#anyways MORE ACTION NEXT CHAPTER HEHE
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Imperium 3: Chapter 5
Amor intra astra. (Love within the stars.)
TW // suicidal ideation.
Why are you so surprised? Did you really think my name was Mira even before humans arrived?
Starr shook his head. “N-No, not necessarily. We suppose it was just hard to believe you had any other name because of how prevalent it is in our lives.”
Yeah, no worries. I never said anything about it because I liked the name. Or, well, I liked it enough not to complain about it. Anyways, before humans named me Mira, before this planet even existed, my name was Aidoneus. I was what you would call…well, we never really gave ourselves a species name. We simply were, and that was enough. For your purposes, however, I was a being comprised entirely of ether. I could tell you all about the logistics of that, but for now, let me show you the form I usually took.
Starr’s vision went glossy as his mind shifted, the darkness taking on new form. He closed his eyes, finding that keeping them open only blurred the new image that had appeared. This was space, this was the stars and colorful cosmos that graced Mira’s skies at night, but blown into new proportions. Starr felt like he was floating, though he remained seated on the cold cavern ground. Out of the corner of his eye, a little ball of light floated in front of him, white in hue. There was a symbol in the middle of it, too, something akin to a spiked draconic tail, though Starr failed to get a better look at it before the cloud changed shape. Sprouting from the mass were a pair of arms, a pair of legs, a pair of intricately designed wings, two massive horns and pointed ears.
“It looks like when it fused with L’Cirufe. A little bit, anyways.”
The Disgrace commented quietly. Starr scowled, looking to his right, realizing that he was actually sitting next to him in this mindscape. He had to agree with the sentiment, however. It wasn’t hard to spot the inspiration Mira used - wait, no. Mira? Should Starr call it Aidoneus now? He supposed that was a question for the future, after he’d heard the full story.
With a full form realized, Aidoneus turned towards the Disgrace, towards Starr. Its eyes shifted, eerily similar to theirs in nature. Pupiless, colors swirling within them, a showcase of life beyond the surface. One moment they were like the Disgrace’s, indigo skies full of stars and shattered dreams, and in the next moment they were white and shiny like Mira’s, and in the next moment they were green then red then blue. The cosmos remained the same throughout it all, and in certain transitions, it was like Starr was looking through them, through Aidoneus’s body and straight through to the galaxy behind it. That feeling gave way to something he couldn’t quite describe, though he tried to find the right words. Not quite envy, not quite jealousy, not quite sadness. A tugging at his soul, perhaps, that this was the form Mira had always wanted to take, and by extension, Starr wanted the same thing. Just like how the Disgrace’s desires permeated through his being, though this felt more real to him, more connected. Was it because he wanted the same thing? To inhabit a body that was more natural, not forced upon him so quickly?
The cosmos broke apart beyond the Disgrace, and a second figure began to float towards Aidoneus. This one was more blue and green, bright and consistent, though in many ways their body resembled Aidoneus’s. Rings swirled around their temple, a star-shaped crest atop their forehead. Their limbs were long, with some disconnects between the joints filled with light and stardust. Aidoneus locked eyes with the newcomer, and something in its expression softened with memory, intertwined with Mira’s continued explanation.
For a long time, I explored the universe on my own. But there came a time where I stumbled across one of my own kind. A rare occurrence, you see, so I treasured this interaction for millenia to come. We had no need for names back then, so I did not know it for a long time. We simply talked in song, and it just…it felt right. Like we were always meant to meet, to travel with each other. To live out the rest of our days together.
Space jumped forward, rushing past all of the stars and constellations until a new silhouette appeared on the horizon. A planet, yes, it was a planet. It was far too dim to be a star, at least, though the surface burned bright with magma. The heat was enough to reach Starr, who bristled underneath its oppressive weight.
You see, our kind have a goal. A life purpose, if you will. As beings composed of the essence of life, we thought our ultimate goal would be to give life to a new planet. We had stumbled across a failed attempt at this. We could feel the remnants of one of our kind within this planet, so freshly formed. We had no idea what happened, but we could harbor a guess. We loved creating answers to impossible questions like that.
The two figures glanced at each other, downcast. Starr could feel it too, the knowledge that someone had failed, the knowledge that they had found a graveyard for someone’s broken dreams. To have come so far, yet come up so short…
I thought we would move on, after watching this burning planet for a few years. But…but she had an idea. Before I could stop her, she flew down to the planet…and she became it. Gave new life to it.
On cue, the second figure descended to the planet, losing her humanoid form along the way. She disappeared below its surface, and Aidoneus was alone again.
I think we were both surprised it worked, though she was so excited about it. She kept telling me her plans for this world, even gave it a name. She wanted me to call her by that name, but…but it did not feel right. That was the name of the planet, not her name. I told her that much, and she decided then and there that we would give each other a name. Something to call each other, something that we would never forget even when I had to move on. She called me Aidoneus. I had a hard time deciding, so I gave her two names. Persei. Kore. She liked them both.
The universe zoomed past them once more, with Aidoneus staying by Starr and the Disgrace. Another planet came into view, less fiery than the first. Aidoneus descended upon it in the same manner that Kore had flown to her planet. Like a timelapse, the surface of this planet became immediately familiar - this was Mira, the Mira that Starr loved.
There came a point where I had to move on. I had to fulfill the same goal, and I could not do it if I stayed. She wished me luck, and off I went. I eventually gave life to my own planet. Created thousands of species for it, from the tiniest dronefly to the largest millesaur. I even formed the F’lenla A’slegn, a race of humanoids that…that reminded me of her. Her ideal form. I was proud of myself, but I missed her. I missed her terribly.
Now, Starr saw Mira - Primordia. The city of NLA was gone, or rather, it hadn’t made its crash landing at this point in the timeline. Indigens wandered the landscape freely, unafraid of human interference in their daily lives. Aidoneus, in its non-humanoid form, floated above it all, and though it didn’t possess a face to communicate it, Starr could feel its longing, its pain, its sorrow.
For far too long, I was alone. I sought solace in the life I had given, but that was not enough. Even L’Cirufe was a temporary measure, an excuse to speak again with someone I wanted to consider a friend. But I was greedy. I hurt him. So I distanced myself again, until…
Then, Aidoneus tilted its form towards the sky, and there was the White Whale, the crash, the descent of NLA. Flames consumed the world with each bit of rubble that came tumbling down to the planet’s surface. Aidoneus backed up, unable to watch, yet Starr remained focused on the event that would lead to the Disgrace’s conception, the very thing that started it all.
Then, humans came. I could sense Kore’s ether on them, and at once, I knew why they were here. She was gone. Her children had found their way to me, through some twisted act of the divine. I could practically hear Persei’s voice, telling me to take care of them. And so, I was given a new excuse to take shape - though, you know what happens from there.
“You created me,” The Disgrace whispered, “You created me so you would have a way to join them. Take care of them.”
You were always meant to be a guide, but never one with this much self autonomy. I was supposed to inhabit your body, after all. And yet, I was too late, and humans tore into me. I…I felt betrayed, in a way. How could the children Persei created hurt me so badly? The more I thought about it, the more I began to wonder if this was what she wanted them to act like. To destroy everything they touched - destroy ME. I just…
“You were angry, and rightfully so,” Starr concluded, “But you should not fault yourself for how they acted. We doubt this was the will Kore wished to enact upon you.”
…I would have deserved it. For leaving her. Not being there for her.
At that confession, that descent into self depreciation, Starr found himself growing tense. The Disgrace looked down at his hands, unable to meet anyone’s gaze, and that pushed Starr to the very edge.
“You both created us to heal from your wounds,” He growled, his knuckles turning white the further he pushed his fingers into his palms, “If there is anything we have learned from our short existence, it is that your mistakes do not define you. You are allowed to heal, just as we have strived to do. It became our burden, forced upon us by both of you, to heal in your stead. Do not tell us that it was for nothing.”
Silence.
…Pongo?
The Disgrace finally looked up at Mira - Aidoneus - and there they were, the tears in the corners of his eyes. Starr stared daggers into his pathetic little form until he finally dared to speak. Even then, they were words Starr didn’t want to hear.
“So I was a failure in more ways than one. Maybe it would be better if I let you take control of this body completely, so I could just…”
“What the fuck is wrong with you?!” Starr screamed, standing up, towering over the Disgrace. He shriveled back in his spot, eyes widening at this outburst. “You coward, you absolute fucking coward, why are you so quick to deny this gift of life?! Why are you so quick to run and hide from the people you call your friends, your family?! Do you have any idea how much they miss you?! Look at us, look at Mira - Mira let you live. It never once tried to erase you, because guess what? MIRA LOVES YOU. MIRA LOVES WHO YOU BECAME. We exist purely because Mira could not bear to see you suffer, and you repay that kindness by saying you want to forfeit your right to exist?! You greedy, selfish, BASTARD!!”
Starr gasped, realizing that he’d used his voice to its fullest extent. The words burned in his throat, raspy and pained. The Disgrace was frozen to his spot, and Mira didn’t dare to utter a word. Instead, the image around them faded, and Starr was back in the cavern, heaving from how furious he’d become. Though he was physically alone again, Mira’s voice echoed through his mind, a reminder that he still had something to turn to.
You were not a mistake. I promise.
“Just tell me how you defeated Corvhesperikon and Syriahnydra.” Starr spat, sitting back down at the water’s edge. “That is why you told us about your past, no? Because Aidoneus was there to help defeat the two yggraliths?”
…I was there. I took the second form you saw, the one that was more humanoid…at least, for a while.
“What do you mean, a while? What happened?”
I weakened both yggraliths considerably in that ideal form, but it was not enough. I got desperate. I…I asked someone for a favor.
“Stop being vague. What did you do.”
…Did you really think that Froyoyo, an ordinary mortal Nopon, was able to slay two yggraliths on his own?
“Vanala was there,” Starr reasoned, frowning.
Vanala pitched in to make it possible. He agreed to the fusion, and our strength combined was enough to take them down.
“...You fused with a Nopon?” Despite the severity of the situation, Starr couldn’t help but chuckle at the mental image. It still left a variety of questions, ones that he knew he’d have to ask in order to understand better, but for now he took solace in his laughter, as subdued as it was.
Oh come on, I do not discriminate in the face of an apocalyptic event. Yes, I fused with Froyoyo. With the help of Vanala, we defeated both yggraliths. And when I left, Froyoyo had been…blessed, so to speak. I had left a small part of my ether within his body, not enough that he had access to any sort of powers, but enough that he never aged.
“You made Froyoyo immortal?!” Starr was shocked at this revelation, yet in the back of his mind, he knew it made sense. There was no way that The Tale of Two Gods, the story Froyoyo loved to recite to his littlepon every night before bed, had taken place during his lifespan. Corvhesperikon’s bones had even suggested that its body had rotted away over the course of centuries, though how could you accurately estimate a yggralith’s life cycle?
Well, yes, but…but he went into it thinking that he would die afterwards. You see, my kind are unable to fuse with organic creatures. It leaves us without any sense of self, and in the slim chance both the host and the entity survive, we would wander aimlessly looking for a way to end the pain. My fusion with Froyoyo was a last ditch effort. I cannot say for certain, but I believe Vanala was the one to successfully separate us and keep us whole. I was weakened for a very long time afterwards. I only got my strength back just in time to fuse with L’Cirufe to stop the war.
“You did not learn, did you?” Starr said, “L’Cirufe is an organic creature, too. What did that do to you?”
I think that is a story for another time.
Mira’s statement seemed final, a hard stop to Starr’s series of questions probing into its past. Starr wasn’t too bothered by the need to change topics; Mira’s fusion with L wasn’t relevant to their predicament in the present day.
“So how do we defeat Corvhesperikon now?” He asked, “Must you fuse with Froyoyo again?”
Well, no. Contradictory to your question before, I did learn, and I refuse to put him through that pain again. Vanala is too weak to go through with another healing ritual for him.
“Then who must you fuse w…with…” Starr trailed off. He knew the answer, didn’t he? The way to save everyone?
Despite being a fusion of myself and Pongo, your body is still entirely mechanical. Combined with the fact that you are comprised of miranium, my favored material, you would be the perfect host. Not organic, and not susceptible to the horrors Froyoyo and L’Cirufe had to endure.
Starr was quiet. It was the Disgrace’s self-sacrificing nature that began to speak for him, at first, the need to put himself in harm’s way to keep everyone else safe. Starr nearly agreed with that line of thought, especially since it would spare those around him from a gruesome fate. But at the same time, Mira’s memories began to resurface, dredged up from the depths of its mind, and Starr could see the monsters in the surface of the water. The thing Froyoyo had become, screaming and screeching as it hurled attack after brutal attack, almost mindless in nature. The twisted form L’Cirufe took, flying high above a wartorn planet, fires encasing the land as he smiled with sharpened fangs stained in blood - the blood of his people, the blood of the people Mira had painstakingly created. And then, there was…
There was Starr.
Not the Starr he was, no. The Starr that the Ganglion had transformed into a Telethia, the Starr that ravaged Cocytios in a blind rage. Was that rage really blind at all, or did he know the rage before Mira and the Disgrace fused? Did he know that this was his destiny? Would it be his destiny once more?
Saddened, burdened by everything he was and everything he was fated to be, Starr sniffled. He was allowed to cry, he knew that, but he was already so tired. Why, why did he have to be the answer? Why couldn’t he just live?
“...We save Vanala first.” Starr decided, lifting his mask to wipe his tears with his hands, “Then, if it will end things…if it means we can live in peace…”
I will make it quick.
“You better.” He sighed, standing himself up once more. “Thank you for telling us, though. At least now, we are assured that there is a means to -”
The walls suddenly shook as something crashed against the mountainside, a force powerful enough to nearly knock Starr back down to the ground. He managed to maintain his balance just as an earsplitting screech echoed throughout the cavern, forcing his hands to his ears to block out the sound. When it finally resided, he looked up to the ceiling, and he felt his heart sink to the bottom of his stomach.
Their time was up.
#xenoblade x#Imperium 3: Chapter 5#mmmmm delicious juicy mira lore#special shoutout to lune for the ether entity lore#that was very helpful and definitely doesn't have any implications for Mira's sanity :3#anyways MORE ACTION NEXT CHAPTER HEHE
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all i know | shuri udaku.
ƸӜƷ
starboy set : chapter sixteen
pairing — tutor player!shuri x partygirl!y/n
trope — friends 2 lovers
inspo — all i know by the weeknd
warnings — reader is a vivacious party girl but shuri makes her shy, flirty!reader, mentions of alcohol, wakandan technology, cocky!shuri, confident!shuri, reader is wary of shur’s advances bc of her track record (she’s been heartbroken before yall be nice), lots of eye-rolling, fingering (reader receiving), possessive!shuri but in a subtle ‘show u off’ way, confident!reader, sub!reader, soft dom!shuri, handsy!shuri, dirty talk like.. i was blushing, semi-mean!shuri, again love, tribbing, kissing, lots of neck action from shuri, noisy!reader, panther!shuri, silent confessions, riri n monet r dating, and reader cries (lol she lowkey always does).
a/n — girl i went through the five stages of grief writing this shit, not even bc of the work, but bc of my fucking eighth house (why do that shit always gotta try be my downfall???) so my bad if it's not up to my usual standard, anyway heres the second installment hehe ! <3
⟢˚ @mbakuetshurisprincess @inmyheadimobsessed @letitias-fav @barkbarkbo @shurismainbxtch @verachii @rxcently @shuriszn @lppriceisright @heartsforjojo @motheroffae @naomis-daydream @vampzxi @nrc16783 @msplayas @marsolgy @mysticalmarss @playhousedistee @abenomeiiii @ma4erickk @ogbells16 @6-noir @laurensmabel1 @vexoshuri @saintwrld @ilovelulu @sookiesookie @ziayamikaelson
ஜ
the reasons i can't have you, are so easy to fix, i didn't really plan to, but i’mma do it for this.
the symbols on the page are blurring into one as you try to actively recall what you had just learned, your eyes squinting as you bring your hands up in front of your face, flexing and relaxing them before you as if you could snatch the answer from the air. the word is on the tip of your tongue, and regardless of how patient the girl next to you seemed, your leg began to bounce rapidly, the anxiety pushing the term to slip further and further away from you.
you jump when her warm palm lands on your bouncing muscle, stilling the movement before sliding up the pleated material of your loose lounge pants, squeezing lightly, just as equally soft and warm words are being muttered to you, “calm down, y/n/n, you got it, love.”
“anisotropic?”
your voice is hesitant and soft as you chance her an unsure glance, sitting up straighter when she throws you a proud smile, and her hand lifts from your thigh to offer you a high five. the gesture makes you feel silly as you return it but the heat in your cheeks is a prime indicator of how much you enjoy the act.
“smart girl.”
her voice is low and fond as she catches your eyes in her intense gaze, your mouth parting ever so slightly when you hear the conviction in her words, the heat in your body yearning for more, more of her praise. you snap out of your reverie when you see her pretty lips twitch into a smirk, her face seemingly closer than before, so close that it forces you to clear your throat and snap your attention to your belongings, quickly gathering your textbooks as you register the time.
shuri let’s out a faint chuckle at your flustered appearance, leaning back in her chair as she watches you grab your cute shoulder bag, your scent trail wafting into her senses as you rush to stand, the divine smell making her sink her teeth into her bottom lip as she slides her eyes up your figure, her heady gaze meeting yours; watching her shamelessly trail her eyes over you.
the hesitation in taking your leave causes shuri’s smirk to widen; standing to her feet, she steps towards you, and then her hands reach for your own to gently pull you towards her, guiding your arms around her neck as she drops her face against your neck. she lets out a relaxed exhale as she slowly slides her arms around your bare waist, feeling you jump at the purposeful touch before her wandering hands settle dangerously low on your back.
“such a smart girl, huh baby? did so well for me today.”
the words evoke a filthy lick of heat between your legs, and it’s followed by a flash of shame that just serves to make you burn up even more, and your hands flex against her neck as you roll your lips to stifle an embarrassing noise. shuri skims her nose lightly down the side of your neck, waking goosebumps in her journey, inhaling deeply before she pulls away to look into your eyes, her mouth dropping into a lazy grin as she speaks, “you always smell so good.”
the compliment always makes you bashful, so you clear your throat and avert your gaze on an embarrassed giggle that comes out breathier than you would like, your eyes rolling playfully as you step away from her, gaining some of your confidence back now that you’re out of her reach.
“you tell that to all your pretty girls?”
the words are said lightly, and you internally applaud yourself for not allowing the bitter jealousy to seep into your playful jab. shuri rolls her eyes back at you, her signature smirk placing itself back on those insufferably pretty lips when she shakes her head at you, but her gaze remains dark, a contemplative look ghosting through before it’s washed away by the prior intensity.
“you coming to my party tomorrow night, love?” she’s pulling on her bottom lip as she pins you with her gaze, regarding you with unadulterated heat that forces you to look away, choosing to needlessly smooth down your outfit as you speak, “i don’t know, shuri. i’ll have to see if monet is coming.”
the response makes shuri snort before she’s muttering a slick comment about finding it hard to believe that ‘superstar stunner y/n is passing up an opportunity to get turnt’. the words make you giggle as you roll your eyes, starting to walk away from the captivating girl as you melodically sing the words out.
“goodbye shuri udaku.”
there are dopey smiles on both your faces when you spin on your heel to walk out of the library, the girl’s eyes never leaving your figure and she shakes her head fondly when you’re out of her sight. the smile on her lips quickly morphs into one of reflection, her head dropping to her belongings resting on the desk as she allows her thoughts to roam; bast, she wanted you and seriously, but she also understands that you’re wary because of the stigma surrounding her especially given how much you’ve been hurt in the past.
she sighs softly as she gathers her stuff before feeling the vibration of the device, she obtained purely to communicate with the people who weren’t of her nation, more specifically you (and her close friend riri; seeing how those were about the only two contacts she had saved). she heavily throws her bag over her shoulder, the kimoyo beads rattling around her wrist as she digs into her pocket to lift the screen into her view, her light scoff flowing into a fond chuckle as she reads the text, the smile on her lips blinding to her admirers.
‘i’ll be there.’
⤠
you shut your laptop with a deep exhale of exhaustion, rolling your shoulders as you quickly pack it up when you spot monet happily strutting towards you. the smile that graces your lips is soft but relieved as you stand to hug her before turning to lift your bag onto your shoulder.
“hey, babe, was starting to think that art professor of yours held you captive, again, before i clocked you strutting your shit.”
your best friend laughs and rolls her eyes, shifting the roll of paper under her arm so she can lightly push on your shoulder with a giggle, muttering about how you ‘need to drop that modeling shit.’ the soft smile on her face makes you smile too, your mouth parting to retort but quickly shutting again when hands place themselves on your shoulders, squeezing before sliding down your arms to wrap around your waist.
the action makes you jump before you relax when the familiar head of curls drops against your shoulder, her warm lips brushing against your skin as she hums into your skin, and your ring-clad fingers are instinctually curling around her wrists, her hands pressing against your stomach to pull you against her front. she holds your there firmly for a second before her words are wafting around you, brushing past your heated skin, and breaking the comfortable atmosphere.
“mm, baby, hey.”
her voice is raspy, sounding like she just woke up and although it sends warmth through your figure, it also worries you enough to gently squeeze her wrists and turn in her grip, adjusting your bag on your shoulder when her head lifts off it to meet your eyes. your mouth pouts slightly when you see the bags under her deep brown eyes, you lift your hands to her face and place them gently on her cheeks, your thumb stroking the soft skin under her eyes, “have you been sleeping okay, babe?”
the tenderness in your voice makes shuri’s eyes flutter, a deep wave of satisfaction washing over her senses, making her tense shoulders relax as she allows herself to soften in your hold. the hum she lets out in response to your question is low and drawn out, and her hands flex on your waist as she kneads the warm skin to ground herself.
“yeah, just needed some grounding, love, already feeling better.”
her words make your jaw drop slightly, your thumbs stilling but before you can move your hands, she’s lifting one of her own to gently hold your wrist, pulling her face back from you as she slowly turns her head to plant a lingering peck on the palm of your hand and it makes your breath hitch. a smirk creeps onto her mouth as she steps back from you, your hands flinching back to your sides as if they just got burnt, and you’re clearing your throat as you push the words from your throat.
“i’m glad you’re feeling better… you shouldn’t- shouldn’t work yourself so hard.”
you try to sound nonchalant, but the scolding comes out too sincere, too loving, and it makes you quickly spin around to interlock arms with monet, ignoring the wandering gazes around you, including the dark gaze that’s burning into your skin. you hear shuri throw your friend a delighted greeting, the girl on your arm throwing back an equally amused one as you pull her away with you.
and there’s several beats of silence as you make your way to monet’s off campus apartment.
“girl.”
her voice is drawn out and she’s bursting out a laugh as you viciously cut her off, voice undeniably flustered, squeezing her arm with yours in a playful jest.
“shut the fuck up, monet.”
“hello, y/n/n, nigga we’re here.”
monet’s voice breaks through your memory, your eyes snapping to see that you’ve pulled up to shuri’s building, and a sheepish smile takes over your face when you realise you were zoned out the whole drive. the thud of your heels echoes through the covered parking, monet walking beside you as you two laugh and let the warmth of the pre-shots you took flow through your bodies, dealing with reception before heading to the lobby.
when the elevator closes, you’re pressing the button to the penthouse, just as shuri had let you know to do, quickly punching in the four-digit code that she was sure to change after tonight. the ping of the door makes you sigh in relief, having never done well in elevators, evident in the vertigo that overtakes your body, not at all assisted by the deafening bass reverberating through the huge room you’ve stepped into.
you blink, the vibrations of music calling forward the altar of yourself that earned you the nickname shuri had called you earlier, your intense love for music already tempting the comfortable movement of your limbs as you make your way through the crowd, throwing several greetings back at familiar and unfamiliar faces.
a cheeky smile graces your lips when monet drops your hand upon arriving at the bar, her arms throwing themselves around the shorter girl’s, one that you’re quite familiar with, shoulders. when they pull apart, riri is playfully shoving your arm, “no greeting? you finally letting that popularity shit get to your head?”
the roll of your eyes is quick, a sarcastic laugh falling from your lips when you step forward to hug her, dropping firm thuds on her upper back before pulling away, a laugh escaping you and monet when you see her cough dramatically at your aggressiveness, “damn, y/n/n, bae, i was just playing. ma, you seeing this?”
monet rolls her eyes at the question before dropping a kiss on the pouting girl’s cheek, turning to order a drink at the bar, making you hum when she orders your favourite too. you take to skimming your eyes over the crowd as you wait, a smile pulling at your lips when you observe how much fun everyone seems to be having, an itch presenting itself beneath your skin, one that urges you to join them.
before you can doubt yourself, your legs are moving, unconsciously finding your way to the centre as you dance with people along the way, still throwing flirty smiles and fleeting touches even when you don’t allow yourself to stay in one place for too long. your body is moving sensually to the track pounding through the open space, but you’re languidly bringing yourself to pause when you make eye contact with a girl, long locs draping down her back, as she prompts you to match her energy.
a smirk crosses your lips, turning your body to face her when you relay the suggestive lyrics back to her, seeing a challenge in them that makes you reckless, and stepping into her space, you let the beat guide your hips seductively. you're dropping your manicured hand to her waist to guide her to lower with you, her hand placing itself on your shoulder to steady herself as your glossy lips wrap teasingly around the words when you level her gaze.
“pussy so good had to save that shit for later.” your smirk widens as the pretty girl before you, averts her gaze, her hand tightening its grip on your bare shoulder as you continue to teasingly mouth the explicit lyrics to her, gazing deeply at her, like they were written for her by you. your nails lightly dig into her waist to bring her eyes back to yours, head tilting teasingly as you raise your eyebrow; you wanted this.
“i’m tryna make these bitches wet, i’m tryna keep that pussy wet. i’m tryna fuck her and her friends.”
the people around you whistle obnoxiously, hollering at the erotic sight as both your bent knees lower to the ground before falling between the others as you taunt the crowd with a show. the flashing lights are blinding when you throw your head back to bask in the attention before you’re letting out a giggle as the track fades into another.
using the fading melody, you guide her to rise, still whining, as you bring your lips to her ear, gently squeezing her skin as you note how sweet she smells, like roses. when you speak the words to ease her clear timidness, your voice is low, playful, and seductive, letting her know you were teasing her.
“relax, pretty girl, i had fun; you’re a natural.”
when you pull away from the girl and see her bashful smile, her shyness washing away as she offers you a word of gratitude, you can't help but smile back, turning to make your way back to the bar for your drink, shooting her a sultry wink over your shoulder. your eyes passing over faces as you walk, laughing off the compliments on your way there, hoping to catch the gaze of the girl you have yet to see tonight, defeatedly stepping in front of the counter when you don’t see her anywhere.
you sigh as you place your hands on the cold marble, riri and monet nowhere to be seen as well, you roll your eyes just as a shadow looms over you from behind the bar, your lips parting to kindly relay your usual order but you’re quickly shut up when a familiar tattooed hand slides the dark pink drink into your view.
“strawberry daiquiri; frozen, made with extra strawberries and white rum, right?”
your head snaps up so quickly that the room spins for a second, the ginger curls messily falling in front of your face as you trail your eyes past her pretty lips and connect with the deep brown eyes you’ve been aching to see all night. your lips part when you register that she’s the bartender tonight, wracking your memory for images of her; was she here when you came to greet riri?
“missed me so much that you forgot how to talk to me, princess?”
you pull yourself out of your daze and send her a dirty look at the snarky remark as you reach for the drink, her elbows on the counter as she watches you wrap your lips around the straw, gaze darkening as she watches you take a sip. your eyes light up in delight as you look down at the glass, your eyes snapping to hers in shock, “shuri, that’s so fucking good, what the fuck, since when can you mix?”
the praise and absolute delight coating your words, makes the girl’s ego skyrocket, her eyes squinting in fake concentration as she slides her tongue over her lips before speaking, her fingers pulling at her smirk when she speaks lowly in response, “i dabble, baby, if you had come to my parties before, you would know that.”
your eyes roll, lifting the drink so you can run your gaze over the crowd moving within the sunken living area to avoid her eyes, her dark gaze on you made the heat rise unbearably within you, licking at the pit of your stomach. your eyes widen slightly when you realise you have a perfect view of where you were previously dancing.
the elevated platform would mean that she’d seen you, seen you drop low with that girl with your hands on her heated skin, your eyes squeeze shut in embarrassment, and you jump when she wraps a warm arm around your waist.
“almost broke that pretty girl giving everyone a show, baby.”
she murmurs the words into your ear, squeezing your waist as she skims her lips across your heated skin, and you tighten your hold on the glass of your drink as you feel the heat emanating from her body. she lets the amusement continue to flow through the crevices of her sentences, as she coos at you, “i know my pretty girl thrives on attention, you just wanted to give them a show to remember, hm?”
she’s sliding her warm palm up and down the bare skin of your waist before kneading the softness, her words making your breath hitch and you feel your panties soak even more at her raspy voice. she hums before darting her tongue out to swipe against the pulse in your neck, closing her lips around the tendon before pulling away to reward the irritated skin with a chaste peck, her next words delightfully shocking you.
“gifting everyone here a dirty little visual for when they have to imagine you late at night to get off because you and i, both know that they know, that it’s the closest they’ll ever get to having a taste of you. right, s’thandwa sam’?"
the gasp you let out is uncontrolled, your chest rising as you breathe deeply, and your thighs are clenching tightly as if the flood of wetness that soaks your panties was actively sliding down your legs for everyone to see. your free hand shoots out to grab shuri’s vacant arm, her arm that was around your waist raising to grab your drink to place it behind the bar counter before sliding to your hip to pull your back against her front and you find your hips subtly pushing back into her as she grunts.
“are you finally going to let me have you, pretty girl?”
you don’t even feel yourself finish your nod before shuri is grabbing your hand and pulling you toward what you guess is her bedroom, walking to the opposite side of her huge apartment and leading you to stairs that are not directly visible from the main party area.
when she interlaces your fingers at the landing of the ambiently lit stairs, you finally get the chance to look at her and your throat dries when you trail your eyes over her outfit, finally getting to see her in all her glory now that she’s not bent over the counter, eyes blinking dumbly when they linger on her exposed stomach, just to widen at the glint of jewellery sitting pretty in her belly button.
your mouth parts when you hear her chuckle, her hand firmly pulling on yours to guide you up the stairs and you let her, too dazed to register anything beyond your sheer desperation, and when you reach the top, she leads you through a short foyer and passed the only two doors you can see, instead bringing you to a black wall that gives the illusion of being right at the edge of her living space.
when she lifts her hand to the seamless wall, your confusion warps into unfiltered fascination as she waves her hand in a small arch motion over what you register as an engraved panther paw, only visible now at the short distance you stand from it. the mark glows a soft purple before shooting a sleek line of purple light in the shape of a door along the still seamless wall.
the paw morphs into a sand-like material, as it enlarges to about human size; shuri inhales before placing her palm against the ‘animal’s’, like it was a mirror of herself. you don’t allow yourself to blink when the sand shifts back into the wall before the same spot shifts to form a handle, making you gasp, as shuri uses it to push the glowing purple outline open.
the door snaps shut behind you, clicking as it shuts, becoming as seamless as it was before and your jaw drops as you take in the design of her room, the architect in you absolutely losing her mind at the sheer beauty of the room. you drop her hand as you admire the space, and shuri is merely watching you fondly as you take in the space, the sacred dwelling she’s only ever allowed you to enter.
you tense when you feel her hands slide up your waist, dropping one to slide her palm against your tense stomach as the other rises to flick your hair over your shoulder, bringing her lips to lay an open-mouthed kiss on the underside of your jaw, a shiver wrecks your body at the low tone of her voice, “relax for me, my love.”
the clench of your legs at the term of endearment is instant, your knees sliding together when her blunt nails scratch against the softness of your stomach, her hands sliding down to your hips briefly playing with the gems on your hips before gliding across your stomach to run along the hem of your pants.
your head lulls back onto her shoulder as you shut your eyes to avoid the erotic sight of her hands on you, she lets out a brief chuckle as you whine, pressing back into her despite your next words, “shuri, we can’t…”
your hands flex at your sides, aching to reach out for her when her breath brushes the skin of your exposed neck as she speaks, “shh, s’thandwa, just wanna feel my pretty girl.” you whine at her words, nodding several times but she simply pauses. “i’m not going to touch you unless you talk to me, sweet girl.”
“please, please touch me, shuri.”
she grunts at the desperation in your voice, lightly skimming your skin once more before she’s slipping her hand beneath the hem of your pants and brushing past the pool in your panties, letting out a groan at the wetness and warmth radiating from between your legs. her free arm slips around your waist to hold your hips against her when you buck into her hands at her touch, a moan slipping past your parted lips.
shuri’s fingers glide along your slit, pressing against your clit as she sinks her teeth into your pulse point, the actions making you moan loudly as your stomach tightens, her lithe fingers circle your bud, and the breathy sounds you’re letting out are affecting her more than she thought they would, her fingers increasing their pace as she breathes you in.
“want to feel you, shuri, please, please.”
the words are pleaded to the taller girl, your hand coming to grasp her wrist as her fingers slide down to circle your entrance, the soft silk of your panties slightly presses into your opening making you squeeze your thighs shut at the overwhelming touch, a sharp gasp cutting through the heated atmosphere.
the girl behind you hums before brushing past the hem of your underwear letting out a breathy sigh at the bare warmth of your pulsing pussy, her fingers slide down to circle your clenching entrance before slipping into you, and the intrusion provokes a gasp from you, your head shooting up as you tense around her.
“bast, baby, dreamt about this perfect pussy.”
her words are rough, straining in her throat as she drags her finger through your soft walls, sucking an array of marks onto the arch of your neck, digging her teeth into your skin as she claims you, claims her pretty girl. the sounds spill from you heavily, the fog in your mind increasing as you force your gaze to look at her shifting hand beneath your pants, your legs clench tightly as your free hand shoots out to grab her free wrist.
and shuri breathes a chuckle into your ear, lifting her head from your neck, before she’s bringing her other hand to slip into your pants as well, the digits circling your neglected clit as she plants a kiss against your temple at the way you cry out, her lips meaning to soothe you.
“are you going to come for me, love?”
you can’t respond verbally, your hips canting against her merciless hands as you near your sweet release, your mouth dropped open in bliss as dirty cries escape you, your eyes shutting tightly when she speaks to you.
“come on, s’thandwa, tell me how much you love feeling me on you.”
“love it, love it so much, i’m gonna come, please, please shuri.”
the words make shuri ache, the purr in her chest rumbling salaciously as she watches you fall apart for her so prettily, your hips frantically chasing your release, and she digs her teeth into her lip when she feels the heat between her legs pulse when your pussy clenches violently around her fingers, the sticky wetness pooling from your warm cavern as she drags out your orgasm, humming in satisfaction.
“my good girl, coming so pretty for me.”
the praise makes your head hazy, a whimper spilling from your lips when her fingers slide out of you, her soft lips pressing against your temple as she guides you to her bed, and she's fixing her eyes on you when the back of your knees hit her mattress. her hands lift to your lips, and you don’t even have to be told to part your lips, moaning at the dirty act of cleaning her off, your lashes fluttering at the grunt shuri lets out at the sight.
“messy baby.”
her words are fond as she pulls her fingers from your mouth with a wet pop, gently guiding you to lay on her bed as she wraps her arm under your lower back, shifting you higher on her bed before leaning to your face to skim her lips against your cheekbone. your hands dig into her shoulders as you scrape your nails under the tiny top she has on, your nails sliding down to lightly scratch against her nipples.
the sound she lets out has your legs clenching around her waist, the breathy moan on repeat in your cloudy mind and it causes another pool in your panties. shuri pulls away from you before you can touch her again, sliding off your heels, pants, and underwear; your knees bending to maintain your modesty when you catch her eyes gazing at the clenching of your bare, aching, and soaking wet cunt.
she licks her lips before she’s lifting to your face, breathing your air as she skims her lips across yours, pausing and you know she wants you to take it, so you lift slightly to press your lips against hers, whimpering into the plush of her mouth as she groans, sliding passionately against you. her hands curl around your thighs to spread you open for her, humming out praises as you let her, feeling yourself slip into the blanket of security she wraps you in.
“wanna feel you on me, s'thandwa, can i?”
her words are whispered into your heaving mouth, her hands tightening their hold on your thighs when the thought makes you clench and buck against her, your throat forcing the words out, breathing the pleads into her lips and she sighs, dropping a peck on your swollen lips before she rises to stand.
your hazy gaze is stuck on hers as she reaches for the button of her pants, swiftly unbuttoning them to slide the baggy material down her long legs, the strong muscles tensing under your lustful gaze, and she makes quick work of her underwear; the black lace making you clench as your pussy lets out another wave of wetness in response to the visual.
her rough hands slide up your spread thighs as she shifts on the soft silky sheets, she gently pushes your thigh to lay flat on the bed, her hand curling under the knee of your other leg, and your tongue slips out to lick your drying lips as you take in the sight, your nails digging into the sheets as she positions herself over you.
when her warmth slightly brushes against your own in her movement, your hips buck up into her, the harsh slide of your cunts against each other drawing out a filthy whimper from you, shuri’s hand tightening around your limb as she breathily moans out; you were so soft against her.
“uh-uh we go at my pace, baby, be good for me.”
her voice is breathy, flowing through your ears like the brown honey of pleasure weighing your body down, pumping through your veins with the promise of never leaving as long as you were with her. when she finally lets your aching pussies touch, your whimpers are wet and desperate as you nod at her words, barely thinking as the intimacy of feeling her against you makes you want to cry out to the heavens to rain down on the drying earth, so you can laugh when the aid doesn't compare to the redemption shuri provides your blistering soul.
and the first slide against you is slow and purposeful, the movement followed by shuri’s deep groan as your head falls back into the sheets and pillows beneath you. your hands vibrating from the sheer grip you had on the soft material, your mouth dropping open in a silent moan as her hips snap against you, the feeling so dizzying that your lungs were aching from the lack of oxygen.
when she leans towards your face, her pace is increasing as she viciously tears you apart, fiddling with your body like you were made for her, crafted out of every subconscious desire her being could possibly conjure. her voice is soft and cooing, in heavy contrast to the rough and hard slide of her against your pussy, as she presses the words into your skin.
“breathe for me, my love. that’s it, baby, feels too good for you to use that pretty little mind, huh?”
the deep gasp of air hurts as it burns through your lungs, your body trembling beneath her when you open your eyes to look at her, and the tears clinging to your lashes making you feel pathetic as she brings her lips to hover over yours. heavy breaths are exchanged between the both of you, the coolness of her belly ring adding to the tremble in your limbs.
“feels so good, your pussy feels so good on mine, shuri.”
your words are thoughtlessly cried into her mouth as your chest heaves, the high pitch of your cries melting into the heated air, shuri’s deep moan trailing along the sound as her hips stutter before they pick up a desperate pace, desperate to get you both to your release.
