s not too distracting, which is nice. I mean, he’s distracting if he can be distracting, but I’m still getting plenty of work done.
Accidentally broke some shit today and was ignored, which is better than literally any realistic alternative.
[...]
2011/9/3
Hey, America? English sucks.
Kim Namjoon Kim Namjoon Kim Namjoon Kim Namjoon Park Jimin Park Jimin Park Jimin. He has good p a handriting. That looks wrong.
I didn’t He’s really, really nice. I think noona would have liked him? I miss It was cooler out today because it rained last night. Grass grows really fast. There’s already some green everywhere, so I hope it rains again (even if I can’t go out at night). I miss the flowers.
[...]
2011/12/20
Somehow no one has noticed I d have my ears pierced. It has been more than two weeks. Eiht Eighteen days. They said six to eight weeks, so I will listen to them. My ears feel okay, though. It will be worth the money to buy earrings. Small circles? Hoops. If Hyunja sees them, I think he will rip them out, but I have been sleeping out on the roof again. I forgot the word, sorry.
I was right. Jimin looks nice. I do not know how to describe him. Not in English, but I promised I would practice. Verb tenses are worst. Writing this has taken a long time.
He looks at me sometimes and I do not think it. I freeze up and want to cry kind of. I have to leave this job soon, though, and I do not want to. I will miss the peaches. Jimin goes to the same high school as me. I will not miss him as much. Because of him I am far in my English classes even though it is not my language, but it still takes time to read assignments. I do not have a lot of time. The CHSPE does not need good grades before though. I will do my best.
[...]
10/21/2012
I still think America writes their dates... stupidly.
I just took the CHSPE and I’m sending Jimin kisses for all he’s done for me (like I’ll ever kiss him aha). And my English teachers, of course. The test didn’t go so bad, but it’s hard to tell until we get the results back. I have to wait for those and pretend like someone’s not going to have my hide if I end up failing. The math was easiest, but I feel an okay sort of confident.
It still sucks not having any classes with Jimin, but I never have. Also, Halloween still makes me laugh. If Hyunja goes to answer the door this year I’ll hit him with a frying pan. He can keep his gross hands off of the children dressed like Darth Vader and stuff.
They’re so little every year oh my god.
I mean I have my nieces and nephews but it’s different. Plus mine don’t dress up like Snow White, you know?
[...]
2/28/2013
okay okay okay okay
I’m so gay it hurts.
I’m okay.
So I met someone on one of my midnight things. It was the frozens section and I was embarrassing as usual but oh my god he had the cutest smile and I’m still hurting.
His name is Moon Jongup, which I’m writing down so I don’t make a fool of myself when I see him again. I had to show him something so I asked him to find me on the street off of where I went when I was avoiding the dead body in our room. Which is morbid I guess but the place is really pretty, and it’s not like I’m going to tell him why I went there? I hope he likes it. It’s far enough from home that we should be okay. I wasn’t really thinking when I asked and now I’m really nervous. But what’s done is done and I’ll meet him. Bring a book, maybe, just in case he doesn’t show up. Which would make sense. I’m reading a really good book right now. I’ve been reading it for ages, though, so it’ll be nice to have an excuse to maybe get past chapter seven.
I haven’t seen Jimin a lot lately, but sometimes he’ll drag me to sit with him at lunch if he finds me cleaning. Someone should tell him he’s beautiful since I’m in too deep to properly do it. He might hear it all the time, actually, but telling someone their appearance is beautiful is different than telling someone their personality is beautiful, you know? I’m usually really tired by lunchtime because I don’t know what sleep means, but he brightens my day if he’s there.
3/3/2013
So I had another gay awakening with Jongup, right? But that’s kind of whatever, because he’s just really easy to talk to. And that’s better than any gay awakening. We have to keep agreeing to meet each other because he doesn’t have a phone (he’s younger than me, which like wow. Where does he get off looking like that at 15? That feels really young, by the way, but only when I realize I’m 16, which still doesn’t feel real).
He told me about constellations. We didn’t end up waiting for sunrise because the sky was cloudless and those sunrises are kind of boring, but it was a really nice night to look at the stars, and he seems really passionate about those. It suits his family name really well.
Also, he has a few tattoos already and I know not to ask about them, but he’s kind of amazing. For making decisions like that already, and they’re really good looking. They’re just these small details, and I obviously can’t know if the ones I’ve seen are all he has visible because it’s cold as balls at night still and long sleeves are a survival measure, but yeah. They look good on him.
[...]
8/19/2014
I told Jongup about the artist who’s painting the side of the restaurant, and even if I didn’t make the artist laugh, I made Jongup laugh. So I’ll settle.
Which yeah by the way, there’s an artist painting the side of the restaurant. Because I think there was some miscommunication about lunch, I ended up giving him some of mine. I don’t know the details, but it was super gross outside, so I figured he’d want something. Water and stuff. His art is really beautiful. He was painting this lily when I went out to talk to him first and... I guess I wouldn’t peg him as someone who paints flowers, but it’s really beautiful so far. I can’t wait to see it finished.
Also, I hope he doesn’t get heatstroke. If I had a standup umbrella or something I’d bring it for him.
Think I can make him smile? It’s gonna be a feat when it looks like he’s been running on two hours of sleep and has been sitting out in the sun for hours on end, but I kind of want to see it.
[...]
13/19/2014
GUESS WHO MADE HIM SMILE. It took fucking forever and he’s just about done with his mural but hey guess what. It’s really cute. Turns out grumpy artists paint the best flowers and have the best smiles.
I gotta go but I had to make that announcement at least. Bye!
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RTW Budget: Detailed Expense Breakdown for 492 Days Abroad
August 18, 2015 - December 24, 2016
492 Days Abroad
Trip Overview
Sylvie and I traveled through 221 cities in 39 countries over 5 continents. We called hundreds of places our home and slept in more places than most will ever get to in a lifetime. We slept in hammocks, in trains, in buses, in cars, on boats, in farmhouses, in teahouses, in hostels, in bed and breakfasts, in tents, on cots in the open dessert, in cheap guest-homes, in 5-star hotels, on couches, on a tile floor, on-top a chicken coop, on the ground next to a friendly German girl's bed in Mainz, in attics, in a rented room from an anti-Semitic in Belgium, et cetera, et cetera...
We each took 7 overnight sleeper trains, 26 overnight buses, and 31 flights. I read 30 books and had 4 haircuts--although only 1 haircut was from a professional. The other 3 were from my darling Sylvie. We ate 144 fast-food ice-cream cones, though most were consumed in our first 4 months while in South America. We bought dozens of new pieces of clothing and threw away/lost/mailed home a little less than that. We taught English in Vietnam, helped to rebuild an orphanage in rural Nepal, and worked on a vineyard in Mendoza, Argentina. We hiked quite a few mountain ranges--the largest being the Andes and the Himalayas.
