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noona-clock · 4 years

Text

The Counselor - Part 4

Genre: Teacher!AU

Pairing: Bobby x You (Female!Reader)

Warnings: None

Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 | Words: 2,363

You weren’t quite sure how you’d done it, but you’d successfully managed to get Lisa and Victoria off the subject of Bobby’s -- Mr. Kim’s -- supposed crush on you and back on to their math homework.

To be honest, the rest of the tutoring session was somewhat of a blur. You weren’t quite sure how you’d gotten them to stop insisting that Bobby had a crush on you because you weren’t quite sure how you’d gotten anything done.

Your mind had been rushing and hyperactive, and the scene that had just played out between you, Mr. Howell, and Bobby had been replaying over and over inside your brain.

You were more embarrassed and upset now than you had been at the time, and when Victoria and Lisa left about half an hour after the incident, those feelings only intensified.

The girls were incredibly sweet, of course; they hadn’t much talked about it, but just after packing up their bookbags, they assured you they didn’t like the new principal and what he’d just done had been very uncalled for.

So, at least you had the students on your side.

And Bobby.

You were still standing behind your table even though Victoria and Lisa had left a few minutes ago, but the thought of Bobby propelled you a few steps toward your door.

Before you even got halfway there, the man himself appeared, and not only his sudden presence but the worried expression on his face stopped you in your tracks.

The two of you stood there for a moment or two, neither of you moving or speaking. But then Bobby hurried over to you, reaching out and gently grasping your upper arms.

“Are you okay?” he asked quietly, his concerned eyes searching your face.

And something about those concerned eyes and that quiet voice... something about them broke you.

You instantly felt your throat closing up, a huge lump of anxious emotion making it hard to swallow. You shook your head and choked out, “No.”

No, you were not okay, and if you couldn’t tell one of your closest friends that, then who could you?

Bobby squeezed your arms, and even though you knew Bobby wasn’t really one to show affection, he pulled you into a tight embrace.

As soon as your face pressed into his neck, you felt the tears break through. You felt your breaths get short. You felt his hands clutching and rubbing your back comfortingly. You honestly didn’t even know you’d felt like crying, but now you were and it felt like one of those cries that could last quite a long time if you let it.

“I’m so sorry,” Bobby murmured, his soft voice vibrating in his throat and tickling your nose slightly. “I realized he was bad, but I never thought he would --”

He cut himself off, squeezing you tighter and letting out a frustrated sigh.

After allowing yourself to cry for almost a full minute, you finally lifted your face and blurted out, “He yelled at me! In front of students!”

“I know,” Bobby mumbled, moving one hand up to cradle the back of your head. “Don’t worry, I already told the Assistant Principal. I will make sure he apologizes --”

You pulled yourself out of his embrace, your brow furrowed deeply. “I don’t want an apology!” you cried. “I want his resignation!”

Your embarrassment was now slowly fading, and the fact that your boss had yelled at you for something so stupid -- and in front of two of your students, no less -- was making you feel more and more angry.

I mean, how dare he treat you like that?! The man could apologize all he wanted, but you had a feeling you could never bring yourself to accept it.

“Y/N, I --” Bobby started, looking back at you with a mixture of surprise and confusion. “I doubt he’ll --”

Before you could even think about it, you interrupted him. “If he doesn’t quit, then I will.”

Either way, you did not want to work for that man for much longer -- for any longer, really. But you knew it wasn’t realistic to hope he would resign immediately. It would probably take a month or so, but you were more than willing to --

“You can’t quit two weeks into the school year, and you know that,” Bobby pointed out. “Think about your students.”

“You really want the kids to have a principal who’s willing -- not just willing but eager -- to yell at his teachers right in front of them?” you asked with a disbelieving chuckle.

“No, of course not,” he answered. “But I don’t think it’s fair to say he’s eager.”

“Oh, you don’t?”

...This was not good. You could feel your anger branching out into annoyance and hurt that Bobby wasn’t on your side.

