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chansmuffin · 3 years

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anniversary pt.3

you come home to your boyfriend on your anniversary but are surprised when his gift to you turns out to be none other than Han Jisung.

Genre: smut | boyfriend!chan

Pairing: chanxfem!reader, jisungxfem!reader

Word Count: 3.7k

mlist, part one, part two

Reluctantly, you went home. You knew you belonged to Chan and ultimately, you had to return to him. Jisung held your hand the whole car ride there and when you arrived, he opened the door for you and pulled you into a kiss. His lips made your whole world stop momentarily.

“I’m sorry things couldn’t be different for us,” he sighed against your lips.

“I’m sorry too,” you admitted. “I’m going to miss you.”

He pulled away, but continued to watch your solemn expression. “This isn’t the end, baby. I’m still going to be your friend and we’ll still see each other,”

And you felt tears prick at your eyes, “Why does it feel like the end?”

“Baby,” Chan cooed from the front door of your apartment. Your heart clenched as you turned away from Jisung. “Good morning,” he said with a glint in his eye.

So it was goodbye, you noted while you looked to your boyfriend who you so dearly loved.

Jisung patted your head before bidding you farewell and you immediately felt like a piece of you was missing. You climbed the stairs to Chan, needing immediately to be in his arms before you crashed and burned. You tried to hold back the tears that dared to dance among your eyes.

He wrapped his arms around you, pulling you into a warm embrace before whispering, “Finally you come home to daddy.” You shivered. “Did you have a good night baby?”

You nodded as he pulled you into your apartment. He looked you over and had a devious glint in his smile. “Looks like you had a really good night.” A finger dragged down your neck, “I hope you’re not too tired. Is it my turn to wreck you, Princess? I waited all night to touch you.”

And you moaned, actually fucking moaned at his words. The idea of him fucking your after Jisung did, made you incredibly hot. Any pain you felt over losing Jisung, was momentarily lost.

“If you’re too tired, tell me baby,” he said gently as he held you in his arms.

You shook your head, “Green light, Chan.”

His eyes flicked with disappointment. “Naughty girl. You’re with him for one night and you forget your manners.”

“I’m sorry, daddy.”

“Good girl. Now get on your knees.”

You fell to your knees in front of him, feeling yourself getting wet in Jisung’s sweats that you were wearing. He was still with you while you kneeled in front of Chan. You were in his clothes, covered in his scent and his marks. And for a moment, you wished he was there. You wanted him to see you behaving so well for Chan like you always did. You wanted him to watch your wrap your lips around Chan while Jisung’s fingers splayed against your scalp. More importantly, you wanted him to fuck you while you blew Chan.

Oh my god.

You flushed a deep shade of red at the dirty ass thoughts you were having.

“What are you thinking so intently about?” Chan asked as a hand went to your head.

You shook your head, pulling at the waistband of his pjs. There were some things that were better just to keep to yourself. You felt like part of what you were thinking was unfaithful and that’s the last thing your loving boyfriend deserved.

Finishing ridding him of his pants, you settled in front of him, trying to get comfortable on the floor. You spread your hands out over his thighs, squeezing gently and smiling at just how firm he was. Chan was perfect too. His body was sculpted by a god and you never got tired of seeing his naked body.

You grabbed his cock with excitement. Jerking his length a few times before taking him in your mouth. “That’s it, princess,” he moaned. “That’s it.”

You twirled your tongue around the tip, collecting his precum before taking him further in your mouth and rapidly bobbing your head.

Chan has this way of feeling perfect in your mouth. You honestly couldn’t get enough of it and spent a lot of your time alone together in that exact spot you were in. Knees against the cold floor.

You were soaking Jisung’s sweats and the thought just made you even wetter. You wished he was here to see you like this. So good for Chan. So good for him.

You continued moving your mouth up and down his length. You felt yourself getting messy with slobber, your saliva nearly dripping from his cock every time he was released from your mouth. You would have been embarrassed by the mess but Chan loved when you were dirty like this. You couldn’t help but pretty much be drooling with the dirty thoughts you were having. Thinking of not only Chan but Jisung being there too, you were in fucking bliss. You hallowed your cheeks, taking him deeper and deeper before gagging, hard around him. Chan was clearly spurred on by this and thrusted himself deeper, hitting the back of your throat and making you gag again before you could pull off for air. Your mouth dripped with drool, a string of it connecting his cock to your lips before you wiped it away and watching as Chan smiled at you. It was encouraging how lovingly he looked at you so you took him in again, pushing the burning in your jaw away.

Low moans crept from his lips before he was pulling you off his cock and giving your throat the relief you needed. You wiped the snot and drool from your face but you barley had time to get your bearings before you were completely stripped of Jisung’s clothes and bent over the back of the couch.

Feeling his hands smooth over your body, you smiled and sunk into the couch further. “Jisung really tore into you, huh?”

You moaned at the other mans name. Wishing Jisung once again was here. You knew you were covered in his marks and you knew Chan could see every bruise and fingerprint he left on your skin. You wished you could see them yourself but all you could see was the fabric of the couch as Chan’s fingers slipped inside of you. His fingers stretched you out while you moaned, gripping the cushions. His fingers felt so good. You almost felt like you were transported to another dimension when Chan touched you. But you knew you were still in the same one because the longing for Jisung was still there.

Chan was enough, more than enough but that didn’t stop the ache from persisting.

You felt so fucked out. Having a long night with Jisung and then now having a quickie in the morning with Chan – you felt liberated. You felt like you had a new found power - as if you were superwoman now.

He fingered you hard and fast but skillful at the same time, he knew just how to make you cum and brought you to the brink before his curled fingers retracted from your body.

Chan thrust his cock inside of you without warning, roughing your body up the way he always did and fuck, it was delightful. Something about the way he manhandled you really got you going. You knew this wouldn’t be the romantic anniversary sex you normally had but instead quick and fast. But that’s exactly what you needed in the moment.

He lifted one of your legs up, propping it so he got just the right angle. Like you said, he knew the ways to get you to cum.

You felt every inch of him at this angle but you swore you could take more as you begged him to go harder. He obliged, driving into you over and over again till you were cumming around him.

Chan growled, grabbing your neck and pulling you up so you were flush against his chest. With his mouth at your ear he said, “I’m disappointed in you.”

You whined. “W-what?”

“Good girls say thank you when they cum.”

And you swore you could have came again even though you just did. You let out a shaky breath as he continued slamming inside you. “Thank you daddy for making me cum.” And that was enough for him to come undone inside you. Just the simple pet named pushed him to the brink and beyond.

He was quick to clean you up before dragging you to your bedroom to cuddle with him.

Chan pulled you tightly against his chest, “I hope you enjoyed our anniversary,” he whispered. “Did you like my surprise?”

You tried to smile against his chest but couldn’t muster one up, “I did.” and you had but yet, you felt so empty since that you didn’t know how you could ever go forward from here. How you could ever see Jisung again?

Oh you really didn’t want to see him again.

But you needed to see him again.

And see him again you did when you just had to go to a party with Chan that all his friends would be at. Including Jisung.

It had been a week since you saw him so when your eyes landed on him across the room, you heart started to beat like a drum. He looked exceptional in his tight black jeans and also tight band tee. You hadn’t even noticed you were ogling him till he looked back and the two of you locked eyes. You swear it was the most intense game of staring contest you’d ever played in your life. He watched you intently, trying to stop the corners of his mouth from curling while he looked at you. You blushed, heat crawling up your neck and to your cheeks.

“Want something to drink, Princess?” Chan asked pulling your gaze away from Jisung.

“Huh?”

His eyes sparkled with mischief, ”Do you want a drink?”

You hummed, “Sure, Channie,” you said softly as you watched his retreating figure go towards the drinks.

Instantly, your gaze was back on Jisungs and you noticed he hadn’t looked away in the first place. Whoever he was talking to seemed to notice, waved a hand in front of his face and then followed the gaze to you. You were embarrassed when you realized it was Hyunjin who shook his head and tried to pull Jisung out of his trance. But Jisung was locked on you.

You broke eye contact to look him up and down, thinking about all the glory he had under his clothes. You shivered. You wanted so badly to touch him naked, to see him naked. You just wanted him so badly. Even if Chan had just fucked you before the party, it still wasn’t enough for you. Jisung was the missing piece you needed to feel complete and you wanted so bad for him to fill you up again.

You wanted to talk to him, to be in his presence but you knew you shouldn’t. You would do something stupid if you talked to him. Okay so, you weren’t sure what you’d do but you were shaking just thinking about Jisung and that was enough to tell you that it would be stupid to talk to him.

You hadn't even noticed when Chan returned until he thrust the drink into your hand. You looked at him with a goofy smile, trying to pretend everything was okay even if inside you were shaking. Chan looked at you with dark eyes and you knew that you had done something wrong. Had he caught you looking at jisung? You couldn't have been that obvious right? You were going to be punished for something, and you weren't sure what, but the idea sent chills through your body. Being punished by Chan was always rewarding.

When Chan finally stopped glaring at you and he reached out to grab your hand, your eyes lingered and were met with Jisung once again. His gaze was intense, hot even. He was by himself now and you wanted so badly to approach him, but you knew better. You should be content with Chan by your side but you felt so empty. The only thing keeping you grounded was the stare that jisung laid on you.

“That's it,” Chan said. He began dragging you across the room hand tight round yours until you were smack in front of Jisung. Jisung began to protest as Chan grabbed him by the elbow and begin dragging both of you out of the party and away from your friends.

You were in for it now. Chan must've noticed you staring at Jisung. You wondered how mad he was gonna be, you wondered if this would break your trust or worse, break you up. You were scared. You needed Chan, you needed him more than you needed to breathe it just seemed now that you needed Jisung to breathe too now. But how could you tell your boyfriend that? How could you tell him you weren't being faithful? Even if you hadn't acted on anything, your heart and body wasn't faithful. And now here you were being dragged and stuffed into your car. Both you and Jisung being thrust into the back seat.

“Chan?” You asked

He looked at you in the rearview mirror but didn't say a word looking fierce as he drove the two of you away from the party. Jisung and you exchanged glances and you realized then just how close you were and how hot his body temperature was. He was radiating and it made you shiver while you clung to your seatbelt and tried to stay as far away from him as humanely possible. He seemed to do the same, looking away from you and twiddling his thumbs anxiously.

The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. The air was heavy and your throat tightened as you realized you needed a drink, just a little drink to calm the scorching Sahara desert that was your throat.

You cleared it nervously, free hand clutching the fabric of your dress and twisting it in your fist.

Then, out of the corner of your eye you caught it. Jisung’s gaze and fuck, was it intense. You looked at him briefly, throat further drying when his eyes prodded yours and the two of you had a silent conversation.

“Chan,” you pleaded while you continued to look at Jisung. Chan was just gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles, driving you into the abyss of the night towards your destination – you assumed, your house with the way he was going.

You tried to prep yourself for the long talk the three of you would have but you were still nervous. What would you say? What would Jisung say? Would Chan and him still be able to be friends? Could you still be friends with Jisung?

No.

At least to the last question.

There was no way you could remain just friends with Han Jisung any longer. You’d seen too much.

When you finally got to your house, you couldn’t bear to leave the car. Chan had to physically unbuckle you and pull you from your seat. He gestured to Jisung, “You too, out,” he demanded. Jisung looked like he was shaking and as much as you tried not to look at him, all you could look at was Jisung.

Chan unlocked the door loudly, nearly slamming the front door into the wall as he dragged you along with him, slamming the door behind once Jisung was in with him.

“Come on,” he insisted as he pulled you towards your bedroom. Your eyes grew wide with panic. Was he going to punish you in front of Jisung? You wiggled in his grasp, but his eyes told you that you had better stop. You froze and locked eyes with him, afraid of the predatory gaze he had smoothed over his face. “Keep your bearings, Princess,” he said forcefully.

Jisung meekly followed along, also seemingly nervous about what was to come.

You immediately thought you were right when Chan entered your room, let go of you, and gestured for Jisung to close the door. “Naked,” he demanded.

Your breath caught in your throat, “Chan?” you asked weakly.

“You heard me.”

“But I-”

You saw him grind his teeth together, “You’re making this much more difficult, Princess. I insist you do as you’re told.”

You squeezed your eyes tightly together, before opening them again and locking gazes with Jisung. He looked terrified and you tried to send a silent apology before you began to strip in front of him.

While it should make you cry to be punished this way, some sick part of you was turned on and you couldn’t help but squeeze your legs together. Chan noticed. He always noticed. His gaze locked in on your lower half and you gulped. Fuck, what was he thinking?

You were fucking nervous. Nervous, turned on, and frustrated. Nervous because you weren’t sure what Chan’s plans were, turned on because you were nearly naked in front of the two men who had rocked your world and frustrated because it had been so long since you had Jisung’s touch.

When you were naked, Chan finally smiled at you and you felt yourself melt. You appeased him. “Good girl,” he cooed. “Want to be rewarded?”

You nodded before you could think and you heard Jisung awkwardly clear his throat.

“Listen to me carefully,” he started, “I saw he way you were looking at him. I want you to show me what’s so special about him.”

Your blood felt like it had turned to ice, “What?”

Chan paced the room before sitting on the chaise across from your bed, “You heard me. Let him fuck you again.”

“Chan, I-”

He drew a finger out, calling you over. The finger lifted your chin up, “You’re not in trouble. Now do as you’re told, or you will be.”

Jisung was quick to be at the bedroom door, “I shouldn’t be here,” he insisted, “Chan, please.”

Chan’s brows narrowed, “Do you or do you not want to fuck her?”

Jisung gulped and he didn’t respond.

“Now is your chance, are you going to pass on it?”

“Chan, she’s your girlfriend.”

Chan shrugged, “She wants you so badly she’s shaking,” he pointed to you which you were in fact, shivering. “I can share for her sake.”

Jisung shifted his weight, looking at Chan nervously, “If we start this now, Chan, I’m not going to want to stop.”

Chan shrugged once again, “I’m not asking you too. I see how she looks at you. She needs you. Relationships are about compromise, Jisung. I’m doing this for her. Now either fuck her or leave.”

Closing his eyes for a moment, Jisung seemed to debate his options.

The moment he decided, he was on you, pushing your naked body against your and Chan’s bed. He pushed you down, covering your body with his own and locking you in with a dangerous kiss. You thought you may break with how rough he was being, but your body loved it and you felt the wetness growing between your legs. You felt it growing like you felt the outline of Jisung’s cock in his pants.

Jisung was quick to rid himself of his clothes and while you wanted this moment to last forever, you knew Jisung wasn’t going to last long at all. Not with the way the two of you were eye fucking earlier. But you hoped that Chan held intent behind the words he said to Jisung. You hoped he understood somehow that you too needed Jisung.

Jisung didn’t waste any time and thrusted inside you quickly and you hoped Chan wouldn’t mind that the younger boy hadn’t even asked if he could do so. See, with Chan, he made you ask for everything and you were worried that you were going to be punished because of the younger boys' actions – but yet, you wanted to be punished. You didn’t seem to be bothered by the idea of Jisung doing something to get you in trouble.

You locked eyes with your boyfriend, and he was smiling at you, encouraging you to enjoy yourself. So you did. You let yourself get lost in Jisung and let the man pound into you until you could barely breathe from how many times you had come.

When Jisung finally came, you could have cried from it being over but Chan wasn’t done with you. He beckoned you over, pulling his pants down to his ankles and letting his cock spring free. You stared at him in awe, as you realized, he was going to fuck you now. Both men in one night? You would surely combust.

It was one thing fucking Chan the morning after and it was another taking two men in one night. Your mind was spinning.

Thankfully, Chan held you tight as he helped you clamber onto his lap and straddle his thighs. He lined himself up with your entrance before helping you drop down onto his cock. He moaned loudly but then stopped and shook his head, “No, you need to face him. I want Jisung to see you get fucked and how pretty you are.”

He lifted you up, spun you around so your back was to his chest and then thrust himself back inside of you. Again, you locked eyes with Jisung’s fucked out ones and you road Chan until you were practically crying from over stimulation. He made you cum not once, but three times, all of which while you had been staring right at the other man in the room.

Chan grabbed your breasts roughly, “Who do you belong to?” he questioned loudly.

You looked at Jisung nervously.

Chan tightened his grip. “Who?”

“You, daddy,” you quickly responded before the pain could get worse.

“That’s right, now look at Jisung while you make me cum.”

What was he talking about? You hadn’t stopped looking at Jisung.

Chan came hard, thrusting inside you like a mad man as you tried to ride him and match his pace which was nearly impossible at this angle.

Jisung came again too, his hand had been wrapped around his leaking cock the whole time he watched you fuck Chan.

When things had finally calmed down, Chan whispered in your ear, “Go to him.”

You obliged, going over to Jisung and waiting anxiously at the side of the bed.

Jisung looked at Chan in question but Chan just shrugged, “Clean her up and you two get some rest. I have some music to work on.”

#bang chan smut #bang chan series #bang chan angst #bang chan fanfic #skz fanfic #skz series #skz angst #skz smut #han jisung smut #han jisung series #han jisung angst #han jisung fanfic

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acatpersonapparently · 3 years

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Jemtoria Angel AU: part 3

The scent of freshly cut grass and ripe tomatoes surround Victoria in the sweet soft morning. Her hand gently works the wing of a mourning dove. Over the blade of the scapula and soft coverts. It has been three days since her newest little bird entered her coop.

She doesn’t even know why she did that.

Even after so much time, human still sits in a distorted shape in her throat. The bird in her lap stirs and coos, she’s not sure how to even exist near someone else. A dry breeze ruffles the air, blowing her hair into her eyes. She pushes the sudden blonde curtain away with a sigh, turning her gaze to her garden.

There’s the warm glow of bright red hair hiding behind her vegetables. If Victoria had to guess, the girl got up with the sun and busied herself in the soil before her alarm woke Victoria up. The dove in her lap chirps and fusses. Victoria hushes it and resumes her gentle ministrations.

How best to heal this bird?

ii.

Jemima has lived at the house with the blue door for a week and she already knows how every day will go:

-She will wake up first and head out to the garden.

-At 8:00AM, Victoria’s alarm clock will go off and some time in the next thirty minutes, the scent of bacon will waft out the kitchen window.

-By 9:00AM, her silent benefactor will step outside to greet her birds and tend to them, filling feeders and water bowls, examining hurt wings. That’s when Jemima will tend to flower bushes on the far side of the yard.

-10:45AM is the latest that Victoria leaves for work. Jemima can then head back inside before the sun gets too high and hot. She’ll find some leftover bacon on a plate left for her.

-Most of the time while Victoria is at work, Jemima reads or watches TV. She tried snooping around, looking around the house for anything fun or weird, but there’s nothing. No knick knacks, pictures, paintings. She couldn’t even find a stray ID or a letter.

-Sometime after 11PM, the door will slowly creak open and Victoria will walk through, open one of the beers from the bottom shelf of the fridge, and melt down into one of the wooden chairs at the small dining table. Jemima will lower the volume on the TV and, when she’s feeling brave, says hello. She never gets a response. The first time they spoke is also the only time they’ve spoke. She will get a polite wave or, if she asks a question, a nod or a shake.

-Victoria will wash out her bottle, place it in the bin, and shower at midnight. The soft shuffle of her feet always preceding Victoria before she appears to give Jemima a nightly goodnight wave and following her off as she heads to bed.

(There’s a few unexpected moments during her days. During a sleepy morning, she sees Victoria through the flowers, she sees her smile as a mountain bluebird nuzzles against her cheek. From peeping over a rosebush, the image is ethereal. If her father was half as resplendent, she understands why her mother was drawn in.)

iii.

Victoria didn’t mean to do it.

She didn’t mean to see anything.

There was some lemonade leftover at work so she brought it over and just wanted to know if Jem wanted some. She didn’t find the redhead in the living room so she had to be in her bedroom, so she just opened the door.

(She should not have opened the door.)

Victoria knows what her own back looks like. Catching brief glimpses of it in the mirror before stepping into the shower. Bone and blackened tissue that ached heavily, a rotted shadow of a symbol of Heaven’s glory. If Father’s intention was a mark of shame, he did a pretty damn good job.

Jemima’s was different (worse?)

White feathers molting, red raw patches, tufts of down sprouting up and down her back and across her shoulder blades. The waif was surrounded in a circle of white like fresh fallen snow. Victoria gags. Her stomach in instant upheaval at the sight. The tips of her fingers go numb as the moisture leaves her mouth. Her feet acted before she could think and she ran.

(She should not have ran.)

The birds open their wings and take to the sky when she reaches outside. She breathes deep, her chest aches, she tries to focus her thoughts. Her mind parsing through every microdetail with as much scrutiny in her panicked ability as she can get together. She looks up at the night sky and into the eyes of all the bright twinkling stars and, for the first time, she feels like they’re looking back at her.

Oh God, she’s not alone.

iv.

Jemima knows what happens next. She stuffs her bag with all of her belongings. All she needs to do is find another place to live. It’s fine. She’ll be fine. Her eyes watch the open doorway of her bedroom.

And, eventually, just like she expected, Victoria reappears with red eyes.

She waits for the cruel familiar sting of monster but Victoria just stares at her with these eyes, this cruel pitiful expression.

I- I can just go. I’m sorry. Jemima lowers her eyes and moves to push past the other girl. It’s all too bitterly predictable.

No. Victoria grabs her wrists so fiercely Jemima is sure that she’s about to be dragged into town to be burned at a stake. Please, stay.

And Jemima did not expect that.

Between the two of us, we probably have enough for a set of wings, is the first thing Jemima says to her when Victoria shows her the withered afterimage of her wings. Victoria doesn’t know how to react in any way but laughter and it feels rusty in her throat, but good, really good.

Turns out holiness isn’t a factor in being a good dad and that seems to be a universal truth.

Victoria grabs two beers from the bottom shelf of the fridge and the two of them lay out in the garden, drinking to stories about how the shadow of divinity has taunted them. They yell into the void of the night sky at fathers that have fucked them over and what’s the point of abandoning them with enough holy to bitter the blood? Victoria grabs them another round when they start talking about how humanity is just another set of stone shackled to their ankles.

They’re still wiping away the tears from the last set of ab-aching laughter when Jemima asks Victoria what heaven feels like.Victoria hums to herself, a little tipsy, and sinks into the grass.

It feels a little like this, I guess.

vi.

Jemima has lived at the house with the blue door for three months. Long enough for hot dry summer to roll in and for the summer plants to start blooming. She has no idea how her day is going to go.

Last week, Victoria took her into town to get her new clothes. A few days before that, she came home with a blanket and a tub of ice cream for her. They had stayed up late that night because ice cream is received with enthusiasm, even by former servants of a deity.

(The two other colours are two different flavours? This Neopolitan guy is really smart, Jem)

Jemima finds herself waiting at the dinner table, an open beer at the seat across from her, waiting for someone to fill it. The clock hits 10:30 and the front door bursts open. Victoria rushing in to hug Jemima before helping herself to her beer.

Jemima had no idea that someone being excited to hug you could feel as good as a hug itself

That night, they curl up in front of the artificial glow of the television. Victoria offers to share a blanket with Jemima as the redhead scoots under it with pink-tinged cheeks. Throughout the night, Victoria’s breath warms the side of Jemima’s face as she leans in to whisper the occasional question about the television.

(Jemima is suddenly worried about spontaneous combustion cause that’s what this feels like, right? Right?)

Jemima wakes up before the sun rises like she always does. She doesn’t move an inch, coveting this moment in a never-ending form. The soft babble of the television, Victoria’s warmth snug against her, birds chirping outside. She looks around the small house and she can’t believe how much light its contains

Victoria’s eyes flutter open way too soon but it makes Jemima brighten up with what feels like the goofiest smile. Victoria returns it.

Good morning.

Good morning to you too.

What are you thinking about?

Do you know what happens at 4:30AM? You turn gold.

vii.

Victoria hit the earth crying for heaven. Her halo rests crooked.

Jemima's earliest memory was of the sun. Her mother is tearing fistfuls of feathers from her back again.

The girls are wrist-deep in the warm rich soil, worms dripping from the gaps between their fingers in every handful of dirt. They've managed to turn the air into music, permeated with the singing of birds and bursts of deep chest laughter. There was nothing in any hymnal that could rival it. Victoria sits back on her knees, removing her wide-brimmed hat to push down her sweaty hair. She looks up at the sky, vast and inviting.

(What’s wrong?)

It’s not easy, it hasn’t been easy. Half-angels and monster-girls creeping along the spine of the world made for Adam and Eve. There are dark moments: their bed brimming with nightmares and past memories on darkest nights, flinching and holding each other tighter when they’re in town, fat wet tears running down Jemima’s cheeks the first time Victoria acts on the urge to kiss her.

(I’ve been so lonely and so angry and so angry about being alone. I’ve been angry for so long that I- I’m not sure who I am without it.)

But, those good moments, those good glorious moments. Victoria has gawked at rapidly expanding nebulae, she’s stood with her brothers and sisters as gravity collapsed in on itself in an instant and formed neutron stars and black holes, she’s blown the last wisps of steam from a black star cupped in her palms. None of them are as good as Jemima waiting for her when she gets home, or when Jem reminds her that a proper diet includes more than bacon. The light dripping from those big brown eyes every time she showed Vic another sprout pushing to the sun from under the damp earth was something Victoria could savour until the world tires of spinning.

(I can’t promise you that I know who you are without it either, but I can promise that you’ll never be lonely again. A-and I’ve technically been a part of a hivemind since time began, so maybe we can find out who we are together? If you don’t mind staying here a little longer, that is.)

Alongside a narrow dirt road, fifteen minutes from the edge of town, there is a house with a blue door and a beautiful front garden of newly blossoming life and birds taking flight on recovered wings. The doormat has bright yellow lettering, written by two different hands, together.

Heaven is a place on earth.

#Angel au: the last part #cause of death: the softies #jemima cats #victoria cats #jemtoria #I have rewritten this too many times #i am so very proud of this so please let me know what you think #if it pleases you of course #shhhh no one knows what you're talking about #how sweet a thing to be holy

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guessmonsta · 4 years

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In The Woods Somewhere (Fae! Akaashi x Fem! Reader) (NSFW)

Hi cuties :’) Do I even need to apologize for being inactive at this point? Lmao. I’ll never return to my peak in 2016/2017, haha. Anyway, this was a request from my friend that I realized I never posted. Oops. I hope u like it I luv yall sm!!!!

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The first time she saw him it was May. Dewdrops danced on Silver Dollars and Lamb’s-ear, and Jasmine and Lily of the Valley were braided into her hair. She spent her days in May collecting flowers and herbs for her mother, ever since spring came, her mother had been bedridden, and worrying __ mad. She knew the herbs would help substantially, but she also knew the roses and carnations would heal a different side of her mother. On her way down to the carnation field just beyond the woods that swallowed her quaint little property, she saw him. She knew who he was, rather what he was before she had the opportunity to approach him. If she hadn’t the knowledge very little would have kept her from running to him. Her mother always warned her of his kind, they were dangerous, they would rip out your womb and starve you of food- but the way his gunmetal eyes stared into hers the moment he noticed her walk past him was enough to have her in his trance. He sat inside a faerie ring, several small birds clung to his sides, and a Barn Owl perched on his arm. If it weren’t for her mother on her mind, perhaps she would have been bolder- instead, she just broke a moment of eye contact and walked right past him, choosing to ignore his existence, and he ignored hers.

The second time she saw him, she wasn’t so timid. Spore prints were her intention that day, or at least that’s what she told her mother, and while toadstools grew at random in the clearing in her backyard, she couldn’t help but be attracted to the faerie ring in which she had seen him the first time.