Our Trip Route Divided into 4 Distinct Legs:
Leg 1: South America
Leg 2: Europe
Leg 3: Indian Subcontinent
Leg 4: Southeast Asia
View Full Size Travel Map at Travellerspoint
Mishaps
We tried to keep records of all our 'mishaps' but I know we forgot most of them. At last count I had written down 20 of them. Here are some of them:
ATM card was eaten by machine in small town of Piura, Peru
Had food and supplies stolen from us by a clever monkey in the Bolivian Amazon
A group of children tried to pickpocket Sylvie in La Paz Market - she picked up and they left empty-handed
Nearly stranded at the Bolivian border
Had a collections (inaccurate) on my account and had to deal with that while traveling
My Barclay Master Card was hacked in RIO and had a new one overnighted to me in Lisbon
Got items confiscated at UAE airport and were 'reported' to authorities
Left Kindle behind in Delhi hostel - was later mailed to me in Jaipur, India
Sylvie and I both broke our phones
Electrical surge broke Macbook Air while in Borneo, had computer repaired by sending to Bangkok
Lost credit card/ID in Serbia
Lost Passport while en route to airport in Krabi - had mailed to me in Chiang Rai following week
Sylvie left Kindle behind in Pyin Oo Lwin, Myanmar - RIP Kindle
Ailments
With the exception of being extremely dehydrated for a day in Delhi I never 'really' got food poisoning or sick. There were times I felt a bit off and am not sure how sick I would have actually gotten but I just popped a very high dose of azithromycin and was fine in a few hours. I've been to India twice, every country (less the Philippines) in SE Asia, spent a month in Africa and have never had food poisoning. I eat uncooked street-food every opportunity I get. I even ate a raw, still-beating, snake heart while in Vietnam without getting even the slightest form of indigestion. There were 24 instances of being sick while on the trip (the vast majority of them revolving around dear Sylvie). Here is a tally:
Sylvie:
TD - 11 times
Fleas - 2 times (possibly more, she loved petting stray animals)
Common Cold - 1 time
Bed Bugs - 1 time
Blister Rash - 1 time
Chest Rash - 1 time
Altitude Sickness - 2 times (1 time was very bad in Cuzco, but at EBC coca tea helped treat)
Scott:
Dehydrated - 1 time
Bed Bugs - 1 time
Common Cold - 1 time
TD - 2 times (took high dose azithromycin both times and warded off all symptoms in 4 hours)
RTW Budget
Notes/Comments
Budget includes 2 people for the first 461 days and 1 person for the last 31 days.
When there was any uncertainty/fluctuation in exchange rates or prices I rounded up to give a higher than actual estimate to keep the budget extremely conservative.
Every expense was tracked in this budget, even those that are not related to travel. These expenses--such as the cost of website hosting, VPNs, etc.--were all captured under "Pre-Trip Expense".
The only expenses I had during my time abroad that are not included in this budget are my student loan payments
Though by American standards our type of travel is considered 'budget' we don't truly fit into that category by ex-USA standards. We met many travelers spending a fraction of what we did. We ate out most meals, stayed in hotels with a/c fridges and color TVs, and traveled around much more than most backpackers. Many budget travelers stayed in hostels and cooked their own food (think pasta and sauce). However we did take buses, trains, and ate at mostly budget-friendly restaurants or street-side carts. For budget travelers I would say that you can cut our food, lodging, and transportation costs in half.
Sylvie ate meals more regularly than I did. I was happy snacking on fruit and buying little things from cheaper street-side stalls throughout the day. We always ate a nice meal for dinner though.
We are not big drinkers so most RTW travelers can expect to pay more on alcoholic beverages than we did.
We took many 'relatively' expensive trips during our RTW (Everest Base Camp, the 'W Trek', 3-day live-aboard SCUBA diving off Similan Islands, Bolivian Jungle trek, 21-day organized Colombian tour, Home-stays in Sapa, Trekking in Hsipaw, Northern Thai Yoga Retreat, excursion to Borneo w/ associated national park fees and flights, etc).
We also enjoyed splurges many budget travelers couldn't afford to take (We rented a houseboat for 3 days, Stayed at 5-star hotels, took some high class buses/trains, Rented a car for several days, rented a motorcycle for a couple months, got massages frequently, had clothing made, bought extremely rare beer, took cooking classes, went adventure caving, hired private drivers, had food delivery to our hotel room, went to cinemas, saw theatrical productions, indulged in many cafe cultures, etc.) These are just some of the things that many budget travelers would not consider worth their money.
We spent 3-4 weeks living with free lodging during our three separate workaways--Many budget travelers do less moving around and more workaways.
I've met single travelers living on less than $1,000 a month during their 12 month RTW trip.
I collected over several thousand dollars in sponsored products. I had most of the gear already but received newer/better products, thus I would not have needed to purchase any of these items. For this reason I have decided not to include these items in this budget.
Budget Breakdown:
I decided to break the budget into 4 sections.
Pre-Trip Costs - this includes gear, vaccines, insurance, memberships, transportation to/from US airports
During Trip Costs (Souvenirs) - this includes gifts/souvenirs, non-trip related purchases (non-essential clothing, cosmetics, etc.)
International Travel Costs - this includes travel between countries (mostly airfare but some busing)
Country Specific Costs - this includes all expenses relating to traveling/living within the specified country
1 - Pre-Trip Costs: The majority of Pre-Trip costs are not specific to this RTW trip. Vaccines, gear, and electronic equipment can/will be used beyond the scope of the trip. Vaccines and meds can be obtained while traveling and at a fraction of the cost here in the US. Likewise, gear can be found on Craigslist or during your trip much cheaper than buying new here in the US. Additionally, we paid nearly $1,500 for the Japanese Encephalitis vaccine, which I would recommend against. For these reasons I am discounting this portion of the budget by 50% to get a better representation (we will be using all the gear for our next trip). Therefore I will be using $2,648 for this portion of the budget
2 - During Trip Costs: These purchases are non-essential and not related to travel and will be ignored when calculating the overall cost of our RTW.
3 - International Travel Costs: This portion of the budget shows how affordably one can travel around the world. Flights, trains, and buses starting and ending within the same country were excluded in this section. They can be found in the next section. We traveled through 39 countries, which is many more than most travelers. This portion of the budget can likely be reduced by traveling through fewer countries.
4 - Country Specific Costs: Once we arrived in a country any/all expenses we faced were placed in this section under the respective country. Flights and other modes of transportation starting and ending within the same country are found here. Phone/internet charges, travel-related medicines, visa fees, tours, etc. can be found in this section. This section is further divided into 8 categories:
Lodging
Food
Transportation
Activity
Alcohol
Visa
Tours/Tips
Supplies/Misc.
So How Much Did It All Cost?
Putting it All Together
Pre-Trip Costs - $2,648
During Trip Costs (Souvenirs) - $0
International Travel Costs - $4,745
Country Specific Costs - $36,414
Total RTW Trip Cost = $43,807 ($89/day)
for less than $45/person/day we traveled very luxuriously around the world
Budget Deep Dive: An In-depth Analysis
Would you expect anything less than an in-depth analysis from a consultant (who is also an engineer)? Here we go!!