“yeah, s’thandwa? then give her your come, baby.”
the words make the tears trail down your cheeks, your hips uncontrollably grinding with her rhythm as your lips tremble around your sob, the intensity of your orgasm making your walls ache as they clench around emptiness, shuri groaning loudly when she feels the easy glide your release provides.
“fuck, i’m gonna come for you, love. wanna drip right onto my pretty girl, yeah?”
her words are breathed into your mouth, the sobs leaving your pretty lips make shuri feel dizzy, her hips focusing on her own release as you twitch against her in overstimulation, a dirty whimper falling from your lips as you flinch away from the intense pleasure. her hand digs itself into your hip to pull you back to her, the idea of you feeling so good, you run from her, makes the panther insatiable, the clench of her heart tightening in pathetic desperation, the wild predator feeling like prey at your mercy.
“shh, you can take it, angel, tell me you want it.”
“want it, want your come in my pussy, shuri, please, need it.”
shuri’s letting out the most explicit sound of the night, her lips parting against yours, where they were resting in an unresponsive kiss, and she presses closer against you as her clit throbs against yours, making you whimper as your press closer to her too, the ache between your legs spiking at the intimate contact, enjoying the feel of her warm slick trailing along you.
“bast, fuck, good fucking girl, my only pretty girl.”
you tear up under her as she presses her lips to yours, sloppily returning the kiss as the emotions flow through you, your hands loosening their hold on the sheets to slide around her neck, pulling her against your dewy skin.
“are you serious? you want that with me?”
the sentence is soft and teary, and it pulls on the strings of shuri’s heart, the sad noise her alter whines out slipping through her lips as a whimper that she buries into your neck, her arms sliding beneath your back to wrap her arms around you; the beat of your heart soothing the pulse of guilt that thrummed through her arteries.
her lips are pressing gently against the marked skin, tracing over the pretty purples staining your skin, basking in the way her colour proudly branded your figure. she handled you like you were delicate, but to her you were; a fragile fragment of her heart that she couldn’t afford to let shatter like the walls she had built to keep you out.
“could only ever want that with you, s’thandwa sam’.”
the reasons i can't have you, isn't so complicated. baby if you let me i won't hesitate.
ஜ
#pinkwrighting ⊹ ۪ ᖭི༏ᖫྀ.#shuri udaku#letitia wright#shuri x black!reader#shuri smut#shuri fluff#shuri angst#shuri x y/n#shuri x reader#black panther#black panther wakanda forever
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SPEAKING SONAR !
ao'nung x fem!sully reader
✷ premise : as tensions rise and your family is forced out of the only home you've ever known, fish boy meets forest girl and the rest is history (tragedy)
✷ warnings : kidnapping, swearing, injury, blood, violence, and death
✷ author's note : gotta have ya'lls parents' povs here hehe, also some spider content if ur an anti dni I'm a spider defender 4 lyfe.
✷ trigger warning : THERE'S GUNNA BE A KINDA GRAPHIC SCENE LATER IN THE CHAPTER ABOUT THE SULLYS AND QUARITCH, IT INVOLVES BLOOD AND MORE BLOOD so be advised... but it's short dw dw
part 4 of the SOLD OUT OF LOVE series
When you'd be confined to the lab because of influenza which you caught often, Spider would risk the possibility of infection and stay in your room all day because unlike you, your germs feared Spider. You'd close all the lights and the both of you would lay on your bed and look at the glowing solar system Max and Norm had painted on your ceiling. It was a moment of peace he wouldn't exchange for the world, just lying next to his sister in the dark, basking in the silence.
Until he speaks. "Do you ever wonder what it would be like if we lived on Earth?"
You turn to him. "I'd always be in the hospital"
"Yeah, well what's different now?" He bit back.
You chewed on your lower lip, he was right. "We'd be going to school, we'd have friends-"
"-that are not giant blue aliens" He adds, the both of you laughing.
"You think if we were on Earth we wouldn't be orphans?"
He shifts, and the bed bounces underneath you. "Maybe" Spider replied cautiously. "If my mom hadn't been flying that gunship she'd probably still be here... not sure about my dad though"
"You're lucky you knew your dad"
He shook his head adamantly. "No I'm not"
"Fine, then you're not" you say, giving up.
"Would we even know eachother if our moms weren't brought here? If they hadn't met our dads?"
This made Spider think hard. "We still would, my mom knows your aunt Trudy"
"No, they met at that flight school, if they weren't chosen, they wouldn't know eachother, we wouldn't know eachother"
This made him tuck his lips together. "I guess you're right"
"I am right" You tell him, propping yourself up by your forearm, Spider mirroring your action. "But what does it matter anyway? We're stuck here, there's no life for us back in Earth cuz it's dying, we've got nowhere else to go"
"Then I guess we gotta stick together don't we?" He replies, poking your shoulder. "Us outsiders gotta stick together, Spider and Firefly, that way nothing can tear us apart"
You grinned, your teeth lighting up in the darkness. "Nothing" You echoed, twirling your pinky over his, breathy giggles taking over you both.
You were the first to pull away, lying flat down on your back, using the same hand to scratch at your IV taped to your wrist used to replenish your dehydrated body. That was several months before the accident, where it changed your lives forever. It was never Spider and Firefly against the world anymore, it was just Spider.
Because the promise you had made to eachother, the promise of the two children orphaned by war initiated in a dark room lit up with neon stars and planets was forever broken.
The both of you grew up in Pandora, took your first steps on Pandora, spoke your first words on Pandora, you had Spider, Spider had you, he didn't care that he could spend most of everyday outside when you were stuck in your room. He'd tell you everything and spare no detail, the speeches, plays, and presentations you two had made to convince Max and Norm to let you out for 3 hours were the highlights of your life, especially when they'd agree.
He lost his mom, his dad, and when they pulled you out of that river unresponsive he thought he might as well lost you too.
2 months ago he had been bragging to the Sully children that he could palace his chin on top of your head without even standing on his tip toes, he blinked and suddenly you could place your entire forearm on top of his head without even trying. He stayed silent, knowing he should be grateful you weren't so sick anymore- but at what cost? He had been more alone now since before you were born, you had been alone together, now he was just alone.
But he wasn't the only one feeling what he was feeling, you were battling your own surges of loneliness trying to grab hold of you. It was a hard change, human food started to taste like paste, you weren't used to being a tug away from being naked, your skin being so blue. It was weird.
You shared a bond with Spider not even the other Sully kids could replicate, now he was gone, and you didn't know when you'd get him back, if you'd get him back.
Lo'ak snapped his fingers in front of you. "Baby sis, you good?"
You blinked. "Uh-huh" You mutter unconvincingly, standing up with a basket you dug against your hip, making your way down to the fish nets to retrieve your lunch for the day.
"What's up?"
"Missing Spider"
"Oh" He says. "He's a tough guy, he'll be fine"
Even Lo'ak didn't believe his words, and so you nodded along. "Yeah, I know"
He crouches beside you, grabbing the pesky fish that fought back and dropping them into the basket. "I've seen him chug Whiskey with a straight face, and, get a scolding from our parents for letting us take a sip, if he can survive that he can survive anything"
"I know he can" You tell him, sliding a fish into the hole of your basket. "Sometimes I just wonder if it's enough"
"It is" He assured you, placing a wet hand on your shoulder. You appreciated the gesture but pried his hand off of you moments later.
Lessons that afternoon were interesting, it was the only word that could sum up the entirety of what had awaited you after lunchtime. The moment you saw Ao'nubg across the beach with your siblings you turned your heel and bolted the other way, you hid in your Marui, helping your mother with repurposing old clothes, chopping fruit for dinner that night.
1, 2, 3, 4 Sullys on the beach, yet one was missing.
He itched to ask them, your brothers, it practically consumed him, knawed at him on the inside to ask your brothers where you were and why you missed your lessons.
Only at the end of the day did he finally give in. "Where is she?"
"Where is who?" Neteyam wonders.
"Your beloved sister?"
"Kiri? Tuk? They're right over there with Tsireya and Rotxo" Lo'ak butts in, pointing his thumb at the secondary group floating on their backs in the water, giggling and gliding.
He rolled his eyes. "No genius, your other one, Y/N?"
Lo'ak shrugged. "Dunno, she says she was dizzy, Mom didn't wanna let her swim in her state"
He hummed. "I see"
But for the past week, it was almost as if you hadn't run out of excuses to miss lessons. They'd wait half an hour for you to come out only for one of your siblings to tell the rest of your friends that you weren't coming. Ao'nung never bothered to come anymore, claiming that he himself wasn't feeling well and that he must have gotten what you've caught all the while having no interactions this past week.
After lessons, Tsireya would catch him hanging out with his other friends or if not then lying on his hammock throwing a woven grass ball in the air, but when his grating mother couldn't leave him alone for two seconds then he'd be riding his ilu on the other side of the island for some peace and quiet.
It was the 4th day of you purposely evading lessons, you sat in your Marui with your mother while she braided your hair. "When will you start attending lessons again Ma'íte?"
"When I feel better" You reply.
"There is this boy that keeps coming to our hut, he says he misses your presence in lessons" You practically froze on the spot as your heartbeat began to rise in a cresendo.
"What was his name?" Your mother asked to herself while you sat there and apprehensively awaited for her next words. "Ahh yes, Rotxo"
Either she knew what she was doing or she had no clue at all- but you wouldn't put it past her. "Yeah, Rotxo's a sweetheart"
Your mother hummed in agreement. "Yes, such a sweet boy, very polite" She stopped, tying off the braid she had previously been working with and starting on another one. "although you were never really drawn to the sweet ones, were you Ma'íte?"
This woman was sick.
"I don't know what you mean" You lie.
She giggles. "You might not be my child by blood but we are more alike than you thought" She asks you for one of the shells you were holding and you hand it to her, feeling her thread it into your locks. "Just say it, sweet girl"
"Say what?" You managed, ignoring the warmth that plagued your cheeks as you straightened your posture.
"That you thought I was talking about somebody else"
You needed to get out of here, she's practically nipping at your heels. Your sweet mother, bringing you in for slaughter. You remaining silent only made her laugh.
"So there is someone?"
"No" you replied a little too quickly. "No, there is no one"
"Then I believe you"
"Good, then we'll just chalk this conversation up to finished"
"Maybe we will" She tells you to stand up and look at yourself in the mirror, admiring the beads, shells, and hair cuffs you told her to put in, turning your head so that the sunlight reflected onto them.
"You did amazing mom, it looks beautiful" you grinned.
She smiles, placing her hands on your shoulders. "I did nothing sweet girl, the beauty is all yours"
"How's she feeling?" You both turn your heads to see your father walking in the Marui. "Still lightheaded?"
"She's feeling fine, aren't you Ma'íte?"
You nod.
He took one good look at your face and turns to your mother. "Neytiri, her face is all flushed, is she coming down on a fever?"
Your eyes widen as you whirl your head towards the mirror. Goddamnit.
You mother pretends to be shocked, turning you to face her. "Your father is right, maybe you should stay home today afterall"
You shook your head. "No I think I'll go out today, it's been long enough"
Jake frowned. "Is she sure? Are you sure? "
You nodded. "Mm-hm" already making your way across the Marui.
"No funny business alright???"
"Alright! Alright!"
"Y/N!" Your father called out.
"I got it!" Was all you said before you jogging down the steps and onto the beach.
Neytiri approached Jake by the mouth of the Marui, the pair of them watching as you ran up to your other siblings and your friends splashing eachother with water by the coastline.
"Ma Jake" Neytiri began.
"Mm"
"It may have escaped your notice but no matter how much you deny it, she is her own woman now, not the little girl we have taken under our wing so many years ago"
Jake sighed, his ears flattening against the sides of his skull as he turns his head towards Neytiri. "I know that"
"I know you do, and yet you refuse to acknowledge it"
"She's got too much fire in her"
"That is a good thing"
"Come on, you knew Betty, cross her one time she'll cross your heart out" He exclaimed, trying to prove his point.
"Ma Jake, believe me when I say that you cannot keep protecting her forever, someday you have to let her go"
"I made a promise to her mother that I'll keep her safe, with everything she's done for me in the past I owe her that much" He explained, Neytiri places a hand on his cheek in the process. "I'm too scared of screwing this up, I try and limit her, and what is she doing? She's going against me, fooling around"
They watched as you joined in on the fight, cringing and screaming when Kiri sent a huge wave your way. "Go easy on her, if you restraint her too much she will drift farther and farther away from us"
"I haven't been living up to my promise like I wanted, I've almost lost her once, I'm not about to let that happen again"
They turn to the beach again and watch as You and Tuk harshly tackle Neteyam, Rotxo and Kiri throwing fistfuls of sand at eachother, and Tsireya giggling her head off as Lo'ak tried pulling off a piece of seaweed that had gotten stuck on his tail but ended up spinning around like a top.
"Stay down!" Tuk screamed at Neteyam floating in the water pretending to be dead and even sticking his tongue out for effect.
You grab her waist and placed her on your shoulders. "The mighty warriror Tuktirey has defeated the fearsome wildebeest, she knows nothing! only rage!"
She let's out a war cry, everyone else in the group started doing the same causing passersby to look at what was causing the sudden ruckus on the shoreline She then leaps off of you and into Neteyam causing a huge splash, she pretends to wrestle with his body while your oldest brother tried his hardest to contain his giggles. All of you began chanting Tuk's name as she managed to stand on Neteyam's chest (with him holding her by her ankles of course) banging her fists on her chest as you all started hooting and cheering for her.
Since you were so close to your Marui, Neteyam (who you were sure had a bruised lung at this point) got word from your father that you were allowed to stay out a little later than usual.
Lo'ak was with Tsireya somewhere, Neteyam and Kiri were riding their íkrans above the islands, which left you and Tuk collecting shells on the beach.
"This one! This one!" She says, pointing a finger at a shell that looked similar to one she picked earlier.
"You already have one that looks like that" You say, holding a bucket already half-full of shells.
"Yeah but now I have two of these, so if I lose the other one I got this one" She explained whilst dropping it in the bucket, joining the other shells.
You laughed, shaking your head. "Can't argue with that logic"
All of a sudden you hear Tuk gasp, you turn around just in time before you see her bolt into the forest. Abandoning the bucket you run after her, calling her name, firing threats at her until you reach a clearing and you realize you lost sight of her.
"Tuk!" You shout. "Dad will skin you alive!"
No response, only the breeze and the chirping of insects in the distance mocking you.
"Come out! Come on! " You say, looking behind trees and bushes, behind rocks and shrubs. "Tuktirey Te Suli Neytiri'ite this is not funny!"
"Kinda is"
Your head snaps up at the voice, but you don't turn around.
"chilly night tonight, isn't it Forest Girl?"
At that you finally turn around to see Ao'nung, leaning against a tree, sporting a devilish smirk.
You feel your hands ball up into fists, your nails creating crescent shaped dents onto your palm. "What did you do to my sister"
His eyes widen, he shows you his palms, chuckling raucously. "If my calculations are correct she might be running into your brother and my sister any minute now" He steps forward. "Listen, I asked her to lead you into the forest so that I could talk to you, alone" He states, aquamarine eyes scanning your face. "I only wanted to talk to you"
You prayed to Eywa to give you the strength to not punch the lights out of this boy. "You were in cahoots with my sister??" You practically shrieked.
"Well-" He began, trying to think of a statement that he could use to defend himself but sighed when he realized his mind was blank. "Yes, that is exactly what it is"
"I can't believe you!" You spat, narrowing your eyes into slits.
"Y/N I just wanted to say sorry, please" He begs, the fact that this was the first time he used your actual name in front of you and not some derogatory nickname did not go unnoticed by you or him.
"You fuck up, you apologise, you trick me into trusting you and then what? You fuck up again?" You wonder. "Is this a part of your golden boy routine? Get some praise for admitting to your mistakes?"
"No" He proclaimed steadfast, walking up to you again so now there were only a handful of inches in between you. "I am the son of the Olo'eyktan, I should have been treating you with more respect, I have been stupid, an-and selfish and I have let arrogance and conceit take over me"
He stops to take a breath, wetting his lips before he continued. "I want you to see that I do not want my past behavior to define me, if you will accept my apology and let me make it up to you it would mean the world to me... but if you don't, just say the word and I will never show my face to you again"
An ultimatum. You shouldn't have expected less from him. You found yourself scanning his face for any weak points, any tell tale signs that might tell you he was lying and was only doing this as a dare or if his parents promised him a grave punishment when he came home unsuccessful. You hated it when you realized he was telling the truth.
As much as you would have loved walking the shores of Awa'atlu knowing that Ao'nung would never show you his putrescent face again- you couldn't help but succumbing to his words, his promises, you were fighting with yourself, telling your other half to turn heel and sprint, sprint, and never look back but you were falling, he was using his tricks against you, letting his big blue eyes do all the work.
That was when you felt it, a little flame, bursting to life inside of you, warm, unfamiliar, questionable, lighting up the dark caverns of your chest, flooding it with an obscure sensation.
"Why did you want to talk to me all the way out here? In the forest?"
He sighs. "My father encourages me to maintain good relationships with all the Sully children, he says that it is most vital to have connections once I become chief..."
You cock your head to the side a little. "...but?"
"My mother says that I do not need to see you more than I have to"
And there it was.
"Why?" You implore.
"She thinks you're the one that is causing me to skip lessons and my training-"
"-You've been skipping lessons?" Was what left your mouth.
"Admittedly, yes, I have been skipping lessons"
"Why?"
"I didn't feel like attending them"
You gave him a genuine look of disbelief. "That's it?"
"What about you?" He evades. "I heard you have not been keeping up on appearances either"
"Yeah, I wasn't feeling all that great the past few days" you confessed, crossing your arms over your chest. "But I guess I'm feeling better now"
He nods languidly, taking in the situation. "So will you be coming tomorrow?"
You look at the ground then up at Ao'nung. "maybe"
"Good" He says with a smile, you almost wondered why it was so good to him but he squashes your assumptions when he opened his mouth again. "I might have to teach you how to swim all over again"
You flick your finger against his toned forearm, making him look at it and let out a scoff of objection. "Don't get ahead of yourself"
The silence that followed after was evident, your eyes travel up to the sky and realize that it might be around dinner time, mere seconds before your Dad starts ringing the dinner bell and all 5 of you scurry back to the pod like a bunch of sows.
"I guess I'll see you around?" You spoke up, making his head turn to you again. "I gotta go find my sister before she makes Awa'atlu falls to its knees"
"Wait" says he, making you stop. "You never answered me"
You exhaled through your mouth. "Fine you skxawng, I forgive you" you see him grin, ducking his head. "What will the nation do if you never show your face to anyone ever again?"
"I agree, pretty things should be enjoyed"
You involuntarily gagged, earning a loud chuckle from him. "Come on, you like looking at my face"
You remain quiet as he chuckles to his own joke, you roll your eyes and turn around. "Goodnight jackass"
He collects himself. "Goodnight tree hugger"
"Keep 'em coming" you taunt, hurriedly making your way out of the forest as he stays and watches you leave. Only when he was sure you were out of earshot was when he punches a fist in the air and whoops in glee.
"The ocean blessed you with a gift, brother "
Ao'nung stirred. "The Tulkun have not returned yet, and anyway no Tulkun is ever alone"
"This one was" You turn to your brother, sat across from you. "He had a- a missing fin, like a stump, on the left side"
Tsireya's expression changes. "Payakan"
"Who's Payakan?" Kiri wonders.
"A young bull who went rogue, he's outcast, alone, and has a missing fin" says Rotxo.
Tsireya turns to Lo'ak, taking his arm. "They say he is a killer"
"He killed Na'vi," Ao'nung butts in. "And other Tulkun" He says, leaning forward, his eyes meeting yours before it lands to Lo'ak. "Not here, but far, to the South" He adds.
Lo'ak shook his head, intent on proving his point. "He's not a killer"
Tsireya purses her lips beside you. "Lo'ak, you are lucky to be alive"
"I'm telling you guys, he saved my life, he's my friend!"
"My baby bro!" Neteyam crooned. "Who faced the killer Tulkun, and lived to tell about it" Lo'ak shrugged Neteyam's arm away, standing up to face all of you. "You guys aren't listening"
"Lo'ak I'm listening!"
"Lo'ak come back, you skxawng"
Neteyam runs off to follow him, Tuk dragging Tsireya and Kiri off to the ilu pen, Rotxo following them just for the sake of Kiri, leaving Ao'nung and you behind.
"And then there were two" He beamed, following you as you walked down the steps of the platform and onto the beach. You couldn't help but notice the slight bounce to Ao'nung's steps when he started walking in front of you "You were a whole lot quieter today, Forest Girl, is there something you'd like to share with the class?"
You shook your head at him, biting down on a smile. "You're baiting me, no thank you"
"I am doing nothing of the sort!" He exclaims, giving you a playful frown. "You wound me, Forest Girl"
"Good, somebody's gotta keep you on your toes"
He gave you an unsatisfied hum. "Thank Eywa for you then"
"Damn right, you should be" You replied, approaching the trees that lined the beach, hearing the creaking of the branches only to see Ao'nung already 3 feet above you. "Get down from there, I don't wanna have to carry you all the way home just because you broke something"
"I think I'll risk it," He says. "That way you've got a better of view of me from up here" He begins flexing his muscles in front of you and you shot him a look of disgust, gritting your teeth to keep you from giggling. You failed.
What was happenning?
Ao'nung finally hops down, landing on the sand beside you. "We have got plenty of time to kill before eclipse, what do you suggest we do?"
You begin walking again, Ao'nung following you. "We sit and watch the water"
"Boring" He droned.
You look at him with eyes wide. "You were the one who asked"
"Clearly my mistake, I did not realize how utterly dull you are"
You stopped walking and turned to him, raising a quizzical brow. "What about you smart guy? What do you suggest we do?" You wonder.
He shrugged, a sly smirk playing at his face. "I was thinking we just go to the cave and-"
You stop him from talking by placing a finger over his mouth. "Nuh-uh, the last time we went there I practically got my ass beat because of it, I am literally an arguement away from my Dad chaining me to our Marui"
He compromised. "Fine, we could go to the other side of the island and visit the waterfalls?"
"I'm not allowed to go to the other side of the island"
"Your father won't know"
"No means no, Ao'nung" You insist.
He threads his fingers together, cracking his knuckles. "You wanna go to the diving rock? It's got a killer drop, 30 feet"
You shook your head. "No, no more swimming"
"Then I have got nothing" He confessed, placing his hands on his hips and facing the water.
"Look, you don't need to push it, bro" You tell him, placing a hand on his shoulder. It was like he took a punch to the gut. "You can go do all that stuff without me, I'll just hold you down"
"You wouldn't" He says, making your ears flick upwards. "I just wanted to..."
"Wanted what?"
His eyes meet yours, turning his body away. "It's- nevermind that now, it is stupid"
You slap his shoulder. "No it won't, tell me"
He keeps his eyes down, only meeting your gaze every now and then just to catch a glimpse of your face, how the setting sun casted a syrupy glow onto your face, how it only made him want to look at you longer. It was like an anvil had been tied to his ankles, pulling him down to the seabed, down, down, down until he finally allows it.
"I wanted you to stay a bit longer" He concedes.
"Why?" You teased. "All you gotta do is ask"
He looked unsure, hesitant but scans your face nonetheless, after a moment of standing, the setting sun a witness to Ao'nung's diffident self, he sighs. "Will you stay?" He finally asks.
You considered it, turning to the water as you felt your lips curling up into a mischeivous grin. "Fine, only because you begged" You said. "Desperation is a good look on you, you know" Ao'nung shoves you again and you stagger back cackling, letting your laughter rip.
You see him grinning too, pointing at you as you kept on laughing. "Foul play, you do not get to word it that way"
"I was telling the truth!"
"You were twisting my words" He insists, giving you a shrewd smile.
"Only a little bit" you admit, pushing your hair away from your face and sitting down on the sand
He props his leg up, placing his elbow over his knee while you sat cross legged. "I hope your father didn't reprimand you any more than what I have seen two days ago"
"No, he just gave me the silent treatment, he always does it"
"Now why would he do that?"
"He dosen't want to fight with me anymore than he already does, that's why he stays quiet"
He lets out a condescending scoff. "Dosen't look like it"
You half-shrugged. "I'm used to it, it's no big deal"
A moment of silence settles.
"Open out your hand" Ao'nung says oh so suddenly.
You turn to him, your interest piqued. "Why?"
"Just do it" He says, pointing his chin at your hand. "And look the other way"
You sighed, opening your palm and keeping your eyes away until he dropped something in the middle of your hand, something cold, something hard. You finally look down and you couldn't help the gasp that escaped your lips.
It was a necklace. Held together by golden twine with clay beads and pearls strung a centimeter away from the others, then, a pearlescent conch shell as big as your thumb in the very middle.
It looked amazing.
You hated it.
"I asked Tuk for the beads you managed to gather, wasn't hard, all I had to do was bribe her with some candied fruit" He surmised like it was something to be proud of.
"You've got to stop using my sister for your stunts" You say, placing the necklace against the light, your smile widening to an O as it glimmered.
He smirked, ducking his head. "She's the only Sully who truly likes me"
"That's not true" You tell the boy, waiting for him to look up to you, and when he does you continue. "Not really"
And this boy blushes.
"Hah! 14 different shades of purple!" You shout.
He dosen't say anything, only letting you make fun of him, prodding at his forearms, giggling when he averts his face.
"Are you done?" He asks after a while, failing at stifling a grin.
You shrugged, lifting your hair up to tie the necklace together. "Maybe" you laughed, patting your hair down and raising your eyebrows at him. "So, how's it look?"
"Uhh, it looks- it looks great" He responds, feeling the unfamiliar warmth blossom beneath your ribs. "Now you'll have something to draw attention away from your frightening face"
You click your tongue at him, hearing his infectious laugh and watching as he shields his face away from the beating that was about to come.
"Y/N"
The laughter stops. The both of you whirl around to see Neteyam donning his signature stony expression, you stand up straighter, distancing yourself from Ao'nung.
"Come on" says Neteyam, his gaze switching to you, then to Ao'nung, then the necklace. "Mom's calling you, she needs help with dinner"
"Can't you help her?" You can't help but wonder. That was probably too mean.
"She wasn't calling me was she?" He retorted, ice running through your veins. "And anyway, i'm not interrupting anything here, am I?"
"No" You tell him.
"Then let's go" He says, you reluctantly walk towards him, he takes your shoulder, leading you out of there as he looks at Ao'nung whose eyes followed you away a little too long for his liking.
"Ao'nung" Neteyam acknowledges.
He nods. "Neteyam" says Ao'nung.
You both arrived at the Marui, your mood souring by the second. "Explain yourself" Neteyam demands.
You spun around. "What is there to explain? you saw us, we were just talking"
"I mean if you know the way he looks at you or you're just pretending to be blind"
"What are you talking about?" You almost screeched, your eyebrows knitting.
"I don't like you hanging around him," Neteyam tells you, pointing back at the beach. "he's bad news"
You hiss at him but what came out was a groan of annoyance, walking deeper into your pod. "Just butt out of my business"
"Your business is my business!" He tells you pointing at his chest.
"That is not true"
Neteyam groans. "It's Ao'nung, Y/N" He emphasized.
"I am perfectly aware of his name" You sassed.
"He's too old for you" Neteyam insists. "He'll break your heart"
You let out an incredulous laugh, as you turned around. you couldn't believe what he was saying, what he thought was happenning. "That is not what was happenning back there, alright?"
"Why'd he give you that then??"
You don't answer him, instead you scoffed, rolling your honey color eyes. "You are way off-base"
"No," He insisted, stopping you from walking out of the Marui. "what I am is right"
You throw your hand in the air as you walked passed your oldest brother, silencing him. "Whatever, I'm done here"
"I'm still talking to you"
"Well I'm not" You yelled back, running down to the beach, your anger simmering.
In an attempt to avoid your big brother you decide to join both your sisters, Rotxo, and Tsireya to visit the Cove of the Ancestors, hastily agreeing and in a hurry to hop up on your ilu, your brother decided that he would not let you go away so easily and insists that he joined too.
"We have to be there before eclipse settles, it's better that way" Rotxo appends with a grin, before his ilu splashes him in the face, Kiri laughing at his misfortune.
And Rotxo was right. It did look better after eclipse.
The sky may have darkened into a deep prussian blue but the water hadn't, it glowed several different shades of purple, you look down and see a warped image of their spirit tree, your siblings oohing and ahhing beside you.
All of you swim downwards, Rotxo instructing you to connect your queue to one of the bright purple margins of the leaves and you do, once you had linked your queue it felt as though you were being pulled through a blinding white tunnel, until it stops, and you land on all fours like you had been thrown out of there by some disembodied force.
You look up, you were back in the lab.
Your bare feet on the cold obsidian like tiles giving you fleeting flashbacks of what it was like to be standing back here, your first home. You look down, your hands were smaller, you weren't blue anymore, you adjust your focus to your reflection on the tiles and there it was.
You were a human again.
The sound of arguing catches your attention, it was coming from a few doors down and so you stood up, feeling the weight of your bones pulling you down, the world spun you around and you grab the nearest object to steady yourself, blinking until the world stopped spinning. You slowly made your way across the lab, the familiar mess of papers, the coffee stained tables, holograms of different insects, different plants propped up, books open to pages booked marked with sticky notes, the familiar intricate yet haphazard scrawl of Norm's handwriting, how his t's had a little tail.
"I trusted you! I trusted all of you!" The voice was a woman's, loud, piercing, she was definitely angry, but about what?
"Look, listen to us, all we wanted, all I wanted was to keep her safe, I tried my best Betty, believe me"
Betty?
There was no way.
"Don't try and kiss my ass Sully, do you think I believe the shit you're tryna feed me?" She shouts, followed by a few words in some foreign language where she rolled her r's a lot. "I told you to take care of her, then I come back 8 years later because she cracked her skull open because you- you! " You heard a tussle, like she had pushed someone into a wall. "You let her out at night in this cesspool! In the pouring rain!"
"Betty, we didn't know it was going to rain, alright?"
"Shit excuse, you have trackers in their exopacks don't you?"
"We do but- but Spider and Y/N managed to bypass it without us knowing, we had a hard time locating them and when we did-"
"-My baby's been bleeding out for 20 minutes" She says as you her tired voice turn brittle. "20 minutes" She repeats.
You finally see the door at the end of the hallway, its hinges eased open letting out a ray of periwinkle light on the floor. You walk up to it, standing on your toes and you see a woman, her thick wavy locks looked more puffed up when she was angry, her hickory brown eyes practically piercing needles onto Jake's face, Jake, who was also human, who was standing on his own two feet.
"That's 20 minutes too long Sully"
"Betty, we can't count our losses in this scenario" Jake tells her. "Look, her conditions stable-"
"-Yeah her conditions stable but she's damn lucky she didn't suffer any permanent neurotrauma"
"Betty "
"You're done Jake" says your mother, prodding a finger at his chest, you watch him raise his palms and cringe. "I'm taking her back"
Jake's eyes widen. "You can't do that"
"She's my daughter"
"I raised her! " Jake snapped.
" She was never yours! " Your mother retaliated.
You feel Jake's heart rip at the seams just by the look of his face. "Betty, you can't do this" He says weakly.
"Tough luck Sully, I can"
"What if we all just take a breather-"
"-Up your ass Norm" with that the door sprang wide open and you truly see what was going on, there was Jake, there was your Mom, there was Norm, there was Max.
And they were all looking at you.
"Luz, Míja, what are you doing up??"
Who the hell was Luz?
Was that supposed to be you? The name she gave you before she died? Before Neytiri came in and gave you a new one? One that stuck so well that even Norm and Max started using it?
You don't answer, still shell-shocked from taking all of this in for the first time.
"Come on, we have to go," She says, grabbing your hand and leading you out of there.
She pulls you out of there, further out of the lab and you pass by a mirror, you see a fleeting image of yourself, you were 8 again, practically skin and bone, fresh and healed bruises everywhere, knobby knees, and sallow skin. How the hell?
"You can't take her away!" Jake yelled. "Please, Betty! you're not thinking this through! Please! " The desperation in his voice was evident, it almost tugged at your heartstrings before you remembered how he treated you, how he snapped at you and yelled at you, restricted you, and berated you.
She keeps pulling you, pulling you out of the lab, your eyes widen as you remember you didn't have an exopack, nothing happens, you didn't choke on the spot, you see the Sully kids the way you remembered them that night- scared, shaken, dejected, calling out your name as you were pulled away by your mother, Neytiri holding all of them back.
You turn to Betty Chacon and the woman she was, your mother, the one who birthed you, and gave you life.
You couldn't believe she was here. You gripped around her hand tightly, following her into the forest where you walked through the trees. Until you hit a branch and your vision turns black.
Your eyes snapped open, realizing you had been pulled out of your encounter with your mother, at first you were angry, it was too short, you wanted her back, until you realize the spirit tree blinked like a lightbulb going haywire, you see your sister convulsing beside you. Anxiety floods your nerves as you jolt her awake, realizing you needed to pull her braid out but when you did it felt like your whole body was on fire.
TRIGGER WARNING !
Fire.
You open your eyes again and you see fire festering all around you.
You see blurry, fleeting images of Quaritch, you hear guttural screams, shrill screams, knife tearing through flesh, splattering, it was blood splattering on the stones. You blinked hard and see your family all lined up in front of you, impaled by sticks, you could hear blood splattering on the floor like you had just hung the washing and not wringing it dry, you run to help them, making a beeline towards Neteyam who was in front of you, but you screamed, realizing he had no face, like somebody has ripped it off his head.
"You're next" And it was Quaritch who was standing behind you, throwing Neteyam's face onto the rock like a slab of wet cloth, right beside the others, whose expressions of terror were imprinted on their faces forever.
END !
You feel your world jolt, when in reality it had been Rotxo shaking you out of your reverie, asking if you were okay or not answer you didn't think of answering back, only swimming up to the surface because you remembered your sister shaking violently.
You and Rotxo resurface to see Neteyam giving Kiri CPR atop his ilu, she gasps, and the next thing you knew Neteyam zooms out of there, Tsireya calling for Tuk to ride with her, leaving you with Rotxo who places a hand on your shoulder.
"Y/N! Y/N are you alright???" He practically demands, his wide eyes full of worry.
You blinked, almost having to untie your mouth open to speak. "We need to go back, my- Kiri- she's-"
"And we will," Rotxo assures you. "Hinewai is here already, see? Do you need a moment?"
You shook your head, propping yourself up on Hinewai's back. "No"
You and Rotxo speed through the waters to make it back to the village where you see throngs of village gathering around the beach, seeing your sister being transferred onto a bamboo gurney, hearing your mother's inconsolable wails wracking her body as Jake held her in his arms, barking orders left and right, Neteyam making sure they were being carried out, Tuk was sobbing, Tsireya stood close by in order to calm her, you couldn't find Lo'ak anywhere, there were too. much. people.
Your chest tightens again.
#ao'nung x fem!reader#metkayina#omatikaya#jake sully#neytiri#ao'nung fic#ao'nung x reader#ao'nung x you#tsireya#neteyam#spider#lo'ak#kiri#tuk#rotxo#atwow ao'nung#atwow#avatar the way of water#sold out of love ao'nung
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Anywhere But Here, chapter 6
tag list: Taglist: @rockautumnviking@hazzaismyreligion@iratetourist @xcatnapsx @haylaansmi @iamaslutforcoffee @tlclick73 @eclipseeetop @lullaapots
TW: Angst, angst, and more angst, confusing ending, but only to add to the fun in the next chapter hehe
Anywhere But Here Master List
“I’m Stacy Munson,” the blonde said as she looked between the two of you, “His wife.”
Your eyes flew to Eddie’s face, seeing him standing there like a deer caught in the headlights. He didn’t dare to look at you, his eyes cast down at the woman standing at the end of the hallway. For a few seconds, no one moved or even dared to breathe. She was the first one to walk closer, her curly blonde hair swinging behind her.
She was beautiful. There was no doubt about that. Curvy, the leather skirt clung to her hips, the low cut tee shirt showing off her cleavage. The painted red lips pulled your eyes into her face. She looked like a Pamela Anderson wannabe, but most rock stars dug that look. Eddie included, apparently.
“Y/N,” Eddie sighed as you started to walk off, gripping your wrist way too tightly to pull you back to him.
“Don’t you fucking dare touch me,” you said as you ripped your arm from his grasp.
“Please just listen to me-”
“Yeah, listen to him.” Stacy laughed to herself, “Listen to his lies since that’s all he ever does anyway.”
“You shut the fuck up,” you turned around to glare at her, walking towards her before Eddie and Gareth both stepped in between the two of you. Eddie gripped your arms and pulled you back against his chest as you tried to get closer to her,“Why are you even here? How did you get up here? This is crew mate access only on this floor.”
“I have my ways, darling.” She wrinkled her nose up at you, “But unlike you, I don’t sleep with the band mates or other women’s husbands.”
“Stacy, shut up.” Eddie snapped at her, “You’re only making this worse.”
“Oh, I can make it even more worse for you, Edward. And even more worse for the slut.” Stacy spat at you, trying her hardest to get out of Gareth’s grasp
You tried to get to her as best as you could, but between Eddie and Gareth, there was no hope. They were both stronger than you. You felt Eddie wrap his arms around your waist and pull you backwards towards the other end of the hallway as Gareth mirrored his actions with Stacy.
“This wasn’t how this night was supposed to go,” Eddie huffed as he watched Gareth open the door for Stacy and let her into the party.
“Let go of me,” you said through gritted teeth, “I don’t want to fuckin’ talk to you or see you until we leave tomorrow night, do you understand me?”
“Y/N-”
“No, fuck you, Eddie.” You whirled around to face him, “I’ve told you things I’ve never told another soul and yet…”
“I know,” he whispered, “All I can do is say I’m sorry.”
“Sorry doesn’t mend broken hearts, Eddie.” You said, fishing your room key out and unlocking your door, “Go be with your fucking trashy wife and leave me the fuck alone.”
“Why can’t we just talk about this? You’ve got the wrong idea.” He frowned, his hand coming up to stop the door when you tried to close it, “Don’t fucking walk away from me when I’m trying to talk to you.”
“You chose this when you you decided not to tell me about her before we fucked, Eddie.” You glared up at him, “Move your hand or I’ll fucking crush it.”
“Y/N-”
You pulled the door back far enough, gave him one last glare, and slammed it. He must’ve moved his hand because you didn’t hear any cries from the other end and it slammed shut. You locked it as soon as you could, leaning back against it as you fought to control your breathing. You hadn’t dared to cry until you were locked in your room. You wouldn’t give either of them the satisfaction of seeing you upset. They didn’t get that option.
But once you were in your room, doors locked, lights turned off, you let all the frustration out. Frustration that wasn’t just from him. Frustrations of your job, of your slacking love life, of missing your friends. You never expected this job to be so hard in the beginning. The last band you toured with was full of drama but none that ever effected you and your own life. You had never felt so homesick in your life.