Much to her disappointment, the face she had stumbled across weeks ago wasn’t present. It would’ve been easier for her to acknowledge him if he was already there, but she figured she would have to take measures into her own hands. With little to no forethought, she held her breath, closed her eyes, then stepped right into the vacant ring in the clearing.

Before she even had the opportunity to open her eyes, she felt her body being vaulted backwards. She shrieked, then groaned as her back hit the ground beneath her. Upon opening her eyes, she saw him, the Fae with the beautiful eyes staring down at her. She couldn’t help but smirk at the slightest- lore always said that the Fae folk would do anything to make you miserable, but it almost seemed like this one was looking out for her. Before she could say anything to him, he disappeared just as fast as he came. She picked herself back up, sighed, then returned back home.

Then she didn’t see him for a while. While she knew it was for the best, a part of her ached for a missed opportunity. There could’ve been so much adventure at hand if only she had acknowledged him, even if it meant giving up her womb. All she could do was fantasize about what could’ve been at night before she went to bed. It was all she ever did.

Until she woke up to a pile of feathers on her windowsill. They were kept still by a small pebble from her garden, but the array was beautiful. A Blue Jay, a Crow, a Cardinal, and a Goldfinch. Accepting gifts from the Fae was strictly prohibited, yet she grabbed the feathers, and sprinted towards the faerie ring in which she had paid her visits to one too many times.

She didn’t sit inside the ring, instead, just kneeling on the outside with the feathers cradled gently in her hands.

“Hello?” She called out. If anyone caught her, she would look terribly foolish talking to herself while holding a handful of feathers. “This gift is beautiful, but my mother would tell me I cannot accept it.”

She waited a moment, then heard the soft tap of footsteps on the grass behind her. Spinning around, she saw him, in all of his glory. He really was a beautiful thing, and that’s why she reckoned she thought of him so much. There was something about his aura, and those beautiful eyes, she couldn’t help but smile when she saw him.

“Hello.”

“Are you a fool?” He replied, towering over her as he stood across her.

“Maybe.” She replied. “Or maybe I just want to be your friend.”

“That would make you a fool.” Uncharacteristic for a faerie, he sat down next to her, and handed her another feather- a Great Horned Owl.

“Thank you.” She smiled, and she immediately watched his stoic expression switch to a frown.

“You weren’t supposed to say that.”

“I wasn’t aware that this was a test.” __ shrugged, twisting the Owl feather between her fingers. “So, what do I owe you?”

The Faerie looked at her, baffled, and cocked an eyebrow. He opened his mouth as if to say something, then shut it, merely shaking his head in response.

“You wanting to involve yourself with the Fae takes the fun out of all of this, you do know that, correct?” He sighed, and __ merely giggled.

“Am I making your job difficult?”

“No, no, just interesting.”

“Well, you were the one who pushed me from the ring and brought me a gift. From my side, it feels like you’re the one who’s seeking me out.”

“Perhaps I’m looking for companionship.” __ felt her heart skip a beat as her eyes locked with his. Before she thought they were a light shade of bluish gray, but under the canopy of leaves, they looked a deep green. Maybe his eyes were magic, too.

“My name is __.” __ smiled, taking a feather and reaching it out to brush it gently against the bridge of his nose, causing him to jump back in confusion. “And yes, that is my real name. __ __. Use it at your will.”

“Are you that bored?” A slight chuckle passed the lips of the Fae as he shook his head. “Or are you that trusting?”

“Perhaps a little mix of both…” She trailed off, searching for the name of the Fae across from her. He blinked at her slowly, the mechanics of his mind working out whether or not he could trust her with his own name or not. She smiled softly as she watched his thought process, fiddling with the feather in her hands as she did.

“My name is Akaashi Keiji.” He smiled softly. “You may call me Keiji.”

“Keiji.” The name felt like honey butter against her lips and she smiled, bidding him farewell using his lovely name, Keiji, and skipping back to her house.

The friendship that blossomed between the two was unusual, yet __ had somehow managed to keep it a secret from her mother. It wasn’t difficult to sneak around, especially since her poor mother had been bedridden for quite some time. It had gotten to the point where it was worrying, her rendezvous with her companion cut short, and missed as the weeks progressed. Keiji still left small gifts on her windowsill, almost as a beacon for her to visit him, yet she felt overwhelming guilt at the thought of her leaving her poor mother alone in a terrible time. Between praying to every deity for her mother's safety, and attempts to nurse her mother back to health, she found it hard to think about anything else besides her mother, even if the word “Keiji” found itself tumbling off her lips at random times throughout the day.

Then, as his name fell from her lips once as she brewed her mother a chamomile tea, she realized her situation. Keiji, he was a Faerie, he could heal her mother. The adrenaline of this realization ran through her body like lightning, and as soon as she handed her mother her tea and gave her a chaste kiss on the forehead, she left through the front door and sprinted through the woods.

Keiji must have felt her energy, because as soon as she stumbled towards the ring, he was already there. She looked like a decent mess, the hem of her skirt and her knees covered in grass stains from tripping over herself. Keiji looked at her in surprise and what he could only describe as his form of excitement.

“Oh, Keiji, Keiji.” She gasped, attempting to catch her breath. “Can you please help me?”

“You’re aware everything comes at a cost, correct?” He muttered, offering her a seat next to him on the grass. She sat down quickly, then grabbed his hands in hers, causing him to flinch at the slightest.

“Keiji, please, my mother…” __ still struggled to catch her breath, a mix between sprinting and her adrenaline. “My mother has been gravely ill for quite awhile and I’m afraid she isn’t going to make it much longer.”

“And you would like me to…”

“Please make her better. I will do absolutely anything in return.”

“Ah, health.” Keiji sighed deeply and cocked his head. “It isn’t impossible for me. When your mother wakes up tomorrow morning, she will be in perfect health. Memories of her illness will be faded and distant and she will be up and active just as she was before she was ill.”

“Are you serious?” __ responded, almost giddy, a smile cracking on her face.

“Yes. It’s very possible. However, you are aware that there is a heavy price to pay.”

“God, Keiji, I gave you my name when we first met, I don’t care about prices.”

“Well, this one might be different for you.” He blinked slowly, catching __’s gaze. “In return for your mothers health, your mortality belongs to me.”

“Woah.” __ inhaled sharply, then exhaled deeply. “So, does that mean that I have to die, you own me until I die or-”

“It means you’ll have to live in limbo between your realm and mine for the rest of my eternity.”

“Immortality doesn’t seem so bad.”

“You might eat your words.”

“Do I still get to see my mother?”

“Yes, until you gradually outlive her then-”

“Well I would’ve outlived her eventually.”

“You’re insatiable, woman.” Keiji sighed, rubbing his temples. “Is there seriously nothing wrong with giving away your precious human life to a Fae?”

“Not when it’s you, Keiji.”

__ watched his eyes roll into the back of his head, then watched his chest rise and fall heavily. Soft hands fell onto hers, and her eyes met his.

“You’re completely and utterly confident in your decision?” Keiji asked once more, almost insecure about their transaction.

“Yes, Keiji. My mother means everything to me.” __ nodded.

“Enough to give yourself away to me?”

“Well-” __ paused, giving his gentle hands a squeeze, “This is just a win win situation for me.”

She watched as Keiji’s frown twisted into a silhouette of a smile, and his hands crept up her arms, up to her shoulders, and he pushed her gently back against the soft grass beneath them.

“In all my years I’ve never met somebody quite as insane as you, my dear __ __.”

“And yet here we are. I’m the one you chose to give my mortality up to you.”

“Yes I did.”

Keiji leaned down and ever so gently kissed the tip of her nose, her cupid's bow, then her lips. __ all but eagerly kissed back, the softness of his lips something completely foreign to her. A shiver of excitement ran up her spine as she kissed him back, her hands running up his back to bury themselves in a mess of wavy black hair.

“You’re so enticing.” Keiji muttered against her lips. “I was waiting for this.”

“You didn’t have to wait for me to come crying over my mother to have me.” __ giggled. “You’ve had me all along.”

A guttural groan came from the back of Keiji’s through as he kissed her again, deeper and rougher than the first time.

“A human has never made me feel this way before.”

“And I take that as an honor.”

__ buried her nose in the crook of Keiji’s neck, kissing his collarbone then ever so gently nipping her teeth against his copper flesh. She felt him sigh against her cheek as she kissed his collarbone rougher, then trailing a mix of gentle and bruising kisses up the column of his neck.

“If I’m going to be yours forever…” __ cradled Keiji’s face in her hands as she kissed him on the lips once again, “You’re going to have to show me how worth it it’ll be.”

Keiji wasted no time in crashing his lips into hers, kissing her so gently, so feverishly it brought chills up her spine. Her arms snaked around his neck again, kissing him deeper, deeper, feeling every pulse in her body beat for him. Heaven knows she’s wanted this, it was even more enticing now that it was magically bound. She felt his cold hands run under the hem of her dress, and wordlessly she let him slip it off of her body and over her head- she wanted to be exposed for him. It was silly, foolish, throwing herself at a man like this, it was something completely foreign to her, yet lit a spark inside of her core the more she thought about it. The embarrassment and inevitable realization was sure to come later, but in the meantime, as Keiji began to place cold, gentle kisses below her navel, the only thing she could focus on was him. His fingers danced over the sculpt of her hip bones, and eventually, the softness of her inner thighs.

“Dare I ask for your consent?” He muttered, leaving __ giggling.

“After I sell my soul to you?”

“Well, it doesn’t hurt to be respectful.” Keiji hummed, his hands running up her body again and leaving goosebumps in their wake. __ sat in silence, unaware of what his next move would be. Her heart was in her throat as Keiji got closer and closer in between her legs, and he could tell. When he reached the seam of her bloomers he chuckled deeply, and placed a deep, open mouth kiss against the fabric. She all but jumped, the feeling wasn’t foreign ate her own hand, but being caught engaging in these activities with the boys in her village was taboo, and she was far from being experienced. She wondered if Keiji wordlessly knew, or assumed she knew what she was doing. Nevertheless, Keiji gently slipped her bloomers off of shaking legs, and wasn’t late to rubbing at her slit.

“Oh!” She jumped, completely surprised. She hadn’t anticipated him finding her sweet spot so quick, let alone touching her at all. Keiji paused for a minute to unbutton his thin shirt, and she propped herself up on her elbows to watch him. His skin was the most beautiful shade of tan, she noticed, her eyes running up and down his torso and noticing the veins that webbed around his sculpted arms. Next were his trousers, he was expressionless as he did this, and it would’ve been frightening if she hadn’t previously learned that he majored in stoicism. When his member popped out of his boxers, she let out a tiny exhale. It seemed perfect, pretty even, and definitely wasn’t lacking. She moved to throw her bra off of her, she found no shame now in being completely exposed to him. Their bond was eternal from here. And as if it were on instinct, she opened her legs more for him, which was greeted with more rubbing against her clit.

“Oh god, Keiji.” She threw her head back and whimpered. Her eyes blurred for a moment as she focused on the full moon above her, and all the stars that danced around it. She found it harder and harder to keep herself propped up on her elbows, her high chasing her the more he moved against her.

Her arms collapsed underneath her, and the moment her back hit the grass, the first heavy wave of her orgasm hit her, a deep and heavy sigh escaping her as it did. His name was all she could moan as she rode out her high, strangled breaths leaving her mouth afterwards. It hit her like a train, the pure and unholy satisfaction of pleasure wasn’t foriegn to her, but in this circumstance, it left her dripping onto the grass below them. This didn’t go unnoticed by him, he ran one finger up her slit, which caused her to jolt from her after high sensitivity. Keiji merely smirked, leaning over her body to catch her lips in a kiss once again.

“Kei-” She stammered against his lips, trying to prop herself back up on her arms to look up at the gorgeous Fae who she was enamored with. “Keiji.”

“Yes, my dear?”

“Oh god, Keiji, fuck me.”

There was a foreign thrill of being exposed in nature the way her and Keiji were at the moment. She could feel her heartbeat all throughout her body as Keiji positioned himself above her, his lips on her chest as he got a feel for her body. An owl hooted off in the distance, crickets chirped and other gentle sounds of nature were all that she could hear besides Keiji’s gentle breaths. In one slow, fluid movement, he slid himself inside of her to the hilt. She almost felt paralized, nothing else dared cross her mind besides Keiji. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes as she kissed him. The numb pain was worth it, anything was worth being close to him.

“You’re doing so well.” His voice was still so monotonous, it spawned butterflies in her stomach. She opened her mouth to speak again, but at that moment Keiji pulled out and slammed into her again, only ammitting a small, gentle squeak from her. Keiji began to rut into her at an even pace, leaving her wordless and tingling on the earth below. She let out another pathetic moan, wishing she could do more for him from her submissive position.

“You’re so fucking-” She stopped to sigh, then grabbed at the roots of the grass underneath her. “You’re so fucking etheral, Keiji.”

Keiji chuckled in response, his thrusts getting deeper and deeper the more he moved. The feeling of being exposed to him and mother nature sent chills across her bare body. She wished she could do more for him, make him feel better too, but her had her locked in this pathetic position, all she could do was spread her legs further apart and let him fuck her senselessly.

And he did. The soft pants that came from his parted lips made her feel even more full than before, and the more she thought about the way he stretched her, the wetter she felt herself become. This didn’t go unnoticed by Keiji at all, him making a comment on how she was such a good girl. Her senses were clouded by chills and sex and butterflies in her stomach.

“You’re doing so good.” Keiji hummed, yet his monotonous voice sounded a little more strangled. “I’m gonna come.”

“Come inside me.” She muttered, not even thinking. “I’m yours.”

Moments later, with a gentle groan, his thrusts came to a halt, and spilled himself inside of her. She felt fuller, fuller than before, and warm. She sighed softly, holding him against her with his cock buried deep inside of her still.

“Am I worth it for forever?” She asked, her fingers running through his hair as she kissed his forehead gently. “Do you really want me forever?”

“Yes.” Keiji hummed, kissing her back. “And I wish you found me sooner.”

#akaashi keiji #akaashi keiji x reader #akaashi x reader #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu!! imagines #haikyuu!!#anime #haikyuu scenarios #fairytale #fae #magic #cottagecore #forestcore

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tonkatsuo · 3 years

Text

i miss you, i really do

Fandom: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan

Characters: Armin Arlert, Annie Leonhardt

Pairing: Armin Arlert/Annie Leonhardt (AruAni)

Rating: G

Words: 749

Status: Complete (one-shot)

Author’s Note: it's been a while since I wrote anything and posted it here so expect grammatical errors and such. requests are open, ask here or on my cc. (this was also a request from min (@yuckisobUgh) on twitter)

Trigger Warning: Implied Death

Tags: Emotional Hurt, No Comfort

Summary: “cause you said forever, now I drive alone past our street…”

‒ years after the death of Annie, Armin couldn’t help but pass by their old house together that now resided a different family.

AO3 Link: i miss you, i really do by me

It was sundown on a Saturday and Armin just finished his work for the day. Yes, he’s a very busy person but he manages his time wisely.

The blonde sighed as he stood up from his desk, smiling sadly at a framed picture of his past lover and him. Even though Annie wasn’t there with him anymore, he still put-up pictures of both of them in his office.

While fixing his things, Armin remembered that he had to go and buy groceries since it was Sunday tomorrow (the day when his local grocery store would close). He sighed once again as he left his office, car keys in hand, and a wallet snugly put inside his jean pocket.

He closed the door behind him and locked it swiftly. He then walked over to his car, unlocking it, and then finally got inside to start the ignition. Armin put on his seat belt, adjusting the rear-view mirror a bit to check for any cars or people nearby, and then finally hitting the pedals.

As Armin drove to his local grocery store, he couldn’t help but reminisce the times when he and Annie would go to the same store and buy pies and donuts for a movie night every Friday. Oh, how he wished she was still alive, living and breathing as they ignored their surroundings to only hear one another.

But the reality is reality…

She will never come back. Armin thought, but he shook his head lightly and chuckled as a single tear dropped from his eye to his white polo shirt.

Locking the car, Armin walked over to the grocery store’s transparent doors, a small smile adorning his face. He entered the store greeting the workers and the people nearby. “Good afternoon, Sir Arlert!” greeted a staff worker who is carrying boxes, “Good afternoon, Luka.” Armin replied with a nod.

Walking further inside the store, Armin picked up a basket and carried on to buy the things he needed.

A few moments inside the store and Armin already wants to breakdown. He couldn’t help it; he just suddenly remembers all the times he had with Annie in the familiar aisles he’s seen for the past 7 years.

The way Annie’s eyes would light up when her favorite flavored donuts were available, when she started laughing because of an embarrassing moment at school or even when she bought Armin’s favorite foods just to cheer him up from a bad day.

Oh my god, he just misses her so much.

Armin ruffled his hair and exhaled, Get over it, Armin. Her death was years ago.

But he couldn’t. She was his angel.

“We’re going to be together forever, right, Armin?” A young Annie asked, tilting her head to the side cutely.

“Of course!” The shorter blonde, Armin, replied with a grin and a thumbs up.

Armin drove back home… well, not until he turned a corner.

Why was he so pressed at the moment? His dead Fiancé that’s what. Annie Leonhardt.

Even if it’s just for a bit, Armin wants to see his old home with her. The home where they used to live in and go home to. The home they belonged in before everything went downhill that night.

He pulls up somewhere far from the currently occupied house but it is still visible for him to see it in its glory.

With that, Armin finally broke down. A hand over his face as he cried, “Annie, will we ever see each other again? I miss you so much!”

Armin sobbed until he quieted down, a neutral expression on his face as he imaged the stargazing family that occupied their old home with himself, Annie and a child.

Both of them talked a lot about their future together, so it was normal for him to think they would have a child.

“How about Anna for a girl? How does that sound?” Armin asked his lover as they sat under the stars.

“Ooh, ooh. And Louis for a boy.” Annie added, “Or maybe Jonas…” she thought.

“If you can’t decide then let’s have three children,” Armin blurted out bluntly then blushed immensely after he realized what he said. “W-wait—I d-didn—” he was cut off by a laugh.

The angelic laugh he grew to love and know, “Of course, Armin. We can have as many children you want.”

However, those dreams are nothing but “could’ve”s and “would’ve”s now.

“I miss you, Annie… I really do! so, so much…”

#shingeki no kyojin #attack on titan #snk #aot #aruani #armin arlert #annie leonhart #emotional angst #no comfort #coping alone

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sergeanttpoliteness · 4 years

Note

Spiderverse Gwen x Reader where The reader is out as les/bi/pan whatever and Gwen is scared to tell her she likes her?

AND➝ Gwen is ready to start letting people back into her life after the events of Spiderverse. MJ, aware of Gwen trying to open her social circle, tells her about a nice girl from her apartment building and brings the reader along at their next band practice to introduce her. Gwen sets eyes on her and is VEEEERY attracted to this VEEEERY pretty girl. In Gwen’s bisexual distress, she starts rambling nervously, and probably says something embarrassing about herself. MJ saves them from an awkward situation and starts band practice, Gwen doesn’t see reader outside of school again after that, but Gwen shamelessly stares at her during class. Gwen starts to overthink the situation and gets worried she blew her chance. Later, there’s a situation that she as Spider-Gwen saves reader from. Reader is minorly hurt but SG has to go before she can help reader as authorities arrive. Feeling guilty, her spider sense leads SG to the reader’s apartment, she goes to check on her that night. Confident with her mask on, she strikes up a conversation, compliments her and even drops a bit of a flirty remark about reader before taking her leave. I didnt know where to go from there I’m new to requesting so I hope this isn’t too long but I hope that’ll be enough to get the ball rolling? -🍀

deeply sorry it took me so long to get to these again! i changed a few things, but it’s pretty much still the same idea. i hope the nonnie who requested this finds it and doesn’t think i ignored them :( ily, y’all deserve better.

——-

➹she plays bass➹(spider-gwen x fem!reader)

That feeling when there’s a cute girl who plays bass in your band and you don’t know what the hell to do about it.

Gwen needs help figuring out her feelings. Like, immediately.

word count: 11.6k (oops i did it again)

a/n: i’m sorry this new fic is the size of the bible like the last one, i’ll try to make the next one shorter lmaooo. but it’s what my fave girl deserves due to the unacceptable lack of stories about her on this site. plus, i swear that once you read it it’s so much shorter than it seems. i’m hoping i can post at least one more story before the end of the year, but if i don’t, happy holidays and new year ! y’all were the best part about my 2019 :) hope whoever is reading this has a lovely week. mwah.

warnings: violence, guns, swearing.

——-

She played bass.

You played bass, to be more specific. And Mary Jane Watson took satisfaction in believing that she was nice. More than simply ‘just nice’ on good days, even. Being the most courteous person was a duty she considered to be hers ever since she was six-years-old and accompanied that girl who always seemed to be left behind in the playground, and years later, in high school when she punched a creep hassling one of her bandmates. Last but most certainly not least, Betty Brant, bass guitar player of the Mary Janes, slipped and fell backwards one unfortunate evening, and she shot out her left arm behind her to break the fall and save her ice cream from hitting the ground. Good news: her ice cream did not hit the ground. Bad news, however, her left hand did— in an odd, twisted position. Needless to say, Betty Brant now had a broken wrist.

At first glance, they’re all unrelated events, stars belonging to separate constellations, and they would have remained so— undisturbed, simply coexisting in the same sky. That was, until Gwen came into the picture and drew a line connecting the bright flecks when she opened her mouth.

In the moment that she admitted to MJ that the idea of meeting new people sounded more appealing each day, she scribbled down the equation in her bandmate’s brain and hit ‘solve’. The redhead’s face lit up, putting to shame a Christmas tree as that sense of responsibility called for her attention. Immediately, she felt obligated to make the Nobel Peace prize-worthy move of texting her neighbor she just met, who also played the bass, to join them on the coming Saturday for band practice. That night, as she prepared to go to sleep, Em Jay cracked an accomplished smile at the reflection in her mirror.

However, two weeks had passed since your first practice with the Mary Janes, and MJ’s pride dove off from where it sat on her shoulder as she observed from afar with furrowed brows how Gwen so fucking blatantly ignored you after you tried to give her a high five.

“What the hell was that?!” She hissed at Glory who stood beside her, cringing as you awkwardly dropped your hand and turned away from Gwen. Sighing, MJ rubbed her face with sheer desperation— a rather drastically different action from her naïve smile many nights ago. “I put an opportunity right on her fucking lap to make a friend, and she can’t act like a nice normal human being!”

Glory bit the inside of her cheek, sporting her own grimace. “I dunno, maybe they’ll click soon—”

“It’s been two weeks, Glory!” MJ whined. She crossed her arms across her chest, eyes narrowing into concentrated slits, and her gaze returned to an oblivious Gwen who shot at your back what she thought in her mind was a discreet glance. “I can’t let this fail. I gotta step in.” Glory raised a brow.

“Or you could just, you know, let them get to know each other at their own pace?“

“That’s dumb.”

Glory opened her mouth but gave up immediately, seeing MJ’s persistence as a lost cause she, in all honesty, did not want to waste any energy battling against that day. “Follow my lead,” MJ elbowed her, winking before she caught Gwen’s and your attention. “Who wants pizza? I do, and so does Glory. You guys want to go out and eat?“

“I don’t really feel like going out.”

“Glory, what the fuck?” MJ said under her breath, but later shook her head, a smile stretching across her face. “It’s fine! We’ll just go get it and we can eat here."

Glory frowned. "But—”

“I mean, sure. I’m definitely in the mood for pizza.” You shrugged, the corner of your mouth lifting upwards. Gwen, however, eyed Glory with suspicion, who in return flashed her an apologetic smile. MJ clapped her hands together, cheering.

“Great!” She grabbed Glory’s hand and dragged her out of the room, glancing back at the two other girls. “We’ll be back in fifteen!”

Not even five seconds passed after they closed the door before you jumped off the couch and muttered to Gwen that you were going to the bathroom, an action that Gwen chose not to spend any time analyzing for her own sanity; but even if she had decided to, the ringing of her phone would’ve interrupted her nonetheless. After she took out her phone and saw MJ’s contact name, she let out the longest sigh in her entire seventeen years of living.

“Couldn’t you have just called for the pizza?” She went straight to the point— no greeting or anything, which left MJ stumped for three seconds, and surprised she had caught onto what was going on in record time.

“No, otherwise my plan wouldn’t have worked. You’re welcome, by the way.”

“What plan and why am I welcome?”

MJ scoffed. “I’m giving you another chance to talk to Y/N, seeing as you completely blew every other one you had.” Gwen perked one eyebrow, confused.

“How come?”

“She tried to give you a high-five and you left her hanging, Gwendolyn.” She said with an obvious tone. “And that’s just one example of many.”

Gwen sat straight, her eyes growing wide. “Wait, I did?”

“Yes, you fucking idiot!” Gwen shut her eyes closed, covering her face with her hand. “How did you not notice, it’s so painfully obvious she’s trying to be your friend but you’ve gained the award of dickhead of the day.”

Gwen rolled her eyes, although let out an amused huff of air through her nose. “Did Glory agree to this little plan of yours?”

MJ took a moment of silence. “No, but her opinion doesn’t really matter right now.”

“Yeah, I bet she didn’t, because it’s fucking stupid, Mary Jane.”

“Em Jay.”

“You called me Gwendolyn.”

“Whatever,” MJ grumbled, “you asked for this, Gwen. Be thankful, ‘cause I’m really tryin’ here.”

Gwen heard you flush the toilet, and not too long after, the sound of the faucet running. “Hell, okay, fine.” She whispered into the phone. “She’s coming, I have to go.” Before MJ could utter a word, she ended the call right as you walked out of the bathroom and flashed her a tight-lipped smile. You sat back down on the couch, an obvious distance between you two. More time passed while you hunched over your cellphone and Gwen eyed you sideways, gripping her hands together in between her knees, her heart speeding up each time she dared to speak up, and her face heating up albeit she hadn’t directed a word at you yet.

She cleared her throat. “So!”

You made eye contact with her and she felt obligated to flash you a nervous smile after the silence continued. Eventually, the corner of your mouth lifted upwards. “So what?” You questioned, curious. Gwen’s smile gradually fell. She should’ve contemplated what she was going to say first before she spoke.

“…What’s your favorite pizza topping?” Gwen hit herself mentally. There literally was no excuse for why she was acting like this— hell, she herself couldn’t even find one. But, on the bright side (however, perhaps not so much for Gwen), whilst the girl was sure this was an agonizing and slow death from embarrassment, your amused grin widened with her visible anxiety.

“I don’t know. There’s a lot of options.” You shrugged, your attention moving back to your device. Gwen considered leaving you alone, seeing as this conversation very obviously wasn’t going anywhere, but that option disintegrated as soon as she imagined Em Jay intentionally delaying her arrival with Glory and the pizza so she could take full advantage of her ‘chance’, which she was ninety-nine percent sure was the case.

“I really like pepperoni.” She blurted out. Your eyes momentarily traveled up to Gwen and you pursed your lips, nodding slowly.

“Cool.”

My God, you really were not collaborating even an ounce— it was a reach, but it was as if you were voluntarily trying to make this as difficult and socially traumatizing for Gwen as possible. Gwen scratched her head, searching for more conversation ideas, but her brain remained as empty as a desert in the middle of nowhere, except for the one tumbleweed happily rolling along its way which was her last idea, and the main purpose of this sad conversation.

“I’m really sorry for that high-five you tried to give me earlier,” Gwen muttered, incapable of looking at you straight in the eye for long. “Em Jay just told me about it.”