Costs by Country
Below is a table of all the countries we visited, the duration spent in each location, and the total spent. For simplicity we lumped countries in Western Europe together, as well as countries in Eastern Europe. A few notes on a per country basis:
Colombia - We were on an organized tour for the entire time while here.
Ecuador - We were on an organized tour for some of the time while here. We mountain-biked volcano, took 12 hours (each) of private Spanish lessons, and took a private tour to Isla del Plata.
Peru - We spent 8 days on organized hiking tours to Machu Picchu & Colca Canyon.
Bolivia - We spent 7 days in the Pampas & Rain Forest & 3 days taking a tour of the Salt Flats.
Chile - Much of our time here was hiking through Patagonia
Argentina - We took expensive long-distance bus rides (38 hours), several internal flights, and several organized trips to various glaciers. Saved money during our 10-day stay working on Mendoza vineyard.
Brazil - Was not here long enough to offset high costs of visas (~$290)
Casablanca, Portugal, and Spain - Spent 14 of the 17 days with parents. They paid majority of expenses.
Western Europe - Ate out majority of meals & moved around often. Spent an average of $45/day on food & transportation. While lodging cost us an average of $27/day. We spent the most here, vs any other country, on alcohol ~ $4.50/day on mostly German and Belgium beer.
Eastern Europe - Used Airbnb more often. Spent an average of $22/day on lodging, $20/day on food, and $17.50/day on transportation.
UAE - Stayed at filthy dorms in both Dubai and Abu Dhabi that still cost us $25/day (and that's after $80 in Airbnb credit and refunds). Everything was expensive. Tried to eat cheap but still spent $25.50/day on food.
Nepal - Did not move around much. Spent 5 days rebuilding orphanage (paid $10/day). We trekking to Everest Base Camp (rented gear, paid for airfare, hired porter, etc.). Click here to see trip notes, budget, and planning for Everest Base Camp trek. Transportation, food, and supplies are higher than typical because of EBC.
India - Most of our activities involved visiting mosques, temples, and forts. Taj Mahal was relatively expensive. We hired a houseboat and a crew of 3 for 3 days in Kerala. We ate out a lot and not always at budget places. The food was amazing and we wanted to explore as much as we could.
Indonesia - I received my SCUBA certification here. We took a private excursion to Goa Jomblang Caves, which was pricey. We also took expensive cooking lessons & surfing lessons.
Singapore - Very expensive. spend $28/day on food. Saved money by spending 2 of our 4 nights couchsurfing.
Malaysia - Spent 1 week in Sabah, Borneo and 8 days in Sarawak, Borneo which required a handful of flights. Food was amazing in this country so we ate a lot. Adventure Caving and park fees increased our costs more than what you would expect for Malaysia.
Thailand - Spent a lot on SCBUA diving (see liveaboard trip) and ~$840 on a 4-day yoga retreat. Parents spent 2 weeks with us, which helped offset cost in this country. I spent my last 31 days renting only 2 places, which also reduced transportation costs in this country.
Cambodia - Angkor Wat and the Elephant Nature Park in Mondulkiri were our largest expenses.
Vietnam - We slept for free during our workaway. I wanted to try Dog and Cat meat (as well as eat an entire snake in Snake Village outside of Hanoi), which were relatively expensive. We traveled to the far north, which required extensive transportation.
Myanmar - We spent more money that usual on activities. We had a private boat for a tour around Inle Lake. We hired a private driver while in Mandalay. There was a hefty fee to enter Bagan. We also paid to enter the oldest Buddhist temple in the world as well as hired a private guide to trek through the small villages near Hsipaw.
Monthly Costs
The first 4 months of travel consisted of many organized and expensive tours/excursions (+ remote travel and gear rental for Patagonia, see below). From January through March we were in Western and then Eastern Europe. During April we visited Everest Base Camp, which cost us ~$1,400 for just under 2 weeks. For the remainder of the trip, which we spent in India and SE Asia, we averaged $1,800/month. The month of August was relatively expensive due to our trip to Borneo, which required 4 flights each plus park/activity fees. During my last month, which I spent alone, I did not move around much, and took very few excursions, which is why I spent so little.
Patagonia Budget
During November and December of 2015 we spend 24 days in Patagonia. We spend a total of $2,645, which is an average of $110/day. This includes all tours, supplies, and transportation (many long-distance buses and 3 flights each). For this calculation I took Santiago, Chile as our starting point and Buenos Aires, Argentina as our ending point.
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Cumulative Total Spend
Below I re-posted the 4 sections I described above, this time including every dollar spent (even the non-trip related expenses)
Pre-Trip Costs $5,295 | During Trip Costs (Souvenirs) $4,708 | International Travel Costs $4,745 | Country Specific Costs $36,414
The country specific charges were the only expenses that were routine, normal, and able to be extrapolated. For this reason I held the other 3 segments flat and charted the cumulative amount for country-specific costs (see chart below). This allowed me to trend out/predict--using the slope--the rate of our spending throughout our travels.
You'll notice that the first portion of the chart shows a steep slope, which is due to our 21-day organized tour through Colombia. The last month flattens out as I slowed down my pace of travel.
Total Daily Spend and Cumulative Running Daily Average
Below is a chart with quite a bunch going on--though I'll walk you through it. The solid green line represents the money that we spent each day. The peaks show expensive activities/tours, visa fees, and other various splurges whereas the valleys are representative of days we spent very little. The dashed green line is a 4-week running daily average, which shows the average of the preceding 28 days. This line is helpful as it averages out the expensive and in-expensive days to yield a more stable line. Both of these green lines use the axis on the left.
The next two lines use the axis on the right of the chart. The solid red line represents the average daily cost of travel. Unlike the dashed green line the red line is a running cumulative average, which means all prior days are included. Our cumulative daily average starts relatively high and decreases with time due to our initial 3-week organized tour in Colombia as well as many of our SA excursions, which were all quite expensive. However you see that our cumulative running average steadily decreases with time as you would expect since we were spending ~$60 once we left Western Europe.
The Dashed orange line shows the average daily cost of travel by month.
Comparing Daily Costs of Select Countries with Overall Average
The budget I built allowed me to select, from a drop-down menu, the average daily expenses by category of 3 countries that I wished to compare. I also graphed the overall daily average using info from all countries. In the example provided below I selected Western Europe, Vietnam, and Myanmar. Along the left-hand side of the chart is a color-coded key indicating various categories.
In this example you can see that Lodging was our biggest expense in Western Europe while food was our largest expense in both Vietnam and Myanmar. Food and lodging alone cost us almost $50/day in Western Europe. Unlike Europe, Vietnam and Myanmar both required visas.
Budget Summary Page
Here is a the summary page for the budget I built. Please help yourself and download the budget tracker--I only ask for a small donation.
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#Finances#Budget#Planning#RTW#Expenses#Budget Travel#RTW Travel#RTW Budget#Gap Year Budget#Gap Year#Packing Items#Things to bring around the world#around the world budget
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Another addition to Model!Yuri and Photographer!Otabek cause I can’t let go sometimes. Plus... Viktor had to make an appearance before I completely ended it anyway.
