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the-pontiac-bandit · 3 years

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If you're still answering tortall prompts, how about Raoul + family?

wow why NOT write 2000 words of blatant, shameless fluff about families you make for yourself??? inspired by this quote from tammy: “[Raoul and Buri] have glorious sex under trees, in tents, in lakes…. In carriages. I think at some point they’ll probably adopt. By the time they’re attached Buri’s getting a little old to have any of her own. It’s not like there aren’t plenty of orphans around.”

As Raoul stretched out, trying to make himself comfortable in his too-hard, too-small desk chair, he savored the warm feeling filling his chest and threatening to spill out and take physical form in front of him. In the midst of the most head-spinning, headache-inducing, sleep-sapping, joy-filled week he’d ever experienced, he’d had precious little time to slow down and simply exist within his new reality. He thought to close his eyes, the better to feel everything, but they only stayed shut for a moment before they forced themselves back open. He couldn’t stop looking at the scene in front of him for long.

Buri lounged cross-legged on their bed, far more relaxed than he had been at any point this week. Kel sat next to her, her back straight and her long legs carefully hanging off one side so as not to get dust from the practice courts on their bedding. Both had just returned from a full morning of training, sweaty despite a change of clothes and coated in dust despite a thorough washing, courtesy of a long, hot summer that had refused to give them rain.

Between them was the baby.

His son, he reminded himself. He thought the words a few extra times, even mouthing them once, as he had a thousand times in the last five days, as if forming them on his lips might make them feel more real.

None of this felt real to him yet. He supposed most people had nine months to get used to the idea before seven pounds of screaming chaos turned their lives upside down. He’d had exactly fifty-three days—he’d counted on Tuesday—so he supposed he still had some catching up to do. His mind was still reeling from the conversation that had led them here, and he wasn’t sure yet that he’d ever catch up.

He’d been sitting in this chair and pretending to read reports while mostly thinking about his right knee, which had been bothering him despite Duke Baird’s best efforts. He wasn’t sure why he remembered so specifically, since his days were nearly as certain to contain aches and bruises as they were to contain a sunrise. Buri had returned from a meeting with Thayet and Onua, although really, the word meeting conferred far too much dignity on what was more likely a combination of trick riding and palace gossip. They’d settled into the evening routine they’d shared for nearly a decade, working in comfortable silence with candles lit between them.

“Do you want children?” she’d asked, breaking the quiet spell of paperwork that gripped their nights.

“I think it’s a little late for that,” he’d replied with a snort.

She’d thrown a pillow at him. He had caught it and thrown it back without even looking up from the thick stack of papers in his lap, with a rude hand gesture following behind.

“You know what I meant. Did you want children? Before?”

Something in her voice had shifted. He’d finally looked up to find her eyes already trained on him. Her face had been so unexpectedly earnest that he’d actually taken a pause, had slowed the speed of their consistently paced banter, to think.

“I suppose I hadn’t given it much thought. There were friends, and then there was drinking, and then there was the Own, and then there was you,” he’d told her with a shrug. “I do like children, but I’m perfectly happy where I am.”

She’d chewed on her lip for a moment. He remembered being surprised by that. After nearly thirty years of friendship, she rarely took the time to think before she spoke with him anymore.

“Spit it out.”

“Do you want children?”

“And we’re back to the start,” he’d said with a grin.

“I spat it out. Now you answer it.”

“Hypothetically, sure, I’d enjoy a child. Now can I ask why you’re asking at all?”

“I’ve been thinking,” she’d started. She’d paused for a moment, holding her breath as though she was trying to decide whether she should speak at all. And then she’d let it all spill out at once. “I’ve been thinking it might be nice to have one. A child, I mean.”

She’d held up a hand and made a face before Raoul could even begin to formulate a joke about her monthlies or her aching hips or what they might do to make that happen. “Not like that. Thayet was telling us today about homes they’re opening in Corus, for children without parents. We were thinking about the children we traveled with back in Sarain, when Alanna found us all those years ago. Gods, it was terrifying, having Thayet and an infant to protect, especially when Thayet was ready to throw her life away for the infant. And I started thinking—we have money, and safety, and love, and there are all these children who have none of those things, and—”

She’d been speaking faster and faster, but she’d cut herself off abruptly at the look on Raoul’s face. “Never mind, you can forget—”

Raoul had smiled back at her, straightening up in his chair and marking his spot in the report on his lap before putting it aside. “So you want a child.”

The weeks that followed had been ones filled with paperwork and inquiries at the palace records about the process of appointing a common-born heir to a noble house and at the magistrate’s about drawing up paperwork for adoption. There had been careful planning and hushed discussions with only their closest friends about the best way to proceed. Buri had insisted on an older child, maybe eight or nine, saying that the few diapers she’d changed on the road to Rachia were enough for a lifetime.

Instead, five days ago, Buri had entered their rooms carrying a squalling mess of blankets with an air of forced nonchalance that had told him immediately what she’d done. Instead of clarifying, or teasing her, or asking if it was the smallest eight-year-old he’d ever seen, he’d simply held his arms out. While Buri had supplied endless explanations about Thayet ambushing her with a baby, he’d stared at the squirming mess of baby in his lap, blankets already coming undone, absolutely entranced.

“He’s tiny,” he’d commented. His voice sounded like it was coming from someone else’s body. The baby was only just too large for him to hold in one hand, although he’d never try to prove it. The fragility of the life sitting in his lap was overwhelming.

“His mother died yesterday. Childbed fever, caught too late to help. The priestesses at the Goddess’ Temple were worried he might need more than the homes could give.”

Raoul had nodded, only half listening. The baby’s eyes were screwed shut while he wailed. His fine hair was dark, his skin tanned like that of the Bazhir babies Raoul had seen in his year in the Great Southern Desert. One of the baby’s hands had broken free of its blanket. It had waved in the air, keeping pace with his cries, which were far louder than he’d have believed such a tiny body could produce. He’d intercepted the hand with one finger and then watched in wonder as the baby had grasped it.

“Does he have a name?”

“Pathom,” she’d answered definitively, before belatedly remembering that names were the sort of thing parents might choose together. “That is, if—”

“Pathom of Goldenlake,” he’d cut her off with a smile.

The days that followed had been a blur. Thayet had found a wet-nurse and supplied an endless stream of goods that they’d have never known a baby required. Alanna had ridden in from Pirate’s Swoop at full speed to pronounce in a gruff voice that the infant was in perfect health. Gary had gifted them a bassinet and more blankets than any human child could possibly need. Dom had found a way to convert a standard-issue burnoose into an excellent baby sling, while Evin had given them a congratulatory note from George, who complained that Alanna had left before he could finish writing, and a cheerful promise that he’d never touch a soiled diaper. Onua had given them a set of unimaginably soft stuffed ponies, perfect replicas of the horses that roamed the highlands of Sarain where she and Buri had learned to ride.

Kel, away on business with Second Company at the Gallan border, had to wait almost a full week to learn she had a new godsson. He’d met the company when they’d arrived back at the palace long past dark the night before. They’d groomed Hoshi and Sparrow together while he thanked the gods for perhaps the hundredth time that her “testy pony” had finally found his way out of the Own stables and into a pleasant retirement.

Finally, when the last of the men had trudged towards the barracks and a well-earned nights’ sleep, she’d turned to him.

“Well?”

“There’s someone important I want you to meet,” he’d said, shoving his hands in his pockets with a smile that was equal parts nervous and eager.

“Sir, I’ve already met your wife.”

Raoul had let out a hearty chuckle. “But you haven’t met my son.”

Kel had frozen. Her face fell back into perfect stillness, the way it did when her mind was working its fastest.

After a second that felt like an eternity, she replied, “Sir, I saw Buri five weeks ago. If you’re telling me you’ve managed to grow a baby since then—”

“We didn’t, but someone else did. We adopted him from the Temple after his mother died in childbirth.”

Understanding flashed in Kel’s eyes while her face broke into a rare broad grin. She’d wrapped her arms around him in a fast, tight hug accompanied by enthusiastic congratulations that had gone suddenly silent in surprise when he’d added, a wicked glint in his eyes, “You really should come by tomorrow to meet your godsson.”

Buri had intercepted Kel on the practice courts the following morning with the dual goals of keeping her own skills sharp and ensuring that Kel would not be too polite to visit. And so now, he watched as Kel bounced his son with the brisk certainty of someone who had held a baby a thousand times. He could hear her cooing quietly at Pathom, softening her consonants while she told him all about forest campaigns in hill country. He knew he should ask her to speak up—if she was going to give her report verbally, she could at least give it at a volume he could hear—but he found he wasn’t particularly interested in the intricacies of the Second’s bowstring supplies. Buri made eye contact with him behind Kel’s back, laughter in her eyes. Buri could laugh if she wanted, but he was taking notes on Kel’s tactics. He would have sworn this was the quietest he’d heard his son in the entirety of his hundred-and-twenty-odd hours in the palace.

As his son stared wide-eyed at his former squire, Raoul was reminded of a comment he’d heard as they’d left Turomot’s offices the other day with paperwork making Pathom officially their own. “Well, that feckless Goldenlake dolt’s managed to start a family, even if it was too late to do the thing properly,” the Lord of Genlith had muttered at their backs as they’d left. Buri had elbowed him and whispered a quick “Feckless? I’ll show him feckless,” but her heart wasn’t in it. Before she’d even finished the thought, her eyes were back on Pathom, squirming against her chest in the burnoose that bound him to her.

And now, Raoul watched his son, passed between his wife and the woman who had been like his daughter long before any papers said he was a father. Stuffed Saren ponies lined the shelf above an intricately carved bassinet filled with beautifully embroidered blankets. A protection charm had been pulled from Alanna’s packs to hang at the head, while twin leather circles bearing the insignias of the Riders and the Own, no doubt carefully cut by mischievous commanders from the saddle packs of some unprepared trainees, was secured carefully at the foot. Raoul had to smile for a moment at Genlith’s ignorance—he’d begun his family right on time.

#carrie answers #my writing #anonymous #raoul of goldenlake and malorie's peak #raoul of goldenlake #buriram tourakom #tortall #tamora pierce #protector of the small #keladry of mindelan #okay we've got all the found family shit in here #the friends? check #the surrogate daughter? check #adoption? check #also who said a baby can't have three godsmothers definitely not buri and raoul #also on ao3

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my-bated-breath · 4 years

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Research Shows that Zutara Would Have Been the Ideal Friends to Lovers Dynamic

(featured below: a very self-indulgent Zutara post that uses Facts and Evidence to be self-indulgent)

When I joined the ATLA fandom, a common trend I've seen used to discredit Zutara was the belief that upon transitioning from a platonic relationship to a romantic one, Zuko and Katara would immediately become The Worst (TM) for each other. It's quite the stretch, and the Zutara fandom nearly unanimously recognizes that. Still, since the attacks have yet to cease even 15 years after the show’s first release, I'd like to add my two-cents on the subject, along with a reference to actual research that is much harder to dismiss.

The reason why Zutara is framed as a “toxic and unhealthy” relationship is that their romance would be a classic example of the enemies-to-lovers trope, a trope which modern media has not been particularly kind to. However, when executed correctly, enemies-to-lovers can produce a healthy and loving relationship, frequently relying on friendship as an intermediate between the “enemy” and “lover” stages in the most well-executed versions of this trope. Meanwhile, the trope of friends-to-lovers is just as popular as enemies-to-lovers, though the specific dynamic required between two individuals to achieve this transition is not well-known. Recognizing this, Laura K. Guerrero and Paul A. Mongeau, both of whom are involved in relationship-related research as professors at Arizona State University, wrote a research paper on how friendships may transition into romantic relationships.

While “On Becoming ‘More Than Friends: The Transition From Friendship to Romantic Relationship” covers a variety of aspects regarding how friends may approach a budding romantic relationship, this meta will focus on the section titled “The Trajectory from Platonic Friendship to Romantic Relationship,” which describes stages of intimacy that are in common between platonic and romantic relationships.

(I am only using this one source for my meta because as much as I love research and argumentative writing, I can only give myself so much more school work before I break. If you wish to see more sources that corroborate the argument from above, refer to the end of this meta at the “Works Cited.”)

According to Guerrero and Mongeau, “...scholars have argued that intimacy is located in different types of interactions, ranging from sexual activity and physical contact to warm, cozy interactions that can occur between friends, family members, and lovers…” Guerrero and Mongeau then reference a relationship model where the initial stages (i.e. perceiving similarities, achieving rapport, and inducing self-disclosure) reflect platonic/romantic intimacy through communication while the latter stages (i.e. role-taking, achieving interpersonal role fit, and achieving dyadic crystallization) often see both individuals as achieving a higher level of intimacy that involves more self-awareness.

Definitions, because some terminology in this quote is field-specific:

_____

Perception of similarity: (similar in background, values, etc.) which contributes to pair rapport

Pair rapport: produces positive emotional and behavioral responses to the partner, promotes effective communication and instills feelings of self-validation

Self-disclosure: a process of communication by which one person reveals information about themselves to another. The information can be descriptive or evaluative and can include thoughts, feelings, aspirations, goals, failures, successes, fears, and dreams, as well as one's likes, dislikes, and favorites.

Role-taking: ability to understand the partner's perspective and empathize with his/her role in the interaction and the relationship

Role-fit: partners assess the extent of their similarities in personality, needs, and roles

Dyadic crystallization: partners become increasingly involved with each other and committed to the relationship and they form an identity as a committed couple

_____

(Source: Quizlet -- not the most reliable source, I know, but once again field-specific terms tend to be ubiquitous in their definitions, and I doubt that this Quizlet can be that inaccurate)

(Additional note: only the first three definitions will be relevant to this meta, but the other definitions are left in for all of you who want to speculate what the next part of this meta, which may or may not be published the following week, will be about.)

Let’s apply what we just learned back to the real Zuko-Katara relationship we see throughout the show. What attributes of healthy and natural friends-to-lovers dynamics may they check off?

Perceiving similarities:

Zuko and Katara share an astounding number of parallels in background and character throughout the show. Both their mothers had sacrificed their lives to save them, and then there are many deliberate parallels drawn between Zuko and Katara’s confrontations in the Day of Black Sun and The Southern Raiders, respectively. Of course, there are more, but since I do not have much to add to this subject, I’ll say that perceiving these similarities helps contribute to…

Pair rapport:

We see three standout examples of this from the show in which Zuko and Katara “make positive emotional and behavioral responses” towards each other: In the Crossroads of Destiny, the Southern Raiders, and Sozin's Comet, Part 2: The Old Masters.

(1) Crossroads of Destiny. Zuko and Katara bond over the loss of their mothers in the Crystal Catacombs, allowing themselves to truly see the other for the first time as well as for them to speak civilly and intimately (is this self-disclosure I see?) with each other. Of course, their conversation (on-screen or off-screen) is meaningful enough for Katara to offer to use the Spirit Oasis water to heal Zuko’s scar.

(2) The Southern Raiders. The journey Zuko and Katara take for her to achieve closure (which is something Zuko himself knew was necessary to heal and grow) is the catalyst for Katara forgiving Zuko. Though there is no true “rapport” in the scene where Katara forgives him, all other banter/conversations (in the Ember Island Players and the ATLA finale) between Katara and Zuko are reliant on the moment she forgives him.

(3) Sozin's Comet, Part 2: The Old Masters. In the finale, Zuko experiences a moment of uncertainty before just before he faces his uncle -- his uncle who had always been there for him since the days of his banishment, his uncle had loved him unconditionally even when Zuko did not know that such love was possible, his uncle who loved him like his own son, his uncle who he betrayed in the Crystal Catacombs, his uncle who turned away when he was encased in crystal, too disappointed to look him in the eye. He tells this to Katara -- and what does Katara say to Zuko in response?

“Then he'll forgive you. He will.”

The dialogue speaks for itself. The positive emotional response, the open communication, and the (rightful) encouragement Katara provides, all without invalidating Zuko’s self-doubt, demonstrates the epitome of pair rapport. Further elaboration would simply be me gushing over their dynamic.

Self-disclosure:

Self-disclosure involves revealing intimate feelings. We’re revisiting the same three episodes that we covered up above since they all include self-disclosure.

(1) The Crossroads of Destiny. When he reaches out in the Crystal Catacombs, Zuko reveals something to Katara that he has never told anyone before, perhaps something he didn’t even want to admit to himself -- in response to “the Fire Nation took my mother away from me” he says “that's something we have in common.” And to say that out loud, to say it to himself and Katara when for three whole years he’s been trying to convince himself that the Fire Nation is good and that his father loves him -- there are no words to describe it. It’s both awe-inspiring and heartbreaking to see that Zuko and Katara’s shared pain is what allowed them to see each other as more than the “face of the enemy,” and it’s something so poignant that it forms an immediately profound connection between the two.

(2) The Southern Raiders. On their way to the Fire Nation communications tower on Whale Tail Island, Katara tells the story of her mother’s death, a story that has haunted her memories for years, looming over her as a ghost, a wound that festers into fear to grief to anger. This was the moment that divided Katara’s life into the Before and the After, the one that forced her to abandon childhood and to become a mother to her own brother (as implied by Sokka in his conversation with Toph in the Runaway). And yet this is the first time we see her tell someone her story in the show, full and vivid as if it happened yesterday. Because even though she mentioned her mother before to Aang, Haru, and Jet in order to sympathize with them -- it’s just that. Sympathizing. This time she tells Zuko about her mother’s death for her own sake rather than for another’s. And it’s an incredibly intimate moment, one that is made even more fragile, wrenching, and beautiful by Zuko’s response -- “Your mother was a brave woman.”

(3) Sozin's Comet, Part 2: The Old Masters. Throughout the second half of season 3, Zuko shares his love and insecurities regarding Iroh to every member of the GAang.

In the Firebending Masters, he mentions to Aang offhandedly -- and perhaps too offhandedly, as if he didn’t want to believe it himself -- that Iroh, Dragon of the West, received his honorary title for killing the last dragon.

An episode later in part one of the Boiling Rock, Zuko talks about his uncle with near constancy. He brews tea for the GAang and (endearingly) tries retelling “Uncle’s favorite tea joke.” He tells Sokka, “Hey, hold on. Not everyone in my family is like that… I meant my uncle. He was more of a father to me. And I really let him down.” He (fails at, adorably) giving advice to Sokka when the rescue mission to the Boiling Rock has begun to look helpless, asking himself “what would Uncle say?” before completely floundering away.

Then, in the Ember Island Players, he shares a sweet moment with Toph, bitterly spitting out that

“...for me, [the play] takes all the mistakes I've made in my life, and shoves them back in my face. My uncle, he's always been on my side, even when things were bad. He was there for me, he taught me so much, and how do I repay him? With a knife in his back. It's my greatest regret, and I may never get to redeem myself.”

Toph, in turn, reveals the thoughtful side to her character, the side that is almost always hidden, telling Zuko that “you have redeemed yourself to your uncle. You don't realize it, but you already have.”

And every one of these moments matter, because we see Zuko’s inner conflict (though this inner conflict does not exist to the extent at which it did at the first half of season 3) and its evolution. First, with Aang, he remains skeptical and disillusioned. Second, with Sokka, his longing for Iroh’s love and presence manifests itself in him imitating his uncle as well as he can. Third, with Toph, he finally admits everything he had been afraid of ever since he saw Iroh’s empty prison cell during the eclipse -- that Iroh is disappointed in him. That Iroh hates him. That Iroh will never accept him again.

And for a moment, with Toph’s encouraging response and Zuko’s resulting little smile, it appears as though Zuko’s internal conflict arc is concluded. But we are wrong -- because in the finale of the show, we are given the true climax and resolution to Zuko’s insecurities, fears, and self-loathing. And who is it that he shares this moment with?

It speaks volumes about Zuko and Katara’s relationship that Katara is the one to comfort Zuko in this scene, in that last moment of hesitation right before he steps inside his uncle’s tent, preparing himself to see his uncle as a completely changed person. As a person who now knows humility and unconditional love. And remember -- selecting Katara to be in this scene is a deliberate narrative choice because ATLA was written by a team of producers and writers, and perhaps even if it wasn’t, it becomes a powerful moment in which Zuko’s arc with Iroh reaches its peak.

Simply having Katara there in this scene already has such a great narrative impact, but then the show gives us some of the most intimate dialogue that Zuko, a naturally closed-off person, delivers (although his emotional outbursts may suggest otherwise, Zuko tends to hide most of his internally conflicting feelings to himself. Hence, he is always able to dramatically monologue about his honor, his country, and his throne -- because he’s trying to convince himself to play a part. But that’s another meta for another day).

Let’s begin by comparing Toph and Zuko’s dialogue with Katara and Zuko’s dialogue because both see the other party validating Zuko’s feelings.

(Warning: the following section plunges deep into the realm of speculation and overanalyzing dialogue. Regarding literature or any media, there are countless ways to interpret the source material, and this is simply one way it could be done.)

_____

Ember Island Players Dialogue:

Toph: Geez, everyone's getting so upset about their characters. Even you seem more down than usual, and that's saying something!

Zuko: You don't get it, it's different for you. You get a muscly version of yourself, taking down ten bad guys at once, and making sassy remarks.

Toph: Yeah, that's pretty great!

Zuko: But for me, it takes all the mistakes I've made in my life, and shoves them back in my face. My uncle, he's always been on my side, even when things were bad. He was there for me, he taught me so much, and how do I repay him? With a knife in his back. It's my greatest regret, and I may never get to redeem myself.

_____

Although Toph and Zuko’s dynamic is one of the most innocent and understanding throughout the show, the conversation begins with Toph joking with a negative connotation -- that “even [Zuko seemed] more down than usual, and that’s saying something!” Thus, the conversation opener is not one that allows for Zuko to easily be emotionally vulnerable, and so he responds bitterly and angrily -- “You don’t get it, it’s different for you” and “...and how do I repay him? With a knife in his back.” By stating that their portrayals in the shows were different, Zuko mentally places a wall between himself and Toph, saying that “[Toph doesn’t] get it.” Then, the rhetorical question Zuko asks himself and the shortness with which he answers the question showcases a forceful and biting tone, indicating that he is covering up his inner turmoil with vehemence. This tendency is something we’ve seen Zuko default to before, whenever he had shouted the oft-mocked “I must restore my honor!” lines in response to a few introspective questions Iroh had asked (though once again, that’s another meta for another day). Now, let’s examine the remainder of their conversation.

_____

Ember Island Players Dialogue Continued:

Toph: You have redeemed yourself to your uncle. You don't realize it, but you already have.

Zuko: How do you know?

Toph: Because I once had a long conversation with the guy, and all he would talk about was you.

Zuko: Really?

Toph: Yeah, and it was kind of annoying.

Zuko: Oh, sorry.

_____

Here we see Toph and Zuko’s conversation take a more serious turn as Toph becomes more sincere. Zuko, however, is still full of self-doubt as he is constantly questioning Toph with “how do you know?” and “really” and “oh, sorry.”

(featured up above: Zuko looking dejected and doubtful.)

Still, the conversation ends on a sweet and inspiring note:

_____

Ember Island Players Dialogue Continued:

Toph: But it was also very sweet. All your uncle wanted was for you to find your own path, and see the light. Now you're here with us. He'd be proud.

_____

Hence, though Zuko and Toph’s conversation displays a heartening and hopeful dynamic, Zuko is ultimately still guarded for the majority of their conversation. Now, let’s look at how Katara approaches Zuko in the Sozin’s Comet, Part 2: The Old Masters.

_____

Sozin’s Comet, Part 2: The Old Masters Dialogue:

Katara: Are you okay?

Zuko: No, I'm not okay. My uncle hates me, I know it. He loved and supported me in every way he could, and I still turned against him. How can I even face him?

Katara: Zuko, you're sorry for what you did, right?

Zuko: More sorry than I've been about anything in my entire life.

_____

In direct contrast to the conversation opener with Toph, Katara begins to engage Zuko with an openly concerned question. And even though Katara never disappointed an Iroh-figure in her life in the way Zuko has, Zuko immediately doesn’t close himself off from her, he doesn’t create a wall that prevents him from revealing his deepest fears to her. During this scene, he neither sounds bitter or angry -- he sounds lost, doubtful, and afraid (perhaps even afraid to hope). This shift in tone is blatant in his voice (thanks to Dante Basco’s line delivery) but even with nothing but the written dialogue, we can note the difference in which he describes his turmoil to Toph and as compared to Katara:

With Toph: “But for me, it takes all the mistakes I've made in my life, and shoves them back in my face. My uncle, he's always been on my side, even when things were bad. He was there for me, he taught me so much, and how do I repay him? With a knife in his back. It's my greatest regret, and I may never get to redeem myself.”

With Katara: “No, I'm not okay. My uncle hates me, I know it. He loved and supported me in every way he could, and I still turned against him. How can I even face him?”

With Katara, the underlying bitterness from his conversation with Toph is toned down to the point of nonexistence, though a part of it is still there. With Toph, Zuko says, “it takes all the mistakes I’ve made in my life, and shoves them back in my face,” which is a rather incensed statement. Meanwhile, by saying, “no, I'm not okay. My uncle hates me, I know it,” Zuko directly addresses his self-loathing without the use of language such as “shoves them back in my face,” the latter of which is reminiscent of how individuals may unthinkingly reveal information in a sudden emotional outburst.

Then, when Katara asks him if he’s sorry for what he did, the words come easily to Zuko, the most easily he admits to his own mistakes after three years of not admitting anything truthful to himself: “More sorry than I've been about anything in my entire life.”

And Katara, just as Toph did, says with the utmost confidence and sincerity, “Then he'll forgive you. He will.”

This moment of affirmation that runs parallel between both dialogues is where Zuko’s responses begin to diverge. Whereas Zuko reacts to Toph with disbelief and doubt, this is how he reacts once he hears Katara’s words:

He takes Katara’s words to heart and accepts them. Because out of all the GAang, Katara is the one who knows the most about forgiving him, who most keenly feels the change he underwent since his betrayal in the catacombs. And so he stands, still nervous but no longer afraid, facing forward towards the future instead of back into his past.

Iroh and Zuko’s relationship is one of the most important ones throughout the entire show, so to see Katara play a pivotal role in a critical point in their dynamic shows just how important Katara’s character is to Zuko (and vice versa, though in here I do touch upon the former in more detail).

Although my analysis on the self-disclosure between Zuko and Katara may have run away from me a bit (due to my love for far-too-in-depth critical analysis), these all show an undeniable bond between Zuko and Katara, displaying a profound friendship rooted in narrative parallels, mutual understanding, and interwoven character arcs. Ultimately, their fulfillment of perceived similarities, pair rapport, and (the one I rambled most on) self-disclosure is what establishes Zuko and Katara as not just a strong platonic bond -- but one that has the potential to transition into a romantic one.

Thus concludes my essay on Zutara’s friendship and its connection with the initial stages of intimacy that are shared between both platonic and romantic bonds. After all that analysis, it would be remiss to simply dismiss the Zutara dynamic as one that would instantly become toxic should they pursue a romantic relationship.

That being said, I will explore the possibility of a romantic relationship between Zuko and Katara and how this connects to the latter stages of intimacy -- role-taking, interpersonal role fit, and dyadic crystallization -- in part 2 of this meta-analysis. Click on the link if you want to read it!

Part 2

Works Cited

(only partially in MLA 8 format because I want to live a little)

Close Relationships: A Sourcebook. By Clyde A. Hendrick & Susan S. Hendrick. Link

“Nonverbal behavior in intimate interactions and intimate relationships.” By P.A Andersen, Laura K. Guerrero, & Susanne M. Jones. Link

“On Becoming ‘More Than Friends’: The Transition From Friendship to Romantic Relationship.” By Laura K. Guerrero & Paul A. Mongeau. Link

The Psychology of Intimacy (The Guilford Series on Personal Relationships). By Karen J. Prager. Link

(If you check some of these links, you may note a few of these sources have been cited quite a few times. With just a bit more research, it appears possible to find a plethora of other sources to corroborate the theory of shared platonic-romantic intimacies.)

Thank you all for reading!

#atla #atla meta #zutara #zutara meta #my bated breath analyzes #research on relationship intimacy #influenced by academic writing #i have more metas coming soon #but until then you can find that i do other writing as well #like fanfiction #check out my fanfiction on the My Writing tab on my blog #please like and reblog to prove Zutara with Facts and Evidence everyone #my bated breath's posts

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secret-rendezvous1d · 3 years

Text

“Don’t die on me - please.”

hello, hi!

found a new bloke to crush on during lockdown, can’t stop watching him on the telly, can’t stop my imagination from running wild with creative writing ideas so here i am. i thought i’d try something new out and step away, to something that is a little different to what and who i’d normally write about. i know it’s not about harry and it’s something much more different to what i usually write about but, if you could give it a chance, feedback would be lovely and much appreciated.

as said previously, this is just a one-off for now and it’s a little tester to see if it is something that goes down well on here and if it does well, then, we’ll see where it lands me afterwards. it could be a fluke moment that won’t happen again or it could be something i carry on. this will help me determine that.

thank you. enjoy.

