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#a lot of descriptive torture and sex scenes
rinrinlovee · 1 year
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*tips hat* hope you're having a lovely morning/evening, m'lady (or idk whatever time it is where you are)
Might I request a book recommendation?
what genre of books do you like?
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I Know You Like Her Too [Series Masterlist]
Poly!141 x fem!Reader
Content:
On-Going Series, Military!Reader, Polyamorous Relationship
No use of Y/N, Reader's callsign is 'Rabbit', Very Minimal Physical Character Descriptions, Canon-Typical Violence, Mentions of Abuse, Semi-Graphic Torture Scene, Happy Ending :D
This story was written pre-MW3 and has been modified to fit the timeline and some parts of that campaign. With that said, the campaign is a nice suggestion, not a rule. Major canon-divergence here.
Pairings:
Johnny "Soap" MacTavish (pre-established) Simon “Ghost” Riley Kyle “Gaz” Garrick Captain Jonathan Price
Bonus Chapter Pairings:
poly!141 x Alejandro Vargas + Rodolfo “Rudy” Parra
and possibly more ;)
NSFW [18+]:
SoftDom!Ghost, SoftDom!Price, Switch!Gaz, Switch!Soap, Switch!Reader, Threesomes, Group Sex, Hair Pulling, Bondage (Ghost gets tied up heh), Lots of Praise, Body Worship, Oral (giving and receiving), Overstimulation, Aftercare
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Pre-Story Headcanons and General Information:
Personnel Files
141 & Rabbit Headcanons
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Main Story Chapters:
Chapter One | 3.5k Words
Chapter Two | 2.9k Words
Chapter Three | 5.3k Words
Chapter Four | 3.3k Words
Chapter Five | 2.4k Words - PLEASE NOTE
Chapter Six | 2.5k Words
Chapter Seven | Coming Soon
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TAGLIST:
Please interact with this post to be added to the taglist for this story!
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<3
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ivysoul · 10 months
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⋆ ★ 𝐃𝐁𝐅!𝐆𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐒. includes age gap (legal ofc), descriptions of and scenes of sex, size kink, very light humiliation kink (literally blink n you’ll miss it), light possessiveness, body worship, mirror sex, car sex, fingering, reader is described as smaller than ghost, sex while on the phone and the other end doesn’t know, probably a bit ooc ghost but idc. special dt to @ouchvns bc i love them sm ♡
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༊*·˚ dbf!ghost teases you constantly. whether you’re alone or with other people, he’s always finding some way to make you flustered. a lingering touch on your thigh, or gently brushing his fingertips against your clothed cunt under the dinner table across from your father and sometimes other people. he’s even gone as far as to discreetly finger you under the table and find amusement from you struggling to keep quiet and collected. his fingers were soaked with your slick and you could hear the noises that were made from it when the room was a bit too quiet. your face was hot with embarrassment and lust at the same time and you didn’t know which feeling you should let take over your body at this point. ghost though, ghost was having the time of his life with this whole thing. “somethin’ wrong, kid? your face is all red.” meanwhile he’s got his thick digits trusting into your sopping cunt as he asked.
༊*·˚ dbf!ghost doesn’t like to share. if he picks you up from the bar late at night, you’d better pray that there isn’t some other man standing and talking to you where ghost can see, otherwise you’re in for a long, hard treatment from him later on. more often than not though, you do it on purpose. you make sure he catches sight of you and a guy talking. he was obviously flirting with you, fixing your lipstick that had smudged a little bit during the night, fingers lingering on your face for a second too long. ghost was seething as he sat there, waiting for you. he knew what you were doing and he made it very clear that he knew when you got into the jeep. you weren’t quite sure what had happened between the time when he locked the doors and now, but all you knew was that you were practically folded in half with your knees and thighs against your stomach and chest, hands gripping the leather of the seats as you all but screamed in pleasure, and no doubt everyone outside the bar could hear considering ghost didn’t care much to even leave the parking lot. he pounded into you with force, hard long thrusts were present where passion and love were absent. “wan’ act like a whore, i’ll fuckin’ treat y’like one. i know y’like it, you love bein’ used as a toy, don’t ya? my toy. all mine.”
༊*·˚ dbf!ghost loves how much smaller you are than him. he loves how easily he can manhandle you into any position he wants. you’re too tired and fucked out to flip over onto your stomach? don’t worry, babe, ghost has got you. his giant hands grab onto your waist and roll you over, lifting your hips to be even level with his as he lines up his girthy cock with your cunt again. he shoves in to the hilt in one quick thrust, eliciting a loud yelp from you. he chuckles—low and gravely, and bends over you, caging you under him. his huge body dwarfs yours completely as he continues his brutal pace from before. with his mouth right next to your ear, he speaks lowly, “‘m so crazy ‘bout you, love. i fit into you perfectly, ‘s like you were made f’me.” his teeth lightly nibble on your earlobe before placing a hot, wet kiss to the side of your neck repeatedly. you know damn well he’s leaving prominent lovebites as he goes. “can’t have my little baby goin’ around without people knowin’ she’s gettin’ taken care of, can i?”
༊*·˚ dbf!ghost likes to fuck you in front of your full length mirror in your bedroom and worship you the entire time. the mirror was to the side of your bed, giving him the perfect opportunity to have you kneel on the edge of the mattress and fuck you from behind. he tortured you like this, forcing you to watch the way his cock slowly fucked into you, or the way he would shamelessly worship your body by groping every bit of flesh, making sweet and loving comments about every part. it got you so incredibly flustered that it made it hard for you to focus on anything at all. the compliments he was giving were going on a loop in your mind and the reflection in front of you didn’t help whatsoever. you could see how much he meant his words, how sincere he was. there was no hint of a lie in his words, actions, or his eyes. “you’re the most beautiful person i’ve ever seen, sweetheart. every part of you is gorgeous. ‘m so lucky to have you. so, so lucky.” he repeated the words so much that you started to believe it yourself.
༊*·˚ dbf!ghost would frequently fuck you while you’re on the phone with your dad. the first time he did it had been the best. he had you bent over the counter with your shorts and panties at your ankles, his own clothes at his ankles. the little whimpers that would escape you every now and then would spur him on, picking up his speed and the harshness of his thrusts and hearing you stutter a piss-poor excuse to your dad over the phone on speaker (that ghost made you turn on for the sake of this). the death grip you had on the phone was strong from doing your absolute hardest to keep your noises in. your dad said something about inviting ghost over to dinner that night and ghost had to hold in a deep chuckle. but when your dad asked you a question that you had forgotten to answer due to your current state, ghost leaned down to mumble something in your ear. “y’better answer your father, angel.” your dad’s voice ran out from the phone again after that, “what was that, hun?” to which you said, all-too-quickly, “n-nothing, dad! it w-was nothing!”
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☆ — © saintlulls, 2023 - don’t repost, translate, or copy.
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racefortheironthrone · 6 months
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Was the Comics Code as bad as the Hays Code?
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That's a really good question!
I suppose it depends on what you mean by "as bad" - are we talking about the overall impact of the Code on American pop culture or are we talking about the actual content of the Code and what it banned and/or mandated in terms of artistic expression?
I've written a little bit about the Hays Code here, but my main focus was on subtextual judaism in Hollywood generally rather than what the Code was and what its impact on American cinema was.
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So what did the Hays Code actually include?
One of the few positive things you can say about it is that the men who devised it were quite clear and forthright about what would and wouldn't be allowed, in comparison to the vagueness and inconsistency of the modern MPAA. So here's the list of what couldn't be shown:
Pointed profanity—by either title or lip—this includes the words God, Lord, Jesus, Christ (unless they be used reverently in connection with proper religious ceremonies), Hell, S.O.B., damn, Gawd, and every other profane and vulgar expression however it may be spelled; (You'll notice that the Code is very much a snapshot of the transition from silent movies to "talkies," with the discussion of how profanity is spelled as well as produced via "lip.")
Any licentious or suggestive nudity—in fact or in silhouette; and any lecherous or licentious notice thereof by other characters in the picture;
The illegal traffic in drugs;
Any inference of sex perversion; (i.e anything having to do with LGBT+ people and culture. For more on the impact of the Hays Code on the LGBT+ community, see the excellent documentary the Celluloid Closet.)
White slavery; (the 1920s version of sex trafficking, but with added racism!)
Miscegenation;
Sex hygiene and venereal diseases;
Scenes of actual childbirth—in fact or in silhouette;
Children's sex organs;
Ridicule of the clergy;
Willful offense to any nation, race or creed; and (this one was really honored in the breach more than the observance when it came to nations, races, and creeds of non-dominant groups in society.)
The following things could be shown, but "special care be exercised in the manner in which the following subjects are treated, to the end that vulgarity and suggestiveness may be eliminated and that good taste may be emphasized:"
The use of the Flag;
International Relations (avoid picturizing in an unfavorable light another country's religion, history, institutions, prominent people and citizenry); (again, depended a lot on what country you're talking about.)
Arson;
The use of firearms;
Theft, robbery, safe-cracking, and dynamiting of trains, mines, buildings, et cetera (having in mind the effect which a too-detailed description of these may have upon the moron); (I guess the idea was that the MPPDA believed very strongly in the idea that media could affect people's behavior through imitation, but the use of the word "moron" gives me eugenics vibes.)
Brutality and possible gruesomeness;
Technique of committing murder by whatever method;
Methods of smuggling;
Third-Degree methods; (i.e, torture)
Actual hangings or electrocutions as legal punishment for crime; Sympathy for criminals; (this was a big one; Hollywood had done very well from gangster films, so a lot of creators had to do some careful threading of the needle to keep the genre alive. One dodge that they came up with was that they would have a duplicate "final reel" in which the gangster would have their inevitable comeuppance, and then remove the final reel when the censors had left the theater. Very popular with white rural teens.) Attitude toward public characters and institutions; (again, Hollywood shifting from being anti- to pro-establishment.)
Sedition;
Apparent cruelty to children and animals;
Branding of people or animals;
The sale of women, or of a woman selling her virtue;
Rape or attempted rape;
First-night scenes; (i.e, wedding nights)
Man and woman in bed together; (hence the eventual TV practice of showing married couples in separate beds in the 50s)
Deliberate seduction of girls;
The institution of marriage;
Surgical operations;
The use of drugs;
Titles or scenes having to do with law enforcement or law-enforcing officers;
Excessive or lustful kissing, particularly when one character or the other is a "heavy".
So in general, we can say that the Hays Code was extremely sex-negative, very concerned about crime and anti-establishment thinking, sexist, racist, and homophobic, and in general afraid of offending anybody.
So what about the Comics Code Authority?
So this is what the Comics Code looked like in 1954:
Crimes shall never be presented in such a way as to create sympathy for the criminal, to promote distrust of the forces of law and justice, or to inspire others with a desire to imitate criminals. If crime is depicted it shall be as a sordid and unpleasant activity.
Policemen, judges, government officials, and respected institutions shall never be presented in such a way as to create disrespect for established authority.
Criminals shall not be presented so as to be rendered glamorous or to occupy a position which creates a desire for emulation. In every instance good shall triumph over evil and the criminal punished for his misdeeds.
Scenes of excessive violence shall be prohibited. Scenes of brutal torture, excessive and unnecessary knife and gunplay, physical agony, the gory and gruesome crime shall be eliminated.
No comic magazine shall use the words "horror" or "terror" in its title.
All scenes of horror, excessive bloodshed, gory or gruesome crimes, depravity, lust, sadism, masochism shall not be permitted.
All lurid, unsavory, gruesome illustrations shall be eliminated. Inclusion of stories dealing with evil shall be used or shall be published only where the intent is to illustrate a moral issue and in no case shall evil be presented alluringly, nor so as to injure the sensibilities of the reader.
Scenes dealing with, or instruments associated with walking dead, torture, vampires and vampirism, ghouls, cannibalism, and werewolfism are prohibited.
Profanity, obscenity, smut, vulgarity, or words or symbols which have acquired undesirable meanings are forbidden.
Nudity in any form is prohibited, as is indecent or undue exposure. Suggestive and salacious illustration or suggestive posture is unacceptable.
Females shall be drawn realistically without exaggeration of any physical qualities.
Illicit sex relations are neither to be hinted at nor portrayed. Rape scenes, as well as sexual abnormalities, are unacceptable.
Seduction and rape shall never be shown or suggested.
Sex perversion or any inference to same is strictly forbidden.
Nudity with meretricious purpose and salacious postures shall not be permitted in the advertising of any product; clothed figures shall never be presented in such a way as to be offensive or contrary to good taste or morals.[16]
You'll notice the similarities when it comes to the Codes' attitude to sex, sexuality, crime, and symbols of authority - so to answer the first part of your question, I would say the CCA was pretty similar to the Hays Code (in part because Charles F. Murphy, who drew it up, was deeply unoriginal and basically cribbed off the Hays Code throughout).
However, there are also some significant areas of difference that have a lot to do with the unique circumstances of the 1950s moral panic over comics. See, in the 1950s, superhero comics were considered deeply uncool and old hat - they had been huge in the 40s during the war, but by the 50s the biggest genre in comics were horror, crime, and romance comics (with cowboy comics bringing up the rear). To quote myself from another post:
"This gave rise to a moral panic in the 1950s, although more accurately it was part of the larger moral panic over juvenile delinquency. The U.S Senate established a Juvenile Delinquency Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee in 1953 to investigate the causes of juvenile delinquency and comics became a major target. While Wertham’s book is best known today for its assertions that Batman and Robin were teaching young boys to be gay and Wonder Woman was teaching young girls to be lesbians, the main focus of the Subcommittee [edit mine: and Wertham's academic work] was on horror and crime comics for their depiction of sex, violence, and “subversive” attitudes to law and order."
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The CCA made it impossible to publish two of the most popular genres in the industry for a generation (the CCA relaxed its stance on horror stuff a bit in the 70s, which is why Marvel trend-chased werewolves and vampires the moment they could get away with it), which not only scrambled the medium (and potentially created space for the Silver Age of superhero comics to flourish) but drove the former titan EC Comics practically out of business. (Indeed, William Gaines of EC Comics believed that the CCA had been specifically worded to drive him out of business.)
So in some ways, the CCA was worse.
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railingsofsorrow · 11 months
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Countdown
[s.reid x reader]
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summary: Blood and wine were indistinguishable. You couldn't move, you couldn't breathe, the world was giving up on you (or was it the other way around?). You had to keep fighting. If there's one thing you are sure of is that they would find you. He would find you. You just didn't know how much longer you could take until then.
pairing: s.reid x f!reader
w.c: 6.7K
warnings/content: mentions of freud regarding complex mother/son relationships; tw!aggravated assault; tw!coercion caused by substance use; tw!mentions of child abuse, physical and emotional abuse; very tw!graphic violence be aware; tw!blood; tw!descriptions of injuries and scars; cursing; tw!suicide ideation; mentions of hallucinations, tw!abduction and tw!death of a relative; heavy descriptions of losing sense of time; crying; cm usual stuff; poor analysis of a profile cause I'm no aaron hotchner; in resume there's angst; mc cannot get a break. (tell me if I forgot anything plz)
A/N: oof that's a lot of trigger warnings. if you don't feel comfortable, feel free to leave, this isn't a light fic, quite the opposite. mc goes through a LOT. btw do you like wine? I do. (no pun intended) enjoy the reading!
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“Suffering is a terrible fire;
it either purifies
or destroys.”
[Oscar Wilde]
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According to Sigmund Freud, there’s a theory called “the Oedipus complex”. It happens when the child develops a sexual attraction to the opposite-sex parent, meaning that they wish to replace his father to possess his mother, from whom he craves affection. 
Spencer’s voice rang through your head as you observed your surroundings. Your hands weren’t tied anymore but the red marks around your wrists made you feel as if the ropes were still there.
There are five stages in this condition, the fifth being the hardest to overcome, but not impossible. However, when the Oedipus complex is not resolved it could lead to an unhealthy attachment towards the opposite-sex parent in adulthood, besides the commitment issues and trouble involving same-sex rivalry. 
You also recalled the Doctor detailing statistics about the topic, wildly gesticulating with his hands. But your head was fuzzy and you didn’t know whether your memories were true or if you were making them up anymore. Just as a means to bring you some type of comfort in that endless torture.
He was drugging you. 
Paul Knox, the UnSub, was a white male in his mid-forties. Lived alone for most of his life, except for when he married Martha Moore; they stayed together for one year before the marriage ended. Paul worked on a construction site and was described by his coworkers as quiet, “always kept to himself”, and responsible. He always made sure his task of the day was completed before he went home. 
His past wasn’t the easiest one. And it seemed as if he couldn’t get away from it. Paul spent his entire childhood being abused by both of his parents, his father, a strict man, sexually abused his wife, who would later take out her anger on her son, by wrapping a belt around his neck and squeezing it until he passed out — This was the signature behavior they found on the crime scenes. 
Victimology told you and the team something as clear as day: every woman he murdered was a surrogate to his mother. 
And you concluded you had pissed him off enough for him to abduct you and keep you the same way he was keeping his victims. 
When you woke up, the only thing you could see was blood.  
Blood whenever you stepped.  
On your hands. 
On your arms.  
On your lips.  
You could even taste the metallic liquid. And that made you terrified. Not more terrified – of course – than being locked up in a place for god-knows-how-long without a sense of reality. There was a physical fight hours before—or was it days? You couldn't know, time was different where you were. You had a slight chance of speculating if it was day or night due to the minimum crack on one of the walls. Your pinky would fit if anything.  
You succeeded in breaking a plate of food he had brought at the back of his head; which barely confused the man as you attempted to sprint towards the door. Well, You did try. Right as you reached the gate, he yanked your hair back and knocked you out on a solid surface.  
When you woke up, the first thought that crossed your mind was I'm dead. 
You weren’t. 
Thankfully, you had just passed out. Again.  
Letting out a painful breath, you forced your eyes to stay open. You had to keep trying, you weren’t about to let him win that easily. Before your team found you — if they hadn’t already — you had to buy yourself some time. Once his obsession exceeds its peak, you wouldn't stand a chance.
The sound of another shard of glass clicking against the floor disturbed that deafening silence. Although, no more than actually taking a piece of glass out of your flesh.  
You moaned in pain when it was finally out. Maybe being shot would hurt less because I'd blackout. But this hurts like a bitch.
Your breathing was unsteady and you were hyperventilating. There were at least five breathing exercises running through your head as you surveyed the room, looking for a way out. You had been placed in another corner. It was still the same room, but you were seeing it from another angle. This time you could walk; barely, but still. You refused to look at your feet with the trail of blood it left as you walked. 
Focus. You need to find a way out.  
You're a profiler. Profile him.  
Forty-five.  
White male.  
Abandonment issues caused by his mother leaving him at the age of nine years old. 
Each victim was a surrogate to his mother; he kept them for two days and then wrapped a belt around their throats to slash it postmortem. That's his M.O.
You had none of the victim characteristics. You were only unfortunate to be in the right place at the wrong time. 
Emily and you were sent to investigate the supposed location the UnSub took his victims to; an old apartment downtown. However, he was onto you as soon as you entered the place. In a moment of distraction, you had been swiped with a chloroform wipe before Emily could blink.  
What a cliché way to abduct someone.
On the first day, he covered your mouth with a dirty blanket but kept your hands and feet tied up tightly around a chair. You complied with everything he said, claiming you understood him and that he was so much better than his mother. Wrong move. At the mere mention of her, the guy completely lost it. 
You could still feel the slap that made your head turn. No doubt his fingers were marked on your cheek.   
Then, radio silence. Your brain worked wildly as you started to analyze your surroundings with undivided attention. There were two dark shelves a few meters away from you and a few boxes scattered around. The room was extremely dark, no windows, and carried a bitter smell. The floor was a blur to you, you didn't know were you were stepping.
Countless bottles on the shelves. It almost reminded you of—
Wait.
There was barely any light in the room, only through that tiny hole in the wall. You assumed it was around evening because of where the angle the shadow was reflecting upon. 
1978. Read on the bottle.  
This is a wine bottle.  
I'm in a wine cellar.
Your happiness was short-lived as your vision blurred, causing you to stumble back slightly. 
The bottle slipped from your fingers.  
Your mind goes into wildfire when your feet stepped onto something sharp and, immediately, the familiar sensation of it deepening into your skin. You never realized your body was falling, the only thing you could actually grasp onto was the pain, the agony you felt. Your screams echoed through the walls, then your tears joined as a company.
Blood and wine were indistinguishable. 
Your vision begins to gloss over, dark spots covering your eyes from reality. It would be only a matter of time until you drifted off again. Was it sad to say that the sensation was becoming familiar? It shouldn't be. You should be fighting for survival.
But your legs had pieces of glass sticking out and your left hand throbbed from an open wound from another piece you had pulled out. 
You heaved a shaky exhale, grunting as you tried to step back from the broken bottle. Daring to take a look at your legs was the last you did before the door creaked open, a bitter smile spreading on your dry lips. 
“Shit.”
✫・゜・。✫・゜・。
The BAU’s technical analyst typed fast on her computer, her eyes quickly swapping between each screen. She was checking into possible locations Paul Knox could've taken his victims, excluding where the last body was found. His M.O. changed drastically from one night to the other, which meant he was escalating. And angry, extremely angry — Garcia couldn’t imagine something else after hearing the news you had been taken. 
“As if this couldn’t get any more creepy…” The blonde mumbled under her breath, eyes scanning over her newfound footage. It was a big house, colonial style colored with a pastel yellow on its walls. The picture showed the Knox’s posing for the camera; mother, son, and husband. Left to right. Something irked her in that image and that’s why she hadn’t dwelled on it when they were looking for the prime suspects’ background. His first home wasn’t relevant, he didn't take his victims there. 
They had been so wrong. 
Her server picked up on a distinct signal. One that shouldn't be there in such an old building. 
“He films it. Everything.” Emily handled five of the eighteen tapes they found in the UnSub’s apartment. Derek shook his head as he saw many names written on each of them.
“There’re eighteen here.” You frowned, counting for the third time. “It’s supposed to be seventeen. We found seventeen bodies.”
“We haven’t found the last one yet.” 
And this is how you disappeared from their radar. The eighteenth woman was not found and you were abducted from right under their noses the night after you figured he kept souvenirs from his victims. Necklaces, earrings and those awful recordings. 
When Penelope succeeded in hacking into the system, a camera was functioning properly. Just one. The place was dark, but the camera provided a poor lightening and from that, her breath caught in her throat. 
“Oh, my god.” The technical analyst covered her mouth in astonishment. There you were, on her computer screen. There was no doubt. She's worked with you in the same environment for nearly five years. You were friends, coworkers, partners in crime. She knew you. And that was breaking her heart.
You were thrown over the floor against a shelf, your head lolling to the side as if you were too weak to lift it. “No, no, no,” Garcia exclaimed, tears trailing down her cheeks and ruining her make-up. The floor was damp with something and she can't even imagine what it was. 
“Garcia?” Hotch's voice spoke through their connected microphone. “What is it?”  
She had completely forgotten she was in a connected call. 
The team was in the round table room, trying to figure out your whereabouts with the help of the clues they had until now. Which were minimal. They were very behind in the UnSub's game.  
Garcia's gasp made everyone quit their work, to simply stare at the machine anxiously and wait for the woman's next words.  
“We have to find her. Now!” Nothing else can stand out through the line like Penelope's frantic fingers typing fast.
Derek is the first to ask for clarification, “Baby girl, give us something. What happened?”  
By now, everyone was on the edge of their seats with the tension. 
The line pauses, and before anyone could complain, Penelope interjects in a weak voice, “Come to my cave. You need to see this.”  
Once they arrive in Penelope's office, the sight is more than they expected. Way more.  
The door opened and a figure walked into the dark room. They all watched with bated breath as Paul Knox crouched down to your weak body, drawing a hand to run through your cheek. 
“That son of a—”
“What is that?” Spencer cut Derek off, eyes glued to the man's pocket, something was sticking out of it. His mind works faster than any other, the likelihood of the team having a breakthrough during a case because of his inputs is huge and he's quite proud of that — even though Spencer doesn't give himself much credit. 
He feels the dumbest in the room right now. 
Not only did he lose you the night you were taken but he couldn't find you. The geographical profile was redone five times by him, he analyzed every detail over and over again, his brain was on fire. But he failed. He failed. How could he do that when you needed him the most? Where was his knowledge and IQ of 187 when he needed it?
Penelope turned off the screen on an impulse, earning discontent reactions from everyone else. She didn't answer them as lots of things started popping up on the other computer screen. 
“Garcia.” Spencer presses, jaw clenched. He was really trying to not yell at the technical analyst to find a location fucking faster or else instead of a living agent they would find a body to bury.  
No. No, that wouldn't happen. That couldn't happen.
“I'm trying!” 
“Try harder!” He yelled, causing every eye to give him impressed looks. Spencer Reid doesn’t scream, he doesn’t raise his voice, he doesn’t lose his cool. But he had never seen you in a pool of your own blood in an unknown place as a hostage before. He had never been so powerless. “He's gonna do something!” He reasoned his outburst with the team. How weren't they desperately losing their minds? Was this what they were like when he had been kidnapped by Tobias Hankel? Extremely collected and calm, just like in any other case? “Are we just going to sit here and watch? This is Y/N!”
The sound of the footage suddenly burst through the cave, causing everyone to freeze up. 
“Stop. No, n— what is that? Get the fuck away from me— No!”
“Oh, my god,” Emily mumbles with a hand over her mouth. They weren’t able to see the footage, but hearing your screams was just as painful.
“Reid,” Hotch warned, knowing how hard this was being on him. He shouldn't stay there, it would only make things worse, as much as it pained Aaron what was happening — he was your friend before he was your boss — the situation required him to be the levelheaded one. He couldn't jeopardize your safety because of emotions. “Go take a walk.”
“No.” was Spencer's reply. Before he could snap at anyone else and make the tension in the room increase, a hand squeezed his shoulder.  
“C'mon, kid.” Derek tugged his forearm.
“I'm not going anywhere—” 
“Yes, yes, you are.” Derek sends him a pointed look, pushing him out of the room “C'mon, let's take a walk. Being like this isn't gonna help us find her.”
“Look,” JJ points to the moving image, Penelope had turned it back on due to Hotch’s request. They were too close to figure out your location and they needed to grasp every detail of wherever that room was. “It’s that a… needle?” That can’t be happening. Not again. JJ flinched back as the syringe was pressed against your neck and your cries started to quieten up. She had seen that film before, it was just a continuous nightmare by now. Spencer’s limp body flashed through her mind, a terrible flashback. Now, you. It wasn’t fair. Hotch took her out of her inner turmoil to say they had found her location. Emily was already out of the room.
“Find our girl. Please, find her.” Penelope gave her a pleading look, her glasses were smeared with tears.
Jenifer didn’t need to be told twice.
✫・゜・。✫・゜・。
Next time you woke up you saw metal bars. There was a steady dripping sound resonating around. You didn't know where it came from, your senses were compromised by your dizziness; sometimes it was distant, sometimes it was right by your side. 
Plink. Plink. Plink.
Plink. Plink. Plink.
Always three times then a pause. 
Paul had put you in a cage. That much was clear, the quadrangle shape along with the metal bars. You could barely stretch out your legs all the way due to the limited space. 
Something stirred in your sight and you realized you weren't alone in the room. He's still here.
Where are your instincts? Where are the tactics you use to save someone almost every day? And why aren't you making use of them right now?
The dripping stopped. 
Something creaked and your face was being touched. Feeling the familiar reaction of a panic attack approaching, you tried to regulate your breath. This was not the time. You thought. But again, have you had control over anything over these past few days?  
“Don't cry. I won't hurt you.”
When you got out of the high of whatever substance he had injected into your system, you winced at the numbness in your left foot. You moved your limbs around, attempting to sit down. He had cleaned you up. You were in different clothes, too. And the blood was gone. 
He touched me.
Hetouchedmehetouchedmehetouchedmehetouchedm—
Stay focused.  
“13…11…9…7.” You started counting in the odd-numbered pattern you learnt calms you down. “5…3…1…13— What is—” a red light in a corner of the room glinted at you. “Are you recording me?” You exhaled harshly, squinting your eyes. No, that wasn't the dizziness. The red light was probably there the whole time, but it remained unnoticeable. A wave of drowsiness almost knocks you out again but instead, you squeeze your nails against your tight to prevent sleeping — pain was better than the unknown. You didn't know what he did when you were out of it, though you had an idea just a minute ago. “You enjoy your souvenirs, don't you? Sick bastard!”  
You're losing your temper, control yourself. 
I can't.
I need to get out of here. I need to GET OUT.
“Let me out.” You whispered to nothing. 
What takes you to a breaking point? Being held captive by a sociopath maniac or not knowing what to do to escape it? 
All of your qualifications went down the drain. Suddenly you didn't have a PhD in Biopsychology.
Survival mode originally evolved to help us handle threats and situations that activate our stress-response systems. When the alternative does not involve escape or fighting, we are wired to freeze, a state of hyperarousal. 
It's always better to go ahead with the instructions, otherwise, you might touch a rough spot and their only response will be to eliminate their target. 