You thought you had found a little semblance of home with Eddie. Even if it had only been a week, he had truly meant so much to you. The late night talks you shared, feeling his arms wrapped around you when you woke up in the middle of the night, the way he made you feel not so lonely.
Never again.
You’d never let that mistake happen again.
You looked over at the clock, seeing it flash 5:38 AM. You were unable to sleep and had spent most of the night going over your paperwork for the next few stops and concerts, trying to keep your mind off of anything outside of these walls. The music had finally died down from the party, people were either passed out or had left. If the cops were called, you didn’t know about it. Thankfully, they left you alone for the time being.
You were just about to walk out of the room to walk around town a bit and stretch your legs when you heard his voice in the hallway.
“She can’t be here, man.” Eddie scoffed, “This is so fucked...i fucked up.”
“Yeah, you sure did.” Gareth sighed, “Look...talk to Y/N. I’m sure she’ll be more than understanding.”
“She threatened to crush my hand, Gareth. I don’t think she’s going to be understanding.”
“You don’t know that,” Gareth said, “Y/N is cool...it’s just a big misunderstanding.”
“It’s not, though, Gareth. I fuckin’ lied to her. I told y/n that Stacy and I had broken up before I left for tour and then I slept with her...multiple times.”
“You did though. You separated from her because she pitched a fit over you leaving. Trust me, the tires of the van are still slashed because of that bitch.” Gareth snorted, “Stacy isn’t who you were supposed to spend the rest of your life with. The high school shit is behind us, man. File for the divorce and move on from that entire thing. Even if it’s not Y/N who you end up with, you’ll still be away from Stacy and that’s all I can ever ask of you as your best friend.”
They were silent for a minute and you cracked the door to only see Eddie there. He looked up, eyes locking on yours. You cursed your curiosity in the moment and just decided to play it off as if you weren’t listening at all. You made sure the door locked behind you and you walked out of the room with your head held high.
“Can we talk at least?” Eddie spoke from his spot leaned up against the wall.
“I don’t have much to say to you, Eddie.” You shrugged as you kept walking, “Nothing that won’t hurt you, at least.”
“Can we just...fuck, Y/N. I don’t want to lose you over this bullshit.” He sighed, jogging a bit to catch up with you.
“Where is she?” You shrugged.
“She’s in the room passed out somewhere I’m sure.” He shrugged, “I don’t really know.”
“So you let her stay?” You scoffed, “Should’ve figured that would’ve happened.”
“She’s leaving tomorrow,” he said, now matching your steps as you walked towards the elevator, “She’s not staying.”
“Then why is she here in the first place?” You frowned. You stopped walking and turned to face him fully, “How did she even know where you were?”
“I guess she followed our tour dates. I don’t know. She had a few things to tell me.” Eddie sighed, “Listen, Y/N….please, just listen to me.”
“No, you listen to me.” You said, your finger poking into his bare chest, “You told me you broke up with your girlfriend before you left.”
“I wasn’t exactly a hundred percent honest,” he shrugged slightly, “We’re separated, Y/N. I didn’t have time to file for divorce before I left.”
“I don’t think you are, Eddie. She didn’t look like a separated wife.” You stared up at him, “How could you do this? I fucking trusted you, Eddie. I – I lov-”
You cut yourself off and stepped back from him, the weight of what you were about to say hitting you like a ton of bricks. There was no lie. You did love him...you were in love with him. Eddie crossed his arms over his chest as he hung his head in embarrassment. He still hadn’t fully looked at you since earlier.
“Y/N,” Eddie finally spoke, “I feel the same way...i do. I love you. I’m not going to pretend I don’t love you. It’s only been what-”
“Eight days,” you closed your eyes embarrassingly, “Eight fucking days, Eddie Munson. You had eight days to just tell me.”
“I tried, Y/N.” He sighed, “I tried telling you after we had sex the first time.”
“That makes nothing better, Eddie. You’re married – I had sex with a married man.” You scoffed as your tears fell again, “I fucked someone else husband.”
“I’m not her husband!” He shouted, his arms raised in anger, “Fuck….I mean, legally, yes. But morally, emotionally, physically?...absolutely not.”
You covered your face in embarrassment as you cried, wishing to be anywhere but there at the moment. You felt your breathing starting to quicken, the panic setting in. You just needed to go for a little walk
“You are exactly the reason why I never let anyone in,” you shook your head, “I trusted you. I fucking love you. I would’ve done anything you asked of me...all the shit I told you?”
“Y/N, come here.” Eddie sighed, seeing your hands tremble.
“Don’t touch me,” you said, walking backwards away from him.
“Y/N,” he tried to grab your arms and pull you to him, but your body was acting on autopilot at that point and you slapped him across his face, hard enough to snap his head to the side. The slap echoed through the hallway, bouncing off the walls, and right back to your ears.
“Eddie,” you gasped, your hands coming up to your mouth, “I’m sorry, I-”
He wiped the blood that trickled from the inside of his cheek off on the back of his hand as he looked up at you, a mix of anger and sadness in his expression. He took a step back from you and held his hands up in defense. A surrendering motion.
“Okay, okay.” He nodded, “I’ll leave you alone. We can talk when we’re both a bit calmer.”
“Do you love her?” You asked him out of desperation.
“No,” he shook his head. He took a deep breath and decided to just lay it out on the line, “I haven’t loved her for awhile now...but I’m just going to go ahead and throw this out here. I have a daughter as well. Her name is Maddie and she’s two.”
His words hit you harder than you would’ve expected them to. You felt the weight of them slap you against the chest for the second time in less than twelve hours. You looked down at your feet and shifted uncomfortably, willing the tears away. The punches kept rolling in when it came to him. You turned your back to him and pressed the call button for the elevator as you wrapped your arms around yourself.
“I don’t know why I wasn’t good enough to know that before...or know any of your so called secrets before.”
“Where are you going?”
“Away from…all of this,” you sighed.
You felt a tentative hand placed on your shoulder and you had to bite your bottom lip to keep from crying. All you wanted to do was hug him. He made everything better for the past eight days and yet...that was being stripped away from you.
“Y/N, we’re not getting back together.” His voice was soft, “I need you to realize that.”
“You know,” you said as you sniffled, “I expected this job to be hard. I expected to feel lonely and withdrawn. I expected all of that shit. I never expected to meet someone I would care for so deeply. And I never expected you to be an asshole, either.”
The elevator door opened and you stepped inside of it, turning to look at him as he stood still, “Have your room ready by tonight at 7. That’s when the bus pulls back in.”
“Are you going to be on that bus?” He frowned.
“I don’t know, Eddie.” You shrugged.
You looked up at him as the door closed, catching a glimpse of him standing there with his shirt unbuttoned and barely hanging onto his shoulders, long hair a mess. He looked devastatingly beautiful and it took everything in you to not stop the elevator and rush to him, to beg him to make this right.
But you begged no man. No moral man, anyway, but definitely not a lying, cheating, man.
You managed to avoid him for the rest of the stay in the hotel. You knew once you were in the bus, it would be impossible, so you enjoyed your last few hours of solitude alone. You spent a few hours down at the venue, making sure everything was okay for the evenings performance.
Just as you were sitting your clipboard down in the table in the dressing room, you felt two arms wrap around you from behind and hug you tightly to their body. Your tensed instantly and turned around to face whoever was touching you.
“Sam!” You gasped, jumping up into your best friends arms. She laughed as you hugged her tightly to you, a hug so tight it nearly took her breath away, “What are you doing here?”
“I was worried about you on our last call,” Samantha said, frowning when you started sobbing into her chest, “Woah...hey, hey...what’s wrong?”
Her arms tightened around you, letting you cry. Samantha could always tell when something was bothering you. The last conversation you had worried her further when you said you felt lonely and were just missing home. You didn’t know it, but she booked the next flight out to visit you. And now that she was here, having you break down in her arms like you were, it only worried her further.
“Sam...I trusted him,” You frowned as you leaned back away from her, “I trusted him and he lied to me.”
“Who did?”
“Eddie,” you choked out, face crumpling all over again.
She pulled you back into her embrace and soothed your hair back as she gently rocked you back and forth. Sam had heard all about Eddie and how much you liked him...how good in bed he was. Sam knew you didn’t just hop into bed with anyone.
Immediately, her anger boiled and she willed herself to calm down. At least until she could get Eddie alone.
“What happened?” Sam frowned when you stepped back from her.
You motioned for her to sit on the couch as you locked the door. You didn’t want anyone to bother you while you talked. Things wouldn’t be pretty if Eddie’s head popped in through that door and you knew it.
“Sam, he’s married-”
“Oh, what the fuck?” Sam sat straight up, “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“No,” you frowned as you picked at the lose thread on your jeans, “He’s married...and he’s a dad to a two year old girl.” You buried your face in your hands as the embarrassment hit you all over again, “I slept with a married man, Sam…I’m in love with a married man.”
“Woah, those are big words.” Sam’s eyes were wide, “You mean that?”
You closed your eyes as you swallowed roughly and nodded, “Yeah...I’m sure. I’m so fucking sure and I hate it, Sam. He just...There were things I told him that I had only ever told you before...things I swore you to secrecy over...and he’s a coke head.”
“A WHAT?”
“He told me he had drug issues in the past...trauma and shit from something that happened in high school.” You scrubbed your tired face, “I just…I thought I had found a good one, Sammy. I thought for once...for once it was going to be something good.”
“So are they still together? Or what?”
“He said they separated before he left for tour but he lied to me, Sam. He told me he didn’t have any girlfriend or wife back home. He said he was single.” You frowned, “I’m so stupid.”
“You absolutely are not, Y/N.” Sam gripped your face and forced you to look at her, “Where are they? Is she – is Stacy still here?”
“I don’t know,” you shrugged, “I haven’t seen either of them since earlier.”
“We’ll, I’m here for a few days anyway, so...we’ll set them straight.” Sam sighed as you laid your head in her lap, “Gonna fuckin’ find Eddie first, though...give him a piece of my mind or my fist.”
“Sam?” you said after a few quiet moments.
“What’s up, doll?”
“We never used a condom.”
#Eddie Munson#Eddie Munson x you#Eddie Munson x reader#Stranger things#Stranger things au#Eddie Munson au#rockstar!eddie munson#thefreakymunson#Anywhere But Here
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Hacked into you - 4 (AU)
Hi loves!! Hope you’re well, so sorry for the wait, I’ve been so busy with uni (I’m Australian, which actually shows in the way I write if you guys can see that haha), thank you so much for the support and your interests in the story, again a lot of this story is based off of the game Watchdogs 2, so if anything is confusing, comment down and I can try my best to explain it! Google also might be a better option though hehe. Also, I’d love to know what you guys think of the story so far and if you have any questions, comment down below!! If you would like to be apart of a taglist so you know when I release a new chapter, comment down below too!!
Anyways, enjoy this chapter, J <3
READ PART 3 PART 2 PART 1
Pairings: jenna ortega x fem! Reader
Warnings: swearing, slightly suggestive, mention of weapons
*I plan to write smut in this story and it does have some dark themes like violence involved, the game itself was rated MA15+ where I am from (might be different depending which country you are in) so my fic will be 18+ because I am involving more adult themes, if you do choose to proceed, please keep that in mind*
DIVINITY - 4
If Jenna was a sin, she’d be the indulgence I’d partake in, against the divine law.
Her gaze softened with city lights reflecting in her eyes, I know she’s going to say yes, her eyes tell me everything, her relaxed shoulders wants to welcome me in, and the slight smirk she raises, the world would be safe and small the second her head lays on my chest.
She sighs with sorry eyes.
Fuck. I thought wrong, am I stupid to think that she would stay the night with me, in my arms? Maybe, I read into her actions too much and all of that flirting was just her being friendly, I am new to the team after all. But surely it wasn’t all in my head, that we really have something.
I close my eyes and look down to my hands and let out a soft chuckle,
“Ah, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that”.
“No, no, b, it’s okay, I just, I don’t know if it would be the best idea, we both have to go into HQ tomorrow and it’s your first mission, I don’t want to distract you”.
“I understand, Jen, well sleep tight, if you need anything help yourself to anything in the fridge, pantry and the bathroom is the first door right next to the front door”.
“Goodnight y/n”.
“Goodnight”, I smile back at her.
After she leaves the room, so many thoughts race through my head, most of it is the memories of the past day from the start of initiation to now, mainly, it was her, Jenna, every look she gave me, every smile, and the words she spoke to me. “B”, from the second she called me that, it would be engraved on my heart forever. I realise I must get some sleep, in about 5 hours, I have to go into HQ and start my first mission. A mix of adrenaline and nervousness is running through my bloodstream, this is my cue to go to sleep, I take one more look at the city and feelings of sonder arises, I smile and reach for the remote that controls the curtains that drapes over the floor-to-ceiling windows.
*5 HOURS LATER*
The sunlight peaks through my eyelid and the smell of cinnamon greets my senses, it was a delightful smell and the weather looked beautiful, the automatic curtains obviously beat me to waking up. Today is such a beautiful day, it just sucks there are corrupt and evil people out there, butttt it helps knowing we’re trying to take them down. I get out of bed and stretch the rest of my tiredness away, I hop in my bathroom and take a quick shower, when I walk out of my room changed, Jenna is in the kitchen finishing her cooking.
“Well, sleeping beauty finally wakens”.
“Hmm without a kiss though” taking a stab at her.
“You’re not funny”, she scoffs,
“Yeah, but the redness on your face says otherwise” taking another stab at her.
“Yeah, yeah whatever, you’re one strike away from not eating breakfast” now taking a stab at me.
I would be lying to myself if I said she wasn’t the first thing on my mind when I woke up, I just hope I was on hers too. The food looks delicious, waffles with cinnamon undertones, eggs and turkey bacon and apple juice.
“Yuck y/n, apple juice? Just for this act alone, I would kick you out of Dedsec”.
“Oh c’mon, as if you prefer orange juice”.
“No, but I’d drink a gallon of it before I touch apple”.
“You’re actually insane, but the spread looks very nice, very delicious”.
“Thank you, kind lady, don’t get used to it though”. She winks at me.
“Okay stop flirting with me and finish your food”.
“You’re on a thin line, y/n”, she walks up to me and my heart beats fasted than ever before, she’s not taller than me but I’m sitting down on a stool against my island so the power is in her hands, she steps even closer and reaches her arm out behind me which only brings her even closer, now she’s leaning her entire body towards me, I can feel her heat radiating off her skin, the heat I craved last night with me, the only heat that’s better than any blanket that wraps around my body.
“Sorry, I needed the salt” she teases,
“Didn’t season the food, Ms Ortega?”
“Shut up and eat, you need the energy for today, which speaking of, we have an hour till we have to get to HQ, you ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
“That’s my girl” she praises,
“Hmm, not your girl, now go relax and I’ll do the dishes.”
“No-.”
I cut her off “you cooked, I’ll clean, it’s only fair,” from then, she gets up and raises both hands up,
“You got it boss!”
I chuckle at her statement and get started on cleaning, there isn’t much to clean so I just handwash the plates instead of wasting water on the dishwasher, usually I watch something while washing dishes but this time my entertainment comes in a form of Jenna looking out into the city, watching everyone go about their day, the sun kisses her skin, I take a deep breath and splash my face to get her out of my head. No distractions. It doesn’t work, because now she’s running through my mind like a marathon.
“Okay, all done, let’s go before Marcus kills me.”
“I’d let him, to be honest, and plus I run Dedsec not Marcus.”
Dedsec doesn’t work as a hierarchy, that would be hypocritical of them, however it’s an unspoken thing that Marcus leads the SF team, it’s not a bad thing, he’s sweet, and he acts like more of a brother than a leader I’ve heard. The SF team consists of, Marcus, Wrench, Josh, Sitara, Ray also known as Tbone and Jenna, well now me. There was another team member before, Horatio, I heard he was the sweetest and he was very smart, but unfortunately, he got caught by a gang, known as the Tezcas who wanted to hunt down Dedsec members and was unfortunately stabbed to death. He got his justice though when Marcus and the team avenged him. And of course, I cant forget, the Dedsec members/followers in bay area, they provide us with information and help on missions, acting as informants, we wouldn’t be here without them and we’re growing by the minute.
“Okayyyyy Jenna, whatever you say, now let’s go.”
We head towards the garage of the building, on the way saying hi and bye to Alfred at the same time, once we get to the garage, I lead her towards my safeguarded area of the garage where my vehicles rest.
“Holy shit.”
“Like what you see?” I elbow her softly,
“Who the hell are you?”
“Y/n…”
She tsks “you know what I mean, did you steal them?”
“Hey! I worked hard for these thank you very much, by taking down evil, rich people and maybe taking a bit of their money for me.”
“There’s the twist.”
“Oh, don’t start, Dedsec does the same, take from the rich and give to the vulnerable, now my fair lady, pick your poison.”
She walks around the vehicles, with each one she sees her eyes widen even more, she’s in awe, I mean to be fair, I was too.
“This one.”
“Good choice, she’s, my favourite.”
She’s referring to my crimson red motorcycle, the Sayonara. My favourite vehicle to ride, and super-fast too, it took me a bit to get used to the speed.
“What can I say, I’ve got a good eye, and the need, the need for speed.”
“Okay, never say that again if you want to ride with me.”
“Yeah, yeah whatever, anyways, I’ve always wanted to ride one, I see people riding them around the city, always going too fast for their own good.”
“Maybe you’ve seen me.”
“Maybe.”
I pass her a motorcycle jacket that’ll keep her warm and protect her from the speed and drag while riding, along with a helmet for extra protection, the most important protection, might I add.
“Hold on tight.”
As we cruise through the warm yet cooling San Francisco breeze, I can feel Jenna’s grip on my waist get tighter every time I sped up, I decide it’s time to put on a show. I see a clear street, put the bike in the right gear and tell Jenna to hold on. Next thing you know I’m reaching 120km an hour and then I hear the most excruciating noise, sirens, police sirens.
“Lose them, b” Jenna instigates but in a flirtatious manner.
“Hold on even tighter.”
After that, I’m swerving, trying to avoid crashes and trying to lose the police, 5 minutes in and now I have about 2 cars trying to catch me.
“They’re getting closerrr.”
“Have some faith, Jen.”
2 minutes later, the police sirens die down as the sounds dilute, from that, I start slowing down, and lucky enough I see the HQ, I ride into the nearby alleyway and park.
“WOOOOOOO” Jenna screams into my ears and jumps on me and gives me a hug as we get off the bike. “FUCK THAT WAS FUN.”
I laugh at her,
“I’m glad you enjoyed the ride.”
“Do you always ride like that?”
I reach for her helmet to help her take it off,
“Depends on what I’m riding,” I wink at her.
She rolls her eyes at me and makes her way towards the building, “you’re so annoying” I hear her say faintly as she continues to walk away.
“YOU LOVE ME” I yell back at her, I run up to her as she’s my way in, the building of the HQ is disguised as a fully functional comic book shop, fully stocked with figurines and games, every nerds and geeks dreams, but in the back, there’s a discrete hidden door, behind the ‘janitor’s closet,’ the HQ, also known as a hackerspace can only be accessed with the code and right now, I don’t know the code. San Francisco is where the main hackerspace is, where we reside, but there’s other ones with other people working away at right now, one in Oakland and one in Silicon Valley, both also very discrete.
As we head in, we bolt directly to the back, making sure we don’t linger too long up top, Jenna punches in the code and the door slides open,
“The code’s 53662, and if you forget it, goodluck.”
I give her a nod, letting her know I understand, as we walk in and walk down the stairs the walls are adorned with graffiti, but not the ones you see in random alleyways but the ones that could be framed in a museum, they all tell a story, they all speak Dedsec.
“Heyyy, there you are fresh meat, thought you pussied out.” Wrench exclaims,
“Me? Never, just got caught in a little action.”
“Oh, we know, it was a lot of fun to watch, gotta do it all with us one day.” Marcus daps me up,
“You guys saw?”
They all stand in front of me and stare deeply into my soul, their left irises light up blue with hints of grey.
Sitara steps forward and hands me a small box,
“This here is your SI also known as smart iris, we in the hackerspace can see what you can, what you hear and also your vitals, don’t worry though, these only turn on when you’re in action, so you can breathe and relax about your private life, what you do in your little penthouse is your business.”
“Little is an understatement,” Jenna chuckles,
“Okay okay, Jenna’s seen it, you guys should come over sometime.”
Wrench’s mask lights up a smiley face, “dude, fuck yeah.”
“I’ll bring the drinks,” a middle-aged white man walks towards me and offers his hand, I accept his shake.
“Woah, you’re Tbone, it’s an honour to be working with you, hell to even be standing in front of you.”
“I like you, kid, and I’m flattered, you’ve got this fire Dedsec needs, and you’re crazy talented, I watched your initiation, pretty impressive things.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Please, sir is for the CEOs.”
“And, you must be Josh, nice to meet you.”
“Hi y/n, it’s very nice to meet you too.”
“Alright, kid” Marcus walks up to me,
“Are you ready for your first official mission?”
“Very.”
“Okay so, you’ll be running it with me, kind of like my shadow but don’t think less of yourself, we are an equal, the rest of the guys will be back here watching us, doing their own thing, and guiding us through points, that’s also Jenna’s main job, she will let us know of any alerts, cameras and guards we need to neutralize. For your first mission, nothing big, basically you know the rapper, Bobo Dakes?”
“Yeah, I love him, he’s about to release a new album?”
“Yes, he is and we all love him” Jenna continues on, “this big big shot pharmacist, Gene Carcani, also known as the most hated man in America right now, he’s raising the prices of leukaemia medicine so he gets more money, and funny enough, he’s also a big Bobo fan who is offering him millions of dollars to keep the album for himself.”
“What a dickhead, so first he takes advantage of the vulnerable and second he wants to become more selfish by keeping art to himself.”
“And it is your job to take him down, this includes taking every penny he has, we’ll use that money to support cancer foundations.”
“Well, kid, let’s get going.”
I grab my helmet and say bye to the team and grab a weapon, a glock to be specific, something light to get me through, but this is just for precaution, I will only shoot as a last resort, I have other means of neutralizing an enemy, I know martial arts for a reason, and I have my trusty melee weapon. I place my SI in and start heading towards the stairs.
“Wait, b.”
I turn around and see Jenna, she grabs my s/c hand and caress it, her touch is soft and cool, complimenting my warmth.
“Be careful and stay safe, I want you here breathing.”
“Yes ma’am, and plus, don’t worry, you got my back.”
She chuckles.
“I got you.”
~~
@pimpcesskm
#jenna ortega#jenna ortega x reader#jenna ortega x y/n#jenna ortega x you#wednesday adams x reader#wednesday addams x reader#wednesday addams#wednesday x reader#tara carpenter#tara carpenter x reader#vada cavell#vada cavell x reader
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The Iron Ring | Chapter III | pjm (m)
❀ Pairing: fae prince! Jimin x human! female reader
❀ Summary: After finding a mysterious ring while cleaning out your late grandmother’s attic, you receive the unlikeliest of visitors: a fae prince who claims you have something that belongs to him. Discovering the fairytales your grandmother told you are true is the least of your problems when you’re taken to a world dangerous and unfamiliar.
❀ Word Count: 19,940
❀ Genre: fantasy au, strangers to lovers, enemies to lovers
❀ Rating: 18+ Minors are strictly prohibited from engaging and reading this content. It contains explicit content and any minors discovered reading or engaging with this work will be blocked immediately.
❀ Warnings: Explicit language, graphic depictions of death, graphic depictions of gore, fighting and action scenes, depictions of anxiety attacks and minor traumatic memories from battle, intense sequences of fear and fighting for life, angst, self-doubt, reader being maaad confused for a bit, sexually explicit content including making out, hand job, fingering, unprotected vaginal sex, emotional sex, discussions of 'reaping' magic and pain, graphic details of pain and suffering, UNEDITED sorrryyyyy
❀ Published: June 5, 2022
❀ A/N: I'm not even going to be humble when I say it's absolutely crazy that I finished this in time for posting on the weekend. When I started writing yesterday, this update was only at about 5k words. I finished last night's session at somewhere around 13k and finally managed to get to 19k today and actually finish where I planned. The next chapter reveals a LOT of things that have been mentioned throughout: who Khione is (by the way, I kind of like the idea of writing a story about her and Yoongi??), WHAT Khione is, what the other are, why grandma told reader that Jin killed her grandpa, and how grandma stole King Malik's power. Anyways - thank you so much for the feedback I've had on this recently. You guys are outstanding and thank you for being patient - I know updates two weeks or one week at a time are a little frustrating but I promise I'm working hard to finish this. Right now I have an anticipated end at chapter five for this story :) Let me know your thoughts! If you know anything about Celtic mythology, you might be able to make a wild guess at what Khione is (even though her name is greek hehe) also this is unedited because i've had covid for like five days and i don't wanna edit today heehe
❀ Disclaimer: All members of BTS are faces and name claims for this story. This is entirely a work of fiction and by no means is meant to be a projection, judgment or representation of real-life people. Any scenarios or representations of the people and places mentioned in works are not representative of real-life scenarios.
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Terror shoots through you. Your pants are barely buckled, the heat of the moment evaporating as you step over the dead faerie. The camp is chaos outside, fire crackling on canvas, the ring of swords. The smell of singed hair and skin makes you gag as you look at the iron rods shoved into the ground. There is roughly a dozen, five feet tall and spaced about three feet apart each.
“Come on!” Jimin yells through the tent. His tone isn’t harsh, but urgent.
Licking your lips, you grip one by the door, yanking. It doesn’t move, sunken in the ground firmly. You pull harder, grunting and squeezing your eyes shut as you pull. Your hands slide on the metal, burning with friction. You make a distressed noise, squatting low to pull with more force at the lower point. The pole moves a bit and you grit your teeth, pulling hard and twisting.
The iron rod comes free with a weird suction-release feeling, knocking you backward. You pant, the sky swirling above you. A terrifying face hovers over you, making you scream in surprise and terror. It's some sort of goblin, eyes black with no pupil, sneering over your face.
You can hear Jimin screaming your name, snarling. You watch as the goblin lifts it’s clawed hand toward you and you feel the scar on your chest throb with familiarity. You don’t think. You thrust the rod upward, cross-checking the goblin across the chin with the iron.
It screams and falls backward, the smell of burnt skin prominent. You realize you’re holding iron – toxic to faeries and what’s keeping Jimin warded in the tent. Rolling to your feet, you gasp for air as you hold the pole, watching as the goblin gathers its wits and gets to its feet. You don’t let it, holding the rod like a baseball bat and swinging.
There's a sickening crunch and the sound of sizzling flesh.
“Hit it again!” Jimin snarls from the other side of the tent. You don’t know how he knows, but you do as he says until the goblin isn’t moving. You're shaking all over, breaths coming out in panicked gasps. “It’s okay,” Jimin calls. “Work on the rods – I'm right here. I just need you to remove enough near the entrance that I can pass with mild burns.”
You drop the rod. You're trembling all over and you feel bile creep up in your throat. Knees buckling, you hit the ground hard, rocks digging into your palms, stinging your hands. You vomit into the grass. It burns like gasoline, scraping your throat as you cough.
Terror claws at you. You trying to catch your breath, gasping.
You can’t get enough air.
Your chest is getting tighter and tighter and you can’t feel that tiny node of energy that exists within you.
The black splashes of Nox and Nyx throb in your vision.
You can’t get enough air.
There's no room to breathe and there is darkness pressing against you, tunnel vision making it impossible to see how to navigate out of this.
“Enaid.” Your head snaps up.
You can’t see Jimin, but you can feel him. Through the panic, through the thunder heart. You know he’s on his knees on the other side of the canvas, hands pressed against the fabric even though the iron is singing him. You don’t know how you know but you know.
“Deep breath,” Jimin murmurs. “With me – one, two, three. Now out – one, two, three.”
You follow the exercise, looking desperately at where his hands press against the tent. Your heart slows and your shaking comes to a stop. You’re no longer gasping, levelling out. “Killing is not easy.” Jimin’s voice is almost a whisper. “I am sorry you are here. But you have to get the iron out of the ground, okay? Get the iron out and I can help you.”
You lick your lips and stagger to your feet. “Okay.”
“I’m right here,” Jimin promises. “You did a good job. You can do this.”
“Okay.”
Licking your lips, you move to the next rod.
A cracking sound makes you flinch and turn around. Hoseok has his back to you, taking a firm stance. Fire curls around his wrist, the whip moving on the ground. He glances at you over his shoulder and nods. “Remove the rods, I’ll cover you.”
You try not to look at the dead goblin as you work on pulling more rods from the ground. You flinch every time you hear the crack of fire behind you, too afraid to turn around and see what Hoseok is fending off. There is mounting chaos in the distance, making you scream in frustration as the poles take all of your energy to pull.
Finally, you rip the last one from the earth, collapsing backwards and red in the face. You're gasping for air as Jimin surges from the tent, darkness writhing around him in a furious, dark storm. You look up at him, dizzy with effort. He picks you up carefully, brushing the hair from your face.
“Okay?” he asks. You nod. He disappears in the tent and reappears, handing you the bow you’ve been practicing with and a quiver. You’re wide-eyed, the bow shaking in your hand. “Just don’t miss.”
It's ridiculous advice but it has the desired effect. You laugh immediately, feeling a little better because it’s still Jimin, despite what happened moments ago.
With trembling hands and a flipping stomach, you shoulder the quiver and pull and arrow, careful not to catch the arrowhead on the lip of the quiver. You nock it, though you’re not confident you could pull and aim right now.
Blinding, white light pulses from the center of the camp. The three of you turn to look at it. Fae with black are rushing toward it, weapons raised.
“Taehyung,” Jimin says, watching as the light fades. “These are solitary fae that don’t belong to courts. Goblins and orcs – look at the eyes. They're being controlled by other.”
“To the king?” Hoseok asks
Jimin nods. You're surprised that they want to help Taehyung and not use the moment as a distraction. Something in your heart flips at Jimin’s decision, watching him storm forward with his sword in hand. He spins the sword as a goblin creature runs by, his wrist moving like a painter as Jimin lops the head off easily.
You don’t have time to be disgusted. The three of you jog through the camp, Jimin and Hoseok clearing the path. You're slammed by the noise and the chaos of it, watching faeries in white with the crest of the Day Court fighting and falling. There are more goblin creatures than Day Court.
A group of creatures scramble toward your trio. You gasp in shock, forgetting about the weapon in your hand. Jimin doesn’t hesitate, a shadow pulsing from him. It hits the goblins, making them scream and collapse, writhing as whatever magic Jimin has used killed them.
Light surged again as you reach the middle of the camp, warriors in white surrounded Taehyung. It's hard not to pause as you look at the King of the Day Court. He radiates light, golden skin glowing pearlescent as he thrusts his sword through the chest of a large creature – an orc, perhaps. None of these creatures make sense to you, but you push forward.
Behind Taehyung a guard is cut down, a hulking monster moving toward the king’s back. Instinct vibrates through you as you pull the taught string of the bow. Aim down the arrow. Don't squeeze your bow hand. Touch the string to the corner of your mouth.
You release the arrow. You swear you hear it whistle as it cuts the air, hitting the monster in the eye. You make a surprised sound, Jimin and Hoseok both whirling around to look at you. Sensing the danger, he was in, Taehyung turns to look at the fallen creature than back up to you.
“Well do more of that!” Jimin hollers, cutting down a troll. “As much as I loathe to save Taehyung after he imprisoned me, we need him as an ally.”
You remember the dark stains on the stone of your bedroom. The cup of water left out for you. The food.
You steady your breath. A cool calm washes over you, soothing the shaking hand. You nock an arrow, pull the string, aim down the shaft and release. You move in a rhythm, the noise of battle fading behind you. Behind the firm calm is terror, but it’s kept at bay by the image of Nox and Nyx murdered.
Anger simmers there too.
Jimin fells anything that gets too close for you to hit. Your aim isn’t perfect – you miss and some of your shots aren’t lethal, but they make the creatures falter, crippling them enough for a member of the Day Court to slay one enemy without fear of being stabbed in the back.
You enter the circle of the fray with Taehyung and his guard. Jimin turns to Taehyung. “How many of your court are outside of this ring?”
Taehyung’s face is stormy. “None. Do what you will.”
Jimin nods and spins his sword, swing up and plunging it down tip first. It sinks into the ground. Day Court warriors circle tight, the creatures making a thick ring and chittering, closing in on you. Jimin spreads his hands part, palms facing one another. Darkness gathers there, twisting and shadowed. There are sparks there, like lightning lancing through darkness.
“Duck,” Jimin orders. You hear the command of a king there, voice firm and loud.
Everyone drops to their knees. Jimin throws his hands out, casting a disk of shadow. It feels like oxygen is pull from the air and you gasp, as though you’re in a vacuum for a moment. There is a sharp sound like bones snapping. You look at the enemies surrounding you, creatures frozen and gaping. Slowly, like the early raindrops of a storm, the top halves of the creatures start toppling to the floor.
A hand claps over your mouth as you watch the ichor and blood spill. Organs topple from bodies sliced through stomachs, chests and heads. You cannot tear your eyes away as the ground soaks up the black blood, bubbling and steaming.
Not a single creature remains standing.
White clothes with the sun emblazoned on them are littered among the dead. None of them move. Slowly, you begin to stand. You realize that the tents and poles are you have bene severed in half. No splints, no tatters, no threads. They’re singed as though they have been cauterized.
You look at Jimin.
You haven’t even seen a flicker of my power.
On unsteady legs, you look at the carnage around you. The members of the Day Court tentatively start picking through the remains, looking a little lost and dazed. You don’t look at the dead or the bleeding creatures or even think about the reeking smell that is beginning to drift toward you.
Jimin sheaths his sword and then looks up at you, green eyes dark. “What?” he asks, adjusting his weapons built and bending to pick up an arrow you dropped. He holds it out to you. “I told you – you've barely seen my power.”
“What was that?”
“Something that should be done seldom,” Hoseok answers. You glance at the summer prince. He's watching Jimin with a guarded expression. “Summoning pure night like that is reckless and can kill you.”
“Would rather not be killed by solitary faeries that are possessed, Jimin sniffs. He turns to Taehyung, who remains motionless and staring at what was once a camping ground.
Following Taehyung’s stare, you realize that out of the dozens of faeries who had accompanied him to this corner of the Day Court, there are only a few left. It sets in that there are not only monsters dead around you – there are willow men and woman and creatures who were loyal to their king that are now covered in grime and death.
Something abought the thought flips your stomach. You turn and retch, nearly vomiting on Jimin’s boots. He doesn’t seem to mind, handing going to your back. You flinch away from him, remembering that only moments ago he had summoned night and used it as a weapon. You didn’t understand entirely what that meant, but Hoseok’s expression was enough to know that it wasn’t normal. Or expected.
Jimin takes a few steps back from you, retracting his hand. You glance up to see that the princely mask has fallen into place. Gone is the man from the tent who had kissed you and tasted you with hunger you’ve never experienced. Gone is the man who admitted he craved touching you from the moment you met.
“I saved us,” Jimin mentions. When you and Hoseok say nothing, he turns to Taehyung. “You owe me a life debt.”
That makes the handsome faerie glare. “I suppose I do.”
“I’m asking you to let us pass through your lands unchecked.”
“Permission granted.” Taehyung looks at you. “They were going to your tent before I flashed my power. Take your ring and get it out of my court and do not come back through my lands until you have banished whatever evil your grandmother has let into this world by killing the High Tree.”
The words land like a slap. You feel their sting, hot against your face. Tears burn your eyes as you look at the empty eyes of Taehyung’s court. Your fingers shake. A faerie somewhere lets out a loud sob and you turn toward it. A satyr leans over a dryad, howling.
Since the moment you stepped into Faerie, you’ve been so sure your grandmother was a hero. She spent her entire life telling you have her great adventures, of the people she saved by defeating the High King and hiding his power. What could be so wrong about that?
But you look at the faces of the dead, faces tilted up to the warm sun. And you realize that they cannot feel it. Immortal beings who believe they will live forever snuffed out because of this thing – these creatures – that come through some sort of door that your grandmother has opened.
And it occurs to you: was the cost of so much life worth a temporary peace?
The answer chokes you. You feel your throat tighten and you look at Jimin, eyes burning. And though you can’t tell what he is thinking or feeling, you think... he understands what is racing through your mind. That he knows that you’re realizing the cost of her actions.
And it’s fucking heavy.
Jimin dips his head to Taehyung in thanks. “King Taehyung.”
Taehyung repeats the motion. “King Jimin.”
The horses are blessedly alive. Umbriel and Asfaloth paw at the ground, throwing their head up and down nervously. Hoseok shushes them, approaching slowly with a hand held out. A warmth radiates from him – magic, you think – and they grow calm enough to mount.
Jimin urges Umbriel into a fast canter, peeling off toward the north.
No one speaks. You don’t look at the ruined camp, instead closing your eyes as Jimin urges Umbriel faster, wind cutting at your eyes. You can feel your eyes water, tears slicing past your temple.
Nothing makes sense. From hat you know, solitary faeries are those who belong to no court. They prefer to keep their business to themselves – so why attack the Day Court? Taehyung’s accusation that they were coming for your tent haunts you. Were they there because of you? And how were there so many?
Tension twists your neck and shoulders. It feels like there is an intense pressure crushing on top of you, grinding you until you’re nothing. And you want to be nothing.
You don’t want to be here. You don’t want to be afraid. You don’t want to be anything.
Jimin says nothing from behind you. The comfort he offered you before is gone, replace with a cool exterior.
The horses carry on. Day turns into twilight and the wind gets colder. You shiver in the saddle, looking up at the sky as blue fades to grey.
The Winter Court looms ahead.
-
Winter wind tears at your face. It scrapes its nails down your cheeks, bites at the flesh of your lips, making them blood and peeled. Your bones ache with cold, even though Jimin has stopped the horses to change into warmer clothing. Though fae are not as affected by temperature fluctuations, even the two fae princes cannot fight off the sting of winter.
Grey skies and clouds stretch overhead. Something feels off about the world here. The Day Court and the Night Court were thriving with life and magic. Dread fills you here, almost as deep as the cold.
You want to ask Jimin about the Winter Court, but the image of his power ripping through the solitary faeries plays in your mind over and over again. You have no idea the extent of his power, but you know that Hoseok has been just as standoffish.
So instead, you turn to the prince of the Summer Court. “It feels wrong here.”
Hoseok looks up at you. He's fixing a buckle on his boot. He nods as he looks back down, fingers shaking in the cold before he finishes and slides gloves on. “Like the other courts, the Winter Court is powered by the Winter Tree and the royal family who are tied to it. They have suffered incredibly losses – more than what you just witnessed at the Day Court. It takes faeries time to heal. We do not have many children.”
“They also chased out their best heir, Jimin mutters. “That kind of counts for their downfall.”