“don’t die on me - please” spencer reid x female reader (reader insert imagine) word count; 2.4k.

* if you haven’t watched criminal minds then this does contain some spoilers to the show that you may want to dodge if you are thinking of starting the series up. *

summary; after spencer’s kidnap, yn gets worried easily when saying goodbye to him before a case.

YN hated every moment of saying goodbye to Spencer before he took off for a case.

She knew he could protect himself in tough situations and she knew he could always talk his way out of unknown whereabouts and unnecessary yet scary confrontations, she knew that he had a strong enough team around him that could protect him and themselves when they were vulnerable, she knew had a wonderful mind that could save him when needed to be saved and she knew that he would be back by her side before she knew it because he was clever enough to see right through specifics in a case. Right back by her side to sleep next to her in bed, to eat dinner with her at their dining table, to read to her before bed, to bring a coffee to her desk when she was up to her eyeballs in report cases and to kiss her when she needed a brief escape from a case so difficult to comprehend. Just like he always promised her, with a kiss to her forehead and a squeeze to her hips, and a kiss that lingered and left her lips tingling.

So when he approached her before the wheels of the jet were due up, with a cup of her favourite vanilla latte from the kitchenette’s coffee machine (which was a coffee that she had gotten most of the ladies - and Hotch, even thought he liked to deny it - to enjoy in the mornings) and a sheepish smile on his face with a quick explanation practiced in his head that had her know he was on a different kind of case this day, her mind went into overdrive and her heart almost pumped from her chest. What she made out, from his string of rushed words, a serial arsonist turned serial killer had requested a meeting with two agents of the FBI and Hotch had asked him to be his second aid in the case.

Why did Hotch ask Spencer?

She didn’t want to ask because she didn’t think she would cope with the reason as to why her sweet and innocent boyfriend had been asked to attend an interview with someone who killed women for a kick in their life. She liked to think it was because he was brave when it came to asking the right question, even if it got a worse reaction from the criminal than expected. If he was behind bars that meant he’d been caught but if he’d been caught then it meant he’d done something bad and he wasn’t just an unsub like a usual case but it meant he was away from the streets. However, she knew it wasn’t as carefree and as simple as that and, even though she probably made it sound ten times worse in her head, it was never going to be a smooth enough problem for him.

“I know this sounds like a bad idea to you-”

“A bad idea? Jesus, Spencer, you’re not that far away from being locked in a room with a serial killer. A sadistic, vile, disgusting serial killer.”

“I know, I know. But Hotch asked me, specifically, to be his second agent on this and-”

“I guess he needs your calm brains in these situations,” it was almost like she completed his sentence for him. It was a collective effort to come to a conclusion but he was the brains in the cases he worked on; calm, collected and he had an eidetic memory that helped in more situations than anticipated. “Are you sure you can cope with this? Like, are you sure you’re sure about this?”

“YN, I’ll be fine. I’ve been in much worse situations. Need I remind you of Tobias...”

“Don’t, I try to forget about that.”

She remembered the day of Spencer’s kidnap like it was yesterday.

It was still incredibly fresh on her mind, every moment of the day so vivid in her memory and she didn’t think it would ever go away, no matter how many times she attempted to ignore the dreams and the nightmares that followed suit. Like it was a tattoo permanently etched onto her brain, and even though she tried to push it to the back of her mind and tried to change her thought pattern whenever something brought back the memories, it never seemed to disappear. A strong enough trauma in her life that had her petrified of the possibility of reliving it, someday.

When she saw the rest of the team enter the unit before she packed up her things, with no Spencer following behind and spewing fact after fact on a team that had already endured a plane ride with the same facts being said, her stomach filled with dread.

Nothing but pure dread.

She knew something was off and she didn’t need to look at their panicked faces to know that. He didn’t disappear to go grab some food from the local café down the road because a text would have come through to tell her he wanted to meet her, he wouldn’t have taken the chance to run home to grab something because he would have come back to the unit to take her with him, and there was no possible way he would have stayed behind wherever they had travelled to because… well, that just wasn’t him; if he stayed behind, someone stayed with him and she’d have been informed so she could sleep at night and not worry about him.

“I’m not going to get-” He started his sentence with a little humour to his voice but it came to a halt when he saw the light disappear from behind in her eyes, the usual sweetened look behind her orbs disappearing and he couldn’t deal with her mind going there again. His hands holding hers tightly, fingers locking with hers, “I’m not going to let that happen to me again. I promise it won’t ever happen again.”

“How can you promise me that? Because this job, Spencer, this job scares me and it scares me how I could see you one morning and kiss you when we wake up and then say goodbye and never see you again after that,” she said softly, her words disappearing into the material covering his collarbone, fingers leaving his grip so she could easily wrap her arms around his waist. Cologne sneaking up her nose; her favourite scent to smell. Something she smelt in the morning after he got dressed for the day, something she could smell lingering in the air whenever he passed her desk or took a walk to the kitchenette for a coffee, something that she memorised by heart and liked to think about when he was a distance away. “I don’t want to say goodbye to you in this spot and have that be our last ever goodbye.”

The job came with consequences and, sometimes, they were never good.

The bad side of the job made you question why you stayed around but the good side, well, the good side always made you realise just why you stuck around and kept the job you had.

“It won’t be,” he cooed quietly, “baby, there won’t ever be a last goodbye between us.”

“How can you be so sure?”

His hands held her shoulders tightly and he took a slight step away so he could look properly at her, caring eyes meeting worried eyes, a curved smile from him being enough to have a sigh of relief escape her parted lips.

“Because that team out there behind us, my team and your best friends and our colleagues, we protect each other and we do what we think is right when protecting others. We have each other’s backs and we always look out for one another so we won’t ever be saying a last goodbye to one another because of them,” and, by God, was Spencer right. They hadn’t ever given her a reason to feel like he was unsafe in the field and that he was in danger with every case they worked on away from Virginia and across multiple borders in the neighbouring countries. They kept him safe, they kept her safe and they kept themselves safe and that was enough to get her through the hours she knew Spencer was out there. “I promise you.”

“I know,” she said, reaching back for his waist like a baby reaching for his mother, wanting nothing but the comfort of his body and the scent of his warming cologne surrounding her, “I know, Spence. I just, God, I sit here all day with reports and cases and running to and from the coroner’s office downstairs and all I can hear is Garcia on the phone to you all and it sounds horrible and stressful and chaotic and all my mind can do is run laps with the worst outcomes possible.”

She loved having an office adjoining Garcia's… granted, it was the smallest room in the unit and it only consisted of a table and a chair and an extra chair for when she had meetings (both professional meetings and when Spencer struck it okay to pop in for a catch-up chat and a cheeky kiss when no-one was look) and, heck, the door had no reason to be there with the number of times they were seen chatting, through the door frame and from their desks, over cups of coffee whilst working on computers and checking papers at the same time. Her best friend was a mere three steps away, who was there at the click of a finger when she needed something looked up, who was there to keep her updated with a case that she didn’t need to know about if she wasn’t working on it like everyone else. She loved the flirtatious banter she had with Morgan whenever he rang her number and she loved the awkward flirtatious accidents she had when it came to anyone other than Derek who called her for facts on a victim or an unsub. There was never a dull moment that lingered in the unit and if there was, Garcia always made sure to brighten the space up.

But, in the deepest quarter of her mind, she hated it. The windows gave her the chance to see the distressed look on her face whenever Morgan or Prentiss or JJ called up for a fact on a possible unsub they’ve struck upon, the door wasn’t the thickest door to muffle her voice when she panicked and stumbled upon something she wished she never saw and the blinds never fully hide away what her screens showed so they never stopped YN from imagining what she could have possibly been researching and entering a code for.

“Even when I’m sitting in a room with the family of the victim and asking for run names to be run through the system?” He teased. She leant against the top of her desk, careful not to knock the wooden furniture so hard that her coffee dribbled down the sides of her mug and created a ring-mark on the oak, hands dropping from his waist, palms holding her weight as she dropped them to her sides and become dependent on them. “I panic you when I’m just sitting looking through paper, I see.”

“Shut up.”

He chuckled softly and cupped her face in his hands, squishing her cheeks together between his palms to exaggerate the pout on her lips a little more prominently, a grin lacing his features together into a cheeky expression. Slowly, his head edged forward, lips parted and his tongue took the opportunity to dampen his mouth before the inevitable goodbye kiss came along, breath fanning her face as she cupped his elbows and brought him closer. One peck on the left cheek, one peck to the other cheek, one peck to her forehead… that’s how the goodbyes started. Ending with the most perfect, elongated, tongues-included kiss that always had her wanting more.

Except a knock on her office door interrupted the kiss they were just about to endure, a disgruntled pout on her lips and a grumble escaping his mouth, because it really was the worst timing possible. The blinds, which had done their job in keeping them from the eyes of their agent friends as they said their goodbyes to one another but hadn’t don’t so well in disguising where Reid had disappeared off too quickly after the morning briefing, hiding whoever was standing on the other side. And all she wanted, all he wanted, was a little intimacy before they split for the day.

“Reid, wheels up soon. We need to leave,” Hotch said, opening the door up enough so he could poke his head into the room, ‘just to check he had the right room’ he would say, “hello, agent YLN.”

“Good morning, agent Hotchner.”

The awkward greetings were enough for him to disappear and close the door behind him, taunts and teases coming from Morgan on the other side of the door as they realised he’d walked in on a rather intimate moment, enough to make Spencer’s cheeks blush.

“Right, I will be back tonight. That’s a promise. We’ll get Chinese food in as soon as we get back to the apartment, we’ll get wine in and drink the whole bottle and we’ll have a night in together because it’s been too long,” Spencer said, a nod from her signifying she was more than okay with an at-home date night with him. The goodbye kiss, which he initiated as soon as Hotch left the room, was shortened and left her wanting so much more than just the peck on the lips and with that be all - and, he didn’t need the assurance from her that their date night would lead to something much better than Chinese food. “I love you.”

“Don’t die on me today,” she murmured against his mouth, pressing one final kiss to his pink lips and pulling away from him, “Reid, I mean it. Don’t die on me- please?”

He reached behind her and grabbed his FBI credentials from her desk, where he’d placed his essentials upon entering the room, hanging it around his neck. His jacket draped over her chair in the office, because it was something he let her wear around the unit because she was never given one to wear unless she was in active duty and on a case with them, and he always loved to the see the smile it brought to her face when she got to feel the fabric on her skin. Like a varsity captain and his girlfriend wearing his jacket.

“I promise you, I will not die today,” he said, grabbing his gun and his holster and attaching it to his belt, “I’ll see you later.”

“See you later, Boy Wonder.”

#spencer reid #spencer reid imagines #spencer reid x reader insert imagines #spencer reid x reader insert fic #criminal minds imagines #matthew gray gubler #matthew gray gublar imagines #matthew gray gubler x reader insert imagines #criminal minds fic #spencer reid x yn imagines #spencer reid x yn fics #matthew gray gubler x yn fics #matthew gray gubler x yn imagines

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thewickedkings · 4 years

Text

Between the Two of Us ~ Chapter 6

Masterlist || Previous Chapter || Next Chapter

Summary: Jurdan High school AU. Rivals Jude and Cardan are forced to partner up for a history project, and drama ensues. Filled with banter, pranks, an unhealthy amount of pining, and Jude being clueless as usual.

Trigger Warnings: I don’t think there’s anything so far, but please let me know if there’s anything I missed!

~~~

Jude blinked. And then blinked again. But Cardan was still standing at her door, holding a bouquet of red roses, very much real. Under her confusion, a distant part of her felt a surprising flutter of warmth.

She opened the door hesitantly and was greeted with Cardan’s scowl. He was dressed in jeans and a simple white T-shirt that somehow made his already attractive features stand out even more. His sharp black hair fell over his forehead in tantalizing waves. With the roses in hand, he looked like a heartbreak waiting to happen.

Jude opened her mouth, unsure of what to say, but he interrupted.

“Don’t worry. They’re not from me.” He shoved them in her arms like they had burned him. Clearly, the idea of giving her flowers completely repulsed him.

“I- okay. Hi to you too.” She stepped back to let him in, and his jaw ticked. “Someone clearly woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.”

He stepped in and Jude shut the door behind them. When she turned back to Cardan, she found him looking at her expectantly. She ignored him and walked to the kitchen, resisting the urge to check the note attached, even though she had a feeling she knew who they were from.

“Want anything to drink?”

“No,” he replied bluntly.

Jude pursed her lips. “Okay then.” Clearly, he wasn’t in a cooperative mood. She sighed. “So, I figured we could compare our research to see what-”

“Are you going to put those in a vase?” Cardan interrupted.

She glared at him. “Are you going to be like this the whole time?” But she stood up and went to the pantry to get a vase.

She felt Cardan’s gaze on the side of her face as she filled the vase up with water and put it on the counter, but he didn’t speak. The only sound was the steady drip of the faucet into the sink. She picked up the bouquet, inhaling the fragrant scent of the roses. Before she put them into the vase, she untied the note and read it.

For Jude. Yesterday was fun. We should do it again.

She bit her lip to stop the giddy smile that threatened to break free. Nobody had ever bought her flowers before.

Cardan cleared his throat, irritation edging his voice. “Are we going to do this or not?”

“You’re the one who asked me to put these in a vase,” she mumbled. She flopped onto the bar stool next to him, annoyed.

She opened her laptop, clicking through to open her research. “Like I was saying before you interrupted me, we should compare our research and see what we’ve got.”

“Right, okay.” He ran his hand over jaw, easing the tension in it. “By the way, they’re going to display the best project on the school website, so we might have to up our game.”

Jude’s head swiveled back to Cardan. “What? Since when? Why didn’t you tell me right when you got here?”

“I was a bit preoccupied.”

Jude narrowed her eyes. “Wait, how do you know?”

He smirked, some of his earlier mood dissipating. “I have my sources.”

“I don’t trust your sources,” Jude shot back.

Cardan leaned back, arms stretching behind his head. “Fine then. Don’t believe me. When Taryn and Locke have their project on the website, don’t come crying to me.”

Jude paused momentarily. She’d forgotten Taryn and Locke were partners. Something niggled in the back of her mind, a thought that wasn’t fully formed. “You think they’d actually win?”

“Locke will try if he knows I… if he knows we want to win.”

After the date, Jude had conveniently forgotten that Locke and Cardan knew each other. She felt the strange compulsion to keep them separate in her mind. “Okay, so say this is actually true.”

Cardan scoffed. “If you really must know, I heard my father talking about it. He’s on the board, and it’s one of the publicity tactics or something to make the school look better. They need to show off for the donors.”

Jude looked up, surprised. “Oh, okay. I didn’t know your father was on the board.”

Cardan shrugged and redirected the conversation. “If we want to win, we better start working.”

“Don’t worry. We’re winning this.”

“I’m not worried.” The quick, playful grin he sent her startled her, and Jude wondered what they could do if they actually worked on the same side for once.

Jude paused. “Wait, why do you want to win so badly?”

Before he could answer, the garage door opened, and Madoc entered. Jude stiffened in surprise, not expecting her father to be here while her and Cardan were home. She felt weird introducing them, and she didn’t want her father making any assumptions about the two of them like he did with any guy Jude mentioned.

Jude cleared her throat. “Um, Father, this is Cardan.”

Cardan stood up from the barstool, and Jude watched in awe as Cardan transformed into a gentleman, politely introducing himself and ending each sentence with sir.

“Ah, Eldred’s youngest son. You stay with Balekin now?”

Cardan’s smile wavered but remained intact. “Yes, sir.” She couldn’t help but notice the stiffness in his posture, a sort of rigid tension that Jude couldn’t quite place.

Madoc gave Jude a nod. “Well, I’ll leave you two to it.” He walked into his office and shut the door behind him.

An awkward silence descended over them, until Cardan broke it. “So… you call your dad… Father?”

She didn’t feel like explaining that he wasn’t actually her father, and that their real parents had died in a car crash, so she didn’t. “Yeah, well, dad always seemed too…” she trailed off, shrugging.

“Close?” Cardan supplied, and she nodded. “Yeah, I get that.”

She resisted the temptation to ask him why, but it felt too personal, and it wasn’t like they were friends. Instead she shoved his shoulder. “What was that? I didn’t know you could be a gentleman? All yes, sirs, and of course sir.”

For a second, he blinked and Jude could have sworn she saw a blush on his neck. But then he leaned closer to her across the barstools, almost challenging. His eyes darted to her hand, which was still on his arm, before they flitted to the vase on the counter and then back up to her eyes.

“I can be a decent human sometimes.” He smirked, adding, “But certain people bring out the worst in me.”

Jude’s retort died on her tongue as he leaned further into her space. Cardan’s gaze probed into hers, searching, and her breath caught in her throat.

Heat rushed up her neck, her senses heightening in anticipation of…

A thud sounded from her father’s office, and Jude quickly pulled away, berating herself. What the hell was that?

Cardan swallowed and averted his gaze, his hand flexing. When he spoke, his voice was low. “You never came to any of my parties. There’s one on Saturday. You should come.”

Jude was too surprised by the sudden change in topic and the earnest tone in his voice, so she said, “Okay.”

The serious expression in his face disappeared immediately. He grinned down at her, wiggling his eyebrows. “Okay?”

Jude scowled. “I’ll be there. But only because I owe you.”

Cardan laughed, and any remaining tension dissipated. “Don’t worry. I’d never think otherwise.”

“Come on, let’s just finish this stupid project,” Jude grumbled, but felt the corners of her lips lifting up into a smile.

~~~

The next week was stressful, to say the least. By Wednesday, Jude was ready to pass out and call it a week. Her physics quiz that morning had been draining, and she had barely finished before the end of class. After that, she had a presentation in her literature class that she had just barely fumbled through.

Jude walked to her locker, rubbing her temples to sooth the dull ache growing there. She was surprised to see Locke waiting for her. The few times she had seen him in school over the past week were in passing smiles in the hallways. She hadn’t been sure if she should text him to thank him for the flowers or if she should approach him,

Now, he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her cheek. Jude winced, but quickly covered it with a smile. Her head throbbed, and she didn’t have the energy to sort out why she didn’t like his touch right now.

“Hey, you get my flowers?”

“Yeah, thanks. I loved them.”

Locke’s eyes flitted over her shoulder and then back to her. “No problem.” He leaned in, brushing a strand of hair that had escaped from her ponytail. “Can I walk you to class?”

“Uh, yeah, sure.” Locke wrapped his arm over her shoulder possessively, pulling her to him.

Jude was awkwardly conscious of his arm around her shoulder and the glances people gave them in the hall. Something about his actions felt unnatural, almost forced. Or maybe she was projecting her own feelings onto him. They’d only been on one date, and she didn’t feel fully comfortable with him yet.

When Jude got to her last period study hall, she quickly slid out from under his arm, mumbling a quick “thanks,” before entering her class.

Study hall was basically an hour to work on any of your assignments before school let out, and Jude spent the class with her headphones in, head resting against her arm. She knew she probably should get some assignments done, but she couldn’t bring herself to care.

When the bell rang, Jude made her way to the gym next to the soccer field to get ready for practice. Her headache had thankfully subsided, and she threaded her way through the parking lot.

“Hey,” a voice said from behind her.

Jude was surprised to find Nicasia quickly walking to catch up with her. “Hi?”

Nicasia rolled her eyes. Her black hair was up in a messy bun, the ends died an ethereal blue. She slung her backpack over her shoulder and fell into step next to Jude. “I figured we could walk to practice together, since we do have the same class last period.”

Jude blinked. “Um, okay. You weren’t exactly being friendly when you ignored me on the field and tried to shoot an impossible goal instead of just passing.”

Nicasia shrugged. “I was just pissed because I heard Locke talking about you, and I probably shouldn’t have taken it out on the field.”

“Great apology.”

Nicasia rolled her eyes again. “Shut up.”

“So wait… you and Locke dated?” Last she knew, Nicasia and Cardan were together. She really needed to keep up with the school drama.

Nicasia nodded. Something in Jude’s face made her add, “Don’t worry. I ended things with him for a reason. It was great at first, until I realized he was just using me to get at Cardan.”

Jude paused, suddenly reevaluating everything she knew about Locke, and wondering why Locke would want to get at Cardan. Jude was instantly curious if it had worked.

Nicasia sighed and played with a loose strand of hair. “Look, I know this might make me seem like a jealous ex, but Locke… he likes drama. He likes to create drama. I saw him with you in the hallway today, and despite our differences, I don’t want you to get in caught in it.”

Jude didn’t know what to make of this information, but Nicasia seemed to be genuine. Something about her date with Locke had felt… a little too perfect. Then, she hadn’t thought it was a bad thing, but now she felt as though she had been played. “Thanks for the warning, I guess.”

Nicasia opened the door to the gym. “I wish someone had given me one, but I should have known better.” They both silently entered their separate changing rooms to put on their soccer gear.

Jude’s thoughts wandered as she slipped out of her jeans and into her soccer shorts. Even though she did enjoy their date, she realized she didn’t really know Locke. What Nicasia said about Locke could be true, and if it was, Jude absolutely did not want to take things further with him.

Jude found she wasn’t as disappointed as she should be at the thought. Besides flirting with each other, they didn’t really have anything in common that connected them. If she really thought about it, she knew whatever was between them wasn’t going to last, and that it mainly for fun. Yes, the first date went pretty well and she loved the attention, but what about after? She wasn’t very good at relationships in general, and she was bound to do something wrong.

When Jude came out, she silently sat next to Nicasia on the bench next to the lockers. Jude leaned down to slide her foot into her cleats, and her foot came in contact with a warm goeey substance. She yelped, pulling her foot out of her shoe.

“What?” Nicasia asked. She snorted when she saw the green sludge on Jude’s sock. “Oh.”

Jude groaned. “Ugh, Cardan. I knew he was planning something.”

Nicasia gave her a long look, tying her hair back into a ponytail, and then getting up and getting her napkins. “You two are still doing this?”

Jude wondered just how much Nicasia knew about their prank war as she cleaned out the inside of her shoe as much as she could. Despite her best efforts, some of the sludge remained stuck to the bottom. “I mean, if one of us stops, it means the other person wins. And I can’t let him win.”

“You’re both idiots.”

Jude laughed, shrugging. “As long as I beat him, I don’t care.”

Nicasia stood up, flicking her ponytail over her shoulder. “When you two finally get together, I’m going to throw a party.”

Jude sputtered. “What? We’re not- he doesn’t- what?”

“Uh huh, right.” Nicasia smirked as she walked to the door. “See you on the field.”

Jude scowled as Nicasia shut the door of the gym behind her, leaving Jude in silence. Why did Nicasia think her and Cardan would ever… get together? Jude shook her head, and opened her gym bag to find her headband. A piece of paper fluttered out, and Jude picked it up. There was no name on it, but once she read it, she knew exactly who it was from.