“He was in here for less than two minutes, if that, before he raised his voice and treated me like a child,” you continued. “You don’t think that’s eager?”

“I --”

“You don’t think he meant to make me feel foolish? You don’t think he absolutely could have controlled his temper and just chose not to because he’s a sexist, chauvinistic, misogynistic pig?!”

“Y/N, please --”

You stepped away from him suddenly, tearing your gaze from his and moving on wobbly legs toward your desk. “I’m going home,” you muttered. You were too emotional at the moment, and you knew without a doubt that you would say something you would regret.

No, you absolutely did not regret anything you’d said about Mr. Howell, but you were worried you would say something about Bobby. And, as upset as you may be right now, he didn’t deserve that from you. Not at all.

As you began to pack up your bag at your desk, you used your peripheral vision to see Bobby heading toward your door. Your conscience screamed at you to look up and thank him for helping you (and comforting you), but by the time you actually worked up the nerve to do it... he was gone.

Oh, well. Bobby was smart and way more observant than he led on; you knew he could tell you were too shaken, and he probably knew you would call him later once you’d calmed down.

And that’s exactly what you did.

After picking up a pizza for yourself, devouring half of it, taking a long, deliciously warm shower, and changing into your pajamas, you flopped onto your bed with a very deep and exhausted sigh.

...And then you reached for your phone and called Bobby.

As it began to ring, you found your heart suddenly began to beat twice its normal rate. You and Bobby had never gotten into an argument of any kind before, so this was all very new to you.

All that stuff you’d thought about Bobby being smart and observant and knowing you had been too upset and that you would call later to apologize... Yeah, those had all been very educated guesses. You hadn’t actually known any of that because you’d never experienced it before.

Until now, of course.

So, for all you knew, Bobby could ignore your call. He could let it ring and ring and ring until you heard his voicemail and --

“Hey,” his deep, scratchy, familiar voice said.

You almost let out an audible sigh of relief.

“Hey,” you replied breathlessly. And then you decided to just get right to it. “I’m sorry. You really didn’t deserve anything I said to you --”

“Nah, nah, it’s cool,” he interrupted. “You were upset, and you had every right to be. I understand.”

Of course, he did. Of course!

“Okay, good,” you replied with a soft grin. “I really, really appreciate what you did. I was just -- nothing like that has ever happened to me before, so I was really confused, and it all happened so quickly, so I guess I just kind of froze, and then things didn’t really catch up to me until you came back, so... Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he murmured. “I know you would do the same for me if you had to.”

“Absolutely.”

You decided to leave unvoiced the thought you had that Bobby would never find himself in that situation. You would never have to intervene if Mr. Howell was yelling at him in front of students because Bobby was male. It had been -- and certainly was now -- very evident that Mr. Howell was prejudiced against women. You’d figured that out basically the day you’d met him, and the events of this afternoon had cemented it in no uncertain terms.

He had behaved like that towards you because you were a woman, and you had -- in his eyes -- gone behind his back and disobeyed him.

You had a feeling Bobby could show up late to work every day for a month (not that he would, but we’re speaking hypothetically here), and Mr. Howell wouldn’t bat an eye.

None of this was Bobby’s fault, of course -- which is why you left it unvoiced. He knew everything as well as you did, and what was the point of putting it out in the open?

So, you decided to move past it. Kind of.

“I was so out of it after you left, things were kind of a blur. But I felt so bad for Victoria and Lisa for having to witness that,” you said with a slight frown.

“Are they all right? Should I talk to them?”

“I think they’re fine,” you answered. “Actually, they said they didn’t like him either, but they think that you like me.”

Of course, you chuckled softly before adding, “Teenage girls love to make romance stories out of nothing.”

“Yeah,” Bobby replied, mirroring your soft chuckle with one of his own.

“I mean, just because you stepped in to de-escalate the situation, that’s a sign of having romantic feelings for someone?” you scoffed with amusement. “Don’t worry, I made sure to set them straight. We’re just friends.”