Your friends’ voices rang through your brain as if they were supposed to help you somehow. 
The walls were closing in, rationality was out of the picture.
“Let me out of here, please!”
“Stop screaming. No one will hear.” 
You turned towards the door, jaw clenching. You weren't just weak, you were angry. That shouldn't be happening to you, you were just at the wrong place at the wrong time and he took advantage of that. 
“They will catch you.” You spat out. “You don't have a chance once they find you, Paul.”
He nodded, crouching down in front of the cage, hands gripping the sidebars. “I'm aware of that.”
That made you freeze. 
So it was an all-or-nothing situation? If your probability of getting out of that alive was slim, now it was just ridiculous.
“You need to learn a lesson.” He said, unlocking the cage and crawling in. As much as you tucked yourself in the corner, he was still able to touch you, he was still able to be desperately close. “Beautiful, beautiful, Daisy... Why'd you hurt me like that?”  
Daisy. 
Daisy…
“Daisy... I did everything you asked me too. Why'd you leave me with him? The bad man? Why?”
The bad man.  
Daisy and Caleb Knox, those were Paul’s parents. 
At the age of nine Daisy left Paul to Caleb's care and ran away. She was never found.
It's always better to go ahead with the instructions. Play into his fantasy. 
“I'm— I'm sorry,” you croaked out, testing the waters.  
“Are you really?”  
“He made...” Taking a deep breath You felt your tongue heavy and your head spin. You would pass out any minute. How much longer would you handle without food? You can't remember the last time you ate. “... he made me— do that. I wanted to protect you. I did. But he didn't— he didn't let me,” your breath was shallow and you felt yourself floating.   
Stay awake.  
“Liar.” He mumbled after a while. “Liar!” You didn't expect the slap when it came. The force made you stumble back, pressing your eyes and groaning in pain. “How can you keep lying to me after all these years? You slut! I was alone! With him!”  
“I understand,” you replied, shakily, licking your lips as the copper taste filled your tastebuds. “But— but you love me. Don't you?” Opening your eyes, you realized he was a little farther than you expected. His eyes stared right into your soul with a kind of regret and disgust you had never seen. “You were always a good kid, Paul... Would never hurt your mom. Because you're good. Aren't you?”  
A lot of things were at stake there. your life, mostly. If you as much as stepped into his anger then you would be done for.  
In a blink of an eye he was in front of you again, “I am. I-I I am, mom.” Mom. That's good. He's falling for it. You could save your vomit for later. 
Then, you saw the belt. The same one he uses on the victims for the final kill. 
Death wasn't a thing to be afraid of. It's simply another part of life. Or, for the believers, eternal life.  
You have never been scared of death in your twenty-five years of living. Not when the situation was related to you, at least. Which was completely different if someone on your team got injured badly, let alone your boyfriend. You didn't know what it was that whenever you were in danger's ways, no fear would kick in, only the nice feeling of adrenaline running through your veins.  
However, this wasn't like most cases. You knew this one would break you to the core. You would never be the same after that. If you even get the chance to say after this case. Spencer had this experience. He had been abducted and tortured by Tobias Hankel; you've seen how the trauma affected him till this day.  
You wondered if Spencer thought if he would get out alive. You wondered if, at some point in that cabin in the woods, he contemplated death as an alternative. Because God knew you were considering it.  
✫・゜・。✫・゜・。
Aaron Hotchner marched forward to the backyard of the Knox Mansion as Derek Morgan went in through the backdoor. Spencer Reid and Jennifer Jereau were ordered to enter through the front door.
The two-story manor carried a sense of luxury, although the smell was of something rotten from years back.  
It was clear that the inheritance Paul Knox gained from his father had vanished as it had come. The house was almost in ruins, the strong smell of mold all around the walls immediately hit the newcomers. Derek and Aaron met inside close to the living room.  
“It's all clear around the kitchen, Rossi,” Derek said, looking around and studying his surroundings. He quickly covered his nose when the smell reached his nostrils. “What is that smell?!”  
“I don't know,” Rossi replied, kicking a knocked-over chair. “ There's been a struggle.” 
Derek nodded, pointing towards a line of blood leading to the kitchen. It ended there.
“We're running out of time.” Spencer walked in the kitchen with JJ on his trail. “This is useless. She won't be up here. The camera Garcia hacked showed a dark room and it pointed to a door. Possibly the only way in and out.”
JJ nodded in affirmation, shoulders tensing. “Maybe a basement? There's no guest house, right?”
“There's a basement outside.” Rossi clarified. “Hotch is searching there. JJ and Reid search the second floor, Morgan and Prentiss you take the attic. I'll check that ridiculously big greenhouse outside.”  
“It's not a basement,” Spencer said, cursing under his breath. Everyone stared at him confusedly. “That was not a basement. It—It looks like one. It's supposed to look like one but didn't you see the bottles and the shelves in the footage? And the liquid when she—” he sucked in a breath. “That's a wine cellar.” He concluded. How couldn't he have seen it before? It was being thrown at his face.
✫・゜・。✫・゜・。
Hotch stepped towards the wood doors, drawing out his gun to tear apart the locket.
He tried as much as he could not to make a sound as he walked down the basement doors. If the smell in the house was bad, down there was suffocating.
“Paul, Paul listen to me! I'm sorry that I left, I'm sorry!” 
He halted, surveying the area carefully. It was dark, but his weapon light helped him have a grip on his surroundings. That had definitely been your voice. 
“Is Carina here?” 
There was a pause.
Carina Grace. One of the missing girls, probably the eighteenth victim of Paul Knox.
“You told me I wasn't alone before, is she here, too, Paul?” 
That was a bold move. Hotch knew what you were doing, despite the situation you were still doing your job, but this wouldn't end well.
“You have never been alone.”
Your crying out made him approach fast as he followed the sound. That place could fool anyone by the sight of it before you entered. The wood doors made it look like a small corner, but Hotch could see it as a masked labyrinth. 
He kept aiming his gun ahead, entering a room of what he supposed was a wine cellar. Slow and steady steps guided by his instincts; his eyes surveyed every corner of the room until three tall shelves came into sight— and a shadow reflected by the sunlight that entered the only small window in the room.  
His eyes narrowed when he saw it move and the silhouette of a gun was pressed to its hand. Hotch swiftly hid behind a near concrete pillar just as the man shot twice in the previous direction he had been in.  
Idiot. Aaron mentally cursed, eyeing the only part of the room he hadn't checked yet, behind the shelves.  
He saw a glimpse of metal. The UnSub was armed. 
“Found her badge and bullet proof vest up here, Hotch.” JJ's voice rang through the radio. Loud enough for only Aaron to hear, thankfully. “The perimeters are being checked but I don't think—” He could hear the strain in her voice.
“The wine cellar isn't clear, yet.” Hotch said with his tone contained, eyes glued to the UnSub's shadow. He hasn't moved. What was this asshole planning to do? “He's here. Block all exits.”  
“What about her?” 
“She's here, too,” Hotch replied to Reid, squinting at the moving silhouette.
“You're in the basement, aren't you?” He breathed out at the sound of Emily's voice. 
“Yes.” 
“I'll meet you there.”
“There's another body here and he's armed.” Be careful. 
Emily spoke to someone else and then he tuned everything out. 
✫・゜・。✫・゜・。
“Spencer!” JJ tried to pull him back but he yanked his arm out of her reach, sprinting towards the backyard. “Would you calm down? You can't barge in like this!” She hissed in frustration. 
He turned back and said through gritted-teeth. “If it were Will, would you be calm?”
She blinked at him, opening and closing her mouth in shock. “I—”
“You know how I feel, you've been there, so why do you keep asking me to calm down?” Spencer spat out. 
JJ silently approached him by the entrance, swallowing the guilt her whole body was drowning in. “I'm sorry. I'm just trying to make you think, alright? Spence, she needs all of us. She needs you, so we need to think straight. Our goal is to get her out.” Alive.
“Do you think we can?”
He asked softly, voice small. 
She squeezed his shoulder and widened the basement opening. “Yes, we can.” She stepped in, turning to him before he could enter. “Don't step away from me. We don't split up, ever, deal?” 
That was something she always said whenever they were paired up in a situation like that. And that's when Spencer noticed that what he suffered didn't just affect him, but everyone else around him. 
“Okay.”
✫・゜・。✫・゜・。
Hotch had finally caught sight of you. He could see your frame in a corner of the wall, the sunlight didn't help him visualize anything, it was too minimal. He didn't know whether you were awake or— he couldn't see. “Paul, do you think your mother would be proud of that behavior? Killing women? Hurting them?” He needed to get closer and for that, he had to get inside his mind.
“You don't understand,” Paul said calmly. Hotch hears beneath that contained tone, he was a walking time bomb. But they were on countdown before your location was even found, the team knew who Paul was, they knew how he escalated in the last weeks, and they knew his weak spot, too. 
“You're right,” Hotch said, craning his neck to the side when he saw your voice. More like a whimper. Low, discreet, but there. You were alive. And he intended on keeping that way. “I don't understand. I didn't go through what you did. I was not left in a house by someone that's supposed to care for me. I was not left to a parent that never loved me.”
Silence. 
“Paul. She deserves everything you did to her. Every beating. Every truth spat out on her face. Every day locked up here. She was supposed to be a good mother back then, why is she trying now, after all.”
“She never loved me.”
Bingo.
“Is that what you think?”
There was shuffling around and then a gun was pointing directly at him, but Hotch had a shelf to cover behind. Paul was finally in his aim, vulnerable. Not yet.
“Do you think people change, Agent?” Paul asked him, cocking the gun at him mockingly. He then looked back at you, tongue moving across his lips slowly. “I don't think so. That's why I didn't kill her. Yet.” 
You said something else but Hotch couldn't hear. He wasn't close enough. You weren't safe yet. Not yet.
The clock was ticking. 
“For some people, death is just another way out.” 
Everything happened so fast his mind didn't grasp it until it happened. 
He heard a click. Then the sound of gunfire exploded through the wine cellar. 
Paul Knox was on the floor, his head had two gunshot wounds on the forehead and blood leaked through it. Eyes wide open. He didn't see it coming. 
Quick and effective. 
A perfect aim to kill. 
He thought it would be Emily at the entrance, gun pointing right at Paul's head. He's seen her frustration at herself for losing you that day, it was a matter of time until she snapped. 
But he was met with Spencer Reid barging into the wine cellar instead. A stunned JJ frozen at the entrance.
Reid's movements carried no hesitation as he dashed towards the body, snatched the keys out of his pockets and stepped back to unlock the cage you were in. 
It was foolish to check if he was still alive. Two shots to the head -  that was the outcome Hotch didn't want. Paul Knox was supposed to go to jail for the rest of his life. Because of the victims he terrorized, because of the days he stole from one of his own that she would never get back. 
“We found Carina.” Derek told him as they watched you being pulled into the ambulance. He didn't need to be told that they only found her body. Carina Grace had been missing for a month. “Same way as the other girls.”
“Safe to say he won't be dreaming about hurting anyone else.” Rossi made the comment as a body bag was transferred out of the wine cellar.
Hotch glanced towards Reid, who had just entered the ambulance by your side. 
He would lecture him later. The only thing that mattered now was that you were safe. 
✫・゜・。✫・゜・。
When you fluttered your eyes open, you quickly shut them again. The lights were strong and forceful. Light. Was this the sunlight? Had he dumped your body somewhere? Were you finally dead and this was your spirit floating over what was left of you?
You hadn't felt that cool air in days. It almost felt like air-conditioning. A soft fabric wrinkled between your fingers and your leg… you could move it. You could feel it. There was no numbness.
“Take a deep breath. It's okay, you're safe.”
You're hallucinating. Because what you were hearing didn't make any sense. It couldn't be. Your head was searching for ways to bring your relief. That's the only reasonable answer. 
Reasonable. What about this situation is reasonable?
“You're safe,” He repeated. 
You forced your eyelids open, despite the bothersome whiteness. The first thing you saw was Spencer, his honey brown eyes with heavy bags of sleepless nights around them, his soft smile that threatened to spill the sadness hanging over him. 
You could touch his hand. 
But the calm doesn't last for long. 
“You're not here.” You snatched your fingers away. 
This is not real. I'm dreaming again.
Hurt flashed through his eyes. “I am.”
“That's not you.”
“That's me, sweetheart. This is real, we got you out—”
“No!” 
He flinched back, watching as the heart monitor went off. A group of nurses entered the room to check the commotion; it took five people to hold you down. He never saw you like that. That's anger, that pain. He'd never seen it in your eyes. JJ had to pull him out of the room otherwise he would stay there, frozen. 
You weren't seeing him. 
He provoked that nervous breakdown. 
“Stop. Hey, don't do this,” he could feel air entering his lungs but his chest hurt. “Spencer, this isn't—”
“Don't.” He said shortly, shaking his head. “I shouldn't have…” He stared at his hands as if they had committed a crime, trying to blink away his tears. 
“This isn't your fault, Spence.”
“I should've figured it out sooner.” He said, burying his head between his hands. “I do it all the time. Why couldn't I do it now, why couldn't I find her sooner?” 
Sobs racked through his body and he felt arms wrapping around him some sort of comfort. He didn't feel it. He wanted you. He wanted to make you feel better, he didn't need to be taken care of. He didn't deserve it. 
“It wasn't your fault,” JJ repeated, tightening her hold on him. “We were all in this. And she's fine now. She's safe.”
“She'll never be fine again.” He mumbled through her shirt. It physically pained him to see you like this, as if your mind was playing you. The worst was that he knew what that felt like. He wished he didn't. Actually, he wished that it was him instead. He'd go through it all again just to spare you of that trauma. That haunting pain that would follow you and make you doubt everything. 
He didn’t mean that he didn’t want you to be fine, of course, he wanted it. That kind of trauma, however, doesn’t just let you go, it’s like a shadow looming over you, a tall ghost. 
I should've found her sooner. He couldn't stop thinking that. I should've found her sooner.
An hour passed and nobody moved from the waiting room. They were anxious and on edge waiting for an update. Penelope had drifted off on Derek's shoulder a few minutes ago, Emily had bitten all of her cuticles as much as Rossi reprimanded her on it, Hotch would leave and come back with coffee refills and JJ had left a while ago to speak to Will and her kids. As for Spencer, he was just there. Not mentally, just physically. 
He needed to see you okay to function again.
“She'll need you.” He snapped around to Hotch's voice. At some point, his feet reached the end of the hall, a cup of water in his hands. He wasn't even thirsty. “She'll need you when she wakes up. More than anyone else.” His boss added. 
Spencer knew what he meant by that. It wasn't just in the literal sense. 
“I know.” He responded.
“Then you need to be there.”
Get a grip on yourself. 
“I will.” Spencer swallowed hard, looking up at him. “I will.” He repeated, throwing the cup on the trash can and taking a deep breath. Hotch squeezed his shoulder reassuringly on his way back. 
When the doctor called him back to the room, you were already awake. 
✫・゜・。✫・゜・。
“Spencer?”  
You croaked out, blinking multiple times to undo the blurred image of the long-haired genius. 
“Hi,” he replied, lowering to the seat beside your bed. You oversaw his movements carefully. He looked shaken up but he mustered one of those smiles you were done for from the first day you walked in the Bureau.
“Can you tell me something?” You requested, clearing your throat. You didn’t trust your senses, but it sounded and looked like your boyfriend. Your mind couldn’t play sturdy tricks like that, could it? 
Outsretching your arm long enough to reach him, you nudged his hand. He pulled the chair closer and intertwined your fingers. That was the first time you felt warmth in days.
“What about?” 
“Something only you would know.”
Bring me back to reality.
He sighed, lifting your palm to his cheek. “You hate the color gray,” his eyes locked into yours as he recalled your words from a few months ago when you had revealed this to him. “It was your brother's favorite color. He wore it all the time. When he died, you could never look at anything gray because it would remind you of him.”
You stayed quiet. 
“You hate when people keep telling you to wear your hair down because it looks pretty. You know it does, but you feel uncomfortable with the strands touching your neck. You love sunlight the same amount you love cloudy days – not thunderstorms, you’re scared of those. Especially lightning.” You let out a tearful chuckle to which he grinned. “You have a tattoo on the inner side of your left thigh, it's the page number and the line order of your favorite Norwegian Wood edition, your favorite book. You had a secret obsession with the theme from that animated movie…” his voice trailed off, a crease between his brows. 
“You mean Let it go from Frozen?”
Spencer’s lips twisted in a pout, “Sorry if I don’t know that much about pop culture.”
“You’re hopeless at it, Spence.”
“I’m not that bad.” He rolled his eyes, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “How are you feeling?” He asked, eyes softening. You traced the tip of his nose, eyes scanning his features so you’d cement it to your brain.
“Better,” you replied. It was the truth. He nodded, brushing a strand behind your ear gently. “Thank you.” 
Spencer lifted his chin to glimpse at you, disappointment draping over his gaze. “I didn’t do anything.” Disappointment at himself. The failure that he was during the case when you needed him the most. You furrowed your brows at the tear trailing down his cheek, drying it with your thumb. Reaching for his arms, you waited until he adjusted enough at the edge of your bed so you could rest your head on his chest. His heartbeat rang through your ears like a long-awaited tune.
“I know you did, Spencer. All of you did. Hey,” you tapped his chin so he could meet your eyes. “I'm here, aren't I?”
He frowned. “You almost weren't.”
“But I am,” you insisted. Your gaze darkened and you shifted on the bed causing the thin blanket to fall off one of your legs. You were all bandaged up, literally. “You know, I… I lost track of time. After the first two days I nearly went crazy. I knew you'd find me but I— I—”
“You don't have to talk about it if you're not ready.” Spencer reassured you softly. He saw the way you stared at your legs, it was the scars beneath the bandages that you were seeing. And the ones beyond your body. “I love you,” he mumbled against your hair, caressing your arms and cradling you into his hold. “We got you out. You're safe now, alright? I promise.”
You resigned with a long breath, burying your face in his shoulder. That heaviness brewing over your thoughts vanished under his touch, wrapping safety around you instead. 
“I love you too, Spencer.” You said, curling into his side. Now that you knew you were safe, you could feel the exhaustion weighing down your eyelids. “Can you stay?” 
He hummed, tucking his chin above your head and shifting on the bed for a better position. It wasn't the most comfortable setting and you two would probably — certainly — wake up with your backs hurting. But Spencer would do anything for you.
“I won't go anywhere, don't worry.”
That was what comfort felt like. You weren't dreaming. That was real. 
The nightmare was finally over. 
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
“Isn’t it funny how day by day
nothing changes,
but when you look back,
everything is different. ”
[C.S. Lewis]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
sources used: [1]; [2]; [3]
taglist: @lilyviolets
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horanghoe · 5 months
Text
until it hurts a little less - part 2.I
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MAIN MASTERLIST /// TXT MASTERLIST /// IMAGE MASTERPOST UIHALL [FIRST IN SERIES] /// [UIHALL - PART 2.II CONTINUED]
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group: TXT
pairing: Yeonbin (Yeonjun & Soobin) x Reader (Fem perspective)
genre: hybrid, angst, fluff, heavy smut, minors dni !!
word count: 39k / split into 2 posts
T/W’s : under the line
A HUGE THANK YOU TO MY FRIENDS & BETA READERS ~ Saffron & @pyeonghongrie & all of MTG and especially the furry babes: @slightlymore @raibebe @starlitmark @wooahaeproductions [extra credit for the above mb!! tysm beeeeeee] @atiny-piratequeen <3 & anyone else I have tortured with brain rot and updates
AUTHORS NOTES - Wow. Thank you everyone for your patience. This has been many many months of chipping away at a small idea to make it into a now infamous [among friend circles] 40k hybrid fic. This draft has gone through a breakup, different jobs, and different living scenarios, phew! Following from the kitty Beomgyu saga the series now dives into new and hot Yeonbin dynamics. I look forward to feedback & interest in a small cuddle pile epilogue and editing of old works to bring them up to date. Lots of love, Wren 🦝💗
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Music to listen to while reading ♡ (in no particular order)
My Oh My - Camilla Cabello FT. DaBaby
Stuck In The Middle With You - Stealers Wheel
Beast Of Burden - The Rolling Stones
Whole Lotta Love - Led Zeppelin
I Want You to Want Me - Cheap Trick
No Strings Attached (Enemies to Lovers) - Backseat Vagabond
Feel free to suggest others! :>
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Trigger warnings ♡
voyeurism [aka sex in a public place], intimate scenes in an open late-night diner, a third watches with consent and an invite but is named perversive for comedic effect, submissive reader, female POV reader, AFAB reader, female pronouns & genitalia descriptives, occasional degrading words/actions with active consent, height kink, size kink, slight dacryphilia scene, crying [out of the context of sex], mention of unfulfilling ex-partners, sex in the rain(?), mention of blood, sub-mode or trusting others to make decisions after sex [safe, loving, no fear here but do need to warn], choking [mild, not to the point of harm].
hybrid content such as scenting marking and knotting; themes of possessiveness and alllll the animalistic features from that.
All of the above are willing and consenting for every party present (apart from Bangchan/diner staff). If you cannot stomach voyeurism, skip about halfway and you can still enjoy the last half of the fiction. :]
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Yeonjun sat opposite you, at the most unfortunate angle.
He had just dived forward and sprawled himself across the round diner table; a half-chugged milkshake gripped in his hands and a barely-smoked cigarette sat burning between his forefingers. His eyes were pinched in curiosity, and the mischief hanging onto his aura was unmistakable.
He was in the process of poking at you until you squirmed. 
Like he always did, whenever the two of you were alone. It's what he did best. 
Only, the repercussions were different here. And you were very much, not alone.
"So, have the two of you fucked?" Yeonjun asked abruptly; mute in tone but with a foxish grin peeling his lips wide as if dinner had just been served steaming hot and inches away from his face.
The break in silence made Soobin, the large black-haired Doberman Pinscher, groan loudly. He rolled his head and eyes back against the high diner seats that encompassed the three of you. 
He was about to tell his friend to mind his own fucking business, but you beat him to it.
You scoffed, your skin hot, and your heart missed a beat as it pumped in your chest. 
"Fuck off, fox."
His reaction to your pushback was slow. 
The fox's eyes blinked, and his cheek twitched. Before finally, Yeonjun’s lip quirked; and the canines on his left side were on full display. 
With a wink, he pulled his body back from the sprawled-out position facing you on the table; sipping on the straw of his milkshake as he went.
"So you have. And you liked it, by the sound of things. Hmm. That's good to know. Explains why you’re sat here still stinking like a very sickly pussy cat."
Soobin kissed his teeth and thumped his thin solid black tail against the seat.
"Why don’t you ask Gyu, instead of the girl, June? And, if that is the case; I’m not even sure why you would be asking anyway. You would owe me a large fucking bet, foxy bingo." 
Yeonjun made an exasperated sound, turning to the taller more agitated friend on his right side.
“Yeah right! The guy would maul me. Those cat bites are gnarly. And I don’t owe you shit!”
An accusing finger - well, two, holding a cigarette - stuck out in the gap between the two men.
“So what makes you think it’s okay to interrogate Y/N?” Soobin growled in a steady low tone. His jaw had grit and his sharp ears had pulled back; sharp cheeks pulled taught.
Soobin's growl cut the air and your skin grew warm. 
You darted your eyes downward to pick at the peeling varnish on your nails while the boys glared at each other. You didn’t want to be the subject of tension, this is exactly what you had wanted to avoid.
After a tense pause; Yeonjun finally let up. He kissed his teeth and rolled his eyes to slouch back against the seat; ears tilted in submission. He looked much like a teenager with that pout and sass. A crack in his serious facade.
Another win for Soobin.
“Look,” Yeonjun started. He reached his arms across the table, tapping as he went to get your attention. You looked up. “We all know you guys have been very fucking exclusive lately, not to mention you never leave the damn house anymore outside of work -” 
“Dude - shut up!” Soobin punched his friend's leg. 
“Not cool!” The fox yelped, elbowing him back. But it didn’t seem to deter him at all. His sharp eyes quickly returned to you. 
Yeonjun sipped on his milkshake with a shit-eating grin, before looking between the two of you and judging whether he could keep poking at the subject.  
“What?! I’m sorry okay, it’s the talk of the town, and I have to know about it.” 
Soobin curled his lip, unamused. Yeonjun was digging himself a hole.
“What? Am I not going to try and get the goss straight from the business babe's mouth?” 
“How about you tell us - in fine detail - about your current love excursion, instead? Go on Jun, we’d love to hear all about her leaving your ass on read. And the cheating. Cheating, on you, of all people! Twice!! And you never even made it official!”
You knew of the girl Soobin hinted. 
It was meant to be nothing but a summer night fling, but poor Junnie’s feelings got caught up in the mix. The one fatal flaw in networking, and the cardinal sin when being a player kingpin; was the chance of falling in love. 
He had come to you for advice a while ago about it. But some things just eventually kill themselves, and you just have to revel in the open closure; never to see that person again, never to get the final word. 
You had no doubt the mention pained the fox, by the expression on his face.
“That is - She is entirely beside the point! And, unrelated to the topic!” Yeonjun yipped, pulling back his ears before they perked back up to shift between you desperately. “Plus, I’m not exactly wrong; Y/N never wants to hang out with anyone anymore -”
“We have fucked.” You offered with a shrug. You remained staring at your fingers; but felt their ears pin-point on a swivel towards you. “A few times, yeah.”
You offered up the information to distract from the potentially genuine heartbreak Yeonjun could be feeling mid-gathering. But your voice shrunk as quickly as your confidence did. If you did have hybrid ears; they would have peeled backwards against your head by now. 
“But we aren’t exclusive. We are… a thing, maybe more so emotionally, but we’re not, like -” You struggled to find the words that didn’t insinuate what it had become; friends with benefits. You hated the judgement, and so settled on; “- out, as a unit. Publicly. Like, at work. Or anywhere where family is concerned. We don’t vibe like that.”
The tall hound that sat opposite you carefully assessed you as you spoke. 
Both his nose and his ears twitched as they picked up on your pulse that had started to race very suddenly; air caught tight in your lungs. 
He could smell your anxiety, and endeavoured to counter it, quickly.
“Like I said in the text, I like being with you guys, and Gyu’s cool with that. He assures me I can make decisions for myself now, for the most part, I just -” 
You puffed a huge intake of breath, darting your eyes between them before reaching to pick at the table edge instead, spilling out an explanation so rapid and tight in tone that Yeonjun almost missed the first half of it.
“I find it hard to meet people nowadays - new or old. Socialising in groups has become really tricky for me. Humans are hard work, and I just don’t get Hybrids - like, they’re so unpredictable, and then, non-prey types make me even more anxious… I just - I don’t - even know how to even begin to talk to people anymore, let alone ask for help - but I thought you guys might… Get it, you know? Like, Gyu is mostly indifferent, he doesn’t understand what I’m saying - but you guys are higher, more educated and responsive, or at least on the same level as me, so I just thought - I just - I thought that maybe -”
You flushed hot in the attempt to tie up the loose-ended speech. But you didn’t need to; as Soobin’s ears folded with a sympathetic huff and he threw a sharp glare at Yeonjun, before reaching to squeeze your hands in his. He wasn’t going to let you suffer alone.
“It’s alright, Y/N. Yeonjun’s just being a nosey fucking fox. Don’t ever feel like you have to over-explain anything, ever again.” 
He turned his head to slowly growl at his companion. Lip curled over one large blunt-pointed tooth. 
“Especially to people who don’t properly read their text messages.”
There was a beat of silence. Yeonjun was pleased he got an answer to the rumours, but visibly softer and feeling a little put out after hearing your reactions. And getting - literally - hounded in the process. 
Eyes wide and ears high at a point, he didn’t poke the mood, instead, he chose to push forward. Wise of him.
“Ahh - I’m sorry Y/N,” He offered, a little confused. Shy; timid even. 
He peeked between the two of you, clearly not clued into what was going on like he thought he was. His ears were so expressive; you were convinced you could see his emotions with those alone. Like right now; you could tell he was unsure what to say.
“I’m - Can I read the text again, doll?” 
You nodded at him to go ahead, knowing full well that he never read it in the first place.
Soobin however; wasn’t in the least bit shocked or ‘put out’ by your words. Out of everyone, other than Beomgyu, Soobin was the one you had spent the most time with in the friendship group over the past two years. He knew all of what you were saying to be the truth. 
Hence him driving you here. 
Hence your honest and open conversation in the safety of the car. 
Covered in his scent. Quiet, safe, and otherwise alone. 
Hence why this meet-up had created an opening to a further bond that created an attraction so strong you had almost hooked up in Soobin’s driver seat just under an hour ago in the underground parking lot. 
Hence his plush leather seats being coated in the smell of slick, and why he had even invited Yeonjun to tag along - like you had suggested - in the first place. He had entertained the idea of his friend joining for the good aspects of his personality, and because you wanted him there; but he was apprehensive enough of the bad sides of his friend to be protective of you.
The fox was, often, surprisingly fast-witted. But in this instance, he had been very slow. 
Yeonjun clicked away his phone with a small “Ah…” and folded his ears backwards. Coy, but curious. “I’m sorry Y/N. I didn’t read it properly...”