AO3 || Previous
“I'm surprised you agreed to this,” Otabek says as they stand in the elevator. His arm is draped casually around Yuri’s waist as Yuri fiddles with the hem of his loose, tiger printed sweater.
“Have you seen this line of clothing?” Yuri counters. He scowls at their reflection in the elevator doors. “If it wasn't so fucking amazing I would've said no. You really think I want to work with him that badly? He’s gonna drive me batshit crazy.”
Otabek chuckles. “You're admitting someone else has a decent line of clothing?”
Yuri punches him in the side as the elevator bell rings. The doors rumble open and Otabek’s arm falls away, hoisting his camera bag up his shoulder.
Yuri barely has the chance to take half a step out of the elevator when he’s knocked off his feet, tackled by a tall, silver haired man. Yuri’s string of curses is drowned out by the shout of, “Yuratchka!” Otabek can't help but smile.
“Get the fuck off me, old man.” Yuri struggles underneath Viktor’s weight.
Viktor pulls back, beaming. “You agreed to a shoot with me! Yuratchka, I knew you always wanted to work with me.”
Yuri successfully shoves Viktor away and scrambles to his feet. He scowls down at Viktor, straightening his sweater. “I'm not doing this for you, idiot. I'm doing it for the clothing line.”
Viktor pushes himself to his feet and smiles. “I’m glad you enjoy Chris’s clothing as much as I do.”
“Tch,” Yuri scoffs and stomps past Viktor. Otabek follows, fighting back a smile. Yuri always gets a little grumpy before a photo shoot involving another designer’s clothing. “I don't enjoy it. Just this line.”
“Yuri, you wound me!”
Yuri groans and rolls his eyes at Otabek as Christophe enters the room. He stands beside Viktor, draping an arm over his shoulders. Otabek knows about their mutual agreement to work solely with one another as he and Yuri do. But seeing them together makes him respect that agreement even more. He appreciates the familiarity that exists between them. It makes him feel more comfortable.
“You certainly seemed to enjoy the last photo shoot you did for my clothing line,” Christophe smirks, his eyes flickering between Yuri and Otabek.
Otabek’s eyes widen minutely. He glances at Yuri, watches the color rise to his face before he raises a single finger toward Christophe and Viktor.
Viktor pretends to look scandalized and Christophe laughs.
“Consider yourself lucky I decided to work with you again.”
Yuri enters his dressing room and slams the door behind him. Otabek sighs and runs his fingers through his hair. He turns toward Christophe and Viktor. They're grinning at one another like they have a secret worth sharing. Otabek doesn't know if he wants to know it.
“Christophe.”
Both pairs of piercing eyes turn toward him at once. It's unnerving. In their industry, both Christophe and Viktor are powerful men. That fact doesn't escape Otabek as he gestures down the hallway.
“Should I set up?”
“Yes, of course!” Christophe breaks away from Viktor and makes his way to the hallway opening. “Second door on the right. The set should already be set up. Feel free to the adjust the lighting as you see fit. I trust your judgment.”
“Mm…” Otabek nods in understanding and heads down the hall. He’s about to open the door when Christophe calls after him.
“And Otabek?”
Otabek glances up, hand on the door handle.
“I think you’ll enjoy the outfit I’ve picked out for Yuri. It suits him quite well.” He winks and disappears around the corner.
Otabek shakes his head and makes his way into the photo studio. If this outfit is anything like the last Otabek knows he’ll like it. Maybe a little too much.
Christophe is right. Otabek does enjoy the outfit Yuri will be modeling.
Flames lick up each side of Yuri’s upper body, embroidered with a shimmery material that makes them look real when they catch the light. They stretch across Yuri’s chest, across his abdomen, almost touching in the center where a stripe of mesh connects the shirt. Otabek can see Yuri’s stomach clench through the mesh and he has to remind himself to look at the whole outfit, at all of Yuri. Not to fixate.
The pants are jeans, though not simple ones. Christophe redefines the casual jeans and a t-shirt. The dark wash jeans hang low on Yuri’s hips, darkened with stains that look like streaks of ash. Holes riddle Yuri’s legs, some exposing his pale skin, some with flames peering through the tattered, burned material.
“Beka.” Yuri’s voice, low and teasing, breaks him from his distracted stare. “I told you this line was fucking awesome.”
Otabek’s lips twitch. “Awesome is one word for it.”
Yuri crosses the space between them. He runs his fingers up Otabek’s arm, stopping at his shoulders. He squeezes and leans in to breathe the word, “Hot,” against Otabek's ear. Otabek shivers and watches him saunter toward the vanity where the makeup artist is decidedly absent.
He fiddles with his camera, adjusts the lights once more (he’s done it three times already, but Yuri’s costume has given him other ideas for the shoot) and does everything he can to focus on the photo shoot and not how badly he wants to rip that shirt off Yuri’s body and make him hot in other ways.
Distraction, Otabek thinks with a frown. Only Yuri could muddle his brain like this.
He turns away from where Yuri sits, intent on cleaning his lenses when Viktor walks in.
Viktor is equally as captivating. Otabek now understands the appeal, why he's so sought after in the modeling community. Viktor is statuesque. Tall, broad shoulders, slender waist, perfectly shaped, pouty lips, eyes a color nearly as stunning as Yuri’s. Ice blue. His eye color is perfect for the clothing theme.
Silver boots travel up from the ground, clutching at the top of Viktor’s thighs. His legs look impossibly long in those boots. The dark blue pants look as though they’ve been painted on. Otabek swears they must be to fit in boots as tight as those.
Viktor’s shirt is completely sheer, white. Crystals are intricately woven through the fabric and every time they catch the light it looks as though an icicle forms on Viktor’s skin.
Otabek wants to say something, but he doesn't know what would be appropriate to say. You both look amazing sounds too obvious and it doesn't begin to do this line of clothing justice. It’s almost as though Christophe designed this line specifically with these two in mind.
He waves at Viktor, about to comment on the way the shirt draws the eye, when a voice he never expected to hear at a photo shoot comes from down the hall.
“Viktor! Honestly, you forgot the armlets. Yuri too! I know they're not the most comfortable, but they really…” Yuuri Katsuki comes stomping through the doorway, slowing his gait when his eyes land on Otabek’s shocked face. “Really make the outfit…” He finishes with a sheepish grin.
“Katsuki,” Otabek says as Yuri shouts, “What the fuck is Pork Cutlet doing here?” Otabek shoots him a glance over his shoulder to which Yuri offers his tongue in response.
Yuuri grabs Viktor’s arm, slipping on brittle looking bands of fake ice from his elbow to the palm of his hands. “I--” He pushes Viktor faces away as he whispers something in Yuuri’s ear. “I'm actually a makeup artist.” Yuuri pulls back and shrugs. “Christophe requested me for this project and I just…” His eyes cut to Yuri and his smile softens. “I couldn't pass it up!”
“Ah, my Yuuri is too sweet,” Viktor coos as he loops an arm around Yuuri’s waist and presses his lips against his forehead. “He was just dying to work with me and--”
Yuuri pushes his face away again and scowls, ignoring the wounded look Viktor flashes at him and the crocodile tears. “Viktor, please. Professionalism. I work with you all the time.”