Finally, you tore your concentration away from your phone and focused on Gwen. You didn’t know whether it was the seriousness of her voice combined with the absurdity of the sentence, but you found yourself struggling to hold back your giggles. Gwen’s eyebrows twisted with puzzlement as she saw your blushing cheeks and you biting your lip hard, your shoulders shaking ever so slightly.

“That’s… adorable. It’s alright. It happens to all of us, I guess.” You laughed out. In Gwen’s never-ending humiliation, she couldn’t discern your expression from simple amusement or judgment.

Gwen stuttered, brushing her hair behind her ear. “Okay, cool. I-I just didn’t want you to think that I hated you or something like that.”

“Oh, don’t worry, I did not.”

“Good. Because I don’t. Obviously.” She continued, forcing out a chuckle. “I really don’t.”

You smiled hesitantly. “Again… don’t worry, I get it—”

“I just, I wasn’t paying attention to you.” Gwen clarified but closed her mouth immediately, regret drying her throat. You pressed your lips into a straight line. “But I don’t mean that in a rude way, hah. I’m always looking at you.” She dug herself deeper and her eyes grew wide, a tense cough fleeing past her lips after you raised your brows.

“I mean, no, I’m not always looking at you, like, staring, but like, looking forward to whatever you have to say…?” She talked slowly, questioning her own words. “Why would I look at you, anyway?” Ah, fuck, that’s not what she meant.

Your expression transformed into an offended look and she rushed to correct herself. “No! I mean— you’re, like, very, very pretty, don’t get me wrong.” She let out a frustrated sigh, “Again, I don’t mean that in a weird way, I just—”

“Okay! I get it.” You stopped her and stood up, pointing at your phone. “I have to go, it’s pretty late, so I won’t be able to eat with you guys, but, uh… thanks anyway. Maybe next time.” You explained, uncomfortable. You both dubiously gestured goodbye to each other before you nearly ran out of the door.

From then on, Gwen kind of wanted to hide in her room for the rest of her life, or at least from you; but sadly, she couldn’t do either. She could’ve moved on and just let it be a memory she could laugh about in the future, but she couldn’t hide what had happened to MJ— she retold her and Glory the encounter, and the trauma returned as Glory burst out laughing right in her face and Em Jay simply stared at her like a disappointed mother. Again, she really was determined to forget the whole ordeal, but later in the evening, when all she wanted to do was plop down on her bed and call it a night after another day of patrol, she answered her landline only for her ears to be attacked with MJ’s pleas for her to go fix things since ‘she was so embarrassed for her she literally couldn’t go to sleep’. Gwen hung up on her.

As she originally had intended before MJ disrupted her night, Gwen jumped onto her bed and rolled onto her back, promising in her head that she’d take off her suit in a minute. She stared up at the ceiling for longer than a minute, thinking about MJ’s words. What was the point in going to apologize to you again, anyway? Gwen wasn’t going to do it simply to please her. MJ could gladly go and shove her microphone up her—

“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” Gwen said to herself as she stood outside your school building. She looked down at her watch. She could’ve been doing so much right then. Someone was probably getting murdered, or a robbery was going on, and she had homework to finish, but she was wasting her time waiting in front of a school like the creep of the block. However, she thought she might as well stick to it in the instant that students began to swarm out of the entrance doors.

She considered leaving. It was her first thought when she ultimately saw you walking amongst the crowd, talking to your friends. You hadn’t noticed her. It wouldn’t make a difference if she spun and ran out of there, like a scared child fleeing from the monster living in her closet. You turned your gaze away from your friend whilst laughing, and similar to the demon (no offense) peeking through the slit in between the closet doors, you found yourself staring into a familiar pair of blue eyes.

There was no going back.

Gwen breathed in profoundly and flashed you a sheepish smile, waving weakly with her shoulders raised. She watched you say goodbye to your friends before you hesitantly approached her, your eyebrow lifted in a questioning manner. “Gwen?”

“Yup. That’s me, hah…” She moved her hair away from her face after the wind disheveled it, brushing it behind her ear as she avoided your eyes. “I know you’re wondering—”

“What you’re doing here? Yes, yes I am.” You said, the humor distinctive in your voice, but Gwen scrunched up her nose, shaking her head.

“Don’t worry, I’m not… stalking you,” She laughed nervously and stopped herself before history repeated itself. “I would’ve texted you, but my phone…” Now has a bullet hole. “Broke. Em Jay told me I could meet you here.”

You folded your arms across your chest, shifting your weight to one leg. “Well, I’m here, you’re here, so what’s up? Did you want to continue talking about how you don’t pay attention to me?” You joked, tilting your head.

Gwen winced slightly, cringing. “Actually, no.”

“Okay, good.”

“I came here to apologize. A real apology this time.”

You let your arms drop by your sides, interested and waiting for what she had to say. “I was really awkward. Painfully awkward, and I made you uncomfortable. So, I was hoping that we could maybe… start over again?” She held out her hand.

You briefly glanced down at it before glancing back up at her biting her lip anxiously. You giggled, nodding. “You’re so dramatic, dude.”

You shook her hand.

“So… we’re good?”

You smiled. “We’re good.” Gwen grinned back, her tooth gap having a peculiar effect in your stomach. She peeked at her watch a second time with the intent of leaving; but before she could say goodbye, you adjusted your backpack straps and spoke up. “Actually… now that you’re here, how about we go get something to eat?”

Gwen blinked, her finger coming up to point at her chest. “M-me? And you?” You agreed with your head, laughing.

“Obviously, you dummy. I don’t see anyone else here.” You playfully punched her arm and she looked down at the spot, her eyes narrowed.

Ah, well. There was no going back.

If there was one thing, one enemy that constantly played with Gwen’s sanity, time was a top-three candidate which popped into her head immediately. Popped wasn’t perhaps even the correct word, for it remained there everlastingly as a nagging fear— a deafening, continuous tick-tock reminding her of how little, or what a painstaking amount of time she had in her hands, and all the things she could or could not do during it. Being Spider-Woman, pages and pages of school work, the Mary Janes, Mary Jane and Gwen’s duty to answer her messages the moment she received them, her aspirations, her dad— it messed with her brain, tangled all the connections into an indestructible knot she could purely helplessly stare at. But when she read the time and realized how late it had become, the panic merely bubbled and spread in her chest. Rather you laughed and she felt the necessity to look away from the numbers to focus on you, despite the tick-tock still present and blaring like a tsunami alert in her ears.

You sat facing her in the restaurant booth, smirking as you bit into a french fry. “You know, I gotta say, you impressed me quite a lot with your drumming.” Gwen bashfully moved a piece of lettuce around her plate, propping her chin upon the palm of her hand.

“You’re not so bad yourself.” She shrugged, smiling at you. You maintained your gaze on her for a moment until you shook yourself out of your odd trance, lowering your head.

“Thanks for hanging out with me. I was tired of hanging out with myself, you know?”

Gwen furrowed her brows, adamant on fixing her look on the most boring stray lettuce ever. “Why? You’re a fun person.”

“Really? ‘Cause it doesn’t seem like that’s what you think about me.” You teased her, masking the undeniable bit of hurt.

Gwen’s finger’s movements came to a halt and she placed her hands on the table, leaning towards you. “What?! What do you mean?”

“Alright, then what do you really think about me?” You put your elbows on the hard surface and mimicked Gwen, a crooked smile adorning your features. Gwen bit her lip in thought, raising one shoulder.

“You’re cool.” She said simply, trying to appear nonchalant. An ‘oof’ slipped past your lips and you clutched onto your chest, dramatizing the insulted expression.

“That’s it? Just cool? I’m a bit hurt.”

Gwen rolled her eyes, laughing. “What else do you want me to say?”

“I dunno, last time you said I was— and I quote— ‘very, very pretty’” You recalled, using air quotes. Gwen scratched her eyebrow, left blank on what to reply because— oh, yeah right— she did, in fact, say that.

The smugness lingered on your face as you waited for her to break down and repeat herself, but she composed herself and cleared her throat. “Hey, it’s not fair if you’re the only one asking questions! Being interviewed is hard work, you know.” She raised her hands defensively, her eyebrows lifted. You immediately caught onto what she was doing and pointed an accusing finger at her.

“You’re avoiding my question.”

“Well, where’s the fun in knowing all the answers to the universe?”

You had to agree. But you leaned back and crossed one leg over the other, accidentally (or was it?) nudging her leg with your foot. “I don’t know. I like honesty.”

Oh dear, Gwen narrowed her eyes, her chest throbbing. “Hey—” The both of you jumped and looked at the source of the greeting— neither of you knew when exactly, but the waiter stood there with a polite smile, holding three menus close to his stomach. “Just letting y’all know that since Valentine’s Day is coming up, the milkshakes are on discount for couples.” Gwen leaned far away from the table, from you, and let out an uncomfortable chuckle.

“Oh, no, we’re not—”

“Oh, great!” You exclaimed and grabbed Gwen’s hand. “Do you want to share one, babe?”

Gwen froze, her shoulders and the hand you clutched onto tense, prickling at your touch. You looked at her attentively, and your lovey-dovey eyes left her stunned, grabbed onto her voice and trapped it in her throat— intimidated her. She had to give it to you, though, your acting could fool anyone or leave anyone wondering…especially her.

Seeing as the seconds continued to pass and she never replied, you chose to take it as a sign that she was following you and you glanced up at the waiter. “We’d like a vanilla milkshake, please.” You smiled.

Following the waiter’s departure, Gwen looked at you surprised. “I thought you liked honesty?” She laughed in disbelief, pretending to judge you intensely. You innocently picked up another fry, hiding your growing beam.

“Hey, I’m not gonna turn down a discount.”

Gwen giggled, shaking her head. “Fair enough. But you’re crazy.”

“But you still love me, right babe?” You smirked and lifted your connected hands. When Gwen realized she hadn’t let go yet, she first thought about pulling away. But she didn’t. Instead, she timidly squeezed your hand, forcing out a scoff.

“Right. Of course, babe.”

Finally, you unclasped your hands and Gwen’s hand slowly curled into a fist as she considered something. “Hey, where are you headed after this?” She rushed out. You tilted your head.

“Home. Why?”

She swallowed her nerves, thinking about dismissing her own question and shrugging it off. She had to get back home as well, after all.

But she didn’t want to yet.

“Can I walk you back?”

The walk back to your place dragged on for longer than usual, and you both pretended to act shocked, as if it’d been a glitch in the matrix and time ticked away slower than normal; but in the back of your heads, the two of you knew it’d been no accident, that you weren’t too engulfed into your conversation enough that you ended up taking the long way back home without noticing. Perhaps the two of you wandered longer, slowed down your pace much more than necessary— clung onto the moon and kept it in its place in the sky with your excuses so the night would stay, last as much as you wanted it to. Your efforts were partly successful, but of course, it had to come to an end eventually.

Your meetings didn’t, though. No, they were just getting started.

On Valentine’s Day, you might have taken advantage of another discount for couples, but no one really needed to know that. After that day and after Gwen finally got a new phone (it took her a few days to tell her dad, since she knew he wouldn’t be the happiest once he heard how her phone got destroyed in the first place), you sent her a message which she couldn’t deny made her insides feel a type of way: ‘If you ever need a fake date, don’t hesitate in calling me’.

And a winky face. She couldn’t forget the winky face.

But, in all truth, neither of you needed a ‘fake date’ as a reason to see each other. Every once in awhile, Thursday and Saturday after band practice, the two of you would abandon the girls and simply hang out. It didn’t matter where— sometimes you didn’t even have a place in mind, but somehow, gladly for your brain fearing rejection, Gwen would agree nonetheless. She didn’t think much about it until one afternoon, once you were done telling a bad joke that embarrassingly enough made her laugh, she realized she hadn’t checked the time. Not once.

During band practice, MJ and Glory noted that something had changed. Mainly because they soon realized they hadn’t witnessed any new embarrassing events between you two for them to laugh at behind your backs in a while, but your peeks at each other weren’t fearful anymore. They were now… something which they couldn’t place their finger on, but it was different enough for them to share a look and raise their eyebrows. Naturally, it didn’t take long before Em Jay had to jam herself into your affairs and asked you what you thought about Gwen, using as a justification that you had gotten a month and a half to get to know the band.

If Gwen could’ve gotten the opportunity to travel back in time to step in and prevent Em Jay from getting close to you with her blabbering mouth, she would’ve taken it immediately.

“When were you going to tell me you two fucking knew each other?!” MJ’s shriek hurt Gwen’s ears and left her speechless for a few moments after she walked into the room. Then, she succeeded in processing her question through her brain, and her face was now considerably paler than before.

“Hello to you too?”

MJ glared at her and walked away from her. While she moved around the many cables on the floor with her foot, Gwen dropped her backpack near the door, eyeing her. “How do you know?”

“I talked to Y/N.” She simply responded. Gwen huffed, unbelieving, and crossed her arms.

“And why did you talk to her?”

MJ gave her an obvious look. “Because, uh, she’s my bandmate? And my friend?” Gwen rolled her eyes and crouched down to take her drumsticks from her bag; meanwhile, Em Jay wasn’t over the topic yet. “I can’t believe you kept that from me. Unbelievable. I’m the only one who knows about your little spider secret!” She threw her hands in the air, as if her attitude wasn’t already dramatic enough. Gwen looked up at her with squinted eyes.

“Because you found out on accident. Did you also tell her about that?” She scoffed, standing up. Em Jay followed her to the drums, pursing her lips.

“No. She wouldn’t believe me anyway. But in my defense, Glory and Betty never do either, so you’ve literally got nothing to worry about.”

Gwen sat down on the drum stool. “We met last year, but we never became friends, though. We’re just acquaintances, I’m sorry. Is that what you wanted to hear?”

Em Jay shrugged, her expression unchanging. “Yeah, I guess. Now I’m embarrassed for you again, though. You have to apologize to her.”

Gwen’s mouth hung slightly open. “I already apologized twice! Why would I do it again?!”

“You acted as if you didn’t know her when you first met! Like, who does that?” However, before Gwen could explain herself, you and Glory walked through the door, carrying your instruments plus a milkshake in your hand.

“Sup.” Glory nodded her head at the two girls. MJ shot finger guns at her and you walked up to Gwen before you stretched out your arm, holding the milkshake up to her face.

Gwen quirked a brow. “What’s this?”

“I got you a milkshake, babe.” You joked, smirking. Gwen’s cheeks and ears reddened and she hesitantly accepted it, her mouth twitching. “Since we haven’t had the chance to hang out in a while.”

MJ and Glory shared another of their looks, the one with which they telepathically communicated with. After you left Gwen, MJ kneeled down beside her, grinning knowingly.

“She told me she thinks you’re great, dude. Do whatever you want with that information.”

Gwen chose not to do anything with it. At least not for now.

Summer break came along to free Gwen from the suffocating hold school had around her neck, and more importantly, to give her time to focus on patrolling, the Mary Janes, and, well, you. Texting you in the morning, texting you at noon, texting you in the afternoon after she managed to stop a robbery at Junction Boulevard, texting you at night; and she couldn’t forget, of course, spending time with you whenever you could. How could she forget? It seemed almost impossible now, for you had implemented yourself into her routine, but she couldn’t quite pinpoint in what moment. She didn’t even come upon the realization until you left the state for a week, and she found herself waiting for your texts.

However, once you returned and the band reunited, Em Jay wasted no time and suggested having a ‘girl’s night’ at her place, claiming it wasn’t because she ‘missed you all, or anything, but for band-bonding’. She sent you and Gwen to the store to buy snacks (and, unsurprisingly for Gwen, winked at Glory as you two walked out of the door), and right now you both stood in front of the freezers, Gwen observing you as you put all your concentration, your tongue poking out of your mouth, on combining two sodas into an empty water bottle. Gwen gagged dramatically, laughter escaping her throat nonetheless. “That’s fucking gross, man.” She grimaced while you giggled maniacally.

The new beverage fizzled and you analyzed it closely, your eyes following the bubbles dancing in the liquid. “I can’t believe they sell bacon and ranch dressing soda here. This place is nuts.”

“And you’re mixing them together.”

“You could say I’m a scientist.”

Gwen scoffed at your statement, a grin lingering on her face. You sniffed the soda, and held it up to her face. “Do you want to try it?”

Gwen pushed the bottle away with her finger, wrinkling her nose. “You could have me at gunpoint and I still wouldn’t try it.”

You pouted, screwing the cap closed. “Okay, your loss, I guess. I’ll have it here just in case you change your mind.” You waved the bottle and placed it on a shelf before you kneeled down to inspect the bags of marshmallows. Gwen shook her head, her smile reaching her eyes.

“Trust me, I won’t.”

You picked up a bag, eyeing her sideways. “You know what?” You stole back her attention and she hummed, tilting her head. “You’re my favorite member in the band.”

Gwen’s face softened, although she wondered if she was crazy, or if her hands were all of a sudden clammy. “Me? Your… your favorite?” She asked, her voice small. You looked down, hoping she couldn’t see your timid expression.

“Yeah. I mean, no offense to Em Jay or Glory— they’re both awesome, but… I really like you, Gwen Stacy.” You shared eye contact, the corner of your mouth quirking up.

Gwen searched for something to distract herself with, and wound up snatching a random bag of gummies and pretending to read the ingredients. “Are you just trying to get me to pay for all of this?” She joked, gesturing to the casket of food. You let out a dramatic sigh, grumpily looking away from her.

“Aw, man, you caught me.” You made a sad face, but it was fleeting. “…But, no. I mean it. For real.”

Gwen bit her lip, her face the shade of the cherry candy in her hands. “Yeah, well… you’re pretty cool as well, Y/N L/N.” She copied you, shrugging. You groaned in annoyance, staring heavenward.

“Don’t give me that ‘you’re cool’ bullshit again.” You warned, mocking her voice and she giggled, placing the candy back in its place.

“What? It’s the truth!”

“Is that really all you think of me?” You feigned disappointment, playing with her.

No. Most definitely not. Gwen had grown to form many opinions about you other than solely ‘just cool’. Her thoughts varied. Sometimes she liked the way you made her laugh so effortlessly. Other times she couldn’t wrap her head around how, with you, the concept of time was both nonexistent and eternal, a concept you took its meaning away from, for it became irrelevant. She loved how you played bass, and how you gave it a voice, personified it into a dancing body that mesmerized her. She liked the way the corners of your eyes crinkled when you smiled, and how you tilted your head sometimes when you were confused like a puppy. She liked your way of talking, your hair, how you dressed, your posture, your face and the flaws in your skin.

Maybe she really liked you. And that scared her.

When she didn’t answer, you gave up and stood up, stretching your legs. “Okay, at least I’m glad you think I’m cool. It’s what I’d expect from my fake girlfriend.” You winked at her playfully, but she wasn’t fully paying attention now. “Okay, last question, though—”

Gwen sighed, her shoulders dropping. “What now?” You moved your arms behind your back, drawing a circle with the tip of your shoe on the floor.

“You never answered if you really think that I’m pretty.”

Gwen almost choked. She thought she had escaped that question months ago. Without thinking, her gaze landed on the soda hybrid sitting on the shelf and she grabbed it. You didn’t know what was happening in front of you until Gwen was sputtering after taking a big gulp of the drink. “What the fuck?! Why did you do that!” You gasped, your eyes wide and the laughter daring to climb up your throat.

Gwen stuck her tongue out and coughed, her face scrunching up with regret. “If I drink the soda then I don’t have to answer the question.” You couldn’t believe she was willing to do anything instead of giving you an answer.

You doubled over, cackling and holding your stomach. “Since when is that a rule?!”

“Since now.”

For the record, Gwen did think you were pretty. Very, very pretty.

As time went by, Gwen couldn’t help but stare during practice. Stare at your fingers, sliding down and up the neck with ease; your head, nodding along to the music, lost in it enough that you didn’t notice the obvious ogling from her part. And your face. She tried focusing on it most of the time, but it resulted a lot more difficult than she originally expected. You either moved it too much whilst you played, or you faced away from her since—well— she did play the drums.

There was also the third reason. The unsettling burn in her chest that sped up her breathing if her mind went too far, which occurred if she thought about you too much. Too deeply. But, God, did she try, and God, did she take advantage of every time you looked back at her, because you inexplicably dissolved that uneasiness in her.

Late at night, with your blankets wrapped around you tightly, you stared at your phone screen, mindlessly scrolling and double-tapping every picture you came upon. Not a minute passed before you opened a conversation, however, perhaps for the fourth time— not that it was anyone’s business, anyway— awaiting for another text. Gwen’s text, to be more specific. You didn’t want to come off as obsessive, but it had been an hour and thirteen minutes yet she hadn’t responded, and you… were missing her? You shook your head. Well. There was a possibility that you were. Maybe, you couldn’t get her off your mind, and maybe, you wished you could simply think about her and she’d integrate right there in your bedroom—

A knock on the window disrupted your train of thought, and as if on cue, a notification rang from your phone. ‘It’s me’, you read. Gwen had sent the message. “What the fuck?” You muttered, confused. Needing to see it for yourself, you jumped out of your bed and ran to your window before you unlatched the window lock and slid it open.

Of course, as the text message said, it was indeed Gwen, in your fire escape, and not a prank she elaborated to scare the life out of you. “Hi.” Was all she said. You tilted your head, your brows knitted together.

“Hi? Is that all you’re going to say?”

She thought for a second. “…How are you?”

“What are you doing in my fire escape?”

“I got locked out of my house.” She shrugged.

You let out a huff of air in disbelief, moving out of the way so she could climb inside. As she threw one leg over the sill, you placed your hands on your hips, shaking your head. “You get locked out of your house, and the first place that comes to your mind is my place?” You questioned, amused. Yet again, Gwen raised and dropped her shoulders. You went to close the window, but not before glancing out, imagining all the struggle she must’ve gone through to lower the ladder and then climb up five stories. “And how the hell did you even get all the way up here?” You muttered to yourself, but Gwen heard it.

“It’s a fire escape, my dear. They’re there to, you know, get out of the building so you don’t die if there’s a fire?”

You rolled your eyes and sat down on your bed. “Okay, just be quiet, ‘cause I don’t think my family would be very happy about having an unexpected visitor this late.” Guilt sculpted Gwen’s countenance.

“I mean… I can leave if you want—”

“No.” You said quickly, too fast for your liking, actually. You cleared your throat and smiled, patting the area beside you. “No, it’s alright. You can stay however long you want. They don’t have to find out.” You waggled your eyebrows jokingly. She was grateful the sole lamp rested on your bedside table, far away from you and its amber touch embracing you alone, for she didn’t need you seeing the blood rapidly rushing to her warm face.

Gwen sat down where you motioned her to, although kept some distance, and squeezed her hands resting on her lap together. “Thanks… it’ll just be a while. My dad had an emergency, and I really don’t know when he’ll be back, so…” She explained and popped her mouth after her sentence died out. You nodded understandingly, shuffling somewhat closer to her.

“I’m glad you came here. I wouldn’t want you staying out there and freezing to death. Plus, I was pretty bored.”

Gwen raised a brow. “Bored? Aren’t you supposed to be sleeping?”

You scoffed with a faint smile. “Shut up, hypocrite. You were out so late that you got left out of your house.”

“I was busy!”

“Doing what? Selling drugs?”

“Maybe. You’ll never know.”

You began to fan yourself. “Ooh, a drug lord, so hot.”

Gwen scrunched up her nose, giving you a judgemental look. “Is that what turns you on? Drug lords?”

“Nah, that’s not quite it…” You glanced at her out of the corner of your eye before your gaze shifted to your lap, your fingers playing with the hem of your shirt.

Gwen didn’t know whether she was reaching— but oh. She didn’t know what courage the universe granted her, either, for she then focused on her nails and pretended to be uninterested. “Huh, then what does turn you on?” Your eyebrows almost reached your hairline in surprise, but you quickly composed yourself.

“Why do you want to know?” You asked, leaning closer to her. She shrugged one shoulder.

“I mean, you never know. What if a friend of mine wanted to ask you out?”

You bit your lip. “Depends. Is she cute?”

“I never specified their gender. And it’s theoretical.” She cleared up, raising one finger. You laughed, moving even closer to her.

“Well, then, I really like blue eyes.”

“…Really?” Her shy voice made your organs jump, which you didn’t know if it was normal or a serious medical condition you should get checked out. You hummed, holding yourself up with your arms behind you. “They’re cool, I guess.” Again, she tried to sound as if she didn’t care, or as if your comment didn’t make her as happy as it secretly did.

“Short hair is also pretty cute.” You added. “Especially if it’s a cool hairstyle.”

“A cool… a cool hairstyle, huh? What do you mean?”

“I don’t know.” Gwen now knew how frustrated you felt when she avoided your questions. “What about you?” You looked at her, insecurity threatening to overpower your current confidence.

“Oh. I don’t know. Musicians are hot.” She showed you a crooked smile. You wanted to squeal, embarrassingly enough.

“Do you like bass guitar players?” A bold move, indeed. Gwen faked entering deep into thought.

“…Eh, I think drummers are hotter.”

You shoved her playfully, laughing. “Rude!”

“Hey, you asked what I liked.” You both giggled, struggling to keep your noises down, but eventually, your laughter dissipated and she played with her fingers. “But bass players are pretty cute, too.”

You gulped, Gwen’s shoulder touching yours spiking your nerves. “Yeah, well, I agree that drummers are cute, too.”

You both glanced down at each other’s lips, holding your breaths. However, before you could do anything, Gwen got to her feet. “You should try getting some sleep. I don’t want you being sleep deprived because of me.” She laughed nervously, taking off her sneakers.

Disappointment invaded your brain, but admittedly, your eyes did feel a lot heavier than before. “What are you gonna do?” You questioned, remembering her situation. You definitely were more worried than her, who was unfazed.

“I’ll just wait I guess.”

“You should catch some Z’s as well.”

Gwen didn’t argue. She climbed into bed with you, although insisted she didn’t need any covers or blankets since she was just going to take a nap. After that, you couldn’t resist the sleep threatening to spread through your system and you passed out. It felt like minutes passed at most, until you were suddenly gently shaken awake.

You fought to open your eyes before you squinted and looked up at whoever had woken you up. Slowly, the indistinguishable figure transformed into Gwen’s apologetic smile dimly lit by your bedside lamp.

“Hey, sleepyhead.”

You groaned, rubbing your bleary eyes and sitting up. “What time is it?” You croaked out. Gwen squinted to discern the numbers in her watch.

“Two in the morning.”

“Two in the morning?!” She nodded, laughing quietly. “Do you have to go?” You would’ve been embarrassed by the heartbreak in your voice, but you were too out of it to dwell on it.

“Yeah, but it’s okay, you can go back to sleep. I just wanted to let you know.”

You didn’t quite process what was going on until you saw her backing away to the window. Suddenly fully awake, your eyes widened and you threw your covers off of you. “What are you doing?”

Gwen opened the window and glanced back at you, lifting a brow. “Leaving?”

You yawned, shaking your finger at her. “No, no, no—” You rubbed your eye and laughed at her. “How about I lead you out of the door like a normal person?”

Gwen blushed, slowly closing the window. “Ah, well, I guess that’s an option.”

“I don’t want to wake anyone up, though, so just stay quiet, alright?” Gwen simply nodded and you wrapped your hand around her wrist, guiding her towards your bedroom door. You opened it as silently as you could, holding your breath, almost afraid that if you breathed, the entire house would be blown away. There’s only darkness, but you walked into it unbothered, while Gwen followed you like a loyal animal. Now that her sight was gone, she fully took in your touch as your soft hold tugged on her arm. You suddenly stopped and she mimicked you, patiently waiting for the sound of the unlocking of the door. However, all she picked up was the shuffling of your feet before you held in your breath. Then, she felt your other hand grab hers.