Have a “sensational” time at practice. See you on Saturday.

~~~

A/N: Hehehe sorry for getting your hopes up with the last chapter but this is going to be a slowwww burn. We did get to see jealous CardanTM though 😌

Sorry for the long wait! My school just started again this week and my attention span is exactly 0.02 seconds after quarantine lol. I’m so excited for the next chapter! Let me know what you think in the comments :)

Tagging: (Bolded tags didn’t work. I don’t know why, it might be your settings or just tumblr acting up, but I’ll tag you in the comments for now! If I forgot to tag you our messed something up, just send me an ask and I’ll fix it as soon as I can!)

@jurdan7 @cardan-greenbriar-tcp @amoosewithflannelforfur @aneuwin @mercrutiodidntdieforthis @hizqueen4life @mi-mavencalories @simonelovesff @b00kworm @nope-has-lied @andromeddea @aesthetics-11 @queen-of-glass @runnybabbit9 @afexiss @the-keen-queen @yesimtheslytherinwitch @fizziefaerie @abigneignenn @storiesandschemes @aelin-queen-of-terrasen@words-of-the-wise @thedazzlingheights @magicalbookwyvern @kittkatandbooboo @queen-of-no1 @iminsanenotobsessed @dorkzrul @snusbandxknifewife @aknymph @clouds-and-peonies @thefolkofthefic @snorting-up-pizza @fandomfanatic987 @fandom-will-be-the-death-of-me @cardanslittletail @curlyredqueen06 @losssssstttttt @aelinfeyreeleven945tbln@omfglucayababies @judiecardan @woodsbeyond1 @yourroyalbooknerd @ireallyshouldsleeprn @st00pid231 @alittledribbledrabble @nomotivation-lads @herladyshipxx @judiecardan

#between the two of us #chapter 6 #wow i actually wrote something #jurdan #jurdan fanfic #jurdan fanfiction #jude duarte #cardan greenbriar #the cruel prince #the wicked king #the queen of nothing #the folk of the air #folk of the air #my writing

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youtuberswithalex · 3 years

Text

PRVL, Volume 3, Chapter 4: Lessons Learned

Summary: With the second round of the tournament arriving, some of the team can't help but question where they stand in the minds of those they love.

Word count: 7,205

Warnings: Fighting (In a tournament), arguing, breakdown, talk about past death of a parent

I spent the last few days pounding out this chapter so I could post it today. Miss you, Monty. Keep moving forward.

Masterpost – Volume 1 – Previous - Next

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New Message from: Mom

Hi, sweetie. Been thinking about you a lot lately. I ran into Anise at the store yesterday (Remember her? Your friend Dominic’s mom), and she said she saw you fighting in the Vytal Tournament, so your dad and I looked it up. Happy to see your team made it into the next round. Dominic’s team apparently lost. He’s a little broken up about it. Maybe you could reach out, if you can find him. Anise would really appreciate it. I know you used to be close, so I’m sure he’d be happy to see you again.

New Message from: Mom

Your sister said she tried to text you. Did they come through? She’s worrying her scroll might be getting a little old…

New Message from: Mom

Could you message me back, please?

Delete Messages?

>YES< >NO<

---------------

Gunshots echoed through the training area, followed by a scream of frustration and the skidding of boots on the floor. Metal clanged and echoed, and footsteps pummeled.

After a moment, wings fluttered, and a body skidded across the floor. Roman groaned as he began to pick himself up.

“Had enough yet?”

Growling, he shot a glare over to where Anole was putting the halves of his bow back together. “Y’know, when I asked you to join me in training this morning, I meant helping me instead of, you know, absolutely destroying me.”

Anole returned the look with a cross of his arms. “Uh, y’know,” he mocked, “I wouldn’t be kicking your ass so hard if you took two seconds to pay attention to where you are before you attack.”

“I do!” Roman exclaimed. When Anole only raised an eyebrow, he got to his feet and put his hands on his hips. “I do!”

“So what you’re saying is, you meant to be blasted by Thomas’s semblance when saving Patton during round one and get your Aura knocked down by like, fifty percent?”

Roman’s face reddened. “That—That was one time!”

“And you were totally aware of that Cephalo when you stopped to talk to Virgil when your teammates were in danger on your mission?”

“Alright, that’s hardly fair—”

“And you knew the White Fang was coming to kidnap you, and you let them do it on purpose?” Anole held up a finger in pause. “If that one’s true, I might have to kill you myself.”

Roman groaned and threw his hands in the air. “Alright, I get it! So I tend to get tunnel vision in fights; big deal! It’s not like the distractions aren’t coming from the target themselves most of the time…”

Anole furrowed his brow and threw his arms out. “Wh—none of those distractions came from—!” He cut himself off and sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. “Roman. Dude. It’s not just about fighting,” he said. “You gotta think about this stuff in regular, day-to-day life, too.”

Roman let out a laugh. “As if we aren’t training for fighting to be our day to day life.”

“That’s not what I meant!” Anole snapped. “This is exactly what I’m saying! I’m talking, like, people, and relationships and stuff, but you’re still focused on Hunter stuff!”

“Well, yeah! In case you haven’t noticed, we’re kind of in the middle of a biannual world tournament!” he exclaimed. “I do want my team to win, you know.”

“You were already knocked out! Because you weren’t paying attention!”

“I was! Just because it was on my teammate instead of my opponent doesn’t mean it was a bad thing!” Roman shot. “Patton could have gotten hurt if I hadn’t caught him!”

“And you got hurt instead,” Anole lowly pointed out.

Roman reeled back into stunned silence. “I-I didn’t…” His fists balled as he searched for his words. “I still had Aura left…”

Anole let out a breath and stepped forward, opening his arms in invitation. “I know,” he said. “That’s not what I meant.”

Roman looked at his brother for a moment, eyes flicking down to his open arms; his breath came out in a rush as he tucked himself into his grip.

Anole held him close for a long few minutes, saying nothing about his shoulder growing increasingly damp. He rocked him gently and ran his fingers through his hair. In return, Roman’s wings slowly curled around them.

“You’re not bad at fighting,” Anole eventually muttered. As Roman’s grip tightened, he hastily added, “Really, you’re not. I’ve seen you wipe the floor in 1v1 classroom fights a hundred times over. You’re good at what you do. You just… can’t be an idiot. You need to think, and pay attention, especially when you’re in the field. People are going to get hurt if you don’t.”

“I know,” Roman choked out.

“And that applies in regular life, too. You can’t just rush head-first into things without considering where they’re going to end up, or who it’s going to affect other than you… Especially when it involves other people.”

Roman frowned. He pulled back just enough to look Anole in the eye. “What do you mean?”

Anole, while he had the grace to appear the slightest bit embarrassed with the flush of his cheeks, gave his shoulders a squeeze and shrugged. “W-Well… Y’know, with you and Riad…”

“What about us?”

“I…”

Yanking himself away, Roman put his hands on his hips and shot a glare that felt a hundred times worse than the ones just moments ago. “No, go on. I want to hear what you have to say about me and my boyfriend’s relationship.”

Anole looked away and shuffled. “He’s not just your boyfriend,” he attempted to say under his breath.

Roman could do nothing but stare at his own brother for a long moment, just processing the words that had come out of his mouth. If it wasn’t for the cool, early morning light seeping through the windows, he could have sworn he was starting to see red.

“Is that what your problem is with us being together?” he snapped. “The fact that you don’t get to spend as much time with him anymore?”

“What? No, Roman—”

“You spend almost every moment with him that I’m not there, not to mention an entire year before me, and you’re jealous?”

“Ro—”

“I cannot believe that that’s what’s been up your… your scaly ass this whole time! Jealous because your brother and best friend are taking time away from you to be happy together!”

“I don’t want you to get hurt!”

Roman froze. Anole huffed out a breath and ran a hand through his hair.

“Look, I just— I don’t know what I’d do if one of you got hurt because of the other,” he admitted. “It would suck so much! I love you both so much, and I hate seeing either of you in pain! I hate seeing anyone I love being in pain! And… And knowing I’d have to pick a side, pick only one of you to stick by, it’s just… Gods, I hate it! And I’d especially hate it if I knew there was something I could have done to stop it!”

“…You think I’m going to hurt him,” Roman slowly said.

Anole stiffened. He finally looked back at Roman.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I think I know exactly what you meant.”

“Roman…”

Before Anole could say another word, Roman shut his eyes and shook his head. He turned and headed towards the door.

“I know you hate us being together,” he called over his shoulder, “But you don’t have to be such a jerk about it.”

The door slammed shut a moment later. Anole was left in suffocating silence.

---------------

“You’re absolutely sure you’re okay with me being your partner for this?”

Logan let out a soft sigh as he turned to look at his teammate. Patton’s fingers fiddled with the edge of his shield, and he was staring at the arena floor as if he expected it to jump out at him.

“Yes, Patton,” he said for what must have been the fifth time since they stepped onto the field. “You are undoubtedly the best choice for this fight, in many more ways than one.” After a beat, he added, “Besides, even if I were to change my mind, it’s far too late to do anything about it now.”

Patton’s head snapped up, eyes blown wide. “I-I’m sure there’s still time! The other team isn’t even here yet; I could run and go get Virgil, if you want!”

“There is no need, Patton. I was merely expressing a hypothetical situation,” Logan quickly corrected. “I am happy to have you joining me for this fight.”

There was a beat where Patton could do nothing but blink owlishly at him; even after it passed, all he could do was look back at the floor and say, “…Oh.”

A purple rubber ball rolled up to their feet.

“Sorry!” a voice cried.

A girl wearing a red and white sports uniform sprinted over and scooped it up before jogging back to the other side of the platform, where another person stood, shaking his head.

“Valerie, come on,” he chuckled. “We haven’t even started and you’re losing track of that thing.”

“Come on, I just dropped it!” Valerie said back.

Her partner rolled his eyes, smile on his face, and leaned his weight on the long spear in his hands that was about his same height. His cloak slipped off of the gold plated armor that rested on his right arm. “Uh huh, and which piece of padding did it ‘drop-bounce’ off of?”

“Jo!” Valerie huffed.

Patton giggled at the banter, only to slap his hand over his mouth when it drew the attention of the other two to him. They stared at him for a beat, and then looked at each other and began to laugh.

“Nice to meet you,” Jo said. “Patton and Logan, right? Team PRVL?”

Logan nodded. “And you must be Valerie and Jo of Team SVIJ.”

“Huh, would you look at that,” he replied. “The boys and the girls both did their homework.”

Valerie winked at Jo. “But only us girls are making it to the next round.”

“I’m not one right now, but you’ve got the spirit.”

Patton let out a soft whimper, but Logan only smiled.

“We’ll see about that,” he answered.

The platform beneath them shifted as the fields began to fill into place; all four turned and inspected them as they rose to the floor. A forest, pirate ship, the geysers, and…

Valerie gasped. “The gravity fields! Oh, you two are going down!”

“Val, don’t give our strategies away!”

“In three… two… one…”

They scrambled to get into position.

“BEGIN!”

Valerie threw her ball in the air and jumped after it, twirling up just high enough to slam her padded knee into it, surrounding it in a bright purple glow, and send it flying towards Logan and Patton. The two dove out of the way just in time; when the ball hit the ground, it dimmed and skidded like it was made of stone. She leapt towards it and grabbed it while somersaulting, and as soon as she was back on her feet, she tossed it up and began to bounce it between her knees. The purple glow grew with each hit.

Logan caught himself from tumbling by placing one hand on the ground and pressing down hard until he slowed to a stop. The second he regained his balance, he changed his book into its pistol form and aimed at Valerie’s ball; just as he was about to fire, Jo’s spear flew in and knocked it out of his hand. While his weapon skidded away, the spear redirected itself and soared right back into Jo’s hand just as he started to charge at Logan.

He was quick to throw up his arm and block the first swing, but Jo was quicker, grabbing the bar between his spear’s double-blades and detaching it from its handle. He balanced the pole on Logan’s forearm armor and spun it; Logan ducked down and somersaulted underneath Jo’s legs just before it collided with the back of his head. Jo whipped around and slammed the blades toward him, but they smashed into the ground while Logan leapt up and sprinted towards his own weapon.

“That’s my son!” a voice cried from the stands.

Logan cast a quick glance up to where his father was on his feet, screaming and jumping up and down. He let out a huff of exasperation before focusing back on the fight.

Letting out a yelp, Patton hastily threw his shield in front of his face just before Valerie’s ball could hit. It bounced off, the impact creating a vibration so intense he could practically feel his bones shake, and shot back towards her. She jumped a few inches off of the ground to headbutt it against the purple sweatband on her forehead, right back into his shield. Patton whimpered and took a step back as another bout of discomfort shot through his whole body. He squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to focus, but at the next hit, he felt a tingle run up his arms. He bit his tongue and tried to keep it in.

“Patton!”

A strap wrapped around his bicep and yanked him away just in time, the ball just grazing the side of his head as he was whipped away. He found himself tumbling across the floor, only landing on his feet by chance; when he inevitably lost his balance, Logan caught him by the shoulders and righted him.

“Breathe, Patton,” he ordered. “Try to focus it.”

With a battle cry, Jo leapt into the air and brandished their re-combined spear over their head. Patton shoved Logan away and held up his shield. Jo didn’t miss a beat; he shifted just enough to use it as a springboard and flipped over him, choosing instead to javelin the spear at Logan, who sidestepped it and flung his book into his stomach. The impact sent Jo flying into the gravity fields, and his spear wasn’t far after.

A split second later, the glowing rubber ball flew between their heads, followed by Valerie chasing after both it and her teammate. She turned and shot a wink at them, smile as bright as her weapon.

“Catch us if you can!” she laughed.

As soon as her feet left the middle platform, Valerie soared into the air, leaning forward enough to hit her ball against an elbow pad and send it towards Jo; she flipped a couple of times before coming to a gentle landing on one of the large walls floating above the ground. Jo stood upside down on a platform above her and swung his spear at the ball, knocking it back to her like a game of baseball. She sent it back with her knee and ran up the wall to get closer to her teammate.

“That’s what the gravity fields do?!” Patton squeaked.

But Logan was already sprinting towards their opponents, only allowing himself a little wobble when he jumped off of the main floor and was pulled towards a platform three away from the others. Patton swallowed thickly and followed after.

His head began to swim once he was in the air, feeling himself being pulled towards or against all sorts of different directions; immediately, his arms and legs shot out, trying to get the balance that the area had no laws over. His stomach flipped as quickly as he himself did, and he watched as patches of ice started to form on the platforms he passed.

In the stands, Virgil cringed and ran a hand through his hair, ducking half his face beneath the wall in front of their seats as if it could shield him from what was happening to his partner. “Oh, Pat…!”

“That can’t be good,” Thamir said.

Logan somersaulted and used his hands to launch himself off of his platform, righting himself perfectly to land the final gap between himself and Jo. Jo turned to glance at him and smirked; the ball came flying in, and he batted it towards Logan, who threw up an arm for it to bounce against. It sent a shot of pain through his muscles, but it bounced at just the right angle for it to fly away from either of the members of Team SVIJ. Valerie began to maneuver her way back to it while Logan reared back and threw his book at Jo.

The strap wrapped tight around his spear, and Jo attempted to yank back and pull Logan with him, but he dug his heels into the floor and held his ground. He grabbed the strap with both hands and pulled, locking them in a tug of war of weapons.

Beneath them, the white glow around the edges of the platform switched to purple, and their feet lifted off of the floor. As they fell, they both yanked themselves towards each other, punching and kicking when they were close enough, until the side of another platform separated them. They both slammed against the floor of their respective sides.

As Logan clambered to his feet, a hand brushed against his hair, and he looked up in time to watch Patton yelp as he floated by.

“Logan, help!” he cried.

“Get to a platform!”

“I don’t know how!”

Before Logan could reply, he was yanked away and over the edge of the platform, the force causing him to lose his grip on his strap and send him flying in a completely different direction. He crashed into a large cube with a grunt. As he pushed himself up, he watched Jo tuck his book into his jacket and leap off to another platform.

Logan growled and pushed himself to his feet, only for the gravity to begin to shift again. He sprinted up the wall as fast as he could and dove, grabbing onto the corner just as his feet lifted off of the ground. Carefully, he swung his other arm up and pulled himself to the top as he calculated how to get to either Valerie or Jo from where he was.

Just as he began to stand, a yell sounded behind him, and a body slammed into his back, sending them both back to the floor. Valerie’s ball rolled innocently across their faces as he and Patton hurried back to their feet.

“H-Hey, I made it to a platform finally!” Patton laughed.

Logan glared. “Patton…,” he growled.

Before he could say another word, Patton reached down and snatched the ball up, tucking it under his arm. “Well, if they can steal your weapon, we can steal theirs, too! No need to play dirty in a tourna—Oof!”

Valerie slammed her feet into Patton’s back, sending him flying off the platform and her ball out of his grip and into the air; she hit it up with her elbow and blocked a punch from Logan before kicking him in the chest and sending him back a few steps. They repeated this a few times, with Valerie playing keepie-uppie with her weapon and Logan throwing attacks in between, until Logan’s legs were knocked out from under him and he dropped to the floor.

He rolled to the side just in time to dodge Jo’s spear coming towards him and slamming his elbow into his chest. As Jo recoiled, Logan smashed the heel of his palm into his chin and kicked him back into Valerie, who dropped her ball as the two stumbled off of the edge.

Logan was about to leap after them when Patton crashed into him again and sent them flying in a different direction than intended. They each grabbed onto each other by instinct as they swirled around, but once Logan’s head stopped spinning, he huffed and shot Patton a glare.

“I’m sorry!” Patton yelped in return. “I didn’t mean to!”

In a split second decision, Logan grabbed his teammate’s wrist and whirled as hard as he could, launching Patton out of the gravity fields and back towards center stage. Patton’s gasp and wide eyes followed Logan as the momentum sent himself onto another platform; as he landed, he checked to make sure safely made it to the floor.

Roman threw his hands in the air and jumped up, practically yanking Riad out of his seat when he refused to let go of his hand. “What is he doing?!”

Virtus and Esther glanced at each other, both letting out a soft, deflating sigh.

A blast of wind slowed Patton’s trajectory down, but he tumbled across the floor no less. With a quick glance at the scoreboard to check his Aura, Logan determined Patton would be alright while he took Team SVIJ out on his own.

Jo threw his spear at Valerie’s ball and knocked it over to where the two of them stood; she jumped up and caught it, and as soon as his weapon was back in his hands, they turned their backs to each other and looked around.

“Where’d you go, kid?” Jo muttered.

A blur shot by to their side, and they snapped their gazes over in time to see Logan high in the air above. His fist was reared back, and his necklace about to hit himself in the face; the platform behind him began to suck him towards it, but the gravity shifted just in time.

He let out a cry as the fields launched him towards the two.

They each jumped to the side just as he smashed into the ground; they reared their weapons back, but Logan was quick to block. He swatted Jo’s spear to shoot over his shoulder, and punched Valerie’s ball up and away. Jo threw his weapon across his body and pulled him tight to his chest, but Logan grabbed it and shoved it away, throwing his head back to collide with his jaw. While he stumbled, he ripped it away and used it to swipe Valerie’s feet out from under her.

He spun and crouched, holding the blade towards Jo while he recovered. As soon as he realized what had happened, he glared and pulled Logan’s book out of his jacket, switching it immediately into its pistol form and firing a few rounds. Logan spun the spear to block each bullet before charging towards him, blade out.

As soon as he was close enough, Jo ducked and somersaulted underneath Logan’s legs, purposefully knocking one out with his shoulder. Logan stumbled and rolled; he got back to his feet as fast as he could, only for the rubber ball to slam into his chest. The force knocked the spear out of his hand and sent him flying up and off of the platform.

He managed to right himself before landing on the closest ground he could find, only dropping to his knees when it pulled him in faster than he was expecting. He allowed himself just a moment to catch his breath and assess the situation when bullets began to strike the ground around him. Shooting to his feet, he ran, glancing over to watch as Jo fired Logan’s pistol while Valerie charged up her ball.

Logan was just about to leap again when a bullet knocked the book out of Jo’s hands; shortly after, another hit the ball away.

Right on the edge of center stage, Patton held up his shield, one eye shut for aim as he fired at their opponents.

A spark of pride shot through Logan’s soul just as he reached the top of the platform. He turned to send Patton a smile and thumbs up, when—

His foot slid out from under him.

Logan sucked in a gasp as he slipped off of the edge, hands reaching to grip the edge and catch himself, but they were only met with slippery ice. As he tumbled towards the ground, he bounced off of no less than two separate platforms; he slammed into the corner of the third and final one before he found himself hitting the tiles below.

A buzzer sounded.

“Ooh, and there goes the powerhouse of Team PRVL!” Professor Port’s voice yelled. “A rare ring-out caused by a student’s own teammate!”

Logan felt the blood drain from his face.

“It’s up to Mr. Passio to save this match now! But can he do it without any aid from his team?”

Patton’s eyes widened as Jo and Valerie started to make their way over to him. He fired a few rounds towards them, but they dodged without missing a beat.

“Pat, go for cover!” Virgil screamed.

Just as they were leaping off of the last platform, Patton turned on his heel and started to sprint towards the trees. He heard them hit the ground, and just a second later, Jo’s spear flew past. He yelped and spun around; immediately, he threw his shield up to block the ball. A whimper ripped out of his throat at both the sound and the shock crawling up his forearms.

Patton forced himself to take a deep breath before allowing himself to look up; the two were sprinting towards him at full speed. He squeezed his eyes shut and threw out his hand towards the ground, trying to focus on the fear running through his veins instead of the electricity.

Just as he opened his eyes, Valerie stepped on the sheet of ice that had formed in front of her. She froze and cried out, face contorting in pain, and stumbled down to the ground before ripping herself away from the area.

A blast of wind knocked Jo back a few steps while Patton gasped, but he recovered quick enough; his spear flew back into his hands, and he swung it towards his side. Patton jumped sideways and blocked it with his shield. While he was turned away, Jo jabbed his fingers into the side of his neck, and Patton screamed. His knees buckled, hand flying up to protect the area.

Jo startled at the reaction and went to catch him, but ice shot out around them, and he fell to the ground on top of him. He was quick to roll off, but a statically charged punch hit him in the stomach, causing him to slide halfway across the field. He landed near Valerie, who was just shaking off her own pain and reaching for her ball.

Patton, back on his feet, whirled around to look at them, eyes filled with panicked tears and hands cupping his neck. Crackles of electricity flew off his forearms, and his breath came out in erratic gasps.

Jo and Valerie shot each other concerned glances.

In the stands, both Virgil and Roman shot to their feet and grabbed the wall in front of them in white-knuckled grips.

“No, no, no, not now!”

“Breathe, Patton, breathe! Shit!”

Carefully getting to her feet, Valerie looked over at Patton. “We gotta end this,” she stated to Jo.

He glanced up at the board and pulled his spear into his hands. “His Aura’s low. One good hit should knock him out,” he replied. “Watch out for his electricity.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice.”

Jo planted his feet in the ground and held out his spear; Valerie grabbed onto the handle between the blades and started to run. He whipped her around himself a few times before she detached the blades and skated at full speed towards Patton. He threw out his left hand to try to catch her, but she grabbed him by the shield and twisted his arm behind his back. Bolts of lightning started to shoot out, but she held tight, using his weapon to her advantage.

On the other end of the stage, Jo backed up as far as he could before sprinting to the ice and hopping on, arm reared back as far as it could go. He slammed his fist into Patton’s stomach and used his torso to catch himself, sliding to a stop next to Valerie.

Patton fell to the floor and covered his ears as the buzzer echoed through the arena.

The screams of the crowd and the cheers of the announcers were lost to their ears as they dropped down next to him.

“Are you okay?” Jo asked.

Patton nodded, despite choking on a sob.

In an instant, Logan was skidding across the ice on his knees to make it to his teammate. He reached up and grabbed both of Patton’s biceps, squeezing them tight when he whimpered.

“Patton? Patton, it’s alright,” he tried.

Virgil and Roman bolted as soon as the fight was over, nearly tripping over Virtus and Esther in their haste to get to the aisle. Esther was quick to follow, and Riad and Thamir weren’t far behind.

Just as Virtus was getting up to join them, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and he froze. The all too familiar feeling of eyes on him caused his skin to crawl. His eyes flicked around the crowd until he found the source, standing at the bottom of the balcony two sections above.

Despite having been caught, the woman stood her ground, and they started at each other for a long, arduous moment. Virtus couldn’t read her expression from as far away as she was, especially with half of her face covered, but between her crossed arms and stiff posture, he could only find himself putting his guard up.

After a long minute, she finally turned and headed up the stairs, magenta ponytail flicking behind her.

Virtus watched her go before following after his family.

--------------------

“Patton— Patton, please just let me—”

“Ah—Ah! Roman…!”

Letting out a soft huff, Roman sat back on the bed, ice pack dropping to his lap. “It’s going to bruise if we don’t ice it, Pat,” he stated. “Do you have any idea how painful bruised gills are? Because from what I hear, it’s a lot.”

“It feels fine right now,” Patton whined.

“Yeah, because Virgil’s holding you.”

Virgil’s already-closed eyes squeezed tighter, and he pulled Patton closer against his chest. “Don’t distract me,” he muttered.

Patton patted his arm with his free hand while his other gripped white-knuckled at his collar. “C-Can’t we just put it on top of this? The cold would get through eventually, right?”

“It would if you’d let me touch your neck,” Roman pointed out.

He immediately curled in on himself, shoulders almost coming up to his ears; they bumped against Virgil’s jaw, and he flinched. Patton let out a hiss when the pain started to seep back in.

“Gah—sorry, sorry!”

Virgil quickly pulled him into his arms again. Roman could only watch and offer Patton a pointed stare. When the ache began to ebb, their leader looked up and sighed.

“Am I allowed to hold it instead?” he asked, voice wavering dangerously close to tears.

If there was anything that could convince Roman to break every rule he knew, it was a sad Patton.

Reluctantly, he handed him the ice pack. “You can’t hold it on for too long at a time,” he said, “Or it’s going to burn your scales and hurt even worse. Fifteen minutes at a time, max.”

Patton wiped at his eyes and carefully peeled his collar away just enough to set it on his swollen gills. A shiver wracked up his spine, prompting both Virgil and Roman to reach to wrap his detached cape tighter around him. He squirmed under the attention.

“Guys, I’m fine, really,” he whispered.

Letting out a soft sigh, Virgil carefully rested his forehead on Patton’s opposite shoulder. “We know, we’re just… worried about you,” he said. His eyes flicked over to the empty other side of the room. “…Logan, too. But he’s too stubborn to let us take care of him.”

“He isn’t not letting us take care of him,” Roman replied. “I’m sure he just wants to be with his parents right now.”

“…He really wanted to win, didn’t he?”

The question hung in the air, answer only coming with the silence it created. Patton frowned and lowered his ice pack, fingers reaching up to fiddle with the clasp of his collar.

“I hope he’s alright.”

--------------------

Logan clutched tight at his necklace, tugging at it as if it would help his cause. “Father, please.”

“Logan, no,” Virtus answered. “You don’t need to do any training tonight. You fought great today and deserve a rest!”

“I do not. There is clearly a need for me to keep working, and I would like to take advantage of you being here while you are,” Logan shot back.

Virtus rubbed a hand over his face, leaning back against the wall outside of the training arena. “You won’t learn anything if you’re exhausted.”

“Falsehood. Any training will still extend to my muscle memory.”

“But your brain isn’t going to retain it after a day like today.”

Crossing his arms, Logan raised an eyebrow. “Father, you of all people should know that we won’t have time to rest and recover when we’re in the field,” he stated.

“I do know that, and that’s exactly why I’m pushing you to relax,” he said, waving an arm out. “Look around you. You’ve got yourself surrounded by friends, training partners, time to study and do what you want… Take advantage of it while you’re here, Logan. This isn’t going to last forever.”

Logan scowled. “Why should I take advantage of it when it only serves to underprepare me? I can’t let myself get used to the luxuries here.”

“Because you’re going to miss this.” Virtus shook his head and looked around campus. “These four years are your last chance to be a kid, you know. Enjoy it while you can. It might not seem like it now, but after you graduate, you’re going to wish you had another chance to be young and reckless without any serious consequences.

“I don’t want you to look back with regret that you grew up too fast. I know you already did when… when we lost your mother. You deserve a chance at the same carefree childhood that the rest of us had. I know you have that here with your team, your friends. You can’t just push away everything that’s kind to you to harden up for the real world. It’s going to eventually do that for you anyway.”

Logan’s face slowly began to soften as he mulled over what he’d been told. A deep, weighted breath tumbled out of his lungs, and he looked away, closing his eyes.

“Father… I understand what you’re attempting to say,” he muttered, “But I can’t… I can’t—I can’t let myself continue to be a failure because I didn’t push myself enough when I could have.”

Virtus froze. “Failure?” he asked. “When have you ever been a failure?”

Letting out a huff, Logan turned and began to pace.