“Friends,” Bobby repeated.

“You would’ve done it for anyone! Not just me.”

“Not just you. Anyone!”

“Exactly,” you said with a nod.

Actually, you were surprisingly relieved to have gotten that out in the open. You weren’t sure why you’d been apprehensive to share that part of the story with him -- you hadn’t even known you’d been apprehensive until just now when you realized you were relieved.

Maybe -- deep down -- a part of you had been afraid that Bobby had been going to tell you that Victoria and Lisa were right. That he did like you. That he did have romantic feelings for you. That he did see you as more than a friend.

...But he didn’t!

He had told you just now: Friends. He would’ve done it for anyone.

And that was relieving.

You let out a soft sigh before saying, “Well, it’s getting late. I’ll let you go. I really just wanted to apologize and make sure you know how thankful I am for... everything you did.”

“You have nothing to apologize for,” Bobby assured you gently. “But... please, let me know if you need anything. Or if you need me to do anything.”

You knew he meant do something about Mr. Howell -- talk to a higher up at the district, probably.

“I will,” you grinned. “I promise.”

Bobby let out a soft, brief sigh and said, “Okay. Good. Have a good night.”

“You, too. See you tomorrow.”

“Yep, tomorrow,” he murmured before the both of you hung up.

Since you were already in bed, you decided to just... go to bed. You plugged your phone in, turned your lamp off, and nestled in under your comforter with a sleepy yawn.

Now that you’d gotten that over with, you were certain you could sleep easier.

...I mean, not that apologizing to Bobby had been something you’d dreaded. Not at all.

I guess... you were more relieved about telling him what Victoria and Lisa had said and hearing from him that they had been wrong.

You knew they’d been wrong, of course. You’d hadn’t thought for a moment that maybe they’d been right. But it was still nice to hear Bobby confirm it himself -- the two of you were friends and nothing more!

And, to be quite honest, you weren’t really sure you would ever want that to change. You always wanted him in your life, even if you did end up quitting and transferring to another school. Or even finding another job altogether.

You still wanted to go eat pizza and Mexican food with him. You still wanted to go to Jay’s bar with him. You still wanted to tease him and be teased by him.

Had you, at one time, thought that maybe you and Bobby would develop into something more?

...Yes. You wouldn’t lie and said you hadn’t ever imagined it, but that had been quite a long time ago. You hadn’t thought of that in so long, so -- yes -- hearing your students conjecture that Bobby liked you in a romantic way had been a bit jarring. You had totally forgotten you’d ever wondered if your feelings would blossom, and having that wondering brought up again only added to the shock you’d felt from what had happened.

So, hearing Bobby assure you that he just saw you as a friend was, as I have said, relieving --

...Okay, wait.

This feeling you were currently feeling... You’d thought it was relief.

You’d thought you were relieved to prove Victoria and Lisa wrong.

But... this wasn’t really relief, after all.

What was this?

What were you feeling right now?

It wasn’t... no. It couldn’t be. You were too tired and your mind was too jumbled from everything that had happened today, so you were definitely mislabeling this feeling, and now you were just going to squeeze your eyes shut and go to sleep.

And never think about this feeling again, especially when it came to Bobby saying he just liked you as a friend.

Because... you kinda thought... the feeling was...

Disappointment.

Part 5

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maknaesdancersrappers · 5 years

Text

I’ve listed everything I can think of that leads to the fact that I’m in love with him… there could be so much more.

It’s a terrifying thing if I were to be honest. I thought love was fast; it would hit you out of nowhere like a stray ball in the field. But this was slow; it took it’s time, weaved itself in little things so inconspicuously that it felt normal. It was when I noticed it did it began to bare its teeth, sinking its claws and holding tight with a vice grip to ensure its place on me.

Unnoticed. Unavoidable. Unforgettable.

It’s staked its claim and I can only hope it weakens in time.