“Gwen?” You asked quietly, your voice so timid the darkness and the silence could’ve easily engulfed it. Without the view of your face, your skin against hers seemed too much, nearly unbearable.

“…Y-Yeah?”

“Can you see me?”

She shook her head, until she recalled that if she couldn’t see you, neither could you see her and the gesture was nothing more than useless. “Not really.”

“Okay. Cool.”

“Are you going to kill me?”

You giggled, and it didn’t knock over the walls, but it most definitely almost did her body. “No. Do you want me to?”

“Eh… no, thanks.”

“Ok, dork.” You chuckled, but it instantly came to an end. Your breathing wasn’t steady anymore— it trembled, sounded heavy. Then, out of nowhere: “If I kiss you, are you going to run away?”

Gwen just blinked. Despite the darkness, white dots exploded in her vision. “W-what?” Her voice almost failed her.

“Can I kiss you?”

In the room, there was nothing more. It was just your nervous breaths, your loud fridge, and Gwen’s heart. Her heart at full volume, pumping fast, doing its best to keep her awake, sane, on her feet. It was just you and her. Solely you, your gentle hands, and her. She blinked again.

“Okay.”

Your touch disappeared but then reappeared on her cheek, and absentmindedly, she placed her hand over yours. Your thumb, shaking, searched for her mouth, until it successfully brushed against her lips. Gwen gulped, her skin tingling as your breath fanned over it.

It was just you, her, and your lips. Your lips and her own.

You both remained with your eyes closed after your lips lost contact, although it didn’t make a difference in any way. But Gwen’s eyelids fluttered open, and a beam began to blossom.

“I’m glad you didn’t kill me.”

You kissed her a second time before she left.

It would be a criminal understatement to say that Gwen freaked out after she arrived back home. When she made the decision to start letting new friends into her life for good at the beginning of the year as another New Year’s resolution, she took a gigantic step. She then spoke to MJ, which was a leap in itself, and you joined the band. She stumbled, balanced herself on one foot at the edge for a while, but eventually, she managed to jump to the third step once she waited outside your school and apologized to you. She was convinced that would be it; the final and toughest stride, because if she managed to get past through all the previous ones, then it had to mean she was ready, right?

She was just finding out she was wrong, though.

The plan was to make a friend. A friend and nothing more nor nothing less. However, without being fully conscious of it, she continued to sprint up the stairs, past what her original intention was. And now, as she stared so far up at the next colossal step— at the feelings that kept growing for you, at your kiss, at you— she felt herself tipping backwards. There was no way she could climb that. She’d only slip and plummet down to her death.

Somehow, though, when you two agreed on meeting up at an arcade two days later, she decided she might as well go for it.

Gwen eyed the time for what she felt was the millionth time that day and her mask muffled the groan that followed. She had at least thirty minutes left of patrol and— she knew it was a dramatic statement— she didn’t know if she would be able to make it through them. I could call it a day earlier, she thought. It had been the most uneventful day lacking any major criminal activity, after all: all she did was help a little kid get back to his father and stop the usual theft, but other than that, she spent the day swinging around and even had the time to take a picture with a fan.

Her phone began to vibrate. You were calling her. “Hey… you…kid…” She cringed. How was she supposed to greet you from now on? Things weren’t the same.

She heard you snort at her hello. “Hi. Just wanted to tell you that I’m on my way.”

Gwen’s brows snapped together and she checked the time one more time. “Already? You’re early.”

“Yeah, I hope you don’t mind. I wanted to get started earlier so I don’t have to walk back home too late, but also so I can beat your ass and get more tickets than you.”

“Are you challenging me?”

“Not really, because I already know I’m gonna win.”

“Don’t sound so confident,” Gwen smiled and lied down on her back, staring up at the sky. “But if you do win, you better get me a prize.”

“Why would I get the loser a prize? I’m gonna get myself something cool and big and rub it in your face.”

Gwen scoffed but giggled nonetheless. All of a sudden, you went dead silent and she sat up, perking her ears for any further noise. “Y/N? Are you still there?”

It took you a few seconds to answer. “I just heard something weird.”

Gwen’s face drained of color and she jumped up, the tingling present in the back of her head. “Are you alone?”

“Yeah.”

“Get out of there. Now. Find somewhere that’s crowded.”

“Don’t be so paranoid. I bet it’s nothing. Could you imagine if I, like, got murdered, though?” You laughed nervously, trying to ease both of your nerves but Gwen’s sting in her head was only strengthening. “How tragic. Anyway—”

Your voice halted. A distant strangled cry left the speaker. “Y/N?!” Gwen called for your attention, frantic, her heart nearly breaking out of her chest. Something was not right.

“Hold on.”

It was all you said before you ended the call. She wasted no time nor hesitated— she ran to the end of the rooftop and jumped off, shooting a web. She swung as fast as she could, to the point where her aim nearly missed a building. Her thoughts were rushed, hectic, created the worst scenarios so vivid the bile began to make her way up her throat and she had to blink the dampness of her eyes away.

Hiding behind a dumpster nearing the end of an alleyway, you held your phone up to your ear, your legs aching from the speed with which you ran away. You could barely breathe. It was just a messy attempt of ragged breaths that despite how hard you tried to make them quiet, you simply couldn’t. “Please hurry up.”

“We’re trying to get there as fast as we can, miss. Are you hurt?”

“N-No, I’m fi—” A loud bang shook the dumpster next to you and you involuntarily yelped in fear. Your hand flew up to cover your mouth, but it was too late.

The woman and the man who chased you quickly found you, and the guy gripped your arm, yanking you out of your hiding spot. “What the fuck did you see?!” He spat in your face, holding you trapped against his body with his arm choking your neck. “Tell us or you’re fucking dead, hear me?!”

You sputtered and your fingernails scratched his arm, trying to get him off of you. When you realized you weren’t getting anywhere, your eyes flickered down to your hand. You blindly moved it up to his face, and once you grazed his eyelashes, you dug your fingers into his eye with all your strength.

He cried out and let go of you. Without thinking, you spun around and went in to punch whatever area of his face you hoped your hit landed on. But he recovered quickly and caught your fist in mid-air. All you could do was stare at him in horror. You didn’t quite process what was coming at you until he struck your eye.

“Bad move, kid.” The woman said and you glanced up at her with watery eyes, shielding the throbbing left side of your face. She took out her gun, pointed it at you, and your heart dropped.

You had lost all hope, until a ‘thwip!’ echoed in between the walls.

Out of nowhere, a web stuck to the barrel of the gun and, in the blink of an eye, snatched it from the woman’s grasp. Spider-Gwen came into your blurry vision before she spun the gun and smacked it onto the stranger’s head.

She stumbled backwards, grasping her head. Meanwhile, Gwen shot two webs at the wall behind the older girl. Holding onto the strings tightly, she pushed herself off the ground and knocked her down with a kick at her jaw. As she webbed her to the wall, her eyes suddenly widened. She swiftly ducked under, dodging a punch coming from the man behind her. Crouching down, she swiped her leg under him and sent him down.

After he fell on the ground, Gwen towered over him, her fists shaking with fury. As soon as he opened his eyes, she drew her arm back and smashed her knuckles into his nose, a painful crack resonating clear and loud.

She panted loudly, her chest rising and falling quickly as she trapped the now unconscious man’s hand to the gravel. She continued to observe him, her lip twitching, the sirens approaching in the background, until she heard a dry sob behind her. She looked back, only to see you backed up into the corner, hugging yourself.

Gwen ran up to you and kneeled down in front of you, holding your hand. “H-Hey, hey, you’re okay now.” She shushed you, her hand almost coming up to your cheek until she stopped herself. She wanted to stay with you and ask more questions, but two police cars parked themselves at the start of the alleyway. Her heart screamed at her not to. It cursed at her, begged for her feet not to move. However, she looked down at you one last moment and she shot a web up at the sky, zipping out of there.

She watched over you for an hour and a half as you talked to the police, and then when the paramedics attended you. She couldn’t stay long, though, since you furrowed your brows and then glanced up, your sight focusing on her. She instantly hid away, deciding that it’d be best if she just waited at your apartment.

Gwen tried telling herself that you were now fine. She saw you there, not missing a limb or anything, breathing and alive. But despite that, she couldn’t rest in peace. The image of you in the corner— your entire body shaking, your rough appearance, the tears that abandoned your eyes. Broken. It wouldn’t fuck off despite how many times she told it to.

She couldn’t help but recall Peter Parker’s face as she shakily held his corpse in her arms. And then she remembered why she had given up on letting anyone get close to her in the first place.

She had lost track of how long she’d been staring at your window. The window which she climbed through just three nights ago when she got locked out of her place. The night your warm smile greeted her. The night you first kissed her. The night that, perhaps if it hadn’t occurred— if she hadn’t forgotten to take her key with her, or she had left her window open, if she had gone to Em Jay’s, Glory’s, or even Betty’s place instead of yours— if she hadn’t been in the picture, you wouldn’t be in the situation that you were in now.

Because of her, you could’ve lost your life.

She’d texted you— as Gwen— asking if you were alright. It didn’t help that you straight up lied and said that you weren’t feeling alright so you decided to skip the night. At last, the light turned on in your room and she snapped out of a trance. It didn’t take long before she was trying to look through your window as discreetly as she could, her heart starting yet again with its running when she made out your silhouette. It moved around the room, until it stopped in front of the window. To her nightmare, your figure grew bigger as it came closer and closer, and opened the window. When she saw your face, her insides twisted.

You nearly screamed as soon as you saw Spider-Woman outside your window. You jumped back. It was the Spider-Woman. Unbelieving, you blinked at her— a bad idea, you then realized, considering your bruised eye.

“…Spider-Woman?”

“Uh, hi there.”

You touched your head, closing your eyes. Maybe the blow you received was worse than you thought. “Am I hallucinating?”

Gwen laughed weakly. “Nope. I’m very real right now.”

“Oh, okay.” You stared at her, disoriented, a million questions running through your brain. “Can I— can I ask what you are doing here?” You chose to ask first.

“I, uh, wanted to check up on you after the incident that happened earlier. I didn’t really have time to say anything.” It wasn’t fully a lie. You nodded slowly, tilting your head.

“How’d you know where I live?”

She couldn’t judge you for asking so many questions, but God, coming up with a lie on the spot was turning out to be problematic for her. “Uh… spider-sense?”

She tried.

You were yet more perplexed. “Spider what?”

“It’s a thing… I have…” She tapped her head. Again, it wasn’t a full-blown lie. Thankfully, you didn’t continue budging and instead hummed, nervously playing with the hem of your shirt. “You don’t have to answer— only if you want to talk about it, but…what happened?” She asked quietly, afraid of your reaction. Your body went rigid and you hesitated.

“I was going to meet up with a girl I like when I heard and then saw someone getting beaten to death.” Her white eye lenses grew big. “The two out of the three people doing it saw me and began to chase me. I tried to hide, but they eventually caught up to me.” You whispered.

Her fingers touched her mouth. “Oh God… I’m so… I’m so sorry. It’s my fault.”

You raised a brow. “…What do you mean? You saved me.”

“But I…” Gwen choked up and you furrowed your brows. She checked her watch, her body so weak she was surprised she was standing up. “I have to go. I’m sorry you had to go through that. You don’t deserve it.”

Before you could reply, she scurried away from your window and leaped off the fire escape. You watched as she swung away and eventually disappeared, feeling hazy and more puzzled than ever.

After she thought she had gotten far away enough, Gwen dropped down on a random rooftop, stumbling and falling to her knees. She felt trapped inside the mask. Almost as if it were stuck, permanently sewn to her skin, and if she tried to rip it off, she’d tear every last inch of skin off with it. She was the mask. She was Spider-Woman, and would forever be. It’s a responsibility she was doomed with for eternity unless she lost a fucking limb or her own life, and there’s nothing she could do about it. She couldn’t simply walk away, or dispose of all the criminals and villains, all the calamities and traps hurled at her which sent her defenseless body flying, hurting it, along with everyone else in the way. Everyone else like Peter. Peter and now you.

Her trembling hand ripped off her mask, her wet face nearly freezing as the wind attacked her skin. She took out her phone and searched for your contact, wiping her nose with her gloves. “Hey…” She typed, but stopped. Keep going, she urged herself. Just fucking write. Her thumb hung above the keyboard, her teary eyes fixed on the cursor blinking, taunting her.

“If you don’t do this, I’m going to hate you for the rest of my fucking life, Gwen.” She hissed at herself and hiccuped after. It didn’t matter if you hated her. It had to be done.

You inspected with a frown at your bruised eye in the mirror, your fingers ghosting over the swollen skin. But your grimace vanished and a faint grin took over your features when you received a message and read Gwen’s name. Rapidly, you opened the text, the overwhelming heaviness burning in your chest immediately flickering out.

It was only temporary, though.

Gwen read the message one last time, and her heart dropped down to her stomach the instant she saw you had opened it. Her own words repeated themselves in her head, slashing her skin with regret, mercilessly cutting her heart apart into unfixable bits.

“I’ve been thinking lately, and I think it’d be best if we’re just bandmates. You’re cool, so I hope that there are no hard feelings between us.”

She turned off her phone and closed her eyes, letting out a long breath. Somehow, she still hated herself.

You didn’t reply. Not a word, no phone call. Nothing. You explained to MJ and Glory what had happened and missed band practice for a week, saying you wanted your eye to heal as much as possible. You never told Gwen anything, though. The girls were in charge of doing it, and she had to act surprised and repress the regret that stabbed at her. Glory was shocked she wasn’t the first to find out and she questioned her about it, but Gwen solely shrugged and forced out a laugh when MJ joked that getting hurt was a curse running for bassists in the band.

The week had finally passed by and you came to Thursday rehearsal. You still greeted Glory with your secret handshake and MJ with the usual hug, as enthusiastic as always. But you ignored Gwen, and she didn’t fight against it. She had now made a promise to herself she couldn’t break.

You’d been practicing for an hour longer than usual, stuck on the same song since Em Jay would stop in the midst of it and insist that you started over again. Everyone knew who was— or, to be more correct— were the culprits, but no one dared to speak up. MJ broke away from the mic, rubbing her face in frustration, and raised her fist in the air to end the playing. “Okay, that sucked. Yet again. But it’s okay, let’s start over from the top.”

Glory let her fingers run down the keyboard, creating what you could say was the loveliest catastrophe of a melody, and sighed. “Em Jay, I think we should take a break—”

“No, no, no, we’ll get it right this time. Let’s just get it over with, okay?” No one agreed, but she continued nonetheless. “One, two, three!”

You began again. At first, no one was messing up, and Em Jay’s hope returned. However, a minute into the song, both the drums and the bass went their own ways and invented their own pace, and MJ turned around, her hands on her hips. “I didn’t want to say it, but you two really need to get your shit together.” She pointed at Gwen and then at you.

Gwen glanced at you. “Y/N’s a bit late.” You opened your mouth in disbelief and faced her.

“You’re going way too fucking fast!”

“No, that’s the right tempo.”

“No, it’s not.”

“Uh, yeah, it is.”

You narrowed your eyes. “Since when?”

“Since always!” Gwen exclaimed, sharing your scowl. “I’m the one who’s been here since the beginning, I think I know better.”

You couldn’t keep your mouth shut any longer.

“Shut the fuck up, you don’t know shit, okay?!” You yelled at her, taking an intimidating step closer to her. When MJ noticed Gwen gripping her drumsticks hard, she tried to intervene.

“Guys—”

“Leave it, Mary Jane.” Gwen warned her, her face stern, and MJ stared at her, expressionless.

“It’s Em Jay.”

“I don’t fucking care!”

“Yeah, you very clearly don’t, huh?” You said, laughing without humor and stepping even closer to Gwen. “You don’t know shit, and you don’t give a shit about anyone. It’s scary how you pretend to care about someone, but you don’t. You just fucking use them to keep yourself entertained for a while, until you get bored and then decide to leave.” You were now right in front of her, and you pointed an accusing finger into her face. Gwen tensed her jaw, fighting hard against the wetness of her eyes.

“That’s not true.”

“Oh, don’t fucking lie, Gwen.” You glared at her, shaking your head. “Don’t act like I don’t know you.”

You both shared eye contact for a few moments, and as Gwen began to blink hard, you scoffed and took a step back. “Whatever.” You muttered and turned away. “I think I’m done for the day.”

The room stayed dead silent while you packed your things up. Glory and Em Jay communicated with each other through their gazes, both equally as confused, but Gwen stuck her sight to the floor, her lip trembling as she curled her hand so tightly around the drumstick it snapped. You slammed the door shut, and Em Jay cleared her throat, biting her nails.

“What the fuck just happened?” MJ and Glory moved their stares to Gwen. “Gwen?”

Gwen rubbed her eye, sighing. “What?” She mumbled. MJ approached her slowly, frowning.

“You got something to tell us?”

Gwen shrugged. “Maybe.” Glory raised her brows. “I messed up long ago.”

“She seems too mad for it to have been long ago.” MJ laughed nervously, but Gwen wasn’t taking any of it anymore. She stood up and pulled her hair, groaning.

“God, Em Jay, this wouldn’t have happened if you had just fucking stopped trying so hard to make our friendship work. You don’t even care about me making friends, you just wanted to feel good about yourself for helping poor little me!” She shouted, nudging MJ with her drumsticks. Em Jay remained quiet, visibly hurt, and hugging herself.

“Gwen.” Glory repeated, her strict voice shocking both Gwen and MJ. “I think you hurt someone. And I think you owe them an apology.”

Gwen took a moment to breathe, and that was when she realized what she had done. She looked at MJ and grabbed her hand, squeezing it. “I’m sorry, Em Jay. I shouldn’t have lashed out at you. Thank you for trying. I should’ve tried harder as well.” She whispered sadly.

The corner of MJ’s mouth quirked upwards, and gripped her hand back. “Thanks. But I think you’ve got one more apology left.”

It felt like February all over again. Back when MJ called her to tell her the same thing, and one day later, Gwen waited outside your school. However, this time, she knew she had to apologize for real. For the correct reason.

Gwen let her drumsticks fall to the floor and she jumped over the cables. Speeding out of the door, she hoped she still had the chance to catch up to you and hadn’t lost you again. To her relief, you were at the end of the corridor, in front of the opening elevator doors when she called out your name. Your ears perked up, but your expression hardened when you saw her running up to you. “Y/N, listen—”

“Fuck off.” You laughed and moved to get into the elevator, but Gwen grabbed your arm and spun you around.

“No!” You stared at her, shocked. “N-No, I’m not going to… fuck off. Not this time.” Her eyes were big, begging.

You clutched her wrist and pulled her hand away from you. “I think it’s too little too late, Gwen. I’ve had enough.”

“I made a mistake.”

“Yeah, no shit.”

“Just let me talk, please.”

“No.” You shushed her, breathing heavily. “Let me talk, okay? Let me tell you about this little mistake of yours. Not only did you act as if you didn’t know me months ago and said we were never friends when I joined the band, but you acted as if you hadn’t already done this. You played with my feelings. Not once, but apparently fucking twice! And you didn’t even apologize!”

Your voice broke as you finally let out your repressed feelings, and you hated yourself for it. You despised yourself for still listening to her, for still caring about her.

You left Gwen speechless. “You wanted to talk, and now I’m giving you the chance. Say something.” You begged, prepared to be let down. But she looked up at you and let out a shaky sigh, sniffing.

“I don’t… I don’t know. I thought I liked you a year ago when we first met. I really did. The feelings were there, b-but…”

“If you never liked me, then why’d you come back?” You asked, broken-hearted. It hurt Gwen to see how much pain she had caused you, all because she was too much of a coward to own up to her feelings.

“That’s the thing.” She breathed out, shrugging. “Maybe I do.”

Your face softened. “What?”

“Don’t make me explain it, please.”

“You have to.”

“I can’t.”

You pinched the bridge of your nose, groaning. “For fuck’s sake.” Gwen shook her head and her shoulders began to shake.

“I can’t…”

“Why not—”

“Because it scares me!” She cried out, a sob finally breaking free from her system. You frowned.

“Why?”

“B-Because…” She wiped her nose, struggling to spit it out. “I really like you. I really do. And I don’t know if I’m ready for something like that. I can’t lose you.”

You gently grabbed her shoulder, while your other hand held her chin. “I’m not going to run away from you. I’m here.”

It wasn’t as simple as that. “I can’t.” She said again, even if she didn’t want to let go of your touch. You bit your lip.

“You can’t or you don’t want to?”

She didn’t know what to answer. Your hand slowly sneaked down to hold hers, and you looked at her for permission, your expectations not as high. But she clutched your hand hard. “You can do it, Gwen. You can’t spend the rest of your life like this. If you do, you will lose everyone.” You smiled sadly. You quieted down, pondering, but eventually, you breathed out and closed your eyes. “I really like you, too. I always did. And if I have to wait, it’s okay. Just… don’t disappear again, okay?”

Gwen analyzed your face. She wondered what you must have looked like that night back when you kissed her. And since she hadn’t done anything right before, she wondered whether she could try again.

In a second, she squeezed her eyes shut and pecked your lips. You were caught off guard as your fingers came up to touch your mouth. “Nah, you’re right. I think it’s about damn time.” She bit back her smile.

She took the big step.

#spider gwen x reader #spider gwen x you #gwen stacy x reader #gwen stacy x you #spider man: into the spider verse #sm:itsv #fem! reader #gwen stacy imagine #gwen stacy one shot #fan fiction #marvel

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starneko123 · 3 years

Text

Grand Exchange

OC Characters Involved

Tethys ♔ The Necklace

The OC Tethys belongs to @ren-meteor! I hope you like it!

When you look for something you go to strange places. When you want something you go through extreme heights to get it. That would be a more or less situation with Tethys and her current location. Shang Tsung's Island, it was everything Fujin and Raiden described. It had gone to waste, the plants and beautiful flowers either laid on the ground rotting or overgrown around the statues. It had an overlapping smell of death that tainted the isle more than likely coming from the corpses.

Tethys had traveled by boat not daring to touch the murky water that surrounded the island. Healthy water was her best strength or it at least had to be decent. The water that surrounded the isle looked so...dirty. But it was not too much of a concern she had her water pouch, which was sufficient enough. She sauntered up the stairs of the island's entrance. Once in front of the doors, she pushed them open. Tethys saw treasure chests, that spilled with gold koins and other valuables that could obtain grand things.

However, Tethys was after only one valuable treasure. She was after a powerful necklace that was called the Heart of Poseidon rumored to have the power of the one and only holy god of the seas. Tethys wasn't a selfish women but after discovering her parentage she has the right to own that necklace. She walled through the small vestibule and once she brought her hand up to push the door open a vapor of mystical green smoke filled the passageway.

Tethys immediately got into a fighting stance and her seafoam eyes scanned the foyer. Tethys looked in front of her to see the vapor turn into a figure and the figure was none other than Shang Tsung.

"Welcome, Nomad. I am Shang Tsung, and this is my island. I bid you welcome to explore. Hidden among the Island's ruins are treasure, magic, and very special artifacts. Take what you want, within reason, Nomad. You will find your time spent here is well rewarded."

After he said that, with a single hand wave he was gone. Tethys let out a breath and straightened back up with the small addition of readjusting her hood. She entered the courtyard and there laid more treasure chests, rotting bodies on the ground and hanging from the ropes around their necks, some unfortunately we're still alive. Tethys could sense the power of the necklace, it was obvious that the necklace wasn't in the courtyard. No...it would be too easy.

'This will require some thinking.' Tethys said in her head, and started walking again, she started to think how many traps did the sorcerer have and how complicated they truly were? Tethys did a good walk around the courtyard and she saw a wall nearly crumbling apart. She kicked the wall in and walked through it to see a golden gong hanging up and of course, more treasure chests. She quickly looked around for something to hit it with and after discovering no object hard enough she came up with something different.

Tethys faced the gong once again and brought her fist back basically wrapping it in water and smashed against the gong. She heard the sound of gates opening and started to walk away from the gong while rubbing her knuckles to soothe the small pain from hitting the gong. She walked back to the courtyard to see a now open entranceway. She walked through and saw a pit filled with spikes to which if she slipped and fell she would be impaled.

"Tread carefully Tethys." She told herself and turned to the right to the small bridge and she crossed it with her back pressed into the rocky wall. After passing through she walked up to a Naknadan based shrine holding a golden plate and multiple knives. There was a sign that said,

"SHARE YOUR WEALTH AND BE REWARDED"

Tethys gave a confused expression to the shrine 'What wealth do I have?' She thought then she dug around in her much and pulled a good handful of coins and dropped them into the bowl. The shrine dropped the koins in its makeshift stomach and out on the floor was now a cracked horn. Tethys picked it up and started to walk away. She examined it with a confused expression as she kept walking she started to notice the statues. Her eyes widened in surprise and slight amusement.

From left to right, there was Kano, Prince Goro, Lord Raiden, Liu Kang, and Sonya Blade. They were all dressed in their 'old school' attire. She did a power walk by the statues and arrived at another set of double doors with different designs. In the middle of the door, appeared to be a lock but it also had a unique design of its own. It had the face of an angry man as one horn poked out similar to the one she was holding. She brought her finger and skimmed down she immediately felt a ghost touch her spine.

She also put two and two together and placed the horn into the empty slot above the face and across the other horn. She backed up a few steps as the door opened and she ran in. There were torches upon the walls and around every corner to bring light in the dim cave she was now in. She strode down a couple of steps and entered a very damaged escalator. There appeared to be no other way up so it was her only choice.

When she walked in and pulled the lever the entrance of the escalator closed and it started to go up. She sighed in relief because everything was going well so far, but she had still had to be aware of her surroundings. The escalator stopped at what Tethys believed to be the top floor. Tethys ran out again before anything unusual would happen and another rancid smell might as well had punched her in the face.

Tethys scrunched up her nose and held her stomach as she power walked but she slowed down and started to take a good look at her surroundings. "This is what Raiden and Liu Kang spoke of...this Goro's great hall," Tethys said, talking to herself and walked up about three steps to see quite a sight. The rotting body of Prince Goro. He was obviously dead but the relaxed position he was in on his throne made it more unnerving.

Tethys ran past it as if it was a fake set up and it would jump at her if she got too close. Tethys looked behind her, as she was running and she almost tripped over another treasure chest! She growled and kicked the chest which only brought a little pain back to herself. She stared at the chest for a few seconds maybe a minute and she thought 'Would it be a trap if I opened it?' that's what she asked herself, but she opened it anyway.

It was filled with what you would expect gold koins and jewelry but something stuck out to her and it made her jaw drop. Fujin's krossbow was white with gold linen and it already had a few arrows set inside ready to go. Tethys ignored the rational thinking about how did it get on Shang Tsung's island and traced the designs of the bow with her fingers it also had some writing on the side near the bottom. She read Asherah. This first idea to pop in her head was Ashrah and maybe it was a gift.

She excitedly secured it by her side and continued walking as she turned the corner she abruptly stopped and inwardly groaned. An obstacle. She started at the sharp weapons swinging side to side. She had to wait for the right moment. She bent her knees, leaned back a bit, and gave herself a small running start then jumped through the weapons and rolled on the other side landing on her knees.