Otabek chuckles and he hears a snort from Yuri in the background. Though Yuri likes to act like Viktor’s fiancé is the most offensive man on earth, he knows Yuri cares about him, even likes him, likes being around him a lot more than he wants to admit.
Yuuri’s lips twitch as he walks past Otabek, offering a nod in greeting, and heads toward Yuri. “I've got similar accessories for you too, Yurio.”
Otabek turns, watching as Yuri scowls and holds out his arms. He knows about Yuri’s qualms about that nickname. He also knows that he understands why Viktor gave it to him, even though he hates it.
Grabbing a small camera out of his bag, he slowly heads over to the vanity where Yuri sits. He holds up the camera to Yuuri who has already started to unpack his impressive array of makeup and holds it up to him in question. Yuuri nods enthusiastically and gestures toward an empty seat off to the left.
Otabek shakes his head. “I'm more comfortable standing,” he admits, shifting to the left to snap a picture of Yuri as he scowls at his reflection in the mirror. “Gives me better angles.”
“Don't you dare take shitty pictures of me, Beka.”
Yuuri chuckles softly as he presses a gentle finger under Yuri’s chin to tilt his head back an inch.
“Then I’m lucky pictures of you are never shitty.”
Yuri’s cheeks flush a deep red and his hands clench on the arms of the chair.
“Oh, maybe I won't have to use any blush,” Yuri teases, dodging Yuri’s leg when he kicks it out in frustration.
They all fall silent after that. Yuuri focuses on building the intended makeup to go with Yuri’s outfit. Yuri lets his eyes flutter shut, opening them only when Yuuri asks him to. Otabek snaps pictures here and there. He’s never gotten better photos of the makeup process.
He watches Yuuri build a fire on Yuri’s face, quite literally. He lines Yuri’s eyes with a pitch black kohl. From the kohl he builds a fire, two flames that grow from the tips of Yuri’s eyelashes, over his brows, and onto his forehead. He contours Yuri’s face with black, ashen smudges that look like burn marks etched into Yuri’s skin. When Yuri opens his eyes, the final product brings out the faint flecks of gold in his eyes. He looks like he could set the world aflame.
He’s already set Otabek on fire.
Viktor’s makeup, when finished is equally as impressive. The second Yuuri’s first brush hits his skin, he falls silent, relaxed. And Yuuri builds an ice age on Viktor’s face. He takes time to tint his skin blue, contour his cheeks in a deeper blue shade and a pale, icy blue highlights the rest of his face. An icy shimmer dusts his cheeks and his eyes and Yuuri adds small crystals below his eyebrows, sprinkles flecks of glitter on the tips of Viktor’s lashes.
His makeup is prettier than Yuri's, more feminine. Or it would be if Viktor’s raw masculinity didn't make it look so intimidating.
As he steps into the light and turns to flash a smirk at Yuuri, a shiver runs down Otabek’s spine. Otabek is almost certain if Viktor had the power to do so, the room would be covered in a sheet of ice.
“Perfect,” Christophe croons as he steps into the room and takes in the sight of Yuri and Viktor, their looks fully completed. “Yuuri, your skill never fails to astound me.”
Yuuri, in all his modesty, blushes in response and shakes his head. “Really, it's your clothing line that brings it out.”
“Sassy and modest,” Christophe tuts and smiles at Viktor. “You make sure you keep this one.”
Viktor taps his ring finger where a tan line can faintly be seen. “I already am.”
After the comfortable banter, Viktor and Yuri take their places against the black backdrop. The negative space surrounding them combined with the light blaring in from all sides makes them seem ethereal, almost supernatural. It’s like the sun and moon in the center of a pitch black universe.
Otabek lifts his camera and is immediately struck by the fact that he doesn't know where to face his lens. He is naturally drawn to Yuri--for more reasons than one--but Viktor is such a natural that he can't help but tilt to the side to keep him in the frame.
Christophe must sense his hesitance. He comes up on Otabek’s left and says, “Individual shots are needed, but I want them together as well. I want to focus on the stark contrast between the two.”
Otabek nods and finally pushes down to take the first photo. Yuri’s eyes burn as the camera goes off, catching a moment when he runs his tongue across his upper lip and traces a finger down the flames that dance along the right side of his body.
Viktor extends a hand, the faux ice bracelet that wraps around his palm glistening in the light. Otabek snaps a photo. It almost looks like Viktor holds a snowflake in the palm of his hand.
Yuri leans his body backward, bracing his back against the dark wall and stretching his arms out on either side of him. He tilts his head downward, drawing attention the flames on his body and on his face. He sure knows how to work those body angles.
Otabek snaps another photo. And another as Viktor imitates Yuri’s pose, back against the wall, hands in his hair, one leg draped elegantly over the other. His eyes flutter shut. The crystals catch the light. He looks regal, all-powerful, all-knowing.
“Yuuri, I need you for a moment.”
Otabek pauses as Yuuri shuffles over. Christophe gestures toward Viktor and Yuri and says a few things that Otabek doesn't hear before Yuuri runs off to grab a few brushes and a palette. When he returns he heads toward Viktor, pulling Viktor’s right hand toward him.
“If you were that desperate for me to wear my ring, all you had to do was ask,” Viktor says with a smile.
“Wrong hand,” Yuuri points out, flashing a grin.
Otabek chuckles. He takes a few more pictures of Yuri as Viktor’s hand gets a makeover.
“There!” Yuuri steps back and turns toward Otabek. “I’ll get out of the way before I sully your photos.”
“Yuuri!” Viktor’s voice rises in protest. He reaches toward Yuuri. “You could never--”
Yuuri steps out of reach. “Hand!” He warns with a frown.
“Ah…” Viktor has the grace to look sheepish as he steps back into place. “And what am I to do with my hand?”
Otabek notices the tips of Viktor’s fingers are darkened, black like they've been burned.
“Fingers to the bottom of Yuri’s chin, like you're scratching it, or tilting it up for him to look at you.” Yuri immediately scowls and Christophe claps his hands. “And that's the exact face I need you to make Yuri! Such a capable model!”
Otabek fights back a smile as he lifts the camera. Viktor’s lips curl into a smirk and it looks so natural, an image of a normal interaction between Yuri and Viktor and yet so much more. He snaps a few pictures before Viktor moves his hand, improvising.
His fingers slide across Yuri’s cheek, down his neck. They pause at his collarbone when Christophe tells him to stop and Yuuri once again scurries over. He covers Yuri’s pale neck with trails of blue and silver. It looks as though ice has formed on his skin, so realistic it makes Otabek shiver.
Viktor doesn't need a cue when Yuuri moves away again. His fingers press against the end of each trail. Otabek’s camera goes off. Yuri lifts a hand pushing against Viktor, another to press against his neck like he’s trying to warm the cold imprinted on his skin.
They feed off one another, Otabek notices. He’s never seen Yuri work with anyone before. But as much as Yuri doesn't like people, he needs them to help him improve, to give him goals to reach, a reason to surpass the level he’s already at.