You nodded, picking at the paint remaining on your nails. Tense, but happy that his reaction to your proposal wasn’t exactly bad. You weren’t sure what it was, yet.
“Umm, anyways, in other news -” 
Soobin rolled his eyes… again. Delighted to hear what the fox would come up with next.
“- newly Hybrid, hey sugar? Bet that’s been hard to get used to. Gyu said your test came back as a Deer. Your scent tells me that’s true, but I don’t see any ears. No tail? Antlers, even? It’s a little… odd to get used to - never met someone with your condition before.”
You blinked. 
Sometimes; you forget that the whole saga had ever happened. That you had even inherited those traits (by force), in the first place. Then it was mentioned, or you read of similar incidents in the news, and a whole slew of memories reappeared in your mind's eye. 
After the night you and Beomgyu had hooked up; things had begun to change. You had started to become attached. You learned more about his past. What dark alleys he disappeared down. His deepest darkest fears. You fell in love. 
Then you went to an office party, and everything got so violently fucked up. 
Someone at the party had spiked your drink. With an extremely dangerous and underground drug that caused a human's recessive hybrid genes to splice and come to life; or, where no recession was present, you would be forced to die a very fast and excruciating death, bursting from the inside out.
There were no treatments for it. Instead, a private donor who had a supposed ‘interest’ in the drug, paid for your experimental treatment. The whole thing was strange and dramatic like a big-shot movie, but you were just glad it was over.
Altogether; it was a dangerous dice throw of genetics, that you had very luckily survived.
It took weeks of recovery, and a handful more months of emotional care for you to re-enter the world. With a new slither of morality splitting apart your soul. There existed inside of you; the heart and mind of a Doe, where once a human had full control.
Naturally; the genetic switch caused you to gain a Deer’s characteristics. 
You became more reserved; quick to flight, instead of fight. You began to shake, and freeze in fear; where you once had the option to move, be uncaring and in control of your body. You had become sensitive to predators - in every sense, but more vitally hybrids. Your diet changed drastically and your hearing and sense of touch hiked up tenfold. 
And what Yeonjun said made sense; it was odd to have no extra limbs. You understood why it confused the hybrids around you. Deer’s being somewhat rare, and your condition more so; the medical professionals were unable to explain whether you would get any animal characteristics or not. You were grateful for not yet at least growing a replacement pair of ears. It would have been too much to adjust to. 
You also couldn’t get pregnant that easily anymore. Not that that proved any challenge; you were a human before, and a different animal type now, so sleeping with Beomgyu was a null threat - Humans and Hybrids can't create offspring, and Hybrids abide by the same genealogy rule that animals do - that’s to say a cat can’t reproduce with a deer, and so on.
And honestly, thank Goodness for that; as a child with Beomgyu sounded like hell.
Your relationship stayed much the same. The switch to becoming a Hybrid created natural barriers, and if not for your occasional retching at any fish placed on Beomgyu’s dining plate, you could co-exist peacefully. But the intimacy was no longer there. And your emotions proved far too complex for a moody cat-boy to understand. He wasn’t high enough on the food chain to guide you; nor low enough to be bullied. 
You were simply on two separate paths. He was nice to have around, and he held a special place in your heart, but… some people are not meant to be in long-term relationships. Sometimes it just doesn’t work out.
These boys, however; were natural threats to you.
And they acted like it. Their sudden unrestricted movements scared you. Their ability to keep their emotions and body language in check kept you constantly on edge and vigilant. 
Not to mention the change in your relationship with Soobin. He had struggled to keep his teeth inside his gums whenever near you; instead of around your throat, where they instinctively should have been, the moment you strolled out of the cat-boy’s room, that first day he visited you at the apartment, after the initial hospital stay. 
He remembered seeing you so weak and pale; reaching for him with a new vulnerability. He remembered how badly you suffered and wanted nothing more than to take you home with him.
Yeonjun however, became distant after the accident. And although it was not unlike him to disappear for weeks at a time; it was obvious that he felt you shouldn’t interact until you had spent a ton of time inside of this new body of yours.
But you’d be outright lying if you said you didn’t love the thrill of fear in the space of people you trusted.
“Y/N?” You heard Soobin prompt. Ears low. Voice soft. He sounded pained. Yeonjun watched with empathy written all over his face.
“Yeah, sorry…” You must have zoned out, you realised and shook your brain back into place. “I don’t - have any of that. It’s been hard. Gyu’s really helped me re-integrate, and everything. Soob too. But - sometimes, it’s just -”
“Overwhelming?” Yeonjun offered. Voice calm, and light. He tilted his head sympathetically. “Scary? Noisy? Uncomfortable?”
“Yeah,” You scoffed, chin tucked. “All of that. And - so much more.”
Yeonjun wasn’t sure what to say. And you were in no position to start talking.
“Curiosity killed the cat, dickhead.” Soobin growled and broke the awkward pause by tugging Yeonjun's well-groomed black and orange tail from out beneath his larger leg in annoyance, a little harsher than needed, before looking out beyond the chair with a huff and folded ears. “So much for a low-key re-introduction.”
“Well then thank fuck I’m not a cat!” Yeonjun yowled at Soobin and yanked his tail back, small chirping noises sounding from his throat as he went along. That looked like it hurt. But he soon settled.
You jumped at the hand that landed over your own, following the arm to the fox, who had shuffled around the seats in a cute and juvenile fashion; smile kinder than before, and seemingly aware of what he had done wrong. Yeonjun’s ears went completely flat against his slicked-back hair - a sign of temperance and apology - and he was almost purring, jittering a high-pitched noise quietly.
Soobin watched with a warning growl only the other hybrid could hear; stiff to how you would respond to Yeonjun moving so quickly into your personal space. 
But surprisingly, you were okay. Given how things had gone with Soobin earlier, he reasoned, you must have started to feel a little more comfortable about how your proposition would be received.
“I’m sorry, pretty Doe. I seriously didn’t realise.” Yeonjun said in a hushed tone.
This was all a little too late in Soobin's' opinion, but it was better late than nothing. 
The fox watched your expressions carefully as he followed your face, hiding from him by tucking your chin. His hand squeezed over yours, pulling you to stop picking at the table. His thumb brushed over your knuckles before releasing your hand, letting you retreat. 
“I thought we were here for a smoke, a drink… Some small talk? Not real - or,” He tutted, correcting himself, “Not that - kind of intense stuff. I’m sorry angel. That’s on me for being a shit reader.” 
You snuck a glance. His expression was patient and genuine. His ears were still folded. And you wanted to forgive him, despite your gut telling you it may not be the smartest move. 
By nature, Yeonjun was sneaky and funny. But also cripplingly charming, and a perfect smooth talker ever since the first time you had met him. He was constantly smoking. Weed, vapes, cigarettes. Whatever he could get his hands on or was left nearby. One could call it an oral fixation of some kind.
Unlike the clean-but-very-much-into-rock-metal Soobin, Yeonjun was a typical bad-boy character, and his sway with people could be felt in any venue the guys would go. You didn’t hold it against him. You knew via second-hand stories and brief interactions that he really was a nice guy. But people had trouble believing it.
In the words of Soobin; “If you want him to come and agree to this, you’ll just have to trust that he’s in a good mood tonight, and see how it goes. If he’s a cock, we leave. Or if he’s feeling nice, I’m betting on you not wanting him to leave. One thing he won’t do is continue when you tell him to stop. So just tell him, if he’s too much. Last thing he wants to do is upset a pretty girl. I’ll be by your side the whole night.” 
And that summed him up, pretty damn well.
“It’s okay.” You smiled. His ears picked up gradually, eager to lean into the positive response. “I expected there to be some confusion about it anyway. You can - you can ask questions…” Your skin heated, legs pressing together and away from the handsome fox looking down at you. 
“Anything?” Yeonjun purred with a low, but inquisitive tone.
“Umm, yeah. Sure. Anything.” 
Yeonjun took note; as his nose suddenly twitched and he shot Soobin a discreet glance. 
This close, this shy, you did in fact smell like something he wanted to breed. He couldn’t even believe his mind went to those places, to ravish his own bandmates girl. But the text had used the words ‘shy breedable deer groupie’ pretty explicitly, so it wasn’t like he didn’t have full green-meaning-go. 
But still, he was in slight disbelief.
“Yeah-h, anything is cool, anything you guys want to know, you know? You can ask -”
“How long have you been thinking about asking us for help with this?” Yeonjun shot back immediately, cutting you off. “Who else is involved? Does Beomgyu know? Where did you think we’d go? Are you clean? How long-term is this?”
Now that he had gained social context, the fox was back on his feet and as swift as ever.
“Yeonjun -” Soobin groaned. Ready to throw him over the diner table and punch his pretty Vulpine face out the back door already. “Please, for the love of God, go gently with this one.” 
“You don’t even believe in God.” Yeonjun threw back at him.
Soobin made a noise of frustration but you quickly shook your head, tone soft as a breeze. 
“No no - Binnie, it’s okay. It’s alright. I can get why someone would be distrusting.”
You turned to face Yeonjun’s quizzical face, the one that clearly didn’t believe you yet. It was in his nature, you reminded yourself. You can ask to stop and everything will stop.
“I’ve been into you guys ever since I met you. I’ve just never really found the perfect moment to -” 
Yeonjun's nose twitched, distracted. His ears whooshed forward and upright; standing to attention as his irises pinched. It made you pause mid-sentence. You had a cat, and you knew that look. And by the look he held on his face, you knew that he knew. Knew that he knew that you knew. And so forth.
“I’m clean!” You squeaked.
Your shirt collar had moved. And a waft of Soobin's’ scent had released into the air and straight up into his nasal column. And then, travelled up into his brain, ears, eyes - until he was locked upon you. 
“Have you guys been making out?” The fox quipped, ears folding in offence before thwapping up together so high and so fast they made a thwop sound upon impact. 
“Don’t ask stupid questions, idiot.” Soobin huffed. “My scent is all over her. How have you not realised this sooner?”
Now that the big dog had mentioned it, Yeonjun could smell Soobin’s scent. And it was plastered all over the booth. Specifically, all over you. And the teeth-adjacent bruises indented into your shoulder. The Doberman's clothes even smelt like you; however faintly.
And as Yeonjun eased into your space, well; the three scents mixed, and created the most mouth-watering combo he had picked up in years.
“My nose isn’t as good as yours,” Yeonjun murmured, distracted. 
The fox watched - or more accurately, listened - as the last of the large dining groups exited out the front door with a bustle, whizzing by the table and kicking up a fuss. But as soon as the people had passed, he whipped his attention back to you with a harsh whisper under his breath and leaned in completely - like a school kid sharing some killer secrets. 
Only, he needed some assurance of your confidence first. Such as it goes.
“I feel like you’re pulling my leg here Y/N.” He hissed. “And as much as I’m down to fuck - and even down for the whole courting thing - how do I know you’re not both taking me for a fool? That this isn’t one big setup to split the group up? To set me against your fucking man?”
A tense silence passed between the two of you, and an anxious heart rate picked up inside your muscles so fast your fingers started to tingle; your blood rushed into your ears as adrenaline made you look to the other male across the table for help. Soobin growled lowly, in complete control of himself, answering your eyes. You were surprised to see his ears flat back against his equally jet-black hair with an irritated expression. His diamond-patterned chain danced in the light under his jacket as his neck flexed in anger.
“Call Beomgyu, you idiot,” Soobin growled deeply now. It was guttural, and he was clearly pissed off. “Or text him, I don’t care. Just quit fucking bothering the girl about it. This isn’t a setup - and you know that. I wouldn’t bring you into one. Don’t insult me.”
Curiously, he didn’t fight Soobin on this. Instead, his ears pulled into submission, and his lips formed a small pout. Yeonjun grumbled in thought before pulling his phone out to send what you imagined to be many multiple texts in full caps and at a rapid pace to the sickly Beomgyu on bed rest at home. 
“Hey,” Soobin mumbled, reaching to take your hand from across the table, the one picking anxiously at the edge of the metal rim. 
The softness in his voice distracted you from the beating in your chest; so you looked up and away from Yeonjun for a moment. 
You slipped your hands into his outreaching ones; timid, but desperate for reassurance. He squeezed your smaller wrists and fingers in his palms - dwarfed, soft, shaking - then released, to let you pull them away if you wanted. But you didn’t let go just yet. So he squeezed again. 
You were already calmer.
“If it gets too much, you can ask to leave. You know that right? That it’s okay? Say forget it, and we’ll never speak on it again. Alright?” 
You nodded, pulling away to sit on your hands instead for now. Watching between the two of them, but mostly Yeonjun who was texting with a furrowed brow and swivelling emotive ears. 
The fox beside you had his eyebrows drawn low and chin tucked. Eventually, he clicked his screen to black, and set it face down on the table. He turned to see you. He was scanning you. As his ears slowly dipped to the side.
“Well, shit, gorgeous.”
The message had got through.
But he didn’t look nearly as regretful as you thought he would. Instead, he held a smirk on his cheeks and tipped his head.
“Little Doe really needs our help, huh?”
Soobin released a weighty exhale as you pulled away.
Your body flushed hot. But you nodded. Concentrating on Soobin's knuckles padding on the table in a tap tap tap-tap tap.
There was silence for a moment. Yeonjun's ears went back and he tapped his lighter on the table in a rhythmic swivel, as he pouted and looked around aimlessly in thought. Then a lightbulb hit.
“Guess a good start is to ask what you’re into. Any hard boundaries you’d want to avoid? But I’m guessing….” His eyes darted all over you, to the dog on the other side of the table. 
That’s not where you had expected him to look for an answer. 
“Binnie might have already covered that.”
The dog chuckled and nodded.
“Little Deer is into praise, mostly. Guidance. She’s a voyeur. Loves soft-domming. But needs a little bite to keep her guessing.”
Your eyes shot wide open and you blinked rapidly. Your kinks were just being openly exposed like a laundry list, and you weren’t even sure when or how Soobin had figured this all out.
“Pretty boy is a good sniffer-dog.” Yeonjun chuckled, answering your expression.
“Oh,” Soobin added, “and she has a size kink. But I'm sure you’ve picked up on that one already.”
“I did,” Yeonjun smirked, tongue in his teeth and giggling at your shyness. “Oh, I most certainly did.”
Before you were able to fully shrink into your spine like a turtle into its shell, Yeonjun's voice fired back up, easy and chill in tone. It soothed you, and it made you feel like you were being laughed with, not at.
“Any hard no’s though, gorgeous? We’ll use the light system if needed, Gyu said you already know what that is.”
You shifted, body hot, gaze down towards your knees.
“Yeah, I do. And no - not really. Just… be nice. We’ll have to find out about specifics. I’m not really - adventurous enough to know...”
Yeonjun snickered, teeth between his tongue. 
“Sure; dodge ‘em as we find ‘em. Sounds good to me.”
“But - and be specific -” Soobin’s low voice mumbled. Your chin lifted instinctively to find him. “Do you want to try anything new? Anything that will help you feel more grounded?”
The boys waited for some time, but they were greeted with silence and a hanging head. You looked stressed and puzzled. You worried your hands as you tried to think up something to answer with.
Yeonjun hummed at you. And leaned into your space.
“Mmm ~ You look stuck, gorgeous ~ Cat got your tongue?” 
You wanted to punch the beautiful face in front of you that spun goading words like a golden thread. You knew the implications. That Beomgyu, said cat, had a hold on you, even from miles away. Quickly and firmly, you shook your head.
“Absolutely no way,” You puffed your cheeks. “I just - I don’t know about this stuff.”
Corruption, Soobin mentally noted. Yeonjun thought much the same.
“Well,” Yeonjun countered, working swiftly. Voice low, leaning on the table, still and unmoving. But he was taking his time. Dancing around your edges.
“What is it that the little kitty did with you, to get you so smitten, baby girl?”
“I am not - smitten -”
“Sure you’re not.” He grinned. 
“I am not, smitten, with Beomgyu -”
“Sure. I’m also not a fox.”
The two of you struck a line of fire before he shrugged.
“Well he clearly didn’t do a good enough job, otherwise you wouldn’t be here begging for our help, little Fawn.”
“You don’t know that…” You whimpered. But he was right and you both knew it. 
Yeonjun's smile quirked. You were moments away from breaking. A thrill he could never not chase.
“Oh, I think I do. I know the way he works. Kitty probably had you under his thumb from the moment you met.”
“What - No! No, he did not!”
“Bet he did, doll. Bet he had you hanging onto every sarcastic comment and insult he could come up with.”
“Okay!” You puffed up, desperate to defend your image and your friends. 
“Then tell me, tell me exactly what you think he did, to get me so… love-fucked, Yeonjun! Enlighten me! Please! Since you seem to know so much!” 
The fox’s smile pulled up until you could see his gums. A fear struck in your belly; he was about to do something, and you were ready for it.
"Oh, I don't know, I'm imagining he did a little something like this -"
Without warning, Yeonjun snapped into motion. It was obvious he had been holding back for quite some time; as his limbs became unstuck like a spring suddenly being let loose inside an animatronic. 
With a swift and deliberate movement, his grip lay around your throat and his fingers pressed onto your pulse; body upright and kneeling to follow you down down down until your shoulders were wedged between the seat and the table and you had nowhere else to go.
You gulped, audibly, body stiff as a board. 
The fox was looking down at you with such hunger and fervour that you shifted anxiously against the leather despite your initial instinct to freeze. Yeonjun smelt so damn good and the charm the boy had was insane. You were infatuated. And he was absolutely gorgeous, on top of whatever-the-fuck hybrid impression was being felt.
A single fuck-boy hair curled out from his gelled fringe and hovered over his brow. 
Even while trapping you in a sexual way, in a public place, he could make you smile and feel calm in his presence. Maybe even more so because of it; you sighed, elbows dropping to the chair behind you and heart at a steady pleasant beat to the hybrids ears.
Soobin quickly darted his eyes, nose and ears all around the low-lit floor of the now evening catering diner - already overtly aware of how mind-melting the fox could be. Soobin was not willing to let him undress you for the fox's own sick and twisted personal gain in the middle of the restaurant - to slip from his side of the booth and into both of yours. 
Soobin's body was warm on contact and his side pushed you back into Yeonjun's orbit - more importantly back onto the seat -  with a hand pressed to your exposed spine. The dog smelt like a deep woody cologne, as opposed to Yeonjun’s lighter and sweeter one, and it was a pleasant reminder of the heaviness that had enveloped you in the car ride here. You could still feel Soobin’s jean-clad leg pressing up against your core - 
Pay attention, you chided yourself.
You shuffled up, thankful for Soobin's large frame surrounding the space behind you. Soobin's large hand gripped your knee and unintentionally eased your legs apart, as the fox exhaled warm air down and over your face. 
Your whole body writhed beneath him. You didn’t know where to put your hands, your arms, your legs, your body.
"I want you to look at me while I fuck you, daddy’s pretty little fawn. Want to hear you moan. Want to see you cry, baby. Wanna see your eyes roll when I hit that spot."
Yeonjun had originally started this whole ‘bit’ as a slightly cruel joke. But your reaction was tangible. It made him grumble a noise from his belly, licking his lips. Licking his gums, his teeth.
“Any of this ringing a bell, doll?” He growled lowly, face hovering over yours. “Any of this making you feel love-fucked, yet?”
You had no real rebuttal; because he was right. Everything he was doing; from the way he was acting, to the way he was instructing you what to do, made you melt into the Doberman's side like Beomgyu had done on many private occasions.
And so you whimpered. 
Something small, and submissive. 
Both boys reacted visibly to your noise. Yeonjun's ears tipped further forward and his nose pinched. Soobin’s tail swiped over his jeans in timid and controlled pats and he leaned into you; nuzzling behind your ear with milkshake-tinted breath surrounding your face while the fox’s fingers pressed your throat. 
With the combined actions your core dripped wet and your body flushed hot. 
“O-okay -” You submitted, voice wobbly as all hell. “He might have said… some of that… And he might have had me feeling, some kind of way…” 
It was less of a retort and more of a pathetic distraction of a response. Something to buy time; and the fox smiled; happy that you had succumbed like he had expected. Like you needed to be, for them to help you. 
This was going to be fun.
“B-but what - what about it? Why does it matter? What’s it got to do with this situation?!”
The dog hybrid reached his hand to move under Yeonjun's grip on your throat from behind you; and tipped your head back against his chest and shoulder delicately. Soobin's hand was much bigger, much wider, and a little cooler than the fox’s - from the abandoned milkshake nearby - you melted into him, comfortable in his hold.
“Did you like it, sweetheart?” Soobin spoke with a rumbling growl. “Be honest with us. We want that answer to match the gorgeous scent of your cunt, or we’ll get up and spit roast you in the middle of this fucking diner.” 
You were being thrown totally for a spin. Soobin would never usually talk to you like this. 
He squeezed your airways in a long and steady hold. And looked down at you with a quirked eyebrow and amused expression, taunting you and daring you to lie, plump lips only just out of reach, with an uncharacteristically wicked smile that hypnotised you.
You puttered a pathetic noise, jumping as the fox’s hand soothed up the whole length of your inner leg until it trailed down and over your knee. 
With the unpredictable fox totally out of sight, you gripped Soobin’s strong legs under his jeans. Pleading with your eyes. But he was unmoving, and as patient and methodical as ever.
Yeonjun chittered, and you jumped as his long fingers slipped underneath your skirt to hook down under your thong string over your hip to massage your pubic bone. He applied pressure to the space around your core; pressing his two forefingers onto either side of your labia, just to see you squirm.
“Fuck-ing - wicked canines -”
You practically ate your choked moans, squirming against the seat for an ounce of friction, eyebrows drawn together as Soobin maintained heavy, groaning eye contact. 
“Speak.”
His aura had shifted with surprising ease and natural authenticity into one of authority, and his eyebrow pulled high, daring you to make a noise, daring you to lie, daring you to go against their words. Your whole body was on fire, and you had begun tensing from muscle down to the bone. 
Yeonjun's hand twisted in a quick and deliberate motion, middle and forefinger smoothing up and down your folds with ease. He pressed his slender middle finger into your sopping cunt; pressing into you like warm butter. Yeonjun hissed from between his teeth, and his nails dug into your thighs; pumping his finger to add another.
It was an easy fit. You were dripping with slick already. The scent filled their brains with nothing but fantasia and lust.
“Nngh - yeah - yes - yes -” You just about managed to keep to a whisper, hips pressing into the split second of contact with the fox with a burning need. Your grip was tight on their arms and your breathing scattered.
“I did, dammit -” You whimpered, struggling to look down at Yeonjun’s hands that pumped at the slowest pace. “I did, I loved it -”
But the dog tipped your chin back; causing you to fall back onto Soobin's shoulder with your smaller hands gripping over the tight squeeze on your pulse. He moved his thumb to stroke adoringly over your cheek. 
“Pay attention,” Soobin ordered gruffly, but gently. “Tell us how much you loved it -”
He didn’t even get to finish before you were falling apart on his words.
“Fuck. I loved it, Binnie. Wan’ it from you, please, please mark me, please - I’ll do anything, please, fuck -” 
Your heart was racing, and the pheromone of pure rushing lust and submission coursed through you and out into the open air like a drug. Yeonjun's eyes pinched harshly, and his ears pivoted to alert as he shot Soobin a look under his brow. Soobin grumbled, communicating with his friend; his ears also tipped and eyes blown wide.
The look Yeonjun had shot was an instruction to get it together, or more specifically to get you under control before you flooded the whole diner with a pheromone that told the whole place and a short area outside that you needed to be fucked into the next century. Soobin's reaction was one of complete agreement.
“Loosen up, pretty doe,” The dog rumbled, drowsy. He nuzzled against the dip in your neck and let go of the majority of his grip. "You’re shaking. Relax your body." 
The sudden change-up made you shake; quivering in an uncontrollable and entirely unfamiliar way. You whimpered; shifting in his hold; before releasing the tension in your legs upon instruction. It wasn’t that you were scared; no, you were exhilarated and struggled to contain it.
“That pretty cunt of yours is gonna get us found out someday...” Soobin nuzzled behind your ear; biting the outer corner. “... too bad I care enough to let you get upset. That’s enough, let her go Jun.”
“Please, Soob I need you… Junnie, don’t stop…” 
But the fox hybrid didn’t answer your whimpered plea. Instead, Yeonjun retracted his hand and body after gathering the prize he wanted, with a foxish grin spread wide across his cheeks. Submitting to Soobin's direct order with ease. Like he had done it before. Like he enjoyed it.
Soobin released his grip on your throat to hold his arm across your chest. And allowed you a moment's peace to pant like a puppy in heat.
With your head flopped forward and dizzy, Soobin placed his palm under your chin again from behind to tilt you back onto his shoulder, gently this time. He groaned freely at your knees curling up into yourself and Yeonjun's pink gums and healthy canines flashing at him in the low light.
Prey; tugged around until the beasts were ready to feast.
Yeonjun's eyes locked onto your own as he licked at the syrup-sin he had managed to pick up in his scooped fingers. It dripped onto his luscious lips; his irises pulled thin as slits as his pretty slender fingers spread the sweetness around and up his gums; fingertips revealing his sharp teeth and plump lips. The same thin and sharp canines you had dreamed about being sunken into your thighs.
An angel's nectar on a devil's tongue. 
"Sweet like heaven." The fox purred, moaning deeply as he leaned to fall back onto his seat. 
The fox’s jeans were tight and his expression was blissful. His fingers rested in his mouth, as he sucked at them with sinful moans. His ears fell to the side and his tail quirked; palming at your knee that you pressed onto his hard cock. 
You moaned in response, fingers clasped between Soobin's knuckles and gasped at the weight put on your throat. It wasn’t tight; instead, you found it rather grounding. But it was enough to willfully drag air back into your lungs.
Yeonjun's eyes were low and focused entirely on you and the hand decoration around your neck. He popped the fingers out of his mouth with a deep moan, filthy and loud into the diner, eyes fluttering. He was so brazen.
“Mmph - Fuck, big dog, you’ve got to taste this doll. Heaven-ly~” He sang.
“No doubt.” Soobin groaned, nose against your hair and voice rumbling behind. “If it’s anything like her mouth, I’d like nothing more than to spit in it.”
Upon such nasty praise, you were unsure what to do. A quiet moan left your lips and you squeezed your legs together against the Fox’s hands. Shaking with fervour.
Soobin dipped his head to meet your whimpering for an open kiss. He grumbled against your lips and pressed back down to lick up the saliva that pooled on your tongue after being toyed with so much. It was a short embrace, but one you were grateful for. You pulled away to close your eyes and rest against his shoulder.
“You play so well, gorgeous,” Soobin grumbled, pressing the corner of your mouth to wipe your lips with his thumb. “Didn’t think Junnie would make you drool so soon, though. Do you like being spoiled?” 
“I do.” You managed, in a tight tone, stiffening up against the dog at your back. “Thank you.”
Truthfully, the Doberman's nose was much more sensitive to the nerves he could smell hanging around the arousal in the air, and he was determined to make you feel as comfortable as possible whilst in their care. You eased against him - muscles melding against the curve of his chest - with a relieved sigh.
Oh, but if only he knew.
You wanted him. Wanted to be perfectly near him. Consumed by them.
He growled softly, and answered your pattering heartbeat by pressing against your back even more with his chest - the best he could do at this angle - moving the hair from your shoulder to the already bruised skin behind your neck to press his nose into your collarbone, over your scent gland.
His woody musk was plastered over you from before in the car already, though. So he pressed his cheek to your neck with a content grumble, and smiled against your shoulder, hand over your stomach in a loving pull. 
“Do you want us to take you home? Go back to the car? Or you gon’ tell us when you’ve had enough?”
You would have loved to answer, but your mind was elsewhere, and you had no space left to think. Your eyes fixated on Yeonjun, and the long drag of his cigarette. Of course, he knew he was being watched. But he didn’t spare you a glance. It was all part of the act.
Once again; in the dimly lit booth of the diner, the orange in his thinly slit eyes shone like a cat in headlights on a foggy road. His cheek tilted, and he smirked at you; sprawled over their legs and so fuzzy with scents that you were starting to miss breaths. He saw your eyes dip until you felt consumed.
“Hmm, babe?” Soobin mumbled, pressing a kiss to your cheek and pressing your stomach with his wide-open palm to gain your attention. 
He truly could pick you up and bend you over with little effort at any time. You could see now after all the time spent together platonically, why he was favoured as a hired bodyguard. Lean, but strong. And more than a little gutsy.
Your mind was starting to wander.
You shuffled to sit upright and face more towards the hound in the soft leather seat. It was a welcome body heat to your side, and you felt secure, messing around with your larger friend pressed to your back. Yeonjun watched you both with enamoured eyes, tail curled and ears dipped completely. Thumb pressing into your inner knee in smoothing swipes.
The chemistry was obvious. But Yeonjun wasn’t in the slightest sense jealous when he knew what was pre-agreed and on the cards. Besides, you had your own relationship together, already. 
It was only a matter of time before you fell into him like that.