She got back up and dusted herself off and continued walking. She feels the power of the necklace bring her closer she was now able to focus on herself and the necklace alone, she felt like she was gliding to its destination. Then she saw it in all of its glory. The azure glow it gave lit up the dim room as she walked closer to the alter. She brought her hands out to it and put her hands on the silver chain and took it away from the alter turning away from it.

She took her hood and her warm brown hair that was in a braid similar to Jade's came down her back. She put the necklace around her neck, fixing her hair in the process so it didn't get caught up. She put her hood back on and she immediately clasped her hands in a praying position to control the power that was quickly surging through her. After taking a couple of deep breaths she focused on her current mission to get off Shang Tsung's Island.

She did not hesitate. She ran through Goro's great hall practically jumping down the steps and then taking two steps a time up the way until she made her way outside. Running past the statues, past the shrine, and very carefully made her way past the pit. She started to run again until she heard scuffling her instinct told her to hide. When she hid behind the door she peeked out to see two enormous spiders. One was covered in spikes, with a glowing red and black design the other was bright yellow and round with no spikes.

Tethys felt like she was going to throw up. 'Not now. Not now. Not now. Not now!' she said in her praying that her eyes were playing a trick on her. She grabbed the krossbow in one hand and cupped some water from her water pouch in the other. She ran out of her hiding spot shot the arrows at the spiders both shrieking like it was their own battle cry. The red arachnid brought itself back and forward breathed fire towards Tethys. She didn't see it coming but with a quickness, she shot water at it and started running backwards not wanting to take her eyes off of them.

But she saw that the yellow spider was already down and shriveled up the red one went into a quick frenzy, and like its companion, it also died. To Tethys, it was a sight to see but not one she was interested in seeing any longer. She ran through the courtyard and the foyer. She sprinted down the stairs almost falling a couple of times, and jumped on her small boat. She pushed in front of her and a wave came and brought her away from the Island.

She only relaxed when she was far enough to not see Shang Tsung's isle in her sights. She looked at the so-called 'Heart of Poseidon' and brought it to her cheek, it felt like her it was still calling her name but more soothingly not so eager and urgent like it was when she first arrived on the island. The power of this necklace. The power it could bring, the harm it could bring, the pain.

Like always Tethys vowed to be safe and sure with this new artifact. She couldn't wait to practice and test out her new abilities. She couldn't wait to tell Fujin! Tethys would not let this grand exchange go to waste!

#mortal kombat #mortal kombat 11 #mortal kombat oc #oc interaction #tethys #mk oc #mk oc au #mk oc short story

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hoonieistrash · 4 years

Text

astilbe

pairing: persephone! jimin x hades! reader

word count: 8k

genre: FLUFF, a bit of angst

tags: jungkook has a crush on the reader so angst for kookoo :(, soft fluff, flowers, female pronouns, not like the tale where hades took or kidnapped persephone, you are an awkward bean, jimin is a softie for you :(

synopsis: Whoever said the god of the underworld was a man? No, no. You were a goddess, the goddess that your brother trapped in the land of the dead. Jimin was the complete opposite of you, the god of spring and the son of Demeter. He only heard about you through his mother and the other gods and goddesses and he was mad, they really did not give any justice to your beauty, not one bit.

alternative synopsis: Jimin was in awe with you and being the curious thing he is, decided to follow you to the Underworld.

author’s note: It’s 5 AM when I finished this :)) THS IS MY FIRST LONG FIC I PUBLISHED SO YEAH ALSO, this is unedited and English is not my first language so if there are any mistakes, I’m sorry :// I just love persephone and hades :( JIMIN IS A CUTIE and IM SORRY KOOKIE :(( aNYWAYS! I hope you enjoy this!

You sighed in your throne made of cold hard steel inside your dark throne-room, waiting for any mortal that committed a crime so bad that you, the goddess of the underworld, have to judge for yourself. You were dressed in a black robe as black soft silk flowed behind you while fine jewelry adorned you to match your status of Queen of the Underworld and Goddess of Death. A black crown sat on your head elegantly.

The atmosphere was like any other day in the Underworld, melancholy and the stench of death filling the air. You looked at your side as you see your loyal companion, Cerberus, sleeping in the dark corner. The poor pup was bored, nothing to do but sleep, eat and scare mortals.

“Mistress!” You heard the echo of your friend’s voice in the halls before even entering your throne room. Your cold eyes turned to the main entrance, expression hard and unreadable.

With a bang of the heavy steel door, scaring and waking up Cerberus, in came your friend and servant, but you did not like calling him that but the latter did not care, dare to say that he even liked it, that little masochist. The mortals called him Thanatos but you liked his real name better, Jungkook. You like calling him Kookie, his bashful expression always amusing you greatly.

The young daemon entered with all of his glory, two large magnificent black wings perched on his back as his black robe fluttering below his knees. Big doe eyes staring at you, a large smile on his lips, confusing you. Normally, Jungkook did not like showing these emotions, too stubborn, saying that he was a daemon and did not exhibit such feelings.

He ran towards you making Cerberus perked up, his three head looking at the winged spirit. Jungkook looked at him and searched in his bag, throwing a lump of large meat towards the huge canine. The three heads fought each other for the meat on the side as Jungkook stopped in front of you, kneeling in one knee.

“What’s all the fuss about, Jungkook?”

He merely smiled and searched again in his bag, giving a scroll to his mistress, “Hermes gave this to me”

You arched a fine brow at him, taking the scroll from him and read it. Eyebrows furrowing at every word you read but Jungkook did not notice, blabbering in front of you.

“–He just gave it to me and left, I think that Zeus is finally agreeing to let us expand our land, Mistress! It would be-”

The loud noise of the paper being torn echoed in the quiet room, Jungkook’s wide eyes stared at his furious Mistress and frowned.

“I-It’s not an agreement, is it?…” He asked quietly, a lump forming in his throat when he saw you stand up, eyes colder and deadlier than the River Styx.

“That fool! If he thinks that he can keep me locked in here then he’s greatly mistaken! I’ll destroy him!” You screamed, black flames bursting around you startling Jungkook and Cerberus. The former looked at you with scared eyes, “M-Mistress…”

You turned to him, eyes filled with fury but it softened when you saw his scared eyes, your black flames calmed down. You sat again, defeated by your younger brother.

Jungkook bit his lips at the sight of you, hating the way you slumped in your throne. You always wore yourself as a dignified and noble character, exuding an ethereal beauty, not like the mortals described you, but this sight made Jungkook want to tear Zeus himself.

He could not help but fall for you in these past few thousands of years, you always helped people and brought justice to the fallen ones but Zeus trapped you here in the Underworld, only being permitted to go to Earth every 300 years and it was only for a day.

“Leave me, Jungkook” Your weakened voice broke him. He rose up from his knelt position and looked at you with anguished

“B-But Mistress! I can help you! Please don’t shut me out–”

“I said, leave me. Do not make me repeat it thrice.” Your firm voice cut him off. He swallowed the lump on his throat and nodded, hanging his head in defeat.

“O-Of course, Mistress.”

Jungkook went out of the room, the heavy doors closing behind him and left you alone with Cerberus who was whimpering on the side.

Cerberus walked up to you slowly, his whimpers catching your attention as you turned to him with sad eyes. He slumped his three heads on your lap, your soft hands caressing one of the heads.

“If my little brother really thinks he can keep me here then I’ll make him realize just how much I belong here after all”

Jimin sat in a great meadow filled with flowers, picking pretty ones with a gentle smile as his soft blond hair fluttered with the wind. He hummed a soft tune, matching the serene atmosphere around him. He was a young god, son of Demeter and Zeus, some mortals called him Persephone while his mother called him Kore. He always hated the name his mother called him. Demeter always wanted a daughter but her dreams were shattered when Jimin came.

Demeter raised him like a daughter, bringing him pretty robes and jewelry fit for a goddess. He liked them actually but the fact that his mother brought it for her daughter and not him hurt.

His smile faltered when he remembered his mother but quickly masked it and continued to distract himself with the flowers, one hand clutching softly a bouquet of it while one caressed the planted ones.

“Jiminie~” A deep voice called out, his smile widened at the familiarity of it. He looked up and saw his best friend, Hermes, but his real name was Taehyung.

“Taehyung! Nice of you to accompany me this fine afternoon~” Jimin chirped, standing up gently, Taehyung landed in front of him a bit clumsily with his winged shoes, his golden winged staff swinging around almost hitting Jimin in the face.

“Woah there. Easy with that thing” Jimin teased, pushing it away before it hit his face. Taehyung smiled sheepishly at him before composing himself, blowing an icy blue hair away from his bronzed face

“How’s my favorite god doing?” Taehyung asked, looking at Jimin’s hand which held a beautiful arrangement of flowers and his messy golden hair with small flowers attached to it.

Jimin’s soft blue eyes rolled at him, shaking his head at the mischievousness of his best friend.

“Flower picking, as usual, Taehyung” And then went back to his flowers. Taehyung smiled sadly at his words and sat beside him.

“You know your mother is just protective, that is all” The young messenger tried to cheer up. Jimin smiled at him weakly, “I know Tae… I know…”

The taller god frowned at his smile then pursed his lips. Thinking for a moment as he studied the young god, then stood up, dusting his white immaculate robe. Jimin stared at him with confusion at the sudden action, “You’re going already?”

Taehyung smirked at him and said, “You mean, we’re going already.”

Jimin gaped at him, he knows that Taehyung was mischievous and was always up to tricks and pranks but he did not think that it was to this extent.

“M-Mother will have your head if she found out you took me away from here”

“If she finds out~”

The young god shook his head, not wanting Taehyung to get in problem with his mother. He was the only companion he has and he does not want him to go away too, forbidden by his mother.

Taehyung rolled his eyes at his friend, “Come on Jimin! The quicker you get up, the quicker we can get back”

Jimin gulped at that, looking around the meadow which he only knew since he was but a young sapling. He looked up again to his nodding best friend who was urging him to stand up.

“F-Fine… Only if we get back before mother gets back!”

Taehyung smirked at that, “You’re talking to the fastest god, darlin’~”

Jimin stifled a laugh at his words and stood up. Taehyung waved his staff and in a blink of an eye, they were gone. The young god looked around at the new meadow they were in and behind them was a forest. Jimin admired the landscape, it was certainly different from the meadow he knows, it was vibrant with more color and it has a forest next to it.

Taehyung looked at Jimin with a nervous smile, “You like it? We can go somewhere else if you want–”

“No! This is perfect! It’s so pretty, Taehyung… Thank you” Jimin uttered out. Taehyung smiled at him, his best friend was too kind and too easy to impress that it hurts his sly heart.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Do what you want to do, Jiminie~”

Jimin grinned at him and jogged to the meadow, sitting down at the softer grass, caressing the more vibrant flowers and flowers he only knew from the scrolls his mother has. He was eager to know more about them, picking the flowers unfamiliar to him, humming once again but more cheerful this time.

Taehyung smiled softly at his preoccupied friend, he was about to sit down beside the blond god when he heard the bell that alerts him when Zeus wants him to deliver something. The blue-haired god groaned at it catching Jimin’s attention who looked up at him with big eyes.

“Sorry, Jiminie. I have to go somewhere real quick. I’ll be back before you know it! Don’t go anywhere!” Taehyung said and flew off before Jimin can even say anything. The young god was left alone in the middle of nowhere as he blinks, not believing that his best friend just left him.

He sighed at that and shook his head, telling himself that Taehyung will be back shortly and that he doesn’t need to worry. He went back to picking the flowers. But then Jimin’s eyes caught a movement in the dark forest, he looks up and his breath was caught in his throat, he stood up, trying to get a closer look at the beauty.

Going in the forest was the Goddess of Underworld in all of your glory, silk robes and fine jewelry adorned your body but it was not as fine as your beauty. Jimin never saw anyone so beautiful yet look so sad. Your long (h/c) hair fluttering behind you as a black crown was perched high in your head. Your lips were a luscious red, shaming any fully bloomed rose. But what caught Jimin’s attention the most was your eyes. He never saw anything so filled with melancholy but still looked so beautifully cold. Dull (e/c) eyes but how it shone when the light hit it, Jimin wanted to see it up close.

You turned your head and locked eyes with the young god as he gasped but never removing his eyes away from yours. Your eyes widen ever so slightly at him, you never saw this young god all your life. Another child of Zeus, you presume, and with the thought of your younger brother, you scowled. Unintentionally, at Jimin, but the young god thought it was for him. He shrinks at the intensity of the scowl with it’s matching cold glare.

Your eyes softened when you saw him back away from you, your eyes turned sad once again before turning away and towards the forest to go to the underworld, back to your own personal prison.

Jimin saw you go away as he panicked, wanting to follow you but stopped when he remembered Taehyung and his mother. He bit his lip, contemplating whether he should follow you or not, but any thought vanished when he saw you get further in the forest, almost disappearing from his sight. He quickly followed you, the bouquet of flowers still in his hands.

You scowled as you stalked away to the entrance of your prison, going in the dark entryway, your robes fluttering behind you. Jimin saw you go into the hole, the scary and dark entrance gave him the frights but also thrill, never experiencing something like this.

He followed you without you noticing as he looked around the different and dark land, all he saw was in ruin as an inky black river flowed beside him. In the further distance, he saw a dark castle standing majestically. Inside the inky waters, he thought he saw faces, groaning in misery. When he saw it, he followed you, scared out of his wits.

You quickened your strut when you saw Charon in his boat, his dark hood hiding his face as his bony hand grasped his ore.

You stepped in his large boat, sitting on the seats, giving him a golden coin. Charon chuckled, raspy as if he never used it in a thousand years.

“My apologies, Mistress, but I think you owe me than just one gold coin.” He said. You were confused, looking at him with a puzzled look.

“What? What are you talking about, Charon.” You stated, not in any mood to joke around.

“There’s two of you in the boat, Mistress”

You whipped your head back and locked eyes with the same soft blue eyes you saw earlier. You furrowed your brows at that, frowning at him.

“What are you doing here, little god? You don’t belong here. Go back.” You ordered in a cold voice making him flinch but he did not move an inch.

“M-My name is Jimin, not little god. A-And I won’t go back. I just want to explore…”

You looked at him, bewildered, you did not just hear him say that. Who does this little god think he is.

“Explore? If you want to explore then go back. You do not want to explore the Underworld unless you want to die, little god.”

Jimin looked at you with wide eyes, “Underworld? This is the underworld?” He asked with surprise

Your fine brows arched, annoyed, “Yes, now go back.”

Jimin pouted at you, not fazed by your coldness, already getting used to it.

“Can’t you take me with you? Just for a bit…”

You run a hand to your face, stressed. Jimin bit his lip, “It’s just… My mother doesn’t let me go anywhere… It is my first time going out…”

You removed your hand away from your face, looking at his sad expression. Your once unbeating heart started to pump uncharacteristically. You sighed, defeat by those doe eyes.

“Fine.” You grumbled out as Jimin grinned at you, excitedly. You dug into your robe to get another coin and gave it Charon who watched the scene with amusement.

“Now, start rowing.” You ordered, Charon nodding and moved his giant ore.

Jimin cheered quietly as the boat moved. He studied the place with his soft blue eyes as his blond hair waving a bit.

You looked at him in the corner of your eyes and rolled your eyes at your decision.

‘I’m going to regret this…’ You thought, letting out a small sigh.

“What’s this?” You heard Jimin asked. You looked back nonchalantly but almost had a heart attack when you saw his hand reaching out for the black inky waters of the River Styx. You grabbed his hand in alarm, “Don’t touch that! You want to poison yourself?”

Jimin did not hear you though, he was too focused on your linked hands. Your cold hands grabbing his warm ones gently, making his heart flutter as he blushed, unfamiliar with any skin contact with others beside Taehyung and his mother. You followed his eyes and saw your hands together, you let go of his in embarrassment. You turned your head forward, once again, hiding your growing blush.

“Don’t touch anything, do you understand.” You said, feeling him nod behind you. Jimin frowned, already missing your cold touch. Your touch was very distinct, the only one who’s touch was cold but Jimin liked it.

“O-Okay, I understand”

Charon smiled a bit under his hood, his Mistress was acting so differently that it was amusing. The Goddess of Death and Queen of the Underworld disarmed by a young unknown god.

The boat ride was mostly filled with an awkward silence as it was accompanied by Jimin’s soft humming. The boat stopped in front of the castle as you got off of it with Jimin following clumsily after you.

“Mistress! You’re back!” You heard Jungkook’s voice from the castle as your eyes widen, how on earth are you going to explain to the daemon your unexpected companion. Jungkook was known for his unrivaled loyalty to you and jealousy with your flings.

Charon chuckled at your dilemma as he rowed away. Jimin looked at the hooded boatman as he heard his chuckle, tilting his head in confusion then turned back to you.

The winged daemon arrived in front of you with a wide smile but it dropped when he saw the pretty young god. His dark brows furrowed with mixed emotions bubbling in him.

“Who’s this?” His cold voice asked as you sighed, it was starting. Jimin smiled at him, nervously, and waved meekly. Jungkook scowled, disgusted by his innocence.

“This is Jimin. He followed me on the way back here.” You said, walking away as Jungkook and Jimin followed you with the former looking at you with horrified eyes.

“What do you mean, Mistress? He’s staying with us?” He asked making Jimin look at you.

“If he wants. Or if he wants to go back, then escort him out.” You said, looking at Jimin who stared at you with wide surprised eyes.

“He wants to go back, I’m sure of it!” Jungkook exclaimed, looking at Jimin with a hard glare, daring him to oppose his words. Jimin smiled apologetically at Jungkook as the winged male deflated at that.

“I-If you permit, I would like to stay for a bit” Jimin whispered out, you turned back to him, studying him with enigmatic (e/c) eyes. You nodded and continued your way.

“M-Mistress, b-but–”

“Ready a room for him, Kookie.” And with that, you disappeared into the dark. Jungkook’s wings fell at your words as he frowned, dejected.

He sighed and tried to suck it up, reminding himself that this newcomer will be out of his feathers in no time. Oh, how wrong he was.

It has been a week and Jimin was still in the Underworld, putting his flowers around the dark and gloomy palace. Jungkook did not want to admit it but Jimin was some nice company, he was pure and innocent and Jungkook likes teasing him and teaching him new ways.

They were sitting at the back of the palace, at the courtyard with Jimin making flowers appear in the slowly coming into life grass and plants. Jungkook watched his new friend companion in awe, not really used to flowers in the Underworld.

“How do you do that?” Jungkook asked him, Jimin smiled and sat beside the winged daemon.

“I’m the god of spring, silly~” He chirped, his pureness out of place in the Underworld.

“Hmm, right. You’re Demeter’s son” Jungkook boredly said, looking nonchalant now. Jimin shook his head at him, his smile never faltering.

He bit his lips, contemplating whether he should ask his question or not. He looked at Jungkook who brushed his black wings gently.

“Hey, Jungkook… Can you tell me something about, (Y/n)?” He asked making Jungkook stop his brushing and turned his eyes to Jimin. He raised a brow, “Why?”

He blushed a bit and stuttered out, “N-Nothing! Just curious”

Jungkook peered into him, untrustingly, but sighed and nodded. He pursed his lips, thinking about what to say.

“Well, Mistress is the Goddess of the Underworld–”

“I already knew that.”

“Shh, do you want to know or not?”

Jimin rolled his eyes playfully at him as Jungkook continued, “She is the eldest daughter of Rhea and Cronus which makes her the older sister of Zeus and your mother.”

Jimin’s eyes widen at the new information. Jungkook then looked at him with sad eyes, “Zeus, imprisoned Mistress in the Underworld and took the skies for himself. Mistress always thinks for the better and just not for her advantage. She believes in justice and fairness. It might not look like it but she’s really lonely and sad…”

Jungkook finished with a quiet voice, Jimin looking at the castle with sorrow, he then looked at Jungkook.

“She can’t get out of here? But I saw her before in the meadows”

Jungkook sighed, “Zeus only permits her to a certain degree to where she can go and she can only roam freely every 300 years. Today is her 233 year, once it hit 300 again, she can go for a day around Earth.”

Jimin nodded sadly at the information, looking back to the dark gloomy castle once again, ’you’re just like me then… Imprisoned and longing for freedom…’

Jimin stood in front of your chamber door with a handful of flowers in his hand, his heart beating a bit too fastly for his liking as sweat started to appear in his hands.

“Okay, Jimin you can do this. You just have to give her the flowers.” He talked to himself and with a breath, he raised his hand ready to knock but never touching the door.

He groaned as he dropped his hand, looking at the flowers in his other hand. He sighed and looked at the door, imagining you he was talking to.

“Hi, (Y/n)! Funny bumping into you–… No, no! I’m in front of her door, bumping into you? Really, Jimin?” He scolded himself as he tried again.

“Hi, (Y/n)! I grew some flowers in your courtyard and I wanted to give these to you–”

“Who are you talking to?” The same cold and smooth voice that made his heart flutter called out making him yelp as he turned around in surprise.

You looked at him with the same eyes, shocked at his sudden yelp. Jimin then fixed his posture and cleared his throat. Smiling shyly at you, he started, “Hi, (Y/n)! I- Um… I grew some flowers in your courtyard, these are for you!”

Shoving the flowers in your arms as he smiled nervously at you. You looked at the pretty flowers in your hands with a soft blush, never have really received flowers or any kind of gifts from men.

“T-Thank you, they’re very beautiful, Jimin” You whispered, a smile appearing on your usually stone-cold face making Jimin gape at you.

You raised a brow, “What?”

Jimin gulped, “Y-You have a very beautiful smile…”

Your blush worsens that you thought your head will explode from all the heat going to your face. Jimin bit his lips, smiling as he looked down at his shoes, feeling timid.

“Y-you have a very beautiful smile too…” Jimin heard as he whipped his head up at you. The sight was almost to endearing for his poor heart.

You were blushing, a beautiful contrast to your (s/c) skin and black robes. Eyes, warmer than before and lips quirking up in a shy smile.

He gulped and looked at the flowers, pointing at it. “I picked alstroemerias for friendship and daffodils for new beginnings,” Jimin said, as he removed the sad meaning of daffodils, something he knew he has when he saw you rejecting men and daemons alike.

You looked at him, confused and looked at the flowers then back at the smiling blond.

“Flowers have meanings?”

Jimin gaped at you, thinking you might be joking but the unchanging expression on your face said otherwise.

“Y-You’re not joking?”

You shook your head, looking at him with confusion. What was the big deal with not knowing that flowers having meanings? You were the Goddess of the Death and the Queen of the Underworld, it was given that flowers and all nice things were out of your forte.

Jimin grabbed your free cold hand in his making you gasped at the contact. He then dragged you, “W-What are you doing?! Unhand me!”

“Shh! I’m going to show you something!”

You shut your mouth at that, confused at the sudden confidence of the young god. You let him drag you to the courtyard which was different from what you remembered. Last time you were here, there was only darkness and filled with cold air. Ruins complementing the dried up plants.

But now, it was vibrant. There was color other than black in the courtyard. It was also warmer than any part of the Underworld as you welcomed the warm air that nipped on your cold skin.

Jimin smiled at you, “I retouched it, I hope you don’t mind”

You looked around with a soft smile, “It’s pretty. Plants always die when I am the one trying… They hate me..” You replied making Jimin giggle

“No, they don’t”

“You can speak to plants now, little god?” You teased as he pouts at you.

“Don’t call me that! I’m taller than you.”

“Barely.”

Jimin whined at your words, you chuckle at him. He stopped, studying you. It was the first time he heard you chuckle. It was melodic, smooth, and pleasant to the ears. It was now official, it is Jimin’s favorite sound to hear.

“So what do you want me to see, Jimin?” He snapped out of his thought and ohh-ed.

“Oh yeah! Here, sit next to me” He said, patting the now vibrant grass beside him. You rolled your eyes, playfully, and sat down gently next to him.

“Let’s start with the basic!” Jimin chirped

You looked at him, confused, but let him continue. With the wave of his hand, a rose appeared in the grass.

“Roses means love and romance. Pink roses, though, means gratitude and joy while white roses mean purity and youthfulness but daisies also symbolize purity but it also means beauty and fertility”

You looked at him with amusement, nodding at his words. Jimin took that as the cue to continue and with a smile, he brought another flower.

“Anemone symbolizes protection from evil and ill wishes”

Jimin’s flower lessons continued for an hour or so, none of them realizing the time as they enjoyed each other’s company.

You laughed at the last flower Jimin showed you, “I never knew flowers could have such bad meanings. Petunias, I should give dozens of them to Zeus”

Jimin’s smile faltered at the mention of his father, this, however, did no go unnoticed to you. Looking at him with worry and you asked, “What’s wrong?”

“I-I… You really do not know?”

You raised a brow at that, “No… What is the matter, little god?” you asked softly, leaning closer to him.

“Zeus is my father…” You stared at him, studying Jimin, who fidgeted under your gaze.

“You’re definitely more handsome than your father then. Zeus looks like an egg.” Your lighthearted response surprised Jimin. He thought when you knew, you’d surely kick him out and he’ll lose a friend, forever.

“Y-You are not mad?”

You smiled at him, “Would you rather me be?”

Jimin shook his head, quickly at your words making you giggle at his quick response.

“You are not your father and you do not have any connection to our fight. Do not worry too much, little god” You said, your soft smile resting on your face.

Jimin blinked his tears away, laughing with you. You looked at him and held his cheek gently, “Don’t cry, little god. I’m not mad”

Jimin leaned his cheek to your hand, nuzzling to your cold touch. You looked at him with such softness that it made his heart hurt. His heart beating a bit too fastly, he was afraid that you might hear it. You leaned a bit closer, his breath hitching.

“(Y/n)…” He trailed as he also leaned closer, trying to meet you halfway. The cold brush of your lips made him shiver in desire.

“Mistress!” Jungkook’s voice made you two jump away, blushing at the interruption. The winged daemon stopped at his tracks when he saw the blush on your faces. He raised a brow, “Was I interrupting something?”

“No! no!” Jimin shook his head, a mad red covering his cheeks and ears. You cleared your throat as you stood up, dusting your silk robe.

“What is it, Jungkook?”

The urgency came back to Jungkook and exclaimed, “Zeus wants to talk to you!”

Your brows furrowed in confusion, you nodded and strolled out the courtyard but not before bidding Jimin goodbye.

“Thank you for your flower lesson, Jimin. It was greatly appreciated.” And with that you were gone, being followed by Jungkook who looked at Jimin with a small glare.

Jimin smiled a bit at your words and gazed lovingly at your retreating figure, sighing.

You entered Olympus with a stoic face, Jungkook following you. Zeus stood in the throne-room his strong back facing you. The tall man then turned to you with a large smile, “Ah! (Y/n), glad you can come!” He said to you, giving you a hug. You groaned at the strong grip your brother gave you.

“Jin, please. Don’t.”

Jin released you from the hug, his smile never faltering at your coldness, reminding you of someone…

“Dear sister! Cheer up, today is a party! You are here–”

“Stop it with this nonsense and just tell me what you need” You interrupted making Jin stop.

He frowned at you, “Always the mood-killer, dear sister.”

You glared at him, he shrugged as he went to the table to get more wine. You followed your brother, sighing, already tired.

“You see, (Y/n). Demeter has gone crazy. She thinks that you kidnapped her dear son.” You furrowed your brows at his declaration and shook your head.

“Jimin? Jimin followed me to the Underworld. He knows he can go back anytime but he doesn’t. It is not my fault.” You snapped, Jin sighed and nodded.

“I know but Demeter has gone crazy. She went and made Earth a frozen wasteland until Jimin is back in her arms”

“Well, she should’ve been a better mother because Jimin doesn’t even want to go back to her with how much she hurt him.” You retorted. Jin looked at you with eyes you did not understand.