The only other solution is to let it control me. Let it consume every word and action. The reward is uncertain, but often times, I found it tempting; those times it would present itself on a silver platter. I’d find myself reaching out to it, only to retract my hand in paranoia at the sight of a thorn.

Maybe he prefers roses; and I’m certainly not one.

I’ve made my decision that night and it’s proven to be a painfully difficult one. It’s been nearly a month, I’ve endured so much.

It’s pathetic to give in now, right?

Jaehyun knows this was wrong, but he wanted to surprise you like you did for him. He knows he couldn’t beat you; you gave him a puppy! How could he top that? He’s thought about your gift thoroughly and pooled enough money to get you a new camera for you to use during the photography classes you told him about before.

So here he was, snooping around your room to look for good place to hide it after your mom let him in. She had her run errands to buy him some time, but he had no fucking clue where. He stared at your desk, deeming it too risky to hide it there. He doubts you check under the bed often so that’s the best option he has, probably pull it out when he’s ready to give it to you.

Jaehyun drops to the floor, pushing your draped sheets away to give him a better view. It’s surprisingly clean - well, cleaner than he assumed. Just a few stray writing instruments, a shoebox, and - is that a bra?

He shoots up to his knees as if it was contagious. He exhales, almost annoyed, at how he can feel himself getting hot for recognizing the lacy fabric, but he shakes his head to derail the thought. He lies back down and ignores the brassiere, pulling out the shoebox from beneath to inspect it.

Scrawled onto the top was the unmistakable penmanship of Kang Yebin - it still boggles Jaehyun how you and Minkyung were friends with her - and it read, ‘Learn to love yourself, XOXO YB’ He takes back what he says, maybe he’s read Yebin’s brash and loud nature wrongly. He didn’t think any harm would be done if he takes a peek, right? It would probably be something like crystals or self-love books.

Oh, he was so wrong. It didn’t register at first what the elongated object was; it looked like a bigger version of a bullet. He only realized what it was when he tries to pick it up and it starts to vibrate. He can feel his face on fire as he tries to switch it off, pushing away the thoughts if you had used it or not - but all he can hope it was some crude joke Yebin pulled on her. Once it was off, he gently place it back in the box and closes it with a heavy breath.

“It’s not too late to learn new things about someone.” He grumbles, clearing his throat. He pushes the box back in and sits back up, eyeing the space of your bed that’s flushed against your side table. It barely gets even a sliver of light and he’s hoping the shadow would be dark enough to conceal his gift. He jams his gift there and hopes for the best.

Rising back up to his feet, he looks back to your desk where you kept a photo of your family and a photo of the two of you tacked on the small cork board you had on a mini easel along with other paper memorabilia like tickets and receipts. He remembers when the photo of you were taken: it was his last day in Korea before they temporarily moved to America.

He feels himself blush at the one keypoint of the memory. Before he left, he made a promise that you seemed to forget and maybe that was for the better because it would have been incredibly embarrassing if you had.

“I’ll come back from America, and when I do, I’ll marry you!”

It was such a bold statement for a four year old.

His phone vibrates in his pocket, giving him a small fright. It was only Jangmi, asking about your gift. As he types a reply, he notices a drawer slightly open and something in his gut told him to check it out. He’s already seen what he can label the worse beneath your bed - unless it’s a box of condoms, even worse if it’s nearly empty. He huffs at himself for even thinking about you that way, prying the drawer open.

Jaehyun recognizes the journals piled up; he’s seen you fill them up for years. He can even make out the first journal he’s gotten you near the bottom of the pile. As he was just about to close it, he notices something odd - odd, in terms of it being unfamiliar to him.

He wrestles it out of the weight of the journals on top of it and puts it on top of the desk. It was brown and thin, unlike the rest that varied colors and were at least an inch thick in width. He flips open to the first page and reads, ‘My physics teacher is driving me insane.’ and it continues to go on about their teacher.