Soobin's' energy was in such contrast to the fox. The dog's tail flopped up and down as soon as you turned to him, ears tentatively tilted downward in your direction and dimples softly dipped into his cheeks. You accepted the gentle nuzzling head butt against the top of your scalp as his ears curled. 
A soft putt of air sounded from his nose as you reached for his hands. He allowed you to move them onto your lap and off your stomach, admiring that you seemed to feel braver to move how you wanted, now that you had a large-bodied wall against the majority of the diner guests. 
“I’m good here, for now.” You managed, voice weak. “Thank you though, for moving Binnie.” The Pinscher nodded, and his dimples pressed into his smile. “I like you here. Both of you.”
A pretty girl who likes to feel protected, Yeonjun mentally noted with sharp eyes and a smile.
“You’re welcome, Y/N.” The dog smiled. Happy. Pleased to help you. “And sure, fine, if it’s what you prefer.”
“D’you want a drink or something doll?” Yeonjun offered, a lot closer to you now than you realised he had been. He was certainly sneaky.
“It’s on us,” Soobin added. His deep voice reverberated between your ears, making you squeeze your thighs tight. 
Soobin noticed and poked at the softness of your ribs as you curled both your hands into his one large palm. He squeezed your hands in his, ears pointed directly down at your face and tail happily swiping in a relaxed pattern. He was being patient with you.
You dipped your head, finally registering the dizzying effects of being so hot and bothered.
You shook your head, and a small “No, no thank you.” was mumbled into the canine's chest area. 
You felt faint. Like you were being circled. Like your head was pulsing at the images of being stuffed full. Like you were awaiting tense moments of silence before being pounced. You wondered if the thrill would ever subside.
Soobin’s scent was heavy with musk, and he had to put in a lot less legwork to make you pliant, unlike the fox. He didn’t want to push you. So he let the fox take over in the meantime.
Yeonjun sat up, shuffling into your side. Ears craning to hear your breathing, your quick pulse.
“You okay, gorgeous?” The fox asked quizically behind the diners' comically large laminated menu that had been passed over the table by Soobin. Of whom; had moved away to deliberately break some tension. 
Of course, the flimsy plastic didn’t actually block anything from the other hybrids in the building due to their senses. Not to mention Soobin was taller and practically glued to your side, within earshot and by proxy inside your bubble like a literal, actual large guard dog, so the guise of it just being ‘you and Yeonjun’ was a falsehood. But the laminated card at least blocked your human brain from noticing anything but them, for now, and that's really all that mattered. 
They were wining and dining and potentially long-term courting you now, after all. Your comfort and security was of the utmost importance.
“Hope we aren’t moving too fast? Don’t want to spook you, doll.”
You smiled, with a shake of your head and huffed a sigh.
“No, I’m - I��m good, thank you Junnie -” You stuttered on your words, unsure if you should say what you wanted to. “It’s just…” 
“Go on?” Yeonjun drawled. “What is it?” He puffed at the smoke of the practically forgotten and readily burning cigarette with a relaxed posture. Arms crossed, back curved. 
By God, beyond him being just so convincing; you trusted him with your entire body by now. He barely had to push and you were ready to spill until there was nothing left but clean bone. 
This is of course, what Yeonjun wants. Information. Secrets. The view behind the curtain. He is consumed by the need to know. 
Always and forever, he seeks what is between the lines; what is just beyond reach.
“Is it always going to be like this?” You questioned, weakly. “Is it always going to be this intense? This… suffocating to be around you guys?” 
Yeonjun's ears swivelled to point at you with a small, shocked expression. Like he was almost blushing. Like he hadn’t expected you to point it out.
“Suffocating, love? Do you need to go outside and get some air?” 
Soobin's voice boomed from behind, but you quickly shook your head. Binnie was almost always just off the mark and took the voicing a tad too literally.
“I - no - I didn’t mean it in a bad way.” You huffed, and scratched your head, finding the words. “I just -”
Yeonjun simply nodded and waited. You would find your footing.
You blurted out your thoughts; short and fast.
“This thing I feel when you’re around me - this feeling of pressure in my lungs. It’s like - I can feel you guys in the room without knowing where you are. But it’s only you guys. Or like, other predators. Surely you feel it too, right?”
The boys shared a look. These were the types of things a hybrid in heat would be experiencing.
“I don’t know if I’m just super sense-aware after not socialising for so long, or if it’s like, a super normal hybrid thing, or if - maybe - I’m just horny as all hell, but I just wonder. Is it always going to feel this intense? Do you… know that, even?”
And your innocent mouth had just uttered your current state to them into the air, without any idea of what you were saying. But according to Beomgyu; you hadn’t experienced a cycle yet, and the clinicians said it should be months until one started. 
Unless something, or someone, had triggered it.
The two of them proceeded, cautiously. Conscious not to react strongly.
“These things are normal.” Yeonjun purred, soothingly. “Most of it probably has to do with you getting used to life with this new body.” He tapped out his cigarette, and kissed his teeth, moving to look at you. “You could call it a heightened sixth sense. But really it’s just all of your senses working together to keep you alive.”
“Like a deer, in a forest? Hearing all the… things around it?” You offered, trying to relate it to something you had seen before. 
Yeonjun nodded, with a touched smile.
“Sure, sweetness. Like a deer, in a forest.”
You nodded. And thought on it for a moment. Yeonjun spoke up before your mind could wander down any unfactual wormholes.
“A marten knows when a deer is nearby. A deer knows when it’s in the presence of a bear. A bear is usually always aware that it’s in the presence of a hunter. And so on.” He flicked his eyes to the dog behind him. Soobin nodded, so Yeonjun continued. “ You’ll get used to it eventually. The severity of it - or, at least that intense feeling of paranoia you’re getting - usually goes away when we become ‘of age’. You’ve just got some catching up to do is all. Started a lot later than the rest of us.”
Yeonjun's smile was kind, as you looked up to him. 
“Obviously, coming up to when you reach your rut, you’re going to start being more aware of your surroundings. Same as a deer, right, gorgeous? You’re gonna start looking for partners - physically, maybe even subconsciously - any scents they may leave around, or indicators that they’re also down to fuck. Learning body language is extremely important.”
Yeonjun paused to heave smoke into his lungs and out of his lips in a slow, circular puff. He was assessing you. As expected, your response was bashful. A small nod and avoidant eyes indicated to him that you were listening, and your racing heart told him that you were affected by what he was saying. 
His ear ticked. He heaved a sigh that turned into a hum. And he pushed the remainder of the smoke out of his body with a smile. Swiping the smoke out of the way to see your face.
In the moving air, your nose followed the trail of an aroma. It was Yeonjun's musk. Orange, light, and citrusy, but sweeter than before; with a pinch of spice that reminded you of Christmas. 
“I’ve heard it does crop up again with future cycles, but not every month, and not nearly as intense as the first. We’re all just mammals on the Discovery Channel, after all.”
You smiled and laughed at his attempt to make you giggle. It had worked.
“Okay, thank you.” You exhaled a sigh. That had lifted some weight off your shoulders. It was a conversation Beomgyu would never entertain, so you were thankful for the explanation.
“I enjoy being here with the two of you, so I guess it’s not a bad thing and I’ll get used to it eventually. Not really that hungry though, if you guys are about to order?”
The fox’s eyebrow quirked. Happy to move on. “Really? Food’s on the house and you don’t want anything?”
You shrugged, looking between both the boys’ pointed expressions. You puffed your cheeks and pulled your shoulders up to shrug on an exhale.
Yeonjun pulled the menu over to rest on both of your legs. The laminate was cold, and his hands - well the contact made you itch with the need to be smothered by him.
“You should eat something, Y/N. Especially if we’re gonna drink later. We can do takeout if you don’t want to eat it here?”
You were looking at the menu. You were reading the words. But nothing was coming to you. Nothing stuck. Your brain felt like cotton candy, and you were unable to concentrate on anything but the desperate want to have his hands spread over your tacky thighs and to fuck you until you came all over the -
“I don’t want you guys to feel put out, is all.” You pressed, cheeks hot from trying to keep your mind in check. Missing the sharp eyes that grew amused at your reaction to some very deliberate teasing.
Soobin scoffed. “Not at all, you can have anything on here, it’s your pick.” All the while his thumb pressed over your knuckles and into your palm.
“How are you guys so damn persuasive?” You laughed gently. “You’d make great con men, you know? Maybe even better pick up artists?” 
The dog giggled. His arm moved to sink behind you, palm behind the gap between you and Yeonjun, encapsulating your personal bubble completely. 
“I think maybe you just like us, sweetheart,” He said calmly, “and I’m personally taking the whole thing as a compliment.”
The boys laughed, but Soobin could tell you wanted something. It had been hours, and he needed to feed you before they gave you a good fuck. 
Humour was a deflection that Yeonjun could easily counter; so Soobin shot his friend a look over your head as you puffed your cheeks at the menu, nodding at you with a ‘she needs to eat something’ look. He got the hint immediately.
Yeonjun made a long nasal noise with shrugged soldiers. “Welllllll - we just don’t want you to start feeling left out, is all. You could share something of ours? Of mine?” His head dipped beside your own, and you wriggled between their hips at the sudden intrusion. “And if you don’t finish it, they do have take-out boxes.”
“Yeah, okay then. If you insist.” You answered with a giggle.
“I do,” Yeonjun smiled, ears shifting towards you as his cheeks lifted to an eye-half-closed, gentle expression. “But not if you really don’t want something. Don’t want you to feel pressured. Just want to look after our gorgeous girl is all.”
“Ice cream is good?” You giggled, humoured by his expression and noticeably more malleable under his sway than Soobin’s. 
“Cherry Sundae it is then, princess,” Yeonjun purred lowly with a pleased smile. And this close, with his striking eyes, dipped low and ears folded forward, he held an air of gentle authority about him. Your attention drew to his face and his face alone. 
“Proud of you for being able to make a choice, pet.”
That nickname did something to you. Like an elastic band panged inside of your brain. And Yeonjun was patient with your reaction, unmoving while your guard dropped and your smile grew dopey.
His eyebrow quirked. 
“Did you like that, baby?” 
You flushed hot; nodding. 
Yeonjun chuckled. “You can be our pet, if you’d like that, gorgeous.”
You were enamoured by the beauty of him. How close he was. What exactly you wished to do with him. What you wanted him to do with you. 
Your focus drew particularly to his lips. You had never actually realised how plump and perfectly pink they were until now. He was tall, tan and kind, with a smile that pinged cupids arrows straight into any girl's heart that was fucked dumb enough to lean into them. You wanted to move so badly that your nails dug into Soobin's hand on your lap and you missed his small exhale of a cry.
Yeonjun's cheeks twitched into a smile. His canines slipped past his gums. You were just so adorable to him. In the way your nipples poked through your shirt at the mere hint of excitement, and the way your tongue darted to wet your lips; to your breath catching in your lungs on his every word. It wasn’t often that a prey type actually held his attention for this long, or this intensely. But he could see now why Beomgyu had taken such a quick fascination towards you.
The fox was devilishly curious to see just how far he could push you - into sub-space, or even your newly found instincts. 
He wanted to pull you apart just to put you back together again. 
You had asked them to help you. And he intended to do so. But in his own ways.
As your eyes dipped and your heartbeat pattered like a bunny about to be caught, Yeonjun found himself leaning into your space until there was nothing left. 
And it wasn’t like you didn’t want it. You had been aching to be touched ever since Soobin kissed you in the car; cunt wet and pressing against the leather - moving across it in such a way that it would likely smell of you for weeks. 
Sucking on the slick almost straight from the source was a memory that made Yeonjun groan with lust. He grew instantly pleased by the way your shoulders dropped as he pressed into your space and the way your legs shifted endlessly together for some friction.
He could also, like his companion, see that something was holding you back from taking the last leap. So he took a shot in the dark and guessed what it may be, allowing you to come to him, by mitigating any doubts either party had, to the best of his abilities. 
He had hit full score so far, what harm was there in another try?
“Payment is appreciated, little one, but not expected.” He practically purred at you now, a blink away from your face. “For everything, tonight. Or for as long as this lasts.”
Yeonjun lifted the back of his hand to brush his knuckles over your nipples that sat perk and taut against the cotton of your cropped blouse; his long fingers catching on the collar and tugging it down until the fabric flopped back into place and you blinked out of your daze. 
Your eyes and mind had begun to wander as his hand did, thinking of all the things he could do to you with his pretty hands and lips, mind full of muck. 
But a finger under your chin propped you back up. 
Your lips opened to a slight part and your eyes dipped low. “Like Binnie said, in the text from this morning,” Soobin rolled his eyes behind you. The charmer was now also lying as if he had ever read the text. “We only want to spoil you. Nothing more, and especially nothing less. You’re welcome to repay us in whatever way you please. But it’s not a must.”
You couldn’t stop yourself. Filled to the brink with a sudden lust and instinctual urge to just touch him, get near him, taste and lick the space behind his gums and to be enveloped by them to the point of mindless submission.
You had been warned of a predator's pull, but this was the first time you had fallen into the arms of one. Literally. Being purred at by a Fox hybrid as his blunt nail dragged the underside of your chin towards his face.
“Speak up, pretty Fawn. What's on your mind?”
You balanced a hand atop the denim on his thigh to press quivering fingers to his perfect neck, anticipating his lips in a trust fall and leaning over and onto his torso. Yeonjun groaned, delighted. He flopped the menu onto the table with one hand - pinching your nipples between his knuckles and his thumb to tug you closer - and moved up to hold your jaw with the other as you pushed the angle of the kiss down upon him. 
He was ever so gentle in the way he kissed. Licking small laps against your lips and never going any deeper. 
But it only made you moan for more. 
Your hand on his thigh reached to his farthest shoulder and you lifted higher and higher above him - unintentionally set to fling over a leg and sit on top of him, so consumed by desire and buzzing from head to toe - until Soobin had to intervene.
The dog used one large palm to pull you back down by one thigh. 
The chair leather squeaked underneath you as it tugged at your exposed skin; but he had pulled you down to sit on his thigh and knee, with your palm returning to Yeonjun's chest to steady yourself and pull away from the kiss. 
You had broken the kiss with Yeonjun with a broken moan, looking back up behind you with a thankful smile and puffy, bitten lips. 
“Careful - you almost flashed the whole diner, baby,” Soobin grunted, smoothing his thumb over the outside of your leg and loving the complete hold he had on you. You reached to intertwine your smaller hands with Soobin’s over his knuckles in apology. He squeezed your hand gently.
“As much as we all want to, we can’t jump any bones in here - at least, not yet. Not until Kai gets here. It’s too dangerous, love.” 
You nodded sheepishly, melting against the two of them as Yeonjun shuffled impossibly closer and Soobin leaned down to kiss behind your ear. The fuzzy sensation of lust washed over your head and you let out a small cry. 
The hound held you down against his leg as the majority of your body weight rested on Yeonjun's side. It meant you could lean your one ass cheek and thigh on Soobin some more, leaving the goods open to airflow and making the boys groan. 
Soobin sucked a harsh pressure to the pulse behind your jaw, making you bite your lip as he squeezed his palm around your knee, pulling your legs apart on purpose and manhandling you as he so pleased. He pulled away with a bite, skin between his teeth to make you almost cry.
Your cunt was getting increasingly wet, and soon it would be the only smell swimming in their brains and their mouth until it surrounded them and drifted out of the booth; with every door opening at the front and kitchen creating a sudden draft. Hence the need for Kai to be there. Amongst all the other reasons, only three hybrid men in their prime could ever cover that kind of smell. Let alone replace it.
An open kiss caught you by surprise, placed dead centre on the front of your throat. You hadn’t realised your eyes had been pressed closed, but you shut them again, dazzled by the overhanging lamp lights. The hickey laid there was gentle, but hot and filthy as hell. Yeonjun nibbled sharp canine points together against your thin skin with consistent sucking motions until he stole any clarity left in your mind. Palm stroking up and down your sides, until your ears flushed hot and a hickey was left, front dead and centre.
Your body was finally starting to smell of him - not to the extent of a claim, but a bruising lovebite with those sharp teeth over the scent gland on your collarbone was enough - it wasn’t something you were aware of, but a sure sign that no other hybrid could get near you while you remained in their care. Malleable to them and them alone.
You felt calm again. A shiver rippled up your spine.
“Breathe, gorgeous.”
Soobin's voice unfroze you, and a small gasp hissed between your teeth.
Yeonjun pulled back to flick open his lighter and re-light his cigarette. He chewed on his gums in self-restraint. He wanted to gnaw on you like a fucking fishbone, but he had to wait.
As he leaned back against the seat, he noticed your wandering eyes. Soobin's hands and mouth were exploring you fully; tongue spreading over your ear to make you shiver and moan, while his hand moved underneath your skirt. You held his wrist, aching and gyrating for the edge of his palm to touch your core. 
“Jeez, you’re eager for a fuck - the both of you.” 
Yeonjun made a tutting sound, reaching to pull Soobin's half-empty milkshake across the table and hold the straw between his fingers to slurp it up in front of you. 
“Take it easy tigers. People are starting to notice.” He was referring to the hybrid waitress who was giving him shifty eyes every time she walked the floor.
As soon as Soobin felt the fabric of your panties against his fingertips and heard his companion's warning, he immediately snapped too. He pulled away to groan at the visual that met him - but held on to his very last strands of self-preservation. His hand pulled back, smoothing over your knee with a gentle grip on your thigh to ground you, despite your puffs and whining.
“Just wanna feel you, Binnie, Junnie, please.” Your voice grew high and whiney.
“That’s enough, angel,” Soobin growled under his breath in a patient and calm demeanour. “We gotta wait for Kai. I know - we want it too.”
You batted your eyes, twisting in his gaze. Alas you nodded, skin hot, mind lost in his dimples and touch. Accepting an eyebrow kiss with a fluttering eye.
“Babe?” Yeonjun prompted softly. You turned, dazzled, to a straw being placed gently on your mouth. “Here. You haven’t drunk anything yet.” 
It was true; you hadn’t drunk in hours.
Your hands flew out to wrap over Yeonjun's wrist and fingers upon instruction, and he inhaled a large lung of smoke to your swollen lips wrapping around the straw to suck until he told you to stop. There was something so innocent about the way you followed him, that made the boys' cocks throb in their tight jeans. 
Soobin groaned. “Where the fuck is this guy?” 
The Doberman nasally whined and huffed, and ruffled his hair, placing an elbow on the table to hide his open side, pulling his phone out to text Kai and bother him to ‘turn up faster’.
“You reckon he got stuck? Traffic is pretty bad around here, especially after office hours.” Yeonjun thumbed over your finger caught under his thumb, eyes soft. Soobin didn’t verbally respond, instead shrugging with a deep gruff of annoyance, accompanied by puffed-out cheeks. 
“What’s the time?” Yeonjun asked, softer this time, pressing at the distraction. Eyes dipped and drunk in adoration.
“Near enough 8 PM.” Soobin inhaled sharply, pulling back to click his phone shut and slide it back into his inner jacket pocket. “The fucker should have been here twenty minutes ago, at least.”
“Mhmm,” Yeonjun hummed. “That’s enough.” 
Yeonjun held the cup to your mouth until you released it, and set it on the side to flick his phone out of his coat pocket and smudge out the butt of his hardly-smoked cigarette. 
You didn’t get a ‘good girl’ out of it, but you didn’t necessarily need one with the way he slipped his fingers over yours, palm down and in his lap, tapping at his phone with one thumb. The two of you were quickly falling into things, and it was a pleasant feeling.
You had released the straw with a gasp of air, careful not to cough, but flew to grip at the wrist of the hand that slipped high and snug to your cunt between your warm thighs. 
“Soobinnie! Quit torturing me!” You pouted with an outcry, only to be met with a cheeky grin and a sarcastic shake of the hound's head with wide eyes. 
You decided to try and push him.
“Are you sure we can’t do anything here? Right now?” 
You heard Yeonjun scoff. Frown and pout stuck to his handsome features as he flicked over the screen.
“Nope, not until Kai gets here, babe. And no, again. We’re not fucking in the diner. Quit trying your luck.”
“But I want to.” You pouted up at him.
“So do we ~” Soobin shook his head at you playfully. And tugged the hem of your skirt so it thwapped against your skin. 
His palm was still gliding in short circular motions between your thighs. Each rotation of his palm brushed up against your underwear and made you shiver.
“You’re cute but you ain’t that cute.” Soobin teased, dimples appearing as you stuck your tongue out at him. “Plus, I don’t particularly feel like getting in shit tonight.”
Yeonjun snickered at this from behind you both, still distracted by his phone.
You turned to the fox’s boyish grin with a huff. 
A hair lay on his forehead as he tapped his fingers on your knuckles. That piece of hair was irritating you. It was distracting. It tapped at his brow until you couldn't stand it anymore. 
Now that you were feeling a little braver; you could move before you started to overthink things.
As if he were your delicate porcelain-fragile prince, you moved the hair off his brow - caught between your forefingers and flicked back into the right place - moving to kiss Yeonjun’s high cheek in the process. 
His sharp eyes lay on you immediately. And he held a grateful closed-lip smile. His ears had even dipped to the side. But his brows were creased. And he looked at you almost quizzically. You imagined that if he had whiskers, they would be twitching restlessly.
He wasn’t used to being touched so gently. It made his chest press in against itself. And a bolt of nervousness panged inside his heart; an unusual feeling.
“Thank you - Y/N…” He mumbled. The facade of confidence wavering if only for a moment.
You nodded, with a bashful expression. And again, before you could think about it too much; you propped your knee over his, leaning into his touch. Snug to his shoulder. He hadn’t expected you to be so forward and flirtatious, at least not yet. He liked it. It suited him.
Yeonjun clicked his phone shut to look down at you, humoured, but ears still soft. You batted your eyelashes - purposefully, because you could see what the innocence did to him - and invaded his space.
“You should eat,” Yeonjun murmured, brows now relaxed, and his lips tilted at the edges into a playful smile. “Pick something. If you don’t eat it now, we’ll take it back with us.”
You shuffled closer, making a thinking noise and looking around. He heard your heart flutter, but your sweet face and voice remained steady. 
He bumped his forehead with your own. The heavy smell of smoke and cologne made it hard for you to breathe. He trailed his lips to the corner of your mouth; pressing gently. Then drifted back to your cheek. His thumb pressed into your palm, and his gaze bore into you with a burning ember. All the while his ears lay to the side; submissive. The one further from you twitched every so often; anxious of noises and sounds of the people near you, but you weren’t afraid.
Despite his flashy rockstar ego, the guy really was soft and protective.
“I will, since you want me to.” You returned under your breath, lips brushing his. 
You had already decided on a food item; the whole thing was now just a performance. 
Playing with a devil.
Soobin swished two different dessert menus across the table, nudging your leg with his as Yeonjun pulled away and he returned to high alert. He wiped his mouth with a coarse laugh, reaching for a cigarette and the menu. Neither stayed in his hand for very long; desperate to touch you and the bare skin resting atop his legs. His hands smoothed over your knees, and you leaned on his shoulder.
“Thanks, angel.” Yeonjun winked up at the waitress and moved to rest the laminated menu on his lap as he slouched. He shook the stray hair from his eyes to turn and look at you as you prodded him in the side with small needy hands. Your cheek lay on his arm and a playful smile was visible on your face. 
The fox raised a brow. “What is it sugar?”
“Again please.” You mumbled, blinking up with wide and innocent eyes. “I wan’ another kiss.”
It was a simple prompt, yet it made Yeonjun puff a breath from his nose. He was clever and knew what you wanted. Butterflies of excitement erupted in his stomach at the first confident ask you had been able to give. 
“Another kiss?” 
Yeonjun flicked the tip of his ear and his eyes to the dog behind you. He was providing a great distraction. And you didn’t even react when the waitress dropped her pen on the table, or cutlery on the cloths.
“Please, Junnie.” 
That tone - it went straight to his cock. You were getting dopey. Inebriated by their scents.
“Again?” Yeonjun repeated, voice deep as his ears dipped to the sides. His eyes had secured back onto you. And he relaxed, knowing Soobin could handle the waitress. You giggled, tongue between your teeth, and nodded, unwavering as he used his spare hand to tilt your jaw up with his thumb pressed into the underside of your jaw, fingers on your pulse. Your eyes had dipped and you were entranced. The fox, of course, knew what he was doing, and dragged his open lips over yours.
The waitress spoke to Soobin as the two of you flirted obnoxiously loudly. Soobin cringed, visibly, but it was to the group's benefit, so he sucked it up. It wasn’t that he was jealous; no not at all. He was just aware of how shameless the fox could be about his voyeuristic tendencies.
“Two sundaes on Soobin's tab, please and thanks.”
The waitress quirked. And Soobin sighed. Somewhere between the two of you eating each other's air behind him and the waitress visibly reacting to his name and the situation, he felt annoyed. Her small roundish ears pointed at the table, her tail swishing and her nose pinching at the scents.
“Oh - Soobin? Does Chan know you’re here? I can let him know - he’s in-house?” 
Soobin's jaw ticked. It was a silly, but innocent exchange. 
Of course, Bangchan knew they were there. Soobin's car was outside in the valet. The tab was on his name. Yeonjun was accompanying him. He had pre-warned of his arrival and deliberately picked a date when he knew nothing could happen, and the floor was safe. 
If the assassin didn’t know who was in his own building, then Soobin simply wasn’t a hybrid.
“Sure,” Soobin responded, shrugging with as much ease as he could fake. 
“Sure he knows you’re here, or - sure you want me to let him know?” In honesty, Soobin wasn’t listening. But he was in all senses a gentleman with morals. So he tried his best to ignore the hard-on in his jeans to exhale a polite but to-the-point; “He’s aware that we’re visiting. But sure, you can let him know. Wouldn’t hurt to say hi.”
The tooth that snaggled Yeonjun's lip was fiendish.
Yeonjun cut short your intake of air as he applied pressure to the sides of your throat; and pressed his lips to yours, licking up against the roof of your mouth. He swallowed your moans as quickly as he caused them; while his other hand gripped at the knee flung over his lap. He squeezed your throat until your moans grew puttered.
Abruptly; he broke the kiss. Yeonjun tugged on your lip with his canines before he released you; knee, throat and all. He had given you what you had asked. But you weren’t satiated. Weren’t fulfilled. Needy in a way you had never felt before. Head dipped to his shoulder, enveloped in his aura.
The waitress grew amused and shrugged off the possibility of being offended. 
There were rumours. 
Rumours that Soobin wasn’t quite the reserved, tall, Doberman Pinscher that he appeared to be. That he had a freakish and unbiased violent streak. That his fox friend was an edgy nymphomaniac and a silver-tongued narcissist. 
But that wasn’t for her to find out; so she took his menu with a nod and a smile, sure to swish her tail a little higher than usual underneath her apron.
But the boys’ eyes, ears, and heart, were on you, and you alone.
And little did she know; the two of them were about to become devoted to you entirely.
“Having trouble keeping that cute little thong on, love?” Yeonjun mumbled. 
He poked at your gyrating hips, and snickered at your eager nod, before pressing against your awaiting lips. He teased you; pressing then pulling away, biting his tongue with a shit-eating smile just to make you wait. He did it two more times, then moved back to lean on the chair and look at the menu again.
Beomgyu had warned you that this may happen. 
That they were older; in higher social positions; and may swallow you whole. Beomgyu was a baby in comparison. But their attention was infatuating and you couldn’t get enough of it. You had never taken ecstasy, but the experience made you remember every symptom list you had read for the drug.
“Wan’ m’re ~” You mumbled absently, the fox’s yipping laugh echoing in your brain. You pawed at his arm needily. “Again, pl’se ~”
But you couldn’t help yourself. Couldn’t wait. So hungry for those soft lips and the smoky scent of his cigarettes and cologne to touch you all over again. You pulled both hands to tug at the nape of his neck until his eyes squinted, swivelling to see that desperate expression on your face. Before he could remark, your lips were upon his and your tongue pressed up against his teeth in an uprooting force.
“Mmph - so soft,” Yeonjun grunted, getting lost in the motions before slipping a hand from under the menu to squeeze the inside of your knee. You yelped, almost biting his lip in the process of jolting away. “But you should pay attention when people are talking to you, Kit.”
“Junnie! That hurt!” Jumping with a drunk laugh, you swatted at his hand. “But - no one is talking to me?” You looked at the other canine beside you, then around, confused.
“I was.” Soobin chuckled, tone kind and voice low. “But it doesn’t matter, it wasn’t anything important.”
“Bad doe.” Yeonjun sucked his teeth, peering over the menu for real this time. If only far too late. But his disappointment was quickly mellowed. And he scoffed, shaking his head. Refusing to look at you but resting his palm on your soft warm skin nonetheless. Squeezing, but only enough to hurt for a moment. 
As much as he’d love to mark your skin with his hand, the diner wasn’t exactly the place to do it. That would hopefully come much later.
“You guys are so bad, you know that right?” Soobin chuckled, swirling his drink glass in his hand with a shrugged scoff, one arm tucked under his armpit.
Yeonjun seemed to be the only one that heard him; snickering in response with his tongue in his teeth.