Hoseok gives Jimin a hard look before standing and looking at you. “You won’t find much happiness here, but the Winter Court is full of people. Sure, there are a few bad apples – every court has them.” Hoseok looks pointedly at Jimin. “Anyway, we’re going to the Nightingales, you don’t need to worry about the royal family.”
“What are the Nightingales?”
Jimin helps you onto Umbriel. You rub your palms together and pull your cloak closer. Jimin leans a little more into you than previously, making you flush. Even in the state of things, it’s hard to forget the way he licked and sucked at you, making you writhe and curl and-
“You okay?” Jimin’s voice is a purr. You go rigid and nod your head, though you get the sneaking sense that he knows where your mind was wandering off to. “The Nightingales are some of the most powerful fae in Faerie. They’re the keeper of secrets and have ancient knowledge of the world. They were started thousands of years ago as an assassination ring by the Winter Court, but they’ve since transformed their use and purpose.”
“Do they still assassinate people?”
“Do you really want the answer to that question?”
You don’t.
Instead, you let yourself get ensnared in your own thoughts.
A mixture of shame and confusion circle you and Jimin. You have no idea where the heated moment between you came from or what it means. You had thought up until that point that you were a tool at his disposal. But the way he had kissed you and blinded you with mindless pressure makes you shiver in the saddle.
You don’t know how to feel. Jimin is... abrasive but kind and he is constantly contradicting himself. He is the epitome of the chaos of the fae, and you struggle to understand the motivations and the machinations of his mind.
Trying to guess the rhyme and reason behind him eating you out like a man starved is impossible.
You think about the pull you constantly feel with him, the way you feel like there is a tiny string dragging you along toward him until you’re united once more. The realization that maybe Jimin feels something similar.
It gets colder as you’re consumed with your thoughts. No one speaks, but your breaths come out in puffs. A terrible tremble rattles your spine and you pull your cloak tighter. Jimin presses his chest against you and you feel warmth bloom at your back. You make a startled noise, going rigid.
“Relax,” Jimin grunts. “It’s just a little magic.”
“You should conserve your magic,” Hoseok warns. “Teach her how to use her own instead. You're going to exhausts yourself after summoning night like that and keeping two bodies warm.”
“What does that mean? That you summoned night?”
Jimin huffs, breath clouding. “Most fae have general magic about them. A banshee predicts death, a brownie can make things appear and reappear, a dryad can sing trees into shape. Hoseok and I can perform basic magic – warming, some elemental magic, a little healing. But we are members of the gentry as well, the strong fae that make up the royal court. My gift in magic really lies within a skillset unique to the Night Court.”
“So that’s why Hobi can summon a whip of fire?” You ask. Hoseok nods. “You can manipulate fire to a certain degree because its unique to the Summer Court?”
“Exactly. Those bright flashes of light you saw when Taehyung was fighting was him summoning the day – he was pulling on his own life force and re-creating the very essence of the day and frying and blinding the other.”
“So you summoned night and... what, exactly?”
“Used it like a blade. I made it solid, pure darkness of the night sky fashioned into something sharp.”
“It was dangerous,” Hoseok grunts. “To do that in the Day Court where you’re weakest? You’re lucky you could do it at all.”
You turn to look at Jimin over your shoulder. For a moment, you can’t help but think how good he looks, even in the Winter Court. His eyes hair matches the background, black hood pulled over his head. His eyes are lighter – like jade – than they were before. His eyes meet yours, intense and unrelenting.
“You were weakened in the Day Court?”
“It is my natural opposite,” he admits. “But we were not so far from home like we are now. We’re also very near the High Court.”
“Are you in danger?”
He cocks his head. “Worried about me?”
You flush from head to toe. This tone is playful, eyes dancing. “No.”
“I thought faeries didn’t lie,” he whispers, leaning forward a bit. His voice is soft, the same voice he used when he had you under him, panting and naked. Heat drops in your stomach like a furnace. “You’re part my personal court. It makes sense to fear for me.”
“She’s in your court?” Jimin’s eye twitches in annoyance. It is the single most human expression he’s ever had as he looks at Hoseok, lip curled upward slightly. “Yes,” Jimin answers through his teeth. He has no right to be annoyed, but you can feel the irritation, like something vibrating up an invisible tether between you. “Is that okay with you?”
“You’ve never had a court. I’m just surprised, is all.” Hoseok looks at you and his brown eyes light up and he smirks. “Or maybe I’m not that surprised.”
“Is having a court special?” You ask, a little dubious.
“Only your closest confidants should be in your court,” Hoseok answers. “People you trust with your life, people you rely on more than anyone. You care for them, you love them.” Hoseok smiles as he urges Asfaloth faster. “Jimin has never had enough friends to make one.”
The prince of the Night Court has no response for Hoseok.
Instead, Jimin tries to teach you to warm yourself. It seems hopeless at first. Now that your terror has subsided, you can feel the little piece of energy there. You poke and prod at it with Jimin’s teaching. It doesn’t give away like before, like there is something between you and accessing it.
You work at it. Jimin grunts when you fail again to reach that spark inside of you and opts for a new method. Motivation, Jimin thinks, will drive you to your goal faster. He withdraws the warmth he has been feeding you and lets you go numb again, your extremities screaming as you begin to tremble, the wind and cold an entity out to kill you.
It seems in viciously. Your teeth chatter, your hands tremble. You can’t really feel your legs in the saddle beyond a dull ache. You start to get angry as Jimin pushes you, his patience fraying.
“I’m t-too cold t-to d-do this,” you get out. “J-just warm m-me for a m-moment t-to try again.”
“No.”
“F-fuck you, I’m g-g-g-” you cut off, and angry yell leaving your mouth as you struggle to say the words. “I-I'm going to f-f-freeze to death.”
“You won’t if you tap into it.”
“L-let me d-d-die then.”
“You’re being dramatic. You feel it there – the access to it. It is yours. So take it.”
“I h-hope you f-f-fall of the horse when I d-d-die.”
Jimin’s breath is warm as he leans into your ear, whispering, “Do you need a better motivation than living?”
Jimin nibbles at your earlobe. You burst with heat from the action, surprised. Even more surprising is that you explode with real heat, tapping into the magic and shooting torrents of heat through your body. The force of the heat surprises Jimin, making him yelp and jump backward. He falls from Umbriel and though you want to see him eat snow, he lands in a crouch, looking up at you.
The freeze melts away from you as the fever blooming at your center spreads to your limbs. It's almost painful, the way it chases out the cold. Jimin straightens as Hoseok laughs and jeers at him, but he ignores the summer prince. He narrows his eyes at you before leaping back up onto Umbriel.
“Can you soften the heat a little?” he’s back to his instructional voice. “Just pull back a little – like releasing your bowstring slowly.”
You imagine just that, letting go of that taught energy slowly. The heat dampens to a hum. Your hands are red and you feel flushed like you’re standing in front of a fire, but it’s better than the alternative.
“Would you look at that,” Jimin notes. “My tongue is still a motivator.”
“Shut up,” you snap, looking at Hoseok who has returned to leading you. “I just wanted to knock you off the horse.”
“You worried about Hoseok knowing that I've fucked you with my tongue?” You squirm at his words. His hands find your waist, squeezing. “Worried what he’ll think about how you were going to let me spread you open for my-”
You elbow Jimin. He cackles, knowing that he’s won. You say nothing, focuses on trying not to pass out from embarrassment. Jimin is right, though. You were about to let him do exactly that and the thought of anyone knowing how pliant you were for faerie you barely knew, for a faerie who was mean to you and who had dual motivations and who had kidnapped you and brought you here.
It was mortifying. And Jimin knew it.
-
You had never been more thankful for having a member of the Summer Court with you than when Hoseok started a roaring fire, lighting up the dark, winter sky. You pressed yourself close to the fire, letting the flames warm your face and hands. You were exhausted, a kind of tired that you were unfamiliar with.
Jimin called it burn out. You were still new at using what magic the ring had given you – and the dagger, for that matter – and the constant heating of your system had exhausted you.
This you remember from your lessons. A faerie can only use as much magic as they have energy. Accessing magic and using it is just like being an athlete – the more conditioned you are to using it and the more stamina you have, the more you can use and the bigger the magical feats you can perform.
Warming yourself at a consistent rate was incredibly impressive, according to Hoseok. What you don’t tell him is that for the last hour and a half as you entered the dark line of woods in the Winter Court, you had been struggling to do it at all, sagging in the saddle. You suspect that you would have frozen again if Jimin had not been there.
You don’t dare look at Jimin as he rolls out a sleeping pack. You're focused on the way the flames crack, sparks drifting upward into the shadows boughs of the trees.
The woods feel omnipresent. You can’t really make out much beyond the orange ring of light Hoseok’s fire casts. You see a shimmer of darkness – Jimin's magic a protective ward around your slice of camp, you think. You've brushed the leaves in piles, gathering soft moss to place under your sleeping pack at Hoseok’s instruction.
The ground will suck up your warmth he mentions. Always sleep on top of brush if you can.
Though neither of the faerie princes look alarmed, you can’t help but feel a nervous energy humming through you. Hoseok nibbles on dried, salted meat and Jimin sips on freezing water from his waterskin. Rubbing your hands together, you strand on stiff limbs, groaning.
Jimin glances up at you. “Thighs sore?”
You stare at him, eyes narrowed at the teasing lilt to his voice. Hoseok doesn’t seem to notice or doesn’t care about your conversation. On weak legs, you crawl into your bed roll. “I’m fine.”
“It’s okay to have sore legs. Being spread like that makes the muscles ache.”
You whip your head at him, images of him prying your thighs open flashing through your mind. Is he that enamored with what happened? You have no idea what it means, that he’s still so enthusiastic about it. You try not to let it coax you into false assumptions, but it’s hard when your heart skips a beat.
“I’m going to sleep,” you growl.
Jimin wiggles his fingers in a taunting wave and Hoseok murmurs a good night to you.
Neither of them chats as you wiggle further into your sleeping bag. It's warm, aided by the flames. Taking a deep breath, you try to close your eyes and relax. But the scenes from the Day Court flit behind your eyelids.
Red, blood-soaked earth. Charred corpses with empty eyes. Bodies of creatures split open, entrails spilled like ink.
You squeeze your eyes shut so hard you see stars behind them. You will them away. You don’t want to see anymore death. You don’t want to see any more blood and carnage.
These are the stories your grandma left out. The dead bodies, the brutality of fighting. She never described the sour feeling that kills the pit of your stomach. Acid creeping in and melting you from the inside out until you’re vomiting from the sights and sounds.
It had sounded so glorious when she told you about her sword made of night, the crown of stars full of power.
Children’s stories. She had left out so many details, so many truths.
A tear slips out of your eye and you wipe it viciously. You're careful not to sniff, not wanting to alert the two fae behind you of your predicament. But you can’t help it. You have never felt farther away from home. Never doubted your grandmother this much.
You think back to that place of twilight, where she whispered her fear of Jimin, to beware of Seokjin.
The king’s name sours your face. There is still that mystery to unravel, to discover what reason the king of the Night Court could have possibly killed your grandfather for.
Your kind, gentle grandfather. The softness to your grandmother’s edge. You miss the smell of him, like sunlight and warmth. Had Seokjin done it because he hated your grandmother? It seemed to be a common thing among the fae. Even Taehyung spoke her name with venom in his mouth.
Frustration stirs inside of you. You try to shove away the images but they keep coming and coming. The sound of crying in your ears, the ring of swords, the screaming. It throbs and throbs and throbs. You sense the tiny pebble of power within you and reach for it – maybe you can force the fears away.
You seize onto that tiny part of magic in you and something pulses.
Your eyes snap open as that small bead of power ruptures, vibrating outwards. You imagine ripples on a calm lake, ring after ring expanding and rushing outward.
“Y/N,” Jimin says, voice cryptic. “What was that?”
You sit up, sleeping back forgotten. You feel a tremor behind the shadow of Jimin’s magic. Your heart quickens. The three of you stare east in silence.
The quiet grows unsettling. It yawns into existence, opening up its maw and swallowing sound whole. You look at Jimin but he puts his finger to his lips. Slowly, he climbs to his feet. His movements don’t make a sound, Hoseok echoing the movement.
Nothing happens but you don’t feel relieved. Anxiety amounts and something oily and sharp brushes against your thoughts. You flinch backward, falling on your ass. Jimin is up and moving, throwing his shadows out in a solid arch. Hoseok diffuses the power.
“Fuck,” Jimin swears, grabbing you by the arm and yanking you upward. “You sent out a fucking wave of magic. What did you do?”
“I don’t know!”
“You just announce to this entire forest where we are. You have no idea the dark creatures that are in this forest – this wood is ancient.”
“I didn’t mean to!” Jimin drags you to Umbriel, nearly shoving you up onto the horse. What’s happening?”
“You woke something up,” he growls. He leaps onto the horse. Neither he nor Hoseok bother to breakdown camp. They rein their horses and urge them north. “We have no idea how far that echo you just sent went, but it screamed power.”
Fear climbs up your spin. You leave the camp and rush through the woods, Jimin driving Umbriel at a dangerous pace rushing through the trees. You don’t turn around – you don’t think you would see anything even if you did. But something is there in the distance, a heavy silence sweeping over the trees.
“What is it?” Jimin doesn’t answer for a moment. “Jimin?”
“The Callieach.”
“What’s a callieach?”
“Not what – who. the Callieach is not a faerie. She’s... like the Maker and lives deep within the Winter Woods. She is winter itself and can appear in many forms.”
“And she’s... mean?”
Jimin startles you with a laugh. “She’s not good or evil. She’s ancient – but you just sent out a High Court shockwave. It feels like her kind.”
“Maybe she feels lonely,” you jest, though there is a sliver of terror in your chest. “Like maybe she thinks oh – feels like home.”
“She was banished here and trapped in the body of a faerie to keep her out of the Maker’s home world. I don’t think that is the case, Enaid.”
“Will you ever tell me what that word is?”
Despite the terrifying situation, you feel Jimin’s smile when he says, “Perhaps if we survive the Callieach, I will.”
The ride is cold and brutal. You reach for that spark of magic again to warm yourself but Jimin tuts at you, telling you to save your magic. That sends a deeper chill into your bones. You cannot imagine having to fight with magic.
You think of the pulse you felt emit from you through the forest floor. It had been an accident – you had reached for the magic out of fear, an instinct. You had tapped into it and unleashed something. It felt different from the flames you had been working on conjuring which meant… could it be High Court magic?
Thus far, you haven’t managed to summon an ounce of power from the ring. At least, you don’t think you have. All the magic you’ve been able to spark was heat and occasionally shadow fire, which had earned you the Shade title and King Seokjin’s hatred.
It was frustrating. You wished you could tap into your magic and use it for something. The image of Jimin summoning night and slicing through the others comes back unbidden. You shiver, but this time, not from the cold.
Jimin is far more powerful than you thought. You knew as a prince of the Night Court, he had to be strong. He walked confidently and people respected him – but now you also knew why they feared him. Beneath the surface and the words laced with sweetness, he was still deadly.
You remember your first meeting, the way he had thrown you to the ground. Left you in a prison. The forceful way he handled you and how everything out of his mouth was a grinding insult. It’s different from the Jimin behind you now. You’re not sure how, but the Jimin now seems fonder of you.
And certainly more devious. Heat creeps up your neck and you curse yourself for once again remembering the way Jimin ate you out like a creature made from hunger and passion.
Snow began to fall. White sheets of it, blinding and colder than before. It felt like a knife was slicing the bits of your face that were not hidden by the hood of your cloak. Jimin slid closer to you, shivering against you as the wicked fingers of the cold scratched and clawed at you.
The blizzard grew violent. Hoseok slowed his horse as you navigated through blinding, white snow. The world was no longer grey, but a bright, starling white. You could barely see the back of Hoseok. You only knew he was there at all because of the flame he summoned to melt away the ice that was now crackling beneath the horses feet.
An uneasy feeling crept up your spine. You hear voices on the wind, quick and too soft for you to follow. You swiveled your head, trying to catch them as the wind roared around you. Jimin said something in your ear, but you couldn’t hear him over the screaming of winter’s fury.
You turn to him, trying to hear what he’s saying. At the same moment, Umbriel bucks, her terror lost in the wind. You feel yourself scream more than hear it as you tumble from her back, landing in the snow.
Cold like you have never felt it before grips at you. You gasp, startled as you roll over. Icy nails dig into your skin, needling you and holding you there. You blink up at the sky, but the snow is flurrying so hard that you cannot see or make out what direction you fell from. Your limbs are being buried faster than you can peel yourself from the ice.
You look down and your stomach drops. Ice spiderwebs at your feet, crackling and growing toward you. It feels alive and you shriek, pulling your feet from the mounting and snow. Your steps are sticky and stilted as the ice pulls at you.
Spinning in circles, you scream for Jimin. Cold air reaches into your mouth and cuts you. Blood blooms in your mouth as the cold reaches down your throat. You don’t try to scream again but you are lost and freezing and black is pulsing on the edge of your vision.
Everything hurts. You stumble, covering your eyes as you try to see. A flare of orange barely lights the white sheets and you try to run for it, legs stiff and locking. You stumble again, scraping your hand. The ice cuts your palm, red bright against the ivory snow.
You look up and again your sense of direction is lost. You’re sure that the flash of Hoseok’s fire had been right in front of you, but doubt curls in your mind.
Teeth chattering, you reach for your magic. Pain seeps into your bones. Cold pain like you have never experienced. Your knees buckle as you reach for it, but you feel like there’s an icy wall around it, the energy muted.
Fuck. You realize you’re going to die. Ice climbs up your ankle. You focus your attention on that tiny bit of magic, stretching, screaming, crying for it.
The icy wall around it shatters. Magic shoots at you like an arrow, frying your nerve endings and making you gasp as hot, shadow fire licks around your body. You scream in shock – the flames do not hurt but they’re like acid against the snow, biting at it and chasing some of the cold away.
Wind howls harder. You try to expand the flames as you stand on unsteady feet. A figure appears in the snow and you sigh in relief, stepping toward it. You call Jimin’s name but as the shadow materializes, his name dies on your lips.
Though you have burning, consuming fire at your hands and arms now, a woman steps through the snow and you feel fear.
The howling wind fades. You can hear it as though it is on the other side of a pane of glass, screaming muted. There is a circle of silence between you and the faerie – or whatever she is – as she regards you. The snow does not fall here, in the tiny bubble as you stare at her.
She is a vision. Hair whiter than the snow, eyes that are so blue it looks like she stole the. Her skin is so pale that she almost blends into the background. If it weren’t for the blue cloak twitching in the silenced wind, she’d have been hidden to you.
Nails like talons tip her fingers, which look cruel and bent like claws. Her lips are blue as her cloak as she tilts her head, white hair shifting. She looks faerie but she feels so much stronger. A finger of cold brushes against your mind and you recoil. It’s the same eerie feeling that came right after the pulse of magic you sent out, a psychic touch.
I am so lonely, a voice whispers through you. Won’t you take me with you?
You blink and it’s your grandma looking at you. You open and close your mouth. The world around you is softer, like you’re in that forever twilight. You take a step toward her and she looks at you with stars in her eyes.
“Grandma?”
It is so lonely here. Let us go home.
You take another step toward her. Your fire dies a little as you do, hypnotized by seeing her again. Millions of questions flutter through your mind, stopping you short and you shake your head. “Your stories,” you whisper. “They feel all wrong. Why have you only told me half-truths?”
Come, I will tell you all. Let’s go together to the warmth.
“No, I want you to tell me now.”
Haven’t you missed me? I have been so alone without you.
“Tell me why you sealed away the magic and opened a door! Why you did it knowing it would hurt this world? So many people are mad at you – mad at me because you took the power and ran.
Your grandmother hesitates, tilting her head. Her face blurs for a second. You think you imagine it, that suddenly it’s not your grandmother but of course it is. She smiles at you and…. It’s all wrong.
Where is the door? Let’s go there together, back home.
You frown. “What do you mean? You know-“
Where is the door open, child?
Her face blurs again and Jimin’s words come drifting back to you. She is winter itself and can appear in many forms.
Shadow surges from you. Your grandmother – who is not your grandmother – leans away from you, eyes flickering colors, flashing a kaleidoscope of grey and silver. Ice melts and turns to charred soot beneath you were the flames lick, and you set your teeth.
“You are not my grandmother.”
Where is the door? the Callieach hisses. She is no longer the kindly image of your grandmother. She is a terrifying woman, beautiful but sharp, with eyes too big for her face and teeth razor sharp and too large for her mouth. Tell me where the door is and I’ll eat you quickly.
You don’t answer her. You thrust your hand out, remembering the way you attacked Jimin at Hoseok’s cabin. It feels so long ago, but your body follows the movement so easily. Fire shoots at her but she’s fast – faster than the eye can catch.
The world is swallowed by wind and snow again. You screech as it tears at you, the shadowy flames dimming a bit. You focus on keeping yourself warm and keeping the worst of the snow away from you. It bites and claws at you, a living storm trying to pry your mouth open and stick its hands down your throat.
The Callieach appears in front of you, face contoured as she lashes. Her nails catch your arm as you hold it out. You both scream, her hand coming in contact with the flame and her nails ripping open cloak and skin. You feel hot blood well on your arm, running down to your hand as you pull away from her.
Smoke sizzles from where she touched you – but her hand is not ash. Blackened and flaked, but it does not crumble like the plant had where your flame missed Jimin.
Snow and ice blast you. You can’t see, can’t feel. Tumbling backwards, you fall to the ground hard, head cracking against ice. Your vision pulses. Pain explodes. Your fire gutters out, shocked at the pain and the cold and the burn of the ice.
The Callieach slinks towards you. Your hands push the ground, trying to crawl away. Ice climbs up your fingers, making them freeze. A scream works its way up your throat as little veins of ice snatch you, keeping you in place. The wind blows harder.
You look up, watching the ancient being approach, her hair wiping and silver eyes glowing. This isn’t a faerie. This isn’t a creature. This is a god and now she’s going to make you a meal.
Your heart palpitates. Every breath hurts. The world starts to go quiet. Your vision grows hazy and you realize that you’re freezing to death. You can’t breathe, your tongue led in your mouth, frozen. You can barely look to the side as your limbs become ice and you become one with the ground.
The world slows and so does your heart rate.
Thump thump.
You feel it, beating painfully as it struggles to keep you in the land of the living.
Thump thump.
It’s throbbing. The Callieach approaches as your vision starts to go black at the edges.
Thump.
Ice crusts your lashes. They flutter open and closed. A figure appears beyond the Callieach and you think you feel a pulse. You don’t know. The world is cold and you no longer feel pain. Your eyes flutter shut.
Thump.
A screech makes you open your eyes one last time. It’s such a funny sound. You don’t see the Callieach. Instead, the Grim Reaper has come to take you. Dressed in all black, hood pulled up. The Grim Reaper rushes towards you, mask pulled over the lower half of its face as it leans over you, ready to take you into the afterlife.
Thump.
You look up. At least you feel nothing. The cold has burned away the pain. You are nothing. Feel nothing. The Grim Reaper has one blue eye, one black.
It’s the last thing you see.
-
You are dying and Jimin feels it. He screams as he drives his sword through another creature made of eyes. There is frostbite on his fingers. He feels like they are going to snap when he swings his sword again, screaming his rage and pain into the face of a shattering ice monster.
Behind him, Hoseok’s flame whip lights up the winter storm. Hoseok is using unsafe amounts of heat and fire to keep them from dying and to keep the Callieach’s snow soldiers at bay. Jimin knows the summer prince will not be able to manage this heat and fire for much longer. In any normal situation, Hoseok could fuel heat and fire for days.
The Callieach’s winter is not normal. It is biting and eroding, pulling at Jimin’s skin and peeling back layers of flesh. Jimin feels like every time his skin heals, it’s sealing in the cold, letting it drip down to his very bones and soul.
His soul.
Jimin’s soul screaming. He can feel the panic and the pain ripping through the storm at him. He can’t feel where you are but he feels the mounting terror, the slowing beat of your heart. Jimin blindly runs in the direction that he thinks you’re in – he has no way of knowing in the Maker’s damned storm.
Hoseok follows, flames licking at their enemies.
A tremor runs through the ground. Jimin barely pulls up short and misses the explosion of ice lancing across the snow. Mist and frozen ground spray in the air, momentarily blinding him. Jimin shields his eyes with his hand as it all comes down.
The snowy minions pause, half of their numbers obliterated. Jimin turns to look north, a shadow appearing in the white blizzard screaming around them. Relief floods Jimin’s system as the figure in black throws a black-gloved hand forward, another torrent of grown and snow rippling. The earth cracks as it hits the the Callieach’s figures.
Jimin and Hoseok launch into action, slicing through them as their new ally falls into battle with them. Jimin sees the black blade glinting as it cuts through their enemies. The winter storm lessens around them, almost coming to a complete stop as the ice continues to lash up from the ground like a whip, cracking and destroying the remaining figures The Callieach summoned.
The dark figure turns to Jimin, only his eyes visible under the heavy black hood and mask pulled across his lower face. Inky, feline eyes stare back at Jimin and he realizes who has come to help them.
Yoongi.
“Help me!” Jimin begs. “The Callieach is killing her!”
“Khione will take care of it.” Yoongi’s voice cut through the winter like a command. And Yoongi is of the Winter Court – of course his voice can stop the snow and mute the wind. His eyes are dark and dangerous under the Nightingale hood. “You are both going to freeze to death. Come.”
Jimin doesn’t listen. He can feel you now that the the Callieach’s fury is dying down. It feels like a thread is tied between the two of you and Jimin runs for it. Yoongi snarls at him, going after Jimin and grabbing him. Jimin is hurt. He can feel the bite in his fingers, the tremble in his legs and the raw burns from where the storm has peeled at him.
“You are going to get yourself killed.”
Jimin growls at Yoongi. “You don’t understand.”
“I have a mate too,” Yoongi snaps at Jimin, pulling the prince up short. He can’t see Yoongi’s face, but he sees the eyes. There is understanding there – not pity, but empathy. “And my mate has her. Let’s go.”
“Please,” Jimin asks and Yoongi seems to understand. Yoongi nods once, his eyes glazing over for a moment. Jimin feels a second away from breaking, squeezing his hands on the sword that is still in his hand.
He doesn’t know when he acknowledged the thread connecting the two of you. He felt it the moment he stepped into the attic, but he thought that perhaps it was a sense of familiarity. You looked so much like Yvaine that Jimin was sure the tingling at the back of his senses was familiarity.
When he took you to Faerie with him, he thinks perhaps that’s when he knew. He could feel the pain radiating from you after knocking yourself out. He could feel the anxiety and the fear like it was his own, two emotions that he wasn’t very familiar with.
Jimin had not truly been afraid in a long time. He worried for his people and he stressed over his own search for the power that had been stolen from his father and in turn, him. He had spent years and years going over Yvaine’s journals and belongings, trying to find out where she went. Trying and hoping and failing.
But despite all of that, he had never truly been afraid.
Jimin is afraid now. As he was when Taehyung took you from him for questioning, as he was the night the others attacked you in your room and slaughtered Nox and Nyx. Jimin doesn’t acknowledge where this fear comes from. To say it out loud is to give it a name and names are powerful things.
But that fear is driving him now, making him step toward Yoongi as it eats away at Jimin’s nerves, corroding him from the inside out.
Yoongi’s eyes flash and he zeroes in on Jimin. “She’s alive.” Jimin sags with relief, pain on the edge of every feeling in his body. “Come.”
Despite the screaming terror inside of Jimin, all focused on a single, half-faerie girl, he complies. Yoongi cannot lie, and he knows that he’s checked in with his other half. The telepathic talents of the Nightingales makes Jimin shiver. He had never understood what rituals they perform to become what they are, but they are faerie and they are more.
Yoongi leads them to a massive wolf waiting patiently – Jimin realizes it’s a Fenris, one of the rare giant wolves native to the Winter Court. It’s midnight black, coat absorbing the light reflecting off the snow, a dizzying effect. It sits and watches the faeries approaching, larger than both Umbriel and Asfaloth. The horses paw at the ground nervously, ice flaking their coat.
“Thank god they lived,” Hoseok breathes, rushing to his mount.
Yoongi casts a wary eye. “They didn’t. Thank Khione for that.”
Hoseok pales and Jimin’s stomach turns as he looks at his horse. She looks fine and she is warm to the touch when his trembling hand brushes across her neck. “A generous way to use her gift,” Jimin notes carefully. He studies Yoongi. “One might call it frivolous.”
“What can I say.” The wolf lowers himself to the ground on all fours, letting Yoongi mount him. The leader of the Nightingales looks tiny but terrifying on the back of his Fenris. Jimin wonders what Jungkook would think if he ever saw them – the Dread Wolf has never left the Night Court a moment of his long life. “She likes animals. Take better care of yours.”
Jimin keeps looking over his shoulder as Yoongi leads them north. Jimin had not realized how close they were to the mountains – granite-colored peaks shoot up toward the sky like the spine of some ancient creature, capped with snow.
Dark woods lead up to the foot of the mountain. Yoongi leads them into the shade of the tree. There is heavy silence around them. Jimin looks back the way they came, but sees no sign of you.
Yoongi senses Jimin’s apprehension. “You won’t see them.” He looks forward, nearly blending with the Fenris he rides. The rock face of the mountain comes into side, covered with shrubbery and snow. “Skadi is white and blends right in. Khione turns her armor white when she rides.”
“Stealthy,” Hoseok notes.
Yoongi makes a sound that has a touch of warmth.
It’s been a long time since Jimin had seen Yoongi. The Nightingale is elusive and has been focused on helping rebuild the Winter Court and the Nightingales. The last time that Jimin saw the quiet faerie, he was threatening Seokjin to keep his nose out of Winter business.
Even as a king, Seokjin knew threats from Yoongi were to be taken seriously. He was older than most of their ages combined and he wasn’t just a faerie – he was something ancient like the maker, bound in his oath to protect the Winter Court the knowledge of the Faerie.
Nightingales were rare and they were powerful. It took years of brutal training, renouncing your loyalty to your family, and undergoing some sort of ritual and transformation that was unknown to Jimin. Yoongi had been the captain of the Nightingales as long as Jimin had known him. He had no idea what ties the faerie had to the Winter Court before him, but he was part of the reason the original regime was torn down.
Though Khione was more the reason for that.
A shadowy alcove appears in the rock face. Jimin can’t see the ward, but he feels the veil of magic they pass through. The tunnel into the mountain is shadowed but warm. It’s comfortable and he relaxes only slightly as he lets Umbriel follow without direction.
In the darkness of the tunnel, Jimin closes his eyes and reaches.
He can feel you there, faint like the flutter of butterfly wings. You are alive but you feel barely there. He grits his teeth and reminds himself that Yoongi’s mate is the best faerie that you could be with. There is the reason the Callieach does not come to the mountain.
The Khione that Jimin knew as children is not just Khione anymore. Just like the Callieach was someone else once.
Dark blue fae light hovers above. Jimin has only been to the Citadel once before. A massive, circular antechamber with circular ceilings sits at the center of the mountain. Multiple doors are set in the stone, each leading to different parts of the mountain and Citadel. Hidden stairways, sloping tunnels and long forgotten rooms makeup the inside of the mountain like a beehive.
It was once filled with dozens of Nightingales. Now there are only a dozen, mostly new who are far too young to be members, but who have nowhere to go in the wake of war.
Yoongi slides off the Fenris and whistles, long and low. A young Nightingale appears dressed in a black tunic and black breaches, her hair the color of the deep ocean. She bows deeply at the waist to Jimin and Hoseok and presses a fist to her chest when she bows to Yoongi. He returns the motion with a shallow nod of his head instead of the bow, and instructs her to care for their horses.
Still in armor, he gestures for them to follow.
Yoongi sheds the hood as they do. His dark, inky hair is longer than Jimin remembers. The armor he wears looks like second skin, black plated leather and metal that interlock like dragon scales. There is fine detailing in black, but Jimin does not know what the patterns mean. He assumes they’re sacred to the Nightingales, so he doesn’t ask.
Fae light hovers throughout the hallway. They don’t run into anyone else, a city too large for the few people that live in it.
They’re taken down into steaming pools of saltwater. Jimin can smell the salt before they get there. The air is humid, steam cleaning to the walls and dripping. The fae light down this hall is softer, glowing orange instead of blue and they are spread farther apart than before, casting most of the hall in shadow.
Yoongi gestures to a hole in the wall.
Inside is a soft, milky pool of steaming water. Orange veins of magma course through the wall, looking liked fiery roots digging it’s fingers into the earth. Jimin feels the moisture bead on his skin. Glancing up, he sees stalactites hanging over the ceiling, their teeth menacing.
“Bathe,” Yoongi instructs. There is soap at the west side. The salt will help your wounds and the warmth will melt that child from the Callieach.” He looks at Jimin with heavy meaning. “You need to raise your temperature and keep it consistent. The Callieach’s cold will bite away for longer than you can imagine.”
Jimin opens his mouth. “She will be in the medical wing with Khione. You can go there when you’re done.” Yoongi almost melts into the darkness, eyes flashing silver as he warns Jimin, “Thirty minutes.”
Silence fills the space as Jimin and Hoseok strip. Hoseok’s flesh is burned and blackened with the cold touch of the Callieach, blood and scrapes crusted over with ice. Guilt rolls through Jimin like a thunderstorm. He averts his eyes, knowing that his friend is far too precious for what Jimin is putting him through. For what they have planned together.
The warm water seeps into Jimin’s skin. It chases away the cold, making him sigh. He goes deeper into the pool, submerging to the neck as he closes his eye. He drifts to the far side of the tubs, finding hard, lavender scented soaps. He scrubs at his skin with one and is pleasantly surprised to find it’s mixed with arnica.
“She’s your mate,” Hoseok murmurs. Jimin looks up. It’s not a question, but an observation. Hoseok doesn’t look at him, busy scrubbing away at his skin. “She is, right?”
Jimin looks down at his hands. The knuckles are pink and raw after scrubbing them. The word trembles through the very making of Jimin. He knows what it means to have a mate. His farther losing his mate is what started the entire mess they were in. The pain, the suffering, the aimless drifting after losing his mate is what had driven King Malik to madness.
Having a mate is something deeper than love. It is fated, it is instinctual, it is a bond at the soul level. When a soul matches yours entirely.
Jimin thinks of you. The way you fight his every move because you have a mind on your own despite being afraid. The way you stand your ground. The way you have adapted in impossible conditions. Or your smile when you think he’s not looking. Your eyes when you find something else about this new world of yours fascinating.
Your voice. The way you smell like rose and vanilla – sort of like the palace at the High Court.
You. His enaid.
Jimin nods, voice barely above a whisper when he answers Hoseok, “Yes.”
-
You were never made for poetry. Stories and novels were always something you excelled at, taking your grandmother’s stories and turning them into something fuller. Bigger. But as you drift somewhere – you're not sure if you’re dreaming or not – Robert Frost’s poem floats around your mind like a haunting song.
Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
The cold of the Callieach’s power feels permanent. Like a hateful poison deep in your tissue, making a home in your skin, your cells, your very being.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
You remember Jimin. The way he kissed you, like he had been starving for centuries for you. Just you. The way his fingers pulled and scratched you, digging to your soul. Devouring you whole. Desire incarnate.
But if I had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
It feels like the ice is eating you from the inside out. It is hateful and cruel and cold, burning away at your very being.
And then it stops. The warmth starts very slowly, drip drip dripping into you like the softest rain drops.
More. You want more. It begins to trickle, a steady stream of rain tap tap tapping warmth into you. You relish in it, hoping that it stays forever.
You do stay warm like a fever, but the pain starts to arrive. At first, it’s dull and quiet. Then it mounts to a steady roar, waves of pain deep to the marrow. You moan, turning over on your side and curling into a ball, hoping that if you make yourself smaller it will go away.
It is unbearable. You try to hide from it but it’s there and it demands to be felt.
Something soft brushes against your back and you hear gentle words but it’s hard to understand them. It smells like orange blossoms and the deep air of night, and you feel something soft settle over you. Though the pain is still there, there is also comfort.
The word you hear finally makes sense.
Enaid.
And though you don’t know what it means, it pries the sleep from you, peeling it from your skin. Part of you is angry – the pain is ten times worse when you wake up, eyes feeling like they’re cracking open and burning.
You groan.
“Morning,” Jimin laughs. You croak some sort of response, blinking and looking up at him. “You sound a bit like a frog.”
You’re in a dark room lit by red fae light. Rubbing the sleep from your eyes, you realize you’re in a cave. The bed underneath you is more a cot than a bed, but it’s warm and comfortable. It smells like herbs and salt, the air damp as you roll over and let out another pained sound.
“I feel dead.”
“You almost were,” Jimin admits. “I would have been very annoyed if you had.”
“Yeah?”
Jimin grins at you and it’s the most beautiful thing. Something deep inside of you stirs. You swallow down the feeling of butterfly wings He taps the ring on your finger. “Valuable, remember?” It's nearly impossible to hide the disappointment on your face. Jimin must see how swiftly the flush of embarrassment rises to your cheeks because he squeezes your hand. “I was kidding. Faeries can’t lie, but we can jest. You are valuable, but it’s not the ring that makes it so.”
“Thanks.”
“How do you feel?”
“Awful.”
“Better than dead.”
“I thought I was dead. I swear I saw the Grim Reaper come for me.”
Jimin frowns. “The Grim Reaper is a being from your world, not mine. We have banshees, but that’s it.”
“Well it was something in all black and it was terrifying.”
“Ahh.” Jimin is still holding your hand. You try not to look down where his palm warms yours, fingers curled around yours. Steady electricity hums through you like a current where you touch. “You mean Khione. The Nightingales dress in all black, though I hear she occasionally wears white. She probably wanted the Callieach to see her.”
Someone sweeps into the room. You feel the power before you turn your head to see her. You flinch in your bed, cowering into Jimin and whimper, the cold fingers that had tried to slaughter you coming back. The faerie who walks into the room is a replica of the Callieach – at least her face.
Black hair that is almost blue swirls around her face as she approaches. Her skin is pale and smooth, shining with radiance like the moon. Her face is stunning – high cheekbones, narrow nose with a soft end, almond shaped eyes with heavy lashes. Her mismatched eyes are hypnotizing – one black, one blue.
“Sorry,” she murmurs, voice soft and deeper than you were expecting. She sounds nothing like the haunting whispers of the Callieach. “I know I look like it - I’m not the Callieach, though.”
Jimin holds you, letting your fear subside. The woman doesn’t move any closer, giving you your space. You can feel the power ebbing around her and as you slow your panic, you realize it does feel different than the Callieach. She feels like darkness and death.
“My name is Khione,” she says gently. “I’m just here to help your healing. May I approach?”
You lean away from Jimin, but his hand stays wrapped around you. You nod and Khione smiles. Her two-toned eyes are mildly alarming, but she approaches carefully. Jimin lets her sit next to you on a stool, rolling up the sleeves of her black tunic to the elbow. Despite everything, you trust Jimin’s judgment to let her near you.