Viktor is the best person for that job. He’s a level Yuri hasn't reached, a person Yuri desperately looks up to no matter how much he denies it. Otabek has seen the rare glimpses of admiration. They warm him. He wants this for Yuri, for him to reach greater heights in anything he aspires to do.
He knows when the last picture is taken by the way Christophe cheers and sighs dreamily.
“Aaah, what did I do to deserve such brilliant models?”
Viktor prances away from the background and grins at Christophe. “You are simply too talented, my friend.”
Otabek ignores their chattering and places his camera on the table before heading toward Yuri. Yuri who is trying to tug the dark red, black and gold wristlets off his arms and failing with a string of creative curses. Otabek can't help the faint smile that crosses his lips as he grabs Yuri’s arm and slowly, carefully slides the bracelet off.
He does the same with the other arm, bringing Yuri’s palm to his lips before letting him go. Yuri’s cheeks light up, but he slides an arm around Otabek’s neck to pull him in for a kiss when Viktor’s shout interrupts them.
“Yuratchka, professionalism! No making out while on the job.” He already has his arm around Yuuri’s waist, their bodies pressed tightly together.
Yuri’s lips curl into a snarl. “Shut the fuck up, old man! Like you can talk!” He snatches one of the bracelets off the ground and whips it across the room at Viktor.
iktor dodges with a hearty laugh and Christophe croons, “How fiery!”
Otabek grabs Yuri around the waist before he can throw himself at the two of them. “My fire,” he says softly, chuckling as he presses a kiss to the side of Yuri’s forehead.
Yuri grumbles and relaxes in Otabek’s grip. “I'm gonna kill you all. I hope you know that.”
“Only after I get you out of that outfit,” Otabek counters.
Yuri hesitates before slipping an arm around Otabek’s waist, his hand dipping into the back pocket of Otabek’s jeans. “Yeah, only after that.”
#otayuri#viktuuri#otabek altin#yuri plisetsky#viktor nikiforov#yuuri katsuki#yuri on ice#victuuri#oturi#;drabbles#;modelau
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Daddy Duties
Simon Dominic (AOMG) x Y/N (Reader)
Genre: Family / Romance
Count: 2,083
Warning: Fluff
Rating: G
Requested: By @thessamd and also a few other anons who wanted Simon D fluff! Sorry for the long wait! I hope you all enjoy it :)
P.S. I’ve always wanted to call Simon daddy ;) ayeee
"Kisa, come on, baby," Simon urged as gently as he could in his gravely voice. His one and half year old daughter was currently trying to rip off a leaf on the plant in the lobby of the AOMG building. When she didn't budge, he took her tiny fingers in his grasp and lead her down the hall, smiling when the front desk girls cooed at her.
His dark eyes trailed after the little tyke when she unlatched herself from his hands to run down the hall and into an open elevator. Her curly hair was tied in two messy pony-tails, obviously done by none other than himself, and bounced just as she did when the door closed behind him. Her Jordans matched his, as well as their coordinated outfits, which was just light denim jeans and black long sleeves since it was nearing fall. She was babbling in her baby language but when the doors slid open, she was sprinting once again.
Since she was constantly around the building, it didn't take her long to find the room she was looking for. Kisa pushed her small palms against the door, smiling when her father turned the handle for her. Yelling her baby greeting, the two figures sitting in front of the large Mac computer swirled around to face the newcomers.
"Kisa!" Jaebum shouted back, arms scooping her up and snuggling her into his neck. "Hey, cutie pie!"
Kiseok smiled at the display of affection before sitting on the couch against the wall. Seonghwa smirked when he noticed the oldest male's tired slouch, "You look even worse than usual, hyung. Is Kisa giving you a run for your money?"
Definitely not having the energy to argue, he just sighed loudly, "I forgot how tiring kids were. I don't know how Y/N keeps up with her all day."
"That's only because you're old and Y/N is young," he commented with a snicker.
Kiseok glared before focusing back on his co-CEO's intense conversation with his only child. "I can't wait for when you have kids so they can give you hell."
Jay planted her feet on the ground to let her roam around, shaking his hair with one hand, "Kisa isn't bad though. She's really good, actually."
Nodding his head in agreement, Kiseok let his eyes trail on her small form. "She is, but I know nothing about taking care of little girls."
"Isn't Y/N a little girl? You should be an expert th-" Seonghwa couldn't finish his teasing as one of the throw pillows was thrown into his face, causing him to chuckle.
"Shut the hell up, brat."
Interrupting their banter, Jay nodded towards the toddler, "You did her hair this morning?"
"Yeah. Y/N left before Kisa was done with her breakfast so I got her ready. Why?"
"'Cause it looks terrible. Come here, Kisa, Uncle Jay is gonna fix your hair," he beckoned her with a few flicks of his wrist.
Seonghwa chuckled into his hand once again at seeing his hyung's eye roll. Jay took down the pig-tails with a bit of difficulty since they were tangled in her curls before separating her hair down the middle. He pulled her hair into two identical, neat pony-tails and patted the top of her head once he was completed. "See? It's not that hard."
Simon dismissed him with a wave of his hand, "Yeah, yeah. I tried, alright?"
They laughed at his obvious pouting before turning their attention back to the toddler, who was pressing keys on the switchboard with her chubby fingers. After visiting with a few of her favorite uncles, it was time for them to get some lunch, so without much convincing, all four of them (plus Hyukwon and Hoody) decided to go grab a bite. Kisa was shoving fists full of spaghetti in her mouth, half of it missing completely and ending up on her shirt, when Kiseok's phone rang. He picked it up, balancing it between his ear and shoulder while he attempted to wipe his daughter's pasta covered mouth over her whining.
"Hey, baby, how's everything?" Your sweet voice was music to his ears.
Upon hearing you, his lips curled into a smile, ignoring the fact that Kisa was slurping noodles at this point. "Hey, yeah, we're doing fine. Kisa is...eating right now."
"Great! I was just calling to check in. We're at the resort now, checking in and all that. Oh! You gave Kisa her cold medicine at eleven, right?"
For a brief moment, his dark eyes grew wide before quickly coughing in his closed fist. Fuck, he totally forgot about the medicine! It was already almost one in the afternoon too. Hoody, who was across from him, raised an eyebrow before helping Kisa grab her sippy cup full of water. "O-Oh, yeah, I did but she doesn't look sick to me..."
He heard you huff from the other side before reprimanding one of your friends, "Yah, turn the key the other way. Babe, she needs to finish the medicine to make sure her cold is gone. Doctor's orders. Shit, Taeyeon-ah, I need to pick up the cake for tonight- I'll call you later, okay? Remember Kisa needs another dose around five today! Bye, love you!"
Kiseok didn't bother to say bye as he heard the dial tone before grabbing the device and setting it down. Hoody gave him a questioning look, which he tried to ignore. After a few seconds, he leaned forward so she could hear him over the ruckus of the restaurant, "Is it bad that I forgot to give Kisa her medicine at eleven?"