“A little scent-drunk love?” Yeonjun teased when he noticed your glossed-over expression as you stared at his face for quite a long time. He lowered his face close to yours as his tongue caught his canines and he giggled in glee. “Baby wanna be claimed so badly? Baby wanna be touched so bad? Have our teeth all up and down her throat?”
“Wan’ it ~” You moaned wantonly, frowning and confused as to why he wouldn’t submit like Beomgyu usually would to your persistent touch and begging. 
“Yeah right, doll.” Yeonjun snickered. “That little dumb baby brain of yours wouldn’t be able to handle it.”
Out of morbid curiosity, he pinched your chin. Immediately; your jaw relaxed and he reached to press a thumb down into your mouth and onto your tongue. You drooled; mouth agape and eyes hooded. 
You numbly and happily held Yeonjun’s wrist as he pulled his thumb out from your mouth - saliva wiped on your lips and your gums and alongside your face - to grip your cheeks. 
“Cause that’s what you are, aren’t you? Our needy, brainless little pet?”
The fox was toying with you
Soobin's arm snaked around your waist with a growl, to pull you back into a solid, warm body. You made a noise of desperation as the dog pulled you backwards, away from the fox and his messings.
“Ngh - no, I - I wan - wan’ it -” 
You looked drunk. Sounded drunk. And you felt it. Unsure what you were begging for.
Still facing the fox; you were perfectly manoeuvrable and open for Soobin to do as he pleased.
“Play nice, Junnie. ” Soobin dipped his head to nuzzle into the crook of your neck; scenting you incessantly to soothe your heart-aching whines. “Doll doesn’t know what she wants when you smother her so much.”
Somehow; with Soobin attached to you; your heart eased its incessant thundering in your chest, and within seconds you were able to breathe deeply again. You moaned, with a dazed and confused expression. The tension in your body released via Soobin sucking at the thin skin behind your jaw. 
"Easy, Y/N." Soobin guided, voice low and filling your brain. "Your heart is racing, angel."
A shiver struck down your spine and you held Yeonjun's hand on your knee. Your gaze grew distant and you moved to lean your head back onto the dogs' broad shoulders and completely to the side. It granted Soobin further access and he wasted no time in pressing his nose to your collarbone; skin to warm skin. 
You threaded your fingers through his hair and up to your knuckles; until you met his scalp. And gripped harshly as he squeezed your inner thigh. 
Soobin sucked at your neck, and you gripped at the large calloused hand that squeezed over the entirety of your thigh, moaning into a bit lip. Soobin growled lowly against your skin. Moments away from claiming you. The girl he adored; that he had guided into the hybrid life. 
It had been long enough. You were practically laying yourself bare in front of him, waiting for him to take you.
His large palm found heavy purchase close to your core, and you twitched with weak repetitive sounds. 
Upon a new tone of low growling from his friend, the fox panicked; and realised just how much the hound had lost control.
Soobin's thumb pressed to your clit over your wet underwear as his large palm forced your legs apart. Soobin's other palm silenced your mouth; clit circled as you writhed in a tummy-burning lust.
“Cut it out!” Yeonjun yelled under his breath, and made a sharp yipping sound; one of warning. Permeated by a rolled-up laminated menu that he used to thwap the young dog on the head with. 
It was only a moment of contact, but it folded Soobin’s sharp ear and got the point across.
Soobin pulled away upon Yeonjun’s loud - and what you now knew to be uncontrollable - laughing chorus. Your skin heated and your ears burned from embarrassment, but you were still scent-drunk, by all means.
Never in your human life, would you have laid yourself bare in an evening diner to get fucked. 
“That was fucking close.” Soobin scoffed.
Yeonjun lit his new cigarette with his ridiculously attractive snapping lighter bottle before taking a large inhale and surrounding himself in smoke. 
“It was.” 
His amber eyes glinted under the low lights and the smoke and reminded you once more of the very real senses they both had over you. 
“Feeling needy, big boy? Haven’t seen you react like that in a long time.” Yeonjun mused once he knew his friend had calmed down. He was both assessing his friend and gauging your safety. If he would have to get you out of here before Soobin started on a dogged campaign of getting you to cum in public. But he seemed okay.
Soobin laughed. “Yeah…” He shook his hair back into place, tousling with it to then reach and unfold his tall slanted ear. “Pretty badly, actually. Little one has a decent hold on me already.”
“Good; then that makes for two of us.” Yeonjun simply smiled, squeezing your knee at your bashful eyes. 
But your mind was empty, as you were just admiring them. Watching his ears. Watching his face. His pretty puffy lips move. His gorgeous amber eyes.
“Gorgeous girl likes a thrill though, huh?” The fox mused; purring at you. He was bouncing back quicker and quicker. And it was a delight to see.
You nodded. 
 "Lucky. Kai should be here anytime soon. He’s a perv, just like you. Pretty Kit to play with. I have a feeling you’ll like him."
Yeonjun moved to sit back and slouch in the booth after setting down his rolled-up weapon; his entire leg still pressed up underneath your thigh and his palm heavy on your leg under the table. His presence may have been strong, but his devilish mouth and eyes were a decent length away now due to his abhorrent height.
Someone was approaching.
“Yeah, YN enjoys a thrill. Not without her new bodyguards nearby though, it seems.” A new voice sang, amused and high in pitch.
You quirked up; unable to see beyond Soobin or the high seats. But the dog flared his nose to calmly lean back and look behind him. Your heart beat in your chest in anticipation; but you remained as still as possible - given that the boys weren’t reacting, you felt safe; but the sensitivity was hard to adjust, even in calm settings.
As soon as you saw the huge grin of the large hybrid, you let go of the breath you were holding. 
"Speak of the devil!" Yeonjun yipped in a high and excitable tone, ears folding as he stood to bump shoulders in complete boyish fashion over the round table, pressing you into Soobin with his hips. 
A close friend.
“What’s up -” Kai laughed, bumping shoulders with the fox, grip strong and small ears folded to his hair in submission.“Been a while!” 
The guys did their usual boyish greeting; all the while Soobin watched you, dotingly. 
As Yeonjun moved to sit back down, you stayed incredibly close to the Doberman behind you. The canine didn't move an inch. Instead; he smiled, greeting Kai calmly with deep dimples and a lazy wave. 
Soobin was amused at your nervous twitching to get closer to him and lean against him to not get crushed, and how reserved you acted towards the stranger; with your dopey smile mostly gone and eyes wide and observant. 
Soobin was a guard dog by trade, but the instincts came naturally to him when you were around. Your ears struggled to keep up in such a dazed state; head spinning to hear between the two of them.
“You’re safe, Y/N,” Soobin mumbled, brushing some hair behind your ear, before placing a kiss on your shoulder that sent a shiver striking down your spine. "He's lower than us. Couldn’t hurt you if he tried." 
You nodded, absently. Something about him told you innately that he was a small predator. He likely couldn't harm you or affect you in the way the boys could; but he had a distinct new smell, one that you had never picked up on before. 
“Sorry, I was busy elsewhere -” Kai started, before seeing you. “Hi ~ You must be Y/N?” He smiled. You waved back with a nod and smile.
“Yeah, you don’t say!” Yeonjun smiled with his eyes. The annoyance completely dissipated, now the guy was in front of him. 
“We were wondering what was taking so long,” Soobin confirmed.
Kai sat down; towards the edge of the seat on the other side, roughly between you and Soobin.
“Oh, you know - work, and stuff.”
“It’s a Saturday evening, Kai.” Soobin shot back, tone blank and unimpressed.
“Well, yeah - but not that kind of work, you know? Like - yeah. Shit man, don’t make me say it!”
“Holy shit, you’ve been hustling all day?” Yeonjun yipped.
It was funny. Huening Kai was there for exactly one thing, and every single one of you knew it. But there was no bad blood. No awkward tension amongst the guys beyond your anxious buzz of energy. 
Yeonjun chittered away, ears folding in comical swings as he updated Kai with some gossip from the other missing friend, Taehyun. It had been a while since the guys had been together and had some fun like this.
You took a moment to observe the guy one degree of separation away from you.
You had only ever met briefly; between band events, taxiing for Beomgyu and after-hour office parties with sister companies. You knew of Heuning Kai. And you knew the guys were close. But beyond that, you remained indifferent and cautious.
Kai’s hair was a soft cool brown, with distinct small blond-edged triangle ears that told you that he was a Pine Marten Hybrid. Curiously; he had a few stray eyebrows. These were whiskers, hidden very well. His irises were dark brown and reached almost the full shape of his eye; only slightly lighter than his pupil. His tail was soft; brown and reached his ankles. And his face occasionally twitched; constantly moving, smiling, taking in his surroundings, and likely fast on his feet. 
He was a pretty guy. But - not someone you were instinctively threatened by, nor attracted to. But there was still something about him that made you feel cautious. Something that wouldn't let you rest.
You were cut off from your staring by a big dog’s head dropping firmly onto your shoulder. 
“Breathe, angel.” Soobin prompted. “You’ve frozen again.”
You inhaled sharply; the exhale played off as a long sigh with a smile at Kai’s sensitive ears and questioning face. The whisper from your shoulder missed amongst the chatter with the Fox. 
Though no matter the scenario, a black-tipped orange ear was pointed towards you, always.
By now, with this much heavy petting, Soobin’s scent stuck to your skin wherever he touched; like rubbing up against pure, thick incense oil. It was the same with Yeonjun; his thumb that stroked your inner knee made you tingle; toe to hip. And if you closed your eyes you could tell which spots hadn’t been touched yet.
You made a delicate noise; one that you had never made before, nor knew logically how to recreate. One of a quiet vulnerability; a soft vocalisation from the back of your throat; an air-light moan. It made the boys look to you instantly; all ears to a point. 
You froze. Eyes wide and majorly embarrassed. Crushed in the silence of their gaze.
Out of the corner of your eye; Yeonjun shifted. This was the most alert you had seen him yet. A smirk slowly made its way onto his face before his tongue touched the corner of his mouth and he dropped his head in a laugh. 
“Fuck.” 
“I -” You shook your head and cleared your throat. “- I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that. I don’t know how I did that… Oh…”
Your voice trailed, and you shrunk back into the seat. Eyes down in embarrassment. Skin hot.
It was quite clear you wanted to move on. And the boys were sympathetic to that. But that noise had done something to them. All three hybrids could smell how desperate you were becoming via the pheromones in the air. Your quivering thighs and tacky palms at each touch-point made it so clear what was affecting you to the point of moaning into the air so softly.
To the point of crying out like a foal.
“Want to do it again?” Soobin mumbled; close to your ear.
All he needed was your nod, and the two of them pressed into your skin.
Soobin lay hot and heavy kisses to your ear as his palm slid to your upper thigh; thumb in the crease of your hip and grip gentle. Yeonjun sucked at your collarbone; stroking up and down the inside of your other thigh in a lazy and solid pattern. You whimpered; another wanton moan, quiet and soft.
Soobin's tongue spread over your ear; just as Yeonjun pinched your chin; soft moan eaten by his kiss; lips pressed to your own in a whisper of touch until his smirk pressed to your cheek. 
The dog adjusted his torso so his back was to the floor; gratification evident on his face.
Soobin moved to sit back into a more relaxed pose; slouched, with his elbow to your stomach, so as not to be obvious of what was happening. This way; you could also hold his arm as you fell apart. Testing out the new position, he dragged his thumb over your labia; catching your thong with his fingers, and smoothed over your skin until the fabric slipped up on top of his hand.
Your cunt was soaking wet with slick, and Soobin growled with a gritted jaw.
“Again.” You sighed into Yeonjun’s lips. Hands on his shoulders. Fingers dancing up and into his hair.
“Again?” Yeonjun hummed. Orange hair filled your vision. His smile was wide and tone teasing. “Two’s enough, don’t you think?”
“Again, please…” 
That noise - it happened again; right as Soobin nudged your clit with the flat of his palm, circling his middle finger inside your folds. 
“Of course, love,” Yeonjun mumbled between pressed lips; pausing for a second before slipping his tongue between your open lips; setting a filthy pace to open-mouthed kissing as Soobin's middle finger pressed into you. You moaned into the embrace when Soobin's wrist flicked and he pumped into your tight wet cunt in a delicate pattern. Every time he pumped you felt the pressured swipe of his palm on your clit and your entire torso seized in anticipation.
“I - I want it, please Junnie - please, it feels so good, ngh -” 
Yeonjun groaned at your tiny whispers; your lips were pressed to his and the thick scent of your arousal was making him throb with precum into his boxers. His Adam apple bobbed as your small hand - the one not gripping Soobin's forearm that slipped under your skirt - pressed at his crotch weakly. But the action of it; so innocent and wanting to please, made his ears dip and his eyes contract.
“Feels good gorgeous.” He grumbled, pushing to kiss you hard enough to steal the breath from you. He pulled away with a sharp point to the soft of your lips; they were swollen from his biting. “You gonna come apart for us doll? Gonna let Soobin finger you till you see stars in the middle of this fucking diner, for the whole world to see?” His voice was low and hoarse and echoed around your head as the coil in your gut pulled tighter and tighter.
“Ngh - y-yeah -” You nodded, giving up the pressing at his thick, clothed cock to fold into Yeonjun’s shoulders, face in his neck. Soobin pressed at your back with his chest, nuzzling your shoulder. They were so close to you that there was no room to think, no space for anything but them. 
Soobin bit at your outer ear, nose nuzzling against your hair right as his middle finger curled up inside of you to hit that sweet spot. Rubbing it in the place that made you squirm. 
“Little Doe’s cunt is so tight - I can feel you’re close, baby,” Soobin grumbled lowly, voice projected into your brain. You gasped a moan, lifting to kiss Yeonjun until you pulled away with pressed-shut eyes; Soobin's finger pumping inside you on a deadly rotation.
Yeonjun sucked a hickey right against the pulse on the edge of your jaw. You shivered from head to toe, surrounded in warmth and smells and ears and tails brushing over and encompassing you; warm fuzz spreading throughout your veins and sweeping over your scalp. You must have moaned pretty loudly you realised, as Yeonjun gripped your cheeks in a hurry to kiss you sloppily. When he moved away, he pressed his thumb over your lips to wipe away the drool, laughing gently at you in disbelief. 
“Hush, pretty pet. You’ll have the whole diner rushing over soon otherwise,” He let you go, ears on a tight swivel as your head dropped to his neck and your hand curled up into Soobin's bicep. Mind like jelly, as only a hybrid-sensitive ear could pick up the squelching of Soobin retracting his fingers only to dive down to his two knuckles at a varying pace.
“Ngh - Feels good -”
The boys shared a look. You were close, and you smelt like a fucking cherry ice cream with your wetness dripping off Soobin's knuckles and onto the leather. Even Kai had started twitching in his seat, eyes darting all over you during the slow and sloppy consumption of his ice cream.
“Gyu’s gonna kill you when he finds out about this, you realise?” Kai humoured out loud, shaking his head.
The fox gave him a pointed look, ears folding and lip curled as he sheltered your face. Soobin growled gently, kicking his friend from beneath the table. The dog snarled.
“Shut up, weasel. You’re just jealous you can’t get a piece.”
“Yeah, you’re right actually. She smells so fucking good you’ve got me sat over here wondering when I can get a chance. Or why I even signed up for this in the first place.”
Soobin scoffed. “Cause you’re a sucker for watching and being watched. Shut up and watch the waitresses, nerd. It’s up to Y/N whenever you ‘get some’.”
“Yeah, right.” Kai huffed, defeated but still watching with intent.
“Try not to cry out for us while you cum, hmm angel?” Yeonjun mumbled, softer than his friend, and completely instructional. 
Focused entirely on you; Yeonjun pinched your cheeks to bring you up to his eye level and gain back some attention. Squeezing for a response.
You could only utter a small puff of a nod, brows pulled together and putty in their hands. 
Your cunt was starting to contract and tighten around Soobin’s fingers. 
Yeonjun purred at your face burrowing into his collar, small desperate sighs sounding against his shoulder, eyes squeezed shut in ecstasy and hands reaching for him. He moved his hand to massage your thigh on his side and flicked up the skirt to see past the fabric Soobin was fondling you under.
Yeonjun returned to his half-burned-out cigarette in the ashtray on the table, huffing a drag and coughing with wide eyes, blowing the smoke above the booth.
“Holy shit, sweetheart. That’s one pretty cunt you’ve got there.” 
Kai erupted into laughter as Yeonjun's shoulders jostled, laughing without mockery. He shushed you as Soobin added a third finger, squelching knuckle deep until you felt the cool metal of his ring on his forefinger press against your entrance. Knuckles between your teeth to not cry out.
“O-oh fuck, shit, fuck fuck -” 
Your knees bucked up and hit the table. 
Yeonjun quickly gripped your thigh that fell off the seat as Kai whistled; holding your thigh on him. The wolf whistle was a crude sign that a waitress was coming - distracted by his charm and ease of flirting to get her to look purely only into his eyes. 
“Easy, sweetheart. Quiet. We’ve got guests.” Yeonjun mumbled, lifting your face to lazy lick up against the roof of your mouth. He swallowed your noises and kissed you like some filthy fuck as you orgasmed in their hold. Soobin kept his fingers moving as the human waitress breached the table, his other hand going to swig the last drops of his drink.
To anyone watching, it simply looked like a bunch of adult kids and the usual two-person couple making out in the same booth. Little did they know, Soobin was brushing up against your g-spot as you whimpered, gripping his wrist and writhing, choking on Yeonjun's tongue.
He held your jaw steady and lazily kissed you, drool stringing between the two of you. 
“Mmph - June - Junnie -” You puttered, trying to speak, but stopped by his teeth pressing against yours, grip tightening on his shoulders. You released a pliant moan. Your guts twisted and the coil in your gut was tightening again, tense in your lower back and shaking. It was so soft the waitress wouldn’t have heard
The human waitress excused herself. You didn’t blame her. Yeonjun's hand had slipped up your thigh and he had pressed the pads of his fingers into your clit, underneath Soobin's large palm. You released from his lips with pants and pressed your face into his shoulder.
“‘m gonna - ‘m gon’ - ‘m - mmmmph -”
Your eyes pressed shut and you bit your lips to stop from crying out loud; grinding against their hands to cum once again. This one was a decently long ride. And Soobin angled up to make your feet tingle.
“Cumming again, gorgeous?” Yeonjun grumbled. Low and into your ear. He knew the answer. Just wanted to hear you say it. Wanted to hear you cry.
“Yeah ~” You nodded, squeezing and gripping his shoulder. “Mhmmm ~”
“You look so pretty in that skirt baby. You like Soobin's long fingers fucking you till you cum?” You nodded, desperate. “You take them so well angel. Think you can fit one more again?” 
You nodded and felt fucking insane at the proud smile on the fox’s face.
“Pretty baby’s gonna fall apart.” He groaned into your ear. 
Your nod was instantaneous; head fuzzy like an out-of-tune TV as Yeonjun moved from your clit to press his hand over Soobin's, guiding in a third finger. You were shaking, and rode along the last high to the next; reaching to pull him for a teeth-clashing kiss. 
The after-effects of cumming like that; surrounded by them, smothered in their scents and security, weighted by them; was a new high you could get used to. You almost couldn't breathe you were so hot. The ceiling spun and your brain was mellow like you had just been dunked underwater.
But they moved away from your hot body purposefully.
Yeonjun even blew cold air onto your face as you leaned on him. Soobin moved his chest from your body. And the boys patiently waited for you to return to the room. Slow movements to let you process; pulling away slowly, deliberately, and selflessly.
Slowly, you eased your legs, and Yeonjun retracted his hand - sucking on it directly over his tongue with a wink at your shy eyes looking up at him from his shoulder - holding your feet from hitting the floor.
Soobin followed suit by retracting his hand. But this time; the dog guided your face up and behind by the curve of your jaw. Without comment, he slipped his fingers into your mouth. They were thick and heavy on your tongue. You tasted admittedly good, but didn’t swallow; just held it there.
"Good pet." Soobin's growl echoed around your brain. 
It was sweet like liquor and thick like it too; cherry syrup strong enough to blow your rocks off if you weren’t expecting it.
Soobin pulled his fingers out - only to kiss you; tongue lapping up against yours and groaning. He sucked your tongue softly, but ultimately let you go after he gathered all the slick from your mouth. 
You turned to hide your face again in Yeonjun's jacket as Soobin pulled away. Shaking, quivering. 
“Fuck -” Soobin wiped his mouth, looking to the other boys, “- she tastes unreal.”
“Hate to say it, and it’s not a bad thing -” Kai murmured, low and cautious. “- but she also smells so fucking good I don’t think we’ll be able to stay here much longer.”
You weren’t listening; instead busy leaning into the fox and his warm body. Face in the crook of his neck, nuzzling his skin. He was so warm and soft, you couldn't help but bury your nose into him. Citrus tones filled your brain and lungs. 
"I'd have to agree - “ Yeonjun huffed, looking to the dog for his agreement, “I'm struggling to breathe clean air anymore." 
The dog nodded, confirming his friends' experience. If the one with smell issues was struggling; it was only a matter of time before it became unsafe.
“Time to go gorgeous.” Yeonjun kissed the crown of your head, smoothing it with a heavy palm. Mumbling to you. You shuddered. 
"Alright then - come on, guys. We don’t wanna get her too worked up in the diner, huh?" Soobin grumbled sarcastically in a rush, tail swiping against the leather diner seat in his excitement. 
Soobin reached to hum in your ear a low tease; “Let the scent-drunk babe clear her head before a good fuck, hmm? How’s that sound doll? I’ll pull the car up right outside.”
Your skin flushed hot. But you nodded, coyly. Accepting the nudge of his ears to your cheek as he kissed your shoulder blade. But you were stuck to the fox, like glue. 
Yeonjun snickered, rubbing at his neck with a sheepish smile. 
“Yeah, right. Forgot where we were for a second.” 
“See you guys later!” Kai squeaked, suddenly up and out of the diner before any of you could respond.
Soobin held a disgusted expression, scowling at his back as he darted out of the diner, paper bills slapped sloppily onto the bar’s top. His ears had peeled back until they almost disappeared in his jet-black hair; his nose scrunched in such sudden fury that you had to shake your head to adjust. 
“He’s going straight to his car to jack off,” Yeonjun explained when you looked at him, with a puzzled expression at Soobin's anger. 
The fox shrugged with an easy roll of his eyes. You, Yeonjun and Kai were morally on the same level of voyeurism, so he wasn’t exactly about to be a hypocrite. 
“I’m not against it.” 
You shrugged also. Unsure if it was necessarily okay, but unsurprised and pretty unbothered. If anything, your ego was boosted by it. 
Soobin held his own ideals, however.
“Well, I am,” Soobin growled, ears tucked back and so obviously ticked off. “Dirty fuck. Never met a guy more disrespectful."
Soobin was furious. You’d be lying if you said it wasn’t hot, but… now wasn’t exactly the time. The anger caused you to pull inwards. The sudden movement made your adrenaline spike before you could process it.
"Hey, come on now - you know that's a lie - hey!"
Yeonjun tried to call after his angry Doberman, but he was already up and gone.
Soobin grunted a blunt “See you outside.” and left a rush of air to come towards your newly exposed side. You shivered, rubbing your cool arm as you watched him leave, no bills placed on the side. When you spun around with a panicked expression, Yeonjun awaited you.
"Aaaand he's gone. Welp."
Yeonjun watched you; tentatively. You were so sensitive to mood changes, that he would have guessed you were a born hybrid, were it not for the missing appendages. The whoosh of air seemed to perk you up quite a bit. 
“Yeah - and - but - he didn’t pay Jun? What happened, he - shall we go to the car?” 
Yeonjun smiled at you. Irises slimmer than ever before. And reached to tuck hair behind your head. He hummed gently, eyes small and tracking your face as you rambled.
“I don’t - we should go - Junnie? We should - We should - I'm worried, that's not like him at all - umm - shall we call him, I - I'm not sure where he'd go -” 
So close after an orgasm your words were slurred as your tongue sat heavy in your mouth.
“He's okay.” Yeonjun smiled and simply waited. Your frown grew more desperate.
“He seems really mad Jun -”
“Breathe, gorgeous. He’s right outside.”
Eventually, you heaved a breath. Frowning in disbelief as the heat in your body flushed out. 
Your chin dipped as you gulped an intake of air. Embarrassed. 
You were scent drunk. The come-down was sharp and sudden. 
"Now that's the face I expect to see on a doll that's fully claimed already.” 
Yeonjun’s voice was kind. Low, gentle. 
“He’s got you good, hasn’t he?" 
“You both have, Junnie…” You admitted. “I don’t know what’s happening…”
Yeonjun laughed gently from his chest. Eyes crescented as you looked up; expecting a judging face, but you came face to face with love and affection. Your eyes quickly pooled with tears and an overwhelming sense of anxiety pumped through your gut.
Yeonjun leaned to wipe your tears. 
“Hey, you’re okay. Shh, shh.” He mumbled. “It’s a lot, isn’t it? New feeling?”
You nodded, and as much as you tried to repress it, your face had scrunched painfully and a glob of water slipped from your eye. Yeonjun wiped it away with his thumb, pouting.
Having a person a Hybrid you trusted nearby that was considered more dangerous than you or an unknown social threat; meant that you didn’t have to pay attention to your surroundings like you usually would when you were alone. Having them pull away suddenly meant that your acclimation time to becoming in charge of your extreme senses again was thrown from zero to a hundred in a matter of seconds. This is why gradual separations are taught from a young age.
You knew all this. Had spoken through it with Soobin many times. The nurses, the specialists, your friends. But it still didn’t make dealing with it any easier.
“Soob left pretty quick. And in a shit mood. Looks like it’s given you quite the shock, hmm?”
You nodded and tried your best to calm your erratic breathing. But before you could stop yourself; your arms reached around Yeonjun’s neck to pull him into an embrace. 
“Hey, hey - you’re alright.” The fox yowled quietly, and his ears folded. 
His heart ached for you. If natural prey-type hybrids struggled to deal with separation anxiety; he had quite literally no idea how you were trying to keep it together so hard.
“Did that new emotion scare you, angel?” He questioned. 
You nodded and Yeonjun accepted this, choosing not to question it with his face in your hair and one arm secure around you, the other holding your legs. He chittered; holding you tight the best he could at this angle. He understood that you just needed your whole face in his clothes and neck in order to feel his safety, right now, so didn’t mind you burying into his jacket.
"You're okay Y/N, he’s just outside, I promise," Yeonjun mumbled, so gently that you held him tighter. "Precious little fawn, hmm? You’ve always been so jumpy… even before the accident… now look at you…"
He didn’t speak for a while. Scared he would say something wrong. Instead, he just held you and rubbed your back as you processed the withdrawal. This is what was missing with Beomgyu, you realised, instantly. The cat was indifferent, and these boys were observant. They were able to care for you. They reacted differently to your fears. 
You released his neck, and he pulled away to see your face.
"What is it, sweet Doe?" Yeonjun hummed, a finger pad swiping over your cheek. "What is it exactly that's got you so upset?"
"I'm worried Junnie…" You said with glossy eyes. Words like lead in your mouth. Difficult to form and project. "I hope he wasn't upset with me - or you, or Kai. He left so quickly, I - and it hurt - I don’t know…" 
Yeonjun wiped your cheek with a sympathetic smile. He knew what you meant. Pulling such a strong presence away so quickly caused you to panic, and tilt off the scale. A matter of mind versus instincts.
“It’s not about you, gorgeous. And I don’t think Kai actually upset him. Just - a thing of pride, that’s all. Let’s just give him a few minutes. He’s probably as affected as the both of us; if not more than. We could all use a little pause, right now. Hmm? Get our heads back?" 
You nodded, looking down at the hand on your knee. Your smaller fingers reached to anxiously work between his knuckles. Yeonjun smiled, chittering with folded ears. He kissed your cheek; sweet, cherub, soft.
"You don't have to talk if you don't want to; you know?"
You looked up. Surprised. 
Was he paying attention to Soobin's’ cues? Did he know?
"Because that's what it is, isn't it?" 
You searched his face. But gave no response. 
"You find it hard to speak when you're upset, right?" 
You nodded.
"I take it it’s nerves?"
Nod.
"And it's not because I scare you?" Yeonjun pouted.
You shook your head.
"Okay." He whispered. "I'll stick to yes or no questions for now. Sound okay?" 
You nodded. Butterflies hammering in your heart.
He was happy that you felt safe enough to be non-verbal around him; so much progress in such a short amount of time. It only seemed to happen when incredibly anxious, so he made a mental note to pay attention to that.
“You’re safe, little fawn.” He mumbled, placing one last kiss on your cheek. “I know; you’ll probably feel super stressed for a few minutes. But you’re okay. I’m here. And Soobin's just outside. Try to relax; it’s just a new feeling, not necessarily a bad one.”
You couldn't help but whimper as you held him again. Reaching to desperately hold his neck.
You weren’t sure what to say. Despite it being such a short amount of time you did trust him. With your body and heart. And he truly was grounding you. By remaining calm; watching you, relaxing his shoulders and ears. 
You held him until your chest loosened and you were stable enough that he could stop nuzzling you.