He flips to another page and it talked about the day her parents fought and words like divorce and cheating came about. He remembers that day; he was so concerned when he heard the shouting that he wanted to check up on you, but you weren’t responding to his messages. He luckily caught you outside before he dragged you to his room and drowned out the screaming with music. He’s glad it was a false alarm, just her parents getting too heated and careless with their words. On the notebook, you went on to write about how they sat you down and apologized for their behavior. From how some of the inked words bled, he could tell you were crying when you wrote it.

As he continues to flip through the pages, he’s starting to understand the purpose of the notebook. It was merely a diary where you can write out your thoughts. You didn’t care for mistakes or calligraphy, or tapes or photos. You just wanted to get it off your chest.

Jaehyun sighs, feeling a little guilty he went through your personal thoughts and proceed to close it until he catches a sentence he thought he misread. He returns to the page and reads it once, twice, until he’s sure he’s not making it up.

‘I think I’m in love with Jaehyun’

He’s staring hard at it as he restrains himself from reading further because he knows this was wrong. His heart is beating so hard, he thinks it could jump right out of his chest. Without another thought, he continues to read.

‘... I’ve endured so much. It’s pathetic to give in now, right?’

Jaehyun knows this is wrong. This is what he went into her room for, but the hours your mom bought for him to find a good hiding spot for his gift was used to read through her private journal - specifically to read about pages after pages on how you were in love with him. He couldn’t process this properly. He closes the notebook and puts it back right where he got it, making sure it seemed it hadn’t moved an inch.

When he closes the drawer, he picks up his phone and dials a number.

“Jangmi? Jangmi, you were right.” He breathes, running a hand through his hair. “She’s in love with m-me… she has feelings for me. What do I do?”

He finds himself gawking at your photo and being reminded of the one thing he can remember from that day, “Jang, how do I tell her I love her back?”

14 ways to say you love them too

author’s ending note: aaaahhhh and it’s done!! for now ehe (⁎⁍̴̛ᴗ⁍̴̛⁎) this was such a blast to write, i mean, yeah, i crammed most of them and i personally think some are rushed, but hopefully it all connects! thanks to everyone who’s been waiting for it to update, the encouraging words, and of course, the love and patience!! i’m sorry for trolling, but both this and the sequel have been on my mind since january, okay. i wanted to do something for jaehyun’s birthday and i really hope it exceeds everyone’s expectations.

happy birthday once again to our peachy prince who deserves a puppy in real life, jaehyun 💖

#nct scenarios #jaehyun scenarios #14WTKYIL

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odogaronfang · 6 years

Note

Could you write some angest around what if werewolves were a thing in hyrule, and one of the links got bit? also maybe put in a somewhat detailed transformation scene? that's optional though.

[[okay i’ve honestly got no experience with werewolf stuff? i’m not even a big fan of em tbh. i love mythology and creatures of legend but? werewolves never really captured my interest. if you’d asked for siren, or naga, or selkie, or really anything else, i could do a lot better. but just for u, anon, i will try]]

[[post-writing edit: over 2500 words. what the hell & fuck.]]

It was assumed, at first, that Hyrule’s infestation of wolfos was Vaati’s doing, or Ganon’s. It made sense; wolfos were fast, and strong, pack hunters, notorious for their ruthlessness. They would bring down the Hylian population in no time flat, if they got numerous enough, and leave little resistance to their regime. It was a sort of comforting thought, that once the heroes got rid of the King of Darkness then the wolfos would retreat.

Not so.

They came in droves once Ganon had been sealed. It could only be conjectured that the packs had been breeding and gathering numbers in the Lost Woods for quite some time, but conjecture meant little when the top priority was finding a stronghold.

Hyrule Castle was, naturally, the first choice, though parts were still in pieces from the attacks. Castle Town residents were lucky, and for the most part made it safely. Those who lived in towns further off were not so fortunate- ones on the outskirts were in no uncertain terms doomed to death. Refugees from all over Hyrule came flooding in through the castle’s gates, their bags heavy with all they could gather from home, and the haunted-eyed newly-orphaned padded listlessly around the castle grounds as quarters were being sorted out.