His answer was a small chuckle and a quick head shake. At her lack of response, Kiseok sighed before leaning back, taking in how his daughter grabbed fist fulls of pasta and proceeded to shove it in her mouth. Of course, majority of the noodles slipped passed her chubby fingers, creating a huge mess all over her as well as the table and floor. It's going to be a long two days without you.
The second day went a little more smoother for the clueless dad. He took your advice and decided to take Kisa somewhere educational but also fun, not that the studio wasn't fun but it wasn't as educational as Jay proclaimed it to be. They spent the day at the zoo and had a great time. She was a little scared of the bigger animals like the elephants but she was brave and didn't let that fear get in the way of marveling at the creatures. He spent the time following after her, recording her on his Instagram and Snapchat as well as sending you and the rest of his family three minute long videos of her pointing and running around. He even took a selfie with her eating her ice cream under an umbrella, her wide smile flashing the pink of the strawberry dessert to the camera.
By the time they got home, Kisa was knocked out in her car seat, snores coming from her deep sleep. As he carried her into her room and tucked her in, Kiseok called it a successful day. However, as he walked into the living room, he couldn't help but groan. He forgot to clean up from yesterday, which meant there were all kinds of toys scattered around the living room, dolls and pink plastic cars taking over the coffee table as well as the dishes piled in the sink from their snacks and meals over the last two days.
He cracked his knuckles and got to work. Tomorrow he had plans to take Kisa to the amusement park that was about an hours drive, so they wouldn't be at home much. After putting away all the toys and tidying up in the kitchen as well, it was finally time for some sleep. He was definitely going to need it for tomorrow.
In the morning, Kiseok woke to Kisa climbing into the bed and draping herself over him in an attempt to rouse him from sleep. His phone rang and she took it upon herself to grab it and press the green button, her dark eyes lighting up as she heard your voice through the device. After your daughter had rattled off what they had in store for today in her baby language, Kiseok took over the conversation for a little bit, smiling when Kisa dashed out to pick out her outfit today.
"You'll be home around three?" He asked, the phone balancing between his shoulder as he pulled on jeans.
"Hm," You paused from the other side, "Maybe a little earlier, depending on the traffic. The wedding starts in two hours and I'm leaving after the reception anyway."
He hummed in acknowledgment while rummaging for a shirt. "Okay, we'll probably beat you home then."
"We'll see~ anyway, babe, I think I hear Heejin coming to take group pictures. I'll see you later, love you guys."
Almost as soon as he hung up, Kisa barged in, handing her father a little pink hair brush and some rubber bands for her hair. With no other choice, he sighed and mentally prayed this would go smoother than yesterday's disaster. To his amazement, Jay's advice actually worked better than he expected, although he'd never tell the young CEO that. His ego was big enough without more compliments.
It didn't take long to get to the amusement park since it was rather near by. Kisa was rather fidgety by the time they got in so he thanked God she got distracted by all the rides and let her lead the way basically the whole day.
Spinning in an over-sized tea cup, Kiseok took a moment to lean back and admire his daughter's bubbling laughter, smile as wide as her muscles would allow. It was times like this where he realized just how blessed his life has been so far. A successful career in his dream occupation, a loving wife and a healthy, happy daughter, who could ever ask for more than this? There wasn't much he wouldn't do for his child, and he knew very well once the doctor told you both it was a girl, he would spoil her. She was a daddy's girl in every aspect of the word, even if he had to be away for work for long periods of time.
A little after lunch, he realized that he probably shouldn't have spoiled her too much with all these toys since you'd definitely get on his case later on tonight. But she was too cute in that purple princess tiara!
"Do you want that crown, baby?" He asked when she reached for another color.
"Oh, lord, you've got your father wrapped around your pretty little finger, don't you?" A smooth voice teased from the left of the two.
Instantly placing the voice, both of them turned to see you, hands on your hips and an amused smile on your lips. "Oppa, why in the world did you buy her so much toys?" You asked, gesturing towards the full plastic bag in his grip.
Kisa launched herself in your direction, wrapping her tiny arms around your legs and burring her head in your knees. Smirking at the display of affection, Kiseok brought up his free hand in surrender. "She gave me no choice. I don't stand a chance against her puppy eyes."
Rolling your eyes, you picked up the talkative tot and gave her a big kiss that had her squirming and giggling in your hold. "Yeah, yeah, just admit it. She's got you whipped."
Laughing, he shook his head before moving closer to give you a kiss in greeting. It would've lasted much longer had Kisa's tiny hands not moved your faces apart as she made a face accompanied by a high pitched, "Ew!"
"Ew?" Kiseok raised one brow before snatching her up and rapidly placing kisses all over her face while she giggled and wiggled away from him.
You smiled to yourself. As much as you needed the alone time, you really missed your little family in those two days. It was good to be home.
#I'm back#let's get to this#I got so much request#sorry guys#I'm gonna bang these out quickly#sorry for the wait#love you though#simon dominic#simon d#simon d scenarios#jung kiseok#kiseok scenarios#aomg scenarios#THIS WAS TERRIBLE#I'M SORRY
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Oblivious
Oblivious
[NaLu Oneshot]
By: StarryRein143
Description: Natsu and Lucy had been dating for 3 months now, though the guild doesn’t know about it. They maintained a low profile and hid it from plain sight. They’re doing a good job since not a single soul had caught them. They do enjoy their private moments, although they really want to come out of the dark and tell everyone. One shot.. NaLu
Lucy’s POV
Our first three months passed by like a blur. It was wonderful and surely new. Who would have thought that Natsu ‘Salamander’ Dragneel was actually sweet and romantic in his own little way? Believe it or not, he’s actually the sweetest guy i’ve met in my entire life. He proven that on our first monthsary. It surely was our most memorable, though the other two was equally fun and romantic. I didn’t prepare anything grand that day. I only had with me was a home made cake and i wasn’t really expecting anything in return. I wouldn’t be shocked if he forgot our monthsary. But God, i was wrong. I went by his house at 3pm, it was locked and the only thing i saw was a note sticked on his door, telling me to go back to my apartment and prepare.
I was clueless and confused. Prepare? For what? Annoyed by the unsolved mystery, i went home and just then i realized what he meant. On my bed was a box, with another note attached to it. It told me to wear the dress and shoes he brought with me and be ready by 6 pm. I was shocked. Did he planned this? That was all i can think of when i was preparing that night. The dress he brought was a knee-length off-shoulder pink dress with ruffles at the end and a pair of pink flats. Did he pick this by himself or did he had help? That was left unanswered even when he fetched me at exactly 6. Natsu was standing at my doorway, wearing a white ¾ shirt, pink necktie, black slacks and dress shoes. He looked handsome, especially with the bouquet he was carrying. I asked him where we were going but was answered with a smirk and a kiss on the forehead. That night, he brought me to the Rainbow Sakura Park. Under the same tree he uprooted was a candle light dinner. It was romantic. Having a dater under a rainbow sakura tree that was glistening in different colors for our first monthsary never crossed my mind. It was beyond sweet.