“I have been consistently failing at nearly everything from the moment I arrived at Beacon Academy!” he admitted. “I fail to keep myself focused on my studies instead of getting distracted by the world around me. I fail to understand how to form relationships of any sort; all of my friends so far have either been through assignments or association! I failed to realize Virgil was starting to struggle with anxiety before it impacted his health, I failed to save Roman before he got himself into danger twice, and I’m still failing to help Patton cope with what we’re increasingly suspecting to be autism, despite the fact that I’m autistic and am the most qualified of our team to teach him!”

Virtus opened his mouth, but Logan whirled around with desperate eyes before he could get a word out.

“And you saw what happened today!” he cried. “I thought I was making the right decisions, but everything I did was wrong! I failed my team, I failed Patton, I failed you! And I…”

Logan sucked in a trembling breath, turning his face away before his father could see the growing wetness of his eyes.

“…I failed Mother.”

Virtus could only think of one time where his world was rocked so suddenly.

“Logan… Logan, no, no, Logie!”

His breath rushed out of him as he rushed to his son, wrapping his arms tight around him and burying his nose in his hair. He cupped the back of his head and gently began to rock them; when Logan hugged him back, he could feel the slight tremor in his arms.

It was a long few minutes before they moved again. Virtus pulled away first, keeping a hand on Logan’s back, and directed them to a nearby bench, where he had Logan sit. Virtus kneeled down in front of him and pulled his mask down to his chin.

“There has not been a single moment since the day you were born where I wasn’t so incredibly proud of the person you’ve become,” he assured. “You are, without a doubt, the greatest thing that ever happened to us. You’re strong, you’re brilliant, you have a good heart, even if you struggle to express it sometimes… It’s like someone took the best parts of your mother and I and put them into one person. How could I ever not be proud of you?”

He reached up and gently took hold of Logan’s necklace, an old ache hiding just behind his eyes.

“I knew your mother better than almost anyone,” he said, slight crack in his voice, “and I know she felt the same way. She never, never would have seen you as a failure. Especially not over something as silly as a tournament.”

“I wanted to win for her,” Logan choked out. “I thought… I thought if I could get as far as she did, then I’d have lived up to her expectations. I’d have lived up to her. But I-I couldn’t even do that.”

Virtus took Logan’s hands and held them tight. “The only expectations she had for you was for you to be happy, Logan. She couldn’t have cared less about your skills as a Huntsman. You could have been knocked out by a gust of wind, and she’d have loved you all the same. You were her pride and joy, and nothing in this world could have ever changed that.”

He pulled a hand away to cup Logan’s cheek, doing what he could to cover the scars from view. A soft smile formed on his lips.

“I see so much of her in you,” he whispered. “The way you fight, the way you speak… The way you put so much pressure on yourself to do better, even when you’re already giving more than you have to offer.” He started to rub soft circles into his skin. “And I’m going to tell you the same thing I always told her: You’re doing fine.”

Logan shook his head, refusing to look at him. “But Mother—”

“—Had her flaws, too,” Virtus interrupted. “She didn’t win every fight. She didn’t catch every sign when her friends were struggling. And she certainly wasn’t perfect. But she was so, so loved, not just despite all that, but because of it, and you are, too.”

He pulled his hand away from his face, scooping up both of Logan’s again.

“You are, too,” he repeated.

Sucking in a trembling breath, Logan nodded. His shoulders hesitantly lowered, as if he was forcing himself to lift a weight that had haunted him for years.

“Okay,” he whispered. “Okay.”

“And Logan…”

Virtus sighed, looking at the ground.

“I love you and I am so proud of you,” he said. “I know you know that, and I know you know Esther does, too. And we always want to you understand that you can always come to us when you’re struggling with something.”

He squeezed his hands before turning back to him. “But you need to rely on your team, too,” he stated. “They love you and care about you just as much as we do, and I’m sure they want to help you as much as you want to help them. I know you’re strong, and you’re capable of handling things on your own; you’ve been doing it since the day you scaled the bookcase in the living room when we put your favorite story on the top shelf.”

Logan let out a weak laugh. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you scream louder than when you saw me.”

“And I never saw your mother move as fast as she did when it startled you and you lost your footing,” Virtus chuckled.

Another noise came out of Logan, this one a mix between a laugh and a sob; a tear trailed down his cheek. He reached to wipe it away, but Virtus gently caught his wrist and used the pad of his own thumb to do it instead.

“My point is,” he said, “You don’t have to do everything alone, Logan. Let your friends take care of you. I’m more than willing to bet that they’d be honored to have the chance. Okay?”

Logan nodded, but the deep frown on his face didn’t budge. “I… I just don’t think I know how,” he admitted.

Virtus offered him a soft smile.

“Then let them teach you.”

Logan considered this for a long moment, and then he nodded again, tipping forward to rest his forehead on his father’s shoulder. Virtus wrapped his arms around him and held him close.

For one blissful moment, it almost felt like everything was okay in the world. Every problem, every emotional strain and social struggle fell away when his father was there to shield him.

In the back of his mind, Logan was reminded of a time where he felt the cold sting of a winter breeze on his ears. The crunching of footsteps against a thick blanket of snow landed in time with the jostling of his tiny body against her shoulder. He could practically still smell the vanilla and coffee radiating off of the thick coat he rested on. Her silky brunette hair tickled when it brushed against his face.

He didn’t want to open his eyes. But he knew it wasn’t going to last forever.

When they finally pulled away, a soft set of footsteps approached.

“I think you’ve both earned a little something nice today,” Esther quietly spoke, holding out the drink carrier in her hands. “Hot apple cider with a hint of caramel, fresh out of the press.”

Virtus climbed up to the bench to sit to the left of Logan, and Esther sat herself on his right, passing out the drinks with only soft “thank-you”s to break the silence. Their shoulders rested against each other as they sipped, despite the ample room on their seat, serving as a gentle reminder of their presence.

Logan found his eyes drifting towards the building where his dorm was. He could see the light on inside, but they were far too distant to be able to make out anymore details. A dull pang settled in his heart at the thought of them having fun without him; he pressed his lips together and looked down at his lap.

Perhaps he could skip training for one night.

#sanders sides #sanders sides fanfic #rwby au #prvl #alex writes

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snarkwriteswrasslin · 3 years

Text

17.12, you want to kiss me, mjf

Title: you want to kiss me

Theme: Holiday fair/Carnival

Fandom / Character(s):MJF, AEW

Warnings:Lots of banter. A mutual physical attraction. Sharp tongues and attitude galore.. Oh and a little kissing.

Word Count: uhhh... roughly 1k, give or take..

This is my entry to @champbucks 12 Days Of Christmas Challenge for the day. This one pretty much came to me as I wrote the other one I did for the day, with Sweetpea, on my multifandom blog. And at first, I started to go with Kevin Owens, but.. MJF is the perfect mouthy, egotistical idiot for this. So, I went with it.

BTW>. i made the banner thing. No stealing.

Tagging:

@kyleoreillysknee

@rampagewriting

@writertoo18

@thatnerdwriter

@wrestlingismyguiltypleasure

@chasingeverybreakingwave

@waywardwrestlewritingwaif

@sassymox

@champbucks

@hungmanhorsecarriage

@wardl0w

@ryantaylorgirl

@dilfmoxley

@hotyeehawman

@gabbynorth98

@bec0m

@irish-newzealand-idian-dutch

@daddyslittlevillain

[ about page | masterlist | tag list ]

“Did you hear yet, man? Rhodes volunteered us all for some carnival thing they’re putting on in town.” Wardlow’s words barely registered with MJF because at the moment, MJF was too busy staring.

Wardlow caught onto his friends distraction and he followed Maxwell’s intent gaze, nudging him in the side as he chuckled. “Her name is Jocelyn. She’s the mayor’s secretary. I think she’s the one who came over to negotiate things between the mayor and Rhodes.”

“A secretary, huh?” Maxwell answered in a bit of a daze, making Wardlow chuckle again and shake his head. “I just said that, dumbass.”

Maxwell was back to it again, staring a hole right through her. Wardlow rolled his eyes and cleared his throat, reminding Maxwell, “We have a match. Come on.”

“I’m coming.”

As they walked past where Jocelyn stood, Maxwell stopped, sizing her up and rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “Ya know, you’re cute. For a secretary.”

Wardlow grimaced and he was just about to grab hold of his friend, the idiot, and guide him away and out of potential danger, but before he got the chance, Jocelyn responded. And what she said had Wardlow trying to resist the urge to double over laughing. Especially when Maxwell started to fume immediately and all she did was roll her eyes and walk out of the arena.

XXX

“You’re kind of cute for a secretary.”

I’d been just about to walk out of the arena that the little wrestling company was holding their show in after having talked to it’s owner about maybe lending a hand and letting some of his wrestlers make appearances at our annual carnival. It’s no secret the town is dying and we need the money.

I already wasn’t thrilled with having been the one relegated to the negotiation process, but honestly, I’d gotten kind of used to it in the four and a half years that I’d been working as the mayor’s secretary. It kind of went with the territory by this point.

Dealing with cocky entitled assholes, however… I did not have to do that. And I wasn’t exactly in the mood for it today.

I almost ignored the guy and just kept walking. But something about his tone. And the posturing. And that stupid cocky smirk on his stupid sexy face.. Well, it got right under my skin almost immediately. I turned and stared him down, a dismissive roll of my eyes as soon as mine settled on his. Only after lingering far too long on decently enough kissable lips.

I mean.. Not that I’d ever admit that in a thousand years, especially not to that fucking guy…

“You’re kind of brave… For an idiot.” I stepped a little closer to him and a little further from the door. He walked over to me, staring down at me as he rubbed his chin.

“Do you even know who I am?”

“Uhh. My guess is nobody special. I mean you’re literally getting your ass beaten for a living. On live television, in your underwear. So..” I shrugged.

“Ouch.” the guy cringed a little, a hand over his heart. Teasing smirk in place and a look in his eyes that somehow made me both want to strangle him and climb the man like a tree all at once. I backed away when he stepped even closer.

“I mean all that may well be true but.. Who’s the one actually making money, huh? Because my guess is you barely survive on a secretary’s salary. I mean… Since you want to go there.” he smirked just a little more and I grit my teeth. He had a point. And given the fact that the town’s budget was a nightmare at the moment, my salary and paychecks were only getting smaller and smaller.

“Meathead.”

“Stick in the mud.”

With the last pleasantry exchanged, I spun and stormed out, making sure to let the door slam behind me as hard as I could possibly slam it.

XXX

The carnival was just starting to kick into gear and I rushed around, meeting with vendors and the people hired to run the petting zoo, the ice rink and the few actual rides that we were going to have on the midway. I was running on coffee and fumes at this point, and when my friend Georgia walked up, tapping my shoulder, I turned and tensed a little, preparing for whatever bad news she was about to give me.

“Bob can’t do the kissing booth.” Georgia informed me.

“What do you mean Bob can’t do the kissing booth?” I asked, the words leaving my mouth in a whine. I didn’t have time for this.

“I mean that Bob got arrested last night. It was on the 6 o’clock news, Jocelyn. He robbed the Home Depot over in the next county? Tried to make off with 3 grand in tools and a giant tree…They had a chase and everything.” Georgia was barely hiding a laugh and I groaned, raising a hand to drag through the front of my hair.

“Okay, can we get Tom?”

“You know Tom’s girlfriend isn’t gonna loosen up the leash she has him on long enough to allow that.”

I grimaced. My eyes settled on a group of the wrestlers from that AEW show that was stranded in town for the time being and I rubbed my chin. “Actually, Georgia?”

“Yeah?” Georgia was raising a brow, but when she saw my smirk, she gave a soft laugh. “You have an idea, don’t you?”

“I do, actually.. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before...Go find everyone we had originally signed to do it. Tell them they might not have to man the kissing booth, but to be on standby, just in case...If I can make this happen.. This might just put some actual money back into the town's funds..”

Georgia’s eyes followed my intent gaze and she leaned in, mumbling against my ear, “I call dibs on the one with the lashes and Jesus hair.”

“All I can tell you is that I’m going to try.”

And after finishing off the rest of my coffee, I took a few deep breaths to center myself. Then I marched over to the group. Surprisingly enough, after explaining exactly what was going on and just how bad our town’s financial situation was, there were more than a few willing participants who eagerly signed themselves into a slot at the kissing booth. Some of them were even asking if they could donate directly, which I gratefully thanked them for and gave them the link to the GoFundMe that Georgia and I had set up back in the fall as a last resort.

As I walked off, I heard my name being called. And I didn’t have to turn around to know exactly who was the man calling it.

I did wonder how the hell he knew my name, exactly, and for a second or two, I simply pretended to ignore him, focusing more on walking over to where the animals were being unloaded and herded into the indoor building where the petting zoo and arts/crafts booths and some of the 4H booths from our local high school were already setting up for the day.

But he was persistent.

He caught up to me, a thick fingertip jamming into my shoulder impatiently. After another second or two, I turned to look up at him, glaring.

“You again? What exactly do you want? Because I’m entirely too busy to have my time wasted.”

“You didn’t ask the obvious choice to be in a kissing booth?” he pointed to himself and I nearly snorted in laughter. I wanted to double over, but I kept myself together. He stepped closer. And before I could stop myself, so did I.

“It’s a kissing booth, sir. Not a pay me to shut the fuck up booth. Perhaps if it were a pay me to shut the fuck up booth, your services would’ve been needed.”

“You know a lot of women would pay good money to see me.. Not to mention kiss me… Right?”

“Maybe in your own deluded mind.” I argued, sensing that even as I did so, it was pointless. That for whatever reason, this was going to end with him, adding himself to the line up.

,, not that I’d ever admit it, but he does have a damn good point. If I liked cocky jackasses…” I thought to myself, quick to shove that little thought out. Because honestly?

The guy was exactly my type… Circa four years ago, that is. I’d have eaten that right up.

I shoved the list into his hands and smirked. “Let’s just see about that, shall we?”

The smirk that came told me that I’d hit the nail head about him being the type unable to turn down a challenge.

He took the clipboard and signed his name on the list.

“See you at 7?” he called out to me after I’d taken the clipboard back and I was walking away. I stopped to look back at him and shook my head. “You’ll see me in your dreams, Maxwell.. That is your name, right?”

“It is.” he beamed at me and took off, nearly colliding with his giant of a friend, a guy named Wardlow that I’d actually talked to around 15 minutes on the day that I went in to see if the roster would like to be the special guest stars of this years carnival.

It felt like yesterday and not nearly three days prior.

And the biggest part of those three days had been spent with me, replaying the whole meeting between Maxwell and I over and over in my head.

Yeah.. If I know what’s good for me, I will stay far,far away from that kissing booth tonight.

XXX

He’d been watching the line like a hawk since he manned it ten minutes before. He’d been managing to keep an eye on her all day, knowing that she hadn’t left the carnival yet. Maxwell just knew that if he could get her in the kissing booth’s line, she’d quickly realize just how much she was lying to herself.

Just the thought had him smirking to himself. He spotted a young woman that he’d seen Jocelyn talking to most of the day in the line for Kris Statlander and he cleared his throat, trying to get her attention. She eyed him and then waved when she recognized him.

“Think you can come by my line when you’re done in that one? There’s something I have to know...”

“Dude… you are so barking up the wrong tree right now, if you’re trying to hit on me...” the brunette explained, shrugging. “Was there something you wanted though? Because it’s almost my turn. If you make it quick..”

“Your friend.. Uhh.. Jocelyn… has she said anything about me at all? Like.. anything that would indicate that she wanted to kiss me?” Maxwell asked the question and waited impatiently, rolling his eyes when one of the women in the front of his line cleared her throat for the fifth time, demanding her kiss already.

Jocelyn’s friend shrugged. “That she wants to strangle you but she also wants to climb you like a tree. You know she’s got a temper, right?”

“Yes, I realize this.. She really said… That.”

“She did. Also said that she’s going to stay as far away from this booth as possible, because you’re in it and she’s not giving into temptation.”

“Yeah, we’ll see about that. Thank you. This helped me a lot.” Maxwell thanked Jocelyn’s friend and turned away, rubbing his chin in thought as the plan began to piece itself together. And just when he thought he might not even get a chance to try out this plan of his, he happened to spot her wandering past, a steamy mug of cocoa in her hand as she talked to 3 other women.

Smirking to himself, he called out to her.

“Jocelyn.. Remember what you said earlier? About how nobody wanted to kiss me? Well,” he gestured to his little line and waited on her reaction. She looked up, grumbling as she shielded her eyes from the lights to see him better, all while tapping a Bearpaw clad foot against crunchy snow.

“What can I say? There’s not many eligible men in my town?” Jocelyn mused, shrugging. She bit her lip and took a deep breath.

“See… I think you’re fighting obvious feelings.”

Jocelyn’s sudden all over tension had him rubbing his chin thoughtfully. By now, everyone in the line and everyone around them or passing by was stopping, staring intently at the little confrontation.

“Right. I mean, if you’re talking about disdain then yeah.. You’re one hundred percent right.”

“If you really can’t stand me then you won’t have any problem at all coming over and kissing me… Right?” Maxwell challenged, chuckling when her mouth opened and closed and he heard her muttering a few obscenities under her breath.

Not even Wardlow’s warning headshake would stop him. No, he was determined. One way or another, this whole thing ended now. Tonight, he was getting her out from under his skin.

XXX

“Did he seriously just... “ I muttered, swearing as I dragged my fingers through my hair and glared angrily at the kissing booth that Maxwell currently stood behind.

“I ought shove snow down those fancy dress pants. Maybe that’d cool down the raging fire in his dick.”

“Or, you could call his bluff and go kiss him?” from my left, my friend Alexis spoke up. I bit my cheek and shook my head vehemently. “Oh no. No,no,no,no.. Not gonna…”

When Alexis and Chandler started to cluck at me, I gave them both my best and most firm go to hell look.

“She wants him.”

“All she’s done for 3 bloody days is fume about the man.” Chandler teased and finally, I stomped my foot, glaring at the booth. I swallowed hard and then shoved my hot cocoa at Alexis. “You’re going to wanna hold that.. Just so I focus more on kissing him to prove your asses wrong and less on how much I want to dump it over his damn head.”

“I knew she had the hots for him!”

“You go girl! Go get your man, boo.”

I wanted to turn and shush them both, but I was too focused. I shoved past all the others and slammed a 5 dollar bill down on the false wooden tabletop. Then I grabbed hold of that ridiculous Burberry knockoff and tugged his mouth right against mine greedily, very nearly pulling the man over the table between us in the process. “Does this prove you wrong?” I muttered, a whine closely following as he seemed to pick up and clue in, his hands going to my hips, pulling me in even more before drifting upward and tangling in a half fallen down fishtail braid that I had my hair tied out of the way in. At first, I’d been gripping that stupid scarf to keep him close or push him away at will. But as his tongue boldly darted right past my lips and clashed with mine hungrily, I wound up gripping hold of a handful just to stay upright as the feeling in my legs proceeded to vacate, making them feel as if they were jello from the knee down instead. He chuckled as the kiss broke and we pulled apart.

I wiped my hand across kiss swollen lips and glared at him. “Well?”

“Oh, you proved something alright, princess. And if I didn’t have twenty five more minutes left in this booth..” Maxwell trailed off, his eyes roaming over me before settling on mine. The cocky smirk was gone, replaced by a more gentle one.

I was just about to walk away, go somewhere and take a few minutes to pull myself back together, but he caught up to me, tapping my shoulder. I turned and he grabbed my hand, pressing a slip of paper into it.

“If you want to get to know the real me, Jocelyn.. I have a 9pm reservation for us. Ask for Maxwell Friedman’s table.”

I eyed him as he shoved back through the crowd, taking a bow at the catcalls and cheering awaiting him as he took his place at his kissing booth again.

“Ooh… are you going?”

“Maybe.” I answered my friend Chandler’s question as I tried and failed at not staring at Maxwell intently…

Maybe I’d been wrong about the guy.

Maybe going tonight would at least be a fun distraction. One I’d been wanting for a while now….

#12daysofchristmas #12 days of christmas #mjf fanfiction #mjf fanfic #mjf imagine #mjf imagines #mjf oneshot #my writing; mjf #my fics; mjf #my oneshots; mjf

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pastpatientlywaitingforimagines · 4 years

Text

Andromeda | Spencer Reid x Reader

WC: 1865

Warnings: SPOILERS FOR 03x05 AND THE SECOND HALF OF SEASON 12, prison Reid, mentions of trauma/anxiety/therapy.

A/N: Remember this post? I was talking about this fic. Anyways, the concept of both Spencer and Reader being groomed for the BAU was one that intrigued me so I wrote this. One day I’ll get tired of writing for this universe but today is not that day. Enjoy!

GALAXY MASTERLIST (not needed to understand the plot but there’s similar content here if you liked this fic!)

You had seen a lot of bad things in your life, but hands down the worst thing you had ever seen was Spencer Reid sitting on the other side of the partition in the prison visiting room. As always your proximity to the doctor cleared your head and relaxed you in a way you hadn’t felt in weeks, but due to the circumstances you knew it was only because he was alive.

“I don’t like this,” you wasted no time making your feelings known.

“I know, me neither,” even though he was alive, you could tell your friend was in rough shape, “how are you doing?”

You breathed a laugh, “I should be asking you that.”

“I’m the same as I was when Garcia visited last week, and we both know she called you as soon as she left here.”

He was right, Penelope had filled you in on everything he had said when she had gone for her visit the week prior.

“Have you gone back to work yet?”

“Yeah, but I’m still not allowed in the field. My therapist keeps telling Emily I’m compromised,” you rolled your eyes, “I think being back in the field would help me compartmentalize better than doing paperwork in Penelope’s office.”

“What have you been doing outside of work?”

“Has my therapist talked to you too? Yeesh,” you rolled your eyes again, causing Spencer to crack a smile, “I’ve been spending a lot of time with Luke, he reminds me of some of the guys from my Platoon. He lets me watch Roxy when the team is traveling, and we go to a veteran’s support group every Tuesday. I don’t think he actually needs the support but he definitely knows I don’t go if he’s not there.”

Spencer sighed, “support groups are good, is it helping?”

“I don’t know,” you shrugged, “I already did the work to cope with my time in the military years ago. The problem isn’t my military trauma, the problem is that my best friend is in prison and the constant anxiety is dredging up old wounds.”

Your eyes narrowed, aware that he was definitely doing a light psych eval of you in that brain of his. You half expected him to start spouting exactly what was happening in your brain that was causing the increased frequency of your episodes, but it never came.

“Will you keep going, for me?”

“Sure, but only because you asked. And if Luke says anything about it you can’t tell him I don’t think it’s working.”

“Deal,” the light banter was the most normal thing that had happened to you since bringing Spencer home from Mexico.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“I know you’re a super genius and everything, but do you ever feel like you weren’t cut out for the BAU even though you were groomed for it?”

“Yeah, I had to get waived on every physical part of training and failed my gun certification an embarrassing number of times even after I was hired. I wouldn’t have gotten the job if Gideon didn’t do some serious vouching for me. Do you… do you feel like that?” You thought it was ironic that Spencer was concerned for you when he was the one in jail.

“Out of everyone in my class at the Academy, Rossi and Hotch picked me. There were at least four other agents that were better at profiling than I was, I was not the obvious choice. My entire career has been defined by joining the BAU and yet I still get hit with some serious imposter syndrome, especially since you’ve been gone. Sometimes I wonder where I would have ended up if I hadn’t been picked, what kind of agent I’d be.”

“You would have ended up with the Hostage Rescue Team,” you knew Spencer was a know-it-all, but you were surprised at his confidence and quick response.

“How do you figure?” you questioned, watching the tips of his ears turn red as he blushed.

“Garcia and I overheard Hotch and Rossi talking about you when they came back from recruiting. We did some… ‘spelunking’ and found your file.”

“Anything juicy in there?” you teased, thoroughly amused at the image of Spencer and Penelope huddled around her desk investigating you.

“No. It said you were ex-military and had been psychologically discharged. We didn’t dig deeper into that, but I could see signs of anxiety the first time I met you so it wasn’t really going to be a secret anyways.”

“Fair, so how did you know about Hostage Rescue?”

“There was a note from their unit chief that they wanted you. It makes sense, you passed the field tests in the Academy with flying colors and you’re exceptional in the field. You would do really well on a tactical team.”

“In theory, until I have a panic attack and get thirty people killed,” you joked, “they probably asked Hotch to take me because I’d have the smallest chance of being a liability in the BAU.”

“Actually, Hotch said he liked how you had approached the exercise they had given you.”

You remembered that day like it was yesterday, Hotch and Rossi had come into your class with the bare bones of a case: an abducted child in a mall a week following a prior abduction of a similar nature. As a collective you had to solve the case, asking the right questions to get the information you needed from the two Supervisory Special Agents.

Your previously mentioned classmates that had a knack for profiling were quick to build a few theories and get a bit more information, including a glimpse of the girl on a security camera, but there were still a lot of missing pieces. Something about the whole thing felt off to you, so you finally spoke up.

“What if it was someone in her family?” Your classmates looked at you in confusion, a few of them jumping up to reiterate the evidence against your suggestion. “I see your point, and I’ll support the group if you still think I’m wrong, but hear me out. There’s evidence of the abduction being personal. I don’t think it’s related to the prior case at all.”

“The family has been with us the whole time,” one of your classmates argued.

“The father?” someone else suggested.

“No, not him,” your brain was working hard, “I think it was the aunt, Susan.”

“Well done, Agent,” you heard Agent Hotchner over the clamor of the room at your suggestion.

“Do you want to back up your theory?” Rossi asked once your classmates had settled down.

“Her husband shows signs of grooming Katie: he knows more about his niece than he does his own kid. If his wife noticed, she might be trying to protect her family. She was probably ashamed that her husband was a pedophile, her son had a record, and her marriage was falling apart. Susan already said she worked retail in a mall, even if she didn’t work at this mall she’d at least have knowledge of how malls work and where she could hide a body. The abduction from the previous week would have given her something to pin Katie’s disappearance on, and Katie would have trusted her enough to go somewhere without an obvious struggle.”

“Bingo, Agent…?” Rossi looked at you for your name.

“(y/l/n),” you offered.

“Susan took her own pain out on Katie. Our agents were able to recover Katie’s body and resuscitate her, and both Susan and her husband were brought into custody.”

Later, as class was dismissed, you were approached by the two men.

“What was it that made you look deeper into the family as suspects?” Hotch had asked.

“I just had a feeling, sir,” you told him honestly.

“What kind of feeling?” Rossi seemed genuinely interested in what you were saying.

“A gut feeling. I know we’re supposed to use the facts, and all the facts were presenting themselves as becoming a serial abduction, but it just didn’t feel right to me. When I started exploring other possibilities the relevant evidence jumped right out.”

“Sometimes we get cases with barely enough information to make decisions from. Following instincts can lead to breakthroughs that solve the whole case. Keep up the good work,” Hotch shook your hand before walking away with Rossi right behind him.

“Yeah, I went out on a limb with that one. I’ll tell you about it later,” you shook your head, knowing you didn’t have enough time to tell Spencer the whole story. He was quiet for a minute, glancing around the room before he spoke again.

“If I can’t get out of here, I think you should look into transferring to Hostage Rescue.”

“You’re not serious, are you? You’re getting out of here. I’m seeing to it personally,” you said it like it was a fact. His face told you he wasn’t kidding.

“Let me ask you this- if I’m found guilty at my trial, how are you going to take it?”

You wanted to tell him you would be fine and continue to fight for his freedom, but you both knew there was a reason your therapist wasn’t clearing you for field work that would only get worse if your best friend had to serve upwards of 25 years in jail.

The BAU without Spencer Reid just wouldn’t be the same BAU you fell in love with when Hotch and Rossi had hired you all those years ago.

“Do you really think the brass would approve a transfer to an anti-terrorism tactical unit when I can’t even get cleared for field work now?” you countered.

“I do. Your coping mechanisms are well developed. If you separate yourself from the BAU… and me… I think you could pass their psych eval just fine. And everyone knows your tactical skills are off the charts, even after you’ve taken time off.”

“You’re not a very good genius if you think you can get rid of me that easily,” you were quick to point out, “even if I did transfer, I’d still be here as much as possible. Penelope wouldn’t let me cut myself off that easily from the rest of the team either.”

“Just think about it, please.”

You sighed, “I’ll think about it, but I’m still holding out that we’re proving your innocence and you and I will be back to our shenanigans in no time.”

“I’m looking forward to it. How’s my mom doing?”

“She’s been ok, I visit every day and JJ usually comes with me. Cassie’s been really great for her,” you told him.

“Good, will you tell her I-“

“Prisoners line up!” a guard yelled.

“Will you tell her I love her?” Spencer said quickly as he stood. You nodded, watching as he lined up with the other inmates and walked away.