Troops of guards were assigned to towns, to clear them of wolfos, big groups of dozens of the most capable knights, armed and armored to the teeth, equipped with whistles that made even the most wild and vicious of dogs heel and cower. There was no guarantee that they would work, but there was no guarantee that they wouldn’t; so they were taken, as precautions.

And the heroes were assigned to find the source of the problem. So soon after an invasion, they couldn’t risk something of the same caliber as Vaati breaking through their weakened defenses. The best way to keep it under control was to stop it, permanently- never mind the delicate food web, or apex predators, or carrying capacities, or whatever it was the scientists were on about. Hylians first, always.

It’s something Vio complains about quite often, while they’re out searching.

“It is very short-sighted is all,” He says, looking pointedly at the wolfos pelt Blue has slung over a shoulder. “It will solve our immediate problem, but then we will have to deal with an entire rebalancing of the forest’s ecosystem. It may even drive out another predator in search of food, and then the cycle will repeat.”

“So what,” Blue sneers, “You’re more worried about some poor hungry deer than you are about your own kind?”

Vio looks irritated. “I never said that. What I am saying is that this will very likely have some serious consequences for my own kind down the road.”

“Well, I bet we’ll have a lot more freedom to figure out how to solve those problems once half our population isn’t getting chomped by overgrown bloodhounds.”

“We would not need the freedom to solve the problem because there would be no problem if everyone would stop to think about this.”

“There isn’t time for that!”

“He’s got a point,” Green says, though not as heatedly as Blue.

Vio turns to Red for some kind of backing, but all he gets is nod and an apologetic shrug. He sighs. “When something twice as vicious comes hunting for hylian prey, do not say you were not warned.” There’s a long period of quiet as they walk, and then he says “Perhaps you will be more well-received to this, then. Have you heard of what has been happening to the bitten?”

“They were all in the infirmary being treated for blood poisoning, last I heard,” Red says, absently flips the switch on the rod back and forth.

“Yes, but do you know specifically what the medics have been seeing?”

Red shakes his head. “Blood poisoning’s all I know about.”

“Signs of genetic merging.”

Red looks at him blankly for a second, and then its implications seem to register. “Wait, a bite from a wolfos is doing that? I didn’t think they had anything like that!”

“Neither did I, or anyone else. But the researchers that have been monitoring the bitten are noticing physical anomalies where there were none previously. And they are consistent with certain traits of the wolfos.”

Blue casts a suspicious glance at the furs on his arm. “So what’s that mean, then?”

“First and foremost, it means do not get bitten.”

“Well, duh. I meant, like, do they know why?”

Vio shrugs, which is the most concise and honest answer he has. “It is suspected that it is some kind of virus, or microscopic creature, but there is no proof, and no explanation. My vote goes to virus, but then, I could not begin to guess where it comes from, or why it splices wolfos traits with the host’s. It seems oddly specific.”

“D’you think maybe the wolfos makes it themself?” Red hesitates for a moment. “It sounds dumb now that I’ve said it. But maybe it’s like… A way of reproducing?”

“That is… possible,” Vio agrees, with a minute’s pause to think, “Very possible, but unprecedented, to my knowledge. Insightful, though. You will have to bring that up to the researchers, when we have returned.”

“I have a question,” Blue says, tries to snatch the map from Green and gets an elbow to the sternum. “Are we just wandering? Or do you have some specific destination?”

“Valensuela marked a den on here. Or at least a suspected den. There’s been a lot of activity here.”

“How much farther? I kept watch last night and I’m tired and my feet are starting to hurt.” Red slips the elemental rod from its loop on his belt and presses a palm to its orb, tinged red with fire magic. “Plus it’s gonna get cold soon and I wanna get a fire set up.”