Our next two months, he didn’t failed to surprise me. Our second mothsary, we had a small picnic under the stars. We just talked and laughed while stargazing and eating that night. It was amazing. Third monthsary, he brought me to Hargeon, the place where we met. We ate at the same restaurant from before. But what truly made my day was when we went swimming. It was fun. It only proved that Natsu value our memories together.
The 3 months we are together was one of the best months of my life. We did fought and had quarrels. But we made it a habit to not wait for the next day to make up. Before we sleep, we make sure we already are truce and raised the white flag. We do love to fight, just not eachother. But would you believe me if i told you not a single sould knows about our romantic relationship? Not Happy nor Levy. No one knows that Natsu and I are together. They still think we haven’t passed the dense stage. But what’s funny was the fact that they set us up to 'help’ us. If only they knew..
“..cy? Luce?” I snapped back to reality when i heard Natsu call out to me. We were at my apartment. Just the two of us, Happy was nowhere to be seen. Probably, he’s with Carla again.
“Huh? Yeah?” I looked at him, clueless but he only chuckled. He patted the space next to him as if telling me to sit beside him. I raised an eyebrow but did as told. I let out a small squeak when he suddenly pulled me to him. Now, i was sitting on his lap, with his arms around me. Sighing, i wrapped my arms around his torso and rested my head on his chest.
“You seem to be deep in thought. What is my Lucy thinking? ” he rested his chin on top of my head and played with my hair.
“Nothing important. Just the past 3 months. I never thought we would stay this long with no one knowing nor noticing.” I heard him sigh and pulled away slightly. He rested his forehead on mine and closed his eyes.
“Yeah.”
“Do you want to tell them?”
“Do you? Honestly, i like it how we spend together, just the two of us. No pressure, no eyes to judge or watch us. But it’s really frustrating sometimes. We can’t be this intimate or sweet infront of others. I can’t hold you this close nor kiss you in the guild or when we’re with someone.” Chuckling. I pinched Natsu’s cheeks. This side of him never fails to surprise me.
“let’s tell them then.”
“Alright. But we have to do it my way.” I can’t help but raise an eyebrow at him seeing him smirk mischievously.
“What are you planning?”
“Just an interesting prank. You in?” I can’t help but wonder how this is all gonna end.
~∞~
Normal POV
Natsu and Lucy entered the guild, laughing rather loudly which caught almost everyone’s attention. The Fairy Tail Mages stared dumbfounded at the duo who had ignored them and seemed trapped on their own little world. All are shocked. No one dared to say a word. They don’t know how to react. They don’t know which one was more shocking; that Lucy was laughing whole-heartedly while Natsu was grinning widely or that the blonde had the dragonslayer’s most precious possession, his scarf, wrapped around her neck.
“What the hell?” The ice mage muttered as he stared wide eyed at the two. As if hearing him, the duo snapped out of their trance and looked around the guild almost questioningly. They locked gazes once again before shrugging, clueless. They high fived each other before going their seperate ways. Natsu to Happy, Carla, Gray and Wendy while Lucy to Levy, Cana and Mira.
“The hell are you looking at Ice Freak?” This remark seemed to awaken the dazed raven haired. Gray blinked multiple times and shifted his eyes between Lucy and Natsu.
“Would you mind telling us what your planning, Flame Brain?”
“What are you talking about, Ice Princes?!”
“Err.. Natsu-san, what Gray-san means is, what is y-your real relationship with L-Lucy-san?”
“Eh?”
“Hmm, thought so. You would play the innocent and dense card, aye? Then tell us, why is Lucy wearing your scarf?” Gray pried even more which just earned a scowl from the cherry haired pyro.
“None of your God damned business, yah perverted exhibitionist! she was complaining that she was cold when we were on our way here. So, i lend her my scarf to keep her warm. No big deal.”
“No big deal?! NO BIG DEAL?! ARE YOU FREAKIN’ KIDDING ME, DRAGNEEL?!” Apparently, Gray’s sudden outburst caught everyone’s attention.
“Woah, hold your horses! I don’t even know why your mad.”
“URGH! I SWEAR! YOUR THE MOST IDIOTIC, STUPID, MORONIC AND DENSE GUY I KNOW! CAN’T YOU TAKE A HINT?! FOR THE LOVE OF—I’M SO TIRED OF WATCHING YOU AND LUCY ACT SO HELPLESSLY INLOVE BUT REMAIN FRIENDS SINCE YOUR TOO MUCH OF A COWARD TO CONFESS!” The ice mage’s small speech received multiple shouts of agreement and opinions. The two mages in question looked at each other, shrugging but what everyone missed was the mischievous glint on the secret couple’s eyes.
“Geez.. what got your panties twisted, Ice Pick? Or are you on your monthly period?” The pyromaniac mocked which angered the molding mage even more.
“DIDN’T YOU JUST HEARD WHAT I SAID?! I’M TALKING ABO-”
“I heard you the first time, ugly stripper. Before you go sticking your nose on other people’s business, why don’t you face your own problems?! You don’t have the right to lecture me about confessing cause the last time i checked, you haven’t told Juvia about your feelings.” The ice mage took a step back as his face flushed in embarrassment. To his luck, the mentioned Water Mage wasn’t in the guild. She was out on a solo mission.
“The hell are you yapping about, Fire Breath?!”
“And you call me dense? Tch. Go bother someone else, Stripper. Me and Lucy are going on a mission. ” with that being said, the pyro jogged his way towards the request board, many eyes following his every movement. The dragonslayer scanned the board before ripping out a specific paper that caught his interest. Natsu grinned and ran over to the blonde. He waved the paper infront of her almost enthusiastically. Getting what he meant, Lucy grinned and nodded at him. They both laughed, which earned them confused gazes.
“Mira!” Natsu’s shout startled the dazed barmaid. The white haired beauty tensed and but managed to put on a smile.
“What i-is it?”
“We’re going on a job! Just me and Lucy this time since she’s short on rent money.”
“Is that so? But why just the two of you? If it’s for rent money, would it be much better to take a harder mission with greater pay and bring a team to help out?”
“Not this time. I want some alone time with my girlfriend since you all kept on stealing her from me! We can’t have any alone time anymore! That’s why i’m stealing her.” This earned him multiple gasps and reactions. The pyro smirked and swooped down to place a chaste kiss on the blonde’s lips. The Celestial Mage shrieked at the contact. Natsu pulled away and grinned before completely facing the stunned guild.
“LISTEN UP, IDIOTS! ME AND LUCY ARE DATING! FOR 3 MONTHS NOW, ACTUALLY! SO, IF SOMEONE DARES TO MAKE A MOVE OR EVEN ATTEMPT TO STEAL MY GIRL, I’LL BURN YOU TO ASHES! AM I CLEAR?!” not specifically waiting for an answer, Natsu leaned down to place another kiss on the blonde’s lips before he carried her bridal style and ran out of the guild. The whole guild had their mouths open witnessing Natsu’s declaration.
“D-Did he just say 3 m-months?”
“That freakin’ Fire Lizard made us look stupid trying to pair him up with Lucy when all this time, they’re already together!”
“NATSU!”
***
I made this a while back and had posted it on a different website. Hope you liked it! 😂😘
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alunasky-blog
Alunasky