“You have feelings for him,” He said with a small smile. You gaped at the declaration, sputtering out words.

“T-That’s absurd! No, I do not!”

Jin smiled but sighed after, remembering Demeter’s words, “Still, though (Y/n). Jimin has to go back. Can you tell him that?”

You looked at Jin with a cold look on your face then sighed, “I’ll tell him”

“Thank you, that’s all I ask, (Y/n)” Jin uttered with a gentle smile.

Jimin hummed at the huge throne room as he arranged the flower in a small vase, waiting for you to come back with a bright smile. He heard Cerberus whimper on his side, nudging him with one of his head. Jimin looked down at the canine with a smile, “What’s wrong, buddy? Hungry?”

Cerberus perked up when he heard the word, hungry, his tail wagging behind his huge body. Jimin giggled at him and started to walk to the door, “Come on, boy. Let’s get you something to eat~”

Cerberus followed the god, padding its way to him. Jimin went out of the throne room with the dog as they walked towards the kitchen. Jimin searched for any meat in the storage and with an exclaim of victory, he got out a huge piece of meat.

“Cerb! Here you go, boy!” He threw the meat to the dog as he happily caught it, the three heads fighting as usual to take a bite of the meat. Jimin chuckled at the canine, shaking his head. He was about to go out of the kitchen when he saw the open glass door, leading to a garden. He tilted his head at that, not remembering any garden other than the courtyard he redesigned. With a smile, he went out of the kitchen and to the open glass door.

Cerberus stopped chewing at the meat and observed Jimin, he quickly followed the male to the garden, finishing the meat. Jimin looked around the dried-up garden with a tsk.

“I got work caught up on me.” He muttered with a smile. He was about to get some flowers when he saw a lone tree at the corner of the garden. Jimin walked closer to the huge tree and saw that it has bear some fruits, with a smile he picked on. He never really ate food in the Underworld, Jungkook always brought him his food and it made him curious. Is the food in the Underworld that bad?

He opened the fruit that he recognizes as pomegranate and smelled the sweet scent. Jimin smiled eagerly and ate some, the burst of the sweetness made him crave for more. After eating three the first time, he got out three more and popped it in his mouth, savoring the sweet taste.

Cerberus whimpered at him making Jimin look at him as he swallowed the sweet juice. He raised a brow at the dog, “What? It’s really sweet, Cerb!”

He was about to eat some more when Jungkook entered the garden and with a gasp, he flew towards him and smacked the fruit away from Jimin.

Jimin whined at that, “Hey! I was eating that!”

Jungkook gaped, “How many did you eat?!”

The young god tilted his head, “I don’t know… Maybe six?”

“You can’t eat food in the Underworld!”

“Why not?!”

“Because once you eat something that belongs to the Underworld, you cannot leave this place.” You said, looking at Jimin in disbelief.

Jimin turned to you, surprised at your sudden appearance. Jungkook groaned at the stupidity of the young god.

“Mistress! Did you not tell him beforehand?”

You shook your head, stressed. You groaned at the problem at hand. Jimin looked at the fallen pomegranate but he did not feel sad. He knows he should feel sad but he did not. Jimin was willing to stay if it means he can be with you.

“I-I… I do not mind staying here…” He said with a blush making you and Jungkook look at him with disbelief

“What do you mean?” You asked quietly

Jimin was about to answer but looked at Jungkook who was glaring daggers at him and quickly shut his mouth. You sighed at the daemon and turned to Jungkook.

“Kookie, walk Cerberus out, will you.”

Jungkook looked at you, “B-But Mistress!”

“Please.”

Jungkook stopped, looking at your pleading face then looked at Jimin. It hurts Jungkook but he knows. He understands… He knows that you like the young god and not him, no matter how much he loves you, your heart already belongs to another. It did not matter that Jungkook knew you for eons and eons while Jimin knew you for a week, you will still pick the latter.

Jungkook tried to blink his tears away and nodded stiffly, “Of course, Mistress.” He and Cerberus walked out of the garden, leaving you and Jimin alone. You looked at Jimin with a soft smile

“What is it? What did you want to say, little god?” Jimin chuckled a bit at the nickname, feeling more nervous as you were both alone now.

“I… I do not mind staying here… because..”

Your heart started to beat faster, heat going to your face. Your eyes begging him to continue.

“Because I love you (Y/n)… That’s why I do not mind one bit.” Jimin confessed, a serene smile on his face, hiding his nervousness at the moment.

You started to smile at him but when you remembered Zeus’s words, your smile weakened.

“Y-You can’t stay here, Jimin” You muttered

Jimin walked closer to you in nervousness, holding your hands in his as it trembled, showing his nervousness.

“Do… Do you not return my feelings?” He asked with a sad smile. You looked at him and shook your head.

“Oh, gods no! I absolutely return your feelings, Jimin” He beamed at your words

“But you have to go back…” You added, watching his face fall

“But why?”

“Your mother turned Earth into a frozen wasteland… The mortals are starving and dying until you return to her…” You finally said

Jimin shook his head, “No, my mother is not that cruel”

You held his cheek with a soft frown, “It is what Zeus told me and mortals are starting to multiple nowadays in the Underworld meaning that they’re rapidly dying, love…”

Jimin looked at the ground, eyebrows furrowed in thought. He then touched your hand with his warm one.

“I can talk to mother, I’ll tell her to stop this nonsense and I’ll return here, with you.” Jimin reasoned to you. You smiled but you know that Demeter will do anything to make something up to hinder Jimin’s return to you.

“Of course, love.”

Jimin shyly grinned at you, leaning closer that you can smell his breath. He smelled like the sweet pomegranate he ate earlier.

“I like it when you call me love…” He whispered, nuzzling his nose against yours. Heat filled up your system, closing your eyes. Savoring his warmth.

Jimin bumped his nose against yours again and leaned closer, your lips brushing against each other like last time but the only difference today was that you finally kissed.

Jimin tasted so sweet, too sweet that it made you addicted now that you had a taste. The young god deepened the kiss, your minty and smoky scent making his head spin as your cold lips made him shiver.

You licked his bottom lip for permission as Jimin whimpered at the soft contact, shyly opening his mouth. The burst of sweetness filing your system, feeling his wet appendage against yours in a sensual dance.

You broke the kiss, Jimin heaving at the passion and lack of breath. You smirked at him, looking at him. He was such a vision, with flustered cheeks and blown pupils as it was overcome with lust, lips were swollen and wet from your kiss. Jimin will be the death of you.

You two stared at each other, love pouring out the two of you. Jimin leaned his forehead against yours, closing his eyes as he enjoyed your cold skin

“Mistress! Hermes is here!” You heard Jungkook called out from the garden’s entrance as the winged daemon gave you and Jimin privacy. The two of you moving away from each other a bit.

“Taehyung?” Jimin asked, looking at the door with wide eyes. You gazed at him, “You know him?”

Jimin nodded, “He’s my best friend”

Taehyung paced around the large dark throne room, his winged shoes fluttering at every step, showing his anxiousness.

Jimin runs to the throne room, pushing the doors open with a pant as he ran all the way to the throne room. Taehyung looked up from the floor and to the door, locking eyes with Jimin. The blue-haired male let out a breath in relief, running towards him and wrapped him in a tight embrace.

“You have no idea how much trouble you’re in! I looked everywhere for you! I told you to not go anywhere!” Taehyung scolded Jimin, still hugging him. The blue-haired god released Jimin who smiled sheepishly.

“I’m fine, Taehyung!” Jimin said, chuckling at his friend’s worry.

Taehyung’s eyebrows furrowed, “I heard that Hades kidnapped you… Are you really okay?”

Now it was Jimin’s turn to furrow his brows in confusion, “What? Kidnapped?”

“Yeah! Everyone has been talking about it!”

“(Y/n) did not kidnap me! I followed her! It was my own decision…” Jimin said with a frown

“You followed Hades to the Underworld–!? Wait! Why are you calling her by her real name?”

Jimin blushed, eyes and posture turning bashful. Taehyung’s eyes widened and shook his head in disbelief.

“No… Jiminie no…”

Jimin glared at his words, “What do you mean no?! You do not tell me what and what I can not do!”

“Jimin, your mother has been searching for you everywhere, worried sick, while you’re here making up some sick romance?”

“I love her, Taehyung!”

Taehyung shut up, looking at him with sadness, “You can’t Jimin… You do not belong here… Demeter, your mother, is waiting for you…”

Jimin’s eyes turned cold, “I love my mother, do not get me wrong. But I ate a pomegranate…”

The blue-haired male hid his face in his hands, stressed at the sudden information. He looked at him, “Did Hades made you eat–”

“No! I ate it on my own!”

Taehyung sighed and muttered a sorry, “You have to talk to your mother, Jimin…”

“I will.”

Jimin and Taehyung talked about when he will go back to talk to Demeter as Taehyung went back to deliver the message to Demeter until he goes back for Jimin. The blue-haired male tired of the drama of the gods. He was really not paid enough for this, he wasn’t even paid!…

The blond god was in the courtyard with Jungkook who was oddly quiet. Jimin looked at the winged daemon, “What’s wrong, Jungkookie?”

Jungkook looked at Jimin, tears brimming in big doe eyes, “Do you really want know?”

Jimin frowned, nodding his head in worry. Jungkook sighed and wiped his tears, “I loved (Y/n) for eons Jimin…”

The young god’s eyes widen at Jungkook’s confession.

“I know that she won’t ever feel the same about me but it still hurts…”

“Jungkookie, I’m sorr–”

Jungkook stopped the blond before he can continue, “Don’t be sorry. It is not your fault. To be honest, I’m thankful she loves you and not some pesky daemon in the Underworld…” he chuckled lightly. Jimin gazed at him, still feeling bad.

“Do not feel bad nor sad. It is not your fault. Even though, she does not love me… I will forever stay loyal to her because before I loved her, she was and will always be my friend.” Jungkook muttered. Jimin hugged him as Jungkook cried, the winged male couldn’t suppress the emotions any longer. All of the hidden feelings he hid for eons finally breaking free. Though he is sad, he also felt free.

Jungkook looked at Jimin and smiled through his salty tears, “Please take care of her, she can be really clumsy and can say some hurtful words but please understand her. Be patient for she does not mean it” Jimin nodded, smiling at Jungkook as he wiped his tears.

“Thank you for sharing your feelings with me, Jungkook”

“Thank you for listening”

You looked at the vibrant pink flowers in your hand as you bit your lips in nervousness. Jimin then entered the throne-room making you hide the bouquet behind your back. The young god looked at you then at your hand that was behind your back with a teasing smile. He jogged towards you and leaned closer to you.

“Oho~ What’s this? Did you got me something?”

You sighed, the surprise ruined. You slowly took your hand away and brought it to Jimin with a soft smile. The blond god’s eyes widened at the bouquet, tears welling up. He hugged you, slightly crushing the flowers between you two. He nuzzled at the crook of your neck, kissing the cold skin as he tasted his salty tears along with your skin.

“The flowers are getting crushed, love”

“I do not care, I just want to hug you for now… Please”

You slowly wrapped your arms around him as you felt his grip tightened around you. You smiled, caressing his soft hair.

Jimin looked at you with tears on his blue eyes and smiled lovingly at you, “I see that you have read further than our lesson”

You smiled, proudly, “I am a goddess of surprises, love” Jimin giggled at your words

You held his cheek, caressing softly at his skin. Feeling and memorizing his features as you leaned, your noses bumping lovingly.

“I’ll miss you, little god”

“I’ll be back, you know.”

“I know… I just.. Will miss you still”

Jimin smirked at you, “You have gotten soft, Goddess of Death, Queen of the Underworld.”

You playfully glared at him, pinching his nose a bit, “Do not test me, little god”

Jimin whined at the pinch, caressing his nose with a pout. You chuckled at him and gestured the flowers that were still in your hands.

“Do you not want it?” Jimin rolled his eyes at your words with a smile

“Of course I do, love. You’re such a tease.”

“You hang out with Jungkook too much, little god.”

Jimin giggled, taking the flowers from your hands as he cradled it in his hands, smiling softly at it.

“Jiminie, are you ready to go?” Taehyung called, Jimin’s escort to Demeter as he entered with Jungkook who was fuming behind him.

“Your wings are still ugly.” The daemon snapped

“Says the one with the large black wings.”

“Excuse you! At least my wings are attached to my body!”

“How dare you!”

Jimin ran up to them, separating the two who looked like they were about to throw hands any minute.

“Okay! That’s enough!”

You chuckled at the scene, finding it funny that a short god can make the two taller males stand down in a wave of his finger.

“I’m sorry, Jiminie…”

“I ain’t saying sorry, Jimin. That foul god deserves it”

“Why you-”

You went to the three males and commanded, “Jungkook stop it. Come here.”

Jungkook perked up and ran to your side with a raspberry blown to Taehyung. The latter glared at the daemon, wanting to strangle him.

“You best be going, love. Your mother’s been killing a lot of mortals. This place will be crowded if it does not stop” You said

Jimin raised a brow at your words, “You sound like you just want me out of here”

You gasped, exaggerated, and placed a hand on your chest, “I have been found out”

“You-!”

You chuckled and kissed his cheek, “Come back to me, alright, little god”

Jimin smiled at you, nodding, he was about to kiss you but heard the gagging noises from Taehyung.

“You guys are gross. It’s not like you won’t see each other you know. If you have forgotten Jiminie, you’re stuck in here for 6 months and 6 months with your mother” Taehyung said, rolling his eyes

“I know, Taehyung. Thank you for reminding me” Jimin said sarcastically

“You’re welcome!”

Jimin looked at You and Jungkook, “I’ll see you two in 6 months”

Jungkook scoffed, “That’s too short if you ask me”

You slapped the back of his head with a glare, “I already said to stop it, did I not Jungkook?”

Jungkook pouted, “Yes Mistress”

Taehyung stuck his tongue at Jungkook, smirking at him. Jungkook growled, glaring intensely at the god.

“Let’s go, Jiminie~”

Jimin made amends with Demeter when he went back, explaining everything to her. Demeter brought spring back with Jimin’s help. That is why the Earth has cold and warm seasons, it is when Jimin came and gone away from his mother. When he is with his mother, the seasons turned warm and flowers grew everywhere. When he is with his love, Demeter turned the earth cold, missing his son dearly.

Jimin stared at the vase of flowers you got him, smiling at the bouquet of astilbe. The vibrant pink making his heart flutter as he waits until he can come back to his love.

“I will be waiting for you.”

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09/21/2021 DAB Transcript

Isaiah 37:1-38:22, Galatians 6:1-18, Psalms 65:1-13, Proverbs 23:24

Today is the 21st day of September welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it is great to be here with you today as we do what we do and take the next step forward together. We are working our way of course, through the book of Isaiah and we have definitely crossed the halfway point in Isaiah. We are also working our way through Galatians. We’re reading from the Evangelical Heritage Version this week. Isaiah 37 and 38 today.

Commentary:

Okay. So, we just concluded the letter to the Galatians in our reading today. Tomorrow we will move forward to the letter to the Ephesians. So, just looking back. Galatia is more of a province that has many towns in it and this letter was sent…sent to the churches that had been developing in the region of Galatia. Tomorrow we’ll read Ephesians and that will be a letter written to the church in a specific city, Ephesus. And as we concluded Galatians, Paul left a little bit of a list. If we’re looking for it we can find all kinds of little…little characteristic lists, little things that we should be paying attention, little bits of counsel. And, so, as Galatians concludes today, we kinda have that and we can see it basically from verse 2 until verse 10 of chapter 6. So, let's just look at these suggestions and just invite our own heart to speak, like invite ourselves to be reflective about whether or not we’re heeding any of this counsel. So, first…I’m gonna just be quoting all this. “Bear one another's burdens, and in this way fulfill the law of Christ. For if someone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” So, we can…we can sit with that one for a while. Next. “Let each person test his own work and then he will take pride in regard to himself and not his neighbor. For each man will bear his own burden,” right? So, basically keep your eyes on your own life. Get that in order. Get that straight before you try to organize somebody else's life. The way Jesus would put this is, why don't you go ahead and get that log out of your own eye before you try to get the speck out of your brother’s eye. Again, some things worthy of contemplating and thinking about as it applies to the way we live our lives. Then next up. “Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with his teacher.” In other words, give honor where honor is due. And next up. “Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. To be sure whatever a man sows, he will also reap. Indeed, the one who sows for his own sinful flesh will reap destruction from the sinful flesh, but the one who sows for the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit”, which kind of begs the question if we’re sitting here thinking things through - what are we doing here? What are we about? What are we doing? What is our motivation? What are we after? Because there are two paths laid out here. Following the path of the sinful flesh will reap destruction from the sinful flesh. But one who is focused on the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. Again, any one of these we can sit and just kinda put in our…the back of our minds and contemplate this all day long, just observing ourselves, watching the things that we do and the attitudes that we have and inviting God in as we compare our functional lives to the advice that Paul's getting here. And then next up. “Let us not become weary of doing good because at the appointed time we will reap if we do not give up.” So, what’s the encouragement. Keep going. You can do this. Keep going. One foot in front of the other. Don't be weary of doing good just because you're not seeing the payoff yet. Keep going. You will reap if you don't stop, if you don't give up. Keep going. Some of us need to hear that. And then lastly here. “As we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who belong to the household of faith.” And we could look at that go okay, yup, got it. I'll do that as I have opportunity. And then we’re so selfish that we never have opportunity. We should look at this flipped backward. When the opportunity is presented, let us do good to all people, and especially those who belong to the household of faith. And if we’re looking for opportunity to do good to all people. Then we will be fulfilling what was previously said, which is don't be weary of doing good because at the appointed time we’ll reap if we don't stop, if we don't give up. And, so, there are a number of things that we can carry around with us from Galatians, just from the last chapter of Galatians to help us to reflect on the way that we are conducting our lives.

Prayer:

Holy Spirit, come. It's something that we ask every day, something that we need every moment, something that we need every breath. In fact as we become aware of our breath, we become aware of Your presence. When we breathe in we are inspiring, which means in spirit and we release in faith knowing that the next breath will come and we thank You that that's how simple it can be. Sometimes in the fog of life to become aware that You are here, that Your presence is with us. And we need Your presence. We need Your counsel. We need Your comfort. We need Your correction. Even as we look at what's here in Galatians today just applying this to the way that we live, show us how to not give up. Show us how to look for the opportunity to do good. Show us how to not draw attention to ourselves or to just be self-absorbed so that we’re only ever comparing ourselves to somebody else, which is useless. Show us how to grow up and live into this to be a mature son and daughter of the kingdom, we pray. In the name of Jesus, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

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So, check out like the Community section. This is where you'll find different links to get connected on social media. It is also where the Prayer Wall lives. And I rarely tire speaking about the Prayer Wall. I rarely tire of speaking about our community and the way that we love one another through prayer. It is truly the most remarkable thing, one of the most remarkable things I've seen over a sustained period of time, the way that we’re all over the world but we’re around the global campfire and we all go through the ebb and flow of life that sometimes feels like a roller coaster and we’re back-and-forth and pulled in all kinds of directions. And there are sometimes that we’re confessing. There are other times that we’re encouraging. And we just have a way around here of loving each other where were at and understanding that we’re in process. Every single one of us. And, so, the Prayer Wall is a wonderful resource. It's always there and it's in the Community section at dailyaudiobible.com or in the app. You can access it from there no matter what's going on, no matter what you are shouldering or carrying or whatever feels like it's clamped around your ankles and you’re dragging it or slumping your shoulders. You don’t have to do that alone. There are thousands, tens of thousands of people around here and we pray for one another. And maybe you've come out of a difficult time and are rejoicing in that. Well give glory to the Lord at the Prayer Wall. We all love to rejoice with each other. Or maybe we’re feeling strong right now. We've weathered some storms, but we know that we’re on an uptick and some other brothers and sisters are facing struggles of their own and we can go and encourage and pray for them and let them know that they aren't alone and that there’s somebody out there in this world that has gone before the Father on their behalf. That that is beautiful. That is the body of Christ. That is us being family spiritually on this earth, at least in part. And, so, certainly be aware of the Community section, whether in the app or on the web and be aware of the Prayer Wall.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, if this mission to keep doing what we’re doing, which is to bring the spoken word of God read fresh every day and offered freely to anyone who will listen to it, anywhere on this planet any time of day or night. And because that's a rhythm and it happens every day to build community around that rhythm. We’re always ear around the Global Campfire. If that has made a difference in your life, then thank you for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner, or the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app, which is the little red button up at the top or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that's it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi this is Denise Saved by Grace in Southern California. I want to pray for the…the lady…the mother who called and said her son was an ER nurse and her son just taken his life and how the new…the second surge has seemed hopeless for him. I too am a nurse in the second surge, and I just want to lift up all of the frontline healthcare workers and nurses and doctors. Father God, I just thank You and praise You Father for…that You are the divine healer Father and we thank You God for all of the…the talents that You've blessed us with in order to be able to use these…these gifts that You've given us to others. I just lift up all my brothers and sisters in healthcare Father, the doctors, nurses, even the EVS and dietary, everyone Father God that are putting their selves on the line Father to take care of others as this…this devastating disease hits us once again. Father we trust You Lord that You will see us through. I pray for strength in each and every one of us to Your God and I pray Father that You would just comfort us as…as we go through our daily struggles Father. Even with…even not in the hospital setting, even in our homes Father. I pray for the mother of that child…of her son Lord and I pray that You comfort her as she grieves and I pray Father God that there's anyone else Lord that thinks that there is no hope, Father help them to see them that…that…that You are our hope Lord God and that they don't need to take their own lives but give their lives to You for You can care for them better than...

Hi there, DAB family this is Daniella calling from Arizona I have an update, a praise report and a prayer request at the same time. I called in just a few nights ago asking for prayer for a young lady of 19 who went missing. And the praise report is that by God's grace amazingly she has been found. She is alive and she has been rescued from an evil man. So, she's no longer in the fangs of the enemy being mistreated to say the least by this evil individual. So, that…that's a great amazing praise to…to just praise God for. So, I’m very thankful she is alive. She's no longer being held captive. But unfortunately, along with that comes also a prayer request for her as in that week she went through hell to say the least. She was repeatedly assaulted, sexually assaulted. And I just ask form prayer for her healing physically, emotionally, spiritually on all fronts. That takes a long time to heal from to even recover, to just be better let alone in the long haul. So, that could be a lifetime. So, I pray that you would just intercede for her and her grandma who loves her and cares for her and who raised her. Please pray for her. Thank you so much.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible community this is Diane Olive Brown from Newburgh IN. I am an encourager, one of very many. Shalom shalom. Nothing is missing nothing is broken. And I was listening to Ezekiel this morning in August somewhere looking back making sure that I didn't miss anything. I missed a day in August. I think it was the 20th and where Paul was talking about, I can't give you solid food yet because you're like babies. And let's throw our log on the campfire and listen to this, that, listen to this…you're not…you're not able to eat solid food yet. I can only give you milk that we give to babies because your jealous of each other and you’re saying I’m apollos and I’m of Paul and you’re biting and devouring each other just the world. So, Ezekiel prayer that we would be…learn to eat solid food, food you give mature Christians. And if we're fighting and dividing amongst each other, if we're saying this one is better than this one or I want this one and I follow this one, where Jesus is the only one we should follow...

Hey DAB this is Tiffany from northern New Mexico and I just wanna tell you how much I love all of you. I love this family and I love how we are so united despite the fact that many of us have never met, actually most of us have never met and we may even live halfway across the world from one another. But the Lord connects us all. The hardest part for me is with every prayer request that comes in I just want to hug you. Whoever you are it doesn't matter I just want to hug you and take you out for coffee and hear more of your story and really been blessed to do that with a couple of you. But I guess I'll just have to look forward to meeting the rest of you when we're all living in our eternal home. But in the meantime, I just wanted to let you know that I love you guys and I'm lifting you up. I know that many others are as well. And I just wanted you to know, Trent from Ozwell thank you for continuing to share your story. And Vicki, my heart breaks for you. I have two boys and can't imagine what you're going through. Praying for you through grief. Giovanni I'm praying for you with COVID that God would heal you and your family. Tammy I'm…I’m praying for you to have that piece that you truly want. Brenda I’m praying for your mom Nancy with dementia. I have a loved one also with dementia and see how hard and…and just how hard it is. And Anointed I’m praying for your husband Ron for spiritual and physical and mental health. Val in Vegas we love you and I just pray that your surgery went well and that the surgeon’s hands were…

Hi this is Toni and I’m calling in response to a message that a gentleman from Alabama left on…we heard it on September 17th, and he talked about the hard struggles in your life, you know, abused as a child, cancer on the nose, and other things. And you talked about the importance of…you know…or the realization of the importance of counting one’s blessings. And just hearing your voice I just suspect you have been and that you are a significant blessing and that you’re living your life in a way where you are the hands and feet of the Lord blessing others. And, so, I just felt I need…that needed to be said and maybe that was inspired by the Holy Spirit. Just recognition and love of God coming through. So, God bless you and thank you for leaving your message for us. Bye-bye.

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marzeline · 4 years

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So i heard y’all like religious symbolism in She Ra, so i decided to offer my own knowledge from 17 years spent in a very strict Orthodox household.

I’m gonna talk particularly about one specific moment in “Save the Cat” because I haven’t seen anyone pointing it out before.

When I was first watching this episode, devastated and overwhelmed by emotions, I still felt a bit of a... déjà vu? I have definitely seen these images before, but where? And then it hit me.

Everywhere. I have seen these scenes all my life. Glorified them even. Let me give you a little bit of context...

My family (and my country predominantly) is part of the Christian Eastern-Orthodox Church. The western world is not that familiar with this specific part of the church, but it’s basically presented as Christianity as it was preached in the beginning. In 1054, the East-West Schism happened, when the institution of the Church and Religion as a whole split into the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches. It happened from various reasons like changes in the doctrine and political reasons but I will not go into details here.

Since their departure, the Catholic and Orthodox Church developed even more differences - one of them being the decoration of the church.

While Catholics use mainly statues and mosaic, Orthodox practice allows the use of only icons (there is no exact term in English from what I have found, but think Icoană in Romanian or Икона in Russian), which are basically pictures.

And you have probably seen pictures or icoane as well - here is an widely used image in the western world of Jesus Christ

The images that you’re used to seeing have realistic details, but this isn’t what I’m used to seeing. Because in the Eastern Church, we use the byzantine style of art (Greek), the one used in the old times. The artist’s goal isn’t to portray the characters and scenes realistically, but to have a symbolic sketch that dehumanizes them (ig you won’t look at an icon and fall in love with the face, you won’t be distracted by earthly things).

With this out of the way, let me show you what I meant when I said I have seen those scenes before. There are 3 of them, the last one being the most important, and while you can find so many other icons, these are the few that I have selected:

Now here me out: Jesus is Great. My views on religion have changed a lot, but I still think Jesus was the greatest man to ever live. His lessons were revolutionary at the time, and his teachings are still passed on.

In Orthodox traditions, we believe God has three personas that are different and independent, but one in God: The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. The Church is raising you as a family, with the priest addressing the community as “brothers and sisters (in Christ)” and we pray to our divine Father.

Now let me tell you why I have selected these specific icons: The Baptize of Christ, Jesus saving Adam from Eternal Damnation, The Apostle and Jesus AND the last one that I’m gonna talk about a little bit later.