Rubbing her palms together, she slowly holds her hands over you, ghosting them over your skin as she concentrates on something. You feel a soft prodding that makes you squeak in surprise. She gives you a sheepish look. “Sorry,” she admits. “I haven’t done this in a while. My skill lies more in death than life.”
“I see.”
“Don’t worry, I had practice earlier.” Khione jerks her head to Jimin. “He let the horses die. I wasn’t too excited so I brought them back.”
“What?” you demand, looking at Jimin. “How dare you?”
“I was a bit busy running after you,” Jimin grunted. “Perhaps you didn’t notice, but the Callieach’s wind ripped you from me. And we were dealing with snow soldiers while she was trying to rip the power from you.”
“Is that what she was doing?”
“Sort of,” Khione answers. “I think it thought you could take it home.”
Her hands are warm as they skate over your chest, throat and head. She drops them into her lap when she’s done, but you miss their warmth.
Up close, Khione is even more beautiful than you originally thought. It's similar to Jimin’s, an ethereal shine that you cannot help but feel blinding by.
“What happened? I only remember you appearing.”
She sighs. There is a weariness in the corner of her eyes and pinched shape of her mouth. Her one blue eye looks bright and young, while the dark black eye looks ancient. You cannot see the pupil the iris is so dark.
“Yoongi and I were hunting. There have been strange things lurking around the boarder. Usually the Callieach keeps them away – they're either too afraid to go near the woods or they get eaten. I felt the pulse of magic and we decided to investigate.” She looks at Jimin. “You’re lucky we did. You shouldn’t have been in those woods, knowing it was there.”
“We were in a hurry.”
“Haste is death.”
“Well thankfully you were around.”
Khione rolls her eyes, not impressed by Jimin’s argument. You have to admit, you aren’t either. You look at him skeptically. “You knew that thing was in the woods and we went anyways?”
“I didn’t anticipate you sending a ‘hello here we are’ signal into the world.” He grimaces. “But yes, I knew that she was in the wood.”
“Yoongi and I came to help. We were just in time.”
You can see the frustration when she looks at Jimin, which tells you just how close you were to dying. “So she’s dead?” Khione looks at you. “The Callieach?”
“No. But it won’t be coming out now that it knows its sister lies in the north.”
It. You notice that Khione has not called the Callieach she like you and Jimin have. She consistently uses the word, refusing to acknowledge that the Callieach is a person.
“Is the sister a terrifying evil hag like the Callieach?”
Khione is amused as she leans back on the stool and crosses her arms. “I don’t know. Am I?” Jimin rolls his eyes despite smirking at the revelation. You realize now why they look so similar – the Callieach is Khione’s sister. She must see the confusion on your face, because she gives you a sad smile, filled with an ancient hurt. “The Callieach is my sister in two ways.”
“That’s... confusing.”
“You have met the others that come in through doors to our world?” You nod here. “The Callieach comes from the same world. She is a host to a creature like the Maker.”
“A god,” you murmur and Khione shrugs. “It was like the power of a god crushing me.”
“There are all types of names for them in all types of realms. It is a creature that is not from here though, that is very old and very powerful. She was banished here by her own kind and bound to a faerie body. She is severely weakend that way, but still formidable.”
Horror creeps into you. “The host she’s bound to is your sister.”
Khione nods. “Beira sacrificed herself to keep the Callieach from tormenting our people. We had hoped she would keep her mind but she has not. At least, not fully. It sticks to its little corner of the Winter Wood and stays there.”
“I’m sorry. That is incredibly sad.”
Khione nods. “It is an ancient hurt.”
“But hurt nonetheless.” She smiles at you. “You said you were a sister to her in more way than one?”
“Ah, that.” Khione taps a finger on her knee and opens her mouth to tell you when she’s interrupted.
“Khione.” You turn to look at the deep, rasping voice.
Another faerie enters the room. He is dressed in all black, long hair like spilled ink curling at the nape of his neck and behind his ears. His coal-colored eyes are keen like a cats, milky skin flushed as he approaches. His tunic is sable with matching breeches, the shadowy colors looking like they shift with his movement.
Something about his gaze is not particularly friendly and you feel cold, dropping your eyes as he stops at the foot of your cot. There are rings on his fingers and your eye is drawn to one. You sit up in your bed, fixated on it.
“That ring looks like mine.” You point to his thumb. “Did you make this?”
You hold your hand up to him to flash it. His dark eyes fall on it. He remains expressionless and says nothing for a few long moments. Your heartbeat picks up, remembering what Jimin said about potential makers of the ring.
“What have you brought into my home?” he growls. “Yvaine asked me to make that cursed ring for her without telling me what she would use it for. She perverted my magic and used it for her own devices.”
“Yoongi,” Jimin says softly.
The faerie – Yoongi – holds his hand up. “No. You demand too much of the Nightingales just like Yvaine did. What I did to put that power into the ring is unspeakable. I will not relive my faults for you.”
Yoongi says nothing more. He storms out of the room, a raincloud over his head. Khione sighs as she goes, rubbing her temples. She gives Jimin and you an apologetic glance.
“Sorry about him,” she murmurs. “He is under stress. The Nightingales don’t pass the trials like the used to and he feels at fault.” Her eyes flicker to the ring and she gestures for you to hold out your hand. You do, her fingers hovering above it. You feel power in the tips of her fingers. She pulls her hand away. “There is no power in the ring.”
“That’s not possible,” Jimin says. “She used it when she called the Callieach.”
Khione hums thoughtfully and leans forward, brushing her hands in a motion over your chest. You feel that flicker of power again, fading as she pulls her hand away. “Your power is not in the ring. It’s in Y/N.”
“Not possible.”
“I am the second in command of the Nightingales and the last namer in faerie, princeling.” Khione stands, eyes narrowed. “You don’t have the faintest idea of what is possible in these realms.”
-
Jimin doesn’t let you talk about the power further. He waves you off and promises that it’s a conversation for another time. You still feel pain and he nudges painkillers in your directions, telling you that you can take them again.
Hoseok appears, yawning and rubbing his eyes from a well-deserved sleep. He sits down on the cot next to you, all smiles and asking how you are. He brandishes warm rolls from the kitchen and a jar of honey. You tear into them, not realizing just how hungry you are. They laugh and offer to take you down to the kitchens for food.
Together, they tell you that it’s the middle of the night and you’ve been asleep for a day and a half. Jimin had taken up residence next to you, which makes you warmer than you care to admit. He stays closer to you now, leading you down the winding call just a touch out of your reach.
It’s nice.
Both of them keep talk light, giving you an impromptu tour. You can’t help but feel like they are distracting you from what Khione said.
The High Court power isn’t bound to the ring. It is bound to you. Though you’re not entirely sure what it means, Yoongi sounded final in his decision, face haunted. You don’t know what he had to do to make the ring, but you know that even if it almost kills you, you have to be rid of the power.
Cool wind fills the empty stone halls of the underground city. It feels far too empty for how large and grand it is. Jimin and Hoseok tell you that there used to be dozens of Nightingales and a school of initiatives, all protecting the knowledge of the world and the Winter Court royals.
Now, they’re a little more neutral. Though they don’t discuss what Khione is, you get the sense that she isn’t just a faerie.
Your curiosity can wait. You enter a hall with wooden tables and benches, warm light hovering in the high, curved ceilings. There are other Nightingales around, snacking on meats and cheeses. Hoseok vanishes into a back room and reappears with platters of meats, cheeses, bread and water.
The food is delightful, packed with flavor. You try to eat slowly as to not make yourself sick, but the hunger gnaws at you like the cold that you felt during the Callieach’s attack.
For what it is worth, they do a good job at distracting you. The walk you through the brutal fight with monsters made of snow and you laugh at Hoseok’s frustration at how do you kill snow? It's nice to sit and talk to them, even though the knowledge that somehow you have the power of the High Court sits heavy with you.
You elbow Jimin as you bite into a piece of bread, chewing. “So are you going to tell me what enaid means?”
Jimin’s eyes go wide over his wooden cup. “Hmmm?”
“You said if we survive you’d tell me.”
“I said I might tell you.”
“Tomato to-mah-to.”
He furrows his brows. “Is that another one of your turns of phrase?”
You wave it off. “I think we’re pretty lucky to be alive. I think maybe you should tell me in the event that I die while trying to give you this power back.”
He scowls and Hoseok clears his throat, putting his hands on the table. “I’m exhausted, I’m going to head to bed.”
Jimin looks up at him. “You just woke up.”
“Yes - I did. You know fighting and saving the world and killing snow monsters is hard on the body. I need a nap. Have a great night.”
It doesn’t take a genius to know that Hoseok wants no part of whatever conversation you’re trying to have with Jimin. You glare daggers into his back.
Jimin dusts off crumbs from his hand. “We should-”
“No,” you growl. “What does it mean.”
“I already told you, it means a lot of things to a lot of different people.”
“What does it mean to you?”
Jimin doesn’t answer. He shuts his mouth and the open, vulnerable expression he has taken to wearing around you the last few days zips tight. You can no longer get a read on him, beautiful face a smooth canvas. It looks like the Jimin you first met, the impassive prince who cares nothing for you.
It slices like a knife. You push yourself up from the table, wiping your hands on your tunic as you glare at him. “Here I was thinking we were friends,” you snap. “I forgot you do nothing but withhold information and move everyone the chessboard like your little pieces. So much for that fucking oath you swore to me.”
Jimin says your name as you storm off. You don’t know why his refusal to tell you what the word means eats at you, but it does. You hate it. Because you know it means something and the way it makes you feel cannot be fake. The way Jimin makes you feel when he says it has to mean something.
And him not telling you what it means feel like he’s not admitting something important. Something vital.
Jimin isn’t being honest with you and you hate that it bothers you.
Jimin calls your name again, but you don’t listen. You don’t know where you’re going, rushing through the halls with tears burning in your eyes. You've been through so much together and yet he can’t even say it.
You run into something solid, startling yourself. You look up to apologize and the words lodge in your mouth. Yoongi takes in your sudden years and the way you’re rushing, obsidian eyes watching. He flicks his gaze above you, as though he can sense Jimin and beckons you with a tilt of his head.
“Come along,” Yoongi murmurs. “Let’s chat, just you and I.”
It does not feel as though you can protest. Anyway, you want to get away from Jimin and whatever torrential feelings regarding the prince.
Yoongi moves like a shadow. He vanishes between shadow, reappearing in a shaft of light farther ahead of you. He makes you feel like he’s left you, only to reappear again a second later. It’s eerie, the way he becomes the dark.
Though you’ve seen Jimin among the shadows of night, this is different. The dark pockets through the caves that he leads you aren’t just dark – they are void of any light, like they don’t exist in this world. You run your hand through a shaft of darkness as you pass – you almost feel it.
“Khione can feel when you do that,” Yoongi hums. You flinch, realizing you’ve almost walked into him. He’s stopped at a wooden door, turning a key in it. “The shadows are a part of her.”
“Sounds ominous.”
He smirks. “Yeah, a little.”
Burning cedarwood and the smell of wax greets you as you walk into a comfortably warm room. Candles flicker from wooden bookshelves and tables filled with books and scrolls. A fireplace crackles on the far side of the wall, a massive sleeping wolf in front of it. You freeze, staring at the creature. It’s fur is pure white, like untainted snow and you know without a doubt that it is larger than Umbriel.
Yoongi strolls into the room unfettered, glancing back at you when he senses your hesitance. “That’s Skadi, she won’t hurt you. She’s Khione’s.”
“You have a pet wolf?”
“They’re not wolves – not really. They’re older and perhaps what wolves evolved from. They’re called Fenris’ and they originated in the Winter Court. One of the first Queens of the Winter Court struck a bargain with them. They serve the royal family.”
You slid your eyes to Yoongi, who is now sitting on one of the couches surrounding a low table. He fixes himself a steaming cup of tea. You have no idea where it came from. “Khione is royal?”
Yoongi hums and nods his head.
The library is much larger than the one at the Night Court. You crane your neck upwards, looking at the endless ceiling. It spirals up and up and up. You realize the library is at the center of the mountain, going up the hollow center with stacks and stacks of books. Pixies flutter among the shelves, their light like stars in the night.
“Why is she here, then?” You venture, sitting stiffly on the seat across from Yoongi. “You guys are more of a neutral organization now, aren’t you?”
“Neutral for the most part, but we’ll always feel bound to protect the Winter Court.” He waves a hand over his tea and it cools. He sips from the porcelain cup, leaning back to look at you with those inky eyes. “Why are you here.”
“I told you, because-“
“No,” he holds up a hand, cutting you off. “Why are you here?”
An easy question with a complicated answer. You stare at Yoongi mouth opening and closing.
Why are you here?
Because you want to give the High Court it’s power back.
No.
Because you had spent your entire life thinking that your grandmother was the hero of your dreams. She slayed monsters and saved innocent people from dying, all with the wit of her mind and the tip of her sword. She fought against evil kings and broke the rules because someone had to do it, someone had to step up.
Grandmother was like that for you as you grew up, too. She always stepped up when your mother refused to talk about fantasy stories or read you children’s book with magic. Grandmother helped mom take care of you when she was busy making an empire – doing anything to free herself from needing help from her mother.
Grandmother was there when dad passed away, letting your mom scream and yell at her and tell her over and over again that it was her fault. Something you still don’t understand.
Your entire life, you knew she was good. And brave and strong.
Then you came to Faerie, the root of her stories, of her heroics. Only to find that she was hated, looked down on and scolded for her choices. Everyone looked at you and saw your grandmother. Looks just like her. No doubt, that is Yvaine’s heir.
Because your grandmother is a clever little witch.
You’ve stolen the power of the High Court and quite frankly, your grandmother was not quite loved by this court.
You’re ill-received because Yvaine went on her little hero campaign without consulting any of the courts and without care and without considering that the consequences in the future might be worse than the consequences of delayed processes among the courts.
Everyone looked at you and saw the mistakes of the one person you held higher than everyone else and you had no idea how to reconcile that. Was it not your job to make good on her mistakes? Was it not the penance for her actions, for her blood and heir to fix what was broken?
It felt like fate had brought you here to reconcile yourself with the hero you dreamed of and the woman she was. She was not perfect – she had faults like any other living creature – and though her intentions had been pure, she had made choices that led you here, sitting with Yoongi and trying to fix what she had done.
Because it felt like your burden now. And there was no way to return home knowing that she had done something that was causing insurmountable loss.
“It would certainly be prophetic for you to fix the High Tree,” Yoongi acknowledges. You don’t realize that you’ve spoken your despair and burdens outload. You look up at him with tear-stained eyes. “Yvaine was not a terrible person and she perhaps, does not deserve the contrition you have felt by other members of her court.”
You wipe tears from your eyes. “However, fae are immortal beings and have hundreds of years to gnaw on their hatred for someone or their opinions. It takes far longer for them to change their minds about something. In another hundred years, they may be singing her praises.”
“That’s stupid.”
He smirks. “Perhaps so. I appreciate what you’re trying to do to right your grandmother’s wrongs. But try not to think so harshly on her actions. Guilt and regret that do not belong to us rot the soul. It is how you humans birth generational trauma.”
“How do you know about humans?”
“I’m the captain of the Nightingales. It’s my job to know about the realms.”
You nod. “Can I ask you something?”
“I surely couldn’t stop you.”
“Why are you so afraid of this ring?”
A shadow drifts over his face. “I’m not so afraid of the ring. The ring is empty – that power has bound itself to you now. The ring can be removed, the power cannot.” He licks his lips and leans forward, showing you his hand where a similar ring flashes. “These rings act as leaches. They are enchanted to pull from a power source. When I made one for your grandmother, I made one under the guise that she was looking to pull power from one of the thousands of ancient artifacts in this world. These rings were not uncommon once upon a time. They store magic until it is unbound.”
“So it had King Malik’s powers until I put it on and they transferred to me.”
“Precisely. But to steal another faerie’s magic with these rings is the highest perversion of this creation that I can imagine, and for that, I cannot forgive her. It is like stealing a person’s soul, because the soul and your magic are linked.”
“Is that why you won’t take the power back from me?” You ask gently. “Because it might damage my soul?”
“Yes. And a faerie without a soul is exactly what happens when the others take over your body.” Yoongi leans back. “Jimin told me one of them right to possess you.”
“Yes. It was the most painful thing I have ever experienced.”
“Because it was trying to rip your soul out and take its place. What you want me to do – and don’t lie to me, I can see it in your eyes – is to pull that magic from you and risk shattering what makes you. It’s called reaping, because it almost always ends in death or a shattered mind.”
Something occurs to you. “My grandmother… she reaped Jimin’s power as well.”
“Yes.”
“She… she almost shattered his soul? How has he not killed me?”
Yoongi’s smile is soft. “The reasons of the heart are often tangled and complicated. Perhaps you should speak to Jimin about the effects of ripping out magic. I don’t believe he is so keen to continue with your plans, now.”
“I don’t care what we wants. If there is a chance I can give him the High Court power and close the gate, we have to do it.”
Yoongi wavers. “Talk to Jimin about how it feels. If you still want to do it afterward… I will help you – but only if it’s you who wants to do it.”
You sigh, leaning back and staring at the ceiling. Yoongi laughs, like an elder amused by something the younger generation has done. You’re not so scared of him anymore, even though he doesn’t answer your questions directly, like Khione being a royal and Khione being something else like the Callieach.
Yoongi seems more protective over her than anything else.
Khione enters the room behind you – you can feel her presence, the darkness and something else pressing up against you like an invisible barrier as she ghosts through the room toward Yoongi. You don’t see her but you see him.
Yoongi straightens, looking past you to her and he smiles – gummy and blinding, eyes crinkling with affection at the corner. His eyes that have remained so dark and bottomless sparkle now, as though there are a million constellations scattered across their sky.
Yoongi looks at Khione with unchecked affection, a devotion that is so raw you have to look away. You see her walk by him, running her hands softly through his hair. “Hello, enaid.”
That word makes you look up. They’re not looking at you. Khione is smiling down at him as Yoongi murmurs something to her, his face tilted up like he is basking in the sun that she brings him. It’s a tender moment, but your heart is roaring in your ears.
That name. The word. Spoke by Khione to Yoongi in a soft croon, drawing the softest gaze from him.
As delicately as you can, you excuse yourself from the room. Yoongi thanks you for the talk, but his attention is back on the woman that he so obviously loves.
Outside the library, you shut the door, heart pounding. Each beat says that word, two syllables punctuated by the pumping of your heart.
En-aid. En-aid. En-aid.
-
Once upon a time, there was a maiden who was born of night and had stars in her hair. She was not born with a crown, but she stole one from an evil king.
But this story is not about how she stole the power from the evil king. This story is how she fell in love with the prince who smelled like summer rain and warmed her very soul. About how she found that every soul has a match, two stars in the sky meant to shine together.
The maiden found her star, the prince of summer and they fell in love because they were meant for one another. He made her feel loved when her family did not, and he spoke in sweet whispers and promised to give her the world.
When Faerie was dark and hiding from evil, the prince of summer helped the maiden save the world. Two stars adrift in space, not favored by their families, they decided to run away together and grow old, their magic fading with time but their love stronger than ever.
Once upon a time, there was a maiden who was born of night and had stars in here hair, and though she thought she would never find love, she found her soul mate.
The story of how your grandparents met rattles through you as you storm through the dark halls of the Nightingales. You don’t know where you’re going, but you can feel Jimin. Just like you had the moment you met him in the attic, just like you had throughout your entire journey with him.
A string tying you together, pulling you along.
Thoughts race in your mind. Flashes of Khione affectionately calling Yoongi by that name – by that word. A word that has always rattled your soul when said to you by Jimin. It had no effect when Khione said it, but the way you shiver, thinking of the feeling when Jimin says it is not a coincidence.
The way Jimin refuses to tell you the meaning.
The way Jimin kissed you like his life depended on it.
The way Jimin kept you alive even though the easiest method would be to kill you.
Jimin had proven that he could be deceitful and his methods could be cruel when it suited him. He had told you time and time again on your first days in Faerie that his methods were cruel, but they were a part of who he was. He would always serve the interest of his people his way.
Wouldn’t the best way to do that be to rip the magic from your body, no matter what happened to your soul?
There was little doubt that if this were another person, that Jimin would do just that. You don’t know why you know this, you just do and that makes everything worse. This feeling of instinctual understanding, some sort of unexplainable but fundamental understanding of Jimin.
You find him in the room assigned to him. You don’t bother knocking, you enter the room with a vengeance, your anger sweeping behind you like a cape. Jimin senses this, standing up and looking you up and down warily, tensed for a fight.
“Tell me what it means.”
Jimin remains motionless. “Why do you want to know so badly?”
“Because I want to hear you say it. If you can’t say it, then what is the point?”
“The point of what?”
You ball your fists. “Don’t play coy with me!” You scream at him. Your voice echoes along the stone walls of the room and Jimin flinches. You don’t know that you’ve ever seen him flinch, the motion making you pause. “Tell me,” you beg him. “What it means? Why do you call me that? Why do you care for me one moment and you’re distant the next? Why did you kiss me? Touch me? Tell me.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Why?”
“Faeries cannot lie. This truth will not set you free.”
“Why do you want to lie to me? Why why why? Why Jimin?”
“Because it is cruel!” Jimin shouts at you. His eyes are a dark shade of green, the shadow of a forest. “Because you make you my mate is the unkindest of fates. Because I wish I could hate you the way I hated your grandmother for almost killing me without thinking a moment of it. Because to save my people, I need to rip that magic from you. Because you are mortal and I am not. Because you know nothing of this world. Because you and I are a terrible match and yet fate demands it. I don’t want this - you do not want this.”
There it is again. That word: mate. Taehyung called Jimin your mate in the tent in the Day Court. It is a word you’ve heard in your reading about faeries, about how every faerie soul is born with a matching one. A true mate, someone they can love and understand without boundaries.
And Jimin does not want to be yours. You can see it in the way his vision carries thunder. His fists curled. The rigidity of his jaw. Fate has given him you and he does not want it. Does not want the heir to a woman who would sacrifice him. Someone who cannot live as long as he can. Someone who is standing in the way of saving his court.
It hurts.
Like a physical pain, a knife whittling into your chest as it begins to carve carve carve.
Carve your heart out. Because Jimin may be nice out of an instinctual – no a divine – need to protect you and to care for you, but it isn’t real. He only helps you because the stars or Maker or whatever it is they believe in have paired the two of you. But it isn’t real and Jimin doesn’t want you.
“I will tell Yoongi to prepare.” Your voice is foreign, unaffected. You are vacantly proud of yourself for remaining unaffected. “The worst scenario is that I die. But you get your magic back, and you’re unbound from me.”
“Is that what you think I want?”
“How can I know what you want when you covet every desire you have?”
“I don’t want you to die.”
“Which part of you is saying that?” You demand. “The unwilling soulmate or the prince of his people?”
“Unwilling soulmate? There is no such thing as-“
“I get it,” you cut him off. Your voice wavers now and you hate it. “Who would want to be mates with me? My grandmother did terrible things to you, I’m a human who is despised here, and you did not choose me. I get it, you don’t love me, but you could have told me.”
“You are not listening to me.” Jimin steps toward you and you back up, making him pause. “It is not that I do want you, Enaid. It is that I do not want me for you. I have no court because Hoseok spoke true, I have no friends. I find it difficult to give myself freely to others. I am of this world of cruelty and deception and you have a life, a home, a family and friends that will be there for you when you get back. How could I, someone who is undeserving of such an honor to be your mate, tell you what you mean to me, as my enaid, my soul mate, my fated heart, when all I want for you is happiness and to return to your home?”
Jimin looks at you in a way that makes you cry then. He is pleading, and the pain in his face is evident now. He says the words freely, each one of them direct. Faeries cannot lie, and you realize that it’s not you Jimin despises. It is himself.
Jimin is a product of his environment.
A bastard son split between courts.
Jimin is a product of his environment.
The son to a mad king and a queen who is dead.
Jimin is a product of his environment.
A sacrificial lamb to Yvaine’s plan.
Jimin is a product of his environment.
Alone. An heir to a throne he cannot have. Serving a court that does not want him. Brother to a king that is not bound by blood.
“Is that not the love of soulmates?” Jimin whispers. “To want your happiness more than my own? To hide the truth from you in hopes that you never hear it, never feel bound to a place you do not want, to a faerie you do not need? I did not hide this from you to be cruel and hateful. I hid my truth from you because I cannot bear binding you to a world that could not make you happy.”
“Do you love me?”
“I know little of love, but I know that I care about you and that I want you to be happy, that I will not let you give up that magic if it means risking your life.” He crosses the space toward you. This time, you let him. He lifts a hand, cradling your cheek, green eyes swimming with unshed tears. “I know that I am afraid when you are in danger, and that despite you being an annoying brat, I am fond of the fire inside here.” His hand drifts from your cheek to your chest, flat against your tunic. You wonder if he can feel your heart racing, feel the pounding in your rib cage at his confession.
“I do not know if that is love,” Jimin admits softly. “But I know that I will do all to protect you. Even if it means doing things you believe are unkind.”
“I don’t think you are unkind.” You grip his wrist softly, holding it to your hand. A warm, lush feeling rolls through you. Jimin’s hand is trembling at he watches you. Bravery surges through you. “I think,” you say slowly. “That it is easier for you to hide behind wrongs to protect people you care about, because the methods of saving them are unsavory.”
He laughs. “You’ve got me figured out, huh?”
“And I think,” you continue. “That I knew what enaid meant, and that I wanted you to say it because I was afraid that I was losing my mind. Afraid that I was a stupid little human girl, who doesn’t know what she is doing and who was having her heart stolen by a faerie.”
Jimin clutches your tunic and pulls you closer. “Is that not what happened?” His voice is like silk and your eyes flutter, warmth spreading through you. Your heart is screaming for him. Yes yes yes yes yes yes. “Am I not the evil prince in this story?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Are you sure?”
His lips are almost touching yours. You smell orange blossom and night, feel the soft touch of his rough hand, twisting in your shirt. Your grip presses on the bones of his wrist, desperate to keep him there. To keep his touch. “I don’t think you are nearly as evil as you or I thought.”
“Tell me to go away. Tell me to leave. For if I don’t let you go, it will be evil of me indeed.”
“Then perhaps it is evil of me to ask you to stay. For if I let you keep me, it will be evil of me indeed.”
You fall forward as Jimin yanks you to him. He crushes your lips to his and everything you’ve ever thought about vanishes. Every fear, every anxiety, every doubt is erased with the fire of his mouth on yours, the burning sensation as he pulls you to his chest, hands going around your hips and digging into your flesh.
You kiss Jimin back, mouth folded against his, eyes closed and arms wended around his neck. He smells like everything you’ve ever dreamed of, he feels like the soft pages you write your stories on, tastes like the warm sweetness of a tangerine.
Jimin’s lips are hungry for you, parting briefly to smile and find your mouth again. He bends slightly, hands sliding to the back of your thighs. You know what he wants, just like you know that Jimin is being open and honest now, is acting on something he purely desires. You jump into his grasp, only breaking the kiss to look down at him as he carries you.
Your hair makes a curtain, hand cradled against his jaw. He looks up at you and there are millions of stars in his eyes. It’s like when Yoongi looked at Khione but this time, it’s Jimin looking at you. His gaze makes you tremble.
Gently, Jimin lays you on the bed. Your hair fans out around you on the sheets. Jimin crawls over you, but his lips don’t go back to yours. He kisses your collarbone, pillowy lips leaving invisible stains of want and desire. You gasp underneath his exploration.
This is different than the night in the tent. He doesn’t eat at you, doesn’t try to devour you. He is gentle, worshiping your skin as he kisses up your neck and to your jaw, his hands slowly tracing up your curves.
You get impatient, grabbing his jaw and bringing his mouth back to yours. You feel him smile as you suck his bottom lip into your mouth, tongue brushing against it. He makes the softness noise, eliciting a breathy laugh from you.
Jimin pulls away from a moment. One hand balances him over you, the other tracing your jaw with light fingers. “You have to tell me what you want,” he whispers. “I only want what you want. But if you want me – truly – I don’t know how to let you go home without me. I don’t know how to live apart from you, if you will have me.”
“Can we figure that out later? I do want you – I’m afraid of how much that I do.”
“Don’t be,” he promises, leaning down to capture your mouth in his. You arch up into him. He parts gently. “As long as you want me, you will never be without me.”
Sweet kisses fill the space between you. Jimin pulls at your tunic, tossing it further onto the bed. This time, you pull his clothes with yours, wanting this to be about you both, not just you. Jimin’s skin is a marvel under your hands, warm and tan. There is strength in every ounce of him, a warrior undoubted but he melts under your touch, abs jumping as you skim up to his chest, fingers tracing the contours.
Jimin’s touch is awed, fingers feeling the curves and dips of your body as his mouth descends. You feel a whip of fire crack through you as his wet mouth takes a nipple in his mouth, tongue sweeping over the peek. You gasp, pushing your chest toward him. He hums, making you writhe.
It feels so good. Everywhere he touches you there’s a fire. His teeth pull at your nipple, eliciting a deep moan. He smirks as he looks up at you with those dark, siren-eyes. His tongue snakes out between his teeth as he grins, flicking the other nipple experimentally. You moan again, more at the carnal vision that is Jimin than the feeling.
“I love the way you sound,” he whispers, kissing the valley of your breasts, the top of your chest. He leaves no skin unmarked. “So beautiful, the only music I could listen to for eons.”
“Kiss me.”
“Anything you ask.”
Jimin kisses you again as you both work off your pants, tangled limbs and shaking fingers. He breaks to kick the trousers off his ankles, giving you a view of his cock and oh my god. There is no part of Jimin not perfection, no part blemished. His cock is proud and weeping with precum, swollen tip flushed.
He settles next to your legs hands tracing your calves and prying you open. Your hand snakes up to him, curious and exploratory. You wrap your hand around his velvety shaft, making Jimin drop his head and moan. It is the sweetest sound and you want more of it. Slowly, you swipe your thumb over the crown of his cock, spreading the arousal to make your leisurely pumps glide smoothly.
Jimin’s breath is unsteady, his entire frame rattling as he closes his eyes. He grips your thigh as you stroke him, watching every single reaction. His skin is growing flushed and his hips twitch forward. You are entranced, squeezing experimentally and drawing a beautiful, deep moan from him.
“Fuck,” he pants. His hand shoots to your wrist, holding your hand still as his cock throbs in your hands. “I will cum if you keep doing that. You have got hands fashioned to touch me, Enaid.”
“I want to make you feel good.”
“You are,” he promises. “But when I cum,” he drawls, hand swiping between your leg and making you gasp. “I want it to be in your pussy.”
You whine as Jimin snickers, fingers brushing up and down gently, gathering your juices and circling your clit. You twitch under his hold, hand dropping from his cock to fist the sheets. The pads of his fingers generate amazing friction, your eyes shutting and head rolling to the side as you focus on the feeling of his fingers.
They circle your clenching hole, dipping enough to stretch you but not split you open. You make a high-pitched keen, smacking the bed angrily as you open your eyes to glare at him. “Why are you teasing me?”
Jimin’s eyes are dangerous as he grins. “I’m not. But I need to stretch you a bit. Wanna make sure you can take me.”
You don’t reply as he shuffles, leaning down and claiming your mouth in a lazy kiss, tongues dancing as Jimin slowly sinks a finger into you. You nearly purr, moaning into his mouth as he drinks you in, slowly thrusting his finger, setting a smooth pace that has you shaking with pleasure.
It feels so good. You cannot recall the last time you felt this good. Your skin is sticky with sweat as you pant between kisses, which has devolved to tongues and teeth. Jimin finds that sweet spot inside of you, stroking it and earning a loud gasp from you. You through your head forward, bumping heads as he laughs.
“Yeah?” he asks, half-lidded eyes looking down at you. He looks dazed just from fucking you with his fingers. You nod, squirming under him. He slows and presses another finger to you, waiting. “More?”
“Please.”
Jimin silences your moan with his mouth, swallowing it whole.
You feel that familiar tingle of your orgasm coming. Your heels dig into the mattress, your toes curling. You pant through it, feeling the coil in your stomach wind up. Jimin can sense it, driving his fingers faster, making wet, sloppy noises between your legs as he fastens his mouth to your neck, nibbling.
“Come on,” he pants. “Cum for me. Make it nice and wet so I can fuck you.”
“Jimin,” you gasp, head thrown back. “Please please please.”
Jimin sucks on a soft spot on your neck and you see stars. You cum around him, gasping hard and clutching his shoulders. You can feel him chuck against your skin, but it isn’t a malicious laugh. You can feel how effected he is by you, the way he is enthralled with drawing sounds and pleas from you.
Your orgasm slowly fades as he shuffles himself between your legs, picking you up by the thighs so that the back of them rests against him as he kneels. He leans down again, nearly bending you in half as he steals a kiss.
“Still want me?”
You look at him, stars in your eyes. “If you want me.”
“I will always want you.”
“Okay.” You kiss him. “Then I want you.”
His smile glows like all of the constellations in the sky.
You feel the tip of his cock push at your hole, making a wanton noise slip from you. He smirks at you before he drops his head to look at where he pushes into you, moaning at the side of his cock slowly sinking into your warmth.
It’s a tight fit but it burns so good. The ache there settles, melting into something better, something warm. You sigh in relief, like a puzzle piece drifting into place finally. Your hips are angle upward and he grabs a pillow, sliding it under you for support. Jimin is pink and flushed, shaking as he grabs your hips and slowly starts to pump into you, powerful thighs flexing.
“It feels so good,” you whisper, voice barely rustling the room. “It feels so good, Jimin.”
“Fuck, you feel divine, baby.” You’re giddy at the new nickname.
Jimin’s cock strokes you slowly, his hands firm on your hips. Your hands travel to his thigs, running aroud nails down the smooth skin. It pulls a deep noise from him and you do it again as Jimin speeds up a little, shifting himself so that you’re pulled just the slightest bit up and holy shit.
Every brush of the tip of his cock hits your g-spot before it kisses your service, making you squeal. He grins, knowing what he’s found and he does it again and again and again. You can’t keep your eyes open, world spinning as Jimin completely takes over your pleasure, driving you to the edge of insanity with every stroke.
You reach for Jimin. You don’t have to tell him that you want to be closer. He knows. He shifts, leaning over you and pressing your chests together. You love the way he feels against you, legs wrapping around his narrow waist and arms around his neck as he presses his forehead against you, rolling his hips.
Jimin’s breath is on your lips, nose brushing against yours. “You are mine,” Jimin growls. “That is what enaid means to me. It means you are everything, my soul, a call that I will always answer. I will always choose you, I will make it my life’s goal to do what you want. Even if it isn’t me. Even if this isn’t enough.”
When he says the words, you feel it. Stronger than before. That word awakens something in you and you feel it unfold, like you’re rattling the stars. You glow – literally. A light hums on your skin, surprising you both. Jimin’s eyes glitter as you light up, filled with him, filled with understanding what it is to be tied to someone. To want their own happiness.
Jimin will die for you and you know it.
“I think,” he pants. “You’ve tapped into the High Court power.”
And you have. Because your fear of Jimin is no longer there. Your fear of what it means to have it is gone. Your fear of Faerie and of this world that you don’t yet understand completely no longer exists.
“Shut up,” you huff, laughter between you. “You’re such a- ohhh.”
“Such a what, hmm?” Jimin’s thumb circles your clips as you go mute beneath him. “Always have a mouth until I’m touching you, huh?”
You nod as your orgasm approaches again. Jimin fucks you faster, thumb firm on your clit. The slide of your bodies heats you up, the air between you filled with panting and cursing.
A swell of music comes to you like a memory. String instruments singing in the night, painting a picture with their melody.
A kiss as soft as a butterfly wing – Jimin’s lips.
Rough hands like silk against your skin – Jimin’s hands.
The smell of orange blossom – Jimin’s skin.
A deep wanting worse than anything you’ve ever felt, finally fulfilled.
The color green – Jimin’s eyes.
A voile like silky wine – Jimin’s voice.
An ache so powerful that you’re gasping, finally relieved.
A silver tree taller than any you’ve ever seen before.
Two moons in the sky, circling one another in a dance – you and Jimin.
Your orgasm snaps suddenly. You scream Jimin’s name as the rush of a thousand waves breaks through you. You feel every muscle tightened, clenching down on Jimin as it washes over you. You say Jimin’s name over and over like a prayer answered.
Finally, you know what the music was telling you. Finally, you understand the song of your soulmate, and you can hear the words that he has been singing all the while.
Jimin cums as you clench around him, the same word leaving his lips. Enaid. My Enaid.
The word still sends a rush through you, stronger now that you know what it means. Stronger now that you’re brave enough to listen to when Jimin’s soul speaks to yours.
Eventually, Jimin collapses next to you. You don’t waste a second, pulling him to you, curling into his side. For all that you don’t know about Jimin and this magical world, you know that Jimin is yours. You know that his soul reflects yours – the ugly parts and the beautiful – and that if nothing else in the world is true, that at least Jimin caring about you is.
You have another half. You have someone who understands.
“Thank you,” Jimin murmurs.
“For what?”
He kisses your forehead, sweet as midnight rain. “I’m not alone anymore.”
-
Stepping around the shadows, you pull the cloak closer to you. It is freezing in the Citadel at night. The warmth of Jimin’s bed and skin has left you as you try to retrace your steps. You follow the orange fae light, wishing they believed in torches that you could warm your hands on.
You’re dressed in Jimin’s tunic, you’re pretty sure – it smells heavily of orange blossom and just… Jimin. It makes you smile, but the smile also brings pain, because you know you’re going to hurt him. But what he said about wanting to do what is right by your soulmate is true.
You want to do right by Jimin. But you’re going to hurt him. You know it will.
I’m not alone anymore.
You try not to think about those words as you step into the library. Yoongi is at a desk, looking over a scroll. He looks up as you enter the room, wavering in the doorway. Khione and the white Fenris are nowhere around, but there is an even larger, black Fenris at Yoongi’s feet.
“Don’t mind him,” Yoongi says, sensing your fear of the creature. “Hodr is a bigger baby than Skadi is.”
“Your wolves are terrifying.”
He smiles. “What brings you here?”
“I want to do it.” He says nothing to your curt response, so you push forward before you can backout, before you can think of the way Jimin played with your hair until he fell asleep. Before you can think of the way that the moon seems to glow in his skin, even when he is in the darkness.
I’m not alone anymore.
You shove down the words. Ignore them. Hide from them.
“I want you to do the reaping.”
Previous Chapter | Next Chapter
#jimin smut#park jimin#jimin fanfic#park jimin fanfic#bts fanfic#jimin x reader#faerie jimin#park jimin bts#jimin bts#bangtan boys#jimin fic#park jimin x reader#fic: the iron ring#minors dni#minors do not interact
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When You Weren’t Looking — pt. 2/?