Once confident you wouldn’t cry upon him moving away; he shuffled to slouch back against the booth; one arm stretched up and behind your shoulders - he waited for you to settle into the space between his chest and armpit, elbow folded down as he held you close - and fiddled open his cigarette tin while the other reached over your chest to pull one out.
"You're doing good, pretty Doe. ‘m ‘mpressed." He mumbled; lighting the cigarette over your head again.
You were shaking, and stiff. Like your namesake would usually do when terrified. But he was impressed, given you had just cummed, and then had your support ripped from your side so quickly.
For a moment; given the position; you had no vision of the diner. Until Yeonjun tucked the packet into his jacket and you noticed a man walking towards you. Yeonjun seemed distracted; and checked his phone overview with a flick before it was tucked away to raise an eyebrow at your prodding.
“Hmm? What is it doll?” Yeonjun followed you pointing underneath the table to the guy shuffling across the floor. He was greeting people. Like he owned the place.
“Huh. You know who that is?” The fox questioned with a tilt of his head. You shook your head.
“Well,” Yeonjun started, before re-lighting the cigarette between his lips. His gruff, tobacco voice pressed to your cheek as he whispered dark secrets into your pretty little head. You wheezed slightly at the smell of menthol, turning with wide doe eyes to see him.
“His name is Bangchan. Or Chan for short. He's 25. He runs the local crime show. Fatherly-Wolf type. Has his own…” Yeonjun pulled a drag with a quirked head in thought on how to word it; “specialities. He also owns the diner. And so on.”
Crime show? A funny joke. Or, maybe a slip up… Right?
Said man began to walk past the table; clearly on some sort of serious business, given the scowl on his face. A tall white-haired male followed close behind. Around Soobin's height. He was stunning and feminine. Whereas ‘Chan’ was stunning in a more masculine way.
“Ah - Chan!” Yeonjun called as he walked past - a little harshly were it not for the pressure to stay on his chest, as he anticipated your reaction - catching his ear. The two of them stopped in their tracks. But the blonde male wandered away after a nod of Wolf-mans head. 
His face quickly lit up with a smile.
“Hey - what’s up Wilde! Ah - a guest - you must be Y/N?” 
Chan was cute. Not your type; but sweet, obvious built-in muscles, and mid-height with seemingly natural dark brown hair. He had an Australian twang to his accent, and it was refreshing to hear amongst the rest. Made him stand out.
Yeonjun didn’t rise like you thought he would to greet his friend. Like he always had. It seemed remaining calm for you was the most important thing in the room for him right now. And that made you feel… some kind of way.
Lucky for the two of you; Bangchan was pretty understanding. And bowed his head with a charming smile before sliding into the booth to sit opposite; in place of an awkward handshake.
“Glad you caught me Wilde - Hyunjin had just pulled me to head out, but I was meaning to talk to you.” He peered over you quickly before smiling. “Hope you don’t mind me interrupting?”
Yeonjun smiled as he squeezed your shoulder, kissing your temple. 
“We don’t mind. Sorry; Y/N’s a little star-struck so you won’t be getting a lot out of her right now. The diner is loud and frightening at this time of night. Maybe another time.”
Yeonjun was smiling. But it was tight-lipped and accompanied by a cut-short tone that left no room for questioning. It was clearly; a statement. Bangchan simply shrugged. Smile still kind. 
“Fine with me. Sorry about the noise. Nice to finally meet you though; heard only good things.”
You bowed your head with wide eyes and quivering lips. A little confused; as you had never heard of him before, but you just shrugged it off. It's a small world; you were bound to have some weird high school connection somewhere. 
If Yeonjun considered him safe; then you did too. 
You needed a moment to recover, anyway.
You briefly peered between the two, before you settled with picking at the frays on the thigh of the fox's ripped jeans. Yeonjun smudged out his barely lit cigarette out of respect, and you noted his sharp eyes. The softness in his face had gone since Chan appeared. Not completely; but you were observant enough to notice.
“You said you wanted to talk?” Yeonjun smiled.
You could already see why he was considered a smooth talker. His demeanour right now was completely fake; and had changed so quickly you had almost missed it. But you would never know if you hadn’t spent so much genuine time with him. He seemed cooler. More cheeky, but reserved. As if he was holding back. And he was. He would curse out Soobin later for taking the heat for the three of you without backup.
Chan bobbed his chin and thinned his lip in a thinking expression before making an ‘Ah, yes’ face. Then he pointed to Soobin's' empty yet still indented seat.
“Ah - You’re missing a Pinscher, right?”
“Yup,” Yeonjun laughed, tongue in his cheek. “Soobin’s outside. Pulling valet for us. He won’t leave until we go.”
“Oh - neat! I’ll say hi before I leave, then. Need to give him something anyway. New listing."
“Cool.” 
Yeonjun's ear ticked. 
You were almost certain Chan didn’t catch it, but you did. Yeonjun was a nervous guy, even if he acted cool. You rested against his chest; and closed your eyes. Relaxing completely. It calmed him.
“Oh, yeah, also, Charlo called me on direct from the bar.”
Yeonjun threw his head back in a snorting laugh. “Charlo?! That is not a name! You made that up!” 
“Hey - Don’t be rude! It’s short for Charlotte. And it’s a perfectly nice nickname!”
The two of them were being rather loud.
“Alright.” Yeonjun snickered sarcastically. “So - this Charlo - she called you? I should care, why? Never heard that name before.”
Yeonjun was having one of his moments. 
You had noticed the Cheetah’s head whip around as soon as it was said from across the floor, but she was smart enough to keep her head down to buss the table. You prodded Yeonjun, pointing and nodding in her direction.
“Ah,” Yeonjun mumbled. “Charlo… the Cheetah… Fuck."
The waitress. Of course, it would be the waitress. The hybrid waitress. The hybrid waitress called Charlo the Cheetah, that would report on his ass.
“What have I told you about getting handsy in my diner, Yeonjun?”
Yeonjun snorted, laughing with his belly as his head rolled back on the seat. Chan was entirely serious and you flushed cold like an ice bucket had been dunked over you.
"Aish -" He pressed air from between his teeth in humerus. "Relax old man -"
"It's disgusting."
"So's another man's jealousy."
"Ah no-" Bangchan looked distressed, disgusted even, and shook his head. "Far from jealous. At least tell me you washed your hands first?"
A pause… and then… silence. 
You were positively embarrassed.
"You're disgusting."
"And you're a saint?" Yeonjun purred, shit-eating fox grin pearly white and cockily on display. Ears back in a playful display, tail happily curled.
The fox was enjoying this. 
"Seriously June. People eat here." The older guy started; voice low and fatigued. But he seemed somewhat amused, and you guessed it took a special kind of figure to correct Yeonjun and get through to that crafty head of his.
No one in the immediate area even batted an eye at your table being extremely loud. Which was curious. Odd, even. It made you pause, and strain your ears. But nothing was out of sorts.
"So you're telling me that I can kill a man on this table, but I can't make my girl cum after a good meal?"
KILL A MAN. 
Bangchan's eyebrow raised and you froze solid in your seat. He seemed fed up. You didn't blame him; Junnie was exhausting.
You flew to see Yeonjun's expression, your heart pounding. He was cool and calm. At the terror on your face, he softened. Cracking his mask for a split second to soothe you. But he couldn’t comfort you here, in front of Bangchan. His irises softening would have to be enough.
Your head was spinning.
"Yeah, that's exactly what I'm saying, funny enough. Don't let me catch you doing it again, Wilde."
"Or what, Daddy?" Yeonjun taunted, canines flashing as he bit the tip of his tongue with a grin.
Chan gave the younger man a sharp expression.  "You know what. I gotta go - stay out of trouble kids."
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“One thing you should know about Soobin -” Yeonjun grunted, as he reached inside his jacket to pull out his wallet and start ass-shuffling out of the booth, gently patting your behind along and above the seat to make room for him to get up.
“Is that he tends to get a little protective when he likes something.” Yeonjun shrugged, standing upright. 
He flicked open his wallet to pop yet another cigarette into his mouth, but it remained unlit. 
“Sometimes you just gotta remind him you aren’t about to run away. Like his favourite treat being taken to some forbidden locked up cage somewhere. He’s… scared of that happening. But something tells me you’ll calm him down.”
You took the fox's outreached hand, sticking like gum to his side as you linked into his elbow. Yeonjun swiped backwards the hairs hanging in front of your eyes and placed a kiss on the crown of your head.
“He is a dog after all. Don’t take it to heart love. He just felt Kai was disrespectful."
He smoothed the back of your skirt like a gentleman as you exited the booth - before he squeezed your ass with a wink and a whistle. 
Yeonjun walked with you to the bar, placing some money and what looked like a hefty tip on the side, before proceeding to walk you both out to a slightly less irritated Soobin than the one who had run out of the diner. 
Chan was a few strides ahead, clearly walking away from an exchange. 
Soobin was smoking. Sat on the hood of his car. You could tell he wasn’t in the mood to talk, because he only smoked when he was bothered by something. 
“D’you think he’ll mind if I catch a ride?” Yeonjun mumbled, whispered into your hair with humour as he squeezed your side into him. “Gotta take this pretty girl back to the dig.” You giggled, appreciative that he was taking the time to calm your nerves. 
The sun was hanging low in the summer sky. Having checked the diner clock before leaving it was currently 9:05 in the evening. Soobin had driven up from the underground parking until he was right outside. It was cooler now than when you had chosen the mini skirt. You shuffled closer to him for warmth.
You shrugged. “I can ask?” 
You were too cute. Yeonjun shook his head, pinching his eyes at you with an accompanying smile. “Just playing doll. We live together, remember?”
Yeonjun's hands lay heavy on your waist as he walked you up to the car. He could feel the excitement in your nerves like a small electric shock.
As you both approached, Yeonjun lifted his chin to his friend. 
“You good?”
To which Soobin nodded back. 
He was a little moody. Slouching, arms crossed, sitting on the hood of his car, puffing with a scowl. But he was considerate enough to exhale the large heave of smoke, far above your head.
“Fine.” The dog grumbled, clearly irritated by the tone in his voice.
“You sure about that?” Yeonjun sang in an amused manner.
Soobin lifted his lip to reveal his gums with a belly-deep growl. The message was to ‘leave it alone’. 
“Fine man, if you say so.” Yeonjun chuckled to himself under his breath, the two of you now profile to profile with Soobin and the car.
When Yeonjun had stopped walking - retracting his palms to his pockets, appearing bored and unbothered to not provoke his friend - you kept going. 
Your heels shuffled forward until both knees drew up between the legs of the casually sat Doberman. 
He straightened upon your approach. Peering down at you. You reached for his shoulders and placed a kiss on his cheek. Which Soobin graciously dipped to accept. 
“Hey, gorgeous.” He mumbled, softer than before, when his attention was directed towards Yeonjun. 
“Hi.” You offered back, happily.
Soobin was looking at you with such enamoured eyes. Ones reserved for love. Gentleness. 
“I’m not going to run away from you, you know?” You offered again, quietly. Still a smile on the way you spoke. Soft. “I offered to try this out with you, and I’m still here, and I’ll be here for as long as I can be.”
Yeonjun's ears quirked as he leaned against the door of the car beside both of you. Touched that you had listened. It moved something in his chest. His stomach. It ached, in a good way. 
Maybe the advice he had given to someone else, was the one he needed to hear the most.
Soobin’s brows fluttered as he processed what you meant. He watched your face for signs of distrust. Before he released the tension in his body and acceptance flooded over his face. He uncurled the hand from under his armpit to rest on your lower back.
“I know. Thank you.” 
You exchanged a nod. And fell into him. Into a real, loving embrace. The air was chilly, and you were thankful for his body heat.
“Still anxious?” Soobin mumbled against your cheek. “I’m surprised. You seem to have attached pretty quickly to Jun.”
You blinked. “You - you can tell?” 
“That you’re still anxious?”
“Yeah.”
“Of course.” Soobin ran his nose over your cheek with a rumbling chuckle. “Your heart hasn’t stopped thundering since we got out of the car. And your scent is - well the only way I can describe it right now is sour. It’s not like that when you’re… not upset.” 
“I smell like something sour? When I’m anxious?”
“You smell like a sour cherry, to be exact.” Yeonjun pointed out. Newly puffed tobacco smoke hanging around his frame. “And not the candied kind.”
"It's a weaker smell," Soobin confirmed. "But it's sharper. More nose-catching than when you're happy."
You hummed in thought.
“Well, what is it when I’m happy?”
“Hmm, cream and cherry pie?” Soobin questioned his friend with a smile in his tone. Yeonjun nodded and heaved a smokey inhale.
“Angry?”
“That one’s tough.” Soobin looked around in thought. "Hot. Like a hot, bitter winter wine. Burns the nose, unlike sour."
You laughed.
"Okay. What about horny?"
"Cherry Sundae," Yeonjun answered quickly for that one. You raised your eyebrows and he shrugged. "It's so sweet and heavy that the entire diner smelt like you on the way out. Probably will do ‘til opening time tomorrow morning."
"But then - there were other hybrids in there - why didn't they say anything?"
Yeonjun looked at Soobin. And Soobin grumbled low, pointed words into your ear.
"Because you're with us. And they wouldn't dare."
"And - it doesn't give you a headache? If it's so sweet?"
Soobin threw his head back in a gentle laugh.
"No, Y/N. It's a natural aphrodisiac."
"It's… addicting." Yeonjun murmured. Almost… ashamed of his infatuation, with ears tilting down as he thought on it.
But you got the point. And made a small oh sound of acknowledgement before shaking it off.
“So -” You giggled, gesturing towards his unreasonably-flashy-for-a-young-guy American muscle car; “How the hell did you end up owning something like this? Knowing people like Bangchan? It's a little odd. I thought you worked at another office, but then… How'd you afford to live like this?”
Soobin smiled. And squinted at you with deep dimples. His hand moved to rest on the car behind him as he leaned forward, and over you ever so slightly, to breathe against your neck. Your lungs stayed empty as you got stuck on an exhale, unsure as to what he would say. Missing Yeonjun's shifty eyes, before looking around and nodding to his friend.
“I work in higher places than you’d ever expect, our clever little fawn.” 
His lips pressed to your neck and your heart fluttered, falling into him as his hand pushed on your lower back. 
"Suppose there's no harm in telling you now. Breathe."
Your hands rested on either of his shoulders, consumed completely by his deep musk and wood smell. You felt like prey being cared for before being swallowed. Gasping air upon instruction. It was becoming a habit to wait.
You reached to bury your face into his scent; shaking in delight from your scalp to your toes when your nose hit his collarbone.
“Yeonjun is my sales guy. Like you said before. Gyu deals with code. Fucking nerd.”
Another kiss was placed on your neck. Suckling lightly with those perfect lips; making you lean into him more. You would think a mention of your sick 'boyfriend' would strike guilt, but your head was swimming. Breathing him in like a drug.
He was fucking addicting. And you were starting to understand what Yeonjun meant. Soobin's musk became much heavier and sweeter like tree syrup. 
“Terry’s in charge of legal. Kai’s our friend, but he’s mostly there for looks.”
He pulled away to smoke some more and puff the smoke over your head. He squeezed your ass, harshly, in one large palm, and a soft moan fell from your lips. A gift to Soobin. 
“But don’t worry - as long as you’re around at least one of us, or the hybrids we trust, in the right spots, you’ll be safe. We don’t want to get you mixed into any shady business.”
Your mind flashed to every mafia or yakuza scene ever. 'Stay with us you'll be safe', only for their safety to be more hurt than when they weren't involved.
"So - you're saying I might be watched? That you're part of a gang, or what?! I don't know if I'm into men that hurt women! Or people! Children…!!" 
Soobin kissed his teeth.
"I don't take joy in hurting others. And we don't get our hands dirty in that kind of business." 
He was… amused. 
This interaction seemed amusing to him.
"I can't say you won't have eyes on you; but you're our pet now, so it's in our nature to be protective. NOT controlling."
Soobin's lip lifted over his gum in a houndish grin, and he pressed you into his crotch as he grumbled into your ear. 
"Not that we would let you out with us anywhere without our scent plastered inside and all over you, on any given day now, anyways.” 
His breath was ticklish and you loved his open laugh as his gums pressed against your cheek as he held you tight. 
You knew Soobin. Knew he was speaking out of love, despite his harsh and rugged tone. You felt safe. 
So ultimately you laughed also; drunk on attention, and shaking your head. Even the shy Yeonjun smiled fondly.
Between the big dogs' legs. In public again. Being babied between two capable men. Short skirt scrunched between Soobin's knuckles, and his ears pointed down at you; you were warmed with love.
“Shady business then, hmm?” You repeated in a tight whisper. Eyes wide and shining up at him. “But - you’re wearing jeans!” You argued; as if dirty clothing and judging his appearance outright meant you knew anything about him. "I've never seen a high-end criminal in blue wash denim!"
Soobin puffed an exhale of a crescent-eye smile, tongue caught in the corner of his lip. Before he dipped you to the side quickly - completely playful and in control, laughing loudly in your ear as you giggled - kissing at your pulse. You ran your nails up and against his strong, beautiful neck and into the nape of his hair on the way back up; which earned you a growl on your skin, and a squeeze against his torso. 
“You’re too cute.” Soobin appealed, laughing like chimed bells like he hadn’t just possibly revealed his connection to the business underworld.
So you turned your pout to Yeonjun for more answers.
You caught him staring in admiration; ears dipped to the side and eyes hooded with the corners of his mouth tilted upwards; back against the car, arms crossed easily on his chest. He perked up once he realised you were looking; fumbling out some more smokes and touching his pockets as if checking whether something hadn't been forgotten, or left behind.
"Come on ~" You frowned, pouted even, coming to know how much he barked for it. "You have to give me some info before you fuck me? I deserve that much!!"
Soobin had, at this point, enveloped you. Lips busy kissing, licking, nibbling at the expanse of your throat. Your hands curled into his shoulders. Ears hot and moans soft at an exhale. He was so warm, it was heavenly. 
Or maybe that was just the post-orgasm, baby-girlness talking. But - it felt like the heat was coming from under your skin.
Both were fine. Both were good.
Yeonjun met your pout and whine with a raised eyebrow shake of his head. Scolding your curiosity with a mere kissing of his teeth. 
But of course, he would spill. He was too easy.
“Nothing you want to be involved with, angel.” He mumbled in a low, almost solemn voice. “Tax evasion type shit. But we don't deal with dirty money. No repercussions for anyone apart from ourselves when we get caught." 
The fox squinted. You were small but unshaken. So he continued.
"I mean, to be honest, a lot of people you know are probably involved. A certain Jaemin comes to mind - hope he loves the new wheels by the way. Heard one of them sold?"
You laughed at Yeonjun's raised eyebrows. He had slipped into his faux persona.
"I have no idea Junnie." He softened; trusting your shrug, watching as you thread your hands through Soobin's hair as he palmed at your ass. 
"He was very specific when he asked for one of the cars. I don't know if he was feeling sketched out by the deal or what. You'd know better if he's your friend?"
"Oh?" You quipped, amused.
"Yeah - he wanted it a specific red. Like… a race car. One from a movie. With decals all over it. Was specific with the no white-rim wheels. Weird guy, but I liked him. You should invite him to hang out with us."
"It was a nice red Jun, you did a good job." 
Yeonjun scoffed. "So you really had no idea?" 
You shrugged. "I had my suspicions as a friend, but never would have guessed."
"I'm sure you've got - mph - questions?" Soobin moaned between biting up your shoulder.
"I guess… I didn't realise you had been keeping tabs on me. But then again, I guess it comes with the territory…"
Of which, you meant dating Beomgyu. Their inner circle friend and participant of said crime group. It made sense.
"Mhm," Yeonjun confirmed, smile tight-lipped and amused. He took another drag. "I’m surprised a clever doll like you hadn’t figured it out. The cats in love with you. We protect the things we love. And you had no idea you were being surveilled?”
“I didn’t know.” You confirmed once more, unsure what or how loud to say it to make him believe you. “Sounds like you guys have got it down to a T, though?”
"Got what down to a T, doll?" 
"I don't know - everything!"
Yeonjun simply nodded. Shying away as his friend and newly revealed business partner gave a sharp and piercing warning gaze from behind your neck.
That seemed to be all you would be getting from the fox. He retreated from the conversation abruptly with a pout and distant mind; busying himself with flicking open his lighter for the umpteenth cigarette today. 
He didn’t look sad, but talking about it seemed to bother him. Like a task he would worry about later. Though you weren’t sure when later was, or could be.
Soobin tugged at your earlobe with delicate precision; canines making you moan and grip his hair. He growled softly and nudged your cheek with his nose until your attention was caught. Your nose pressed to his. Lips brushed with bated breath.
“It’s important that you don’t share any of this, pet. Not even with Gyu.” 
At first, you just laughed. But it became obvious how quickly he meant it. Your naive smile edged into danger; until he swiped the back of your thigh with an open palm. You bit your lip with a frown and a cut moan, pouting. 
"I mean it.”
You gulped, eyes shaking a little. 
Soobin softened, immediately, at the first hint of fear. The grip on your chin released dramatically, so your hair billowed softly between his fingers at your cheek. His exhale fanned over your face, before moving your head. His cheek pressed to your own to whisper low, and soft, in your ear.
“I need to hear you give your word, beautiful. That you won’t tell a soul. No matter what. What we vent about between the sheets, is just that to anyone else. Nothing but pillow talk.”
Maybe this was a little more than what you had bargained for. 
"But between us…. well. We’ll always tell you the truth."
He didn’t move, instead he waited. Knowing that eye contact would make you panic. You looked to Yeonjun for aid, heart hammering. His ears dipped into total submission. Sympathetic to those eyes he was beginning to hate to see - sad, panicked, insecure.
“You’re safe, doll.” The fox tilted his head onto his shoulder, smile genuine. “Just need your word is all. Or we leave, and forget this ever happened. Either is fine.”
But fuck it - danger tasted good on your tongue.
So you gulped your nerves and pride; leaning cheek to cheek to Soobin and voice barely a strained whisper; “I give you my word. Body and all - I’m yours. Please don’t break me. I'm ready - these two years have been so long - but I'm a little scared.” 
Soobin growled; deep and low. Moving to see your face. His hand cupped the back of your head and tilted up as he met your eyes; affected. Touched beyond words. He watched you for deceit; hesitation that would break their hearts. None was found.
How could he ever harm you? How could Yeonjun? Beomgyu? Any of them? 
The fear in your voice hinted towards past mistrust, and he would fight to break the cycle.
Your eyes fell shut at his lips pressing against your own. Hands holding his own on your face; enveloped by the softness in his movements. You never wanted to part, but had to breathe. 
“You have our word, love.” Soobin kissed your eyebrow, “You’ll be glass in our eyes, for as long as you want.”
You were touched, shying from his eyes as your heart beat like a bird in a cage. He meant it as the highest compliment; fulfilling your wish of wanting to be treated with care, at least for the time being. Not another thing to just use and break.
Soobin reached behind you for the fox’s offered half-smoked cigarette; flicking the ash behind you on the ground before taking a drag. He released his thighs and shuffled to sit more; which allowed you with ease to shuffle forward, until your cheek met his chest. And your arms wrapped around him.
It was silent for a moment. Like a small part in the cloud.
Yeonjun basked in this new, slightly sudden love. Soobin exhaled and placed a hand on your head. The wind sang, birds flapped their wings, and the constantly humming cars shuttled past on the highway not too far behind the trees. You could feel Soobin’s heart beating heavily on your cheek and felt the pull of his lungs as he inhaled, then released. It felt like everyone had air to breathe again. Yeonjun looked at peace. 
It was serene, for a little while, with everybody's guards down. 
But these moments must always end. 
“Ready?” Yeonjun prompted. Carefully, and with a guttural clearing of his throat. He opened the back door, eager to move on and away from this place. And onto the new adventure, the night promised.
“Yeah, right.” Soobin laughed. 
The tension in his shoulders was gone, and you accepted a final tight one-armed squeeze as he brushed his lips against your forehead to place a kiss. He released you to snub his cigarette into the nearby ashtray; and stood precariously at the entrance of the diner. Hands constantly making contact while he spun you the other way; hip heavy under his palms. 
“Let’s go.”
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MAIN MASTERLIST /// TXT MASTERLIST /// IMAGE MASTERPOST UIHALL [FIRST IN SERIES] /// [UIHALL - PART 2.II CONTINUED]
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well would you look at that: updated 5/DECEMBER/2023
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The Soldier and the Better Man
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Summary: Ben comes back from Russia looking for the life that was torn from him. He may have to settle for revenge.
Warnings/Explicit 18+: None really. Angst. Implied smut. Vengeful Soldier Boy. Sad Soldier Boy. Mentions of sex, nothing explicit. Some brief descriptions of torture and violence. Nothing overly graphic. TW: Mentions of child loss.
Pairings: Soldier Boy (Ben) x Y/N
Word Count: 2k+
A/N: This was written for a request by the lovely, @deanwinchesterwifesstuff I hope this is what you were looking for, hon! ❤️
The present day scenes will be in green. The past in white.
The SB in this fic is softer than in Canon, but still an ass, still pretty full of that TM. Other liberties are taken with Canon, just as an fyi. 😊
A/N: 2 This fic will also fill one of my daily prompts in the 30 Days Writing Challenge. It will cover the prompt: Write about two characters dancing together.
The beautiful dividers throughout the fic were created by @firefly-graphics
Masterlist || Tag Lists
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He wasn't sure at first how long he'd been gone. The years and decades of torture had all eventually blurred together. And he had no idea how long he'd been sleeping in that fucking box.
It wasn't until he was out of the compound, running naked around the streets of Moscow that he saw the date, saw the year.
Forty fucking years.
He stood there, staring down at the paper he'd fished out of the trash, impervious to the cold, but still shaky on his long-dormant legs. He stood and stared at the date, and the numbness and confusion in his brain was slowly replaced with a heart full of boiling hot rage.
Forty fucking years.
She'd be... almost seventy years old now. And the kid would be... a grown man.
He ran off in search of clothes, knocking the teeth out of the first grubby guy he found who was roughly his size. As he slipped on the filthy track suit, his mind drifted back of its own accord, to the night he'd met her.
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He'd been at some charity thing she was hosting, one of many organizations she was involved in, this one had something to do with runaway youth or something. He'd been paid a lot of money to show up and help rally for the cause.
So, he'd shown up, read the words on the cards they gave him and posed for pictures in his super suit. Same routine, different banquet hall. It was getting old.
He was sick of the endless jockeying for hierarchy at Vought, sick of the shitty movies and the bullshit press tours. He was sick to death of his fucking team and he wanted out. All of them were just assholes of varying degrees. He wanted off the Vought merry-go-round.
They'd been promising him for quite a while that they were gonna get Supes into the military. That's where he belonged, storming beaches and taking down the enemy, not giving speeches and making hypocritical "Just Say No" PSAs.
When the picture-taking had finally fizzled out, he'd escaped out a back entrance off the kitchen and let the door slam satisfyingly behind him. He leaned against the brick wall beside the door, pulled off his helmet and lit up a Lucky Strike. He inhaled deeply before pushing the smoke out through his nose and thumping his head back against the brick.
"Wow...it was really that bad, huh?"
He stood up straight as a woman appeared from the shadows on the other side of the alley.
Jesus, he thought, what kind of fucking soldier am I these days, if some skirt can get the drop on me so easily?
She smiled like she could read his mind. "Don't worry, it's my super power - being easily ignored."
He scowled at her. "You're a Supe?"
She laughed lightly and he found it strangely musical. "No, sorry. That was just my sad attempt at humor. I'm just boring old, plain human me."
He stayed where he was, staring at her. She WAS remarkably plain, none of her features were particularly striking or memorable. Her figure was almost completely hidden beneath a long, black shapeless dress.
He took another drag on his cigarette and she shook her head. "Those things are just cancer in a tube, you know?" Her tone was slightly scolding, but her expression was soft.
He shrugged. "Benefits of being a super hero, I guess. My body pretty much stays the same whatever I put it through." He took another drag, and exhaled away from her as she approached.
She quirked her head in a way that made him think of a puppy. "And you put your body through quite a lot, don't you?"
He frowned. Her reaction to him was very strange. Usually people were awestruck when they first met him, a reaction that almost always turned quickly to heat and drooling in women. But this woman wasn't awestruck OR drooling.
"Who are you, lady?" He asked bluntly.
She smiled as she came to sit near him, on the steps that led up to the loading dock.
"I'm the one who hired you."
He was slightly taken aback, and for a moment he thought about apologizing, putting out his cigarette and putting on his helmet, being the Soldier Boy she'd paid for, but in the end he couldn't be bothered.
Instead he took another deep drag before flicking the butt of his cigarette out into the alleyway and letting the smoke escape his lungs slowly.
"Was I worth the money you paid?" He asked, aware that he was making himself sound like a whore. Felt that way sometimes.
She contemplated him for a minute before nodding. "Well, we need to raise over ten million dollars if we're going to build the facility we want, a shelter for runaways. And all those rich folks in there are gonna want to show how similar they are to the great Soldier Boy, that they think the same way he does, so... yeah, you were worth the investment."