As you left the prison you told yourself you were never getting used to this, and you were going to start working double time on proving Spencer’s innocence. There was no family like your BAU family, and whoever had framed Spencer was not going to destroy that so easily.

#spencer reid x reader #spencer reid #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid fluff #platonic soulmates #platonic imagine #criminal minds #criminal minds fanfic

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anika-ann · 4 years

Text

Errare Humanum Est - Pt.7

Of Monsters and Men

Type: series, soulmate AU series (part 1, part 2) x Supernatural

Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader (past?) Word count: 2490

Summary: ‘Nat’ and the boys are still on the road and to kill the time more than anything, they talk monsters and most importantly, witches.

You know what they say: speak of the devil and he shall appear.

Warnings: mentions of violence, monsters, supernatural elements, mentions of amnesia and interesting dreams and swearing (always)

Story masterlist

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“Hold onto me tight. Can’t have you falling off, doll…”

“You’re such a troublemaker-“

“I want to see you come undone first. Can I, doll?”

“Do I look unwilling, doll? I’m actually pretty eager to find out how long do you need to recover…”

“Eyes on me, darling-”

You jolted awake with a gasp for air, your eyes snapping open into sharp midday sun. It took you a second to realize where you were, what the low purr under your body meant, music on low volume and a male voice softly humming along.

You blinked, meeting Sam’s gaze as he turned his head to face you.

“Hey. You alright?” he asked, concern furrowing his features.

You took a deep breath, trying to ignore the blood rushing to your cheeks at the memory of the dream. They were bits and pieces, sweet and hot, yet leaving dull ache in your chest in their wake. You were absolutely sure this was your consciousness recalling moments with your soulmate, but you were unable to make anything useful of them. It was like chasing ghosts – eh, actually, did ghosts exist? What was it like, chasing them? Never mind-

You were supposed to be a ghost, because apparently you had died.

Alright. Shake it. Snap out of those messy thoughts.

The more awake your body got, the more you realized your chest wasn’t the only thing that was tense and it wasn’t only your neck that nearly cramped.

“Yeah,” you muttered finally, while Sam’s eyes managed to get really worried, still on you. “Just… call of nature.”

In more than one ways. Your bladder might actually burst soon, but you couldn’t deny your arousal either. Gee. Why did it have to be that kind of dream you had? Why couldn’t you see your soulmate’s face clearly instead? Nope scratch that, his ID would be better, complete with his freaking address.

“Hold on for about half an hour, Nat. I’d like to stretch my legs anyway and Garth should be waiting for us.”

You smiled at Dean despite him being unable to see it, his eyes focused on the road. It was sweet of him. You might as well be sweet back.

“Thanks, Dean. And you can turn the volume up, if it was low just because of me,” you hummed, holding back a chuckle when his hand immediately moved to the radio.

“Thanks, Nat. Wanna tell us what that dream of yours was about? You seem a bit shaky,” he nudged, surprisingly gentle. You would expect such approach from Sam, but he only glanced at you, apparently wanting to know as well.

You sighed, wondering how to put it without sounding like a horny teenager.

“It’s… I think they’re like memories? But they don’t make any sense,” you said in the end, casting your glance down, fiddling with the hem of your shirt, fingers interlacing and disjointing again. “It’s my soulmate, I know as much. Or, you know, I’m pretty sure. It’s nothing useful though.”

“I’m sorry,” Sam soothed, his voice genuinely regretful. You just shook your head, sending a sad smile his way.

“The only pattern is a… a pet-name, I guess.” Well, until now, it was just one. ‘Darling’ was new. “He keeps calling me ‘doll’.”

You didn’t know why you told them, you weren’t planning on it. Except they were so genuinely nice to you it hurt and you felt like honesty was the least you could give in return. Now, you could practically touch their surprise.

It was Dean who commented on it, but not in a malicious way, which you were eternally grateful for.

“Doll, huh? Maybe he’s a mafioso. Sounds like something from an old movie. Heh, maybe you time-travelled too!” he speculated out loud and you only gulped, not as amused as you should be. Was that a thing? Time-travel?

“God, I hope not,” Sam whined, effectively startling you. So it was possible?

“Nah, I bet it’s just him being a gentleman, ya know, the old-fashioned kind of guy. After all, how could he not, having such a… swell dame for a soulmate?”

Both you and Sam eyes Dean with wary and confusion.

“Since when you’re an expert on war era slang?” Sam demanded, amused surprise lacing his voice.

“Simpler times, Sam. Simpler times. You’ll understand when you’re older.”

Sam just chuckled, shaking his head. You laughed as well despite not quite understanding what it meant. You simply enjoyed the banter and teasing that was strengthening their brotherly love; you already caught up that much, that they loved each other greatly. How could they not? They were both absolutely amazing despite their differences.

People might find it strange for them to be so close at their age – not that you knew theirs precisely, or yours for that matter – but you thought it was endearing. If they killed monsters for living, their lives couldn’t be normal and conventional, could they? It spiked your interest once more.

“Alright. What can you tell me about what you do and how you get your money?”

“Not sure you wanna hear that, d-- now I have the nickname stuck in my head, dammit. It’s not a pretty chat, Nat. You sure?”

You nodded, but agreed out loud for the god measure. After all, Dean was still driving.

“Your choice. We hunt monsters. But let me tell you, humans are actually the worst… well, humans and witches…”

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Dean and Sam hadn’t even told half about the monsters that lurked in the shadows and you already felt overwhelmed, grateful when you reached Bedford and the older brother called his ID maker.

Garth was a nice guy, if a little overexcited and goofy.

He called you a madam, gave Sam a newest book by George R. R. Martin (who?), which seemed to excite the hunter greatly and Dean received a piece of apple pie. You couldn’t remember your life, but if you had, you were sure it still would have been Dean’s smile that was the brightest you had ever seen. Note to yourself; when repaying Sam and Dean, a pie and a book were necessities.

Your trio didn’t stop to chat with the man for long though – you needed to be on your way. Garth was apparently in the business of hunting, because he made a face way too similar to Sam’s at a mention of witches. You weren’t sure if you looked forward hearing about those; you guessed they weren’t wearing pointy hats and befriending cats.

The remaining hours to your destination flied; the brothers continued to educate you in monster food chain (people were usually the food, which you did not enjoy learning), briefing you on existence of things you could barely imagine. Also, they weren’t only friends with an angel, apparently – they were also on rather good terms with king of Hell.

“King of Hell?” you parroted, bewildered. What the h— heaven?!

“Yeah. Dean used to be bestie with him, too,” Sam quipped, half delighted at his brother’s annoyed face when sharing this fact, half bitter for pretty obvious reasons.

“Dude.”

“You keep the weirdest company,” you stated, your head buzzing with all the info you got. You grimaced when you realized that the company included you.

“We know,” Sam sighed, turning his tablet on. “But it’s not all bad. I mean, Garth, the guy you just met… he’s a werewolf and-“

“He’s a WEREWOLF?!” you yelped, causing the brothers jump in their seats and Dean jerk the steering wheel aside, throwing you all of balance.

“Christ, woman! Keep the volume low!” the driver spitted out as he returned to the correct lane, ignoring the honks of other cars. “I know, I know, shut up, I’m not drunk…”

“Sorry,” you blurted out on autopilot, your mind pre-occupied with the fact that the sweet dorky guy you had just met was a fucking werewolf.

It was Sam’s turn to apologize or he thought so. “My bad. I shouldn’t have just dropped that on you.”

“But he was so nice!”

“If you say so,” Dean assented reluctantly, voice dripping with doubt. You weren’t trying to figure out why he questioned such an obvious thing. It wasn’t your place. Not to mention you were still too astonished by the announcement.

Sam cleared his throat. “Anyway. We have two victims so far. Both are young women, Alicia Peters, 16 years old and Helen Sanders, 16 as well. They were apparently classmates, rather good students, but not friends. One of them was found three days ago, the other yesterday. They both sneaked away in secret, some other classmates claimed to them being… eh, giggly. They thought they had new boyfriends,” Sam summed up, while Dean nodded every now and then. “Why do you think witches? Could be dragons… which would be probably even worse.”

“…dragons? You’re joking.”

Dragons were real now?!

Dean ignored your incredulous remark. “Virgins, right? That’s what I thought. But check this out – according to the coroner, they had a puncture wound over their heart like from some very thin needle – or, more likely, a very thin straw, because their hearts were completely drained of blood.”

Your head was definitely spinning now, your stomach flipping over. You had been getting hungry before, but not so much anymore. You wanted to tune the conversation out, but it was inevitable to hear it. Your ears wouldn’t listen; it was like watching a train-wreck happen and being unable to draw your gaze away. Morbid curiosity played a part too.

God, you really were weird company.

“That’s disgusting,” Sam stated, his fingers moving swiftly over the screen.

You only hummed in agreement, trying to get the visual from your brain. Soulmate. Think of your soulmate and his sultry voice calling you doll. You took a deep breath, exhaling slowly, shocked that it actually worked. His voice washed over you, cocooning you in a soft blanket.

“Tell me about it,” Dean agreed darkly, but Sam held out his hand all of sudden, causing both you and Dean freeze.

“What?”

“They found two young men this morning. John Doe One and Two for now. They were…” Sam wavered, eyeing you in the rear-view mirror. Now he was checking with you? You guessed your face was pale as a sheet of paper, but hey, it wasn’t like you couldn’t just try and cover your ears. You nodded at him encouragingly and he shifted in his seat uncomfortably. “…found in one bed, stabbed in the heart and… ugh, with their… tools ripped off.”

Dean winced, while you just blinked. Did he mean like… wow. Oh, wow. You weren’t sure how to react to that.

“There was a note. We apologize for ruining such pure lives of the sweetest kind and as a prove of our remorse, we present their families with-“ Sam faltered in his speech, gagging. “Yeah, alright. Apparently, the missing part of their bodies was found with the… note. No need to go into details.”

“Yeah, Sammy, I’d be pretty grateful if we stopped talking about that. What now, though? Do we believe this crap?”

“You could have an ally,” you quipped shyly, receiving Sam’s sigh in reply.

“Brutal one, but yes. We need to at least check it out.”

“Yeah, but we get a lunch before that. I need something to comfort me. You traumatized my love muscle, Sam. Do you have any-“

“Yeah, alright, just… stop right there,” Sam stopped his brother, as if shielding himself from TMI by holding out his palm against Dean. “Got it. We need to stop for a bite.”

You giggled, the sound interrupted by your stomach growling. When had you got your appetite back?

“I guess lady in the back agrees,” Dean hummed, grinning in Sam’s direction. You laughed when you came to conclusion that he enjoyed making his younger brother uncomfortable, Sam making a face back at him as he realized the same.

They seemed like a greater pair of siblings the longer you spent with them.

It only took several minutes to get to the town and find a place to eat; Dean seemed to have a talent for finding food, which you appreciated immensely. You hadn’t been eating much, ashamed of using the brothers like that, so you were hungrier than you would be willing to admit. You had a sneaking suspicion that Sam was beginning to notice, because his eyes were narrowed as you picked the cheapest thing on the menu that appeared edible.

“You’re not eating,” he pointed out bluntly the moment the waitress left.

You just gaped at being caught and so shamelessly called out. Dean’s gaze shifted to you and now you had two men glaring at you keeping you company in the boot.

“I’m… not hungry.”

“Your stomach said differently,” Dean reminded you with his eyebrow arched in challenge. You opened your mouth uselessly, the protest dying in your throat at the intensity of his bright green eyes. “If this is about money, get your head out of your ass, Nat. You need to eat.”

“But-“

“But nothing. We’re having a desert,” he shut you up effectively, not permitting any objections.

You sighed, guiltily merging with your seat. A menu was placed in front of you, Dean’s fingers pointing at it.

“Actually, you’re picking one right now.”

You wordlessly obeyed, defeated. “I don’t mean to be difficult,” you whispered apologetically and Sam just shook his head with a smile.

“We know. And I get it, you don’t want to impose and use us, but… we chose to help you. Try to accept it, alright?”

You only nodded, determined to at least find the best dessert. The corners of your lips quirked when you found it.

“Looks like we’re in for an apple pie,” you decided, smirking in Dean’s direction. His eyes lit up and you couldn’t but feel the warmth around your heart at that. You actually did that, made him smile. Maybe you weren’t the worst company in the world after all. “Unless you’re sick of it after-“

Dean’s hand snatched the menu away, shutting it close. “Shut you piehole, Nat.”

Sam laughed as they brought your food.

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You were just finishing your infamous dessert, when the brothers stiffened at the voice coming from behind their back, the other side of the boot.

You frowned, not finding anything strange about the female voice with British accent.

“Thank you, darling. It will be all,” the woman said politely.

The moment the waitress left, Sam and Dean stumbled from their seats and towards the other boot. The tension in their shoulders only grew and they let out a ridiculously synched irritated sigh, multiple emotions playing on their face; you caught annoyance and a bit of anger for sure.

“Rowena,” Sam greeted her in pretended politeness and you couldn’t but check the situation out. They didn’t seem to be happy about running into their acquaintance.

You got a glimpse of a redhead sipping at her tea delicately, her pinkie raised as she held her cup.

“Hello, boys.”

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Part 8

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I adore that woman, I swear. She’s so classy and sassy.

Also, for those who haven’t seen SPN, I extended the guide at the end of chapter one - you’ll find ‘Chuck’ and ‘Rowena’ there ;)

Thank you for reading!

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citizen-l · 3 years

Text

03. Dinner

Despite everything being white, the food was delicious. Apparently it was tradition that every weekend, if there were no other engagements, they would all gather in one of their places, usually it was Chen and Minseok's apartment since it was away from campus.

"Why does it have to be outside campus?" Chanyeol asked while biting into white asparagus.

"Baek, you wanna explain?" Minseok laughed.

"Loud music," Baekhyun said quickly and took a sip of water. The music in the background was some mild trap beats, pretty chill.

"You mean loud moaning," Jongin mumbled from the side and Baekhyun choked on water, which earned Jongin an upside on the head.

"Let's not make our new guest think we're savages!" exclaimed Poe's wife, Chanyeol couldn't remember her name.

"Well, now that you've mentioned, it'd be more awkward if we didn't explain it," Chen laughed.

"We tend to go a little wild, Chanyeol," Poe said. "Especially after a sufficient amount of drinks."

"I need a drink for this," Baekhyun sighed and got up.

"Have some wine," another ghost smirked.

"Not that," Baekhyun said, going into the kitchen and grabbing a beer from the fridge.

"It was probably our second or third gathering, and back then we had some...entertaining ideas," Chen explained.

"We thought it'd be fun to have a BDSM themed party," Minseok said bluntly. "And someone had the brilliant idea to get me drunk."

"How were we supposed to know you could down a keg without feeling tipsy?" Chen whined.

"Long story short, everyone ended up drunk except Minseok, and we took our theme a bit too seriously...in Baekhyun's apartment."

"Wait," Chanyeol didn't know if he wanted to laugh or be horrified. "Where was Sehun?"

Baekhyun was still in the kitchen with his back to everyone, his ears redder than his pink hair.

"The roommate?" Chen asked. "Probably at some party. It was during Halloween, I think."

"Aren't you gonna tell him the worst part?" Baekhyun returned with his beer. "How the neighbors called the cops and we had to explain why we were dressed in harness and handcuffs?"

Chanyeol choked on the potato.

"It was Halloween," Chen said innocently.

"Or why someone was bound to the bed," Minseok raised a brow at Chen.

"Role play."

"Yeah, it didn't end well, and I'm never going through that again," Baekhyun said. "You wanna have your sexcapades, you can have it in your own apartment."

"If I remember correctly," Chen started, but was soon silenced with a kick under the table by Baekhyun.

Well, that was...interesting.

“Don’t worry, we try not to go overboard after that incident,” Chen reassured Chanyeol.

“Sure,” Jongin grumbled, and everyone laughed.

“Oh, that was all your fault,” Poe said. “Jongin’s initiation was legendary.”

“Initiation?” Chanyeol was confused, they sounded like a cult.

“Yeah, Jongin wasn’t part of our original friend circle,” Minseok explained. “Some of them left after the first few parties, but we loved this, so we thought why not invite more people who’d like this.”

“And,” Chen added. “We just wanted to make more friends who are like us.”

“I was nothing like you lot,” Jongin said in the most dramatic way possible, which only proved Chen’s point.

“Well, we thought differently,” Baekhyun said. “And he was already friends with us in class so he was the perfect candidate.”

“It feels like you wanted him to join your cult,” Chanyeol said and Baekhyun’s cheeks lit up with a smile.

“That’s exactly what it was!” Jongin said exasperatedly. “They lured me in, invited me to a party telling me they wanted to get to know me more, and I thought I was this special guy who caught the eyes of his seniors.”

“Jongin, you are a special guy!” Chen lifted his glass.

“Well, turns out,” Jongin ignored the interruption. “They thought it’d be fun to have a horror themed party, for a guy who can’t even tolerate the idea of ghosts.”

“Oh man, I still remember your screams,” Medusa laughed.

“And remember how he thought Taemin was a real ghost because of his long hair and make up,” the brunette, Soyeon, wiped a tear.

“I was kinda proud of that performance,” Lucifer, Taemin, smiled. “I just wish we recorded it all.”

“Thank god, nobody thought of it,” Jongin gulped down his wine.

They went on with their banters and laughter, Chanyeol honestly felt special that they were willing to share this with him. He genuinely enjoyed being there among this eccentric group of people. None of his other friends were like this, this wasn’t the usual crowd he hung out with. His usual friends were music people, and they were usually busy mixing tapes, participating in recitals, or playing a gig at some quaint bar on weekends. He occasionally saw them at parties on campus outside of class, or at times when they had group projects. None as close enough to call them up for a weekend get together.

Or maybe Chanyeol wasn’t the type of person who got close to people.

It wasn’t a lie that he usually avoided people and large gatherings. Sehun usually took matters into his own hands to get Chanyeol out of his room and into the world. But lately, Sehun was too preoccupied with Junmyeon to have time for his best friend. And it wasn’t that Chanyeol minded, per se. It was just that, he now realized he never felt like he actually enjoyed the company of others as much as he was enjoying this dinner party.

“Alright, time for cake,” Baekhyun said.

“I’ll get them,” Chanyeol said before Baekhyun got up. The cakes were heavy after all the decorating was done. And even though Baekhyun made sure to hide his bandage under the frills of his shirt, Chanyeol hadn’t forgotten.

“I’ll help,” Chen said and came with Chanyeol to the kitchen. “You having fun?”

Chanyeol at first didn’t realize Chen was talking to him until he saw Peter Pan waiting for him to answer. “Oh yeah, not what I was expecting when I was invited, but this is really nice.”

“I’m glad,” Chen brought out small plates.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” Chanyeol waited as Chen started to cut the cakes. “Why did you guys invite me?”

“Why do you ask?” Chen laughed.

“Well, because, from what I gathered, you guys don’t invite just anyone on a whim to this party,” Chanyeol said. “This is, I think, very important to all of you. And I’m a stranger, practically.”

“The fact that you understand is reason enough to think inviting you was a great decision,” Chen said. “Yes, this is important. But we’re not a cult, despite how we might act sometimes. And we like making new friends.”

Chanyeol can understand that, but it still felt like a weak explanation.

“There is also the fact that you saved Baek, and he wouldn’t shut up about you,” Chen laughed.

Chanyeol stopped and stared. Okay?

“Half of us actually thought he was making shit up after what happened yesterday,” Chen said. “So when you showed up, we just couldn’t contain our curiosity about you, I guess.”

“What happened yesterday? You mean me showing up at Baekhyun’s place and scaring him half to death which led to everything else?” Chanyeol said while gathering the plates and forks.

“Uh, yeah, crazy chain of events,” Chen laughed after a while. “Let’s go.”

“You didn’t think it was going to be over so soon, did you?”

Of course he did. Chanyeol didn’t think this dinner party would be anything more than a dinner party. Apparently, he was wrong.

They got on their coats and decided to walk a few blocks down to another place. Chanyeol kind of enjoyed the procession, people staring while trying to be discreet about it but failing. A group of people in white clothes, white coats, walking down the sidewalk without a care, laughing and talking as if nobody else is on the street. Chanyeol was somewhat jealous, that kinda confidence only came with being surrounded by supportive and like-minded people.

“You okay? Enjoying yourself?” Baekhyun lightly jabbed an elbow to his side.

“Yeah, you?” Chanyeol asked. “How’s your hand?”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s fine. I hope my friends didn’t scare you or anything. They can be a bit much sometimes.”

“Nah, they’re pretty amazing people. You have cool friends,” Chanyeol said and watched Baekhyun’s cheeks redden as he smiled. “Thanks for inviting me.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” Baekhyun laughed. “Wait till the night is over, I’d feel lucky if you don’t run away embarrassed.”

“Why would I be embarrassed?”

The place they arrived at was some kind of a club. Rainbow lights hung under an open space, the bar at one end seemed too well stocked and overcrowded. Chanyeol didn’t know what this was, but he loved it. The music was upbeat, but not too loud or annoying, he appreciated good music. People danced, some sat in garden chairs around small tables. This felt like a backyard turned into a nightclub, but Chanyeol loved the relaxed vibe.

“Hey! How was the party?” The bartender asked before Soyeon practically jumped over the bar to kiss him.

“Ugh get a room,” Jongin scrunched his nose and moved over to the dance floor.

There was definitely something in his voice, Chanyeol would have to be deaf to not notice.

“They used to date,” Baekhyun whispered beside him. “Jongin and Lay, didn’t work out.”

Judging by the blissed out smile Lay the bartender was giving Soyeon, he was pretty okay with things not working out with Jongin. Jongin, evidently, was not. But he didn’t linger, laughing and pulling the Medusa, Jessi, into a spin towards the dance floor. Jessi in turn grabbed Baekhyun and before Chanyeol knew it, he was sitting with Poe and his bride at a table nursing a beer and watching people laugh and dance in all their white glory.

“So, how did you like our party?” Poe’s wife, Lisa, asked in conversation.

“Not what I expected,” Chanyeol said. “But it was very enjoyable, thank you for having me.”

“I was a bit skeptical about you, not gonna lie,” Poe asked, Chanyeol couldn’t remember his name, he wasn’t at the rehearsal earlier that day. “The last time Baekhyun brought someone, it was a bit of a disaster.”

“We don’t talk about it,” Lisa joked. “And after Baekhyun told us what happened with you last night, we were sort of too eager to know who you were. Minseok legit thought Baek made you up.”

“Yeah, he does that a lot,” Poe said. “Bit of a drama queen. So how long have you two been dating?”

Chanyeol spat out his beer, coughing ridiculously. He genuinely did not see that coming.

“Uh, we’re not, we’re not together, or dating, or anything like that,” Chanyeol said once he drank some water from the bottle Lisa gave him.

“But, you were at his place, I thought…”

“No, nothing like that,” Chanyeol said. “His roommate is my friend, Sehun, he’s dating my roommate. And...yeah.”

How to say you got kicked out of your own place because two people wanted to bang without being embarrassed? You couldn’t. Chanyeol hoped he didn’t have to elaborate further.

“Oh! So that’s why Baek said he got scared when you showed up out of the blue,” Lisa laughed. “We just thought you surprised him after your date tomorrow.”

“Nah, I wasn’t his date. I was told he would be out so I would spend the night alone in Sehun’s room. Didn’t think he’d be home.”

Poe and Lisa exchanged some worried glances but they didn’t say anything further. Chanyeol sipped his beer and tried not to be too obvious about watching two Victorian ghosts dancing with Medusa.

“You don’t dance?” Baekhyun asked as he sat down beside Chanyeol.

“Not if I can help it,” Chanyeol said.

“Alright, Darcy,” Baekhyun laughed.

“Who?”

“So what have you been doing sitting here all alone?”

It had been a while since Poe and Lisa went on to dance, asking Chanyeol to join a few times but leaving eventually when he wasn’t budging.

“Just enjoying the scene, vibing. This place is pretty cool, I like the music,” Chanyeol said.

“Yeah, Lay makes music like you, he’s older though, maybe two years your senior. He’d have joined the dinner if he didn’t have to take up an emergency shift tonight.”

“So how many are part of the cult?” Chanyeol asked jokingly, getting a giggle out of Baekhyun. Worth it.

“There’s me, Minseok, and Jongdae, I mean Chen. We’re the originals,” Baekhyun giggled again. “Then Jessi, Lisa, Taemin, Lay. We brought in Jongin, Lisa brought in her boyfriend Justin. And Lay invited Soyeon.”

“And you invited me,” Chanyeol said.

“Yeah. There were a few more, they didn’t quite vibe with us much, left after a while.”

“Justin said you brought someone else long ago,” Chanyeol said before he could stop himself. He really didn’t plan to ask, he didn’t want to overstep, especially after Lisa said they don’t talk about it. But he couldn’t help it. And judging by the stiffness of Baekhyun’s shoulders, he made a mistake. He tried to lessen the damage. “Did they leave as well?”

“Uh, yeah, we didn’t really have...he had a falling out with us. So we sort of stopped interacting.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Don’t be, he was a little bitch.”

Baekhyun didn’t say anything afterward, so Chanyeol decided to change the subject.

“So, you guys come here every week?”

“No, not really. Depends. If we decide to drink too much, we usually stay over and don’t go out. If there is something special going on, like the carnival a few weeks back, we usually go for a visit. Tonight was a special occasion, your initiation, and also, Lay missed the dinner, so Minseok wanted to bring him some food and cake.”

“My initiation,” the words finally registered. “Does that mean I’m part of the cult now?”

“It’s not a cult, don’t be dramatic,” Baekhyun laughed. “But yes, you’re part of it, which means you’ll be invited to all future dinners, unless you don’t want to be a participant, which is cool too. No pressure. But if you do decide to join, you might want to be more serious about the themes. Chen said Minseok is planning something big for the winter solstice, maybe a Greek Mythology theme. Dibs on Apollo, if that happens.”

“Okay.”

“You think we’re crazy.”

“I don’t think you’re crazy,” Chanyeol said honestly. Eccentric, yes. Not crazy, though. It was actually kinda interesting, fun too. And every one of these people that Chanyeol got to talk to seemed very intelligent so far. They had arguments about Euripides and Bernard Shaw while eating cake, and Chanyeol enjoyed it even though he couldn’t understand one bit what was going on.

“It’s a getaway,” Baekhyun asked as he watched his friends dance and laugh and make fun of each other. “This started as a sort of intervention, a gathering to talk out problems and be civil about it, have dinner, talk things out, have fun. And now it’s like we’re committed. I missed maybe two dinners since we started this last year, and both times I felt like crap afterwards. It’s become a confort.”

It reminded Chanyeol of family brunches on weekends, except there usually weren’t much comfort these days. But he understood the sentiment. And to be invited to be a part of it was a huge deal. To be invited by Baekhyun at that, who has not invited anyone except him and one other person, that person turning out to be not the friend they hoped for, Chanyeol felt some pressure about making a good impression just so Baekhyun won’t have a hard time with his friends.

“I hope you friends didn’t dislike me,” Chanyeol said.

“Oh, trust me, they liked you,” Baekhyun said. “They threatened to not let me in without you next time. It’s an empty threat, don’t worry. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”

Right. Well, now, Chanyeol sort of wanted to attend dinner next week. Maybe he can bring some of his famous savory dishes.

It should alarm Chanyeol that he was thinking about cooking for a dozen people just to attend a dinner so Baekhyun didn’t look bad to his friends. It should alarm him, but he liked spending time with them, with Baekhyun. Enough to dress up again and cook food.

Either something was definitely wrong with him, or that one kiss was getting to his head.

Ask him, a voice in his head screamed at him. Ask him!

But what would Baekhyun answer?

It was just to thank him for taking care of Baekhyun?

The kiss wasn’t that heated, if Chanyeol was being honest with himself. A chaste goodbye kiss. That tasted like strawberries.

“Chanyeol?” Baekhyun asked, and it looked like he’d been calling his name for a while now. “How much did you drink?” He laughed.

“Not much,” Chanyeol said.

“Your face looks pretty red, you sure you’re not drunk?”

“I’m sure,” Chanyeol wasn’t even tipsy. He’d just been daydreaming about a stupid kiss.

“Well, it’s pretty late. Everyone else is staying over so they’ll probably be here another hour or so. Do you want to stay?”

“Are you leaving?” Chanyeol asked and Baekhyun nodded. “You’re not staying over. Because of me?”

“No, I just like my bed,” Baekhyun said. “I can drop you off if you don’t want to stay here anymore.”

“Okay.”

Maybe Chanyeol was a tiny bit tipsy, that was the only reason he could come up with to explain why he was thinking about Baekhyun’s bed.

“Are you sure you’re sober enough to drive though?” Chanyeol asked when he could think straight again.

“Yeah, don’t worry, I just had one beer tonight, I don’t drink much. Lightweight.”

They said their goodbyes and walked over to the apartment to get the car. They were on the road when Chanyeol got a text from Sehun.

“Stay over at my place, Baek will let you in.”

For some reason, the text made Chanyeol incredibly angry. The nerve! Sehun barely responded to any of Chanyeol’s texts or calls the whole day, and then, he had the nerve to tell Chanyeol that he couldn’t stay at his own home because…

“Uh, not to sound rude, but would it be okay if I stayed over at your place tonight?”

“Your roommate and Sehun at it again?” Baekhyun laughed.

Chanyeol just sighed. He was getting too tired of Junmyeon and Sehun acting like teenagers. If they wanted to spend every night together, they might as well move in together and leave Chanyeol his meager place.

“Don’t worry, you can stay over.”

Chanyeol sighed again, for a different reason.

#exo #chanbaek #chanyeol #byun baekhyun #alternate universe #university au #fluff #ao3 writer #writeblr #writers on tumblr #my writing #writing #fanfic

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impostertamsong · 3 years

Text

Learning to Be Happy Again