PROFESSOR!OBI-WAN KENOBI x READER
PART 1
an au where you and you literature professor realize you both have things to learn about love, and yourselves, outside of class. (as we all know, this can only be done through a big scoop of angst and a smutty cherry on top)
summary: you and obi-wan have begun to enjoy simply spending time together in his office
warnings: language maybe, tb to filler sentences i actually used in my essay rough drafts
a/n: not my fav but it’s little bit of a set-up for the next chapter which is when things get real interesting hehe. also i didn’t edit a lot sry :/ but if the spacing is weird it’s bc of tumblr not me lol
words: 1,342 once again a lil short
It had been a couple of weeks since you’d begun to show up to Professor Kenobi’s office after every one of your classes with him. Your initial purpose for being there was just to file papers and organize things in his surprising very messy office. You had pegged your professor as someone who preferred for things to remain immaculate at all times, his beard always trimmed so neatly and his shirts always pressed to perfection. The more you thought about it though, the more it made sense.
It was a known fact, mainly due to his impromptu rants during class, that he loved what he taught. He breathed in knowledge and books, a true intellectual, and the articles scattered on every surface of his office were probably objects of comfort. The books, mugs drained of tea(many of which had horrendous puns), and various trinkets and collectibles such as labeled kyber crystals, all reflected his interests. He was familiar with his passions and it made his office safe and pleasant for him to be in.
While you still spent some of your time cleaning, most of your two hours with the professor ended up allowing you to rewrite your essay and finish assignments for other classes. He even let you grade some small homework assignments for him.
Anakin you’re out of a job
Professor Kenobi also felt that it was important to make sure you knew he was always there if you needed help. There was a sincerity to his offer that you appreciated. On occasion, he would even ask you for your opinion on something he had just read. The idea that he valued your opinions which could be considered amateur, flattered you immensely. These little here and their actions always spawned an engaging conversation—before he made you get back to work of course.
“fair enough,” you shrugged in response one time after he told you to start “dusting or…something” again. He let out a small breath of a laugh that made you feel warm.
Part of you felt like he always stopped the conversation when you had both begun to be truly invested in what the other was saying. That point usually came with neither of you finding the desire to break eye contact anymore. Sometimes you thought of his gaze for hours after you saw him, the gaze that you had committed to memory by now.
Your preferred spot in the office was a seat adjacent to his, a large oak desk in between you two. There was something about the way he leaned over that large oak desk though. He sat in a wooden swivel chair that presumably came with the table, to which he added a small back pillow. His glasses had slipped slightly down his nose, tie discarded in favor of unbuttoning the top of his collar. He looked exactly like the idea of a classic professor. You found something appealing about it. it didn’t project overt masculinity, and yet somehow it made him seem strong and whole, like he was made of the same polished oak. You couldn’t deny that noticing the maturity he wore was attractive.
Not to be a traitor to your generation, but the men your age weren’t men to you, not in a classic sense anyway. They were closer to your idea of boys, lacking the confidence and the thoughtfulness that showed in everything that your professor did.
You weren’t afraid to admit that it was a little bit hypocritical of you, seeing as how you weren’t exactly the most studious individual either. You didn’t think it was cocky to consider yourself smart, as did many of your teachers, but you were also pretty easily distracted and had to take a break from staring at your screen once you had begun to get too fidgety. Today you were pacing slowly around the room, the tips of your fingers reached out to glide along a surface or a book.
As long as I get my work done, which I always do
“I think you’ve done a few miles by now,” Professor Kenobi said. You could see the small upward tilt of his lips.
“I can't walk in here?” you asked playfully.
“Please, by all means, do what you like, but I can't help but ask, well, aren’t you tired of it by now?” He had turned to face you by now.
“busy thinking I guess,” your mind was in fact reeling at the moment.
“about?” he inquired.
“wouldn’t you like to know.” a teasing smirk on your face. You had grown bolder with each conversation you had with him. He had become more relaxed, easier to joke with. He had a dry and sarcastic humor. another thing you didn’t expect but found that it fit him.
“I would actually. I can never tell what you’re thinking, darling, but I’ve found it’s always something compelling,” That was a recent development. He had taken to calling you darling casually. You assumed it was just…British. They called each other “love” all the time in movies. He could call any woman darling, it was just an endearing term. Still, it made you feel special like you weren’t just another student, and you couldn’t deny that it always caused you to look at the floor in case the heat you felt was in fact a blush. But, that train of thought, of any…attraction, was a dead end you wanted to avoid, and yet you always failed to do so.
“Was that a compliment from the Professor Kenobi?” you pressed your hand to your chest in an exaggeratingly flattered expression.
“If you’d like it to be,” there was a tiny glint in his eye that you would’ve missed if you weren’t already studying how blue they were.
“Well then thank you, Professor,” you added a subtle tilt in your voice when you addressed him. you would never intentionally flirt with him, but it slipped out in such a way.
His cheeks had a fresh tinge of pink and he shifted slightly in his chair before clearing his throat.
“I do have another compliment for you though,”
“Oh I like this,” you laughed lightly.
“I’m already regretting this,” he jokingly rolled his eyes.
“Aww,” you responded in false disappointment.
“But y/n, in all earnest, you’ve made immense progress, and I’m very proud,” he smiled at you with such softness.
You smiled, filled with pride by the praise that had come from someone who you admired. That smile quickly dropped when you realized, how could he have read your essay? You had shown him some of it but that was at the very beginning when you had barely changed much.
“How could you know?”
“You do know I have access to your document since you already submitted it before don’t you?” Your eyes widened in horror as you thought about the very thing he started to mention.
“I do enjoy the filler sentences though,” he looked down at his laptop, presumably at your essay. He cleared his throat. “blah blah insert bullshit or quote later—“
“Oh my maker! That’s a total invasion of privacy!” You ran around to his side of the desk to look at what part of your essay he was on. You only realized few moments later that he had turned his head towards you as you leaned over his shoulder. His face was so close to yours, and his lashes so long that you swore they could brush up against your skin if you leaned in a bit further. Neither of you moved for a moment until… whatever that interaction was… was cut short by a buzz coming from his phone. He hesitated to turn away from you for a second before picking up his phone. saying hi to whoever was on the other end.
You noticed the clock behind him signaled that it was time for you to go. You gathered your things quietly and whispered a quick goodbye, to which he shot you a smile and a light wave. You returned the smile, and it stayed on your face as you walked out the door and all the way down the hall.
PART 3
#obi wan and anakin#obi wan kenobi#star wars#anakin skywalker#aotc#obi wan#obi wan kenobi x y/n#obi wan smut#obi wan x reader#star wars fanfiction#professor!obi wan#professor au#obi wan fluff#padme amidala#padme#anakin#obi wan kenobi au#star wars au
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Ok, ok, I'm gonna set aside that chapter ending for a bit so that I'm able to talk about the parts before it even though it has me in a very tight grip right now fdkhjgkjh
Just hrrrrrrrrr, so many thoughts where to even start!!! AHHHHH
Ok first of all, the first night! We get to see the perspective of the boys! They really were just about to go for a random human huh? Which I mean makes sense, but that would have been so very absolutely bad because while in the other hunter's case they could have claimed self-defense (very loosely as one, in the position of the hunter, could argue they didn't have to go that far), in this case would have literally just been, well, murder. From a demonic perspective it was perfectly reasonable of course! They DID seek out any animal prey first, and finding none, it was their one option left. But from a human perspective? Literally no different than any of the other monsters y/n has been hunting to protect innocent people. Little Reid will never know how his presence actually saved the people travelling with him.
And omg the kid! The sacred rules intrigue me more and more! The knowledge that he was in danger and lost was enough to make their growing hunger almost completely ignorable. As long as they hadn't found him they focused so intently on him and nothing else. Of course, the hunger was bad enough that they were still constantly aware of it, but it amazes me, because we see that later in the chapter they even fear being tempted by y/n's heart.
But ahhh, ok, getting back on track before I jump too much around, oof! That next morning was rough. Y/n already struggles so badly with their own self doubt, and obviously the one course of action the boys could take to not be discovered (or delay the hurt that came the next night anyway), was to latch onto that and make y/n belief they were tricking themselves which oof, oof, oof. I love the boys but yikes they do deserve to feel guilty for that one, because they at the same time made y/n feel guilty for doubting them.
AND then the next night! Oh boy, oh boy! I was actually wondering if the rake had no heartbeat, which I think this confirmed it doesn't, with Sun and Moon actively scanning for it. The night before they would not have noticed out of being too busy with Reid, (since they also didn't notice y/n's own when it spiked in fear), but this one? When filled with rage and scared that they could have returned to a corpse, and HUNGRY? I don't think they would have missed it, so I'm guessing it's kind of like the vampires that have it but it doesn't beat. Or it does but it produces no sound? Since the creature itself seems to not make a sound in general hmmm.
Oh and Naff! The foreshadowing with the bear traps was so clever! When they were mentioned again I didn't think of it much, but then I was like "huh funny that they've come up ag- WAIT A MINUTE, COULD IT BE?" And then it was!! Ahhh!! I like how once again we can see how smart and capable the hunter is. They are sick and very weak, but learned quickly from the last night and knew not to look at those eyes. They got a hit in, tried to get to the salt (which not a bad idea! and I have a feeling it will come up again too hehe), and then they manged to make a plan on the spot to lure the rake into the bear traps! Clever heart, indeed!
And then! What a brutal death for that cryptid! Honestly, all the others should be grateful (well, except doppleganger XD) that it was the hunter getting to them, because Sun and Moon do not hold back, especially knowing how close this one was to killing them. And gosh, y/n got to see every detail in that killing. They were horrified even when the thing was about to kill them. The glimpse at the demonic cryptid and now knowing it's the same one they thought they saw before? I can see a great deal of paranoia in the future days, which only combines now with what's happening with Sun and Moon.
(Sidenote: "Eclipses the gray fog" hehe, I see what you did there~ )
The relief of them being safe was so brief, because that following conversation was going to be hard yes or yes. Gosh, just, the plead for them to not be scared? Killed me. Instantly. They know they were seen. They know this fear, when everything is safe, is due to them. And now there is no hunger to distract from that little fact. And then the hurt, the disappointment. All around.
They were caught in a lie. As much as it was not a verbal lie, the insinuation that they didn't leave was clear as day. The making them believe that they were being ridiculous was clear as day. And they might be too sick to reflect on that now, but oof, it's right there for them to see. And it's a valid thing for y/n to push! The care has always been clearly mutual, but not the trust. From their perspective they have bared themselves to the boys, letting them in in so many ways, so from their perspective they are being shut out. And now they inevitably think it's because of something about them. Not proving themselves as trustworthy, and now Sun and Moon assuring it's not the case, and then immediately not providing a better explanation, while just having been caught tricking them will not be very credible.
And now y/n is afraid. Afraid their love for the boys is more one-sided than they thought, because even when asking if they won't ever leave (meaning for good), the boys can't promise they won't (because they might have to leave briefly again), and it hurts them so badly, it hurts them they aren't apparently trustworthy in the boys eyes and it's enough to not want them at their side through the night even when their presence has helped them emotionally and through the fever! And the boys can do nothing to reassure them, because it's either straining their relationship, or potentially losing them forever.
And hhhhh, when they ask if y/n wants them to leave! And they say no, but with how exact words are for them, the addition of there being something dangerous out there might imply to them the answer would be yes if not for the hypothetical threat! And that must hurt a lot too! And they are feeling rejected, and the last nights they couldn't allow themselves to be nearby and now that there is no pressing issue that would make them leave, they aren't welcome to be close and ahhhhh
My last thought is that now y/n is sad, and sick and will likely have night terrors for a good while, having felt the terror of a demonic so nearby again, thinking themselves so surely dead, but now the boys will be unwelcomed to help, at least these first few nights I think D:
Oooough, my heart hurts, I am eating this angst, it's just SO FREAKING GOOD!!
Excellent chapter Naff, 10 broken hearts out of 10 would cry again! </3
I'm so excited for what's to come! :D
Chaotik I am eating up this entire ask I just ahhhhh!!!! *rattles you affectionately*
There is so much I want to touch on but, especially that, yeah, the boys are making a lot of terrible decisions, not only for themselves but for Y/N's well-being and their relationship, but it's funny what fear will have you do, huh?
Thank you so much for reading and for all of your beautiful thoughts, babe ♥ ♥ ♥
#i'm excited for what's too come too hehehe#cryptid sightings#chaotikanvas#cryptid sightings spoilers
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Emotional Motion Sickness | Part 8
PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5 | PART 6 | PART 7 | PART 9
AO3
Summary: Daryl gets sick before a supply run, and denies it vehemently. He is a big tantrum baby. Rick is constantly worried and drama ensures.
Chapter summary: Lots of walkers and lots of action. Daryl is stubborn as usual and Rick almost dies. Angsty shit happens.
Content warning: adult language, sickfic, mess, snot, bodily functions, hurt/comfort, vivid nightmares, adult content, 18+ for eventual smut (still deciding hehe), original character\
Words: 4.7k ish
My personal Daryl playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2PrdzgwtCiUgwDLLBy5C4g?si=c83773b44c964bb1
TY to @dumbslxtclub for being my editor and hype girl (if you're a fan of eddie munson and stranger things, this girl is writing the most wonderful fic and you should check it out :) )
Chapter 8: Around me lies a sombre scene
Darly looked down at the scene before him with shock and overwhelm. Darkness invaded the foyer, now only illuminated by battery torches and shallow light. The sounds of a muffled Beretta and an explosive Python were being drowned out by the cacophony of undead screeching. The hunter had his crossbow ready well before laying eyes on the horror at the bottom of the staircase, but he repositioned it to make sure that he was in prime position. He scanned the foyer briefly. Carl was strung up by a foot next to him, and Rick was cornered by the door. A table wedged between him and certain doom. A wave of dizziness fell over Daryl like an intermission’s curtain. ‘Fuck! Fuck, not now!’
As if to read his mind, Peri worked her way down the stairs, daggers in hand. She took out a couple of the walkers surrounding Carl. It wasn’t enough. His obliques were clearly strained from trying to cut himself free. So he just dangled there, desperately avoiding snarling rotten teeth. Peri had never been exactly precise with a gun. But she drew her revolver anyway, pointing it intently - everything happening in slow motion.
“Ndah I got this, get back!”
“Peri, just shoot!”
“Please help!”
Four exact gunshots filled the air and four undead frames hit the ground. Carl reached up one more time with his knife, managing to free himself from the intrusive hold. There was a sharp intake of breath as he fell. Three adults full of concern beared down on the boy. Luckily (or not so), he managed to land on the soft rotting corpses that Peri had made below. He picked up his hat and started forwards, attempting to free his father from behind the sad table in the corner.
Daryl stood uselessly. A crossbow ready but a mind nowhere near. His partner and his son below, engaging in a war so jolting to Daryl’s fragile mindset. Gasps of air filled his lungs far too quickly, panic veiling over his eyes. ‘Goddamnit! Not now!’ Daryl was flummoxed by his autonomic reaction. Daryl Dixon was always ready to fight. Daryl Dixon was sometimes ready to fight whether there was a threat or not. At a guess, the man had killed well over a thousand walkers. Why was this any different?
“Daryl! Get. Down. Here!” Rick’s voice was only just heard above the auditory terror that befell them all. It was enough to pull Daryl out of his momentary inertia. Febrile legs ran down the enormous staircase, as if they didn’t belong to the beholder.
“Rick! The fuck is happening!?”
“Trap…door…full-of-em’…the…basement.” Was all that the Deputy was able to string out before firing his gun into two gigantic walkers before him. Daryl glanced over the left side of the bannister, mouth gaping at the sight. Piles upon piles of grotesque walking flesh were climbing out of the hole in the ground. It was never ending, and they were severely outnumbered.
Gunshots flew left and right. Daryl’s crossbow was now useless at such close range. Knives and a pistol came out quickly. Daryl joined the fray. The crack of skulls - the smell of rotting flesh - the visceral blood spattering across his face. Something had taken over, plunging blade after blade into the decimate skulls. The hunter was working on pure adrenaline. Shots fired loudly in his ears as he ploughed forward. They were all spaced out in the expansive room, defending a small territory of their own. The snarling was ear piercing. Daryl hadn't seen so many walkers in such a tight area ever. It was terrifying. But he wasn’t going to falter now, he couldn’t. Every undead taken down seemed to release a volley of new ones from the endless basement. A man couldn't keep this up. A deathly ill man could very much not keep this up. But alas, keeping it up was what had to happen. He needed to save Peri - the woman who just bore her soul and filled his heart with a strange sort of joy. He needed to save Carl - the boy turned man - the son of his partner he would be lucky to call his own - the teenager who looked up to him. He needed to save Rick - Rick…Rick…fuck the absolute love of his goddamn life!
Eventually Daryl penetrated his way over to the right side of the staircase, ready to assault the walkers as they came out of the abyss. Blades bore deep into brain matter, as the sickly man fought for the people he loved. Fighting anger was coursing through his veins. He was like a lit match over a powder keg, ready to explode. Whether it was from feverish thoughts or not, the time bomb was ticking.
Daryl had backed into a corner, inviting as many walkers to him as he could. Suddenly, time slowed to a snail’s pace. A female body emerged from the horde. Hey body encased in a tattered nightgown, clumps of blonde curls hanging from an emaciated frame. Daryl squinted his eyes in the dark, trying to decipher the once dead woman working her way towards him. A flicker of torch light illuminated blue before Daryl’s eyes, a necklace filled with turquoise dangling off the walker’s neck. It was her. Robin. The missing puzzle piece. A wife dead and a husband who long lost his mind. A tale all too familiar for the family at the prison. Images of Rick burst into the hunter’s mind. Catatonia had filled the concrete tombs as the once leader shuffled through the halls longing for his dead wife, Lori. The memories of his partner's anguish set the hunter’s heart on fire with empathy and wavering jealousy. A jealousy formed from fear of never being loved quite so intimately. ‘Fuck, focus ya prick!’
In an immediate breath, the blonde corpse before him had collapsed into his chest, snarling and biting for pure redneck flesh. Strong arms fought to push her away. But with a mini horde of walkers befalling him, Daryl couldn’t quite break away from the cold, brainless limbs grasping for his warm body. After too long of a scuffle, the man had brought his knife to a position of certain doom.
“Mb’sorry.” He muttered, about to obliterate her to a realm of forgotten territory. Suddenly, an explosion of blood painted his face. The famous Python taking down all the enemies in his wake. Rick stood behind the firearm, with a jumble of emotions plagued behind his eyes. Before Daryl could move, or think, or suck in a breath, a calloused hand made forceful contact with the hunter’s cheek. Rick had just slapped him. Hard.
“Fuck, Daryl! Pull yourself together!” The Deputy seethed with white hot agitation. Daryl stared back at his partner, stymied. A tornado of rage stormed between them. This was not how they worked. This was not them and the frenzied action made Daryl’s gut churn with familiar deceit that he couldn’t quite place. Pain reverberated through the left side of his face and the metallic taste of blood dribbled out through the newfound gash on his lip.
Daryl was quite literally a feral animal backed into a corner. He could feel the anger inside, rising like turbulent bile in his throat. Blue eyes were glued together for what felt like a millennium, neither man able to move. Fight, flight and freeze tumbled around the hunter’s body like a game show wheel. It wasn’t until a commotion of sound erupted behind Rick that either of them were able to break away from their heated trance.
The front door had unlatched and swung open violently with the raging winds outside. A fresh volley of walkers began tumbling towards the house, their rotting faces being lit up by flashes of lightning. The weather was only getting worse, but the storm was raging fully inside the four walls of the dwelling.
“Dad!” Carl’s voice rose over the tumult. Rick whipped around to see his son and Peri desperately trying to close the heavy door. They were thrusting their whole bodies into it, but the certain hell on the other side was pushing harder. An obvious panic befell the Deputy.
“Shit, com’on!” He glanced back briefly towards the sick companion before launching the stock of his firearm into the head of a too-close-for-comfort walker. Daryl peeled himself away from the wall, immediately missing its support. He was only a step behind Rick, fighting as hard as he could with the minutiae of energy he had left. A few loose bolts into bursting skulls cleared the way to the door. Four bodies were now backed up against the wood. Eight arms attempting to quell the chaos inside. This was shit creek, without a paddle in sight.
“Dad, what do we do?” The fear in Carl’s voice was universal. All the luck and fortune that had welcomed their group over the last year or so, was running out. Fast.
“We gotta find a way out. There’s a door through the kitchen…”
“That aind’t gunna work, Rick.” Daryl grumbled into his ear drawing a glance over to where the door to the kitchen was being torn down. As if it was a nightmare, even more emaciated bodies toppled out. It was like a bloodcurdling bowling match, new walkers taking down old like rotting pins.
“Shit!” Rick drawled, opening the barrel of his firearm. “I got two rounds left. We gotta save the ammo for when we really need it.”
“Dad, I think we might really need it now.” And as if to punctuate his sentence, Carl exploded an animated head right in front of him. A shower of coagulated blood rained down onto his youthful face.
“Carl, stop! Jus’...jus’ let me think a second.”
“There’s a drain pipe outside the nursery! If we can get up to the second floor we could climb down?”
“Yeh…” Peri’s idea rattled around in the leader’s head for a moment. “Yeh, that could work. Migh’not be so many on the far side of the house. Okay. Carl, Peri, Daryl, y’all clear a path to the stairs and get up to that bedroom. I’ll be righ’ behind ya.”
“You can’t stay here Dad! There’s too many…”
“Once you’re up there, I'll make a break for the stairs too. I gotta try to hold th’door. If any more get in, the plan won’t work. I’ll be fine Carl, I promise. Now, go!”
Peri and Carl tentatively took their weight off the door. They shared an anxious glance before starting to clear a path in front of them. Daryl didn’t budge. Rick snatched his eyes off his son and turned to look at his partner. The man had wedged himself at the opening of the door, sinking his blade into walker after walker. Rick noted the animalistic edge in Daryl’s eyes, and loosely vowed to not lose his temper again. But the man had quite literally poked the bear only minutes ago. Rick hadn’t intended on physically assaulting his lover, but these days it seemed that his body made decisions far before his brain did.
“Daryl. Daryl!-”
“Aind’t leavin’ ya Rick!”
“Daryl…I need you to go. They need you. I’ll be fine…” Frustration was a growing weed in Rick’s voice. Time was running out, and Daryl’s defiance was only burning through more of it.
“Daryl! Daryl!”
The name was starting to lose meaning as Rick turned into a broken record. The stubborn man wasn’t moving. Hell, he wouldn’t even make eye-contact with him now. Daryl just started intently at his knife that was barely making a dent in the horde. Soft grunts escaping with every blow. Rick shifted his weight against the pulsating door, reaching his arm up to shake his lover out his manic reverie. As soon as the calloused hand made contact with the tense shoulder, it was violently shaken away. So forcefully in fact, that Rick lost his footing. Without the other human barricades, Rick’s wavering pressure on the heavy wood was enough to ensure more chaos on the small group of survivors. The door flew open again, sending another cascade of walker’s into the already cluttered foyer. The Deputy was furious. The fire inside that he’d been trying to douse with months of farming, was raging through the roof of his very being. The festering fury was joined by primal panic when his frenzied eyes failed to locate his partner. Somewhere in the sea of decomposition, Daryl was being swarmed. A half cough, half grunt made its way to Rick’s ears. With a location confirmed, the older man threw himself on the huddle of walkers. The barrage of cracking skulls didn’t stop until Rick spotted a faint outline on the ground. Daryl was flat on his back with a hugely bloated corpse writhing around on top of him. The hunter’s crossbow was pinned under the enormous walker, and his blade was far out of reach. Rick kicked the mass of rotting flesh off the struggling man, crushing its head with one heavy stamp of his boot. Blood and pus burst from its flesh.
Rick experienced a momentary flicker of relief before his turbulent fervour returned with a vengeance. He reached down and yanked Daryl to his feet by the scruff of his damp collar. His blinding anger making way for immense physical strength. Rick kept his gasp firm around the fabric, drawing Daryl’s face peripherally close to his own. He could practically smell the snot as sweat that crudely adorned the other’s face. They were so close that from a distance, one wouldn’t be able to tell if Rick was going to kiss the man, or tear his throat out with his own teeth. Part of Rick wanted to do both.
“Rick-”
“Don’t.” He seethed through a clenched jaw and bursts of irate breath. “Go. Now.”
Rick effectively threw Daryl into the dark abyss, putting very lax faith in his ability to make it to the second floor of the home unscathed. But the hunter got the message. The sounds of squelching and grunting turned into scrambling ascending footsteps and eventually a door slammed above him. Rick could feel the frigid hands of death reaching out around him, as any unoccupied space was being quickly over-crowded. The Deputy’s body was surging with adrenaline. His sympathetic nervous system propelled him into the fight. Time became a blurred mass of blood and decay. His arms were straining under the effort of the battle. Rick knew if he stopped, he was dead. He might be dead either way, but he’d go out trying. For his family, for Carl, for Judith. Oh god, Judith. What if he never saw his daughter again? He fell into a fleeting lapse of thought, but that was all it took for groping hands to latch onto him. He panicked and dropped to the floor. It was a risky idea but if he could somehow crawl his way to the table in the corner of the room, he might be able to take the upper hand again. Rick Grimes was a survivor. He could do this. Hands were constantly reaching for his body. Some walkers had followed suit, crawling their leaking bodies behind the Deputy. Every move, every inch of a limb was dangerous, but he had to try.
Eventually he made it to the table, taking out the surrounding walkers as he climbed up. It was just a pit of disgusting movement below him. Reanimated corpses spewing in and out of spaces like it was never ending. The danger was densely packed all around and Rick was as far away from the staircase as he could be. He cursed a series of words under his breath and glanced around the space for something, anything to pave his way to safety. He looked up at the hideously enormous chandelier that hung from the ceiling. A weak idea popped into his head, but it was all he had. Rick unholstered the Colt Python and pointed it at the chain holding up the light fixture. He shot once and missed by a hair.
“Fuck, com’on. Com’on!” He partly cheerleadered and partly cursed at himself.
He took a breath and aimed again. One bullet. One last chance. The tympanic shot reverberated around the room as glass and metal came crashing down like acid rain. Any walker that was in the path of the chandelier was now crushed underneath it, writhing to get away. Rick saw his moment and leapt onto the huge metal frame. Keeping his feet quick and light to avoid the hands desperate to grab at his legs. Only a few bodies stood between him and the staircase now, a manageable amount. He disposed of them quickly, using his empty firearm as a heavy club. The thoughts of his family rushed back into his mind like the tide coming in. It’d been less than ten minutes since he’d last seen them but facing certain death felt like an eternity. Taking the stairs three at a time, Rick raced up to the nursery, already hearing the herd following behind him.
The door opened with a start before Rick could even reach for the handle. A strong arm pulled him into the room forcefully. Daryl held onto Rick’s bicep powerfully, and vice versa onto the hunter’s forearm. The Deputy was still seething, hopped up on nothing but endorphins and rage. But fuck, he was glad to see Daryl again.
“Daryl…” Rick panted finally, releasing the strain that had befallen his body in the last ten minutes. “They’re comin’…up-th’-stairs…we gotta…”
Daryl expressed his understanding of the situation with one of his trademark grunts. Rick made a mental note to catalogue the precise meaning of each individual grumbled expression when they were back at the prison and everything was normal again. The two men worked together to barricade the door with as many items of furniture as they could. The strained efforts of Carl could be heard from the window. The two older men rushed over and looked down. The boy was about halfway descended, Peri looming much further below, already on the ground. A sudden crack of thunder sent the group jumping with fright. Their nerves already frayed like wispy pieces of twine. Rick and Daryl both vocalised their fear as Carl slipped on the ancient drainpipe.
“Carl!” Peri shouted from beneath him. “You’ve got this, and if you have to let go, I’ll catch you!”
Rick watched his son weigh his options out in the open air. Carl chose to let go, half falling, half grazing himself along the red brick of the house. A soft ‘ooft’ was heard below as the teenager landed into Peri with force. Once they were up and moving below, Rick turned back to his partner, who stood shoulder to shoulder with him, surveying also. He returned the gaze, febrile and sickly feral. The way Daryl looked at him from behind fever matted bangs was a clear indicator that whatever was going on with them, wasn't over. They’d both fucked up today. Rick knew it was only a matter of time before the whole situation erupted like a goddamn volcano. And he feared he wouldn’t be able to control himself.
“Daryl, you next. Go.” Rick emphasised the last word, feeling the hesitation tense throughout Daryl’s body. The hunter kept his eye contact for a moment before bending down and throwing a duffle bag out the window. Rick helped Daryl onto the windowsill. He went feet first and then slowly turned to his right, positioning himself on the drainpipe. They suddenly felt very far from the ground.
“Hey.” Daryl’s voice was soft, with a tinge of worry. “Yer right behind, yeh?”
Rick nodded as his partner began his surprisingly graceful abseil down the side of the building. Daryl always seemed to move with elegance. It was just one of many qualities he awed about his partner. ‘If only the stubborn asshole could see it.’ Rick thought, transfixed with the situation surrounding him.
“Hey, Rick! I can hear more walkers in the woods!” Peri’s distant voice broke through the sounds of dead hands scraping at the door behind him. “You gotta get down here now!”
Shit. This was far from over. Rick nodded and steeled himself ready for the descent, amazed that Daryl was already on the ground. Less amazing was the coughing fit that followed. He had to worry about that later. Following the other’s leads, he threw his heavy duffle bag out the window, silently praying that the more delicate items he had collected didn’t break on impact.
Holding onto the frame, Rick brought one leg up and then the other so he was sitting on the windowsill. He twisted and reached out for the metal pipe. The wet weather and autumn condensation had rendered it far more slippery than anticipated. Rick slipped a little, drawing a screeching “Dad!” from below.
“M’good!” He grated out through a tense jaw, repositioning his grip against the icy metal. Slow but surely he put one foot behind the other, using the bricks around him as friction. His arms were burning and his legs felt like jelly. But he made it. They were out. God knows how, but they were.
“S’everyone okay?” Rick panted, receiving weary acknowledgements from the other run members. “Alrigh’ we don’t know how many there are, but my guess is a lot. We came up on the right side earlier, so we go out the left. I’ll take the lead. Daryl, you bring us up. We stay quiet, invisible, vigilant. Do not break formation. Clear?”
They all nodded silently and followed Rick as he took off, keeping close to the edge of the house.
—----
The frenzied run back to the Jeep was a miraculous blur. By the time they reached the woods, most of the lingering walkers had already made it towards the commotion at the house. Daryl had been running on empty, blinded by darkness, fever and rain. Only able to keep up with the other’s by the sounds of their breathing alone. It’s lucky he was a damn good hunter. During the rushed journey, he glanced back only once. There were shadowed shapes stumbling after them, high pitched screeching being carried by the imminent storm all around. At that point he picked up speed, if they all moved fast enough they’d make it back. And they did. Just.
Running up to the well hidden vehicle, Daryl shuddered out a burning sigh of relief. He reached out to steady himself against the hood of the car. The black spots were worse now and his entire body was protesting the act of being vertical. It had been way too close of a call in the house. Daryl knew it was all his fault. He almost died. He could still feel the gargantuan weight of walkers pressing his weak body into the cold floorboards. No weapons in reach he had prepared for certain death. Rick saved him of course. ‘Saved you and then almost died, just because you had a meltdown over a dead family you didn’t even know.” Daryl could feel the shame spreading rapidly throughout his sick body. Rick’s hand colliding with his face hurt like a bitch and made him angry as hell, but it was the least he deserved. He didn’t know when. He didn’t know how. But Rick would drag him through the grass for this. Daryl had seen his partner's white hot rage a few times before. After Herschel’s farm, when he claimed his leadership after killing Shane. When the Governor had blown through the gates of the prison, threatening the lives of their family. He saw it in Rick’s eyes when he had beaten Tyresse within an inch of his life. And he saw it now, only Daryl Dixon was at the receiving end. He was equal parts terrified, pissed-off, and ready for what he deserved. Being loved by Rick Grimes was too good to be true anyway.
Daryl watched Rick pull Carl into a tight hug, and then reach up to squeeze Peri’s shoulder in a sign of thanks and companionship. Before Daryl could register another thought, powerful arms pulled him into a desperate embrace. Rick held on tightly around the hunter’s waist, his forehead dropped into his leather clad shoulder. Daryl was taken aback and just stood there for a moment, letting Rick squeeze the air out of him. Eventually he found his arm going around the Deputy’s shoulders, and the other hand to the back of his head. The pair held each other in silence. Daryl’s fingers worked their way through soft, damp curls, untangling them gently. Hot puffs of warm air against his ear sent a shiver down the hunter’s spine, as Rick turned his face into his bare neck. ‘Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.’
As quickly as the tender embrace began, it was over in an instant. Daryl was harshly shoved away by the same hands that held him just a second ago. ‘Spoke too soon, asshole.’ Rick’s cerulean eyes were almost black with rage. Swallowing painfully against the lump in his throat, Daryl squared himself up, prepared to take whatever fire storm was coming his way.
“Daryl…What the hell was that?” Rick erupted, gesturing behind him at the hell they’d only just managed to escape. Daryl was about to fire back, but his nose had a knack for poorly timed bodily functions. A sharp buzzing made its way through the hunter’s sinuses. His breath hitched and eyelids fluttered closed. No attempt was made to hold back the onslaught. Daryl was too tired to prolong his pathetic humiliation.
“Rickheh…h’h’Ngxxtsh-”
“-You purposely went against-”
“-h’AATChoO-”
“-everythin’ I said back-”
“-Hh’EsTCHUU-”
“-there! T’so goddamn irresponsible and-”
“-hih’ESSH, h’NGXxt-”
“-downrigh’ stupid! Jesus Christ Daryl, ya done?” Rick practically spat the last few words at the struggling man, disgust radiating from his eyes. Daryl was done. Done sneezing, done emotionally, done physically. He felt pathetic and mortified and he was ready to be anywhere else.
“Dad, stop! Just stop!” Carl broke through the tension like a charged knife, stepping up to where the two older men were having it out. “We have to go okay? It’s dark and freezing and the weathers getting really bad.”
Unbeknownst to the quarrelling lovers, the storm that had been teasing the group all day was finally upon them. Thunder and lightning filled the sky directly above them. The steady rain morphing into a painfully heavy downpour. They were all dripping and miserable. Daryl shivered against the frigid conditions, well aware that whatever sickness ailed him, was going to get much worse.
“Rick-”
“Just! Don’t.” The Deputy warned. He squeezed the bridge of his nose in exasperation then took a step towards Daryl, eyes downcast on the mud below his feet. “I can’t…I can’t even look at you right now.”
And with that, Rick dropped the keys to the vehicle on the wet ground in front of Daryl. The hunter picked them up slowly, angry tears threatening to fall from his exhausted eyes. He heard the car door slam as Carl and Rick claimed the back seats. Peri hovered a few feet away, probably unsure of what to say or do. Daryl didn’t want her pity or comfort, but he also knew he wasn’t in a condition to drive. He sighed a shaky breath of defeat and looked up at her.
“Ya kndow how t’drive stick?”
“Mmm…not really…”
“Well it ain’t rocket science, com’on.” He tossed her the keys and crawled wearily into the passenger side.
Daryl knew he’d eventually fuck things up with Rick. It was the curse of the Dixon’s. Nothing good ever lasted for them, and it was always their own goddamn fault. His mother was broken, his father, an abusive alcoholic and his brother, an aggressive drug addict. So how was Daryl meant to do any better? He thought back to the early days in Atlanta and beyond. To Sophia and a fractured Carol. They all looked towards him to find the girl, to track her. It was a purpose, someone needed him for the first time in his life. Daryl was so sure he’d find her. But seeing that little girl wander out of Heschel’s barn, one of them. A monster. It damn near broke him. He couldn’t save Sophia. He couldn’t save Merle. The only reason he continued on was the fear of being totally and completely alone again. But maybe that’s how it should’ve always been, with no one to disappoint or let down. ‘Well Merle, guess you were right after all.’
Yeah, he knew he’d screwed it all up, he just didn’t expect it to hurt this much.
#rickyl#rickyl fanfiction#rickyl fic#twd#twd daryl#twd rick#twd rick grimes#twd fanfiction#the walking dead#the walking dead daryl#daryl needs a hug#sick#sickfic#daryl is sick#sneezing#sneeze kink#eventual smut#rick x daryl#rick grimes x daryl dixon#ficlet#dickfics69#angst#hurt#hurt no comfort#eventual comfort#stubborn daryl#rick/daryl#angst with a happy ending#rickyl writers group#new couple
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Hallo! I keep forgetting to link my fics n tumblr but I didn't forget this time!
So fun stuff, I used a clip of my own Crucible match for this chapter. And that clip resulted in a mercy after four minutes! Omg it's crazy how much is happening in such a short amount of time. I promised a friend I'd like show my process for this chapter and I am using this post as an excuse to the process lol.
So first I needed a source video of course. And I couldn't really just take some match off the internet cause I did want to be specific with what I had equipped. I knew I gave Rin an Arc Logic earlier so I had to grab myself an acceptable copy of one. But the Scout of hers isn't based off any in-game one tbh. But I have a massive love for Perseus-D so I decided to just use that as an acceptable replacement. Since Rin is mostly based off how I play the game normally, I ran the usual gear I wear. Wasn't gonna be a problem if knife hands got used at all in the match. After that, I just had to hope I queued into either the Jav-4 or Convergence map. Those two are my favorites and that's where I wanted her first match to be! Happened to be Jav-4 first.
youtube
The fun part was trying to adapt this without the Strand stuff lol. Since at the point of my story not even Stasis has been discovered. Anyways after getting the video then I kinda write out what I experienced on some sheets of paper. Think of it as a rough draft. The starting of me translating what I experience into text form.
From there I take that and then put a City Children lens on it. This goes into an actual doc and since this can be more detailed as I give myself notes and ideas for actual writing. Here's a snapshot of that cause it does take a few pages worth of text.
After this I start actually writing the chapter. While that happens I do cross out the text on the second draft doc. Just helps my eyes from glazing over as I look over all the funny words. Honestly doing all this helped me actually realize some of the callout names for Jav-4! Since the radar provides a name for an area, and to keep my mental map proper I ended up figuring out a decent chunk of the names! Who knows I might actually use them when playing lol.
Pretty much any chapter that focuses on the action has this kinda process to it. The Sundial went thru it! Tho since I didn't have a good PC back in Dawn, I never saved a video of one of those runs. Esoterickk is a true god I used one of his videos on it for reference. Which was still kind of fun! Had to interpret someone else's perspective.
Uh, I guess that's it for this chapter! The process details ended up taking a lot more time to write down than expected lol. If I'm lucky the next chapter won't be 7k words and get out a little quicker. It's not combat focused this time so I don't really need to go thru this process! Though. I have has to use another Esoterickk vid on the Corridors of Time as my memory is fuzzy. Fun hint-hint on what the next chapter is about hehe
#destiny 2#i am 90% sure i wanted to talk about more#but then i got consumed on the process#curse my brain for working so fast even my fingers struggle to keepup#first its my tongue#and my fingers are like 'yeah i can translate some of this brain think'#but it cant do it all#still i love my fingers#Youtube
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Your last fanfic with ghost was super good!!✨✨
I was thinking if you in the next chapter will make us see the sex angst between them, like you did in the first chapter. It was so good seriously!!