In scene one, we see Catra coming with the clones. Her hair is wet and later we find out that she has been “purified”. When undergoing this same process, Horde Prime told Hordak that his fault was his pride: how dare he think he is worthy to stand besides Horde Prime, Hordak was a mere clone created “in his image”

“So God created man in His own image” Genesis 1:27

Hordak forgotten who he is. He shall be reminded.

The Orthodox Church has 7 great rituals, but the most important ones are considered the Baptize, the Eucharist and The Ceremony that you undergo at Death.

Let’s talk about the Baptize because they look wildly similar to me. We believe that everyone is born carrying the original sin - that’s why it doesn’t matter how good of the person you were during your life, you go to Hell. But when Jesus came to Earth, He taught us how to be baptized in the name of the Lord. The process of The Baptize reclaims you as one of Lord’s sheeps and saves your soul (doesn’t guarantee you’re going to Heaven either; just opens the possibility). It purifies you of the original sin and makes you reborn, ready to join the big family that is the Church. Sounds familiar?

The Symbol of the Baptize is easy to spot, definetly out there for a reason, a scary, twisting interpretation of a ritual that is viewed as sacred by the community.

Catra kneels 2 times in front of Horde Prime. The second time she does it in Adoration at HP’s altar, when she is brought for Adora to see (see the first image), but the first time she does it when she is brought defiant after helping Glimmer escape. That’s the moment of her Judgement.

In the second image, Prime is holding her hand and Catra lovingly accepts it while being raised from the ground. It’s sickening to see because you know the character, you know her desires and history and holding HP’s hand while being embraced by him doesn’t really hit her persona.

Now let’s look at this in detail again

Here is the moment when Jesus, dead, is lowering to Hell (like I said, before Jesus, no one could go to Heaven) to save the worthy ones (like Abraham and David and Adam - the first man, the one that lived almost 1000 years). Yes, Adam sinned in the Eden, but in the Bible we’re being told that he had lived a righteous life overall. Adam was a good man and he deserved to go to Heaven after he died. But he didn’t, so Jesus could come and free him. He raises him from Hell and saves him. Heaven is now opened for Adam. HP is doing the same for Catra here.

And last, but certainly not least, we have the third image. I have rewatched this episode so many times since its release and I always, always stop at that scene with my blood frozen in my veins. The resemblance it’s terrifying. That frame alone, shows you every Christian’s biggest dream. Jesus and the Apostle. You being saved. God accepting you. Loving you even. It doesn’t matter how much you love God, He always loves you more. How could you not stare in adoration? All your adoration will never be enough for He is just That Great.

Catra does it, the clones do it, and we do it as well - we’re content being in His Graces. I don’t think I will ever be able to explain how much that scene scares me. Because we, as the audience, know that is wrong. That is not Catra. She’s so many people’s favorite character for a reason! She’s obnoxious and loud and mischievous and disrespectful and cunning and fast and mean but caring and she loves Adora! We know that and we expect to see that every time she’s on the screen. Seeing the complete opposite of her... is wrong.

“Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19:14

The last icon: the one where Jesus greets the kids into his arms and promises them heaven and peace. That is how the clones and the ones being chipped are looking at HP. This is what they think they will find under his protection. Spinerella always mentions how happy they are under his rule and Catra?

“My place is with Horde Prime, I don’t want to leave”

“Prime has given me peace. Something you could never do.”

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have access by faith into his grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” Romans 5:1-2

I’m gonna tell you from my own experience: I came out as bisexual to my mother (who is definitely the most religious person you’re ever gonna meet) at 13. She wasn’t mad. She tried to deny it but I stopped her cold. You know what she said? I will pray for you. Everyone has their own stuggles and the devil tempts us in many ways. You’ll have to fight these urges all your life and never act on them, but you’ll be rewarded. You will find peace in God.

For my mother, God is the giver of peace and my attraction to the same gender is what actually troubles me. My struggle is because of my sins.

I’m sure that conversation remained forgotten in her memory, but I will never be able to forget it. For the Church (Horde Prime here representing organized religion) homosexuals are sad, confused and unhappy - because they don’t know the peace of the Lord. No one can be happy, if not in the light of Horde Prime God.

I don’t know if there is ever gonna be a time in my life when that scene won’t terrify me. It’s reminding me of everything that I was for others, for everything that I thought I wanted for myself. At 14 I would wake up praying to be killed just so I can die in God’s light before sinning. Catra is also a victim of abuse, and you could never never never understand what is that about unless you have experienced it first hand. In the episode she is being mind-controlled, not far from others have experienced due to indoctrination. But to be so codependent, to Adora first (and probably always - that’s just how childhood trauma works) Shadow Weaver and then to HP?

This breaks my heart in so many places, but it also gives me hope. You can still get the chip out. You can still open your eyes. And you can still love! There is no fear in love.

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globalsavingteam · 4 years

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A Day In The Amazon

~*~

Days hadn’t yet passed properly before I received the order for my next work. I realized I would have to step out of the barriers which had contained me within my comfort zone, yet again, and go abroad. Needless to say, it was not the first time that I had travelled across borders for work.

But this time it was different and I was disappointed the moment I heard the subject in question. The Amazon, the greatest tropical rainforest in the world, was the next destination for my project. I never understood why people all over the world were so keen to keep that forest as it was. Cut a small tree, and there’s a mob outside your window ready to prosecute you. My twenty years of experience has taught me that there are thousands of people all over the world who are homeless and jobless. The meagre area of the forest can provide enough space not only for industrialization but also housing and job opportunities to hundreds of people in Brazil. What's the use of forest if humans cannot use it?

Despite my mind telling me that it was a rather bad choice, I boarded the flight to Manaus the following week. A part of the forest was burnt out due to the forest fire that had taken place recently. I was supposed to note down the details of its after-effects for which opinions of the natives and locals will be much more reliable than my personal observations.

Later, as the day went by, I began work. I went to the closest village in the vicinity and started asking questions. Responses in Portuguese and broken English began being translated to notes. An hour became two, then four. Not much was received after the seemingly endless interactions. The villagers said that they evaded the impact by the blessings of God.

In my enquiry, I noticed a man, carrying a sack bulging with fruits. He had a strange aura around him: I noticed, he wasn’t really paying attention to what he was doing. He walked through town, slowly, as if without motive, frequently looking up, gazing at the floating clouds as if he was trying to peer into some long lost memory. My curiosity took the better of me and I decided to jot him down in my notes.

First, I attempted to grab his attention by calling out to him but when it failed, I was forced into using my only strategy.

As I blocked his way, he looked up and exclaimed, “Ei Deus!”

He seemed an approachable man. I slowly eased up to him.

“ What is your name?”

“Jose Santos, senhor”, he replied, surprised by my sudden appearance.

“ Why do you keep looking at the sky? “

“Senhor, Dues take them. Dues take them far. I alone. Dues take them.” His voice trails off. I noticed a streak of tear down his cheek.

I could tell that he had gone through loss. But I needed intel. “There might surely be some way out. Why cry for that?”

“Senhor! How I live? The Fire kill my cattle, it kill mãe, burn home, no left of field, only ashes.” He was almost ready to grab me. If he hadn’t controlled himself, I might have had injuries to take back along with intel.

“I can understand how you feel. I really can. How did it happen?”

“ How can be other than fire ? This my home for long time. The forest give food, wood and thing to sell. They want tall house and other things for money. They saying, it good for us. But I do not know. I do not know, senhor!” With that he burst out in tears, dropping the sack of fruits.

I paused for a while. Doubt had engulfed my mind. If burning the forest is for the benefit of people then how can these people suffer? I didn't have an answer. I helplessly stared at the lad as he collected his belongings, left with nothing to say. I slowly left that scene, having been hit by a burdening feeling of guiltiness.

The next day, I visited another portion of the forest with some helpers and local guides. This part remained untouched by the fire, and was crucial for my observations. The view took my breath away.

The sun glimmered through the bright, lush green leaves. There was a downpour the previous night and it resulted in such a magnificent scenic beauty! The droplets of water poised themselves on some selected leaves, looking like jewels which were worn by the plants. The raindrops glittered in the sun like diamonds and the reflected light and a smell of freshness made the whole place seem like an unreachable paradise which had paved its way into reality. The Amazon stood there in all its glory, a habitat for a plethora of wild animals and birds.

Just a few miles away the scenery changed completely. Nothing but ash and destruction. Not a single sign of life could be seen anywhere.

That day as I retired to the resort, I sat on my comfortable armchair and tried to let my mind be at ease. My thoughts kept going back to that day’s incident, where the poor man with his ragged clothes wept over his fate. My confused mind didn’t know why I felt sorry for him.

My thoughts took me back to make me face my prior views on this forest. The destruction I had witnessed. It shouldn’t have affected me so, hadn’t I viewed the horrors for the locals.

This cannot be a way of improving human lives. I did not want destruction and suffering in the name of improvement, for I understood that humanity should not remain insensitive to the forest fire or wildfire every year. What is the use of development if people suffer from it? Normal people don't go for large scale industrialization. Then why will the world suffer for just a few people? We have to take a stand against this system of so-called economic improvement to save our planet from getting destroyed by our own hands. Because, even though our bewildered mind did not acknowledge the existence of the fact, our heart was always in the right.

~Global Saving Team

Writers: Charlotte and Mrito

Management: Rus and Mono

Editors: Kkura, Oblap, Ban, SSS

Instagram Team: Sid and Sana (https://www.instagram.com/globalfamily_official/)

#amazonforest

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paulieshore · 4 years

Text

Obey Me / SCM Au Series

Warnings: conflict of interest, triggers, drama, minor angst

Words 3158

I do not own the rights to these characters, characters belong to:

· Obey me! Shall we date

· Star crossed myth - Voltage

Chapter 10: I’ll Do Anything

Rain fell; dripping off your face, the fighting raged on around you. Not that you could hear, sounds drowned out by the falling of rain and sobbing. Focused on the still smiling individual; dead in your arms.

Moments ago, you were hugging his warm, heart pumping body in Solomon’s apartment.

Next….

You leaned over and placed a kiss on his cold forehead, even in death he was a smiling idiot. Tears continued along with the rain drops, soaking the pair of you.

The streets were in utter chaos, police arrived on scene, guns raised behind open car doors. News vans and cameras set up, reporting whatever was happening behind them. No one could believe what they were seeing, figures, creatures and people of some sorts; combating. Like something right out of a horror film, in the midst of the chaos a broken girl holding a man.

“M-Mammon, please don’t go.” You gently shook him; eyes still open “I’ll do anything you ask of me; I’ll even do your homework”. Hoping with some miracle, bribing him would magically bring him back to you.

Leon grabbed your arm and tried to pull you away “Get up! We need to leave!”

Your heart was in agony, your soul crushed. A build-up of something inside you triggered when Leon insensitively tried to take you away from your friend. You had no intentions of leaving Mammon, not unless you were taken away in a casket as well. Strength from deep within, as you shook his hand off and briefly made eye contact with the god.

Leon was shocked when she looked to him, something changed in her eyes. The stars that shined in them swirled, as if a cosmic galaxy was being sucked into a black hole; your pupils dilated. When you shook him off, he felt something else force his touch away.

He wondered ‘What is this, power?’

The rain that had been falling stopped and floated in space. Orbs of light from the fight; black and white, frozen too. Sounds muted, only one’s own breathing could be heard. Everyone was confused, and mesmerized; as if they were all under some spell.

The atmosphere rapidly changed to an even more alarming state. The air dropped to freezing temperatures, and then hiked back up to extremely humid and warm; fluctuating. The sky began darkening, and twisting, right above.

An aura surrounded your very being, Leon tried again and slowly reached out. “Y/N?” he cautiously spoke to you.

Something unleashed “GET AWAYYY!!” screaming at him.

The aura pulsated and sent a shock wave out as you belted, everything around you and Mammon pushed away with great force. Cars flipped, trees uprooted, everyone around thrown 20-30 feet from their spots. Even Karno and Leon were thrown with such force, windows shattered, the ground split outwards from you. Lightening of red scattered across the sky following a horrendous rumble of thunder. The police and news crew, thrown back with no effort. Front ends of their vehicles lifted, sirens and lights set off by the impact.

The aftermath was that of a bomb.

You turned your head back down, tucking it into Mammon’s chest. The ground began to rumble and shake, the harder you cried.

The Underworld / Heaven

Everyone stopped throughout all of Devildom, everything began to shake. Shingles on buildings began to fall off the roofs, demons ran around the streets ducking for cover in nearby shops.

An earthquake?

The demon lords castle also shook with greatness.

“What’s happening Barbatos?” Diavolo sturdies himself against a wall.

Barbatos stumped “I never seen anything like this when I peered into the timelines!” Holding onto a nearby side table. “Is it the King, sir?”

Diavolo shakes his head “No, this feels different, it’s much stronger!”

*In ruins of the old fortress*

Partheno stumbles sidewise when the ground profusely begins to shake, “What in the hell?!?”

The ruins of walls crumbling faster with the shaking.

“IMPOSSIBLE?!? IT CAN’T BE!” The dark kings face twists into shock. He grasps his chest; an old wound begins to burn with heat.

*Screams all across heaven*

Vega looks to Kivy “My King, what’s going on?!” she falls to the floor unable to stand.

Kivy’s eyebrow raises; the corner of his mouth twitches too “My, my, her powers have awakened….” Gripping his throne.

Zyglavis appears with a stagger, “Your highness!! I think now would be a good time to intervene!!”

Cocking his head to the side, “No, the shows only just begun.”

Human Realm

Lucifer stood up, his ears buzzing as he tried to balance himself. He frantically looked around, seeing his sibling’s bodies scattered about. Far from where he was, he sees you holding Mammon, noticing the constantly changing aura around you.

It was growing as if it were alive, taking shape into a dome. The wind around began to pick up, rubble slowly being dragged by an invisible force towards it.

*SNAP*

Huedaut appears, he can’t believe it; the destruction.

Only moments ago, he was staring into the pool, the streets looked nothing like this. His eyes are attracted to an illuminating spectacle. This glowing light at core of it all, you. His feet begin to be pulled, dragging along the cracked concrete.

“I’m sorry Mammon, this is all my fault *hic* It’s all my fault!” Gripping his cold body tighter.

Crow pulled himself up, a tree had landed on top of him. All the reinforcements began to retreat, “What’s going on?”

Servillah approaches to aid him, he points over to where you were “It’sss the girl!” Both of them stunned, no one warned them the mortal still had her previous life’s glory. They had every right to flee, they’d once faced off with this power alone and were easily out matched.

“Will live to die another day!” Crow spat before they disappeared into mist.

Hue couldn’t believe it; it really was her…

Only she had such brazen power hidden behind compassion. He had a hard time believing this mere mortal was the incarnation of his lover, but this pushed aside all doubts. The closer he got the more he witnessed how the power had evolved almost, the dome was tearing things to shreds upon contact.

“No…”

The boys slowly gathered; sheltering themselves, Solomon was knocked awake when he hit the ground. He stood in awe as he watched what was happening, and how you were unscathed. “I knew there was something special there…”

Asmo grabbed a dazed Solomon and dragged him behind a flipped vehicle, “What do we do!?”

They all looked to Lucifer.

Lucifer’s face was pale, a single tear stained his cheek.

“…”

“Lucifer?” Satan called to him.

He looked to his younger siblings and without a word, began to march towards her.

The House of Gods

Aigonorus was the only one oblivious to what was happening, fast asleep. Zyglavis returned swiftly from heaven, with no orders.

“Hue has gone!” Tauxolouve warned him “Dammit what is he thinking!”

“He is the master of his own choices; Hue will have to face the King after this matter.” Zyglavis responds with regret.

Everyone respected Huedaut, he was the wisest of them all. Considering all that had happened personally to him, he still pushed forward. Lately though it didn’t go unnoticed; he seemed distracted. How Zyg wished Hue worked in punishments rather than wishes, he could have kept a closer eye on him.

Zyglavis, as someone who understands the great need for balance. He understood the balance Hue must be seeking out for within.

Dui points down into the pool “Look!”

They were watching the drama, Huedaut appears, being pulled towards you.

Scorpio says scanning the scene “Where is that damn Lion and Karno?!”

Krioff takes a head count “Um… Where’s Partheno gone?”

Human Realm

Lucifer could clearly see, but he didn’t have the slightest clue what he was going to do. He just knew he needed to get to you.

Pain, she was in pain.

He wanted to console you, weep with you. He related to the pain you were feeling, the guilt perhaps. He didn’t want you being alone, that was his brother, he’d share the burden with you.

The closer he got the more it felt like something was crushing his lungs. The same sort of feeling when they approached the mansion that day.

He struggled to breathe, “Y/N?!?!”

“Y/N? ….”

“Oh Y/N? You need to get up for school, you’re going to be late at this rate?!” A voice called out to you. A woman draws open pink and yellow curtains.

Sitting up, ‘wait, where am I?’ You rub your eyes and look to the her.

“Mom?” Your eyes were burning, it’s been so long since you’d seen her face, or even heard her voice. ‘Can this be?’

“What’s the matter babe, are you not well again?”

She reaches over moving your fringe, putting her hand to your forehead. “My god, your burning up! I’ll call the doctor!” She tries to leave the room when you grip her wrist.

My hand? It’s so small…

Her voice silvery “Babe, please lay back down, everything is going to be alright.”

‘I was somewhere else, wasn’t I? Is this real?’ You were questioning yourself, but you couldn’t remember where or what else you were just doing.

Your mouth seems to have its own control.

“Mom, I’ve missed you!” Your voice was small.

The look of confusion on her face “I haven’t been anywhere babe? Just rest, I need to call the doctor”

She turns to leave; you reach out again trying to catch her before she goes. All you grab is air, her body disappears into a smoke like substance. You jumped from the bed, afraid.

“MOM!!”

‘No, no, no, it can’t be!’ This familiar agony rising in your chest.

Rushing out the bedroom door, the hall contorts, shifting into a hospital. The smell of cleaners, reminded you of dead hopes and dreams; filled your nostrils.

…

“Miss!”

Turning around, a nurse staring at your bewildered, a folder in her hands. The reeking hospital was too much, a faint pain in the back of your skull began.

“You shouldn’t be wondering outside your room. Come now, I’ll help you back to bed.”

You somehow already knew the answer but your mouth asked anyways “Where’s…. where’s my mom?”

She paused and casted pitiful eyes at you, catching a glimpse of her name tag then; Charlene. She crouched down and gently took your hands into hers, “I’m sorry miss, your mom is gone… Your appointed guardian will be here soon, you need to rest; doctor’s orders.”

‘Yes of course, I knew that’

It was strange, you couldn’t decipher whether this was a memory or reality. Everything was so surreal; didn’t you know a nurse named Charlene?

“Your mom wouldn’t want anymore harm to come to you now.”

Slowly it came..

‘Of course, Mom’s dead.

She died instead of me; it’s my fault.

I got sick and she had to get into the car and take me... She was singing to me in the car, when...

We were hit.

Mom didn’t make it... It’s all my fault.’ Your head began to throb, you’ve already lived this.

“Come on, let’s get you back to bed.” She picked you up and held you close.

A familiar voice ringing from behind.

“Excuse me nurse, please, I’ll take her”

You look, now it made sense. ‘Of course, I remember you.’

He approaches with large strides, exchanging quick words with the nurse on duty. He gently takes you from her, “I’m sorry it took so long Y/N, but I’m here now, it’s going to be alright.” He tilts his head slightly, “I brought you some ice-cream, why don’t we go and share it?” Smiling.

How could you forget a smile so calming, so kind?

Karno slowly sat up, he was thrown over a metal bench not far from the scene. Taking a moment to get his barring, troubled by the sight. His eyes falling to you, how his heart ached.

The image was similar to that; fifteen years ago.

Huedaut got closer, he didn’t care at this point, rubble of stones and branches hitting him.

“Fate?!”

She didn’t respond to him, head still down. She was shaking, holding Mammon. He gambled his options, and threw himself into the dome like shield surrounding you two.

The pain was in no measure to what he felt inside himself.

He hit the ground hard, it was calm and quite contrast to the chaos and destruction outside. He could hear your teeth clattering, nose sniffling.

He whispered your previous name once more “Fate...” Slowly wrapping his arms around you.

The memory morphed…

You were sitting on a stone wall looking out to the most breath-taking sunset.

‘What, what’s this?’

“Mom! Mom, look what big brother got me!” A young boy skips behind and takes the spot next to you. “Isn’t it beautiful Mom, I like this bracelet very much, oh! Not nearly as beautiful as you though!”

You stare at him briefly, his cheery tone reminded you of someone… But who? Your mouth again moved on its own accord.

“It is indeed my handsome boy. Asmodeus did you thank your brother?”

‘ASMO?!?’

“Yes, mom. Luci got one for you too!!”

You knew Asmo, he was a demon, right? Your head felt funny again… What’s going on?

She was as cold as ice, shivering and crying. Huedaut peered over to Mammon, reached and closed his eyelids.

Lucifer appears inside the dome next, worse for wears.

calling to you “Y/N, let’s take him home…” hoarsely.

No sooner after those words, everything stopped.

Lucifer’s Pov

He watched as Hue threw himself inside, observed as gashes tore into his body. He quickened his pace; and followed suit.

Huedaut closed his brother’s eyes, Lucifer was slightly annoyed on how he addressed you. ‘She isn’t her, this is Y/N.’ he thought. He called to YOU, that’s when the chaos abruptly halted, things falling and crashing to the ground.

Your body slumps forward, breathing laboured.

Huedaut carefully pulls you back, and releases your deathly grip on Mammon. Checking your vital signs, he then turns his attention to me.

“I’ll do anything” I croaked out, almost pathetically.

I have already sold my loyalty for my sister; I am willing to surrender my very life for MY brother.

…

*SNAP*

Devildom

Diavolo was looking over old archives, he couldn’t quite put his finger on what had happened earlier. His help; Barbatos, also couldn’t see anything in any of the time loops.

He knew this sort of glorious magic, the sort a god could only wield. He wasn’t 100% certain, after the place stopped shaking, he immediately dived into research.

He suspected Kivy, King of Gods was manipulating Barbatos visions. What was he hiding?

...

“My Lord, we have company.” Barbatos enters Diavolo’s study.

He briefly looks up to him, not hearing a word he said “Are the preparations set?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Very good, could you-”

“My Lord? I’m sorry to interrupt, but you have company. A visitor would like to speak to you personally.”

Diavolo sets the papers down and looks questioningly at Barbatos. “Bring them in”

He shuffles to the side and slightly bows his head. Huedaut walks in slowly from behind him, cradling in his arms; Mammon.

“Huedaut, God of Aquarius…… is it?” Glancing down to who was in his arms.

He nods to Diavolo “I have a proposition for you”

The House of Lamentation:

Hue snapped you all here, before he picked Mammon up and vanished.

“Where’s he going with Mammon?!” Levi suspiciously asked.

“…”

Lucifer walked over and picked you up off the floor, he turns to his brothers “I ask, of you all, just believe in him.”

No one had the slightest clue what he was trying to imply, or what was going on. At this point there wasn’t much too do. The brothers were exhausted, their minds, hearts and souls a mess.

Solomon speaks up “I can have a look at her if you want, you should sit down for a moment” Noticing the amount of blood that covered him.

Lucifer’s eyebrows pinch together, “No, I will take care of her.” marching out of the room.

He took you straight to his study, and laid you body on the sofa gently. His face inches away from yours, whispering

“I will protect you with my life, Y/N…”

He drops a feather like kiss to your lips before getting up and making his way to the bathroom.

Heaven

Kivy watched your dreams progress, constantly fiddling and showing you the worst of your days.

“Hm, so Death is your trigger…”

He continued watching in the floating mirror, only this didn’t reflect his image.

It presented to him dreams and memories of all beings.

The mirror was thick, with perfectly proportioned grooves on each side of the polished silver. He smiled as he watched you interact with Karno, how your eyes illuminated when you spoke about stars. He waved his hand in front of it, changing it to another time.

The time you fell off your bike, and gruesomely skid your knees. Watched as you tried with all your might to be strong and not cry out in pain.

He found it funny how you couldn’t figure out whether this was a dream or not.

“Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory...”

He was going to enjoy toying with you, he wanted to see just how strong you could be before begging for mercy. He wanted to see just how far he could push this mortal, punish that soul of yours.

* Laughing to himself. *

Human Realm

Leon was mortified as Karno pulled him off the ground.

‘That girl, that power! Twisted bastard was right.’

…

“Where is she Karno?” Leon looked around; everything was destroyed, many individuals missing.

You and the demons, gone.

“They’ve left…”

Leon snapped his attention back to Karno “What do you mean they left; we need to find them now!”

He couldn’t allow this; on one hand, the girl was a danger to the realms. Another, dangerous forces were after that very power. He was furious with the situation and with you, furious and intrigued.

‘I’m going to teach that girl a lesson’

None of the demons were around, or that sorcerer. Little to his knowledge about Hue being there, Karno thought best not to bring it up just yet.

Before they could leave, they needed to fix this conundrum.

Leon growled inwardly ‘Great, even more pestering jobs’

“Karno, once we’re finished here, we are going to Devildom.”

End of Part One.

Stay tuned for Part Two - Chapter 1: Shame on You.

Now on Ao3. Like, comment, reblog - if your not following, follow my page for more updates! Thanx for reading

Mwah xxx

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morepopcornplease · 5 years

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Revoice! a Side B Conference Reflection

I wasn’t exactly sure what to write here, or even if I *would* write about my thoughts on Revoice.

But @monstrousgourmandizingcats asked, and, well, I can’t say no...

How was it?

You know, I’m not usually one for conferences with big worship sections where we stand and sing and such. (It actually made me realize that Catholics are, like, the Brits of the Christian world.... meaning, we are stoic and we do NOT do ~feelings~ in our worship.)

BUT, there’s still something undeniably powerful about being surrounded by 600+ queer Christians who are committed to their faith, taking our collective pain and suffering and offering it all up to God through song.

What did you do?

Attended excellent workshops and hugged people and had a LOT of good food and beer. I’m now Facebook friends with a Cistercian monk and LOADS more Side B’ers!! Also (and I cannot BELIEVE this happened) I met someone who had ALSO memorized Frozen in 25 languages?? and we sang it for some folks??? so. you know. that was a personal highlight 😍 😍 😍

What were the workshops?

You can find a full list here. The ones I attended were:

Leaders Track

Everything Belongs

Non-Traditional Families ARE Biblical Families

Queer Culture

Mission & Sexuality

Ecstacy in Celibacy

Are they available to watch?

Some, but not all, were recorded. You should be able to check out these talks as soon as they’re uploaded to the Revoice YouTube page (and you can check out last year’s talks, too!!)

Any words of wisdom you picked up??

PLENTY!

“Authentic celibacy--whether lay, ordained, or vowed--is oriented toward social and community life. To be a ‘spiritual father’ or ‘spiritual mother’--perhaps as a member of the clergy or religious, but also as a godparent, or an adoptive relative, or a catechist or teacher, or simply as a mentor and friend--is an esteemed vocation, something essential for a healthy and flourishing Christian community... celibacy is a communal practice.”

Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Love is Our Mission: The Family Fully Alive.

God Himself was the first missionary.

Genesis implicitly directs us to go and create culture. It is therefore not enough for us to critique culture, or reject culture. We must create culture, and that is part of our missions as Christians, and can give us purpose as Side B’ers.

Queer culture has many parts that parallel the first Christians:

“Coming out” parallels our “Declaration of Faith.”

Being rejected by our blood-tied family calls queer people to form a different family based on ties other than blood, rather like how Christians are called to be spiritual brothers and sisters to one another.

We must Include, Listen, Protect, and Invest in people.