A/N: I know. It’s been ages. But here I am. This one’s just kinda friend time because that’s 100% necessary.

Chapter Eleven: We’re All A Bunch of Disaster Gays

I knock on the door of Rimshire, a little nervous. What if Fitz actually isn’t okay? I shouldn’t have come. Elwin was right, he needs space this was a bad idea. I turn around right as the door opens.

“Where are you going, Keefe?” Dex asks. I turn around.

“Oh, uh, nowhere! Just looking at the scenery,” I lie.

“Uh huh.” Dex rolls his eyes. “Well, come in, plenty of time to look at the scenery through windows.”

We walk into the living room, and I see that everyone is sat in a circle. Sophie is sitting on Biana’s lap, whispering. Marella, Linh, and Tam are all talking quietly. Fitz is alone, and definitely doesn’t look alright. His arms are crossed, and he’s looking at the ground. Dex runs over and slides next to him, wrapping an arm around him. Fitz lightens up at the comfort.

“Keefe! How are you?” Sophie asks, patting the space next to Biana. “And is it true you’re not at the Shores of Solace”?”

I smile. “I’m doing well. And, yeah, I’m not there anymore.”

Biana looks over. “And you’re safe where you are? I know you didn’t tell Fitz where you are, so I won’t ask, but you’re at least happy?”

“Mm, yeah, it’s great. Really nice, actually. Like having a real family,” I respond, smiling.

“You have us.” Biana reaches around Sophie and puts her hand over mine. The burst of smooth golden joy that comes from this touch makes me smile even more.

“So. Are you and Sophie….” I look at their intertwined hands.

Sophie nods, smiling softly. “Yup, since about three weeks into your coma.”

“Good on you both,” I answer. How many of us are, well, queer? “How are the others? Since my nap, anyway.”

Sophie sighs. “Well, we all got pretty stressed out during your, ‘nap’,” she puts airs quotes around the last word. “But all in all, I’d say we’re doing pretty well. And besides Biana and I, Marella and Linh have also started dating. We’re all a bunch of disaster gays, basically.” She leans in. “And I have my suspicions that Dex likes Fitz, but he denies it.”

I hum. “Yeah, I kinda get that feeling too. I hope that works out, but I’m pretty sure Fitz doesn’t reciprocate those feelings.”

Biana turns her gaze on me abruptly. “Did he tell you?”

Before I can say anything, Dex announces, “So, what’s up with you all? In the mood for anything in particular?”

Instead of saying anything, I nod once, also trying to convey that I don’t feel the same.

Since no one speaks, Dex stands up. “Seriously, anyone? A game? Food? Something?”

He waits a few seconds and then sits back down when still no one responds.

“Hey what are you all whispering about?” Marella whispers, seeming to have scooted over next to me during Dex’s grand announcements.

“Just dolling out the tea,” Sopihe says. She looks very proud of the sentence; seeming to think it was very cool. Biana kisses her cheek.

Marella looks excited. “Anything big?”

Biana shakes her head. “Nothing that you don’t already know. I hope you don’t mind, but we told Keefe about you and Linh.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s fine.” Marella pinches my cheek. “No more girls for you now.”

“You snooze you lose, I guess.”

Sophie glares at Marella, but I don’t mind the joke.

Just then, there’s a knock at the door. Dex gets up to open it.

“Hey, losers,” Stina saunters into the room with such an aura of power, that we all stop talking. “What’s up? Got any big secrets you’re hiding from the outsiders?” She sits down near Fitz.

“Hello, Stina,” Marella greets, some air of coldness in her voice. They’ve always been at heads for head socialite ever since Biana joined our crew. Though, since she sort of joined us, their competition has become more light-hearted. This is just banter, unless something happened while I was asleep. It doens’t feel that way, however.

Stina ignores this remark and moves on. “Biana, how’re you doing?”

Biana smiles. “I’m good. Sophie and I went on a date yesterday and it was really nice.”

Sophie, as if on cue, blushes a brilliant shade of red. Pink goop is radiating off of both of them so much that I have to scoot away.

Stina hums. “I’m glad! What about you, Dex? Have you figured out the triplets situation yet?”

Dex chuckles. “Almost. I might need your help for the last part though. There’s one flaw that I think you might be able to solve.”

I scoot back over to Sophie and Biana. “The triplet thing?”

Biana smiles. “Well, the triplets have been especially rambunctious lately. And since you were, you know, in a coma, Dex needed a prank partner. So he asked Stina, since they had that prank war a while back. He’s been setting off a series of pranks to keep them in check. This one is supposed to be especially grand I guess. My favorite was when he made their hair have the texture of a swamp.”

Sophie giggles. “That was so funny. Juline wasn’t very happy though. My favorite was the one where we were playing tag, but specific points on the field would make you light leap right to Dex. He briefed us on the spots before hand, but seeing the triplets constantly get out when Dex was ‘it’--” she dissolves into a fit of laughter.

I smirk, and then focus my attention back to Stina. Just in time too.

“So, Tam, haven’t seen you very recently. How was the Neverseen?”

I can almost feel the distress coming off of him, even at this distance so I jump in. “Well, it’s the Neverseen, so it can’t have been a party. You shouldn’t ask stuff like that, it wasn’t his choice. He’s probably traumatized.”

Tam gets up and storms off.

Stina raises an eyebrow. “No, I think you were the one who overstepped, Keefe.”

I inwardly curse myself and stand up to go after him.

Linh looks over at me. “I, I don’t know if going after him is the best idea. He probably just wants to be alone.”

“No, I need to fix this. He, I.” I sigh.

“Keefe, please,” Linh pleads. “I think it’s a really bad idea. I’ll go.”

“No! That would be an even worse idea! If he,” but I stop myself before I ruin anything more than I already have.

“If he what?”

“Nothing! It doesn’t matter.” Before she can ask anything else that might further damage whatever closeness I had with Tam, I run after him.

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fragmentedink-archived · 4 years

Text

Hell to Pay: Chapter Forty-One

I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI, IX, IX, XX, XXI, XXII, XXIII, XIV, XV, XVI, XVII, XVIII, XVIIII, XXX, XXXI, XXXII, XXXIII, XXXIV, XXXV, XXXVI, XXXVII, XXXVIII, XXXIX, XL

cowritten by @lux-scriptum

Killing usually brought a certain amount of satisfaction. Perhaps not the best response to murder, but it was Amara’s job, and this out of all jobs should have been something to look forward to. Instead she was just... focused.

Perhaps this was for the better. Stars knew if circumstances were different she would have loved to drag it out and have her fun. She’d missed that opportunity with Remiel, and Destris deserved to suffer just as badly.

Having Cyrus on her heels only made her more wary. Cyrus had no training in killing, or stealth. She was just lucky the witch was a genius at his job and when she demanded he walk quieter, had a spell up his sleeve to keep himself from making any sound at all.

It’d taken her all night to find Destris. And she’d spent the day debating how to go about this. It didn’t- it wasn’t fair, because Amara was gonna have to do this quick and efficient. It was going to be anti-climactic. She just knew it.

The only dramatics she was going to be able to comfort herself was this: walking right up to the door instead of sneaking in a window like she would on another job.

She knocked. Cyrus was a few feet behind her, as requested, out of harms way.

And then there Destris was. “Can I help you?” he asked mildly, lifting a single brow.

Banter was for after the fatal stabbing, so Amara flipped a knife out, and had Destris gutted from pelvis to throat in a heartbeat. She watched him crumple, feeling oddly empty as she watched the black blood pool.

Cyrus was kneeling, muttering a spell quickly as Destris went very, very still. Amara turned away when a sickly white glow filled the container Cyrus had brought. She dropped the knife on Destris’ front yard as she walked back to Cyrus’ car, sending Cameron a text to let him know it was done.

By the time Cyrus got to the car, she’d gotten her response: a single “k.” in response.

---

Amara had Cyrus drop her off at Bay’s house. She pushed open Bay’s front door and stepped through. She didn’t make it two feet before Bay appeared from the kitchen. “Get out of my house,” Bay said, irritated.

“I’ve got to talk to Nik,” Amara said.

“I’m not letting you until you learn some manners.”

“I need to talk to nik, please,” Amara replied, too... too much of something to force her tone to be flippant.

Bay gave her a flat look, but said, “Good enough. He’s upstairs.”

Amara jogged upstairs, going faster once she was out of sight for Bay. She found Nik in bed, but she expected that. She threw herself down beside him, curling into his side without a word.

“Hi,” Nik said sleepily.

“I bailed on you yesterday, and I shouldn’t have. Promise it was important.” She closed her eyes, and wrapped an arm around him.

Nik pulled her arm closer. “I know.”

“I’m hoping I can stop this soon.” She let out a shaky breath. “Go into semi retirement or something. I don’t know. Be a trophy wife for Cin, have a few kids around. Become domestic.”

Nik snorted. “I thought Cin was the trophy wife.”

“Cin’s a rich motehrfucker and I haven’t let him spend a cent on me, if I could help it.” Amara squeezed Nik lightly. “And stars know I haven’t saved any of my money. And I won’t touch the account Gramma set up for me.”

“That’s because you’re a prideful idiot.”

“Why take money that someone who hates me wants to give me?”

“I don’t know, then why do you take money that Cameron gives you?”

“Cus I earn it,” Amara said. “He buys my silence and time away from his house when I get too annoying.”

“And yet you still annoy him, so are you really earning it?”

She pinched his side. “I never said it’d be a permanent leaving. I’d miss you too much. What would I do without my best friend?”

“I don’t know, what would you do?”

“Be very bored,” Amara said, before resting her hand on his stomach. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but Nate must be feeding you well. I was worried you’d need to be tricked into eating like Cameron.”

“Are you calling me fat?” Nik accused.

Amara thought about that. “Not in a bad way,” she said, deadpan, before, “You just... look healthier already.”

“I don’t know why. I’ve been sick for days,” Nik muttered.

Amara hummed. “Probably stress.” She paused, and then took on a mock-serious voice. “Have you tried being less stressed?”

“Yeah, but then I overdosed.”

“Oof, had to make it serious, didn’t you?” She reached up, tugged on his hair. “Can I stay and take a nap? Not gonna lie, my job sucked ass.”

“It’s not like I’m doing anything.”

Amara hummed again, and pulled her phone out to text Cameron that she was going to be late for dinner. After that she tossed her phone to the other side of the bed. No need to look at the response; she knew Cameron wasn’t going to reply at all.

---

Cyrus showed up at his house at the designated time, on the dot. Cameron had to admit that he respected Cyrus’ need for punctuality as well as being an organized person in general. That made the witch tolerable. “I trust you have everything you need with you?” Cameron asked, at the doorway, eyeing the small bag with him.

“Yes,” Cyrus said. “Where do you want me to set up?”

Cameron led him back to Lev’s former bedroom. “In here,” he said, waiting at the doorway for Cyrus to enter. “If you fail this time,” Cameron said. “You will not get a third try.”

“I already told you this is my last attempt,” Cyrus replied. “I won’t put Lev through this again.”

“I am aware you have already told me,” Cameron said, annoyed. “I am saying I am keeping you to your word. If Amara tries to manipulate you, as she has already done, then I will leash her. Before you get started,” he said, “We are waiting for Ash to arrive. He’ll be here in a few moments.”

He didn’t give Cyrus a chance to respond before he turned around and went to get the door before Ash had the chance to knock. Ash looked a little worse for wear, but Cameron did not feel like commenting on it before wordlessly leading him back to the bedroom where Cyrus was already starting to set up.

Ash leaned against the dresser and folded his arms, waiting; watching. “Think it’ll work this time?” he asked.

“If it doesn’t,” Cyrus said, “There will be no third attempt. You have my word, as well as Cameron’s.”

“Well yeehaw,” Ash said. “Then we can all put this to rest. The moment you bring him back- if you manage it this time- I am taking over. I do not need your magic when I have my own.”

“Okay,” Cyrus agreed. “I streamlined the spell, so it shouldn’t take as long.”

“As long as you do it right,” Cameron said, mildly. “Do what you need to.”

Cyrus set up his candles where he needed, and looked to Cameron when finished. “You don’t have to knee, but I need some kind of physical contact. So I can channel you.”

“Very well,” he said. “When do you want to start?”

Cyrus moved to pull a book out of his bag, flipping to the page he needed. “Now.”

Cameron moved to press his hand to Cyrus’s back while he started reciting the spell for the next half hour. Both he and Ash watched acutely. Towards the end, the ashes that Cyrus had spread along the bed began to darken, until every speck seemed to suck the light from the room. Slowly a shape took form on the bed.

As the last word fell from the witches mouth, the whole room went dark. When the light came back, bit by bit, Lev’s body was there, chest rising and falling evenly. Ash pushed off the dresser the same time Cyrus hunched over. “Alright, witch,” Ash said, “step back. It’s my turn. Go take a nap. I’m sure Cameron will let you use one of his fancy bedrooms for all your trouble.”

When Cyrus seemed to not be able to move, he said, “Give me a second.”

Cameron leaned down to pick him up and carry him to one of the closer bedrooms and plop him down on the bed. “I know you did not take the magic you needed from me,” Cameron said.

Cyrus laid down and pressed his palm to his forehead. “I took what I needed and nothing more. Lev needs you walking and functional, not me.”

“I am perfectly capable of doing both,” Cameron clipped out. “But sure. This selfless act of yours is as annoying as Amara is. Sleep for however long you need. I will wake you for dinner.”

Cyrus closed his eyes. “Text Sorin for me?” He asked. “He’s going to worry, and I’m not going to be much of a conversationalist very soon.”

Cameron detested cell phones, but he did as asked. “When he shows I will direct him to your room,” he said, turning to leave, flicking the lights off on his way out. Cameron went back to Lev’s bedroom and leaned in against the doorway while Ash seemed to be doing a physical of Lev’s body. His face was drawn, tight and focused. “His body is here,” he finally said. “But I cannot sense Lev. I’m thinking a coma, or something similar at the very least.”

“Do you have an estimate for how long he will be like this?”

Ash shook his head. “Sorry but necromancy is a little outside of my wheelhouse of knowledge. The best I can tell you is either he comes back or he does not. I’ll do my best to keep his body functioning, but right now, he is the equivalent of brain dead.”

----

Nate slipped his phone into his back pocket. They had Lev’s body, and right now… Nate could not sense Lev’s soul. Not anywhere Inbetween anyway. He supposed his best option was to go see Lev for himself, to see if he could sense Lev’s soul there. But first he needed to check on Nik, and he found both Nik and Amara curled up asleep on a bed in the room Nate had set up for Nik.

Nate carefully went and grabbed a throw blanket to cover them both before quietly shutting the door behind him and decidingly drive to Cameron’s house. He spent the entire time seeing if he could sense Lev’s spirit, but got nothing. There was Darius though, and Darius joined him on the drive to Cameron’s house. “Do you feel him?” Nate asked, flicking him a look.

Darius seemed thoughtful, contemplative. “I don’t… not feel him. It wasn’t like before, when you had to bring him back. He’s… I think he’s stuck.”

“I’ve never really felt something like this,” Nate finally said. “Then again necromancy isn’t something that had been done before- at the very least in my lifetime.”

“Mmm.” Darius seemed a little amused. “Not something that’s been done in mine either. Life or deathtime.”

Nate snorted, but then sighed. Darius had the strangest sense of humor sometimes. And it was something Nate had come to appreciate. “After all these years,” Nate said, “You still care.”

“Wouldn’t you?” Darius asked, golden eyes lingering on Nate’s face.

Nate gave a small, rueful laugh. “I just might.”

“I understand; Why you’re so hesitant about Cameron. Nik is your brother. He’s your baby brother and he loves with everything he has,” Darius said. “And now he’s with my Cameron, who can come off as so reserved. You’re worried Cameron will repeat history.”

Nate thought on that for a good long minute. “I was,” he finally said. “Now, I’m reassessing my reservations. Or at least I’m trying to.”

“He does not make it easy,” Darius observed.

“That he does not,” Nate said, pulling into the driveway. He had the truck in park when he looked over, unsurprisingly seeing Darius not there. He had gone to knock on the door, only for Cameron to open before he had one knock in. “He’s in his bedroom,” Cameron said. “Next to mine.”

Cameron didn’t offer any more words before moving aside to let Nate in. The house was as spotless as his own, but seemed to lack the kind of warmth that Nate was used to. Though, it did feel like a calculated coldness; like his house was more a fortress than a home. Another stronghold of defense.

Lev was in a clean set of clothes, under a blanket with his hands folded on his stomach. If Nate didn’t know better, he’d say Lev was just sleeping. But he did know better, and he’d almost say that Lev looked like he was on display for a wake, as well.

Cameron leaned against the doorway, arms folded over his chest while he silently watched Nate work. The only problem was he didn’t quite know where to start, not when it came to things like this. He crossed the room to settle on the edge of Lev’s bed, brushing his fingers along Lev’s cheeks; his forehead, his chest.

Lev’s heart was beating, he was also breathing as far as Nate could tell. Granted, these kinds of matters were Ash’s domain but as far as he could tell, Lev’s body was in peak condition- he even wasn’t as thin as Nate had grown accustomed to.

Cameron seemed to let him work as long as he needed without unnecessary commentary. Nate closed his eyes, reaching for his magic and touched Lev’s skin. The glittering shadows that brushed underneath Lev’s skin weaved through blood and bone right down to Lev’s very core. “He’s there,” Nate finally said. “I can feel him. He’s just. Deciding.”

“Deciding?” Cameron asked, mildly.

Nate smoothed down the blanket and stood up. He stopped at the doorway and looked down at Cameron. “You asked if he was there,” Nate said. “And I said he was. He’s making a choice.”

Tagging: @incandescent-creativity @idreamonpaper @solangelo3088 @i-want-to-pinch-cams-cheeks @halstudies @alittleyellowdinosaur @caelisis

#writeblr #writers on tumblr #wip boost #ch: cameron #ch: nate #ch: darius #ch: nik #ch: ash #hell to pay

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jaehyun-eclipsed · 4 years

Text

Before I Met You | Eighteen

Updates: Sundays TBD

Pairing: NCT (Jaehyun, Lucas, Mark, Jaemin, Johnny) X Reader/OC

Genre: Romance, Angst, Coming of Age

Summary: Four. There were four people before I fell in love with you… Here are their stories.

Author’s Note: So we’re starting off part 4 today! I wanted to let you know that I am going to be a bit busy (school is starting for me, etc.) so unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be able to keep up with my weekly update. I might try biweekly updates, but I’m not quite sure what my schedule will look like yet. I might consider shorter updates, but that may disrupt the flow I want. Either way, rest assured, I have full intentions of continuing this story... albeit, a bit slower.

Before I Met You Masterlist

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“I remember you telling me you had asked out one other guy before me,” Jaehyun says. “But I didn’t realize it was like that.”

I hug the throw pillow to my chest tighter and an embarrassed smile makes its way onto my features. “Mm, technically, I didn’t ask him. It was more like… well, I confronted him,” I admit.

His eyes widen like everything has come full circle. “This makes so much more sense now.”

“What?”

“When you asked me… that was like nothing in comparison.”

“I wouldn’t say that…”

“– and I didn’t even give you – God, I’m such a wimp,” he laments, covering his face with both of his hands in humiliation.

I shrug and rest my hand on his knee, gently rubbing circles over the denim of his pants. “Hey, we’re here now, aren’t we? Besides, we had more… legitimate problems. You had basically just started your job.”

“Yeah, that’s true.” He continues nodding to himself, mostly in agreement, though a nervous laugh quickly follows a loud huff. “But I’m still such a wimp! I couldn’t even call you!”

“Well,” I begin, “you did call me. Though, I guess you could have at least left a message.” My eyes soften as I lift my hand to caress his face. “I don’t blame you though. I’m not worth your job, Jaehyun… and especially not when you’re just starting out.”

A small smile forms on his lips as he wraps his arms around me, pulling me into his lap and gently encouraging my head to rest against his chest. He presses a soft kiss into my hair.

“Thank you for caring, but I think you’re worth it.”

Jaehyun and I have been together for over two years. I suppose since we’ve made it this far, there’s no doubt he’d say that. He’s happy, I’m happy, things are good. We were lucky that it worked out for us. And while I wouldn’t have it any other way, I’m not entirely sure I really do think I’m worth it.

“How did you feel after that?” he asks, pulling me from my thoughts. “Like, just about the whole situation. You didn’t seem heartbroken over it, but you must’ve been upset.”

“No, I wasn’t heartbroken,” I concur. “But I was incredibly confused. And I hate being confused. When something doesn’t fit the logical mold, I don’t know how to function. It’s like my synapses misfire and I start coming up with all of these hypotheses – it’s a very desperate attempt because I start spit balling things that I know don’t add up and so I’m always left back where I started… confused and unable to piece together anything into a coherent story.”

Jaehyun tightens his hold on me and remains quiet for a moment.

“Did I make sense to you?”

“In the beginning, no.” I crack into a wide grin and look up at him. “You didn’t give me an answer and then the next time I stepped into the office, you kept trying to talk to me and started asking me all of these questions like nothing had happened. And it was so funny because we both knew there was this huge elephant in the room!”

“I couldn’t call you from my phone! Siwon told me not to! So I figured that if I show you some interest, then you wouldn’t completely hate me,” he responds. “And maybe you’d get the hint.”

“You could’ve written me a note!”

“I –” he begins quickly, an attempt to defend himself, though, he ultimately concedes. “Yeah, you’re right. I was scared!”

“You had right to be.”

“I still can’t believe you did that to that guy in college. He must’ve been terrified.”

“Yeah, probably.

“Did you ever see him around again?”

“Yeah, it was a little weird. Trying to force yourself to say ‘hi, how are you?’ to someone after that is kinda awkward.” I bite my lip as another memory resurfaces. “Honestly, the most frustrating part was when my mom called after she heard what I had done.”

“Oh no,” he remarks, his tone exhibiting full understanding of the situation.

“Yeah, she called and asked why I did that, how it wasn’t okay – she was switching back and forth between reprimanding me and asking if I was okay.”

“Why didn’t she think it was okay?”

“I think she thinks it’s not ‘lady-like.’ I’m not supposed to be so… assertive.”

“You’ve always been confident,” Jaehyun replies with a chuckle. “It’s something I’ve always admired about you. Ever since I met you.”

Junior year of college was starting out rather monotonous. Jia and I had moved back into the same house, choosing to remain roommates in the same room. We were pleasantly greeted by many new faces who seemed to be much more open to socializing with each other compared to the previous year’s tenants. I had been quick to learn that most of them knew each other from the dorms last year; they were already friends. Their openness even managed to coax the handful of residents that returned from last year into playing cards with them in the evenings.

I, on the other hand, had become much more reticent to join them. I had missed out on the first week’s socials, having to tend to family obligations immediately after finishing classes for the day. I’d watch them for a bit sometimes, heart heavy with a desire to belong and make more friends. I didn’t even know half of their names.

I spent most of my days on campus in class and then the library until dinner. When I went home for the day, I stayed in my room with Jia. Of course, she noticed my change in behavior from the previous year, but I couldn’t tell her the truth.

I couldn’t bring myself to spend my evenings downstairs anymore. It made me antsy. Last week, I happened to be in the dining room alone – a dangerous environment for my overly analytical brain. My eyes lingered over to the pool table and immediately, the events with Jaemin began playing right in front of me, incessantly on repeat. The laughter, the banter, and the seductive gazes were a sad reminder of how boys can really just suck sometimes. I missed what we had – which is so silly because it’s not like we really had anything. Longing, frustration, and confusion all hit me within a matter of seconds. I suppose it’s understandable. I didn’t really get closure with Jaemin. He just made me more confused than I already was.

Why? How?

I didn’t understand.

And naively, I only thought my residual feelings were as bad as it would get.

Yesterday, Suji and I happened to be walking through the student union after lunch. Being the third week of the semester, the student union had already resumed its normal busyness. We were searching for open seats to do some homework before needing to attend class, but were finding the effort to be useless. As we made our way towards the exit, I had the sudden feeling that someone was watching me. I frowned and when I turned my head, I immediately made eye contact with a familiar brown haired boy sitting at a table with his laptop.

Jaemin.

Be nice.

His expression was blank as he looked back at me. Desiring to be civil, I smiled warmly and waved to him, watching him return the gestures before looking away.

That was the first time I saw him this semester.

And while I didn’t think I would never see him, I certainly didn’t expect to run into him every day after that. It was always in different places around campus between classes. For such a large campus, I’m surprised we had that much overlap in class locations.

“Hey!”

“Hm?” My eyes widen and I quickly look up at Jia who has a slightly perplexed expression.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Oh um, I was thinking about my schedule for tomorrow,” I lie.

“Oh really?” she asks. “You looked like you were concentrating very hard.”

I shrug and shake my head slowly. “Long day tomorrow.”

“Oh, okay. Have you seen the boys around here?”

“I’m never here so I haven’t really seen anyone except for… I think his name is Hendery? He’s cute.”

“Oh, yeah, I saw him. Have you seen Johnny? I think he’s really attractive. More attractive than Hendery.”

“Uh, no. Have you talked to him?”

“Yeah! I talked to him one time! He’s really nice. And really tall too.”

“Oh.” I reach over to the other side of my bed and grab my phone. “Do you know his last name?”

“Suh.”

Jia climbs up onto my bed to sit next to me while I type the name into the Instagram search bar.

“That’s him,” she says, pointing to the first result.

Johnny is quite handsome. Midnight black hair, defined jawline, and a very friendly smile.

“Oh, he is cute,” I say. “But what’s this?”

I tap on the second most recent selfie of Johnny and a girl sitting at table with two cups of boba. The caption reads, “Happy Birthday to this one 😘💕”

“Damn, it looks like he has a girlfriend,” I say with a sigh. “Oh well!”

If I were being completely truthful, another reason I wasn’t interested in spending time downstairs was because part of me didn’t actually want to make friends with anyone at the house. Jaemin was still a sore spot and all because of him, I had decided that finding a potential love interest amongst your housemates was a bad idea. Perhaps that was a bit narrow minded because it’s not like I had to befriend any of them with that intention. I never had that intention with Jaemin to begin with.

But maybe that’s what I was afraid of. I never meant to fall for Jaemin – it just happened.

There’s obviously no guarantee that it would happen in the same way again, but in thinking about Lucas and Jaemin, I felt that the chance was more than miniscule. And that risk was enough for me to decide against it.

Okay, do not go into the student union right now because Jaemin will probably be there since you saw him there at this time last week.

Library it is.

I grab my backpack and throw it over my shoulder as class ends, quickly leaving the room and finding myself thrown into a crowded hall of students trying to exit the building. Walking past several students sitting on the floor outside of my classroom, I turn the corner and immediately deadpan.

Are you fucking kidding me?

Jaemin and I instantly lock eyes as he walks from the opposite direction. He looks at me for a moment before turning away and continuing to chat with the girl next to him. I squint in confusion, chastising whatever supernatural forces could have caused this chance encounter.

Since when does he have class at this time?! And in this building?! I’ve never seen him here in all the time I’ve had class this semester!

I try to remain expressionless as I mentally prepare myself to walk by him. He’s acting as if he’s completely invested in his conversation, turned completely inward towards the girl and ignoring any oncoming people that may pass by.

Okay, so you’re just going to act like I’m not here, got it. I guess I won’t say hi.

I keep my head down as he comes within earshot, keeping an eye on him from my periphery.

“I’ll see you later,” he says to the girl before abruptly turning around and trailing behind me.

Oh?

“Hey.”

Unfortunately, my mouth works faster than my brain in this instant and my bitterness quickly reveals itself.

“Endless running into you, huh?”

That didn’t come out right.

“Yeah…” he slowly responds.

Yeah, that definitely didn’t come out right.

He maneuvers to my right side to walk directly next to me. “Where are you going?” he asks.

“Life sciences building,” I say, keeping my gaze forward.

We walk several more steps towards the entrance, slowly making our way upstream of all of the students pouring into the building.

“You?” I ask.

“Uh, Wheeler, which is that way,” he says, pointing in the opposite direction. “Ah, I always forget my orientation.”

It seems like you’re always doing that when you’re with me.

A few silent moments pass between us as I’m at a loss of what to say. I obviously didn’t start out with a very friendly demeanor, which I’m guessing he probably didn’t expect given my smile and wave last week.

What the fuck am I supposed to say? Pretty sure you didn’t come up to me to have a “let’s be friends!” chat.

“So how’s everything going?” I ask, glancing over my shoulder to see him a couple steps behind me.

“Uh… good,” Jaemin says. “Busy junior year. How about you?”

“Uh, same. Yeah…”

There’s a hell of a lot of other things going on, but I don’t know how much I should or want to elaborate. One of those things is you, but we won’t go into that.

“Where are you going?” he asks.

Um, I just told you.

I open my mouth to repeat what I told him thirty seconds earlier, but am cut off by his quick memory.

“Oh, life science building, right, which is that way,” he says, pointing in the proper direction.

Yep… that way. Why does it seem like you’re so nervous?

“Did you just have a class in here?” I ask.

“Yeah, had class in here and now I’m going to Wheeler,” he repeats.

Yeah, I know. You just said that.

“So you’re going that way?” he asks again, pointing straight ahead as soon as we make it outside the building.

“Yep…”

“Okay, I’m going this way. See you later.”

“See ya.”

Well, I guess the ice has been broken.

I just didn’t really get it. I thought that after the whole falling out between us, I was never going to see him again. Jaemin was my adventure for sophomore year. Done, chapter finished. That’s basically what it was with everyone else. I’ve never run into Lucas when I return home during breaks. I rarely see my floormates from freshman year – maybe a couple of them once while walking between classes and then never again. Obviously because Jaemin and I go to the same school, there’s always a chance that we will see each other.

But every single day for a week?! That’s gotta be some kind of record.

There’s what – 36,000 people here? So the chance of seeing any one person is about 1/36,000; even less because each person can only be in one place at any given time. So seeing Jaemin once on a fluke wouldn’t be unusual and would probably be kind of nice just to smile and wave, “Hi, I know you exist and you suck, nice to briefly see you.”