He shook his head, at her audacity. No one talked plainly to him like this, spoke the truth about who he was, what he offered. Vought told him he was a god, his team told him he was a warrior, fans told him he was a hero. No one told him facts. In spite of the ding to his ego, he found himself intrigued.
Who was this plain girl with the musical laugh and bald truths?
He stuck out his hand to her. "Well, I'm glad the 'Great Soldier Boy' got you the funding you needed. But you can just call me Ben, sweet thing."
Her grip was surprisingly firm as she shook his hand. "And you can call me Y/N, and NEVER call me sweet thing again, please."
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The sound of a car honking and angry Russian screaming brought him back to the reality he was in, and he jogged forward, trying to quickly put more distance between himself and the place he'd been held and tortured for four decades.
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A week later Ben once again found himself staring down at words that his mind couldn't immediately digest.
As he stood trying to make sense of them, his memories were again swimming around in his head.
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He hadn't been able to shake the little do-gooder out of his head. The next time they crossed paths he'd decided that he simply needed to fuck her out of his system.
She'd come to his bed willingly and happily, and he found her body to be surprisingly soft and lush, and her responses to his touch to be tantalizingly heated and passionate.
She had no shame about sex, and they spent a couple of nights exploring each other and at the end she'd kissed him goodbye, expecting nothing more from him, while he'd found himself even more ensnared by her.
It was frustrating to him how tight her hold was over him and he told himself he was being a pussy by letting some broad dig her claws into him so deep. But without fail, he was always the one that made the next move, the one who called for a real date, the one who then proceeded to ask her out again and again.
She was unlike anyone he'd ever known. She was a bleeding heart and her politics sometimes drove him a little crazy, and he thought she was too naive for her own good. But she always argued her position well, and never backed down and that much he could respect.
She made no demands of him, never forced him to be anything he wasn't. When he was being a grumpy asshole, she'd tell him he was a grumpy asshole. When his temper would flare and he'd scream at her about some slight annoyance, she'd tell him to call her when he'd calmed down. And she'd just walk away.
She didn't put up with his bullshit, but she never withheld affection either. She touched him all the time, wrapping her arms around his waist and cuddling her face into his chest, simply so she could feel him against her. She would run her fingers through his hair when he laid his head in her lap, or give him gentle kisses between his shoulder blades when he was rigid with tension, and melt something inside him.
He fought against it for a long time, the last thing he needed was to go soft and stupid over some woman.
But Y/N wasn't just some woman, he realized eventually. He would never admit it, but he needed her desperately.
So, when she sat him down one day to tell him she was pregnant, he was amazed to find that he felt only joy, a feeling that, before Y/N had come along, he truly believed was beyond him. He could barely remember the feeling from childhood.
But as he put his hands on Y/N's stomach reverently, he felt the long-forgotten emotion surge through him, and for the first time since he was a little boy, his eyes filled up with tears. He blinked them away quickly and he'd deny them if asked, but he couldn't hide the joyful smile that lit up his face.
He saw the relief pass over Y/N's face and it hurt him a little that she'd been worried about his reaction. But he understood. He'd made no commitment to her, they'd exchanged no vows.
He was determined to rectify that and a few days later he was on one knee and she was saying yes.
The next six months were the best and happiest Ben had ever had. He was still dealing with Vought's bullshit, still sick of being paraded around as nothing more than living, breathing Vought propaganda. But that all melted away when he walked through the door to find Y/N waiting with open arms and eager lips.
He found a real, carnal pleasure in watching her body expanding with their growing child. He found he couldn't keep his hands off of her.
One night she'd cajoled him into dancing with her. She put on an old record and Billie Holiday's voice came crooning out of the speakers.
You must remember this
A kiss is still a kiss
A sigh is just a sigh
The fundamental things apply
As time goes by
He let her pull him to his feet and rolled his eyes as though he was simply humoring her, but he was secretly thrilled to have her in his arms. Her round belly, where their child slept peacefully, was nestled protectively between them and Ben felt his heart expand while his mind ran riot.
Swaying back and forth, her head on his chest and her small hand clasped in his, he was suddenly terrified that he was going to be an absolutely rotten father.
Visions of his own childhood, full of wealth but empty of love and warmth, ran through his mind, and his father's voice echoed in his ears.
You're not a real man.
You're a fuck up.
Real men don't take shortcuts.
So you're supposed to be some kind of hero now? You? Impossible. You are nothing but a fucking disappointment.
Get out of my sight.
Y/N must have noticed him tensing up because she lifted her head from his chest. "What's wrong, honey?"
He was about to brush the question off, but then he looked deeply into Y/N's eyes, and where he'd once seen plainness, now he saw only bright beauty.
He shook his head and asked the question he was the most curious about, and the most scared of.
"Why are you with me, sweetheart? I'm an asshole, I'm rude and hard. I rarely do something if it doesn't benefit me. I'm not kind, I have no patience, not a lot of conscience. You're this sweet, pure thing, Y/N, so...why are you putting up with me? Why are you committing to me, why... Why do you love me?"
She reached up and smoothed away the frown between his brows.
"Isn't it obvious, my darling?" She leaned up and kissed his cheek. "I think you're worth the investment." She said, repeating her initial assessment of him.
She smiled up at him, wide and sweet. "You're a better man than you think you are Benjamin Reed. I love the man you are, but everyday, I fall a little more in love with the man you're becoming."
For the first time since his mother died when he was six, he let a woman see a tear spill down his cheek.
Two days later, his team attacked, poisoning him and knocking him out. When he woke up he was a world away, tied to a table and screaming, as men in lab coats tried and failed to saw through his skin.
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He shook his head, desperate to push away memories of the torture and keep himself in check. He needed to focus on the present.
He looked down at all the folders laid out in front of him. It had taken days to get to the truth, to track it down to a medical records storage facility, break in and scour through the files to find what he was looking for.
He'd read it all through a dozen times, but the information just rattled around in his mind as he tried to make sense of it.
He looked down at the words floating around on the page:
Patient deceased. Time of death, 11:06 August 20, 1984. Patient went into premature labor, likely brought on by stress. Patient suffered a stroke due to a pulmonary embolism during emergency c-section. Tried and failed to revive on the table.
That was it. That was all that was written about how the only light in his life had been snuffed out.
But he didn't need more. He could fill in the blanks on his own. She learned he was dead, as everyone seemed to believe he was, the shock had triggered labor, she died giving birth to a son.
A son that the records claimed only lived for a few hours. They called him simply "John". When the child died, Vought had apparently swooped in to arrange for body disposal, and a service for Y/N.
The records praised Vought and their charitable actions toward the child and it's mother, apparently all part of the company's charitable work with the hospital.
"Vought's good works shine through again." The official document had gushed.
Good works my ass, Ben thought. They took the body of my son to experiment, to test him and his genes.
Vought was constantly trying for a better Supe - faster, stronger, more endurance. No way they'd pass up the chance to study the dead child of a Supe.
Ben felt the rage boiling up again, his burning hot hatred of the company that had created him, began to make his chest glow under his newly returned super suit.
He felt the fury vibrating in his bones as he pictured each and every one of his former team, pictured how he was going to pull them apart, how he was going to crush their skulls under his bare hands.
He could feel the energy surging beneath his breastbone and he welcomed the destructive power he knew would come with it.
It ebbed ever so briefly as Y/N's voice whispered in his ear.
You're a better man than you think you are...
But his hesitation lasted only a moment. That better man was dead, murdered 40 years ago. In his place was a soldier. And the soldier's mission was clear.
Destroy Payback. Level Vought. Burn the world.
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1. Jensen RPF + Any/All characters Jensen plays.
@lyarr24
@siospins2
@impalaslytherin
@akshi8278
@maggiegirl17
@candy-coated-misery0731
@nt-multi-fandom
@slytherinlyn314
3. Any/All Fics (regardless of fandom/character.)
@sunshineandwings86
@kazsrm67
@sexyvixen7
4. Everything (includes fan vid/DOOL edits as well)
@unabashed-lover-of-fictional-men
@awkward-and-indecisive
@maliburenee
@supernatural4life2022
@spn730015
@b3autyfuldisast3r
@kickingitwithkirk
@waywardbaby
@foxyjwls007
@deanwanddamons
@deandreamernp
@deanwithscissors
@myloversgone
@snowlovespie
@leigh70
@all-alone-he-turns-to-stone
@fangirlxwritesx67
@charred-angelwings
@hopefuldreamers-world
@mysherlock221b
@jensensgotyoudean
@stixnstripesworld
@thoughts-and-funnies
@magssteenkamp
@norman1967
@princessmisery666
@eevvvaa
@mishkatelwarriorgoddess
@deepsketchsupernaturalcowboy
@b-i-t-c-h-i-e
@twirpbunwarrior
@mysweetlittledesire
@waynes-multiverse
@mrsjenniferwinchester
@bernasaurus
@jensenslady79
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normal-horoscopes · 2 years
Note
Do you ever have issues with your stories feeling like they’re too PG? I have more semi-adult themes in my story that could attract a younger audience (because it’s edgy dark romance) and I know that a mature rating will not deter them. However, I can’t exactly make my story darker without it possibly being triggering to myself and my editors. Any advice?
Thats a good question, and one I've had to grapple with a lot writing amber skies. It's not a pleasant world to exist in, and that left me with a challenge as a writer. How do you explore something like childhood sexual abuse or indentured slavery without the text turning into outright torture porn?
Well, it's never the action itself that's important. None of the terrible things that happen to the characters happen "on screen" because the explicit details aren't terribly important to the story. They happened a long time ago, and the story focuses on how their experiences effected them and the people around them.
If you ask any director whether they should put a sex scene in a movie, 95% of the time it's better to start the scene right after the sex. Not because the sex shouldn't be in the movie, but because when it comes to fiction, it's not about the sex itself, it's about what the sex means.
I actually had a long conversation with @natalieironside about whether or not I should open AS2 on a sex scene, and ultimately decided against it, not because I thought it would be gauche or not PG, but because the foreplay leading up to that theoretical sex scene was a significantly better introduction that the reader far more about the characters.
At the same time, I didn't shy away from gore in the slightest. I laid in to every prosaic description of a butchered necromachine because recontextualizing notions of "body horror" as a meditation on the nature of the body was an important and central element of the text.
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wangxianficfinder · 1 year
Text
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Fic Finder
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1. For the Next Fic Finder:
Looking for a time travel fic in which older WWX travels back to past Lotus Pier, the Jiang family then decides it would be better to have older xian be introduced as younger xians older brother. Older!WWX also comes with them at CR in which he befriended LXC and later NMJ and change both of their opinions regarding resentful energy.
P.S I think there was also a chapter where he went "missing" but he was just with the Dafan Wens and just really missed them in his depressed state.
FOUND! MingYu by Fino_Al_Cielo (T, 87k, WWX & LWJ, YL WWX, yunmeng siblings, Fix-It of Sorts, Time Travel, Canon Divergence, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, PTSD, References to Depression, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Suicidal Thoughts, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Slow Burn, Trauma)
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2. Hello! Looking for two specific modern AU fics
A) Posted on twitter where Wei Ying kept bothering LWJ on the length of her skirt (it was a genderbend fic)
B) Posted on instagram. LWJ and WWX were both models, WWX were kidnapped and tortured at one point because of jealous Jin Zixun
Thank you in advance for the help! @hid9884
2A)
FOUND? this thread by @/3neetee
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3. Hi can you help me find a fanfic?? um wei wuxian works at a sex shop and lan wangji comes in to close it down bc his parents own it but end up falling in love where as jiang cheng works at a bar where lan xichen fall inlove w/ him and wei wuxian crazy ex (jenny I think) tries to kill him??
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4. hiii ! i’m looking for a fic where it’s set in post canon, i think, and it’s about wei changze confronting jiang cheng about everything wei wuxian went through. There was a scene where he talks about experiencing being whipped by zidian through wwx bc at his desperate times, wwx unknowingly calls for his parents and wcz was able to connect with him somehow and that’s how he saw the things that happened in wwx’s life. tysm!!! @makkachiin
FOUND! Chapter 24 of Short Prompts by Vrishchika
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5. I'm looking for a shapeshifting fic. LWJ was a rabbit and WWX a fox. LWJ ended up transforming out of stress, and bumped into WWX who took him home on his fox back and later kept visiting him. WWX was also staying in the woods and keeping things at NHS's house. I've searched through my history but I can't find it so I'm scared it's been deleted. @flaxenhairedsamurai
I don't remember what 5 is called but someone else was looking for it semi recently
FOUND! This Twitter fic by @/Zizzani
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6. I'm looking for a modern AU where the characters work in various emergency services. I remember that the first chapters focused a lot on WWX, and I *think* that later chapters switched to a focus on Meng Yao/JGY. I specifically remember a scene where WWX climbs up a stuck rollercoaster or Ferris wheel, and someone he tries to save falls and dies. He was maybe a firefighter? And LWJ was maybe an EMT?
FOUND! 🧡 Like a House on Fire by KouriArashi (T, 82k, WangXian, Modern au, Paramedics, Firefighters, Light angst, Mutual pining, Kid fic, Past drug use, Past child abuse, Families of choice, Domestic fluff)
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7. I want to find a Wangxian A/B/O fanfic It was very long and angsty about Wei Wuxian being an Omega Cultivator where they are expected to be locked up inside. It had a one-sided Jin Zixuan x Wei Wuxian and a really bad scene with Wen Chao. Its no longer in ao3 but i cant remember the author reposted it
FOUND? and the calm is deep where the quiet waters flow (Prologue – Index) (E, 303k, off-screen rape, oppression, violence, sexual assault, grief/mourning, unwanted pregnancy., A/B/O)
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8. looking for a modern au fic, cant remember the title but the description on ao3 had something about a taxi driver noticing a bruise on wei ying and mentioning that the person will hurt him again. there was a suicide attempt i think, due to the jiang family abuse, and lan zhan was his neighbour!
FOUND? like a fox in tall grass by notinamillionyears, starcrushedjewels (notinamillionyears) (E, 93k, WIP, WangXian, Suicide Attempt, Drug Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Strangers to Lovers, Neighbors, College/University, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Depression, Anxiety Attacks, Pianist LWJ, Smoking, Trauma, Explicit Sexual Content, Slow Burn, Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Caretaking, Identity Issues, Age Difference, Power Dynamics, Dom/sub Undertones, Eating Disorders, Mutual Pining, Consensual Non-Consent, Sleeping Together, Suicidal Ideation, Bipolar Disorder, implied manic depression)
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9. hello im looking for a fic where jzx asks wangxian for help and there's a cursed building? and mxy is in it or in the center of it and they rescue him. that's about all i remember sorry. appreciate any help tho ♥️
hello im the last ff anon #9. sorry but the suggestion isn't it. i distinctly remember it being a cursed building, or maybe a watch tower maybe? and mxy was inside it. wangxian are already married iirc also a bunch of jins died in that building i think? bc of the resentful energy?
hello ff anon #9 again. to answer anon's question, mxy isn't a spirit. he's alive in the fic and i think he follows wangxian after he was rescued? i appreciate all the help that's coming y'all are so cool
NOT FOUND! 9 sounds like it might be Aftermath by KouriArashi (T, 57k, JYL/JZX, wangxian, LXC/JGY, canon divergence, fix-it, everyone lives au, romance, developing relationship, family, sibling bonding, light angst, politics, attempted sexual assault, some murder, people talking about their feelings, trauma processing) although the rescue is in a mine not a building
for #9, is MXY a ghost/spirit that needed liberating/sending off?
FOUND? quiet, blooming hours by Sanguis (T, 13k, WangXian, Modern with Magic, Modern AU, Magical Realism, Established Relationship, Married Couple, Family Feels, Background Relationships, Resurrection, Adoption) Idk if #9 could be ...the house is somewhat cursed and the jins are involved but not the way anon describes. Wangxian is established though
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10. Hi, I hope you can find me find this wonderful fic where WWX used an array to make everyone forget about him. He succeeded with his plan but the people who initially knew him (JC, JFM, JYL, even Madam Yu, basically everyone) always subconsiously thinks of him like something or someone is missing in their lives. Eventually, JC, LWJ, and LXC realized that someone must've erased their memory of that person so they tried their best to undo the curse or the array.
FOUND? Remember by Amona (T, 57k, JC & WWX, wangxian, Canon Divergence, self-sacrifice, erasing oneself from history, colored souls, sword spirits, major angst w happy ending, implied/referenced rape/non-con, minor character death, WIP)
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11. Hi, I'm searching for a modern au fic where WWX was gonna have an abortion, and LWJ offered to drive him to his appointment. He said that he'd help him because his mother had no choice or something like that. It's a one shot, I think, not much happens, appart from that.
FOUND! baby let's take the long way home by plonk (Not rated, 10k, wangxian, modern w/ magic, abortion, mpreg, with a twist, enemies to lovers)
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12. Does anyone remember that fic where lwj is a goth DJ at a bar? And wwx keeps trying to meet him or hang out with him? Lwj is ruder than usual I think. I might be mixing up two different fics but in the one I’m thinking of lwj gives wwx a ride home late at night… it’s driving me crazy- I thought I had saved it!
FOUND! The Quiet Room by trickybonmot (M, 39k, wangxian, modern, 1990s, goth LWJ, cellist LWJ, college student WWX, house hunting, dating, clubbing, implied/referenced past child abuse, mental health issues, academic disaster aftermath, getting together, homelessness)
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13. First of all, thank you for all your work, you're awesome!! Second, I'd like to ask for your help to find a fic. it's ABO where omegas are like really rare and sacred in the cultivation world, wwx is an omega but for some reason he hides it until it all comes out about the time he's in the burial mounds with the Wen, and that's when the sects finally believe him and take his side bc omegas always stand for what's right and true or smt. Thanks!!
FOUND! Woven fates by apathyinreverie (T, 10k, wangxian, ABO, alpha LWJ, omega WWX, fix-it, fluff, family, romance, mates) it has the "omegas always stand for what’s right and true," but wwx wasn't hiding it, he just didn't present until he felt safe and then ran into lwj again / WWX wasn't actively hiding being an omega though, but only presented while in the burial mounds.
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14. Hello i'm looking for a fic where wei ying enters a mating run on a dare(or bet) and if you survive the run you get $50,000 if lan Wanji chooses you, you get $1 million. There is also some orginized crime aspects to the fic
FOUND? Five Fifteen by 3neetee (M, 11k, wangxian, rape/non-con, ABO, modern, alpha LWJ, alpha WWX, mating runs, graphic descriptions of violence, dom/sub undertones, light bondage, implied mpreg, dark LWJ, betrayal, smut, dark lans, unreliable narrator WWX) locked
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15. Hello for the next fic finder can you please help me find a fic where Wei Wuxian loses his memories after an accident. I remember WWX and LWJ were engaged and they were going to marry and LQR hired a private investigator and the accuses WWX of cheating and everyone believes him. But it was actually WWX meeting Wen Qing to discuss adopting A-Yuan. WWX keeps it a secret because he wanted to surprise LWJ when they get married with the adoption papers. Anyways after they accuse him of cheating WWX runs out and gets hits by a vehicle and loses his memories. It was a modern AU.
Thank you for all the help you do for us. @mybestfriendisacinnamonroll​
FOUND? (Un)forgettable by Edens_Cat & VividestList (E, 67k, wangxian, LWJ & LSZ & WWX, WWX & WQ, modern, misunderstandings, angst w/ happy ending, kid fic, teacher WWX, single parent WWX, amnesia, protective WQ, protective LSZ, smut)
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16. Hi! I am not sure if this has been asked before but I'm looking for this fic where Lan Yuan grew up as the Jiang sect heir because Jiang Cheng got to him before Lan Zhan. I could remember there are several kids in the Burial Mounds and one of them was adopted into the Lan sect as a healer. And the rest (there were three of them ig???) were basically hiding in the Jiang sect unbeknownst to Jiang Cheng. I really really loved that fic but I can't remember much from it and I want to read it again. Thaaaaanks!!
FOUND? Until The End by abCEE (M, 365k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, war changes people, resulting to OOC, no pinning, Established Relationship, Mpreg, Good Uncle LQR, a little grey LWJ, a bit of JC bashing from LWJ, BAMF JYL, 16 years of yearning, mainly CQL verse but has scenes from the novel as well, LSZ is WangXian's Child, WWX Has a New Golden Core, Canon Rewrite, Happy Ending, Fix-It of Sorts) sounds like this one, but a-yuan is still with the Lan. The kids at the Jiang sect and the healer at the Lan sect match though
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17. I think it was very Nie Huaisang centric and short, but I can’t remember anything other than a few lines near the end where NHS was remembering that JGY hadn’t taken into account that LXC had known him since he was a kid and would trust and defend him.
The line I remember is something like “NHS remembers being passed back and forth between LXC and NMJ like a particularly beloved parcel” referring to LXC practically adopting him as a second little brother.
Thank you!
FOUND! Chapter 32 of Twelve Moons and a Fortnight by stiltonbasket (M, 290k, WangXian, Humor, Slow Burn, Post-Canon Fix-It, Long-Distance Relationship, Epistolary, Love Letters, Family Feels, a-qing lives, teenage romance, Adoption, Romantic Comedy, Happy Ending, Weddings, Case Fic, Parenthood, Politics) you're looking for chapter 32 of twelve moons and a fortnight by stilton basket.
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18. Hello, can you help find this fic? The back story in this fic is yzy is cheating with wcz and wwx is yzy'son with wcz. After wwx born he was cast aside and yzy pregnant with soon after with jfm as the fathet. Wcz become a rogue cultivator while raising wwx and he meet csr. In the first chapter i think wwx is kinda kicked out by bssr to make him meet with his sibling in cloud recesses and make a peace with them. I think he introduce himself as a-xian (or it is a-ying? But i think it was a-xian). I think that's all i can remember. Thank you!
FOUND! The Undesirable Son by FragranceLotion97 (G, 34k, WangXian, CQL but WWX is Madam Yu's Bastard Son, It goes differently from the beginning, WWX becomes sworn brother with lxc then becomes his in law, LWJ is still whipped, There is Yin Iron, Heavily CQL with a little mix from the novel, Adding donghua into the fandom because i decide to use a lot of things from there)
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19. For the next fic finder: can you help me find a fic where wwx falls in the lake when they’re fighting the abyss, and everyone believes he dies. Weeks (or maybe months) pass, and then he washes up on the shore of the lake, somehow still alive. I think it might have been Lan Xichen pov, and he was blaming himself for losing wwx since he was in charge of the hunt.
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20. Looking for a fic where WWX was Baoshan Sanren’s disciple (I think) and they were doing demonstrations. WWX went through all major sects’. The one I remember clearly is that the Lan style was war
FOUND! Become Tomorrow by  ShanaStoryteller (Not rated, 39k, wangxian, cloud recesses study arc, BSSR's disciple WWX)
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Fish and Ships – The Sea
Spamano is a ship that abounds with plenty of adventures at sea – mermaids, pirates, sailors, sea witches, sirens, and so many kidnappings! Here's some of my favourite stories of adventures on the high seas.
To note: anything written in red contains smut, anything written in green contains content warnings, but not smut. Do note that a lot of these stories contain underage characters and especially teen and adult (sexual) relationships, due to the time period the stories are set in. Age gaps can be seen in the individual fanfic recommendation. If a given age gap makes you uncomfortable, click one of the stories without that. Only finished fics are recommended here. Always check the tags and description on the individual fic, don't read anything just to criticise the author, and I hope you have a good reading!
Pirates:
Hoist the Colors High by Elemental Fantasy 13: Lady Lovina is kidnapped by the infamous Captain, Antonio, and he's infamous for some very good reasons! He's not the only pirate kidnapping ladies, however. Other pairings include USUK and PruCan. Contains threats of sexual assault and very minor character deaths (it's a pirate story).
Spanish Gold by Shadowcatxx: Antonio was taken in by the Vargas family as a kid, and when he is old enough, he leaves on a ship. Twelve year old Lovino won't have it though, and stows away on the ship. They are foster brothers and there is an age gap (they are ten years apart, and know each other from Lovino is a baby). Content warnings for one sexual assault scene with underage Lovino (not spamano), slight gore and torture, and implied sex between 16 year old Lovino and 26 year old Antonio. I wish it wasn't so, but the story is good, I promise.
Under Appreciated by Abby Keeper: Lovino and Feliciano stow away on a pirate ship. Fairly sweet. There is an age gap here as well (Lovino is 15, Antonio is 23).
Unexpected Consequences by Avalon's Moon: Lovino the cabin boy wants some respect from Captain Antonio, but things escalate. This is underage smut, since Lovino is 16 and Antonio is 20, but their actual ages don't have a big impact on the story. There's also light BDSM.
Dangerous Waters by BlueFlamePy: Antonio's a pirate captain who catches a thief who's wanted but has no bounty. Said thief later comes aboard his ship. Content warning for violence and minor character death.
Ojalá by The_Cilantro_Family: Antonio was taken prisoner by his enemies, Lovino managed to free him. Note the time jumps back and forward in the story. There's a five year age gap, they meet when Lovino is 12, but years pass before they fall in love.
A Pirate's Life for Me by pilindiel: Antonio and Lovino are getting handsy with each other, but pirate ships are really crowded. They don't actually get anywhere, since they get interrupted.
tormentas by orphan_account: Short fanfic about the dreaded pirate captain Antonio being comforted by Lorenzo during a storm.
El Corazón del Pirata by adropofstarlight: Captain Antonio kidnaps the young nobleman Lovino, but after an assassination attempt, the two grow closer. But were they strangers in the first place? Contains minor character death.
Dead Man's Prayer by grimwoode: Lovino is bored of his life and joins a pirate crew for an adventure, but it's a lot more than he bargained for. For once, Antonio isn't the captain. Content warnings for major character death, violence, child abuse, suicide, prostitution, implied underage prostitution, slavery, cheating, and tragedy.
Pirates and Royalty:
Of Pirates and CrossDressing Runaways by doiteain: Lovina and Feliciana are royalty on the run from being married off to some princes. They disguise themselves as men and join Captain Antonio's pirate crew. There is also GerIta and PruCan.
Pirates of the Pomodoro by RandomWriter57: This one is a little different, because for once, Lovino is the pirate, and Antonio is the prince! After a botched assassination turned into kidnapping, Crown Prince Antonio finds himself as a prisoner on a pirate ship. Contains character death. There is also a sequel to it.
How The Turntables... by LimitlessReach (orphan_account): This is smut happening in a public place.
A Pirate's Pet by LimitlessReach (orphan_account): Bondage smut!
gatito by orphan_account: More bondage smut!
Pirates by LimitlessReach (orphan_account): You'll never guess... This is more smut. And another one taking place in public.
Merpeople:
Scavenger of the Sea by Black_Rose_Authoress: The Bad Friends Trio and Ludwig find a mermaid on the beach. Antonio falls in love with her, and she's interested in him. The language barrier is the biggest obstacle.
Part of your world by kyootness: A sweet loose retelling of Disney's The Little Mermaid with Spamano.
Love of the Sea by anchorise: Short story about a merman and his sailor confessing their love.
Not The Only First by DasGrossartigeIch: Lovino and Antonio's first time together, started by Antonio's merman heat.
Scalier by Ronni_Rotten (orphan_account): Antonio dreams of becoming one with the ocean, and is captured by Arthur. He shares a cell with the siren prince of merpeople, Lovino, and they plan a daring escape. I really like the world building in this one. Contains minor character death.
Ashes by lorenzodelcielo: A siren prince has been once betrayed, and learns to trust again. Contains abusive relationships, nondescript sexual abuse (neither is Spamano), trauma, and character death.
Underwater Land by satsukiarisa: Antonio is a merman, Lovino is a human deadly afraid of the water. He also suffers from amnesia for plot related reasons. Past Prumano. It's a little suggestive at times and contains violence, trauma, and assault.
Pirates and Merpeople:
The Pirate's Treasure by chibi-excel: Captain Antonio has caught a merman – a prince at that, and as a royal, his merman can make jewels. Since Lovino isn't used to human languages, he occasionally uses the wrong words, which is very cute. Smut is in chapter 19 and 21, but many of the earlier chapters are also dealing with sexual themes.
A treasure unlike any other. by Karliah: After a battle at sea, a merman rescues the deaf captain Antonio.
siren's call by orphan_account: Antonio is a pirate who's washed up on a shore. Lovino is a siren calling to him. Smut.
Exploration of a Dream by ofdogsandwriting: Antonio and Lovino are mermen in an established relationship. Curious about the human world, they go above the surface and join a pirate crew.
Listen to the Call by animerockchic: Captain Antonio is called by a siren to fetch something important.
Sailors and the Sea:
Captain's Log by LadyLisa: Antonio returns from the sea, home to his Romano. Domestic fluff.
Hymn to the Sea by laconicGhost: Two men from different worlds find themselves to be falling in love on the Titanic. Contains character death and attempted suicide.
come home to me by Treta_Aysel: Lovino is in love with a sailor, and that's not easy, because the sea is fickle. Extremely mild smut.
with you i'm home by Treta_Aysel: Sequel to come home to me. Lovino and Antonio go sailing to help Antonio deal with what happened.