Celibacy offers chances to give radical hospitality, more prayer time, and the ability to feel the absence of satiation from the world, making you more open to rely on Christ.

The broken places are exactly where we are most likely to see Jesus.

How can gay Christians be family / minister to the Church?

minister to widows, orphans, mothers, the lonely.

respite care for foster families, become foster / adoptive parents.

Family = Intentional Purpose + Connection.

We must be FAMILY to the queer community, and to our fellow believers.

As missionaries, we are “Reconciled Reconcilers,” that is, we are reconciled to Christ, and we must reconcile with others.

Of queer populations, roughly 79% grew up in the Church.

Of that percentage, 51% left the Church.

Of that percentage, 91% left not because of theology, but because of mistreatment.

The Church can impose celibacy as a “punishment” and then turn right around and say it’s “beautiful” in the same breath.

“Such were some of you” can be used as a weapon in the style of Prosperity Gospel, because it implies orientation change. This is a form of spiritual abuse.

We do NOT have to pass through heterosexuality to get to Heaven.

The Church has a responsibility towards those in poverty. So, too, does it have a responsibility towards those in celibacy.

Celibacy =/= loneliness

“You can belong to God alone, without being alone in your belonging.”

“You cannot love God more by loving others less.”

A Martin Luther quote, which, granted, he wrote it after nailing his 95 theses, but it nonetheless spoke to my Catholic self:

“This life therefore is not righteousness, but growth in righteousness, not health, but healing, not being but becoming, not rest but exercise. We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing toward it, the process is not yet finished, but it is going on, this is not the end, but it is the road. All does not yet gleam in glory, but all is being purified.”

We did not come to comfort the well-off. We came to challenge each other to be better Christians.

Christianity is costly.

“Bear one another’s burdens, and so you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2

How can I attend Revoice next year?

Revoice always takes place in St Louis, MO (it seems to be a Side B hotbed?) and has taken place during June these past two years of it’s existence (for, well, obvious Pride Month timeliness reasons XD)

While Revoice does offer scholarships, I have an additional idea of helping the Side B’ers here on tumblr attend.

So please, if you are Side B and are interested in attending Revoice next year, HIT! ME! UP!! Let’s make this happen. I understand the logistics are different for everyone, but I’d very much like for folks here to have a better chance to attend.

Much love and prayers to you all.

#side b #side b christian #side b Catholic #gay as the rainbow over noahs ark #popcorn reflects

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loving-barnes · 6 years

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ICE AND FIRE- LOKI

(A/N): This is my first story written on my nee tablet. I tried, my friends. I hope you will enjoy it a little bit.

Pairing: AU Loki Laufeyson x f!reader

Warning: angst and fluff but overall none

Words: 2100+

FULL MASTERLIST // LOKI MASTERLIST

ICE AND FIRE- LOKI

Loki wasn’t very fond of PDA. He never let a woman kiss him in front of any people and touching wasn’t an option too. In his father's eyes, he needed to be seen as a strict man, capable of ruling Asgard with a woman by his side and not as a clingy, lovey-dovey man who snuggled with his woman every five minutes. That was why many people thought he was a cold-hearted man who couldn’t find the one. While Thor was surrounded by many maidens, enjoying feasts and gatherings, Loki kept himself away from the light and spent his free time differently.

Loki wanted to be the best in everything, mostly doing magic because it was a field where he felt confident and strong. He was a great warrior, although Thor was better – he was better in everything, even being the better son. Odin preferred him than the other son. However, there was someone who saw in him the difference which only made him superior to the rest of the royal family.

The young prince spent most of his time in the training wing which belonged to those who possessed special abilities. There he could practice and learn more tricks, fight with others and teach beginners. The last option happened once when a young maiden was brought by the queen and he was ordered to train her. He couldn’t refuse his mother’s order. When he discovered what the maiden was capable of, Loki was impressed.

From that day, they became a silent duo, an ice and fire. When they were together, Loki would laugh and have the time of his life with the woman by his side. However, on the field, he barely remembered her name and never let her talk to him. There was another reason behind. The prince fell in love with her and he thought love made him weaker. The thought of being weak made him lock the feeling inside and never let them out, and with that, he had to stop seeing Y/N.

“What a great fight, my prince,” she said once they all returned back to Asgard. Thor was walking ahead with Sif while the Warriors Three were walking behind them, celebrating another victory. Loki ignored her, wishing he was somewhere else. His heart was beating fast and when she spoke to him, his insides almost melted.

“Brother, Y/N, come and let’s celebrate,” Thor shouted with a smile on his face.

“I am not interested,” Loki growled under his nose, quickly leaving everyone on the rainbow bridge.

The blonde prince and Y/N looked at each other, surprised by Loki's behaviour. She knew Loki was stand-offish and that he barely talked to her when they were in front of other people, but he never refused an invitation to celebrate a victory.

“Well, I hope to see you there, Lady Y/N,” Thor smiled at her, winking.

“Of course, my prince,” she slightly bowed, eyes fixed forward where she could see Loki's walking figure.

When she thought about the battle in the different realm, she noticed how Loki would keep his distance from her. He didn't help her when she called for him. It was Sif who at the end helped her killing a monster build from stones. If she died there, he wouldn’t even notice it. What happened to the charming raven-haired prince she secretly adored?

When they came back to the palace, the rest of the warriors went to the dining hall to fill up their stomachs with food and she went to see Loki. She wanted to know why did he ignore her when she needed him.

Coming to his quarters, a guard stopped her from coming inside. “The prince does not want to be disturbed,” he said strictly, eyes never meeting hers.

“I am his friend and I will not bother him too long. I just need to ask one question,” she demanded.

“As I said, the prince does not want to be disturbed. He is not accepting any visitors,” he replied, voice deeper than before.

With a sigh, she turned on her heel. What happened to Loki? Before this day, she was allowed to see him anytime. What could go wrong? Did she do something to him?

The sadness had followed her until evening when guests arrived and the celebration started. They were laughing, dancing and drinking heavily. The music was loud and Thor took Y/N dancing. He smelled of wine and meat. The smile on his face was addicting and soon she was smiling brightly at him too.

They spun, jumped and enjoyed each other's company. They were good friends and Thor always came to her for an advice about women. He was secretly in love with Sif who too reciprocated the same feelings.

“You look magnificent tonight, Lady Y/N,” he smirked, twirling her. “If only my brother was here to see how beautiful you are tonight.”

She blushed. “Than you, my prince. Your words are very kind,” and she bowed when the song ended. “Do you happen to know what is with Loki? He has been avoiding me the whole day and his behaviour changed several days ago too.”

“Unfortunately, no, I do not know what is with my brother these days.”

He sighed, disappointed with the answer and the fact that Loki somehow changed. She turned around, ready to sit back to the table when her eyes discovered Loki standing next to his mother who was talking to guests. The prince kept his eyes at the maiden, occasionally shaking his head in disbelief.

She already changed him for Thor, he thought. What he saw only proved Y/N liked the God of Thunder than him. Sighing, he left the feast before she could reach him. Love was a weakness and it made him blind.

He got away before she had the chance to call his name and stop him. Y/N approached the Queen who was already looking at the young girl. “Are you looking for Loki?” she asked calmly, drinking red wine from a golden cup.

“Yes, my queen. I wish to speak to him and he keeps avoiding me,” she sighed, lowering her eyes to the ground. “I have no idea what I have done to him.”

She put a hand on her shoulder, “do not worry, my child. I am sure it is only a misunderstanding.”

“He found me dancing with Thor.”

The queen giggled. “Well, there you have it. Maybe it was jealousy that made him stop talking to you. I suggest you leave him alone for today and tomorrow, during training, you will talk.”

It was a good advice. As a thank you, she bowed and went back to the table to enjoy some more time with her friends. The night was still young and so much more was about to come. She hoped tomorrow, Loki would be in a better mood and they will talk before training lesson.

The next morning, after breakfast, she was walking down the hall heading to her room where she needed to change. She couldn’t wear a dress to the training but an attire in which she went into battles. Y/N was only moments away from seeing Loki. Unfortunately, it came sooner than expected.

Loki was standing at the end of the hall talking to another maiden who also was gifted with powers. The girl was smiling, leaning closer to the prince who too was standing dangerously near her. Y/N's heart dropped. Never in her dreams would she had thought that Loki, the charming God of Mischief could found another girl and exchange her for the weak beginner.

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and a step back. There was another way to get into her room. If Loki wanted another girl, so he would have it. A tear escaped her eye and she quickly got away from the scene. Maybe Loki wasn’t worth her love at all...

The training hall was emptier than usual. When Y/N came there, the first person she saw was the prince without the woman. There were only four guards and another two men who usually trained with them. What happened to the rest of the trainees?

“Are you ready for our lesson?” Loki asked, his voice colder than before. He was standing in a magical ring which protected the curious audience from getting hurt by magic. He was dressed in his black and green attire with golden accessories and even when she was mad at him, she couldn't deny how attractive he was.

“So, you are talking to me,” her voice remained calm. “I am surprised, my prince.”

That comment made him turn around. When his eyes found her standing there in all her glory, his heart wanted to escape his chest and jump into her arms. How long can he deny her? “We must train together,” he replied, voice trembling a little. “If you have more of these remarks, I will exchange you for another trainee.” Then again he turned around.

“Sure,” Y/N rolled her eyes. “Please, you can exchange me for that young meat you were flirting with earlier. Obviously, I am not good enough.” With that, she attacked him from behind. A massive flame came bursting out of a palm of her hand. It hit Loki like a train and he fell down on the cold, hard ground.

He started to laugh. “Attacking from behind, well that is not fair play,” he stood up slowly.

“Oh, I am sorry, I thought you were used to stabbing someone’s back,” she squinted.

Loki was quick enough to do the same but instead of fire, he used ice. Y/N blocked it with a roll on the floor, protecting herself with a shield made of fire. Those who were in the room had to look at the fight that was happening there. Ice and fire, two equally strong powers trying to win this battle.

Another round started and the prince ended on his belly in pain. He was surrounded by a flame which reminded him of snakes, trying to swallow him alive. “Come on, my prince. Kneel for me. I know you love when people do that for you.”

“Aren’t you a little sassy minx?”

Loki's power of duplicating was unique and she couldn't stand a chance against him when a clone distracted her and the real prince appeared behind the girl, holding a knife against her neck. “Would you look at that,” he chuckled, dragging the glade against her soft neck. “Are you trying to beat me, little one?”

“What happened to you, Loki. One day, we are friends and the other, you are mean, avoiding me and I have no idea why. What have I done to you, my prince?”

A growling sound came out of his throat. He turned her around and grabbed her by shoulders, not letting her go. “Uh, I,” he couldn’t find the right words. “The day you were brought here changed everything.”

“What do you mean?” she didn’t understand. “I know you do not want to be seen with a woman by your side. All these things are acceptable but your words are confusing.”

There was no way he could stop his actions and suddenly, his lips were on hers, kissing her passionately, it was a shock to her but a second later, her lips moved and the kiss deepened. His hands brushed her face and ended on her neck. “You are the woman I want beside me no matter who is with us in the room. You are the one I want to hold in my arms day and night.”

“Loki...”

He fell on one knee, holding her hand tightly in his palms. “Please, become my queen, Lady Y/N. Be my wife and together we will be unstoppable.”

She stopped breathing, shocked by his words. “A-are you saying...?”

“Marry me.”

As flattering as it was, she put a smile on her face and fell down to him, caressing his face. “Oh, my prince,” she gently kissed his lips. “You do not need to ask for my hand if you love me. I love you, my prince but marriage is not an answer to everything.”

“You do not want me?”

“Of course I want you and it is an honour you want me too. It is confusing. You were mean to me, refused to talk to me and you flirted this morning with someone else.”

“I am truly sorry, my queen. I did not know how to handle the strong feelings I carry towards you.”

She shook her head. “You have so much to learn, my prince. Let’s just take things slow, shall we?” and Y/N again kissed his cold lips. “I love you, my prince.”

#Loki x reader #Loki Laufeyson x reader #reader x Loki #Loki oneshot #Loki fanfiction #Loki x reader oneshot #Avengers fanfiction #Marvel fanfiction #Loki fluff #Loki angst #Loki and reader

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dfroza · 3 years

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Love is trying to connect with us.

(God is Love)

but not all people are open in heart to receive it, to welcome the Spirit of Light and truth. for the Spirit of our heavenly Father is illuminated in the eternal truth of the Son. this is God’s silence (His Heart and thought-life) that illumines our own to see the sacred truth of grace and the significance of rebirth that renews the heart & mind. and this is why conserving it in the Scriptures has been such an important work, along with translation to be able to communicate with all people here on earth.

for God is not silent, and the Son is known as the Word who communicates spiritual truth to the spirit. even nature speaks as a True living Voice of our Creator who made earth and its life, along with the pure wonders of the heavens.

Today’s reading of the Scriptures from the New Testament is the 22nd chapter of the book of Luke that points to the purpose of the Son being born as a Man 2,000 years ago as the True Passover Lamb:

As the celebration of the Passover Lamb was approaching, the Jewish religious leaders and scholars of the law continually schemed to find a way to murder Jesus without starting a riot—for they feared the crowds.

At that time Satan himself entered into Judas the locksmith, who was one of the twelve apostles. He secretly went to the religious hierarchy and the captains of the temple guards to discuss with them how he could betray Jesus and turn him over to their hands. The religious hierarchy was elated over Judas’ treachery, and they agreed to give him a sum of money in exchange for Jesus’ betrayal. Judas vowed that he would find them a suitable opportunity to betray Jesus when he was away from the crowds.

On the day the Passover lambs were to be sacrificed, Jesus sent for Peter and John and instructed them, “Go and prepare the Passover supper so we can eat it together.”

They asked him, “Where do we make the preparations to eat the meal?”

Jesus gave them this sign: “When you enter the city, you will find a man carrying a jug of water. Follow him home and say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher told us to ask you, “Where is the room I may use to have the Passover meal with my disciples?” ’ He will then take you to a large, fully furnished upstairs room. Make the preparations for us there.”

They went and found everything to be exactly like Jesus had prophesied, and they prepared the Passover meal.

When Jesus arrived at the upper room, he took his place at the table along with all the apostles. Then he told them, “I have longed with passion and desire to eat this Passover lamb with you before I endure my sufferings. I promise you that the next time we eat this, we will be together in the feast of God’s kingdom.”

Then he raised a cup and gave thanks to God and said to them, “Take this and pass it on to one another and drink. I promise you that the next time we drink this wine, we will be together in the feast of God’s kingdom.”

Then he lifted up a loaf, and after praying a prayer of thanksgiving to God, he gave each of his apostles a piece of bread, saying, “This loaf is my body, which is now being offered to you. Always eat it to remember me.”

After supper was over, he lifted the cup again and said, “This cup is my blood of the new covenant I make with you, and it will be poured out soon for all of you. But I want you to know that the hands of the one who delivers me to be the sacrifice are with mine on the table this very moment. The Son of Man must now go where he will be sacrificed. But there will be great and unending doom for the man who betrays me.”

The apostles questioned among themselves which one of them was about to do this.

The disciples bickered over which one of them would be considered the greatest in the kingdom. Jesus interrupted their argument, saying, “The kings and men of authority in this world rule oppressively over their subjects, claiming that they do it for the good of the people. They are obsessed with how others see them. But this is not your calling. You will lead by a different model. The greatest one among you will live as one called to serve others without honor. The greatest honor and authority is reserved for the one who has a servant heart. The leaders who are served are the most important in your eyes, but in the kingdom, it is the servants who lead. Am I not here with you as one who serves?

“Because you have stood with me through all my trials and ordeals, I am promising you the kingdom that the Father has promised me. We will celebrate in this kingdom and you will feast with me at my table. And each of you will be given a throne, twelve thrones in all, and you will be made rulers on thrones to judge the tribes of Israel.”

“Peter, my dear friend, listen to what I’m about to tell you. Satan has obtained permission to come and sift you all like wheat and test your faith. But I have prayed for you, Peter, that you would stay faithful to me no matter what comes. Remember this: after you have turned back to me and have been restored, make it your life mission to strengthen the faith of your brothers.”

“But Lord,” Peter replied, “I am ready to stand with you to the very end, even if it means prison or death!”

Jesus looked at him and prophesied, “Before the rooster crows in the morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.”

Then he said to all of them, “When I sent you out empty-handed, did you lack anything?”

“Not a thing,” they answered. “God provided all we needed.”

Jesus said, “But now I say to you: Take what you need. If you have money, take it—and a knapsack and a sword. Danger is imminent. For the prophetic Scripture about me ‘He will be accused of being a criminal’ will now come to pass. All that was prophesied of me will be fulfilled.”

The disciples told him, “Lord, we already have two swords!”

“You still don’t understand,” Jesus responded.

Jesus left the upper room with his disciples and, as was his habit, went to the Mount of Olives, his place of secret prayer. There he told the apostles, “Keep praying for strength to be spared from the severe test of your faith that is about to come.”

Then he withdrew from them a short distance to be alone. Kneeling down, he prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup of agony away from me. But no matter what, your will must be mine.”

Jesus called for an angel of glory to strengthen him, and the angel appeared. He prayed even more passionately, like one being sacrificed, until he was in such intense agony of spirit that his sweat became drops of blood, dripping onto the ground.

When Jesus finished praying, he got up and went to his disciples and found them all asleep, for they were exhausted and overwhelmed with sorrow. “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “You need to be alert and pray for the strength to endure the great temptation.”

No sooner had he finished speaking when suddenly a mob approached, and in front of the mob was his disciple Judas. He walked up close to Jesus and greeted him with a kiss. For he had agreed to give the religious leaders a sign, saying, “The one I kiss is the one to seize.”

Jesus looked at him with sorrow and said, “A kiss, Judas? Are you really going to betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”

When the other disciples understood what was happening, they asked, “Lord, shall we fight them with our swords?”

Just then, one of the disciples swung his sword at the high priest’s servant and slashed off his right ear.

Jesus stopped the incident from escalating any further by saying, “Enough of this!” Then he touched the right side of the injured man’s head and the ear grew back—he was healed!

Jesus turned to those who had come to seize him—the ruling priests, the officers of the temple police, and the religious leaders—and said, “Am I a criminal that you come to capture me with clubs and swords? Wasn’t I with you day after day, teaching in the temple courts? You could have seized me at any time. But in the darkness of night you have now found your time, for it belongs to you and to the prince of darkness.”

The religious leaders seized Jesus and led him away, but Peter followed from a safe distance. They brought him to the home of the high priest, where people were already gathered out in the courtyard. Someone had built a fire, so Peter inched closer and sat down among them to stay warm.

A girl noticed Peter sitting in the firelight. Staring at him, she pointed him out and said, “This man is one of Jesus’ disciples!”

Peter flatly denied it, saying, “What are you talking about, girl? I don’t know him!”

A little while later, someone else spotted Peter and said, “I recognize you. You’re one of his, I know it!”

Peter again said, “I’m not one of his disciples.”

About an hour later, someone else identified Peter and insisted he was a disciple of Jesus, saying, “Look at him! He’s from Galilee, just like Jesus. I know he’s one of them.”

But Peter was adamant. “Listen, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Don’t you understand? I don’t even know him.” While the words were still in his mouth, the rooster crowed.

At that moment, the Lord, who was being led through the courtyard by his captors, turned around and gazed at Peter. All at once Peter remembered the words Jesus had prophesied over him, “Before the rooster crows in the morning, you will deny three times that you even know me.” Peter burst into tears, ran off from the crowd, and wept bitterly.

Those who were guarding Jesus mocked and beat him severely. They also made fun of him, blindfolding him and slapping his face and saying, “Prove that you are a prophet and tell us which one of us hit you!” They blasphemed and heaped insult after insult upon him.

At daybreak the high priests, the experts of the law, and the top religious leaders convened and had Jesus brought before their council. They asked him point blank, “Tell us, are you the Christ, the Messiah, or not?”

Jesus responded, “If I tell you the truth, you won’t believe me. And if I question you, you will not answer me or release me. But from today on, the Son of Man will be enthroned in the place of honor, power, and authority with Almighty God.”

They all shouted, “Then you do claim to be the Son of God?”

He said to them, “You are the ones who say I am.”

They all shouted, “We’ve heard it from his very lips! What further proof do we need?”

The Book of Luke, Chapter 22 (The Passion Translation)

Today’s paired chapter of the Testaments is the 30th chapter of the book of Job that continues his lament:

Job: But now they mock me,

these young men whose fathers I hold in such contempt.

I wouldn’t trust them with my herds

as I do my dogs.

What good does their strength do me?

Their potency has wilted.

Gaunt from starvation, haggard from hunger that drives them to gnaw the ground in the night,

a ground all wasted and hollowed-out,

They are left with the desperate foods of the famished—

plucking mallow from the bushes by the salt marshes,

and making the ashy broom tree root their staple.

The people from the town chase each one out of his neighborhood;

they howl at all of them as if they were common thieves,

And push them out to live in the deep valleys of the wadis—

those desert streams that come and go—

So these outcasts seek shelter in the overhangs and crumbling caves

that line the banks of no-man’s-land.

Braying like donkeys from the bushes,

huddled together in the prickly undergrowth are

Fools and sons of no-names,

driven by lashes out from the bosom of the land.

And now they sing of me in taunt and parody,

and make my name a byword among them.

They abhor me, keep their distance,

and feel free to spit in my face.

Because God has unstrung His bowstring and stricken me with suffering,

they are no longer restrained toward me.

To my right, the horde arises.

They seek to knock me off my feet,

piling their disastrous ways against me.

They lay waste to my path

and benefit from my destruction,

and no one is there to stop them.

As through a wall breached, they advance easily.

Their thunderstorm of wheels rolled across my ruins.

Alas! A storm of terrors has turned toward me and is upon me;

my dignity is blown away as by the wind;

my prosperity vanishes like a wispy cloud.

And now my own soul is drawn out, poured over me.

The days of misery have taken hold of me;

I am firmly in their grasp.

By night, my pain is at work, boring holes in my bones;

it gnaws at me and never lies down to rest.

With great force, God wraps around me like my clothing.

He binds tightly about my neck as if He were the collar of my tunic.

He has pushed me off into the mud,

and I am reduced from man to dust and ashes.

I call out to You, God, but You refuse to answer me.

When I arise, You merely examine me.

You have changed.

Now You are cruel to me;

You employ Your strength to attack me.

You pull me up into the wind and make me ride upon it

until I am fractured and dissipated in the storm.

I know where this ends.

You will send me off to death

and usher me to that meetinghouse where all the living one day go.

And yet does not a person trapped in ruins stretch out his hand,

and in this disaster does he not cry out for help?

Did I not grieve for the hard days of another

or weep for the pains of the poor?

And yet when I longed for the good, evil came;

when I awaited the light, thick darkness arrived instead.

I am boiling on the inside,

and it will not quit;

yet the days of misery still come for me.

I drift in darkness, the sun absent;

I arise in the assembly

and call out for help.

But who will come now that I am roaming the wilderness?

I am a brother to jackals, a friend of ostriches.

Despite my earnest cries, my skin burns until it is black and flakes off,

and my bones burn with fever.

And so my harp is tuned to the key of mourning,

and my flute is pitched to the sound of weeping.

The Book of Job, Chapter 30 (The Voice)

my personal reading of the Scriptures for friday, may 7 of 2021 with a paired chapter from each Testament of the Bible along with Today’s Proverbs and Psalms

A post by John Parsons that looks at theology and seeking truth:

Everyone is a theologian of sorts, though not everyone thinks clearly or takes the time to reflect on the meaning of the words they use, and therefore studying theology is necessary because so much muddled theology exists... Generally speaking "theology" (θεολογία) may be defined as reasoning (λόγος) about God (Θεός), though such reasoning is grounded in the philosophical activity of apprehending truth about ultimate reality. And just as everyone is a theologian (either a good one or not), so everyone is a philosopher of some kind or another, that is, a person who opines about the ultimate questions of life. To be a conscious person (as opposed to being numb or asleep) implies that you are haunted by "big questions" (for example, "Who are we?" "Where did we come from?" "Why are we here?" "Where are we going?" and "What does it all mean?"), and therefore every self-reflective soul cannot escape the need to think clearly. Indeed disciples of Yeshua are called talmidim (תַּלְמִידִים), that is, “learners” who have a duty before God to know and live the truth. We are to “study to show ourselves approved before God, rightly understanding the Word of Truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). The alternative to being talmud chacham (a wise student) is to be muddled about what you believe and why you believe it. Faith is called the conviction (ἔλεγχος) or “argument” of truth (see Heb. 11:6). Not knowing the truth makes you vulnerable to various forms of philosophical deception and theological error, as it is written: "Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the traditions of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Messiah" (Col. 2:8). "However, we speak wisdom (σοφία) among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing, but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery (σοφίαν θεοῦ ἐν μυστηρίῳ), the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory" (1 Cor. 2:6-7). Knowing the truth sets us free (John 4:24, John 8:32; 2 Cor. 3:17).

Because we must both love the truth and discern what is false, clear thinking is required of us. "Good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason, because bad philosophy needs to be answered" (Lewis). Now philosophy is philosophy, but loving God is something more... Faith is not just a “head trip,” but a “heart trip,” and therefore it is essential to immerse the passions in all that we do. There is a real danger of "intellectualizing" faith, becoming something of a "professor" about God or a “Bible answer man” where you live “up in your head,” full of sophisticated thinking about abstruse matters while disregarding the existential pathos and demands of the gospel.... Over the years I have read theologians that make God seem so remote and abstract that you wonder who or what is being talked about, after all. There is a danger to regard God as an "object' of knowledge -- a glorious, superlative, and supreme thing to study -- but a "thing" none the less. Tragically those who argue about theology have yet to learn the first lesson that true philosophy can offer, namely, that most of the time we don’t really know (or fully understand) what we are thinking or saying. Being aware of our own blind spots requires forsaking our supposed infallibility and humbly acknowledging our own ignorance. We see “through a glass darkly.” The intellect can act as a "defense" against what the Living God says to the wounded heart. That's always been the danger of mere "religion," after all, offering recipes and rituals, dogmas and assured theological confessions, while forgetting the desperate and hurting souls who must find God or die.... [Hebrew for Christians]

5.7.21 • Facebook

Today’s message from the Institute for Creation Research

May 7, 2021

The Soul Exchange

“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8:36-37)

The lives of many people revolve almost completely around the stock exchange, and they never stop to realize that it easily may become a soul exchange where they exchange their very souls for the imagined blessings of the great god Mammon. “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Timothy 6:10).

Similarly, many are greatly exercised about their monthly profit-and-loss statements. But the Lord Jesus asks whether there is really a profit, even if one acquires the wealth of the whole world at the cost of his soul, and the answer to such a rhetorical question has to be: “No!” For “the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (1 John 2:17).

Furthermore, the words “life” in verse 35 and “soul” in our text are actually the same word (psuche) in the Greek original. That is, to lose one’s soul is to lose one’s very life, for they are inseparable. A life centered around money is not only a soul lost but a life wasted as well. On the other hand, if we lose our lives in Christ, then we find true life, eternal life, beginning here and now, and continuing forever. This is a good exchange!

God may well bless a Christian with material wealth, but this should not be his motivation. “Charge them that are rich in this world,” Paul says, “that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate [i.e., share]; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life” (1 Timothy 6:17-19). HMM

and so we share...

A tweet by illumiNations that is a global collaborative effort of Bible translation:

@IlluminationsBT: 65-70% of the world's population live in religiously restrictive countries. #iwtkbible

5.7.21 • 11:00am • Twitter

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