There’s too much of a coincidence for this to mean nothing. But I don’t know what that is because there’s likely no chance of us actually dating and I’m pretty sure he isn’t trying to be casual friends with me.

The knife glides seamlessly as I guide it through the cantaloupe. Several drops of juice spill out onto the cutting board. As I begin slicing it into trapezoidal pieces, my eyes flicker back and forth between the fruit and the boy cooking at the stove.

I immediately recognize him to be Johnny. The pictures didn’t do him justice. He’s definitely better looking in person and much taller than I had initially expected. Sporting a casual black t-shirt and jeans, I take note of his broad shoulders and relatively muscular arms.

“Hey, is it okay if I open the door? I’m using a lot of pepper,” Johnny suddenly says to me.

“Oh, yeah, sure.”

I shift my weight between each leg, trying to figure out something to say to break the ice. I’m aware that Johnny has a girlfriend, but that doesn’t mean I can’t at least introduce myself. I don’t know anyone here anyway – with the exception of Jia and knowing the names of the few returning residents from last year. It just seems so much more intimidating to talk to a cute person because I don’t want him to think I’m hitting on him. Though, it’s kind of a bold assumption to make.

“What are you cooking?” I finally ask.

“Uh, salt and pepper chicken.”

“Oh. That sounds good!” I respond. “I don’t think we’ve formally met. My name is Y/N.”

“I’m Johnny.”

After proceeding through the normal “first time meeting fellow college student” questions, I learn that Johnny is a CS major who was originally born in Seoul, but moved to San Jose when he was only a few years old.

“I haven’t seen you around here too often,” Johnny says. “Do you just hang out in your room?”

“In the evenings, yeah. Otherwise I go to the library between classes and stay there until dinner.”

“Wow, I wish I studied like that. I study in my room, but I get distracted by my roommates a lot. Maybe I should go to the library too.”

I shrug. “I get more work done, but I almost don’t have friends,” I reply with a chuckle. “Just a couple that I go out to dinner with every once in a while.”

“You should hang out with us downstairs. My roommate Hendery is always looking for people to talk to. And Chaeyoung is really nice; she was my floormate last year. She always has snacks to share.”

I have an in! I can make more friends! And they seem nice! And they probably won’t flirt with me and tell me they were just being friendly!

God, I’m still so salty about that.

“Are you a part of any clubs?” he asks.

“No, I tried to join a dance club, but decided not to. I also did archery for a little bit, but I don’t go anymore.”

“Archery? We have archery here?”

“Yeah, it’s at the baseball field on the other side of campus though. I’d go, but we don’t have a bus that goes directly there.” “You don’t have anyone to go with?”

“No.”

“Oh.” He looks at the ground and purses his lips. “Well, if you ever wanna go back, I’ll go with you. I’d like to try!”

The cute guy wants to be friends with me! Yay!

“That would be fun! Yeah, I’d like to get back into it.”

“So I met Johnny downstairs,” I say, popping a piece of cantaloupe into my mouth.

“Ooh,” Jia coos. “What did you think?!”

“He’s cute and he’s really nice. He invited me to hang out with him and some of the other people that are downstairs all the time.”

Jia frowns, seemingly offended that she wasn’t offered an invitation. “He didn’t invite me!”

“We were talking about clubs and friends. Did you guys talk about that?”

“Oh.” She retracts her hurt expression, but only momentarily. “No, we just talked about the classes we’re taking. But you always get invited to things. Like I want to be asked to do a photoshoot.”

I’m rendered a bit speechless by her comment. Jia has never been this… blunt? I didn’t know that she noticed or even cared. Ten has asked me to be his model a handful of times to practice his photography skills, but that’s about it. I always thought Jia was more social than I was. She went on dinner outings and had friends over much more frequently than I did. Granted, when the amount of times I do those things is nearly zero (in reality, it’s probably a couple times a month), anything more than that would seem frequent to me.

“You know how my friends came over last week and you came in for a couple minutes to put something away, but then went out with Ten again?” she begins. “After you left, one of my friends said that she’s surprised I would get along with someone who looks like you.”

What the hell?

My eyebrows raise in astonishment. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I don’t know.”

I’m silent for a moment as I consider the situation. Jia looks like your typical studious international student. She wears oversized glasses, never wears makeup except for job interviews and special occasions, and generally wears plain jeans and simple long-sleeved shirts. Her system is based on efficiency.

I’ve always been sort of the opposite. Not to say that I’m not efficient, but I don’t mind sacrificing a little sleep to do my hair and makeup every morning. I’ve always held myself to a higher standard of presentation. And I guess it’s not unusual for me to hear comments about being attractive or looking like a sorority girl. Not sure the latter is said as a compliment, but I digress.

“She thinks I look like a partier, huh?”

“I think so.”

I purse my lips and nod my head slowly, a bit displeased about the superficial impression from a stranger. I am not a partier in the slightest.

“Anyway,” she begins, switching the subject again, “it’s too bad Johnny has a girlfriend, huh?”

I sigh, as my thoughts regarding our previous subject of discussion have not been settled. I can’t say I like being perceived that way. Is Jia… jealous? I’ve never made it a point to tell her what I’m doing, but she always asks every time I get ready to leave the room. Otherwise, I wouldn’t tell her.

“Yeah… too bad.”

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Before I Met You Masterlist Masterlist

#nct #nct 127 #jung jaehyun #lucas wong #na jaemin #mark lee #nct dream #jaehyun #nct jaehyun #nct jaemin #nct lucas #wong yukhei #nct mark #nct johnny #johnny suh #nct u #superm #before i met you

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reidimagines · 4 years

Text

Cinnamon and Vanilla

ahh, yes, my fave trop: sunshine and tough exterior relationship. hope you enjoy!

Warning! brief homophobia by the unsub

Summary: Y/n is a baker from around the corner, that happens to be dating Emily. Because if this, she stops by at least once a week with fresh good, if only to see Emily. The team doesn’t know about what they have going on behind closed doors, until a slight inconvenience happens.

“Plans for the weekend?” Derek asked, turning his last file in and grinning at Emily.

“Why are you asking?” She said, preparing her bag.

“You’ve just been happy, maybe a special occasion? A date?”

Emily laughed, shaking her head. “If you count sleeping and drinking wine as a special occasion, yeah.” Derek chuckled, walking back to the office with her.

“Well, I just can’t believe a pretty woman like you isn’t getting attention from men.”

She just rolled her eyes. “Who says I want that?”

“Ohh,” He drawled out with a grin. “Sounds like you got your eyes on someone-“

“I’m going to stop you right there,” Emily said. “Let’s not do this.” That only made him laugh more.

“Well, who are you texting in the car, who are you calling every evening when we’re on a case?”

“Shut up,” She groaned, moving to her desk. Then, it was as if the sun was shining a bit brighter again, as if everything made a bit more sense. You stepped in.

“Hey!” You were carrying a big bag, and everyone could almost smell the goods inside. “Emily texted you got back, so I brought some goods, figured you could use them.” You flashed Emily a brief smile, a little brighter for her. It didn’t matter, not really. From the moment you’d walked in, she had a large grin on her face, one so bright and loving that it surprised her no one commented on it. That no one noticed.

From the moment you walked in, everyone’s eyes were on you. You had this effect, Emily called it the sunshine effect of Y/n. When you entered the room, you compelled people to look at you, and when they did, they saw beauty, they smelled vanilla and cinnamon. It was all so you, and Emily loved every detail.

“Definitely made my week,” Derek grinned. “Prentiss, you have the most amazing friend in the world.” He said, digging into one of the boxes. If she hadn’t been so focused on you, she wouldn’t have noticed your slight flinch at the words, the way you looked at your hands.

The other members soon came for their piece, too. “You’re a gem,” JJ said.

“We’d make a good duo in the kitchen,” Rossi said, which made you smile like an idiot.

As delicious as it was, Emily couldn’t stand you so close, yet so far. “Hey,” she placed her tart down. “Can we talk?”

You smiled, and every cloud seemed to vanish. “Of course,” you followed her, until you were out of earshot. “I missed you.” You said, then. You reached for her hand, which she squeezed.

“How- how are you?” She managed. “I wish I could have talked to you more, but-“ You wanted to kiss her. You always did, when you were in the office, seeing her after a long while. As much as you understood why she wanted to keep it a secret, you wanted to hug her, and give her a hello kiss.

“It’s okay,” You smiled. “I’m okay. I’d be amazing if you said you’d come over tonight, though.” She took a small step closer.

“Try to keep me away.”

You hummed, inching closer without meaning to. She didn’t stop you. “Why would I wanna do that?”

With a chuckle, her hand moved to your waist. “Can’t wait to get out of here and kiss you.”

“You can do it now,” You said without really thinking. You regretted it as soon as you said it. “I’m sorry, I understand why you don’t-“

“It’s okay,” She said, taking a step back. “It’s frustrating, I know.” She looked like she wanted to say more, but couldn’t.

You gave her a sad smile, before someone called. “Y/n, do you sell these?” Spencer asked, eating one of your newest creations. “They’re… heavenly.”

You chuckled, moving back to the group. “I’ll bring you some more on the next stop,” You grabbed the bag. “I have to go, gotta clean the shop, but save some for Garcia, please.”

“On it!” JJ said, closing the only box that had something left in it. You felt Emily’s eyes burning in your back, until you left the building.

—

“You should thank Y/n,” Rossi said. “That woman is an angel.”

For a moment, Emily wondered if he knew. It wasn’t like she was ashamed, not at all. It just felt… so personal. As if the team would know one thing too many. If he did, he didn’t comment on it, didn’t give her a look.

Emily smiled. “I thank her every time. Don’t know why she does it.”

Rossi raised his eyebrows, if only in surprise. “Isn’t it obvious?” At the lack of an answer, he continued. “She wants to see you as often as she can.”

Emily looked away, realizing that it was true. She was away for work a lot, and evenings were often cut short by Y/n trying new recipies or preparing for the next day. Their time spent together was little, and it was partly her fault. Not because of her job, per say, but because the time spent together in the office never really was together. They were friends, between those walls.

Emily would consider it, telling the team that she was dating you, but would it change anything, she wondered. Would it change the banter, the jokes. She knew that it wouldn’t, not really, but a voice deeper down whispered that it would, at least a little. She wasn’t scared of a lot of things, but this was one thing she’d always been afraid to face; she had to do it a lot of times, and it never got easier.

Forgetting to continue packing, she was pulled from her thoughts by Hotch. “We have a case,” He said. “No need for a go bag, it’s nearby.”

Cases in their own city were always intense, a bit more personal. But, she could still go to your place, although it would be late. And that was a victory in itself.

“Three women have been found dead,” JJ began, once everyone was seated.

“Three? We’re only getting called in now?”

“The MO was different, the only thing that linked them was that they were women. There’s a black woman, a brunette, and a girl with ginger hair.” JJ showed them pictures. “The first victim had light torture marks, was missing for about 24 hours. The unsub kept the next for at least 36.”

“He’s evolving,” Derek said. “Pretty fast, it you ask me.” He noted the increasing torture marks.

She had no idea what time it was, after midnight, for sure. She’d spent another day working at the case, another day where they weren’t sure of what connected the victims, another day they were little closer to finding the unsub.

She came to your apartment, you’d given her the key a little while back, if only to let her come in late without waking you. She half expected you to be asleep, half hoped you wouldn’t be. She found you on the couch, snoozing a bit with a baking competition playing on the television. The apartment smelled amazing, you’d spent the day baking again.

“Hey,” She whispered, carefully trying if it would pull you out your slumber. Your eyes fluttered open, and you smiled.

“You’re back,” You muttered, scooting over and opening your arms. “And you’re safe.”

Emily smiled, laying on the couch against you, your arms comforting around her. She went in for a soft kiss. “I am,” She said softly, letting you trace her face. “We’re not any closer to catching the unsub, though.”

“You’ll catch him,” You muttered, running your fingers through her hair. “You’re strong and smart, everyone on the team is.” You tried to hide a yawn, still sleepy.

She smiled, because even now, you were comforting and warm. It was like she was swimming in a pool of stardust, tickling in a gentle manner, the feeling of being lost in the unlimited space fading. You were there, her rock.

“Come on,” She muttered. “Let’s get to bed.”

You hummed in agreement, turning the tv off. “I’m really glad you’re here, Emily,” You said with a gentle smile as you entered the bedroom. “You make me feel safe.”

Emily was speechless. She had always noticed you felt safe around in the little things, but to hear you say it…

“How long has it been since you slept?” You asked, opening the covers with a smile, a silent offer. She hadn’t been at your place in a few days, and she looked like she hadn’t slept since then.

“Took a nap yesterday,” She said, grateful for the soft bed.

“You need sleep, babe,” You muttered, wrapping your arm around her, letting her move closer, her back soon against you. “How else will you keep us safe?” You teased lightly. It wasn’t until then that she realized how tired she actually was.

“I have to get up in a few hours,” She sighed, already not looking forward to leaving the warm bed.

“Wake me, I want to eat breakfast with you,” You said softly, pulling her a bit closer. “Please.”

She smiled, eyes beginning to drop close. She knew you’d hate yourself for saying that in the morning, but also knew that you’d love every second of it. “Did you bake breakfast, then?”

“Yeah,” You hummed. “A damn good one.” Emily chuckled, she didn’t doubt it.

—

“Guys, I think I found what they have in common,” Garcia spoke quickly, the sound of her pressing in keys was in the background. “The latest victim had a girlfriend.”

The first thing Emily thought of was you. Oh god, he couldn’t be targeting-

“Let me guess,” Derek said. “So did the other three?”

“No, no,” Garcia said. “But they all had a history of dating women.”

“He’s targeting queer women,” Hotch said. “I think we’re ready to deliver the profile.”

“Hey, Prentiss,” Morgan said, pulling her out of her trance. “You good?”

She could feel the color draining from her face the more the reality set in. “Yeah- I uh, I’ll be right back. I need to make a call.”

She didn’t know if she was supposed to tell you, but she couldn’t not tell you. You were an openly queer woman, it didn’t take much more than a visit to your bakery’s Instagram to find out. She had to warn you, had to ask you to come over. She couldn’t let anything happen to you.

She stood up, if a bit unsteady. She felt the eyes of the team upon her, but no one followed her outside. She hadn’t noticed her hands were trembling. She had to know you were safe, wouldn’t know what to do if you weren’t. She dialed your number, and felt a wave of relief wash over her when you answered.

“What a nice surprise,” You mused softly. She could hear all kinds of sounds around you, the bakery was full of life. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“Y/n,” She was finally able to breathe again. “You’re okay.”

“Yeah,” You sounded confused, and she could just imagine the way your eyebrows were knitted together, how there’d be flour on your face, maybe some chocolate. You’d smell of vanilla and spices, and your hair would be out of your face. Just picturing you made her a bit calmer. “Why wouldn’t I be? Is everything okay?”

Emily quickly shook her head, hoping to clear her thoughts a bit. “I need you to come over,” She said. “Please.”

“Now? It’s the middle of the day, I can’t just leave-”

“He’s targetting queer women, Y/n. Please, I have to know you’re safe.”

She heard you sigh. “Alright, I need to get the cookies out. I’ll close the shop. Be there in thirty.”

Emily closed her eyes, taking a deep breath to keep her calm. It didn’t work as well as she’d hoped. “Text me when you’re ready, I’ll pick you up-”

Despite everything, you chuckled softly. “Baby, it’s a ten minute drive, work the case, okay?”

She nodded to herself, rubbing a hand over her forehead. “Okay,” She muttered. “Yeah. Just… please be safe.”

“I will,” You paused, listening to her hurried breathing. “I love you.”

She smiled at that, her breathing still a bit rushed. “I love you, too.”

After a quick bye, Emily headed back inside, feeling only a little bit better. A part of her knew she was being irrational, at least a bit. They didn’t know where he picked hem up for sure, he hadn’t risked anything during the day, but still… having you near seemed like the best option. The safest.

“Are you okay?” JJ asked when Emily walked back in. She managed a smile.

“Yes,” She took a deep breath, ready to tell why she stormed out. “I had to call Y/n. She’s… not straight. I asked her to come over here, I want to keep an eye-” She was interrupted by Hotch, who called her over. She excused herself, moving to her boss.

“Yeah?”

“There’s another body found. They think it’s Janne.”

“Already?” The unsub was getting bolder, spending less time with each victim. “He only had her for what, a day?”

“He feels that we’re close,” Hotch nodded. “You, Morgan and Rossi should go.”

“I-” Emily wanted to make sure you arrived here safely, but you were right, you had a job to do. “On my way.”

“Prentiss,” He stopped her. “Are you okay? Is there something we should know?” She quickly shook her head.

“Nothing yet.” While walking over to join Rossi and Morgan, she quickly sent you a message: I’m on a crime scene, text me when you arrive.

“You good?” Derek asks, once the three of them are in the car. “You looked kinda freaked out back there.”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Emily said, putting her phone away and deciding that she had to be okay, so she was. “So, is there any info?”

“They discovered the body not too long ago,” Rossi said. “They have no idea what the cause of death is, the body was pretty damaged.”

“Well, that didn’t change,” Emily muttered. “Did we get the profile to the media?”

“No, not yet, we figured we’d wait until we checked out the crime scene. He’s going faster, so he might slip, showing more.”

Emily nodded, hoping he had. As with any unsub, she just wanted him off the street as fast as she could, but it was a bit more personal than that this time.

Despite the worry, getting lost in her job and train of thoughts was incredibly easy. Emily soon forgot to check her phone, forgot to worry when she didn’t get a text. It wasn’t until they arrived back, that she seemed to remember.

“Hey,” She jogged over to JJ when there was no sign of you or freshly baked cookies. “Where’s Y/n?”

JJ frowned. “She isn’t here. Maybe she went to the police station? Spencer and Hotch are there now.”

Without hesitation, Emily called Spencer, asking if he’d seen you at the station. When his answer was no, she couldn’t breathe. She turned to JJ. “I think Y/n’s been taken.”

“What?” She quickly said, stepping away from her work. “Why do you think that?”

“I asked her to come hours ago, she said she would, and… she fits his type.”

JJ nodded, placing a hand on Emily’s arm, leading her to a chair. “Okay, let’s not jump to conclusions. Let’s check the shop, maybe she got caught up.”

Emily didn’t have the energy to tell her you wouldn’t just not show up without a text, so she nodded, afraid to admit to herself what it meant if you weren’t there. JJ made a quick call, before taking her and Morgan along to your shop.

It was a short drive, but those few minutes hadn’t ever felt as long as they did. When they arrived, Emily knew something was wrong. The lights were out, but the door was unlocked. She could see the slight mess on the counter through the window.

The shop was your pride and joy, you never left it messy, not even for a lunch break. You even cleaned before she greeted Emily. Her breath hitched as she followed her team members in. It was awfully silent, there was no soft music playing in the background, no sounds of ovens, or happy chatter. She went straight to the kitchen. She couldn’t even call the others when she saw what she saw.

The kitchen was a mess, chairs were knocked over, a tray was bent and laying next to a few drops of blood. There was flour, all over the floor. She could see how you were dragged from under the table in the marks. What upset her the most, was the pool of blood. She couldn’t bring herself to look at it.

“Prentiss?” She finally heard, yet couldn’t turn her head, not when she was torturing herself with imagining what went down. “JJ!” Morgan called, stepping into the room.

“She was taken,” Emily whispered, taking a step back. “Is that hers?” She pointed to the blood, knowing Derek couldn’t tell for sure.

“Emily,” He said softly. She backed away some more, into JJ, who wrapped an arm around her for support.

She shook her head. She couldn’t get emotional now, she had to find you. “I’ll call Hotch.” She said, pushing JJ’s arm away and going outside. She couldn’t be inside there, not when it screamed Y/n, not when she swore she could smell your perfume. Not when she knew what took her.

Once outside, she wasted little time, forcing her mindset to change. “Hotch, he took another girl. Y/n Y/l/n.”

He was silent for a short while. She had no idea what was going on in his head, wasn’t sure she wanted to know. “Alright, we may have found a lead. Meet us back at the station.”

“Okay, okay,” They could hear Garcia punching the keys with a bit more hurry and power than usual. Or maybe it just seemed that way to Emily.

Everything seemed to be going faster, as if before she knew it, they’d find you tortured, raped, and dead.

“Still six names.”

“Garcia, try looking for someone who’s been arrested or reported for crimes against members of the LGBT+ community and other discrimination crimes.” Spencer said.

She pressed a few keys, letting go of a tight breath. “One. Carl Lafosse, sending you his address right now.”

It was a weird relief to finally have a name on the person doing all this damage, on the person who was doing god knew what to you.

“Let’s go.” Emily said. She was the first out the door, insisting on driving. The drive felt too long, even when they were going as fast as they could without flying off the road. When she finally pulled up near the house, she was worked up and anxious. There was no time for that, though.

“Local police is on their way, we should wait for backup.” Hotch said. “There’s no clear sign she’s-”

“We’re going to wait?” Emily said, unable to keep the spat out of her voice. “We’re going to wait, while that asshole is doing god knows what-” She stopped. “Did you hear that?”

She turned her attention to the house, certain that she’d heard something. Then, it sounded again, a muffled scream, hold back by the walls.

“She’s inside.”

Hotch nodded: “Good enough for me.” He said, glancing at Morgan, who was getting ready to kick the door in.

Emily and Reid went to the left, the others splitting to the right or up the stairs. A chorus of ‘clear’ followed, until Emily heard your voice.

“Please,” Your voice was weak, afraid. “They’re already here, there’s nothing-” You yelped in surprise a soft sob following. Emily nodded at Reid and they turned the corner. The man they saw, Carl, was holding you, a knife pressing into your neck.

Your face was stained with tears, and while she knew she shouldn’t, Emily looked at you.

“Emily,” You said, a voice filled with relief, plead, fear.

“Put the knife down, Carl,” Emily said, having to tear her eyes away. He pulled you closer, a hand on your shoulder, holding you tightly. She saw blood welling from beneath the knife. You whimpered, trying to lean back as fresh tears rolled over your cheeks.

“There’s no need for anyone to get hurt more.” Spencer glanced at you, licking his lips before speaking. “You already ruined her,” He spoke, hoping that part of the profile was correct.

“She’s a sinner,” He said, not faltering. “It’s not right, it shouldn’t be-” He put the knife from your throat just a bit, getting carried away in his homophobic speech.

There was no way she could get a clear shot without risking hurting you.

“Alright,” Emily said, but before she could continue, you’d turned your head, teeth digging into his hand on your shoulder.

He screamed, dropping the knife in surprise. You pulled back, running for Emily as Carl grabbed for you, but Spencer shot him. Emily immediately opened her arms, crossing the few feet of distance and pulling you against her. You buried your face against her shoulder, another sob leaving you.

“Did he hurt you?” Emily asked, holding you close and tight, pressing her chin against your head. She was so angry, watched as medics came in to rush him away. You were with her, she told herself. She could feel your heart beating wildly, but you were alive. That, plus the fact that he would never have freedom again, took just a hint off her anger.

You nodded against her shoulder. “Just my head,” You whispered, your voice hoarse and strained. “I’m really sorry.” You said, pulling away enough to look in her eyes. Tears welled up again. You couldn’t seem to stop them.

“Hey,” She whispered, not loosening her grip on you. How could you even think that? “It’s not your fault,” One hand moved to your face, wiping a drop of blood from the corner of your mouth. “Medics should be outside.”

You nodded, managing a smile. “Do you have a mint?” You leaned against her as she helped you outside, your head was pounding, your midriff sore from the few hits you took.

Emily squeezed your waist softly, not wanting to hurt you. Despite it all, you still managed to cheer her up with a simple joke.“I’ll get you one.”

The team was waiting outside, Carl was already in the ambulance.

“I’ll go with her,” Emily said. You were clinging onto her jacket, but she was clinging to you just as much. She was almost scared to take her eyes off of you.

She held your hand as you were brought in the ambulance, and held your hand the entire way there, speaking softly to you. Despite the pain, and the situation you’d been in, you smiled, and as you did, so did Emily.

You were still alive, maybe a bit damaged, but you were still you, and strong. You’d survive this, and Emily was going to be there for you.

“She has a concussion and a few bruised ribs,” The doctor said. Derek said she only came out because if he didn’t, Emily would have paced a hole in the floor. “She needs a few days of rests, but she can go home in a few hours.”

Emily finally dared to let go of a deep breath of relief, one she had been holding for hours on end. “Thank you,” She said, closing her eyes. She wanted nothing more but to go to you, hold you hand, and tell you you were okay, that she was there. “Can I…” She trailed off, at which the doctor smiled.

“Of course.” Emily rushed in, JJ and Morgan, the only ones who had been able to come to the hospital, followed. She took a seat on the bed, and you grinned as she entered. You looked much better and calmer.

“Finally,” You huffed, faking annoyance pretty badly. “I told her I was feeling fine like ten times before she agreed to stop testing.”

Emily chuckled, taking your hand. Morgan took a seat, and JJ stood at the end of your bed.

“How are you feeling?” JJ asked, pretending not to notice Emily was holding onto you for dear life.

“Freaking great,” You said. “Everything hurts, but I have jello.”

“You were really brave,” Emily said, eyes on only you. She brushed her fingers through your hair. “How did you even think of biting him?”

“Only seemed fair,” You wanted to reach out for Emily, but didn’t dare to. You didn’t know if it was going to hurt, reaching up, or if she’d be comfortable with it.

Morgan seemed to pick up on what was going on, and stood up. “JJ, let’s grab something to drink.”

She raised an eyebrow, but after a few glances, she noticed, smiling along and leaving with him. Once they were out of sight, you tugged her hand lightly.

“Lay with me?” The bed was small, and although a bit uncomfortable for her, she managed.

“I’m sorry,” Emily said, because it was what she had wanted to say ever since she saw you. “I should have come pick you up, I should have noticed you not texting me-”

“Baby,” Your voice was soft, but she stopped talking, waiting for you to continue. “Don’t blame yourself. I might have a concussion, but I know this is anything but your fault. You found me.”

She was afraid to touch you, your skin unusually pale, bruises already forming on your cheek. She leaned over to kiss your nose, the only part she was fairly certain wouldn’t hurt you. You scrunched your nose up a bit, smiling sweetly at her.

“Please tell me you’re spending the next few days at my house. Or I in yours, I don’t care.”

“You won’t leave my sight, that’s a promise,”

“Sounds like a burden,” You moved to take her hand as she moved a bit closer.

“Do your lips hurt?” You raised an eyebrow, suddenly feeling a whole lot better.

“You know your team will know, right?”

“Did I ask?”

You smiled, wanting to shake you head, but deciding against it. Your brain was shaken enough already. “Kiss them better?”

Despite what you’d been through less than four hours ago, you were already back to smiling and making jokes. She knew that you’d have to deal with it eventually, but she also knew she’d be there. She could be there, always, because she leaned in to kiss you, even though she knew Morgan and JJ were watching them from the window, even though she knew there would be teasing, and her secret would be out. But it was okay, because you were safe and you needed her. And truth be told, she needed you, too.

#criminal minds imagine #criminal minds x reader #emily prentiss x reader #emily prentiss imagine #i actually... like this #who am i #also there will be a part two whoo #because we love trauma in this house

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katieurah · 4 years

Text

Screening Hearts (Part 6)

Alrighty, lovelies! Here it is. The last part! Enjoy the fluff!

........................................................

The rest of the week passed in a whirlwind of conference calls, meetings, paperwork, and pointless emails to “touch base” on things. Elide figured her boss just wanted to look competent at interpersonal skills. Before she was ready for it, Thursday morning dawned. She woke up that morning and went through a routine, taking comfort in everyday things that steadied her, grounded her, wrapping the only things she was sure of around herself like armor.

What if we can’t work together? What if he tries to talk to me again? I do not need a reason for my boss to think I’m not competent.

Thoughts and worries swirled around in Elide’s mind. She stopped by her favorite coffee shop before work, ordering an extra shot in her dirty chai that morning, a cheesey, buttery croissant to comfort herself. She hadn’t been able to forget the fact that he never apologized for asking her out. She cleared her mind of those thoughts and went to work.

She walked into the conference room, the first face-to-face meeting of the department heads and Whitethorn Security Services. She spotted Rowan listening to her boss ramble on. Man, he’s good, Elide thought, admiring the way he still looked like he was invested in what was being said. His only tell was the set of his jaw. She wondered how long until the muscles started jumping and his teeth started to grind.

Finding an empty seat, Elide startled as two giant arms swept around her shoulders.

“Ferys, I swear if you spill my coffee, I’ll hack every single account you have,” she threatened as the golden man pecked a kiss on her cheek.

“Oh, come on, El. I’d never waste good chai like that,” he teased back. He noticed her quirked eyebrow. “You’re a creature of habit. We all know that’s one of your favorites.”

Just then, Lorcan entered the room.

“As long as there’s plenty of vanilla and cinnamon and not too much cardamom,” Lorcan added. He looked unsure, as if saying those words would spark World War III.

“See, Elle-belle, we all know you,” Fenrys said with a wink. He added emphasis on the all part.

She glared at him through the corner of her eyes.He just smirked, settling in for the meeting.

Great. Everyone’s got an opinion.

…..