The Beachcomber's Windowsill by LadyLisa: It is the 1920s, and Antonio is visiting an old friend by the ocean. Chapter 7 contains mild smut.
Nationverse:
A Few Days Late by lovelesslybeloved: Little Lovino goes out to the docks to look for the sails signaling Antonio's return. Not a ship-fic.
Wish Upon A Star by Kaffee und Sahne: Lovino wishes to know whether his boyfriend has some brains or not, and is then brought back to when Antonio was a pirate. There's extremely mild smut and a few offensive word choices.
Losing Touch by rinkaku: Romano has a quiet moment to ponder Antonio's past as a conquistador.
To Get a Message of Pain by organization MA: Spain tells Romano that if he writes his troubles down and put them in a bottle he sends to sea, he can get rid of them. It doesn't quite work out. Not a ship-fic. Content warning for one offensive word choice.
Dehydration by writingandchocolatemilk: Spain has been hunting England for months without going home to see Romano. Now he's half dead and hallucinating on a beach.
Lovino of the Silver Tongue by orphan_account and Tassledown: Antonio got caught stealing. Good thing he has a great liar for a henchman. Lovino is headcanoned to be older than Antonio in this fanfic, and has an adult body.
It's Upon Boss to Teach You Some Manners by ArceeGeorgia: Seeing Antonio's old clothes made Lovino fantasise a bit. Antonio's ready to fulfill those fantasies.
Just Add One Mermaid's Tear by Samstar1990: Two representations of South Italy is too much, and the one for Sicily desires to be as great an empire as her grandfather. She has a wicked plan, but she needs a merman and the cooperation of the nation who raised her and her brother. At times, this fanfic has some grammar issues, but the premise and story is so interesting and original that I don't mind. Contains character death.
Pirates and the Supernatural:
Initiation by Karuka Ikashi: Lovino is a dragon cursed to bear the body of a human, and is about to go through the initiation ceremony on Captain Antonio's pirate ship – if nothing else just so the crew won't think of him as a goddamned pet.
The Contract by BlueFlamePy (repeat recommendation): Captain Antonio has picked up a demon, and wants this demon to help him gain glory and immortality.
The Greatest Treasure, You Idiot! by Kitty-Kat Allie: A pirate seeks a treasure, the greatest treasure of them all. The beautiful siren Lovino shows him the way, but will Antonio fail when it matters the most? This one legitimately made me cry.
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getvalentined · 6 days
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Yesterday I lamented a bit about people literally believing that sex is worse than violence, and I want to talk about that in more detail today.
Trigger warning for discussions of sexual assault, and somewhat detailed descriptions of body horror and violence.
One of my worst-kept secrets is that I'm into body horror. I try to keep it on the subtler side in my work, but it's probably still a bit extreme. I rarely get complaints about this—but I have been harassed for saying Yuffie could have a crush on anyone else in Avalanche. Not that she could or should have a relationship, or even implying that she does have a crush. Only that she could be attracted to another member of the party, because they are all extremely attractive, and teenage girls have crushes all the time.
I've drawn Vincent with his trachea exposed and written about Genesis' internal organs rotting away in fairly visceral detail, but the thing that makes me "sick" and unworthy of the air I breathe is that I think a teenage girl could find someone older than her attractive. This is the thing that has led people to tell me to kill myself.
Another terribly kept secret is that I was, at one point, a teenage girl myself. This didn't stop me from finding multiple adult celebrities attractive. For people who experience sexual attraction, this is normal. Me being fifteen years old didn't make Angelina Jolie any less attractive when playing Lara Croft.
This opinion is the one that's led folks to say they hope I get raped to death in prison. Not describing a character's skin being removed while the one removing it cackles in glee—that doesn't imply I'm a monster, because it's just violence. It's fiction. But I said teenagers can experience attraction, because I was one who did, and I'm inherently and undeniably evil.
This is what I mean when I say that people think sex is worse than violence. I'm not exaggerating, I'm referring to my actual experience—not just in fandom, but I'm not going to talk about my life in the cult because this is already too long. The point here is that I can portray the most gruesome torture, and everyone knows it's not real, but the instant human intimacy hits the scene it becomes some horrible, unforgivable concept that proves that I'm a monster who deserves to die.
I don't portray much sexual violence in my work, or engage with a lot of work that does, but—and this took me a long time to unpack—it's just another brand of violence in fiction. It can be gratuitous, sure, but so is my body horror. If I don't like it, I don't engage with it.
Before anyone brings up the topic of trauma processing and recovery, I need to add that I have personally experienced physical violence, medical violence, and sexual violence in my real life. I shouldn't have to explain that to keep people from attacking me for my work, and the fact that I've been through those things doesn't mean that my portrayal of these things is "valid" while portrayal by anyone who doesn't have the "correct" related trauma is "glorification." That's not how this works.
Some people experience sexual gratification from pain, or from engaging with portrayals thereof. For them, my work involving torture may inspire feelings of lust, my illustrations of body horror may be sexually arousing. Does this mean that I am sexualizing torture and abuse? Does this mean that I am encouraging skinning people alive? Of course not! No one has ever even implied such a thing!
Other people's reactions to my work, whether it's lust or disgust or anything in between, is not my responsibility. Likewise, my reaction to the work of others is not their responsibility. Sex is just sex, and fictional sex is just fiction—no matter how violent or inappropriate it may be.
You have every right to feel how you feel with regard to a creator's work. You can love it, hate it, it can be enticing or repulsive, you can find it exhilarating or triggering—all those responses are valid because you're a real person who feels things!
We attribute emotions to art, as well we should, but we should never attack the artist (operating in good faith) for creating something that caused an uncomfortable reaction in us. Those feelings are not a creator's responsibility to regulate for us.
Further, if you're a survivor of sexual assault who genuinely believes that murder is the kinder option, I am so sorry that your pain runs that deep. Truly. No matter what you've been through, the world is better for you being alive than it would be if your abuser had killed you. I'm sorry that it hurts so much that you can't see that yet. For a long time, I couldn't either. I understand the reaction, I understand seeing your own pain in every portrayal of sexual violence, I understand thinking it would be better to just be gone forever.
But that's not true, and if seeing it in fiction makes you wish violence and pain on-par with your own on other real people, you need to unpack it. You need to deconstruct that mindset. Hurt people hurt people, and you are hurting people.
But the world would be a darker, harder, sadder place without you in it. I'm glad you survived. I'm glad we both survived.
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elumish · 2 years
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In the past couple weeks I've read like 25 cheap romance novels of various quality, so here is a somewhat random assortment of things that they've done that have or haven't worked:
Worked:
Giving a character a strong personality. This tends to be one of the easier ways to make a romance novel work, especially if it's not meant to be a particularly intellectual book. Make the character interesting early, and give her a strong sense of voice.
Distinguishing the love interest(s). In full disclosure, the books I've been reading are mostly reverse harem books, and really the only way to make those work is to have each of the men be distinct enough that the reader can keep track of them. Even if there's only one love interest, make them distinct enough from the other characters that they really stand out.
Having the character want something. The best stories are ones where the character has a goal or a desire that is clear and resonates. (To be clear, there are bad stories that do this too, but it's hard to find a good story that doesn't.)
Didn't work:
Having too many characters. I'm currently reading a book where there are like 15-20 named male characters, and many of them have very siimilar characteristics/roles (namely, being attracted to the MC). It's really hard to tell them apart. This is made when they're not made distinct enough. In one of the books I read, the most distinct thing I could say about one of the male love interests was that he was actively slightly hornier than the rest of the love interests.
Repeating the same thing over and over. Again, this becomes particularly noticeable in harem/reverse harem books, but any time you're having multiple sex scenes directly following each other or you're playing out the same debate/discussion/argument 2-3+ times in the story, it really starts to get repetitive.
Weird sex stuff. As shown by what I'm reading, I'm open to reading a lot, but there's a level of metaphor or description that moves from erotic to just plain strange. Also sometimes the blocking just doesn't make sense. They're cooking and then they're having sex sitting on the counter next to the stove and then they're lying down??? Where???? Is the stove still on?????
Characters being mocked for beng conventionally attractive. This is very specific but in one of the books, a character mentioned that she had been mocked for her small straight nose that turns up at the end, which is literally the quote-unquote ideal white/Christian/European nose. More broadly, it always just feels a little "oh woe is me, I'm so attractive" when a character is mocked for a hallmark of white/Christian/European beauty (being thin with an hourglass figure, full lips, long delicately curling hair, etc).
Not processing trauma. I read a book where a character went from literally days of torture to being rescued, waking up in bed, and having sex. Give your characters a chance to breathe.
Not communicating. See above example, but also in general, characters should actually...talk to each other. It's hard to believe characters are in love when they've never held a conversation that wasn't just sexual innuendos.
Bad consent. If a character says no (in any instance where there wasn't previous negotiation that established a safeword in lieu of a no), the other character(s) should at the very least pause so they can discuss it. Even if the person saying no is a guy.
Bad writing. This is a little bit of a gimme, but some stories are just written poorly from a structure/grammar/pacing standpoint. A lot of them could also use a better editor.
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zisurru · 6 months
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Top 5 vc scenes
5. armand’s imprisonment and torture/riccardo’s death (TVA). one of the emotional low points that defines his character
4. gabrielle’s hair grows back (TVL). gabrielle’s horror at her hair isn’t really about the hair - it’s about the fear of being trapped by a rigid gender role, and specifically seeing that prison symbolized in an unchanging body. i also like the bit where lestat, bewildered, says that he’ll cut gabrielle’s hair every night, even if he doesn’t understand why this is important to her. he’s in the dark as to the exact nature of her distress, but is willing to do his best to solve it. i think lestat’s connection with women gets a lot shallower in the later books, so i treasure this moment.
3. louis’s turning (IWTV). iconic for a reason. beautiful imagery in this scene…
2. louis and claudia argue (“because you are a beautiful child”) (IWTV). i like this scene because every source of strife in their relationship is present but mostly unspoken. it’s a tense, sad moment for both of them. claudia brings up sex, which makes louis intensely uncomfortable and draws attention to the elephant in the room: he doesn’t really see her as an adult peer. despite what claudia might want, part of him still sees her as a little girl, and claudia hates him for it.
1. lestat’s death and rebirth at the hands of magnus. one of the most emotionally arresting parts of the series for me. fantastical gothic imagery is used to depict a plethora of harrowing human experiences: stalking, abduction, rape, trauma, isolation & alienation, objectification. thorny combinations of feelings like attachment & pleasure mingled with fear & violation. i love the descriptions of lestat’s emotional state after the fact, and vampirism allows us the brutal imagery of someone vomiting up blood and then getting down on their knees to lick it from the floor.
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myromancedramas · 1 year
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My Master Lists
Hi welcome to my little blog :,) Here are my recommendation lists! I try to keep these updated but I'm not always punctual, forgive me. Let me know if you have any questions or trouble with the links!
My main is @softandorsweet <3
currently rewatching: Doom at your service
just finished: Love for Love's Sake
MY TOP 5 FAVORITES (see google doc list for plot descriptions and my full list of recommendations)
Romance Kdramas
DOOM: AT YOUR SERVICE (TW death, terminal illness, parent death, themes of su*cide)
TWENTY-FIVE TWENTY-ONE (TW anti-fatness, mild bullying, themes of depression)
HOMETOWN CHA-CHA-CHA (TW anti-fatness, themes of su*cide, ensemble character death)
YUMI'S CELLS (1 & 2) (TW anti-fatness)
 LOVE FOR LOVE’S SAKE (BL) (TW homophobia, su*cidal ideation, shown su*cide, death, blood)
Romance Thrillers Kdramas
VINCENZO (TW multiple characters death, murder, gun violence, homophobia, torture)
W: BETWEEN TWO WORLDS (TW themes of & su*cide, gun violence, parent death, homophobia, sexism, anti-fatness)
HEALER (TW parent death, murder, childhood abuse, kidnapping, themes of su*cide)
WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING (TW childhood trauma, parent death, so much anti-fatness, homophobia, sexism, main character death, murder, slipping someone a drug, themes of & shown attempted su*cide, gun violence)
HAPPINESS (TW self h*rm, murder, zombies basically so lots of blood, classism, gun violence)
Thai Romance Dramas
NOT ME (BL) (TW physical altercations, gun violence, arson, kidnapping, commentary on ableism, racism, capitalism and more)
BAD BUDDY (BL) (TW physical altercations, blood, family violence, gun violence, unwanted public outing) 
MY SCHOOL PRESIDENT (BL) (TW mild manipulation, shove, slap, punch, homophobia, non con photo taking, unwanted public outing)
KINNPORSCHE (BL) (TW gun violence, murder, torture, kidnapping, mafia altercations, physical altercations, under the influence sex scene, dubious consent) 
THE ECLIPSE (BL) (TW homophobia, minimal physical altercations, outing someone)
Japanese Romance Dramas
MY LOVE MIX-UP (BL) (TW homophobia)
ALICE IN BORDERLAND (TW shown death, su*cide, extreme violence, sexual assault, severe psychological trauma)
CHERRY MAGIC (BL) (TW age gap)
SEVEN DAYS (BL) (TW cheating)
ONLY JUST MARRIED (TW fake marriage, unrequited love)
Taiwanese Romance Dramas
ABOUT YOUTH (BL) (TW family stress)
WE BEST LOVE (BL) (TW blackmail, dubious consent, manipulation, non con kiss, violence)
MY TOOTH YOUR LOVE (BL) (TW trauma, parent death, physical abuse, family abuse)
HISTORY 3: TRAPPED (BL) (TW gun violence, kidnapping, gun violence, blood)
BE LOVED IN HOUSE: I DO (BL) (TW manipulation)
Chinese Romance Dramas
PUT YOUR HEAD ON MY SHOULDER (TW anti-fatness) 
i wanted to include any warnings i noticed while watching these shows, as to reduce any harm to anyone taking my recommendations! these are still my favorite shows and have as many nuanced positives as nuanced negatives!
key: FL = female lead, ML = male lead, TW = trigger warning
message about south korean dramas: i think so many of us are drawn to kdramas for their depth and analysis of different forms of oppression and traumas. however, kdramas are lacking so much in so many ways thus the TWs. i recently found out that studio dragon, the largest production company in south korea is a monopoly company (bought out all smaller independent businesses and now has total control over most production in south korea). studio dragon alone has produced vincenzo, hometown cha cha cha, happiness, twenty-five twenty-one, yumis cells, my roommate is a gumiho, doom at your service, true beauty, start-up, tale of the nine tailed, flower of evil, it’s okay to not be okay, hi bye mama, my holo love, love alarm, hotel del luna, because this is my first life and way way more. plus they just signed with Netflix in the last year or two, and will only be continuing to expand. if you regularly watch kdramas there’s not much we can do, expect support the dramas that have become more inclusive. knowledge is power and having perspectives on why studio dragon is not perfect is more beneficial than living in the dark.
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thecurioustale · 9 months
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(Re)introducing the Author
I have two main series: a fantasy series called The Curious Tale and a sci-fi series called Galaxy Federal.
For those who are newer here, or wouldn't mind a refresher, here's a little about me and the kind of stories I write:
My name is Josh, pronouns they/he. (I am agender but I don't get upset if you gender me masculine; I do it myself sometimes out of force of habit.) I am 41 years old and live in Washington State not far from Seattle, in the beautiful but troubled United States. I am left-handed, hence my proudest epithet, The Sinistral, and I have been a writer for basically my entire life—even as a kid!
I published my first and so far only novel in 2015, Prelude to After The Hero, which you can currently buy as an e-book or read for free in HTML. Additionally, I have published countless worldbuilding articles and meta-discussions of my fiction over the years (see my previous post about Curious Tale Saturdays), and countless nonfiction essays and personal musings on my personal journal, which in more recent years I have updated much less frequently (but am still active on).
As an author I mostly write stories about "power" and "beauty." I'll have more to say about my specific stories over the next couple days when I do corresponding (re)introduction posts for The Curious Tale and Galaxy Federal, but the bottom line is that I am very interested in human potential, both at the individual and collective levels, and in the beauty of being alive and experiencing "the world," i.e. our material reality and our own headspaces within it. Other topics that interest me and frequently show up in my writing include justice, creation (both the acts and products of creating), civilization, Illumination (what many would call wisdom or "enlightenment"), ambition and desire, animism, and the poignance of the fleeting nature of all things.
I am fascinated by liminality and subliminality; boundaries; vast indoor spaces; megastructures; mysteriousness; "the magical"; surrealism; absurdism; nostalgia; pathos; journeys that do not involve backtracking; and other such things as generally might describe a vast world with hazy horizons lit in twilight. I also strive in my writing (less successfully, I fear) to convey a sense of mystery and wonder.
At the same time, I am also fascinated by human emotionality and subjective experience; personal relationships; the human condition and the human psyche; and narrative life arcs. Some who know me through my nonfiction or by talking to me in person have been surprised to see how passionate and emotional my fiction is.
My writing style tends to be long-winded and self-indulgent; deliberate and precise; esoteric and bespoke. I usually set a slow pace, and seldom indeed will I resort to cheap action or thrills. Most of my fiction is either long-form play-by-play scenes in high resolution, or Tolkienian epic narration far removed from the ground level.
With certain exceptions for key locations, I usually don't reuse a given location in a story; the locations are usually new from scene to scene, and thus there is a lot of environmental description throughout the whole length of my works and not just at the beginning. This creates a certain quality, where everything is always new, that I find engrossing.
In terms of the three most popular conventions, political intrigue, violence, and sex and romance: My writing mostly rejects the treacherous political intrigue genre conventions that are so prevalent in sci-fi and fantasy today, even though "politics" is definitely an integral part of my writing (and I am not shy about sharing my opinions, though I try to do so through specific characters rather than on narratorial authority). When it comes to violence, there is a lot of death and killing and suffering in my work, but I am not a big fan of writing extremely graphic violence and torture, mainly because I don't have the heart to dwell on it in great detail most of the time. (It's very draining for me.) And on the sex side of things, I eschew tacked-on romantic subplots and in general I would say that there's too much damned snogging in our contemporary storytelling, but I definitely do explore and depict matters of love and sex in my work in my own way—though not at a very high frequency, and, I would like to hope, never gratuitously. (Unless the gratuitousness is a tongue-in-cheek joke that we're all in on—which can be said of many other aspects of my writing as well.) I never write explicit, graphic sex scenes, although I do sometimes write sex scenes.
Which reminds me: My stories tend to have a lot of "competency porn" in them; my characters are usually intelligent, thoughtful, and logical. Ignorance and luck are not big plot story drivers for me, generally.
My favored characters tend to be some combination of fat, left-handed, and female; and, of them, my central protagonists additionally tend to be extremely powerful, demigodlike individuals who are able to operate within their respective domains virtually without limitation. In critical respects my characters are only vaguely-defined; I usually avoid character archetype trope reinforcement, so my characters are ideally as internally diverse as real-world humans are...which means you can't actually know them right away. And that opens the door for you to project your own personality ideas onto them. Which...I suppose is a feature?
I have a cinematic mind, and I think my stories are best appreciated with a strong visual imagination. I try not to smother readers with too many unnecessary details, though I confess I am only partially successful at this and often find myself hanging on every word of my lengthy environmental descriptions. I think some of my most satisfied readers are those who enjoy digesting these elaborate visuals as a reward unto itself.
I am a big believer in the idea that obvious story setups should have payoffs, that narrative arcs should eventually be resolved, and that plots and subplots should be be highly interconnected. I am chiefly theme-driven in my writing, as opposed to character-driven or plot-driven, and oftentimes the central purpose of a given scene will be to express one particular idea (or more than one)—either a conceptual idea, or a specific moment in the story. If you read the Prelude and remember Silence's introduction, I wrote that entire scene just to be able to describe the image of Silence in silhouette standing against the evening sky, and her powerful, predator-like movement as she turns around.
Add it all up, and my stories are definitely out of the norm for today's fashions and quite possibly for any fashion in history. They are slow and heavy and long. Their vastness belies their thrilling internal intricacies and shapes. The characters are highly realistic. The plots tend to feel emergent and organic. Or at least I think so. I am very much "writing the stories I want to see."
My stories tend to be incredibly long. Like...just know that going in. There are many sources for "tight," "fast" writing in the world. I am not one of them.
Oh, one more thing: There are various types of representation that are important to me and which I don't see the current state of sci-fi and fantasy storytelling doing a good job of delivering, so I explicitly lean into that, on top of my natural proclivity to write these kinds of characters anyway. So, if you're ever reading a scene and you find that the demographics of the people in it are noticeably unusual for contemporary American fiction, that's why.
More about me as a person: When not writing, I am a fan of sunsets, sunrises, and twilight; clouds and water; saying "Merciful McGillicuddy!" a lot while sighing loudly; solving Wordle; trying mostly in vain to gain weight; and being a curious information sponge.
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tantive404 · 2 months
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Dear Author- May the 4th Exchange 2024
Hello Author! I'm so excited for this exchange, and to see what beautiful work you have in store for me. I just know it will be a delight. Here are some of my ideas, likes, and dislikes to get you inspired! And by the way, treats are very, VERY welcome and loved!
DNW: Explicit sexual content (I'm ok with stuff of that nature being tastefully implied, but no descriptions of genitalia or sex acts. In short, M-rated content is fine, but E is not.) Sequel trilogy content Major Character Death of the requested characters (I'm fine with threats of death and side characters dying, but I want my mains to live.) Mundane/modern AUs For Leia-centric or Tarkin-centric pieces, I'd prefer for the pairings of Han/Leia and Tarkin/TK-421 not to be present.
Likes: Leia whump Angst, hurt/comfort Vader being protective of Leia Arranged/forced marriage Enemies to lovers tropes, villain/heroine ships Kidnapping Political intrigue (lends itself particularly well to Tarkin/Leia) Creepy Tarkin Feisty Leia, with all her sassy banter Skywalker Family Drama (especially when it centers on Leia and Vader's dynamic) Character studies Fake dating trope Soulmate AUs Omegaverse Fantasy AUs Spying/espionage
Character: Leia Organa
Leia has been my absolute favorite character since childhood for so many, many reasons... I adore her bravery in the face of danger, her commitment to her cause, and the unique combination of strength and vulnerability which she portrays. There are so many, many things you can do with her through fic... I really could write and read about her forever!
Fic prompts/ideas: -I love pre-ANH Leia stories, where we see the young reckless senator standing up to the Empire and going on her first missions of espionage for the rebels. Maybe she almost gets caught-- how does she deal with that and manipulate her way out of capture or detection? There's a delicious potential for suspense and drama there! As well as great juicy interactions with Vader and Tarkin... -Leia's relationship to Alderaan-- fond childhood memories, cultural and familial traditions, her drive to protect them from the Empire, and even the tragedy when they are finally lost. This lends itself well to any bittersweet fluff with the Organas and Winter... as well as character studies or coming-of-age tales.
-Anything to do with her capture and torture aboard the Death Star-- I'd love some whump or hurt/comfort related to her interrogation scene, or confrontations with Tarkin and Vader... feel free to combine with the Leia ships listed below.
-Dark Leia AUs are also really fun, as are those where she is discovered by Vader and must deal with the fallout of her heritage. It's a great route for character study and angsty exploration; how does she get to this point and where does she go from there?
Leia Organa/Wilhuff Tarkin
Ah, my twisted little rarepair OTP. The things I would do for them! Leia is the perfect embodiment of the Rebellion's cause, just as Tarkin is the perfect embodiment of the Empire... where she is hope and light, he is tyranny and darkness. They have so much sass and resentment for one another, and I'm sure there were many opportunities for them to butt heads in the time before A New Hope. And then that moment in the Destruction of Alderaan scene where he touches her face. *shivers* Feel free to get dark and creepy with them and to emphasize the power dynamics and their hate for one another. There's a LOT of potential between these two!
Prompts:
-I like to imagine that, pre-ANH, Tarkin may have had a sort of obsession with outing Leia as a rebel. I want to see a game of cat and mouse between the daring spy princess and the wicked governor and how they work to thwart each other.
-Fake dating trope as a conduit for espionage and political intrigue: Leia pretends to be seeing the Grand Moff in order to get information on the Empire's plans... and perhaps deeper feelings begin to blossom. I think Leia could get something out of the push-and-pull dynamic and the challenge of a dangerous and hateful man as the enemy she's trying to take down.
-Tarkin tries to force Leia into a relationship with him so that he can use her as leverage/a hostage against the rebels and their sympathizers.
-Tarkin evacuates the Death Star in time and is determined to get revenge on Leia for the loss of his ultimate weapon... whump and tension ensue.
Honestly, I would be happy just to see these two locked in a room and arguing for hours; any interaction between them makes my heart happy!
Leia Organa & Darth Vader
Vader finding out Leia is his daughter is always a classic fic premise, and one which can be exploited in many ways. Both of these characters are so strong willed and a force to be reckoned with, and watching them play off one another is really entertaining. I love the parallels between them, the way that Leia is unafraid to stand up to this powerful figure, and the angst and drama which their shared bloodline causes.
Prompts:
-"You weren't on any mercy mission this time": something where Leia runs into Vader in the pre-ANH time and narrowly evades his capture.
-Vader kidnaps Leia to raise her as his daughter and Sith apprentice. She resists every step of the way.
-The two of them are forced to work together for a common goal-- perhaps the cause of overthrowing Palpatine. Maybe Vader is compelled to defect to the Rebellion and redeem herself, or maybe Leia finds herself seduced to the dark side of the Force.
Leia Organa/Darth Vader
If there weren't related, I do think that Vader and Leia would make a rather compelling couple, being almost compatible in a certain twisted manner. Both of them are deeply passionate and determined to protect the ones they love, with rather fiery spirits and a commanding presence. There's also the aesthetic of black vs white and the cute height difference, as well as the twisted take on the knight and the princess motif. I can see him getting really protective and possessive of her and being reminded painfully of his dear Padme.
Prompts:
-Through some strange pull of fate, the two are placed in a Force bond. Vader feels a connection to Leia but doesn't know the truth of why and draws entirely wrong conclusions as a result-- (romantic rather than paternal).
-Palpatine arranges that Leia be betrothed to Vader as a manner of subduing the rebels and spiting the Organas and his wayward apprentice in one fell swoop.
-Leia becomes the consort of newly crowned Emperor Vader, as well as his apprentice in the Force, and struggles to come to terms with her new position.
Leia Organa/Wilhuff Tarkin/Darth Vader
A mixture of the above ships... just Leia being caught between the attentions of two powerful Imperial enemies who have competing agendas to possess her, and her efforts to resist them in every way. They can be the worst most dysfunctional love triangle ever.
Leia Organa/Wilhuff Tarkin & Darth Vader
Same as above, but with Vader being aware of his fatherly role and taking a more platonic role in his protections of the Princess.
Prompts: -Leia is raised by Vader as the Imperial princess, and is given to Tarkin in marriage to secure the family bloodline. However she has other plans...
-Vader notices the Grand Moff creeping on the young Senator of Alderaan and, due to some unknown urging of the Force, is determined to protect her.
Jyn Erso/Orson Krennic
A forceful and obstinate rebel girl and an equally forceful and obstinate Imperial officer, both sharing a messy past and a connection to her father. They compel me and I think their sparring would be delicious to watch.
Prompts:
-Jyn and Krennic survive the Battle of Scarif and begin an enemies to lovers arc. Perhaps they are forced into close proximity in order to survive and must learn to rely upon one another.
-Galen takes his family with him back to the Empire, and Jyn grows close to the mysterious man in white.
-Forced marriage where the Ersos are desperate to protect themselves from the Empire and must offer up their daughter as a last resort.
Sabe/Darth Vader
Sabe is an intriguing side character-- the girl who grew up in Padme's shadow, devoting her life to the protection of her Queen. In the time of the Empire, she becomes a rebel spy, and meets Vader in the comics. I think they could make a very entertaining, tragic, and dysfunctional couple, with Vader looking for the shadow of the wife he had lost but eventually falling for someone new, and Sabe trying to come to an understanding of the man her Queen loved and see behind the mask.
Prompts:
-SPY x FAMILY-esque AU where, due to some strange political shenanigans they have to raise the twins together.
-Fake dating or forced marriage
-Sabe tries to assassinate Vader, but it doesn't go as planned.
Character: Winter Celchu
Winter has a lot of fascinating possibilities, being a child of Alderaan and so closely tied to House Organa, acting as the more subtle and gentle half of Leia's fiery spirit. She's also quite intellectual and a cunning rebel agent, which is really fun.
Prompts:
-Something to do with her spy missions for the Rebellion, her ability to slip so easily into different roles and maybe some angst about her true self disappearing because of that.
-Her relationship to Leia... it's said that when they were young the two would swap places and Winter would play as the princess so Leia could run away from her duties or play pranks. I think that could be a fun little story.
-Reunion with Leia after Alderaan's destruction.
Character: Rivoche Tarkin
Rivoche is an obscure character, but she intrigues me. She's the niece of the infamous Grand Moff Tarkin, but holds sympathies for the Rebellion-- even using her position as a socialite to spy for them. I think there are a lot of places she could be taken.
Prompts:
-Something dealing with her relationship to Uncle Wilhuff
-How she becomes involved with the rebels in the first place.
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