I think that we don't always need mean ghost that says hurtful words, just dealing with him is enough. Like not cuddling after sex or leaving early-ish in the morning without saying anything... Damn, that shit is enough to understand the pain of staying in a situationship that is about just fucking.
So I'm really curious on how you will write the next chapter... But I guess it will be amazing like that one🤭🫶🏻
GIGGLING thank you so much anon ! yes i do have more angst planned for chap 2 and for that i'm actually gonna focus more on reader and ghost's dynamic outside of smut too ! (there still will be some smut in it) ANYWAYS NOT GONNA SAY MUCH i don't wanna spoil anything >:3
AND YES !! that's what exactly i was aiming for. i wanted to portray a ghost who is more about actions than words. he doesn't despise reader by any means, and i'm sure he probably has his mouth somewhat controlled around them due to the fact that reader already is said to have anxiety. but i still wanted to show his distant behaviour, avoidance and this need to go away as soon as the sex is. it will be explained more in the other chaps and how it links to his character actually.
IM SO EXCITED FOR THE NEXT CHAP hehe thank u for this ask anon !
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Covalence [Ch. 3]
University AU
TW/CW: Language, Mentions of a Previous Toxic Relationship (Lack of Trust), Smut is in this Chapter (Smut Warnings: Vanilla Sex, Light Teasing, Fingering, Penetration), Invasions of Privacy, Mentions of Stalking
Pairing: Qian Kun x Reader
Genre: Fluff, Angst, Smut (Very Light tho)
(Y/N) Pronouns: She/Her
Word Count: 4.6K
(Part 3/4) [First] | [Previous] | [Next]
[NCT Masterlist] | [Covalence Masterlist] | [Full Fic Version]
Notes: This fic has been here for a while but I've decided to break this up into chapters since I had a couple of people say they prefer it as opposed to a full fic for pacing reasons, but just for y'all I'll include the link to the full fic! I hope you all enjoy! That and I also want to get some traction on the blog again hehe
Disclaimer: Please remember that this is an AU and a work of fiction, obviously the idols mentioned/written about in this story would never partake in or condone these actions. I would never wish any of these actions to occur to the Idol(s) mentioned in the writings of these stories, nor do I wish any harm on them.
III. Lovers
Butterflies were the only thing that filled your stomach that night. You could barely swallow down any food, you were so nervous. You didn’t know why, it’s not like that was the first time you and Kun ate together, but that time was just different. You couldn’t necessarily put your finger on it. It just felt different, and it was a welcome different.
Even then as you sat across him, eating dinner in silence, it was different. You hoped that you weren’t too rigid, or at the very least that it wasn’t noticeable. Why did you try so hard to impress him? You’ve known each other for nearly half a year at that time, there wasn’t much to hide from one another then.
“I’d say tell me about yourself, but there’s not much to say,” Kun tried to break the silence. You fought back a laugh, but it escaped anyway.
“God, why are we so tense? It’s not like it’s the first time we’ve done something like this,” you smiled. Kun laughed alongside you.
“That’s just what I was thinking,” he said. “Look at us two lovestruck fools,” he shook his head. He caught himself quickly, looking as if he had made an assumption he shouldn’t have.
“Look at us two lovestruck fools indeed,” you confirmed with a small teasing tone. The mood was significantly lighter, and the two of you began talking as you usually did. And soon everything started falling into place, that feeling of familiarity that was in your friendship began to lurk into what was now more intimate, and you couldn’t say that you minded at all.
“I don’t know if I said it, but you look great tonight, (Y/N),” he cleared his throat.
“Come to think of it you didn’t mention it earlier,” you poked fun at him. “You look good too,” you were secretly hoping that he’d notice. The only times that the both of you had met up was when you couldn’t have a single care in the world for how you looked like, but suddenly when he asked you to dinner that mentality was thrown out of the window. And you could see it was at least a bit similar on his end too.
That date was the first of many, obviously. With a new relationship always came new thrills. You felt like it moved by so fast. You and Kun were able to skip right past the ‘get-to-know-each-other’ stage and progressed immediately to the ‘honeymoon’ stage. Lighthearted jokes, hand holding, warm cuddles, cooking together, dancing like nobody’s watching, spending nights under the stars, the two of you did it all.
It was like nothing you had ever thought of. You had been in love before but never was it like this. And it wasn’t like you could say that every day was something excitingly new because it wasn’t, and that’s what you enjoyed so much about it. So much has changed from when you and Kun were originally friends, but at the same time it felt like nothing had changed at all. Still there were those bursts of sudden excitement, to be hit with the joy that was being hopelessly in love is one, you’d think, that anyone would want to feel at least once in their life and, now that you really knew how it felt, you never wanted to let it go.
You don’t know what brought you to reminiscing about that time. It’s been quite a while since that first date actually, almost a year now to be exact. Oh how time could fly, it felt just like yesterday you airdropped your notes to him, and now you were resting peacefully next to him, your head pressed gently against his shoulder, while he finished typing up his final paper. But regardless, not much has changed. Only now you knew that when you’d come to visit you’d know that he was waiting for you, which was true the other way around as well, and even though you are now at that delicate part of the relationship where you didn’t feel butterflies in your stomach every time you saw him, all you needed was to know that he was there.
Just to know that you’d both support each other, that’s what you needed the most in a relationship, you had later realized. Just watching him type away would be something anyone would find boring, but as long as you were with him that’s what mattered, right? Occasionally he’d ask you for your opinion on something he was writing and you’d offer your input, praises or corrections alike. He was working on his graduation paper and, obviously, a lot rode on this simple collection of twenty-five pages, and you wanted nothing more than to offer your support. You had suggested that you could help him find the appropriate articles and journals, but he insisted that all he wanted you to do was to spend time with him, and truth be told you never really realized how helpful that was until you arrived that morning and saw him falling asleep at the table.
Support gives support. Like a bond has been formed between the both of you, you both helped each other through the worst, but such was expected in a relationship, was it not? To make up for what the other lacks in a way that was romantically endearing, and to use experiences to solidify those bonds and make them stronger. By this time you had already seen the worst in each other, you would think, and you have already ironed out all the details, but even so, there were the small hiccups here and there. But that was natural, wasn’t it? The normal cardiogram of life, what mattered is that you both worked to make sure it wouldn’t flatline.
It started out rather innocently, you’d say. Kun let out a soft sigh and gently took your hand in his, and slowly he began to trace patterns over it. Now this was a rather normal thing that would happen in the relationship, to the point that you’ve come to notice that he would do it more often the more stressed out he was. And you wondered what was bothering him, it couldn’t have been the paper, truth be told he’s been finished with it, just constantly editing and making sure his sources were correct. It had to have been something else, right? After shutting his laptop and placing it on the nightstand, he held onto your hand and you reciprocated.
“Are you okay, Kun?” You asked him. You looked up at him, but he looked to the ceiling, another prolonged sigh escaping his mouth. “Do you want to talk about it?” He pulled your arm around him and held you close to him, your ear was now pressed against his chest and you could feel the rapid thrum that beat against it.
“Maybe later,” he finally answered. “Let’s just stay like this, okay?” His voice had a hint of pleading in it, and you wondered if there was something behind it, some secret he was keeping from you.
“Okay,” you replied. “I don’t have a problem with it,” you tried to bring up the mood again, and with a soft chuckle, he pulled you onto his lap and nuzzled his face into your neck.
“Ugh, you’re gross,” you laughed, playing with his hair. You’re not really sure when the mood started to change really, nor did you notice when those nuzzles became more sensual. But after a small bite you found yourself under him rather quickly. He had long moved on from your neck and to your lips instead, the gesture could’ve been seen as sweet if his hands weren’t progressively increasing their strength around your wrists, it was enough to keep them down but not enough to induce pain. But still there was something different, something was off about this encounter that you couldn’t quite place.
“Are you okay?” He asks you. It was a confirmation, you thought.
“Yeah, you?” You were still breathless from the encounter.
“Yeah,” this time you were the one to start, freeing one of your hands from his and pulling him down on top of you. The kiss only got more heated, and you knew where it was going to go once he tapped the hem of your shirt. With a quick nod, it was off in seconds, and, as it usually goes, his was too. Lingering touches at just the right places was enough to set the both of you off. Tugs at belts and waistbands were all that was needed to signal that the other was ready for more. Though you had to admit, you were more inclined to try to be quieter this time, you didn’t want anyone to come banging at the door this time, and luckily it would seem that Kun was on the same page. “Tell me if I’m going too fast, alright?”
“Mmhmm,” your cheeks were flushed red, and it only got worse the further down his hand moved until it was right in front of that sweet area that only he had access to. You never really knew how much of a tease Kun was until the first time you had sex with him, and he certainly hasn’t changed since. Always asking you to tell him if he was going “too fast” when you wanted nothing more than for him to speed up, if anything. He moved the fabric out of the way, slowly dragging it down your leg until it was completely off, and once he tossed it off the bed he traced his hand up the inside of your thigh. “Just do it already,” your voice wavered slightly and he chuckled against your neck.
“Haven’t we had a talk about you being impatient?” He quirks an eyebrow and you shut your mouth, bringing your hand to your face and shutting your eyes tightly while he pushed his fingers into you, allowing you time to adjust before he continued. He moved your hand away from your mouth and moved forwards, once again interlocking your lips together in a sloppy convergence.
You had to admit that sparks always flew whenever your lips would do so much as brush against each other. It felt like a recharge if anything, constant energy being added to one another, that’s another way to put it, you’d think.
“Tell me to stop if it starts to hurt, okay?” Another request for consent.
Ah? When did we get here?
“Okay,” you answered him again. He pushed into you carefully at first, making sure to keep your needs above his as always. You hummed out a quiet moan once he finally started to pull out then back in.
It was a gratifying thing, obviously. And one that didn’t happen very often, contrary to popular belief. Times like this were scarce between you and Kun, not because the other was busy, only because sex wasn’t particularly a necessity in the relationship, and never was it anything more than sensual, neither of you were the type to get particularly “wild,” or however Ten would put it when he tried to tap into the nature of your sexual life, when it came to the act, it was always somewhat vanilla and to the point. The only times either of you would initiate it was when one or the other was stressed or… Your inner thoughts stopped, you looked up again, locking eyes with your lover for another time that night, he always did well to keep his emotions hidden, but you could tell better than anyone now. You released the sheets from your hold and moved your hands to the sides of his face, pulling him into another kiss again.
Electricity, again. Like enthalpy, both sides give and take to create a reaction. Your hands moved to the back of his head and you tugged at his hair lightly, then down to his shoulders, trying to hold onto anything while you reached that final point of climax.
What could have been bothering him, you couldn’t help but wonder.
And you were still wondering about it when you stepped out of the shower. Kun had finished long before you and was back to work on his laptop. You dried your hair with the towel and tossed it in the laundry bin. You moved under the blanket this time, while you watched him work.
“You’re faster at changing the sheets now,” you laughed lazily and Kun rubbed the top of your head affectionately before pulling you closer to him again.
“I know that if I didn’t fix them before you came out you’d give me hell for it,” he kissed the crown of your head and you laughed again.
“Because it’s like… gross,” you couldn’t deny that you were in a light-hearted move at this point. “I’m so tired,” you yawned.
“I bet,” Kun’s voice had a knowing tone in it and you jabbed his side, after a quick wince he placed his laptop on the nightstand again and returned the favor tenfold.
“Ah! Mercy, mercy, you win!” You grabbed his hands while in your fit of giggles and while his own laughter subsided he sunk down into his bed.
“You’re such a handful, did you know that?” He said quietly while you moved closer to him.
“Yeah… but I’m your handful…” you yawned. Kun reached over and shut off the lights, settling in completely before you finally felt him relax. “Can I ask a weird question?”
“You always do, silly girl,” he cradles you close to him and you let out a tired snicker.
“Don’t laugh, promise?”
“Promise.”
“Theoretically, if you had a son or daughter—” Kun’s eyes suddenly widened at this. “Oh, god, fuck, okay no I’m not pregnant!”
“Oh! Okay, okay… I was just shocked for a moment,” Kun cleared his throat and you eyed him suspiciously. “Not that I would be mad if you were! I was just surprised at how direct you were and I was trying to figure out what happened… or more specifically when.”
“No, no… it’s nothing like that! Promise! I was just kidding, Kun, plus I don’t think that would be an easy conversation to have with yours or my parents,” you nudged his chest gently. “But anyway, what would you name them?”
“Um…” Kun hummed softly. “Honestly, I haven’t really thought about it much.”
“That’s fair, it’s a pretty niche subject. I was just curious because my cousin invited us to her baby shower,” you thought back to your cousin’s impromptu text that morning, you were both rather close growing up but had since drifted apart once college started, so you were surprised she reached out to you, and insisted that you brought your boyfriend with you, which was a strange request in and of itself, but you just brushed it off as her family being the only one that hasn’t met Kun yet.
“The one who’s weirdly into retro pop?”
“Yeah, that one.”
“Oh, interesting, I haven’t met her yet,” Kun pulled the blanket higher over both of you.
“And for good reason, she’s the one who locked me in the closet for three hours when I was, like, six or something.”
“Three hours?!”
“Yeah, she said we were playing cops and robbers and the closet was jail so I cried for like two of those hours until my aunt found me.”
“What happened then?”
“She got scolded and held this mini grudge towards me for like the rest of our lives, she nitpicks at everything I do now, it’s ridiculous.”
“All that over a game? Hm,” Kun frowns. “But for your first question, I’ll have to think about it a little more.”
“Mm… don’t worry too much about it, it was just a silly,” you glanced at the clock. “Three a.m. question,” you murmured.
“Is it really that late?” He looks over to the clock too. “I guess that’s our cue to go to sleep.”
“Agreed,” you yawned again and sunk further into the bed. “Good night, Kun.”
“Good night,” he responds.
The number of times you wanted to tell him how much you loved him, even so now you wanted to hold him in your arms and shower him with praises, and it was only your dignity held you back from doing so, but you could comfortably say that you didn’t think that you would ever love this way again. There was just that spark, that flicker of vitality that kept the relationship alive and well. Maybe it wasn’t that you couldn’t love this way again, it was that you didn’t want to.
The next morning, he was heating up leftovers in the microwave when you walked out, sitting on the kitchen countertop first thing as you usually did.
“Hey, Kun?” You figured you’d ask again, the idea still in your head despite the good night’s rest.
“Coffee?” He asks.
“Uh… yeah, sure,” you replied. Maybe you shouldn’t.
“What were you going to say?” He asks while he turned on the coffee machine.
“I love you,” your heart still skipped a beat every time you said it. He turned around and looked at you, a soft smile on his features.
“I love you too,” he answered. You’d never get used to hearing it, whether it was the validation from it or the rush of serotonin that came from it, it was probably your favorite phrase to hear. But there was still something off about it.
He was hiding something from you, and you could only fear the worst.
He handed you a mug and pulled up a chair at the table, sitting in it wordlessly while you blew on the liquid softly, which really did nothing to cool it. You just felt awkward at this moment. Awkward, a situation you never thought you’d be in when you were with Kun. You saw the gears in his head working, turning over and over again. Should you pry? Should you say something?
“Kun,” your voice cut through the silence. He said nothing but looked up at you. You pushed off of the counter and sat across from him. “Is there anything I can do to help?” Then came something you would’ve never expected. Kun put his hands against his head and his elbows fell against the table while he finally let go and you were quick to move next to him, pulling him into your arms again while he sobbed. You watched the tears pool amongst the table and you hated that you couldn’t do anything about it.
“I can’t do it, (Y/N),” he finally said.
“Can’t do what?”
“I’m so close to finally getting to my dream but…” he trailed off. You knelt down and looked up at him, holding his hands in yours.
“It’s your family again, isn’t it?”
This wasn’t a new topic between the two of you. The very same reason why Kun had to give up so many years of his life, years he could’ve put towards himself, years he could’ve used to become more successful, they were all taken from him. He agreed to one year, initially. One year he had worked multiple jobs to support the hospital bills and repay the loans, but the situation only got worst. His parents had told him not to worry about them, that they could handle the bills on their own, and they urged him to finish school, to achieve and reach heights they didn’t. Even now, according to what Kun was telling you, they had tried to keep it a secret from him as for how bad the situation got. And it wasn’t like you were on their bad side, oh no, his parents adored you, his father praised you for bringing their son back and his mother was glad to finally have another woman to talk to, so it couldn’t have been anything bad, right?
“They called me yesterday to tell me what had been happening,” you felt slightly alleviated by that. At least they were talking.
Then you realized why he was acting so strange.
“Did I do anything wrong?”
That would explain so much, why he was suddenly agreeing to do all the things you asked him to, all the sudden dates despite his busy schedules.
“Kun, it’s okay, you can tell me.”
You knew what he was going to say already, of course you did. All of yesterday up to this point had been a strange time for you, constantly trying to figure out what was going on his head, and why he was acting so different than usual.
But last night wasn’t a strange night, you realized, it was a goodbye.
You opened your mouth to ask him again, but quickly shut it when you finally pieced two and two together.
Kun was a good man. He’d do anything for his family and that much was made clear to you by his mother, who had informed you of the situation long ago and had begged you not to tell him, to keep him from digging deeper because the both of you knew that Kun would drop anything and everything to help them.
Even you.
He finally answered, “I’m flying back home tonight.”
You didn’t know what to say to that.
“Tonight…?” You asked him again for confirmation.
“Yeah.”
“When did you get the tickets?” You asked him. He looked away again, his brows furrowed with frustration, but with a deep breath they relaxed.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” He asks, ignoring your last question. Then a horrid realization dawned on you, one that you never expected to come from Kun.
“You went through my phone?” You tried to keep your voice stable, but your feelings betrayed you. It was the one thing you made him promise to never do, and he had known never to do it since long before the relationship.
“Answer me,” his voice was stern.
“No, wait, hold on! What could’ve possibly made you want to go through my own private messages without even asking me?!” You were starting to get mad for a whole different reason. But you needed to stay on topic, this was how tragedies happened. You calmed down and stood up, moving back to your seat across from him. “Your mother made me promise not to tell,” you finally answered.
“And you listened to her?!” The sudden outburst surprised you.
“What was I supposed to do?! Tell her no?” You were confused, why was he so upset anyway?
“No, no, there was nothing else you could’ve said, but at the same time, I just can’t believe that you didn’t at least tell me that the situation had gotten that bad! If you would’ve told me that she wanted me to stay out of it I would’ve respected that!” He was offended. It was such a simple thing, you had to agree, but from what you knew about the situation it wasn’t that easy.
“They just didn’t want you to worry, Kun.”
“Well I’m worrying more now that they’re living in a hostel just to get by than I would’ve if any of you had just told me what was going on!” He shouts. You clenched your jaw, not knowing how to respond to him. You only did what his parents wanted, you had no right to go against them.
“My turn. Why did you go through my phone?” You sat back and crossed your arms.
“I’m not—”
“No, Kun, I said my part. Now you do yours.” You knew Kun was no stranger to how protective you were over your privacy, hell, it was the whole reason why you broke up with your ex in the first place, your ex who demanded that he be a part of every single aspect of your life and you knew you had to end that before that ended you. Maybe to some it was rather petty that you were upset that he went through your phone, but it was more than that. It was an entire violation of trust, in your eyes. You didn’t know what question to ask yourself, did you do something wrong or did he? Kun wasn’t the type, you would think, to go through your things unprompted. You must’ve done something too, but he should’ve known better and just asked.
“You were spending a lot of time with that study group of yours—”
“Oh my god,” you laughed out of pure disbelief, not meaning to cut him off, but that’s what happened. “You really thought I’d be as low to use a study group as an excuse to cheat on you?! You really thought that I would be as low as to even consider the thought of cheating on you? Is that it, Kun?! Did I do something so questionable that it would lead you to think that I was seeing someone else behind your back? You really think that I’m that disloyal?!”
“No! No,” Kun was quick to defend himself, and if he didn’t stop you where he did you surely would’ve said something that you would’ve later come to regret. “It’s just that I was talking to Yangyang and he said that you and some other guy in your study group were starting to act weird.”
“Figured, you’d trust Yangyang over your own girlfriend,” to say you were hurt was an understatement at the point. “Plus… I told you about that,” you glared at him. Kun’s expression dropped and you knew that expression on him. No, there’s no way he just forgot.
“I told you that he kept following me home, remember? That’s why I asked you for a pair of your shoes to leave outside, so he would just fuck off. Don’t tell me you forgot,” your voice started to rise again and you caught yourself before you could get too frustrated. Then it occurred to you that the night you told him he was rather busy, it was the same night you had quickly made your way to his apartment to ask for the pair of shoes, you had only informed him of the situation quickly and you never really got to sitting down with him and telling him properly.
“You did, didn’t you,” his voice was calmer, but the anger was still there.
You both stood in a heated silence. Silence. That seemed to be a constant in this relationship, even before you both started to date, it was always something that lingered around the both of you. It was the third-wheel that just wouldn’t get the memo. Kun had a hand on his forehead, taking in deep breaths, and you kept your eyes off of him, feeling like you were going to go off on him at any moment if he did so much as say a word. You would have your arguments, certainly, such was natural in a relationship, but you don’t think it was ever this bad. You were both in the wrong for two reasons that should’ve been independent of each other but instead were interwoven in the strangest way, and the silence made you understand that. Both of your trusts in each other had been almost entirely broken, you both kept secrets you shouldn’t have, put your trust in other people aside from each other. You shouldn’t have kept a secret about his own family from him, and he shouldn’t have overstepped the boundaries that you had long placed.
Who was in the wrong?
“We should break up.”
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JADE JADE JADE JADE!!! THIS IS SUCH A MASTERPIECE😭😭 I LITERALLY HAVE NO WORDS TO EXPRESS HOW I FEEL RIGHT NOW...
this whole chapter was so beautifully written, you capture all those emotions in such a way that I can picture all of the scenes in my head(except that I keep picturing hyun with black hair😭) BUT just the way you write is absolutely breathtaking, I love this so much😭
But now my thoughts on each of them,
yeonjun, i love him so much. I love the way he was always understanding even when they were young, I'm sorry but he deserves someone better than hana😭😭 the way he genuinely cares about y/n opinion, it feels so nice to see someone genuinely interested in her thoughts, he's just a complete sweetheart🥺
felix, I have no idea what to say about him, but I just hope that y/n stops thinking about "what will yongbok think" behind every action she takes. it just is messing with her more :// like y/n is such a sweet girl and it honestly pains me to see her so sad just because her friends cannot accept the fact that she is paying attention to the one person who's interested in her, not even romantically but just as herself if that makes sense. oh and also, I absolutely despise the way lix hid that he knew about the boy in the store😤😤 but I just hope he grows up lmao
minho, I'm loving the character development hehe,especially since i did bash him about no standing up for y/n a few weeks ago. he's also really kind but ig he doesn't really show it that much but him helping hyunjin out shows that he's super sweet.
and finally, hyunjin, my love... PLS HE'S JUST SO PERFECT😭😭 everything he did in this chapter made me feel so fuzzy like he knows exactly what he's doing(well technically you). just the way you portray him is amazing, like I said, I can absolutely picture all the moves he makes in my head and it's the best thing ever. also I feel so sad that he just cannot act on his feelings because of what's happening in the city, please don't break chan and kairi up, I'm begging you🥺 I don't want hyunjin to stop believing on love if ever they do break up because this is just going to hurt everyone and I'll be sad too😭😭
the event also was just beautifully described, it was amazing, all the little details you added🥺
akdjjs and the kiss, don't even get me started on that. I have to say that a tear did slip out of my eye when that happened. LIKE FINALLY WE'VE BEEN FED. also I was praying to the Lord that seungmin doesn't come back😭🥲, like I said, MASTERPIECE!!
also, I noticed how you said sorry next to the word count, so I wanted to express my undying love for long chapters!! I absolutely ADORE long chapters because for me, the more there is to read, the better I can get lost in the world of fiction and it just makes the whole experience better so do not apologise for long chapters, they're the best😤😤😤
anyway, I wanted to say thank you for writing such a masterpiece🥺🥺 you're doing really great with this and I cannot wait to see how the story proceeds but of course, take care of yourself, eat well, drink lots of water and take plenty of rest!! you've worked so hard❣️❣️
why am i seeing this now !! its for part 11, im sorry for the delay :( but thank you oh my god. thank you for thinking this way. yeonjun has always been so understanding and that flashback was so important to reiterate yn’s life growing up and how her relationship with her friends has been.
im very happy you love hyun, he is such a sweeetheart indeed ☹️ and you’re right, chan and kairi do play a big role in his thoughts and ideas on love and relationship and hopefully…they stay together.
thank you so much for this sweet message. it made my day !!
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Love In The Air Live Blogging
As a maker of terrible decisions, I’m starting watching this on the day a 10% assignment is due (which I’m not done) and 3 days before my midterm (which I haven’t started studying for).
I usually do my best to avoid spoilers but not for this show lol I know like 80% of what happened so far (released up to Ep 11) to prepare myself for the characters (specifically Payu and Prapai) and their questionable actions. Also, I’m slightly obsessed with Sky from these clips.
Ep 1 (Nov 2)
that random guy’s popcorn falling everywhere rip
girl we’re flashing back three whole weeks?
oh this was shown on GMM25?
lol I read like 1 chapter of this translated on Wattpad before giving up because the translation was so bad and it’s funny to see it play out because I know Rain’s inner monologue at this part
D: is Payu pretending to not remember Rain? No way he forgot him right
loll esp when I’ve been spoiled that Payu fucked with Rain’s car early on, I guess that’s right now
lmfaoo Rain batting his eyelashes at Payu and pleading with him to fix his car
“If you’re trying to seduce me, do it better next time” lol I do see how he came to that conclusion
Surprisingly, I do see how Payu came to the conclusion that Rain was coming onto him lol but him not stopping when Rain asks him to is a bit... but I see why Payu was like “stop playing hard to get” because if your idea of consent was just from TV and books, I can see how it’d fall into that
Payu’s voice reminds me of War’s
Anyway, this was played off as silly and cute enough that it was fine and didn’t make me emotionally uncomfortable, just raised like a few ! in my brain. like yeah I’m side-eyeing Payu’s sleeziness but I’m not opposed to smiling at their interactions lol
Cast Reaction: It was mostly them ganging up on Noeul as Rain lol They also seem to have fun watching scenes they weren’t in
I do wonder if it’s better if I watch the show first so that these faces are just mostly the characters to me rather than watching the show and having it be “X playing Y” in my mind. I can’t really do that wish people I’ve watched before or know a lot about outside of the show (like so many GMMTV actors lol like I was watching eclipse and in my head it was First playing Akk rather than just Akk), so this is an opportunity that I get for rookie actors/people I haven’t watched before. But on the other hand, I’ll watch like 5 eps a day and finish early and have to wait for ep 13 otherwise so...
Ep 2 (Nov 2)
hm the first 4 mins is just repeat of last ep last scene
Ep title: I hate Payu (Storm) and I’m not talking about the weather
I do like fun titles hehe
I can never feel comfortable while watching these kids pretend to drive in a way that’d get them in an accident in 3 seconds even though i know there’s no car accident in the show
The bathroom neck hovering/kissing goes on for so long goddamn but it was fun if I thought 0 thoughts about it. Payu instructing Rain...
Y’know it’s interesting that Payu doesn’t like ill-mannered people or swearing because I feel like on a surface level that’s more of a uke trait. I guess it also helps that his other traits like being quite domineering and doing racing help counteract that also
lol was that indicating that Rain got hard
Rain: Will you help me? Sky: Isn’t that a given?
ahh racing here and in Cutie Pie looks so fun, wish I wasn’t such a scaredy cat with even just regular driving
Aw, I’m already ready to beat Sky’s ex’s ass but that still hasn’t happened by ep 11 lol
There’s so much repetitive footage from ep1 so far goddamn
lmfaoooo sorry this spanking is killing me from laughter and awkwardness i can’t watch this
rip rain getting yelled at
i’ve seen gifsets of this before like 2 months ago when it was released but rain getting angry bc Payu called him stupic and then kissing him is still funny
is Payu’s lip bleeding
Rain is actually so cute, rolling around in bed like noo why did I say I’ll make him head over heals for me but then trying to quickly compose himself when he hears the knock
lol I’ve seen clips of this where Rain does everything to avoid eye contact over the breakfast table
Why do so many BLs have the seme/top joking that the uke/bottom has a small dick
What does forgiveness from Rain’s parents joke mean?
Rain gets so worked up every time and my guy has no forethought. Make him fall for you in a month
“Eh, hold on. Why do I feel like I’m dancing to P’Payu’s tune?” loll
Cast Reaction: Fort dying when Rain kissed Payu was hilarious, he was like whyyyy why did he do that? To me, it was cuz Rain jumped through a few hoops like “I don’t want him to call me stupid” -> “He won’t call someone he likes stupid” -> “I’ll make him fall for me” Also Peat guessed Payu wants to say hello to Rain’s parents and Fort guessed he wants to ask for Rain’s hand and everybody laughed when Payu said forgiveness
I want Boss to be my girlfriend.
Ep 3 (Nov 3)
killing me that it takes Rain that many days and hints to realize he can use his phone to contact Payu
Aww Rain got his feelings hurt being confronted with the fact that he’s not the first to wait like this for Payu
uiii Rain being gutsy telling the server he’s hitting on Payu. lmfao Rain begrudgingly giving Payu his bowl and chopsticks
loll the “replace stupid with cute” moment
The humour and Rain’s overreaction reminds me a lot of Japanese BLs like Kieta Hatsukoi tbh like my guy had cute cute cute! pop up all around him and then had to sit down in the middle of the street
Me watching this the day before my midterm (27 hours left...) and Rain’s getting scolded for being irresponsible and not using time wisely regarding school work ummmm why would you do this to me. Although I find the prof so annoying like submission due date at 8:30am what a joke and why is there no late penalty handing in? Profs like that are soooo annoying like “if I extend it for you, how many would I have to extend?” like bruv give people some wiggle room
Aw, poor Rain, he’s in first year right? Tough times, uni was so different than high school for us and it was a wild time to come being one of the better students in your class to a place where pretty much everybody is as good as you or better. I wonder how much this is worth lol cuz I’ve gotten used to taking Ls on stuff that’s worth 10% or less, it’s the 20% or greater Ls that hurt now but even then, gotta get over it quick or else you’ll fail the next thing
ahh Payu coming in and kneeling down and opening his arms for Rain and Rain going into the hug so cute T.T and comfort T.T
Payu being kinda stern with him but also giving him comfort T.T
bruhhh so cute, Payu going over again and just tucking Rain’s head again his stomach T.T
lol so is the timeline: Payu helped Rain with the tires -> Payu gets pic of Rain from the senior and realizes it’s guy he helped -> fucks with Rain’s car before the faculty dinner -> Faculty dinner
Fave Scene: The 2 hug scenes where Payu comforts Rain after first coming to see him + after when Rain’s drying his hair.
Cast Reaction: Just Boss and Neoul this time. Funny to see Noeul go “oh P’Saifah is cool” -> Boss looking at him like hmm -> Noeul picking up on it and going haha P’Payu is super cool! because Rain would never pick up on it lmfao
Ep 4 (Nov 4)
Finished my exam, fucked around a bit after coming home and now onto the next ep!
oof Payu telling Rain he shouldn’t come here anymore
P’Som: I was recently told a kindergartener’s more creative than me! And look at me, I’m still fine!
Sky understanding what’s going on with Rain
lol Saifah also being like lol who exactly is smilled Payu? The boy or youuuu
Sig calling Rain “Cloud Jizz” kills me, I wonder what the thai literal meaning is - i think it’s a pun on Rain
I know everyone’s like let’s see stuff outside of college!!!! but I really enjoy it when being a college student is actually a part of the plot. Rain being academically irresponsible and paying for it last ep was great. Them working hard for multiple days and staying up the day before an assignment due and then just going straight to sleep is also so relatable. My midterms just ended tonight so I’ve also been having a Fun Time and I’ll be sleeping so well tonight but after that I’ll have to catch up on 2 weeks of work on 2 different classes that I’ve neglected cuz that material won’t be on the midterm rip
The sound in this is so bad, why can I hear the clothes and the leather and everythingggg lol
I think a bl should show us con-somno. love mechanics had the con-noncon fun ending, we should get a fun con-somno that’s appealing but doesn’t make me feel weird. Also, Payu lightly slapping Rain’s stomach to wake up/punish him for pretending... haha
Rain gets to hear Payu call him smart boy
lol Saifah interrupting them
Payu left compliments for Rain in his final project sticky notes! That’s so cute
Rain and Payu both checking their phones incessantly throughout the ep waiting for the other’s texts is cute
Why is Rain waiting in the rainnnnnn, get inside boy!
very jarring cut to get to the bathing
the kiss sounds are too loud lol but people like it i think
the holding hands beside Rain’s head is cute and then Payu guiding Rain’s hand below... yeah
condom under toy car
Teaching Rain ahh
at 49:00 when Payu pushes Rain’s head back, nice
hand holding really is my weakness i think
lmao i had to mute, that’s a lotta noises
dang, Payu was like k lemme hear the “Rain belongs to P’Payu now” It’s stuff like this that makes me realize that this would work for me soooo much more in the written form when I can’t actually see or hear anything
Fave Scene: Payu going easier on Rain doing his work at the garage once Rain says he just wanted to see Payu’s face. Rain realizing Payu wrote the sticky note compliments on his project. Payu pushes Rain’s face back down during the NC scene
Cast Reaction: Boss was already dying during their little kiss when Rain goes to see Payu after finishing all his homework lol they both passed away watching the NC scene
I realized Tonnam who plays Sig also played a similar character in Cutie Pie, the wacky schoolmate in the friend group. I’m curious to see him in Triage where he apparently plays a doctor (Dr. Sing? or smth) and he’s also in a main character in Wish You Luck 2023 which is like a post-apocalyptic or sci-fi BL
Ep 5 (Nov 5)
so many gratuitous shots of Payu lol from him waking up to the exercising
ep title: Calm Before The Calm hmm
I do hate it when parents let strangers into their child’s room without the child knowing or giving permission
girl not the rectal suppository
fun to see Rain - Payu - Rain’s mom/Mama shenanigans
Kinda funny that people dubbed Payu/Boss VegasPete’s lovechild and Payu is referred to as the devil here because I’m pretty sure Vegas is referred to as the devil in KinnPorsche novels
“Don’t refer to yourself as Rain anymore?” hmm I hear a lot of poms, did Rain go from Rain -> Pom as first person singular pronoun
girl, no way Payu’s gonna let Rain down right? He’s just unnecessarily fucking with him before saying let’s be byfriends or smth
loll yeah “Now it’s my turn to pursue you” laughing headass after he made Rain cryyyyy
ew they’ve really got tongue and everything going
naurr Rain’s old crush Ple wants Rain’s new bf Payu’s number. lmfao and possibly her brother likes him too, rip Rain
ahh the pun works in so many ways “Damn, these fruity siblings!” because Ple and Som are apparently fruit names in Thai and fruity because the brother likes a guy
loll Sky coming out of the theatre and seeing PayuRain. “Oh, Rain. P’Payu, too. You’re holding hands.” this was so funny here
Rain coming out to Sky is cute and then him and Payu ganging up like “who’s Ple... when did you come here without me...”
I don’t really know what people by when they say someone has the relationship glow (like sometimes ppl will look at idols and be like hmmm they’ve been glowing and happier lately, wonder if they’re in a relationship) but this episode Payu has soo been that like when he was at work + now literally humming while making food as Rain sleeps in his bed lmao
I’ve felt this a few times but so many scenes/shots just feel too long like I wonder if it’s because I’m watching the uncut version but let’s cut a lot of these scenes by 10-30 seconds bruv
Payu looking at Rain, then looking back at Saifah and shaking his head, saying “too many assholes” about whether he’ll take rain to the next race was kinda attractive hmm rewatched it like 5 times
Rain hitting Payu for teasing him counter this ep: so many
oof, the meeting each other before while younger was tryna get into the uni and older was an attending student trope. reminds me of SOTUS. also Rain’s lucky triangle was placed there by Payu, cute
Fave Scene: The Sky seeing them at the theatre + lunch scene. [TODO Why can’t I find gifsets of those scenes? no way people aren’t giffing it right] That few seconds of Payu shaking his head and saying “too many assholes”
Cast Reaction: Boss hiding behind Noeul once really did a lot for my brain.
(29m) I for a split second thought he had a bow in his hair... my girlfriend!Boss agenda
Ep 6 (Nov 6)
oh yeah, i hadn’t realized the mafia twins from Don’t Say No were already had shown up for a sec in ep 5. i only became aware when i was watching tiktok people’s ep 5 thoughts and somebody mentioned it and even in this ep, do they appear for just 1 second to wave?
lol the state of love interests in BL is so shit that I was pleasantly surprised by Payu not resorting to violence or provocation at the race (which is his workplace) despite the shitty rich kid. He did provoke a bit with words toward the end but like deserved
They’ve started translating mia to darling instead of wife lol
cute to see Rain tryna get Payu to smile and not be mad at the situation
Stormy at office -> sunshine in garage
aw Rain worried about Payu. Payu finally being serious and putting his hands in his pockets was kinda attractive
Rain believing in Payu winning so hard. It’s cute to see how strongly Rain is on Payu’s side this ep
Rain being forward and horny in this NC scene, so true. Payu turning Rain around and pushing him against the wall ahh Rainnnn.
I’m having the wildest time watching this NC scene lmfao usually I’ll like it and watch it fully or mostly (depending on how embarrassing it is) or I’ll skip most of it or watch on a small screen. This scene I’m not skipping anything because it’s just like not awkward or weird but also, it’s too much, so idk where I fall because I keep being like ohhh I like this move and then being like ewww tongue swiping lmfao I watched the tongue swiping twice because I couldn’t believe my eyes the first time and physically, involuntarily jerked away both times bc it’s so ew to me but I’m also so incredibly fascinated like damn they did that
Rain’s iconic “This is also riding” line
wait Rain kissing Payu’s forehead, that’s suchhhh a seme to uke/top toward bottom thing! Rain’s been very forward and more dom than subby in this NC scene but that really sealed the deal lol I love light switches even though Mame doesn’t seem to do verse like at all
laksdf Rain going back to his cute bubbly self in the next scene is so fun
Bold Rain is sooo fun “Someone accused me of seducing, so I’m doing it for real. So? Does it work?”
Ah, the kidnapping
Fave Scene: The NC scene just because of how I liked parts of it a lot and was icked out by parts of it; usually NC scenes lean more toward one of the other. Also, bold Rain in the scene was great
Cast Reaction: Always fun to see Boss shrivel up and be cute about the makeout and NC scenes. hilarious to see him say “It’s not me, It’s Payu!” about the scene where Payu tells Rain to take off the suit or whatever before the race (12:30m). Seeing all of them literally pass away while watching the NC was hilarious lol, after it ended it looked like all them came down from a roller coaster. lmfao watched the longer part of them watching the NC scene on a diff youtube clip and they just screamed and yelled the whole time, so funny; Fort was right saying that was tiring.