It took all of Lorcan’s concentration, but he managed to be flawlessly professional through the meeting, then that day as they broke out into their teams. Working with Elide went like a dream. She was so clever and you could just see how she loved using that brain to make services better. She thought out of the box, about how to make things easier for clients and customers.

We make a good team, he thought. Then immediately tamped down that line of thinking. Elide would come to him when she was ready, if she ever was. Meanwhile, he would be content with their working partnership. He had to be.

That line of thinking was challenged by lunch on Friday, though, much to his irritation. They were eating a catered lunch in the conference room and Rowan was showing off a video of Elspeth playing with Connall.

“Yeah, well we all know I’m the favorite uncle. She just knows Con’s a push over and will give herice cream,” Fenrys boasted.

“You? No way, pup. Ellie and Uncle Lorcan are best of friends,” Lorcan said, scoffing and puffing up his chest.

Just then, Elide walked in and rolled her eyes.

“Got something to say, Lochan?” asked Lorcan, a challenging and teasing tone coming through. His pulse quickened. Ellie and work were their only safe zones right now, but he still didn’t know if she’d let him tease her.

“We all know that I’m Ellie’s favorite, period. We even have a secret handshake now. Besides, we share names. It’s not like she can mess up saying ‘El,’” Elide sassed back. Then with a smirk, she added, “Isn’t that right, Wortie?”

Lorcan blushed furiously, but held his chin up high and pointed a finger. “I will allow that sweet, little princess to mess up my name as long as she pleases. It’s not her fault that two-year olds can’t do L very well. And, Fenrys, I swear to Hellas that she’s the only one who gets to call me that.”

“Hey! Why does everyone assume that I’ll do something? El calling me out over coffee yesterday and now you, Wortie? Rude!”

He barely missed the condiment packages flying at his head from multiple directions.

This, Lorcan thought, pleading to Anneith and Hellas both, this is what I missed. Please, let this last.

….

Elide’s chest tightened as they all bantered back and forth. She missed her friend. She missed their banter. She missed him. It made for a very long afternoon. It passed too slow and too fast at the same time. Before she knew it, computers were being turned off, systems powered down, security measures booted off.

She was shouldering her bag and grabbing her jacket to head to the door when Fenrys grabbed the handle and slipped his arm through hers.

“We’re going down to Maclearen’s for a drink. Join, yeah?”

“Who’s ‘we’?”

“Ro, Lorcan, me… Aelin’s joining us there,” Fen replied. He saw her hesitate and pulled out the bribery. “I’ll buy you the first round and give you a shoulder rub.”

“Deal. Who could say no to those hands?” Elide quipped back.

“Right? That’s what my dates always say at least.”

Elide threw her head back and cackled, letting him lead her outside. ….

The crowd at the pub was surprisingly thin for a Friday night. The group quickly found a table and ordered their first round of drinks. Aelin soon joined them, immediately pulling attention to a story of Elspeth’s latest escapades.

“Sorry I’m late. Ellie decided it was the most important thing in the world to discover what surfaces makeup looks best on and which colors are the best base.”

Rowan looked amused and horrified all at once. “She didn’t? And what’s her expert opinion?”

“Her favorite seems to be bright blue and green eyeshadow over cream texture walls in the den. Which is why I’m late and I need a drink.”

“Brand new Johnny Walker on the rocks, love,” Fenrys said, sliding his drink over to her. “It’s my second and I need a reason to go talk to that bartender up there. She didn’t laugh at my last joke, so obviously I need to convince her of quality humor.”

Aelin raised her glass. “Here’s to smarter-than-average bartenders who know better.”

Rowan and Lorcan snickered.

“I think I’ll go get a second round, too. I can play wingman and play witness to this disaster at the same time,” Rowan said, clapping Fenrys on the back, standing and dragging the protesting man up to the bar.

“I think I’ll join in on this,” Aelin said, eyes glittering. “Either of you need anything?”

Lorcan glanced down at his glass, more than half full still, then looked to Elide’s drink. The bottle was barely at half.

“I’m good,” he told Aelin, clearing his throat.

Aelin sauntered away, but then threw a glance over her shoulder at the two of them. She reached the bar, leaning on Rowan’s shoulder.

“What are you doing, Fireheart?”

“Moi? What ever are you talking about?” Aelin asked innocently. She batted her eyelashes for effect.

Fenrys snorted. “A, you are incorrigible. And scheming. You seriously gonna push them into talking?”

“If you haven’t noticed, neither one of them are drinking much and I swear they’re purposely not looking at each other. I’m just creating the moment for some conversation. Now, would you two shut up so I can spy in peace?”

...

Elide was a little surprised Lorcan wasn’t on his second drink yet. He wasn’t an alcoholic by any means, but he appreciated good liquor. He also was not a lightweight, so she couldn’t understand why he was still on his first bourbon. She said as much to him, no bite in her words, just curiosity.

“Seems like a better idea to go slow and light tonight,” he replied, huffing a laugh. “Apparently, I can be as stupid as the next guy when I’m in too deep.”

Elide studied him then. Before she could think of what she was saying, she blurted, “Salvaterre, how come you didn’t apologize for asking me out? You’ve said you were sorry for being drunk and high on benadryl, you’ve apologized for hurting me, for the words you said, for not paying attention. But, you’ve never apologized for asking me on a date. Why?”

“Because I’m not sorry for that. I always intended to ask you,” Lorcan replied, seriously. He frowned, hesitation crossing his brow. “Should I be sorry for it?”

Before she could reply, he rushed on. “You said something the other night, on the phone. You said you believed in me, believed that I’d make a good partner. Did you mean it?”

She looked up at his eyes, saw hesitation there. A vulnerability there that never came out. “Yes,” she breathed.

“In general?... Or, for you?”

“Can it be both?” she asked, a bite in her voice to cover up her nervousness. She drew herself up to her full height, faking a courage she didn’t feel. “Can’t I think that if you ever pulled your head out of your ass and let down your walls, you’d be great to some girl out there and she’d be the luckiest one alive? And is it a problem if I had wished that girl was me?”

She barely got the words out before his lips crashed into hers.

….

He moved before he thought it, had moved around the table and taken the seat next to her. As he pressed his lips to hers, his hand slipped around her neck, the other cupping her cheek. Too soon, he pulled back, resting his forehead against hers.

“And now?” He asked breathlessly, quietly.

Time had stopped. He waited for her reply.

“I want to say yes, because it’s the truth,” Elide whispered against his lips. “I want to tell you I still wish I was that girl. But if I do, I give you the power to hurt me again, to let me down again. And as much as I doubt you will, it scared the hell out of me.”

“I promise, Elide Lochan, to spend as much time as possible proving to you that I’m sorry and would never, ever, hurt you or let you down again. But I’m not stupid. I’m a man and I’m human. I probably will do dumb shit many more times. But I swear to never break your trust like that again. I will spend however long it takes proving it to you. And I’ll wait, Elide Lochan. I will let you be the one to decide the next step. Because I want you to feel safe with me, not scared.” The words left Lorcan in a rush, his face impossibly close to hers, his hands still on her neck and cheek, his eyes sincere and searching.

“Ask me on a date,” she said.

“What?” Lorcan asked, startled.

“Ask me on a date, Salvaterre.” “Go on a date with me, Lochan.”

“Now ask me to go home with you tonight.”

“So soon?” He teased, eyes sparkling. “Come home with me tonight, Lochan.”

“Now ask me to be yours.”

Lorcan swallowed hard. “Be mine, Elide Lochan.”

“I’ll think about it, Salvaterre. I mean, we haven’t been on that date or even-ahh!” Elide squealed as Lorcan stood up, pulling her up in his arms and crashed his mouth over hers again. His arms swept around her waist and he dipped her, right there in that pub.

“I’m yours, Lorcan Salvaterre,” Elide told him, her eyes sincere and open.

In the background, they heard Fenrys whistle, Rowan clap, and Aelin shout, “Told ya! Now pay up, Buzzard.”

“Let’s get out of here, yeah?” Lorcan asked.

“Please,” Elide said, laughing as they stood up. She slipped her hand through his, feeling safe and calm for the first time in weeks.

...............................................................

@nalgenewhore @hizqueen4life @whyyoumakemesadstahp @the-dark-swan

#and they were zoomates #elide lochan #elide x lorcan #lorcan salvaterre #elorcan #tog au #modern au

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hakuogakuen · 4 years

Text

Hakuouki SSL: Prologue

EDITED 7/31/20

Hello! Here is the translation for the SSL prologue. Primary translation is by yuugs, with proof reading done by shizuumi, kuririn, and dei-hime. Translation begins below the cut!

― May ―

Chizuru Yukimura: "The door and windows are locked..."

~ding dong~

Chizuru Yukimura: "Heisuke-kun, are you awake? It's almost time for school..."

"..."

"......”

FInally, the door opened.

Chizuru Yukimura: “Uh! Um... It's Yukimura. Hello? Heisuke-kun―"

Heisuke Toudou: "Sorry, Chizuru! Gimme five more minutes!!"

Chizuru Yukimura: "Oh... Heisuke-kun!? Geez..."

‘Five more minutes, huh...? There's still some time left, so I guess it should be fine...’

Chizuru Yukimura: "... It's already been five minutes...Is he still not ready? ...What now? Should I ring the intercom one more time...?"

Heisuke Toudou: "Morning! Also, sorry!"

Chizuru Yukimura: "Oh, Heisuke-kun! Morning!"

This is Heisuke Toudou-kun, my next-door neighbor. We attended the same high school, and walked there together when we can.

Despite being a junior, a grade above me, he hated me calling him ‘senpai,’ since we were childhood friends.

I'd counted on him since we were little, but he sometimes overslept or played video games all night, which could be a problem.

Heisuke Toudou: "We good for time? How bad's it look?

Chizuru Yukimura: "I think we might not make it...!"

Heisuke Toudou: "Seriously...? Okay, let's book it!"

Chizuru Yukimura: "Yeah!"

It was shaping up to be a bit of a busy morning, but we had to hurry―!!

Heisuke Toudou: "Dammit, if my alarm just rang properly, we'd have definitely made it on time!"

Chizuru Yukimura: "Heisuke-kun, you said that last time as well."

Heisuke Toudou: "M-My alarm's busted! I'll buy a new one next time!!"

???: "Sure is noisy this morning, huh?"

Chizuru Yukimura: "Ah..."

Souji Okita: "Morning, you two."

Chizuru Yukimura: "Good morning, Okita-senpai!"

This is Souji Okita-senpai, a junior. He was in the same class as Heisuke-kun, and we were pretty good friends. He could be a bit mischievous, and like to take pictures with his smartphone. Occasionally, he'd email me and I wouldn't know how to respond.That did bother me a bit.

Heisuke Toudou: "If Souji's here… then we're seriously late!"

Souji Okita: "Maybe... But it's not that bad. Not like the school's going anywhere anytime soon."

Heisuke Toudou: "It’s absolutely that bad! The gatekeeper of hell's waiting for us!"

Souji Okita: "Haha, you're exaggerating. No need to be so scared."

Chizuru Yukimura: "L-Let's hurry anyway! Okita-senpai, you should try and run!"

Souji Okita: "...Looks like I'll have to play along."

After that, we began running for our lives. Of course, tardiness was against the rules, but even with that, there was another reason we didn’t want to be lateー

Heisuke Toudou: "All right, and he's saaaaaaafe!!"

???: "Unfortunately, he's out."

Chizuru Yukimura: "Huh..."

Hajime Saitou: "Sorry, but as a part of the disciplinary committee, I can't make any exceptions. Not even for five seconds."

Kaoru Nagumo: "What he said. A shame, really. You ran so desperately just to make an own goal."

Chizuru Yukimura: "Kaoru...and Saitou-senpai...!"

...Yes, the reason we ran so frantically is because of the disciplinary committee.

This is Hajime Saitou-senpai , a junior. A serious and deeply earnest person, he was a feared member of the disciplinary committee. Heisuke-kun often called him 'inflexible', but he's tougher on himself than anyone else. I think he's a good person. Although he might not be the best with words, he was a good senior in my eyes.

This is Nagumo Kaoru, a sophomore, like me. He's actually my twin brother. Why our last names differed was a long story, but basically, we grew up separately when we were young. Initially, I was happy that we were going to the same school. But... Kaoru wasn’t the politest person ever. He would even disrespect our seniors without a second thought, and he always made me nervous…

Heisuke Toudou: "It was only five seconds! The gate isn't closed yet ―just let it slide!"

Kaoru Nagumo: "No. How would letting you go benefit us?"

Heisuke Toudou: "Maybe it wouldn't, but it's not like it'd hurt you either!"

Hajime Saitou: "Heisuke, this isn't open for discussion. The rules exist for a reason."

Souji Okita: "You heard him, Heisuke. Too bad."

Heisuke Toudou: "Souji, whose side are you on?!"

Chizuru Yukimura: "U-Um... Heisuke-kun. It's a fact we were late. We can't do much about that."

Heisuke Toudou: "But...!"

???: "Pipe down! What are you up to there!?"

Chizuru Yukimura: "Oh...!"

Toshizou Hijikata: "Saitou, Nagumo! It's time. Close the gate."

Hajime Saitou: "Yes, sir."

Kaoru Nagumo: "Hmph, that's a shame."

Toshizou Hijikata: "Heisuke, Souji, Yukimura! You three hurry up and head inside....Don't be any later than you already are."

Chizuru Yukimura: "Y-Yes, sir!"

This is Toshizou Hijikata. He was Heisuke's and Okita's homeroom teacher, and also taught classical literature. He was very harsh, but passionate about education. As well being the vice principal, it was said that he was a childhood friend of the principal, Kondou-sensei. He always looked tense. He had this prickly aura about him that kept people away.

Toshizou Hijikata: "I swear... You never learn. You're late every single day..."

(A flash lit up his face and a camera shutter noise sounded.)

Toshizou Hijikata: "W-What was that?"

Souji Okita: "Haha. The wrinkles in your face are even deeper than yesterday's."

Toshizou Hijikata: "Souji! You punk!!"

Souji Okita: "Would you like to compare yesterday's pic with today's? Here, take a look."

Toshizou Hijikata: "I don't need to! And don't take photos of people without their permission!"

...Seeing as everyone else was afraid of the vice principal, Okita might have be the only one who could banter with him like that... With that thought, we headed past the school gates.

――The private school, Hakuou Academy.

This school was an all-boys school up until this year. Thanks to the principal Isami Kondou-sensei and his efforts, the school became co-ed recently.

Somehow, I became the first female student at Hakuou Academy...

...And the only female student.

Of course, I was a little nervous when I learned that there were no other girls... But the people here were really nice, and I had always been good at getting along with others, so I was doing pretty well.

Chizuru Yukimura:"...Oh no! I have to get to class soon...!"

"Thank god, I made it in time..."

Ryuunosuke Ibuki: "Hm? It's not like you to show up at the last minute, Yukimura."

Chizuru Yukimura: "Oh, Ibuki-kun. Morning. This morning's been a bit much..."

This is Ryuunosuke Ibuki-kun, my classmate. He could be a bit blunt at times, but he was a kind person. He always had milk and red bean buns for lunch. When I asked him if he was eating enough, he would say that it couldn’t be helped, since he had no money… He complained about someone called Serizawa-san being rough and tyrannical to him. I wondered what his relation was to Ibuki-kun, exactly.

Ryuunosuke Ibuki: "The teacher's about to arrive. We ought to take our seats now."

Chizuru Yukimura: "Yeah, thanks, Ibuki-kun."

???: "Take your seats, you lot. Homeroom's about to start."

Chizuru Yukimura: "!"

While I hurried to sit down, Harada-sensei smiled at me from the front of the room.

Sanosuke Harada: "What's wrong, Yukimura? It's rare for you to be late."

Chizuru Yukimura: "Y-Yes... I'm sorry..."

This is Sanosuke Harada-sensei. He was my homeroom teacher, as well as the P.E. teacher. Friendly and open-hearted, all the students looked up to him as if he were their big brother. He used to go to the same Kendo dojo as Heisuke-kun and Nagakura-sensei, the math teacher. Even now, they all still seemed to be close.

Sanosuke Harada: "Well, I can imagine the reason why. You know, you can just ditch Heisuke if you think you'll be late."

Chizuru Yukimura: "Um, that's… I'll see what I can do about that..."

Sanosuke Harada: "Yeah, please do. Well, let's wrap this up quickly. Today's announcements are--"

I didn’t want to just leave Heisuke-kun behind... ‘I’ll try to figure out a way so I can pick him up earlier…’

Classmate A: "Phew, it's finally time for lunch."

Classmate B: "Yeah, I'm starving. Hey, Ibuki, you eating at the cafeteria?"

Ryuunosuke Ibuki: "If you treat me, I’ll go."

Classmate B: "No way!"

Ryuunosuke Ibuki: "Then don't ask. You know full well I'm low on money."

Classmate A: "U-Um, Yukimura-san, what about you? We can go together if that's cool―"

Chizuru Yukimura: "Me? Well...."

While it made me happy when my classmates invited me to have lunch with them…

Chizuru Yukimura: "I'm sorry… I already have plans. Maybe another time?"

Classmate A: "I-I see..."

I apologized once again and then headed to the cafeteria. At lunchtime, the cafeteria got so crowded, it was like a battlefield. It seems like things are ramping up with everyone on an empty stomach…

Heisuke Toudou: "Oh, hey, Chizuru! Over here, over here!"

Heisuke and Okita are waving at me.

‘I can't keep them waiting, I have to hurry...!’

Chizuru Yukimura: "Hm.... Should I get set meal A?”

I bought a ticket for set meal 'A' from the vending machine, and then joined the line.

Genzaburou Inoue: "Oh, Yukimura-kun. You came to the cafeteria today."

Chizuru Yukimura: "Inoue-san, hello!"

This is Genzaburou Inoue-san. He was in charge of cooking the meals for the cafeteria, and his food was always delicious. He was very kind and warm, and students affectionately called him the “Mother of Hakuou Academy”. In fact, rumor has it that he was quite a big-wig as well. But was it true, I wondered.

Genzaburou Inoue: "I’ll keep your portion on the smaller side. The boys’ portion could be a bit too much for you."

Chizuru Yukimura: "Thank you so much!"

His effortless consideration for others was one of his best traits, to me. I would have liked to take some cooking lessons from him one of these days, too...

Souji Okita: "You kept us waiting. Oh. You don't have much on your plate, as usual."

Chizuru Yukimura: "You think so?"

Heisuke Toudou: "Chizuru's a girl, so of course she'll have less, right? You don’t eat that much either, Souji."

Souji Okita: "And you eat a lot. For your size."

Heisuke Toudou: "That wasn't necessary!"

Chizuru Yukimura: "Hehe."

After a fun lunch, I parted ways with Heisuke-kun and Okita-senpai, and headed back for the classroom.

Shinpachi Nagakura: "Yo, Chizuru-chan!” Working hard today?"

Chizuru Yukimura: "Hello, Nagakura-sensei!"

This is Shinpachi Nagakura-sensei. He was a math teacher and a close friend of Harada-sensei's. Much to his dismay, he was often mistaken for a P.E. teacher, which was no surprise, since he always wore a jersey. He was hopeless with money management and often got in trouble with Hijikata-sensei because of that. But otherwise, he was a great teacher.

Shinpachi Nagakura: "Are you done with lunch already? If you wouldn't mind, I've a small favor to ask of you.”

Chizuru Yukimura: "Oh, yes! That's fine. What is it?"

Shinpachi Nagakura: "Sorry for the trouble. I just wanted you to deliver this to Sannan-san for me."

Chizuru Yukimura: "Sannan-sensei... So the infirmary?"

Shinpachi Nagakura: "Yeah. I've, uh...got some other things to take care of. Yeah."

Chizuru Yukimura: "I understand. I'll head there now!"

Shinpachi Nagakura: "Great. Thanks for the help!"

I headed off to the infirmary with the manila folder Nagakura-sensei gave me.

Chizuru Yukimura: "Excuse me."

Keisuke Sannan: "Oh...Yukimura-kun. Are you unwell?"

This is Sannan Keisuke-sensei, the school nurse. He was always calm, kind, and willing to lend a hand. Knowing that, it was strange how most students tried to avoid ever going to the infirmary...

Chizuru Yukimura: "No, I'm fine. Nagakura-sensei told me to hand this to you."

Keisuke Sannan: "Nagakura-sensei...?"

Keisuke Sannan: "Ahh...I see now. He didn't want to deliver it himself, so he used you instead."

Chizuru Yukimura: "Huh?"

Keisuke Sannan: "Heh... He actually missed the deadline for the submission of his documents, you see? I suppose he didn't want me getting angry with him. I'll have to have a word with him later… To think he sent you on a fool's errand when he could've done it himself."

Chizuru Yukimura: "Oh, no, it's really no trouble."

Susumu Yamazaki: "Excuse me. ...Oh."

Keisuke Sannan: "Oh? I see that I've got many visitors today. You're here too, Yamazaki-kun."

This is Yamazaki Susumu-senpai, a junior. He was in the same class as Saitou-senpai, and his homeroom teacher was Nagakura-sensei. As part of the Health Committee, he frequented the infirmary to help Sannan-sensei out with his work. Yamazaki-senpai was a very strait-laced person, who'd never slack off on any of his committee work.

Susumu Yamazaki: "Pardon me! I didn't mean to interrupt your conversation..."

Chizuru Yukimura: "Oh, no. It's alright! I've already finished up here."

Keisuke Sannan: "How cold of you. Are you implying that you've no business talking to me now that you've wrapped up here?"

Chizuru Yukimura: "Huh, wait― What!? N-No! That's not what I meant..."

Susumu Yamazaki: "...Sannan-sensei."

Keisuke Sannan: "I know, I know, Yamazaki-kun. I was only teasing."

Chizuru Yukimura: "Really...?"

Keisuke Sannan: "Heh. It was only a joke. Feel free to come by anytime, now. Of course you should visit when you're feeling ill, but do stop by if you have other concerns as well. I have some good medicine."

Susumu Yamazaki: "Sannan-sensei? But that's...!"

Keisuke Sannan: "Yamazaki-kun. Is there something you'd like to say...?"

Susumu Yamazaki: "...Nothing."

Chizuru Yukimura: "???"

The bell for afternoon classes rang just after I left the infirmary.

Chizuru Yukimura: "I'm already so sleepy..."

With my full stomach and the warm weather, I began to feel a bit drowsy. Thinking that, I returned to my classroom.

Then, as usual, I finished my afternoon classes...

It was time for homeroom again.

Sanosuke Harada: "...and that's all for today. Those in clubs ― give it all you’ve got. Those going home ― take care not to wander about too much."

Whole class: "Yeeessir."

Sanosuke Harada: "...Oh, right, Yukimura."

Chizuru Yukimura: "Yes?"

Sanosuke Harada: "I also told Heisuke. Don't be late tomorrow."

Chizuru Yukimura: "Y-Yes, sir...!"

Sanosuke Harada: "Hahaha, don't give me that face. I'm not really angry with you. Well then, see you tomorrow."

Chizuru Yukimura: "Right! Have a nice day."

I smiled and left the classroom.

Chizuru Yukimura: "Hm? What's going on.... What's all this commotion about?"

???: "Hey, hey, move it, bastards!"

???: "I'm so sorry, but if you could make way,please."

Chizuru Yukimura: "...That voice is..."

Chikage Kazama: "Hmph. For these nobodies to block my path... unforgivable. Those who dare defy yours truly, the eminent student council president, Chikage Kazama, must prepare to face the consequences."

Kyuuju Amagiri: "...Please understand this is to avoid further trouble, from what you can see here."

Kyou Shiranui: "It’d be less dull if some guys here had the guts to throw down with him though."

Chizuru Yukimura: "......!"

When I saw those three cut through the surging crowd, I thought to myself, 'Oh, no.' I really didn’t want to get caught, if I could avoid it. But as that crossed my mind...

Chikage Kazama: "Oh... You came to meet me yourself. What a praiseworthy sentiment, my betrothed."

Chizuru Yukimura: "Ack! It was a coincidence...!"

Kyuuju Amagiri: "Greetings, Yukimura-kun. ...You have my sympathies."

Chikage Kazama: "Amagiri. What do you mean by that?"

Kyou Shiranui: "The man said what he said. Ain't that right, Chizuru?"

Chizuru Yukimura: "Um......"

I was at a loss. I could only stand there in silence.

This is Chikage Kazama-senpai. He was a senior, and the student council president of Hakuou Academy. He was always accompanied by his attendants, Kyuuju Amagiri-senpai and Kyou Shiranui-senpai, and acted as if the whole world belongs to him.

And why, really, why did he want me to be his bride? He decided that completely on his own...

This is Kyuuju Amagiri-senpai, another senior who acted like Kazama-senpai's watchman of sorts. ...He didn’t look anything like a high school student. There’s really no other way to put it. But I'd decided not to worry about that. He was probably the only person able to put up with Kazama-senpai's recklessness with any amount of success.

And lastly, this is Kyou Shiranui-senpai. He was also a senior, like Amagiri-senpai, and always with Kazama-senpai. However, unlike Amagiri, he didn’t seem to really respect Kazama. He could be violent sometimes and a bit scary, but occasionally he could be quite kind too, according to his whim.

Chizuru Yukimura: "Um... Kazama-senpai. I've repeatedly asked you to not call me your wife, so please stop..."

Chikage Kazama: "Why?"

Chizuru Yukimura: "W-Why....? Because it's not true!!"

Chikage Kazama: "...I can't hear you. Amagiri, what is the girl saying?"

Kyuuju Amagiri: "......She said that she is currently undeserving of the honour of marrying you."

Chizuru Yukimura: "What?!"

Chikage Kazama: "Is that so. Such a commendable attitude; such humility is a virtue."

Chizuru Yukimura:: “But, th-that's not...!"

Kyou Shiranui: "Give it up. He doesn’t wanna hear it."

Chizuru Yukimura: "No way!"

Chikage Kazama: "Hm... Fine. I'll overlook this for today. But know this, Chizuru. Once I set my eyes on my prey, I never let it escape. I suggest you ready yourself by coming to a decision.”

Chizuru Yukimura: "Kazama-senpai! Wait...!”

Without listening to a word I said, he turned and left, along with Amagiri-senpai and Shiranui-senpai.

...As they were leaving, Amagiri-senpai bowed deeply to me.

Chizuru Yukimura: “I would rather that he deny it along with me, though...”

"Phew..."

Somehow, after that, a wave of exhaustion came over me, and I let out a sigh. At that moment…

Isami Kondou: "Hm? If it isn't Yukimura-kun. Are you heading home now?"

Chizuru Yukimura: "Kondou-sensei!"

This is Isami Kondou, the founder of Hakuouki Academy. He was always full of enthusiasm. Just watching him and his energy inspired me to do my best, too. His topknot hairstyle surprised me at first. But it seemed that he sports one as his own policy of sorts.

Isami Kondou: "Glad to see you're doing well. Have you had any issues lately?"

Chizuru Yukimura: "Thank you very much. Everyone's very kind and polite, so I'm doing well!"

Isami Kondou: "I see, I see, that's great! To think that you're the only girl among a sorry lot of guys."

Isami Kondou: "Even now, I think the admission interview was a bit crazy. I'm sorry about that."

Chizuru Yukimura: "Ahaha..."

As I remembered the Hakuou Academy entrance exam, a wry smile came to my face.

That was back in the winter of this year. I was at a loss for which school I should attend.

My friend, Osen-chan, suggested Shimabara Girls' High, which she was attending... It was an upper-class all-girls school, and I was worried about the formalities and expensive tuition fees.

Many other schools also interested me, and I just couldn't make up my mind.

Then, as I was trying to decide…

Heisuke Toudou: "Hey, Chizuru! Come to my school! Starting next year, they'll accept girls as well!"

Chizuru Yukimura: "Oh... Really?"

Heisuke Toudou: "Really! Go to the same school as me!"

At Heisuke-kun's suggestion, I began researching Hakuou Academy.

The tuition was pretty cheap, but more importantly, their educational ideals resonated deeply with me.

And so, I decided to take the entrance exam for Hakuou Academy.

It was difficult, but thanks to the work I put into revising, I managed to pass somehow. What I was most nervous about was actually the interview afterwards. What would they ask me? As my heart began to pound thinking that, the person I faced in the interview was…

Toshizou Hijikata: "...Chizuru Yukimura. Our academy will begin to admit girls for the first time next year. Depending on the situation, the number of girls may be considerably low. Could you focus on your studies in such an environment?"

Chizuru Yukimura: “...I may have fewer female friends, which might be lonely. But studying is bound to be the main priority for school, so I'll be fine."

Toshizou Hijikata: "...Why did you choose our school?"

Chizuru Yukimura: "Though this is embarrassing to admit… For one, the tuition is cheap. I don't want to burden my father,” I said. “Beyond that, a childhood friend of mine attends this school, and he told me this was a good place... And after looking into it, it seemed to me that this academy creates an environment that puts their students first... So now, I want to study here. That's what I truly think."

Toshizou Hijikata "...I see."

For some reason, Hijikata-sensei had kept silent for a while after that.

With his most serious expression yet, he had finally opened his mouth again, and asked me this:

Toshizou Hijikata: "...Last question. Can you recite our school's educational philosophy?"

Of course, I had responded immediately.

Chizuru Yukimura: "Yes! It's 'Sincerity'!"

Toshizou Hijikata: "......"

After that, I made it. I was able to pass the admissions process.

At the time, I would never have guessed I'd be the only girl in the school. That had me fairly worried at first.

Isami Kondou: "I can tell you now that Toshi was against accepting female students until the very last minute.” He continued, "Ah... How do I put it? Um, we're a school with a short history, even if we have noble ideals and whatnot... So, when the proposal to accept girls was raised, Toshi insisted it'd distract the current students and disrupt their discipline."

Chizuru Yukimura: "S-So that's what happened..."

Isami Kondou: "The compromise was that Toshi would interview candidates himself. And here you are ― the only girl who passed! But I am really sorry. You must have felt out of place. I wouldn't blame you for feeling nervous..."

Chizuru Yukimura: "Kondou-sensei... It's true that I did at first, but I'm alright now. And besides... Now that I'm enrolled here, I think it was one of the best decisions I've ever made!"

Isami Kondou: "R-Really...! Thank you!! There may be hard times along with the good ones… But I want you to be proud that you're a student Toshi himself accepted, and enjoy your time here. As the principal of this school, I'll be watching over you!"

Chizuru Yukimura: "Thank you so much!"

Mr. Kondou waved me off with a smile and, after waving back at him, I left the school.

Chizuru Yukimura: "I'm home...! ...Haah... It feels kind of lonely when nobody's home..."

My father, a doctor, was on a business trip to some remote island, and wouldn’t be coming home for a while.

Our family clinic was also closed. While I was used to it by then, I think I took it for granted that someone would welcome me home before.

Chizuru Yukimura: "Hm?"

‘I should probably reply as soon as I can.’

-----

Sub: About emails

Since we're in the same class and we're pretty much friends, I'll tell you something.

At the entrance ceremony, the school admins announced that they would contact us via email. Have you registered an address?

You're going to start receiving emails, but apparently you can only reply to them right on the spot when you receive them.

You'll be able to check your email history later, but you can't reply.

If you want to reply to a message, reply on the spot.

Well, even if the school contacts you, I'm sure it'll just be chatter from teachers and students anyway.

That's all I wanted to tell you.

-----

Chizuru Yukimura: "Huh?"

"It's Ibuki-kun again."

-----

Sub: Ryuunosuke Shop Grand Opening

My bad, I forgot I needed to tell you one more thing.

As you spend time at Hakuo Academy, you'll accumulate points from doing things like replying to emails or playing mini-games.

Now that my shop has opened, you can exchange those points for various goods at the shop.

There is a limit to the number of points you can have, so use them quickly.

There are also certain things that cannot be obtained until a certain time has passed, so come and look often.

I mean.

The operation of this shop is a matter of life or death for me.

I'm begging you!

Please exchange points!

-----

"Alright, I guess I'll take a look next time."

After I checked the email from Ibuki-kun, I put my phone on my desk and looked out the window.

Chizuru Yukimura: "...I have my friends and teachers. It'll be okay."

‘Tomorrow's gonna be a busy day. I'm sure I won't have time to feel lonely then.’

A place dear to my heart, where I could enjoy my everyday life.

My days at Private Hakuo Academy had only just begun――

#Hakuouki #Hakuoki #Hakuouki SSL #otome #fan translation #common route #prologue #updated

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