“It’s right up ahead, if it exists at all. We should be able to take care of it today.”

“It may be wiser to do it tomorrow, and rest up tonight-”

“But why do it tomorrow when we can do it now?”

“I just gave you a reason, and Red has given you three.”

“Yeah, well, if we do it now we won’t have to worry about any of them sneaking up on our camp.”

“Yes, we will, and in any case-”

“Shush! We’re doing it today.”

Vio sets a glare on him. “This is tyranny,” He says simply, reaches for the map and gets it (to Blue’s irritation), and frowns. “Green. The mark on the map is still two miles from here.”

“So? If we pick up the pace we’ll be fine!”

He would argue, but he’s sure that at this point Green isn’t open to suggestions, so he hands it back and fishes out something to eat from his pack. “Do not say I did not warn you.”

They do make it with daylight, though just barely. Reluctantly, Red flips the rod to ice as they weave through the trees- fire is too dangerous and unpredictable a weapon to wield in a forest. Blue, for once, chooses his sword and shield over his hammer; not enough room, and too slow for what they need to do. Vio has an arrow nocked, with a dagger in his palm just to be safe. And Green is walking confidently with sword in hand, hasn’t bothered to take the shield off its strap.

“Green, would you stay with the group,” Vio hisses, but if he hears he doesn’t care, and therefore is the first to get pounced on.

Or would have been pounced on, if Vio hadn’t shot it between the eyes as it lunged, fangs bared and claws extended.

“Idiot,” Blue snaps as he pulls a terrified Green to his feet, and there isn’t time for much more talk because the pack is there.

Vio abandons the ecological concerns in favor of self-preservation, and picks them off as Red goes along freezing as many as he can get close enough to. Blue is Green’s grudging tag-along because Green can’t be bothered to stay back, and he runs out of fingers for counting how many times he and Vio and Red just barely keep a claw out of Green’s ribs. But they manage well enough, and thank Hylia for the elemental rod, because without it they’d have been overwhelmed before it had hardly begun. Even so it’s almost too much, and by the time the den’s been smoked, so to speak, they’re all exhausted and all too ready to pass out. Carefully they pick their trail back out of the Lost Woods, following the patches of frost Red had thought to leave on the trees, pitch camp with their backs to a hill. It looks like they’ve just barely scraped an escape from death, what else is new, until Vio goes to gather up rations for dinner and finds blood smeared on the side of Blue’s pack.

He goes over and without bothering to announce himself hauls him up to his feet, looks him over and, to his incredible relief, finds nothing but dark clotted wolfos blood on him. Green, on the other hand, has a tear in the sleeve on the back of his arm and a big red splotch staining the fabric.

He swears, takes the first aid kit from Red’s bag and forces Green to sit and let him deal with it, and scolds him the entire time to try and keep down his mounting panic, because if that’s a bite-

“I told you,” He says, “I told you to wait, because we would be rested and properly fed and ready, but you insisted-!”

Blue is scowling, though half his attention is on dinner, and Red looks like he wants to intervene but knows Vio’s right.

“Bedside manner,” He reminds Vio, with a weak smile that betrays his worry.

“I should hope this is not a matter of the bedside,” Vio says, with more venom than he means, and sighs and apologizes and goes back to cutting away the sleeve to get to the wound. “Stupid,” He mutters, as he wipes away the blood with a scrap of the cloth, “I do not enjoy being like this but that was so incredibly stupid of you! I would like to say that you were fortunate, but I have not yet seen the extent of it.”

He pours alcohol on Green’s arm, ignores his complaining and focuses on making sure there aren’t any foreign objects stuck in it. For a moment he studies the shape of the injury, thinking; they’re puncture wounds, most certainly, but the way they attack it could very well be from claws… But the pattern is wrong for claws, too uniform and close-together, not enough tearing around the edges.

They’re going to have to make good time back to the castle and the healers, he thinks, sighs and wraps it tight in gauze.