Ep 7 (Nov 7)
The kidnapping’s kinda just meh, like sure. It’s like the ep 10 conflict w the gun in Bad Buddy like why can’t we keep shows that have mostly internal and interpersonal conflict that way without throwing in a random gun/kidnapping for some plot.
It wasn’t that cool either cuz it was just Payu going and getting beat up (which makes sense lmao he’s not a trained fighter nor a mafioso). kinda interesting once again that they didn’t make him sooo cool and better than everybody that he can take all of them. Rain on the other hand was really ballsy though, probably too much considering he was tied up and could do nothing
lol Rain’s iconic “*kick!* only P’Payu can screw me!” and Payu’s big ass grin when Rain walks back to him afterward is cute lol
lol the telling friends about their relationship was funny when I watched clips of it and it’s still funny now. I’m gonna ignore how Sky didn’t have permission to say Rain’s dating someone nor did he say it’s okay for Payu to say they’re dating in front of all his friends
ah, we’re getting some info about Prapai and Sky current situation
lol Prapai bothering Payu until Rain gives Sky his number. sigh don’t even have energy to be annoyed at Rain giving Prapai Sky’s number bc later on he’ll give him his dorm keys for fuck’s sake
oh yeah I knew Payu tampered with Rain’s car. It’s one of the early ep things that I’m just: ignoring. “You won’t love me after learning the truth?” well, i’d certainly reconsider
Fave Scene: The telling friends scene I guess
PayuRain story is done. Overall thoughts is that I thought I’d have to ignore more things than I did lol; like it’s just the very first night, the bathroom, the spanking, and the car tempering that are questionable and those happened really early on. I don’t like that people say that’s just their brat/tamer dynamics because you do need to agree upon the dynamics first. Anyway, still fun dynamic if you don’t think about how uncomfortable it is.
I don’t get people saying this had no plot because ? Character growth and growing into a relationship is like a fair plot for a BL, esp because so many bls are already like that. so i don’t get it.
Enjoyable but not a fave.
The Prapai/Sky bits in this ep were giving me such mixed feelings cuz it’s actually really appealing to me but like, even as a lover of fucking rancid dynamics, Prapai being a creep to a traumatized abuse victim is just a lot. like some of the spoilers I’ve heard... I like Sky so much though, I just want better for him
Ep 8 (Nov 8)
I would’ve been way more eager to start this if ep 13 didn’t piss everyone off. ahh i’ll try to enjoy it as much as i can bc i think it’s a very interesting story and dynamic still
Unwanted tally of Rain being a shitty friend: leaving Sky during the race (and not even wondering what happened to him), giving Prapai Sky’s number
Watching this is like I really don’t know how to feel. Fort was probably Payu-level teasing with the “ooh yknow what you have to do to leave” but Sky took it literally cause of the past abuse T.T Can’t even watch the sex scene without thinking of how Sky’s gonna feel hurt by it and how he feels coerced into it
repetitive PayuRain scene, what was the point
“They’re all assholes. You’re also an asshole” “Shitty things always happen to me” T.T Sky
Somehow Sig’s outbursts are funny but P’Som’s aren’t
While watching the cast reaction, I understood something. Sky says “oi! Why’s this like the book?” when Prapai first called him because he was reading Love Sky, his own novel lol
Rain, since you called, at least tell Sky that you give his number to Prapai!
Prapai ambushing Sky outside the uni and getting Rain to leave them alone is a level of sleaziness that I can still enjoy and have fun with without being too upset about it
I am soooo normal about Sky giving Rain a punishment... it’s not a doozy at all
lol Prapai’s assistant is great\
Fave Scene: Sky - Rain - Prapai scene in front of the uni, I enjoyed the humour in what Rain thinks is happening vs what’s actually happening. Also Rain punishing Sky
Ep 9 (Nov 8)
finally watching 2 eps in the same day again. midterm season ended, i’m a little caught up on homework and i gotta make sure i get to ep 13 by thursday
Prapai also bi/pan and also there’s something kinda ew about how his siblings and he discuss sleeping with people like that’s your siblinggggg but Pai holding both their heads and vibrating was cute and sibling-like
nooo even the mention of ‘love’ taking Sky to a bad place
sky canon nipple piercings... but also apprehension bc idk where he got them, considering his past trauma and abuse
This sort of stalking and sleaziness from Prapai is slightly off-putting but I could probably put up with it, esp once Sky decides he likes him
“If you’re really my friend, never mention that son of a bitch again, got it?!” aw Skyyy
Sky nightmare :( but then Sky unconsciously smiling at Prapai’s texts. Reminds me of The Eclipse with Ayan’s nightmares and Akk’s smiling at Ayan’s text
Has P’Som been useful in any way ever? Annoying ass character
Dang, does Sky have nightmares every time he sleeps? Makes sense why he always seems to stay awake when his friends come over for all-nighters and naps
How the fuck am I supposed to root for Prapai when he keeps getting new SIMs to get around Sky blocking him and texting him so much that he worsens Sky’s breakdown over his ex and his abuse. Seeing Sky being so upset about these texts and calls is just agh
Rain strike 3: giving sick Sky’s dorm keys to Prapai despite Sky having gotten mad at him for giving Pai his phone number + insisting times he doesn’t like Pai
A taking care of sick boyfriend (to be) is cute if yknow... it’s not so greatly against the sick person’s wishes
Cast Reaction: Fort and Peat both looked really good in this reaction lol Also Fort’s reaction was kinda fun cuz I think he’d sometimes get confused lol and also he was actually sad at the sad parts. I think it was fun cuz it seemed like they were also watching it as the audience instead of as the actors
I don’t even know what to say like why couldn’t it just have been like regular levels of creep and more of us seeing Sky fall for him and saying no to guard his heart. Why the hell would I wanna support Prapai after his relentless texting and calling made Sky’s breakdown worse and had him yelling while clutching and pounding his bedsheets.
I don’t like when the situation is just main character’s love interest has made him unable to escape
Ep 10 (Nov 9)
I’m really excited for this ep because I think I’m gonna love it and my favourite scene that initially made me very interested in the Sky/Prapai arc is in here.
Also, I’m fully intending to ignore nearly every red flag of Prapai in this ep unless it’s wayy too big, so.
Prapai doing his work while Sky holds his hand in bed, that’s really cute
“So what do you want?” “You know what I want.” “No, I won’t have sex with you P’Prapai” “Then you don’t know what I want” alsjdf
ahhh cheek kiss
“Will you stop me?” “If it’s important to Nong Sky, then I won’t” okayyyyy
“Then I should get a reward for my good deeds... I wanna see your lovely smile” line is much cuter and life changing in the tiktoks but is cute here too ahh
Sky smiles so wide and pretty :D that Pai has to take a moment and talk to himself like “Looks like your no-strings-attached lifestyle is coming to an end Prapai” is sooo relatable
Prapai should’ve just jacked off in the bathroom before showing us this whole turmoil cuz apparently not assaulting someone is a lot of hardwork
Sky’s reaction at wanting Pai to kiss him was cute tho
hehe Sky’s delight at telling Pai that Payu took Rain and him took this restaurant before
Natsu ahh I really hope she’s in Just Say Yes and the twins Past Love In The Future or whatever show
please the “I’ve stopped fooling around with anyone since that night” “I’m not that dumb” “okay once... alright twice... okay three time max, I swear. And I haven’t slept with anyone in the past 2 months” scene was cute and Sky liked it lol
lol P’Joy gossiping about Sky and Pai
ahh Pai kissing Sky’s shoulder
oh yeah i love Pai in Sky’s clothes like he changed into that when taking care of Sky too. It also makes me wish Pai was younger than Sky cuz I think it’d play off well
is Sky writing in the diary that’s gonna come into play in ep 12
Drawing Wind on Sky’s palm and saying “I’m claiming ownership” laksdf;lkajsdfl;kjds
the dinner convo where they talk about their families is cute
“I take care of you so well but I’ve got to sleep on the floor. I’m just a servant” “You do it on your own free will. Too bad” so true, don’t let Pai make you feel guilty Sky lol
Fave Scene: The 2 scenes where Sky thinks where Pai wants sex from him but then Pai says a different thing are great but also I think the whole episode is delightful fr, my fave ep so far
Cast Reaction: Fort is sooo adorable in this lmao he was gushing throughout the whole thing, so relatable
Ep 11 (Nov 9)
Oof, the finale coming out in 12 hours bc I didn’t time this correctly lol I have love in the air blacklisted on here now bc I don’t wanna be spoiled for ep 13 hmmm I think I’m gonna watch this, watch ep 12 immediately after waking up and look at tumblr and stuff then, and then avoid tumblr and twitter until I can watch ep 13 at like 5 after my lecture. hm
I’m gonna not think too hard about Pai’s actions in this ep too cuz I wanna love it
I am strictly ignoring how I feel about 1) Pai telling Joy that he and Sky are a couple knowing that she’s a gossiper and 2) getting a keycard for Sky’s place for himself without Sky’s permission
Sky waiting for Pai to come because he said he would T.T sleepy Sky letting Pai change his clothes T.T
lmfao dream makeout session; lotsa BLs have those these days - The Eclipse my dear
“I might be a psychotic stalker in your eyes but please understand how worried I am for you.” well, he’s self-aware
Aw, Sky trying to get Pai to not be mad at him
yknow this is like the complement to ep 6 Rain showing how he worries about and cares for Payu and now, Sky showing he’s also interested in and likes Pai
akk Sky accidentally bragging to Rain about Pai
alskdfj Sky testing Pai by making him do so much cleaning and telling him to go home if he doesn’t wanna do it and that he wouldn’t put this much effort for a one night stand vs Pai being like no, I can handle it. Yknow Pai is extremely dedicated to pursuing Sky, including driving to him and helping him with his school or home chores, helping him when sick, etc. If he didn’t have an undercurrent of creep, it’d be soooo good but not it’s just good
loll Pai’s tryna explain himself about wanting sex but not doing everything for the sex
good ass sex scene, felt emotionally cathartic and was so intimate. also got a Sky -> Prapai forehead kiss ayy also Sky clutching Pai’s hair was haha nice
cute to see them having pillow talk and Sky divulge info about himself
we get canon nipple piercing mentions but at what cost? not seeing them but getting trauma lore T.T
Sky sniffing Pai’s shirtttt
how could they Rain this dumb, esp when earlier in the ep Rain knew that Sky was talking about Pai being great
ahh Pai is so into ownership, it’s a lot like him asking for a hickey so that Sky can claim ownership...
Fave Scene: Sky questioning when Pai will get bored of him + Pai explaining himself (and not doing everything for sex) before the NC scene + the NC scene itself because of how romance and emotion driven it was. Also liked the general way Sky was more receptive to Pai and also reciprocated
Cast Reaction: During the NC scene, Fort tried to cover his eyes, then Peat’s eyes, then his eyes again all within a second lmfao. Also Fort mentioned the hair pulling >:) they said it’s a very romantic NC scene compared to ep 8 and yesh, I agree
Ep 12 (Nov 10)
I... don’t know how I’ll feel about this ep, I’ll be honest. I’ll try to do the ‘ignore pai’s questionable behaviour’ thing but will it hold up? Lemme rewatch the ep 11 NC scene full of romance and love and care before i start this lol
loll Pai having fun with Sky worrying about his hand being cut
ew why is Pai talking about Sky being a gentleboy in the streets, a freak in the sheets to Payu and Saifah D: i’m skipping over Pai talking bout him
Sky/Pai went from cute and endearing in eps 10 and 11 to just cringe this ep T.T don’t do this to me tf is this “that’s my wife, not my boyfriend?
“I can skip morning class” lol
5 seconds of Leon but at least he got like 2 lines similar to Natsu unlike the twins getting just the wave
Pai, why didn’t you remove yourself from the person earlier T.T
“I saw your boy [...] The one you let me borrow” I’m gonna kill Gun, I’m gonna kill this guy, I’m gonna throw up
fuck, I feel bad for both Pai and Sky cuz Sky’s been like waiting for this and worse whereas Pai doesn’t even know what’s going on
fuckkk “you pick up when it’s not my number?”
oh fuck Sky being mean as hellll to get Pai to give up fuckkkk
“He doesn’t love me. He just finds me unusual”
of course pai is in the freaking room lmao i was like hmmm did he get in with the key, then saw the dark house and was like oh, only to realize that he pops up in the clip
what a distressing scene rip there are so many things I feel where it’s like Pai was seen by Sky being too touchy with some other dude (and he should’ve detangled himself earlier but was he really at so much fault? he didn’t do anything but nicely establish some boundaries) --> Sky ghosted Pai and was very mean to him when breaking up on the phone (and it wasn’t right of him to do that but also it’s due to his past trauma and insecurities) --> Pai going to Sky’s dorm and reading his diary (bro is like fuckkkk boundaries but also him reading out loud Sky’s entries was insane and I think Fort did well) and then idk how to feel about Sky’s love confession
“I wonder where you got this idea that I’ll tire of you one day”
they’re really running with the Rain Dumb As Rocks thing but like lol the attempt at 2 convos at once was funny
Fave Scene: Pai during the phone call to Sky (esp the “you pick up when it’s not my number?” and the tears at the end of the call) and the way Pai was speaking during the diary scene. Also Pai kinda playing with Sky during the papercut scene
Cast Reaction: Boss and Noeul were there this time. Lots of talking about character motivations and Fort cried and Noeul got teary-eyed
That wasn’t as bad as I thought it’d be; I’d seen a lot of complaints so I thought it’d be worse but it was just kinda sad distressing because they were both hurting and then hurting each other because of it and I can empathize with both.
Okay I was nervous about this ep because of certain spoilers and because I heard some general dissatisfaction but when watching, I could see where both characters were coming from and why they were reacting the way they were. There was something slightly off about the episode to me (was it disjointed writing? maybe iffy editing? idk) but I thought it'd take me back to how I felt about ep 8/9 Pai but nah, the characters' actions and progressions made sense to me based on who they are so far
I thought it was good at showing the sadness of the situation like Sky's insecurities and past experience make him ghost and lash out at Pai on the phone and Pai is understandably hurt and and although the breach of privacy by just going in Sky's room and reading his diary is a lot for me, I knew Pai was like that from ep 8 so lol
Also, I’m becoming more impressed with Fort’s acting because I didn’t think much of it before but in ep 10 when he was upset with Sky for the panic-inducing call and this ep when he was angry (”...you pick up when it’s not my number?”) and sad during his breakup call with Sky were idk good at showing intense but subdued emotions. him reading the diary entries out loud was wild though like it was making me nervous and I thought he did well. I think he’d just do better in a role that’s not a “dom, older dude” because he’s better when he’s not tryna pull off the sleazy domtop thing and he was giving me ‘younger seme’ vibes in ep 9 and 10.
Also, people have been saying Sky in the diary scene was just supposed to be not crying tears but rather yelling and hyperventilating etc the way he was but I wish the show actually showed that.
Ep 13 (Nov 10)
Okay, last episode came out like 9 hours ago, time to watch it. I’m glad I waited to watch it instead of as soon as it came out though because apparently it’s extremely triggering and they do a weirdly realistic job portraying Sky’s abuse and SA. So. I’m nervous about that.
People have said it’s in general a strong episode (even if they have gripes about the portrayal of SA)
flashback to how Sky ended up with Gun?
holy shit why was the scene with Sky and Gun in their underwear with Gun smoking so beautifully shot and framed
fuck fuck fuck those cigarette burns D: i love ao3 fics with that trope but i can’t believe i’m gonna remember this when i read it next time
the way the sound of the lighter keeps going even after Sky wakes up from the nightmare
T.T Sky calling Pai to seek comfort
FUCKING FUCK YOUUUU GUN AND HIS FRIEND TALKING TO SKY AT THE RACE ILL KILL YOU
OH MY FUCKING FUCK THEY TALK TO PAI ABOUT “HIS CUTE BF”
SkyPai are cute enough that I even rewatch their kissing (I actually really like their kissing)
I’d heard about the wiping but klajdsf Pai wiping Sky’s stomach with tissue afterward asklfksdjf
PaiSky are sooo cuteeeee T.T
The background music is too loud when Sky surprises Pai at the race but it’s such a cute scene, I’ll forgive it
...fuck Sky’s going to the car by himself at the race where Gun is
oh shit the clicking of the lighter is gonna be an insane thread in this ep i guess, Sky heard that as soon as he went to the car and it alerted him to Gun
oh my fucking god, this is so... Gun’s friend is convincing Pai to give up his room for the night because that’s where they’ll Sky...
Pai: “If you do illegal stuff in my room, I’m gonna kill you” <-- I’m gonna fucking hold you to that Pai
Gun sewing doubt into Sky’s mind about Pai liking him + the “Earnestness is boring” when i get my hand on youuuu
Rain, just call Payu to tell him, don’t leave Sky alone ahh i’m so nervous
“A guard says P’Pai wants you to wait at the condo” ...a guard says? ...is this the same condo as where Pai took his hookups that he’s given up for the night?
okay i knewwww they were gonna try to make Sky think Pai did this to him. They’d mentioned “you can bet your lovers” at the race and I thought maybe that’s why Gun shared Sky with others but apparently he doesn’t even race. + They didn’t break into Pai’s room or anything, they waited for Sky there, making it seem like it’s all planned. fuck them so bad i haaate them
The music is too loud bruh
fuck Gun’s just stacking lie upon lie
Pai you raise your voice at Sky one more decibel (even though I don’t think he’s accusing Sky of anything) and I’m shooting you
Pai fucker startled even me by screaming fuck you for real the fuck
I need so much more anger and violence from Pai you don’t even know.
Sky talking badly about himself “I’m trash. I’m damanged good.” after telling Pai what Gun did is actually making me lose my entire mind i’m so fucking sad
Pai’s subdued tears Twice because Sky can’t cry is really so.
Won’t lie Pai’s “I should’ve met you sooner” is once again making me wish Pai was younger
“We won’t ever see him again.” Is he dead? Special episode we better see news of him having gone missing or smth. I wish I got to see Gun and all his friends in jail or dead with my own two guys but I guess it’s better than TharnType where Lhong walks free (and is forgiven by Tharn’s brother) and also nothing happens to the people who actually raped Earth’s character
I wish there was more of a mention of Sky’s future healing journey plans than just Pai being a good boyfriend and remembering an actor’s quote
I wanna see Sky meeting Pai’s familyyyyy
Fave Scene: The scene of Gun smoking while Pai was happy lying behind him filled me with so much dread; loved the lighter sound motif throughout the ep as well. Liked seeing Fort’s subdued tears and sadness about Sky’s situation.
A good finale, although I wish the parts after Sky told Pai what happened were a bit different? I wish we got something more about plans for a healing journey being Pai being beside Sky. Also, I wanted to see Gun die with my own two eyes.
Beautifully crafted episode,
Overall Thoughts:
RainPayu - PayuRain story is done. Overall thoughts is that I thought I’d have to ignore more things than I did lol; a few things happen early on and we can ignore that + the fact that there wasn’t consent/discussion for a brat/tamer dynamic and just enjoy it - still a fun dynamic. I don’t get people saying this had no plot because ? Character growth and growing into a relationship is like a fair plot for a BL, esp because so many bls are already like that. so i don’t get it. Enjoyable but not a fave; I think the fact that I got into PaiSky the very next day also made me kinda forget about this pair.
PaiSky - They took up much more of my brainspace than PayuRain, both in good and bad ways. Pai was shitty in the first few eps of their story (mans is fr a stalker, doesn’t take no ew) but he’s also so good for Pai once he stops with the creepy shit and I have to be like... whelp, if you like him. I watched ep 10 and 11 being like “I shall ignore all of Pai’s questionable behaviour” and it’s definitely enjoyable that way, I liked ep 10 the best.
The show is known for the NC scenes and I enjoyed both pair’s second NC scenes. PayuRain’s was just wild and I was intrigued, even though I had negative physical reactions a few times. SkyPai’s was soooo romantic and I’m floored by the fact that I enjoyed watching them kiss, what about their kisses was different than others’?
I like Fort being an adorable cutie, I wanna see him play something younger (I think Pai as a younger seme would’ve been sooo good here). There were some production issues, like the sound was just shit and the editing for the second half was kinda worse than the first half.
Rating: 6.5/10
OG Teaser/Trailer: I remember when I saw the OG SkyPai teaser come out on r/boyslove lol It was interesting and then I heard nothing about it for several months. The trailer is interesting bc so much of it is exactly like in the actual show, there are some differences as well. Also, Pai did as much office work this trailer as in the whole of LITA.
Official Teaser/Trailer: I didn’t find either of these to be super engaging but maybe I would’ve been more excited if I hadn’t watched it already lol
Tiktoks:
Ep 1 edit
Ep 1 Morning after
Ep 4 bro interrupting
Ep 5 Sky knows they’re dating
Ep 7 sky and praprai storyline starting (compilation from trailers)
ep 8 sky angst :(
Ep 9 prai practicing sky’s name + following Sky around (bg: lowkey)
ep 9 prai taking care of sky
Ep 9 prai flirting w sky (bg: left and right)
bossnoeul behind - peatfort first being supportive and then done
Ep 9 sky angst (bg: don’t need nobody)
[FAVE] Ep 10 Pai wants to see Sky’s smile as a reward (bg: fall in love with you)
boss sulking
ep 11 sky being cute while sleep (bg: Khudaya Khair)
ep 10 Pai wants to see Sky’s smile as a reward
up to ep 11 Pai and Sky meaningful moments edit (bg: mirrorball by Taylor Swift)
Ep 10 sulking Pai + shoulder kiss
Ep 11 Pai taking care of sleepy Sky (bg: eenie meenie miney mo - Justin Bieber)
Ep 11 Sky asking Pai if he’ll get bored of him
Ep 12 sad hugging after diary scene
Ep 12 diary
Ep 12 "i want you to like me” scene before party
Ep 12 Pai wondering why Sky’s ignoring him vs how he’s looking at his boytoy
Ep 13 Sky with Gun vs Vegas with Tawan parallels...
Ep 11 Pai “I don’t cook I don’t clean” vs “Yes i do the cooking yes i do the cleaning”
Ep 12 Pai being upset at being ghosted (+ when Sky finally picked up his call)
F4 had Fort and also, people finding about First being in it
Ep 10 cute moments SkyPai, ah my fave ep
[Fave] Ep 13 Pai’s “hm? hm?” and Sky asking if he can love Pai and why Pai’s crying
Ep 13 rebellious badboy era Sky (bg: Untouchable)
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Heyyy, first of all glad to hear you're back!! Hope your time in korea treated you well, and that the trip back wasn't too stressful. Thanks for replying to my long asks lmao they were a handful but I'm glad that you seem to like them, tbh i had forgotten pretty much everything I had typed right as I sent it lol (except the part where I go full game theory matpat on HJ's bible, that one was a rant stored in my chest through the entire story).
I'm indeed still around, I was checking your blog every once in a while to see if there were any news so no worries, I'm hooked into your story enough that I'm probably gonna stay till the bitter end. Honestly, I adore fanfics that go so hard in terms of plot, when authors get me questioning everything that happens like The Answer has, thats when I know it's good and again I love your care and attention towards the development of mc's inner psyche, its so heartbreaking to see her falling down the rabbit hole but at the same time I want to go through the journey with her, I want to see it through as ugly as things may end lmao but yeah don't rush yourself, I'm sure we are all waiting for it with excitement for what you got in store <3 no need to feel pressured
ALSO, THANK YOU FOR ANSWERING THE QUESTION ABOUT MC ACCEPTING HIS "I RESPECT CONSENT" BS, I THOUGHT I WAS THE CRAZY ONE
Mc: oh boy i sure am glad he is respecting that boundary for me :)
Me: *pointing indignantly at his actions just a few chapters prior* am i joke to you? am i the one tripping rn?
Anyways, thanks again for the responses! Take your time with the next chapter, and much luck with the writing process. I can't wait to see more from you soon <333
-👁👁 (<- this is me reading the fic btw, judging my bestie mc to hell and back)
MWAH KISSES thank you sm dear <33 hehe thank you for encouraging me to take my time!! i think things come a lot more naturally when im not feeling pressured hehe but honestly theres nothing like writing to procrastinate doing schoolwork...!!!! hehehe i hope you enjoy the new chapter.....!!!
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Text
Outlasting the Taboo
Warning: NSFW *18+*, Contains some adult themes, especially in the second part. (Read at your own risk, it’s my usual shipping stuff)
Chapter 1 of 2: Pushing Boundaries
The tall man busied himself as he sorted books and placed them on the shelves. What was next? Taking inventory, updating the bookstore database, and—ding ding ding...just like clockwork. A large group of boisterous high school girls waltzed their way into Mr. Shin Gu’s bookstore. They brought the crisp fall air inside along with their chatter. Mr. Shin preferred silence, but they were his customers after all. He couldn’t just tell them to—
“Shhhh!! Be quiet!!” A teal haired girl gestured her pointer finger over her supple pink lips.
The group of girls quieted down as if they were taking orders from the alpha. Mr. Shin’s eyes followed the curly haired girl as he watched her work her magic in taming the disturbance. This group would come into his bookstore every Wednesday, begging for attention, but he’d never indulge them. He only gave them basic respect and customer service.
Mr. Shin had continued his tasks in the bookstore when—“Pssst! Pssst! Hey. Hey Mister!” someone called out to him in a hushed manner.
He turned to see none other than the curly haired teenager on the other side of the counter. Her large breast pressed on the counter top while she leaned over cheekily as if she were getting ready to let him in on some big secret.
“Hey~ I know you like your peace and quiet so I did you a favor. You should thank me. Hehe.” the girl winked playfully.
He didn’t ask her to hush the girls, she did it of her own volition. So why should he thank her? These were his thoughts, but his actions were opposite. In a low voice, he muttered one simple, “Thank you, Leez.”
She was so kind to him, so naturally he grew a bit fond of her despite his nature to remain aloof.
“Ugh! How does she do it?” One girl huffed in annoyance as she eyeballed Mr. Shin and Leez.
“We can barely get an ounce more of conversation with him besides the usual! I’ve tried all methods to get Mr. Shin to engage in conversation with me, but he never does!” the red haired high schooler complained to her classmate.
So how was Leez able to capture his attention? It wasn’t that she was prettier than all of the other girls. So what was it? The girls frequented Mr. Shin’s bookstore not only for books, but to try grabbing his attention. They would ask him various questions. “Mister Shin!”
“Do you have a wife?”
“Do you have kids?”
“What do you like to do for fun?”
“What do you like to eat?”
“Where do you live?”
Mr. Shin was a very attractive man, but he often showed no expression. The girls’ efforts to elicit a reaction from him were as futile as trying to escape sinking sand while neck deep. His face was handsome but it could only be admired as a precious stone that seemed to remain unchanged.
Eventually the girls would decide to give up and go to his bookstore solely as the hangout spot and to relish in the eye candy. It was only right that they give up. They were high school girls attempting to attract the attention of someone out of their age range. Maybe they didn’t know any better. Still, he would rather steer clear.
Leez’s finger traced the edges of a book on the counter as she continued a conversation with Mr. Shin. “Hey...Mister. Do you mind if I stay and help you out when the shop closes?” Mr. Shin halted.
“I don’t...think that’s such a good idea,” he stated plainly as he continued to prune the bonsai tree on the countertop. Never meeting Leez’s eyes.
“Aww c’mon! I’m always the last to leave the shop with you! Let me stay this time too!” she bargained.
“Are you really this dense?” He stopped his pruning to give her a stern look.
“Dense, what are you talking about? Anyways, I always stay back here to help you. What makes today any different? Mister, you’re acting weird. Ah, don’t tell me— you’ve got a date!”
Mr. Shin’s eyes narrowed as he cocked his head to the side. Seriously? Everything Leez said was testing his patience.
“No, I do not have a date. It’s just...”
“Alright. Fine. I won’t stay if you don’t want me to. Maybe next week, I’ll come bother you,” she teased sticking out her tongue before running off to join her friends.
Leez would come in with the group of girls, but she would always stay back with Mr. Shin. He was surprised rumors hadn’t started floating around her friend circle. Rumors of an adult male having a relationship with an underage girl.
No matter how much time Leez spent around him. No matter how much more he’d become infatuated, ensnared by her ways, her looks, and everything she did. He would never give in to that temptation. He had his boundaries and this was one he would not cross. He would cut all contact if it meant doing something with her that he would regret. She was too young. He also had a high sense of self preservation. However, he’d be lying if he said he didn’t enjoy her company.
A few hours passed and Mr. Shin had stepped outside to lock the shop and head home. As he stepped out, he couldn’t help but notice out of his peripheral, someone sitting on the bench. Who could be out here this late in the cold? He was a tall, muscular, but lean man. So he figured if anyone were to start trouble he could easily fight them off. Ignoring the hooded stranger on the bench, he headed home. His house wasn’t too far and was a fairly short walk. He often used the time to clear his head.
The sharp cold of the fall night had settled in, urging him to quicken his pace to get to his warm abode. The crunch of the leaves beneath his boots, the cool air hitting his skin, the full moonlit night. It was all familiar, but he took it all in as if he were experiencing it for the first time. He felt a sudden tug on his black coat. It prompted him to turn around, which he discovered a hooded person behind him. The same one sitting on the bench outside of his shop?
“Surprise! Mister, it’s me! I waited for you outside, but you didn’t even notice,” Leez pouted as she shoved her hood back, revealing the cutest disheveled head of hair he’d ever seen. Her large emerald eyes glimmered in the moonlight as she looked up at him. The sight of her was enough to take his breath away, but paired with atmosphere of this night, it was enough to make his heart skip more than one beat.
“...What are you doing out here?” He questioned softly, running his fingers through her hair in an effort to fix it. She reached up, placing her hand atop of his, the sudden contact caused him to flinch a little.
“Leez, your hands are freezing.” He removed his fingerless gloves and fitted them onto her dainty hands. Though oversized and fingerless, they were better for her than nothing at all. Leez looked on in shock as the stoic man babied her.
Ultimately removing his black coat and placing it over her shoulders.
“Go home, shorty.” He patted her head and walked off, hands in pockets, leaving her decipher his actions.
He was always kind to her, always gifting her, taking her out to eat, giving advice, and a listening ear. She was very grateful to Shin Gu. In a sense, they relied on each other. Leez was a 17 year old girl, with no family, and lived off of an inheritance left by her famous father who died in a plane crash. Her mother later died in a house fire after sending Leez to the grocery store. Since then, Leez had moved to a new city to start fresh. None of her friends knew her backstory. She didn’t even know if she could consider them her real friends. Often they’d talk behind her back and she’d excuse it. It was honestly better than being alone, she thought.
They didn’t know her, but Mr. Shin knew it all. She had come to trust him and confide in him. She’d dare to say, he was her friend. And Mr. Shin? Well, she knew very little of him. All she knew was that he was not married, had no children, lived a life of solitude, and wanted to keep it that way.
Little by little she inched her way into his heart, and he let her stay. He’d tried to drive Leez away many times, but after a while he gave up the fight altogether. She was strong, having all that power and grit packed into a young woman. Life was not kind to her, but she smiled and continued on. Fighting the good fight. She was tough, a force to be reckoned with. Her life was bitter, but somehow it became his goal to add a dash of sweetness.
——————————
Mr. Shin had left Leez at the front counter to tend to customers while he worked in the back. They were in the process of adding a cafe to boost the appeal of the bookshop.
“Mister... your handsome face can’t keep this shop afloat forever. You even have a hard time expressing yourself. You’ll scare the customers away with a stone face like that.” Leez scolded him. “You should add a cafe!”
Of course it was Leez’s idea and he almost always gave in to her ideas. Leez had now become his one and only assistant. If she insisted on staying back to help him, he thought he’d may as well pay her for it. Ding ding ding—... just like clockwork. The noisy high school girls had come to visit their classmate. Mr. Shin never bothered Leez about carrying on conversations with them. As long as she completed her tasks, she was fine. She did that and more. Leez actually attracted more customers with her bubbly personality, as opposed to his more indifferent personality.
“So... have you done it?” one red haired girl asked eagerly.
“Come on. Tell me you’ve done it!” another girl added in excitement.
Leez didn’t know how to respond. Why did they pressure her to divulge this kind of information? It wasn’t right. “I-...We-...”she made an attempt to answer their questions.
An arm rested on her head, pulling her attention away from the bothersome topic. "Are you okay up here?" Mister Shin appeared. She glanced up at him and nodded, face flushed, and then immediately looked down at the cash register as if the device were foreign. The girls giggled and walked off. Leaving her to face her thoughts and Mr. Shin alone. After spending so much time with Mr.Shin, she had developed a crush. She’d never tell him or make a move, but the girls had been pressuring her to “do something” about it. Lately, it’d become hard to look him in the eyes. The intensity of his gaze made her feel as though he could read her mind at any time. Should he come to know the truth, what would happen to them?
The bookstore was awfully quiet that night. It was almost as if the silence forced her to confront her thoughts and feelings. She struggled to put the books away on the top shelf, stretching as far as her tippy toes would allow her to. A tan hand covered hers, helping her place the book. She froze, but his warm body pressed against her back quickly brought her back to her senses.
“Eek!” She yelped.
“Ah damn! Y-you scared me Mister! D-don’t suddenly appear like that! You could’ve given me a heart attack!”
She rambled, never turning to face him. If she turned around, he would see. He would see her temperature on her face.
“If you need help, just ask me, shorty. No need to struggle alone.” he teased, patting the top of her head.
Leez let out a shaky breath and walked off to the couch to rest, leaving Mr. Shin to place the books on the top shelf. Soon, she was fast asleep.
Some time had passed. Leez awoke to see Mr. Shin on the opposite end of the couch with his arms crossed, resting. How long had she been asleep? Why didn’t he wake her up so that they could both go home? These questions would have to wait.
She reached over to wake Mr. Shin, but paused. She couldn’t help but to stop and admire his face. His grey hair complemented his beautiful, tanned skin exquisitely. His eyes were closed peacefully, displaying his long grey eyelashes. Leez moved over and leaned in close to his face. Taking the time to brush the shiny strands of straight hair to the side, out of his face. She faintly traced his perfectly arched eyebrows with her fingers and then moved to trace the bridge of his nose. Why did she like him so much? Why was she so enamored with him? Leez didn’t quite understand these feelings herself. She didn’t understand why she was so drawn to him.
His boyish charm made it easier for her to make her decision tonight. With no restraint, she gave in, covering his soft lips with hers. She pulled back and kissed him once more. This time with a little more feeling.
She thought she should stop herself before she disturbed him from his rest. It wasn’t a light kiss either, but she noticed that even after the kiss, he showed no reaction. Leez thought she would be used to his aloof disposition by now, but she wasn’t. Did he not like her? After all of this time, he still masked himself around her.
She stared at him before ultimately moving back to her original position on the opposite end of the couch. This was a battle that she would have to fight another day. The girls pestered her to do these things. She also wanted to do these things too, but the timing wasn’t right. She briefly thought of some advice Mr. Shin had given her regarding the pressure she felt due to her friends.
With his usual blank expression he told her, “Do the things you wish to do. No good will come if you force yourself to do what you do not wish to.” This advice seemed simple enough, but it had been in Leez’s nature to disregard herself to make others feel comfortable. To fit in. She didn’t give it further thought before resting her eyes again to fall asleep.
Hours passed and the sunlight crept in, cuing Mr. Shin to open his eyes. It was morning already? He wondered how a nap turned into a full night's rest. These thoughts would have to sit aside as there was a more pressing issue. The young lady resting on his chest.
He watched her sleep peacefully. He touched his lips, aware that she had kissed him last night. Wondering how she learned to give no regard to decorum. She trusted him wholeheartedly, he knew this. Breaking her trust would hurt him more than her, so he’d rather work to stay in her good graces.
He stroked her hair in an effort to tame the wild curls. She cooed softly and he could see her lips form a faint smile. Mr. Shin felt the urge to kiss her forehead, but fought his instincts. He maneuvered himself from under her embrace, picking her up and transporting her to the couch in his study. He started to walk off to grab a blanket when he felt a light tug on his shirt.
“Mister... don’t go. I’m cold.” Leez whimpered, half-sleep.
He gently removed her hand before heading to get the blanket. Why was she like this? If he had it his way, he’d have her all to himself. Deep down he wished to stay by her side, to protect her, but he knew he would have to create some distance between them. The time wasn’t right and there were things he needed to take care of. He covered her with the blanket before planting a tender kiss on her forehead.
“You will be disappointed again. I’m sorry.” Mr. Shin apologized wistfully.
He would ask her to stop coming to the shop. To forget him. Things were better this way, he thought.
———————
A week had passed since Mr. Shin had abruptly asked Leez to not visit the shop anymore. Ding ding ding—the high school girls entered the shop bringing in their usual chatter. Amongst the girls was Leez, who went back to the shop against Shin Gu’s wishes. She wanted to talk about it, but she quickly learned that a new manager had taken over Shin Gu’s bookshop.
"Could you be Leez?" A middle aged, brown haired man with golden eyes questioned.
"Y-Yes, I am. And who are you? Where is Mister Shin?" Leez was irritated. Of the past 2 years that she’d frequented the bookshop, Shin Gu was always there. What had changed? You mean to tell me this guy took over Shin Gu’s shop? Leez glanced at the man’s fresh name tag.
"Uh. Mister... Sies. Could you tell me what happened to the previous owner?"
The Mr. Siera Sies gave a hefty sigh and closed his eyes before answering. He hated to be the bearer of bad news.
"Look Leez, Mr. Shin left you this. He told me to tell you that you’ve been a valuable employee. He won’t be needing you to help out here anymore. Sorry..." Mr. Sies pulled out a thick white envelope and handed it to Leez.
"Oh! One more thing..." Next, he handed her a small black and gold box.
"...I think that’s all. Mr. Shin left you severance pay and a gift to thank you for all of your hard work."
A minute passed in silence before Mr. Sies broke it.
"Ah...that guy. He left me to take over the bookshop. He didn’t even tell me why. It’s so hard to read his blank face. That guy...you never know what’s on his mind...I did see a plane ticket in his hand...," Mr. Sies trailed off in his mumble rant.
"Wait what!?," Leez interjected. A plane ticket. So Mr. Shin was really serious about leaving? She should’ve known. He’d always been that way. He meant what he said and would do what he intended to do. It was rare for him to be swayed from his goals or plans. She wouldn’t go to the airport to see him off, it was probably already too late. Mr. Shin also didn’t have a cell phone. Leez thanked the man for relaying his message and left the shop.
“So he’s...gone. He doesn’t have a cell phone so I cannot keep in touch.” Everyone she cared for had left her. He was her constant, but now he was gone too.
He was cruel. Really cruel.
—————————————-
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