“Stupid,” He mutters, shoves down his panic because now isn’t the time to let it cloud his thinking. “It is a bite,” He tells them, and sounds far calmer than he feels. “I am almost certain of it. So we are going to have to move very quickly tomorrow.”

They all start asking things at once, but Vio waves dismissively. “There is nothing I know to do for it. We get back to the castle as quickly as we can and we keep an eye on the wound and keep Green’s heart rate as low as we can. That is all I can say.”

“Should we start now?” Green asks, and sounds almost timid, and much smaller than he did two hours ago.

“We are all tired. We must rest, at least for a few hours, at eat. We will see about leaving early.”

They do- the sun is hardly up when they begin. Vio offers shortcuts, the easiest way to get back in the shortest amount of time, without risking exacerbating the wound or risking spreading the blood poisoning that they know will follow the injury. And once they’re back they ignore everything else, and bring Green straight to the healer’s, and Vio gets the pleasure of recounting the entire night.

And he also gets the pleasure of tracking Green’s progress. There are too many bitten and not enough monitoring the specific symptoms; they figure that they may as well. The wing is crowded, with both patients and staff, and the only thing that Vio can’t complain about is the fact that he actually gets to see Green- without the permissions granted a researcher, he’d be shut outside with everyone else.

It’s slow, at first, hardly noticeable, as it was reported with most others. The blood poisoning comes and then goes, doesn’t last more than a day. But gradually it occurs, little things and then more prominent, unmistakably wolfos; an excess of body hair, sharper teeth, a double set of canines, somehow, after a few weeks, nails that grow far too rapidly to be normal. Vio considers it a mercy that Green is hardly conscious for most of it. It hurts, in a lingering, aching sort of way, to see them have to strap him down. A precaution, of course, merely preemptive action, just in case. But it hurts, and it hurts having to tell Red and Blue about it, and it hurts to see them having to process it.

The only condolence he has is that he can see the older-bitten go through it first. It isn’t much of a comfort, because they’re his people too, but at least he knows what’s coming. He’s especially grateful that some of the others change first, because they have to kill a couple of them, before they come to understand that the changing isn’t permanent, necessarily. The gradual transformations peak, and the bitten are no longer distinguishable from a wolfos, and it lasts a few days, and then they’re back, somewhat. Still with the little wolfos traits, the nails and the teeth and too much hair, but back to almost hylian, with vague memories of the transformation.

When it happens to Green, it seems too early, but it corresponds with the others’, if a day late; the biological timer Vio will have to look into further, but for the time being he just stays. He stays, and talks to Green, and wonders whether he’s really hearing anything, deep down wherever his conscious was pushed.

It’s an incredible breakthrough in their understanding when Green comes back out of it and repeats back to Vio almost exactly what he’d said to him when he was in the thick of it. Green explains it as experiencing things through a kaleidoscope; his memory is broken and twisted and not all there, but the things he focuses on he can make out, and he can say with reasonable confidence that if he really worked at it he might even be able to control it, to an extent.

It’s another week at least before he’s allowed to be without a monitor, and they’re both relieved to say the least, and Vio has half a mind to chastise him again. Instead he just hugs him, and sighs and mutters how glad he is that he is, for the most part, okay. Red and Blue both hug the air out of his lungs when they see him, and Blue also punches him way too hard on the (unbitten) arm and yells at him for being dumb and impulsive, and Red says something about “pot, meet kettle” and hides behind Vio so he won’t get one too. It’s a long time, though, before Green can control himself enough to be trusted alone on full moons.

#four swords #blue link #vio link #red link #green link #once bitten au #look i even made a name for the au for you anon!!!!#my au #my writing #im SO BAD at werewolves #ANY OTHER MYTHOLOGICAL/LEGENDARY CREATURE #AND I COULDVE DONE 100X BETTER #im sorry #i have failed u #but at least it's long.#also!! im out of asks!!!!#pls send more!!!!!!

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